Greed Chapter 10: Turnover
"You've lost."
"Hmph. Yeah, you beat me." Subaru said as he coughed up more blood. "Can't help but say that it hurts like hell."
"Hm."
Natsuki Subaru prepared to get closer to his counterpart, only for Beatrice to get in between the two of them.
"Stay the hell away from him, I suppose!"
Natsuki Subaru paused on his tracks when he saw this, a bit surprised at first before returning to his dull expression.
"I won't kill him, if that's what your worried about."
"I don't care. Stay away!"
"..." Natsuki Subaru was silent as he needed a second to think.
'This is annoying.'
"Can you blame her? She's in a contract with him. She'll protect him."
'I don't care. It's his fault that she's in pain.'
Natsuki Subaru kneeled down as he wanted to be transparent with this Beatrice.
"I don't wish to harm you, hell I don't ever want to see you cry...but if you don't move aside, I will kill him."
"..."
Beatrice was angry when she heard this, wanting to kill this Natsuki Subaru for daring to threaten her with her contractor's life.
As she was about to slap him, Subaru slowly moved his hand onto her shoulder to get her attention.
"It's okay, Beako...let him talk...t-to me..."
"B-But—"
"It'll...be...okay..."
Although he was very weak, he didn't want his counterpart hurting her. She's already suffering from his current status but having a version of him basically threatening her is too much for him.
As he looked at her with a determined look, she sighed as she nodded reluctantly before moving to the side.
She was still on guard and ready to protect her contractor all the while Subaru gave a serious expression towards his counterpart.
"The hell...do you want...? Gloat? Be a prick...?"
"...No, I want to deal with you for good but first, someone wants to talk to you."
"Hmph...who...?"
Natsuki Subaru remained silent as he pulled out the black crystal he was wearing.
"You will hold onto this black crystal and take a deep breath."
"...?" All Subaru could do was be confused as hell. "Why s-should...I listen to you...?"
Natsuki Subaru looked at Subaru with a blank expression, not really wanting to waste anymore time.
He moved the black crystal towards Subaru's direction while responding to his question.
"You have lost. If you wish to die right next to Beatrice here, then keep this attitude up. I won't hesitate to kill you and be done with this farce."
Beatrice wanted to strike him right then and there, hating that this Natsuki Subaru was threatening her Subaru.
He coughed a bit of blood before telling his counterpart:
"F-Fine. What the hell...d-do you want me to do...?"
Natsuki Subaru was silent for a second, seeing that his counterpart is now being cooperative.
He once again held the black crystal right near his counterpart while once again saying:
"You will hold onto this black crystal and take a deep breath."
"..."
Subaru was once again confused by what his counterpart was saying, finding this...just weird.
'What is this buffoon talking about? Sounds like nonsense—'
His thoughts would be interrupted when he suddenly felt a sharp pain on his mind, meaning that a memory from his counterpart.
This one was in the sanctuary when he first grabbed the same black crystal that he's holding right now.
He had grabbed this black crystal in the room where the original Ryuzu Meyer was once located, making him wonder if that same crystal exists in his world.
He returned his focus from that to the memory of his counterpart, being able to tell that he was following orders from Echidna.
('Okay Echidna, I got the crystal now.')
Although his counterpart in the memory was holding the crystal, the information he had gained was different.
'He already knew what he needed to do for that loop...that's not normal. The only thing I can think of is the black crystal...that black crystal. There's something weird about it...I wonder...'
Despite not wanting to do what his counterpart had told him to do, he wants to figure out what the hell is in this crystal.
He has a theory that relates to Echidna though the only way he can find out is by listening to what his counterpart had said.
He grabbed said black crystal along with his counterpart.
"Now, calm your heart down. Follow the presence of the crystal."
"...okay...?"
This was still very confusing, yet he needed to trust his counterpart on this since he could just easily kill him and be done with it but there's something he needs from him if he wishes him to do this weird request.
Just before he could do that, Reinhard sensed danger which prompted him to interrupt this by quickly setting both Beatrice of this world and Otto down and pulling out his secondary sword.
"Subaru-sama! Watch out!"
"Hm?" Natsuki Subaru and Subaru both turned towards Reinhard to see that he's preparing for something.
"What's going on?"
"Stay down, Subaru-sama!"
As he shouted this once again, he swung his secondary sword the second something large destroyed the rooftop in the room they were in, managing to counter it just at the right time.
"What was that?"
As Natsuki Subaru questioned this, he along with Subaru and Beatrice could tell that the atmosphere was dropping rapidly.
"...seems like...he's back..." As Subaru said this with a smile, they all looked up as they saw the Beast of the End.
"Puck. You bastard. Where the hell have you been?"
"Shut it, Subaru. You are nothing more than a threat to my daughter."
"Me? A threat?" Natsuki Subaru was baffled when he heard this, causing the rarest emotion to slip out. "You left. You weren't there when everything went to shit. I made sure Emilia-tan didn't die! I made sure that nobody died! What the hell did you even do?! NOTHING!"
"Silence!"
Puck spoke with a threatening tone before dropping the temperature around them, causing the entire mansion to freeze.
Those within the room where Rem was in a deep sleep were luckily not affected too much by this since Reinhard's presence was enough to keep them warm for now.
The Beast of the End noticed this, prompting him to closely look at those within the room, mainly focusing on the Natsuki Subaru of this world.
He had heard his response to what he had said and yet he wasn't satisfied with that answer, if anything it only aggravated him.
"You may have saved my daughter physically but what about mentally? She's left an emotional wreck all the while your focus is on using her to get what you want."
"Emilia-tan's still alive, she's safe like everyone else in this mansion. That's what matters. For everyone to make it to the very end!"
("Are you...Are you saying I'm just pretending to be some tragic hero?!")
("No, I'm not. I'm saying that deciding you're the only one who needs to suffer is cowardly. That twisted thinking makes you way more vile than any witch. And above all...It's really ungrateful to her.")
Subaru paused for a moment, surprised that he was reminded of that moment, a moment of weakness when everything seemed like it'll be nothing more than a dead end.
Though reflecting on how this version of himself is acting right now, he gains new found strength to get back on his feet while saying:
"I-If you really...think like that...then you are no...better than a witch yourself..."
"..."
Subaru got everyone's attention, including Puck since he didn't realize that there were two Subarus.
Once the injured Natsuki Subaru was back on his feet, he pointed at his counterpart while continuing to speak:
"You act like...you are the only o-one who can save them...when you are really th-the one making them suffer..."
As Subaru said this, he reflected on the memories that he has on this counterpart of his while also his interactions with this world's version of the Emilia camp.
Emilia is not only mind broken but also in complete yandere mode, something he definitely hates.
Rem is still asleep...though he can't say anything on that since he hadn't even saved Rem from his world.
Beatrice of this world is a complete mess emotionally since his counterpart didn't save her at all and just left her in a broken state similar to Emilia.
Ram for sure hates him, probably because his counterpart didn't stop Roswaal from following that book.
Otto Suwen from this world had left the group. Garfiel Tinsel is in complete rage since he never overcame his issues.
Reinhard was not only working for someone else, but his counterpart had torn him and Felt apart all to make sure that Emilia had a better chance in winning the royal selection.
And lastly working with Elsa by having Meili captive.
It's not like he really gives a crap about the bowel hunter but he doesn't like that Meili is used as leverage.
"Natsuki Subaru...you are the most selfish version of me I have ever met...you really are the worst."
"...Reinhard, kill him."
As Natsuki Subaru said this, he turned towards the Sword Saint with an angered expression.
He was surprised since he hadn't seen Natsuki Subaru angry in such a long time.
Just before he had the chance to say or do anything, his master was suddenly punched by an invisible force.
"...?" Puck was surprised for a moment when he saw this.
"Subaru-sama!" Reinhard shouted before checking on him.
Subaru turned towards Puck to ask him something only to see that a small light was rapidly approaching the Beast of the End.
He pointed at the light while using his new strength to shout:
"Puck! Watch out!"
Puck turned towards his right side to see one of Roswaal's powerful fireball sent towards his direction.
He blocked away the attack before speaking with Roswaal, having spotted him a few seconds later.
"You really are annoying."
"The feeeeeelings mutual."
Once saying this, Roswaal and Puck's battle resumes.
While everyone was distracted, Subaru turned towards his Beako to tell her:
"Let's go."
"B-But—"
"Don't worry, we will get out of this alive. I promise."
"...Okay..."
Just as Beatrice puts her faith in her contractor, Subaru was suddenly warned by Otto:
"Natsuki-san...! Watch out!"
"...?!"
Subaru turned towards Otto's direction, surprised at first by his friend's warning since he didn't notice him getting back up, but his attention would turn towards his counterpart.
The Natsuki Subaru of this world was charging right at him, wanting to end this battle between the two once and for all.
Beatrice attempted to protect her contractor yet Subaru grabbed her arm to prevent her from trying to do something while he once again called upon the invisible providence.
The moment he used the sloth witch factor onto his counterpart, Natsuki Subaru saw this and was able to dodge this attack.
"I see. So, you have it, that crazy bastard's witch factor."
Reinhard quickly prepared to push his master to the side to kill Subaru when hearing this, convinced that the other world Natsuki Subaru is a witch cultist trying to play off as his master.
Before he had the chance, Otto grabbed onto the Sword Saint's arm while saying:
"W-Wait, Master Swordsman Reinhard van Astrea-sama."
"...Merchant, please let go. I don't wish to harm you—"
"Trust me, you want to hear this."
As Otto had Reinhard's attention, both Subarus were fighting among themselves with the Natsuki Subaru of this world trying to stab his counterpart.
The Natsuki Subaru of another world was using everything in his power to avoid being stabbed by his counterpart.
"You are done, you won't be coming back after this." Natsuki Subaru spoke confidently, ready to finish him off.
"W-We both kn...know th-that you'll fail..."
Subaru said this as he knew that from the memories of his victory over Garfiel, Elsa, and Clind, he always wanted the perfect route.
"Y-You pr-refer that...all of this w-was avoided...th-that beat-ting me was...w-without casualties..."
"..."
Natsuki Subaru was silent since there was something about his counterpart saying this that made him think,
'He knows.'
"For your counterpart to say such things, yes, I would agree. He knows what you've been through."
'...that bastard!'
"So, you know?!" He shouted to his counterpart, much angrier than before. "You know the hell I had to go through!"
"Wh-What I know...is th-that you...are a bastard...a selfish bastard..."
"Shut up!"
Natsuki Subaru managed to land a punch onto his counterpart before attempting to stab him once again.
Subaru was losing his grip since his new strength was being drained swiftly due to how much energy he needed to keep his counterpart from stabbing his neck or face area.
Beatrice looked in horror as she knew that her contractor was reaching his limit, prompting her to target the Natsuki Subaru of this world and start kicking his leg and punching his gut area.
This distracted Natsuki Subaru, allowing Subaru the chance to knock away the knife before using Invisible Providence to land a punch on his counterpart once again.
As his counterpart was once again pushed back, Reinhard caught him.
"Thanks...now, kill him." Natsuki Subaru said as he got back on his feet, knowing that so long as Reinhard is involved, he won't be beaten.
After a few seconds, he realized that the Sword Saint wasn't obeying him.
"Reinhard?"
He turned towards the Sword Saint to see what's wrong only to first spot the merchant back up on his feet.
He turned towards the Sword Saint and could see the conflicted expression he had in a previous loop.
It didn't take long to figure out that whatever his counterpart had said in that previous loop to Reinhard, Otto did the exact same thing right now.
"Is it true?" The Master Swordsman spoke, seeing that his master already knows what's going on. Natsuki Subaru just remained silent since any comment he made would tell the Sword Saint what he had done.
Even now, just being silent gives the answer that whatever Otto Suwen had told him is true.
"You...You had no right!"
"You have no idea what I had to do for—"
"I don't care." Reinhard pulled out his secondary sword as he didn't want to hear what his 'master' had to say. "You had no right to push Felt away like that!"
"What's done is done. You aren't getting her back, Sword Saint. Deal with it."
Reinhard was about to kill him right that second, feeling complete rage towards him only for Puck's body to suddenly crash into the building which distracted everyone.
Otto had noticed the unconscious Beatrice right next to him, prompting him to pick her up to get her to safety when the building was shaking violently.
Subaru grabbed onto his contracted spirit, worried that she'll get hurt if the floor they are standing on collapses onto the lower floor.
Reinhard immediately went for the sleeping Rem, seeing that Subaru can't since he's injured and can barely be able to carry Beatrice.
As the Sword Saint goes to get the sleeping blue oni out of danger, Natsuki Subaru takes his chance to escape but not before managing to land a punch onto the merchant's face, wanting a little payback for having opened his mouth.
Otto was knocked off balance for a moment before turning towards the direction the Natsuki Subaru of this world went off to.
"He's going to get himself killed!"
"It's fine...w-we need to get...out of here ourselves."
Subaru said as he along with Reinhard were getting Beatrice and Rem out of the room.
The Sword Saint didn't hesitate to assist Subaru by picking him up with his left arm while he carried Rem on his right arm. Subaru was still able to hold onto his contracted spirit, refusing to let her go.
As they were all able to escape just in time before the room collapsed, Reinhard quickly led Otto down the stairs onto the first floor in order to escape the collapsing mansion.
While they were escaping, Natsuki Subaru was running towards the stairs before heading to the first floor, trying his best to avoid being caught in the battle between the Beast of the End and the Margrave.
As he was on the run with his body trying to survive the extreme low temperature of the area, he thinks to himself:
'How is Puck even back?! Doesn't matter, he's a piece of shit!'
"It's been a while since you've been this outraged."
'Shut it.' He spoke in his mind, annoyed since it doesn't help him in his current situation.
"It's interesting that of all times for the Beast of the End to arrive, it would be right when you had your counterpart cornered."
'Yeah, convenient as hell!'
He was mad since this was once again something he didn't predict.
At first, he believed that perhaps the other world Emilia had something to do with this...though he remembered that she didn't have the same green crystal that his Emilia had.
'Could this Puck...be the one from my world? It must be!'
He thought this since there was something Puck said that tipped him off to the idea that he's this world's version of Emilia's contracted spirit.
("You may have saved my daughter physically but what about mentally? She's left an emotional wreck all the while your focus is on using her to get what you want.")
'He thinks he has the right to criticize me for that?! It's his damn fault for not being there for Emilia-tan when she needed him!'
He wasn't going to accept that he was the reason his Emilia ended up broken.
He can accept that he failed to fully save her since he should've beaten the trials before she took it and ended up breaking.
But what he will not accept is having Puck give him shit for it since he was worse, he didn't do a single thing to prevent his 'daughter' ending up in this state.
He focused on his surroundings once again, noticing that everything was collapsing to the ground.
This forced him to do everything in his power to escape since he still had one last thing to figure out before accepting the embrace of death.
Once he pushed his way outside of the collapsing mansion just in time since he turned around to see that the mansion was destroyed.
He fell on his side as he needed a moment to regain strength due to the weather being extremely cold.
"You shouldn't stay put for very long. This cold will kill you before you have the chance to reach them."
'...I know...'
He was starting to lose consciousness since the cold was making him dizzy...yet the thought of his counterpart undoing all the hard work he had put to keep everyone safe.
This jolted his mind to keep on moving.
After managing to get far enough, the temperature started to go up which helped him finally regain the strength he needed to investigate if Ram and Garfiel had failed.
"The half-devil of theirs is stronger...despite how much I hate to admit it."
Subaru was hesitant then when hearing this, slightly annoyed that the combined strength and skills of Ram and Garfiel won't be enough against Emilia.
'I don't like trashing on Emilia-tan but I don't think she would be able to win in a two on one battle. Ram's the mind and Garfiel's the muscle.'
"Yes. The maid with limited mana usage and the demi human boy who has a temper. That might be quite the duo."
'A slight problem but considering Emilia-tan's good hearted nature, it might just be an even match.'
"One way to find out."
After walking for a while, he realized that he had finally reached the place where the battle had taken place.
He looked at his surroundings to see a multitude of trees destroyed, a few craters on the ground, and a large area was filled with ice.
'This...is quite the spectacle.'
"As I said, she's a lot stronger than even your half-devil. Such an annoying bitch."
'...'
He hated hearing Echidna's badmouthing Emilia...but he didn't care at this moment since he needed to find out who won this battle.
'From the looks of it, Emilia-tan won...'
"But looks can be deceiving."
He continued walking until he finally found Ram, who was covered with snow and ice as well as covered in blood.
"Ram."
He inspected the injuries the pink haired oni maid had, seeing that she had a missing arm and her head was bleeding.
"She's barely alive."
'It doesn't matter...I need to find Garfiel and Emilia-tan.'
He began to walk away from Ram, leaving her to basically die since he knows that it would be pointless to save her if he's going to reset anyway.
As he was looking around for the other two, he could hear Ram coughing some blood.
"R-Ros...waal...s-sama..."
Natsuki Subaru paused for a second when he heard this, surprised that she's even speaking with the amount of blood she's lost.
He turned towards Ram's direction and saw that she was still unconscious when speaking.
He closed his eyes for a moment before resuming his search for the demi human boy and the silver haired half elf.
After walking for a few minutes dealing with the snow and ice, he managed to find both of them with Garfiel on the ground unconscious while Emilia was barely able to stand.
Her attire was damaged while Garfiel was on the ground, completely beaten from Emilia's attack.
"Emilia-tan..."
"...S-Subaru?"
He saw that she was exhausted and seemed like at any moment, she would collapse.
He approached her while quickly changing his tone from a blank one to a concerned one.
As he closed in on her, she was about to collapse to the ground only for Natsuki Subaru to catch her.
"I got you."
"...th-thanks, Subaru."
Subaru gave a 'smile' to the silver haired half elf as he began to carry her away, thinking that perhaps this Emilia can help be a bargaining chip.
"That isn't like you. Using that bitch as a hostage."
'It's not like that. She's just the key to get Puck to back the hell off.'
As he said this to Echidna in his mind, he started to walk away from the area to head back towards the location of the mansion. While on the way towards the mansion, Emilia began to ask:
"H-How did you escape? Are Otto and Beatrice safe? What about the other you?"
"There's...no need to worry about it, Emilia-tan. They are safe and the other me...is nothing to be concerned about."
"...You sound weird."
"Hm?" He gave a confused expression, prompting him to tilt his head with confusion but also curiosity. "What do you mean by that?"
"...you aren't him."
"What—?"
Before he had the chance to even question her, he was suddenly stabbed in the back.
"...huh?"
He dropped Emilia unintentionally since he felt his body suddenly go numb. The silver haired half elf hit her back onto the ground, completely caught off guard by this.
"Ouch!"
"Good job. You just need to do that a million more times before I'm satisfied."
'...'
He would comment and what his contracted partner had just said but his attention was more on what threat does he has to deal with now.
He did his best to turn around, but the stab wound he just received was preventing him.
The only way for him to know at this point is allow his body to collapse which could fail since he could fall down and not even have the right angle to see the culprit.
Or, he could ask the Emilia from another world for assistance to at least figure out who he's dealing with in the next loop.
The only problem with this would be that Emilia might not cooperate with him, especially after he tried to play off as his counterpart.
He thought on how Emilia had caught him, trying to see what gave it away that he wasn't his counterpart.
He thought of possibly his attitude, how it was a version of him that had died millions of deaths ago.
There's also the possibility that he was not speaking the way his counterpart usually speaks with this Emilia.
Another thing is the attire, perhaps Emilia saw the attire which didn't matter what he would say since his attire would just give it away.
"Seems like your precious half-devil bitch will be the reason you die, once again."
'...'
Natsuki Subaru chuckled when hearing this since she isn't wrong. How many times has he been killed by Emilia? More specifically his Emilia? Too many to count and now his dead end will be caused by an Emilia from another world. As he collapsed to the ground, he managed to see who was the one responsible for stabbing his back.
"...Meili..."
"Good to see you once again!" Meili said with a smile as right behind her was the Bowel Hunter, Elsa Grainhart.
"...figured as much...makes sense."
"Now, aren't you in quite the position." Elsa said as she had one of her knives ready to gut her now former boss.
He didn't care enough to protect himself since he knows that this is how far he will go before ending this loop.
Before the Bowel Hunter was about to end his life, she was stopped by Emilia.
"Stay back."
"Hm?"
"...?"
He turned towards Emilia's direction, a bit confused about why she's protecting him.
Elsa jumped back since she didn't want to deal with Emilia, knowing full well how dangerous she can be when it involves her former boss.
Meili tilted her head since she can tell that this Emilia is different than what she's aware of...which brings the question to her on why is this Emilia helping this Natsuki Subaru?
"Why are you helping him? He's not from your world." The mabeast user questioned, wanting to know Emilia's motives.
Natsuki Subaru also wanted to know this question. Emilia looked at Meili for a second, slightly caught off guard by her.
She shook her head before answering with:
"Because he's hurt. I can't just let him die."
After saying this, she turned towards Elsa, preparing herself for another fight.
The Bowel Hunter was a bit puzzled by Emilia's response for two reasons, the first being that this Emilia's acting a lot like their first encounter and the second being the fact that she's protecting him of all people.
"You do realize the type of person he is, right?"
The silver haired half elf paused for a second as she looked at Natsuki Subaru for a moment before turning back towards the Bowel Hunter.
"I won't abandon him when he needs help."
"Then I'll have to kill you first to get to him."
Elsa charged at Emilia, beginning their fight while he watched the fight go all out, helplessly on the ground while bleeding out from his back side.
He turned up and just stared at the sky as he was dying a slow death.
"You know this would take too long."
'Yeah. I know.'
"Are you not going to try something to make this loop end faster?"
'...'
He remained silent as he knows what she's referring to, knowing that the method she was speaking of would make his death a little faster...it's just something he doesn't like doing.
'Well...I might as well go out my own way.'
As he made peace with this loop, he bit off his tongue, knowing that it'll be some time before he dies but considering how long it'll take for either Elsa or Meili to kill him, this'll have to do.
As he was doing this, there was one thought that ran through his entire mind until he finally perished.
'The next time we meet again Natsuki Subaru, I will kill you. I'll make you regret ever coming to my world and messing all my hard work.'
Author's note:
Pardon for the chapter posting late, this chapter was a bit tough to write. Hopefully you all enjoyed it.
