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.

11. Round 1: Male Trio Survival

Hello. This is your pal, Jude Warble.

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

---

2 days later

"Hello? Natsuki-san? Are you there?"

"Yeah. I can hear you loud and clear, Otto. I'm entering Irlam Village now"

While communicating with Otto using the Telephone-like Metia in his hand, Subaru sighed sadly as he entered the Kremaldy Forest.

It has been two days ever since the fight against the ambush that the Witch Cult planned. Everything was going alright until that thing appeared.

In a nutshell, Shadow used some sort of a sealing spell to seal Crossed Thanatos inside of him, and that worked out well, but at the cost of Shadow ending up in a coma.

Everyone, especially Subaru, Rem, and unknowingly Ram, were devastated with that news. Felix, who was supposed to be the greatest healer in the Kingdom, was unable to do anything to make Shadow wake up. This actually infuriated Subaru to the point that he was inches close to taking his anger on Felix, only to be stopped by Emilia and the others from doing so.

They understood very well how Subaru felt, seeing a friend of him bedridden with nothing to do.

It got even worse when he received the news of Saki's supposed Death from Kaylin, who was a sobbing wreck by the time she met Subaru's group. It didn't even help with the sudden disappearance of Julius, much to the worry and sadness of Anastasia, Felix, Reinhard and by extension, Natsumi.

What happened next, however, could only be described as utter, pure and raw Chaos.

It all started when Felt and her camp came from their journey from the Astrea lands. Upon knowing the bittersweet news of the repellent of the Witch Cult at the cost of both Saki and Shadow, Felt was extremely angry, especially at the behavior of the Royal Candidates and their respective Camps with Subaru and Shadow, not to mention how Natsumi was in absolute shock and grief at losing Saki, one of her childhood friends. Felt was furious while spitting out insults at the other Candidates. Crusch denied anything to do with insulting Subaru, despite Shadow and Subaru knowing that she called them insane at one of Subaru's previous loops. Anastasia also denied anything to do with harming Subaru, despite having tried to scam him for information in another one of his previous loops. Priscilla was also the same, despite the fact that she tried to crush his Pride in the same loop as Anastasia. Emilia didn't say anything but Felt also kept hurling curses at her as well, considering the fact that she never helped Shadow and Subaru, crushed their hearts and trust, and accused them of having ulterior motives.

Soon the sharp exchange of words turned into a fully blown war. Each faction, sans Anastasia and Emilia had their Knights stationed in front of each Royal Candidate. Reinhard tried to stop the scuffle, but the fight was inevitable. Hair was pulled, punches were thrown, and unmentioned words and phrases were ululated.

Fortunately, the fight ended with Reinhard managing to calm each Faction down, especially Felt, who demanded having to take care of Shadow in the Astrea Mansion, with Reinhard and Natsumi fully agreeing on this. Subaru also agreed, considering the fact that he was yet to forgive Emilia on calling him out as someone who would betray her. Even if Subaru knew that no one could help it considering the penalty of Last Second Retreat, he was still hurt by the distrust that Emilia shot at both him and Shadow.

And on that note, Felt made the announcement that she will take care of Shadow in the Astrea Mansion, deeming the Margrave Mansion as unsafe. This caused Rem to immediately ask of Felt to stay by Shadow's side as he was recovering, with Subaru instructing both of the reluctant pair of Beatrice and Shaula, as well as Meili, to do the same as Rem, which was staying with Reinhard and Felt to look after Shadow.

A hidden reason for that was those 'Rounds of Hell' that Shadow spoke of before he went comatose. Subaru had some dreadful feeling about them. So just to be safe, he ordered both Shaula and Beatrice to stay with Reinhard, as he was the most ideal protection for them.

And now, two days after all that happened, Subaru was seeing his way through the Kremaldy Forest to check on the village. Apparently, Royal Knights were deployed on the scene to check whether or not there were other obstacles other than that Cultist that summoned Crossed Thanatos.

Subaru was really perplexed on that topic. The woman was originally killed by him, but now, she was alive. Speaking of which, she did indeed talk about a figure that resurrected her from the dead.

Could that be...Related to those 'Rounds of Hell'?

"Hah...Damnit...All of that is piling on my head..." Subaru muttered.

"Huh? What was that Natsuki-san?" Otto asked from his own side through the communication Metia.

"Oh. Nothing at all, Otto. Anyways, I'm here. I reached Irlam Village...Huh?" Subaru spoke to Otto, before Otto heard a questioning sigh from Subaru.

"What's the matter?" Otto asked.

"Otto, are you sure that there were Royal Knights deployed to the village?" Subaru asked.

"Yes. The order was issued from the Sage Council two days ago after your fight against that Cultist. Maybe they're yet to come" Otto answered.

"Oh. Wait a second. I see something" Subaru said from his end of the Metia.

"Be careful, Natsuki-san. It could be-" Otto was about to warn Subaru, but Subaru cut him off.

"Stop being a worrywart, Otto. I'm sure it's just-" Subaru was talking to Otto for a second, and in the next second, the communication was cut off. This caused Otto to blink for a few seconds in surprise.

"Hello? Natsuki-san? Are you there?" Otto called out, yet no response from Subaru's side.

"I guess I'll have to go there to make sure Natsuki-san's okay" He said before shutting down his Metia and proceeding to leave the Mansion to depart to the Kremaldy Forest.

At the same time, Subaru was looking at the houses, yet only his back was shown to the screen.

"This will have to do for now, but it won't take long before I can use its full potential. I just need more souls...Much more...And I know just who to start with..."

As this warped voice escaped from Subaru's mouth, he pointed his arm downwards, before a glowing red bullet of energy shot from his finger shot the head of a heavily injured Knight, blowing his head in the process.

---

A few minutes later. Kremaldy Forest Entrance

"Okay. I'm here in the forest. Time to find Natsuki-san"

Setting Fluffle, his Earth Dragon to rest, Otto hopped off the Dragon Carriage, before he proceeded to walk through the forest.

"Goodness, Natsuki-san. You always make others worry about you a lot. I wonder if he's alright. He suddenly cut the communication while speaking. I hope he's not attacked or something..." Otto muttered with a worried tone in his voice. He then sped up in his steps, moving faster through the forest. As he kept on this pace, he suddenly gasped as he tripped on something, causing him to fall on what appeared to be water, face first.

"Huh...? What is...That...?"

He then muttered his words as the color suddenly faded from his face, and his eyes became wide in shock and horror at the scene that he was in.

"D-Dead Knights?! And...Blood?! What's happening here?!" Otto yelled his question but didn't have an answer. He then stood up, quickly wiped off the blood on his face, and started running as if his life depended on it.

"I have to find Natsuki-san as quick as possible!" He yelled as he sprinted at full speed to Irlam Village, his heart pounding like crazy from both fear and panic. After running for a few minutes, he suddenly saw the ground and the trees being adorned with heads of Knights being impaled into the branches and innards surrounding the trees like Christmas decorations, with the grass and the ground being grey in color, completely devoid of life.

"It's getting worse and worse...What if I'm next?! Maybe I should go back and warn the others?!" Otto shakingly asked another unanswered question, before shaking his head to abandon those negative thoughts, trying to strengthen himself if even by a little.

"No, Otto. Snap out of it. You have to be brave" He said as he ran to the entrance of Irlam Village, with his eyes narrowing as he saw a figure standing with his back facing him as he leant on the wall of one of the currently vacant houses.

"I think I see someone in the distance..." Otto muttered as he forced his already tired legs to carry him even faster to the figure. He then stopped a few meters away from the figure, having seen the white color of their hair and their green and orange traveler outfit.

"Natsuki-san! Thank god I found you!" Otto exclaimed with a smile as his entire body was sweating from head to toe.

"..." Subaru, however, still leaned on the wall, not even turning around to face Otto, which in turn caused Otto to be confused.

"N-Natsuki-san...?" Otto said as he shakingly and hesitantly approached Subaru, and with each step he took, his heart pounded even faster in his chest and his body shook uncontrollably. His instincts, developed from his dangerous ventures as a traveling merchant, told him not to advance any further towards Subaru, but he forcibly betrayed those instincts and approached his friend, who immediately turned around to face him.

"Otto? What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you I'd be back soon?" Subaru asked Otto in confusion.

"I'm sorry, Natsuki-san. I just thought you needed help" Otto answered.

"Is the Dragon Carriage here? C'mon, we have work to do" Subaru said before walking ahead of Otto, only for Otto's eyes to widen in shock upon seeing what was on Subaru's hands.

"N-Natsuki-san, What's with your h-hands?" Otto asked with hesitation, as he saw what appeared to be blood on the hands of the white-haired man.

"It's nothing, okay? We have to get a move on" Subaru answered.

And for the second time, Otto's instincts screamed at him, this time even louder. All the bells inside of him screaming 'Danger' as his eyes were locked on Subaru and his bloodstained hands. He felt that he will suffer a Fate that he himself didn't know, but if it's worse than Death, then Otto knew it and would never, ever want to experience it.

"...Okay, Natsuki-san. Let's go" He said, causing 'Subaru' to nod, before walking ahead of Otto. Once Otto saw that 'Subaru' entered the forest grounds, however, he forced his extremely tired legs to sprint to the direction of the Sanctuary.

He kept on running and running and running. What drove him to run was his Fear of Death that for one reason or another had tried to claim his life.

Suddenly, however, just as Otto was about to fall due to fatigue, a figure zoomed behind him and touched him, and the instant Otto felt the touch, everything went black for a second.

In the next second, however...

"W-What...?!"

He screamed as he saw what occurred in front of him.

"The whole Kremaldy Forest is on fire! What the heck happened here?!" He screamed before he ran as fast as he could through the fire. He could feel the heat surrounding him. Grass and trees were wreathed in flames mercilessly, smoke filled his nostrils and absolutely no sign of life was detected.

Otto kept on running, Fear filling his heart that was moments away from bursting out from his chest. As he kept on running, his heart was indeed going to burst out upon hearing a bloodthirsty laugh echoing.

Otto kept on running for his life. He felt that Death was indeed moments away from claiming his life. He just kept on running as he had nothing else to do other than that to remain alive and in one piece.

He was already out of breath; his lungs were out of air and his legs were already on the verge of breaking down. But he still ran because he knew that his life depended on surviving.

He then saw a ledge at his way and a pitfall. With nothing to lose, Otto used all of his strength to jump to the ledge, causing the zooming figure to miss him by a hair and zoom to another direction. For a second, Otto felt a little relieved, having barely escaped Death by a hair breadth, before he resumed on running. He kept on running until he found a massive number of unburned bushes, to which he then saw a figure similar to Subaru approaching him. Otto's instincts kicked in once again, promoting him to duck underneath the bushes to hide from the figure, where said figure entered into his field of view, only for Otto to barely suppress a gasp upon seeing that the figure indeed resembled Subaru, but with his face extremely pale, his sclera being black, his irises being crimson red, and his eyes were literally oozing out tears of blood.

"Damnit. How could I've let him get away so easily? He has to be around here somewhere..." The figure said before he threw his head backwards and let out a blood curing laugh, before Otto saw his form slowly fading away before disappearing completely.

Not a few seconds later, the ground underneath Otto suddenly crumbled, causing Otto to fall into the hole that mysteriously formed under his feet.

---

Unknown Underground Location

Shaking his head after he recovered from his fall, Otto adjusted his eyes to the dim lighting around the cave-like area that he fell into, before slowly standing up to his feet. He then walked in the area and kept on walking until he found a large black block of rock in front of him. He then looked to its side, only to see the figure that was chasing him walking casually towards him. Otto gasped at this, before hiding behind the black block.

"Come on out, Otto. Don't make me come find you" Subaru EXE said with a twisted, bloodthirsty smirk on his face.

"So you wanna play Hide and Seek then, do you? This will be fun" He said once again before casually walking away from the black block that Otto was hiding in. Otto waited for a few seconds before getting out from his hiding spot. He then tiptoed his way away from the block, before sprinting at full speed when he suddenly heard the same bloodthirsty laugh that released.

Otto was already a mess of sweat, nerves and horror. He was running at full speed with his legs releasing massive amounts of lactic acid in them. He could even swear that he heard the sound of bones creaking with each step he ran.

Suddenly, he felt it.

The smell of Death approaching him from behind.

It was drawing nearer and nearer with each step he took away from it, as if the concept of distance was nothing to the figure chasing him.

Otto, in his panicked state, noticed a large golden ring ahead of him. He didn't know what told him what to do next, but he felt like reaching that ring will save him. So he used whatever strength he had left and jumped forwards, towards the large ring. And as soon as was about to tag him, Otto managed to reach the giant golden ring, causing him to instantly disappear before could catch him.

"Hm. He survived...For now. I could play with him a little longer, but I have plans" Subaru EXE said before throwing his head backwards and releasing another howling laughter, before his floating form disappeared gradually from the view.

---

A few minutes later. Irlam Village

"Damn...Ma' amazin' self can't believe that he was forced to leave da' Sanctuary by that Clown"

Scratching the back of his head, Garfiel tried his best not to shiver at the idea of leaving the Sanctuary, even for a few hours.

Roswaal ordered him to go check on both of Subaru and Otto, telling him that Ram would be there too. At first, Garfiel didn't budge, even after knowing that Ram was there, but when his little grandma Ryuzu orders him the same, then there was something different. As such, Garfiel was forced to go out of the Sanctuary for the first time in fourteen years.

"Aw'right...Le's end this quick..." Garfiel muttered before walking through the village. He kept on walking in the silence casually, knowing very well that all of the villagers were in the Sanctuary after the Melty Camp evacuated them all before the battle with Gluttony. Garfiel had to admit that while they were all a bothersome bunch, they were able to think fast indeed.

"Huh...?"

Suddenly, everything became static in Garfiel's eyes for a second, before his vision returned to him once again, but upon adjusting his eyes on the scene once again...

"What?!"

...Blood, everywhere.

What Garfiel saw in front of him was blood all over the entire village, as if a weird artist decided to splash red on the picture of Irlam Village. The ground and the houses were all having large patches of red.

Suddenly, Garfiel's instincts kicked in, feeling a rather dangerous presence behind him, which caused him to turn around instantly, coming face to face with a grinning face that had tears of blood dripping from his eyes.

"Found You"

"?!"

And as the creature said that, Garfiel wasted no time and delivered a punch to out of panic, sending him flying away and crashing into a wall of a nearby house.

Garfiel took the chance and proceeded to run towards the direction of the Sanctuary, only for his body to hit something solid upon getting close to the entrance of the Sanctuary.

"What th'heck?!" Garfiel yelled out in a mix between frustration and Fear, as floated behind him while having a maniac grin on his face, causing Garfiel to spin around upon feeling the murderous aura of his assailant.

"Aggressive as always, Garfiel. However, I won't let you go so easily" Subaru EXE said to Garfiel.

"Th'heck d'ya want from ma' amazin' self, ya bastard?!" Garfiel shouted his question.

"Let's play a game. I'll keep on attacking you for ten minutes. No more and no less. And you will have to survive until those ten minutes are done. If you do, then you're free to go. You're also free to attack me as well...Although I doubt that it will make a difference" Subaru EXE said, causing Garfiel to grit his teeth in anger.

"Ya think that ma' amazin' self will work with your games, ya freaky bastard?!" Garfiel yelled while pointing his finger at Subaru EXE, only for his eyes to widen as something zoomed past his face, causing a cut on his left cheek to form. Garfiel slowly looked behind him at what hit him, only to see that it was something like a blue arrow that had its head cylindrical in shape.

"Shock Bolt"

And before he could do anything, the arrow exploded in electricity, electrocuting Garfiel who was nearby and causing him to scream in pain.

Once the electricity faded, Garfiel willed himself to stand up while gritting his teeth at the figure that attacked him.

"You have no choice in the matter, Garfiel. Now then...SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT!" Subaru EXE exclaimed before he generated a golden orange orb on his finger.

"Curveball"

He then made a gun firing motion, causing the orb to shoot at Garfiel at blinding speeds, promoting Garfiel to jump out of the way. The orb then exploded into fire upon making contact with the ground, releasing a massive shockwave that sent Garfiel flying away and crashing into another house.

1 minute passed. 9 minutes remaining.

Garfiel got up quickly and shook his head to regain focus, only to gasp upon seeing a whitish grey orb zooming towards him. However, it was too late for him to act and dodge as the ball was right in front of him point blank.

"Paranoia"

The orb then blew up in Garfiel's face, causing a blinding light to cloud Garfiel's vision and for his ears to hear an annoying tuning sound. He tried to adjust his eyes, but he was completely blinded and all that he could see was white. He tried using his ears to hear his surroundings, but all that he could hear was tuning.

He was blinded and deafened, so he had to rely on something else: His nose.

2 minutes passed. 8 minutes remaining.

Sniffing as hard as he could, Garfiel sensed danger approaching him, but he also had no time to act as the danger assaulted his nostrils as well.

"Viper Pit"

Just as he regained his eyesight and hearing, Garfiel clutched his nose in pain as a thick green cloud of poison covered the entire village, and his vision was now blurry, as well as the fact that he felt that his internal organs were screaming in agony, courtesy of the poison as well.

"Bastard..." Garfiel muttered.

"Aw~. You don't have to be so stingy, Garfiel. After all, this is a game, and yet..."

Garfiel heard him pause, before he gasped, and his blurry eyes widened in shock and pain as flew at blinding speeds and implanted his foot into Garfiel's stomach, before sending him flying away to the ground, caving it in a cylindrical shape.

"...YOU'RE STILL NO HAVING FUN!"

3 minutes passed. 7 minutes remaining.

Garfiel shakingly stood up and coughed out a mix of saliva and blood from his mouth. He immediately tore a piece of his vest and wrapped it around his nose to prevent more of the poison from entering into his system.

"Blade Storm"

He then saw as hundreds of silver knives came down at him through the thick green cloud of poison like heavy rain. Garfiel then jumped away, trying to evade as much as possible, but with how thick the cloud of poison is, and how his vision is already blurry from the poison, as well as the fact that his innards are twisting in pain inside of him, Garfiel couldn't dodge all of the knives, and a few of them stabbed through his arms and thighs, with another few stabbing into his left shoulder and right ankle, causing blood to fall from nearly everywhere in his body.

"Damnit..." He muttered while hissing in pain.

4 minutes passed. 6 minutes remaining.

"Slow Orb"

Garfiel was then hit by a turquoise orb. The moment it hit him, he didn't feel nothing at first, but when he tried to move, he felt extremely sluggish.

"What?!" He thought in panic, before he heard the warped voice of Subaru EXE.

"What's wrong, Garfiel? I thought that you were called The Shield of The Sanctuary. I thought that you were more durable than that. Well...Rumors are rumors, I guess" He said in a mocking tone, causing Garfiel's blood to boil in rage.

"Showstopper"

Just then, Garfiel saw projectiles that appeared to be cylindrical and pointy at the head come soaring towards him from both sides. This caused him to jump away, barely causing the rockets to miss its mark due to his sluggish movements, and causing the projectiles to collide together, but the explosion was so great that it sent Garfiel flying away once again, colliding with the barrier imprisoning him in the village, before falling face first on the ground.

5 minutes passed. 5 minutes remaining.

Trying to shakily stand up, Garfiel then felt the ground tremble beneath him.

"Rolling Thunder"

Suddenly, the quake intensified, and Garfiel then coughed out blood with large amounts as a large cone-shaped slab of earth came erupting from underneath him, slamming into his torso, and causing his internal organs to burst up from the inside out.

The large stone slab sent Garfiel to the sky, but in midair, Subaru EXE teleported to him.

"Where do you think you're going, Garf? The game is still halfway incomplete" He said before slamming his fist into Garfiel's stomach, causing his insides to burst open even more and for him to cough out even more blood, before he was sent soaring downwards with a sonic boom, crashing down into the ground of Irlam Village once again.

6 minutes passed. 4 minutes remaining.

"What's the matter, Garfiel? Already out of gas? Don't give up. You're almost there" said with a mocking tone.

"Damn you..." Garfiel gasped for air as he muttered those words, trying to stand up with all of his being, and the moment he stood up, a dark brown card was tossed right in front of him on the ground, causing him to look at it in confusion.

"Blindside"

Just then, the card suddenly burst into a bright white ball of light, causing Garfiel to scream in pain as his vision once again was assaulted by blindness, but this time, he felt like his eyes were placed in boiled oil, causing him to claw at his eyes from the pain. And soon, his screams turned to rasped sobs as tears rolled down his harmed eyes.

"Oh? The mighty Shield of The Sanctuary is actually a crybaby, huh? Now that is surprising" Subaru EXE said with a chuckle.

7 minutes passed. 3 minutes remaining.

Garfiel gritted his teeth in between his sobs, before he forced his already crippled legs to run at the direction that he thought that was the direction of the Sanctuary. He didn't know what was right from left. The ball of light that burst in his eyes didn't only rob him from his eyesight, it also distorted his senses and perception. Even while using his other senses, Garfiel couldn't discern his directions because of the poison cloud, and even without the poison, the ball of light held the effect of distorting his senses to the point that they can't be used.

"Gravity Well"

Suddenly, Garfiel felt an invisible force pull him backwards. He tried resisting it and pushing his way away from it forcefully, but with the strong gravitational pull and his extremely damaged body, Garfiel was unable to much of a resistance, and his body was blown backwards like leaves in the wind, and within the center of the black hole, Garfiel reached said spot in no time, and upon reaching it, a massive explosion echoed throughout the forest, blowing Garfiel away with it, and causing it body to have nasty burns and bruises on them.

Garfiel coughed out, and his throat was burning. Strangely enough, the poison cloud did not dissipate at all from the shockwave produced by the explosion, and not even smoke emitted from it.

"Damnit...! Ma amazin' self...Has to..." Garfiel muttered as he raised his head, only for Subaru EXE to teleport right in front of him, flashing his mad grin at his shocked, bruised and burned face.

"You have to...What?" He asked but didn't wait for an answer as he slammed his fist into Garfiel's face, sending him flying away and ripping off the makeshift cloth muzzle off his nose. And upon landing on the ground, the poison once again assaulted Garfiel's nostrils, causing him to gurgle from his mouth and for his eyes to roll up to the back of his head and flash its whites as air was unable to enter through his lungs at all.

8 minutes passed. 2 minutes remaining.

Garfiel then tried to stand up, only for another punch to send him flying to the side. He was already out of power, yet his opponent won't show any mercy.

No, to be more precise, his opponent wasn't fighting him seriously.

"He's toyin' with ma amazin' self...Bastard!" Garfiel thought, his anger rising up by the second as he once again tried to stand up to his feet, only for a small, white hexagonal orb to roll down towards his already downed form.

"Aw shit..." He muttered the curse.

"Fragment"

A light blue explosion burst in Garfiel's face, sending him toppling away once again. By now, Garfiel is already out of strength and his body was completely mangled.

9 minutes passed. 1 minute remaining.

"You know, if you stayed down, you would avoid all of that...Oh, who am I kidding? Of course not! How would that be fun?!" Subaru EXE exclaimed with a mad cackle.

"Ya bastard...Ya think that this all a game?!" Garfiel forced himself to yell that, before using what remained of his strength to stand up and glare at Subaru EXE.

"Who are ya?! And what have ya done to that asshole?!" Garfiel yelled his question at the abomination.

"Well do you want to know?" Subaru EXE asked with a grin, before raising his opened palm, causing light blue electricity to emit from his palm.

"Overdrive"

A massive, deadly beam of light blue lightning burst forth from the palm of Subaru EXE, with Garfiel barely jumping to avoid it, but the electricity grazed his left leg, causing his balance to be disrupted and for him to trip and fall, with his body completely giving up, no longer able to do anything.

10 minutes passed. Time Out.

Garfiel gasped heavily for air, trying to stand up as Subaru EXE stood there while grinning at him.

"It was actually fun while it lasted. I think that it's over now. Oh, and by the way, being able to escape after ten minutes...It was a lie. The barrier won't fade unless I say so" Subaru EXE said before extending his arm once again, causing a massive bundle of Darkness to envelope his palm. Garfiel felt like it was a big one, an attack that he won't be able to survive from.

He then saw behind him as a large golden ring manifested out of thin air. At that moment, he didn't know why, but even without his disabled instincts, he was sure that this ring was his only way of escaping that opponent.

With that being thought, he willed himself with what remained of his power to jump lightly towards the ring. Time itself seemed to slow down as fired off his last attack.

"Nightfall"

The beam of Darkness, capable of erasing whatever it envelopes at a conceptual level, stripping them off the cycle of reincarnation, dooming them for all eternity, soared towards Garfiel, who extended his broken arm in a desperate attempt to reach the giant golden ring, and just as the beam of Darkness was about to collide with him, he managed to reach the ring, and upon touching it, he instantly disappeared alongside the ring itself, causing the beam of Darkness to hit the barrier around the village, instantly destroying it alongside a dozens of trees.

The beam faded, and Subaru EXE waved his hand in a motion as if his hand was caught on fire and he was extinguishing the flames. He then crossed his arms underneath his chest and grinned devilishly.

"And he also survived. Heh. Very well. Time to target the third guy" Subaru EXE said before throwing his head back and laughed a twisted laugh before his form gradually disappeared from the village.

---

A few minutes later. Astrea Mansion

Heinkel Astrea.

A depressed, pessimistic, depressed, despaired, drunk old man.

It all began when his wife Louanna suddenly entered into a coma in a rather mysterious way. This drove him to despair, not to mention the fact that he still carries the survival guilt on his shoulders due to what happened with his grandmother, the previous Sword Saint. Originally, there was a battalion of Knights commissioned to slay the White Whale, but he was too afraid that his mother, Theresia Van Astrea, the previous Sword Saint, went instead of him, only to end up losing the Divine Protection of the Sword Saint that transferred itself to the next Sword Saint, Reinhard, and that resulted in her being slain in the previous crusade against the White Whale.

This led to Wilhelm, his father, hating Heinkel for his cowardice, and to also hate Reinhard for 'stealing' both his wife's powers and sword. Honestly, at first, Heinkel thought that it was rubbish, having to hate a kid for something he didn't do, and that made him the only person to stand by his son's side.

However, Heinkel was also a Human, and the fact that he couldn't cure his wife from that strange disease drove him to depression and he eventually became alcoholic, before neglecting his child completely.

Upon remembering the past, Heinkel grabbed a handful of his hair and sighed out in frustration. He acted like he hated Reinhard, but most of him just didn't. He knew that it wasn't Reinhard's fault, yet he was so sad that he had to blame someone, and Reinhard was in front of him.

So Heinkel made it a promise to himself: Once Louanna is cured, he can go and apologize to his son. He knew that his father will never forgive him, because all that Wilhelm cared about in this world was Theresia, so it was a hopeless case speaking to him, but he knew that Reinhard could listen to and forgive him if he just apologized.

"Ugh..." Heinkel released a tired sigh after his mind went through all of those depressing memories. He then reached for his alcohol jug and was about to place it next to his mouth, when suddenly, the entire Mansion shook violently, causing Heinkel to trip from his seat and drop his alcohol jug, causing it to shatter upon making contact with the ground.

"What the hell?! What is happening?!" Heinkel exclaimed in shock, before standing up to his feet and darting towards the door of his room. He then flinched as the scent of blood filled his nostrils, just as he was about to open the door.

Cold sweat ran down Heinkel's forehead, rolling down his cheeks, and then to his chin and on the floor. When he started concentrating even more, he heard the screams and wails of people outside, before hearing the crunching of bones and the splattering of blood.

For a moment, Heinkel thought that he was hallucinating from all the alcohol, but when he slapped himself twice, he came to the cruel realization that what was happening behind the door was not a dream.

Gulping a lump that formed in his throat, Heinkel raised his shaky hand and slowly opened the door.

And upon doing so, he recoiled and nearly threw up from what he saw.

All around him, mutilated corpses with the possible and the impossible ways to be shown in the art of mutilation. Horrified expressions of the maids around him as they lied emotionlessly in pools of their own blood. Broken bones poking out from the flesh. Gruesome mixtures of blood, saliva, viscera and brain matter. Corpses of maids and butlers being cut in half, or their heads down to their upper jaw being torn forcibly, limbs scattered across the corridor, intestines adorning the corners of the corridors like a New Year's decorations.

Heinkel immediately closed the door behind him, and the shock and horror caused him to be thrown off balance and fall on his butt. He then suddenly felt a shiver run down his spine, which in turn caused him to slowly and shakily turn his head to see what's behind him, only to gasp in horror upon seeing something written in the wall behind him.

And it was written with blood.

IT'S YOUR TURN HEINKEL

Heinkel was a shivering mess. He was shaking so much that he couldn't think or stand straight, or even stand up and grab his sword that was on his side.

However, suddenly, a thought of some people had caused him to snap out.

"Louanna...Carol...Grimm...Grassis...Flam..."

Heinkel could never forget those people in his mansion, especially his wife Louanna. If they were here, then he was hoping that that creature didn't reach them and make them meet the same fate as the maids and butlers outside.

Reaching for his pocket, Heinkel pulled out a Communication Mirror. He then pushed his Mana into it and thought of the two first individuals that he can contact.

"Grimm! Carol! Are you there?!" Heinkel shouted.

"Heinkel-sama? What's the matter? Why are you yelling?" Carol asked from her side of the line in confusion.

"Where are both of you?! And what about the other residents of the mansion?!" Heinkel yelled his question.

"We're in the Capital City. We went to gather some supplies. Reinhard-sama and Natsumi-sama are out of the Capital. They went to Pristella for some investigation regarding Shadow-sama's comatose state, and Rem-dono is with Shadow-sama in his room" Carol answered.

"No matter what happens, do not return to the mansion! Just stay in the Capital!" Heinkel yelled.

"What? Why?" Carol asked, still confused.

"Don't question me! Just fucking do what I say! Also, where are you grandchildren?!" Heinkel asked.

"They're in the mansion in their rooms, Heinkel-sama" Carol asked, still confused, but a part of her felt dread inside.

"Shit!" Heinkel cursed, before his body stood up and went ahead to grab the Holy Sword Astrea, with the signs of crippling fear that stuck to him like glue a short while ago vanished instantly.

"Heinkel-sama! What is-!" Carol spoke, anxiety building inside of her heart from Heinkel's words, only for Heinkel to cut her off.

"Carol! As I told you! No matter what, you and Grimm must NEVER, EVER, leave the Capital City! You get it?!" Heinkel yelled his order and didn't wait for a reply as he cut the communication and placed his Metia in his pocket, before placing his sword on his waist, and proceeded to exit his room.

"Hrk-!"

He nearly hurled as he passed through the massacre around him. Heinkel was trying his best not to slip on the blood, because if he did, he won't be able to control the urge to throw up.

Heinkel then ran towards the room where Louanna was sleeping, his heart beating loudly in his chest and cold sweat running down his face like a dam had broken.

"Louanna...Louanna!" He kept calling his wife's name in his mind, hoping that nothing happened to her. Fear completely consuming him, not from Death, but from the mere thought of witnessing the Death of one of the two people that he held precious in his life.

Upon reaching the door of his wife's room, he slammed it open.

"LOUANNA!" He yelled his wife's name, while panting heavily, only to sigh in relief upon seeing that she was still in her Sleeping Beauty state, with no changes whatsoever, not a stab or a looped head.

"Thank goodness..." He muttered before marching towards her sleeping form. He then wrapped the blanket that she was covered in around her body, before hoisting her up in his arms bridal style.

"Sorry, Louanna, but it's urgent. We need to get out of here" Heinkel whispered gently to his sleeping wife, before he was about to dash towards the door, only for two small figures to appear in front of him.

"Grassis? Flam? You two are safe! Great! Come with me! We need to get out of here!" Heinkel called out to the twins.

"..." And yet, they just remained silent with their hair shadowing their eyes.

This caused Heinkel to take a few steps back, his body starting to shiver from the sudden rise of bloodlust that was coming from the girls.

"Kh-!"

And his fears were confirmed when he saw the eyes of both Grassis and Flam, where Grassis' right eye was stitched in a horrible way, indicating that it was gouged out, with the same happening to Flam's left eye. The skin of both twins was extremely pale, and blood was coming out of each of their only good eye, which color was changed to black sclera with blood red irises.

"Sorry, Heinkel-sama..." Grassis EXE whispered.

"...But this is an order that we can't obey" Flam EXE continued.

Heinkel then jumped to the side to avoid an earth spike protruding from the ground, where said spike pierced through the window that was behind him, shattering its glass completely. Heinkel then dashed towards the two twins, trying to aim for the exit, but it was impossible since they were blocking it. This caused him to have Grassis EXE's fist slammed into his abdomen, causing him to instantly cough out blood, before being sent flying away, and forcibly dropping Louanna from him. He then got up quickly, forcing himself to ignore the pain.

"LOUANNA!" Heinkel screamed the name of his wife as he saw her being held by Flam EXE, with Grassis EXE in a fighting stance against Heinkel.

"Heinkel-sama...You should give up..." Grassis EXE said.

"...After all...He will also come for you" Flam EXE continued.

"'Come for me'...? What are you talking about...?" Heinkel asked, confusion and Fear assaulting his mind.

"He came for us too..." Grassis EXE said.

"...And we tried to resist him, but...That was the end..." Flam EXE continued.

"W-What?! Do you mean that...?!" Heinkel trailed in his speech, unable to complete the sentence due to having realization striking him like a lightning bolt.

"Yes, Heinkel-sama...We are dead..." Grassis EXE said.

"...And you and Louanna-sama are following us too..." Flam EXE continued.

"NO!" Heinkel yelled before dashing forward to snatch Louanna, only for Grassis EXE to intercept him. But Heinkel was ready this time, and he swung his sword at Grassis EXE, who caught it with her hands. Heinkel, whoever, anticipated this, and released his grip from his sword, startling Grassis EXE, before he used the confusion of his opponent to deliver a kick to Grassis EXE, sending her flying away to a wall and cratering it.

Heinkel then dashed forward towards Flam EXE, who raised her hand and chanted.

"El Dona!" She roared out, causing several earth spikes to burst out and fly towards Heinkel, who proceeded to dodge them. However, one of the spikes lodged itself into his shoulder, causing him to grit his teeth in pain. He then gasped when Flam EXE threw Louanna to him, causing Heinkel to immediately catch her in his hands. However, he was open to another attack when Flam EXE dashed towards him. Heinkel, seeing this, prioritized his wife's own safety, lifting her above his head to prevent her from any harm, but at the cost of leaving himself wide open as Flam EXE slammed her fist into his abdomen, causing his stomach to scream in agony as his internal organs burst from inside his body, before he went crashing into a wall, but he was still holding Louanna with both hands tightly to never let her leave his arms again.

Heinkel stood on his feet shakingly, before coughing a considerable amount of blood from his mouth. He then glared weakly at his two undead opponents.

"Hey...Are you two...Content with what's happening with you right now...?" Heinkel gasped his question to the two girls.

"What do you mean?" Both of Flam EXE and Grassis EXE asked in unison.

"Your...Grandparents will be devastated...Upon knowing that you two were dead...Are you truly content...With that?" Heinkel asked.

"What is the use of such words..." Grassis EXE started asking.

"...After we have already died?" Flam EXE finished the question.

"Huh...I see...However..." Heinkel started speaking, before slowly steading himself in his stand.

"...I can't die here. I have...Precious people that I need to protect" Heinkel whispered, before taking a deep breath and started to manipulate his Mana.

Throughout the Astrea family, no one has ever used Magic before. The only usage of Magic that they used was through the Mana Circulation Theory, also known as Mana Excitation State, something similar to the Ryuuhou Technique, which is simply the usage of Mana to strengthen the body of its user, similar to Yang Magic, but it's not exactly Yang Magic. And it's not even Ryuuhou as well. The difference between those three techniques is that Yang Magic focuses on using Mana to enhance either the user or a target that is required to have the enhancement, while the Mana Excitation State is simply using the Mana in the body to increase the physical strength of the user to abnormal degrees by forcibly releasing the limiters on the body. On the other hand, Ryuuhou focuses on releasing the limiters on the body to enhance not only the physical strength, but also the physical defense and the senses of the user.

As far as Heinkel knows, his mother, Theresia Van Astrea, had an affinity with Yang Magic, but even she didn't use it and relied only on her swordsmanship skills. So for someone like Heinkel, learning Magic in the Astrea family is considered something unrequired. However, Heinkel was a man that learned from his past mistakes.

As such, in this moment, even Heinkel Astrea knew that he should let out all of his arsenal.

"Shamak!"

"?!"

Instantly pushing his Mana outside his Gate, Heinkel roared out the name of the spell, releasing a cloud of smoke that filled out the entire room. Grassis EXE and Flam EXE had their senses robbed from them, and before they could react due to their robbed senses, Heinkel zoomed forward, Louanna in his uninjured arm, and his sword in his injured arm, before he released two horizontal slashes with his sword, and then zoomed towards the exit of Louanna's room with said woman in his hand, right at the time where the smokescreen faded, revealing the two decapitated bodies of both of Grassis EXE and Flam EXE lying emotionlessly.

Heinkel ran as fast as he could, his body sweating heavily due to his weak arm holding his sword, and from holding his wife with his good arm. He tried his best to not to slip on the blood or throw up from all the limbs and inner organs that he was seeing. Heinkel was already used to seeing others dying because he was on the battlefield, but to be killed gruesomely like that is not something even Witch Cultists, let alone Sin Archbishops, should even be introduced to.

Suddenly, spikes started to burst from the floor to which Heinkel barely dodged, before running away as even more and more spikes started to protrude from the floor as Heinkel kept on running through the corridor.

It felt like the corridor was stretching to infinity. Heinkel kept on running with his wife hoisted on his shoulder, and his arm that was holding his sword was very close to giving up, but he just gritted his teeth to the point that they started chipping away.

Heinkel then barely dodged backwards as a spike suddenly erupted from the wall next to his right. Another spike then burst from the ceiling above him, just missing Louanna's head, giving her a scratch on her left cheek that drew out blood from it.

"Damnit" Heinkel cursed as he proceeded to dodge the spikes as he ran away from the corridor. Suddenly, he jumped away upon feeling that the ground suddenly became softer and started to crumble underneath his feet.

"What the hell?!" Heinkel yelled in shock, where the confusion caused him to drop his guard for an instant, giving a chance for a spike to burst from the crumbling tiles on the floor underneath him, and proceeded to pierce through his other shoulder, causing him to almost lose his grip on his wife's body.

"Damnit!" Heinkel cursed as he gritted his teeth, trying to ignore the pain in both shoulders while desperately forcing himself to hold both his sword and his wife in his two hands that were that close to giving up. He didn't even have time to rest as the floor started to crumble underneath him at a faster rate.

"So, you're still alive, I see"

"?!"

Heinkel turned around, only to see Subaru, but something was off about him: His eyes had crimson red irises, black sclera and they were oozing tears of blood.

"What?! You're the Emilia Camp's weird brat! Is this your doing?!" Heinkel yelled at Subaru EXE.

"Heh. Do you seriously have time for that, Heinkel? Do you even realize the situation that you're in?" Subaru EXE said, to which Heinkel noticed the change of the sound tone that 'Subaru' released.

"You...Who the hell are you? And what have you done to Grassis and Flam?!" Heinkel yelled his question.

"Hah...Seriously, did all the alcohol that you consumed had clouded your brain? Of course I killed both of them. Too bad that I couldn't approach that asshole Shadow. Even while unconscious, he still can produce a barrier around him so that I can't reach him. But still, I suppose that he didn't anticipate that I will kill others and turn them to my toys" Subaru EXE answered with a wide grin that threatened to split his face in half.

"You...What are you trying to do?" Heinkel asked, horror consuming him, to which Subaru EXE tilted his head to the side. Not as a sign of confusion, but as a sign of fake ignorance. Heinkel then gasped as he saw Subaru EXE started to float.

"Ah, I see...You're trying to play games with me by stalling for time, Heinkel? I'll rip your beating heart out of your lifeless body" Subaru EXE said, before he flew at high speeds towards Heinkel, promoting Heinkel to run away from him, with the floor collapsing at an even faster rate. Even when Heinkel tried to use the wall as a pseudo platform, it crumbled like biscuits. With each step that Heinkel took, he felt that his life will leave him at any time. He also didn't dare to look behind him, having felt the bloodlust from his predator that was chasing him like a cat and mouse game. But this time, it won't only end with the cat eating the mouse if it catches it. Heinkel himself felt it, so he didn't dare to look behind him.

He just ran for his dear life, because obviously, the lives of both his wife and himself deeply depended on Heinkel's survival.

"You're not dead?...If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself, I suppose" Subaru EXE whispered maliciously, before the entire Mansion started to become hazardous. Spikes burst from the floor, walls and ceilings, large monster jaws came out of holes of torn space and tried to take Heinkel down by biting at his body, giant claws with blood on the nails protruded from floor trying to mutilate Heinkel with a single swipe and blue humanoid hedgehogs came jumping out of thin air at Heinkel, who even when he dodged them, he recoiled slightly as they exploded upon making contact with solid surfaces.

After making it to the end of the corridor, Heinkel was gasping heavily for air since he didn't come out unscathed. He had deep cuts, bruises and burns all over his body, aside from the two spikes that were impaling his shoulders. Normally, he would have collapsed by now, but the combination of Fear from both his enemy and the idea of both him and his wife losing their lives to such abomination made the adrenaline within his body rapidly pump into his heart nonstop.

He then ran downstairs and proceeded to slam into the exit, feeling the bone of his impaled left shoulder get cracked, but he managed to will himself to not drop his sword, where the results were favorable, as he managed to forcibly open the exit of the Mansion, and proceeded to run outside the Mansion with Louanna hoisted on his shoulder. He then stopped running upon seeing a golden giant ring manifesting out of thin air in front of him.

"A-A giant ring?" Heinkel asked in both confusion and shock, before he managed to compose himself.

"I have no choice. I don't know what will happen if I touch it, but it seems to resemble a portal. It's my only way out for now" Heinkel said before jumping inside of the ring, with the ring disappearing from existence upon him entering it.

---

Unknown Location

Adjusting his eyesight, Otto looked in front of him, and was in awe at what he saw.

A second ago he was running for his life in an underground cave from something that resembled his friend, and now he was in what appeared to be a beautiful palace filled with crystals on the side. The road itself appeared to be safe, and Otto didn't feel any kind of dread or killing intent from the atmosphere around him. On the contrary, it felt like tranquility.

"Ugh!" Otto gasped as he felt a sharp sting in his ears, before blood seeped out from them. That was due to overuse of his Divine Protection of Anima Whispering, where its overuse would cause his ears to bleed and for a massive headache to assault his brain.

Otto clutched his brain and ears with both hands, trying to dull the immense pain while at the same time trying to calm down his heart that was beating rapidly. How did all of that happen within a single day was beyond Otto's knowledge. But the shock and the horror seemed to be far more than what he can handle.

"Dammit..." He muttered, lamenting his own weakness, before slamming both of his cheeks using both of his hands.

"I have to remain strong...That thing is definitely not Natsuki-san. Natsuki-san would never do something like that...But then again, what could it be?" Otto muttered to himself as he walked aimlessly through the strange terrain, and a few minutes of walking made him extremely tired and his legs soon felt like jelly, before he collapsed onto the floor, but he just collapsed right in front of something huge.

"Whoa..."

And it left him in awe.

Right in front of Otto's collapsed form was a giant, green gem, around three times bigger than him. Otto was in awe that he forgot the pain that assaulted his brain. He kept on staring at the giant beautiful gem that released some mysterious energy for what appeared to be hours, but was in fact around more than ten minutes, before suddenly...

"Ugh!"

"?!"

Otto was suddenly broken out from his mesmerized state when he heard a groan behind him, he turned his face backwards, only to be shocked to see the nearly mangled, but alive body of Garfiel.

"Garfiel-san!" Otto exclaimed in worry, trying to get up, but staring at the huge gem made Otto completely forget his aching bones and his head-splitting headache and upon trying to stand, he immediately fell on his butt, groaning in pain.

"Damn it. I almost forgot about my own injuries..." Otto muttered, before looking at Garfiel, and he winced upon seeing his state.

Garfiel was riddled in grave, life-threatening wounds, from scars and badly swollen eyes to gaping holes in the flesh and slash wounds that made Otto feel that the kid was an inch from being cut in half if the large cut that traveled from his right shoulder to his left leg was any indication of his sorry state.

But Otto, who was worried about the kid, released a sigh of relief upon seeing that Garfiel was still alive and breathing.

"Are you alright...Garfiel-san?" Otto gasped his concern for the kid, who just groaned while glaring weakly at Otto.

"Do ma amazin' self...Look alright t'ya...?" Garfiel countered with his own question.

"..." Otto just stayed silent. He then saw Garfiel crawling towards him.

"Garfiel-san...?" Otto muttered his question, only to see why Garfiel wanted to reach him as he saw him gently placing his hand at his shoulder, before pumping him with Water Magic to heal his wounds as blue light escaped from Garfiel's palm.

"Garfiel...san?" Otto muttered, having started to feel the soothing effect of Water Magic as his wounds were closing and the fatigue in his legs was cured, yet he still felt like he had difficulty to stand.

"Man...Why is this happening to me again...?" Otto muttered, before blinking after a few seconds at what he just said.

...

...

...

"Again...? Why do I feel that this happened before...?" He thought, too many events and thoughts assaulting his mind, that he felt like his brain would explode at any time.

Suddenly, both Garfiel and Otto gasped as they heard another grunt. Garfiel stood up immediately, but completely forgot about his sore muscles and grave injuries to the point that he screamed in pain when he stood up, before collapsing down to the ground once again, falling face first.

"Ugh...Damnit. Barely made it" Heinkel groaned as he fell to his knees, before he placed Louanna gently on the floor. He then looked at her body for any kind of injuries, before sighing in relief when he saw that not even a scratch was found on her sleeping form.

"Thank goodness. Louanna is alright..." He muttered before wincing in pain as the adrenaline within his body left him after his body and mind calmed down, causing the pain in his wounds to strike his sore and formerly numb nerves, causing him to collapse, and for him to gasp heavily for breath. He then held his two pierced shoulders with both of his hands, making it appear as if he was hugging himself. He then noticed that Garfiel was crawling towards him. Heinkel was confused at that action, but one look at Otto, then at Garfiel, and he connected the dots.

"Don't worry about me, kid...Take care of your own self. You already look worse than me..." Heinkel said while shaking his head at Garfiel, who hesitated for a few seconds, but the pain engulfing all of his body made him give up about being selfless, and made him start tending to his wounds using his Water Magic to tend to his wounds, and alongside his Divine Protection of the Earth Spirit, Garfiel's healing process was done after a mere couple of minutes, with all of his wounds and deep holes vanishing instantly, and he was able to take his breath properly, before spending another couple of minutes healing Heinkel's shoulders and other wounds. And about fifteen minutes later, everyone was fully healed, and Garfiel was looking rather pale.

But not from exhaustion from consuming Mana, but because of the countless jumpscare situations he dealt with.

"Can some un tell ma' amazin' self just what the frick happen'd?!" Garfiel half-shouted his question angrily due to his heart still beating up rapidly.

"Beats me. What happened to you two?" Heinkel asked both of Otto and Garfiel.

"I was contacting Natsuki-san through my Metia when the connection got suddenly got cut after he reached Irlam Village. Then I decided to go there to check on him, only to find that my path in the forest was riddled with dead Mabeasts and Knights. It was a truly horrifying scene. Then I met Natsuki-san in the village, and he had blood on his hands, and something felt off about him...Something that made me run away from him, but before I knew it, he caught me and everything went black. Next thing I knew was that the whole Kremaldy Forest was on fire! I kept on running, and I managed to hide from that freak resembling Natsuki-san, but then I fell into an underground cave, and he somehow managed to find me. I managed to escape once again, and I did that by touching a giant golden ring that teleported me right here at this place" Otto explained.

"Ma' amazin' self was ordered by th'Clown t'find that white-haired guy and you, ya sleazy merchant. I reached th'village and then suddenly everything became black and white in front of ma' amazin' self's eyes. In the next second ma' amazin' self saw blood everywhere, and afterwards, th' white-haired guy started to fly and shoot off some crazy attacks at ma' amazin' self. Ma' amazin' self tried t'resist, but th'bastard w's tough. Ma' amazin' self couldn't do shit against 'em, and ma' amazin' self couldn't even escape as he erected a barrier around the village to prevent ma' amazin' self from gettin' away from 'em. An' afta ten minutes, a giant golden ring appeared outta nowhere and ma' amazin' self managed to enter it to escape at the last second from that freak, and next thing ma' amazin' self knew, w's that ma' amazin' self found 'emself here" Garfiel said his own part of the story, before both of him and Otto directed their silent gazes at Heinkel, who took a deep breath before starting to speak.

"I was at the Astrea Mansion. The Sword Saint and the Iron Lady went alongside their mistress to the Astrea Lands for some business there. I was left at the mansion alongside Grassis and Flam, Grimm and Carol's granddaughters. Suddenly, I felt some disturbance outside my room, along with the smell of blood. When I opened my room's door, I saw all of the butlers and maids inside the mansion have gotten slaughtered gruesomely. I then escaped outside my room and headed to fetch my comatose wife. It was then when Grassis and Flam appeared, but their eyes were red and black and they oozed blood. They then told me that they were already dead and proceeded to attack me. I managed to escape from their grasps and also killed them, but that Emilia Camp brat appeared and proceeded to give chase after me. Next thing I saw, the entire mansion went bizarre. Spikes, blades, monsters, explosives, and even the floor itself felt like it was made out of biscuits. I barely managed to escape. I should be thankful to Od Laguna that I was able to escape with only those two holes in my shoulders and that my wife was unscathed. I exited the mansion and found a giant golden ring, and I didn't know why, but something told me that it resembled a portal, so I touched it and here I am, right here in this place with you two" Heinkel finished his story.

"I see. So the same literally happened to all of us, but with different scenarios and locations. That thing resembling Natsuki-san wanted to kill us for some reason" Otto said.

"Yea...An' ma' amazin' self felt that th'bastard w's toyin' with ma' amazin' self during our...Battle. He even called it 'Fun'" Garfiel grumbled underneath his gritted teeth, spitting out those words out of his mouth as if they were venom.

"I barely escaped with my life. I thought that I was going to die while standing..." Heinkel sighed, letting out yet another breath that he didn't know he was holding.

Suddenly, the huge green gem started glowing intensely, alerting the trio to it.

"What the...?" Heinkel asked in confusion.

"W's that...?" Garfiel asked, already annoyed that more horrifying surprises might strike him in the face once again.

"..." Otto didn't say anything. He just gulped, already at a loss for words for the hell that they had been through in the past hour.

Suddenly, all of them saw a vision.

They saw a scene that took place in Irlam Village, with Subaru standing next to a house, before they saw a shadowy figure hiding atop the roof of said house. And before Subaru could react, the shadowy figure jumped at him and entered right through his mouth, causing Subaru to close his eyes for a second, before he opened them, revealing that they changed from black irises with white sclera to red irises with black sclera.

The vision ended instantly as it appeared, and the large gem stopped glowing.

"S'yer sayin' that the white-haired guy got possessed by somethin'?" Garfiel asked.

"It seems like it. But what is that creature? And why did it possess Natsuki-san?" Otto asked.

"I think that the most important question to be asked is why is it trying to kill us?" Heinkel asked as well.

"Ugh..." Otto clutched his head once again, his head feeling like it will explode at anytime.

He gasped as he suddenly felt a flash of memories strike him.

"That gem!" He suddenly yelled, causing both Garfiel and Heinkel to nearly jump from fright.

"Th'heck 's wrong with ya?! D'ya honestly think tha' we wan' any otha' frightnin' stuff?!" Garfiel yelled at Otto in anger.

"Sorry! It's just that I remembered something! That gem seemingly can teleport us anywhere that we want!" Otto exclaimed while pointing to the giant green gem.

"How the hell do you know that?" Heinkel asked in confusion.

"I don't know honestly...I just...Remembered it..." Otto said.

"I see. Well, we're pressed on time. And if what you're saying is true, then we might as well give it a shot. It's not like we have any other choice anyways" Heinkel said, before taking Louanna in his arms and proceeded to walk towards the gem, with Garfiel and Otto following suit.

"So...Where should we go?" Garfiel asked.

"I think that the Shamrock Valley is the ideal place, since no one can enter it without the Od of Sphinx" Heinkel said.

"Sphinx? Isn't that the elf that participated in the Demi-Human War Alliance? I heard that she was a genocide murderer. She even tried to murder her comrades" Otto said.

"Aside from the weird past story, y'jus'said tha' w'can't enter th'valley without that Sphinx's Od. Then how R W suppos'd t'go there?" Garfiel asked.

"This guy's Od far surpasses that of Sphinx, so it's possible that we can enter it. He can feel everything that happens in the country...Somehow..." Heinkel said.

"Heinkel-san...How do you know that?" Otto asked, clearly confused. It was then when Heinkel realized what he just said.

"I...I don't know...I just...Remembered it..." Heinkel muttered.

"Aw'right. Now that we know R destination, how R w'gonna deal with tha' freak? Ya said that he can feel everythin' that happens in th'country. Ma' amazin' self barely escaped away from 'em. How R w'gonna fight 'em?" Garfiel asked the most obvious question.

"We'll just have to deal with that later. But first, we must get out of here" Heinkel said.

"Um...Okay then. O' great powerful gem. Teleport us to the Shamrock Valley" Otto exclaimed in front of the gem.

And in an instant, all of them were whisked away in a white flash, leaving the giant gem by itself.

---

Shamrock Valley

"Alright. Here we are"

"I can't see anything..."

"F'course. Tis' all so foggy"

Heinkel announced their arrival to their destination, with Otto complaining as Garfiel grumbled about said complain.

Indeed, the Shamrock Valley was so foggy that a normal person could barely see anything. Each of the male trio were so afraid that they might misstep their foot and end up falling to the depths of the valley.

"Aw'right. So now whaddawe do?" Garfiel asked.

"Shamrock Valley looks stormy right now. Maybe we can...I don't know, rest for a while?" Otto asked.

"What? That's nonsense. We already know that this creature is going after us and he's already on his way" Heinkel asked as he was holding his comatose wife in his arms.

"I see. Indeed. But what can we do? That psycho can predict our movements, so I think that he already predicted the fact that we teleported to Shamrock Valley" Otto said.

"Well, aren't you the smart one, Otto?"

"?!"

Their hair jumped straight up upon feeling the familiar dreadful aura of Death, and upon looking up, they saw Subaru EXE floating in midair above their heads, grinning at them like a maniac with blood falling from his eyes.

"What the?! How didya-?!" Garfiel was about to shout his question, but the Fear prevented the words from escaping his mouth.

"Like Otto and Heinkel said, I can feel everything in not just Lugunica, but the entire world. And Shamrock Valley is part of it as well" Subaru EXE said.

"I knew it. However, I also know that there's one territory that you can't feel" Heinkel said to the abomination, mentally not believing that he said something out of his mouth in a manner that felt like as if he went through all of that before.

"Mount Cordor. If I killed one of you, the region will increase...And that's exactly what I'm going to do" He said before snapping his fingers, causing the male trio to shield their eyes from the blinding light that engulfed them.

---

With Heinkel

The next thing that Heinkel knew was that he was holding his own wife, while they were floating in midair.

"I-I'm floating?" He muttered as he clenched his comatose wife's body with both of his hands, trying to make sure that she won't fall from his hands.

He then gasped upon sensing a dreadful presence behind him. Heinkel then turned his head to the side, only to see a building-sized, floating, blue humanoid anthropomorphic hedgehog with its lower half completely gone, being replaced by what appeared to be intestines that appeared to have a mind of its own, wiggling around as if they were alive, and the creature itself was abnormal, having the same red irises and black sclera as Subaru EXE while grinning like mad as blood came down its huge eyes and smeared its upper body.

Heinkel realized something: If he didn't run away from that thing, he will suffer a Fate worse than Death.

He then looked in front of his path of pseudo-flight, seeing floating broken pillars approaching him. It was then when an idea hit Heinkel, causing him to smirk.

"Hey, you bastard! If you wanna get me, then you have to catch me first!" He exclaimed before using his newfound ability to float to fly away from the creature, who judging by its expression didn't like the taunt as it proceeded to zoom towards Heinkel.

And just as it was about to reach it, Heinkel planted his feet towards a nearby floating stone pillar, before hoping away from it in the same instant his foot landed on it. The result was that the creature following him collided with the pillar, causing it to recoil, and for its head to be split open, causing crimson blood to burst out from its head and its skull to be visible.

The creature's hands then turned to claws before it elongated elastically towards Heinkel. The Astrea felt the danger approaching and reinforced his body with Mana before he stepped on another floating pillar, before jumping away from it, which in turn made the creature's claw collide with the pillar, pulverizing it completely. Heinkel took this chance and reached for another floating pillar, before using his Mana-enhanced foot to kick the pillar so hard to collide with the creature's head, causing it to recoil and for its skull to crack badly, causing blood to burst out from it.

The creature, clearly annoyed by the damage Heinkel was causing to him indirectly, opened its mouth wide, before countless black snakes with bat wings burst out and started to chase Heinkel. Heinkel clicked his tongue at this, before flaring his Mana inside his Gate.

"Shamak!" He roared before a massive smokescreen erupted from his body, covering up the sky in a massive cloud of black smoke that robbed the flying snakes from their senses. What screeches of pain that should have echoed were silenced completely by the smokescreen of Yin Magic as Heinkel hoisted his wife on his left shoulder before taking out the Holy Sword Astrea and proceeded to hack through the snakes. Normally, his senses would have been robbed as well, but Heinkel was secretly training with his Magic in order to prepare for the future, something that none of the previous Astreas, let alone the previous Sword Saints had ever thought of.

He believed that Reinhard could have done that, but he was plagued with a defective Gate, so...

"Tch! No use thinking about that now! I have to think about it later when I get out of here alive!" Heinkel thought, snapping himself out of the painful memories to focus on the battle in hand, hacking through the last snake while standing on a floating pillar. The smokescreen faded, revealing Heinkel riding at the stone pillar, which was heading straight for the creature.

"Take this!" Heinkel roared out, before jumping off the pillar, before it collided with the head of the creature for the third time, causing its skull to split in half, revealing its brain bare to the world. Heinkel, who already jumped from the pillar before its collision with the creature, proceeded to descend towards it, handling his sword in a reverse grip with his right hand while his left was supporting Louanna who was hoisted on his shoulder.

"ORRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Heinkel roared from the top of his lungs, before stabbing into its brain. He then used his weight, combined with the weight of his wife to descend and slice the creature's brain in half, before descending towards its body and slicing it in half as well. The creature was already in shock from having Heinkel stabbing into its brain and slicing it that it had no time to react as Heinkel also cleaved him in half, before kicking off its body and taking out his sword from the creature's body, causing blood to burst out in the form of a massive stream, before it slowly lost all of its power and started to fall from the sky, disappearing underneath the clouds, making Heinkel release a breath he didn't know that he was holding.

Suddenly, he gasped as gravity managed to retake its toll on him, causing him to fall like a rock alongside Louanna. Heinkel gritted his teeth, before twisting beautifully in the air and landed on a cliff, barely managing to balance himself from falling off said cliff.

He then fell right on his butt, releasing a ragged sigh from his mouth, glad that his part was over.

---

With Garfiel

Garfiel's eyes twitched in shock and horror.

One second, he was on a cliff, and the next, he was in front of a massive blue creature that was grinning like mad at him. The creature spawned across an entire cliff, with Garfiel being on another cliff.

The creature's eyes glowed brightly, before it fired a red laser shot at Garfiel, promoting the blonde Beast-Human to dodge to the side. Garfiel then rolled away to avoid another laser, before sprinting towards the creature. In his way to the abomination, Garfiel dodged another laser shot aimed at him by ducking, before he stood straight and immediately swung his foot backwards, before he slammed his toes to the ground. Not an instant later, and massive slabs of pointy rocks burst from the cliff Garfiel was standing on. The creature then opened its mouth, before it fired a ball of red energy towards the blast of rocks aimed towards it. The energy ball and the rock tsunami collided together, causing an explosion that instantly knocked Garfiel off his feet, sending him flying away and off the cliff he was standing on. Luckily, Garfiel managed to latch at another cliff with his hands, before climbing as fast as he could to gain a footing.

The creature grinned mockingly at Garfiel, causing said boy to growl in anger at how the creature mocked him. He then gasped as his instincts kicked in, before he saw the creature opened its mouth once again. This time, Garfiel felt that it's something way bigger than before. His instincts were right, as right after it built energy within its mouth, the creature fired a red beam of energy towards Garfiel, who immediately slammed his foot into the cliff as hard as he could, invoking his Divine Protection of Earth Spirit to its maximum potential, causing the entire cliff to rupture apart as a massive wall of earth erupted in front of Garfiel to protect him from the beam of Death that was fired.

The result was a massive explosion that erupted throughout the entire valley, which in turn caused Garfiel to shield his eyes from the massive dust screen that enveloped both him and his opponent due to the collision. Garfiel then waited for a few seconds as silence screamed in the smokescreen, before he saw a pair of sinister red glowing orbs that glared with intense bloodlust at him through the dust screen, before it was soon followed by hundreds of red laser shots fired at Garfiel, who growled at this.

"Tch. Tis' now or never!" Garfiel exclaimed before his growling got even louder, before his entire body bulked up. His human skin was then replaced with yellow fur with black strips, and his muscles got even larger, and not before long, a four-meter humanoid tiger was standing where Garfiel once stood, roaring out to the Heavens.

Garfiel, in his tiger form, proceeded to charge towards his opponent, his emerald green eyes flickering with a red glow, ushering to the fact that he was barely hanging by a thread from losing his capacity of rational thinking due to his tiger form forcing him to have amplified strength at the cost of abandoning any kind of rational thought process.

He charged forward, maneuvering to dodge the attacks of his opponent, and right upon reaching it, Garfiel jumped up high, roaring at the top of his lungs, before driving both of his long muscular arms and claws downwards, slashing the creature's eyes and causing blood to burst out of them. Garfiel then landed on his feet, before delivering a right hook, causing the creature to lose balance as he took the impact to its right side. Garfiel then proceeded to follow by a left hook, slamming his claw into the creature's left side and causing it to lose even more balance as it was inches from falling down to the depths of the valley.

Garfiel then finished his combo by dashing forward and slamming his entire body and weight into the creature, causing it to completely lose whatever footing it had on the cliff and fall off into the valley's depths, disappearing beneath the sea of thick fog.

Garfiel cancelled his transformation before his animal instincts could take over, returning back to his normal size, with his upper clothes completely torn apart, leaving his torso completely barren. He then walked towards the cliff to look at where his enemy fallen, breathing heavily as this battle took a lot out of him, not to mention the hell that he went through within the past hour.

Suddenly, without Garfiel comprehending what had just happened, the creature zoomed upwards from the valley's depths at speeds Garfiel couldn't comprehend, catching him with its hand, and this sudden action caused Garfiel to cough out blood as the creature's sudden grasp on him caused his internal organs to burst inside of him like dozens of balloons popping at the same time, and he even felt his bones crack at the pressure as the creature flew upwards with Garfiel in its hand.

---

With Otto

Otto was watching the battle with Garfiel, and looked extremely worried for the kid. Heinkel then came towards him after finishing his own battle, with Louanna held in his hands.

"That Demi-Human kid is in trouble. What are we going to do?" Heinkel asked gritting his teeth as cold sweat ran down his cheeks.

"I...I can do something" Otto said, his body shaking from the combination of the tension and the Fear.

"What can you do?" Heinkel asked the merchant.

"I can use my Divine Protection to call for a flying Mabeast to get me there to save Tinsel-san" Otto said, before roaring some beastly roar, causing large Griffin Mabeast to descend towards Otto, promoting Otto to hop onto its back, before it took off, leaving Heinkel looking at them departing.

Once Otto reached the creature holding Garfiel in a vice grip, he glared at it.

"Let him go, right now!" He exclaimed, before invoking the Mana within his Gate, and not a second later, dozens of rocks hit the creature straight in the face, causing it to lose focus and drop Garfiel to another cliff. The creature then glared at Otto, who was glaring back while riding the Griffin Mabeast.

"Your opponent is me, you monster!" The merchant exclaimed, causing the creature roar angrily at him before it opened its mouth and fired greyish purple energy shots at Otto, who gave a mental command to the Griffin Mabeast to maneuver around the shots, where he also used his Magic to fire El Dona at the creature, where the creature did no effort to dodge or even block Otto's attacks, taking it head on.

"El Dona! El Dona! El Dona! El Dona!"

Otto kept on using his Mana, pushing his Gate to its utmost limits to fire large chunks of rock at the abomination chasing him in the sky. The creature responded by taking the attacks head on, sustaining damage from it, before he retaliated by shooting red laser beams from its eyes, causing Otto to command the Griffin Mabeast to dodge, barely missing the beam by a hair as it passed by Otto, who was sweating bullets of cold sweat with his heart beating rapidly and nonstop.

He was never that brave. He was always that cowardly, even in his travels as a merchant. Even now, he blamed himself. If he was fast enough, if he was a second earlier, he would have saved Subaru from that creature possessing him.

Otto knew that he was weak. Subaru was way stronger and more experienced than him in Magic, martial arts and weapon usage. But whatever Otto lacked within the strength department he always replaced it with intelligence.

But there came a question.

Did that intelligence help him when he was always at Death's door, every time he was in an unlucky situation?

No, it didn't, and Otto knew that.

It didn't help him with trying to communicate with his parents, where his elder brother was the one that helped him with that. His parents were already debating on the thought of giving up on him and focusing on his other siblings, and if it wasn't for his elder brother, Otto would have been left behind.

It didn't help him when he tried to prove his younger brother not lying about him being able to communicate with animals and Mabeasts. As that caused him to be hated throughout his hometown. If it wasn't for his parents, Otto would have been hated for the rest of his life.

It didn't help him when he tried to prove his innocence against the woman that accused him of trying to sexual harassment. The boyfriend got angry by his right accusations, despite it being the truth, and the woman sent assassins for his head for that reason. If it wasn't for his parents who had connections with a merchant friend of their own, Otto would have been dead a long time ago.

It didn't help him now. When his friend, and he has no idea on what to do, where the only solution is to fight him head on.

"..."

But if there was anything about Otto as a redeeming quality, it was the fact that he never gave up.

Even with all of the misfortune events in his life, Otto still stood tall, and even with all of the failures in his life, he still managed to stand up once again and start from zero until he reached his goal.

The road is still tough and long, and Otto doesn't know how much is left, but if it's for the sake of his loved ones, he will see his path through to the end.

"RRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

A foregin power suddenly burst within Otto, his body bursting with yellowish orange aura, and he felt it. The power to solve his problems, the power to make sure that he finds the flaw within his opponent to cover for his own flaws.

"Rune Stone Skill: Sharpshooter"

As Otto heard those words, his line of sight was suddenly riddled with yellowish orange target marks. Within those marks, he saw something that he couldn't see before: The invisible form of an ethereal green anthropomorphic hedgehog flying in a beeline towards him, reading to collide. Otto concentrated his eyesight even more, noting that the target mark aimed at a specific part within the hedgehog's torso. Otto, feeling a hunch, invoked another El Dona and fired it at the hedgehog. Upon making contact, the hedgehog instantly disappeared.

Otto blinked in surprise. It seems that this newfound power of his did not only allow him to see invisible things, but it also allowed him to see the weak spots of an enemy.

Otto grinned at this, before looking straight at the creature with newfound courage, his sight riddled with target marks pointing at specific parts of the creature.

"Alright! Let's finish this!" He exclaimed before flaring his Mana within his Gate, before he conjured his Earth Magic into spears, causing thirty earth spears floated around Otto.

"Terra!" He exclaimed before the spears shot at the creature, specifically at its arms, where the target marks were located. The spears collided instantly, causing the creature to roar in pain. Otto blinked once again at this. It seems that the areas that are hit where the target marks are causes intense pain as well.

"Ul Terra!"

"?!"

Upon that exclamation, Otto materialized his Earth Magic above him, and a few seconds later, a large meteor pierced through the clouds above the creature, causing it to raise its arms to catch the meteor, but it seemed that it was weighing at him that it distracted him from Otto, who grinned at this.

"What I don't have for brawns I make it up with brains! Don't underestimate the great merchant, Otto Suwen!" Otto exclaimed in Pride, grinning as if victory was within reach.

Actually, it was.

Conjuring his Mana for the last time, Otto summoned a massive lump of Mana from his Gate, before fifty earth spears materialized around him. Otto focused on the target marks riddling the creature in front of his eyes. He saw it. Its eyes, its torso, its tongue, its fingers and its back. All were deemed as weak spots, and once they were all hit, it would be ensured that his enemy will meet their Death.

"El Terra!"

"?!

And on Otto's command, the fifty spears launched themselves towards the creature, who was preoccupied with the meteor that Otto launched. Ten spears hit its fingers, one spear at each finger, pulverizing the fingers and causing the creature to sustain unimaginable pain, which in turn made it unable to hold the meteor and causing it to collide into its face.

Another ten spears launched themselves at the creature's eyes, causing it to roar in pain as its eyes were pierced and the meteor slammed straight into its face.

Another ten spears fired at the opened mouth of the creature, piercing through its tongue and causing the creature to lose its balance even more and to slowly descend to the ground.

Another ten spears pierced through the creature's torso, causing it to roar in pain once again, completely unable to control its body as it got completely paralyzed from being hit in its weak spots.

The last ten spears travelled past the creature, but even so, Otto was still grinning.

"This ability allows me to home my attacks at my enemies and even see through solid objects! I can even see your back even though I'm looking at your face!" Otto exclaimed, before he also used his newfound ability to redirect his earth spears towards the creature. The spears spun back, making a U-turn towards the creature, before slamming at its back at full force, piercing it, and causing the creature's eyes to roll up to its head, before it fell downwards to the depths of the valley, where its descension was supported and accelerated by the meteor that Otto launched at it previously, before it went down to the valley, disappearing underneath the thick fog, before a rumbling shake the shook the entire valley was heard as the meteor crashed the creature underneath it and down to the ground.

A few seconds later, and Otto descended to the ground, before dismissing the Griffin Mabeast, where on his face was a wide grin.

"Whoa...Tha'was awesome..." Garfiel whispered in awe, his wounds are already healed thanks to Otto giving him time to do so.

"If only you saw me there. I was pretty cool!" Otto exclaimed with a grin on his face.

"Yeah, but all of that is an illusion manifested into reality. We need to get out of here now!" Heinkel noted, causing both Garfiel and Otto to nod at him, before they noticed a golden giant ring manifesting next to them, causing all of them to nod to each other before they proceeded to run towards the ring, and just as they were about to make contact with the ring...

"NOOOOOO!"

"?!"

Just then, the roar of Subaru EXE echoed in their ears, before they saw said person flying towards them, only to stagger midway and fall to the ground on his face. He then raised his face, still on his stomach on the ground, revealing that his eyes and sclera returned to their respective colors of black and white, but blood was still falling from his eyes.

But judging by his heavy breathing, it seems that Subaru was barely resisting the creature possessing him.

"Otto! Run!" He shouted to his friend.

Otto gritted his teeth and clenched his fists at this. It was times like these where he felt truly helpless, but even so...

"I'm sorry, Natsuki-san"

...He knew that the choice that he was making right now was the right one, and that he would never back down from it.

Having said that, he and the other two went through the ring, instantly disappearing from the Shamrock Valley, leaving Subaru EXE on the ground.

---

Mount Cordor

Upon teleporting, Otto, Garfiel and Heinkel stood side by side, looking at the horizon from the top of the mountain that they were teleported on, with Heinkel still holding Louanna bridal style in his arms.

"We did it! All three of us!" Otto exclaimed happily.

"That was...The strangest adventure that I've ever been part of" Heinkel said, taking his breath fully for the first time ever since two hours ago.

"So many deaths 'cause of tha'creatcha. Ma' amazin' self doesn' know whadda do now..." Garfiel muttered as he looked at the horizon.

"Don't give up! We know...This is a hidden spot!" Otto exclaimed.

And just like that, the three male survivors looked through the horizon, and as the wind rustled their hair and the setting sun caressed their faces, they didn't know...

...That it was only the beginning of Hell.

---

A few minutes before the males' arrival at Mount Cordor

"Frederica-neesama. Let's hurry up. We need to check on Shadow-sama"

"Wait, Petra. Don't run from my side"

As Petra hopped restlessly on their way to the Astrea Manor, Frederica told her not to go away from her.

As per Roswaal's orders, and due to Frederica worrying about her own brother not arriving an hour ago, Frederica and Petra set to see Shadow's wellbeing in the Astrea Mansion, as well as see what took Garfiel so long.

"I'm worried about Subaru-sama too. He seemed to be really devastated for what happened to Shadow-sama" Petra said with a sad tone in her voice.

"Don't be sad, Petra. Subaru-sama will be fine. Say, I have an idea. I'll head to the Astrea Mansion to check on Shadow-sama and the others with him, and on my way, I shall take some flowers from the flowerbed surrounding the Mansion for Subaru-sama so that he can cheer up, while you go to Irlam Village to check on Subaru-sama and your parents, since they are worried about you. I heard that they already returned to the village a few minutes ago from Roswaal-sama. So you go to Irlam Village, and I shall go to the Astrea Manison in Hakchuri city" Frederica said, causing Petra to smile at her.

"Yes! Subaru-sama loves flowers!" Petra exclaimed happily, before she and Frederica went through their separate ways.

Unknown to both of them, the man that they were trying to cheer up floated downwards to where they previously stood, with a manicial grin on his face. Its eyes, holding those mad crimson red irises and sadistic black sclera narrowed as it looked at where the girls departed, filled with nothing but blood that poured down from them, as well as infinite, overflowing bloodlust.

He then looked from the corner of his eyes towards the screen, gazing at those who read the story, and said only one phrase. One phrase that ensured that the peaceful days are yet to come.

"Ready For Round 2?"

The screen turned black, followed by bloody laughter echoing throughout the background.

It was only the beginning indeed...

...Hell was still on Earth.

---

And Done!

Goodness me! It took around a month to get this finished. Not to mention that I had problems editing the scenes to suit the characters.

And so, here you get it. Round 1 of Hell. I know that it might look shabby, but I tried my best to make it suit the story. I also know that there are no Solo Endings and Duo Endings in this Round, but that's because I'm saving the endings for Round 2.

Another thing that I wanna adress is the fact that none of you have commented on my previous chapter. I know that you all were waiting for the Rounds of Hell, but at least try to motivate me. Please give me a reason to continue the story, which is your own comments, btw.

Also, one more thing. You guys now know two of the females participating in Hell on Earth. Whoever guesses the third girl right gets a cookie and also, you can get to tell me about a scene in Round 2 that you would love to see. All you have to do is to send the name of the third girl in the comments and then write the scene that you want me to add in Round 2, and I shall mention your name in the next chapter.

And by the way, I indirectly mentioned the third girl at the beginning of this chapter, so you guys might know her by now.

Finally, as always, don't forget to comment and follow my story. I really love your comments so far and I'd love if you guys support me even more.

Next Chapter: Round 2. Ending 1: The Insecure Merchant.

Until Next Time And Next Chapter!

Jude Warble, Out.