Sloth Chapter 2: Passing storm
Ram dodged all the attacks thrown by three of the four clones of the mysterious boy while Subaru was struggling to even land a hit on the fourth clone. Subaru realized that this was a big problem since he is essentially useless and might even get killed because of it.
'Damn you watcher, you fucking prick. You say this world is peaceful...DOES THIS LOOK FUCKING PEACEFUL?!'
While he was shouting this in his own mind, he continued to try to land a hit on his opponent with his whip.
The mysterious boy that was facing Subaru noticed this yet he didn't move as he figured he could dodge the attacks with ease. As the mysterious boy stands still, Subaru takes this opportunity to surprise him by preparing to use his invisible providence.
"You stand there like this is a cake walk." Subaru said, trying to trip up his opponent only to be meet with:
"Well it is, you are just as pathetic like him...actually, even more so."
'Pathetic like him? Is he referring to my counterpart? He has to be!'
With Subaru concluding to this, he was more determined than ever to try and win the fight, hoping that his win could get him some information on his counterpart of this world.
He continued to throw attacks with his whip, being careful to move his opponent to a specific location before using his trump card, Invisible Providence.
While Subaru was doing this, Ram continued to hold her own against three of the clones. She dodged a few attacks before starting to block off the rest with her superior strength.
As she blocked each attack, she had an odd feeling that this opponent of hers was similar to her in some way. She waited for a moment before managing to grab on one of the clone's fists.
As she does this, she takes this opportunity to use her oni power for the briefest of moments to land a knockout punch. The other two clones took notice of this and quickly reacted by pulling out their kunai, seeing that Ram isn't someone to take lightly.
"You'll regret that."
"Is that so?"
Ram gave the two clones of the mysterious boy a glare, one that caused the two to pause in their tracks for a second. Ram noticed this and quickly took her opportunity to use her wind magic to attack the two clones while they were stunned for that one second.
Just as the wind attack was about to hit the two clones, the clone dodging all of Subaru's attacks quickly leaves his fight with the incompetent boy to save his other two clones.
He pushed the two out of the way before pulling out his kunai to block off Ram's attack. Both Subaru and Ram noticed this, seeing that they shouldn't underestimate the mysterious boy and his clones.
'Shit, I need to think of something and quickly or we will both be killed.'
The boy thought quickly on what he could do. He thought about using Invisible Providence like he was planning before his opponent decided to leave their fight yet he knew the risks.
Should he mess up, he would be useless and would leave Ram on a massive disadvantage. This prompted him to look at his whip, seeing how he isn't useful anyway considering just how easy his opponent was dodging all of his attacks.
'Damn. What the hell can we do?'
The boy thought and thought and thought until something came to his mind.
'What if I use Cor Leonis? That could work but that would still make me useless. Last time I used this on Ram, it was very straining on me...'
Subaru looked up to see that the three remaining clones of the mysterious boy were all slowly approaching him and Ram. This made him see that using Cor Leonis is the best chance for both himself and Ram to win the fight.
"Ram, do you trust me?"
"What is your stupid plan now, Barusu?"
"Remember back at the Pleiades Watchtower, how you were able to go all out against the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony?"
"That wasn't long ago, idiot."
"Okay, my bad. Do you remember—?"
"I remember. Are you implying that I do all the work while you stay on the sidelines like the lazy boy you are?"
Subaru just stood silent as he didn't have some quick-witted retort this time. Ram took note of this silence before turning towards the three approaching clones. She sighs before saying to the boy,
"Just stand back, Barusu. Also, don't get in my way."
"Alright."
Subaru nodded before activating his Greed authority, taking in all of the burden away from the pink haired oni.
While he did this, Ram herself closed her eyes as she started to use her oni powers, having her forehead glow. This once again paused the three clones of the mysterious boy.
"...who the hell are you?!" One of them said as they sounded both surprised but also slightly angry. Ram heard this yet she had a confident smile while holding her wand tightly, preparing herself for round 2.
"If you wish to know, you'll have to beat me."
"So be it."
All three clones said in unison before suddenly summoning their own individual horns. Ram's confident facial expression slowly faded as she started to figure out that this boy is not just a simple strong human. Subaru also noticed this, causing him to think,
'What the?! Are they...demons as well?!'
He remembered when he first discovered Rem being a demon, during the time when he was trying to save Meili from the Mabeast and seeing Rem get injured to the point that she took out her horn. He was having the same exact feeling here yet at the same time, he felt a strange connection to this boy that he couldn't explain.
'Is this boy...related to someone I know in this world?'
Subaru started to puzzle things together, having a feeling that he is in the right direction with this. While he was trying to connect the dots, Ram charged at the three clones with everything she had, knowing now that she has to go all out.
The three clones and Ram clashed with the pink haired maid managing to dodge all of the kunai attacks from the three clones before going on an aggressive offense.
She managed to land a couple of powerful hits on all three clones of the mysterious boy, pushing them back a bit but only for a brief moment before they quickly recovered.
Once this happened, the three all coordinated a few of their attacks in order to break Ram's guard, hoping that this would give them the opportunity to land the knockout punch.
The pink haired oni was aware of the clones' plan, seeing this as a childish and short-sighted plan but one she was curious to see if they could pull off.
She continued to block off the coordinated attacks from the two clones before noticing the third clone waiting for the right moment before charging in for one strong hit.
Knowing this now, she prepared something to counter the attack while dodging and blocking the other two.
'Whoever this is, they are a strong oni. I must be careful.'
Having a good grasp on the clones' strength, she waited just until the right moment before blocking the fatal attack from the third clone.
"What?"
"Too predictable."
"The hell I—!"
"Shut up."
Ram knocked out the third clone of the mysterious boy, prompting the other two to start throwing a couple of ninja stars with intense force.
Ram responded with this by sending a powerful Al Fula. With the wind attack pushing away the ninja stars, the two clones of the mysterious boy were hesitant to continue on fighting since this opponent is incredibly strong and scary looking at this point.
'Man...where is she when I need her...?'
While one of the two clones thinks this, the two quickly go hide into the shadows to rethink their plan.
As they do this, she turns towards Subaru to see that he was barely holding his own. He was coughing out blood since he was pushing his body's limit due to how much crazy strength Ram was using.
'Damn, this is a lot more painful than last time...but I won't give up...'
Subaru just gave Ram a thumbs up, wanting to make sure her friend doesn't worry for his sake.
Ram could see right through this yet she understood that she needs to focus on the fight ahead and to finish it fast since Subaru won't be able to hold out for long.
'You are stupid Barusu...but I will hurry up.'
She started to move swiftly towards the shadow area, trying to finish the fight until suddenly just one of the clones attacked her head on. She was caught off guard by this and ended up receiving a punch to the face.
Although this would normally do intense damage to her, Subaru took the damage which caused him to collapse to the ground, barely conscious.
'Fuck! That was a bit more than I expected...'
Subaru thought as he was doing his best to get back on his feet, his entire body completely in extreme pain.
Ram noticed this after having recovered from the punch, seeing that the hit she took is doing immense damage to her friend.
Being aware of this, she looks sharply at her opponent since she can't take another hit like that without risking Subaru's life.
'Just hang in there, Barusu. I'll end this quickly.'
She landed on her feet before quickly charging at the one clone of the mysterious boy, prepared to take him on while also keeping in mind that the other one is probably waiting to pop out when she is too distracted by her current opponent.
The two clashed fists for a moment before Ram quickly managed to land a hit on the boy's face.
The boy was not only caught off guard by this but he was also near the point of unconsciousness. The other clone saw this and knew that he had to do something since he is the remaining fighter.
He waited for a moment before pulling two kunai to try and stab his opponent, viewing the pink haired maid as a big threat now after seeing what she is capable of with her oni powers.
Just as he jumped out of his hiding place to try and stab Ram in the back, the pink haired oni was able to detect this and blocked off the attack.
While she blocked off the attack, the mysterious boy looked at Subaru for a moment to notice how he looks like he is dying.
'What the hell?! What happened to him?!'
Seeing the boy near death forced him to abandon his fight with Ram to check on the well state of Subaru.
Ram noticed this and thought that he was going after her ally, prompting her to quickly make her way to Subaru's position as well while also using her most powerful wind magic to stop the mysterious boy from closing in on her ally.
The mysterious boy noticed this and quickly was forced to defend himself by blocking off the attack, allowing Ram to get close to Subaru's position before her opponent could.
Once she does this, she checks up on the boy to see that he was barely able to stand.
"Barusu!"
"D-Don't worry Ram...I'll be fine..."
"Don't be stupid. You are going to kill yourself for the dumbest reason. Rest up, now."
"N-Not yet!"
As Subaru said this, he noticed their remaining opponent was approaching them in a threatening manner, prompting him to try and use Invisible Providence while he had the chance.
He turned off his Greed Authority to use his Sloth Authority, allowing him to shoot out an unseen hand from his chest area.
Once this happened, he waited for the right chance before landing a hit on the mysterious boy since he wasn't expecting it at all.
This sent the clone flying back for a brief moment while Subaru collapsed to the ground with his mind trying its best to stay conscious.
"Barusu!"
"Haha...sorry, I couldn't help but...get a little payback..."
"You are useless and pathetic."
"I know."
Just as he said this, the two felt a powerful presence around. Ram got her wand out and ready for a fight, relying on her own mana as she knows that Subaru is too injured to keep using Cor Leonis.
She looks up to see a woman, one with white skin, and wearing an immaculate pure white kimono with green and black decorations. Subaru takes a glimpse at this while Ram continues to have her guard out.
The woman in the white kimono landed in front of the pink haired oni, at first very hostile looking until she took a closer look at her opponent to see something odd.
"Very strange, you look almost identical to someone I know. Or well a while back actually."
"Hm. Who are you?" Ram spoke in her serious tone of voice, not trusting this woman in front of her. The woman takes note of this hostile like behavior, prompting her to prepare her wind magic abilities.
"Shall you be my next victim, woman?"
"Hmph. From what I can see, you are nothing more than a pathetic excuse for a woman."
The two give each other a death stare before both throwing their strongest wind magic, managing to counter each other's attack.
While this happened, the mysterious boy's three clones disappeared, leaving only him, the original, around. He slowly got up with his jaw hurting since he was still annoyed by the invisible providence attack.
'What the hell was that?'
He looks at the direction he was punched to notice that someone has arrived to assist him since they are taking on against the pink haired oni maid.
He was about to join until he looked at Subaru and saw how he was struggling to stand up despite how he was dying.
This gave him the opportunity to check on the boy, wanting to know who he was along with making sure that he didn't die. Once he closed in, he helped Subaru to get up on his feet which surprised him for a moment.
Once he assisted Subaru on his feet, he looked at him for a moment before trying to land a surprise punch on him. The mysterious boy blocks the attack with ease while asking in a serious tone of voice,
"Who are you two?"
"Who the hell are you? Who is that woman there?"
"Hey! I asked you first."
Subaru and the mysterious boy just looked at each other with an intense glare before Subaru tried to attack the mysterious boy once again with his remaining strength.
Although the mysterious boy could have blocked the attack, he allowed Subaru's punch to land on his face.
As the attack connected, the boy didn't feel pain since Subaru's attack wasn't strong enough to do anything.
"Hm. Why am I not surprised? You and the old man are pathetically weak."
"...A-are you calling me...old?"
Subaru finally gave in to his injuries and lost consciousness.
Subaru opened his eyes, thinking that he had died permanently until he saw an unfamiliar ceiling.
'Hm? So did I survive?'
Subaru was uncertain about this since he is aware that he doesn't have Return by Death yet seeing that he is in an unknown location that isn't the void with the watcher, he is more positive that he survived the fight.
He slowly got up to see clearly that he was in a hospital of sorts, something similar to his hometown.
'Wait...was it all just...a dream?'
This thought caused him to panic since he didn't want every experience he had in Lugnica to be for nothing. He tried to get up in a hurry only to realize that his body was in pain.
"Sh-Shit!"
"Man, you really are a lively one."
"Huh?"
Subaru turned towards the voice in the room to see that there was someone hiding in the shadows. Although he can't tell who it is, he does find the voice familiar.
"Are you an ally or someone I should worry about?" Subaru asked with a skeptical tone, not sure if he should prepare himself to make a run for it despite the injuries he had received when using Cor Leonis.
The person in the shadow took note on what he was asked by the boy, causing the room to be silent for a brief moment before he responded in a calm manner:
"I get it, my pupil kinda went a bit overboard in fighting you and your lady—"
"Please don't phrase it like that, Ram would kill you for saying it like that."
"Ah, my bad. Your pal then."
"That's better...actually, where is she?" The person in the shadow noticed the change of tone the boy had when speaking of Ram. This reminded him of someone he has known for a long time, giving a smile on his face.
"No need to worry about your friend, she is outside. We asked her if she wanted to see you but she said that you would be fine because 'you are a stupidly lucky'."
"Hm. Of course she would say something like that." Subaru said with a smile, just happy that Ram is alright. The shadow person noticed this, causing him to also smile before having a curious question.
"You know, I haven't gotten your name yet."
"...right." Subaru was hesitant since he still isn't sure if his counterpart has done anything that would put him in trouble.
This caused him to be silent for a second before making a choice. He gets out of the bed regardless of his injuries and points his finger up at the sky while saying,
"My name is Natsuki Subaru. I'm completely lost and broke."
Regardless of the risk, he needs to know what his counterpart has done in this world. Whether this world's Subaru became corrupted like the Sin Archbishop of Pride or maybe a paranoid wreck like the Purge King.
The shadow person stood silent for about the minute, processing what he just heard and saw before laughing. Subaru couldn't help but feel a bit insulted by the laugh for a bit before just letting it slide.
"Just as I think I've seen everything at this point, I can't help but be surprised once again. Pleasure to meet you, Su-san."
"Su-san?" The boy questioned, having heard that nickname before by one of Purge King's helpers. With this in mind, the person in the shadows reveals himself to be the exact person he was thinking about.
"Halibel?"
"Hm? You know me?" The wolf human asks as he was a bit surprised by this but only for a moment.
"Something like that."
"Well, I can't say I'm surprised. I'm popular here so I suppose my name would be going around."
Subaru laughed this off since in reality, he had only known of Halibel due to his confrontation with the Purge King and his group, the Pleiades.
Although he could mention this, it would come off as weird and unneeded. After a few seconds, Subaru sat back on the bed since his entire chest area was hurting.
"Seems like you took it pretty bad." Halibel said, trying to be sympathetic to the boy. Subaru appreciated the kindness, prompting him to respond with:
"Sort of. Ram's the one who fought the most."
"Yeah but you looked pretty beaten up. Ya must have done a lot to end up in such a state."
"I guess..." Subaru paused as he went into his own thoughts. 'I mean, Cor Leonis helped a lot but I still felt like I wasn't able to help a lot more like before.'
"That's because Ram isn't at full strength."
'What do you mean?' Subaru asked in his thoughts to the watcher.
"Remember, Ram is still recovering from her fight. So your Greed authority was working but due to the power she wanted to use, it was going to affect you in a negative way."
'Fair but why keep her in a weak state then? You gave her back the memories of Rem but not help her be back at full strength?'
"I suggest you focus on Halibel."
'What—?'
"So, what brings you and your pal here, Natsuki Subaru?" Halibel said, which caught Subaru's attention.
"W-Well we are looking for someone."
"Oh. Who?" The wolf human asked in a curious tone.
"Someone...actually, I want to ask some questions of my own before answering yours."
"Go ahead. It wouldn't be fair if I'm the only one gathering information." Halibel calmly says this as he takes a smoke from his pipe. Subaru takes a moment to think carefully on what he should ask, knowing that there is that lingering question he had since he encountered Halibel in Purge King's world but also the question on his wolf human's apprentice.
"Who is that boy? The one that you call your pupil?"
"Oh. He is the son of my neighbor. His parents don't fully know about his secret ninjutsu skills I taught him after he begged for almost a year."
"Ninjutsu skills? Like a ninja?" Subaru asked with some excitement in his voice. Halibel noticed this and couldn't help but feel some déjà vu. This prompted a smile on his face before responding with:
"Yeah, there are a lot of techniques."
"Really?! That's so cool."
Halibel chuckled a bit when he heard this, being reminded of how his pupil acted when he first learned some ninja skills. After a moment, Subaru regained his composure into a serious one though with some light tone of voice.
"That is pretty neat to hear but one thing that caught my attention was something your pupil did."
"Hm? What could that be?"
"Is he an oni?"
The atmosphere had paused since things started to get serious. Halibel continued to stay calm and chill while smoking his special herb while thinking carefully on Subaru's question.
"Well, he does share oni blood."
"Ah. That's what I suspected..." Subaru paused himself for a moment, feeling that it was time to ask something important. "...hey, Halibel, can I ask you something important?"
"Um, sure. What is it Su-san?" Halibel asked with a calm and friendly tone.
"What would make you turn on your boss?"
"Huh?" Halibel was a bit confused by the question, something that Subaru caught.
"Sorry, I should give a little context to this. Say you are working for someone you know that does well…evil things but you have a debt to them. What would be the core reason to turn on them?"
Halibel was still very confused by this question, even with the context it didn't help but he did try to find an answer that could satisfy Subaru. He closed his eyes and went into deep thinking while Subaru started to figure that this was probably a bad idea.
'Even with the context, it won't fully answer my question on why Halibel of that world helped me...I probably should've just left it as is.'
As this was running through the boy's mind, Halibel was able to find an answer to the weird question he had been asked.
"I suppose my friend, or well, neighbors would be the only reason I would turn on, say, an evil boss."
"What do you mean?" Subaru questioned out of curiosity.
"I met them two when they were having a rough time. He was very lively with his lovely girl always being by his side. The three of us became friends and had done a lot of misadventures, as he would put. We have gone through a lot and should I be following the wrong crowd, I know they will let me know."
"...what if your friends go evil all of a sudden?" Subaru questioned while also having a theory on the two people Halibel was referring to.
"Well, that's kinda hard honestly. She would assure he wouldn't go evil, plus he is a bit of a stubborn man to even go evil."
Subaru heard this and couldn't help but start to understand why this world is different and considered 'peaceful'.
Once understanding this, both Halibel and him turned towards the door as it began to open, noticing that it was Ram. She entered with a kimono attire, catching Subaru completely off guard.
"Oh, so you have finally awakened, stupid Barusu."
"Y-Yeah. I'm up." Subaru said this with a slightly nervous tone of voice. Ram picked up on this and quickly said,
"What Barusu? What are you nervous about now?"
"I'm not nervous! Just caught off guard."
Ram raised an eyebrow at this for a moment before figuring out why Subaru was caught off guard.
"You pervert."
"How am I a pervert?!"
"Your disgusting look! How dare you lust over my precious body!"
"Sh-Shut up! I just didn't think I would s-see you in a kimono...actually why are you in a kimono?!" Subaru said as he tried to save face. Ram quickly responded in her usual snarky tone:
"Well Barusu, after you proved to be useless as always, that woman and I had a long drawn out fight. My outfit was a mess so that kind gentleman that you are with paid for my new outfit. So, you owe Halibel however much this nice outfit costs."
"What?! With what freaking money?!"
"That's your problem."
"What?!"
Subaru's eye twitched with anger while Halibel couldn't help but break out laughing as he didn't think he would find the two funny with their interactions. Subaru gave Halibel a look to which the wolf human said to him:
"Sorry, ya two are just funny. No need to worry about the kimono, I did it mostly because my pupil attacked you two. So, he is to blame."
"That's not nice, Halibel-sensai."
Subaru, Halibel, and Ram all three turned towards the voice to see that it was the mysterious boy, still hiding under the hood.
"Well, you should have taken a calmer approach." Halibel said in a serious manner while still looking calm.
"Yeah...I guess..."
Ram and Subaru both approached the mysterious boy, both having some questions with the first one being:
"What is your name?"
"..."
"Come on kid, we need to know what to call you."
"...Rigel."
"Rigel, what a weird name." Ram said.
"Hey, it isn't weird. It's the name of a star."
"It's whatever at this point." Rigel said, indifferent about his name at this point. Halibel approached Rigel to tell him,
"I would like you to take these two to your parents."
"Wait why Halibel-sensai?"
"Because, I have a feeling that they might know them." Halibel spoke with confidence, yet Rigel was reluctant about this.
"B-But—"
"Come on, Rigel. You owe them this much. Especially after you attacked them."
Rigel was annoyed by this since he was a bit aggressive when trying to extract information. Even then, he ended up getting his ass whooped by Ram.
"...f-fine but accompany me at least. I don't want to be alone with them."
"Oh you'll be fine. I believe in you." Halibel says this as he pats his pupil on his left shoulder. Just as he did this, he turned towards Subaru and Ram to alert them of what was going on. "You two should follow my pupil to meet his parents, I have a feeling that they would be people of great interest."
"Are you sure about that?" Subaru asked with some concern.
"Trust me, it might be worthwhile."
Ram and Subaru looked at each other, both skeptical but seeing how Halibel was being nice to the pair, they reluctantly listened and began to go with Rigel. Before leaving, Rigel looked at Subaru with a bit of a glare.
"What?"
"Shouldn't you be resting a bit more?"
"I'll be fine. I've taken worse before."
"Ha. That's funny coming from you, lazy Barusu."
"Hey! I have!"
"Of course you have." Ram responded with sarcasm, annoying Subaru to the core.
"We both know I did a lot, especially during the Mabeast attack."
"You did poorly. If anything, sissy and I did all of the work along with Roswaal-sama. All you did was be in the way."
"That's not true!"
Subaru and Ram continued this with Rigel just hiding underneath his hood. While they were leaving, Halibel stood quiet with a smile on his face.
He continued to find their conversation funny but he was also interested to know how the confrontation between his friend and Natsuki Subaru would go.
'Su-san, you are going to have quite the chat. You and your pal.'
Author's Note:
So it has been a long while since I posted this story. Honestly, I had trouble with this chapter since well I sorta was burned out from school and the other stories and my youtube channels but now that things have calmed down, I should be able to return with full force on this story. Trust me, things will start to pick up soon. Also the next if story after sloth will be aganau. Hopefully you guys enjoy this chapter, thanks again to Cloud Link Zero for beta reading this, go check out his story: "Re: Rigel Starting From Zero". Also, hopefully you all had an amazing Christmas.