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
"Sekhmet...? You really deserve the title of the Witch of Sloth..."
"That is...Huu...Rude to say...Haa...To a lady...Huu...Actually, stop talking...Huu...I already told you that...Haa...It makes me...Huu...Feel tired...Haa..."
"..."
Shadow was completely irritated by now.
Not only that the wrong Witch came to him again, but this time, it was quite a troublesome one. He felt that he was reaching the peak of his anger.
"What do you want? Surely there is something that you need of me?" Shadow asked, trying to hold his anger in.
"Huu...I...Haa...Have nothing to...Huu...Say to you...Haa...I just...Huu...Came here to...Haa...See you...Huu...Quite an individual...Haa...Are you..." Sekhmet huffed her words out, and immediately, a vein popped in Shadow's forehead.
"ECHIDNA! IF THAT'S A JOKE, THEN IT HAS GONE TOO FAR!" Shadow yelled, having lost his composure. Immediately, Sekhmet turned to vapor, and shortly afterwards, Echidna appeared in the same fashion in front of Shadow, who was looking at her angrily.
"Oh come on. What's with that mad look on your face?" Echidna asked with a teasing smile, further infuriating Shadow.
"...You're one to talk about 'mad'. You're pulling all the fuses here" The black-haired non-Human said through his gritted teeth.
"Well, once again, my apologizes. It seems that your presence had even picked up the interest of Sekhmet. She's always completely lazy, but she is considered the most normal out of the other Witches" Echidna said.
"Define...'Normal' to me in your own cases" Shadow said, causing Echidna to smile brightly at him, which in turn made him sigh in defeat, realizing that he won't get anything out from Echidna. He then decided to change the subject into something that picked his own interest.
"Say, Echidna. Before I get to meet the Witch of Gluttony, I want to ask you something" He said, causing Echidna to blink at this.
"The Witches...You girls...How exactly did you all die? You all have so many extraordinary powers, it's really difficult to imagine someone that can kill you" Shadow said, and he was quite surprised upon seeing Echidna holding a serious expression on her face.
"The Witch of Envy" She muttered.
"Hm?" Shadow blinked at this, not quite understanding what she meant.
"We were all killed during the rampage of the Witch of Envy that swallowed half of the world. She is the strongest Witch out of us all. Not even Od Laguna can hope to touch her" Echidna answered, before her smile returned to her face upon seeing Shadow's bewilderment.
"Surely enough, as someone who was in contact with the Witch of Envy, you would know how much powerful she is" She said.
"What are you...?" Shadow trailed in his speech, only for his eyes to widen in realization upon knowing what Echidna was trying to say, and this shocking revelation made him place his palm on his mouth instinctively.
"Subaru..." Shadow muttered.
"Indeed. His ability to rewind time right before the instant of his Death is truly fascinating. Shame that its source was that Half-Devil. I still can't get why she gave him that ability" Echidna said.
"That's...Really shocking..." Shadow muttered, cold sweat running down his forehead.
A symbol of calamity was right beside them all that time, and yet they failed to notice it. He could make a hypothesis that Subaru knew about her existence after the couple few rewinds that he experienced, but that also sounds nigh-implausible, considering the fact that Subaru himself showed shock every time Shadow saw him rewinding.
"Why are you that worried? You and I know very well that even thought that bitch is strong, you're way stronger than her. It's already an overkill with the Sword Saint around, but with you, it's considered a comedy show" Echidna said.
"No...You don't understand..." Shadow muttered.
What Shadow was focusing on was some sort of a formula to counter all the obstacles that could hinder their advance in the upcoming war. However, as of lately, things started to spiral downwards pretty quickly. Crossed Thanatos' appearance, Exeller starting his move quite early, the Witch of Envy being under their noses all this time.
Not to mention, that...'Thing' back then...A year ago...
"Now then, can I ask a question from you?" Echidna asked, gaining Shadow's attention.
"What?" He asked.
"It would be unfair if you were the one to ask all the questions, you know. So you can at least give me that before you meet Daphne" Echidna said.
"...Fine. Go ahead, but don't ask anything stupid" Shadow said, and upon saying this, Echidna's lips stretched to a smile so great that each corner of her lips reached her ears.
"Vult"
"?!"
The moment Echidna said that name, Shadow's eyes widened so great that his pupils got dilated to the point that it appeared that they were about to vanish.
"Surely, as someone who took down the attempts of the Kuroinu, you would know it. After all, it was the leader of said wretched mercenary group"
Shadow stayed silent.
"It's not hard missing all of that, to be honest. Considering the fact that you singlehandedly took down not only the mercenary group, but also the army of the entire Eostia Kingdom that was filled with goblins, orcs, and minotaurs. I also remember seeing a weird tentacle being there"
Again, Shadow stayed silent.
"You didn't even need to unsheathe your sword to do that. You were a real overkill back then. I wonder what those Sage Council people will do if they somehow knew about your achievement in saving an entire kingdom from turning into a large erogenous zone all by yourself. Will they put you under a strict law that strips you away from your freedom like that weird law that shackles the Sword Saint to their country? I wonder what they will call it? Shadow Law? Pfft. Yeah, right. It sounds silly when I say it"
Even when she was joking half-way, Shadow was still silent.
"How did it feel saving that bitchy Dark Elf, or her slutty Dark Elf-Human Hybrid of a servant?"
Shadow said nothing.
"How did it feel when you rescued that blonde princess, only to kill her cousin that was her little sister figure that already lost her mind to Lust?"
Again, Shadow said nothing.
"How did it feel when you reunited that Human with her husband that left her after her father-in-law betrayed her to use her as a breeding factory?"
Yet again, Shadow said nothing.
"How did it feel to you when you saved that shrine maiden and cleared her name in front of her followers, right after you killed that Iruflux clan member that impregnated her with insects?"
"How did it feel when you saved that Dwarf girl after she ran away from Eostia to Kararagi, all completely broken in the head, before trying to seek your help after you restored her sanity?"
And even afterwards, Shadow said nothing.
"How did it feel saving that mercenary girl, who went mind-broken after her first love mocked her feelings and embarrassed her in front of those gang of bandits?"
Shadow still remained silent, refusing to say anything. His wide eyes staring at the ground.
"How did it feel saving that High-Elf and having her thanking you? Delightful, isn't it?"
Shadow still remained silent.
"Also...How did it feel when you were with that girl called Maria, or that incapacitated girl called Sarah back in your former world?"
Upon hearing those two names, Shadow's body flinched.
"Sarah was a disabled girl who couldn't walk, yet being on her wheelchair, she thanked you for saving the world from your crazy father, and how would you repay her? You left her to die. How did it feel to you back then?"
Shadow's eye twitched uncontrollably.
"Maria was an ill girl suffering from an incurable disease, yet she told you that all she wanted was a family. You wanted to cure her. After all, that was the reason of your existence, the reason that you were created. However, she sacrificed herself for you and made you promise her to save Humanity. Yet the Humans were the ones that betrayed you. How did it feel to you?"
Shadow's other eye twitched.
"Humans are really greedy and weak. They don't have fangs or claws. All they can do is cry, won't you agree?"
Shadow's fists clenched.
"But I'm sure that you already know that all Mortal races are considered the same, right? All of them are like that. Even though they are physically weak and pathetic, they still sit at the top of the food chain. Because out of all the beings in existence, Mortals are the cruelest. Don't you agree?"
Shadow's body shook.
"Then when you came into this world, you decided to resume your objective in saving Mortals, but not in only one world, but in all the worlds that exist here. Why is that, even though the Humans of your world betrayed you?"
Shadow's body shook even more.
"Then you came into contact with those two Oni girls. Rem and Ram were their names, right? You fell in love with Rem and she fell in love with you. Next, you sensed the feelings of Ram for you after she sacrificed herself to take down that horrid looking god. Heck, you even resurrected her back from the dead. Why is that?"
Shadow's clenched fists started drawing what appeared to be golden blood.
"Don't you think that all of that is hypocritical? I don't mean you, but I mean the actions of those who are around you. Maria wanted you to save Humanity, yet it was Humanity that betrayed you. Sarah thanked you for saving the world, yet when she was killed under the debris of a falling building and you failed to save her in time, her parents said that it was your fault because you couldn't save her. Even Rem and Ram. I think that if you didn't talk to them and got to know them, they would have been your enemies right away, aiming to kill you on the spot. Don't you think that I'm right?"
Shadow's teeth were gritted.
"And not to mention that you and I know very well that both Maria and Sarah got reincarnated into this world. I already know that you knew that right after meeting the Sin Archbishop of Lust and that thief girl, right?"
Shadow's gum started to draw out golden blood from having his teeth bite into it.
"Maria and Sarah...They both loved you, yet they were also the same as those Humans that betrayed you. Their fault is that they are the same race as those that betrayed you, right?"
Shadow started growling.
"Rem and Ram...I'm sure that given the slightest condition, they will also betray you eventually, right?"
Shadow's growling increased.
"Those four girls...They loved you, yet betrayed you. You love them, yet you hate them? Or is it that you hate yourself for existing?"
Shadow lifted up his head to look at the smiling face of Echidna.
"By now, I'm pretty sure that you want to do that to them, right?"
Shadow then stared at her with wide eyes, before finally hearing the nail in the coffin.
"You're thinking about how much you want to **** those four girls, aren't you?"
"ECHIDNA!"
Roaring out from the top of his lungs, Shadow charged forwards, pinning Echidna to the floor with his hands coiled around her neck. He squeezed her throat so hard that her entire face went blue in a second, but her smile never left her face.
"You...Feel it...Don't you...The hypocrisy eating away...At your...Body from inside..."
Shadow just growled and tightened his grip on her throat.
"No matter what you do...You're not...A god...You...Cannot...Change people..."
Shadow gritted his bloody teeth, growling like an animal.
"This...Is the...Truth...That you...Have been...Running from..."
"Why...Why are you doing this...?" He muttered his question, still gripping Echidna's throat tightly.
Her answer boiled his blood even more.
"I'm...The Witch of Greed...I seek...Knowledge...That's...Who I am..."
"ECHIDNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
"SNAP!"
Another pressure applied, followed by the gruesome snap of Echidna's neck, before she fell limb and emotionless, her eyes rolling up to the back of her head.
A few seconds after he calmed down, Shadow's hands relaxed and left Echidna's corpse. He didn't feel shock or horror or even satisfaction.
He felt...Empty.
It was always like this. He never felt anything when he took a life, like it was an extremely normal routine. And right now, even when he killed what he considered a valuable source of information, he still felt nothing.
He is alone and will always be alone.
Suddenly, Echidna's lifeless body vanished in a torrent of mist, but in the next instant...
"Shadow-kun"
"?!"
A voice that Shadow thought that he would never hear resonated in his ears, causing him to slowly turn his head backwards while still seated on his knees.
The sight of the blue-haired maid filled his eyes.
"Rem...? Why are you here...?" He muttered as Rem walked slowly towards him and stopped in front of him. She then hugged his torso and pressed his forehead on hers.
"I love you..." She muttered, causing Shadow's eyes to widen in shock.
"I love you, Shadow-kun. So everything will be alright" Rem said.
"Th-That doesn't...Answer anything..." Shadow said in a weak voice, confusion suddenly rising inside of him.
"It does. Holding Shadow-kun the way Rem is now...Is the answer to everything" She said hugging him gently and bringing him closer to her.
"You've been through so much, Shadow-kun. You suffered so much pain all alone...But you don't need to feel so sad all the time anymore" She whispered, causing tears to build on the corners of Shadow's eyes. Rem then reached for Shadow's cheek, gently caressing it.
"Rem will take the place of everything you're feeling. Just entrust everything to me...And just rest for now" She said, and suddenly, something inside of Shadow's head clicked. Something was wrong. Something was definitely wrong. It didn't make sense, and it also went even more bizarre when he saw 'Rem' inching her lips towards his.
"All you need to do is sleep" 'Rem' said as she slowly closed the distance between her and Shadow's lips. It was at that moment that Shadow's eyes narrowed weakly. His mind and heart filled with Sadness and rage, but Sadness was the most feeling that he was experiencing.
"Rem..." He muttered.
"It is easy to give up, but...It doesn't suit you..."
He remembered those words that she gave to him. He cherished them, respected them.
Even if Rem didn't know who Shadow the Hedgehog was, she still knew who Shadow Terios was, and in just a short time. Out of everyone that he knew ever since coming to this world, Rem was the only one who knew Shadow the most. Despite having never met him in his past life, Rem knew very well, that Shadow Terios was a man that never gave up, simply because his actions spoke for him.
And for Rem to tell him to rest, it's...
"...Who the fuck are you?"
"?!"
A simple question, despite having the usual vulgarism into it, it made 'Rem' halt from advancing towards Shadow.
"Huh?" 'Rem' backed down, asking in a mixture of confusion and anxiety.
"I'm asking you who the hell are you" Shadow said in a low tone, but 'Rem' could tell that anger was slowly rising inside of him.
"S-Shadow-kun, what are you-" She was about to speak, but Shadow cut her off.
"I knew that when I was at the end of my rope clutching my knees and wallowing in anguish, you came and stayed gently by my side. You listened to my troubles, heard me vent my insecurities, and you literally wrung out everything out of my until I had nothing else to throw a tantrum on...And then you'd say 'Now, stand up'" Shadow said, before blinking his tears away and glared at 'Rem', who gasped as she backed down a few inches from Shadow.
"You wouldn't tell me to just rest. You wouldn't tell me to give up and entrust everything to you" Shadow said, causing 'Rem' to gasp once again.
"I love you, and you love me. You're good to me, and you love me, but just from talking to you for those past three months, I know...That you're stricter with me than anyone else. Rem is the one girl who doesn't go easy on me!" Shadow exclaimed before standing up to his feet, backing away from 'Rem', who stood up in response.
"You're wrong! Please listen to Rem, Subaru-kun! I just don't want to see you suffering, so-"
"I'll show you my weakness and my fragility...But I'll never let you see me give up! I'm the Ultimate Life Form! I never gave up in my life! Even if it's a Life-or-Death situation, I never gave up! And you know that because..."
"Because...Shadow-kun is Rem's Hero"
"...Because I'm Rem's Hero!" Shadow yelled out, causing 'Rem' to flinch.
"Get the fuck outta here, you fucking fraud! Don't you dare wear Rem's face and voice and trick me with it! Soiling her image in front of me...Is the same as opposing me! And I bring Death to those who oppose me!" Shadow roared in anger at 'Rem', who stared in shock at Shadow for a few seconds, before lowering her head in defeat.
Seconds passed in silence until...
"Th-This isn't...What I...Was told...T-To expect..."
"?!"
Suddenly, Shadow heard another voice, a new one, the voice a stuttering girl.
Right afterwards, the form of 'Rem' suddenly changed, her form blurred in a similar fashion to that of a storm of television-haze static drowning Shadow's vision, and in a blink at that spot there appears someone completely different, someone that Shadow has never seen before.
It was a woman in her late teens, standing at 1.6 m. She had he had round red downcast eyes and long pale-pink hair that was parted down the middle and tied into loose asymmetrical bunches falling down the front of her shoulders that went all the way to her hips. Her outfit consisted of baggy clothes that Shadow instinctively concluded that hid her figure, which was well-hidden by said clothes, was shapely and generous and had surprisingly large breasts if the two huge bulges that were barely noticeable from behind her clothes were of any indication. Her ensemble consisted of a dark-red dress that reached down to her ankles and had diamond patterns on the bottom, a pair of light-brown boots, a long snow-white coat with a pink collar that covered her dress and reached slightly lower down than it, and an exceedingly long light-green muffler that trailed along the ground behind her.
Overall, what was exposed of the woman's body was only her head and hands.
"Who are you?" Shadow simply asked that question, despite already knowing who that was judging by the fact that he had already seen the other Witches except for Gluttony and...
"I-I'm the Witch of Lust...Carmilla. N-Nice to...M-Meet you..."
[Skill Learned: Faceless Bride]
It was at that moment that Shadow felt two conflicting emotions.
"..."
Relief and...Annoyance.
At the same time. Margrave Mansion
Suddenly, Ram's head perked up upon hearing a sound, and as she was about to reach for the door...
"I'm...Dead...? Rem...Shads..."
She instinctively reached a palm for her throat, having suddenly seen the vision of her head rolling off her shoulders due to something clamping its jaws on her, and this made her stop just a few inches from having her hand touching the doorknob.
Ram had cold sweat running down her forehead. She never felt that Fear ever since that accursed day when she lost her horn against the Witch Cultists that burned her village down.
She didn't know what was happening, but if there's one thing that she knows, it was that she had to get out of here.
Her head turned around to look at the window of her room, and seeing no option, Ram dashed towards the window, opened it, and jumped out of the mansion, and landing safely on her feet, despite it being the third floor.
Taking in a deep breath, Ram dashed forward, not looking back.
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 two new existences appear out of thin air.
The first one 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. The other one was what appeared to be a small girl dressed as a maid, but her reddish-brown hair was pale purple, with her cyan eyes becoming blood red irises with black sclera, her skin being pale purple in color and her left eye was forcibly closed shut, as if it was beaten to the point that it can no longer open from being swollen badly.
"I guess you forgot about the girls" Subaru EXE said.
"Frederica-san?! Petra-chan?!" 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 and Petra EXE there with them, the former immediately transformed her hands to large brown fur-colored claws, and the latter encased her right hand crackled with purple electricity and left hand had a glowing purple orb of light in it. 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 EXE 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, while Petra EXE stood behind him, blocking away any kind of methods of escape.
"Stay away from me!" Otto exclaimed, trying to fight the urge to throw up.
"Otto-sama...Please make this easy for us" Petra EXE said.
"I...I..." Otto muttered, Fear and Despair completely consuming him at seeing his lover and his little sister figure reduced to nothing but corpses that are designed to kill.
"Sorry, Otto-sama..." Frederica EXE muttered before dashing at Otto, swiftly slicing him with her claws from the waist as his upper torso flew and tumbled down the mountain, smearing it with blood and guts, with all what was left of him that was standing on top of the mountain was only his hips and legs that were releasing streams of blood.
A few minutes later. Irlam Village
"I think...I lost it..."
Ram gasped lightly for breath, her heart was still pounding from the immense amount of bloodlust that was directed a few minutes earlier at her.
She then wiped out the sweat from her forehead, looking into the distance. She wanted to reach the Sanctuary, but using her Clairvoyance, she could feel the horrid presence closing in, so what Ram thought was that she will cause danger to the residents of the Sanctuary.
In addition to this, she wanted that Clown to be alive, in order to exact judgement on him herself...
"Very well. Ram has to do something regarding that thing that is chasing her, and if I wants to do that..." She trailed in her speech, before taking out two small palm-sized gray cylinders from one of the pockets of her dress. She then pressed on a button on the sides of each cylinder, before they immediately erected pale purple energy that solidified itself into two tonfa-shaped blades.
"...Then Ram has to step up her game, using the gift Shads has given her" Ram said before slamming the tonfa lightsabers onto the ground, propelling her into the air and towards the direction of the Lifaus Highway.
A few minutes later. Lifaus Highway
"Taking a U-turn from the Lifaus Highway towards the Sanctuary...Sure is tiring"
Ram panted as she was running forward, her plasma tonfas in hand.
Then she saw the blur of a white-haired boy coming into view beside her.
"Hey, Ram-chi. Short time no see" Subaru said.
"Well, speak of incompetence and it shall arrive in the flesh. Short time no see, Barusu" Ram said with a comical scoff on her face, causing Subaru to sweatdrop.
"Harsh as ever, Nee-sama" Subaru said with a chuckle, before looking ahead on the road.
"Tell ya what. Let's do a competition. Race you to the Flugel Tree!" Subaru exclaimed before dashing forward.
"Barusu! You do realize that you're quite faster than Ram, and she can't catch up with you! Wait!" Ram yelled at Subaru, but in vain as he dashed into the distance. This caused Ram to click her tongue in annoyance.
"Stupid Barusu...Making the sweet cute Ram overexert herself..." She muttered under her breath, before speeding up towards Subaru.
A few minutes later. Fallen Flugel Tree
"Phew...Never...Ever...Run...Like that...Again...Huh?"
Panting upon reaching the fallen Flugel Tree, Ram was in the process of scolding Subaru, who was standing in front of her, only for her eyes to widen upon seeing a new figure brandishing a sword and pointing it at Subaru.
It looked like it was a werewolf that was blue in color, and it had nothing to wear aside from a pair of red sneakers and a pair of white gloves. It had red eyes and it was quite short, around one meter tall.
"You thought that you could get away from us, Exeller?" The werewolf asked, glaring with hostility at Subaru.
"Ah...Do I know you?" Subaru asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion at the new figure.
"I know it's you, so stop playing dumb. You killed me once, but this time it's different. You didn't destroy my Rune Stone back then, so I managed to survive" The werewolf said.
"Barusu! Who is that?!" Ram, who was excluded from the talk, asked while taking a fighting stance, sensing the genuine hostility directed towards the white-haired boy.
"Troublemaker..." Subaru muttered from behind his gritted teeth.
"I'm a troublemaker, you say? I have to remind you that because of you, our king, Assiah-Lite is dead, and now Nazareth-Lite is leading the Highests to damnation using war and mass genocide to all the Mortal races found in All Creation. Havoc is spreading forth because of you" The werewolf said angrily, tightening his grip on his sword.
"It was something inevitable! War is required for this world to go on! That's what Assiah-Lite shared with Nazareth-Lite! You of all people should know! I want to end this cycle of mass genocide! I don't want to be restricted by this mindless cycle! I'm free to do whatever the hell I want! And the first thing that I shall do is to fulfill the prophecy here to regain my full powers, then I shall take down Nazareth-Lite! But on my own way! My own terms! Also, I would love to remind you, that it was an accident that Assiah-Lite is dead!" Subaru exclaimed, causing the werewolf to narrow his eyes mockingly at the white-haired man.
"And you think I should believe you? I'm not Alice or Nyarlathotep" The werewolf said, causing Subaru to growl in anger.
"Of course it's easy to judge when you don't know the facts! Screw you and all of the Highests!" Subaru yelled angrily.
"Those were your final words..." The werewolf said, before dashing towards Subaru and just as he was about to reach him and swing his sword at Subaru's neck, he froze in place as the world was instantly engulfed in pale purple, causing everything to freeze in time, even Ram who was about to intercept the attack to protect Subaru was frozen in her place.
"Time to do things right. Thank you for notifying me" Subaru said before he slammed his palm into the werewolf's chest, taking out a blue, rhombus-shaped stone as blood came out from his chest, only for the blood to freeze mid-air. Subaru then tightened his grip on the stone, before it got crushed in his palm, shattering into millions of pieces that dissipated as if it never existed.
Subaru then smirked at the frozen form of the short werewolf, whose sword was inches from his neck. He then pointed his finger at the werewolf's face, before a light yellow energy ball the size of a baseball formed itself in front of his finger.
"Farewell...Old 'Friend'" He muttered before firing the energy ball at his face, and at the same time, the pale purple color enveloping the world instantly vanished, accompanied by the werewolf's head blowing to smithereens as blood and brain scattered across the grassy road, with the werewolf's headless body falling motionlessly on the ground, never to move again.
Ram, who was quite shocked at the sudden development, followed her instincts and ran away from the scene, making sure to make her distance from 'Subaru'. She then suddenly felt a force from behind her pushing her forward, and right into an oversized red ring that appeared out of nowhere, making Ram disappear in a flicker of light.
Unknown Location
Blinking her eyes open, Ram widened her eyes at the scene unfolding in front of her.
"What is that? It looks like the Lifaus Highway, but everything is red, even the sky" Ram said, before she saw something floating towards her. It was what appeared to be the ghost of the werewolf that they previously meet. The ghost didn't say anything upon floating in front of Ram. It just pointed forward before it flew to the direction it pointed at, which was the fallen Flugel Tree. Ram immediately realized that he wants her to follow him.
"Raaaaaaam~"
And it's not like she had any other choice in the matter. She then dashed towards the direction of the tree, panting heavily as cold sweat ran down her entire body. Whether she was scared or tired, she didn't know. All that she knew was that she didn't want to die.
"Raaaaaaam~"
Gritting her teeth, Ram spun around and slammed the Recoil Rods forward as hard as she can, sending Subaru EXE flying away into the distance as he was inches from touching her. Ram then continued following the ghost to the tree. She was almost halfway there.
"Raaaaaaam~"
"Persistent imbecile..." She growled underneath her breath, before clicking on a button in the handles of the Recoil Rods, causing the plasma blades to disappear, before she slammed the two small handles together, causing them to fuse and then elongate to the length of a spear pole, and at its end, a pale purple spearhead of plasma was formed.
Ram spun around, swinging the Triple Rod in a downward vertical slash, bifurcating Subaru EXE in half, only for said assaulter to dissipate into dust upon being cut down in half.
Ram then made a mad dash once again towards the tree, and a few minutes later, she reached it, but as she was about to jump on the tree trunk...
"Raaaaaaam~"
Ram clicked her tongue in annoyance, before clicking on a button on the Triple Rod's pole, causing the pole to shrink into a cylindrical piece of metal that fitted perfectly in her palm. She then pressed another button on it, causing its end to sport a pale purple, spearhead-shaped tip.
Spinning on her heel, Ram thrusted her arm forward, causing the Chain Rod to fly towards the flying Subaru EXE. The chain link of plasma flew freely from the handle, and the bladed tip made its perfect hit mark in between the eyes of Ram's assailant. Ram then took the chance that her opponent was shocked from the impact, and yanked the Chain Rod, causing Subaru EXE to get reeled towards her. She then got ready and positioned her free arm into a fist, reeling it back as well, and just as Subaru EXE was in her range of sight, Ram threw her fist forward as hard as she could, slamming it square into her assailant's face, sending him flying away with a sonic boom.
Ram then retrieved her weapon, before jumping atop the giant tree. She then ran on its length, watching the ghost of the werewolf entering the hole in its middle, to which it made her dash towards said area.
"Raaaaaaam~"
She was meters away from reaching the hole in the tree trunk, only for the sound of Death to alert her that it is near. Realizing this, Ram clicked on another button on the handle of her weapon, causing pale purple plasma to solidify into a circular shield in front of her. She held the Boomerang Shield in her left hand and turned around just in time to block Subaru EXE's hand from catching her. Taking the advantage that she blocked the attack, Ram took out her wand with her free right hand from one of her pockets in her maid dress, and seeing this, Subaru EXE gasped as he saw Ram invoking mana for her spell.
"Al Fura!"
"?!"
A massive torrent of wind blades blasted forth at the moment Ram swung her wand at Subaru EXE, unleashing a furious tornado at said person. In an instant, his eardrums exploded, sending black blood flying around, followed by his body being hacked to pieces and reduced to nothing but a large river of blood floating in the air, but it didn't end here, as not even the blood was spared when the wind blades sliced even the black blood so hard to the point that it vanished in thin air, indicating the eradication of her opponent.
The blast of Wind Magic sent Ram flying backwards, and she immediately fell into the hole of the tree trunk. Right afterwards, however, Subaru EXE, who was supposed to have been reduced to nothing, appeared floating above the tree.
"Is she really that stupid? I already succumbed to her and she didn't use her chance" He said with a small smirk, before taking out two gems, one was red and the other was white, from his pocket and looked at them.
"At least with the help of those two Chaos Emeralds, Everything will go a little bit smoothly for me. Shame I couldn't take the other two Shadow has. Damn...Even when weakened and vulnerable, I can't approach him due to the defensive mechanisms he is using even while being unconscious..." Subaru EXE said, before huffing out his frustration. He then placed the two Chaos Emeralds in his pocket, before looking ahead at where Ram descended.
"Hm...Why do I have the feeling that I was hunting for Ram before...Was someone else playing with time?" He muttered.
Inside the Flugel Tree Trunk
"Huh?"
"Grrr..."
Just as she entered the tree trunk, Ram was right in front of a blue Wolgram-like creature that had the same eyes as Subaru EXE. It looked to be growling in Ram's direction, causing her to stand still in her place.
However, the moment that a drop of cold sweat dropped down from Ram's forehead and fell on the floor of the insides of the tree trunk, The weird beast roared before making a mad dash at Ram, who dodged to the side as the beast rushed forward at her. Ram placed her hand on the tree trunk, only to jump away once again as the beast nearly chomped off her arm, charging towards the spot where she placed her arm.
Ram quickly took notice of this. She then saw that the beast remained docile, growling and turning around its head, not aware that Ram was right behind him.
Seeing this, Ram decided to test something. She eyed a splinter of wood on the floor. Carefully suppressing her presence so as to not give the slightest of sound, Ram took the splinter from the floor, before flickering it towards one of the walls of the tree trunk next the creature attacking her. The moment it hit the wall, the creature roared out and dashed at where the wood splinter hit, slamming its jaws into the spot that the splinter hit. This action led Ram to realize something.
"This creature is blind...It only reacts to sound" She thought, before suddenly, she heard another voice sounding inside of her head.
"Rune Stone Skill: Seismic Forecaster"
At the next moment, Ram didn't know why, but she felt familiar with whatever skill that suddenly surfaced and birthed power within her.
Her eyes then darted towards the creature that was trying to eat her, and as if on instinct, she muttered out the words.
"Forest of Thorns"
"?!"
Just then, the ground burst apart, huge roots dug from outside the ground, bursting apart the Flugel Tree from the inside at a rapid pace. The Wolgram-like creature got entangled in the large roots as it ascended to the sky, and after a few minutes of rising to the sky, the roots stopped from moving with the monster struggling to free itself, but in vain as its movements were completely restricted.
Ram then raised her arm and her opened palm to the sky, before clenching her fist.
"Pierce through"
"?!"
Suddenly, the roots grew thorns from it, and the monster's roared were instantly silenced as the thorns of wood stabbed it everywhere, skewering it completely as the creature mysteriously dissolved into a pool of blood upon dying.
Ram released a breath she didn't know, secretly astounded at her newfound power. With this, she can fight evenly with that freak.
"Hm. You're not so useless after all if you were able to survive"
"?!"
Spinning on her heel and activating her Recoil Rods, Ram took a fighting stance against what called for her, only for her guard to relax a little when she saw that it was the ghost of the werewolf that tried to help her escape.
"Thanks, I guess...Anyways, who are you? And what happened to my friend?" Ram asked, slightly annoyed because it appeared to her that that werewolf was just mocking her.
"My name is Rexer. Your friend was possessed by former Highest Exeller" Rexer answered.
"Highest? What is that? Why did that Exeller take over Barusu's body? And why is it trying to kill Ram?" Ram asked, lots of questions were plaguing her mind.
"Calm down. I will answer all your questions. Exeller took over your friend's body to hide from us. It was a brilliant plan, if not for one thing: Our queen, Alice, managed to locate him, where she allied herself with Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos, to find Exeller and stop him. Normally, our queen would have came down to the Mortal Realm herself, but she needed to make preparations for the incoming war, so she asked Nyarlathotep to be in her stead" Rexer said.
"War?" Ram asked.
"That war part is none of your business, Mortal. Anyways, I followed Nyarlathotep here and found Exeller, but he killed me. I also don't know why Exeller is trying to kill you, but all that I know is that he is trying to kill you and your other friends as well" Rexer said.
"If that thing truly killed you, then how are you speaking to me right now? How are you even here?" Ram asked.
"He crushed my Rune Stone, so I'm permanently dead. I won't be able to reincarnate ever again. However, I used the last of my energy to create a projection of my soul. It will fade within minutes and I will be dead with no return" Rexer answered, before sighing.
"I will teleport you to my world with my remaining amount of Seither. The moment I use it, this projection will completely fade away. However, you must find help. If what, call for our queen Alice" Rexer said, to which Ram closed her eyes for a few seconds, before directing her gaze to the dying Highest and nodded.
"Okay...Ram's ready" She said, and immediately, Rexer snapped his fingers, causing Ram to vanish in a white flicker of light, and right upon that happening, Rexer's projection faded away like mist in the air.
Unknown Location
A flicker of light found itself in a weird, unfamiliar space, and adjusting her eyes to the new scenery, Ram blinked in confusion.
"Is this the place he was talking about? What exactly should I find in here?" Ram asked herself as she walked through the huge place that appeared to be a large library judging by the huge bookshelves and the numerous amounts of books that each shelf had. Ram then walked towards one of the shelves, picking up a book that had the title of 'Citizens of the Highest Kingdom'. Ram immediately opened the book and flipped through the pages.
"Let's see here. Assiah-Lite - Deceased. Phil - Deceased. Wayne - Deceased. Laura - Deceased. Goodness. How many people died here?" Ram asked, rolling her eyes at that. She then blinked upon noticing a familiar name.
"Exeller - Deceased. Huh, is that the Exeller guy that he was talking about?" Ram asked herself.
"An intruder in the Highest Library. The intruder is neither a Seither Demon, nor a Reaper, nor a Guardian, nor even a Highest. How interesting"
"?!"
Just then, Ram turned around to the source of the voice, only to see a dark orange-colored anthropomorphic hedgehog with brown eyes that resembled Demi-Humans from her perspective. The creature was around one meter in height, wearing a green overcoat above a red T-shirt, green pants and green shoes, as well as a pair of black-framed glasses.
"Oh! A person. Please, I need your help. I was teleported here by one of yours that wanted me to find help" Ram said, trying to be as polite as possible.
"I've heard of you, Second Coming of the Oni God. Give me one good reason to help you" The hedgehog said with a scowl on his face.
"A person of yours named Exeller has taken over the body of a friend of mine, and he's trying to kill me and my friends" Ram said, trying to suppress her eye from twitching in annoyance, as fatigue and frustration were quickly kicking in after all of the action that she had in the span of nothing but a few hours.
"Let me guess. A blue wolf told you this, didn't he? Wait. I don't need to guess. I know he did. I thought that he was dead and had already revived. Is he now dead for good? I can't sense his Rune Stone signal, so he's probably dead" The hedgehog said.
"Yes. This guy called Exeller killed that wolf in front of my very eyes. Somehow, his spirit managed to help me out, but he's now long dead. He even said that he won't be able to reincarnate again now that his Rune Stone is destroyed" Ram said. It was then when the hedgehog narrowed his eyes mockingly at Ram.
"Oni God. Let me tell you something. We will never help you. First of all, we don't care. Secondly, we don't care, and third..." He trailed before adjusting his glasses on his face, then he continued talking.
"...I don't care. So I suggest that you leave this place now, or suffer the consequences" The hedgehog finished, causing Ram to close her eyes, trying to hold off the frustration building inside of her.
"Alright. I'll just talk with you queen, Alice" Ram said, before she suddenly felt her body being bound by an invisible force and then lifted up to the air. It was then that she noticed that the orange hedgehog was extending his arm and opened palm towards her, indicating that he was the one the lifted her using some sort of a telekinesis. She also noticed that he was wearing an even bigger scowl on his face.
"You think that just because you have considerable power that is high in comparison to the mundane affairs of your world, that I can let you do whatever you want? Think again, you hypocrite" He said, causing Ram to grit her teeth, lifting her head up slowly as she struggled with the invisible force bounding her.
"I just want...To...Save my...F-Friends..." She gasped her response, causing the hedgehog to blink at this, before he released the force binding Ram in midair, causing her to land on her feet and gasp for air. He then pushed his glasses towards his eyes to adjust them on the bridge of his nose.
"Violence breeds violence, Oni God. Some people, such as Exeller, only became evil because of an outside influence" The hedgehog said, which in turn caused Ram to stand straight and glare at him.
"So you want Ram to sympathize with that psychopath? He's killing my friends as well as innocent people. I will defeat him and save Barasu, and my friends as well" She said, causing the orange hedgehog to roll his eyes in disappointment.
"Pathetic. Anyways, if your friends are alive, they are probably in the Virga Mountains. I shall teleport you there" He said, causing Ram to blink.
"But that's the farthest north of the continent, and in Gusteko. What would-Ugh. You know what? Never mind. Ram won't ask the reasons of this bizarre development because everything up until now was bizarre as it is" She said, before raising her eyebrow at the orange hedgehog.
"Thank you. I understand that you're only trying to protect your people. You're not as bad as I thought you were" Ram said, and right after saying that immediately, the orange hedgehog flicked his wrist, causing Ram to vanish from the library in a flash of light.
After Ram was gone, the hedgehog just stared at the ground, his brown irises flickering in a red color.
"Not as bad as you thought, huh...? Heh. Not as bad as you thought..." He muttered the question before taking off his glasses, and they instantly turned to dust upon being taken off his face, and his brown eyes became crimson red in color, as a twisted smile found itself stretching on his face.
Virga Mountains
Appearing in a white flash of light and landing on the ground, Ram looked around her at the snow-laced rocky platform of the mountain she was on.
"It seems that he teleported me to the snowy part of the Virga Mountains. I know the path from here. But it will be long, considering the fact that I have to pass through the Holy Mountain Pardochia, pass through Eternya city and then down to Elior Forest before heading straight towards the Sanctuary" She said to herself, before sighing, her breath being visible due to the frigid weather.
"For now, I have to find anyone that I know here before continuing my journey. If what that hedgehog told me was true" Ram said before dashing into the distance.
A few hours later. Holy Mountain Pardochia
"Hm...Maybe that Highest lied to Ram. She can't find anyone"
Ram was sweating slightly as she looked at the distance, having been already in the Holy Mountain Pardochia. All that she had to do is to descend the mountain, pass beside Eternya and she will in Elior Forest in no time.
As she looked in the distance, however, she failed to notice two figures approaching her from behind.
"No, Ram. You found us...By the way, we came to kill you"
"?!"
Her eyes widening as she recognized the voice of Frederica ringing beside her, Ram's sweating increased at the murderous aura next to her.
"This...Is where it all ends" Frederica EXE whispered, and this appeared to be a signal for Ram to run away as Frederica EXE and Petra EXE gave chase after her.
Petra EXE charged forward, with her left hand encased in purple lightning. She thrusted her outstretched arm forward, only for Ram to jump to dodge it. She then looked at the girl giving chase after her as she was still in midair, only for her face to wince upon seeing the mutilated walking corpse of the poor little girl. Ram then closed her eyes, before muttering out.
"Lightning Storm"
"?!"
Focusing on the little girl and her hand encased with lightning as a medium, Ram called out the name of the phenomenon, causing countless lightning bolts to rain down from the sky, slamming into the two reanimated corpses of Frederica and Petra, electrocuting them and causing both of them to fall motionlessly on the snowy ground of the mountain.
However, Ram wasn't safe, as the jump that she took was so high that she failed to notice that she literally jumped off the mountain completely, rocketing downwards at speeds transcending terminal velocity, so even if it was her, she will be paste by the time she lands on the ground beneath the mountain.
"Well, I wanted to kill her myself, but I think this will work too" Frederica EXE said as she and Petra EXE got up, as if they were unaffected by the lightning bolts that struck them a few seconds ago.
And as Ram was descending to her Death, just as she was about to collide with the rocky ground, a shadowy figure of a woman flew downwards towards her, and the moment it made contact with her, Ram vanished in a flicker of white light.
Unknown Location
Ram's poker face was still on, even though what she saw could rend hearts.
In a huge, black space, she saw the forms of her deceased friends in front of her, as if they were greeting her. Her heart was shattering, but she did a good job hiding her emotions behind her cold expression.
She walked to the first person in front of her: The bloodied form of the workaholic merchant that she secretly enjoyed his company.
"Please, Ram-san. Just stop" Otto EXE said.
"I can't, Otto-sama" She said, before passing him and coming towards the corrupted form of the boy that had romantic feelings for her.
"Ya can' even beat what comin' next, Ram" Garfiel EXE said.
"If I give up now, then there's no hope" She said, before leaving him and coming in front of the zombified form of the father of the Sword Saint.
"Mathers' Oni Maid is alive. Well, not for long, I suppose" Heinkel EXE said.
"Even someone like you don't deserve such a Fate" She said sadly, before passing beside him and standing in front of the mutilated form of her senior.
"You're the one who stopped me from killing that bastard Heinkel. Once we get you, I'm going to be the one who will finish you off!" Frederica EXE said.
"Sorry, but I won't let you" She said calmly, but deep inside, she was heartbroken. She shook off those feelings and went ahead towards the mangled form of her junior.
"Ram-sama, please...There's no one left to help you" Petra EXE said.
"I always count on myself" She said before dashing through the distance, leaving the walking corpses of her companions behind, and after a few minutes, everything flashed bright white in her eyes.
Ganaks
A flash of light occurred out of thin air, and Ram came out from it. She then looked around her.
"How did I get here? That's strange. This must be the city of Ganaks" She said, already confused as the entire city was hushed as Death. Her nose then wrinkled upon smelling the scent of blood.
Ram's heart started to beat rapidly, fearing the worst. She then activated her Clairvoyance spell, trying to detect any kind of life energy within one kilometer radius, only to end up empty-handed. This struck Ram with a shocking realization.
The city being completely silent...The scent of blood everywhere...The absence of any kind of life signal...
"Everyone in the city is dead..." Ram whispered in shock, her eyes wide in disbelief. She then closed her eyes, trying to compose herself.
"Well, this is going to be a long ride" She muttered.
"I'd say a long ride down"
"?!"
Just then, Ram's eyes widened at the new voice, to which something that resembled a blue balloon with large red eyes appeared in front of her, brandishing its large claws and fanged teeth.
"Haha...You think you can stop us?" Execun asked with a smirk.
"El Fura!"
"?!"
Ram wasted no time and swung her wand at Execun, releasing an invisible blade of wind at the monster, sending it flying away from her. Ram then equipped the Recoil Rods, before slamming them behind her, causing a propelling force that broke the sound barrier to launch her forward to the direction of the Sanctuary, leaving the abandoned city of Ganaks.
Ram dashed forward, not stopping even as her legs felt like jelly. Those two spells that she casted, coupled by the fatigue building up inside her, threatened to kill her. Nevertheless, she pressed forward, because her life depended on it.
Hundreds of red arrows of solid blood rained down at her, which in turn forced her to summon her Shield Boomerang to block some of them. She then threw the shield as it grew plasma blades to resemble an oversized shuriken that soared through the sky and hit Execun square in the face, sending him flying backwards, giving Ram the time to resume her escape as the Shield Boomerang returned to her hand and she deactivated it.
Next came an assault of hundreds of blue tentacles firing themselves at Ram, who immediately activated the Triple Rod. Tightly gripping the weapon, Ram stopped her advance, spun on her heel and charged towards the tentacles aiming at her back. She then started slashing and hacking at the tentacles slicing them into pieces as sweat dripped from her entire body like a waterfall, but she kept pressing on anyways, completely ignoring the screams of her body that told her to give up so that she won't die from exhaustion.
Right after the barrage of tentacles ended, Ram jumped backwards in time to dodge the stretched arm of Execun slamming into the ground, cratering the spot that Ram previously stood on to the point that it was no longer called a 'ground'. Ram raised her head upwards, watching the floating form of the grinning Execun.
"Run, Oni. Run~" It called out to her in a mocking manner, which in turn irritated Ram even further.
Execun still kept its grin, even after dodging the Chain Rod that Ram threw. He then saw Ram smirking at him, which made it raised an eyebrow in confusion. Its answer, however, came shortly afterwards as a tree slammed into him from behind, courtesy of Ram hooking the Chain Rod with a nearby tree behind Execun, before pulling it towards her.
The impact sent Execun flying towards Ram, who immediately dodged as both the monster and the tree, with the tip of the Chain Rod still lodged into the tree trunk. Ram then used her remaining strength to pull on the Chain Rod's plasma chain, roaring out as she yanked the tree and Execun with it towards her once again. She then took out her wand once again, and chanted rapidly as the tree was seconds away from colliding with her.
"Ul Fura!"
"?!"
Right upon yelling the name of the spell, the world around Ram rewrote itself to summon forth a torrent of wind blades surrounding her like needles and knives suspended in thin air, all surrounding Execun and aiming at it.
Ram lowered her wand, pointing it at the beast, and the instant she did, the wind blades soared forwards, hitting Execun mercilessly and skewering the beast, slashing, hacking, tearing, rending. It left nothing of the creature remaining, not even a drop of blood.
As the insult ended, Ram immediately fell to her knees, sweat dripping like waterfalls from her forehead and hitting the ground. She felt her lungs being on fire and it was slowly getting impossible to breathe. This last spell had completely consumed her entire supply of Mana, and she could barely stay awake.
"Seems you're fresh out of Mana..."
"?!"
Ram gasped as she heard the familiar voice of Execun behind her. She just turned her head around, only for the creature to catch her by the throat and hoist her up. It grinned at her as he inched its other claw at her clothes, slowly ripping them away from her body until all that remained on Ram's body was her stockings, her shoes and her panties.
The situation itself didn't make Ram embarrassed, as not even the faintest of blushes were found on her cheeks. If anything, she was disgusted at what was happening to her.
"This battle is over. But I wanna have some fun, Nee-sama" Execun said while licking its lips with its overlengthened tongue.
Ram gritted her teeth, her mind was on overdrive as she tried to search for anything to help her fend off that abomination that was about to defile her. No one would be allowed to touch her, except for him. Only him can touch her and no one else.
She then remembered her newly acquired skill that mysteriously appeared and helped her fend off that blue Wolgram-like beast that was trying to kill her back in the Flugel Tree. Apparently, this ability allows her to alter the weather and nature phenomenon to her liking, even creating an invisible, impenetrable force field around her the moment it's activated. However, she must be in the vicinity of a living lifeform, to which she can use it as a reference to alter the weather and warp reality around her to subjugate an area worth of up to five hundred meters to the phenomenon that is based off the lifeform closest to her.
So far, this thing that was about to rape her was not identified as living lifeform. In short, it was a dead creature, or maybe a creature lacking the concept of life? Ram actually didn't know, and honestly, she had no time to even think about it.
Her eyes darted around, only to see a frog jumping next to a tree. Ram locked her sight at it, and then shortly afterwards, she whispered out.
"Flashflood"
"?!"
Suddenly, countless drops of water formed out of thin air, suspended above both Ram and Execun. The abomination halted its advance at Ram, looking at the drops of water frozen in midair.
And without any kind of warning, the waterdrops immediately blasted a large torrent of water downwards, effectively turning into a severe flash flood that engulfed the entire road, hitting Execun straight forward and forcing him to release Ram, who was unaffected by the flood, as the invisible force field resulting from her Rune Stone Skill prevented her from even becoming wet. It made her completely invulnerable and cut off from the outside world. It was impossible to even touch her.
"Ack! Bitch!" Execun yelled, flying above the flash flood that almost drowned it. However, it didn't end here. Ram looked to her side to any other living lifeform. She noticed that her senses had sharpened ever since she acquired that powerful skill, to the point that she had immensely great kinetic vision that allowed to even see the smallest of creatures up to the microscopic level. She could now see microscopic bacteria floating around her in the air, which in turn caused her to smirk as she muttered the next command.
"Arctic Wind"
"?!"
The moment Ram whispered those two words, the battlefield was instantly filled with frigid wind to the point that the water resulted from the flash flood was instantly frozen solid, and even the wet body of Execun was frozen, but once again, Ram was completely unaffected by it, despite her body being completely soaked in water.
Ram didn't want it to end here, however, even as the abomination was completely frozen and it fell like a rock on the sheet of ice that formed on the road. Her eyes then suddenly eyed a beaver that was frozen, lying on a branch on a nearby frozen tree, but her Rune Stone skill confirmed that it was pretty much alive. She used that as a medium for her next phenomenon.
"Geyser Field"
"?!"
Immediately after calling those words out, countless geysers erupted from the layer of ice on the ground, shattering the ice into it, sending steam-filled geysers to the air. One of the geysers immediately struck the frozen Execun, causing the ice to instantly melt and for the abomination to scream in pain. It failed to notice that Ram used one of the geysers to ascend to the air, standing perfectly on the top of the geyser, being completely unaffected by both the water and the heat that it brought.
She took out her Recoil Rods, jumped off the geyser, and roared out from the top of her lungs, mustering any remaining strength within her to slam the Recoil Rods downwards of Execun, stabbing each plasma bladed tonfa on each eye of the creature, before descending at astounding speeds towards the ground. Both opposing sides collided with the ground, and the collision caused a massive shockwave throughout the area, blasting away all the remaining ice, grass, ground and trees that were nearby and causing the battlefield to be completely filled with steam the obscured the view due to its thickness.
Ram stood up, dismissing the Recoil Rods. She placed an arm around her B-cups breasts to cover them. She looked around, all exhausted and out of power, only to realize that she finally defeated her enemy.
She pulled herself from the area covered in steam, slowly making her way towards the Sanctuary. Nothing will stop her now.
A few hours later. Between the borders of the Kremaldy Forest and the Sanctuary
"Hah...I made it...I finally made it..."
Ram gasped as her body, completely covered in sweat and dirt, was on the verge of breaking apart. She then walked right in front of a massive green gem that was taller than her. She was amazed and in awe at its brilliance to the point that she forgot about her fatigue.
"Hello again, Ram"
"?!"
Without any kind of warning, Ram saw as Subaru EXE appeared instantly in front of her, causing her to back away from him, her back hitting the huge gem behind her.
"No! You...Get away from me!" Ram yelled at the abomination possessing Subaru's body.
Before she could do anything, Subaru EXE punched Ram in the face, knocking her unconscious to the floor. He was about to stomp on her head to crush her skull, however...
"No, Exeller"
"?!"
The source of the voice instantly appeared in front of Exeller without any kind of warning. It was a dark-skinned woman with black businesswoman clothes, jade green eyes, long silky green hair and black heels. She stared apathetically at Exeller, standing between him and the unconscious Ram.
"Nyarlathotep? Ha...I wonder what are you going to do about it?" Subaru EXE asked with a mocking grin. This caused Nyarlathotep's expression to relax, opting a sad look on her face.
"I'm sorry, but I can't let you have the Master Emerald. There has to be another ending for you and them" Nyarlathotep said, and before Subaru EXE could question her words, bright white light suddenly burst from his chest, expanding to engulf the world, followed by a few words that echoed on deaf ears.
"I want them to live..."
Memory Fragment File #09
"FATHER! MOTHER!"
Sitting up on her bed with her body riddled with cold sweat, Ram panted heavily with wide eyes, having been awoken by a nightmare. Her breath regulated when she recognized her surroundings.
"Oh...It was...Just a dream..." She muttered under her breath, and right afterwards, the door of her room burst open, revealing a very worried Rem, Shadow and Subaru behind it. Rem immediately ran to her sister, standing beside her.
"Nee-sama! We heard you screaming! Are you alright?! Something happened to you?!" Rem asked, on the verge of tears from worry. Ram, seeing this, gave out a gentle smile to her little sister to calm her down.
"I'm fine, Rem. No need to worry. I just had a bad dream" She said, which in turn caused Subaru and Shadow to release sighs of relief, and for Rem to still give her sister a comically crying look, sniffing as she tried to control her tears.
"Rem, don't worry. She's fine now. Nothing can break Nee-sama's spirit no matter what you do" Subaru said, trying to soften the mood a little, only for Rem to shift her stare at him, her tears and worried expression instantly gone, replaced by a comical deadpan expression.
"...Nobody asked for your opinion, Subaru-san" She muttered in a low voice that was so devoid of empathy and respect, Subaru felt that the 'san' added to his name was more of an insult and less than a honorific.
"So harsh, Rem-rin...Well, at least I now know that you two are alright. For once I thought that the Witch Cult decided to be sneaky on us" Subaru said, shrugging off Rem's irrespective attitude that was solely directed towards him. Rem then turned around to her sister, her face changing to a worried expression.
"Nee-sama, are you sure you're alright?" Rem asked, pleading for Ram to tell her if something was wrong. Ram, seeing that her sister was still worried sick, immediately pulled her into a hug while still seated on her bed, leaving Rem perplexed for a few seconds, before she smiled gently and returned the hug, wrapping her arms around Ram's head and back.
"I'm really fine, Rem. It was just a bad dream. I'm glad that you're worried about me, though. Thank you" Ram said, causing Rem to caress her elder sister's hair gently with her gentle smile expanding even further on her beautiful face.
"What was it that you dreamt about, Nee-sama?" Rem asked, wanting to know what was worrying her sister.
Ram, however, was thinking of something else.
"You were always the perfect one out of all of us, Rem. I hate those of our kin for thinking that you were incompetent. I really wish that I was more like you..."
"It's just that...I had a bad dream...Of Barusu giving me disgusting gazes...Just like he is doing right now" Ram answered.
"Hey! Never once have I even looked at you! Try to be more reasonable, Nee-sama!" Subaru exclaimed with a comical annoyed look, only to flinch when Rem gave him a Death glare.
"Subaru-san...You should be grateful, because if it wasn't for Shadow-kun, Rem would have annihilated you from existence this instant" She said, causing Subaru to sweatdrop at this.
"And the roundabout insults continues. Well, Ram-chi Nee-sama is okay, so I'm going to continue hitting the hay. G'nite" Subaru said, taking his leave from the scene, leaving Shadow with Rem and Ram.
"So, what really happened, Raspberry? Your face had color drained from it" Shadow asked entering the room with his vape in hand, letting out the pleasant smoke from his mouth.
"I...Had a bad dream..." Ram answered, breaking the hug and opting a solemn look on her face.
"...So you say. But I really don't think that's the case" Shadow said.
"..." Ram just chose to stay silent. Shadow simply looked at her for a full minute, before closing his eyes and nodding.
"Well...That's fine" Shadow said, causing Rem and Ram to look at him in surprise.
"What? Just like that?" Ram asked.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Shadow asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.
"You're not going to press on to know?" Ram asked, which in turn caused Shadow to shrug his shoulders.
"...No use entering into personal stuff. I already know that it's kind of sensitive if you don't want to talk about it. So I shall let it go until you want to talk about it" Shadow said, before starting to walk away, but just as he was about to get out, he stopped at the end of the door.
"...I can understand if it's bothering you and you don't want to talk about it, but...Please just don't seal it inside of you for too long, okay? After all, I don't want any of you to be like me..." He said, muttering the last few words to himself, before exiting the room.
And just as he said those words, Rem and Ram just kept staring at the spot where Shadow left, only for their eyes to sparkle after a few seconds, both having the same thought.
"I really love this man!"
Memory Fragment File #09: End
And Done!
Alright guys. I introduce to you the last Solo Survival of this fanfic. Next chapter will be the start of the Duo and Trio Survivals. This Arc will end in just about 13 or 14 chapters, depending on how I will end it, but it will be in that range.
Also, once again, Kudos to Reaper 10398. I am going to place lots of EXEs in this story actually. Speaking of which, I'm planning on placing a certain EXE in the EX Side Story that I'm planning to construct after finishing Arc 3 of this fanfic. I will just give you a hint of which EXE I shall use: He smiles a lot.
I honestly have nothing else to say other than to thank Reaper 10398 for his continuous support for me and this fanfic, as well as the fact that I want to live up to everyone's expectations for this fanfic, and I hope that lots of you will shower me with comments on this fanfic in the near future.
Also, I need to apologize for several typos that I made. For example, The Memory Fragment File of Heinkel was supposed to be numbered 6, not 5, and for the ending of Ram, it was supposed to be Round 2. Ending 6, not Ending 5. Sorry about this.
Next Chapter: Round 2. Ending 7: The Senior Maid and Her Junior's Survival
Until Next Time And Next Chapter!
Jude Warble, Out.