Hello. This is your pal, Jude Warble.
Important Note: I will not repeat the Deaths of characters on each Solo, Duo or Trio Ending because it will just consume the plotline and it would be a useless repeat. Just so you all know.
And with that out of the way, please enjoy this fanfic, and as always, stay breezy!
Unknown Location
"So...Minerva...The Witch of Wrath, was it?"
"Do I really need to repeat myself to you?!"
"...Why are you yelling?"
Shadow sweatdropped at Minerva's overexaggerated reactions.
"Anyways, you're all healed and patched up! What else do you want?!" Minerva shouted her question, causing Shadow to groan. He was getting annoyed and irritated.
"Uhh...Why are you crying?" Shadow asked.
"Me?! I'm not crying! I'm just angry!" Minerva exclaimed before stomping on the ground, causing the entire realm to shake to its foundations, and for a crater to appear right underneath both of her and Shadow.
"That's right! I'm angry! I didn't even want to come out!" She yelled before stomping again on the ground, widening the crater underneath her feet.
"Stupid Typhon! Hurting him like that! I hate it! I hate this world that harms this child like this! I hate everyone!" She kept on throwing her tantrum, all while stomping on the floor, creating fissures and cracks on the ground and enlarging the crater below her even further. A few seconds later and Shadow could swear that the foundations of this space were about to crack.
"Uhh...I really appreciate the fact that you saved me, but...Did you have to call me a child? I'm older than you, you know..." Shadow said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"I know that! You don't have to say it!" Minerva exclaimed, before she looked at the sky.
"Huh? Yeah, I know that!" She yelled to someone while looking at the blue sky of the realm, before then directing her gaze at Shadow.
"Anyway, you're healed! My duty is done!" She yelled while pointing at the black-haired Highest.
"Got it?! And don't do anything reckless! Next time, I'll heal everyone!" Minerva yelled.
"...Why does it sound like a Death threat?" Shadow asked, but his question went unanswered as Minerva vanished like mist from in front of his sight, instantly replaced by Echidna, appearing in the same fashion as Minerva vanishing.
"...I hate to admit it, but seeing your face is like coming home" Shadow said to Echidna while having an annoyed expression on his face.
"Well, I was concerned that we would speak no more" Echidna said.
"Hm? How so?" Shadow asked.
"I was planning on making you meet Daphne, but the instant I gave up my body, Typhon ran ahead" Echidna explained.
"Oh, The Witch of Pride" Shadow said.
"Yes. She wanted to meet you very badly for one reason or another" Echidna said with a sigh.
"...I had nothing to do to her, but she almost killed me. God...If only I wasn't stranding Crossed Thanatos inside of me with most of my power..." Shadow muttered.
"Minerva, the Witch of Wrath did save you from the brink of Death, though" Echidna noted.
"Yeah...Isn't her type what Mortals would call 'Big-Breasted Violent Tsundere'? Well, thanks to her, I didn't die, but this place looks like it has seen better days after her tantrum" Shadow said while looking around him. Echidna just giggled at this, before snapping her fingers. In an instant, everything became pitch black, before in the next instant, the bright scenery of the dimension came back, and everything was instantly fixed as if wasn't even destroyed in the first place.
"Huh...You really are a Witch" Shadow said, not even a trace of surprise was found on his face.
"I'm shocked you were in doubt after all we've discussed" Echidna said with a sweatdrop.
"So, what now? Continue?" She then asked Shadow.
"Hm? Yeah, sure. I want to meet the Witch of Gluttony" Shadow answered.
"I'm certain that you will converse with Daphne this time without any kind of issues this time, but...Daphne is more dangerous than Typhon" Echidna said with a slightly nervous expression.
"Oh...I see...I shall keep that in mind..." Shadow muttered in a tone that made it seem that he was lacking any interest in Echidna's warning.
"Oh? It seems that you're not wary. Can I inquire as to why is that?" Echidna asked, which made Shadow shrug his shoulders.
"Do I have to worry? I just want to ask this Witch some questions. It's not like she will eat me as long as I don't get close to her. Also earlier, you said 'Bindings' when mentioning Daphne, so I think that she's restrained in some way, right? So as long as I avoid any kind of physical contact, then I'm fine" Shadow answered, which in turn caused Echidna's signature smile to return to her face.
"I see that your resolve is set. Very well, so long as you remember my warnings" Echidna said, before vanishing in a torrent of mist.
...
...
...
"Hm?"
Shadow looked left and right, but nothing seemed to have appeared in front of him.
"...Did Echidna just miscalculated again?" He muttered to himself before suddenly...
[Skill Learned: Unseen Hand]
"?!"
The familiar voice that rang every time Shadow learned a skill from someone dead echoed in the back of his head. His Rune Stone Skill activated once again, but it was weird, considering the fact that his Rune Stone Skill activated only when a dead person was in presence, and when it was known to him about their name, or at least their title.
"...Wait a minute...Unseen Hand..." Shadow muttered, before cringing, instantly realizing the familiarity. Geuse was supposed to actually be outside, and he wasn't dead. Actually, he was resurrected, but at that time, Shadow was unable to copy his Authority due to the fact that the Witch Factor at that time was residing inside of him. The Witch Factor made it impossible for Shadow to copy Geuse's Unseen Hand, specifically due to the fact that Witch Factors and Rune Stones are similar in their nature in defying all laws and concepts of the world, and something of similar property would cancel out each other.
It was like having two magnets with two identical poles facing each other. Naturally, they would bounce away, repelling each other. And that was the thing that was happening between Rune Stones and Witch Factors.
Shadow had also realized another similarity between Rune Stones and Witch Factors: Whenever any of them evolves within a person, they develop into Rune Stone Skills and Authorities respectively. Both are engraved deeply within the existence of a being, becoming a permanent power within their wielders.
There were two differences between them, however.
The first one was the origins. Shadow knew nothing of the origins of Witch Factors and how they were created into this world, but he knows about the origin of Rune Stones, considering the fact that they are actually the hearts of Rulers.
Yes, Rulers. Beings that are accurately known with the common name of Highests, the race of the primordial force of Order.
However, a pure Highest is unable to tap into the power of their Rune Stone in order to develop it into a Rune Stone Skill, considering the fact that the Seither generated by their bodies and the Seither generated by the Rune Stones are constantly repelling each other, causing the Highest to be unable to tap into that power, allowing them to only use the Rune Stone as their hearts. This is also the reason why Shadow discovered that Humans, Mortals as a whole, can manifest the power of Rune Stones and develop them into a power that best suit their deepest and innermost desires.
Shadow, however, was an exception. Not only because he was artificially created, but due to the fact that his components were shards of the four primordial forces.
Order.
Chaos.
Life.
Death.
Those shards eventually grew within the 100,000 years of confinement that Shadow spent inside the Suicide Hill, imprisoned by Exeller in order for said abomination to turn him to the ultimate 'ingredient' for him to destroy Nazareth-Lite and take down the Highests once and for all. However, this failed as Shadow managed to escape after building up his own powers. He called himself a Highest because he himself didn't know what to call himself other than that. He couldn't call himself a Demon, or a Death Reaper, or even a Guardian.
The second difference was the slight difference in the nature of the power. Both Rune Stone Skills and Authorities still remain inside their users even after the respective Rune Stones and Witch Factors are extracted. However, while Shadow was uncertain whether an individual, aside from Subaru, would be able to hold multiple Witch Factors and develop them into Authorities, a Mortal cannot take in more than one Rune Stone, as doing so would mean an overload in Seither, thus resulting in the erasure of a person's existence from the cycle of reincarnation, dooming them to eternal oblivion. Because in an essence, A Rune Stone Skill blossoms from the innermost desire of the Rune Stone's bearer. Shadow theorizes that if a Mortal holds more than an innermost desire within themselves, they can have another room for another Rune Stone in order to make it blossom to another Rune Stone Skill, however, this was just a theory that he has yet to confirm.
Speaking of the innermost desires, Shadow's own inner desire was along the lines of 'Killing those who killed me', which in turn blossomed to the Rune Stone Skill that goes by the name of Death Wish, the ability to copy the powers and abilities of the dead.
And this ability is what is leading Shadow to the current situation.
"...I have a bad feeling about this" He muttered.
"Huu...Looks like I'm up next. Haa...No choice but to do it"
"?!"
The lazy voice alerted Shadow and urged him to shift his gaze downwards, finally realizing the source of the both the voice and the result of the newly acquired ability that he now has.
It was something that from a first glance could be described as a big ball of magenta fur. Upon closer inspection, however, Shadow saw that it was a woman that had magenta colored hair that reached down to her toes and eyes of the same color. Her face was so pale, even paler than Echidna, to the point that it looked like she was ill, a face that gave off an apathetic sensation, a black sultry dress that did well in complimenting her sexy appearance that consisted of her slender figure and E-cups breasts that pressed against the ground and long, black high-heeled boots that did well in telling Shadow how much tall this woman was.
Shadow cringed once again, having a vague understanding of the person in front of him, realizing that Echidna is clearly not doing her job in the right way. Either that, or she was just messing with him.
"Huu...You're quite the individual. Haa...Being shattered to pieces by Typhon. Huu...But you weren't even scared in the slightest. Haa...Indeed an odd person" The woman said while resting her elbow on her shoulder, where she rested her chin on her fist lazily.
"..." Shadow was at a loss for words, being unable to mutter any words, not because of the odd woman in front of him that was lying on the ground, but because that he was super pissed from Echidna messing with him. Whether or not that was intentional, he didn't care. What's important is that she screwed up and it was on his own head.
"Huu...You're quite the luckless one too, aren't you. Tossed around by Echidna, then me and Typhon...Haa, having face-to-face meetings with four witches in turn...Huu, that's something you'd only get with say...Haa, that moron Flugel or Reid, swisher of sticks" She said, huffing tiredly between each sentence.
"...You must be a Witch, and judging by your own nature, you must be..." Shadow trailed in his speech, already realizing who the person in front of him was, and he was really angry from the fact that it wasn't the person that he wanted to meet in the slightest.
"Haa...I'm Sekhmet. Huu...It's really a chore but I guess you could call me or not call me the Witch of Sloth. Haa...Not that I'm asking to be called on at all, it's really all a bother. Huu...Chatting makes me listless, so can you stay quiet?"
Irlam Village
Petra walked towards her house, before she knocked at the door. She waited for a few seconds, before the door slowly opened. The way it slowly creaked open sent shivers down Petra's spine, but she resolved herself to enter, and proceeded to do so, before shutting the door behind her.
"Hm?"
She then noticed that the lights are off, which in turn made her confused at it.
"Umm...Mom...Dad...I'm home..." She muttered, her body unconsciously shaking. She then blinked upon seeing the form of her mother approaching her.
"What is it, honey? You seem scared. Did something happen on your journey to here?" Petra's mother asked as she walked towards her.
"Umm...Nothing...Nothing happened. Anyways, where's dad?" Petra asked upon seeing the smiling face of her mother. However, for some reason, her body couldn't stop shaking, even though she was looking straight into her mother's smiling face.
What happened next was completely horrible, however.
"Oh...That piece of shit?" Petra's mother said those words with the same sweet smile on her face as she tilted her head to the side.
"H-Huh...? Mom? Why are you saying that about dad...?" Petra whispered her question, instinctively taking a step back.
"Oh, nothing. It's just that...I killed him" Petra's mother said, the same sweet smile still present on her face.
"H-Huh...?" Petra said, feeling as if she had just dodged a Dragon Carriage zooming at her direction.
"It's as you heard. I killed him, sweetie. And now it's your turn" Petra's 'mother' said, causing Petra to unconsciously take a few steps back.
Suddenly, images and memories started to assault Petra's head, and to say that it made the worst of headaches for the little girl would be a severe understatement for what Petra's brain is going through. But the Fear of Death made her completely ignore the pain.
"Young child. You must not enter the village. If you do, you will die after suffering a humiliating Fate worse than Death"
"Just do not enter the village, and most importantly do not enter your own house. Do not repeat that dreadful Fate again. Please"
"I really wanted to do this after observing people in this universe, especially her, him and her. Lust sure is amazing"
"You stupid brat. You should have known by now...I am not your mother. Though I enjoyed fucking her brains out in front of the broken form of her husband. And now, I think that I'll have the enjoyment of having my way with their own daughter!"
"I kept on violating your mother to my heart's content, and when I told her that I'll do the same to her daughter, she completely submitted to me. I kept on fucking her brains out, and her husband was just watching with those magnificent dead eyes. And when I was done with her and told her that I lied, she just screamed 'THIS WASN'T WHAT WE AGREED ON!'. GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HOW DELIGHTFUL IT WAS SEEING THE DESPAIR AND FEAR IN HER EYES! I WOULD LOVE TO SEE THEM IN YOU NOW!"
"Why, indeed? Well, I was ordered to just kill you, but I grew fascinated by the Seven Deadly Sins. There is that gang of mercenaries in a small country excluded from the Four Great Kingdoms, and they wreaked havoc by making the entire country a heaven for Lust, where males used females as sex slaves. I grew fascinated by it and decided to mimic them. Pretty nifty, huh?"
"But I suppose that you won't have an answer to me, right? But hey. I'm killing two birds with one stone! I'm killing you just as Exeller said, and at the same time I'm having fun with my hobbies! So I think it's a fair trade!"
"Ooooooh! We have a fresh virgin here! I'll enjoy that way more than your mother!"
"I'm going to enjoy this! The sensation of the tentacles is vibrating into my body! Time to feel good!"
"Heh! That's amazing! Small kids are the best!"
"I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!I ENJOY IT!"
"Ah~! I'm at my limit! I'm gonna release it inside of a small girl~!"
"Heh...Not bad, mortal. You did alright to satisfy me"
"You could have had a slim chance in resisting me if you turned on the lights, but...Oh well. However, if you want to blame someone, then don't blame yourself...Blame Atzulith-Lite for dooming all of you to that Fate"
Petra's eyes widened in shock and disbelief. What were those visions? Why did they come right here, specifically in the moment that she was about to die? Was this what was called 'Death Visions'?
"Wait a minute...!" Petra's head made her realize something upon focusing on what those visions showed her.
"You could have had a slim chance in resisting me if you turned on the lights"
This phrase in particular, made Petra aware of something: She has the chance to defend herself from her doom.
She then gritted her teeth, and with cold sweat, she reached for the mana panel on the wall that was used to illuminate the Mana stones of the house in order to turn on the lights.
"Don't you dare turn on those lights!" Petra's 'mother' yelled, having an angry face. That expression and tone of voice was more than enough for Petra to realize that something was wrong. Her mother would never show her an angry face, let alone yell at her. Petra's mother does indeed scold her, but she never showed her an angry face or yelled at her.
Most important of all, Petra's mother never, ever, uttered any kind of vulgar language in her life, or at least, as far as Petra knew her mother.
All of this was more than enough for Petra to not hesitate to push mana into the mana panel, causing the Mana stones to illuminate, but that was for a few seconds as it turns out, in her panic, Petra pushed too much Mana than the required amount, causing the Mana stones to burst and pop like balloons, sending splinters of Lagmite glittering around.
In the brief moments the light was on, Petra saw that her mother's form had disappeared, before it returned again. This time, it had a face that was riddled in blood, grinning at her from ear to ear as her mouth was drooling black blood from it, with the pupils of her eyes shrunken to the point that Petra no longer saw her mother, but some kind of a crazy existence glaring at her.
Indeed, an expression that Petra could never imagine seeing on her own mother.
"I told you...To do NOT turn on the lights!" Petra's 'mother' exclaimed, before countless light-blue tentacles burst from her back, and then she proceeded to somehow fly towards Petra.
"J-Jiwald!"
"?!"
Acting on her instincts as taught to her by Frederica, and using the limited Magic knowledge taught to her by Shadow, Petra pointed her index finger forward, before a yellow, thin beam of light fired itself in a straight line from her finger, piercing a hole in the shoulder of Petra's 'mother'.
"GAAH! YOU LITTLE SHIT!" And it actually proved to be effective as the creature taking the form of her mother roared in pain as the area that the Jiwald found its mark in was still emitting smoke from it as the creature grabbed its shoulder from the pain. It then glared at Petra, who gasped in horror as the creature blindly charged at Petra.
Realizing the situation she was in, Petra realized that a mere Jiwald would do nothing but give her too little time and rile up the creature trying to kill her even further. So she thought back to the trick that she devised to compensate for the Mana stones when they are debilitated from mana.
"Lumina!"
"?!"
Calling out the name of the spell, Petra thrusted her two palms forward, before a sphere of bright yellow light instantly manifested in her hand. It was small, around the size of a football, but it actually did its purpose as the creature shrieked in pain as the light assaulted its form, before it instantly disappeared.
This spell wasn't used for combat purposes, per se. It was mainly used as means to illuminate dark paths and blind opponents, but hey. It served its purpose of saving Petra from her Death.
The downside, however, was that it consumed a considerable amount of Mana when used, and Petra's own Mana reverses were at the level of an average person, still developing to expand even further. This caused Petra to immediately deactivate the spell, being unable to hold it for more than five seconds, gasping heavily for breath as she did so.
Petra realized that her situation didn't fare will. The Lumina spell gave her little time to recover, and she was nearly fresh out of Mana. She had to do something before that creature that's taking the form of her mother returns and kills her.
Taking a deep breath to calm herself down, Petra used whatever Mana left in her body, before directing it to her right foot. And with everything she got, she slammed it into the door of her house that somehow got mysteriously locked. The moment her foot made contact with the door, the door was sent flying away, shattering to splinters as it flew away from Petra. This made Petra have the chance to immediately escape. She ran as fast as her legs could take her, sweating heavily due to the lack of Mana inside of her, relying purely on adrenaline to survive.
Soon afterwards, Petra headed to the exit of Irlam Village, entering the territory of the Kremaldy Forest at the opposite side of the Margrave Mathers domain. However, for a single second, she looked behind her, only to see the grinning, crazed form of her mother floating behind her. Petra ran and ran and ran, but she wasn't someone with limitless stamina like Shadow, and she immediately fell face-first on the grassy ground of the forest.
"Why are you running away from your mother, Petra?" Petra's 'mother' asked, still grinning like crazy as black blood oozed from her mouth.
"Y-your not my mother! Stay back!" Petra gasped her protest, shakily trying to stand up, but in vain as her muscles betrayed her.
"I need to teach you some respect!" The creature exclaimed with the voice of Petra's mother, before it went flying towards her. However, before it could reach Petra, something collided with it. Petra blinked at whatever stood in between her and the creature trying to kill her. She was completely confused, more than shocked.
How couldn't she not be confused when it's someone that she knew, but didn't expect, to come to her rescue?
"...Lucas?" She muttered.
"Don't you dare touch Petra!" The boy exclaimed to the creature that had shed the skin of Petra's mother upon Lucas colliding with it, which in turn revealed its true form to be that of a pale blue balloon-like creature, with red eyes filled with bloodlust and huge claws for hands.
"Grrr! I'll get you next time! Your cunt will be mine, brat!" Execun exclaimed angrily before flying away from the duo of Petra and Lucas.
"Are you alright?" Lucas asked, turning around to look at Petra. The little maid was about to answer him, but then she gasped in shock and horror upon looking at Lucas.
"Lucas! What happened to you?!" She yelled upon seeing that the right side of Lucas' body was swollen and was gray in color, alongside pulsating veins on said side.
"Ah, this? Don't worry. I'm fine" Lucas said with a calm smile, before looking ahead where Execun retreated.
"I'm sorry if I made you feel in doubt, Petra, but long story short, I can now fight. We must stick together if we want to survive" Lucas said.
"The Sanctuary...We must go to the Sanctuary. We can find those who can help us" Petra said, but Lucas seemingly had something else in mind as he looked at the sky.
"Hmm...Dawn" He muttered, which didn't go unheard by Petra, who also looked up, seeing the dark sky being illuminated by the stars.
At the same time. Mount Cordor
"We did it! All three of us!"
"That was...The strangest adventure that I've ever been part of"
"So many deaths 'cause of tha'creatcha. Ma' amazin' self doesn't know whadda do now..."
Otto, Heinkel and Garfiel released sighs of relief upon entering into the grounds of Mount Cordor, glad that the nightmare was over. And as the three stared at the close-to-set sun, they contemplated on their current predicament.
"Don't give up! We know...This is a hidden spot!" Otto exclaimed with a confident smile.
"Yeah, of course...THIS is a hidden spot"
"?!"
And the familiar voice shattered all of their hope, as Subaru EXE appeared in a small, brief flash of light, standing in front of the three males.
"What? But how? Three of us are alive!" Heinkel said in a mixture of shock and horror, before he saw a new existence appear out of thin air.
It was what appeared to be a maid, but her blonde hair was almost brown, with her jade green eyes becoming blood red irises with black sclera, and her right eye was completely gone, being covered by a long streak of stitches that ran from her right eyebrow, traveling onto her right cheek and all down to the right side of her chin.
"I guess you forgot about the girls" Subaru EXE said.
"Frederica-san?!" Otto exclaimed the maid's name in shock.
"Nee-chan?! What da heck didya do t' Nee-chan, ya bastard?!" Garfiel yelled his question in rage.
"No, this can't be happening!" Otto yelled with his eyes wide in shock, grief and disbelief.
"Deja Vu didn't work for you this time, huh?" Subaru EXE asked in a mocking manner.
"Deja Vu? Th'heck ya talkin' 'bout?!" Garfiel yelled, his angry voice was now laced with sobs at seeing his sister's reanimated corpse in front of him.
"Oh jeez...Deja Vu helped you three to survive. Some small fragments of memory are still inside your braindead heads. I guess you can handle it..." The abomination said, before the three males saw Subaru EXE teleporting away, leaving Frederica EXE there with them, who immediately transformed her hands to large brown fur-colored claws. Garfiel, how was the one that was most devastated by his sister's Death, with Otto racing him into that position of grief, gritted his teeth, before he reached for Otto.
"Go away, Merchant Boy!"
"?!"
Otto gasped as he saw Garfiel hoisting him above his head with both hands, and before he could question what the Human-Beast Hybrid would do, Otto was thrown with herculean strength away from both of him and Heinkel. Otto landed face first on the dirt several meters away from the other two males. He then stood up and coughed out the dirt that entered his mouth, and not a few seconds later, he saw Frederica appearing in front of him, holding the heads of Garfiel and Heinkel, whose faces were fixated with an expression of absolute horror while being completely covered in blood.
"Stay away from me!" Otto exclaimed, trying to fight the urge to throw up.
"Just make this easy for me" Frederica EXE said with a rather monotone expression, breaking Otto's heart even further as he knew that this was not the Frederica that he knew.
"Frederica-san! It's not you...I know you're not weak! Snap out of it!" Otto yelled his words at the maid, who simply clenched her clawed fists.
"I was weak and stupid when I thought that you could ever love someone like me. And now my heart is filled with anger" Frederica EXE said, causing Otto's facial expression to stiffen and harden.
"Then...We're enemies..." He muttered, before he activated his Rune Stone Skill, causing target marks to appear on Frederica's arms and head in front of his eyes.
But before he could do anything, the world suddenly turned black in his eyes.
But before he saw the black color, he felt a stinging pain in his neck. That's when he realized.
Frederica EXE chomped his head off. The stinging pain was from her teeth. Her jaw became unbelievably huge and took his head in one bite.
And with that, Otto Suwen died, his grief completely gone unresolved.
Kremaldy Forest. Daytime
Sitting on the grassy ground with their backs supported by a tree, Petra and Lucas were resting. Lucas looked pretty calm, but Petra was extremely anxious.
What had she just witnessed? What happened to her mother and father? Was it true what that creature that was trying to molest her had said? That her parents were killed by it? What happened to Lucas and why did he look like that? What was he doing even in Irlam when he was supposed to be with his family in The Sanctuary?
"Lucas...What were you doing in the village?" Petra asked, not caring that her question came out in a rude way due to the fact that her heart was still pounding from Fear ever since the time that she escaped within an inch of her life from that creature.
"Me and my parents returned to the village because a Knight from the Royal Guard requested some denizens of the village to take some testimonies from them regarding the incident of the weird Witch Cultist that summoned that entity that placed Shadow-sama into a coma. They then chose me and my parents for some reason. When we entered the village, that blue creature that was trying to kill you slaughtered my father and then violated my mother in the most gruesome way possible, before killing her. He then stabbed me in the chest and left me to die, but for some reason, It seems that he placed some sort of a power inside of me. When I sensed you in the village, I rushed immediately to the rescue and here we are" Lucas explained, causing Petra's eyes to widen in horror, placing a palm in her mouth.
"Lucas...I'm so sorry..." She muttered in Sadness, to which Lucas smiled weakly at her before shaking his head slowly.
"It's fine, Petra. You haven't done anything wrong to me. It's not your fault. However, if I have to complain about something, it would be that I actually feel awfully calm about this situation. Ever since that...Thing...Cursed me, and I felt that the idea of Death is considered irrelevant to me" Lucas said, opting a downcast expression on his face.
"Cursed? How so?" Petra asked in concern, before watching as Lucas stared at his left arm that was gray in color and had veins pulsing rapidly in it.
"Ever since that thing stabbed me and gave me this power, and I have been feeling constant pain. The pain even increases by the second, and it hasn't been half a day ever since I acquired it" Lucas said, before sighing. He then stood up and dusted his clothes.
"Let's go, Petra. I don't think that this creature will stay put" He said, causing Petra to stand up and dust herself as well.
"Yes. Let us depart" She said before she followed Lucas, who proceeded to float a few inches away from the ground, where she walked behind him through the forest.
Kremaldy Forest. Nighttime
For hours, both Lucas and Petra traversed through the Kremaldy Forest, trying to find the lead to The Sanctuary.
Through the journey, Petra's head was completely scrambled. How couldn't it be? Nobody can blame her. Her parents got killed, someone tried to kill for reasons unknown and her childhood friend was subjected to a curse that causes him constant pain. It was too overwhelming for a 12-year-old child.
"Hm? What's happening?" She was snapped out from her thoughts when she felt the world getting darker. Looking up, she noticed that the clouds suddenly darkened. It seems that it was going to rain. It was sure to appear to be a gloomy day-
Wait.
How would that even happen? They were in the Red-sun season, which, in Subaru's own naming sense, was the season of Summer. This was the season where rain wasn't supposed to fall. It was illogical for that to happen.
Suddenly, Petra gasped as she saw Lucas falling face-first to the ground, twisting in pain as sweat ran down his entire body.
"Lucas! What's going on?!" She asked him in shock and worry, but all she got in response was Lucas' pained groans as the boy tightly hugged himself with his arms, desperately trying to stop the pain from growing, but in vain.
"She has to be somewhere there!"
"?!"
And as if her body had a mind of its own, upon hearing the familiar voice, Petra immediately hid inside a bush and pulled Lucas as well inside it, as she saw Execun flying above them.
"Exeller felt her here, and she is not alone. Forget about screwing her brains out. Let's just find and kill her. I'm getting sick of this place" Execun groaned, trying to look for Petra.
Said girl had her eyes widened and pupils shrunken as tightly clamped her mouth with both of her hands, trying to desperately not make any sound so that Execun won't catch both her and Lucas.
"Pet...ra..." Lucas whispered in a pained voice, causing Petra, who was still wide-eyed in Fear and horror, to cast her still wide eyes at him, still covering her mouth with her hands.
"You have...To get out of...Here..." Lucas whispered.
"No...I can't leave without you" Petra whispered back, taking her hands off her mouth to answer.
"Leave me, Petra...I'm done for...You must survive...For me...And everyone else..." Lucas still fought back against Petra's objection to his order, and in response, Petra shook her head rapidly in protest.
"Go, Petra...Please...I lost my parents...But I can't afford to lose you...Don't worry about me...Just worry...About yourself...You have to survive...Please..." He whispered to her, before groaning in pain as he tightened his grip on his sides with his arms.
Petra just stared at him wide-eyed. As much as she wanted to deny it, Lucas was right. Since as of now, he was completely disabled. Whatever power that he used a few hours ago is now unavailable due to the curse eating away at his body, and Petra couldn't take him with her, because he will weigh her down, preventing her from escaping from that monster. But at the same time, she didn't want to leave her childhood friend alone. If left there, she couldn't imagine what will the creature do to him.
"...Go...Please..." Lucas pleaded, causing tears to form on Petra's eyes, realizing that she couldn't avert Lucas from his decision.
"...I'm sorry, Lucas" Petra said before dashing out from the bush, and at the same time, Lucas jumped out, gaining Execun's attention. The creature, seeing one of its preys on the move, flew towards it to catch, distracting him from Petra, who ran away from the scene as fast as she could.
As Petra was running from the danger, Execun caught up with Lucas easily, holding the pained kid with its clawed arms.
"Hm? Aren't you the kid that I cursed? Heh. I think I'll enjoy 'helping' you" Execun chuckled at the pained form of Lucas, who couldn't even struggle due to the pain increasing inside of his body.
It was unknown to Petra, that due to her panic and Fear from Death, she took the complete opposite direction from The Sanctuary.
Hanumas. Nighttime
Gasping for breath after running nonstop for a couple of hours, Petra's lungs were burning and her heart was beating rapidly.
"Lucas...He...Sacrificed himself for me..." She muttered, tears falling down her eyes.
"I...I have to survive...Just like he said. My friends. I need to find them, but I went to the opposite direction of The Sanctuary" She said, before an idea hit her in the middle of her panicked state.
"I can take a detour from The Lifaus Highway, but...It will be long" Petra muttered to herself, imagining how tiring the journey can be, and what would happen if that abomination caught up with her. She then slapped both of her cheeks with both hands to snap herself out of her pessimism, despite the fact that she was in an already overly pessimistic situation.
"I don't have any other choice. I must keep moving forward" She said to herself, before she took a turn towards the Lifaus Highway.
Petra, who was leaving Hanumas city, had absolutely no idea that the population of the entire city was completely annihilated, as in her panic to find a way to survive her impending doom, she was unaware of the fact that Hanumas was hushed as Death.
Well...Emphasis on the 'as'.
A few hours later. Lifaus Highway
She kept on running and running, even though her legs felt like they were moments from falling apart. She already knew what she was running from, even though she couldn't sense anything that was following her at the moment. She just couldn't bet her time when Death could be anywhere to take her soul. Another thing was the fact that snow started to fall, riddling the road with snow and making it difficult for her to run, slightly slowing her down. Not to mention the fact that it was a completely abnormal phenomenon to happen in the Red-sun season.
Suddenly, something burst from the ground, knocking Petra off her feet when she was on the process of running. The familiar figure floated in the air, glaring at Petra with an expression filled of anger, spite, hatred, loathing and bloodlust, something that Petra never thought that she would see on the boy's face.
"I guess you forgot about me?" Lucas asked with his glare still fixated on Petra, who knew that he was extremely angry despite his calm tone. She could see that the grey rashes and the pulsating veins increased to the point that it travelled to cover the entirety of the left half of his body.
"Lucas!" She called for the boy, but his bloodlust that was growing by the second made her lose the ability to take any other word out from her mouth.
"It's time for you to die!" Lucas exclaimed, before pointing his palm towards her. Petra, who realized that she couldn't run any longer due to her legs being completely fatigued, alongside the fact that the Fear plaguing her heart increased, closed her eyes, awaiting her end.
A few seconds after she closed her eyes, however, she heard the sound of bones being broken, coupled with the sound of something splattering. This immediately caused her to open her eyes, only to see the familiar form of her senior that she saw as a big sister, but her beautiful blonde hair was almost brown, her right eye being completely closed with long stitch marks traveling down her right cheek and her only good eye turned from jade green to crimson red with black sclera and what appeared to be tears of black blood flowing down from said eye.
"F-Frederica-neesama?" Petra whispered out her name, only for said person, who standing over a now dead Lucas, stared at Petra.
"Hm. Interesting. How did you survive for so long?" Frederica EXE asked.
"What are you talking about? What happened to you?" Petra asked, Fear growing at a rapid pace inside of her heart.
"It doesn't matter, Petra. Now just stand still" Frederica EXE said.
"What do you want to do?" Petra asked, already predicting what Frederica was about to do with her, and her predictions were confirmed when Frederica EXE's hands turned into furry claws.
"Quiet, Petra. Let my claws do the job" Frederica EXE said.
Seeing this, Petra wasted no time, having found a newfound power due to the adrenaline repumping inside of her body, and proceeded to run to the opposite direction.
She failed to notice that a figure resembling a woman clad in shadows was flying towards her from behind. The figure seemed to be much faster than Petra as it caught up to her and the moment it tagged her, Petra disappeared in a flash of white light.
Unknown Location
Blinking her eyes open, Petra saw that she was surrounded by the color black. She felt like her legs were standing on the ground, but when she looked down, she saw no ground to begin with. She walked forward to a figure that she knew well, even though it looked like a walking corpse.
The corrupted form of the man that she looked up to as a big brother.
"Petra-chan, please...You can't do this alone" Otto EXE said.
"Otto-sama...I don't even know what I have to do" Petra whispered with a low voice, before passing Otto EXE, walking towards the mutilated form of the annoying brother of her sister in all but blood.
"If Ma amazin' self died kiddo, then you'll die too" Garfiel EXE said.
"I don't want to die!" Petra half-yelled, having been nearly drained both physically and mentally. She then walked away from Garfiel EXE, arriving in front of the form of the undead father of the Sword Saint.
"It would be easier to just give up, right?" Heinkel EXE asked.
"And you died too..." Petra muttered, leaving Heinkel EXE. She then came in front of the mutilated form of her sister figure.
"Come on, Petra. Just make this easy for us" Frederica EXE said.
"Just leave me alone!" Petra half-yelled in a mixture of sadness and anger, walking away from Frederica EXE, and coming face-to-face with the dead corpse of her other senior.
"..." Ram EXE couldn't talk because her mouth was sown shut, and the fact that her eyes were sown shut as well made Petra question whether or not she was able to see her. Even then, the scene looked bizarre and horrifying in Petra's eyes.
"W-What is wrong with you, Ram-neesama?" Petra asked in shock, but having not gained any answer from the person, she walked away, not caring that Ram EXE was looking at her walking away from her. She then started sprinting forward, and shortly afterwards, white light engulfed her vision.
Elior Forest. Nighttime
Stirring awake due to the cold assaulting her body, Petra slowly woke up, brushing away the snow from her body.
Petra stared at the ground of the forest that was clad with pure white snow, not caring that a blizzard was howling around her. Her eyes held a completely broken expression, something that a child her age should never have.
"No...I can't...They will hunt me forever..." She muttered in a broken voice that was the same as her broken expression. She then looked in front of her, seeing a pitfall a few feet away from her. She slowly walked towards it, looking down at it, only to see that the pit was filled with sharp metal spikes.
"Maybe I should just...Give up? I don't want to be alone and my mom is probably..." She trailed in her speech, having remembered how that abomination possessed his mother, stating that it killed Petra's father, but not before raping Petra's mother and killing her afterwards. All of this tooled down on Petra's heart and mind, which in turn encouraged her to take another step forward, entering the pit filled with spikes to let herself enter under the merciless grip of gravity that would lead her down to her Death.
However, before she could fall into the pitfall, an energy projectile hit the spot on the ground in front of Petra's feet, sending her flying backwards a few feet away from the pitfall. Petra shook her head and looked in front of her, only for her eyes to widen in shock and horror upon seeing the mutilated version of her mother, having a saddened expression on her face.
"Petra, please...I don't have much time. You have to fight. This is the only thing that is left for you" Petra's mother said.
"M-Mom...?" Petra whispered, shocked to see the undead version of her mother in front of her.
"We found her! Everyone! Petra is here! Let's get her!"
"?!"
The sound of Frederica EXE made Petra instantly jump to her feet, her heart beating up faster and faster by the second.
And before Petra could even realize what she was doing, she dashed at full speed towards the snowy ground of the forest.
While running for her life, she jumped forward to avoid Garfiel EXE bursting out from the ground with his arm positioned in an uppercut punch. Petra rolled on the ground, immediately standing on her feet, before continuing on running forward. A few seconds later, she jumped to avoid Ram EXE firing a torrent of wind blades from her wand at her, but one blade managed to graze Petra's left foot, causing a shallow cut on her thigh that caused blood trickled from it.
If she was in pain, she didn't show it, since she had no time for that. She just simply kept on dashing through the snowy grounds of the forest. She then jumped and twisted her body in midair to avoid a couple of earth spears aimed at her from behind. Looking back as she ran, she saw Otto EXE extending his arm and opened palm, pointing it towards her, indicating that he was the one that casted the spell.
Petra kept on running, even though she knew that by that pace, she will eventually get caught and killed. The flashbacks that she experienced back at her house struck her mind like the hottest of fireballs. Even though those flashbacks saved her and allowed her to find a way to escape her Death and humiliation, it was still a really vile memory, considering the fact that it reminded her on what would happen if the corpses of her friends caught her. It might even be worse.
Suddenly, as she was running, Petra saw it.
Inside of her, right next to her rapidly beating heart, a cinnamon brown-colored stone the size of a fist was illuminating. Its light kept on flickering rapidly until it matched the heartbeat of Petra's heart, and suddenly...
"Rune Stone Skill: Overactive Imagination"
The voice echoed within Petra's head, temporarily stunning her, but that temporary moment was enough for Otto EXE to use Earth Magic to hurl large rocks at her. Petra was snapped out of her daze upon seeing the rocks but it was too late. She had no time to dodge due to the fact that she was running at full speed, and even if she tried to block, her arms would instantly get crushed. She didn't have enough Mana to reinforce her body, so a few moments from now, she will turn into paste.
Petra's mind accelerated to dangerous degrees. She didn't want to die, but what could she do?
Her thoughts suddenly drifted to the voice that called out some sort of a skill. She didn't know why, but she felt as if that ability was for her. Suddenly, her eyes glowed in a cinnamon brown light, and upon the boulders hitting her, Petra's body shattered into fragments that resembled glass.
The next thing that Otto EXE knew was a kick delivered to his face by Petra, who was right in front of him from the very start, with that glass-like replica being a fake illusion seen by everyone. Petra then proceeded to lift her finger and aimed it at Otto EXE's face.
"Jiwald!" She exclaimed, firing a thin beam of light from her finger. The light ray pierced through Otto EXE's head, right between his eyes. Said person stood motionless for a few seconds, before falling down into the snowy ground, motionless.
"I'm sorry, Otto-sama..." Petra muttered sadly, before her instincts kicked in, forcing her to jump from her place to avoid Garfiel EXE bursting from the snow where she stood, avoiding the uppercut that he was about to deliver to her. Garfiel EXE then descended towards Petra, who had no time to react as he delivered a punch to her abdomen, knocking out all the wind inside the poor little girl and causing blood to burst out from her mouth, before she fell motionlessly on her back on the snow.
Garfiel EXE was about to leave, having seen that he finished his job, when all of a sudden, he heard the sound of glass shattering. He turned around to the source of the voice, only to see countless glass fragments where Petra's dead body was supposed to be lying. He didn't have time in shock at the situation to react when something suddenly landed on his shoulders, sitting on said area with their small legs tightly clutching into his neck, before a pair of small arms proceeded to wrap around his face, blinding him.
Having secured her position and having immobilized her enemy, Petra remembered something that Shadow once told her in their close combat lessons.
"The best, quickest and most effective way to kill an enemy is to snap their necks. As long as you make sure that they are neither multi-jointed nor possessing a healing factor that would make them survive from things like losing limbs or decapitation, then this is the safest method to take a foe down"
Gathering every ounce of strength within her muscles, Petra twisted her entire body to the left side while being seated on Garfiel EXE's shoulders, and shortly afterwards, the nasty sound of bones being snapped was heard echoing throughout the forest as Petra jumped off the shoulders of her opponent, who fell limply on the ground.
Petra had actually made sure that those corpses do not have a healing factor, judging by the fact that Otto EXE died from a simple Jiwald to the face, or could it be that mysterious power that gave her the ability to negate their healing factor, if there was even one to begin with?
Those thoughts didn't matter to Petra, since her next opponent was up. Ram EXE fired a large cyclone from her wand towards Petra, who immediately used her newly acquired ability to create a substitute of herself that pushed her out of the way, taking the hit for to eject her out of harm's way. Petra then dashed through the snowy ground, dodging to the side as Ram EXE launched a wind blade at Petra who was approaching her. The little maid managed to dodge to the side, but her cheek got cut as a result. Petra continued on charging straight towards Ram EXE, who unleashed another massive cyclone at Petra, dismantling the girl into a gruesome mixture of limbs, guts and brains. Not a few seconds later, the gory remnants of Petra turned to glass.
Shifting her stare forward, Ram EXE saw Petra emerging from the snow on the ground tens of meters away from her. It seems that Petra's new ability allowed her to use some form of a camouflage, by using those glass-like illusions to take on the form and anatomy of whatever she shapeshifts to.
Seeing this, Ram EXE looked to her side, seeing the dozens of trees surrounding her. And without uttering a single word, she swung both her wand and the arm holding said wand to their full length of her side. And in the next second, all the trees within the forest were uprooted by the sheer pressure of the wind, dirt and gravel scattered alongside the wood, and with a flick of her wrist that was holding the wand, Ram EXE invoked her Wind Magic once again, and in a few seconds, the wind sliced parts from the uprooted trees. The branches, the leaves, the bark, and within moments, Ram EXE had hundreds of logs with sharpened, pointy spearheads.
She then raised her wand above her head, before lowering it, causing the logs to get launched towards the retreating Petra. The little maid gritted her teeth, before she did her best to avoid the logs fired at her like missiles while running for her life. She dodged one to the side, before rolling as she tripped on the ground to dodge another log threatening to pierce her torso. She then got up on her feet and jumped forward to avoid another log aimed at the spot she rolled to, before she tripped once again, falling face first into the snow. This gave a chance to the torrent of logs to descend on her, crashing down on the little girl and crushing her completely, causing a large dust screen to erupt around the forest.
Seconds later and nothing occurred, but shortly afterwards, Petra burst out from the smokescreen, lunging at Ram EXE, who simply stood still as her hand twitched, causing another log to pierce through Petra, whose hand was inches from touching the face of Ram EXE. The little maid twitched slightly and bled from her mouth, before her body fell down on the snow with a pool of blood forming underneath her. The battle should be over now, however...
"...!"
Even with her eyes sown shut, Ram EXE could clearly see that Petra shattered into glass. She looked around her in panic, but she couldn't find a sign for the real Petra. Suddenly, the world spun around her. She tried to make sense of what was happening, but she couldn't. She then tried reaching for her head, only to suddenly realize that she lost the ability to lift her arms up. It wasn't until the moment when her head rested on the snow-filled ground that Ram EXE had realized.
She was decapitated.
As her world was gradually turning to black, Ram EXE's last thing that she saw was Petra's tearful face, alongside a whisper filled with sobs.
"I'm sorry..."
Standing in silence with tears falling down her eyes, Petra cancelled out the flow of Mana surrounding her wrist, causing the water blade surrounding her wrist to vanish. That was the same water blade that she used to decapitate Ram EXE.
Right now, Petra was hurting a lot. She had just killed all of her friends like that. How long does she have to endure all of this suffering?
She shook her head. Now was not the time to feel sad. All of her friends were dead, but the people of The Sanctuary, as well as Emilia were still alive. She can get help from there against that creature. Maybe Subaru can find a solution to this predicament.
She then turned around, ready to go to the direction of The Sanctuary, only to be face-to-face with Subaru, but something was different. Something that made her feel Fear.
Well, obviously. If the black and red eyes that oozed blood out of them, along with the grin of bloodlust wasn't anything to fear, then Petra didn't know what else.
"Well...That's rather interesting. I thought that you were weak, but you seem to have some strength inside of you" Subaru EXE said.
"S-Subaru-sama!" Petra exclaimed in shock at the horrid appearance that 'Subaru' was in.
"Nah...Name's Exeller. Nice to meet you. Alright, let's be quick. I don't want to kill you...With my own hands, that is. So I'll be kind enough to make your mother do it. By the way, don't forget to ask her about your father. Maybe he's still alive? Maybe he escaped my minion's foul display of a massacre?" Subaru EXE said and asked as well, stunning Petra as she heard the sound of footsteps on the snowy ground, which made her turn around, only to be shocked upon seeing the bloodied form of her mother.
"Do you want to be with your daughter forever? Then you know what to do" Subaru EXE said to Petra's mother, before he slowly floated to the air, disappearing from Petra's sight shortly afterwards.
"Mom...Please no" Petra whispered, begging her mother to not kill her, only for Petra's mother to respond by firing a Mana energy shot at Petra, sending her flying away and colliding with a nearby tree, snapping it in half, before the little girl landed face-first onto the snowy ground. Moments later, Petra's mother teleported to her daughter, Sadness and grief plastered all over her zombified face.
"I'm sorry, Petra...I can't resist. I'm sorry, my child. It won't hurt, I promise" Petra's mother said to her daughter, who just stared at her, shell-shocked that her mother was thinking about killing her.
Then at a whim, something caught the corner of Petra's eye. It seems that Ram EXE forgot to cut all of the trees, evident by the tree behind her mother that was barely sticking to the ground, but it was moments from breaking and falling down.
Petra realized that at that point, no one, not even her mother would spare her and make her live a second longer. So for that reason, only she can help herself. Therefore, she decided to just buy enough time for the tree to fall on her mother, especially that she didn't seem to actually notice it.
"O-Okay...But can we talk...Before you kill me...?" Petra muttered to her mother.
"Of course, honey. What do you want to talk about?" Petra's mother asked, with Petra silently thanking Od that her mother still retained her motherly personality towards her, as the tree started to slowly lean downwards.
"About our family...That creature that tried to violate said that he killed my father...Is that true?" Petra asked, her heart stinging at the memory when she heard about her father's Death.
"Oh, Petra. He is indeed dead. I'm sorry, sweetie. He tried to protect me, but that creature was stronger than us. He raped me after tearing off your father's limbs, then killed him shortly after killing me" Petra's mother answered, pain lacing her voice, and with the tree leaning even further behind her.
Her words, however, had another effect.
"No! It's not true! Subaru-sama...This creature...Told me about dad...He's alive!" Petra half-yelled, her fragmented heart already breaking even further. She didn't want to believe that both her parents were gone. Heck, even with the dead corpse of her mother right in front of her trying to kill her, she didn't want to believe that she was dead.
Even if this was war, even if she knew about it, she was still a child.
"No! He's dead! Petra...Stop. He lied to you to turn you against me!" Petra's mother pleaded with her daughter to believe her, unaware that the tree was about to fall on her.
"I'm sorry, mom..." Petra muttered, before the tree fully snapped falling straight onto her mother with a large thud sound, trapping her to the ground.
"Ah! Petra, please! Help me!" Petra's mother called for her daughter to help her, only for Petra to just look sadly at her mother with tears riddling her beautiful face, before she walked away, leaving her mother stuck underneath the tree.
This was the only person that Petra couldn't bring herself to kill, so in a sense, this was a double act of mercy and agony mixed together.
"Petra! Please! Don't go! You don't know how much it hurts without you! I'm suffering!" Petra's mother yelled, extending her arm towards the retreating form of her daughter, who didn't even turn around to spare a glance at her mother.
Petra then started running towards the direction of The Sanctuary, tears flying from her eyes. She couldn't bear it. Now she knew that she had no allies, no family, no friends. No one to return to.
She was alone. Completely alone. Just like how Celina left them. Everyone promised to be by her side, and yet they left her. They all betrayed her.
She then stopped upon seeing that she was close to the barrier of The Sanctuary. A thought crossing her mind.
"No one is there to help me. What should I do? Should I just run away, or try to do something...?" Petra asked herself. She saw that the path to The Sanctuary was minutes away, but will be able to do anything? That creature was after her, and her entrance to The Sanctuary might result in countless casualties, and that was the last thing she wanted.
But...
"I have to do something...Maybe Emilia-sama and Roswaal-sama can do something..." Petra whispered, wiping away the tears staining her face, before resuming to dash towards The Sanctuary. Minutes later, she reached the barrier, but stopped in front of what appeared to be an oversized green gem. The very shine of the gem left Petra in awe and almost made her forget about the hell that she has been through for the past two days.
"It would have been easier for you to just run away, but you came here. For what? To die?"
"?!"
Petra gasped as she saw Subaru EXE appearing in front of her in a flicker of light, grinning manically at her. However, a few moments later, Petra's shocked expression vanished, replaced by a glare towards the abomination possessing her crush.
"You...You don't scare me! I don't care about what you think, but I'm not a coward! Even if there's no hope, I shall never give up!" Petra exclaimed.
"Heh. Empty words coming from a mere child. Like an ant, no one will simply hear your screams or pleas. So all of your words are insignificant and meaningless" Subaru EXE said to mock the little girl and demorale her.
But it seems that his attempts actually did the opposite effect.
"You're not going to cripple me with your words! Everyone around me lied! I know that! They told me that they will stay by my side, and yet they left me! But this isn't about them! It's about me! As long as I'm standing there doing nothing, then there's no way forward! I'll see my path through to the end! Even If I'm to die, at least I'll know that I've fulfilled my purpose! To show everyone who lied to me that I'm not weak, including you!" Petra yelled, glaring at Subaru EXE, whose maniacal grin widened, threatening to split his face in half.
"Ha! Did you really think you could stop me? What a pity. You're nothing to me" Subaru EXE said.
"I have only one question to you: Why...? Why did you kill my family and friends? Why are you doing this?" Petra asked, causing Subaru EXE to tilt his head to the side, his crazy grin still plastered on his face.
"Do you want to join them too? So be it" He muttered, and was about to attack Petra, before...
"No"
"?!"
Just then, another voice echoed, causing both Petra and Subaru EXE to look up, only to see a dark-skinned woman with emerald-green hair and eyes, as well as wearing a black business suit, descending towards them from the air, before gently landing behind Subaru EXE.
"Oh, Nyarlathotep? You're late to the party. Just stay still and let me win this time" Subaru EXE said to the woman.
"Sorry, Exeller, but you lost. One of them survived and reached the Master Emerald. This is your loss now" Nyarlathotep said, causing Subaru EXE to growl at her.
"No matter. I'll just end this already. I don't give a shit about this stupid bet" Subaru EXE said and was about to reach his hand for the Master Emerald, when all of a sudden, his chest started emitting bright white light.
"It seems that I bought enough time for the next reset" Nyarlathotep said with a small smile, causing Subaru EXE to grit his teeth as he glared at Nyarlathotep, who walked towards Petra. And before Petra could comprehend what was going on, Nyarlathotep knelt down to reach the little girl's height, before gently patting her head, smiling at her.
"Young child. Don't be distressed or sad. No one has betrayed you. It's just that life is cruel and merciless on everyone. So please, do not bear any grudges towards your allies if you want to survive next time" The Cthulhu Mythos demon said, smiling gently at Petra, who stood silently and stared at her with wide eyes for a few seconds...Before her eyes started to tear up, followed by her throwing herself onto Nyarlathotep, burying her face in between her ample chest with her sobs and wails being muffled by the fabric of Nyarlathotep's clothes, which in turn caused said Demon to hug Petra and gently stroke her hair.
"You see now, Exeller? You broke a child and made it believe that the world is all about lies. How cruel can you get?" Nyarlathotep asked, not looking back at Subaru EXE, whose chest was still emitting white light.
"You know...Why I did this...You and Alice know very well the reason all of this happened" Subaru EXE said while gritting his teeth. Nyarlathotep could feel the tinest shred of doubt within the Highest's heart, which caused her smile to widen.
There was still hope in him, but she knew that no matter how many resets were made, there was no turning back at all. Both her and Exeller knew that.
"The next reset shall be initiated now, but believe me when I tell you...When they survive, it will be your end" Nyarlathotep said to Exeller, her tone lacking the slightest bit of threatening.
"..." Exeller just hung his head down, not saying anything.
And after moments of silence, the bright light engulfed the whole world, with the last words echoing throughout All Creation.
"I want them to live..."
Memory Fragment File#08
"I'm sorry, Subaru-sama. It's a little tough"
"It's okay, Petra. Practice makes perfect"
Subaru and Petra were in an empty space in Irlam Village, with Petra's mother by their side, watching them training on Magic control.
"I don't know...It seems like it's impossible for me to use Magic like you and Shadow-sama" Petra said with a dejected face.
"Hey. It always takes time, Petra. Not even I was able to use Magic on my first try" Subaru said, before his cellphone suddenly rang. He took it out from his pocket and looked at it, only to sigh upon reading the message.
"Sorry, Petra. I have to go. It seems that Natsumi 'accidentally' created a chainsaw robot, forcing Reinhard and Shadow to blow it up. Now she's throwing a child's tantrum at her invention being destroyed after leaving it running amok and nearly destroying the garden back at Ros-chi's mansion...Anyways, gotta go. See ya" Subaru said before sprinting away from Petra and her mother towards the direction of the Margrave Mansion.
"I guess I'll go home, mom..." Petra said with a low tone.
"Petra...I need to talk to you" Petra's mother said to her, causing the little girl to look at her.
"You've grown up so fast, becoming faster, smarter and stronger...Remember when I said to always stay out of danger?" She said before asking the question out of the blue, confusing Petra, but she stayed silent to allow her mother to continue talking without disturbance.
"You always did this before because you were with someone who could protect you, but there could be a time where you'll be with someone in need of protection. You should never abandon them, but instead protect them" She continued before gently smiling at Petra.
"You're a smart girl, Petra. I know that if you're outmatched, you can run away because you are fast. But still...Me and your father worry for you, because we love you so much" Petra's mother finished, and immediately afterwards, Petra marched to her mother and gave her a warm hug.
"I love you and dad too, mom" Petra said, before shortly breaking the hug.
"It's horrible to think about what will happen to you when I'm not around...Just like with your sister Celina..." Petra's mother said, muttering the last part about Petra's sister, but that didn't go unheard by Petra, whose face grimaced for a split second, before she flashed a bright smile towards her mother.
"Don't worry, mom. I promise I'll be fine. Now, let me try firing a Jiwald once again" Petra said, taking in a deep breath, before firing a beam of light from her index finger into the sky, which in turn caused the little girl to flash a bright smile at her achievement.
"I knew you could do it..." Petra's mother said, warmly smiling at her daughter's success. She then looked up at the sunny sky, remembering her other daughter.
"Celina...Wherever you are...Please be safe...You're the only one who can take care of Petra if anything happens to us..."
Memory Fragment File #08: End
And Done!
There you have it! Petra's Solo Ending with a touch of my own creativity!
Now then, I have decided per the requests of my favorite reviewer, Reaper10398, that I shall start working on the EX Side Story after Arc 3, but at the same time, I shall work on the main story as well. So no fear.
To Reaper10398, I like the idea of your Forgotten Crossover, but it actually inspired something else into me: A Forgotten Crossover with RWBY, especially after I watched Volume 9 a few days ago. Those ten episodes were basically the best in the entire show, I gotta tell you. So I'm thinking of making that crossover in the future. There is also the fact that I don't know much about Xenophanes and his abilities, despite the fact that I'm planning on placing him in this story. So it will help me very much if you gave me a list of his powers and abilities.
Also, yeah...I know that I went too overboard with Petra's Death back then, and I'm also glad that Cream didn't meet the same end, but I promise you all that in the Best Ending, Execun will be punished severely...And with style.
I wanted to also address something. To all those who may wonder about some of the OC characters that I'm including, they are actually from different short mangas and some are from fangames made by the likes of PinkTea and Babusgames from Newgrounds.
For example, the names 'Miyuki' and 'Kotaro' that were mentioned in chapter 8 of this fanfic are characters from the 18+ short manga 'Ibitsu no Kanki', and Saki is the main character from the 18+ short manga 'Metamorphosis'. By the way, I cried at the ending of each manga after I read them.
On the other hand, the name 'Kaylin' is actually from the 18+ fangame made by PinkTea called 'Slave Lord: Realms of Bondage'. The game is so cool and I recommend it, even though it is not complete yet, but it still updates. You should try it.
Lastly, as always, I beg all of you review for this story and leave your opinions and ideas in the comments. Also, like always, a huge thanks to Reaper10398. You're my man, bro. Always supporting me through thick and thin with your encouraging comments, and I really hope that everyone follows your action by commenting to this story to encourage me as well.
Next Chapter: Round 2: Ending 5: An Oni Prodigy In Distress.
Until Next Time And Next Chapter!
Jude Warble, Out.