}Chapter 5: The Family Reunited {

{|} Part 1: Can You Pay the Price {|}

(Kazuma POV)

As the light that encircles me whenever I use Teleport begins to fade, I waste no time with getting back onto my feet and running inside the mansion.

"Megumin, are you here? Yunyun... Cielo... Darkness, Anna. Is anyone here."

As I wait for any response, I head into the living room, looking to see if any note had been written, a message left for me from any of them. Finding none, I call out to them again several more times, each time my voice becoming a little more panic sounding than the last till I finally accept the truth that they weren't there.

I then curse under my breath before turning towards the entrance and running back outside. It only takes me a moment before I was outside the outer gate, running with as much Sprint speed as I could muster towards Axel.

As I go, I'm pretty sure I saw a flash of teleportation light from the corner of my right eye, likely Lynn using Teleport to bring herself and Ruffian to the mansion in pursuit of me. I knew I should stop, give them a chance to catch up with me, but I couldn't do that. Not right now and especially not after that weird vision I had seen when I was with Lifgia.

It wasn't long before I reached the eastern gate of Axel and I find myself needing to make a choice, either go to the guild and see if there was any chance I would find everyone there or go to Wiz's shop first. I choose Wiz's shop and continue my hurried run.

Just as Wiz's shop comes into view, a thought come to mind. What if they were over at the Axel Amphitheater, hanging out with Idol Hearts. I'll check with them later if needed. Right now, I need to hope the person I wanted to see was here for once.

I nearly damage the front door as I go rushing in to find-

"Well, this is a surprise. To what brings you to Moi's shop in such a..."

"Vanir, I need you to use your powers to locate the others for me."

Thank Eris he was actually here. I didn't see Wiz anywhere, not that I was in the right frame of mind at the moment to wonder where she was. Vanir cocks his head to one side, clearly confused before saying-

"Quite a big request you ask of Moi. Surely you remember that Moi's services don't come cheap."

"VANIR..."

I shout out, making him take a surprised induced step back from me. I take a deep breath to calm myself, then I say with a softer yet still serious tone-

"Please Vanir, this is an emergency."

"So it would seem. Give me a moment..."

He then brings both hands up over the crescent moon that represented his eye on the black side of his mask, a red light coming into being as he does his Foresight thing. His neutral expression quickly shifts to one of worry as he finally tells me what he is seeing.

"Hm, this is quite the problem I'm seeing. It appears your troublesome friends have gone and gotten themselves into a rather dangerous situation."

"What situation? Where are they? Come on, don't go holding out on me now. You can name your price once I know they're safe."

"(sigh) From what Moi can see, it appears they have traveled into a rather dangerous place that is known as the Scarred Lands. As for why they are there, Moi couldn't begin to hazard a guess."

"The Scarred Lands? Never heard of it before. Is it someplace I can teleport too?"

"Certainly not. The Scarred Lands is quite the dangerous location for anyone to go too. For one thing, there's the fact you will find no mana anywhere in the air which severely limits one's options for anything and everything. Then there's the strange beast that are said to roam those forsaken lands."

"I don't care about that. Just tell me where the closest settlement is located at. Once I arrive there, I'll..."

"I'm afraid you won't make it to them in time if you go with that plan."

said Vanir while shaking his head. I can't help but growl while clenching my fist.

"Are you telling me I won't be able to save them because if that's the case..."

"There is a way... Kazuma, if you're willing to pay the price that is."

Hearing Vanir's words, especially his tone, caused me a moment of pause. If the somber seriousness in his tone wasn't enough to catch me off guard, there was also the fact he called me by my name which I'm pretty sure was a first for him.

"I don't care about the price, Vanir. I'll pay any price you ask of me. Just tell me how to..."

Again, Vanir shakes his head before saying-

"It is not to me you will be paying the price, Satou Kazuma. The price you will be paying for this is to... you yourself."

"What do you mean."

"What Moi means is that the price you will be paying is similar to the price you're already paying whenever you call upon that special power that has become part of you, except far more severe."

I see, then that means...

Vanir nods, clearly knowing my thoughts as he adds-

"A Reverse Summon spell."

"Will that work though. I can recall hearing how Yunyun was able to save me from being Golden Nemean chow by using the Summon spell to pull me from the beast stomach to where everyone was though I know there was probably some details I'm blanking on."

"Correct. With Moi's power, I can help you get to them almost instantly but... as you have already guessed, there is an issue. When the still somewhat shy Crimson Demon girl used Summon with you, your body was dead at the time thus it kept the side effects to a minimum."

"I'm pretty sure the Entropy currently inside me also had a part to play in keep me from suffering any negative side effects."

"Possibly... but Moi is afraid this time will be different. No matter what, using a Reverse Summon to send you to them WILL trigger issues for you down the road. Moi has seen that in your future."

"I see... I don't care. All that matters is getting to everyone as quickly as I can. Whatever consequences await me down the road will be things I deal with when the time comes. Please Vanir, help me with saving everyone."

It was strange, seeing Vanir looking so conflicted. Guess that means whatever he saw of my future was something that was upsetting even to him. Finally, he lets out a sigh and says-

"Very well. So long as you can accept what this will bring upon you in the future, I'll accept it as well."

Vanir's body the begins to glow, a sigil beginning to form on the ground beneath me. I close my eyes and send a prayer to Eris, asking her to keep everyone safe for just a few moments longer, until I arrive to save them all from whatever it was they had gone and got themselves into.

{|} Part 2: A Victory for... {|}

(3rd Person POV)

The eerie calm of the Scarred Lands came to a sudden, violent end as a blinding light erupted from deep within the ruinous temple that sat atop the dark spike. This light was followed by the scream of the howling wind and the force of pure destruction expanding outward, making both earth and sky shake and quake from the sheer power coming from the light.

Bolts of lightning came strike down, adding new deep scars upon the land outside the area that was being affected by the powerful Explosion. Many pillars of rock were shattered and sent flying all over the place before it all finally came to an end.

Once the light of the Explosion had ended, a massive and insanely deep crater had been added to the small list of sights one would seen if they ever came walking through the Scarred Lands. In turn, the dark spike and ruined temple landmarks were now long gone, having now been replaced by said crater; one far bigger than any other that may exist in this place.

Another something appeared from out of the chaos; a large glowing sphere of reddish-pink light that was slowly sinking down onto the earth. Once it touched down, the sphere shimmered for a moment before breaking apart, revealing the occupants that had been protected within.

"What the hell just happened."

shouted Darkness, standing up and bringing her sword to the ready should another attack come quickly. Cielo looks around, examining the area as she says-

"That was... an Explosion. But it was more than that. There was something about it that felt... wrong."

"Probably because Megumin's being controlled by whatever it is that's controlling her. It did something there, added something to enhance the Explosion. Knowing Megumin, she'd probably be asking it how it did that if she wasn't being controlled."

"Yeah, no kidding. Speaking of, where's..."

"Miss Wolbach..."

came Yunyun, making Darkness and Cielo look over and see their friend and comrade kneeling down beside Wolbach, who was down on one knee and breathing heavily. It had been thanks to her that they had even survived what had happened back there by using some kind of strange power to cover all of them in that spherical shield.

Cielo and Darkness run over to them; Cielo joining Yunyun in kneeling down beside Wolbach so she could examine their savior. Darkness takes another look around, quickly spotting Chomusuke, Hans, and the still sleeping Anna. She then begins looking for Megumin as Cielo says-

"I think you'll be fine, though you look like you could use some rest."

"That's because I'm seriously out of practice. I really shouldn't have been so hesitant with using that power in the past like I have been. Anyways, don't worry about me right now. We need to find mother before anything else happens to her."

"Mother?" (x3)

said the three girls in unison. Before they could ask her what she meant, they heard the voice finally speak up as a figure begins to emerge from the crater alongside an object floating right behind it.

"That was... incredible. Never before have I seen such destructive power being unleashed with just a single attack. (insane sounding laughter)"

The still possessed Megumin, as well as the large seed shaped seal behind her, floated out of the crater to come make rest upon the mostly horizontal ground. Megumin then steps forward a few steps before adding-

"I think I will keep her as my permanent body once the seal has been fully broken. And on that subject, behold... cracks have finally started appearing on the seal. Very soon, I will finally be free; free to unleash a new wave of destruction upon this world. Just like I once did on Arbel."

As the possessed Megumin begins to laugh happily, the girls grit their teeth with the desire to go do something, anything in the moment. None of them honestly knew what it was they could do to save her, but they also knew that they couldn't just stand around and do nothing.

["Everyone, listen closely..."]

came Wolbach, but not with words. It took the three a second to realize that it had been the Telepathy spell that had just been used to communicate with them mentally. Clearly, what she had to say was something she didn't want to say aloud so their enemy could hear them.

["We're only getting one chance at doing this here. I need you three to go keep the possessed Megumin busy for me. While you're doing that, I will make my way over to the seal and restore it to full power."]

["Miss Wolbach, will that save Megumin."] asked Yunyun.

["Yeah, it should. The only reason she's even being controlled to begin with is because the seal had already started to weaken before any of us had even arrived here."]

["How long will you need?"] asked Cielo.

["At most, ninety seconds."]

["Then you can count on us to give you those ninety seconds."] said Darkness.

In truth, Darkness and Cielo wanted to get more information on this Wolbach person as they both couldn't help but feel they had heard that name before; somewhere. There was also the strange slime creature off to the side with Anna and Chomusuke. While they couldn't be sure about anything concerning it, neither of them could help but feel that there was something familiar about it.

But now wasn't the time to be asking questions. It was a time for action, to save Megumin and defeat this whatever it was that was controlling her. They could play the old game of twenty questions later.

"Why are you all just standing there like a bunch of dummies? Please don't tell me you all are so afraid of unsure of what to do next that you can't even find the will to take action. Well, either way I'll be getting what I want here soon so if you want to just stand there and do nothing, then by all means... just keep doing that."

Darkness, Cielo, and Yunyun stand tall and begin walking towards the possessed Megumin. Darkness readies her sword, Cielo cracks her knuckles, and Yunyun brings her not so currently enchanted dagger up and at the ready, making the possessed Megumin grin.

"So, you have a little fight left in you after all."

"Damn straight. If you think we were just going to stand there and let what you've done to our friend slide..."

"Then you're about to learn what we're all about here, you damn whatever it is you are. Now..."

"Let my rival go."

"(light laugh) Oh goodie. And here I was thinking these next few minutes would be boring. A question though, are you all not worried that fighting me could do serious harm to your friends' body? I mean, surely she wouldn't want to earn any permanent scars or be maimed in any way."

"Funny to hear you say something like that. Know that my healing skills are second to none. There's is no injury we could bring upon here that I can't heal."

"Enough talk, let's get this fight started."

The three of them begin their attack with Darkness making the first move, swinging her sword which Megumin ducks under. That was intended though as the entity wasn't aware that missing her targets was part of her game.

Instead, Darkness's first attack was a distraction, allowing Cielo to come in from behind. She sends her fist slamming into the ground which causes the earth directly beneath Megumin's body to burst upwards, sending her skyward.

As she goes to quickly recover, Yunyun comes in and sends her dagger stabbing down into her shoulder. While stabbing the body of her friend did hurt her, she knew Cielo would be able to heal the injury later. Her intention in her action was hoping to temporarily make the entity lose the use of an arm.

The possessed Megumin cries out from being stabbed, sounding very much like Megumin without any traces of the entity's voice mixed in. Clearly, it was trying to distract them, perhaps create doubt and hesitation within them, but they gritted their teeth and powered onward.

Possessed Megumin manages to land on her feet. While injured, she appeared to still be able to fight.

"Guess that's to be expected. I doubt the thing controlling Megumin's body is actually feeling any of the things we're doing. That just makes things harder."

"Then let's immobilize her then. If her body is unable to move, then hopefully that will stop it from doing anything more here."

"Wait, everyone... surely you don't want to hurt..."

"Like we're dumb enough to fall for something like that."

shouted Darkness as she rushes forward. The possessed Megumin tries to dodge away but Darkness was faster, slamming into Megumin's body with her shield which sends her flying back, hitting the earth without mercy. Before Megumin's body could get back up, Darkness lands on top of her to pin her down with Cielo and Yunyun joining in.

"Get comfortable, monster. We'll keep you right here till our ally is done doing her thing."

"Damn you. If you all value this girl's safety, you will let me go this instant."

"It's because we value her that we're not letting you do anything else with her body."

"So do us a favor and stop struggling."

As those three kept the possessed Megumin busy, Wolbach had made her way over to the seal. She was uncertain on if it had noticed her moving over to the floating seed shaped seal, not that it mattered as this wouldn't take her to long to finish up.

"OK, time to end this."

She then reaches deep inside herself and draws it out to the surface, the very power her mother had passed onto her long ago. A light begins to shine around her as her very being began to change, becoming a kind of swirling mass of fiery energy yet still maintaining her humanoid body shape.

"The Reiki... it still feels so strange when I enter this form. Maybe because I've only ever done it two or three times in total. No time for distractions, Wolbach. Time to restore the seal."

Wolbach then places her hands against the seal, closes her eyes, and begins to chant. As she does this, symbols begin to appear beneath her hands before flowing outwards to cover the entire sword. The seal itself begins to glow, growing brighter and brighter.

'Almost there... almost there... almost...'

"Why thank you, little demon spawn... for giving me that little push I was looking for."

"What...?"

Before Wolbach could even process the words that had come from the seal, her whole-body jerks violently and a deep cold begins to rush over her. Her eyes shoot open and she tilts her head down in shock to find a tendril of dark power piercing her chest.

"While the seal was clearly growing weaker and weaker, there was still a final fail safe put into place in order to ensure my eventual escape wouldn't be so easy for. You see, even when the day came that I could escape THIS seal, there was still the OTHER seal which was the Scarred Lands itself."

"What are you... no, don't tell me..."

"Correct, Wolbach. The Scarred Lands itself is one giant seal, empowered by the mana of the world itself. ALL the mana that comes to this area is sent into the seal to keep it strong, hence why life has never returned to this place since my arrival here. As such, I could never leave the Scarred Lands... not unless I gained access to a power greater than that of the seal. In other words..."

"The Reiki..."

"Again, correct. That was a foolish mistake on your part, not remembering that as a one time holder of the Reiki, I would naturally know how to use it the moment I could feel its flow. Using that power to accelerate the restoration of this smaller seal was the worst choice you could have gone with. Hahahah-ha, you should have called upon that foolish goddess for help with this."

Wolbach grits her teeth as she feels the Reiki, being sucked out of her body. She tries with all her might to resist, to free herself and preserve at least some of the power, but it was all in vain as the last of the power is finally siphoned from her body...

And then the seal breaks in a disastrous fashion, the shock wave sending Wolbach flying back to a rough landing.

"Master Wolbach?" cried Yunyun.

"What the hell..." said Darkness at the same time before all of them were sent flying back away from Megumin's pinned body.

The force of the shock wave had sent everyone flying, even Megumin's own unmoving form had been sent flying through the air though the dark tendril that was connected to her acted as an anchor, keeping her from flying off to far, unlike the others who found their landings to be rather painful and cruel.

"Dammit, what just... oh crap, Wolbach" yelled Hans as his eyes looked to where he had seen her land just a split second before he himself had hit the ground. Meanwhile, beside him...

"Five more... five more minutes, Kazuma. Just five more minutes..." mumbled Anna who had somehow managed to remain asleep through all of that.

Hans quickly turned to look at her, his slime face features becoming deadpan in expression as he wonders just what this girls deal was. How could she still be sleeping, even after all that. As for Chomusuke; she quickly breaks away from Hans to go check in on Wolbach with Hans following right behind her once he had used a few of his tentacles to hoist Anna's body into the air so he could bring her along. As for the others...

"uuuugh... I definitely felt THAT one" groaned Darkness as she picked herself up off the ground. Despite her impressively insane defensive stat, she was sure she still had suffered some kind of damage from that. Maybe not any broken bones, but she certainly felt all bruised and banged up.

Darkness then heard Yunyun crying out in pain, making her turn to see that Yunyun was partially standing but it was clear her own landing had dislocated one of her shoulders; rather badly too. Cielo, who herself seemed to have a bad limp, moved as fast as she could to join Yunyun. Darkness does so as well, going to join them both.

"That looks pretty painful, Yunyun. So's popping it back into place. Sorry, but you're going to have to deal with a lot of pain and discomfort for a while after this... until we can..." said Cielo though Yunyun is quick to cut her off with desperate and pained filled words.

"Just do it."

Cielo nods as she places a hand onto Yunyun's dislocated shoulder and the other onto Yunyun's back. Yunyun braces herself as Cielo pops her shoulder back into place, making Yunyun let out a fairly loud 'keen' sound. Once that was done, Cielo digs into her pouch to see if she had anything that could help lessen Yunyun's discomfort while Darkness asks her...

"What about you, Cielo. I noticed your leg..."

"It'll be fine. For now, we need to focus on..."

"Crap-crap-CRAP! You three, I need your help. Wolbach... she's..."

The three turn their attentions to Hans, seeing him beside Wolbach who was lying motionless upon the ground. They make their way over, with Darkness helping the limping Cielo. It was when they get there that they see just how badly injured Wolbach truly was.

In short, she had a hole in her chest with a lot of blood around it. She stilled appeared to be alive though, albeit not in the best of shapes as her complexion had paled and her breathing was raspy and weak. Immediately, Cielo was checking her over and her expression quickly became grave.

"This is bad... very bad. She's lost one of her lungs and I think her heart may have been scratched as well. If we can't get her some seriously healing here soon, very soon, she's going to..."

"Yes, she is going to die. (snicker) As it should be for that little demon spawn."

They all jump, having forgotten about that little detail in the moment. They all turn their attentions to the direction of the seed, or where the seed had been only moments before. It was gone now and in its place was something new, smaller in size and floating in the air.

It had the appearance of a mummified body; a husk of dried-up flesh and bone with missing arms and legs just below the shoulders and thighs. The eyes of this corpse were glowing though as a dark demonic fire danced around it like some kind of unholy aura.

"Damn you... Praegem..." came Wolbach's weak voice as her eyes managed to open just barely to look at the creature. Beside her, Chomusuke narrowed her own eyes, one paw pressed against Wolbach's body as the cross-shaped mark on her forehead begin to glow ever so lightly.

Just then, Megumin's body, which had been lying motionless on the ground, is lifted into the air and pulled over to the floating remains of the Praegem. His head makes the most unsettling of sounds as it turns to look at her, then back at the others while saying-

"Ah, to be free again. Now, what should I do next? Perhaps I'll transfer my essence into the body of Realm's reincarnate... or perhaps..."

"I won't let you do that" shouts Yunyun, standing with a defiant look on her face. Despite the pain and discomfort she was feeling, she wouldn't allow anything to happen to a friend is she could help it.

The others join her, even if the words of the Praegem, calling Megumin Realm's incarnate, didn't make any sense. The Praegem's remains emit a cold laugh which is followed by...

"Ah, so brave. Are you offering yourself to me in her place, child. In the end, it matters not which of you becomes my new vessel as the rest will become my loyal followers. I've had much time to think about it and I think I'll do it all again, create a new religion that can one day birth a new..."

He then stops, his gaze which had been sweeping over all of them had returned to Yunyun and was now looking at her intensely. While it was hard to see, it appeared that the corpse had started to smile, ever so slightly.

"Well, this is quite the surprise. Not only have I found Realm's reincarnate, but also Krys as well. Does that mean the Ritu-boy isn't far off either. Tell me, do any of you know where I can find him at?"

"Who... never mind that. Even if we knew who you were talking about, we wouldn't tell you." shouted Darkness, making the Praegem sigh.

"No, I suppose you wouldn't... on either count. Oh well, I guess I'll just take one of you as my host for the time being and if I ever find HIM, then... I guess we'll see if that ever happens. Now, who will it..."

Before the Praegem could finish, a sudden burst of light appears in between them and from that light appears Kazuma, his serious gaze locked onto the girls as he waste no time in saying-

"There you idiots are. Now, will someone please tell me what the hell..."

"Kazuma, behind you" all three shouted at once, making Kazuma quickly spin around to see both the Praegem's corpse and Megumin's floating form. Kazuma's eyes narrow as the husk looks at him.

"Well I'll be... so nice of you to come here for me... Ritu-boy. Yes, I'd know you anywhere, no matter what form you have taken. I really must thank you..."

"Really, then I would ask you to return something that belongs to me before things have to get ugly...well, uglier."

"Or... I could just do this!"

Before anyone could react, a new dark tendril shoots out of the Praegem's remains, hitting Kazuma directly before rapidly spreading out over him to encase him in a kind of chrysalis. The others cry out as they rush to stop this, but it was already too late as the Praegem's eyes light up before letting out a blinding flash of light that brings them to a stop. They had been paralyzed from whatever that was and could now only stay in place as the Praegem's laugh fills the air. A laugh of victory as he believed he had won.

{|} Part 3: Reclaiming What Was Stolen {|}

(Megumin POV)

Where am I?

Why is everything around me so dark, so cold.

Am I... dead? Is that what dying feels like? I'm scared. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm feeling completely terrified right now. How did this happen. Where did I go wrong. Was I too stubborn in the past, only wanting to follow the path of Explosion magic at the cost of learning anything else.

What am I saying, of course I have been.

All my life, I've been nothing but stubborn when it came to anything and everything. Even here as of late, I've been more stubborn than not and because of that, I've done nothing but cause the people around me, my friends and family, much grief.

If only I could have another chance, I would make sure I changed myself and become a better...

("Yeah right. You and I both know that's not true, current me.")

Huh? Who said...

The next thing I knew, a point of light came into my field of vision, not that I was sure if my eyes had always been closed before this moment or not, or even if my eyes had even opened yet or not. The small point of light, blinking with such brilliance, begins to grow bigger and bigger and I felt it was coming closer to me until...

All the world around me became bathed in light and I found myself finally feeling a sense of peace and calm. For what felt like forever, I allowed myself to just enjoy this new feeling that was washing over me and I felt, if only for a moment, I could just let go and forget anything.

And then I felt something make contact with my cheek, caressing it softly before it turned into a hard and quite painful pinch.

("Wakey, wakey, my lazy current self. You're not allowed to go giving up the ghost now, as they say.")

I quickly pick myself up off the ground though it was hard to say if I had actually been laying down before or not. Once I was on my feet, or at least confident that I was on my feet, I look around and quickly spot the transparent figure floating just beyond arm's length from me.

She was naked for the most part, not that there was anything personal and private on display for me to see. In fact, the only definition present on the girl I was looking at was all centered on her face. Her shortish black hair with red highlights seemed to flow freely despite the lack of wind and her yellow cat like eyes seemed to be staring right into my very soul. And also...

"Do I... know you. There's something about you that looks familiar somehow."

("I would think so, though I don't blame you for not remembering as remembering anything about me shouldn't be a thing for you, current me. Hell, the number of times we have even been able to interact with one another is honestly really unheard of.")

"Oh no, no-no-no-no-no! I am not in the mood for any kind of cryptic shit from anyone right now."

("Are you ever in the mood for anyone's shit when sending them your own?")

"Why you... if you weren't some ghost like entity, I would make you suffer for pissing me off. Now, you going to tell me who you are, where I am right now, and what you meant when you said current me? And what's this about us having interacted before? Sorry to tell you this, but I don't remember ever..."

("That's because you're not supposed to know me, as I eluded too just a moment ago. Guess I'll explain it to you all... AGAIN. My name is Realm. We met before when you and the others took a little road trip down into Hell in order to save Kazuma from that blood-sucking vampire wannabe. We interacted when you did your whole soul dive into Kazuma soul and I also... might have hijacked your body when you were facing all those demons down in the Fifth Circle of Perdition.")

"OK, now I know you're full of it. I don't remember any of that hap...pening..."

Almost like a lamp being turned on, it all came flooding back to me and I did mean all of it. My body being controlled by some strangely familiar force and being made to do some SERIOUS ass kicking and the talk me and Kazuma had with, what were their names again? It was... Linear and...

("That's right, my name is Realm. Nice to be able to talk with you again, other me... I mean, Megumin.")

"Yeah... like wise. I don't understand, why did I go forgetting all that and how is it we're talking with one another again now?"

("Your guess is as good as mine. I still don't quite understand how I was able to do the stuff I've done up till now concerning you... and Kazuma. As for the why you can't remember our past interactions till times like these happen? I'm guessing some divine law or something. Honestly, your guess is as good as mine.")

Great, why does everything in creation have to be so complicated. What's wrong with keeping things nice and simple. I mean, simple is nice after all.

I then feel Realm nudging me with a devious look in her eyes.

("By the way, looks like you and Linny... I mean Kazuma, finally did the horizontal tango together... and the vertical tango too... all over his bedroom in fact. All I'm going to say is... NICE, reminds me of when me and Linny had our first night of fun together.")

Wait, how does she know about... oh right, if she is me then of course she would know about everything I've said and done. And who's that Linny person she's... right, she must be talking about Linear. Guess Linny must be a nickname she gave him.

I then look around before looking back at Realm and asking-

"So... any idea where it is I'm at right now. If memory serves, wasn't I inside some spooky temple with an annoying creep wearing a ratty cloak and jaw-less skull."

("Pardon... Oh right, the current situation. Look Megumin, we don't have any time to waste here.")

"You mean beside the amount of time we've already wasted."

"(... Yeah, that. Anyways, here's the deal. Your body has been taken over by that stuck up bastard Praegem guy and he's currently beating the crap out of not only your friends but has even stabbed our daughter in the gut and stolen the power I passed onto her so he can feel all special again."

"What? Then why are we just standing here, having ourselves a nice chit-chat. We need to go save... wait, what do you mean when you say OUR DAUGHTER!"

("I'm talking about the one who taught you Explosion magic, Wolbach. You see, Wolbach is mine and Linny daughter and seeing as you and Kazuma are the reincarnations of me and Linny, then that means that Wolbach is technically your daughter too... sort of I think. I would still think of her as my daughter if our roles were reversed.)

"Wait, are you serious. Master Wolbach is mine and Kazuma's daughter... born to us in our past lives. Wow, that's such a meta concept that I don't know how to handle it."

("Then you can figure that all out later. We need to hurry as even in a place like this, time is still moving forward. Even if it is at a slower pace.")

Hearing that makes me push all other thoughts out of my mine save for one which I vocalize.

"So what should I do then? How do I get out of this place and back outside in the waking world. And how do I defeat that body stealing jerk when I am back out there."

("First things first. We need to retake the core of the Reiki the Praegem stole from Wolbach We won't be able to do anything else until we've done that.")

Realm then snaps her fingers and I find myself, and her, being sucked into a spiraling tunnel. A feeling of motion finally comes upon me and I wonder where it was we were heading. As if reading my thoughts though I guess that was to be expected as she was me after all, right.

("We're going on a little trip. Seeing as the Praegem took it upon himself to send a piece of his essence into your body, we'll return the favor and take a little trip into his so we can find and reclaim the Reiki.")

"There's the word again, Reiki. What does it mean?"

("Reiki is the name I called the core of sacred power I was born with in my life as... well, me. Long ago, long before I was born, some idiots ignored all the warnings about digging around some old ruins and because of that, the unleashed the destroyer much sooner than was intended.")

"The Destroyer? I'm guessing that's the Praegem guy you mentioned before."

("You would be correct there. He, the destroyer, does have a proper name he's supposed to be known by but I don't know it. Wasn't interested in learning it. Anyways, it went around, killing people and absorbing their life force to strengthen itself. It didn't care that it was unleashed prematurely, only following its instinct as a destroyer. Somehow, not sure how it happened, but it ended up finding its way into the Pure Land.")

"Pure Land?"

("Are you familiar with the place called Empyria?) I nod. ("Basically, the Pure Land was the Empyria of my whole world, Arbel. Anyways, once there, the destroyer found the Reiki and absorbed it into itself and then, as a means of testing it out, went and did considerable damage to the Sacred Tree that was the source of all life and mana on Arbel.")

"Let me guess, everyone on Arbel called it the Mana Tree?"

("... Moving on, with the Reiki under its control, it then finally began its mission to wipe all life off Arbel. It was then a brave group of heroes stepped forth and did battle with it. Many of them sadly died in the battle, including Linny and mine's previous selves though before my previous self-died, she managed to take the Reiki from the destroyer and into herself. She thought that in doing this, she would make sure it could never be abused by anyone again. Instead, it became part of her soul and this, when she became me, I gained the ability to enter my Spirit Mode, though many were told it was the power of a Devil. A Moltana Devil if you will.")

"I still have so many questions despite hearing that."

("And I would tell you... but I'm afraid question time is over. We're here.")

We suddenly emerged from the spiral of light and once again, I found myself in a world of endless murky darkness. Well, almost as there was a single brilliant pulse of light that was coming from a golden orb that hovered nearby. I couldn't help but be dazzled by its luminescence.

("I know, quite hypnotizing, huh?")

I just nod, unable to take my eyes off of it for a few more moments till the sudden sound of Kazuma's voice comes ringing through this place we were in. That snaps me back to reality as I quickly say-

"Wait, that was Kazuma. What's going on, other me?"

Realm looks off into the dark, her expression looking tense as she says-

("It looks like he found out about your little lie and has come to save your butt. But the Praegem was able to catch him off guard as he has decided he wants to take Kazuma's body as his new vessel and then, with the Reiki under his control again, he will continue what he started on Arbel by leading this world into ruin as well.")

"Like hell I'm going to let that happen. I'll go take back that power and use it myself to give him a long overdue ass kicking. Hold on Kazuma, I'll be right there."

I say that but I don't move immediately, instead taking a moment to look around for any traps or safeguards this Praegem guy would have set up to keep this Reiki thing safe.

("What are you doing?")

"Making sure there's no surprised that will stop me from taking control of this power."

("And why would there be any surprises here?")

"Oh come on. Please tell me you don't understand how these things work, other me. If this thing is as valuable as you say it is, then surely that Praegem guy would want to make sure no one could take it from him. I know I sure as hell would if it was inside me already."

("I do understand how these things work. Let me counter your argument with this bit of information. We are currently INSIDE the Praegem. Why would he think there would be any danger in anyone stealing the Reiki back away from him?")

"Wouldn't a lot of people, like Wol... our daughter would naturally want too. Also, she better be alright otherwise I'll really let him have it."

("I agree with you on that one. As for the other part. Sure, he'll be extra cautious when it comes to any external attempts to steal the power from him again. But we aren't external of him right now. Rather, we are currently internal, within him. Know this, the Praegem has a lot of hubris within him. He's confident that no one could attack him from within. Hell, he probably still thinks you're snoozing away inside your body and I'm confident he doesn't know I am able to make contact with you because of our... curious situation at the moment. In other words...")

"He doesn't know we're here."

I then begin to giggle with glee as I float over to the golden ball of light. I reach out and touch it with both hands, feeling the warmth come flowing into me. For some strange reason, it felt very familiar all of a sudden, like I was touching a long-lost part of myself.

"Alright, here I go..."

I then try to do... something with the thing though I quickly come to a realization. I didn't know what to do with this stuff, making me look back at my other half and smile a sheepish grin.

("No doubt about it, you really are my reincarnation. Here, we'll do it together.")

She then comes over to join me, placing her hands onto it as well. She then says-

("Don't try to force it. Instead, call out to it with your very being. Trust me, it will come to you... us willingly as we will actually use it correctly, unlike the Praegem. Also, once this is done, we'll need to move quickly as it won't take the Praegem long to realize that something has happened to it.")

I nod as I return my attention to the glowing ball of light. I close my eyes and, as Realm said, I call out to it. Not with words, but need. It takes a moment before anything happens, but then I feel the warmth of the light begin to flow into me. It was a strange feeling, but also a familiar one, like I was becoming something I had long since lost.

The power grew and grew and then... I felt as if my whole world had been remade.

("So, that's what it looks like when viewed from the outside. Everyone WAS right. It does look super cool.")

While I was unable to look at myself fully in the way I wanted to, I could at least look at my hands to get an idea on what I might possible look like to others. I then bring my hands and arms out before me and look at as much as possible.

"Wow, is this... is this even real?"

From what I could see, my body had become some kind of crimson colored energy that resembled fire but was flowing around like water. It was so strange and yet felt so familiar to me. Natural too, like this wasn't the first time I had taken on this form before... in some distant past I couldn't quite remember.

I then look back at Realm as she says-

("I just realized that you can't see yourself right now right properly so let me give you a hand with that.")

I then watch her as she takes on an appearance that I'm guessing was meant to mirror how I looked like in the moment. My previous assessment about how I must appear was spot on. Also, while I had a humanoid shape to me, there was nothing defining in my appearance. No sign of clothing or anything else that I might not want others to see. The only thing that stood out were my eyes which were of the deepest red with a thing white outline along the edges.

"("So, how are you feeling right now?")

"How do I feel? Heh, I feel rather invincible right now. Just wait till the others see me..."

Before I could finish, I suddenly feel a ripple like pulse go over me and the next thing I knew, the feeling of power within me fades. I quickly look at my hands, seeing that they had returned to normal. I quickly look back at Realm and ask her-

"Wha-what just happened. Why did the Reiki..."

("How should I... oh right, I do know. Just taking the Reiki into yourself isn't enough to gain the ability to actually use it. It'll take a great deal of time for the power to acclimate to your body's natural energies and become compatible and safe to use properly.")

"And how long is that going to take?"

("Hm... anywhere between a few months to a few years.")

"You can't be serious. Why would it need to take that long before I can make it my own. What about you? How long did it take for you to be able to enter that... what did you call it again? Spirit form."

("Yeah, I wish I could answer that, but I can't. Don't forget what I said, I first gained that power right before I died in MY previous life. For some reason, the Reiki decided to stick with me when I was reborn into the girl you see before you and I didn't experience my first transformation into the Spirit form until I was seven and that was because of me suffering a painful emotional moment. It took me a few more years longer after that before I could actually claim I mastered it.")

"For real? Damn it, and here I was hoping I would be able to try out using Explosion magic while in that form as I'm sure it will make my Explosions even more powerful and amazing looking."

("Yeah, that is true. Oh well, at least take comfort in the knowing that you will be able to do that eventually... assuming of course you don't end up giving it back to our daughter that is.")

"Yeah, there is that too. Still weird that master Wolbach is actually MY daughter from a past life. I'm going to need a whole lot of time to let that one sink in."

("Yeah, but at least you can take heart in knowing that Kazuma was the father back then. Also, there's the fact he and you have been together since your first lifetime together, not that I can remember THAT far back myself, despite my current state of being.")

"Yeah... oh crap, I forgot. Didn't you say that jerk who's been harassing us is trying to take control of Kazuma's body. I need to hurry up and go stop that before it's to late."

("Oh, right. Better hop to it then. Here, allow me.")

Realm then turns away and does some weird motions with her hands, making a spiraling gate come into being. How the heck can she do that, by the way. Is this some kind of special power specific to the echoes of one's past lives that's stored within their souls?

Nope, not going to give that any more thought as it's already making my head hurt.

She then looks back at me and says-

("Right through there. Assuming I didn't make any mistakes, it will see you over into Kazuma's body so you and him can have that big epic final battle with the Praegem.")

"Good, because I seriously owe that guy a right beat down. Hold on Kazuma; I'm coming to save you."

("Yeah... oh right, I almost forgot. Don't forget that when you wake up once this is all over, try to keep in mind that...")

I'm pretty sure my previous self was telling me something important, but I was to focused on going to save Kazuma to stop and listen. Besides, I'm sure it wasn't anything important like I'm going to forget all this again once I wake up. Yeah, there's no way that's going to happen... right?

{|} Part 4: A Very Konosuba Conclusion {|}

(Kazuma POV)

When my eyes opened, I could see nothing around me but storm clouds. Storm clouds above me, storm clouds beneath me, and storm clouds off in the distance no matter which direction I looked towards. There was also a howling wind and streaks of lightning shooting from one set of storm clouds to another. After letting myself look around for a few moments more, I let out a sigh then I say-

"Has my inner world always been so... stormy and bleak looking?"

"What's wrong with bleak and stormy? I personally think the scenery is quite nice looking. Probably the reason why I'm making this all look the way it does."

The voice came from behind me, making me turn back to see the floating dried out corpse with the glowing eyes looking at me while a dark aura flared around it every few seconds.

"Um... who are you again? Maybe you introduced yourself before but I was too busy being stabbed in the chest by you to have heard if you did. Also, where the hell am I now."

"I didn't introduce myself but I shall now, if only to humor you. At one time, I was known as the destroyer of Arbel. But you can call me the Praegem."

"Praegem... as in Praegem Calaster, the head honcho of the Arkt faith."

"... You actually remember me, Ritu-boy?"

"I haven't regained my memories of my past life as Linear of the Ritu tribe if that's what you're asking. Recently, me and a friend of mine found ourselves being pulled inside a magic crystal that causes us to relive the memories of Linear and Krys and after that came to an end, we were told that those memories where our memories of our past lives. Naturally, that included some stuff relating to you, Praegem."

"Well, that makes things easier. Don't need to waste time explaining anything to you. Anyways, as for your other question. The place you find yourself in right now is... think of it as a melding of our two inner worlds with mine taking priority seeing as I will momentarily be taking your body as my own."

I should have known something like that was what was going on with me now. Seriously, can't I go back to having a normal life again... wait, have I ever had a normal moment in my life since coming to this world? Damn it, I need another vacation. A REAL vacation.

"And you need to take my body from me why?"

"Isn't the answer obvious. I mean, just look at me. I'm a dried up, limbless, husk of a rotting corpse. I'm not looking like this because I like the look of it nor do I wish to go about my business, now that the seal has finally been broken, while looking like this either. Surely you can understand that much."

"Yeah, I guess I can. So, what's going to happen to ME once you're finished hijacking my body. I mean my soul."

"Hm, good question. Maybe I'll keep your soul all nicely sealed away inside me forever, as leverage to use against that goddess should she ever show up to take care of me. Maybe I'll just go ahead and let your soul pass on... tell you what, how about I just store you away inside me for now and I'll make a final decision later once I've had a bit of fun. And now, let's say we stop wasting time and get this over with."

The entity before me, the Praegem, began to come closer to me, growing bigger and bigger in size at he does, likely to make 'eating' me easier. I go to move again only to find I could no longer control my body... er, my spirit body I guess. I try to call upon my Lich powers but find those to be absent as well.

Great, of all the times to... wait, is that...

I can't help but grin, making the Praegem stop his approach and send me a confused look.

"You're smiling... that's an unexpected reaction from you, given your situation and all."

"What can I say. There's no point in fearing the inevitable, you know."

"I suppose you're right. Truly, a mature way to look at things. I'm going to be honest, Ritu-boy, I think I'm going to miss you."

"Since you said that, would you mind honoring one final request from me."

"I guess I can do that, seeing as you are giving me your body and all. But just be warned, I won't NOT take control of your body nor will I be sparing those friends of yours should they not believe that you are still you instead of me having become you."

"Actually, I was going to ask you if you could show me what you looked like before."

"Before?"

"Before this, before you even took control of Calaster, one of the heroes who defeated you back in your bestial form. I want to see it, the true form you once had as the destroyer of Arbel."

"You want to... see my original form?"

The Praegem then begins to laugh, a deep hearty laugh. I'm pretty sure if he still had working arms and hands, he would be tilting his head back, hand on forehead, due to how he was laughing. When he finally stops, he looks at me with evident glee in his glowing eyes as he says-

"Very well, I will show you. In fact, it will be nice to be in that form again. A nice little reminder of what I once was and what I will one day be again, just a lot more sentient. Behold..."

The Praegem's body then begins to glow and change, a dark fire surrounding him as he grows bigger and bigger, his shape becoming very not human like. I look on, maybe feeling a little fear but mostly wonder as his original self finally came into being.

He was a massive black Bahamut looking dragon with Diablo like elements about him, mostly the horns. His body was covered in black scales with yellow stripes and eyes burning with jade fire. He then flaps his four wings, whipping up a powerful gust of wind that comes blasting all around me.

"Behold, my true destroyer form. Quite impressive, isn't it Ritu-boy."

"A dragon? Why is it that the big bad usually takes on the form of a dragon as their ultimate forms in these sorts of things. That's so... cliché and unoriginal."

"Everyone is a critic, so hard to please. Now, I think it's time I finally consume you and take your body for my own."

The Praegem then reaches out with his dragon hand, obviously intending to take hold of me and toss me into his salivating jaws. Despite that, I can't help but smile again, knowing that the Praegem had yet to take notice of something I had, something very important.

Once again, the Praegem stops short of doing anything and once again sends me a confused look.

"Are you right in the head, Ritu-boy? Why aren't you putting in any effort to escape from your less than agreeable fate."

"Well, I hate to break it to you but before you can take my body for your own, I'm afraid you're going to have to convince another tenant of mine to let you come live here in me as well. And trust me, I doubt she's going to be very willing to let you stick around."

"Tenant? What are you talking about, Ritu-boy."

"Look behind you."

The Praegem gives me a curious look before doing as I said. He then goes wide eyed with shock as he finally sees what I had been seeing since the start. The clouds behind him had taken on the shape of a face, a face that far exceeded his own size as a dragon. And upon this face of clouds... no, face of smoke, were many more smaller faces, rising and falling from view. And then there was the glowing red eyes, eyes filled with such fury that I knew without question how this whole thing was going to end.

"And what are you supposed to be?"

"Get out."

"Get ou... just what do you think you are to order someone like ME into doing anything?"

"GET OUT!"

"The nerve. I don't know what you are but I think I show you just exactly what you are up..."Before he could finish, Entropy lashes outwards, sending an uncountable number of tendrils rushing out from the many smaller faces present upon it, each latching onto the Praegem's dragon form. Now immobile, the Praegem could only look on with his own sense of growing fear as he's drawn closer to Entropy's face, or maybe she was the one moving closer to him. Either way...

"I SAID... GET OOOOOOOOOOOUT!"

"No, wait... stay away you mon..."Once again, he didn't get to finish as Entropy literally consumes him in one bite. From within her, I could hear the screams of pain and terror coming from the Praegem though it doesn't take long before those screams became smaller and smaller.

And with that, the world of storm clouds gets sucked into Entropy as well and I find myself appearing in a more familiar location, outside the mansion. I'm guessing I was still inside my own personal inner space. Question now is how the heck do I go about returning to the outside world.

"Guess I can always try the front door."

I step towards the front door to the mansion and just as I go to open it, the door opens for me and Megumin comes rushing out from within.

"OK you damn bastard, give me back my man this instance or face my... Kazuma?"

"A little late to the party don't you think, Megumin. And here I thought Crimson Demons were masters of stealing the show."

"Of course we are, Kazuma. Don't tell me... wait, forget about that right now. Kazuma, are you...?"

I give her a confident smile then say-

"Yeah, I'm fine for the most part. Luckily, I had some backup that the Praegem guy didn't expect."

"Well yeah, it is me we're talking about here."

Obviously, Megumin was joking there... at least I think she was. It was hard to say with her sometimes. There was a moment of silence before I noticed a tear sliding down Megumin's cheek. Looking into her eyes, I could see the tears welling up as well.

"Kazuma, I... I'm so sorry."

She then runs forward, wrapping her hands around me in a tight hug. I hold a moment before wrapping my arms around her as well, returning the hug. She then tilts her head upwards towards me and she says-

"You must be so angry with me, right Kazuma. I mean, I lied about going to Veridae, I put everyone else in danger, and I almost lost you to that..."

"Yeah, that's all true and I'm sure you had your reasons for doing that. Reason you no doubt WILL be sharing with all of us once we're back home, right."

"Yeah, I will. I'll tell everyone everything, I swear. Also, Kazuma... I... I need to tell you..."

"If it's about what really happened that night between us, I already know that too."

"Wait, you do. How?"

"We can talk about that as well, once we're back at the mansion... in private, of course. We also have a few other things to talk about too, like things regarding your mother and..."

"Oh, I have a fair number I things I need to say to her. Things I WILL be saying when I pay her a little visit once the Eris Festival is over and done with."

"No doubt. But her little prank on us isn't the only thing you'll want to have a nice little chat with her about."

"Why? What else has she done?"

"Well, if what I've heard is true, it's possible both she and your dad have already spent the 200 million eris I gave them."

"They did WHAT? OH, I am so going to kill them if that's the case."

"Understandable. You mom is also wondering if I would like to adopt little Komekko and bring her to live with us in Axel as well."

"... I see. Well then, I guess I better start making preparations then, don't I."

"We can talk about all that and more once we get home. Now, let's get out of her, get the others, and see about doing just that."

Megumin nods, then she takes my hand. We then nod at one another before stepping through the door and back into the real.

{|} Part 5: A Family's Reunion {|}

(3rd Person POV)

The girls couldn't help but watch on in horror as the limbless, floating husk seemed to merge itself into the body of Kazuma. They tried to move, to do anything they could to stop it but their bodies refused to heed them, instead remaining immobile due to the strange spell the Praegem had unleashed upon them.

Once the Praegem had finished joining with Kazuma, he begins to laugh again; probably the most psychotic laugh they had heard come from the fiend.

"Kazuma, no..."

"This can't be... can't be happening..."

"Damn it, why did this... how could it turn out like this."

Once Praegem Kazuma finishes laughing, he looks to the girls, his smile impossibly huge, as he says-

"Oh yes, now this body will serve me well. Now, what should I do with you all?"

He goes to walk towards them, but stops as a curious and confused look comes upon his face. He brings his hands out before him, looking at them, before he quietly says to himself.

"Strange, what is this. I'm feeling some unusual energies present within this body. I've never felt such forces before. Just what exactly do you have resting within you, Ritu-boy. Hm, once I've finished up here, I'll need to take a deeper look inside, won't I. Now, where was I... oh right, what should I do with you all."

"This isn't over. Not by a long shot" shouted Cielo.

"If you think we're just going to let you get away with this, you're wrong" adds Darkness.

"No matter what you do, we will save Kazuma and Megumin somehow. We will!" says Yunyun.

Praegem Kazuma sighs before pointing in the direction of Megumin who had just been standing there, but now kneels down to bow.

"I'm afraid not, my little beauties. In case you haven't notice, but that one is still under my control despite having become one with this body... ah, I have an idea. How about I take control of you all too, just like I did with her. Make you all become my loyal followers. The first of what will become many; a restoration of the Arkt faith if you will. Sure, I could just go ahead and start destroying the world now, but where's the fun in that. Now, let's get started, shall we."

Praegem Kazuma then extends his hands forth, a series of tendrils come into being from his finger tips. These tendrils then begin to extend outwards towards the girls who continue to struggle in an effort to regain control of their bodies.

Off to the side, Hans just watches on along with Chomusuke while Anna continues to snooze away.

'Damn it, how did things end up going so wrong here. If only I could take on my true slime king form, I could... damn it, I hate doing these hero things. They're so not my style.'

Hans had made his choice. He would go out there, despite his current state of being and... well, he was going to do something. He wasn't sure what he would do but something was better than nothing. And he was sure it would mean his end. He looks to Wolbach, seeing her still on the ground unmoving. He hoped that she was still with them. He then closes his eyes, calls forth all the courage he had within him and...

Praegem Kazuma's body suddenly jerks violently, the tendrils quickly evaporation as he stumbles backwards with both hands on his head. The girls are quick to realize that the invisible force that had been restricting their movements was now gone and the get to their feet as Cielo says-

"What's happening? Why is he..."

"It has to be Kazuma. I'm sure of it. He's fighting back inside there" said Darkness, smiling proudly.

"No, it isn't Kazuma. I think it has to be..."

Before Yunyun could finish, Praegem Kazuma falls to his knees before looking to the sky as he begins to scream in pain and terror. His body shakes violently and fast and then, with a burst of light coming from Kazuma's back, the limbless husk comes shooting out from him.

It hovers in the air, cracks forming all over it before a second burst of light fills the area and when they could all see again, the husk falls to the ground as it slowly begins to break apart, leaving nothing behind. Kazuma, and Megumin too, fall onto the ground and the others are quick to run to their sides.

"Kazuma-Kazuma, is he OK, Cielo" asked Yunyun.

"I... I don't know. Without my magic power, I can only take a guess here. I hope he's..."

Before she could finish, Kazuma's eyes open and he sits up quickly, Cielo and Yunyun just barely managing to avoid getting their heads smacked by his own. Off to the side, Darkness, who had gone to grab Megumin's body, isn't so lucky as Megumin also wakes up and she ends up head butting Darkness by accident.

"Ow, that hurt. Darkness, anyone ever tell you that you have a thick skull."

"My head has nothing on yours, hard headed champion." Megumin glares at her for a second before Darkness adds "So, is it really you, Megumin. You finally back with us?"

Megumin examines herself, then looks to everyone as Darkness puts her down as she asks-

"Kazuma, are you... are all of you OK?"

"Yeah, more or less." Cielo and Yunyun help Kazuma get back to his feet. "I know I've said this before but seriously, can we please stop getting ourselves into these sorts of chaotic adventures. Unlike the rest of you, I'm only human."

The others just stare at him, understanding what he was meaning as he always seemed to get into serious troubles because of them. Megumin then looks at the girls and says-

"Um... yeah, I guess I have some explaining to do, huh?"

"Megumin..." Yunyun then stands and walks over to Megumin before landing one hell of a powerful slap to her face, making everyone do a double take. Yunyun then starts shaking Megumin as she shouts out- "Damn it, Megumin. What were you thinking. Coming to such a dangerous place like this alone. And what about out promise to one another. It was a Crimson Pinky Promise, something you know to be a sacred and unbreakable oath between people. Despite that, you..."

"I know, I know. I screwed up BIG TIME here. I'm sorry, I just... I just felt like I needed to do this alone, find master Wolbach so I could... wait, where's master Wolbach?"

"Don't worry, I'm still alive and kicking... sort of."

Everyone looks and sees Wolbach being helped into a sitting position by Hans while Chomusuke sitting on her lap. Anna, of course, was still dead to the world in her slumber. As Darkness goes to fetch Anna, the others go over to join Hans and Wolbach.

"Master Wolbach, are you... oh no, those wounds" said Megumin, her voice filled with worry and fear.

"Yeah, I know. They're pretty bad. So bad that this body doesn't have that much longer to..."

"Please, don't tell me, tell us, that you're going to... no, you can't die on us now" adds Yunyun, her own shaking voice and tear filled eyes showed her own fears as she looked at Cielo who only shook her head sadly.

"I'm sorry, but even if we could get out of this place and I could regain my mana quickly enough to do something for her, I'm afraid it's already to..."

"NO!" both Megumin and Yunyun cried together.

"Don't be sad, you two. None of you should be sad about my fate as, believe it or not and despite these wounds of mine are indicating for me, I won't be dying here this day."

"Huh?" said everyone save Hans who was quiet for a moment before his eyes widen in realization.

"Wolbach, are you... you really going to go with THAT option."

"It's the best option for me to go with here, given the circumstances." Wolbach sends Hans a smile before she turns her gaze to Chomusuke who nods before hopping up onto her chest. Wolbach nods before looking back at Hans and adds "Could you deliver a message to the boss for me, Hans."

"Sure, I think I can do that. What do you want me to..."

"Wait, did she just call you Hans?" said Darkness, her attention turning to focus onto the slime while Cielo was quick to add "You mean THAT Hans, the one who helped us out back there at Arcanretia?"

"Technically, it wasn't Arcanretia where we met exactly but that valley located nearby but yes, it is indeed me; Hans the Deadly Poison Slime."

"Didn't you die though" said Kazuma, though he already knew the answer thanks to his recent trip to that alternate time line with princess Iris. He only asked the question for the sake of the others and to avoid being asked the question by the girls.

"What can I say. We slimes are nothing, if not resourceful. But that's not important right now. Anyways, you were saying, Wolbach."

"Yeah, could you tell the boss that I'm taking a much needed and long overdo vacation to spend time with my parents and reconnect with them. In fact, I may be gone for the next few years. He'll understand... I hope."

Hans can't help but chuckle at that last bit before reaching up with one of his tentacles to caress Wolbach's forehead and sending her a smile as he says "Not a problem, partner. Just make sure you look me up once your back out there, wandering the land and making trouble while doing so."

Wolbach nods as well before she finally turns her attention back to Chomusuke and says "I guess it's time right, my other half."

"Um... master Wolbach..." said Yunyun, making Wolbach turn her attention to said girl.

"Yes?"

"I... well, what do you mean when you said "you're parents?""

"(chuckles) Hm, I wonder." Wolbach then looks at Kazuma and Megumin, who were positioned right next to each other. To her surprise, both of them just send her a nod, making her wonder if they somehow knew the truth about her and the connection they shared.

'I guess given what just happened, them knowing or at least having an idea would make sense though they'll likely forget before the sun rises tomorrow. No matter as I'll always remember and for me, that's more than enough.'

Wolbach then turns her attention back to Chomusuke and says "I'm ready, my other half. Now, time to return home."

Chomusuke closes her eyes, the cross shaped mark on her forehead slowly begins to glow as does the tear shaped mark also begins to glow. This is followed by both their bodies starting to glow as little particles of light begin to emerge from their bodies into the air.

It was then that something occurred to Megumin as something is reflected in her eyes as she quickly says-

"Wait, master Wolbach. Do you really need to do THIS? I have it within me, the... what was it called again. The Reiki? I can pass it back over to you. Surely it could..."

Wolbach looks at her while shaking her head and saying "That won't be necessary. And also... even if I took back the Reiki from you, that won't allow me to heal myself and survive. Not with the amount of time I would have left to me. Besides, that power is yours now. It always was. All I did was just... hold onto it for a little while."

Megumin wanted to argue with that logic but Wolbach simply reaches out and touches her cheek. She then does the same to Kazuma as her smile grows and her body begins to fade.

"Don't worry. This isn't the end as me and my other half are returning to being one and the same. It'll take some time, but eventually I... she... we, which one would be best to describe... never mind. The point is that our ability to communicate with you all will awaken soon enough and eventually we'll gain the ability to take on a human form too. And then, there will be a lot to talk about but for now..."

Wolbach's body grows fainter and fainter and just before she fully disappeared, she says one final thing to everyone-

"I'm ready to go home..."

And with that, Wolbach's body finally faded into nothing; the particles that had come from her body flowing into Chomusuke who's whole body shines brightly before her own form seemed to calm down and return to normal. She then floats down onto the ground as her eyes open and she looks around at everyone before scratching one of her ears before making a cute sounding meow sound.

"Master Wolbach..." said Yunyun sadly with Cielo placing a hand on her shoulder. Megumin also looked sad with Kazuma placing an arm around her.

"Don't be sad. Remember what she said. She's not really gone. She's just rejoined her other half."

They all look and see Hans looking at Chomusuke, a kind smile on his slimy face. It takes a moment, but Megumin's face hardens before she says-

"Slime guy is right. Master Wolbach isn't gone, she's just... sleeping right now. It may take some time but I know we'll see her again one day."

Everyone nods in agreement then Darkness says-

"So, what now?"

"Well, I guess we..."

Before Megumin could finish talking, Anna suddenly jerked before awakening from her current resting place on Darkness's back. Her groggy eyes look around for a few moments before asking-

"Is it over? Aw, please tell me it's not already over here. I was wanting to have more fun with my new skills for a bit."

"Sorry Anna, but it is over now" said Cielo with Megumin quickly adding-

"Guess you shouldn't have slept through all the fun, huh?"

"You don't have a right to be calling it fun, Megumin. Especially seeing as you're the reason we had to come out here to this place to begin with though personally, I can't complain seeing as the trip helped me learning something important about my body."

"And that would be?" asked Megumin.

"We can talk about that later, just like we have a lot to say to you as well, Megumin. You're in big trouble, you do know that right?" said Darkness, making Megumin shrink back a little, even try to hide herself behind Kazuma who simply sent her a "Don't use me as a shield" look.

"Before all that, I think we should focus on getting out of this place first" said Cielo.

"I guess we better start walking then as we have a long walk ahead of us if we want to get out of the Scarred Lands" adds Yunyun.

"Or, we could just use Teleport to get ourselves out of here" said Kazuma, getting everyone to look at him.

"Um... Kazuma, don't you know that using Teleport isn't an option in this place. None of us have any mana, not even you would have any available to you right now" said Yunyun.

Kazuma holds a finger up and says "Ah, that is true but don't forget I have something else I can use as an alternative."

And then, to show them what he meant, Kazuma's body begins to glow before his skin begins to pale and his hair turns bone white. Kazuma was using the casual mode of his Lich Reap power. Once he had finished, he looks at the others and adds-

"I have a small amount of arcana stored up within me. Something I made certain to do before teleporting here to get you all. There should be just enough for me to take us all back to Axel with."

"How did you get here to begin with, Kazuma?" asked Darkness.

"Sorry, I promised I wouldn't say for various reasons."

"I'm betting it was Vanir" said Anna.

"Guess we have to have a little talk with him when we next see him, huh?" says Cielo.

"Please don't do that."

"Kazuma, will you be alright with doing this?" asked Megumin.

Before Kazuma could respond, a noise catches their attention which makes them look back to see the last of the Praegem's husk cracking and falling apart to reveal a small, rather cartoony looking imp like creature. It looks at its chubby yet sad looking clawed fingers.

[What the hell? Why did I... YOU! It's your fault, this is all you fault. I am so going to...]

The now impified Praegem goes to lunge at Kazuma only for a golden chain to sudden appear, connected to a golden color that appear around its neck, goes stiff and sends the imp falling back into the center of the crater.

[Gah... damn it, is this... a new seal to keep me trapped here? Damn it all, this isn't funny. All of you... just wait till I find a way to get out of this, I'm going to...]

"Is that the Praegem?" asked Yunyun.

"I think he's talking to us but..." said Darkness with Cielo finishing by saying-

"I can't hear what he's saying though."

"I don't think anyone can hear him talking if they were here." Megumin then steps over to the seal and the imp Praegem tries to attack her, scratch her at least but the golden chain always stops him. Megumin examine the seal before looking back at the others and saying-

"Well, one things for sure. This annoying guy isn't going anywhere anytime soon. This new seal, if I'm right, will keep him trapped in this very spot for at least a thousand more years. I also think the reason we can't hear what its saying is because of the seal too."

Hearing that makes the imp Praegem really start raging though the others just ignore it as Megumin walks back over to Kazuma as everyone gathers around him. She then says-

"Let's head home, Kazuma."

"Yeah..." Kazuma nods as he begins to activate his Teleportation spell.

Anna then asks innocently "So, what are we going to do once we get back home?"

"Well, I vote with a nice long rest. Especially seeing as the Eris Festival starts tomorrow and I don't know about you all but I want to make sure I'm well rested for that" said Darkness.

Everyone nods in agreement with Yunyun then asking- "What do you think, Kazuma?"

Kazuma is quite for a moment as Chomusuke hops onto his shoulder and nuzzles his cheek. He then smiles and says-

"And I can't wait to get home so I can start punishing all of you girls!"

The teleportation activates before any of the girls had a chance to react to Kazuma's words though if they did have the time, it was obvious what their reaction would be: absolute fear!

{|} Epilogue: Pursuit {|}

[Complex] Iris stepped through the portal she and the others in her group made use of in order to travel to various timelines and she found herself arriving in a world like none she had ever seen before.

Before her, and all around her in fact, were buildings of metal; worn and somewhat grimy with plenty of smoke, or was it steam, being blasted high into the sky. She allowed herself a moment to look on in wonder before the sounds of people catch her attention, making her look around desperately for a place to hide.

Finding a stacking of old rusted barrels, she quickly ducks behind them to use for cover. A few moments later, the owners of the voices she had heard come into view and the sight of them made her eyes go wide in shock and surprise at their very appearance.

They, like the buildings and world around her, appeared to be made of metal.

"Iris, Aqua to Iris, have you arrived yet?" came the voice of [Ego] Aqua from the communication stone she had dangling from one of her earrings. Her voice was rather loud though luckily it was designed to insure none but those who wore them would hear anything said which meant her cover wasn't blown.

"Yeah, I'm here. Wherever here is. Have to say, Aqua. I've never seen a world like this one before. Something about it does stir some memories within me though. Specifically about things Kazuma once told me about."

"Really, let me have a better look."

Iris pokes her head out from the side while reaching up and flicking the earring with a finger, causing it to change colors for a few moments. After those few moments, she hears Aqua finally say-

"Huh, now that's as steam punk a world as ever you're going to see anywhere. Even the residents of that time line are robots of a steam punk fashion. That's actually kind of cool. I'll need to pay it a visit myself when time permits."

Steam Punk, robots? Iris was sure she had heard these words spoken by Kazuma before too. Before she could inquire more information from Aqua though, said one-time goddess of water urged her to get on with checking the place out while she watched it all from the safety of their little base of operations.

"Aqua, a question if I may. Why are we still needing to explore alternate timelines for? We know where our Megumin is at and once we get her back, we'll finally be able to restore our Kazuma as well. Isn't all this additional looking around kind of... pointless."

Aqua was quiet for a moment before saying-

"Maybe, but it never hurts to learn more. Gives us something to do as we await Kazuma's B-day which luckily is less than a week away now. Besides, we may get lucky and find the home time line of that damn monster that's responsible for sending our time line into total chaos. Finding it's time line.."

Before she could finish, a loud thunderous roaring sound hits the whole world. Iris turns her gaze to the sky and her eyes go wide with both horror and fear as she sees the worst thing taking form. Through all the chaotic noise hitting her, to say nothing of the sudden unleashing of the wind, she hears Aqua say-

"Iris, what's that noise. What's going on over there?"

"Your famous ability to bring about a jinx is what's going on, Aqua. The moment you go bring up THAT particular terror, she just happens to make an appearance and judging from what I'm seeing, and hearing, it has to be the main body that's taking the stage in this time line"

"Then that can mean only one thing..."

Yeah, only one thing. It has come here to claim this timelines version of Satou Kazuma.

Iris quickly breaks into a run, heading in the direction of the funnel of fiery smoke as it emerges from the hole in the sky towards the ground like a super charged cyclone. Around her, many of the robotic people go running the opposite direction though she doesn't pay them any mind.

It takes a few moments but she finally reaches the edge of small passageway only to come to a stop and hide herself behind some pipes before peaking out to see what was happening in the opened area just beyond her.

It looked like a massive trash heap; a dump filled with plenty of damaged and broken things, including some robots. She then see their great enemy, Entropy, in her humanoid like shape. Faces rising and falling from her body of smoke and raging storms as she appeared to be cradling something in her arms.

It was on of those robot people and from what Iris could see, it appeared to be rather beat up, badly damaged in fact. It was clear it had seen better days. Why would Entropy show any interest in... wait, was it possible that what Entropy was holding was...

"Wait, please... give him back" came the voice of another robot, female from the sound of it's voice though it had this weird metallic 'ting' to it. Iris tried to take a guess on who that robot girl could be but it was difficult to be sure as the 'ting' made it very tricky to do.

AND WHY WOULD I WANT TO DO THAT?

"Please... just give Kazuma back to us..."

So the robot Entropy was holding was the Kazuma of this time line If so then why was all this happening inside what was clearly a scrap heap?

NO, I WILL NOT GIVE HIM BACK

"Please, you have to. He's... he's my, our, friend."

YOU SAY THAT AND YET I FOUND HIM HERE; BROKEN AND ABANDONED BY HIS FRIENDS IN A PILE OF GARBAGE. BEATEN, BROKEN, AND DAMAGED. IF HE WAS A FRIEND, THEN WHY IS HE IN THIS STATE?

"I... we... we didn't..."

FACE IT, HE WAS NOTHING TO YOU. ANY OF YOU. BUT HE IS SOMETHING TO ME AND THAT IS WHY I AM GOING TO TAKE HIM AWAY. TO A PLACE HE WILL BE SAFE AND LOVED

"No, you can't... please don't take him..."

Entropy ignores the pleas of the robotic girl as she lifts into the sky, moving to rejoin the rest of its being that awaited just before the entrance of the gate it had used to enter this time line

"Iris, what's happening over there. The imaging magics are all out of whack."

"Nothing good. And I'm about to go do something really foolish here."

"What do you mean by... wait, you aren't planning on..."

"Like you said, we need to see if we can find Entropy's home time line and this is probably the best chance we'll ever have. Here's hoping this doesn't get me killed."

[Ego] Aqua tries to tell [Complex] Iris to hold on, to not do it. But Iris ignores her as she moves quickly and carefully, following Entropy into her own portal. She manages to enter it just before is closes and finds herself being sent into a ride unlike any she had ever experienced before.

And hopefully, one that she'll actually survive when all was said and done.

{|} Arc 11: end... {|}

AN: It has been well over a month since the last chapter released and I'm sure you all must be wondering just where I have been during that time. The full explanation would take a long time to explain so I will keep it short and just say this much. I have been very busy since the last chapter. My job has been busy, to the point of me having to work 12+ hour shifts at my job six days a week. And the place I was living... well, let's just say I (and the other local residents) needed to go about finding new places to live in.

It has been total chaos and my free time to write has been almost nonexistent. Heck, I went through four weeks when I simply didn't have the time available to write anything at all. But I'm back now, sort of. With any luck, I will be able to begin arc 12 next week but who knows, given how things currently are for me with my life. Also, starting in arc 12, there will be some big changes coming with this fic but we can talk about that in the next chapter. Anyways, for now, let's do the next chapter preview.

Arc 12: The (Final) Eris Festival! It's the first day of the Eris Festival and everyone is excited to enjoy the festivities, or at least they should be. When Cielo needs to pay the Erisia Cathedral a visit and Darkness has to do something with her dad. Anna goes missing and both Megumin and Yunyun decide to start up a 'secret' project, Kazuma finds himself looking for something to do and in the process, comes face to face with the one person he never thought he'd see again. All the while, a certain someone has taken steps to make sure this Eris Festival is the last that will ever be done, perhaps not even that. How will it all end? Only one way to find out.