Aganau Chapter 5: A brutal encounter
Al, without warning, charged directly towards Petelguese first as he had a feeling that he was the weaker of the two.
The Sin Archbishop of Sloth noticed this which prompted him to quickly send a couple of unseen hands towards his direction.
The one armed warrior looked forward while dodging each attack as if he knew where exactly they were going to hit.
'That's...impressive!'
Subaru thought this as Al easily closed the gap between himself and Sloth. Petelguese was completely in shock for a moment before suddenly Al jumped back.
"Hm?"
Before he could process what was going on, a large explosion had occurred right in front of the Sin Archbishop of Sloth.
"What is the meaning of this~DESU!"
"I'm impressed that someone with a defect like yours would dodge such an attack. I might call it commendable if it wasn't for the fact that you dodge an attack that was meant to kill you. Do you have no care for my rights?! Or do you enjoy destroying other people's rights?"
Al just looked at Regulus as he landed from the jump.
'Man, you really are annoying.'
Al was tempted to say this exact thought he just had to the man but from what he knows, he doesn't want to hear the Sin Archbishop of Greed go onto another one of his rants. He just stood tall as he prepared to face off against Regulus.
"Bro, I'll let you handle that creep in green. Let me handle Mr. White on my own." Al says this to his world's Subaru. Subaru heard this which prompted him to immediately respond with:
"Wait, are you sure you want to fight that bastard all on your own?"
Al looked at Subaru, noticing that he was concerned for his safety. He took a moment before looking at Regulus with a confident face being hidden behind his helmet.
"Don't you worry bro, this guy's not that threatening. Even the princess would be able to beat him."
As Al said this, Subaru chuckled at hearing this.
'Priscilla beat Regulus? Nonsense.'
Subaru just nodded his head though he admired how much confidence Al had for the lady he's serving under even with the attitude she had. The older Subaru looked at Al with a shocked expression, not thinking that he would see him again after a very long time.
'Didn't think I would see him again...but how is he here? Is he possibly from my counterpart's world?'
This was a thought on his mind but it was only there briefly as his focus turned back to the fight, noticing an unseen hand heading his way. He swiftly sliced it with his sword before charging in towards Petelguese's position.
Al was also about to move yet he observed the older Subaru, watching how someone who dresses like him manages to dodge invisible attacks before deflecting a few.
'Impressive.'
He nodded at this as he had that thought before turning towards Regulus. The Sin Archbishop of Greed looked at his opponent with disgust.
"An imperfect man, challenging the perfect man. Isn't that a violation of my rights to live? You tend to take my life but for what reason? Perhaps you are jealous of my perfection. Perhaps you think yourself better than me? Perhaps you believe that your rights are more important than mine? P—"
"Man, you really love to hear yourself talk, don't you?" Al spoke out, finally annoyed by Regulus.
'Even the princess when she speaks doesn't sound this arrogant.'
Greed looked at the one armed warrior with an anger, prompting him to say while a strong wind was sent towards Al's direction:
"You should know that it's rude to interrupt someone when they are speaking."
Al quickly jumped out of Regulus's way of attack, avoiding taking any damage. As Al was successful in evading the attack, Regulus noticed this and swiftly went for another attack. Al having somehow known this also jumped out of the way of this attack.
'Is this imperfect creature able to tell when I'm going to attack? How? Someone like him should even have such capabilities! This is a violation of my rights!'
While Regulus continued to attack Al, Subaru looked at the fight between Priscilla's knight and the Sin Archbishop of Greed for a brief moment before turning his attention to Petelguese.
As he turned his attention to the Sin Archbishop of Sloth, Older Subaru was closing in on his target. Felix looked as his world's version of Natsuki Subaru was running into danger, risking his life despite the fact that he's nobody special.
'Subaru-kyun, nyow aren't special! Nyow are just a human, one who hasn't let go of the past...one who...'
Felix couldn't finish his thought. He didn't understand this drive his world's Subaru had for Petelguese.
He hoped that Older Subaru would've realized that killing Petelguese won't bring Rem back. Even if he does succeed in his revenge goal, what happens next? What will he do? That unknown future was something that frightened the cat boy.
Beatrice on the other hand was looking at the fight with a blank expression, seeing the person that she once thought as a candidate to be 'that person' just throwing his life away by running into danger.
As for the other Subaru, she looked at him and saw that he was just standing still, as if he was either analyzing the situation or just watching the fight on the sidelines.
Either way, it shows that he isn't just rushing in but it also leaves her to question whether or not if he's too scared to fight. Regardless of the reason, she still questions how a version of her could choose him over 'that person'.
'What's so special about him, I suppose? Betty hasn't seen anything special enough to choose him over that person...'
This was a question that has been consuming her mind since she learned about the contract between Natsuki Subaru and another version of the Great Spirit Beatrice.
While this was on her mind recently, she turned back towards her world's Natsuki Subaru to see that he managed to reach Petelguese on his own.
Once he was within arm's reach, he attempted to shove his sword into the Sin Archbishop of Sloth's throat, wanting to end his life again even if it's just the body he was killing.
"I'll make sure that this time you stay dead!"
"Ohohoh. Aren't you a diligent one~DESU!"
Petelguese dodged the attack as he smiled sinisterly at his opponent, finding it amusing just how dedicated he was in wanting him dead.
"When we first met in that cave, you were nothing but slothful. You pretended to have your mind broken. You let that girl die. And I had thought you dead...but then we crossed paths again in that forest~DESU! You had grown up with her love still lingering on you...but nothing like the other one!"
"...Shut up!"
Older Subaru continued to swing his sword, attempting to kill Petelguese with each attack, hating how he is blaming him for the death of Rem.
"It's all your fault she's dead! You killed her!"
"Heh...slothful."
Petelguese stood standing with a smile as he was about to get hit by Older Subaru's blade only for one of his unseen hands managing to grab the young man's face.
Older Subaru was caught off guard by this, having been blinded by the rage he had towards the Sin Archbishop.
This left him angry yet stunned, unable to move a muscle. Sloth was ready to kill his opponent yet he wanted to speak with him a little bit, toy with his prey before moving on to his target.
"You are a very mysterious person. How can he be so favored and yet not realize her love? I can't help but think that it was her will that you were once saved in that situation! Is it premature of me to think so? It may be so~DESU!"
"..." The Older Subaru couldn't speak though if he could, he would insult the Sin Archbishop. Petelguese continued:
"You would have been a worthy finger of mine with the amount of love she has for you...but the other is far more worthy~DESU! Now you will meet death!"
"No you don't!"
Petelguese turned towards the voice only to be met with a whip to the face. This attack distracted him long enough for the Older Subaru to gain enough strength to cut himself free from the unseen hand.
"That was too close for comfort...Beako, now!"
"Don't order Betty around, in fact!" Beatrice shouted as she moved her right hand up, preparing a pool of her mana to use against the Sin Archbishop of Sloth. She looked at the two Subarus and Petelguese's direction as she began to say:
"Move or die. El Minya!"
Subaru noticed the purple icicles that were above Beatrice starting to make their way towards them at rapid speed.
"Watch out!"
Subaru shouted this as he quickly shoved his older self out of the way while also managing to jump out of the line of fire.
Once this happened, a barrage of yin magic made its way towards the Sin Archbishop of Sloth's direction. He looked at the loli spirit's attack with interest before biting a couple of his fingers.
As he does this, a couple of unseen hands come out from his back to create a shield to protect him from the yin magic type attack.
As the purple crystals were hitting the unseen hands, they were also crystallizing all around them, revealing the unseen hands to everyone as giant purple hands.
'That should help the others see what we are dealing with.' Subaru thought to himself, being aware that Felix and Beatrice aren't able to see the unseen hands since it's probably only those that are connected with Satella who could make them out with any clarity.
With that in mind, he got up and prepared his whip to attack while Sloth was focused on protecting himself from Beatrice's attack. Older Subaru noticed his counterpart going around Petelguese's defense, prompting him to also do the same.
'If other me sees an opportunity to kill this bastard...I'm sure as hell taking it.'
Once he got back on his feet, he grabbed his sword and started to follow his young self towards Petelguese's blind spot.
The Sin Archbishop of Sloth was so focused on protecting himself from Beatrice's attack that he didn't pay any mind to his back side where he was open for attacks.
This gave both Natsuki Subarus a chance to go around and prepare to attack from behind, seeing that this was the best course of action.
'If we can take him out first, then we can focus our attention on Regulus!'
The two Subarus closed in on Petelguese with Older Subaru being impatient compared to his counterpart, desiring Sloth's complete death since that day.
'I swear Rem, I will avenge you. I will kill him! I Will Kill Him!'
As this desire to get his revenge on Petelguese grew, it made him more desperate to close in on him, prompting him to start running.
"No, wait!" Subaru whispered, not wanting to attract the Sin Archbishop's attention and yet his message didn't reach his counterpart. The Older Subaru's running made noise which caught Sloth's attention.
"Hm?"
Petelguese turned towards his backside to see what was the noise he heard only to notice a blade being swung towards him.
This prompted the Sin Archbishop to create an unseen hand to block off the blade while also moving out of the blade's range.
Older Subaru's blade stopped as it hit Petelguese's unseen hand, angering him as he was extremely close in killing the body once again.
"Damn you!"
"Very slothful of you attacking from the back!"
"...!"
Subaru was very disappointed when he saw this happen, knowing full well they had Petelguese until his counterpart started to rush.
'Damn it! Like we need this situation to get any more difficult than it already was!'
He quickly rushed towards Sloth as well, knowing that his counterpart would need some assistance. Older Subaru used his left prosthetic hand to try and attack the Sin Archbishop the same way as before in their previous match.
The prosthetic bent from the wrist with a roaring explosion, destroying the unseen hand he was dealing with in the process. As the explosion had happened, the sharp knife that was hidden in his prosthetic arm was shot towards Petelguese's direction.
Although last time it worked due to either luck or the Sin Archbishop not being aware of what he was doing, this time Sloth was ready to avoid the attack. As he dodges the attack, he begins mocking Older Subaru.
"Using the same move as before and assuming that you'll hit again is quite arrogant...and slothful."
"Sh-Shut...up!" The Older Subaru said with anger in his eyes, infuriated that he somehow missed. Subaru saw this and quickly moved his whip into attack position, hoping that he could land some kind of hit on the Sin Archbishop regardless of the damage he did.
He prepares to swing his whip weapon only to stop halfway through his attack when he along with Petelguese and his older self notice the unseen hands that were crystalized suddenly break with a couple of purple icicles making their way towards them.
'That's not good...'
"Watch out!"
Subaru shouted as he began to run out of the range of fire of Beatrice's attack. Older Subaru heard his counterpart and prepared to escape the line of fire as well only to suddenly feel something grab his neck.
"Ack!"
Subaru turned back to check on his older self, wanting to make sure that he's behind him only to see that he was being grabbed by one of Petelguese's unseen hands.
'Shit!'
Subaru wanted to assist his older self yet he was forced to retreat due to a few unseen hands targeting him.
While he was dealing with that, Beatrice and Felix were unsure of what was going on due to all the smoke in between them and Petelguese.
Once the smoke cleared away, they saw that the Older Subaru was being held up in the air.
"Subaru-kyun!" Felix shouted with extreme concern while Beatrice looked at the situation with a blank facial expression. Subaru looked at Petelguese with anger, having forgotten just how much of a nuisance he was.
'This isn't good...this isn't good at all! If older me dies, we will get reset. Considering that he's never died since that day...who knows where the checkpoint is located!'
Subaru managed to avoid the two unseen hands thrown towards him by Sloth. Once he saw an opening, he started to run towards the Sin Archbishop of Sloth with his whip prepared and his body and soul strengthened to use Invisible Providence.
'It's up to me to fix up my older self's fuck up.'
Before he could reach Petelguese's range, one of the unseen hands managed to grab his leg which caused him to be held upside down.
"I must capture you. You need to be questioned~DESU!" Petelguese said this directly towards the younger Subaru with a serious voice, finding him dangerous. After he finished speaking towards him, his serious facial expression changed into a more sadistic smile as he looked towards the Older Subaru's direction. "As for you, it's time for you to meet your end! You have impressed me, surviving for many years but your slothfulness has reached its end~DESU!"
"hk!..I-I...won't die...here...I-I'll k-kill you..."
"Hehehehe—"
Petelguese couldn't help but chuckle as he heard this. He wasn't surprised that the older Subaru would say such things, having recalled the words he was shouting in anger twenty years ago when the ordeal had been set to motion.
He prepared his unseen hand to snap the Older Subaru's neck, Felix's concerns grew more. Despite the anger he has towards the Older Subaru for having kept the secret of Crusch, he still does care for him.
Beatrice was also stunned by this situation, seeing that both Natsuki Subarus were not only in danger but one of them was about to die. She doesn't care much for the Older Subaru but she doesn't want anyone to die, causing her to stress out since she doesn't know what she can do to save him.
'Mother...what would you do in this situation...?'
Just as the Older Subaru was about to be killed, a sudden brush of wind passed by both Petelguese and the Older Subaru's location before the unseen hand holding the warrior's throat was destroyed.
"Huh?"
"Eh?!"
The two were surprised by this with Subaru also feeling this breeze of wind before falling to the ground due to the unseen hand that was holding his leg being destroyed.
"What was that?"
"Ara Ara, seems like you both were having fun. Mind if I join in?"
Subaru turned towards the voice's direction to see that the one responsible for freeing not only him but also his older self.
This made him feel conflicted since on one hand he's grateful for this since they were in trouble but on the other hand...it's the same woman that killed his friends and him in multiple loops from his world and from the other worlds.
Rather than thank her for the save or responding to what she had asked, he turned his attention towards Petelguese and his older self, seeing that he gained some distance from the Sin Archbishop. The Older Subaru turned towards his younger self's direction to see that Elsa had finally joined the battle.
'Took her long enough.'
As Older Subaru thought this, his younger self felt that they must retreat from this fight. He turned to see how Al was doing against Regulus, only to see that he was stuck on the defense.
'Even if Elsa helps us, we are still at a disadvantage. Regulus can assist Petelguese in killing us all with ease if he really wanted to...we need to get out of here!'
Subaru turned towards Elsa to ask her reluctantly:
"Can you buy us some time?"
"How long?" Elsa asked with an odd sadistic tone that made Subaru both uncomfortable and immediately regret asking her this question. Despite this, he continued by responding to her question with:
"At least a couple of minutes. Shouldn't be too long."
"Alright."
Elsa smiled as she looked at Petelguese, understanding that she needs to not only keep him occupied for those couple of minutes but also she must be wary. She swiftly charged in at Petelguese's direction, catching the Sin Archbishop's attention.
"Another slothful one."
"Slothful isn't a word I would use on me."
Elsa responded back swiftly as she attempted to end the Sin Archbishop's life in one attack only for Sloth to use the unseen hands to protect himself. The bowel hunter noticed that something was blocking the way, something invisible which prompted her to quickly jump away in order to avoid any of Sloth's invisible attacks. While this was happening, Subaru approached his older self while saying to him:
"We have to go."
"What? No! This is my chance to kill that bastard for good!"
"Not when there's the other Sin Archbishop assisting him! Listen to reason for once dammit and retreat! If you keep this up, you'll get yourself killed and all of this would've been pointless!"
Subaru was beginning to get fed up with this revenge version of him, seeing that it is his blinding rage that was honestly going to get everyone killed.
While he was annoyed at him, he remembered something from the loop that came after Rem was killed by Petelguese in the cave.
He remembered the anger he had towards the Witch cult and how angry he was at everyone who denied him help in saving Emilia.
He recalled what he said to Crusch after she accused him of possibly being a part of the witch cult:
("The Witch cult's coming! They'll slaughter everyone in the village...Kill them. We just have to kill them! All we have to do is kill every single bastard in that cult! That will solve everything! Everything! You get that, right? We can't let those bastards live! I'm going to kill them!" Subaru goes on his knees and puts his head towards the ground. "Please help me!")
Subaru remembers going on that rant all too clearly and remembers why he had failed to get help from Crusch.
'I was being selfish and acted like a damn maniac...all because I wanted that bastard, Petelguese, and his followers to die.' These thoughts reminded him of what the previous version of him had told him back in the more peaceful world regarding how to encounter with the other versions of himself. This prompted him to say to his older self:
"Look, I get it. You want to avenge Rem, the villagers, Emilia-tan, those this bastard had killed but getting yourself killed by throwing yourself at him in hopes of getting a blow in won't solve anything. We need a proper plan, especially now that Regulus has gotten involved."
"..." The Older Subaru stayed silent. This didn't help Subaru since he isn't sure if his words are getting through to his older self. He thought deeply on what could possibly convince himself to listen until he remembered something. Something he hadn't thought about in such a long time:
("Live...Love...You...")
'Rem's...last words...'
He remembered what she wanted him to do in that loop, to live. Although he didn't really listen to her, this version of him did. He looked at his older self with a determined facial expression while asking confidently:
"Don't you think Rem would have wanted you to live?"
"..."
Older Subaru had a blank expression when hearing this, being reminded of the last words he was told by Rem when she was still alive. He turned towards Petelguese's direction only to see that it was the illusion of Rem right in front of him, looking extremely concerned for his well-being.
'...'
"Subaru-kun..."
'...'
"You need to live."
'...'
"Please..." The illusion of Rem says in a tone of voice that reaches the Older Subaru's heart.
'...D-Damn...it...'
Feeling both annoyed and tired from this, he just nodded at the illusion Rem before turning towards his younger self.
"...you win...let's just fucking go..."
Despite the reluctance in the Older Subaru's voice, he started to fall back with Subaru following behind him.
'Okay, now that he's listening to reason, we need a game plan to escape.'
The two regrouped with Felix and Beatrice while Al continued to dodge everything Regulus threw at him. Subaru noticed this and realized that this could be a problem since Regulus won't just allow them to escape so easily.
"Beatrice, how much mana do you have left?" Subaru asked, having an idea on how they could buy themselves time to escape. The Great Spirit Beatrice looked at him with a blank facial expression.
"Enough for one more attack, I suppose."
Hearing this prompted Subaru that there's a small chance of a successful escape.
'Okay, if Beako uses Shamak, it should give us the chance to escape the two bastards' sight.'
Subaru turns towards Al's direction, seeing that it's possible for him to escape if Beatrice's shamak ability reaches the one armed warrior.
"On my signal Beako, use your strongest version of Shamak. That'll be our chance to escape this fight."
"..."
Beatrice kept a blank facial expression, having no comment to what Subaru had told her. Felix was a bit confused on what the younger Subaru was up to, thinking that this is another plan in attempting to kill the two Sin Archbishops.
'What are nyow planning now? To blind them? This is reckless!'
Subaru turned towards Elsa and Petelguese's direction first before initiating the plan of escape, wanting to make sure that Sloth is distracted.
As he turns towards them, he notices that Elsa was managing to somehow dodge each of the unseen hands though they are keeping her away from Petelguese.
'If he notices us trying to escape, he won't hesitate to attack us as well...we will need to act quickly.'
He turned towards Al's direction before approaching him swiftly.
"What are nyow doing?!" Felix shouted as he was dumbfounded by what the younger Subaru was up to, viewing it extremely foolish.
The Older Subaru wasn't sure what his counterpart was up to, but he trusted that he had some kind of plan.
Subaru got close to Al, the one armed warrior noticed him which prompted him to say:
"Stay back bro! Being here is dangerous!"
"I know but right now, we need to fall back."
"Fall back?" Regulus questioned, having heard what Subaru had said. "You think I'll allow you to retreat after being hostile towards me? After violating my rights?! I will not allow this!"
Subaru looked at Regulus as he could feel a powerful surge of wind preparing to be launched towards him. This made him smile as he shouted:
"Beako, now!"
Beatrice was annoyed by Subaru's shout yet she understood that this was the signal.
"Hmph. Ul Shamak."
The moment she said this, absolute darkness covered the entire area which prompted Regulus to stop for a moment, unsure what this move was supposed to do.
Al was stunned for a bit before being grabbed by his shoulder.
"Come on, this is our chance to escape!" Subaru said as he pulled Al towards his direction, seeing this the best chance for them to escape. While this was happening, both Elsa and Petelguese had noticed the darkness as well.
Because Petelguese's attention was turned away, this distraction was good for the bowel hunter since it gave her the opening she needed to escape her current opponent, having found that she was unable to cut open his bowels with that invisible barrier she noticed he seemed to have.
Regulus watched as the darkness was closing in on him yet it did not reach him though barely. He went to touch this darkness, confident that nothing bad would even happen to him.
Once doing this, he immediately realized what the boy in the odd attire and the little disrespectful girl were up to.
"Who said you could leave?" Regulus spoke out in anger.
"You won't be leaving just yet~DESU!"
Sloth and Greed both attacked the darkness that was covering their targets by using their, with Regulus wanting them all to die while Petelguese wanted to capture them due to him having questions, especially towards the young Natsuki Subaru.
As their attacks helped clear the darkness, they saw that Subaru and his group had escaped.
"How dare they escape?! Do they think that I will allow such things to happen?! Do they believe that they can just undermine me by running away?! They will all die for this! Especially that brat with his odd attire. He'll be the first to taste a brutal death."
"We must first question that boy. He's engulfed with her love~DESU! I'm so jealous! Jealous!" Petelguese started to rip his hair out. "He has her love!"
"...you know, for someone as annoying and extremely imperfect as you, you were right about that one. He contains a witch factor, one that shouldn't be with him. Maybe I'll torture him a bit, rip him limb from limb to get some answers on this anomaly. That annoying pest..."
Regulus just started to destroy building after building, hating just how his opponent and Subaru were able to violate his rights without consequences. Petelguese continued to smile as he knew that their target hadn't escaped just yet.
'He's still in the city, attempting to run from us. This is so much fun~DESU!'
-(line)
Subaru, Older Subaru, Felix, and Al start running with everything they got with Beatrice being carried by the Natsuki Subaru of her world. She did not like this but given the fact that everyone was taller than her and could run faster, she reluctantly allowed this.
As they were getting closer to the exit, Subaru turned around to check if they were being followed. As he did this, he started to wonder about something.
'As much as it pains me to even think this...I wonder if that crazy assassin even managed to escape on her own.'
As he was thinking this, he noticed a couple of buildings suddenly explode all in unison with a bunch of bricks and pieces of said buildings being sent all over the area, including towards them.
"Everyone! Watch out!"
Felix, Older Subaru, Beatrice, and Al heard what Subaru had been shouting, prompting them to look up and see a large broken wall heading towards them.
"Shit!"
Older Subaru and Subaru quickly ran towards the right side while the Older Subaru was tightly holding onto Beatrice, not wanting to drop her.
Felix and Al both ran towards the left side, avoiding the large broken wall. As they all avoided this, they all looked behind them to see if there's any more obstacles to avoid.
Once they turned back, they saw a large number of explosions, closing in towards their location. Subaru and his counterpart were the only ones to see what was causing this destruction...Petelguese's unseen hands.
'Shit! This is bad! We need to get the hell out of here!'
Starting to worry, Subaru thought on how they could possibly escape this scenario.
He knows that they are close to escaping the city but that doesn't necessarily mean they are out of the situation just yet.
Patrasche would need to pull the wagon they came in with everything she has in her while trying to outrun two Sin Archbishops.
'This will have to be done in one go...I can't rely on Return by Death...'
Having said this in his thoughts, he started to realize just how important that curse is to him...despite the possible cost of his sanity.
He shook his head in order to return his focus on the problem right in front of him, surviving the rampage of Sloth and Greed. With all the factors for a successful escape, he recalled something.
'Wait...if I recall, he was able to sense my presence because of the witch's scent...is it possible that he's using that to track me down...? No, I haven't died, and the witch's scent shouldn't be strong on me...'
Subaru was hesitant to come to this conclusion, having a feeling that this might be an important factor for a successful escape. He turned forward as he began to tell his counterpart,
"We need to get everyone to the wagon."
"Okay but what about those two bastards following us?"
"...I think I can distract them."
"How?" Older Subaru questioned, distrusting this plan already.
"If I recall, Sloth's after me. So there's no need to worry about getting that bastard's attention. There's no one in all of Lugnica better than me when it comes to being bait for insanely strong enemies!"
"*Sigh* Honestly...how did the Betty of your world choose to make a contract with you, I suppose." Beatrice said as she looked at the boy with disappointment. Older Subaru was also caught off guard by what his younger self had said.
"...yeah, don't just go saying stuff like that, young me."
Subaru couldn't help but chuckle by what his counterpart had said.
'Too late for that, older me.'
Older Subaru looked forward as he figured that whatever his younger self was planning, it was probably their best course of action. He sighed before saying to his young self:
"Just...try not to get yourself killed. I don't know if I can go back to save you if you do die."
"..." Subaru was silent by this, understanding that it's unsure if there's a checkpoint where he would be safe should he end up dying. He nodded at his counterpart while responding with, "I understand. I'll make sure to make it back alive."
The moment he finished speaking, he stopped running as he turned around to confront the two Sin Archbishops on his own. Felix and Al both turned around to see Subaru not following them towards the exit.
"What is he doing?!" Felix shouted with fear in his voice, not wanting anything bad happening to the young man. Al looked at Felix for a moment before looking at Natsuki Subaru, concerned at first for Emilia's knight yet he could see that the boy was looking determined.
'I don't know what you're planning bro and it's risky as hell...but I'll hope that whatever you are planning works.'
The one armed warrior turned towards the other Natsuki Subaru, noticing that he was approaching them. Felix also noticed his Subaru approaching them, prompting him to question in concern:
"What's Subaru-kyun doing?! Is he trying to get himself killed?!"
"I also wonder that, I suppose." Beatrice added, still completely unsure how any version of her would accept a contract with someone as reckless as Natsuki Subaru. The Older Subaru looked at his counterpart for a brief moment before turning towards Felix.
"There's a plan in motion. Follow me."
"What plan?" Felix immediately questioned, thinking that this was somehow Older Subaru's doing.
"Young me knows what he's doing, we need to—"
"No." Felix proclaimed. "I won't be going anywhere with you until you tell us what's the end goal here."
"Are you serious?" Older Subaru said as he set Beatrice down, seeing that he's probably going to end up in an argument with Felix. Once he did this, he continued to speak with his voice starting to show his frustration, "You do realize that we don't have time for this!"
"Really? Why should I trust nyow? Nyow lied to me for years! Nyow only care about killing that witch cultist! Nyow would sacrifice any of us if it means killing that crazy witch cultist! I wouldn't be surprised if nyow convinced Subaru-kyun to be a decoy in order to kill that witch cultist."
Older Subaru looked at Felix with complete anger, disliking how he was speaking to him like he would actually do something that low. Before he could retaliate, Al put his hand on his shoulder, catching Older Subaru's attention. As he turned towards Priscilla's knight, Al spoke calmly towards him:
"Look, I get that you are angry but take a deep breath bro. Acting in anger never solves anything."
Older Subaru gave Al a death stare for a moment before taking a deep breath, managing to calm himself down. Felix crossed his arms and looked at him with disgust. After a few deep breaths, Older Subaru had managed to calm down.
"Okay...I'm calm now."
"Good. Staying calm always helps, bro. Now, you are right that we are wasting time but you have to fill us in on what's going on."
"...okay."
While Older Subaru was explaining what his counterpart was up to, Subaru noticed that Petelguese and Regulus had managed to destroy the last building in their way towards him. He was feeling a lot of pressure and fear, knowing full well what the two are capable of.
Although he only really dealt with Regulus on one loop, he knows full well that he has no actual way of being successful in defeating him; meanwhile he still remembers all the horrible things Petelguese did to Rem, Emilia, Ram, Petra, the people of Arlem village, and to him.
'If this is fate giving me another chance to face these monsters...I have to say, I don't like it.'
Subaru felt that it was already enough facing them once, he didn't really enjoy facing them a second time, especially in this case where they are working together.
'Emilia-tan, Beako...Rem...give me strength.'
As Subaru thought this, he could see that the unseen hands were surrounding him.
"My, looks like we found you~DESU!"
"Looks like you've come to your senses and understood that running is pointless." Regulus said with a smirk. "You are the boy I've heard about from this disgusting creature. Someone with two witch factors, Sloth and Greed even though we also have those witch factors. So, if you value your imperfect life, tell me why you have my witch factor as well?"
Subaru looked at Regulus, the same Sin Archbishop as the one that tried to force Emilia into marrying him, the one that tried to kill her and him. He looked at the two with sheer determination before responding with:
"Why should I?" The exact moment he asked this, he had a cocky facial expression. This angered Greed, viewing this as a disrespect to his rights completely.
"How dare you! You think yourself better than me?! An imperfection?! How much of a scumbag must you be to act so high and mighty. I have been nothing but kind with you people, shown you all proper respect but all I have received was disrespect after disrespect! All you lower scums deserve nothing but death after the countless violations you have committed on my rights—"
"You really like hearing yourself talk, don't you?"
Regulus, Subaru, and Petelguese all three noticed a new voice suddenly speak during Greed's rant.
As they turned towards the direction of the voice, they saw that it was the bowel hunter. She swiftly moved towards Regulus's position as she attempted to slice his stomach area.
Regulus stood still as he felt the bowel hunter's blade on his gut though nothing life threatening happened to him.
Elsa noticed this yet she continued her focus on attacking Petelguese, seeing that there's an opening. Subaru saw what the bowel hunter was trying to do which prompted him to shout:
"Duck!"
"Hm?"
Elsa had heard what Subaru shouted yet it left her confused at first before feeling something trying to attack her head.
This made her realize that Subaru had noticed something she couldn't, prompting her to listen to the boy.
All of this was processed in just one second, which was what saved her life in that moment.
She ducked and just barely avoided an attack from Petelguese with some of her hair being pulled off of her head. She smiled as the thirst of battle was getting to her along with her desire to see their bowels come out of their guts.
"Ara Ara, this is so much fun!"
"Watch out! On your left!" Subaru shouted reluctantly, not really wanting to help the bowel hunter after all the shit she put him through in his world.
The only real reason he is helping her is because his older counterpart decided to add her to the team.
Elsa caught on what Subaru had said, using this to her advantage.
Regulus looked at Subaru for a moment, ready to kill him first yet his mind was focused on Elsa, seeing her attacking him out of the blue as a violation of his rights to live.
As he prepared to kill the bowel hunter, Subaru managed to guide her towards Sloth's location.
This gave Elsa the chance to land a blow on the Sin Archbishop of Sloth. As she managed to stab Sloth in the chest area, Regulus started to create a powerful wind around him while saying:
"It's extremely rude to interrupt someone when they are speaking, especially when that interruption is an assassination attempt!"
"Elsa! Watch out!"
The bowel hunter sensed that the Sin Archbishop of Greed's attack was more than enough to kill her, prompting her to swiftly jump away from Petelguese's position to avoid the attack.
As Regulus threw his attack, Petelguese was completely eviscerated. Subaru was shocked by this while Elsa found this interesting.
'...that was...unexpected...'
Subaru wasn't really expecting Regulus to just kill his own ally...then again, the witch cultists are nothing but nutjobs and knowing Petelgeuse, this was a setback of only several minutes at most. Elsa looks behind Subaru and sees that the others are about to escape the city.
Figuring that Regulus won't be easy to kill at this moment, she swiftly approached Subaru's position with her inhuman speeds in order to grab him and carry him towards the wagon that Patrasche was pulling.
Older Subaru popped out of the wagon to look at the situation, noticing that it's just Regulus standing there, looking like he's about to attack Elsa and his counterpart.
'Shit! Something needs to be done!'
Before he could act, Beatrice was looking as well and quickly moved her right arm up towards the sky while saying:
"Minya!"
A couple of crystalized purple mana were created above the wagon before being sent towards Regulus's location.
The Sin Archbishop of Greed was about to eliminate both Elsa Granhiert and Natsuki Subaru only for Beatrice's attack to land on him, pushing him into a wall but doing no serious harm to him.
This bought Elsa time to get herself and Subaru into the wagon. Older Subaru helped the two get in before turning towards Patrasche's direction.
"Patrasche! Get us out of here and fast!"
Patrasche looked at Older Subaru for a moment before using all of her strength to pull the wagon out of the city and towards the forest.
Regulus gets up from Beatrice's attack and prepares to destroy the wagon along with the city only to suddenly be grabbed by an invisible force.
"Wha—?!"
He was slammed to the ground with a witch cultist approaching him. Regulus recovered a few seconds after being slammed, extremely angry by the actions done to him.
"My, you forced me to use one of my fingers ~DESU!"
"You dare attack me as well, knowing full well that our target is escaping! You really are such a disgusting creature. I wonder why Pandora-sama even spared you when all you are is a liability to the Witch cult."
"I follow the witch's love! That's why I'm still in the seat of Sloth!"
The two Sin Archbishops looked at each other with an intense aura around them, the two preparing to face each other only for Regulus to just sigh as he looked at the direction of where Natsuki Subaru and the others had left.
"That boy is a problem. He should be dealt with."
"We should figure out what he knows of his witch factors. Knowing that might help us get closer to her~DESU!"
"Tsk. You are such a nuisance. I should put you out of your misery, but you'll just jump onto the next body. You are nothing more than a waste of time and space. I shall follow them towards whatever destination they believe will protect them."
"There's no need for such things." Petelguese said in a slightly serious tone, catching Regulus off guard since it's rare to hear Sloth speak in a serious and non-crazy manner.
Although he was surprised, it only lasted a few seconds before being annoyed by Sloth's presence.
"What are you babbling about, you complete imperfect creature? Do you know something that I, Regulus Corneas, don't know?"
Petelguese in one of his fingers stood still for a moment as he heard what Regulus was saying before having his sinister smile.
"There's one of them, the older one with the witch's scent, having a desire to kill me. That desire will lead them back to us ~DESU!"
As Sloth said this, he thought back on the day of the ordeal, how he had left Natsuki Subaru in that cave to die.
The fact that he had survived surprises him and the many times he's close to death, something seems to keep him alive.
'This must be a test. Yes. My love! She must be testing my resolve! Yes! Yes! Yes! That's why the boy survived! He's my trial to receiving her love ~DESU!'
Thinking about this, the finger started to laugh menacingly and manically. Regulus just ignored him and started to walk deeper into the city, destroying everything on his path as he wanted to clear his mind.
As he walked on his own, he thought back on the disrespect he got from Beatrice, Felix, and the young Natsuki Subaru.
All three of them having talked down on him, especially Natsuki Subaru, the boy with another set of witch factors that are already taken.
Remembering all of the disrespect he was getting from him specifically infuriated him enough that he stomped his foot onto the ground, causing half the city to explode.
'So you believe yourself better than me because you carry two witch factors?! Is that why you undermine, disrespect, violate my rights to speak? My rights to live?! You dare think yourself better than perfection?! Doesn't matter who you are, I, Regulus Corneas, shall make sure your death be painful.'