Re:Zero Saving Life In Another World From Zero

by Jude Warble

We can never predict the future, but with one's actions, the future can be controlled, and a new universe is created. When 2 twin siblings, drowning in despair, and an entity, shot by betrayal, are teleported to another world, their actions and unpredictability will decide the future of All Creation. Main pairings Subaru x Emilia. Shadow x Rem. Other pairings will appear later.

9. Humiliation Edge To Salvation Bridge

Hello. This is your pal, Jude Warble.

And with that out of the way, please enjoy this fanfic, and as always, stay breezy!

---

Watergate City of Pristella. Daytime

"...Huh...So..You looped again...How many loops that was? 3?"

Shadow sighed for what appeared to be the 3rd time.

He released a sigh every four days in each reset, making it a total of 3 sighs.

After the argument with Emilia, Shadow left the country of Lugunica completely, and reached the Watergate City of Pristella within seconds. He wanted to go to a place to clear his mind off things, but the amounts of assaults in the form of the seemingly endless four-day loop made Shadow's mind at extreme unease, disappointment and...Melancholy.

"Ugh...I feel like shit...Huh...Why does this feel like Deja Vu?" Shadow asked no one in particular. He then turned his head to the side to see a rocking boat that had some kids on it. The boat felt like it will fall at any moment.

"Oh great..." Shadow muttered before flickering away, teleporting to the boat. The kids on the boat were quite surprised and in awe upon seeing Shadow suddenly appear out of nowhere, and they were in even more awe when they saw the black-haired Highest catch the boat with one hand, before lifting it off the sea, and they were in even more and more awe when they saw that Shadow was literally standing on the surface of water.

Shadow then flickered once again with the boat in one hand, teleporting to the shore, and gently placed the boat in front of the bridge leading to the port.

"Big bro! That was amazing!" One of the kids said with stars in his eyes while looking at Shadow.

"You were super awesome! How did you do that?!" Another kid exclaimed with excitement, yet Shadow just blinked at their excitement. He then raised his eyebrows in slight surprise upon seeing a kid that appeared to remind him of a rather familiar existence.

It was a child with golden hair and a charming face, with jade green colored eyes and short blonde hair, accompanied with a light blue sailor outfit.

"That kid looks a lot like Garfiel..." Shadow thought before approaching the kid, who slightly recoiled from Shadow's cold expression.

"...Hey kid...Can you tell me what's your name?" Shadow calmly asked, having seen that the kid seemed a little afraid. The kid slightly trembled, with his other friends having scrambled away when they saw him trembling in fear, also growing scared of Shadow, leaving him alone. Shadow slightly gasped upon seeing the comical face of the kid with his lips quivering and tears beginning to form on the corners of his eyes.

Acting fast, Shadow reached into his pocket and took out a piece of wrapped hard candy, presenting it to the kid. The kid blinked at this, before slowly extending his hand to take the candy. He then looked at Shadow, who nodded at him to eat the piece of hardened sugar, promoting the kid to unwrap the candy and pop it into his mouth, and afterwards, the kid's eyes suddenly widened upon feeling the satisfying taste of sugar spreading into his mouth.

"Uncle! It's delicious! Thank you!" The kid finally talked, promoting Shadow to blink at him, before opening his mouth to speak again.

"...Alright. Can you tell me your name?" Shadow repeated his question, causing the kid to smile at him.

"My name is Fred. Fred Thompson" The kid answered with a cute smile.

"...I see" Shadow said, before standing up from his kneeling position that he took to reach the short height of Fred.

"Fred, where are your parents? Are you lost?" He asked.

"Mommy and Onee-chan were with me, but I got lost in the crowd" Fred said with a slightly sad expression, causing Shadow to stare at him.

"...Do you want me to help you find them?" Shadow asked, causing the kid to raise his head to stare at him, before nodding with a cute beaming smile.

"Yes! Mister! Thank you, Mister Black Angel!" Fred exclaimed happily, to which Shadow blinked at the nickname.

"Black...Angel..." Shadow repeated the name the kid had given him.

"Hey! Leave my little brother!"

"?!"

Just then, the sound of a little girl rang into Shadow's ears, causing him to look in front of him, and the person rather amused him even more.

It was a little girl with jade-colored eyes, golden long hair and a female sailor outfit similar to Fred, but without the beret.

"...Ugh...Garfiel and Frederica are haunting me even more..." Shadow muttered.

"Hey! Weird Scary Guy! What d'ya think your doin' to ma' lil' brother?!" The little girl yelled at Shadow, not even caring that he might cut her down on the spot.

However, Shadow was a more mature person, and he knew not to make a mess because of a little girl standing on his nerves.

Releasing a heavy sigh, Shadow was about to talk when suddenly...

"Excuse me"

"?!"

Another third figure entered the scene, and this time, Shadow's eyes widened in shock.

This time, instead of another small kid, it was an adult, but not any adult. It was a blonde woman with jade-colored eyes, the same as the two kids, but she was wearing a light fabric brown trench coat, a white plain shirt underneath, a blue Pyroxene crystal hanging from her neck, and a brown long skirt with dark brown lines on its front, with her blonde hair worn in a ponytail.

Shadow's shock was not from the woman's appearance, but how she was similar to the same descriptions of the person that Ryuzu Shima told him regarding the most luckless person anyone would meet in this world.

"...Reisha...Tinsel...?" Shadow whispered.

"Hmm? I'm sorry, but I didn't hear you, young sir" The woman said with a smile as she was hugging Fred with one arm.

"Mommy! Mommy! This Mister is so powerful and amazing!" Fred exclaimed happily.

"Don't get near him, Fred! He looks dangerous!" The girl called to Fred, making Shadow deduce that Fred is this girl's little brother.

"But Rafiel-neesama! This Mister helped me! Mister Black Angel also gave me candy! He's so strong and kind! He lifted a boat with only one hand and placed it on the deck in a blink of an eye!" Fred exclaimed, defending Shadow, who chuckled at the nickname.

"Oh...I see. Thank you for helping my son, mister..." The woman thanked Shadow, who blinked upon realizing that she trailed in her speech because she didn't know his name.

"I'm sorry. Where are my manners? My name is...Sol Badguy. Pleasure is all mine" Shadow introduced himself with another different name.

"You look like a bad guy! Just like your name!" Rafiel kept on insulting Shadow, much to his silent, expressionless chagrin.

"I'm sorry"

"?!"

Another voice entered the scene, and Shadow knew that it would make it even more bizarre.

This time, it was of a male, and upon closer inspection, and looking at his handsome, yet chubby figure, with chique clothes, short black hair and mustache, Shadow could say that he was an important figure.

"I'm sorry. It seems that my children had made you a lot of trouble, young man. Me and their mother were looking for our son and you seemed to have helped us. As the Metropolitan Director of Pristella, you have my utmost gratitude" The gentleman said with a graceful bow to Shadow.

"The Director of the Watergate City...The you must be Garek Thompson" Shadow said.

"Indeed. And this is my wife, Reala Thompson, and my two children, Rafiel and Fred Thompson" Garek introduced his entire family to Shadow, whose eyebrows were raised in slight surprise, before he sighed, and his cold look returned.

"...I see. Sorry for wasting your time, then" Shadow said before spinning on his heel and preparing to walk away, only for Garek to walk in front of him, blocking his path.

"Pardon me, Sol-san, but I would love to know why you looked at my wife as if she was a rather familiar person. Care to answer that for me?" Garek asked, but Shadow saw that his tone was not intimidating, but more like...Pleading.

"...She looks like a rather familiar person to me" Shadow just answered with that, but his confusion grew even more when Garek suddenly placed both of his hands on Shadow's shoulders.

"Do you know anything about my wife?" He asked, causing Shadow to blink at this.

"...What do you mean?" He asked.

"My wife...I met her during a coincidence" Garek answered.

"What?" Shadow asked, suddenly feeling that dots are starting to connect.

"I was a merchant back then, and I happened to stumble upon a devastated cart that got hit by a landslide, and she was the sole survivor of this accident, but she was barely alive. I managed to save her, but she suffered from amnesia. So by time, I helped her to recover, and soon we fell in love with each other, and I gave her the name of Reala, on the same name as that beautiful flower, because she didn't remember even her name, and we ended up having a family as you can see" Garek explained, and with each word coming out of his mouth, Shadow's eyes widened even more, and after the explanation was done, Shadow looked at Reala...Or upon knowing the full story, he should call her Reisha, and as he looked at the woman, he saw that she was smiling gently while wrapping both of her arms around her small offsprings.

Shadow averted his eyes from the scene, shutting his eyes close and gritting his teeth. He was torn between telling them the truth and tearing away the only peace that Reisha Tinsel was living now, and clamping his mouth shut, resulting in Garfiel and Frederica continuing to live in their inner misery and despair.

Shadow understood the pain of both of those two, and while he was annoyed of Garfiel's short temper, he knew that it was because of his past and childhood trauma, and that if Garfiel knew that his mother was alive, maybe...Just maybe...

"..."

...But still...What if she can't take the truth?

What if she leaves the family that she created here? What if she leaves both her new children and her loving and caring husband for her other children? Who was Shadow to tear apart this blissful peace? Who was Shadow to tear apart Reisha Tinsel's happy life? Who was Shadow to bring back Reisha Tinsel's luckless streak of mercilessness, despair and suffering?

"Please...Your face says that you know something, Sol-san. If you know anything, then please...Tell me. I want to help my wife" Garek pleaded with Shadow, causing the dreadful and suffocating feeling of guilt to increase inside of Shadow's heart.

"Shadow-kun!"

"?!"

He then immediately turned to the source of the familiar, witnessing the girl that promised to stay by his side no matter what.

"...Rem?"

---

2 loops, or 8 days ago

"Master? Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Don't worry about me, Shaula, Beako"

"...Don't hide anything on us, Subaru. Your eyes have somewhat changed in an instant, in fact. Also, the miasma around you has thickened, I suppose"

Subaru was walking in the halls of the Karsten Mansion alongside Shaula and Beatrice, who were worried sick about him.

And they were right, considering the fact that Subaru had a really scary face that felt as if he had seen the grim reaper and looked him dead in the eye, yet they were unable to know the raging mess inside his mind.

"...Damn useless Puck! He couldn't protect Emilia and the others from the Witch Cult attack! Not to mention that Sakura never told us that one of the Gluttonies would attack the village and the mansion...This means that there's an attack from two sides: The White Whale, alongside Regulus and Ley from a side...And Roy from the other side...Knowing that, the top priority comes to the territory inside the Capital, namely Roy. The attack on the village and the mansion was about half a day before I got there, as well as early from the time limit that Regulus and Ley would attack in the Lifaus Highway by one day...Working backwards, that would mean that the time limit before the attack on the village and the mansion would be three...No...two and a half days...When considering the time travel from the Capital, that would be two usable days, meaning that I only have twelve hours before the Witch Cult slaughters the entire village and the residents of the mansion...Damnit! Somehow...I have to bolster our combat strength in that time..."

The raging bundle that was Subaru's brain was calculating the mess that they have become in, trying to get anything straight. He already knew that had so much short time. Not only that he was half a day away from Roy's rampage and Puck's destructive uselessness, but he also had to deal with Regulus, Ley and the White Whale right after dealing with Roy. It was a complete mess, but Subaru was determined to see it through.

Exiting the mansion, Subaru saw Wilhelm talking to a rather peculiar gentleman with blonde hair and blonde beard, wearing a red, good quality suit and white gloves.

"Russell-dono, did your meeting with Crusch-sama go well?" Wilhelm asked the blonde gentleman.

"Sadly no. Crusch-sama is most stern. There has been much up to now, so swaying her will not be easy" Russell said before noticing the arrival of Subaru, alongside both Shaula and Beatrice. And even from a distance, Subaru could swear that for an instant, he saw a dark smile forming on Russell's face, before it was replaced by a calm demeanor.

"My My. What a rare sight" Russell said, causing Subaru to raise an eyebrow at this, before Russell bowed to him.

"Oh. Pardon me. I am Russell Fellow, treasurer of the Capital's Merchants' Guild. A pleasure to meet your acquaintance...Sir Subaru Natsuki" Russell elegantly introduced himself and Subaru was slightly annoyed by the tone that the word 'Sir' was blurted out of Russell's mouth, yet paid it no mind, as what's coming next is more important.

A few minutes later, and Russell departed from the mansion, leaving Subaru, Shaula, Beatrice and Wilhelm standing in front of the mansion.

"...Hey, Wilhelm, who was that?" Subaru asked Wilhelm.

"Russell Fellow, a shrewd financer, both legitimate and otherwise" Wilhelm answered, before changing the subject.

"Incidentally, Subaru-dono, what happened that made you faint after our spar?" He asked, causing Subaru to turn his head slightly towards Wilhelm, staring at him with the corner of his eye.

"You wear the visage of a man haunted by an ordeal" Wilhelm said, which in turn caused Subaru to stare silently at him for a few seconds, and for Shaula and Beatrice to wear worried looks on their faces. Subaru then turned his face to where Russell was originally standing.

"...Gonna kick me out, then?" Subaru simply asked.

"No. I actually prefer you even more compared to how you were a short time ago" Wilhelm answered, narrowing his eyes at Subaru.

"I'm gonna go to the Capital for something important. I'll be back shortly since there is something that I want to say to Crusch" Subaru said.

"Very well, Subaru-dono, but please do return quickly, since Crusch-sama is going to an important endeavor" Wilhelm said, grabbing Subaru's attention.

"What endeavor?" He asked.

"The Crusch Camp shall depart to the Lifaus Highway to slay the White Whale" Wilhelm answered, which in turn caused Subaru's eyes to narrow while staring at Wilhelm, before he sighed and started walking away.

"...Very well. I'll make sure to return as quick as possible" He said before, he, Shaula and Beatrice departed.

---

An hour later. The Royal Capital of Lugunica. Barielle Mansion

"Okay. You can come in, but Princess said that she'll only meet you, bro. The two young ladies will be escorted to the guest room"

"I feel really nervous leaving the both of them with you..."

"Don't worry. I'll be standing in front of Princess' room"

An hour later, Subaru, Shaula and Beatrice reached the Priscilla Mansion, being the first thing that Subaru thought of, considering the fact that Al was also an otherworlder just like him and Shadow, albeit he was older than both of them in his stay, having stayed in this world for twenty years.

"I'll leave escorting the young ladies to Schult" Al said, looking at the little boy behind him.

"Yes. Please leave it to me" Schult said.

A few minutes later, Subaru was in the presence of Priscilla, who was sitting on a chair with her legs crossed together, dressing in what appeared to be a nightgown.

"You asked for my audience. What might be the case, commoner?" Priscilla asked.

"The Witch Cult is going to attack the Irlam Village and the mansion. I need your help" Subaru said calmly, which caused an amused grin to appear on Priscilla's lips.

"The Witch Cult, is it?" Priscilla mused, and this time, Subaru's dam of patience that was already too thin came crumbling down.

"Yes! If we don't stop them, it won't end with just Emilia! Please! Lend me your strength to defeat them! We don't have much time!" Subaru yelled, to which Priscilla giggled at his outburst.

"Hahahahahaha! Amusing! You are most amusing! Your farce is a masterpiece representing the pinnacle of art!" She exclaimed, causing Subaru to grit his teeth.

"I ain't lying! What's so funny?!" Subaru yelled his question.

"Shamelessness is good, but you have thought far too little. Aiding the enemy to help your own camp when it falls into crisis...You are hopeless. Death would be far more preferable" Priscilla said before standing up from her seat and approached Subaru. She then wiped out her fan from between her breasts, before swinging it at Subaru's neck.

"Indeed...It would be better if I severed your head myself" Priscilla said, but Subaru didn't even show a shred of fear or hesitation, staring at Priscilla dead in the eye, even when she was that close to forcing him to loop again. This caused Priscilla to narrow her eyes at the white-haired boy before she continued her speech.

"You could not even see it? A fool. A dullard at that. Unsalvageable. However, I do compliment your loyalty to your master, in spite of all the terrible treatment that you have received from her. Thus..." She trailed in her speech as she retrieved her fan away from Subaru's neck.

"...I shall grant you an opportunity" She said.

"What?" Subaru asked, before he was smacked by Priscilla on the forehead, knocking him down to his butt.

"A 'chance' in other parlance" She said, before taking off one of her sandals and presented her bare foot to Subaru, who was still seated on the floor.

"Lick" She ordered.

"...Huh?" Subaru asked in both shock and confusion.

"Crawl on the floor, chew on your humiliation, and like a pathetic stray dog...Lick the foot of mineself...Like an infant sucking on its mother's milk. Do this, and mineself shall consider your proposal" Priscilla said, and all the while, Subaru was looking at her in shock and disbelief. His eyes then got shadowed by his hair and his mouth formed into a scowl.

"If you opt not to, so be it. If your meager Pride comes first, abandon your master and go. Either shall provide mineself amusement" She said, and at that time, Subaru's scowl transformed into his mouth flashing his gritted teeth, before he stood up and made his way silently to the door.

"Where are you going?" Priscilla asked, causing Subaru to stop midway, but he didn't turn around to face her.

"...You know what...Forget this shit. I didn't come here to be humiliated. I would rather die and see everyone around me die on being humiliated and treated like a pig. People aren't toys that you can do whatever you want to them, and let me tell you this..." And as he trailed in his speech, Subaru turned around to face Priscilla, looking at her with a rather angry look.

"...You will NEVER win this farce of an election. And if you do, you will be the one to bring the downfall of this country. Mark my words, Priscilla" Subaru said in a calm, yet angry tone before he marched outside the room, leaving Priscilla alone, where said woman opened her fan and placed it in front of her face, narrowing her eyes at the spot where Subaru was standing.

"...Most amusing indeed..." She muttered.

---

A few minutes later

"What happened there, bro? Did it work out?"

"Nah...Sorry if we wasted your time, Al"

Subaru was talking to Al, with Beatrice and Shaula standing by his side.

"It's a shame, bro. I'm the one that's sorry that we can't give you any help" Al said rubbing the back of his helmeted head.

"No. It's okay. All's fine" Subaru said.

"Hey, send my regards to Shadow and that maid girl that's always following him. Ram was her name, right? Just send them my regards and tell them to take care of my bro here" Al said as he was about to walk away, but...

"You mean Rem, in fact. She's the one stalking Shadow, I suppose" Beatrice said, causing Al to stop in his tracks and turn around to face Beatrice.

"...Rem? Don't be silly. Her name's Ram, right?" Al asked.

"Blueberry's name is Rem, and Raspberry's name is Ram! Raspberry is Blueberry's older twin sister! Yup~!" Shaula exclaimed.

"Uhh...Might be a weird thing to ask, but Rem's older sister...Is she still alive?" Al asked.

"She's alive as she should be, I suppose" Beatrice answered, and all of a sudden, a murderous aura flared around Al, causing everyone to grow tense, and for Shaula and Beatrice to stand in front of Subaru protectively.

"Hey...This isn't...Funny..." He muttered, causing the trio in front of him to prepare themselves for a fight. However a few seconds later, the murderous aura faded and Al released a breath he didn't know that he was holding.

"...Relax. I'm not doing anything. So go on. I think you can tell from just now, but I'm not in the best of moods" Al said.

"Y-Yeah...See ya later, Al" Subaru muttered before he, Shaula and Beatrice walked away, and all the while, Al was looking at them.

"So that's what that was...Makes me wanna puke..."

---

A few minutes later. The streets of the Capital

"That damned shitty arrogant woman!"

"Master is saying the 'F' word! Yup~!"

"Subaru, you should calm down, I suppose"

Stomping on the streets angrily, Subaru cursed Priscilla, while Shaula and Beatrice were trying their best to calm him down.

Their efforts paid to fruition, as Subaru scratched the back of his head and took deep breaths, releasing them slowly to calm his nerves down.

"Yeah. You're right. No need to think of past scenes. Alright then. Shaula, Beako, you two go to Crusch and tell her about the situation and ask her for help. I'll look for a Dragon Carriage that we can rent" Subaru ordered, causing the two females to nod.

"Understood, I suppose" Beatrice said.

"Alright, Master! It's time to turn on the engine! Yup~!" Shaula exclaimed, before she yanked the small Beatrice off the ground and hoisted her under her arm, and then she took off to the direction of the Karsten Mansion, leaving Subaru, who was sweatdropping.

"Jeez...How the hell does she know those words?" Subaru muttered before sighing, shaking off these unimportant thoughts off his head and trying to think of another solution to this deadly riddle.

"*Sniff*, *Sniff*. *Sniff*, *Sniff*. Onii-san, you seem in pain!"

"?!"

Just then, Subaru turned around to see a small Demi-Beast Human. His first impression of her was 'Cute'.

She was around 1.35 m in height, making her slightly taller than Beatrice. She had aqua green eyes and long orange hair which she braided and tied into two tails. She had orange cat ears along with a tail and wore a white robe with a hoodie.

"Oh...You're Mimi...One of Anastasia's Camp Members" Subaru muttered out the identity of the small Demi-Human in front of him.

"You alright, Onii-san? You smell of blood, not just from the mouth. Is that a nosebleed?" She literally bombarded Subaru with lots of words, causing the Human to sweatdrop at her rather hyperactive antics.

"Mimi. Don't stray too far"

"?!"

And just like that, another familiar voice entered the scene.

"Anastasia...Hoshin" Subaru muttered, to which Anastasia blinked at him, before she flashed her signature smile.

"Oh! Natsuki-kun! What an unexpected encounter!" Anastasia exclaimed happily.

---

15 minutes later

"Thanks for the food!"

"Natsuki-kun, you should eat to your heart's content, y'know"

"If I'm gonna eat, it'll be with my girl and my friends. Now, about the Dragon Carriage"

Around quarter an hour after their encounter, Subaru, Anastasia and Mimi were seated in a restaurant, and while Mimi was cutely and happily munching on her burger, Subaru was talking to Anastasia regarding the Dragon Carriage that will make him depart to the Margrave Mathers Mansion, and he thought that he might as well ask for Anastasia's help against the Witch Cult.

"Right t' the point with ya. Ya won' please the other party by prioritizin' only what you want. A basic of negotiations is t' get into the other party's good graces. You're not very good at that, Natsuki-kun" Anastasia said to Subaru, who was pretty much amused from her Kansai dialect.

He really needed to visit Kararagi when all of this is over.

"This ain't a joke. I'm really in a bind. I wanna get out of the Capital today if I can" Subaru said.

"An emotional plea is a bad plan against someone like me, but...I recognize your efforts" She said before taking out a paper and a feather pen, writing something on it, before resting the now folded paper underneath her hands.

"It's tough finding a Dragon Carriage right now. Someone's buyin' them left an' right. I've writtin' a shop that should still have one here with my signature. That'll make it easy for ya" She said, not taking her hands off the paper, causing Subaru to sweatdrop at this.

"...Don't toy with me" He said.

"Well, just handin' it t'ya for free is no fun. Why don' we talk about things for a while?" Anastasia requested.

"Talking with a guy like me won't get you much" Subaru bluntly rejected.

"There's nothin' meaningless in this whole world. Y' never know what inspiration you might get from someone" Anastasia said, causing Subaru to narrow his eyes at her, before sighing out.

"Come to think of it, lots of people are gathering in the Capital. The atmosphere has changed from before" Subaru said.

"Oh? You noticed, Natsuki-kun?" Anastasia asked.

"Yeah. There's definitely hostility in the air from the Royal Selection" Subaru answered, causing Anastasia to nod.

"Yes. When those at the top move, the people move, when the people move, things move. The prices of various goods are in a flux, but metalware products have turned very lucrative. Weapons like swords and spears are being gathered from outside" Anastasia said.

"Iron and weapons...Don't tell me that someone is trying to start a war" Subaru said, with the thought of Wilhelm telling him about Crusch's endeavor against the White Whale coming into his mind.

"The goal might be financial. Creating and leading a boom would bring plenty of fame" Anastasia said.

"It sounds like you know who's hoarding iron" Subaru said, having finally realized what Anastasia was going for through her talk with him.

"Yes. It's someone you know. Duchess Crusch Karsten" Anastasia answered, causing Subaru's eyes to widen dangerously at Anastasia, having connected the dots and this made him completely furious, which in turn caused him to immediately stand up from his seat, startling both Anastasia and Mimi, as they saw his lips forming into a scowl and his eyes were shadowed by his hair.

"Natsuki-kun?" Anastasia called for the white-haired boy, who then glared at her.

"You're...Trying to set me up, aren't you?" Subaru asked, even though he knew the answer clearly. And this caused Anastasia's smile to widen.

"My My, Natsuki-kun. To think that you're that smart" Anastasia said, having realized that she was busted. It was then when Mimi pulled out a giant wooden staff and pointed it at Subaru, who looked impassively at the cat Demi-Human.

"Hey, Onii-san. No getting closer to the lady. Mimi's super strong, okay?" Mimi asked cutely, but Subaru knew that she was trying to threaten him, and even then, he didn't feel threatened. Subaru was already stronger than Mimi anyways, so she didn't faze him.

But it seems that the other side didn't know that.

"Thank you, Mimi, but it's alright. Natsuki-kun can't do anythin' t' me. It's because you demand and demand, yet you never give anything in return" Anastasia said while holding the paper that held the Dragon Carriage information in her hand.

"..." Subaru didn't say anything. He just looked around him, only to see people dressed in similar ropes as Mimi sitting around them. This caused him to place his hand into his pocket, and take out Dark Elf, promoting Mimi to tighten her grasp on her staff.

"Bum Rush"

"?!"

And just then, Subaru swung Dark Elf horizontally, causing an arc to appear in front of him, and at first nothing happened, but then suddenly...

"...Huh?"

Anastasia's smile faded instantly upon seeing the paper in her hand getting shredded to dozens of pieces, and the next thing that happened was Mimi' staff being cut like onion rings as well.

However what came next shocked Anastasia even more.

The heads of her people that were from the Iron Fang were sent flying, dancing in the air as fountains of blood sprayed from their necks, where their heads originally was, before Anastasia witnessed in shock as all of their heads were rolling in the floor. She then saw as Subaru hit Mimi on the back of her head with the pummel of his dagger, knocking her unconscious.

"...A kid like her shouldn't see something like that" Subaru said before swinging Dark Elf at his side, swiftly sliding all the blood on the blade of his wicked dagger away, before placing it into his pocket once again.

"Alright. Time to leave" He said before passing Anastasia and she fell directly to her knees from the shock, and before he left, Subaru turned to her and spoke.

"By the way, I may suck in negotiations, but let me tell you this...At least I don't trick people unnecessarily" He said, before departing from the restaurant, leaving the still shocked Anastasia and the restaurant owner, who fainted from this bloody spectacle.

---

An hour later

"Shit! I've already wasted an entire two hours! Curse both of you, Priscilla and Anastasia!"

Stomping his way towards the Karsten Mansion, Subaru cursed his rotten luck as he already failed to convince two of the Royal Selection Candidates to help him, and his nearest bet to shorten time was to go to Crusch to ask for help, as he also remembers leaving both of Shaula and Beatrice to take care of that. And with that in mind, he headed towards the mansion.

However, upon entering the mansion's gates, Subaru suddenly felt a shiver run down his spine. It was the same shiver that he got whenever he felt the killing presence of Mabeasts that he used to train in the Augria Sand Dunes, a sixth sense that he developed as a result of a year worth of relentless training in a Mabeast-infested desert.

"What the...? Why is it so quiet and calm here?" Subaru asked narrowing his eyes as he neared the doors of the mansion, and as he was about to knock...

"Ah...Hah...Ngh..."

"W-What the...? Are those...Moans...?"

Subaru suddenly felt cold sweat run down his entire body, but even then, he made sure to not make a sound, and upon closer inspection, he saw that the doors were actually opened, and this confirmed his susepctions.

Crusch, and the other residents of this mansion, were under attack.

Entering slowly, Subaru gulped the lump forming in his throat as he advanced inside the mansion, and upon entering, he was greeted with a rather horrid site.

"What...Is that...?"

Subaru had to place his hand on his mouth to prevent himself from puking as right in front of him was not people getting killed, it was tens of maids lying on the ground with their clothes torn to shreds, with their bodies twitching uncontrollably, their eyes rolling up to the back of their heads, their tongues extended out of their mouths with ragged breaths coming in and out, and their bodies covered by a rather sticky white liquid that Subaru had a vague understanding of what it was.

"What the hell...? It stinks here...Who the fuck could do such a thing?" Subaru muttered as he suddenly heard the same sounds of moaning, which promoted him to rush towards the source of the voice, but he made sure to be as calm as possible. He kept on ascending to the second floor of the mansion, having realized that the voice was coming from that floor. Subaru felt his heart pounding even faster, feeling a rather dreadful feeling rising inside of him. It didn't take long as its beginning was in the scene that he saw upon reaching the hallway of the second floor.

Subaru's face grew pale as right in front of him were the two people that he saw that they didn't harm him in any way, completely covered in their own blood, and crucified with sword-sized, needle-shaped spikes, where each one of the two individuals had an additional spike stabbed into their hearts.

"Felix...Wilhelm..." He muttered their names with his eyes widened in shock and disbelief. Subaru couldn't do anything other than closing their opened eyes that were devoid of life, before walking towards the source of the moaning, and the voice led him to Crusch's personal office room. He then suddenly felt his connection with Beatrice being severed, as if something was cut from him, promoting him to speed up his movement until he reached Crusch's office room, and what Subaru witnessed made his eyes widen in shock and disgust.

Right in front of him was a plethora of dark red tentacles, filling more than half of the room. However, that wasn't what made Subaru fall to his knees.

It was the scene in front of him.

Shaula was in front of the lump of tentacles, lying face-first on the ground, her hair that was tied into a ponytail was completely unhooked, causing it to freely rest and scatter on the ground, and as she was lying emotionlessly on the floor, a puddle of blood was formed around Shaula's head and face.

As for Beatrice, Subaru saw that she was suspended in the air, where a spike was stabbing her through the back, protruding from her chest as Mana rapidly escaped her crumbling form.

And for Crusch, she was...Being violently violated by the lump of tentacles, with her nether regions being assaulted by tentacles entering in and out of her ass and mouth, and what appeared to be a penis entering her most private part, mercilessly pounding her completely naked body as pieces of her clothes lied in front of her.

"Suba...ru..." Beatrice muttered upon seeing her Contractor. She weakly extended her hand towards her, but soon faded completely into Mana and scattered into thin air, leaving the wide-eyed Subaru to drown into the pool of Despair.

"My My. If it isn't Sir Subaru Natsuki"

"?!"

The familiar voice and the annoying tone that was ululated when pronouncing the word 'Sir' alerted Subaru, who slowly turned to the source of the voice, only to see that it came from the bundle of tentacles raping Crusch inhumanely. Subaru then saw the source, or to be more accurate, the 'core' of the plethora of tentacles ravishing Crusch and causing her eyes to roll to the back of her head, the same 'core' whose penis was mercilessly pounding the Duchess, breaking her mind more than it is already broken.

"Russell...Fellow..." Subaru muttered the man's name, who flashed a small smirk at him.

"Ah. Yes. That's my name in this world. To think that I'd be reborn into this world, and before I knew it, I had this power. What was it called again...? Ah. Yes..."

And before declaring the name of his power, Russell's smirk turned to the grin of a madman, with said grin being directed towards Subaru.

"Rune Stone Skill: Usurper Of Figures!"

"A Rune Stone Skill...? It can't be..." Subaru muttered in disbelief.

"Yes. A pretty nifty ability. It allows me to take the shape of basically anything that I desire. The only limits are my imagination. This here is an example to you. I imagined being turned to a tentacle monster and even imagined the shape of it and here I am: A tentacle monster that is fucking the brains out of Crusch Karsten herself, the Valkyrie, the War Maiden. And soon I'll do the same to the other Candidates, especially that fucking hot nun and that silver-haired Half-Elf" Russell said, to which it caught Subaru's attention, snapping him to reality, and causing him to grit his teeth in anger.

"Oh. And also...I think that judging by the names of you and your sister, Natsumi Schwartz, the Iron Lady, you two are also from another world, right? Well then, I think that your sister will enjoy having my dick being the first thing to pop her cherry, and she will be happy upon seeing her own brother watching helplessly as I take her dignity away from her and him, don't you think?" Russell asked, to which it made Subaru's blood boil even further.

"By the way, the little Spirit tried to resist, but she was unable to take me down, so dispatching of her came last. A shame that I couldn't enjoy this bitch that resembles a scorpion. When I overpowered her and rammed my cock inside of her, she was screaming 'Master! Save me, Master!', but the only thing that she got was my cock slamming even deeper into her pussy. Too bad that she cut the fun short when she committed suicide by biting off her tongue, but man..." Russell trailed in his speech, as Crusch's moans grew even louder as Russell slammed her down even more violently into his cock, and as he did so, Russell's mad grin grew even more larger to the point that it threatened to split his face in half.

"The tightness that I felt when she bit off her tongue! It was as if I took a trip to Heaven and came back! GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" He laughed like a maniac, and this time, Subaru glared at him with his eyes holding bloodlust into them.

"RUSSEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLL!" He roared as he charged blindly at the man, only to suddenly gasp and halt mid lunge upon feeling something slamming into his chest.

Looking down, Subaru saw a large needle-shaped spike piercing through his chest, pulverizing his heart. This caused him to cough out blood, before the spike plunged itself out from Subaru's chest, causing him to immediately fall to his knees, feeling his life fading rapidly.

"Well, that is indeed my name. But my old name seems to fit me nicely..."

And as Subaru's vision became even more blurry and his hearing became even more heavier, Subaru heard the last phrase from Russell.

"My true name...Is Hayato Kusanagi"

And upon hearing that, Subaru's body started falling to the ground, and just as his head was about to hit the floor...

...

...

...

Black.

...

...

...

"...!"

Gasping with wide eyes, Subaru panted heavily as his vision adjusted to the scene around him.

"I...Looped again..." He muttered in a low voice so as no one could hear him. He then suddenly fell to his knees, which gave in as a result from the sudden shock that he took in his former loop.

"Master!" Shaula called out in concern.

"Subaru!" Beatrice called out in concern as well, running towards her Contractor as Wilhelm knelt towards him.

"Subaru-dono. Are you alright? Did something happen? Are you hurt?" Wilhelm asked the white-haired boy, who simply stared silently at Wilhelm, before looking at both Beatrice and Shaula, who were giving him worried looks, and without a second thought, Subaru immediately threw his arms around both girls, startling them and taking them by surprise.

"Shaula...Beatrice..." Subaru muttered, his voice laced with sobs as he hugged both Spirit and humanoid Mabeast tightly as if they were going to disappear should he releases his grasp on both of them.

"Subaru?! What's the matter, I wonder?!" Beatrice asked in complete confusion.

"Master! Not here! Not in front of the people!" Shaula exclaimed while blushing slightly.

"Shaula! Beatrice!" Subaru yelled out their names over and over, hugging them even more tightly. It didn't take long for both girls to take the crying white-haired boy in their arms, embracing him in a double hug.

"It's okay, Subaru. We're here with you, I suppose" Beatrice said while gently stroking Subaru's hair.

All the while, Crusch, Felix and Wilhelm watched with complete confusion.

---

A few hours later

"That you are my final visitor of today is quite an amusing turn of events, especially after that emotional collapse of yours a few hours ago"

"..."

"Very well. I'll take that silence as a sign of you wanting to get straight to the point. Please feel free to do so. You sought this audience. I shall let you start. What is it that you wish?"

Crusch, who had both of Felix and Wilhelm at both of her sides while sitting on her desk, knew that Subaru wanted to go straight to the point, so she cut off all kinds of side talks to allow Subaru to talk.

"The Witch Cult will attack Roswaal's lands. I need to borrow your strength to crush them" Subaru said.

"I see. The Witch Cult..." Crusch mused with her elbows resting on the desk and her chin resting on the back of her palms.

"We expected as much when Emilia-sama, a Half-Elf, came onto the stage, but..." Felix trailed in his speech.

"The circumstances are clear. Next, why did you choose my House?" Crusch asked.

"Priscilla is too arrogant to help me, Anastasia is a cunning vixen, Natsumi contacted me and told me that she, alongside Felt and Reinhard, are on endeavor to the Astrea lands, and I can't ask the Melty Camp for help because they already have their hands full. So frankly, you're my best odds. Not to mention that you helped me a lot until now" Subaru answered.

"Do not misunderstand, Subaru Natsuki. Your treatment is due to a contract. Furthermore, negotiations without any clear benefits on my side can hardly be called negotiations" Crusch said, with Subaru cringing at the word 'treatment', but decided to shake it off for now.

"How about if you helped us in our time of need, our Camp will owe you a big favor?" Subaru asked.

"Do you say this, knowing full well acceptance would mean Emilia's withdrawal from the Royal Selection?" Crusch asked.

"..." And Subaru stayed silent.

"Is that not natural? If one must rely on another when one's land is in peril, then how is one fit to be King? Above that, I ask you...A debt of this kind means the defeat of Emilia. You truly fine with this?" Crusch asked, to which Subaru simply stared at her for a few seconds, before sighing.

"...It's over if you die. So I just want to save everyone" Subaru said, to which Crusch closed her eyes and nodded calmly.

"Understood. If that's the case, then the Karsten House shall not lend you any forces whatsoever" Crusch said, causing Subaru and Beatrice to stare wide-eyed at her. Seeing their shocked expressions, Crusch decided to speak once again in order to explain her decision.

"First, you offer Emilia's defeat in the Royal Selection, but that is no bargaining chip" She said, causing Subaru to stand up.

"Why?! Isn't one less rival good enough?!" Subaru half-yelled at Crusch.

"Do you not hear your own words? Emilia will fall without any intervention on my part" She said.

"Then you'll let those bastards kill the people in the village?!" Subaru yelled.

"That means that Emilia lacks the strength to protect them, not I. I have no responsibility towards that" Crusch said.

"So knowing and letting it happen is okay?! What kind of King that lets their people die when they have the power to save them?!" Subaru yelled.

"Hey! Be quiet and list-!" Felix was about to silence Subaru, only for Crusch to raise her had towards her Knight to calm him down.

"It's fine" She said, before turning towards Subaru.

"Two, I shall correct your misconception. That was one reason, but another is, I harbor great doubts about you" Crusch said to the white-haired boy.

"What...?" He muttered in confusion.

"Simple. Why do you know where and when the Witch Cult will strike next? Would it not make sense if you are also a part of the Cult?" Crusch asked the most two staggering questions to Subaru, leaving him stupefied, unable to answer, that is, until a new voice entered the fray.

"Hey! Master ain't from that filthy nutjob psychos! Don't you dare accuse him of such false claims or else I'll fry all of you!" Shaula said angrily, both of third person way of speaking and cheerful tone were completely gone, with the tip of her fingers having blinding white light on them, to which Beatrice raised her hand towards her calmly, giving her a silent command to calm down while still looking calmly at Crusch.

"Young one. Surely, you jest, in fact. Betty's Subaru is not from this filthy group of hooligans, I suppose" Beatrice said.

"Is that so? If he cannot state how he knows, I must judge it so. Or have you sensed anything to lend credence to his words?" Crusch asked, to which Beatrice's cute face opted an angry expression, which made Crusch slightly flinch at her.

"...Is not defeating a Sin Archbishop...And taking down a horrid existence that was about to bring ruin to this damned country...Is enough proof to you, I wonder?" Beatrice asked with a menacing tone in her voice, causing Crusch to blink at this, and for Felix and Wilhelm to widen their eyes at this.

"You mean that...Subaru Natsuki...Assisted the Sword Saint in taking down that existence...?" Crusch muttered her question, but got nothing in return as the trio of Subaru, Beatrice and Shaula simply glared angrily at her, which in turn caused Crusch to close her eyes and sigh.

"At any rate, for these reasons, my House cannot lend aid due to insufficient trust" She said, which in turn made Subaru's body shiver and gritted his teeth, having remembered the events of his previous two loops.

The villagers being mutilated brutally...

Petra's petite body being sliced to pieces...

Ram's bloodied corpse pinned to the floor...

Roy holding the heads of Otto, Emilia and Frederica, with their faces holding expressions of agony and horror...

Puck killing him, Shaula and Beatrice swiftly with an ice blast...

Felix and Wilhelm's bloodied and crucified bodies...

Beatrice's last face of agony as she disappeared from existence...

Shaula's naked body, lying emotionlessly after she commit suicide when he wasn't there to save her from having her innocence taken away from her...

Crusch's loss of her dignity after Russell ravaged her to the point that she got completely broken on both a physical and mental level...

With all of those thoughts in mind, and in his desperation of being unable to solve those problems, Subaru finally snapped.

"THE WITCH CULT WILL COME!" He yelled, which in turn caused both of Shaula and Beatrice to look at him with hurt looks, but Crusch, alongside both Wilhelm and Felix, were completely calm, unfazed by Subaru's sudden outburst.

"THEY'LL SLAUGHTER EVERYONE IN THE VILLAGE! IF I WAS ABLE TO REPEL THEM ALL BY MYSELF, THEN I WOULD'VE DONE THAT ALREADY! BUT THAT AIN'T THE CASE! SO FOR THAT I NEED YOUR HELP! I JUST WANT TO SAVE EVERYONE! WHY CAN'T YOU HELP ME?! YOU CAN JUST KILL THEM ALL! THAT'LL SOLVE EVERYTHING! I DON'T WANT TO SEE ANYONE DIE! I DON'T WANT TO LOSE THE PEOPLE I LOVE! IF I CAN, I COULD'VE SAVE EVERYONE ALONE! BUT I'M ALL ALONE! SO FOR THAT I NEED HELP! PLEASE!" Subaru yelled. Anger, Desperation, Despair, Fear, Suffering and Melancholy completely filling his heart. Crusch just stared silently at him, before she opened her mouth to speak.

"...So this is what guides you. Hatred. The true reason you initially approached Emilia" She said.

"No...I'm thinking of everyone...I already told you that..." Subaru muttered, his throat already becoming dry and injured due to all the yelling.

"That glint in your eyes can only be called bloodlust" Crusch said.

"I'm using...Emilia as an excuse...No...You're wrong...I already told you..." Subaru muttered, before gritting his teeth once again.

"NO! MY FEELINGS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS! THOSE BASTARDS ARE EVIL! I WANT TO SAVE EVERYONE! YOU SHOULD HELP ME KILL THEM ALL! THAT'LL SAVE EVERYONE!" Subaru yelled at the top of his lungs.

"...You cannot deceive others with the lies you tell yourself, Subaru Natsuki" Crusch said.

"What are you...?" Subaru trailed in his question, confused as he didn't lie in any word that he said.

"Have you not noticed? You have not said that you wish to save Emilia, not even once" She said, and this made Subaru's blood boil even more.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU SAYING?! I ALREADY TOLD YOU THAT I WANT TO SAVE EVERYONE! AND THAT OF COURSE INCLUDES EMILIA! ARE YOU FUCKING STUPID?!" Subaru yelled, slowly approaching Crusch, only for Wilhelm to stand right in front of him.

"Subaru-dono. I cannot permit you to advance any further" The aged butler swordsman said with a look that had a mix of both sorrow and cautiousness. Sorrow for the poor boy who was desperately seeking for help, yet couldn't get it, and cautiousness for the fact that that boy is way stronger than him when it comes to strength and skills. Wilhelm can tell that just by looking at him. Subaru then felt a tug at his sleeve and a hand on his shoulder. The white-haired boy turned his head back to see Beatrice pulling on his sleeve with her small hand, and Shaula was placing a gentle hand on his shoulder, with both looking at him with sympathetic stares.

"Subaru...Please calm down, I suppose" Beatrice whispered to her Contractor.

"Master...Please don't be sad..." Shaula whispered, and Subaru could swear that he heard her whimpering and about to cry. It was at that moment that Crusch stood up from her seat.

"I have the Divine Protection of Wind Reading, which allows me to read the wind and detect whether a person is lying or not. And I'd say right now...That what you speak are not 'lies' indeed" She said.

"Then why...?" Subaru simply muttered his question with a ragged voice, his throat hurting and burning from all the yelling.

"You believe your delusions are the truth. That is madness, and that is what makes you a madman, Subaru Natsuki" Crusch answered, causing Subaru's eyes to widen in realization, before he face was casted down to the ground.

"You too...You too...Think that both me and Shadow are insane..." He whispered, before gritting his teeth, causing him to accidentally bite his tongue and draw blood from it, but he could care less about the pain.

This realization made Subaru come to the conclusion that Crusch, who was hailed as a genius in this country, is just as stupid as everyone he encountered here, aside from a few individuals, which also includes Shadow.

Indeed...Shadow was right. This world...Holds the stupidest of people ever.

"Ferris, go and heal him" Crusch called for her Knight to heal Subaru.

"I DON'T FUCKING NEED IT!" Subaru yelled, ignoring the stinging pain in his throat, before sighing calmly.

"Thank you for your time. Let's go, Shaula, Beatrice" Subaru said, before he walked towards the door, followed by Beatrice and Shaula.

"Have you other prospects?" Crusch asked the white-haired boy, causing him to look at Crusch from the side of his eye.

"I believe that you'll eventually fail. If you're able to survive Russell humiliating the shit out of you, then you won't survive against the White Whale, and if you survived against that Mabeast, I guarntee that you won't win the Royal Selection, because no one wants a tyrant of a King who is the despotic type that tosses those in need away" Subaru whispered, causing Crusch's eyes to widen in surprise, along with both Felix and Wilhelm.

"How did you...?" Crusch trailed in her question, completely curious as to why Subaru knows of such things, like the White Whale Subjugation that Crusch was planning to execute.

This, however, caused Subaru to flash a dark smile towards the Duchess and her two Camp members.

"Heh...Why trust my words...? Aren't I a madman, you bitch? I hope you drown into Despair already" Subaru said, before he, alongside Beatrice and Shaula, exited the office, leaving the stupefied Crusch and the shocked Felix and Wilhelm.

---

10 hours later. Lifaus Highway

"Shit! We've already wasted half a day! We have to speed things up!"

"Subaru, calm down, I suppose"

"Master! We've reached the Flugel Tree!"

As Subaru was cursing his luck and Beatrice was trying to calm him down while they were inside the Dragon Carriage, Shaula, who was riding the Carriage, announced their arrival to the Flugel Tree, making Subaru and Beatrice look at the giant tree that pierced through the clouds.

Just by looking at it made Subaru temporarily forget about his worries.

"Ah...That's the second time that I see it. And no matter what, 'Incredible' is about the only word I can use" Subaru said while looking at the giant tree in awe.

Suddenly, Subaru saw that mist started to cover the area around them, obstructing their view. And for some reason, Subaru felt shivers running down his spine, and he even saw Beatrice shaking in his lap.

"...Beako?" He called for her name, only to see her looking at him with a face that looked like she had seen a ghost, a face of true terror.

"S-Subaru..." She muttered, but her shaking made anxiety grow in his heart. He was then drawn to a shadowy figure on their right side.

Noticing this, Subaru used his limited experience in Yang Magic to cast a spell that created a ball of light to illuminate his surroundings.

"Ah..."

...And he wished that he didn't do that, as upon doing so, he was met face to face with a colossal dark golden eye of what appeared to be a massive white fish.

Lifaus Highway...

Mist...

White...Fish...

That could only mean...

"THE WHITE WHALE!"

And Beatrice screamed this, a massive vortex of mist knocked away Subaru off the Carriage, but Shaula was able to catch him by the collar of his blazer with one hand before he could fall to the ground, yanking him to the Carriage once again, with Beatrice standing on guard to her downed Contractor.

"What the...That's the White Whale?" Subaru asked in complete shock.

"Why...How could it come out like this right now...?" Subaru asked, still in shock.

"Subaru! Snap out of it, I suppose! We have to focus on escaping this crisis, I suppose!" Beatrice yelled at her Contractor, before she raised her hand to the air, creating stakes of Yin Mana above her head, aiming it at the White Whale that was opening its mouth to swallow them whole, flying into the air and giving chase towards them.

"El Minya!" Beatrice called out, firing the forty stakes of stagnant time at the White Whale. And normally, this would have made a massive damage to any normal person, crystallizing their bodies and shattering them apart. However, upon contact, the Yin Mana stakes dissolved into Mana, before they were absorbed by the White Whale upon making contact with his skin.

"Tsk! Curses, in fact!" Beatrice gritted her teeth upon seeing that her attack failed.

"What happened?! Could it be its Mana-absorption hair?! But even so, being overwhelmed by a spell such as El Minya, even with this size, is considered set on stone! How the hell did he absorb it?!" Subaru asked in complete shock and disbelief.

"Simple! It's because its Mana-absorption hair holds higher speed and capacity in absorption and storage of Mana, in fact!" Beatrice answered, before the White Whale suddenly inhaled in, causing a vortex to form that sucked everything in front of it, including Subaru and the two girls with him, and while the two girls were able to stand their ground, Subaru, who was still on his stomach on the Carriage, got sucked away towards the vortex of Death. However, the white-haired boy managed to save himself when he acted fast and whipped out his whip, latching it at the Carriage, preventing himself from being eaten whole by the colossal fish with a horn that was trying to devour them. Beatrice then used Wind Magic to create a miniature vortex that she used to suck Subaru back towards the Carriage, returning her Contractor to her side.

"Shaula! Pass on the left, I suppose!" Beatrice ordered the humanoid Mabeast who was riding the Dragon Carriage, causing her to nod, before riding the Carriage to the left. Beatrice's plan was to get away from the Whale's direction so that he can ignore them. After all, it was just like an animal that went along with its instincts.

However, this didn't work, as the Whale simply followed them, shifting its direction to keep on tracking them.

"Curses, in fact! Why is it following us, I wonder?!" Beatrice yelled in frustration, only to notice Shaula standing on the Carriage.

"Shaula will take care of this! Yup~!" Shaula exclaimed, her cape fluttering along with the mist.

"Hey! Shaula! Who's riding the Carriage if you're here, I wonder?!" Beatrice yelled her question, before they suddenly stumbled and the Carriage suddenly tumbled, taking the three down. Beatrice then acted fast, grabbing the hands of both Shaula and Subaru, before concentrating Yin Magic at all three of them.

"Murak, I suppose!" She yelled out, before she and her other two companions were yanked away from the grasp of gravity, levitating freely in the air as if they were mere feathers. They saw the scene below them, wondering why did the Carriage suddenly stumble despite nothing being in front of them.

"What the...?!" Subaru asked in shock, as what he saw nearly made his heart fall out. The same could be said for Beatrice, as Subaru could feel her shaking in fear once again.

Right below them was a massive bunch of small white rabbits, with each rabbit being the size of a fist. Upon closer inspection, the rabbits had blood red eyes and small horns.

But what nearly caused Subaru and Beatrice a heart attack was the fact that the rabbits were eating the Earth Dragon of their Dragon Carriage, tearing and crunching its skin, mercilessly devouring its innards and organs as it roared in pain, and after a few minutes, the roars of the Earth Dragon faded, where the rabbits have finished their meal, where not even bones or even a single pool of blood appeared on the ground where the Earth Dragon was previously existing, as if it didn't exist.

"What the hell is that...?" Subaru asked, his face becoming extremely pale.

"The Great Rabbit! One of the three Great Mabeasts, in fact!" Beatrice yelled her answer, before gasping upon seeing the White Whale bursting from the mist with its mouth wide open, ready to swallow them whole.

"Why is it following us, I wonder?! It's as if we are having a target...mark...on our...backs..." Beatrice started yelling, only for realization to dawn on her like a lightning bolt, and Subaru himself had his face even more pale than before upon realizing why the Whale was following us, and why the horde of Great Rabbits, that seemed to grow in numbers by the second were running on the ground towards their flying forms while looking at them from below.

"They have...Horns...Those things...Are Mabeasts..." Subaru whispered, realizing that he was the thing that was drawing the target mark on the backs of both him and his two allies.

Suddenly, he felt gravity's grasp take him down to the ground once again, and upon closer inspection, he couldn't feel the small hand of Beatrice holding him anymore.

Looking above him, Subaru realized what happened.

"Ah..."

Beatrice had just thrown both him and Shaula to the ground in favor of saving the two.

And as Subaru watched with wide eyes as he and Shaula took a free fall from what appeared to be hundreds of meters, he saw the sad smile on Beatrice's mouth and the tears rolling down her cute pretty face as the White Whale's mouth was a few meters away from encasing and devouring her.

"Beatrice..." Subaru whispered her name weakly, and he saw her move her mouth to say something to him, and even from this distance, Subaru could recognize the words that she muttered out to him.

"Thank...You..."

And just like that, Subaru witnessed in horror as the White Whale closed his mouth at Beatrice, instantly devouring her.

"BEATRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICE!" Subaru yelled from the top of his lungs with tears flowing down his eyes, before he felt the link between him and Beatrice shatter like glass. The first time he experience that feeling was at his previous loop, where Russell killed Beatrice right in front of his eyes, and it hurt him a lot.

He then gasped when he felt Shaula hugging him tightly, pushing his head between her ample breasts, and tightly wrapping her arms around his entire body, and not a few minutes later, both Subaru and Shaula collided into the floor, kicking up a large pile of dust. And after a few seconds, Shaula burst out from the cloud of dust, running as fast as she could while hoisting Subaru on her shoulder as both the White Whale and The Great Rabbit were following them in a frenzy, like hungry predators after their prey.

"SHAULA! TURN AROUND AND LET ME GO! WE HAVE TO SAVE BEATRICE! SHE'S STILL THERE IN THE MOUTH OF THAT GUTTER FISH! WE HAVE TO SAVE HER!" Subaru yelled to Shaula, who was still running while holding him on her shoulder with one arm.

"What are you talking about, Master?! Who is Beatrice?! We had no such person with us!" Shaula yelled, causing Subaru's eyes to widen in shock. It was then when it instantly hit him.

"The Mist of Elimination..." Subaru muttered the attack of the White Whale that erased people from both existence and memories.

Shaula then ran as fast as she could, before heading to the Flugel Tree and hid behind it, but even then, the two Great Mabeasts were running towards them, lured by Subaru's Miasma that attracted Mabeasts to him like moths to a flame, which in turn meant that their Death was inevitable.

"Damnit!" Subaru cursed, before he saw Subaru place a hand on his shoulder, flashing him a gentle smile.

"What is it, Shaula?" Subaru asked his companion.

"Master...Shaula will...Shaula will go and distract the Mabeasts. Meanwhile, you'll take this chance to escape" Shaula said.

"What?! No! I can't let you do that!" Subaru yelled at her, but Shaula still flashed him a gentle smile.

"Master, Shaula is not very smart, so this is all that I can think of" Shaula said, which caused Subaru to place his hands on her shoulders, causing a rosy blush to appear on Shaula's face.

"NO! DON'T GO, SHAULA! IF YOU...IF EVEN YOU DIE, I'LL...! I'LL...!" Subaru yelled not being able to finish his words, but only pulled Shaula into a tight hug, causing her eyes to widen for a second, before she narrowed them and tears appeared at their corners, and then she closed her eyes and gently returned the hug.

"Ahh...Shaula was...Born for this very moment...Wasn't she...?" She whispered, causing Subaru to break the hug and look at her.

"What are you s-Huh?" Subaru was about to ask, only to gasp as Shaula chopped him on the neck, causing him to immediately lose all control of his body and fall towards the ground, only for Shaula to catch him before he could even fall.

"...Blueberry taught Shaula that move...D-Don't worry, Master. It's all right. I'll always be watching you from behind" Shaula said, tears falling down her eyes freely, and Subaru could do nothing but watch as Shaula tightened her grip on Subaru's shirt, before she used her superhuman strength to throw him to the air and away from both the Flugel Tree and the approaching Mabeasts, towards the direction that they were originally going through to go to the mansion where Emilia and the others was.

Subaru could only watch while soaring in midair as Shaula flashed him the prettiest of smiles that could make the greatest and toughest of hearts melt, before watching her charging at full speeds towards the blinding mist, disappearing within it completely.

"SHAULAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Subaru yelled once again for yet another important person in his life as he was flying in the air, but in vain as he saw that she disappeared into the mist, and after a few minutes he tumbled onto the ground hard, before lying on his back. Shaula threw him a considerably far distance, and the impact with the ground wasn't the prettiest, as Subaru's face was bruised badly. And due to the disabling hit that Shaula delivered to him, Subaru's body was rendered immobile for a few minutes, and it didn't take long for Subaru to come face to face with the gigantic eyeball of the White Whale.

"Ah...Shaula..."

He whispered her name, but the only respond was the White Whale exhaling at him, causing a massive wave of air and mist to blow Subaru away. And while he wasn't affected by the two different properties of the mist for some reasons, Subaru was panicking.

"Ah...I'm dying..." He whispered as he landed roughly on the ground, before tears appeared on his eyes.

"NO! I DON'T WANT TO DIE! I DON'T WANT TO DIE! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" He yelled, Despair and Fear completely engulfing his heart.

"IT'S MY FAULT! I KNOW! BUT I DON'T WANT TO DIE! PLEASE! NOOO! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" He broke completely, on both a physical and mental level. While he wasn't afraid of killing someone, it was natural for any sane person to fear Death.

And Subaru Natsuki was no exception.

Soon, however, the mist faded and the White Whale, alongside the Great Rabbit, were nowhere to be found. They didn't even come to Subaru despite how thick the Miasma was around him, meaning that Shaula's sacrifice wasn't in vain, as she managed to save him.

"It's...Gone..." He whispered, before suddenly feeling the blood once again return to his entire body, regaining the control of it once again, allowing him to stand up and slowly walk.

"Beatrice...Shaula...Forgive me..." He continued on muttering those words with each step he took, resembling a broken doll.

After a few minutes of walking, Subaru saw an intact Dragon Carriage with its Earth Dragon standing still, but the only difference were the patch of blood on the driver's seat, as well as the multiple sword stabbed into said seat.

"I...See..." Subaru whispered upon realizing that whoever the driver of this Carriage was, he was unfortunate to encounter the Witch Cult on his road.

Nevertheless, it gave Subaru the ride that he wanted to return to Emilia. Even when he knew that this world is long gone, he was at least determined to at least go and see the last of his loved ones.

"Let's go..." He said riding the Carriage to the Margrave Mansion.

And under the silver moon, the Carriage moved slowly.

---

The next day

"Ugh..."

"So you're awake, Barusu"

Subaru groaned, and gasped upon hearing the familiar voice of Ram and her habit of shifting his name to an insult.

"What...Happened...?" Subaru said slowly sitting up the bed. He saw that he was changed to a bed gown.

"You were in a miserable state when the villagers of Irlam Village brought you here. Dislocated shoulder, separated joints, a cut forehead...Ram managed to rejoin the bones, but rest easy or the wounds will open" Ram answered.

"I...See..." Subaru muttered, before looking straight at Ram.

"Who healed my wounds then?" Subaru asked.

"Emilia-sama did" Ram immediately answered.

"What exactly happened, Barusu. There is something other than what happened at the Capital. Ram doesn't want to know about that, but their is something that you fear that Ram might address the main topic, so you try to clumsily put it off" Ram said, to which she saw that Subaru had an extremely hurt look on his face, before she heard him speak.

"...Shaula and Beatrice are dead. I...I couldn't do anything. The White Whale and The Great Rabbit suddenly appeared together in one place in the Lifaus Highway and ambushed us. Shaula and Beatrice just threw themselves in front of the Mabeasts to save me and I couldn't do anything about it, and I was just left behind in the mist" Subaru said with his face completely hurt.

"Barusu..." Ram called for the white-haired boy, to which he looked at her, and the next question that the pink-haired Oni maid asked of him completely shattered Subaru's mind.

"Who are Shaula and Beatrice?" She asked, making Subaru go wide-eyed, but stayed silent and casted his eyes downwards.

"...The Mist of Elimination" He whispered, realizing that he must end this world right now.

"What was that, Barusu?" Ram asked, having not heard Subaru's words. She then raised an eyebrow when she saw him chuckle lightly.

"What the hell...This ain't funny...Not even the worst of nightmares have scripts that bad..." He muttered, before he stopped chuckling and took a deep breath, then he stood up from his bed and marched towards the exit of the room he was in.

"Barusu. You must rest" Ram called for the white-haired boy, but he didn't listen as he marched towards Emilia's room, before slamming it open, alerting Emilia, who was studying at her desk, before he witnessed her face have a mixture of sadness and hatred on it.

"Subaru? Why did you come back?" She asked standing up from her seat when she saw Subaru approach her.

"C'mon! You can't stay here, Emilia!" Subaru yelled.

"Go? Where? Rather, for what?" She asked with a downcast face.

"Anywhere but here! As for why I'm here, it's for you! I'm here for your sake-!" Subaru was talking, but Emilia then cut him off.

"This again? You return suddenly, all wounded, making me worried...Weren't you in the Capital, treated by Felix? Why are you here now?" She asked, to which Subaru's eyes twitched in both sadness and anger, having forgot the main reason that he was there with Felix was because Emilia thought that he and Shadow were insane and needed mental treatment, but nevertheless, he shook it off for the time being, as there was no time for that at all.

"A lot of stuff went down! There's a lot that I wanna explain, but there's no time for it now!" He yelled before taking Emilia by the wrist and dragged her with him.

"I'll drag you out if I have to! In a few days, you'll know that I was right!" Subaru yelled, only for Emilia to yank her wrist from his grasp.

"Wait, Subaru! This isn't like you, Subaru! For you, I...And yet...!" Emilia couldn't finish her sentence, to which Subaru looked at her with a face of desperation.

"JUST BE FUCKING QUIET AND LISTEN TO ME, DAMNIT!" He yelled, to which Emilia's eyes teared up in front of him, causing him to hurt upon seeing her crying face, but Subaru knew that he was doing all of that for her sake.

"You can't stay here! You'll regret it! I know you will! No one will be saved! I don't want to suffer anymore by seeing people die in front of me! I don't wanna cry! So just do as I say and it'll all work out!" He yelled before seeing Emilia close her eyes and avert her face away from him, which in turn caused him to grip his head with both hands.

"WHY?! WHY WON'T ANYONE UNDERSTAND THAT?!" He yelled from the top of his lungs.

"I'm sorry. I don't understand what you're trying to say. I really want to...But...Right now, there are many things that I need to do...That's why-" And as Emilia was about to finish her sentence, Subaru cut her off.

"It won't work out" He said.

"Eh?" She asked in confusion as she looked at him.

"It won't work out. You're no good. You'll fail it. You can't do it. You're all talk. No one can be saved. You'll do rash and reckless things, but the mountain of corpses will stay the same...That is your future!" Subaru said, yelling the final part, which caused tears to fall down Emilia's face as she looked at him.

"Why...? You look like you're in so much pain while crying. Why?" Emilia asked, looking at Subaru's hurt expression and flowing tears.

"I...I was sent this far to...No. For Shaula and Beatrice, who brought me this far...I have to do this..." He answered, tears flowing down his eyes.

"Shaula? Beatrice?" Emilia slightly tilted her head to the side in confusion, to which Subaru's eyes widened for a second, before his fists clenched in determination, trying to muster what remained of his spirit.

"...Alright. I'll tell you everything" Subaru said.

"Huh?" Emilia asked.

"At this point, better to spit out a little blood and let it all out..." Subaru muttered.

"Subaru..." Emilia called for the man's name as she saw him clenching his chest where his heart was.

"If you're gonna come, then come! If you wanna take my heart, take it!" Subaru thought before looking staring at Emilia in the eyes.

"Emilia!" He called for her.

"Yes?" She asked.

"I...I can see the future...Loop back in time...I can Last Second Retreat-"

Suddenly, as he was saying the name of this special ability, time suddenly stopped around Subaru. He then saw two shadow hands manifesting in thin air, with time completely stopping to a halt. A hand went and gently stroked his cheek, where the other reached to his chest, passing through it and heading towards his heart. Subaru felt his heart being touched by the hand of shadows, and he braced himself for having his heart popping, only for the hand to just stroke his heart gently, before it retreated slowly, and upon doing so, the shadows suddenly disappeared, and time slowly returned to its normal flow.

"W-What the...? The usual pain didn't..." Subaru whispered.

However, he was alerted when Emilia fell towards him.

"...Emilia?" He muttered out her name, before suddenly witnessing blood falling from her rapidly and it soon formed a massive pool of blood underneath both of them. It was then that Subaru realized.

The Witch had just killed Emilia instead of him.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

He yelled the most as he fell to his knees, hugging the Half-Elf's dead body tightly, his mind and spirit completely shattered.

However, after a few seconds, another individual entered the room.

"You're face says 'I'm the unluckiest man in the world', Subaru-sama"

"?!"

Alerted to the familiar sound, Subaru slightly tilted his head behind him, only to see who was approaching him with a rather neutral expression on her face.

"Frederica..." He whispered the name of the Demi-Human maid, who had a hurt expression on her face.

"...Subaru-sama...I'm afraid that what you have done right now is irreversible..." Frederica said before walking towards him. She then reached for the body of Emilia, placing her hand under the Pyroxene Crystal that held Puck inside of it, before a crack suddenly appeared on it.

"...A crack?" Subaru muttered the question, before seeing Frederica pick up the crystal. Soon the entire crystal shattered to pieces before the pieces then faded into Mana and spread into the air.

"That just means that the Great Spirit is returning to his original form" Frederica said, before looking at Subaru once again.

"Do you have something to say, Subaru-sama?" She asked, to which Subaru just hugged Emilia even more tightly.

"...Kill me...Here and now..." He whispered, which in turn caused the hurtful expression on Frederica's face to increase. She then extended her arm and palm to the side, before a crack in time and space suddenly appeared, with reality itself distorting apart in a single point.

"That's..." Subaru muttered.

"Rune Stone Skill: End Of Days" She announced the name of the mysterious ability.

"What...?" Subaru muttered his question.

"It allows me to distort reality on a single point to open cracks in space and time, allowing for teleportation to people that I have bonds with or to places that I previously visited. It is possible that there are more applications to this ability, but I still yet to know, because I just unlocked it at the time where you and Emilia-sama went to the Capital together six days ago" Frederica said, with the crack in the air turning to a spherical portal, and it felt like it was sucking both Subaru and Emilia's corpse towards it.

"I don't want to see your Death, Subaru-sama, and I don't want to be the one responsible for it. Also...Petra and Otto-sama would be devastated with your loss, and they would hate me for it if I killed you..." Frederica said, tears rolling down her eyes.

"...However, it is inconvenient for you to remain here, Subaru-sama. I'm sorry, but at least, I have to protect the mansion from what's about to come. I may serve Roswaal-sama, but I'm not like him, abandoning those who I care for..." She said, biting her lower lip as the tears came pouring down her beautiful face even more.

"...Even if it were to know the future...Pain, Hardships, Fear, Despair...Perhaps I hate everything of that sort?" She asked no one in particular, before looking directly at Subaru, who was about to get sucked into the portal alongside the dead Emilia.

"...I'm sorry, but at least die where I cannot see..." She whispered, before witnessing both Subaru and Emilia's body being sucked into the portal, before vanishing alongside it completely, leaving the sobbing Frederica alone.

"Mother...What should I do...Mother...?"

That was the night where the cougar cried...And the night where the absolute humiliation of Subaru Natsuki happened.

---

Unknown Location

Upon falling to what appeared to be a forest, Subaru felt his shoulder getting dislocated once again, considering the fact that he fell from a crack in the sky...

"...Emilia..."

...However, he didn't concern himself with his injury as he hugged the corpse of the woman that he fell in love with.

"My My. If it isn't Big Brother?"

"?!"

Whipping his face to the familiar sound, Subaru looked at the figure who was surrounded with cloaked humanoid figures with glowing red eyes that were filled with madness.

"Roy...Alphard..." Subaru spat the name of the Sin Archbishop, whose toothy grin widened even more.

"Ah! Amazing! Beautiful! Glamourous! Thrilling! Those feelings, tsu~! This love of yours, tsu~! This dedication of yours to sate your hunger, tsu~! But all pales to a massive feast with all the dishes available, tsu~! It doesn't matter what dishes and what are their sizes, tsu~! All that it matters is to eat and eat and eat until you can't eat anymore, tsu~! And after that you'll get to even again and again and again, tsu~! That is Bizarre Eating, tsu~!, Gluttonous Eating! Gluttonous Drinking, tsu~! Gluttony, tsu~!" Roy exclaimed with mad joy.

"What are you...?" Subaru trailed in his speech, unable to muster any strength anymore.

"But still! There's a reason why you are our Big Brother, tsu~! You are loved so much that you can see the future, tsu~! Ah~! To be able to eat all that food over and over~! That is Bizarre Eating, tsu~! Gluttonous Eating! Gluttonous Drinking, tsu~! Gluttony, tsu~!" Roy suddenly exclaimed once again like a madman, before his stare became directed towards Emilia.

"Now then...Shall we finish by eating you up? That will be the greatest feast, tsu~!" Roy exclaimed again before appearing in the blink of an eye in front of Subaru, before touching his hand with his own. He then jumped backwards and placed the back of his palm towards his mouth.

"Subaru Natsuki" He said Subaru's name, before licking the back of his palm.

However...

...

...

...

"...What?"

"Huh?"

Subaru and Roy were confused. Roy was even more confused than Subaru.

"How is that, tsu~?! We were supposed to eat your name and memories, tsu~!" He said in shock, before the shock soon turned to mad joy once again.

"GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Big Brother! You're amazing, tsu~! To have the power to keep your meals secured, tsu~! I wonder if we will be able to take it from you when we mess up the Half-Demon's body, tsu~!" Roy exclaimed before taking out two sharp clawed gauntlets, causing Subaru, who was already out of power, both physically and mentally, to hug Emilia even tighter.

"What are you doing?"

"?!"

Suddenly, the temperature of the weather dropped in an instant, before thousands of icicles appeared in thin air in the sky. Roy and Subaru, alongside the cloaked figures of the Witch Cultists looked above their heads, only to see a floating, furious Puck being surrounded with the icicles, spreading them throughout the sky.

"What are you doing with my daughter, you lowlifes?" Puck asked with a calm voice, but his anger was apparent in each word he spat out.

"Kukukuku...We are hungry, tsu~!" Roy cackled like a madman.

"Puck..." Subaru whispered the Spirit's name, who simply shifted his glare towards him.

"Be quiet, Subaru. I'll deal with you la-"

"WE SAID WE'RE HUNGRY, TSU~!"

"?!"

And after being interrupted by Roy, Puck was surrounded with thousands of invisible blades of wind that collided with his small floating form.

"This is a technique that we stole from the Valkyrie, Crusch Karsten, tsu~! Right after she faced us, tsu~!" Roy exclaimed.

"Crusch...?" Subaru asked in shock, causing Roy to grin at him maniacally.

"She wanted to fight the White Whale, tsu~! But she failed miserably, tsu~! After getting what we wanted from her, we threw her to the White Whale to feast upon her, tsu~! It's a shame that she couldn't sate her hunger, tsu~! That is Gluttony, tsu~! Gluttonous Eating! Gluttonous Drinking, tsu~! Gluttony, tsu~!" Roy exclaimed to Subaru, causing his eyes to widen in shock.

He hated Crusch, and he would never forgive her for accusing him of being a madman, but in the end, no Human in the world deserves such a cruel end. Death was never justice, even for the likes of the arrogant Crusch.

"Don't make me laugh"

"?!"

Suddenly, Puck's voice echoed, before a blast of ice erupted from his small form, repelling all the wind blades that Roy fired at him, where icicles shot down all of the other cloaked Cultists around Roy, leaving only Roy and Subaru in the field.

"If you truly want to kill me..."

And right afterwards, howling winds scattered across the forest, freezing everything instantly around it, before what appeared to be a massive paw of an oversized tiger stomped on the ground in front of Roy, causing a miniature tremor to sound throughout the battlefield.

And the hulking, massive tiger of the frozen lands, The Beast of The Apocalypse, showed itself in front of the two Authority holders.

"...Then grow a thousand shadows. Half of what Satella can"

"Puck...Is that you...?" Subaru asked in disbelief, even though he already knew that it was him, considering the fact that it was the third time he sees this form.

"...'Isn't it obvious?' would be a little mean to say that, huh?" Puck sarcastically said.

"Amazing, tsu~! A powerful Spirit, tsu~! A Spirit that can sate our hunger, tsu~!" Roy said like a maniac.

"That is why I hate your kind. Drowning yourselves in your delusions. None of you even care about the purpose of this Cult. You all don't care about the Witch herself. Only caring about your desires" Puck said as the frost started gathering around Roy, slowly freezing his body.

"We don't care about the Witch, tsu~! We care about our unquenched hunger, tsu~! Daring to speak ill of our ideals is nothing but an insult to us, tsu~! Gluttony, tsu~!" Roy said while in the process of being turned to humanoid popsicle.

"A mere Human mere decades ago has no business arguing time with a Spirit" Puck said.

"One's faith in anything has nothing to do with time, tsu~! You, a Spirit blessed with eternity, can never understand our hunger, tsu~! Ah~ We're so hungry, tsu~! Gluttonous Eating, Gluttonous Drinking, tsu~! Gluttony, tsu~!" Roy said, with most of his body from the legs to all the way up to his chest becoming completely frozen solid.

"Death indeed is not a punishment enough for your kind" Puck said.

"Even if this one here falls, his brother and sister will continue the journey to sate our hunger, tsu~! Gluttonous Eating, Gluttonous Drinking, tsu~! Gluttony, tsu~!" Roy said those words as his last, before he was frozen completely solid, and not a second later, Puck brought down his building-sized paw, crushing Roy's frozen form instantly.

"Freeze into the depths of Hell forever, will you?" Puck asked, but got no response as Roy was already dead. He then turned towards Subaru, who watched everything unfold in front of him in disbelief.

"Now then, let us talk, shall we?" He asked, but didn't wait for a reply, and Subaru also knew that saying 'No' was out of the question.

"Subaru, you have committed three sins. First, you broke your promise with Lia. It seems you do not truly understand just how weighty a promise formed between two people is to a Spirit Mage. I suppose you truly do not know how much your rash betrayal of that promise hurt Lia" Puck said, to which the ice slowly encased Subaru as he was just sitting stupefied at Puck's words.

"Second, you ignored Lia's wishes and came back. Do you not know how much that unwanted reunion drove Lia into a corner and made her suffer? Not only did you trample on your promise, you also had to trample on Lia's heart as you please" Puck continued his speech, and Subaru couldn't talk back as the ice encased him even more and more, with the howling chilling wind soaring and echoing throughout the area Puck was in.

"Third...You let Lia die" Puck said, finishing his listing of the three 'sins' that Subaru committed.

"In accordance with the pact, I will destroy the world. Everything will be buried beneath ice and snow. Whether it would please her or not, I shall not break a pact, no matter what it may entail" Puck said.

"W-What...?" Subaru could only mutter, his heart sinking down to his feet. Whether it was from his actions that led to the Death of others around him, or from the Russian Winter-like climate that was freezing him to Death, he didn't know and he didn't care, because in the end, all came to the same conclusion.

"But...I will not be able to fulfill it. Even if I spread this world to cover every land, The Sword Saint shall rise up to repel me, and this is a battle that I will not win" Puck said.

"Th...en...Wh...y?" Subaru asked his question through clattering teeth, shivering from both the cold and the Fear enlisted into him. This caused Puck to close his massive yellow eyes.

"Lia is...Emilia was the entire reason for my existence. A world without her has no meaning to me. For me, everything ended the moment that girl died" Puck answered, before noticing mist accumulating in the air, and a horde of pairs of blood red eyes charging at astounding speeds towards them.

"...Mist and Critters are coming. Gluttony's...Ahh, Nowadays, they call both of them The White Whale and The Great Rabbit. Calling them over...Letting Lia die...Losing your own life...You truly are incorrigible, you know that?" Puck asked, but got nothing in return as Subaru, who was now freezing to his end, fell right on his back, cackling like a madman.

"I let Beatrice die without fulfilling my promise to her...I let Shaula die without helping her to live like a normal person...I lost my friend Shadow...I failed my little sister Natsumi...I killed Emilia...Even now, I'm dying a dog's Death..."

Subaru's dying thoughts as his entire body crumbled with the ice encasing him were all about everything he did thus far, and everything he tried to achieve only to end in failure. And here he was, dying in the most pathetic Death to ever exist.

"...Yes...Truly...How do you put it...?"

And just before he felt his heartbeat stop...

"You are Gluttonous...Subaru..."

He heard those last words from Puck, and everything turned black.

"..."

Black. Everything in the world just vanished, right before the instant of his Death...

"..."

...And having seen events end cruelly over and over...

"..."

...Destroying those he wished to protect, he finally realized...

"...No one expected anything of me...Not even myself"

"...!"

He opened his eyes, but the only expression he made was the shocked, pale expression as if he had seen a ghost.

"Master? Is something wrong?"

"Subaru? Are you alright, I wonder?"

"?!"

Hearing the familiar voices, Subaru looked at Shaula and Beatrice, still wide-eyed from the events that happened, with Wilhelm blinking in confusion.

"Subaru-dono. Are you alright?" He asked the white-haired boy, but the only thing he got was a silent, stunned stare of absolute shock. Subaru then felt a hand gently placing itself on his cheek, and a small hand tugging on the sleeve of his green blazer, before looking to see both Shaula and Beatrice looking at him with concerned looks on their faces.

"Shaula forgot her most vital duty. And she's sorry for not noticing" Shaula said.

"Subaru, you look completely worn out. Betty is sorry for not noticing, in fact. This is Betty's failure as a Contractor, I suppose" Beatrice said.

"And this is also Shaula's failure as a maid and Master's personal assistant. Please forgive me" Shaula followed back. And it took Subaru a couple of seconds to register what just happened, before a small smile appeared on his face, and then he gently placed a hand on Shaula's own hand that was stroking his cheek gently, while the other hand was patting Beatrice's head.

"Tired...Yeah, that's right...Guess falling and getting worn down...Has tired me out, huh..." Subaru muttered, before looking at Wilhelm.

"Wilhelm. Thank you for training with me. If you, Crusch and Felix excuse me, but I have something to do in the Capital" Subaru said, not waiting for a reply, before taking both Shaula and Beatrice's hands and walked away, leaving the confused Wilhelm, Crusch and Felix in the back garden of the Karsten Mansion.

---

1 hour later. The Capital

"*Huff*...*Huff*...*Huff*..."

"Master?! Master! What's wrong?!"

"Subaru! Why are we running, I wonder?!"

And even as they yelled at him, Subaru didn't respond to both Shaula and Beatrice. He just ran through the streets of the Capital, as if Death itself was chasing him.

Well...It ain't farfetched to say that this is exactly what was happening.

"Subaru!/Master!"

"?!"

Subaru suddenly halted when both Beatrice and Shaula pulled on his hands, causing him to stop running.

"Subaru, what happened?! First, you have that expression as if you have seen a ghost, and now you're running as if one is chasing you, in fact! Just explain to us, I suppose" Beatrice half-yelled at her Contractor, less out of anger and more out of worry.

"Master...You have to tell us what happened. If you don't, We won't understand what's wrong with you..." Shaula whispered, where all what both the Spirit and humanoid Mabeast got was a silent stare with tears on the corners of Subaru's eyes.

---

At the same time. Watergate City of Pristella

"...Rem?"

"Shadow-kun..."

Shadow stared in surprise as he saw Rem in front of him.

"How did you...?" Shadow trailed in his speech, but Rem already knew the question that Shadow was about to ask.

"Rem followed Rem's Shadow-kun's scent to here on foot" Rem answered with a sweet smile.

"You followed me from Lugunica to Pristella on foot?! And in just the span of half an hour?! Also, what the fuck do you mean by my scent?! I don't smell bad at all!" Shadow half-yelled in shock and slight annoyance, which caused Rem to giggle.

"You have quite the energetic friend, Sol-dono...Or is it Shadow-dono?" Garek, who was witnessing the scene unfold alongside his family, asked of Shadow, who sighed at him.

"...Sol Badguy is just one of my many names. You can go and call me whatever you want. Also, yes...She is rather...Energetic" Shadow answered calmly.

"Well then, I shall call you Shadow-dono, since the young lady here calls you so. And it actually fits your color theme" Garek said with a smile, to which Shadow sighed and Rem giggled at this.

"Anyways Rem, why are you here?" Shadow asked the blue-haired Oni maid.

"Rem came for you, Shadow-kun. You were extremely hurt and Rem was worried about you, so I followed you up to Pristella" Rem answered, to which Shadow sighed, before shifting his head towards the beautiful sea, illuminated by the vibrant sun that pierced through all with its golden threads of light, giving warmth to all beings living in this world.

Shadow closed his eyes after a few seconds. He didn't feel any kind of warmth in all of that.

"Rem. Tell me something...What do you feel...When you look at this scene?" Shadow asked the Oni maid, pointing to the beautiful sea and the reflection of the sun on its surface, which made Rem smile at this.

"Beautiful. Amazing. Breathtaking. Unparalleled. Those are the words that Rem can think of when seeing this scene. It makes Rem feel at ease" Rem answered.

"Indeed. The Watergate City of Pristella is considered the beauty spot of Lugunica. Whenever I look at this scene, I feel that all of my fatigue and problems vanish completely, as if nothing happened to me throughout the day" Garek said with a smile while looking at the scene as well.

"...Is that so? Well...I don't feel the same way..." Shadow said.

"Huh? How so?" Rem asked.

"To me this scene makes me feel...Sad and angry" Shadow said.

"Why is that?" Garek asked, looking at Shadow, who didn't turn around from looking at the sea.

"...It's ugly...Because it's beautiful...Because sure enough, this scene is bound to vanish. And when it does...All that will be left is Regret, Sorrow, Despair, Sadness, False Hope, and eventually...Reality. The Reality where everything is bound to disappear...Everything is mortal, even this world. And every time I see this scene...It reminds me of whatever happened in my past lifespans...This feeling of solitude, where everything around you except for yourself dies...This feeling...Where you realize that everything is your fault...Your fault for being alive in this world...Not able to save anything around you...The feeling of betrayal...Where everyone despises you just because you're different from them...This feeling of treason...Which leads to backstabbing and eventually...Death...All fades away, just like this sea, entering its depths, but never coming up ever again...This is what I feel regarding this scene...If there's anything that I would call that scene...It would be...Humiliating" Shadow said, to which everyone, including Reala and her kids, watched Shadow's back with looks of sorrow.

"Shadow-dono. I may not be an adventurer like you appear to be judging from your odd attire and your sword that is strapped to your waist, but I can tell from experience...That those eyes are of someone who had suffered through so much in his life, and yet I'll tell you this: The fact that you're standing here means that you broke through all the past obstacles in front of you just to stand here" Garek said, to which Shadow raised his face to the sky, with his eyes closed and a small smile on his face.

"...You can tell, huh? I've been saving worlds alongside others and I used to be a King at one time" Shadow said, causing Rem to have stars in her eyes.

"Shadow-kun was a King! As expected of Rem's Shadow-kun! You have Rem's respect and admiration!" Rem exclaimed cheerfully.

"Mister Black Angel was a King?" Fred asked in awe, stars literally shining in his jade green eyes.

"Yes. For thirty years actually" Shadow answered.

"Thirty years?!" Garek asked in surprise, his voice being raised unconsciously.

"Yes. Though I was forcibly dethroned because people viewed me as a tyrant. I have to admit that I was one, more or less at least. I brought unity and peace, conquering an entire planet within the span of one year, though I placed brutal enforcement laws on the citizens, and that's why they dethroned and imprisoned me" Shadow said, having remembered something that his Parallel World Self from the Light Mobius of Archie Genesis have said.

"It is done. I'm sorry, Maria. I tried to lead by example, but they did not see. I tried to lead by force, and I was rejected. I promise you I'd bring peace to the world and the world demands only anarchy- chaos. Tikhaos will ravage the world, wash it clean, and Mobius will suffer. And only when they have learned their lesson will I return and lead them to the peace you so desperately wanted for them"

...A rather unpleasant memory actually.

"You're right. About me, I mean. I knew something was... off. After the Patriots, I thought I could walk off the battlefield and into a normal life. But here I am, surrounded by death, arguing philosophy with terrorists. I told myself this was about justice, about protecting the weak. But I was wrong. I learned young that killing your enemies felt good; Really good. In America, my friends, my family, they helped me forget the devil inside. But who am I kidding? I was born to kill!"

His past as the cyborg ripper of another Parallel World Self of his haunted him as well.

"Ahh... so that's your question. My goal. It's for the sake of creating a new world. Maybe you have already heard this from Elliot, but we are descendants from genuine Mages unlike those artificial magicians. At one time, by the hand of people afraid of our power, our hometown was burned down and our compatriots tortured, beaten and killed. We were peaceful but they started it. So I will rewrite this world with the neighboring world of Deus. In order to have vengeance on the human race that exterminated our innocent families. Men, women, children and infants. Every human in this reality will suffer in despair and die, be they millions or billions. Is that easy enough to convince you?"

The suffering he took as The Second Spirit Of Origin still gave him headaches.

"We're way past the point of lectures, wouldn't you agree, sensei? When it came to life-changing events… you were always a step behind… I'm glad my sensei was the Hokage. Thanks to that, it was easier for me to let my dream die… Despite being my master, you failed to recognize your own pupil… You've always had that oblivious nature about you, from the moment I met you... I can't help but pity you… The hallowed martyr… shamed in front of his living son… Yes… a mere Hokage is simply fodder compared to what I've become…"

The delusion that he lived as The Second Sage Of The Six Paths made him feel guilty to the point of suffocation.

Son of a...! I swear upon my life...I'll get my revenge!"

His past as the Flame of Corruption was a path of Sorrow that he forced himself to walk through all alone.

"Ugh...I feel sick..." He muttered, only to get startled by Rem, who had what appeared to be a medicine bottle in her hands. This caused him to sweatdrop.

"Uhh...Rem? What on Earth are you doing?" Shadow asked.

"Shadow-kun said that he felt sick! So Rem took care of this and brought with her stomach medicine for Rem's Shadow-kun!" Rem exclaimed, causing Shadow to blink, before he placed a hand on his face and chuckled lightly, with Garek and Reala chuckling at Rem's cute action towards Shadow.

"This young lady seems to care for you so much. By chance, are you two in love?" Garek asked, causing both of Shadow and Rem to blush furiously at this comment almost instantly, to which both of them glanced at each other, before averting their eyes away.

"Fufufufufu...Young love is the best after all" Garek said while chuckling.

"...Heh...If only you knew how old I am..." Shadow thought.

"So, Shadow-kun, can you tell Rem why you are here?" Rem asked, before Shadow's expression instantly shifted to his cold and calm stare.

And looking straight into her eyes, he told her his decision.

---

A few minutes later. The Dragon Capital of Lugunica

"My bad, you two. I was in a hurry. There are lots of things that I had to think about. I cut corners on explanations. Sorry..."

"Hmph. Betty doesn't know what Betty's Subaru would have done without Betty, in fact. Betty's Subaru is useless without Betty, I suppose"

"Master has a lot on his mind, even Shaula understands that. Though Shaula doesn't mind Master being assertive"

As they were walking towards the stairs towards one of the pavements beside the gates of the Capital City, Subaru was apologizing to both Beatrice and Shaula about his sudden actions from earlier, though they didn't seem to mind it that much.

"Sorry for making the both of you worry. I'm alright now. I finally understand" Subaru said while leaning on the stone side of the pavement.

"You...Finally understand?" Shaula asked in confusion, where Beatrice raised an eyebrow at this.

"All that worrying, running around, causing everyone trouble...To be honest, I feel more than a little sorry, but...I finally get how to put it all in order" Subaru said, as Beatrice and Shaula both stood silently while listening to him.

"Well, no. I really should've gotten this from the start...But I'm just bad...At giving up..." Subaru said, to which Shaula and Beatrice smiled at this.

"Well, that's what makes Betty's Subaru special, I suppose" Beatrice said.

"Shaula thinks the same, Master! That's what makes Master marvelous! Yup~!" Shaula exclaimed with her cheerful tone. This caused Subaru to smile weakly at them, and both could feel from Subaru's expression that he was hurt...And 'a lot' wasn't enough to describe it. They then saw as Subaru looked to the sky, still having that weak, broken smile on his face.

"Well, getting to realize it was because...Different experiences pounded the lesson home, but...The answer has been there for a while" He said, before looking straight towards the only two that followed him so far no matter what path he took back in the previous three loops.

"Shaula. Beatrice. I've decided" He said.

"Yes?" Beatrice asked in confusion.

"Yup~!" Shaula exclaimed her usual cheerful tick.

Both then saw as Subaru extended his hand towards them.

---

"Rem..."

"Yes, Shadow-kun?"

---

"Shaula...Beatrice..."

"Yes, Subaru?"

"Yes, Master?"

And then, both Shadow and Subaru exclaimed their decision to their respective parties.

"Let's get out of this world together/Run away with me. Both of you. As far as we can"

...

...

...

"Kekekekekekekekeke...This is most interesting..."

The shadows of the predator, seeking the Despair of its victims, awaiting the moment to strike when both of them retreat from the stage.

---

Watergate City of Pristella

"Let's get out of this world together"

"Huh?"

Rem was perplexed and confused regarding Shadow's words.

"We shall leave this world, and travel to another universe. I think that Dimension RE-015 would be amazing. It's the most peaceful dimension. I also cannot wait to show you future technology and even make you see the planet of Mobius. I'm sure that you'll love getting along with both Humans and Mobians..." Shadow kept on speaking, but Rem was quite anxious regarding his proposal.

"P-Please wait, Shadow-kun! 'Get out of the world'?! From your words, it's as if you're trying to leave Lugunica...No...The world itself...Leaving aside the fact that leaving the world that we're in is considered logically impossible even through Magic, your proposal is rather weird" Rem said, before something hit her and she smiled.

"Ah! Since it's Shadow-kun that we're talking about, you must have thought of another incredible idea! Something that will aid Emilia-sama, Subaru-san and Nee-sama-" Rem kept on talking, but Shadow suddenly cut her off.

"No. Nothing of the sort, Rem" He said.

"Eh?" She tilted her head in confusion, her smile faded.

"...I told you we'll get out of this world. By now, you already know that neither Subaru nor myself are from this world, right? However, unlike Subaru...I'm not a Human as you already know. And I have lots of abilities that transcends the concepts of the Magic system of this world. I can travel to other dimensions and higher layers rather easily. However, going back there to them won't change a damn thing, Rem...My existence in this universe is meaningless...I understand that now" Shadow said, before looking straight to Rem, all the while both of Garek and Reala were listening with shocked expressions, with their kids completely confused from Shadow's words.

"So...Please come with me, Rem. Me being here will just cause Sadness and Eternal Suffering. I kept trying to put everything in its place. I tried distancing myself from others so that no one would get hurt because of me...But nothing changed...No one here even needed my help anyways" Shadow muttered.

"No! That's not-!" Rem was about to retaliate, but Shadow cut her off once again.

"No one's said it! Other than Subaru and you, I was the one that forced himself on others! I escaped to this universe because a batshit, crazy bloodlusted, psychopathic killer is running amok killing whatever that is breathing! I'm trying to stop it! I tried stopping it for over 100,000 years, but all of that I was imprisoned, trying to build up my power while watching the illusions of all the people that I met throughout my life getting killed in the most brutal and inhuman way that you can and cannot imagine! I escaped to this world to try to formulate a plan to take it down, but then, I met Subaru, then Natsumi, then Reinhard, then you, Roswaal, Emilia, Ram, Otto, Frederica, Petra, Shaula, Puck, Beatrice, and the villagers of Irlam! And in the short span of one year and three months that I spent here, I grew attached to this world, and I realized that I couldn't do it alone! So I tried gathering people to save not only this universe, but also the infinite amounts of universes, alongside the infinite layers above them! But Karma just holds a fucked-up way to screw things up on me and throw shit on my face!" Shadow yelled.

"Shadow-kun..." Rem called sadly, but Shadow kept on talking, yelling his heart out, not realizing that Garek and Reala were hurting from his words, with Fred whimpering with each word that Shadow spoke.

"Then all the people that I met other than you guys just had to make it fucking cloud and clear to me that they didn't want help! That they can take care of themselves! I'm just an unneeded third party for them! I'm useless! If they think so, then why the shit I'm here?! I kept wondering that! That's when I realized...I made beautiful memories in this world that made me unable to leave it away...The people that I met in this short span of time I stayed in this world became precious to me! I didn't want to lose anything, and by thinking about it...It hurt even more! That's why I hate everything beautiful! Because it'll just remind me of the past that harmed me so much! And I hate myself for remembering it!" Shadow yelled out his words.

"Shadow-kun..." Rem whispered his name once again.

"Mister Black Angel..." Fred whimpered, tears building in his eyes.

"That's why...I think that it's better this way...I know that I'll have to start from scratch...And it'll be hard, but I don't think that will be a problem. A few tens, or even hundreds of millenniums won't hurt me. And since you've awakened the initial stage of your Rune Stone, then that means that you're also immortal like me, Rem. We can live together in peace. As I said, Mobius is the best choice. We can just build a family there while fighting that foul existence, and it will be a long and torturing road...But as long as you're by my side...Then nothing will be hard for me..." Shadow muttered with a downcast expression.

"Shadow-kun...This is all so fast..." Rem said.

"I'm really sorry, Rem. But please...Choose..." Shadow said before extending his hand towards the Oni maid.

"Please Rem, Choose me...If you did, I'll give you everything that I have...So please...I can't afford losing other people around me..." Shadow said, pleading with Rem, who looked at him in confusion.

"Mister...Black Angel..." Fred called out for Shadow, who looked at the kid in confusion, to which the kid left his mother's side and approached him, tears flowing freely down his beautiful cute face.

"Why...Why do you look so hurt, Mister Black Angel? Why are you suffering? Why is your heart crying?" The little kid asked, and Shadow just stared at him with a shocked sad look on his face, with Rem narrowing her eyes at Shadow, Sadness completely consuming her.

"What...What are you...?" Shadow asked, but his grief, his suffering was too much for him to make him put the words together into a question.

"Fred here has the Divine Protection of Empathy. He can see and feel the true emotions of people around him, and even enforce his emotions of others, making them experience it. However, he can't do the second part of enforcing his emotions onto others, though it comes unconsciously" Garek explained, to which it made Shadow realize that he let his guard down on his mental defenses around a kid.

"Shadow-dono...Do you care hearing the words of a Mortal?" Garek asked, to which Shadow just stared at him with a downcast expression.

"I believe that you're just running away from your problems because you believe that you're the problem that caused them. You're just afraid to lose more things in your life" Garek said.

"What...?" Shadow asked.

"Hardships...Can never be measured. Neither by how long it lasted, nor by how much grievous it was. What matters is as long as it makes you suffer, even in the slightest, it becomes troublesome. However by overcoming those hardships...Only then we can say that we deserve to live, and judging by you...You have been through hardships, and the fact that you're standing here means that you've overcame it. So what's another hardship for you?" Garek asked, finishing his sentence with a smile towards Shadow.

"Shadow-kun...Rem can't run away with you...Well..." Rem trailed in her words, giving Shadow the most charming smile, with tears in the corner of her eyes.

"...When we talk about the future, we need to smile, don't we?" Rem asked, and Shadow simply looked at her wide-eyed.

"...Rem has thought of all of this. When arriving at this new universe, there will be lots of stuff that Rem doesn't know, but Shadow-kun will be there to teach Rem about it. So it won't be hard finding a house to live in, and if we could work jobs, we could afford for that. Luckily, Roswaal-sa-Roswaal has astutely given Rem a proper education. So even in another planet in another world, finding a job after learning basic stuff like the language will be easy. As for Shadow-kun, I believe that it will also be easy for you to find a job, considering the fact that you know the place even more than Rem, all while we work on to save the worlds from this monster Shadow-kun is fighting off. With enough money, we can afford to buy a house, maybe even a store is much better, and we'll be able to enjoy our life with those Mobians...Besides..."

She suddenly blushed midway, before continuing her speech.

"...As work progresses...Ah, this is embarrassing...But maybe...Children?" She said, causing both Garek and Reala to smile warmly at her, before hearing her continue.

"As Half-Oni and Half-Angel...They would likely be unruly. Be they boys or girls or twins or triplets...They would be very cute children too..." Rem said, causing Shadow's eyes to widen even more.

"It would not all be fun...And Rem doesn't think it will all go so well. Perhaps there will be no boys, only girls...Which will make your household a lot cramped..." She said.

"Rem..." Shadow whispered, completely stunned.

"But-But even if our children grow big enough to be unkind to you, passing onto their rebellious stages...Rem will always be on your side, Shadow-kun. We would be worldwide famous as a happy married couple...Slowly spending the same time together...Not getting old due to our immortalities...Fighting together side by side...Living with our children who will also live with us forever..." Rem kept on saying her words, stirring the hearts of those around her, not realizing that lots of people had gathered around upon hearing them.

"Rem..." Shadow simply whispered, no longer able to hold the tears in his eyes.

"Shadow-kun, Rem is sorry to say this, but...If our time comes when we fall, Rem wants to pass away first. Rem would love to be in your arms, holding your hand, hugging you as life leaves Rem's body, with our children and grandchildren on our side...Quietly, Rem would be able to say...'Rem was happy', and move on...That would be A...Happy way to end Rem's life" Rem finished, and by the time she did, tears were falling freely down Shadow's wide eyes.

"To...To think that far...If you've...Thought it through this far...Then why...?" Shadow asked through sobs, to which Rem kept on smiling warmly at him.

"Shadow-kun...If you kept smiling while wishing for the future...Rem truly believes that she will be happy to die like that. Shadow-kun...That you thought of running away with Rem...That you thought of living your life together with Rem...Thrills her to the bottom of her heart..." She trailed before looking directly towards Shadow.

"...But it will not do...Because...If we ran away right now...Rem feels certain that she would be leaving...The Shadow-kun that she loves the most" Rem finished, before looking at Shadow with a worried look on her face.

"Shadow-kun. Please tell Rem what happened" She said. And this caused Shadow to keep on staring at her wide-eyed for a few seconds, before he closed his eyes and opted his calm look once again, blinking the tears away from his eyes.

"...Rem. Want to hear a story?" Shadow asked, causing Rem to tilt her head in confusion, but this made Shadow continue on speaking.

"Once upon a time, there was a small, young girl who had an incurable disease. She dreamt of having a friend. Her grandfather, seeing this, decided to create something to cure her, and the end result was a creature whose sole purpose was to 'Cure The Incurable'. However..."

Shadow clenched his fists tightly and gritted his teeth, remembering the beautiful face of the blonde, blue-eyed Human that made a huge impact on his life.

"...She...She didn't want to be cured...What she wanted...Was a fucking family...A fucking friend! She treated him the creature like a Human of hers. And he was happy to protect her...And be by her side...However, nothing is bound to be forever...As the Humans saw the creature as a threat, and tried to kill it. The girl didn't want that to happen, but she managed to help him...At the cost of her life...She saved him and all he could do, with all of the power he had in his grasp, all that he could do was to see her die, with her last wish being: 'Save all of humanity'. Even when she was killed by one of her kind, she still wanted them safe..." Shadow said, Sadness filling his face.

"That story...Is your story...That creature...Is you..." Rem whispered, immediately realizing what Shadow tried to say to her.

"I...I tried doing everything for Humanity. I tried to help them...Work for them...Helping to save the world with them...But their military leader still held a grudge against me for the girl's Death, despite it being his fault...And then he betrayed me and killed me" Shadow said, causing Rem to gasp in shock, placing a hand on her mouth.

"I was supposed to die because they hit me in my weakspots...But Fate seems to have other plans for me. This...Eldritch Horror wanted to destroy everything...And wanted me as a weapon for his...It was then when I unlocked my full powers, but I didn't yield to his wishes. And so he imprisoned me for 100,000 years, forcing me to see the Deaths of everyone I met in my life over and over...It was a nightmare" Shadow said, with Garek and Reala opting looks of Sadness towards Shadow, with Rem becoming even more shocked.

"But I managed to escape his grasp, becoming even stronger than him after I unlocked my true powers as a Highest...And then I teleported to this world a year and three months ago, and...And here we are..." Shadow finished his story, before Rem suddenly changed her horrified expression into that of a determined stare towards him.

"Shadow-kun..."

She started to speak, where her words are going to determine Shadow's path and eventually, the path the world will soon take.

---

A few minutes ago. Dragon Capital of Lugunica

"Run away with me. Both of you. As far as we can"

Subaru simply said to both his Spirit Contractor and his companion.

"...Eh?" Beatrice tilted her head in confusion at Subaru.

"Master?" Shaula asked, as even her was confused with Subaru's sudden decision.

"We'll leave Lugunica and head west...That or north. I've heard that we can't get into Vollachia in the south. And I'm bad with cold places, so Gusteko in the north is no good. So I vote for Kararagi in the west" Subaru said.

"Just a minute, I suppose, Subaru! What do you mean by that?! Why do you want us three to leave Lugunica, I wonder?! Betty doesn't understand anything, Subaru!" Beatrice called out.

"It's as you heard. We're getting outta here..." Subaru whispered, his voice completely devoid of life, as if his will got somehow crushed.

"Is it because they called Master and Edgelord insane? Shall Shaula kill them for you?" Shaula asked, with a rather angry glare.

"No, Shaula...No killing others...There's nothing we can do there..." Subaru muttered.

"Ah! Betty thinks that this is one of Betty's Subaru's bizarre ideas, in fact! You want to surprise that Half-Elf child again and ask for forgiveness from her, I wonder?! Just like back then in the Snow Festival, I suppose!" Beatrice exclaimed to Subaru, with a small smile.

"...No. Nothing of the sort" Subaru said.

"Huh?" Both Shaula and Beatrice said at the same time, confusion drawn on their face as they saw Subaru's face completely in Distraught, Sadness and Agony.

"I told you two we'll run away. There is nothing that I can do here. But going back to the mansion won't change anything either. I understand that now. So please you two. Run away with me. I can't stay here. Everyone's been saying that to me. I kept trying to deny it, but...They were right. No one has told me...That I'm needed" Subaru said.

"Master! No! That's not-!" Shaula was about to object but she was instantly cut off.

"No one's said it!" Subaru yelled.

"I never said that I wanted any of that!"

"They made their feeling loud and clear!"

"That's how a lowlife for you. Retreating when everything falls down the drain for them. Such Imbeciles"

"One person..."

"You could not even see it? A fool. A dullard at that. Unsalvageable"

"...After..."

"It's because you demand and demand, yet you never give anything in return"

"...The other!"

"You believe your delusions are the truth. That is madness, and that is what makes you a madman"

"That's why I've decided. It's better this way. If I try to do something, it's one more corpse...Or maybe more than that...I'm sick of it. So let's run away, Shaula, Beatrice. You two and me...We can't stay in this country" Subaru said.

"Subaru...This is all too fast, in fact..." Beatrice whispered.

"Master...Please calm down" Shaula said, trying to calm Subaru down.

"There's no time. I'm sorry this is so sudden. I'm really really sorry. But please...Choose...Me or everything but me...Please choose. Let's take a Dragon Carriage and leave Lugunica to head west to Kararagi. Let's buy a little house and live in it, just the three of us. Even if it's tough, If you two are there, I know that I'll try hard. No matter how tired I get, If I know that someone is waiting at home for me, I'll probably..." Subaru trailed in his speech before extending his hand towards both Shaula and Beatrice.

"Please...Choose me..." He said, shutting his eyes tightly, silently praying that they say 'Yes'.

"If you two pick me, I promise that I'll do whatever it takes to make you two happy...So please...Run away with me...Live with me...Please!" He finished, to which both Shaula and Beatrice stared at him in confusion. The silence continued for a few minutes, before Shaula talked.

"Master...Why do you look so sad...?" Shaula said with a downcast expression on her face.

"Subaru...You look like you're at your rope's end...Is it because of what Emilia had said to you, I wonder?" Beatrice asked, looking concerned for her Contractor.

"It's...It's not only Emilia...Everyone around me...However...I know that I may look sad right now...But...I mean, if we did this, I'm sure I'd be smiling...Yeah..." Subaru said with a nervous, desperate smile on his face.

"You can't give up Master! After all, Master is the Great Sage himself! And the Great Sage never gives up!" Shaula exclaimed, causing Beatrice's eyes to widen in shock and disbelief.

"The Great Sage...?" Beatrice whispered before directing her shocked expression towards Subaru.

"Flugel...Is that you, I wonder...?" Beatrice whispered, tears building on the corners of her eyes.

"W-What...? Great Sage...? Flugel...? What are you talking about...?" Subaru whispered with wide eyes, unable to comprehend what they were talking about. It was then that his confused expression turned to that of anger, having finally snapped.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO SAYING?! WHO THE HELL IS FLUGEL? WHO THE FUCK IS THE GREAT SAGE?!" He yelled.

"It's you, Master! You promised Shaula 400 years ago that you'll return to her, and you did! Yup~!" Shaula exclaimed, even though her smile was weaker than her usual one.

"I DON'T KNOW THE FUCK THAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT! WHY CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND?! I'M NOT THAT FLUGEL! I'M NOT YOUR FUCKING MASTER!" Subaru yelled out loud.

"EVEN IF YOU AREN'T!"

"?!"

Shaula's sudden outburst, with her face being riddled with tears as she looked at Subaru with her jade green eyes that held the red dots in their pupils stared at Subaru dead in the eyes.

"EVEN IF YOU AREN'T MY MASTER! YOU STILL CAME FOR ME! YOU STILL HELPED ME! YOU STILL FOUGHT FOR MY SAKE! YOU STILL TOOK MY OUT FROM THAT TOWER! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR 400 YEARS! 400 YEARS! I'VE BEEN COUNTING THE SECONDS, THE MINUTES, THE DAYS, THE WEEKS, THE MONTHS, THE YEARS, AND SOON ENOUGH, I FELT THAT I'LL GO INSANE FROM WAITING! MASTER PROMISED ME TO RETURN! YET HE DIDN'T! EVEN IF YOU WEREN'T HIM, ISN'T IT MORE THAN ENOUGH THAT YOU CAME FOR ME TO GET ME OUT OF THIS HELLHOLE?!"

"...What if Barusu wasn't your Master...?"

As she yelled her heart out, Shaula remembered what Ram, the person that she respected the most, had told her three days ago.

"I...I was so sad...I was alone...Nobody came for me...Nobody...Not even Master Flugel...He promised to come...Yet he made me waiting...That was until I found you in the desert...I couldn't believe my eyes...You had the same black hair...The same mean-looking face...The same smile that brightened the mood...The same body...The same weird antics that Master taught to me...Everything of you was just like Master Flugel...Even if you, Subaru Natsuki, wasn't my Master...You still refused to leave me here...You were so kind to me...And even though I gave you trouble along the road...You never abandoned me...That made me truly happy..." Shaula said all of this while sobbing and clenching her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white.

"Shaula..." Beatrice whispered the humanoid Mabeast's name, feeling completely devastated from her backstory.

"Shaula..." Subaru whispered her name as well, looking extremely sad.

"I was...Really happy...It was just like the first time when I was created...By Mother Daphne...The first thing that I saw...Was you...Master...Even if you're a different person...And even though you look like him...You still helped me...And I was really happy to see someone so kind to the point of being so selfless...I love everything about you Master...Even when you loved Mother Satella...It was so great to see you happy that it made me happy...Even when you fell in love with Emilia...Who looked like Mother Satella...I was really happy that you were happy and smiling too...I was happy with the time that I spent with you...Even though it was over a year...It was actually the best time ever in my lifespan..." Shaula said, and Subaru just looked astounded.

"And...If we run away...I think that we will be leaving behind...The Master that I love the most..." Shaula said, causing Subaru's eyes to widen.

"Shaula is right, Subaru...We may have created the Contract between us for only three days, but believe Betty when she tells you this...Those three days...Made Betty forget about the agony of the 400 years that she spent in that seemingly endless solitude...And I was also believing the fact that you looked like Flugel, I suppose. You speak, smile and even act just like him, in fact. But that wasn't what made me believe that you are the most suitable Contractor for Betty, in fact...It was the fact that you chose Betty, I suppose, and it was also the fact that you let Betty choose you, I suppose. No matter what happens...Betty will always be Betty's Subaru forever, I suppose. And for that...We can't let you do that, I suppose. We can't let you run away. Betty always ran away from her problems and past because she couldn't face it, in fact. But then you came...And made Betty stand tall, I suppose. So for this time, we will do the same for you, I suppose" Beatrice said while smiling at him.

"Master. Please tell us what happened" Shaula said.

"I can't. If I told you, both of you will die..."

"If you will not speak of it, then place your trust into us, I suppose. We shall manage somehow, I suppose" Beatrice said.

"I can't. If I let you try, both of you will die..."

"But at least, can we go back for now? If you settle down and think about it more calmly...You might be able to find a different answer" Shaula said.

"I can't. If I sit and wait, everyone will die..."

"I've worried over it...I've mulled over it...I've suffered over it...I've despaired over it...That's why I gave up..." Subaru whispered.

"We were on the verge of giving up on ourselves, Master. And believe me...It is easy to give up...However-" Shaula said, to which Subaru's eyes widened for a second, before he gritted his teeth in anger, interrupting her.

"...Easy? It's easy...?" He muttered clenching his fist, before Shaula and Beatrice jumped from surprise when Subaru slammed his fist into the wall of the pavement to his side.

"Shut the hell up! It wasn't easy to give up at all! I tried my best in everything, yet the world just wanted to show me that I'm pathetic! Did you really think that I didn't do or thought of anything at all?! Or did you think that I just abandoned everything without a care and gave up?! Giving up wasn't easy at all! 'I can fight! I can manage!' That's way easier to think! But I couldn't manage! There wasn't path other than giving up! If I could do something, even I'd...Even I'd..." He whispered the last few sentences, his throat burning and his heart aching after all the yelling.

"Master...It is easy to give up...However...It doesn't suit you, Master" Shaula said, to which Subaru just stared at her silently.

"We know that Betty's Subaru is someone who will smile in the face of others while thinking of the future, in fact. We know that Betty's Subaru is a man who doesn't give up on the future, I suppose" Beatrice said.

"Wrong...I'm...I'm not that kind of person..." Subaru whispered with his body shaking slightly.

"Betty is not mistaken, I suppose. Not anyone...Not Emilia...Not Ram...Not Rem...Not Roswaal...Not Shaula...Not Shadow...Not Frederica...Not Otto...Not anyone in back in the village...You would not give up on any of us, I suppose" Beatrice said, leaving Subaru completely wide-eyed, before he spoke again.

"But I did...I've given up...I can't pick up and hold all of you...My hands are too small. I drop everything...And then...It's all gone..." Subaru muttered.

"No, that is not true! Master, you're-!"

"I'M WHAT?!"

"?!"

Shaula tried to deny his claims, only to flinch when Subaru shouted and slammed his fist into the wall once again.

"What do you know?! What do you know about me?! This is the kind of man I am! I have no strength, but I want it all. I have no knowledge, but all I do is dream. There's nothing I can do, but I struggle in vain! I hate myself! All I do is talk a big game, and make myself sound like a big shot when I can't do anything! I never do anything, yet I can complain like a pro. Who do I think I am?! Amazingly, I can live like this and not feel ashamed! Right! I`m empty... There's nothing inside me at all! I know that... Yea, that's obvious... I know it's obvious... Before I came here... Before I got into the situation that led me to all of you, do you have any idea what I did? I did nothing... I`ve never done a single thing. I had all that time, all that freedom... I could have done anything, but I never did anything. And this is the result! What I am now is the result! All of my powerlessness, all of my incompetence, is the product of my rotten character. Wanting to accomplish something, when I`ve never done anything, goes beyond the limit of arrogance! The cost of all my laziness and all the wasteful habits in my life just ends up killing both you and me. That's right. I have no character. Even when I thought I could go on living here, nothing changed..."

He yelled his heart out, leaving the stunned and sad duo of Shaula and Beatrice to silently look at him.

"...I actually get it...That it's all my fault. I'm the worst...I...I...I hate myself..." He finally whispered his last words, remaining silent afterwards. Beatrice just closed her eyes at this, before she began speaking.

"Betty knows...That you have the courage to reach out...Even with impenetrable darkness all around you, I suppose" Beatrice said, to which it caused Subaru to get stunned.

"Master...I love it when you stroke my head...When you pass your hand through my hair, I feel connected with you" Shaula said, causing Subaru to opt a really hurt look on his face.

"I love your voice, Master. I feel my heart become fuzzy whenever you speak" She said.

"I love your eyes, Master. Normally, they are sharp and scary, but when you smile, it feels like looking to a radiant sun" She said.

"I love how you walk, Master. Sometimes, you look behind you to make sure that the other is with you. I love that way of walking" She continued on speaking, and Subaru continued on looking with a look of disbelief.

"My chest hurts...Because I really care about you" Shaula finished with her eyes having tears on their corners.

"Why...Why are you...Saying that...?" Subaru whispered his question.

"If you say that you hate yourself, then we shall tell you all of your good parts, I suppose. We know them, so we want Betty's Subaru to know them too, I suppose" Beatrice said with a gentle smile towards her Contractor.

"THAT'S ALL A SHAM! YOU JUST DON'T GET IT! I KNOW MORE ABOUT MYSELF MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE!" Subaru yelled.

"BETTY'S SUBARU ONLY KNOWS ABOUT HIMSELF, I SUPPOSE! HOW MUCH DOES BETTY'S SUBARU KNOWS ABOUT THE SUBARU THAT BETTY KNOWS, I WONDER?!" Beatrice, with tears in her eyes, yelled her heart out, clamping Subaru's mouth shut.

"Why...Why would you two...Go that far for me...I'm weak...Puny...I'm always...Just running away...So why...?" Subaru, stunned and confused, asked both Shaula and Beatrice this, to which both smiled at him with the tears still falling down their eyes, and answered in one voice.

"Because Master/Betty's Subaru...Is Shaula's/Betty's Hero"

"W-What...?" Subaru just muttered this.

"In that tower...I stayed...Waiting for 400 years...In this darkness...You came and took me out...You didn't even ask anything in return...You came and saved me, Master" Shaula said.

"In that library...I was stranded for 400 years, in fact...Waiting for someone that will never come...In this torturous solitude...You came and pulled me out, in fact. Betty's Subaru didn't ask for anything other than seeing Betty happy...And Betty was really happy, I suppose" Beatrice said.

---

At the same time. Watergate City of Pristella

"Shadow-kun...It is easy to give up, but...It doesn't suit you..." She said, causing Shadow's eyes to widen.

"W-What...?" Shadow asked in confusion.

"Rem wasn't there for Shadow-kun when he was suffering the most. Rem now understands why Shadow-kun is so hurt. However above all of that, there are things that Rem does know. Rem knows that Shadow-kun is not someone that gives up so easily. Rem knows that Shadow-kun can NEVER give up at all. Rem knows...That Shadow-kun is a person that is kind to all of those around him" Rem said, leaving Shadow to stare at her in bewilderment.

"Rem loves it when you pat Rem's head, Shadow-kun. When your hand passes through Rem's hair, Rem feels connected with you" She said.

"Rem loves your voice, Shadow-kun. With every single word that Rem hears...She feels her heart warm up" She said.

"Rem loves your eyes, Shadow-kun. They are mostly cold and calm...But when they soften, even for just a bit...Rem feels like you're the kindest person alive" She said, and Shadow's downcast expression continued to deepen.

"Rem loves your finger, Shadow-kun. They're very pretty fingers for a boy. But when they hold Rem's hand, she can't help but think how they're that of a boy. They are slender, strong fingers" She said.

"Rem loves your sleeping face, Shadow-kun. Even when you're always faking your sleep, you are still defenseless, just like a baby. You even let Rem touch your soft cheeks and lips, and it feels so amazing" She said, before looking at Shadow with a vibrant smile.

"Rem's heart ache so much...Because of love" She finished, before Shadow looked at her.

"Why...Why do you go that far for someone like me...? For all my strength, I can't save everyone...So why...?" Shadow asked, before he saw Rem cast him the most beautiful smile ever, with her eyes gushing out tears, before she said her answer.

"Because...Shadow-kun is Rem's Hero"

"W-What...?" Shadow just muttered this.

"In that gloomy forest...A world where Rem lost herself...A world where I was just rampaging around without thinking...You came for Rem and helped her...Even when you were in a peril...You prioritized Rem over everything...When Rem was unable to fight back then and was exhausted...You stood against those weird monsters and repelled them...All while protecting Rem and the others...Even when the village was burning, you didn't think twice before saving the people in there...Even when you knew that we would enter into the enemy's territory, you still rushed to save the children...And did everything within yourself to save them...When you returned to Rem's arms, you were warm...And then the words that Rem wanted to hear the most...Were told to her by the person Rem most wanted to hear them from. That night, when Rem lost everything except for Nee-sama...Time stopped for her, never to move again..." Rem said before looking straight at Shadow's distraught face, tears were still flowing down her beautiful face despite smiling warmly at the man that she loved.

"Rem's heart stopped, frozen in time. But you softly melted it and gently made it move again. Do you know how much you, in that instant, in that morning, you saved Rem? Probably even you do not know..." Rem said, which in turn made Shadow become struck with realization.

"All this time...All this time...I had it all wrong. I thought Rem was the one who forgave me, no matter how far I fell..."

"Rem believes in you, Shadow-kun. No matter how much you might suffer, no matter how grim the odds..."

"...But...I was wrong..."

"...Even if no one else in this world believes in you...Even if you cannot believe in yourself..."

"...Rem would not permit Shadow to be weak"

"Rem/Shaula/Betty believes in you, Shadow-kun/Master/Subaru!"

"...!"

As the events unfolded, Shaula went on and pulled Subaru in a hug, with Betty hugging him as well when the two went on their knees while hugging, and at the same time, Rem drove Shadow to his knees and hugged him closer to his chest. She then gave him a peck on the forehead, causing his eyes to widen.

"The Shadow-kun who saved Rem.../The Master who saved Shaula.../The Subaru who saved Betty..."

"...Is A Real Hero"

"No matter how hard I tried...I couldn't save anyone..."

"Shadow-kun's Rem is here, who he saved/Master's Shaula is here, who he saved/Subaru's Betty is here, who he saved"

"No one would listen to anything I said..."

"Shadow-kun's Rem is here, who will hear all of his words/Master's Shaula is here, who will gladly listen to him/Subaru's Betty is here, who will always be by his side to always listen to his ramblings"

"No one expects of me...No one trusts me...I...I hate myself..."

"Rem loves you, Shadow-kun/Shaula will always stay by your side, Master/Betty will never leave Betty's Subaru's side, I suppose"

"Are you/the two of you okay with someone like me...?"

"Rem is okay with you, Shadow-kun. Rem doesn't want it to be anyone else/Master can never change in Shaula's sight/Betty will never accept a Contractor other than Betty's Subaru, I suppose"

"If you're empty and you cannot forgive yourself..."

"...Then let us start over here and now..."

"What...?"

"Just like how Rem's Shadow-kun made Rem's stopped time move again..."

"...Let us make Master's/Betty's Subaru's stopped time move, right now..."

"Let us start over from here..."

"From square One...No..."

And as if Fate holds its twists, the three girls, despite being in different places, they called out at the same.

"From Zero!"

At Lugunica, Subaru stared before blinking his eyes from the tears, and then he stood up, staring at both his self-proclaimed apprentice and his Contracted Spirit and little sister figure.

At Pristella, Shadow stood up, blinking the tears from his eyes, and then he stared with determination flaring in his eyes at the woman that proclaimed her love to him. The same woman that he fell in love with.

"Shaula, Beatrice.../Rem..."

"Yes?"

"I love Emilia. I want to see her smile and be in her future to help her. Even if she told me that I'm in the way and that I shouldn't come back...I want to be by her side"

"I love you so much. I can't stop thinking about you. For that reason, Rem...I want to see a future where you will always be by my side..."

"If there's a future of torment coming for her/you...I want to bring her/you to a future where everyone can smile..."

And after saying those words, both asked their respective parties the question that they knew its answer...

"Will you...Help me?"

The radiant smiles of the three females brightened the hearts of the Human and Angel respectively.

"Yes!"

Giving a courtesy bow to their respective men, Shaula, Beatrice and Rem signed the beginning of it all...The beginning of the true journey.

"Rem/The Star Keeper of The Pleiades Watchtower/The Great Spirit of Yin humbly accepts. If this will bring Shadow-kun/The Great Sage/Betty's Subaru to a future where he smiles, then I'll/We'll do it"

A smile of confidence appeared on both Shadow and Subaru, the distraught and Despair gone no more.

"Yeah...Watch me"

Shadow then grabbed Rem towards him into a hug, where Subaru grabbed Shaula towards him in a hug as well, while hoisting Beatrice on his arm.

"Rem.../Shaula, Beatrice...Please watch as the man that you love/The man that you two admire...Sores through as the greatest of Heroes"

Everyone is watching.

The Angels are watching.

The Demons are watching.

The Horrors are watching.

Rem is watching.

Shaula is watching.

Beatrice is watching.

Hence...None of those two would yield.

Let us begin the tale anew...

...The tale that begins to save those who they love...

...The tale of both of Subaru 'Flugel' Natsuki, The Great Sage, and Shadow Terios, The Ultimate Life Form.

Saving Life In Another World...From Zero.

---

And Done!

Yes. I know a shorter chapter. However, I had to end it here so that it matches the climatic ending.

Well, being over a 25k words is not bad, but the next chapter will be way longer, packed with even more actions, as that chapter lent on the emotional side. I even cried midway.

Also, we are already close to closing Arc 2 of this story, so look forward to it.

Lastly, I would love if you guys really commented and gave me your ideas. It will help me dearly in the future and your comments also encourages me to continue the story.

Now, for the new comment that appeared:

Reaper 103096: Yes. Exetior will appear. Though, he won't appear until later. Exeller, however, will appear in Arc 3 of this story, which corresponds with Arc 4 of the main story, where Exetior will appear after him in a later Arc. And the reason why Shadow is gathering people is NOT for Exeller by the way...I will be for something else entirely...

Next Chapter: Subaru And Shadow Soaring Through The Danger With Flying Colors.

Until Next Time And Next Chapter!

Jude Warble, Out.