Hello. This is your pal, Jude Warble.
The idea of this fic came when I finished watching the recent arcs of Re:Zero, as well as the fan games of the infamous Creepypasta character known as Sonic.EXE. I really loved the Re:Zero novel. It holds an immense meaning, which is to acknowledge yourself and never give up on life. Truly, a fascinating masterpiece.
The problem that I, and several Re:Zero fans have seen recently is the fact that while Subaru, the main protagonist of the novel, has been slowly becoming stronger, he is nowhere near the other characters. He is so weak at the moment and nothing special has occurred about him just yet, and the novel is 4 arcs away from ending.
Another issue is the fact that the relationship between Subaru and Emilia hasn't even progressed from a simple kiss, and even then, Tappei had a tendency to make the lead characters either so weak or so dumb and oblivious, which is rather irritating if you ask me of my own opinion.
And for that, I'm going to make justice in here. Subaru will be stronger, there will be no Return By Death, specific elements will be added from other franchises and several fan games, and a few OCs will be included into the mix.
Next thing to be said will be about the Sonic.EXE games. Lots of fan games regarding this specific Eldritch Abomination character has became absolute masterpieces, namely Spirits of Hell, Nightmare Series and Tower of Millennium. I am going to include them in this crossover story.
Now the question everyone is asking right now: If Sonic is not the main character alongside Subaru, then who will it be?
And my answer to this is who none other than Sonic's eternal rival, the Ultimate Life Form, Shadow the Hedgehog? This is rather convenient since out if the three main fan game series of Sonic.EXE, Shadow, and Silver were the only main males to have never shown themselves in those series. Aside from other side characters like Team Chaotix, Blaze, and others, Sonic, Shadow and Silver are pretty much the most remarkable protagonists, as the majority of the cannon stories and games revolve around those three, so I'm going to show Shadow as one of the main characters in this fanfic. Silver will be shown too, but not until later.
I would also love to warn my dear readers that since this is Re:Zero and Sonic.EXE that we're talking about, expect a lot of violence, gore and blood... Lots of blood.
And with that out of the way, please enjoy this fanfic, and as always, stay breezy!
Japan. Nighttime. Local supermarket
In a normal looking supermarket that was brightly illuminated by the artificial neon lamps, an individual was picking some groceries, namely junk food items. Said individual was a boy, roughly 16 years old. He had pale raven black hair that appeared to be faded in it's colour and black eyes. His hair was spiky and was swept backwards, and a few locks were standing on their ends, making him look like a rip off of an anime final boss that holds an evil gaze.
As for his outfit, it consisted of a black, white and orange jumpsuit, all above a black half sleeved shirt, coupled with a pair of white sneakers.
Subaru Natsuki sighed as he placed a packet of chips and a cup of instant ramen inside a plastic bag, before making his way to the counter.
"Took you long enough, bro"
The reply came from a girl that looked exactly like a female version of Subaru. She was slightly shorter than him, as while Subaru was 173 cm, that girl was around 168 cm. Her raven black hair was tied in a ponytail that flew past her shoulders, with long bangs framing both sides of her face. Her outfit consisted of a single white T-shirt, which covered her D-cups breasts alongside black shorts and white sneakers.
"Huh? Natsumi? What are you doing here?" Subaru lazily asked the girl that was waiting on the counter.
"Mom and Dad told me to check on you. I told them they didn't have to worry, but they insisted, though" Natsumi answered.
"Huh...Some sister you are..." Subaru said sighing before marching towards the counter, taking out money from his wallet, then inserting his hand in the loop of the handle of the plastic bag he was holding, such that the bag was dangling from his wrist. He then marched outside the market, his sister already ahead of him.
And just as he was about to cross the street...
"I Love You"
...A sweet voice, yet laced with a weird aura of dread and killing intent rang inside the heads of both brother and sister. This made Subaru stand still, with Natsumi standing still as well, but in the middle of the street. Both simply stared into the open space, not even blinking.
What made them snap back to reality was an approaching truck, which was running at full speed, meters away from running Natsumi over.
"Natsumi!" Subaru yelled, making a full sprint towards his sister, who was stunned as the truck was closing on her, but at the same time, light flicked in their eyes, brightening even more, as Subaru was an inch away from his sister.
And right before Subaru could reach Natsumi, reality twisted itself around both of the siblings, and the next thing that happened, Subaru and Natsumi Natsuki disappeared from their world.
Unknown Location.
As light flicked in his vision, Subaru blinked several times as his blurred vision returned to him, and what he saw left him speechless.
A few seconds ago, he was in front of a supermarket buying junk food, before trying to jump in front of a truck to save his sister, and in the next instant, he was in a large room with a large two person bed and a huge desk at the side of said bed.
Subaru blinked once again. He couldn't comprehend what was happening around him and it left him at a loss for words. A few seconds later, Subaru realized something that anyone would conclude upon being in his situation.
"I HAVE BEEN SUMMONED INTO ANOTHER WORLD?!"
Yelling this out loud, a figure slammed the door of the room Subaru was in open. Said figure was a female with chestnut brown hair tied into a long ponytail that somehow resembled a scorpion stinger. The pieces of cloth that she was wearing barely covered her rather toned body, only wearing a black and orange bra and shorts, where said bra barely held her E-cups breasts and exposed her curves, with a hooded cape with same color theme and black boots being worn to finish the rather weird and exposing outfit.
Once her eyes met Subaru, the girl shouted only one thing.
"Master! You're awake!"
Unknown Location
Blinking her eyes, Natsumi had to immediately shut them again due to the sudden insult of light on her eyeballs. It was so annoying to see such intense light in nighttime...
...
...
...
Wait. Light?
Blinking, Natsumi looked around her. The quiet night sky became replaced by a shining bright sunny sky. Horse sized lizards were pulling carts, guards in shining silver armor replaced patrol men, and humans were walking alongside what appeared to be human animal hybrids.
Realization dawning on her, Natsumi muttered under her breath.
"I have been summoned into another world..."
"Huh? What did ya say, kid?"
Turning her head to the source of the voice, Natsumi saw a rather muscular man with green hair in front of an apple cart.
"Hey kiddo. What's wrong? You have been spacing out in front of my stall. Do you wanna buy appa?" The man asked, causing Natsumi to blink at what the man had just called appa, only to see that it was in fact apples.
She didn't feel like correcting him though. Her head was already on overdrive mode from all that is happening to her right now.
"If ya don't wanna buy, then scram!" The man raised his voice slightly, showing his anger, which caused Natsumi to Yelp in surprise, before sprinting away from the man.
Running a few miles away, Natsumi then stopped to catch her breath, her hands were already on her knees and she was gasping heavily for breath. She then wiped her forehead from the sweat, before looking around her, only to find herself in an alley. She then sat on a tile, taking out her phone from her short pocket. She then looked at the signal bar, only to see that there was no signal.
"No signal. Go figure" She muttered under her breath. She then sighed in defeat, before suddenly, she gasped, before gripping on her head. It felt like thousands of needles were stabbed into her brain as the headache threatened to split her head in half before...
"Rune Stone Skill: Rhombus Of Ruin"
As those words echoed inside her head, Natsumi's head felt lighter in an instant, as the agonizing headache vanished just as it appeared. Natsumi stayed silent for a while, pounding about what had just happened, and what is that Rhombus Of Ruin thing.
From she had just heard, it was a skill, which made a side of Natsumi become extremely excited, as she, alongside her brother, were already hot blooded otakus, and she wanted to experience these stuff in real life. She knew that it was impossible before, but now...She might be able to live it.
Speaking of which, every time she thinks of the name of her skill, she sees the visions of weapons in the back of her head. Swords, Cannons, Knives, Iron Maidens, Torture Tools, Guns, and even more. Maybe this is what her ability is about...
On another hand, she had the problem of her being separated from her brother. She wanted to know what happened to him, and whether he survived the accident or not, and if he was teleported with her here, and if yes, then where he is right now? Is he safe? Is he in danger? Can he protect himself? Is he starving? She was already worried over many things and it spiralled inside her head...
"Hey, you!"
Natsumi was then snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a voice calling. She looked in front of her to find three men. One was skinny with white hair and looked like he had just escaped from jail, another was rather bulky, tan skinned and his lips looked as if they were extremely swollen, and the last one was short with hair dressed like a bowl cut and looked like a child born with some sort of appearance disfigure disorder. Natsumi just blinked at this, and stood up.
"Sorry, but are you talking to me?" She asked.
"Yeah! Of course we are talking to you, dumb bitch! Give us all you have!" The short guy demanded from Natsumi.
"Uh...Sorry, but I have nothing on me..." She answered putting her hands in front of her in a submission position.
"Don't try to play dumb with us, bitch! Your appearance looks like that of a noble! You have money on you, right?! Then empty your goddamn pockets!" The bulky man yelled cracking his knuckles to intimidate Natsumi, who gulped involuntarily at this.
"Your not making this easy for yourself, bitch..." The skinny man growled before taking out two knives from both of the sides of his waist, catching both blades in a reverse grip.
"Hey! I betcha this bitch was in one of the brothels in the slums. Maybe she wants to be boned or something. I mean, look at those clothes" The shorty said.
"Yeah. Maybe your right. What a body for a slums bitch" The bulky one said with a lustful look plastered on his face.
"Heh. I suppose we can have some fun with this bitch before taking everything she has" The skinny one exclaimed licking his lips with his abnormally long tongue.
"Ugh! What's with the bitch thing?! For the last time, I am NOT a noble, nor that I'm a slum whore! Please cut that out!" Natsumi half yelled out her protest, having grown frustrated from their insults. It suddenly hit her that she has some sort of ability that might help her in combat. Closing her eyes, she imagined the image of a silver colored cannon with beautiful line drawings on it. The image then faded from her head, which made her snap her eyes open, only to see the three thugs' expressions turned from smugness and lust to confusion and fear. This caused Natsumi to blink, before she felt her right arm being extremely heavy.
Looking down, she noticed something that made her gasp in shock.
Her entire right forearm had just turned to a silver colored cannon with beautiful line drawings, just as she imagined it in her head.
After a few blinks of confusion, Natsumi's face turned from shock and worry to a devilish evil grin, causing the three thugs to recoil in fear, unconsciously taking a step back.
"Oh well! Time to put those powers to the test!" She exclaimed pointing the cannon at the thugs, using her free hand to support the weight of the cannon so that she can hold it, causing them to gasp in fear.
Natsumi then thought about the cannon firing off a powerful ball of energy, and the next thing she knew, she was sent flying backwards due to the massive recoil of the weapon she was holding, where the shot it fired caused a mini explosion that took down the alley she and thugs were in. Fortunately for the three thugs, however, they were unharmed due to the shot missing them, but the shockwave of the shot caused them to loss their footing, falling face first on the devastated ground.
"Ugh...Take a bad impression of a first technique..." Natsumi groaned while seated on the ground, placing a hand on her back due to pain from the impact. The cannon has already disappeared from her arm, vanishing in the same fashion as water turning to vapour.
"What's going on here?"
"?!"
A voice laced with authority, yet held purity in it rang out, causing the three thugs to look behind them and gasp in horror, and for Natsumi to look in awe with a light pink blush adorning her cheeks.
Right in front of them stood a figure with a white outfit consisting of a trench coat and pants, alongside side black shoes. He had short blazing red hair, ocean blue eyes, and a sword strapped to the right side of his waist.
All in all, to Natsumi, he was quite the looker.
"Red hair...Blue eyes...The Dragon Sword... There's no doubt...It's the Sword Saint! Run!" The white haired skinny thug exclaimed in fear, before he and his partners scrambled away from the alley.
"Are you alright miss?" The man asked gently with a smile on his face, extending a hand to Natsumi, who simply blushed while looking wide eyed at the man in front of her.
To Natsumi, the whole world crawled to a halt, her heart skipped a beat, and she had no idea whether she was breathing or not. The man in front of her was something out of this world. She was never comfortable around boys due to a trauma that happened to her in the past, but this guy...He was... Different.
"Miss? Are you alright?"
"Ah!"
The man's voice snapped Natsumi back to reality, to which she immediately took his helping hand, managing to stand up despite the aching on her back.
"Thank you for your help. They were trying to rob and even molest me. You saved me there" Natsumi said.
"No problem, Miss..." The man trailed, not knowing where to continue.
"Oh! Where are my manners? My name is Natsumi Schwartz. You can call me Natsumi" She introduced herself with her mother's own second name instead of her father's.
"Very well. No problem, Miss Natsumi" The man said with a smile, before noticing that Natsumi was limping on one leg, while placing her hand on her back.
"I'm sorry to ask, Miss Natsumi, but are you hurt?" The man asked in concern.
"Oh! Umm...Well...I tripped while trying to resist them" Natsumi answered nervously as the man's face was inching closer to hers, causing her blush to become even redder.
"Okay. Please come with me to gain treatment. I'm already on a day off from duty, so I would be glad if you accepted my invitation to the Astrea Manor to at least treat your wounds" The man offered.
"Umm...Are you sure? I don't want to cause troubles for you" Natsumi said, causing the man's smile to widen, and for Natsumi's heart to skip another beat.
"No worries. I'm glad to help people in need. Not to mention that you aren't from here judging by your clothes, and the fact that you are in an alley like this means that you have nowhere to go, right? If so, then please accept my hospitality" The man said, causing Natsumi to sweat drop at this.
"Am I that pitiful...?" She thought before smiling back to the man.
"In that case, I don't mind accepting your invitation" Natsumi said, before the man offered her his arm to use it as means of support, to which Natsumi accepted happily before both of them walked out of the alley.
And while they were walking, the man was deep in thought.
"Strange. My Divine Protections did show that she wasn't lying...But...This power that I felt from her... It's great...Just what is she? I better keep a close eye on her..."
"Oh! By the way..."
"Hmm?"
The man shoved his thoughts aside, before turning his head towards Natsumi.
"Umm...I forgot to ask about your name" She requested, causing the man to smile once again, before replying.
"My name is Reinhard. Reinhard van Astrea"
Unknown Location
Red.
Everything around him was red.
The sky? Red.
The bridge? Red.
The big river underneath him? Red.
The corpses in front of him? Red.
The blood surrounding those corpses? Red.
The blood staining his hands? Red.
The blood that was inside his mouth? Red.
The blood of the dead animals surrounding him? Red.
The blood that the nine year old, yellow dual tailed fox had due to stabbing his throat with a light saber? Red.
The blood that came out of mouth of the crimson coloured Echidna that was hanged from a high cliff with his body dangling freely and the whites if his eyes showing? Red.
The blood of the fat, mustached evil scientist that came out from his beheaded body like a fountain due to a bird shaped robot launching a hook at his skull then yanking it off his shoulders along with his spinal cord? Red.
The blood staining the spikes courtesy of a pink haired hedgehog having jumped face first from a high cliff onto said spikes? Red.
The blood coming from between the legs of the adult looking rabbit that was hanged up on a palm tree? Red.
The blood that came out of the left eye of the young, seven year old rabbit, who was near the palm tree that had the hanged adult rabbit, due to a spike piercing her skull through her left eye? Red.
The blood that came out of the corpse of a once beautiful female chipmunk due to a robot fish jumping out of the red water body and cutting her body vertically in half? Red.
The blood that came out of the purple chameleon's head due to his horn being forcefully pulled out from his head, then said horn being used as a makeshift knife to pierce through his skull? Red.
The blood that came out of the green crocodile whose body was torn in half by having his jaws being forcefully opened up to the extent that he was cut in half from jaw to tail? Red.
The blood that came out of the yellow bee whose limbs were torn out of their sockets and his stinger was forcefully shoved up his throat with his eyes gruesomely rolling to the top of his head? Red.
The blood that came out of the red armadillo who had his red back armor forcefully stripped of him where a spike penetrated his stomach through his back? Red.
Everything, just as the same colour as his eyes...Red.
Even so, he just took a deep breath, calming his nerves. He just needed to concentrate.
Speaking of concentration, how many years, decades, centuries and millenniums has passed ever since he was trapped here...?
Ah.
He remembers now.
It has been around 100,000 years ever since that demon trapped him here.
He forced him to go through that torture for tens of hundreds of thousands of millions of times, hoping to break him in order to make him the "Perfect Partner".
Nevertheless, he never wavered.
He was born with an indomitable will. Nothing in this world could affect or corrupt his ego.
What truly shocked him, though, was when he knew about his true heritage. The classification of his species, disguised in the identity of aliens, but they weren't. His true classification was even bigger than the fake name called "Black Arms", an existence even higher than any life form. An existence that stemmed from the likes of Chaos himself.
He was a...
"I see that you haven't broken yet"
Turning around, he took the black stick that was by his side, then stood up, unsheathing what appeared to be a chokuto with a transparent teal coloured blade. He pointed the blade at the newcomer, with a completely cold look on his face.
"I'm not surprised that you are here, but what do you want?" The black hedgehog that was holding the blade asked the blue hedgehog with black and red bloody eyes.
"Aww~ You're awful. Didn't you miss me after 100,000 years of solitude?" The blue hedgehog throw his question in a mocking manner.
"What I miss is my sword plunged into your ass" The black hedgehog growled, still pointing his sword at his nemesis.
"Fun fact, by the way, the 100,000 years that you spent here in Suicide Hill... They're actually equivalent to a total of 24 hours in the real world! How does it feel to be known that the Oh So Ultimate Life Form, Shadow the Hedgehog, has been mocked with his gift of immortality?!" The abomination that was wearing the skin of Shadow's rival cackled manically, feeling that he might finally break the 'Indomitable Will' that the Ultimate Life Form held.
To his surprise, however, Shadow just...Smiled.
The smile soon turned to a chuckle, the chuckle eventually turned to a laugh, and the laugh turned into a blown mad laughter, confusing the Zero Class Highest, and causing his evil grin to turn into a look of confusion and irritation.
"What are you laughing at? Have you finally broke apart?" The Highest asked.
"You're so dumb, Exeller" Shadow said, having sheathed his sword back into its black scabbard and stopped his laughter.
"What?!" Exeller exclaimed in anger from the insult.
"Did you really think that I was abducted by you? If so, then you're dumber than I thought. I still wonder up until now on the very reason that caused the Freedom Fighters to lose to someone like you" Shadow said, causing Exeller to growl, but he didn't say anything in return, choosing to let Shadow continue his talk.
"The reason I stayed here up until this moment was to gather the power that I needed, and I have just finished now" Shadow said.
"Huh? What power?" Exeller asked, completely confused.
"Did you really think that there was only one of me in this sea of infinite universes and infinite dimensional plates? If you thought so, then you're dumber than I thought. I secretly used Chaos Control to connect to those parallel timeline selves if mine, and the moment that I did connect with all of the existing versions of Shadow The Hedgehog, I simply used Chaos Control to fuse their very existences into one sole Shadow The Hedgehog: Me. I should thank you for giving me the time to do that. Without the combination of both your stupidity and overconfidence, I wouldn't have reached up until now in the first place" Shadow explained.
The moment he finished his explanation, Exeller, driven by absolute rage, created a sphere of dark energy and flung it on Shadow, to which the black hedgehog simply caught it in the palm of his hand, before crushing it, causing Exeller to click his tongue in annoyance.
"I see that you aren't surprised. As I said before, I wasn't wasting my time. I could have simply used Chaos Control to travel to another dimension, but I was given a luxurious amount of time by you. In conclusion, while you were fooling around with the remaining souls of the Freedom Fighters and waiting for me to break apart, I was using the time that you have given me to grow even stronger. Simple" Shadow said, before a pale purple spherical portal appeared behind him, to which he begun walking to it.
"LIKE I WOULD LET YOU!" Exeller roared in anger, charging like a mad animal at Shadow, only to be sent flying away by a casual sucker punch from said black hedgehog.
"You may have been able to defeat me in the past, but now...Now is a different story" Shadow said before continuing to march towards the portal, and before he was about one step from entering it, he turned around, with his cold look being replaced by an absolute glare of pure and unadulterated hatred, directed towards the cold blooded killer lying on the ground.
"I swear... On behalf of everyone you tortured and humiliated...And on behalf of every second you made me suffer here...And on the behalf of Cream and her mother...And everyone that the Highests erased and killed...That I will show you and them that Hell is considered cold compared to my own flames..."
And with that being said, Shadow spun on his heel, entering the portal, where said portal instantly disappeared the moment Shadow went through it, leaving Exeller all alone in Suicide Hill.
"Heh...Heh heh heh heh..."
The Zero Class Highest simply cackled as he pushed himself off the ground, standing up straight, a manical grin plastered on his face. He then walked to the palm tree that had the hanged adult rabbit and what appeared to be her 7 year old daughter. He the stretched out his arm, causing black mist to erupt from his palm and engulf both mother and daughter. The mist kept engulfing the two rabbits for a few seconds, before it gradually faded, revealing the two rabbits standing, but now, their light brown skin and ears turned dark purple, with the young rabbit's left eye being closed with a vertical scar on the eyelid, and the spike that impaled her eye was nowhere to be found.
"So, You're trying to play games with me, Shadow? Very well. Let's see which Highest will prevail in this game..."
He then looked beside him, his manical grin and stare indicated that he was breaking the Fourth Wall. He only said one thing.
"So Many Souls To Play With. So Little Time. Don't You Agree?"
The next thing that happened was the entire Suicide Hill turning completely dark, as if someone has turned off the lights, with the loud, evil mad laughter of Exeller echoing throughout the now pitch black dimension.
Unknown Location. With Subaru
"Master! You're awake!"
The moment the strange woman exclaimed this, she turned into a blur, and before he could comprehend what just happened, Subaru was tackled by the stranger woman, who proceeded to lock him in a bone crushing hug, sandwiching his head in between her ample breasts.
Subaru could even swear that his heard his bones crack under the pressure.
"Can't... Can't breathe..." Subaru gasped his protest, to which the girl released him from the hug in response, but still held his arm in an abnormally strong vice grip.
"Master! It's you! It's really you! You're back!" The girl exclaimed in happiness, her slightly tan cheeks flushed in light pink, and her emerald green eyes had tears building on the corners of her eyes.
"Uh...Who are you...?" Subaru asked, confusion completely painted all over his face.
"Have you forgotten me, Master? It's me, Shaula" The girl, now known as Shaula, answered.
"Uh...Shaula...Where are we?" Subaru asked the first question that came into his mind.
"This is the Pleiades Watchtower, in the center of the Augria Sand Dunes" Shaula immediately answered.
"I see. It looks like a pretty sturdy tow--Wait. Did you just say 'Sand Dunes'? Are you saying that we are in the middle of a desert?" Subaru started talking, before asking the question that entered his mind immediately after his brain ingested Shaula's answer, to which Shaula nodded her head rapidly with a cheerful smile on her face, acting as if this was a normal thing.
"What the hell?! Transported into a fantasy world, only to be in the middle of nowhere?! What kind of entity that teleported me here?!" Subaru thought, frustration clearly building inside of him.
"Anyways Master, I'm so glad you returned. It's been 400 years ever since you left me" Shaula said while pouting.
"Well, I...Wait a minute...400 YEARS?!" Subaru screamed the last sentence with eyes as wide and dinner plates.
"Yes! Master has instructed me to protect the tower after we both fought and sealed away the Witch of Envy, who swallowed half of the world, along with Stick Swinger and Blue Lizard in the Evil Stone Sealing Shrine 400 years ago" Shaula said.
"I even fought a witch?! Are you sure that you haven't picked up the wrong person?!" Subaru half-yelled with a panicked expression on his face.
"Yup! I can never be wrong! You smell the same as 400 years ago, Master!" Shaula exclaimed with a childish grin.
"What?! I took a shower before coming here! Do I really smell?!" Subaru exclaimed in comical shock, before sniffing his sleeves.
"What I'm trying to say is that you smell of the Witch's Miasma. You know, the kind of that drives living people insane and attracts Mabeasts to the one that reeks to it" Shaula answered.
"What the world? Mabeasts? Miasma? Witch? So much to take in...So small mental capacity..." Subaru said, clutching his head in agony.
"Master? What's wrong? Are you alright? Want me to give you a lap pillow? Maybe even a boobs sandwich?" Shaula requested.
"What the hell?! I may look like a perv for some people, but by no means that I am so! And I take absolutely no pride in it!" Subaru exclaimed trying to distance himself from Shaula, but in vain, as the abnormally strong vice grip that the girl exerted on his arm threatened to rip said limb out of its socket, so he gave up on doing so.
"I can't tell you how happy I am with your return, Master! I hope you never leave Shaula again!" Shaula exclaimed with a genuine smile on her face.
"Uh... Okay" Subaru shot back his answer slowly, feeling awkward from the situation as a whole. He then decided to change the subject.
"Say, Shaula. I'm hungry. Is there anything to eat here?" Subaru asked Shaula, rubbing his growling stomach, as all the awkwardness and mental stress has caused him to become hungry.
"There is nothing here other than Mabeasts' meat" Shaula answered, her face twisted in discomfort.
"Judging by your expression, I would say that it's inedible to eat?" Subaru asked.
"It's gross! It tastes like dung!" Shaula exclaimed, sticking out her tongue.
"I see..." Subaru sighed in defeat, before standing up from the bed, marching towards the door of the room he was in, with Shaula following close behind him. He then opened the door, only to find a spiral staircase at the outer edge of the room, leading to an upper floor. He then looked at his side, only to see a circular door connected to the wall.
"Hey Shaula. What is the floor?" Subaru asked, turning his head towards the barely covered girl.
"This floor is Asterope, the basement floor of the Watchtower. By climbing the stairs, we can access Celaeno, the ground floor" Shaula answered.
"And what is this door?" Subaru asked once again, pointing to the circular door located at the farther side of the floor.
"This is the area underneath the Watchtower. There are Hungry Horse Kings infesting the area down there, and the Miasma thickens around that place as well, since the Witch of Envy sealed down there" Shaula answered.
"I see. That's--Wait! Did you just say that a Witch that destroyed half of the planet is literally down there?!" Subaru gaped in shock.
"Yup!" Shaula simply answered with a childish grin plastered on her face.
"Don't 'Yup' me! Why didn't you tell me beforehand?! I was thinking about going through there!" Subaru yelled.
"You didn't ask me, Master. Besides, why are you worried? You're extremely strong that you can blow all of those Hungry Horse Kings without breaking a sweat" Shaula answered in confusion. Subaru then sighed, before shaking his head.
"Very well. Shaula, is there any library here?" Subaru asked.
"There is one in Taygeta, the second floor" Shaula answered.
"Alright. Lead the way, because my memory is...Uhh...A little fuzzy about the place" Subaru instructed, not wanting to be more awkward in front of the girl so that she doesn't doubt him, as judging by her vice grip, this girl could instantly crush his skull before he could even notice it.
"Alright, Master! Follow Shaula to Google Chrome!" Shaula exclaimed, marching towards the spiral staircase. Subaru then saw Shaula walk up the stairs. He was about to follow her, only to stop when...
"Ugh!"
...When suddenly, his head felt like someone stuck millions of needles in them. He gripped onto his hair, trying to desperately lessen the pain inside his head, but in vain, as the pain increased in his brain.
"Authority of Pride: Royal Judge and Mediator"
And just as he heard this voice roar inside his head, the head splitting migraine vanished in an instant just as it appeared, causing Subaru to gasp as he felt even light headed, and his body felt more energetic than ever.
"Alright. Not the brightest way to get an Isekai ability, but hey! At least it's cool! The names are cool, but what do they do?" Subaru asked himself, adopting a thinking pose.
"Master! Hurry up! I will leave you behind, which I don't want to!"
Shaula's calling cut off his line if thought that was yet to be made. He sighed to himself at this.
"I think I can figure it out while looking around this place..." Subaru muttered before walking up the stairs. And while doing so, he felt like the stairs were endless as his legs where starting to ache.
He didn't know how much time has passed, but he was sure that it took him long to reach Shaula, who was impatiently tapping her foot on the floor.
"You're so slow, Master. Has age taken it's tool on you?" Shaula asked Subaru.
"Shut up...I'm... Only 16..." Subaru gasped those words out of his mouth, trying to take his breath as he hunched his back forward, with his hands on his knees
"Anyways, we're here!" Shaula exclaimed, causing Subaru to look up, only to see a huge white space that appeared to be endless, with the only thing being apparent is a black monolith that somehow looked like a mirror, considering the fact that Subaru could see both his and Shaula's reflections on it.
"Uh...Shaula, where's the library?" Subaru asked.
"Oh! I forgot to tell you, Master! In order for the library to appear, you must complete the trial for its access. You can begin the trial once you touch the monolith" Shaula answered, causing a tick mark to appear on Subaru's forehead and for him to grit his teeth.
"You could have told me that earlier! Honestly, you are an airhead!" Subaru roared in anger.
"Teehee~!" Shaula let out a giggle, lightly bonking her head with her fist while winking and having her tongue extended.
"Don't 'Teehee' me! Please try to consider people's patience and tolerance meters!" Subaru exclaimed to Shaula, before sighing in frustration and rubbing his temples. He then turned his attention towards the monolith, gulping in anexity. He was about to touch the monolith, before being reminded of something.
"I remember that there was an ability that I have just acquired. One of them is called Royal Judge. Judging by the ability, I suppose that it has something to do with appraisal. Maybe I should try it out"
Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Subaru focused on the power that built itself inside of him. He saw a massive veil of darkness. He felt that he couldn't do anything. He couldn't move, hear, smell, talk or even sense.
In the middle of the pitch black darkness, two white lines appeared. One on his right, which gave a light that brought the feeling of domination, power and authority. The other line on his left was the complete opposite, as it brought the feeling of intelligence, wisdom and enlightenment.
Subaru directed his entire soul towards the left line, and upon doing this, everything was illuminated by a white bright light, and before he knew anything, his eyes blinked open,staring at the monolith. He noticed his reflection on it, and gasped.
His raven black hair, has turned to bright snow white in colour, and the iris of his left eye has turned dull white, as if said eye was completely blind.
But contrary to that belief, Subaru was able to see from both eyes clearly. In fact, he felt like as the whole world in his eyes brightened immensely and became clearer.
Thinking to himself, Subaru closed his right eye, only opening his left eye, and his thoughts were instantly confirmed to be correct.
[Name: Black Monolith]
[Type: Non Living]
[Age: 400]
[Classification: Gate To The First Trial Of The Pleiades Watchtower]
[Explanation: The First Trial Of The Pleiades Watchtower Is A Quiz About Stars. The Question Is About The Brightest Of Heroes That Was Destroyed By Shaula. The Correct Answer Is Rigel. Once Answered, The Room That The Monolith Is Transforms To The Library Of The Books Of The Dead]
The full explanation was crystal clear in front of Subaru's eye, and he heard it in the back of his head like hearing a robot-like voice.
"If this works, then..." Subaru muttered before focusing on his reflection on the monolith.
[Name: Subaru Natsuki]
[Type: Living]
[Age: 16]
[Classification: Human]
[Explanation: A 16 year old NEET who was mysteriously sent to another world. He is confused, powerless, pathetic, and can make a fool of himself if he isn't careful]
[Special Abilities]
[Authority of Pride:
1. Royal Judge: An ability that allows it's user to scan both living and nonliving organisms, even knowing about their age, classification, occupation and special abilities as long as the name of the scanned target is known by the user.
2. Mediator: An ability that allows its user to conduct peaceful negotiations with the opposing side, effectively nullifying all kinds of attacks, be it physical, spiritual and even conceptual, no matter how much powerful said attacks are. The nullified attacks can be released by the user in the form of an energy blast that can bypass all kinds of defenses, including, but not limited to physical, spiritual and conceptual defenses, but at the cost of the body part that released the energy blast being completely ruptured and obliterated.
[Magic Affinity - Yin (High)]
An extremely rare type of magic that focuses on disrupting the five senses of the opponent, manipulating space for teleportation, creating black holes, creating mana arrows of stagnant time that causes permanent damage to its targets, crystalization and defense bypassing, and manipulating gravity to either float, or increase one's weight.
[Spells Learned: None
[Magic Affinity - Fire (Low)]
A type of magic that allows its user to manipulate the heat in the air to either manipulate fire, or ice.
[Spells Learned: None
[Magic Affinity - Water (Low)]
A type of magic that allows its user to use healing abilities to heal wounds. Higher levels of water magic spells can be used to heal chronic diseases and even resurrect the dead.
[Spells Learned: None
[Magic Affinity - Earth (Low)]
A type of magic that allows its user to manipulate earth and soil in the form of either projectiles or even shields of rock.
[Spells Learned: None]
[Magic Affinity - Wind (Low)]
A type of magic that allows its user to manipulate wind. It can be used in the form of air blades, shields, and even hurricanes.
[Spells Learned: None]
[Magic Affinity - Yang (Low)]
An extremely rare type of magic that allows its user to manipulate light. It can be used in increasing the physical and magical abilities of the caster or his allies, fire out rays of light, duplicate inanimate objects and even restore objects to their primary condition.
[Spells Learned: None]
"Huh... Cool" Subaru muttered before dispelling Royal Judge, causing his left eye to revert to its black colour. He then turned to Shaula, who had a look of awe on her face.
"Master! What happened?! Your hair became white! Are you alright?!" Shaula asked, her tone completely drowned in concern for Subaru.
"Don't worry. I'm fine. Actually, I feel more than fine. As if I was reborn" Subaru said taking a deep breath, before speaking once again.
"Say, Shaula. You said that you were guarding the tower for 400 years. Does that mean that there were people that tried to invade it?" He asked.
"Well, there were weird people called the Witch Cult. They always wanted to raid the tower in order to gain access to the Evil Sealing Stone Shrine to release the Witch, but I repelled them all. One of them was a white haired guy that talked too much. He was so annoying. I hit him with Hell Snipe several times, but he didn't have any injury, not even a scratch. All that I was able to do was to send him flying, but that's all" Shaula answered, causing Subaru to nod slowly.
"I see. Are there anything here like an office, or even a lab?" Subaru asked.
"Master has his personal lab, which is also his office. I can show it to you if you forgot that as well" Shaula said, walking downstairs, causing Subaru to follow her. They then reached a different corner of Celaeno, the lower floor underneath Taygeta. Subaru then found a door at said corner. He and Shaula then opened that door, only for Subaru to be greeted by a rather shocking site.
It was a large spacious room, around 20 meters in diameter, with large bookshelves riddled with tons of books all around the four walls of the room. In the large center of the room there were large desks that had tons of notebooks and books all around.
"This is Master's office. Master was immersed in reading and writing most of the time" Shaula said.
Subaru wasn't focused on her. He just walked to one of the shelves, and took out a book. He then tried to flip around its pages, but...
"As expected, I can't read this language. Why am I not surprised?" Subaru said closing the book. He then went to the desks in the room center, rummaging in the notebooks and books, and after 30 minutes, as he was just about to give up, he saw a book at the the corner of his eyes, where its title caught it's attention.
How To Learn Lugunican Language
Its title was in Japanese, and judging by the word 'Lugunican', he assumed that this was the strange language that he saw in the books.
Subaru opened the book, only to see detailed alphabet of the Lugunican language and its exact meaning in Japanese. It was detailed and was easy to learn, even for someone like Subaru.
"This is starting to look good..." Subaru muttered with an excited grin on his face.
Things looked like it will be easy and exciting. Subaru Natsuki's fantasy of being an overpowered Isekai protagonist is going to be real, and his adventure is about to begin...
"Ugh...My stomach is growling..."
...But first, he has to find something to eat, or else he will die before his adventure begins.
Unknown Location. With Natsumi
"Whoa...What a huge mansion..."
Natsumi couldn't hide her awe.
Both from inside and outside, the Astrea Manor looked like something out of this world.
It looked like a castle from the inside, and from the outside, it looked like a museum, with it's beautiful decorations, statues, steel armors and rune-shaped drawings, it felt like something arcane, yet beautiful in Natsumi's eyes.
"So this is where you're living, Red?" Natsumi asked the young man.
"Red?" Reinhard asked in confusion.
"Oh. I just gave you a nickname. You don't like it?" Natsumi asked.
"Uh...No. Actually, it's not bad. Red is my favorite colour after all" Reinhard said smiling. He then saw Natsumi groan in pain, placing a hand on her back.
"Are you alright?" Reinhard asked in concern.
"Yes. I'm fine. I just need some rest" Natsumi answered with a small smile. She then yelped in surprise when Reinhard lifted her up from the ground, carrying her bridal style. The next thing she knew is that she was in a room with a large bed, with Reinhard gently placing her on the bed.
"Uh...What happened just now...?" Natsumi could only ask in her dazed condition.
"I just carried you to a bedroom, that's all" Reinhard simply answered.
"So that was your pure speed?" Natsumi asked.
"Uh...Yeah..." Reinhard answered, looking a little bit down, since he was going to hear once again that he was a monster.
It's going to happen anytime n--
"That's amazing!"
"...Huh?"
Reinhard's head instantly perked up upon hearing Natsumi's words, only to see her excited face, and with stars appearing on her eyes, with a beaming smile on her face.
"Excuse me. What did you just say?" Reinhard asked, not sure if his both his eyes and ears were honest with him.
"You heard me! It's amazing! You're like a hero! No, A superhero! It was so cool!" Natsumi exclaimed with excitement plastered on her face.
She looked like a child in front of Reinhard's view despite the power that she possessed.
However, her words made Reinhard feel...Warm inside. No one has ever called him like that. No one has ever treated him as anything other than a monster. He himself thought that he is a monster due to all of this.
And yet...A complete stranger...Had just called him a hero...Something that he thought that he will never be.
"Red? Are you alright?" Natsumi asked, snapping Reinhard to reality.
"Oh. Yes. I'm fine. I will call for a healing mage to heal your injuries" Reinhard said.
"Why? Can't you do that yourself?" Natsumi asked.
"I can't use magic due to my defective Gate" Reinhard answered.
"Defective...Gate...?" Natsumi asked in confusion.
"Don't worry about it. I will be right back" Reinhard said, before taking off, not even dust remained in his wake, which caused Natsumi to blink. And after approximately 5 seconds, Reinhard appeared once again in front of her, but with another person.
It was a girl, with cat ears and brown hair. She was wearing a light blue dress with leggings of the same colour, as well as light blue hair ribbons tied to the sides of her head.
"Miss Natsumi, this is my friend, Felix Argyle. He is a professional healer. He will heal your wounds flawlessly" Reinhard said with a smile on his face.
"Uh...Thank y--Wait. Did you just say: He?" Natsumi was about to thank Reinhard, before she heard him introduce the 'girl' in front of him with a female pronoun.
"Yes. Felix is a male" Reinhard answered.
"Really?! He looks like a female from head to toe!" Natsumi gaped in shock, causing Felix to giggle.
"What a fellow you found here, Reinhard" Felix said, before approaching the still flabbergasted Natsumi, sitting beside her on a nearby chair next to the bed.
"Can you shyow me your wounds?" He asked politely, with a cat-like purr in the middle of his words.
"Uh... It's only my back" She answered, causing the cat demi human to nod, before placing his palms inches away from Natsumi's body, before light blue light appeared from his hands, and in a matter of seconds, the pain in Natsumi's back suddenly vanished.
"Wow! The pain in my back vanished! It's like magic!" Natsumi exclaimed.
"That's because it is magic" Felix deadpanned with a slight chuckle.
"There is magic in this world?! That's amazing!" Natsumi exclaimed in excitement, causing both Reinhard and Felix to sweat drop at her childish excitement.
"Well, that's normal here...Say, can you tell us your name?" Felix asked.
"Natsumi Schwartz. Nice to meet you" Natsumi said with a smile on her face, offering her hand for a handshake to Felix, to which the demi human accepted happily.
Unbeknownst to both of them, Reinhard, who was a witness to Natsumi's smile, was having his face in the same colour as his hair, and his ears were blowing steam out of them.
"What is that...? My heart is beating nonstop..."
"Umm...There are two request of mine. I'm sorry if it's selfish, but I don't know anyone here..." Natsumi said causing both Felix and Reinhard to look at her.
"First, can I stay here with Red for a while? At least until I find my brother and know what to do next...?" She asked.
"Sure thing" Reinhard immediately answered.
"Huh?! I thought that you will refuse!" Natsumi exclaimed in shock at Reinhard's immediate answer.
"That's Reinhard-kyun for you. So kind to others around him" Felix said before turning to Natsumi once again.
"So, what's your second request?" He asked.
"Well...Can you teach me how to use magic?" Natsumi asked.
"Well, since Reinhard-kyun approved of your stay here, then I have no reason to refuse now, do I?" Felix said shrugging his shoulders, causing Natsumi's smile to brighten.
"Thank you!" Natsumi answered.
"First we need to find what is your affinity. I can do that to you, but I have to make physical contact with you" Felix said, causing Natsumi to nod rapidly, before Felix placed a hand on her forehead and closed his eyes. After a few seconds, he snapped his eyes open.
"Wow, Natsumi-chyan. You have three affinities. Water, Wind and Yang. That's amazing" Felix exclaimed in surprise.
"That's amazing!" She exclaimed in excitement.
"No, Natsumi-chyan. You don't understand. Having more than one is indeed rare, but what's even rare is the fact that you have Yang affinity" Felix said.
"How so?" Natsumi asked in confusion.
"Miss Natsumi, There are four primary affinities of magic. Fire Magic focused on manipulating the heat to either control fire or ice, Water Magic focuses on healing, Wind Magic focuses on manipulating wind, and Earth Magic focuses on manipulating Earth. However, there are two other affinities: Yin and Yang. Yin Magic focuses on manipulating darkness and disrupting the senses of an opponent, while Yang Magic is the complete opposite, as it focuses on strengthening and manipulating light in the form of heat rays" Reinhard explained.
"So I can do that too?" Natsumi asked.
"With proper training, yes. Unfortunately, I can only teach you about Water Magic, since this is my affinity. There is someone that I know that can teach you about Wind and Yang Magic...But I betcha you won't like it" Felix said, his face cringing slightly in disgust.
"Huh? Why?" Natsumi asked before a loud growling echoed from her stomach, causing Reinhard and Felix to look at her, before the former chuckled and the latter teasingly giggled, causing Natsumi to blush.
"But first, I think I can grab a bite. I haven't eaten anything since lunch..." She muttered.
"Sure. The dinner is ready downstairs. Please come with me. Also, since you are here, Felix, then you should join us" Reinhard said.
"Very well, but I have to inform Crusch-sama first. She must be worried sick considering the way you took me" Felix said, before standing up alongside Natsumi, and proceeding to walk behind Reinhard.
However, another thought was spinning inside her head.
"I have a feeling that you're somewhere here in this world, Subaru-nii. I will become stronger in order to find you. Please try to stay safe until then..."
With this thought inside of her head, Natsumi followed both Reinhard and Felix to the dinning room.
Unknown Location. With Shadow
"Man. Talk about a tough ride"
The man exited from the purple spherical gate that appeared in thin air.
Looking around him, he saw a massive amount of trees surrounding his sight. They were extremely thick and were blocking his visibility. Shadow could hear the chirping of birds around him, leading him to reach one conclusion.
He was in the middle of a forest.
Looking around, Shadow had a fleeting thought. He then spotted a small lake, and went towards it.
He wasn't surprised from what he saw, but it still placed a look of amusement on his face.
He was in a complete human form, standing on an above average height, around 180 cm. His hair, which replaced his quills, was spiky, short and black with red strips on the strands of his hair, along with red-orange eyes and a slightly tan skin.
As for his outfit, it looked exactly like his skin.
It consisted of white half-sleeved T-shirt, underneath a black leather jacket, two golden wrist rings, black jean pants and white shoes with red stripes on the sides of each shoe and rocket propellers on the soles.
Looking at his hands, he noticed that the pinky and the ring fingers on each of his two palms.
It was the same as his hands back when he was a hedgehog.
Oh whatever, nothing seemed to change except that his appearance became humanoid.
He then took a handful of water in both of his palms, before splashing them on his face. He then raised his face to the sky, sighing heavily, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding, as if a huge weight has been lifted off his shoulders, as the water rinsed his face, causing it to be embraced in a common, yet unfathomable sensation of comfort.
It has been 10,000 years after all since the last time he breathed fresh air and saw the clear sky and radiant sun.
Shadow could now understand why she loved the sun so much.
"Maria..." He muttered, slowly opening his eyes, before lowering his head. He then got up on his feet, and spun on his heel, only to see a person staring at him.
It looked like a young child that had blue eyes and flowing pink hair. She was wearing what looked like a white coat that had a high collar that covered the lower half of her face, and in her hand was a long staff with a green jewel.
Shadow simply blinked at this, as the child continued to stare at him silently. Growing sick of the silence and the seemingly irritating stare, Shadow took a deep breath and broke the ice.
"Who are you?" Shadow simply asked, causing the girl to blink, before opening her mouth to speak.
"A new visitor, I see" She simply said. To Shadow, her voice, which looked like an old woman, completely contradicted her appearance.
"That wasn't the answer of my question" Shadow simply said.
"Oh. Forgive me. It's not everyday that we have a new visitor. In addition, I felt a sudden disturbance in space and time. I assume that it was you, young one?" She asked.
"First, I am not young. I think I'm older than you. Second, yes. It was me who made that disturbance in space and time" Shadow answered, causing the girl to close her eye for a few seconds, before reopening them, staring directly at Shadow.
"You do not need to tell me the details, but at least tell me your name" The girl requested.
"And why should I tell you my name? I barely know anything about you or this place" Shadow shot back, causing a thin smile to appear on the girl's face, and Shadow could swear that she looked like an old woman.
"Fair enough. My name is Ryuzu Shima, and this is the Sanctuary, a place that acts as a tomb for an entity called the Witch of Greed" Ryuzu answered.
"Judging from your words, you have been guarding this place for a long time, right?" Shadow asked.
"Indeed. It has been 400 years already" She answered, causing Shadow to nod slowly in acknowledgement.
"I see" He simply said, causing Ryuzu to tilt her head to the side in confusion.
"It's weird how you aren't surprised by the fact that I'm 400 years old. Most people would either be stunned or outright laugh it off" Ryuzu said.
"It's not surprising. I'm over 100,000 years old. To be more precise, I'm 100,053 years old" Shadow plainly answered.
And the next thing he saw was the shocked face of the child-shaped grandmother.
"You're even older than anything in this world...I never thought that there were places beyond the Great Waterfall..." She muttered under her breath.
"Excuse me?" Shadow asked.
"Nothing at all. Moving that aside, what is your next destination?" Ryuzu asked.
"Is there any city, or village around here with civilization in it?" Shadow asked.
"At around 400 kilometers from here, you may find Irlam Village. Another 200 kilometers from said village and you will reach the royal capital of Lugunica" Ryuzu answered pointing to the woods.
"Very well. I might return here for more questions in the future. Until then, take care" Shadow said, making the farewells brief and short, before the next thing Ryuzu knew was that Shadow disappeared from her sight, leaving a trail of dust in the area where he stood.
Ryuzu stood in her place, looking at the spot where the mysterious foreigner was standing a few seconds ago. She then took a deep breath, before raising her head to the sky, looking at the floating clouds.
"Ros-bo, Beatrice-sama, I hope you two are prepared, because I feel like the chains of fate are going to shatter apart in the near future..."
As Ryuzu said that, wind blew past her, causing her hair to sail like gentle ocean waves in the air.
A few seconds later. Irlam Village.
After just a leg stretch, Shadow was now standing in front of a different scenery when compared to the Sanctuary.
Numerous houses were scattered across the scenery in front of his eyes, people were walking and chatting, children were playing and...
"Hm? What's that smell...?"
His nose perked up upon smelling the delicate sweet smell of cooking, and judging by the smell, it was some kind of a desert.
"I would say that's an apple pie. It does smell like apples" Shadow muttered.
It's not like that he was hungry. In fact, he doesn't need life necessities that mortals need, like eating, breathing and resting. It was all a side effect of his immortality after all.
However, he always ate because he loves the flavor of the food that he eats. Nothing more, nothing less.
Aside from this topic, he had just confirmed that he reached his destination.
Irlam Village.
Suddenly, from the corners of his eyes, he spotted a group of armored men, around 20 in numbers, accompanied by a 3 meter tall armored troll, making their number become 21.
Shadow then glanced towards the residents of the village, only to see fearful looks on their faces as the armored troop approached them. They scrambled and ran far away, even going as far as throwing whatever they were holding, no matter what important it was, save for their children of course.
"So that's Irlam Village, huh?" The person, who appeared to be the troop leader, said.
"Heh. It seems that Lugunica discards the lower people of its country. How convenient" A man from the troop said.
"Alright, you trash! Empty up everything you have for us, and nobody will get hurt!" The leader of the troop exclaimed to the villagers.
Shadow, looking at this scene, rolled his eyes, before walking away, intending on reaching the capital of Lugunica as fast as possible, since this place, in it's current invaded state, won't provide him with the information he want, and he doesn't have time for placing himself in trouble. His hands were already full enough.
And just as he was about to reach the other side of the forest surrounding the village...
"Stop right there!"
"?!"
...His feet halted in its place upon hearing the voice of a child, which caused him to spin on his heel to see what was the matter.
In front of the troop, he saw a little boy, around 11 years old, standing in front of the troop leader. He had long red hair tied in a high ponytail, hazel brown eyes, and was wearing plain grey shorts, leaving his thing torso completely bare for the world to see, and he was also holding a short wooden sword that he was pointing at the troop leader.
The troop blinked at this for a few seconds, before bursting out in laughter.
"And what'cha think your doin', brat?" A soldier from the troop asked with a mocking smirk.
"My name is Lucas, and I'm the man who will save this village! Stop what you're doing or face my power!" Lucas exclaimed, but even with his brave words, his entire body contradicted his actions, as it was shaking furiously, which made a soldier laugh him off, before kicking the little kid away, causing him to topple a few meters away.
"Lucas!" A girl yelled before approaching the wounded boy. She was around the same age as his, and had short orange hair, a red bow ribbon on top of her head, ocean blue eyes, and a plain orange dress.
Coming closer to the boy, she placed her hands near his bruised faced, before a light blue light emitted from her palms.
"Oh! Look, boss! A girl with Water Magic!" A soldier said in awe.
"Those are extremely rare, if not nonexistent in Gusteko!" Another soldier exclaimed.
"Lucas! Please hang in there!" The girl pleaded with tears dripping down from her eyes.
This scene had a completely different impact on Shadow, who was still watching from the sidelines, where his eyes widened in shock.
"Please, Mr. Shadow! Please hang in there!"
The sound of a certain 6 year old rabbit echoed in his head, which in turn caused Shadow to grit his teeth and close his eyes tightly, the memory tormenting him.
And seeing it here, he wanted to laugh at the irony of fate.
He cursed inside of his head at this, punching the tree beside him so hard that a fist sized crater appeared on its bark.
"What the hell am I doing...?" He muttered.
"Okay! Consider yourselves lucky! We'll take that girl with Water Magic, and spare your pathetic lives! How does that sound?!" The troop leader exclaimed, before a man and a woman appeared in the picture. The man had short brown hair, and the woman look led exactly like an older version of the orange haired young girl.
"Please don't! Take anything but my daughter Petra!" The man pleaded.
"Please we're begging you! She's our only daughter!" The woman pleaded as well.
"Ha! Y'think that we'll listen to weakling trash like you?! Think again! We're taking that girl whether you like it or not!" A soldier exclaimed, taking out his sword and raising it above his head, causing the old couple to shield both the girl and the boy on the ground, intending on sacrificing their lives for them.
But then...
Schulk!
"?!"
The sound of blade tearing flesh.
Everything became silent, so silent that if someone were to drop a needle on the ground, you would hear it echo.
The soldier holding the sword blinked, seeing the looks of horror directed towards him from both his comrades and the villagers. He then noticed that his arm that was holding the sword became extremely light, which in turn made him look at said limb...
... Only to have the blood in his entire face completely drained as he saw his arm, up to the shoulder, being completely severed and laying on the ground.
The next second, the soldier screamed in a mix of shock, horror and pain, before he feel on the ground, fresh blood pouring from the stump were his right arm originally resided.
[Crush 40 OST - I Am All Of Me]
"Oops. That's my fault" Shadow called out, causing everyone to look at him, only to see that he had a weird thin teal colored blade with a black handle resting in his hand, with blood dripping from said blade, confirming that he was the preparator.
"Huh?! What t-?!" A soldier asked in shock, but he couldn't complete his question as a sonic boom passed past him, followed by his being sent flying while rolling violently in the air, with Shadow appeared behind the fallen corpse of the beheaded soldier.
And the instant the soldier's head fell on the floor, all hell broke loose.
"K-KILL HIM!" The troop leader yelled in horror, before a soldier swung his axe at Shadow, when suddenly...
CRASH!
...The axe completely shattered upon making contact with Shadow's skull, not even his hair was sliced off.
"W-Wha-?!" The soldier with the axe couldn't finish his shock question as he was instantly bifurcated in half vertically, causing blood and viscera to erupt from his two falling halves, with the two halves of his brain being shown to the entire world.
Another soldier tried to stab Shadow with his sword, only for two fingers to catch the tip of the blade, courtesy of Shadow, who pressed on the blade with said two fingers, causing the blade to shatter to splinters, before the soldier's head exploded in a mix between blood, viscera and brain matter due to Shadow's metal boot being slammed towards his head at speeds that surpassed light by millions of billions of times. Shadow then spun on his heel, holding a black revolver which he took out from the hammerspace that resided behind his back, before a loud bang was heard as blood bursted from the chest of a nearby soldier due to being shot in the heart at point blank range.
Spinning the revolver from its trigger loop, Shadow shot the next five rounds in an arc fashion, and the next thing that happened was 5 soldiers falling on the ground with their eyes rolling to the back of their heads due to being shot in the forehead.
"El Goa!" A roar came out from one of the soldiers, before spears made out of crimson fire came soaring towards Shadow, who gathered Chaos Energy around him in the air, causing yellow bolts of energy to appear around him.
"Chaos Spear" He whispered before the bolts shot towards the fire spears in the form of yellow energy spears, and the moment it clashed with the fire spears, the energy spears easily destroyed them, continuing their ways towards the soldiers, effectively vaporizing 9 more, causing bloody steam to erupt around the scenery of the battle. The soldier who had his arm cut off tried to crawl away, only for another Chaos Spear to soar through the crimson colored mist, vaporizing him instantly and adding more color to the red mist.
This left both the troll and the troop leader.
And with a casual swing of his sword, Shadow dispelled the crimson mist, giving clearance to the fight scene, and causing him to face off his final enemies.
"Looks like you two are the only ones left" He said calmly.
"W-What...?" The leader was shocked. In less than a minute, his small group was completely erased from existence. This dreadful feeling of fear that engulfed him was beyond belief. He then snapped from his stupor, and hid behind the giant troll.
"Kill him!" He shouted, causing the troll to roar, then it raised it's cleaver and charged at Shadow.
And at that moment, something peculiar made Shadow's eyes widen in shock and disbelief.
The troll in front of him...His body was glowing with a purple outline.
"Chaos Energy...?" He muttered under his breath, before tilting his head to his right, dodging a vertical swing from the troll's cleaver. The troll then made another horizontal swing, only for Shadow to duck underneath it. He then jumped backwards to evade another overhead swing that crashed into the ground, creating a 10 meter crater.
"That power...He must be having a Chaos Emerald...But how? Did the Emeralds travel with me here...? Wait. Nevermind that. It's clear as daylight that the Emerald he has is just empowering him physically, but he can't harness its full power... That's good" Shadow thought, before seeing the troll roar once again, with the purple aura around his body increasing in density.
Shadow, in response, cracked his neck, before rearing his fist back, before black wind swirled around said fist.
At this moment, Shadow closed his eyes, remembering his rival, his frenemy, the only person that pushed him to the limit every time they met face to face...
"...Thank you...Sonic..."
...And also the person that stayed by his side, and made him see that his own life is worth living it.
Concentrating on matters at hand, the wind swirled around his fist even more violently, before he called out the name of a technique that was originally the creation of his rival, but adjusted to Shadow's style.
"Shadow Wind!"
He threw his fist forward, and the next thing that happened was a massive blast of black wind bursting forth, before it collided with the troll.
And the moment it did, the troll was no more.
His body was shredded to large chunks. The chunks turning to smaller pieces. The smaller pieces turning to blood. The blood turning to crimson mist.
And the crimson mist soon blended with the wind that blew it, effectively causing it to vanish, as if the troll wasn't there to begin with.
All that left of said being was a purple gem that fell on the ground, to which Shadow approached and picked up.
[Music Ends]
"Huh. I guess you louts didn't know the importance of this Chaos Emerald. It's a good thing that I have it now" Shadow said before approaching the troop leader, who now sat on the ground, a look of absolute unadulterated horror was plastered on his face as Shadow neared him.
"P-Please! Spare me! Don't kill me!" The man said in horror, desperately pleading for mercy.
"I believe that this old couple over there said a similar thing to you" Shadow said pointing his revolver at the downed man.
"We were just following orders! We are members of the Assassination Organization in Gusteko!" The man exclaimed, causing Shadow to slightly lower his gun.
"What organization?" Shadow asked.
"It's an organization made for assassination! It's led by Mama!" The man answered.
"Excuse me?" Shadow asked raising a confused eyebrow.
"We call her that, but her real name is Capella Emerada Lugunica! She is the Witch Cult's Sin Archbishop of Lust!" The man said.
And upon doing so, he caused Shadow's mind to spiral in millions of thoughts.
Assassins? Magic? Witch Cult? Lugunica?
So many questions. So little answers.
But there's a time and place for everything.
And this wasn't its time.
He then raised his gun once again in front of the man's head, causing him to flinch in fear.
"I told you everything I know!" The man exclaimed, his whole body shaking violently.
"Well, here's the thing. First, I can't let you live after seeing the Chaos Emerald, and second..."
Bang!
The sound of a gunshot, followed by the troop leader falling dead due to a bullet shot between his eyes.
As with Shadow, he was gritting his teeth, a flashback inside his head of a certain military suit wearing male human appeared in front of his eyes, before he placed both the gun and his sword away, gripping tightly on the Chaos Emerald that he acquired.
"...I absolutely hate traitors"
[Skills Learned: Fire Magic Affinity, El Goa, Mana Enhancement]
Immediately afterwards, a robot-like voice sounded inside of his head.
"Huh...Rune Stones are indeed handy. Such a useful perk of being a-"
"Umm...Sire?"
He was snapped from his thoughts when an elderly man appeared in front of him.
"I'm the chief of the village, and on behalf of everyone here, I thank you for saving our lives" The old man said, causing Shadow to stare at the old man with narrowed, before opening his mouth to speak.
"Don't thank me. I just took them down because they were annoying in my sight" Shadow said calmly.
"Uh...I see. Anyways, would you please accept our hospitality? It's the least we can do for saving us from them" The village chief said.
"Very well. Don't mind if I do" Shadow answered.
The village chief then walked to what looked like a small inn, with Shadow following suit in silence. All the while, the villagers were staring at him in awe.
Upon reaching the small inn, both Shadow and the old village chief sat on the counter table, before two large mugs filled with rum were placed in front of them.
And while they were sitting and drinking the mugs of poison, Shadow heard an explanation about the state of the village.
This village is called Arlem Village, and its the property of the magician of the capital of Lugunica, Roswaal L Mathers, and this area was supposed to be under his own protection.
Another topic is the capital of Lugunica. It has the issue of the royal family being killed off by a strange and incurable disease of unknown origins, which caused the Sage Council, the part of the royal government that is responsible for politics, to take temporary lead over the country, which caused hazardous outcomes, leading to the Council to base their role over the country in the form of a hierarchical system, where those who are nobles, dukes and other influencing people with status are treated in the same manner as royalty, while 'lower people', such as the commoners, the poor, demi-humans and those who reside in the slum are treated in the same manner as trash.
As such, an entity known as the Divine Dragon, has given the solution: By creating insignias that hold the ability to choose a female candidate for the throne of Lugunica, they might have the chance of avoiding the unknown plague that cursed the entire royal family to its death, where those candidates will contend in a 3 year period for the throne of the country, starting from next year, where the winner of the Royal Selection will be prized with the blood of the Divine Dragon, which is stated to hold the ability to do miracles.
According to what the village chief had said to Shadow, the Divine Dragon was already establishing a covenant with the royal family for around more than 400 years ago, providing the blood for the next successor in the family.
This made Shadow suspicious of something. However, he decided to push it for later.
"Judging by your explanation, it seems that the country of Gusteko was terrorizing you for a long time" Shadow said, to which the village chief opted a crestfallen expression on his face.
"Sadly, you're right. It has been 5 years already, and those people from Gusteko arrive every month for 5 years to take their so called 'Life Insurance'. And we can't do anything about it" The village chief answered.
"Haven't you tried calling for people to help? Like calling for help from the capital?" Shadow asked.
"Well, we tried doing that so much that we lost count, but no matter what, requests would be ignored. Not to mention that the Margrave Mathers only settles it by paying the fee that those people demand" The chief answered.
"But that doesn't solve the problem at all. Couldn't you just talk to that Roswaal guy to solve this? Didn't you say that he was the strongest magician? Then he could easily take them down" Shadow said.
"Well, that is true, lad. The problem is that Margrave Mathers is one of the people that stand on top of us commoners. We have no way of talking to someone like him. In addition, he seems to know about this, but for reasons unknown, he doesn't seem to take action, leaving us for our fates. The only thing we could do was to use magic stones to create a barrier that protects us from the Mabeasts infesting the Kremeldy Forest" The chief said.
"I see...Say, I need to ask something else" Shadow said.
"What is it, Sir...?" The elderly man asked, trailing in his speech.
"It's Shadow" Shadow answered.
"Right...What is it, Shadow- dono?" The chief asked.
"Earlier before I kill their leader, he said something about an organization called the Witch Cult. What is that?" Shadow asked.
"The Witch Cult is a terrorist organization that holds the goal of reviving the Witch of Envy, the entity that caused the Great Calamity 400 years ago which swallowed half of the world. Leaders of armies in this organization are called Sin Archbishops, and those are the most dangerous people inside this cult. It should be noted that the Witch of Envy was a Half-Elf, which causes the whole world, or what left of it, to complete loathe the Half-Elf race" The chief answered.
"I see. Interesting..." Shadow muttered. The question inside his mind close to being solved.
"Umm... Shadow-dono?" The chief called out, causing Shadow to look at him.
"If it doesn't bother you, can I request of you to stay in the village for a while? We don't have much but..." The chief trailed in his speech, seemingly embarrassed.
"I agree, but on one condition" Shadow immediately answered, causing the chief to look at him with a hopeful look.
"I want to learn about Magic" He said.
"But I saw that you are able to use Magic, with those projectiles that you fired..." The chief said in confusion.
"That's...Something different" Shadow said.
"Very well. It's a deal" The chief said with a smile on his face, before extending his hand towards Shadow for a handshake.
Upon witnessing that sight, Shadow's cold stare turned to an angry glare.
"Welcome to G.U.N., Shadow the Hedgehog..."
He closed his eyes shut, before shaking his head, reverting his facial expression to his trademark scowl, before shaking the hand of the village chief.
The story has turned on its first page.
Three foreigners forced to enter another world.
The events will unfold to a plethora of possibilities, where a single miniature action could either lead to the brightest route, or to the worst future.
And the actions of these three...Will determine the future.
This...Is how the journey might begin.
This...Is how those unique individuals... Would be...
...Saving Life In Another World From Zero.
And Done!
This is the prologue of the story. Not that flashy, I know, but I'm doing my best. So sorry if some of you don't like it.
Onto the next topic in hand is the pairing. Of course, I'm planing on pairing Subaru with Emilia, Reinhard with Natsumi and Shadow with Rem. Other characters will appear later. But I need your opinions on the current pairings, and tell me what would fit better.
Another thing that I would love to note is that I have no intention of following the Canon story of Re:Zero in my fanfiction. While Arc 1 will be similar to the main story, it won't be the same, where the other arcs will be different than the Canon story.
Next Chapter: Beginning of Arc 1.
Until Next Time And Next Chapter!
Jude Warble, Out.