Bless This World With A Stranger

by RhineWrites

Arc 15: At the End of the World!

78. A15-1: The Outsider's Story

Arc 15: At the End of the World!

} Prologue {

[Ego] Aqua collapses to the ground, her vision already going dark as she uses the last of her strength to look at her comrades; her friends and family, seeing they were already lying on the ground, motionless and quiet.

They had lost their battle with Entropy, though that was something she had expected would happen.

'Damn it... we really should have tried to run...'

[Ego] Aqua then falls unconscious as well. A moment later, Entropy comes to a stop beside her, looking down at the fallen opponents.

"That was an impressive attempt. A foolish one, but still very impressive. I will commend you for that. But now, it is time for you all to face your maker."

Entropy holds a hand up above herself, making several balls form, one for each of the girls.

"Be at peace, all of you... as your lives come to an end."

She goes to unleash the balls of entropy at them, her intent to utterly destroy them, but stops as a series of images flash through her mind. Seeing these images causes the balls to disperse and fade away, while Entropy takes a moment to consider what the images had made her remember and feel.

She then sighs before snapping her fingers and making a swishing motion with her arm.

At once, the unconscious bodies of [Ego] Aqua, [Shy] Yunyun, [Complex] Iris, and [Passion] Darkness lift into the air as their bodies become encased inside crystals, the same kind of crystal that the innumerable count of Kazuma's here in this place were being kept within.

"Strange... your actions here made me remember a simpler time, a time when I was together with them, with HIM! Perhaps I was wrong about your little group, so I'll let you all slumber and dream of happier days for now. And speaking of now..."

Entropy then makes another swishing motion with her arms, causing a curious image to appear before her. She studies the image for a few moments, then says-

"That barrier of yours has started to grow weaker, Rubrikt. Has your ability to keep it going, to keep me out starting to weaken? (closes her eyes to feel something out) Ah, I see. You're planning on having your big showdown with Kazuma here soon, are you not. Good..."

Their fight was about to happen and Entropy had no doubt Kazuma would find a way to come out the victor. Of course he would, seeing as he had a piece of her within him now. And once Rubrikt was gone and the barrier around that timeline broken...

"Be patient for just a little longer, Kazuma. I'll be coming to get you soon. VERY soon indeed!"

{|} Chapter 1: The Outsider's Story {|}

} Part 1 {

"Sorry big bro, but no can do. Like I know you would probably say in a moment like this; come with me if you want to live!"

There was a silence that lingers in the room for a moment as Kazuma looks at the familiar Crimson Demon girl he had first met, and technically only really seen once, during the Arcanretia trip before doing what any sensible person would do.

He shrugs his shoulders, lays back down, and covers himself completely. A moment later...

"Wait, wait, wait. Maybe I should have handled all that better, but don't just go ignoring me now."

cried [Glutton] Komekko as she rushes over, grabs onto the blanket and tries to pull it off Kazuma, who doesn't hesitate to resist her attempt.

"Just leave me alone. I've been having to deal with a crap-ton of troublesome matters here recently and I'm pretty much done with it all now. I'm sorry, but whatever your reason for needing me, I'm afraid I have to take a pass. Please find someone else to help you out, hot spring girl!"

"Sorry, no can do. I hate to tell you this but you're the... wait, you mean you actually remember me? That's awesome. Now, stop resisting already so we can get a move on. We don't have a lot of time to be doing this."

"I don't care."

As the struggle continues, [Know It All] Eris lets out a sigh before finally speaking up-

"Kazuma, please. We really do need you to come with us. Won't you at least hear us out?"

"Like I said already, I don't want to deal with anymore... wait, that voice. Is that you, Know It All?"

Kazuma finally stops his struggling and lets up in his hold on the blanket, causing [Glutton] Komekko to go stumbling back onto the ground. Once she had recovered from his little fall, she looks at Kazuma to see he was sitting up, giving her a more serious look.

"What are you doing with that? Did you somehow sneak into Empyria and steal it? I hope for your sake that's not the case as I know a certain goddess of fortune who may not be happy to hear that."

Hearing that makes [Glutton] Komekko wave her arms before herself desperately as she blurts out-

"Wait, don't be too hasty, big bro. I swear I can explain my actions."

Kazuma crosses his arms over his chest then says-

"I'm listening. And while you're telling me how you have the Know It All, maybe you can also tell me why you're calling me big bro too."

"I... well (hesitates) I want to tell you, I really do. But there are these rules, you see..."

"It's alright, Komekko. I believe there's no longer any reason to keep this truth from him

said {Know It All] Eris while Kazuma, having Know-It-All call the girl Komekko, begins to stare blankly at her.

"Komekko, you name is Komekko. You mean, like Megumin's little sister Komekko?"

"That's right, big bro. My name is Komekko, Crimson Demon and wielder of Advanced Magic, she who enjoys ALL there is to eat in the world and she who loves her big brother more than any other!"

[Glutton] Komekko then does a traditional Crimson Demon style pose while Kazuma just stares blankly at her, then let's out a sigh.

"No doubt about it. You really are Megumin's little sister. Wonder how Megumin would react if she saw her little sister was beating her in the looks department."

"Not well, if memory serves. If anything, she was rather upset but we can't talk about that later. For now, let's just focus on the task at hand, like explaining things to you."

"We'll do that soon enough, Komekko. For now, I should explain myself to you, Kazuma."

"I take it that means you're more than just a magic talking book from the Heavens, huh?"

"That is correct, Kazuma. While I currently have the form of a magical book, my true identity is..."

The next few moments are filled with silence as... nothing happens. Kazuma cocks his head in confusion as [Glutton] Komekko just stands there, also confused. Finally, [Know It All] Eris says-

"... Komekko, I need you to hold me out before you."

"Huh? Oh right, you can't do your thing when hanging at my side."

[Glutton] Komekko then takes the Know It All into her hands before holding it out before herself. The magic tome then begins to glow, revealing the ghostly form of the Goddess Eris before Kazuma.

Kazuma just looks at her for a moment before smiling and shaking his head.

"Why am I not surprised. I had this feeling that it was you, Eris. But something doesn't make any sense to me. How can you be both HERE and downstairs with the others in you Chris persona. Do you have the ability to be in two places at once?"

"It would be nice if I, both this me and the me you know so well, had that kind of power, but no. I am my own Eris just as the Eris you know is her own self."

"OK, so that means?"

"It means this Eris, as well as yours truly, are from another timeline. Same as our friends who have been helping their counterparts here in this timeline with stuff, like helping big sister and Darkness with escaping Axel to come save you when you had been held hostage by the Dullahan."

"OK, you're gonna have to explain all that to me in more detail. Luckily, I already have an idea on what you're talking about, seeing as me and Anna had that little adventure in another timeline here recently. I mean, why are you two, and the others you spoke of, even doing here anyways?"

"It's simple, big bro. We're here to get big sister back!"

"Get big sister... (realization hits Kazuma) …I see, so that explains it. The older Megumin who's been hanging out inside my soul. She's YOUR Megumin, isn't she?"

"Yes, she is. We're not sure how she ended up inside your soul exactly, but we do know why she's here in your timeline... sort of. Anyways, that's the reason we need you to come with us now."

said [Know It All] Eris.

"To free her from being inside me, I take it. Why now, though? Did you only just learn she was inside me recently?"

Both [Glutton] Komekko and [Know It All] Eris shakes their heads as Komekko says-

"No, we've known for almost a year now, just a little after when you first arrived here which is when we first arrived in this timeline ourselves. The reason we are only coming to get her now is because..."

"It's because the remove her soul from out of your soul can only happen on your birthday, Kazuma. To be more exact, during the one-minute interval that marks when you were born into the world."

"Oh, that makes so much sense. It also explains why you two are in a hurry here. The hour, the minute, of my birth is only a few hours away here so... What will happen if you can't get her out of me in that one-minute interval?"

"Then we'll have to wait another year, which we'd rather not do in all honesty."

"What the book goddess said. So big bro, will you come with us now?"

Kazuma takes a moment to fake think about it before giving them a smile.

"Sure, I'll come with you two. Just promise I won't have to do anything crazy to see this done?"

"Don't worry, it'll only take us a minute to do it and you should be OK when we're done here. Probably!"

"Great..."

said Kazuma as he gets out of bed and walks over to them. [Glutton] Komekko then opens the portal before motioning for Kazuma to enter.

"Welp, here I go again!"

He then steps into the portal and into the unknown.

} Part 2 {

Emerging from the portal, Kazuma found himself standing in a ruined courtyard just outside of a large tower than looked like it was starting to fall apart and crumble. Beyond them was a vast land of nothing. Not plants, no animals, could be seen. Just endless oceans of rock and dust.

Also, there were some waterfalls he could make out but there was something about the look of them that didn't seem right to him. As he continues looking, he hears a 'swooshing' sound, signaling the arrival of [Glutton] Komekko through the portal. Without looking back at her, he asks-

"What happened here?"

"That is a complicated question, big brother. It might be easier to answer by saying 'What DIDN'T happen here?'"

This finally makes Kazuma look back at her, seeing she had returned the Know It All to her side, though the ghostly image remained present, standing beside her. [Know It All] Eris then says-

"We'll tell you once we're inside the tower, Kazuma. But for right now, all that can be said about this place, this world, is that this entire world is DEAD!"

"That's right, big bro. The world is dead, dead as a doorknob. D-E-A-D, dead. But since you might want some clarification, when we say dead, we mean this world can no longer support life in any form or fashion. Even those waters you can see off in the distance; more of a poison than anything else. You won't find any life swimming around within."

"Wait, if that's true, then how are we..."

"There's a field of oxygen that surrounds this tower and the surrounding area. Within this space, life is still possible, still manageable... but only to a VERY limited degree. Beyond the barrier Aqua created, there is nothing, not even oxygen. Now, let's head inside and we'll begin explaining everything to you."

With [Know It All] Eris's words, [Glutton] Komekko then begins walking towards the tower. After a moment of watching her go, Kazuma begins to follow after. As he does, he notices that the ghostly Eris wasn't doing any walking actions herself, instead she just moved along with [Glutton] Komekko's movement.

After entering the tower, the made their way of a series of steps, then walked down a long hall, ending with them entering a large circular room. Once inside, [Glutton] Komekko steps forward and places the Know It All on a pedestal located at one end of the table, the ghostly image of Eris now cut off at the waist along the table's edges.

"We still have a little time before we can begin so let's pass the time by telling you more about our little group here, Kazuma. Please, take a seat."

Kazuma nods, sitting in a stone chair opposite that of the ghostly Eris. A moment later, [Glutton] Komekko goes and hops into his lap, making [Know It All] Eris say-

"Komekko, what are you...?"

"Taking my seat, obviously. Hm, your lap doesn't feel quite the same as MY big brothers, but it's still an acceptable feel."

"I don't know how to react to this. I mean, on the one hand, I have a beautiful girl sitting on my lap. On the other, my mind keeps reminding me that from my viewpoint, she's only six years old now... well, the Komekko I know is six while you're... actually, I don't know what age you're suppose to be."

"Down, Komekko. You can be as horny as you want once we get our Kazuma back."

"... (annoyed) Fine, always ruining my fun."

[Glutton] Komekko then gets off Kazuma lap, taking a seat next to him. Kazuma looks at her huff before turning his attention back to [Know It All] Eris, waiting for her to begin the explanation. After a moment, she finally begins.

"Before I begin telling you about how our world ended up in this state, would it be OK if I tell you a little about how our two timelines are similar here?"

"Sure, if you think me knowing will help with anything."

"Don't worry, this won't take too long to explain. In a nutshell, your counterpart was sent here to my world after sacrificing himself to save a girl from being hit by the infamous Truck-kun, as it is often called by the anime fandom from your world."

"Ah, that old trope happened to my counterpart. Geez, that had to be an annoying way to die. Still, if it happened with me saving the life of some random girl, who he may or may not have known, is somewhat comforting to hear."

"Actually, big brother. Turns out you didn't save her. Hell, there was no need to save her as she was never in any danger. This Truck-kun person wasn't even a truck, but a slow-moving tractor that had already stopped; the driver and the girl chatting happily when you rudely came running in and pushed her off onto the ground."

"Wait, what? Hold on, that doesn't make any sense. I mean, for one thing, how do you know about all that, Komekko?"

"Aqua told me about it. I asked her to tell me a funny story one time and that's the one she chose to go with."

"Damn that little... I am so going to kill... wait, how is someone dying becoming a funny story?"

"You pissed yourself, maybe crapped yourself too, after NOT saving the girl and falling to the ground."

"But... but... but... that doesn't make any sense. Why did I even bother to try saving that girl if she wasn't in any danger? And how would any of that lead my counterpart to pissing himself?"

"Eris, if you would."

"(sigh) The reason you thought the girl was in danger because you had the sun in your eyes, mostly blinding you from seeing more than shapes and shadows. You knew one was the girl because she had walked past you just moments ago and as for the truck slash tractor, you were going on that assumption based solely on the size and shape. Even though it wasn't moving, your brain just assumed it was one of those moments where it felt like time had slowed, or even stopped, and you reacted accordingly based on your truest nature. Also, you had gone two full days without a wink of sleep, so your brain wasn't exactly firing on all cylinders there."

"And the reason for me pissing myself?"

"(giggling) You thought you had been run over by the nonexistent Truck-kun and thus, your body did what it assumed it had to do in that moment."

[Glutton] Komekko then begins to laugh happily to herself while Kazuma glares at her. After a moment, he finally looks back at [Know It All] Eris, waiting for her to continue, which doesn't take long.

"After you died, you found yourself before Aqua. At first, you were charmed by her, though that didn't last long as Aqua quickly began to laugh about his death, much like how Komekko is laughing about it now... actually. She further explained how everyone was laughing about what happened to you: the girl, the old man driving the tractor, the paramedics, the doctors, even your own parents. Everyone couldn't help but laugh about how sad and pathetic your death had been. It even made the news, getting a good laugh out of everyone who heard about it."

This makes Kazuma grab his head and swinging his upper body around like he was suffering a panic attack. [Know It All] Eris allows him to have his moment while [Glutton] Komekko to go from laughing herself to patting his head, telling him it was OK and it wasn't all THAT bad.

"After that, Aqua gave you your options and you chose to come to my world and try your hand at becoming a hero. Then, when you went to choose your special power or item to bring with you, Aqua started annoying you by telling you to hurry up. It was then, fed up with her nonsense and wanting to make her suffer a little, that your counterpart decided to choose Aqua herself as his power and like an idiot, she accepted as she hadn't been paying much attention till after agreeing. And this, out Kazuma and Aqua were sent down to my world to begin their journey to defeat the Devil King."

"Hm, sounds like something I would have done myself, if MY Aqua had given me the chance and the reason to do it. Still, I can imagine my counterpart coming to regret his decision to make her his special power."

"You have NO idea, though there were times he was also glad to have chosen her too. After that, they went to the guild, had to work regular jobs for a bit till they had enough eris to afford gear, then did a quest that showed them that they needed help. They met Megumin and Darkness and formed the party and after that, well... I'm sure you can guess what happened."

"Nothing good, I take it."

"(nods) The Dullahan, Verdia, came and went. He came because of Megumin using Explosion magic on his castle daily. He cursed Darkness but Aqua saved her, then Aqua and Megumin went behind your back and continued to attack the castle, resulting in Verdia coming back for revenge. You managed to discover his weak point and he was defeated. Then, when the mobile fortress destroyer arrived, you managed to find a way to destroy it, though you only bothered because you didn't want to see your new mansion home nuked after just getting it."

"Then came the trial, you having to prove your innocence despite technically having proved it during the trial itself. There was Vanir, a trip to Arcanretia and the Crimson Demon village, Hans the deadly poison slime and Sylvia the growth chimera. Meeting princess Iris, Darkness almost becoming the bride of Aldarp, Wolbach, and then finally the showdown with the Devil King himself, which you managed to defeat all on your own, earning yourself quite the name."

"Wait, you're saying that I am the one who defeated the Devil King? And what's more, I did is SOLO too. How?"

"You hit him with a point-blank range Explosion while inside a dungeon deep underground so that even if he somehow survived, he'd be so fucked up and trapped under tons of rubble and earth that escaping and surviving would be impossible."

said [Glutton] Komekko, his eyes full of admiration.

"Damn, that sounds so... Wait, how did I survive that if it was done at point blank range?"

"Actually, you didn't. That choice you made should have been the end of you, Kazuma. But, seeing as you did defeat the Devil King, the higher-ups decided to give you a special one-time only revive despite not having a physical body and you ended up choosing to go back to living out the remainder of your days on my world. It made sense, seeing as you had become a legendary hero and all."

"And everyone else? What happened with them?"

"Well, Aqua had her chance to return to Heaven and resume her job as a Goddess full time, but she instead decided she wanted to stay with you and so asked if she could remain down below till your final death before returning home. She's never said why she wanted to stay with you until your final death. Was it because she was just having so much fun or maybe it was because she had fallen in love with you? Either way, her request was granted and she went back to my world with you."

"Megumin, after a couple of months, decided she wanted to travel the land for a time, so she could spread the teachings of Explosion magic to as many people who would want to learn it, seeing as interest in it had skyrocketed following the death of the Devil King. She promised though that she would return soon and when she did, she'd be ready to settle down and live a quiet, home bound life."

"Darkness and her family were given new lands to govern and Darkness herself had a lot of responsibilities to deal with. She also received plenty of marriage proposals from many men, and women, but she never accepted them. In fact, she would often come around the mansion for a visit, to hide from the duties she had in the outside world, and to flirt with your counterpart in the hopes of stealing him for herself while Megumin wasn't around."

"Also big bro, it should be noted it was unknown if MY big sis had romantic feeling for you or not. Big sis wasn't one to share her feelings for a lot of things, apart from her devotion to her comrades, her love for me and our parents, and especially her love for Explosion magic itself."

"What Komekko says is true. Even I don't know exactly how Megumin truly felt about you exactly, but I do know you were the most important guy in her life and she did tell you once she was done and had returned, she'd be ready to settle down and live a simple life WITH YOU and the rest of us, though she did place plenty of emphasis on the you part."

"As for the rest of us. I continued to search out for the other Divine Relics, stopping off from time to time to check in. Yunyun would also visit, albeit rarely as she usually went between her duties back at the village and occasionally meeting up with Megumin and joining her for a bit before heading back home. Iris did her thing as well though only she can really talk about the details there. Now, I think it's time we talk about..."

"Wait, Eris, haven't you forgotten the most important detail?"

"Have I?"

"Yeah, you're forgetting about me here. I'll tell Kazuma. A few months after big sis had left, your counterpart received a letter from mom, asking if you wanted to adopt me."

"Say what? Adopt you... why?"

"Mom claimed it was because the money situation was becoming harder on them and they wanted me to have the best life possible. Of course, you offered to send them money instead but mom was insistent about you taking me in. Seeing as Aqua felt it was a good idea, you accepted and I came to live with you two in Axel."

"There has to be more to that story though."

"And you'd be right. The truth is mom had gotten annoyed with big sis, with her procrastinating with taking so long with getting a ring on her finger and a baby in her belly through you and had sent me to take her place."

"You can't be serious."

"Oh, I am. Don't misunderstand though. She didn't expect you to start having THAT kind of relationship with a then seven-year-old me. No, she just hoped that having me around would allow me to ingratiate myself onto you, making it easier for me to seduce you into having an intimate relationship once I was of age."

"Why? I mean... how did you feel about all that?"

"I was fine with it. Big brother had given me the yummiest treats in the past, so I had already decided I wanted to be close to you. And after learning you had defeated the Devil King too; I knew there was no other guy more deserving to become Komekko's husband and father to her children. Also, having access to all the food I could ever want to eat... such a beautiful bonus too."

Hearing all that makes Kazuma sigh and shake his head.

"Seriously, is the Yuiyui in every timeline so mentally fucked in the head? I can't imagine Megumin, your Megumin I mean, wasn't too happy about that when she learned about it."

"No... no she wasn't and she said she would have plenty of words to share with mom when they saw each other again. That said, she didn't learn about any of it till a long time after I came to live with you and Aqua, big brother."

"... Why is that exactly?"

"Eris, if you would please."

[Know It All] Eris sighs before rejoining the conversation.

"Thank you, Komekko... I think. Anyways, a day came when you received a letter from Megumin, calling for all of us to meet her at a certain location. Said it was the fate of the world kind of deal."

"Something tells me it was always like that with her... with all of you, actually."

"Yeah, that's true. But she was serious about this one. Also, about the timing. You see..."

"I was old enough to come along for this trip, big brother."

"What do you mean?"

"What Komekko means is... it had been eight years since Megumin had left on her little journey and nearly four years since she had last written a letter to you, updating you all on hos she was doing. If not for Yunyun letting you all know she was doing OK every now and then, you all would have started to worry about her."

"On top of that, you had considered on more than one occasion to go out, find big sis yourself, and drag her back home while reminding her that she had been gone WAYYYYYY longer than she had said she'd be gone for. If you ask me, big sis was just letting her fears and insecurities get to her. Not too surprising, seeing as she probably didn't want to let it be known how little she actually understood about anything relating to romance."

"Now Komekko, let's not make assumptions. We can ask her ourselves once we get her back with us. Anyways, as I was saying... after receiving a letter from her, asking for our help, your counterpart, along with Aqua, Darkness, and Komekko, took off to meet her. They met up with Yunyun along the way and I also joined up around the same time and, thanks to Yunyun's magic, we reached Megumin and here new friend."

"Her new friend? What's his name?"

"It wasn't a he, but a she... and she was also the daughter of the Devil King, using Megumin to help her get revenge against your counterpart for killing her dad, not that Megumin was aware of it. Not that it mattered seeing as they had gone and made quite the big goof together."

"(sounding exasperated) What did your Megumin and the Devil King's daughter do exactly?"

"Before that, big bro. I just want to say when I reunited with big sis, she didn't believe I was me. Instead, she thought I was some random clan member hussy who was trying to get you into bed. Once I was able to convince her that I was in fact me, she changed her tune right quickly, telling your counterpart he had better not touched her little sister less he face certain death. Of course, I came to your defense and reminded her that, seeing as she had been gone for nearly a decade, she had NO right to be angry about anything we may or may not have done together. Besides, if she wanted to be angry with anyone, then she should turn her fury towards mother instead."

"Yes, thank you for that side tangent, Komekko. Anyways, what had happened with Megumin and the DK's daughter is that they had found where the Destroyer of my world's resting place and the daughter decided to use one of the powers her old man had given her to try to steal its power, to make her powerful enough to get her revenge on you. Instead, all they did was wake it up and seriously piss it off."

"Stop right there, Eris. First, why would she need the power of an actual Destroyer and two, why did she need Megumin to help her out with finding it?"

"Well, the reason she wanted the power is because she believed you were insanely powerful. You really needed to be in order to have defeat her father, at least in her mind. She thought nothing less than that would be enough to end you and get her revenge. As for why she needed Megumin? Part of the reason was that she hoped she could learn more about you for her revenge and the other part was because she was having trouble figuring some stuff out and figured the mind of a Crimson Demon would be able to help her."

"Obviously, big sis was livid when she learned the truth."

"Indeed. Now, what followed was a VERY long war against the Destroyer, a period of time when many people were killed. Even the daughter herself ended up dying... saving you, if you can believe it. I guess spending time around you, getting to know you, had an impact on her if she was willing to die in order to save you in the end. Aqua joked that maybe she had developed a crush on you, like any other girl who came into your life."

"Strange as this this too say but that sounds about right. By the way, why do you keep calling her the daughter and not by her real name. If memory serves, I believe Lynn said her mother was named Ka..."

"Our Devil King's daughter doesn't share the same name as the one from your timeline, big brother. Nor is miss Lynn a member of the family in our timeline either. Let's see, I believe our timelines daughter went by the name..."

"That isn't important, Komekko. What is important is that in the end, we did manage to beat the Destroyer, using a combination of divine power from me and Aqua, your mind and Drain Touch with Yunyun's magic all channeled into a powerful Explosion and Sacred Explode from Megumin and Iris. The battle had ended but the damage to my world had been great. But that wasn't then end though as it was at that moment when..."

"When Entropy showed up, huh?"

"Yes, she came for you... for our Kazuma to be exact. Things didn't go so well for us. We managed to stop Entropy from taking you somehow, but it resulted in your body being destroyed and your soul being splintered into several pieces. What's more, everyone within our little group save for Aqua and myself also lost their bodies and their souls were sent being blasted into other timelines."

"And after that, both Aqua and Eris began their LONGGG search for all of us."

"It did take us a long time to find everyone, having to look through many timelines after we gained the ability to travel between them by a guy who called himself Palastori."

"I'm familiar with him. He helped me and Anna get back when we were taken to another timeline not too long ago."

"Good. Thanks to him, we discovered all our missing friends had lost their bodies and that their souls were all hiding inside you, thus requiring us to retrieve them followed by restoring their bodies. We also found each one of them had a piece of your soul with them and after our long search, we have finally reached the ending we have so waited for."

"Getting your Megumin back."

"Correct. And with her, we will also be getting you back as well."

'So, that explains the ball of light she was always holding. It was a piece of my counterpart's soul that came with her.'

"Any idea how she ended up inside my soul or was it like that for everyone else as well?"

"Nope, only her. We're not sure why big sis ended up inside there of all places..."

"It is something that honestly shouldn't have happened. Anyways, after we confirmed she was within you, we all began to work on keeping you safe till this day had arrived. I'm sure you're wondering about how we kept you safe. Well..."

[Know It All] Eris then explains to Kazuma all the activities the Outsider's had done in the background, like how they had helped Megumin and Darkness sneak out of Axel to save him from Verdia, how Darkness had made certain he hadn't been executed when he was on trial, and so on.

"I see. I guess I owe you all a lot then. Two more questions. One, what will happen to you all once your little family had been restored?"

"We'll probably come back here to our timeline to stay. We'll just find a new world to spend the rest of our days upon, living, loving, and being together. What was the other question?"

"Well, I was wondering where the rest of you are at. Surely they would be here for the big moment."

"Normally, they would. However, just before it was time to come get you, a major discovery happened. We had found the home timeline of Entropy so they all went there to see if they could learn anything about it. Anything that can help us should it ever come our way again."

"Is that a good idea; them going there now, I mean?"

"If you want my opinion... hell no!"

"Now Komekko, we can't just go avoiding..."

Before [Know It All] Eris could finish, a bell rings out, alerting them to the time having finally arrived.

"We'll need to finish this later, Kazuma. It's time... time to get our Megumin and the last of our Kazuma's soul pieces back!"

} Part 3 {

With a wave of her hand and a little chant, [Glutton] Komekko caused the table in the room to shift in its appearance. While it was still technically a table in shape, it was no longer the kind of table one would eat and chat around. What it had been turned into was a more ritualistic style table, covered in runes and other such symbols.

"OK big bro, please climb up and lay down on you back at the center so we can get started here."

"Alright. (Kazuma then gets onto the table and as he lays back) By the way, how long do you think this is going to take here exactly?"

"(thinks about it) Hm, actually, that's a good question? What do you think, Eris?"

"Honestly, Kazuma. Neither one of us can really say. After all, this is the first time we're actually doing this particular ritual with some."

"The first time you... wait, didn't you say you had already done this before, Eris? I mean, you and Aqua did pull everyone else from out of me too so..."

"That and this are actually very different things, Kazuma. With Darkness, Yunyun, Iris, and Komekko here, they're souls had simply been hiding inside various you's from other timelines, but not in the same manner as our Megumin here."

"Think one body having two souls inside it, but only one being in control while the other was aware of what was going on... and maybe some of our quirks influencing that particular Kazuma as a result too."

"Like Komekko said. If our Megumin had been inside you in the same way the others had been inside the alternate Kazuma's, then we would have got her back LONG ago and would have already been on our way and back to living our lives together by now."

"Makes sense. Still, you would think you'd at least have an idea about how long it'll take."

"Beyond it only taking a minute tops to get our Megumin back, I can't say how long you'll be out for following that action. Know this, the Heart of the Soul is an incredibly sacred place, one that as actually forbidden for anyone to mess with."

"In other words, what we're doing here could be seen as a divine crime but seeing as no one is currently trying to stop us, then hopefully it means what we're doing is OK."

"Kazuma, it's time. Close your eyes and try to relax as me and Komekko work our magic here."

"Alright... good luck, too all of us I guess."

Kazuma then closes his eyes, taking in several breaths while trying to think calming thoughts.

"It would be nice if the others were here though, especially Aqua and Yunyun. With just the two of us doing this alone, there is that chance we could actually kill big brother here by accident."

"Wait, what..."

shouts Kazuma before everything goes black.

For what felt like forever, he was as nothing within a never-ending void. And then, his eyes finally open and all he could see were stars. Stars above him, stars around him, and stars below him. There was no doubt about it; he had returned once again to the Heart of the Soul.

Sitting up, he begins to look around for the Megumin within him while saying-

"Back again... how many times has this been now? I think this is visit number four which I'm sure is setting a record or something. Now, where are you, Meg..."

"I'm here!"

Kazuma looks in the direction of the voice, seeing a shimmer run along the watery ground as the tree made of stars rises up. A moment later, [Older] Megumin comes walking into view, holding the soul piece of her Kazuma in hand.

"So, you've returned here again, have you? I didn't know you liked me that much."

"I don't... I mean I do, wait I... ([Older] Megumin laughs at him) Actually, the reason I am here now is..."

"I already know. Everything that happens to you, everything you see and hear, feel and taste and smell, I know it all too. Kind of a weird kind of sharing going on but hey, I don't really mind it."

"Then you know you'll soon be leaving this place and returning to the side of your companions then?"

"Yes, though I'm not sure how long that'll take them to do, especially as time here is a little wonky."

Kazuma nods, then thinks about something before finally saying-

"Well, seeing as we do have some time to kill, mind answering some questions for me?"

"Sure, if I can, that is. Ask away."

"I was wondering... do you have any idea about how you ended up inside my very soul when your sister and the others, save for Aqua and Eris, ended up just being inside my alternate selves but not inside their souls?"

"(thinks) I'm not sure myself, but I do have a theory. If my hunch is correct, it may have to do with the special connection you and your Megumin have with one another."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, isn't it obvious? The two of you are soul mates, something that's very rare from what I have been told. Maybe that little detail about the two of you is the reason though I can't be certain. Honestly, I'm a little jealous of the connection you two have. Really makes me wish I had that kind of connection to MY Kazuma!"

"Yeah... on that topic, why did you leave your Kazuma like you did and stay gone for nearly a decade?"

"That wasn't intentional, I assure you. I wanted to stay with him, I really did. But the thing of it is... I was afraid."

"Afraid?"

"Yes, I was afraid. Growing up, all I cared about was Explosion magic. Well, I cared about my little sister and my parents too, but Explosion magic was extra special to me. So much so, in fact, that I ignored anything and everything else that had to do about life, especially with matters concerning romance."

"Even though you probably knew your way around conserving your eris, huh?"

"That was different. That was more of a necessity I picked up along the way, for obvious reasons. When it came to romance, I never saw myself falling in love. I never thought about dating or marriage or even becoming a mother. I figured my life would be too busy focusing on all things Explosion related."

"And then my counterpart came into your life."

"Yeah, you weren't like anyone I had ever met before. You were a shameful pervert but had a kind heart within you. You were lazy as hell but always took action when it was most needed. You complained all the time but always saved us from ourselves when we needed it. You were such a contradiction and I found myself being charmed by that aspect of you."

"Whenever any of us started doubting ourselves, you would always get us back on the path, always clear any doubts from our minds despite constantly wishing we would change ourselves. Whenever he had a chance to see that change happen, he would always stop us and insist we were fine as we were."

"Along the way, I realized I had fallen in love with you... him and after you defeated the Devil King and officially retired, something we agreed you had earned to right to do, I had wanted to do the same, but I couldn't. How could I when it was becoming clear to me that I knew nothing on how I should act and be, both as a girlfriend and as a... well, a fellow retired person too, I guess. I mean, I had reached the top of the Explosion Mountain with no way to take my connection to the spell any further."

"And that's when you decided to leave; to go on that journey of yours?"

"I wasn't ready to settle down yet, to become my Kazuma's lover. How could I when there was so much I didn't even know or understand about the subject. And so, I decided to would go on that journey you know about. On the surface, I said I wanted to spread the knowledge of Explosion magic around, educate everyone about its greatness and train anyone who wanted to learn it. All that was true as I really did want to teach others about my magic, especially now seeing as the viewpoint on Explosion magic had improved greatly because of you."

"In secret though, I planned on also taking the time to learn all I could about love and romance so that when I returned to you, I would be ready to be all that I needed to be, all that I wanted to be with you. And so, I set out and began my great journey, planning only to be gone a LITERAL short while."

"And that somehow turned into nearly a full decade away."

"I know, I know. I was being stupid and selfish there. As my journey went along, I kind of got into the whole talking and teaching about Explosion magic, so much so that I ended up forgetting about my other goal for the trip; that being becoming more educated in the art of love and romance."

"Yunyun would join me on occasion, and she would point out, multiple times, that I had been gone from home for a good long while. I never really listened though as I figured she was just being funny or something. I seriously did lose track of time while I was out and about so when I finally saw my now teenaged sister when I called for everyone to come join me, it was only then I realized just how long I had been gone for. Even now, I still can't believe I lost track of all that time."

"I can only imagine. So, what's going to happen after you're free?"

"Obviously, I'm going to do what I should have done so long ago and be with my Kazuma. After seeing your interactions with your Megumin, and the others, feeling what you have felt, I've come to realize just how much I want all that for myself as well. I want my Kazuma to hold me in his arms, want to hear him whisper the words 'I love you' into my ear, and all the sex stuff too will be..."

"An Explosion!"

"... Yeah, I really want to experience that most of all. And all this is thanks to..."

Before [Older] Megumin can finish, a door of light opens behind her, making both her and Kazuma give it their attention.

"I guess that's my exit cue then."

"I guess so. You know, I'm going to miss having you around inside me, strange as that is to say. Anything you want me to tell your sister when I next see her, assuming you can't get a new body going for you soon."

"Yeah, tell her that if she's beaten me to losing her V-card with our Kazuma, then she's in so much trouble."

"Will do."

[Older] Megumin nods before turning towards the door and walking towards it. She stops right before it, looks back at Kazuma, and says-

"And Kazuma, one last quick thing. About Entropy... being in here as made something very clear to me. Entropy is hurting. Something horrible happened to her in the past to make her the way she is now. We'll need to work together here in the future to see if we can help her too... ALL of us!"

"Yeah, I know. I think I've known that for a long time now. Anyways, see you on the other side, Megumin."

"You too, Satou Kazuma."

With that, [Older] Megumin stepped into the door of light and vanished into the light. Once the door closed, Kazuma closed his eyes and wondered what he should do now until he finally awakened.

Which didn't take long as when he opened his eyes again, he was back inside that tower, laying down on the table... with one hell of a headache. He groans as he goes to sit up, finding a pair of hands reaching out to help him.

"You doing OK there, big bro?"

"Yeah, sure... save for this damn headache. Never mind that for now. Did you get your Megumin back?"

"See for yourself."

[Glutton] Komekko then points off to the side, showing that beside the ghostly form of Eris was a red light that hovered in the air and beside it was a container filled with multiple, smaller, green lights all dancing around.

"So she's out now? Why is she..."

"Still in a soul form? Her physical body was lost long ago and as such, I'll need to make a new body for her soul to inhabit, which is going to take a while, especially without Aqua here to lend me a hand."

"I see... maybe you should ask MY Aqua and Eris to help you guys out. It would make things go a lot faster."

"Big brother does have a point. Seeing as we've come this far, might as well push it a little bit more, right?"

"While that would be nice, one of the rules we were told was to not go pulling other gods out of their timelines and into ours as that can have some nasty consequences. Likewise, transporting an exposed soul between timelines could also cause issues we'd be better off avoiding. No matter as getting Megumin's new body made will only take me a month or so. Maybe not even that, seeing as Aqua and the others should be back home soon."

"And what happens once you have your Megumin back completely?"

"Then me and Aqua can restore our Kazuma's soul into a unified state and then give him his new body too. And once that's all done, we can all finally move on to living our lives together again."

"Speaking of living lives, I think it's time we send big brother here back to his timeline so he can get back to living his."

"Agreed. ([Know It All] Eris then makes a motion with her hands, causing a portal to appear in the room) Kazuma, thank you. Thank you for helping us out here, for keeping our Megumin safe inside you."

"No problem. Besides, I should be the one thanking all of you, for all the help you've been giving me and the others since the beginning. Will I ever see you all again?"

"Yeah, probably. Until this whole mess with Entropy has been settled, we'll likely cross paths again, big brother. Now, you better get going before the others notice you're all MIA on them."

Kazuma nods as he slides off the table. He goes to step into the portal but stops and looks back at them.

"One last question, if I may."

"Yes?"

"I just realized when you were mentioning the members of your little group, you never mentioned Cielo, Anna, and Lynn. Not even Lia and Erika either. Does that mean you never met them in your timeline?"

"Sort of. We all knew Lynn, but our Lynn was never anything more than a casual friend who was dating Dust. Anna was nothing more than the ghost that haunted the mansion only me and Aqua could see. As for the Hearts trio, we never even met them. In fact, it's possible that they didn't even exist on our timeline."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, believe it or not. In our long search, we have encountered timelines were one or more of us had never been born. There are timelines where we all exist but didn't all meet one another. And there are even some timelines where we all met but for one reason or another, something happened that made us drift apart, even become antagonistic with one another, even become enemies to each other."

"Wow, timelines can be weird, huh?"

"Such is the one of things. Well, until we meet again, Satou Kazuma."

"Stay safe, alternate big brother!"

"Stay safe, all of you. And... see you all again one day."

With that, Kazuma steps into the portal, emerging a few moments later back inside his room inside the governor's mansion. Seeing as the room was empty and he could hear the others still downstairs, chattering away happily, Kazuma let's out a relieved sigh as he assumes they didn't notice his absence.

He then returns to his bed and lays down before closing his eyes and quickly falls asleep.

As he drifts into unconscious, he can't help but feel a major chapter had finally come to an end and that he was moving into what he believed would be the last and most important chapter of all in his story.

} Part 4 {

One month had passed since that day, more or less.

Not much had happened following Kazuma's little brief trip to the timeline of the Outsider's so [Older] Megumin's soul could finally be released from within his own. Luckily, no one really did take notice of his absence for that short while. Was it because of there being a difference in the flow of time between the two timelines, or had it been simply because the others were just THAT focused on their own thing.

They were still living at the governor's mansion, waiting for their mansion to be rebuilt again, following Cecily having it burnt down because of how weird it had looked. The reason for it taking so long was because the Crimson Demons were actually too busy doing other things to be able to send a group over to take care of that for them. As such, Darkness and her father had hired a local crew to handle its reconstruction so it can at least be started.

Well, almost nothing had happened. There was that one day when Aqua had shown them the latest strange looking rock she had come into possession of. It turned out to not be a rock but a Fantasia crystal, which had sucked Kazuma, Aqua, Megumin, Darkness, and Yunyun into it, making them experience six separate stories from what Kazuma believed were memories from alternate timelines.

As for what everyone had been up too over that month?

With not having that much to do really, they had found other ways to keep themselves busy. Darkness, naturally, had been spending a lot of time working with her father; a natural thing for her to do as she WAS Axel's deputy governor and its likely future leader once her father retires from his role as both that and the leader of the Dustiness family.

Yunyun had been busy traveling back and forth between Axel and the village, her mother convincing her that now would be as good a time as any to start her training towards becoming the next head of the village. Megumin would go with her for some of those trips, manly to visit her parents and spend time with her little sister.

Aqua and Anna were getting along great. Not surprising, really, considering they were so much alike. By that, I mean they both LOVED drinking themselves stupid with these little challenges they had together to see which of them would lose it first, either pass out or vomit up the booze they had been drinking. In a ways, they were almost like sisters goofing off when they were together.

Cielo had mostly been focused on her Idol Heart's duties, though she did find the time to fit in some work with the Eris church as well. In fact, they were currently training in preparation for an upcoming concert they planned on holding for the Axel Summer Festival which would be happening in another month's time.

Chris hadn't paid them a visit since she had left shortly after everyone had reunited, telling them she would likely be away for a while as she had something very important to do. Kazuma understood what that impossible thing actually was; finding Rubrikt so they could end this whole thing with him once and for all.

And maybe, learn more about Entropy from him if it was possible.

As for Kazuma himself?

He spent most of that month doing nothing much really, just lost in thought most of the time. There would be times he'd head down to the amphitheater and do his thing as Idol Heart's co-manager and then there would be times he would be doing other things, like...

"EXPLOSION!"

Fire and smoke rose into the sky as the shock wave passed by them. Megumin, a big smile on her face as she goes falling back onto her butt. Kazuma, standing a little behind her, looks out at her latest attempt at improving her trade, thinking about what score to give it.

Megumin gazes out at the crater as it begins to appear as the smoke starts to fade away, then looks back at Kazuma and asks the obvious question.

"So, how was that one?"

"It was... passable, I guess. I hate to say this, Megumin. But that Explosion barely broke eighty points."

"Wait, what. That can't be, Kazuma. That was surely worthy of at least ninety-three points, if not more."

"I'm afraid not, Megumin. The blast itself wasn't as impactful as what I have come to expect from you. The crater is only half the size of what you can usually create now. And that shock wave it produced? Honestly, I barely even felt it against my skin there. I really am sorry, Megumin, but that Explosion was really lacking in everything."

"Noooo..."

Megumin then holds her head down in defeat, sulking as she had to accept the truth of his words as if Kazuma, the person she trusted most in these matters, felt it wasn't up to par, then there was nothing else to say, was there.

After letting the silence linger, Kazuma decides to add-

"That said, I don't think that lack luster Explosion was all your fault."

"You mean it?"

"Yeah, I mean it. Megumin, surely you've noticed it... surely you can feel it in the air too?"

Megumin cocks her head off to the side, unsure of what he was talking about it. Kazuma then goes to explain it for her.

"First, close your eyes and feel out the air. I mean, REALLY feel the air around us. Have you noticed the strangeness about it? The difference?"

"There's something strange and different about it?"

Megumin then closes her eyes doing as Kazuma suggested and letting her senses work on feeling the air. If it was something Kazuma had taken notice of, then surely her superior senses as a Crimson Demon would take notice of it too.

It takes her a moment to realize what had was currently aware of, but she finally does, making her eyes open in surprise and shock.

"The mana in the air... it feels weak and stale."

"Yeah, I knew this was likely going to happen eventually, based on what Eris told me. That guy I told you about, Rubrikt. He's doing something that's draining all the mana from the world; planning on doing... something with it. It was only a matter of time before it started impacting anyone who made their living as a mage by causing their magic to start becoming weaker than it normally would."

"I see... so that's why you knew something was off with my magic then?"

"There is that, yes. Also, you collapsing after only just using one Explosion spell. I can see you're still wearing that ring I gave you. If the mana in the air wasn't starting to weaken like it obviously is, you'd still be standing now, preparing to fire off a second Explosion."

Megumin gasp, realizing Kazuma was right. Why had she fallen onto her butt like she had? She should already be firing off another Explosion by now, if not going for a third blast. Instead, she was feeling tired and winded, just having trouble with getting back onto her feet, to say nothing of not having enough power left to do another Explosion even with the ring on her finger.

"If not for this ring, I probably wouldn't have even been able to use a single Explosion spell today."

"I know... and on that topic, maybe you should take a break from using Explosion magic period until the whole mana issue has been resolved."

"Do I really have to, Kazuma."

"I guess not, but seeing as Explosion magic eats up A LOT of mana, with the restoration of mana into the world slowing down, it may be wise to avoid using it again unless it's an emergency. After all, what will happen if Eris can't find the solution here soon, then the whole world will become devoid of magic."

"I see what you mean. Fine, I'll refrain from casting any more Explosion's for now. But once the problem has been solved, I expect you to find a way to let me cast as many Explosion's as I can, based on the day's I've missed."

Kazuma looks at Megumin and gives her a smile. There was a time when even a situation like this wouldn't have stopped Megumin from wanting to cast her Explosion daily. The fact she was willing to take a break from it showed just how much she had grown over these last few months.

"So, ready to head back to Axel?"

"Yeah, I'm actually feeling really hungry now."

As Kazuma walks down the path with Megumin on his back, he is reminded of the stuff he had learned from [Older] Megumin back then when they had last talked, making him decide to ask-

"Say Megumin, have you ever thought about setting out and traveling the world?"

"Hm, what? That's a weird question to ask, Kazuma. What's up with that."

"... It's nothing, really. I was... just thinking back to how you were when we first met. That Megumin strikes me as someone who would have left one day to go on a little journey around the land, spreading the teachings and virtues of Explosion magic to everyone. Even teaching it to anyone who planned on walking the road of the mage who wanted to learn it."

Megumin is quiet for a moment, then says-

"Actually, I think that may have been my plan... at some point in the past. Thinking about it now, that does sound nice. Definitely something I would consider doing. What made you think to ask me that question anyways?"

This time, it was Kazuma who takes a moment to answer.

"I don't know. Maybe I've just been thinking about a lot of things here recently. Thoughts like how things could have been if this and that had or hadn't happened or if things had played out differently."

"I see..."

Kazuma decides it be best to not tell Megumin the real source of his question, at least not right now.

"Kazuma, if I were to ever go do that, would you... would you be willing to come with me. Maybe we could go together, with the others as well... I guess. I mean, all of us going on a new journey to see the world. It sounds pretty nice, doesn't it."

"Maybe... we'll see how things play out in the future. For now though, I'm content with sticking around this area."

"Me too... as long as I was doing it with you!"

The rest of the walk back was done in silence, partly because Megumin had ended up falling asleep shortly after the conversation.

After getting back, Kazuma drops Megumin off in her room. As he exits, he is greeted by Chomusuke who hadn't been with them, having decided to take a nice little nap after breakfast. After giving her some ear scratches and letting her get comfy on his head, Kazuma goes to take care of his next bit of business.

"Going somewhere, Kazuma?"

Kazuma, stops from opening the front door and looks back at Darkness, who had entered the room.

"Just over to the amphitheater. Make sure everything is going OK there. You know, typical co-manager stuff."

"Need me to go with you?"

"I'm sure I'll be fine. Could you let Megumin know where I am once she wakes up, seeing as she feel asleep before I could tell her my post return plans."

"Will do... oh, could you deliver a message to Lia and Cielo for me."

Kazuma nods, followed by Darkness telling him what she needed passed on. Kazuma then goes to leave only to stop again as he takes notice of something annoying.

Anna's legs were dangling over the top of the sofa from inside the large living room.

"That's not how you're suppose to sit or sleep, Anna."

"You go on ahead, Kazuma. I'll deal with her. Oh, as you go, be on the look out for Aqua. She said she was going out for a bit to do something, which likely means she's getting herself into some kind of trouble. I planned on going with her but dad needed my help with something and I couldn't send Anna because..."

"Because they can cause more trouble together than they do apart. Gotcha' I'll keep an eye out. Well, I'll be back."

Once Kazuma was walking through the streets of Axel, he took it upon himself to look at the people doing their daily duties and such. He was glad the actions taken by Cecily hadn't left any lasting impact on anyone, at least from a physical standpoint as he was sure there were still plenty of mental and emotional issues everyone had over what had happened.

He also kept his eyes open for Aqua though he never saw her during his walk. He did take a quick detour over to the guild, to check in there, before making his way to the east gate. Just as the gate was coming into view...

"It's been a while, Satou Kazuma."

The sudden voice speaking out makes Kazuma come to a stop and quickly look around. It takes him a few moments before he finds the owner of the voice; a young man, perhaps in his early twenties, with albino pale skin, hair of azure, and black-gold colored eyes.

What's more, there was something familiar about him too.

"I'm sorry... but do I know you from somewhere?"

"Hm? Don't tell me you have forgotten me already. I mean, it hasn't been that long since we first met."

"Hate to break it to you, but I can't recall meeting you off the top of my head. Could you remind me?"

"I suppose... actually, maybe you not remembering me does make sense, as we only interacted that one time and that interaction was a brief one. We met not long ago, when you and the girl who likes to act like she's your little sister were whisked off to the timeline of that alternate Iris. You helped them out and I, in turn, helped to see you both back home once it was all over and done with."

"We met when you... Iris's timeline... I remember now. That was you wasn't it? I think I remember your name now too... Palastori, was it?"

"Correct. My name is Palastori. Glad to see you do remember me, even if it took you a few minutes. Tell me, Kazuma. Do you remember what I said to you when we had spoken before?"

"I... well... give me a moment here. (Kazuma then thinks about it) If I'm remembering correctly, you said you would help me with finding that Rubrikt guy... right?"

"Something like that."

"OK, then if you're showing up here now before me, then does that mean you've found him?"

"Not exactly but I feel that he's close by, always watching what is going on. The reason I came here before you now is because there are some things I needed to tell you."

"Well, I'm all ears."

said Kazuma with Chomusuke mewing in agreement.

"As I'm sure you've noticed by now, the mana in the world is starting to seriously weaken. I fear this means Rubrikt has decided to accelerate whatever his intentions for this world is. I know you had originally expected it to happen by year's end, the total and complete loss of the world's mana outside it's holy land. But with the way things are currently going, the mana in the world will be gone by before then end of summer."

"What, seriously? I hope that Eris knows that."

"I'm sure this world's goddess is already aware of it as well. Not to worry as I feel she is close to figuring out where we can find Rubrikt, assuming I can't do it first, of course. But that's not the only thing I need to tell you."

"I can't wait to hear it."

After a pause...

"Tell me, have you noticed a most curious absence in your life?"

"What do you mean? No, not really. I'm pretty sure everyone is here that's suppose to be here."

"Not even that girl with the tail and her giant of a father?"

That makes Kazuma freeze, it finally dawning on him something he had failed to take notice of for whole weeks at a time. Lynn and Ruffian... neither of them had returned from their little trip to Artashire to see the [Riiji], Lynn's grandfather.

Weren't they suppose to have returned before the Eris Festival had ended?

"I see it has finally dawned to you, the fact that they haven't returned yet."

The next thing Palastori knew, Kazuma was standing right up before him, a hand grabbing his collar.

"What did you do to them? Tell me NOW!"

"Wait now, I wasn't intending to imply I had done something to them. I had simply noticed they weren't around anywhere, nor are there any signs that they had been around since the start of the Festival for the Goddess Eris... or had it been for the Goddess Aqua? I'm not from your timeline so I'm not really sure about all that stuff."

Kazuma keeps a hard stare on Palastori for a few moments longer before letting out a sigh and letting Palastori go, then stepping back.

"Sorry, I'm just... very protective of my friends and lately, I've been... I've been dealing with a lot lately."

"As I know. I can feel it, you know. The damage your Lich Reap power is doing to your body, or is it the Entropy within you that's responsible? Either way, I'm afraid there isn't anything I can do about that. For what it's worth, I am sorry for putting you into the situation to begin with, arranging for you to go to Iris's timeline to deal with an issue created by Rubrikt."

"Don't worry about it. What's done is done. Just tell me what you know about Lynn and Ruffian."

"All I know is that something has happened within Artashire. That place was a great repository of mana within the world. With the weakening of mana having reach the point it's currently at now, even Artashire won't escape being impacted by it. I know you are busy, but perhaps you should go and..."

"Of course I'm going to go there and check it out. Question, why haven't you gone there to check it out yourself?"

"Let's just say... I can't. Something, or someone, is stopping me from going there."

"Rubrikt?"

"Possibly. I would like to go with you but I fear even traveling via teleportation would stop me from going, possible even prevent you from going there yourself. Besides, I need to get back to my own search."

"Alright, I understand. Thank you for coming and telling me all this, Palastori."

"Not at all. Know this, Satou Kazuma. We WILL be seeing each other again soon and when we do, it will be when the time for the showdown with Rubrikt will finally begin. Also, one last thing..."

"What it it?"

"Entropy... she's coming for you... NOW, fully and completely. I think she's decided she's done with waiting on collecting you for whatever reason she has to do so. I'm not sure when she'll be coming but she will come and when she does..."

"When she does, I'll deal with it. ALL of us will deal with it, somehow."

Palastori nods before opening a door of light.

"See you here soon, my friend."

Once Palastori had stepped into the door and it had closed and faded behind him, Kazuma takes in a deep breath before looking up towards Chomusuke.

"You OK with taking an emergency trip with me, Wolbach?"

"Meow!"

Kazuma smiles as he closes his eyes, thinks of Artashire and activates his Teleportation spell. As he feels his body being sent, another sensation comes over him; the feeling of something bumping into him as the magic sends them off.

} Part 5 {

"In times of old, the ladies watched all. A secret that must be kept. Beneath the place where they parted ways, true terror can be found slept. Fined me here, if you dare, a truth to be revealed. For if to late, your world you forsake, and all life brought to heel."

Once more, Eris read the word's left by the note from Rubrikt. She tried to consider each word carefully, desperate to see some hidden clue within them but try as she might, nothing of importance would come to her.

Finally, she lets out a LOUD sigh before slumping back into her chair, letting her arms dangle off from the side while she mumbles to herself.

"OK, I'm pretty sure the line about the ladies and them parting ways has to be important. It implies a place where they would have said their goodbyes, but that doesn't narrow down anything as I'm sure many girls have had a final parting all across the ages. Everything else... just feels like flavor text. Damn it, I wish I could go use the Divine Archive for thing now."

Just then, a portal into Eris's private heavenly chambers opens and a moment later, Clover comes walking in. Upon seeing her boss looking all downtrodden and defeated, she can't help but say-

"No luck so far?"

"Not even close. Please tell me you have better news."

"I wish I could, but I'm afraid things are getting worse. The rate of mana absorption has increased... by A LOT! So much so, in fact, that I fear your world will have lost all mana, save for what lies within Empyria itself, before then end of Summer."

"Oh great, even more we'll need to deal with."

"Yeah... say, maybe you should go talk to lord Pathos and the other higher-ups now. Given the current situation and all, maybe they'll go ahead and allow you to use the Divine Archives..."

"They won't, not yet at least. I'm sure they'll say I still have a little time left to get things figured out and will ask me to wait till the time becomes critical. Of course, it's not just finding and stopping Rubrikt but also dealing with the damage the loss of mana is going to bring. There will be droughts and famine and plenty of other such negatives that could take whole generations to heal before things go back to normal."

"Can I see the message again? Maybe rereading it will stir something inside my mind."

"Sure..."

Eris holds the piece of paper out for Clover, who reaches out and grabs it. After reading it over a few times, she starts to think about what was read. After a few moments, Eris asks-

"So, anything coming too you this time?"

"... Nope, still nothing. The only thing that sticks out to me is that whoever wrote this really sucks when it comes to writing clues in rhyme form. I mean, the structure of the lines alone is just SOOOO bad!"

"I'll be sure to let Rubrikt know you don't like his way of writing these kinds of things, if I can manage to locate him, that is."

"(nods) How about asking mister Kazuma, lady Eris? You've always told me he's the smartest person you know. Maybe he can figure something out."

"No, that's not possible. For one thing, he's already looked at the message too and couldn't figure it out either. (sigh) Guess I'll have no other choice but to wait until..."

Just then, a ringing is heard, making Eris swish her hands to see who was asking to come in. Seeing it was Tsunami, Aqua's angel assistant, Eris let's her inside then waits for her to say why she's visiting.

"Sorry for the sudden intrusion, lady Eris."

"Don't worry about it. I was kind of needing a break anyways. So, what brings you by, Tsunami?"

"Just wanted to see how things are going. Lady Aqua has gotten herself into another potential problem, though luckily mister Kazuma is there so she'll possibly be OK. So, based on the looks you and Clover have, I'm guessing things are still looking all gloom and doom."

"Sadly yes..."

"Yeah... hey, lady Eris. Why not let Tsunami read the letter too. Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky and she'll have an idea about everything."

"Might as well."

Eris then hands the letter to Tsunami who reads it several times before looking at the two and saying-

"Sorry, none of this makes any sense to me."

"It doesn't make sense to any of us. Honestly, I'm really starting to think that maybe Rubrikt is just messing with me here."

"Either that or he didn't intend for you to find it, lady Eris."

said Clover, making a look of realization come over Tsunami.

"What if it wasn't meant for you, lady Eris."

"What do... did an idea come to you, Tsunami?"

"I... I don't know. It spoke of two ladies and them watching all. That makes me think of us all, gods and goddess's and angels too; how we watch over the mortals below. Maybe the answer has to do with lady Kismit and lady Regina, the two goddess's who watched over this world before you... and I guess lady Aqua too?"

Hearing that makes Eris stand quickly, moving over to Tsunami and giving her a strong hug.

"You are brilliant, the exact opposite of Aqua, you know that, Tsunami."

"I believe I have been told those words more than a few times, yes."

"Lady Eris, what's going on?"

"Simple Clover. I think Tsunami is right. This wasn't so much meant for me but for my predecessor, Kismit. If anyone will know the answer to this question, I'm sure it will be her."

"But how will you ask her? Hasn't lady Kismit already retired from her duties as a goddess? Hasn't she rejoined the flow of time alongside mortals?"

"She has but that won't be an issue. After all, if Hestia could get away with bringing Regina back for a few minutes, then I'm sure I can do the same with Kismit too."

"Because that wasn't something you were told you couldn't go do here. But how will you find her? Do you know who and where her current mortal life is?"

"Not at all, but I will soon. Clover, Tsunami, keep doing what you're doing for me while I pay a quick visit to the Divine Archive. I may not be able to use it to get the answer myself, but I can use it to find Kismit so I can summon her here and ask her directly."

"But will you be allowed to do that?"

"Maybe, maybe not. I'll just take another page from Aqua's book and ask after the fact. I'll be back in a bit."

With that, Eris leaves to pay the Divine Archive a visit, leaving the two angel assistants to wonder where all of this is going to go next.

} Part 6 {

The exit from the teleportation wasn't an easy one for Kazuma as he found himself hitting the ground hard once the teleportation ended. It takes a moment to collect himself before looking around and confirming he at least arrived at his destination, sort of.

While he wasn't inside Artashire as he had planned, he could see the entry arch to the Faea city not that far away. Just a few minutes to walk, really. With that confirmed, Kazuma turns his thoughts to the next question he had.

"Why the hell was my teleportation so rough this time. Now that I think about it, I think I felt something bump into me as I started teleporting. I wonder what..."

"Ow, that really hurt."

came a familiar sounding voice. Kazuma freezes for a second, then looks back and upon seeing the owner of the voice, he lets out an annoyed sigh. Of course it had to be her.

"Aqua, what the hell are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here? What about you? How could you bring me to someplace like this, and in such a violent way too."

"I DIDN'T bring you here, idiot. I only brought myself here. You being here is only because you went and threw yourself into me back there."

"No, I didn't... wait, actually... I think I did, huh?"

Kazuma sighs again and shakes his head. He then asks-

"Want to tell me why you went running into me like you did and why you did it when I was in the middle of teleporting to begin with."

"I didn't do it intentionally, NEET. I was just trying to get your attention, seeing as you were ignoring me back there."

"First, you can't ignore someone when you don't even hear them trying to get your attention to begin with. Second, what reason did you have to even feel the need to call out for... me... let me guess, you ran out of money and wanted me to give you more."

Aqua nods in response, making Kazuma sigh yet again. He then gets onto his feet and after a look from Aqua, he walks over and helps her up onto her feet too. Once they were both standing, Aqua looks around and asks-

"By the way, where are we now? This place is new to me."

"Not surprising, seeing as this place is situated on the other continent of this world. I believe this this place is called the Esther Forest, if memory serves. And over there, beyond that arch, is Artashire, home to the Faea."

"Faea?"

"Think of them being kind of like elves except they have animal like features visible on their bodies."

"Ohhhh, sounds really weird if you ask me."

"I didn't ask, dummy."

"So, why are we here?"

"You mean, why did I come here? I was made aware of a little detail I had failed to notice until just a few minutes ago. That being that Lynn, another member of our party, and her father, had come here before the start of the Eris Festival and have yet to return despite saying they would be back before it was set to end. And, seeing as we're here now, let's head into the city and see if we can find them."

"OK. Will we have time to look around the place as we go and even after we find them? I'm always looking to explore new locals once I visit them for the first time."

"Depends on if Lynn and her grandfather, the leader of the Faea says it's OK. After all, not just anyone can... can..."

"Kazuma?"

A sudden realization comes over Kazuma. He could remember being told that not just anyone could come to this place. In fact, one could only come her once they had been given invited by the current [Riiji] and even then, that person we need a resident of the place to personally see them there for that first visit.

He knew how he could be here now, because he had already been given permission to be here by the [Riiji]. But what about Aqua? Kazuma was pretty sure she hadn't been invited by anyone, especially by him, not that it mattered if he had or not because he didn't have the ability to bring someone here without permission from the [Riiji].

Was the fact Aqua was a goddess the reason she could come to Artashire without permission?

"Something isn't right, Aqua. Let's hurry and get in there and find Lynn, Ruffian, and the [Riiji]."

Aqua nods as the two of them break into a run towards the arch. Once they had passed into Artashire, Kazuma was quick to notice something odd about the place. There were no Faea to be seen anywhere. What's more, all the fountains and rivers were dried up, the coloration of the place looked duller and more ancient than he remembered it once being, and even the air itself had this heaviness about it.

He stops, looking over the place, and says as he does so-

"What's going on. Why is Artashire looking so... so..."

"Kazuma-Kazuma..."

said Aqua suddenly, tugging on his sleeve. He looks at her, seeing she also had a worried expression on her face.

"What's wrong, Aqua?"

"This place... this place feels wrong somehow."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. The air feels empty and the surroundings... I just can't feel any trace of life coming from anything. Event that forest outside this place felt cold and empty."

"Why didn't you say something sooner if that was the case?"

"Because I though that's how it was suppose to be for around here. But, after seeing and hearing your reaction to this place, I decided what I was feeling wasn't how it was suppose to be."

"I see. Aqua, are you absolutely sure you can't feel any trace of life around here?"

"No, nothing... wait, I think I can feel two different life forces not too far away from here, but it's like there's a wall surrounding them."

"That has to be Lynn and Ruffian then."

Kazuma then breaks into a run with Aqua doing her best to follow after him. After running for a bit, including up more than a few flights of stairs, they finally reached a large throne room. And within this place, they found...

"Lynn... Ruff..."

Kazuma runs over to the crystal-like prison the two of them were trapped inside, placing his hand upon the crystal Lynn was contained in.

"Damn it, why didn't I think to wonder about you two sooner. How long have you both been like this? And where's lord Yasaka and the other Faea too? Could this all be the work of Rubrikt..."

"Kazuma, what's going on?"

"Later, Aqua. First things first, I need to figure out how to get them out of this crystal prison that traps them."

Kazuma then begins to consider his options. Maybe he could damage these things, destroy them by using Drain Touch on them.

"We need to get them out. Oh, yeah... good idea. Just leave it to me. (Aqua then begins to glow with power which flows into her fist) God Blow!"

Aqua then punches the crystal containing Lynn, making it shatter like it was nothing. Kazuma moves quickly to catch Lynn before she could fall onto the ground while Aqua frees Ruffian from his crystal prison, and just allows him to fall onto the ground for reasons only she knew.

"Good job, Aqua. Wait, I thought your attacks were meaningless?"

"They aren't meaningless. It's just that my attacks will only work on demons, the undead, and inanimate objects like those crystals."

"I'll keep that mind for future quest me might do together. Anyways, Lynn... Lynn, you still with us?"

It takes a moment, but Lynn finally let's out a groan as she slowly opens her eyes.

"Kazuma... what took you so long?"

"A lot of things, actually. I'll fill you end later. Wait, you know how long it's been since you went into that thing?"

"Not exactly. My gut's just telling me it's been longer than it should have been."

"And you would be right about that, raccoon-tail girl."

said Aqua, getting Lynn to look at her, then back at Kazuma with a confused look.

"Who's that?"

"Like I said, I'll tell you later. (Ruffian then stirs, slowly getting back onto his feet) You doing OK there, Ruff?"

"Yeah, I think so. Man, what the hell was father thinking when he sealed us up like that?"

"Say what...?"

"Kazuma, it was grandfather... [Riiji] Yasaka. He's the one who sealed us up like we were."

"He did... why?"

"Because I decided it would be the best way to lure you back here, Satou Kazuma."

The new voice in the room gets everyone to look as they see a new figure had appeared in the room. [Riiji] Yasaka Kyoichi was sitting on his throne, looking down at them all with a smile on his face.

"And now that you ARE here, I believe it's time I shared some important truths with you!"

{|} to be continued... {|}

AN: In case anyone is wondering, I based the timeline of events that that Outsider's went through during their time on the original web novel version of Konosuba. It isn't the web novel's timeline exactly, mainly because there isn't that much that's know about it outside Japan (as it was never given an English translation), but I based what happened with the cast in the timeline on what I was able to find out so think of the Outsider's timeline as a branching timeline, one of many born directly from the web novel's timeline. Similar, but not quite the same as what happened there.

Anyways, till the next chapter...