Re:ZERO- Starting Life Back at Home & Through His Eyes

by Dean Lynn

After the liberation of the sanctuary, Subaru became Emilia's knight and everyone returned to the rebuilt Roswaal's mansion. Everything seemed to be doing fine until one day, Subaru woke up back in Japan, outside the convenience store that he vanished from. Meanwhile, his friends back in Lugnica are facing a heavy threat that makes them face the horrors that Subaru has seen.

4. A CONFESSION AND SICKNESS

AUTHOR NOTE: Hi, Dean Lynn here. I don't really know if anyone is ready this story. I haven't checked anything regarding comments or views on my story. I'm planning to let this story gather attention on it's own and eventually check on it some other time. I just wanted to put this to clarify things that I didn't clarify at the beginning of the story.

First, I made some changes to chapter three regarding the plot surrounding Subaru himself. It's not much, but it is plot relevant.

Second, I haven't read the web novel or light novels yet. I've only watched the anime, so I apologize if there is anything that wouldn't make sense with what is established later in the story.

Third, I am making this story up as I go. I do have ideas for it, but I am just writing the story off the top of my head. I'll probably make changes to previous chapters if I come up with another idea. I hope it won't result in me having to rewrite entire chapters as they'll probably get longer from this point.

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CHAPTER 4: A CONFESSION AND SICKNESS

---

"I feel sick." Emilia spoke with one hand rubbing her stomach and the other over her mouth as she had a pained expression.

Her stomach still felt the pain of being cut opened, even if they were able to ignore it while they are in Subaru's body, right now, the pain wouldn't leave her mind. Petra was curled as her eyes twitched. Her hands were pulling on her hair from the side of her head as tears flowed nonstop down her face, her whole body shaking with fear.

Emilia looked at Petra with pity. There was no denying it. What she saw... They all saw. They were all experiencing the same thing. They may have not been able to speak to each other while they watched, but everyone's reactions confirmed it. Emilia looked to her right to see Beatrice getting up.

"Beatrice?"

She couldn't see the spirit's face clearly, but it was clear that she was hurt by what they were witnessing. The spirit started shaking with her hands clenched.

"Did Betty's contractor really experience that, I suppose?"

Beatrice shook her head as tears began falling down her cheeks. She never felt a pain like that before. It wasn't the memories though that haunted her, or even the pain. It was the idea that her contractor had to go through such an experience. She knew how kind Subaru was. Emilia's attention was then drawn by the sound of something hitting the ground. She turned to see Petra hitting her head on the floor. Her forehead was already bleeding from last time, but it was only getting worse.

"Petra!" Emilia shouted as she stood up to rush toward Petra.

She gripped the girl's shoulders and lifted her up. "You need to stop before you seriously hurt yourself.

"But... But but but but." Petra began stuttering as the pupils of her eyes were shaking in her wide eyes. "The pain." Petra spoke as tears formed in her eyes once again.

Emilia could only look at her with pity. She didn't know what to do. After all, she experienced the pain herself and didn't know what to do about it. How could she possibly know how to comfort Petra. If only Subaru was here. He could comfort her. All Emilia could do was hug her tightly while whispering in her ear.

"It'll be fine."

Petra heard Emilia's words, but they weren't what she needed to her. She couldn't trust those words. This pain and fear that she's never felt before was worse and no amount of "Everything will be alright." could ever help her. She clenched her teeth before pushing Emilia back, breaking out of her embrace. Emilia was startled by this.

Petra then stood up and turned around before running. Emilia stood up and was about to chase after her before someone shouted, "Ms. Emilia."

Emilia turned to see who called her to see that it was the blue-haired maid. Her arm was wrapped around her sister's shoulder. Ram was looking at the ground as she breaths heavily and her eyes widened.

"Please take care of my sister." Rem spoke with a serious expression.

Emilia was confused. She held her hands to grip the green crystal hanging on her neck. She turned her head to look back at Petra with a worried expression. "But..."

"I'll take care of her." Rem interrupted.

Emilia stepped over to Rem and Ram, who were crouching on the ground. She crouched down to their level. Emilia grabbed Ram's other arm and wrapped it around her shoulder. Rem then stood up and looked toward Petra with a serious expression.

"What are you going to do?" Emilia asked, looking up at the blue-haired girl.

"I'm going to do what Subaru-Kun would've done." She replied before running after the young girl. "Please comfort my sister."

Emilia looked on with admiration. This was a girl Subaru cared about. Even though she doesn't remember, she does remember how much Subaru cared for her. One thing that just came to her mind though. How was such a girl no awake? They didn't defeat Gluttony. She should still be asleep. She shook her head, deciding to put that thought behind her for now to comfort the red-haired maid before her.

Petra continued running through the halls of the mansion as she cried and sobbed. Even now, the pain wouldn't leave her mind. She may not feel it now, but she remembers. That's all it took to hurt her relentlessly. As Petra continues running, she lets out a scream of pain. She covered her ears and closed her eyes, hoping she'd forget everything. She wished for someone or anything to make her forget the terrifying things she saw.

The fear, the pain, no matter how loud she screamed. No matter how much she cried. She couldn't forget. It was something she just couldn't forget, and it hurt. She felt like she was in the most unfair, unjust pain imaginable. Rem finally caught up and grabbed her hand, stopping her from running any longer.

She struggled to get out of Rem's grip. "Let go of me!" She shouted, keeping her eyes closed while still struggling to set her hand free from Rem's grip.

Rem pulled the girl toward her, embracing her in a hug that surprised the young girl. Hey eyes widened in shock as Rem placed a hand on her head and hugged her tighter. Petra shifted her eyes up to look at the maid's face to see that Rem had her eyes closed with tears forming in her eyes.

"Wha... What are you doing?" She spoke in a broken and tired voice.

Rem replies, "I saw that Emilia's hug didn't work, but I know that Subaru-Kun would've hugged you tightly. I'm sure he's trying his hardest to get back to us. Rem believes that."

Rem opened her eyes to look at the girl. "I'm sure what we are seeing are Subaru-Kun's memories. I'm sorry that you had to experience that, but when Subaru returns, you'll be able to hug him tightly and tell him that you understand. If these are Subaru's memories, then he needs our help."

Petra felt shocked from Rem's words. Help Subaru? Rem continued, "Subaru must've gone through plenty more. But when he returns, you can hug him and tell him that you understand. I'm sure a hug from you could make him feel better."

Only a hug from Betty could make Betty's contractor feel better, I suppose." A voice suddenly spoke from behind Rem.

Rem turned to find Beatrice. Her eyes were puffy. She must've been crying a lot before coming here. "Ms. Beatrice." Rem spoke in shock.

Beatrice shifted her eyes to the right, avoiding meeting eyes with Rem. There were still streak marks from the tears that fell down her face.

"What are you doing here?" Rem asked.

Beatrice's face turned to one of anger. "Tch. I'm only angry that that girl in black hurt Betty's Subaru so mercilessly."

Rem turned to look down at Petra as she says, "I feel angry for Subaru as well. What he experienced was unfair. Still, it's hard to make out exactly what we were seeing."

Beatrice closed her eyes as she spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, "Most likely, we are seeing Subaru's first day in Lugunica. After all, he came out of nowhere. It seemed someone used magic to teleport him to the capital of Lugunica."

"But who would do that?" Rem asked, looking down with a pained expression.

Emilia still had Ram's arm wrapped around her as Ram continued looking down and breathing heavily.

"Are you alright, Ram?" Emilia spoke.

Ram moved her hand to cover her stomach.

It seems even Ram is affected by that pain. I know it still hurts, but I can't let it affect me too much. I need to help everyone else.

Emilia thought to herself as she looked at Ram with a pitiful expression. As Emilia and Ram just sat in silence, Emilia thought of ways to calm Ram. The silence is then broken as Ram speaks.

"Those visions we saw. They were Barusu's, right?" Ram could barely keep up her act while calling Subaru by the name Barusu.

Ram looked up at Emilia while she spoke. Emilia only looked at Ram with a fearful expression as she couldn't think of anything to say. She then looked down with a pained look.

"Yes." It was the only word she could say.

Ram then looked down, keeping her calm expression. Emilia looked back at her.

"At least I think so. I believe these are Subaru's memories. But... He never spoke of this. If these were real, why wouldn't he say something?"

Emilia looked down with a sad expression as she started questioning whether they were real or not. Were these Subaru's memories that they saw or are they fabricated to hurt them. Who would have the power to do this in the first place? Does Roswaal even know what's going on? Where was he?

Emilia hugged Ram, leaning her head on Ram's with her eyes closed as tears formed in her eyes. Subaru. Subaru, where are you?

---

Subaru grips his tracksuit as he breaths heavily. His parents surround him with worried looks. Subaru eventually calms himself, but not before a tear flows down his face.

I can't... even tell them. I thought if I could tell anyone, it'd be them.

"What's wrong, Subaru?" Naoko asks as she places a hand on Subaru's shoulder. Kenichi is on Subaru's other side as he places his hand on Subaru's shoulder.

"Subaru. Subaru, what's wrong?" Kenichi asks in a worried tone.

Subaru eventually looks up to see his parents closer to him. Naoko starts to cry as she notices a tear falling down Subaru's face. She moves her hand to wipe the tear away as her own tears begin flowing.

"Mom?" Subaru speaks as Naoko begins to break down.

Naoko falls to her knees, surprising Subaru and making him jump out of his chair and onto his knees and hold Naoko's hands as she begins to cry. His expression is one of worry. He looks as if he himself was about to cry. He then feels a tap on his shoulder and turns to see his father standing over him.

"Subaru, please. Tell us what happened to you. We deserve to know, don't we? Do it for your mother." Kenichi speaks to Subaru with a look matching Subaru's. Although Subaru himself didn't even know what kind of expression he was wearing.

Subaru turns to face his mother as he thinks to himself. But I can't tell them about Return by Death. But... maybe I could tell them about me getting transported to another world. I'll just have to leave out everything with my death...

Subaru was on the brink of crying. The thought of not being able to tell his own parents about all he's been through hurt more then he could ever be. But he could at least tell them most of what happened. Even if he can't tell them about Return by Death, he'll at least tell them everything he can.

"F-Fine. I'll tell you everything." Naoko and Kenichi both look at him as he speaks.

---

Outside of the Roswaal Mansion

Garfiel is utterly exhausted from trying to punch the barrier open. Otto is still thinking of any clues to how to break the barrier. Fredrica still has her hands together, praying for Petra's safety as they last thing they heard from the mansion was Petra's scream.

Garfiel lies on the grass, breathing heavily. He then quickly sits up with an angry expression.

"Where's tha' bitch Roswaal? This 's his mansion. Shouldn't he be ere'?" Garfiel shouted.

Fredrica turned to him with a worried expression. "Huh? You mean Roswaal isn't inside the barrier?"

Otto took a step forward as he placed his hat over his chest. "Around the same time that Subaru vanished, Roswaal did as well."

Fredrica looked at Otto as he explained before turning back to the mansion, even more worried now that she knows her master is missing as well. Where did Subaru and Roswaal go?

Inside the Roswaal Mansion

Emilia was still with Ram and Rem, Beatrice, and Petra were together before they all felt reality shifting once again. They knew what was coming this time. Petra shook with fear for what's going to happen next. Rem hugged Petra tighter with a serious expression aimed toward whoever was forcing them through this suffering. Beatrice didn't have any reaction as she wanted to know what kind of suffering her contractor went through. Why does he have his habit of self-harm?

They felt their bodies lose strength once again. Rem felt a sudden weight in her arms. She looks down to notice Petra was unconscious. "Petra!" Rem shouted as he kneeled down to lay Petra on the ground. She held extreme amount of hatred for whoever was playing this cruel joke on such a young girl. Beatrice didn't even try to resist as she was the next to fall.

Ram fell next before Emilia laid her body on the ground. Emilia then laid down beside her as she drifted into unconsciousness. Rem was now the last one awake. She looked up with hatred in her eyes. She would never forgive an entity that would put a young girl through this pain and torture. It was unforgivable. Her eye lids became heavy as it was starting to become harder to keep her eyes opened.

Her face became more relaxed as she remembered her conversation with Petra. She will make it through this so she can greet Subaru with more understanding. Even if she has to go through the hell that he's been through, she'll greet him with a smile. This was her conviction. Her vow.

---

Their eyes were opened to where they were before. In front of an angry Emilia, drawing a large crowd. It didn't take long before they began to get manipulated. They were hit with confusion as they were forced to stare at Emilia. Out of all of them, Emilia was the one who wanted to look away the most. She couldn't stand herself being this way to Subaru, knowing they were in his point of view.

The Emilia in front of them then said, I'll ask one more time. Why did you call me by the name of the Witch of Envy?"

They were forced to immediately respond, "Because you told me too."

"I don't know who told you that, but they have terrible taste." Emilia spoke back. She felt sick to see herself act this way toward someone she cared for dearly.

She was forced to watch as the Emilia in front of her showed an angry expression before saying, "The Witch of Envy is the very symbol of taboo, and you call me by her name, which most dare not even say!"

They couldn't see the sources of the next voice as people around them said, "That's right!" "That's going too far boy!"

They were filled with confusion. It wasn't a mystery as to why they all felt this while they were stuck in Subaru's view. Their emotions were that of Subaru. This only solidified their theory that these were Subaru's memories. Subaru's feeling. Subaru's thoughts. It was all Subaru's.

Emilia looked down as she said, "If you have nothing to say, I'm leaving. I have things to do." She turned around and started walking away.

They could feel Subaru's hand move to reach towards the Emilia that was walking away before something was noticed to their left. A blond-haired girl rushing through the crowd.

"Felt." Subaru spoke to himself.

Their view shifted back to the half-elf. The watched as Felt ran toward Emilia. Emilia turned back before Felt moved her hand to snatch something from Emilia. She turned back before checking her pockets, only to find nothing. She then turned back toward Subaru.

"Were you stalling me? Are you working with her?" Emilia yelled with a furious expression.

"N-No!" Subaru shouted back.

Emilia then turned around and ran away. "Hey! Wait... Wait a minute!" They felt their mouths move to shout toward the half-elf now running away.

Subaru's hand moved to reach out toward Emilia as he shouted, "You've got it all wrong! I'm..." Damn it Subaru thought to himself before running after Emilia.

Suddenly, they felt out of breath as they came to an alley, chasing after Emilia.

"Would someone please be a little nicer to me?" Subaru spoke to himself as he walked into the alley.

They then felt their bodies stop at the dead end of the alley.

"Why even was I... summoned to this world?" Subaru questioned before turning around.

Before they could feel their bodies move back through the alley, a voice spoke from the opening of the alley.

"What are you blabbering on about?" The voice spoke.

Their view shifted up so they could see the source of the voice, which happened to be the smallest of three men entering the alley.

The man in the middle then said, "If you don't wanna get hurt, couch up whatever you got!"

The three men looked happy as they confronted Subaru. Subaru on the other hand, looked frustrated.

"Would you stop it already?" Subaru shouted.

Emilia, Rem, and Petra were shocked to hear Subaru shouting like this. The three men facing Subaru also seemed to be surprised.

"No one if that damn persistent!" Subaru continued shouting.

The man in the middle grabbed a blade out from behind him as he said, "You think you can mouth off to us?"

They could feel Subaru's body move toward the three men without hesitation. He brushed past the man in the middle as he said, "You're in my way! I have somewhere I need to go!"

After passing the man in the middle, there was a sharp pain in their backs. It wasn't hard to guess what it was, but it still hurt.

Subaru's body moved to look up as a voice from behind him said, "Oh, man, now you've done it. You stabbed him?!"

Subaru's voice once again played inside their head. You've gotta be kidding me.

By now, the pain was too much for them to focus on anything else. It hurts... It hurts

Suddenly, there was an intense pain as they felt the knife pulled from their back, making Subaru cough up blood as tears formed in his eyes.

As he was bleeding out, their view was moving upwards. They could then see the bag that Subaru was carrying. But Old Man Rom ate those... How? Subaru thought. C-Could... this be...

Coming into their view were the three thieves running away as he bleeds out. They were then enveloped by darkness.

"Well, boy? You want this appa?" A familiar voice spoke as their eyes were opened to a man at a fruit stand. They felt nothing but confusion as they were back here.

"Hey, mister..." Subaru spoke with wide eyes.

"Huh?" The man at the fruit stand replied.

"How many times have you seen me now?" Subaru questioned.

The man then replied, "What do you mean? I've never seen you before now. Well? You want the appa or not?"

They could feel a smile across Subaru's face as they suddenly felt happy. He then shouted, "Sorry, but I'm broke beyond compare!"

"Get the hell outa here!" The man yelled back.

Suddenly, they were sitting on some steps as they heard Subaru speaking to himself. "My tracksuit and sneakers are intact, too." They were looking down toward Subaru's shoes.

His hand then moved behind him to pull up his tracksuit to see his back as he said, "And naturally..."

He sighed as he looked down with his eyes closed. "Thank God. A wound to the back is a warrior's greatest shame."

His eyes opened as he looked into the busy streets. "Well, with this much circumstantial evidence, there's no denying it. It's kinda hard to believe, but this has to be... a time leap."

As they felt Subaru's hands hold his phone and wallet, he shouted, "And each time, I return to my initial state. I'll call it... Return by Death."

They were all shocked at Subaru's conclusion. Return by Death? They all thought in unity. One thing was made clear by Subaru's declaration of this ability. This must be how he always had good timing and always knew when danger was coming along with how to stop it. This must be it. But then that means... he must've died many times to save everyone here.

One thing came to Beatrice's mind. The sanctuary. How many times did he have to die to save everyone there, in fact? Will we also experience that? Beatrice wanted to shutter at the idea of her Subaru dying because of her. It would hurt her too much to know that she failed him, if at all. How many times did he die because of everyone else? Because one thing went wrong with one of the people he was trying to save. It hurt her to think about such horrific things and thoughts. Her heart felt like it would break.

Subaru. Beatrice wanted to cry for her contractor. Is that why you have such a disgusting habit, I suppose?"

Emilia could only think back to her fight with Subaru in the capital. He saved her from the witch cult as well as supposedly leading the battle on the white whale. He somehow knew where and when the white whale would be. Does that mean he went against the white whale alone and died?

All because she left him there. How much suffering did he go through to save her? Why didn't he tell her about this? Did he not trust her? Beatrice didn't want to admit it, but she thought the same thing. Did Subaru not trust her? The one person he would tell everything; he didn't trust her enough to tell her this? She didn't want to even entertain the thought that Subaru didn't trust her.

"If I've gone back in time, Satella hasn't helped me in this forth life. Which means the debt I owed her for saving me is gone."

Emilia couldn't believe what she was hearing. Was Subaru actually going to leave her to die?... Maybe that's for the best. If Subaru really did suffer unimaginable pain to save her, then maybe it'd be better for him to leave her. Maybe then he wouldn't have to suffer these deaths.

Despite her want to feel depressed and cry, she was forced to smile and feel happiness. Suddenly, they were walking as Subaru's voice played in their minds.

Well, I guess the saying 'Let sleeping dogs lie,' applies in any world. But still, there are always softies

The memories of Subaru's first meeting with Emilia played in their minds as he continued thinking. who'll help others, even when they really can't afford to. She'd just had something precious stolen. She didn't have time for me. Yet she saved some useless stranger, and even healed him

Emilia, Beatrice, Rem, and Petra all felt hurt by the way Subaru described himself as useless. Ram was the only one who actually agreed with his description of himself. Maybe it was to hide the pain she felt from the three times Subaru died. Even if they knew Subaru was ignoring the memories, they couldn't. They could never just ignore something like that.

Then she let that useless stranger fell all pleased with himself... Subaru's voice played in their head as he was looking around.

Their view becomes focused on a young girl walking with her parents which brings up the memory of Subaru and Emilia helping a young girl find her parents. His head perks up and his eyes widen with realization. He then notices the mother drop a tomato that is then run over. This brings back the memory of Emilia falling beside him as he was dying. They could feel his shock as he saw this.

Even if Satella doesn't know me, Felt still stole her insignia, and Elsa will... The memories of when Subaru was killed by Elsa along with the pain plays through their minds as Subaru still continues to speak in their heads. No matter how many times I repeat this, that won't change.

Standing there, with a serious expression on his face, Subaru's hand moves to feel his stomach. They say history is a compelling force, right?

Emilia's smile plays through their minds. They all felt like flinching at their emotions as this was playing out in front of them. Slowly, they felt Subaru's body begin walking before going into a sprint. Yeah. If I have knowledge that people I used to know will be killed, Memories from his previous lives with Emilia, Felt, and Rom play in their minds. "I can't ignore it!" Subaru finishes his thought out loud as he continues running.

---

In the Natsuki household

Subaru was sitting across from his parents at the table. He had a serious expression along with his parents.

"That's how I became Emilia's knight, and everyone was saved."

Kenichi and Naoko didn't know what to think. What Subaru described was something out of a fantasy. yet, he was smiling. Was this true? They couldn't believe it. How could they? Subaru literally described himself being summoned to another world and being surrounded by magic and other fantasy-like things. Not only that. But they had a suspicion that Subaru wasn't telling them everything.

A lot of things just didn't make sense. Subaru described himself trying to help stop bad things that he shouldn't have known. He never explained how he got such information. But it also sounded like he was downplaying himself to make the other people he mentioned look better and more helpful. Also, why did Subaru suddenly want to run away with that girl named Rem? It didn't make sense. He never explained why he wanted to give up.

There were just too many things that felt... off. There were just too many things that didn't make sense. And they were sure that Subaru knew this. But why did he leave so much out? What was he trying to hide? Never thought would they have guessed what Subaru was hiding. How could they? They could barely believe that Subaru was suddenly summoned to another world.

The only reason they had to believe that he was summoned was because he was their son. They wanted to believe him. They wanted to trust him. They wanted him to trust them. For Naoko, believing that Subaru was summoned against his will would make her feel so much better as it would mean it wasn't her fault that Subaru went missing. This made her feel somewhat at peace.

For Kenichi, he just wanted to believe his son with all his heart. But could he? He couldn't come up with a reason for Subaru to lie, but why did his story feel so unfinished? He decided to put that question to the back of his mind for now though.

Subaru was nervous about what his parents were thinking about what he told them. Were they even going to believe an outrageous story such as him getting summoned to another world. Although it hurt him, he even told them all the embarrassing moments such as how he acted when he was first summoned as well as when he got into a fight with Julius. Everything he could tell them, he did.

Would they notice all the gaps he left by skipping his failed loops? He knew they probably did, but he didn't want to say anything on the off chance they didn't. As Subaru tries to avoid eye contact, Kenichi is the first to speak.

"Subaru," He says, getting Naoko's and Subaru's attention. "we're just glad you're back. We believe you." This was a decision Naoko agreed with. Whether Subaru's story was real or not, they believed him. The believed him because they wanted to. They wanted to trust him, but they also didn't want to push him to hard to reveal everything.

And so, they may not know why exactly her harms himself, but they are at least one step closer to uncovering the truth and actually help Subaru for all the time they missed with their son, Subaru.

---

In a dark alley, three thieves stand in front of them.

These guys again? Emilia thought as she saw the three thieves. Everyone else also had the same thought. They were tired of seeing these three.

"What are you blabbering about?" The smallest one spoke.

The one if the middle then said, "If you don't wanna get hurt, cough up whatever you've got!"

Their view then looked down as they felt their eyes closing on their own.

"I'm getting sick of seeing your faces, Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest." Subaru spoke. "After doing this four times, I've learned my lesson!"

They could feel their mouths open to take in a deep breath as their body held this weird pose. They felt Subaru lift his leg up and stomp the ground with his fist clenched before screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Guards!"

"What the hell, you bastard?!" The smallest thief spoke.

The thieves began to get scared as they could feel Subaru's face turn into a smile along with his voice in their heads.

My memory from before was right.

Subaru's voice continued speaking as the memory of when he was stabbed in the back played. This world does have some kind of police force!

Subaru then continued speaking out loud, this time mocking the voice of a girl which made Ram and Beatrice feel disgusted as Emilia, Rem, and Petra found it funny.

"Someone! Please, I need a man!"

One of the thieves then said, "Damn it, shut up!"

They were interrupted by Subaru as he continued to shout. "No, don't touch me! Stop! I can't here you! You're not being sincere enough! Police..."

No one came. "Huh?" Subaru spoke in confusion.

The thieves seemed to regain some of their composure as the big one said, "Don't scare me like that. I... might've freaked out a little bit."

The one in the middle then cut in and said, "Just a little bit."

Still looking scared, the smallest one said, "Just a tiny bit."

The on in the middle then pulled out two blades, putting an expression of nervousness on Subaru's face. They all felt nervous as they wondered why no one showed up to help him.

As the big one also pulled out a blade, the smallest spoke in a smug tone. "Trying to run away won't help you."

Suddenly, there was a voice coming from behind them. It spoke in a confident tone. "That's enough."

Emilia and Rem both recognized the voice and were shocked. The three thieves in front of them perked up with confusion. Their view turned to look behind Subaru. In front of them was a man in a white uniform with red hair and blue eyes and what appeared to be a sword on his hip. They felt in awe at this man's appearance. They were suddenly brought back to reality as they heard the thieves.

"Reinhardt? The master swordsman, Reinhardt?!"

The man, whose name appears to be Reinhardt, looks down with a smile as he says, "Looks like I don't need to introduce myself."

Reinhardt then began walking forwards as he says, "Though, that nickname is a bit much for me."

Now standing to Subaru's right, the man said, "I don't know how much help my modest strength can be to him, but if you wish to resort to extreme measures..."

Reinhardt then looks up at the thieves as he says, "As a knight, I will have to fight back."

---

Crusch is riding in a carriage with Felix and Wilhelm with her. They decided to take the Lifaus highway as it is the quickest way to Roswaal's domain. Crusch is sitting in the carriage with Felix sitting across from her and Wilhelm at the front to steer it. The sky was clear and beautiful as the grassy field stretched on endlessly.

"Do you think Mr. Natsuki is okay?" Crusch speaks, breaking the silence. Her legs are crossed and she's leaning her head to rest on her knuckles.

Felix looks at Crusch before looking up and placing a finger on his chin. "I don't knyow. I mean, he's done some incredible things."

Crusch has her eyes closed as Felix speaks before saying, "True, but I also remember being told that he has no talent for fighting. He can't use a sword and now his gate is cracked."

Crusch sighs before looking out of the window before she speaks in a low voice. "Subaru Natsuki. Where are you?"

Felix turns to look at Wilhelm as he says, "What do you think old man?"

As Wilhelm looks forward with a serious expression. "That young man may have no talent with a sword or magic, but what I saw in his eyes is one who survives. He's smart. No matter where he is, he'll survive. That, I am sure of."

Felix turned back around with his eyes closed as he shrugs his shoulders and says, "Yeah, I guess that's true."

Crusch opened her mouth in shock as the sky grew darker, covered by a huge gray cloud that covered the entire sky. Wilhelm looked forward with a serious expression, bracing for whatever may happen. Felix just looked out the window with Crusch as his eyes showed fear. There was a moment of silence as they all saw the sky darken. Wilhelm was the one that broke this silence.

"We are approaching Margrave Mather's domain." His tone was serious and firm which put Crusch and Felix on edge.

Felix stuck his head out the window to look at where they were headed. In the distance, he could see Arlam village. What was happening? Why did the sky grow darker as the approached? Something wasn't right, and they all knew this even without speaking. Whatever was happening, it wasn't just about Subaru going missing. There was something else going on.

As they saw this, they forgot about Subaru's disappearance. They needed to focus on what was happening in front of them. They trusted Subaru to be fine on his own. Whatever was happening in Roswaal's domain. That was what they needed to focus on. Until Subaru Natsuki arrives. This was their new goal.

They finally entered Arlam village and stopped the carriage. Crusch immediately jumped out of the carriage and turned to face toward the village. It was dead silent. Not a single noise could be heard from the village. Crusch had a serious expression as she looked on toward the village. Felix got out behind her. He stood beside her, looking on at the village.

Crusch walked forward beside where Wilhelm was sitting. She looked toward him and said, "What's going on. This village is usually lively, isn't it?"

Wilhelm could only look with seriousness as he listened for any sign of life. "This place is dead silent. Something is going on?"

Wilhelm then steeped off the front of the carriage and stood in front of Crusch and Felix. Crusch still had her sword attached to her hip as did Wilhelm. They were both ready in case they were attacked. Wilhelm shifted his eyes to look around.

"Lets go." He spoke before walking forward.

They walk through the ghost town of a village still on guard, prepared for anything that could attack. As they walk, they noticed something on the ground. It was too dark to see clearly, but the outline looked... human. The stepped closer and as they finally reach the thing, they noticed it was indeed a person. A child. Beside their body was an axe.

Wilhelm immediately went to the side of the child and kneels down. "It's a kid." Wilhelm spoke.

Crusch looks down at the child as she says, "Are they alright?"

Wilhelm shakes the child, hoping to wake them up. The child didn't respond, still laying on their stomach. Wilhelm then turned the child over to see their face. Now looking at the child's face, they were unconscious. Wilhelm laid the child back down softly. He put his hand near the child's mouth. He could feel their breath.

Wilhelm sighed with relief before looking up at Crusch. "He's alive."

Crusch quickly turned to Felix, saying his name. "Right." Felix responded as he walked in front of Crusch and kneeled down on the other side of the child after moving the axe. He looked over the child's body for anything that seemed off.

After looking at the child, he looked up at Crusch. "The kid is fine. Just looks like he's unconscious."

Crusch sighed as she closed her eyes. She then looked back up as she says, "Well, that's a reli-" As she looked up, she noticed plenty more bodies around the village.

How could they have not noticed this before. All these bodies. It was like everyone in the village were unconscious. What happened here?" Wilhelm and Felix both looked on. Wilhelm looked in rage as Felix looked on in horror. What kind of horror befell these innocent villagers? Just what happened here?

Wilhelm stood up and drew his sword, prepared for anything that might pop up. Crusch also drew her sword and held it with two hands.

"Me and Wilhelm will continue moving forward." She spoke before looking down at Felix. "Felix, I want you to check on every villager to make sure they're ok." She then looked forward before running ahead with Wilhelm as Felix just watched.

Moving through the village, there was nothing but bodies. The villagers were all unconscious, kids and adults alike. Yet, there was no sound. Nothing but the sound of their footsteps and breathing as they explored the village.

Meanwhile, Felix walks around from one person to the next, checking them. No one seems to be dead, but they are badly weakened. Who could've done this? Felix thinks to himself as he uses his healing magic to put them at ease.

As Felix is kneeling down next to one of the village children, he hears a noise. The sound of footsteps from behind him. He just finished healing the child. As he hears the footsteps; he turns around quickly and frightened. His fear lessens as he recognizes the person.

A man is green. It was Otto. He has his hat off and placed over his chest as he smiles at the cat boy. "My apologies. I didn't mean to frighten you." The merchant spoke.

"Otto?" Felix questions as he didn't expect to see Otto. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in the mansion?"

Otto chuckles before putting his hat back on and walking toward the cat boy. "Well, you see. Something terrible is happening at the mansion." Otto reaches his hand toward Felix to help him up. Felix places his hand on Otto's and stands up.

"Terrible?" Felix questions before he remembers that Crusch and Wilhelm just went in that direction. He quickly placed both hands on his cheeks with a shocked expression as he says, " Oh Nyo. Ms. Crusch and Old Man Wil just went there."

Otto immediately tries to calm him done by saying, "Oh, you don't have to worry about them. It's not what you think."

Otto then turns to look toward the mansion as Felix just looks at him with a confused expression.

"What exactly happened, nya?" Felix asked.

"Well, it's hard to pinpoint exactly when this happened." Otto then went to explain what happened to Felix.

---

Subaru is sitting in front of Rem who lies unconscious and unresponsive. He has his hands together and an expression that looks like he's about to cry. Beside him is Beatrice. She just stands in silence with her arm locked around Subaru's She just observes his expression.

"It's getting close to dinner time, I suppose." She spoke. "You can't avenge this girl unless you take care of yourself."

Subaru doesn't even respond. He just nods. Suddenly, there is a knock on the door. The door opens to reveal a girl identical to the one unconscious, only this girl had pink hair instead of blue and her hair style mirrored the one of the unconscious girl.

"I came to get you for dinner, but it seems you are still moping." The pink-haired girl spoke.

Beatrice looked at the girl in spite for speaking to Subaru in such a way as Subaru only shows a sad smile. He sniffles a couple of times before he speaks.

"Yeah, sorry about that. It's just so hard seeing her like this."

Ram points a finger to the sky as she closes her eyes and says, "If you wish to save her, then you need to have the resolve. Otherwise, your goal will slip from your hands."

Subaru stands up as he wipes his eyes and says, "Yeah, I know." He turns to Ram with a determined smile as he says, "I will save her. I won't let her die." I won't let her stay like this forever."

Ram and Beatrice both smiled at Subaru's resolve. He then looked down at Beatrice with a smile as he says, "Now, let's go eat."

In the dining room, everyone sits around the table as Ram, Fredrica, and Petra stand behind Roswaal. Otto looks between Roswaal and Subaru as Garfiel is already stuffing his face.

"Thi' 's some good food, Ram." Garfiel speaks with his mouth full as he gives Ram a thumbs up.

"Garf, manners!" Fredrica shouts at him.

Roswaal raises his hand with a smile. "It's fine. We don't have any guest right now."

Otto still looks at Roswaal with a suspicious look before he hears a voice to his other side.

"Subaru?" A girl's voice speaks with a concerned tone.

Otto turns to look to find Beatrice to be the source of the voice. She is looking up at Subaru with a worried look, the same as Emilia. Subaru sits between them with a dead expression. He seems to have spaced out.

"Subaru?" Emilia speaks as she taps his shoulder.

This tap brings Subaru back to reality. "Huh?" He questions as he turns to look at Emilia. "What is it Emilia-tan?"

"You spaced out." She replies.

Subaru rubs the back of his head with a sheepish smile as he says, "Oh, sorry to worry you."

"Hmph." Beatrice says as she crosses her arms while Subaru and Emilia turn to look at her. "As long as you are okay, I suppose. No need to worry us like that."

Subaru just chuckles. He reaches his hand to pinch her cheek as he says, "Oh, my Beako is sooo cute."

Beatrice smacks his hand away as she says, "Stop that, I suppose. Betty was really worried for you, in fact."

Subaru just continues laughing along with Emilia as Beatrice crosses her arms again and looks away.

Roswaal puts his hand over his mouth as he says, "My myyyyyy. You seem to have gotten reallllllly close with Subaru-kuuuuuuun."

Beatrice opens her eyes only to give Roswaal a mean glare as it was his fault for all the dangers Subaru has gone through. It was his fault that Subaru had to go up against the great rabbit and almost die trying to save everyone. Although, its not like she wasn't happy a tiny bit as it was Roswaal's tome of wisdom that allowed her and Subaru to meet. For that, she is thankful.

Roswaal notices this glare and realizes that things are still broken in his household between him and everyone else. Not even Beatrice seems to trust him. Otto notices this and looks up in confusion.

thirty minutes later

The table is full of empty plates as everyone has finished eating. Subaru stands up as he says, "Alright, well I'm already tired so I think I'll head to bed."

Beatrice stands up next as she says, "I'll follow you, if fact."

Emilia watches as Subaru and Beatrice leave the table. Her expression is one of worry. Otto also notices Emilia's expression.

At night

The mansion is dead quiet as everyone is asleep. All except one spirit who lies beside her contractor. The moon shines through the window, lighting up the room slightly. Beatrice is looking at Subaru's arms. They are covered in cuts. She has an expression of sadness as she sees these scars.

"You still have that nasty habit, I suppose?" She speaks as she holds her hand over Subaru's arm, a blue glow emitting from her hand.

The scars slowly disappear. After the scars disappear, the blue glow follows. Beatrice grips Subaru's arm tightly as she brings it to her head and closes her eyes. She feels hurt. After everything she helped Subaru with, she can't help him get rid of this habit. The one thing that brings her relief here, is knowing that she can at least get rid of his nightmares so he can be at peace.

A single tear runs down her face as she holds onto Subaru's arm like it's the only thing keeping her alive. As she stays still with her eyes closed, she slowly drifts off the sleep.

The next morning

The sun shines brightly through the window. Beatrice slowly opens her eyes. Her senses are a little messed up as she rubs her eyes. As her vision and senses finally clear up, she realizes that her arms are holding nothing. They should be holding Subaru's arm, but nothing. She sits up and looks around the bed as she notices that Subaru is gone.

"Subaru?" She speaks.

As she realizes that Subaru isn't in the room, she starts to get worried. She tries to look for him through their contract, but nothing. She can't find him. Where is he? She knows he is still alive because she can still feel their contract, but... he's gone. A knock on the door. A person enters. "It's Emilia.

"Subaru?" She speaks as she enters the room.

She is immediately confused as she only finds Beatrice alone in the room. "Beatrice?"

Beatrice turns to look at Emilia as a tear flows down her face. Emilia gasps as she sees Beatrice's face.

"Beatrice." She says as she walks closer. "What's wrong?"

Beatrice can't even respond as her mind rushes for an answer as to where Subaru is. Emilia is still confused as she looks around the room. She finally registers that Subaru isn't in the room. She then notices Beatrice's expression and what it means. Subaru must be missing. Why else would Beatrice be crying? Even if she couldn't find Subaru in this room, she would have at least looked for him.

The fact that she's crying means that she can't find Subaru. Another person the enters the room.

"Hey, Subaru. There's something I want to talk to you about." Otto says as he enters the room. He pauses as he notices the other two people in the room.

Now in Subaru's room, Emilia, Beatrice, Ram, Petra, Otto, and Garfiel stand. Emilia and Beatrice stand in front of the rest with worried expressions.

"Barasu is missing?" Ram speaks first with a hand on her hip.

Emilia doesn't respond, only nodding her head. Otto looks between Emilia and Ram with a worried expression. He then looks at Emilia.

"Are you sure? Maybe he's somewhere else in the mansion. Or maybe in the village."

"Yeah, Cap'n wouldn't just leave without sayin' somethin'." Garfiel cuts in with his hands clenched and a look of anger.

He immediately stops talking as he sees Beatrice shaking her head.

"Ha... Have you tried searching for him." Petra speaks nervously with a look of worry as she takes a step forward.

"Betty can't find him anywhere in the mansion, in fact." Beatrice stands with her hands together as she has an expression that looks like she's about to cry.

Otto takes a step forward as he removes his hat and says, "Are you sure? Have you even looked yet?"

Beatrice looks down as she immediately responds, "I'm able to detect everyone in this mansion, I suppose. Yet, Betty is unable to find him."

This immediate response makes Otto take a step back with a look of surprise. Ram takes the lead in responding to Beatrice as she steps in front of Otto.

"Are you sure there isn't any interference?"

As the tension in the room gets worse, Fredrica bursts into the room, getting everyone's attention. She's out of breath.

"Sis!" Garfiel shouts as he looks toward Fredrica.

Fredrica takes her time to catch her breath.

"Did you tell Roswaal?" Emilia asks with her hand clenching the green jewel around her neck.

Fredrica takes a deep breath before standing up straight. She pinches her dress and pulls it up slightly as she bows to Emilia.

"I'm sorry. I can't seem to find him."

Everyone's eyes widen at this.

"So Roswaal is missing too?" Emilia speaks.

Everyone's minds start to race for an answer to this. Their thoughts are soon interrupted by one Garfiel.

"So that bastard's behind this?!" Garfiel shouts in rage

Ram glares at him with her arms crossed as she says, "Keep your outburst to yourself. I will not allow any disrespect toward Roswaal."

Garfiel is only made angrier by her comment. He looks at her with a rage filled expression as he says, "Oh please. I bet ya knew this would happen. Probably helpin' the bitch."

"Garf!" Fredrica shouts to stop their argument.

Ram only looks away with her eyes closed and arms crossed as she says, "Hmph."

Emilia just looks down as she thinks of a plan.

"Let's search for Subaru." She speaks, getting everyone's attention.

Beatrice looks up at Emilia with a confused expression. Emilia looks down at her and gives her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry."

She then looks up at the rest of the people in the room. "Otto, Garf, Petra, and Fredrica. I want you to go search the village. Ram, I want you to help me and Beatrice-sama to search the mansion."

Everyone but Garfiel nods their heads in agreement. Then without wasting time, Otto, Garfiel, Petra, and Fredrica leave the room and rush to the front doors of the mansion. Despite not saying a word, there was one thing on everyone's minds.

Something is wrong.

As they see the doors in sight, Otto and Fredrica make it first. As they open the door and walk through, they feel something push against their bodies. It was like walking through very dense water. Suddenly, everything went dark.

As he opens his eyes, he realizes that he was on the grass. The sky was clear, and the wind blew gently across the grass. As he lays, taking in the beautiful sky, he hears a scream that startles him, forcing him to sit up.

He looks for the source of the scream to find Garfiel. He seems to be throwing punches toward the mansion, but something is wrong. It's as if his fist are hitting something. Something invisible.

"Garf?" Otto questions.

His voice gets Garfiel's attention, making him turn to look at Otto. "Ottobro." Garfiel speaks.

Otto gets onto his feet as Garfiel watches. "What's going on?" Otto asks as he stands up.

Garfiel turns back toward the mansion with a rage filled expression and his fists clenched. "There's some sorta barrier surroundin' the mansion."

Otto just looks at Garfiel with a confused expression. Garfiel turns back to the mansion. A red aura surrounds his body as he throws another punch toward the mansion. It sounds like it hit something as Garfiel's fist stops.

"What?" Otto questions before walking closer to where Garfiel is.

Garfiel is catching his breath. It seems like he's been punching for a while at this invisible barrier. Otto reaches his hand out toward the mansion, only for his hand to hit something. Something invisible. He looks on with confusion as he tries pushing his hand further, but it doesn't budge.

"What is this?" Otto questions himself.

Garfiel still answered though. "It's some kinda barrier. my amazin self can't even budge it. This 's solid.

Otto looks around for anything to help him determine just what he was dealing with.

---

"That's pretty much it." Otto speaks to Felix.

Felix is only confused by this. A barrier? This was all he could think.

He then looks up as he says, "What about these clouds? And this whole area?" He looks back at Otto, awaiting an answer.

Otto rubs the back of his head with a sheepish smile as he says, "Well, this is something recent. I saw the clouds come and decided to come to the village to check something." He turns to look toward the mansion as he says, "The clouds have also made it to the mansion. Also, something seems to be happening inside the mansion."

"Inside?" Felix questions, wanting further clarification.

Otto shifts his eyes to look at Felix as he says, "Well, I don't know exactly. But it seems the barrier allows certain people inside the barrier. The ones inside right now are Ms. Emilia, Ram, Rem, Ms. Beatrice, and Petra. Although me, Garf, and Fredrica haven't been able to make it through."

Felix takes a step toward Otto as he says, "And you have nyow idea what is going on inside?"

Otto sighs before he says, "Yeah, so far. The only thing we've heard from the mansion is..." Otto pauses, making Felix confused.

"What?" Felix asks, wanting Otto to finish his sentence.

Otto looks to the ground, nervous to mention what he was going to say as he takes his hat off and holds it near his stomach.

"From the mansion, we heard a scream. More specifically, it was Petra who was screaming."

Felix's eyes widen at this information. Just what is happening inside the mansion?

Felix immediately starts running toward the mansion, making Otto follow him. "Come on. We need to head toward the mansion." Felix shouts as he starts running and Otto follows.

"What about the villagers?" Otto shouts his question toward Felix.

"I already checked them. They'll be fine, nya."

Otto runs after Felix as he looks to his side to find all the villagers lying unconscious.

---

As Felix was checking on the villagers, Crusch and Wilhelm made it to the gates to Roswaal's mansion, their swords drawn and their guards up.

"We're here." Crusch speaks as she looks on with a serious expression with Wilhelm standing beside her.

"Shall we make our way inside?" Wilhelm speaks.

Crusch nods in response and they both enter the yard of Roswaal's mansion. They find the yard to be dead quiet and covered in darkness. Suddenly, they hear a scream. They both raise their swords, waiting for anything to come at them. Yet, nothing. All the find as they walk through the yard is Garfiel and Fredrica. The scream they heard was from Garfiel.

Fredrica hears a noise from behind her and turns around to meet Crusch and Wilhelm. Their presence surprises her as she immediately bows while pinching the helm of her dress and lifting it slightly.

"Ms. Crusch." Fredrica speaks in a formal tone.

Garfiel finally stops his punching and turns around to see Crusch and Wilhelm. He's breathing heavily as he can't think of anything to say.

Crusch looks around to find no enemies. She sheaths her sword along with Wilhelm as she says, "What's going on here?"

Fredrica turns to face the mansion as she replies to Crusch. "There is a barrier around the mansion." She then goes on to explain what Otto told Felix.

Crusch has a hand on her chin as she tries to think of something. She then looks up at the mansion and begins walking over to it. She reaches her hand toward the mansion and before her hand touches the barrier, she hears a loud voice.

"Ms. Crusch." The voice shouts, startling everyone.

Crusch turns around to find Felix running with Otto.

"Felix." Crusch speaks.

Felix runs up and hugs Crusch tightly as Otto slows to a stop with Fredrica looking at him.

"What did you run off for?" Fredrica asks.

Otto rubs the back of his head as he says, "After seeing these dark clouds, I went to check on the village. It seems all the villagers are unconscious, but Felix checked on them. They should be fine for now."

Fredrica smiles before turning back to the mansion. "The one question we need answered is... who did this? If someone didn't do this, then why did this happen? What caused this?"

---

"If you have a problem, I'd be glad to help you." The red-haired knight named Reinhardt spoke.

Emilia, Rem, and Beatrice were all overjoyed by this. This means they could get help to fight off Elsa. Or at least Subaru could. But one thing didn't make sense to Emilia. Subaru never showed up with Reinhardt at the loot house. He only came because Felt was able to bump into him. Does that mean they'll have to experience another death. They were still unsure as to whether this was real or just made-up to torture them.

"Then would you come to the loot house with me?" Subaru immediately replied to the knight.

"Loot house?" Reinhardt responds in confusion as flashes of the first death they experienced played in their head before they felt their eyes look down and their expression change sad.

"Uh... Never mind. Forget it." Subaru speaks as his eyes shift downward and to his left. "I can't trouble you with that."

They were all surprised by what they were hearing. Subaru just refused help from the person who is practically the strongest in their world. That was when one thought came to their minds. They started to remember just where Subaru was before Lugunica. He was in an odd place. Only Beatrice knew where he was though. He was beyond the great waterfall. That would make sense why he refused Reinhardt's help.

He has no idea who Reinhardt is or how strong he is. That is why he refused help. He didn't know if Reinhardt would be strong enough to defeat Elsa and didn't want to get him killed. It was quite the silly thing to think but she understands why he would think that.

Their view turns up to look toward Reinhardt as Subaru says, "I'll handle the rest on my own, somehow."

Subaru's arm moves up to wave at Reinhardt as he runs toward the exit of the alley before stopping with a nervous smile.

"But... I'd appreciate it if you could deliver a message."

Reinhardt's voice is then heard from behind them. "Of course, I'd be glad to. What should I say and to whom?"

"Well, I don't know her name, but..." Subaru begins speaking.

Emilia and everyone else knew what Subaru was referencing as he spoke.

Subaru continues speaking. "Have you seen a girl with white robes and silver hair around here?"

"White robes and silver hair?" Reinhardt speaks in a questioning tone.

Their view turns around to face Reinhardt as Subaru's hand points a finger up. Reinhardt has a questioning look with a hand on his chin.

"She's also extremely gorgeous." Subaru speaks in an excited tone.

Emilia wanted to blush at the way he talked about her while Beatrice was only annoyed to hear her contractor speak of Emilia in such a way. Rem was rather accepting of the way he spoke about Emilia. She already knew that he loved Emilia. Petra was only jealous as she also understood who he was talking about as Ram was just as annoyed as Beatrice.

Reinhardt stands in silence, thinking before looking up at Subaru as he says, "No, I haven't"

Subaru's hand moves down as he says, "Then if you do see her, tell her not to come near the loot house, no matter what. I'll find what she's looking for and bring it to her myself."

Reinhardt smiles as he says, "Very well. If I see her, I will relay your message."

"Thanks." Subaru replies before turning around. He takes a few steps before stopping. He turns back to Reinhardt as he says, "I'll repay you one day."

He turns back around and leaves the alley. As they feel Subaru's body leaving the alley, they hear Reinhardt say, "All right. Take care."

Suddenly, the sun was setting and they were now in what could only be the slums. His body was walking fast as he spoke to himself.

"The question is whether Felt will come back there..."

Their view looks down as Subaru's arm reaches in his pocket. "I'd rather catch her before she goes to the loot house," Subaru pulls out his phone as he says, "and trade her the cell phone for the insignia-"

As Subaru is walking, they could feel someone bump into their shoulder, knocking Subaru back. As their eyes are closed while Subaru tries to catch his balance, a voice speaks.

"Oh dear, I'm sorry! Are you alright?"

Emilia and the rest immediately recognized the voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Subaru speaks, keeping his eyes closed.

"I don't look it, but toughness is one thing I've... got..." Subaru's eyes open as he speaks to notice Elsa standing in front of him. The memories of Elsa killing him flash through their minds, making them wish they could flinch or do anything besides watch from this view.

They felt Subaru's hand instinctively move over his stomach as fear began overtaking all other emotions. Another memory of Elsa killing Subaru flashed through their minds. By now, Subaru was in a defensive stance as Elsa just stands, staring at him.

"What's wrong?" Elsa spoke. "You don't have to be scared. I won't do anything to you."

They felt Subaru's expression change to a smile. They knew he was trying to mask his fear as he said, "I... I'm not scared! What gave you that idea?"

Elsa's head tilts down slightly as she continues to smile. "Your scent." She replies to Subaru. "When people are scared, I can smell their fear. You're scared right now. You're also angry, aren't you?"

Elsa's eyes close slightly as she appears like she's observing Subaru closely with her own anger. "At me."

By now, Emilia and the others could feel that Subaru's face showed pure fear as fear was the only thing running through their minds. The fear was so strong that they couldn't even think their own thought. Fear was the only thing on their mind. As there is a moment of silence, Elsa decides to lick her lips.

"It's fine." Elsa speaks, making Subaru's tense body become less tense with relief. She places both hands on her hips as she says, "I am a bit curious, but now isn't the time to start a commotion."

Elsa starts to walk by them and for the first time in a while, they all felt relief until Subaru begins to speak again.

"That's not a very nice thing to say..." Subaru's head turns so he can look behind him at Elsa as he says, "If you're too scary, that beauty of yours will go to waste."

Elsa quickly turns around and moves toward Subaru, getting right in his face as he moves his body to take a step back. Fear begins seeping into their minds as Elsa speaks while moving toward them.

"Oh, very good. Conceal your hostility and you'll be even better.""

As Elsa was up close, she also had her hand on Subaru's. The one he had over his stomach.

"Well, I'll be going now." Elsa speaks once again. As Elsa slowly moves away, she says, "Something tells me we'll meet again."

Suddenly, their view turns to black and flashes of Subaru's view as he finds a pile of trash before being stopped by a girl with blonde hair who attacks him. Then flashes of Subaru walking with said blond girl and him in the loot house with Old Man Rom. Even though it only flashed within their view for a second, they knew exactly what they saw. It was Subaru finding Felt's hideout and Felt attacking him for looking around it as well as him going to the loot house with Felt.

Emilia connected the dots. This is why he was at the loot house that day. Right? But she couldn't know for sure. For all she knew, Subaru might just end up dying again. If that happened... it would mean having to go through the pain of death again. They were all starting to make sense of what they were seeing. No... more like they finally confirmed what they were seeing.

These were Subaru's memories. No doubt left in their minds. Even if it was hard for them to accept that Subaru had to go through something like this. They had to accept it. It was then that a lot of things made sense. Things like how Subaru always seemed to act weird or know things that he obviously shouldn't and even his weird mood swings.

They finally knew what Subaru was going through. They knew that he was going through something they couldn't see, but never would they have thought that he'd experience death in such a horrible way.

Their view comes back to full as they are now in what they could only think is the loot house. In front of them was Felt and Old Man Rom. Felt had both her hands on her hip as Old Man Rom stood behind the bar.

"Panic began to feel them, taking them by surprise as Subaru began speaking.

"El- The woman who asked you for it can't go higher than twenty, either. She won't pay more than that."

After Subaru finishes speaking, Felt looks down with her eyes closed with Subaru now waiting for a reply.

"How do you know that?" Felt says, sending even more panic into Subaru as he is taken aback and shows a surprised expression.

Felt looks up and opens her eyes to look at Subaru. "You just admitted that you're with them."

Subaru's body starts to move a lot as he begins panicking more, looking around the room. He then looks at Felt with a serious expression.

"I don't have time. Please, Felt!"

Felt sighs as she looks down with her eyes closed. "Begging won't help." She then opens her eyes, look at Subaru and crosses her arms. "I acknowledge you as a negotiating party. But it wouldn't be fair not to hear what my client has to say." Felt once again closes her eyes as Subaru grits his teeth.

Emilia, Rem, Beatrice, and Petra all begin to worry as Subaru was now basically begging Felt. Ram was worried too, but not as much as she was annoyed by her being manipulated by whatever force was making them see this.

As Subaru stands up straight, they all understood just what Subaru was about to do next. Their minds were thinking similar to Subaru's It was rather strange as they were immersed even more in these horrific memories of Subaru's.

"The reason I want that insignia is so I can return it to its owner." Subaru spoke in a serious tone as his body stopped shaking.

"Huh?" Felt spoke immediately in response.

Subaru then repeated himself. "I want to return it to its owner. That's why I want the insignia!" Subaru closes his eyes as he says, "That's all! So please!" Subaru then bows to Felt.

Everyone began to feel extremely sick at the way Subaru was acting. Well, Except for Emilia. She only felt sad that Subaru was doing this for her. That he put himself in such a dangerous scenario for her when he could have just left them and probably be saved from such things.

There is a moment of silence as Subaru keeps his eyes closed, allowing only his ears to wait for a response. Then, a voice speaks, but not Felt's. It was Old Man Rom.

"Felt, it doesn't look like the boy's lying."

Felt's voice then responds. "Don't get taken in by him. He's obviously joking around. Return it to the owner? Ridiculous. If you're gonna lie, make it believable!" Felt's voice then gets louder as she says, "I won't be fooled!"

Subaru finally raises his head to look at Felt who now seems to be angry. The only word he could utter was the girl's name. "Felt..."

Suddenly, there is a knock on the door. Subaru's face immediately changes to one of fear. Everyone was taken off guard by the sudden knock which allowed fear to seep into their minds once again.

"Who's that?" Old Man Rom asks.

Felt turns to him as she says, "It might be for me. It's a little early though."

As Felt walks pass Subaru, he begins sweating. Scenes of a previous loop where he saw Rom and Felt die go flash through their minds. Subaru immediately turns to face Felt as he shouts at her.

"Don't open it!" He speaks.

Felt turns around with her hand almost at the door handle. She has a questioning look. Meanwhile, Subaru's expression is one of fear as he looks toward the ground.

"W-We'll be killed!"

Felt immediately ignores his warning and turns back to the door, opening it. They could all feel Subaru's entire form shaking as Felt slowly opens the door. Suddenly, despite expecting Elsa, a girl with silver hair shows up with a pouting expression and her hand on her hips as she speaks.

"Kill you? I wouldn't do something so terrifying."

The girl then takes her hands off her hips before walking inside the loot house.

Everyone could feel their nerves calm down at the appearance of Emilia. It was then that Emilia felt true relief. This was something she remembered. That didn't help as much with everyone else as they weren't told in detail how Emilia and Subaru met.

Subaru's expression then changed to one of shock as Felt looked even more shocked. Emilia's face then changed to a serious one as she stared at him.

"I'm glad you're here. You won't get away this time." Emilia speaks, obviously talking to Felt.

Subaru was just surprised by her appearance. His voice once again spoke directly into their minds as he questioned this situation.

Why is she here? It's still light out. Wait, is this how early she would've gotten here if she hadn't been with me?

Felt begins backing away from Emilia as she says, "You never quit, do you? I'm telling you, just give up already!"

Felt then jumps back a couple of times as Emilia says to her, "Sorry, but this is something I cannot give up on. If you do as I say, I won't hurt you."

Emilia then reaches out her right hand toward Felt as something begins forming behind her. They were ice crystals. "I only have one demand. Return my insignia. It's very important to me."

Subaru is now looking toward Emilia with shock as Old Man Rom speaks behind him. "If she were just another magic user, I wouldn't back down, but this one's trouble."

Felt immediately replies with a shout. "What's with you, Old Man Rom? You're admitting defeat before we even fight?"

Old Man Rom ignores Felt as he asks Emilia a question. "Young lady, you're an elf, ain't ya?"

Emilia closes her eyes, looking annoyed. She then opens them. She sighs before looking over behind Subaru as she says, "Not exactly. I'm only a half-elf."

"A half-elf?" Felt questions from behind Subaru. "And with the silver hair... Wait, are you..."
Felt's voice began to show her fear before Emilia cuts her off from asking her question.

Emilia shakes her hand in front of herself as she says, "It's an accidental resemblance! It causes a lot of trouble for me, in fact."

Their view then turns to look between Emilia and Felt.

Felt then shouts out toward Subaru. "You set me up, didn't you?"

Subaru turns to face Felt as he says, "Huh? No, I didn't do anything..."

Felt only got angrier as she waved her hand downward, shouting at Subaru. "I thought you were suspicious after you said you'd return it to its owner!"

Emilia then speaks. "What do you mean? You two aren't working together?

Subaru turns to face her as she speaks. He continuously looks between Emilia and Felt before he notices something. A flower on Emilia. The same one she got when they helped the child on his first loop. Memories of his first loop and helping the child flash through their minds.

Her nature never changes, no matter how many times I start over in this world.

As the memories stop flashing, their view turns to black as Subaru closes his eyes and smiles.

"Hey, what are you laughing about?!" Felt shouts.

Subaru opens his eyes and looks toward Felt while rubbing the back of his head. "Come on, isn't that enough? Give her insignia back."

He then turns to Emilia as he says, "And Sat- You, hurry up and get out of here. Try not to let anyone steal it again."

Emilia places a hand on her hip as she looks at Subaru. "Why are you suddenly being so nice? I don't understand at all."

Felt then speaks up as she shouts, "I don't understand you, either!"

Subaru just smiles with his eyes close. He turns to Emilia as he opens his eyes before closing them again... until he saw something. He opens them again to look behind Emilia with a scared look. Behind her was a figure in the shadow with their arm raised. This figure could only be one person. Elsa.

Subaru then shouts as loud as he can. "Puck! Shield her!"

Emilia quickly turns to look back as Elsa swings her blade downwards, only to have it blocked by a barrier of ice. Elsa then quickly moves away, flipping through the air before landing in a spot where everyone could see her.

"That was cutting it a bit closer than I expected." A voice speaks, getting Subaru's attention. He looks over at Emilia to see puck coming out of her hair.

"You saved us." Puck speaks as he holds a thumb up."

Subaru smiles at Puck as he says, "Nice one, Puck! Thank goodness it was before five, while you're still on duty!" Subaru then also gives a thumb up as he says, "Thanks!"

Then Elsa begins to speak. "A spirit... That is a spirit, yes?"

Subaru turns to look at Elsa along with everyone else. She stands up straight with her head still looking downward as she says, "How wonderful. I've never cut open a spirit's stomach before."

She then looks up with a sadistic smile, sending a shive down Subaru's spine as he looks at the woman in black.

"Hey, what do you mean by that?" Felt shouts toward Elsa.

Elsa stands up straight with a blade in her right hand, lowered and pointing toward the ground while her other hand is on her hip.

"We can hardly negotiate if the item's original owner is here. So I've changed my plans." She holds up her blade as she says, "I will slaughter everyone here. You failed to see your job through to the end. You talk a good game, but you do terrible work. You really are just another slum dweller."

Subaru starts looking around and notices that Felt is beginning to shake. He then walks in front of her as he says, "You bitch."

With an angry expression and his fist clenched, he shouts, "Cut the crap! Don't get your kicks from picking on a little kid, you guts-loving sadistic woman!" He was now pointing toward the killer.

Emilia, Rem, and the others were all shocked by Subaru's outburst. It was like he had no fear of this woman who had already killed him twice.

Subaru takes his hands and make them into fist as he looks down with his eyes closed. "Felt is doing her best to live strong!" He opens his eyes to look at Elsa as he continues his outburst.

"Just because your plan was thrown off, you think it's all ruined and flip tables?! Are you a little kid?! You should value life more!"

He places his hands on his hips as he closes his eyes as he takes a moment to think before looking at Elsa and pointing his finger at her.

"Do you know how much having your belly cut open hurts?! Well, I do!"

Elsa just looks at him in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

Subaru then points toward himself as he says, "I'm in the process of letting the justice and chivalry I never knew I had denounce all the unfairness in the world."

He points at Elsa as he says, "And what I consider 'unfair' is you, this situation, and..." Suddenly, they were caught off guard as Subaru turns to look at nothing as he says, "Stay tuned, folks."

He then turns back around and claps his hands together as he says, "There! All done buying time." He then pumps a fist forward as he shouts, "Get her, Puck!"

Puck's voice can be heard from his right saying, "That was a brilliant display of awkwardness that I hope will live through the ages. I better live up to your expectations!"

Subaru starts to look around as a bunch of icicles form with Puck talking. "We haven't introduced ourselves, have we? My name's Puck." The icicles then start flying toward Elsa as he says, "At least remember my name... after you die."

The icicles all hit Elsa, making a white cloud appear on contact.

"Did they get 'er?!" Rom shouts from Subaru's right.

Subaru quickly turns to him as he says, "Don't trigger that flag old man!"

As he turns back toward Elsa, he sees that she is surrounded by ice completely. He then hears her voice.

"One should always be prepared."

The ice starts to glow brightly before suddenly cracking and breaking apart. In the middle of all the shattered ice is Elsa, using her black cloak as a shield. The cloak glows brightly before vanishing to reveal Elsa with a sadistic smile. She smiles as she swings her blade in front of herself before rushing toward Emilia.

Subaru starts to feel fear from the whistling sound of Elsa's blade.

Emilia throws her hands in front of herself and claps before bringing them closer to herself as she says, "Don't underestimate a user of spirit arts!"

In front of Emilia, an ice shield forms just before Elsa swings her blade. The blade hits the shield, and she jumps back as Icicles from above flies toward her. She continuously jumps back to avoid the icicles as they hit the ground.

"You're well accustomed to battle, for a girl." Puck speaks as he continues to shoot icicles toward Elsa.

As Elsa continues to jump back to avoid the icicles, she says, "My, it's been a while since I've been regarded simply as a girl."

She eventually stops jumping back and uses her blade to hit the icicles coming toward her. She eventually jumps to her right as Puck speaks.

"Well, from my perspective, all opponents are basically babies."

Emilia is now standing with her hand out toward Elsa, now shooting icicles along with Puck. As Subaru continues watching this fight unfold, he begins getting even more scared.

Elsa then begins crawling on the walls, barely missing the icicles coming toward her. She starts jumping around the walls and ceiling as Puck continues speaking.

"Still, you're so strong, I almost pity you."

Elsa swings around one of the wooden beams and launches herself across the loot house to another wall as she says, "I'm deeply touched to be praised by a spirit." She starts crawling on the wall again as Emilia and Puck continue shooting icicles. She jumps off the wall and back to the ground, still on the defensive as she uses her blade to block the icicles.

While they were fighting, Subaru, Felt, and Rom all moved to the same place beside the bar of the loot house.

"If this turns to a battle of attrition, we should have a chance."

He then hears Rom speaking behind him. "No, fer a spirit, the real battle is how long they can stay corporeal.

Subaru jumps as he thinks of something. "That's right, it must be almost five."

Emilia, Rem, Ram, Beatrice, and Petra all begin to feel fear as they understood what this means. Even though Emilia remembers this and how Subaru ends up living, she still can't shake the fear that she feels during this scene. A feeling of powerlessness. Beatrice felt more annoyed than fear. Annoyed that this girl in black was threatening her contractor and how she couldn't do anything to save him. Rem only felt longing as she was hoping that the feeling of death and pain would never come this time. Petra felt the same, although her mind was now somewhat mended during the times they were watching Subaru's memories. Now, if only she could keep herself together after they return to the mansion.

"Oh, and just when we were having such fun. What a bore." Elsa spoke as she continued hitting the icicles with her blade.

Puck responds, "That's what sucks about being a ladies' man. The girls just won't let you sleep. But you know, staying up late is bad for your skin, so we should wrap this up."

Elsa then tries to move only to realize she can't. She looks down to see that her foot was frozen to the ground. Puck floats downwards as he says, "I wasn't just throwing those around at random."

Elsa looks toward Puck, not a single change oof expression. "Does this mean I've been had?"

"Goodnight!" Puck speaks as Emilia starts to create a giant ice crystal. The crystal flies toward Elsa, but just before hitting her, Elsa jumps out of the way.

Beatrice, Rem, Ram, and Petra are all confused by how she dodged when her foot was frozen to the ground. Emilia is only feeling more relief as she starts to notice more and more she remembers.

Elsa is now standing with her back hunched and her arms drooping down along with her head. "My, how lovely!"

Subaru looks on in shock when he notices something. Elsa was bleeding... from her foot. More specifically, the foot that was frozen to the floor was bleeding.

Elsa looks up with the same sadistic smile as she says, "I thought I was going to die."

"But you're a girl, so I don't find that sort of thing very impressive." Puck speaks.

Subaru then notices Emilia looking at Puck and speaking. Though she's whispering, so he can't really hear what she's saying. Puck seems to reply, but Subaru also can't hear what he's saying. Emilia then speaks after Puck as Puck appears to become transparent. Puck then appear the glow brightly before disappearing.

"You're going away?" Elsa speaks loudly toward Emilia. She then appears to take a block of ice and places it on her foot as it becomes her shoe and stops her bleeding. She taps the block of ice on the ground a couple of times as she says, "Well, that's terribly unfortunate."

She then turns to Emilia with her blade held tightly before running toward her so fast she becomes a blur. Emilia places her hands together as if she's praying while an icicle and ice shield form in front of her. Elsa rushing around Emilia, swinging her blade that only gets blocked.

Subaru shows a frightened expression as images of Rom's body as well as Emilia's flash through his minds. Emilia, Rem, Beatrice, Ram, as well as Petra once again wish they could flinch at the imagery being forced into their minds. Subaru's leg begins shaking as they once again feel fear.

They can hear someone moving behind them as Rom says, "We can't just sit around watchin' anymore, Felt."

"Yeah, I know." Felt replies as Subaru turns to look at her only to realize she was now standing. "If we're going to run, we need to get moving now."

Felt then turns to look at Subaru as she says, "About before, well... I guess you kinda saved me."

Subaru is surprised by this, but Felt continues talking. "But just a little." She then closes her hand into a fist as she says, "Also, don't call me a little kid! I'm fifteen you know!" She then turns away as she lowers her voice and says, "That can't be much younger than you!"

Subaru then turns back to watch the fight as he says, "I'll be eighteen this year."

"No way! You're totally a kid!" Felt responds to Subaru. "You need to live a life that shows on your face more!"

Elsa continues attacking Emilia, but her attacks keep getting blocked. Eventually Elsa spins and gets around Emilia's shield and kicks her away, making Emilia land on the bar, crouching down. Elsa doesn't give Emilia time to think as she quickly moves toward Emilia, spinning rapidly before slashing down toward Emilia.

Emilia jumps back as Elsa's blade goes through the bar. Emilia hits the shelves and falls to the ground as everything on the shelves fall on top of her. Suddenly, Old Man Rom rushes in front of Subaru and around the bar toward Elsa.

"Here I come!" He shouts as he takes his giant club and rushes toward Elsa.

Elsa turns to face the giant as she says, "Ah, but isn't it a bit boorish to cut in on a dance?"

Rom swings his club to attack Elsa, but she flips over it. Old Man Rom continues to attack Elsa, but she uses her blade to block each one.

As Old Man Rom is attacking, he says, "If you wanna dance, I'll show ye the best dancin' you've ever seen!"

Old Man Rom swings his club, but this time Elsa dodges before jumping away. Old Man Rom chases her through the loot house. Elsa then comes to a stop and turns to face Old Man Rom. Old Man Rom the raises his club as he still runs toward Elsa.

"Here we go! Round an' round!" Old Rom Rom shouts as he swings his club, breaking the giant ice crystal that Emilia shot previously to take out Elsa. Els once again dodges by jumping in the air and Old Man Rom raises his club. Els slowly falls before landing on the club as it is raised upwards.

Elsa, now looking down at the old man, says, "You're so strong, I was able to do this!"

Elsa raises her blade and swings it down toward the old man's neck, but Felt immediately moves in front of Subaru and throws her blade as she says, "Not gonna happen!"

The blade diverts Elsa's, making her blade cut into the old man's shoulder. Subaru's eyes focus on Felt as she shouts in distress.

"Old Man Rom!"

Elsa jumps away as Rom falls to the ground. Landing on the ground, Elsa slowly turns to face Felt and Subaru. Her face is one of annoyance.

"You bad girl..."

Felt begins shaking as Elsa looks at her. Now facing each other, Elsa begins to speak.

"You have neither the resolve nor the strength to fight. You should have at least stayed in the corner and made yourself small."

Subaru grits his teeth as he thinks to himself.

Damn, we're done for! There's really nothing I can do. I guess I'll have to return by death and start over again...

Emilia, Rem, Ram, Beatrice, and Petra are all mortified by the implication of this. The implication that they might have to experience death once again. Something they didn't want to think about. They couldn't stand the thought of them having to experience death once again. Even though they could feel that Subaru's body was unharmed, they could never forget the pain of death. Was Subaru really going to die again? They couldn't bear the thought.

Memories of Subaru's previous deaths flash through their minds as they could feel the despair Subaru was also feeling himself. Subaru's hand grips his tracksuit.

No... I don't want to feel that pain again. I don't wanna die!

Subaru closes his eyes as tight as he can while gripping his tracksuit. I guess, as long as I have life, all I can do if fight with all my might!

Elsa begins walking closer to Felt and Subaru. As she gets closer, she slowly raises her blade. Meanwhile, Felt is frozen as her entire body begins to shake.

Emilia and the others are surprised by Subaru resolve, putting them somewhat at ease that he didn't decide to give up, but instead chose to fight with all he's got. Rem only wishes she could smile as her Hero's resolve and bravery.

As Elsa finally reaches Felt, who remains frozen, she swings her blade downwards. Yet, Subaru moves quickly to grab Felt and jump to his left as he screams to dodge the blade and save Felt.

The sounds from behind him could only mean that Emilia has gotten back up and has started to attack Elsa. Subaru moves to look down at Felt who is now laying on the floor.

"Are you okay?" Subaru asks with a serious expression.

Felt holds her head as she looks up at Subaru. "Why did you..."

Subaru reaches his hand out to Felt as he says, "Listen to me, Felt. I'm going to buy us time."

He turns around to see Emilia attacking Elsa with her ice crystals. "I'll give you an opening somehow, so when I do, run as fast as you can!"

As he continues to look back, Felt speaks up. "What? You're telling me to tuck my tail between my legs and run?!"

Subaru then turns to look at Felt as he says, "Yes! Stick out your butt, tuck in your tail, and run! You're fifteen and I'm eighteen. That means that you're probably the youngest one of us here. So it's a given that we pick the method most likely to keep you alive! It's a given!

Felt leans closer to him with a confused look as she says, "Give me a break! You were cowering in fear a minute ago!"

Subaru turns his head to his right as he closes his eyes and smile. "That was then. This is now." He then stands up as he continues to speak. "I'm not cowering now, so it's fine!" He then takes a step forward as he notices the giant club on the ground. He moves over as the half-elf keeps Elsa busy. He picks up the giant club and moved behind Elsa with it lifted over his shoulder.

As he is about to swing, Elsa turns around with a blank expression. "Take this!" Subaru shouts as he swings the club toward Elsa, but she dodges it by jumping back.

Elsa the moves close to the ground as she swings her blade toward Subaru, but he blocks it with the giant club. With a serious expression, he shouts, "Now! Go, Felt!"

The blade is stuck into the club as Subaru pushes Elsa back. As Subaru can hear Felt moving, Elsa looks at him with a smile as she says, "You think I'll let her go?"

Subaru then notices the Elsa has a smaller object that she brings out. She throws it toward Felt, but Subaru reacts quick enough to notice a table nearby. He uses the tips of his toe to flip the table upwards, blocking the object she threw as Subaru can see Felt leaving the loot house.

Subaru smiles as he says, "Whoa, I'm awesome! But that hurt the tips of my toes more than I expected..."

Elsa than hits Subaru in the back of the head. Subaru still holds his ground as Elsa throws him against a wall. He uses the club to keep himself standing as he smiles as Elsa.

"You let one get away."

The loot house is now dark as the sun has started to set. Elsa stands, staring at Subaru as she speaks. "For once, I felt a tiny bit annoyed just now."

Emilia appears behind Elsa with her hands extended toward Elsa as she says, "Don't forget about me!"

Emilia once again creates a crystal and shoots it toward Elsa, but Elsa just blocks it with her blade. With her blade pointed downward, Elsa speaks.

"I've grown quite tired of that game by now. Do you think you can still keep me amused?"

Subaru has a serious expression and grits his teeth as Elsa speaks. He then smiles as he looks at Emilia and says, "If you've got some hidden true power, now would be a good time to use it!"

"I do have a trump card," Emilia speaks. "but if I use it, I'll be the only one left standing."

Subaru has a panicked expression as he says, "No exploding yourself, please... Don't do anything hasty, all right?"

Emilia has a worried expression as she looks at Subaru. "I won't use it. Not when your still here..." She speaks. She looks back at Elsa as she continues. "...doing your best."

As Subaru stares at Emilia, many memories flash through his minds. The memory of Emilia saving him in his first loop. Him and Emilia introducing themselves. Emilia using the spirits to find the loot house. All his memories of Emilia from his first loop.

"I didn't see anything just now." Subaru speaks. Emilia is confused as Subaru begins to speak.

He waves his other hand that isn't holding the club as he says, "None of that whole conversation ever happened!" He then stands up as he says, "I finally remembered why I'm here in the first place!"

He then stares at Elsa with a serious expression as he shouts, "I'll kill you, you shitbag. I won't let you use your trump card!"

He holds the club all the way up as he says, "I'll blow you away, and get..." He then swings the club down until it points directly at Elsa. "...a happy ending!" He then smiles confidently as he stares at Elsa.

Elsa seems amused by this as she replies to Subaru's ranting. "It seems you have a bit too much energy." Elsa then rushes toward Subaru as he says, "You black widow. Elsa begins on the offensive, but Subaru manages to block her attacks and get in some of his on. As they exchange blows, they talk.

"Well, there's no doubt you'll be the first one caught in my web." Elsa speaks as she pushes Subaru back.

Subaru manages to push her back as well, but the giant club is quite heavy for Subaru to lift and use effectively. As Elsa raises her blade and swings it down toward Subaru, almost hitting him, an ice crystal comes from the side and hits her blade, moving it away from Subaru.

"Nice cover!" Subaru shouts.

Elsa doesn't let the stop her as she goes on the offensive against Subaru once again, this time placing him with Emilia behind him and not letting Subaru get a single hit in. This makes it impossible for Emilia to help Subaru with her spirit arts. Despite Subaru's best efforts to block all her attacks, some of them hit, but only scrape against him, not making any fatal wounds.

Ram and Petra both wished to flinch from the cuts as the others were too focused on what Subaru would do next to get out of this situation.

"Ouch, damn it! How do you like this?!" Subaru shouts as he raises the club as far back as he can, leaving himself open.

Emilia, Rem, and Beatrice would've been on the edge of their seats if they weren't forced to look through Subaru's view like this. Since they couldn't be on the edge of their seats, they decided to brace themselves for pain. They couldn't close their eyes to brace as Subaru's eyes weren't closing.

As Elsa gets closer to Subaru, Subaru drops the club behind him before spinning around and trying to kick Elsa and catch her off guard. But that doesn't work on Elsa as she just grabs his foot and blocks his kick.

"I've got you." Elsa speaks

Subaru starts to feel more fear as Elsa raises her blade. he then braces himself for pain. But before Elsa can swing her blade, a voice echoes through the loot house.

"That's enough."

Suddenly, it was like something busted through the ceiling as it just collapses. Dust begins to surround Elsa and Subaru. Elsa freezes in place as Subaru pulls his foot away and runs into the dust away from Elsa. As Subaru runs away, a voice can be heard from behind him.

"It looks like that was a close call, but I'm glad I made it in time." Footsteps can be heard as this voice, that definitely wasn't Elsa's, spoke.

Elsa the replied to this voice as Subaru makes it out of the dust. "Now...You're..."

Suddenly, the dust begins to clear to reveal that Reinhardt has now entered the look house and stands in front of Elsa.

"Shall we put an end to this?" Reinhardt speaks in a confident tone befitting of a knight.

Subaru, standing behind Reinhardt, holding his left arm and in shock, says, "Reinhardt?"

Rem, Ram, Beatrice, and Petra all couldn't believe what they were seeing. This didn't surprise Emilia as she knew he was coming. She only felt relief now that he was actually here. As for the others, only one question entered their minds.

Why is Reinhardt here?

"That's right, Subaru." Reinhardt speaks before turning to look at Subaru with a confident, unphased smile. He then turns back to look at Elsa as he says, "We meet again. Sorry I'm late."

Then is appears that Reinhardt turns his attention to the woman in black in front of him as he speaks.

"Black hair, black clothes, and a blade unique to the northern provinces. There is no mistaking those characteristics. You are the bowel hunter."

Upon hearing this, Subaru just can't help but shout. "What kind of evil nickname is that?"

Whether Subaru was actually serious about this question or not, Reinhardt still answered.

"It was derived from her unique killing style. Her name is known even in the capital as that of a dangerous individual."

Elsa licks her lips before smiling at Reinhardt as she says, "Reinhard... Yes, a knight among knights, born to the master swordsman line, correct? How remarkable to have all my opponents be so much fun."

Reinhardt replies, "There are many things I'd like to ask you. I strongly suggest you surrender."

Elsa holds her hands up as she talks back to Reinhardt. "You expect a starving predator to resist such choice, juicy prey?"

Reinhard then moves his hand up to his face before turning to look at Subaru. "Subaru, stand back a bit." He then moves his hand to point as he says, "If you'd stand next to her, I'd appreciate it."

Subaru smiles as he says, "You got it. That woman is like a monster, so don't let your guard down." He then walks toward Emilia who is crouching near Old Man Rom. Subaru continues looking at Reinhard as he walks.

Emilia, Rem, Ram, and Petra were all shocked by Subaru's wording. He was telling the sword saint to not let his guard down. Reinhard of all people. He was telling Reinhard to not let his guard down. Beatrice only gained more confidence as if she wasn't forced to see through the eyes of Subaru, she would have a prideful look as she said, "Hmph." Of course, her contractor could get away with this. He was Betty's contractor after all.

"As luck would have it, hunting monsters happen to be my specialty." Reinhard speaks as he turns to face the bowel hunter.

Subaru makes it to Emilia and Old Man Rom and crouches beside them. He then notices that the old man is still breathing.

"Old Man Rom is still alive?" He questions with shock.

Emilia then replies to Subaru. "He's not out of the woods yet. I have to heal him now." She holds her hands closer to her while keeping her palms facing the old man as a blue, transparent sphere appears from her hands. It must be some kind of magic.

Subaru looks at Emilia with surprise as he says, "You really want to? He's part of the gang that stole your insignia."

"That's exactly why." Emilia replies. "I need him to recover so he'll repay the favor by giving me information. He wouldn't lie to one who saved his life." She moves her hands closer to the old man as Subaru just stares at her in astonishment. "This is just as much for my own sake."

Subaru smiles as her before noticing that Elsa is now rushing toward Reinhard.

"I would rather not use violence on a woman..." Reinhard speaks.

Reinhard then takes a step forward, his foot breaks the floor as what appears to be a shockwave emits from him, stopping Elsa in her tracks before he raises his right leg and kicks her in the side, throwing her to the side.

Elsa rolls on the ground before getting to her feet while still crouching with her hands on the floor, still holding her blade and sliding on the ground.

"You're just as the rumors say- No, you're even better." Elsa speaks as she looks up at Reinhard and comes to a stop.

Reinhard stands straight up as he faces Elsa and says, "I'm not sure I'll meet your expectations."

"Aren't you going to use that sword at your hip? I'd love to experience it's legendary sharpness." Elsa speaks in an excited tone.

Reinhard places a hand on the hilt of his sword and looks down at it as he says, "This sword can only be drawn when it is needed. The fact that it hasn't left it's sheath means this is not one of those times."

Subaru's face shows a look of worry as he begins to panic. Despite what Emilia, Rem, Ram, Beatrice, and Petra knew of Reinhard, the sword saint, even they couldn't change the fact that they also felt worry.

This must be part of whatever is forcing us to see this. They must be manipulating my feelings. Emilia thinks to herself as she is forced to watch Reinhard and Elsa fight. Everyone else was just as worried as Subaru was. They never heard in detail what happened and feared they might feel death once more. Though Reinhard's appearance did ease their worries a bit, but not all the way.

Elsa stands straight up as she smiles and says, "I do believe I've been underestimated."

Reinhard places his hand by his side as he says, "It's an upsetting judgment for me, as well. Therefore, I will take you on with this instead." Reinhard moves over to what appears to be another sword on the ground.

Reinhard then uses his foot to kick the sword upwards and catches it. He then turns to Elsa as he asks, "Do you object?"

"No, it is wonderful. Wonderful!" Elsa speaks as she leans forward toward Reinhard with wide eyes and a crazed smile. She then leans back as she says, "Do entertain me, please!" Elsa then immediately rushes toward Reinhard. The sword in Reinhard's hand begins to glow a blue color.

As Elsa shoves her blade forward, Reinhard swings his sword upwards, cutting Elsa's blade from its hilt. Reinhard catches the blade with two fingers as Elsa jumps back.

"If you've lost your weapon, I strongly suggest you surrender." Reinhard speaks before throwing the blade toward Elsa, hitting the wall behind her with such force that the blade sticks into it.

Elsa has an unamused look as her blade sticks into the wall behind her. She then throws away the hilt of what was once her blade before rushing toward Reinhard again.

"She's got a second one, Reinhard!" Subaru shouts with panic as Elsa gets closer to Reinhard.

Just like Subaru said, Elsa pulls out another blade from behind her and immediately swings at Reinhard, but he jumps back, dodging the swing. Now Elsa has a wide smile on her face.

"I'm impressed you knew." She speaks.

"Well, I've experienced it personally." Subaru replies to Elsa.

Elsa then says, "But I don't only have two fangs." She then raises her second blade up as she says, "Would you mind if we start again?"

"If I divest you of all your weapons, will you be satisfied?" Reinhard speaks in a stern tone to Elsa before raising his sword, ready to fight again.

"If I lose my fangs, I'll use my claws." The woman in black speaks before running around the entire loot house. She moves so fast that she's only a blur as she circles Reinhard and speaks.

"If I lose my claws, I'll use my bones. And if I lose my bones, I'll use my life."

Finally, Elsa begins attacking Reinhard while still remaining a blur. Although, it seems that Reinhard hasn't lost track of her as he blocks her attacks.

"That's how a bowel hunter fight." Elsa speaks as she continues attacking Reinhard.

Subaru looks on with worry and panic as he can barely see Elsa any more than just a blur. "Surely Reinhard won't fail to land the decisive blow, will he?"

Emilia, Rem, Ram, and everyone else can't believe how Subaru is speaking about the sword saint. It's like Subaru doesn't know if Reinhard will win. The only one who isn't surprised by this is Beatrice as Subaru has told her many stories of his hometown "Japan" and how Reinhard's name isn't even known there. So she can forgive his ignorance in this situation. Emilia on the other hand, can't believe that she didn't think anything about the way Subaru spoke of Reinhard here.

She knows that she was preoccupied with healing the old man, but even after everything, she never got any answers from Subaru about where he's from and his lack of knowledge.

"He can't fight at full strength because I'm using my spirit arts." Emilia replies to Subaru.

What do those have to do with each other?" Subaru questions

Emilia then answers, "If Reinhard was truly intent on fighting, all the mana in the atmosphere would turn away from me. I'm almost done healing him. When I give the signal, let him know."

Subaru then tuns to look at Old Man Rom to notice the wound slowly closing. Finally, the wound closes and the blue, transparent sphere disappears. Emilia sighs before turning to look at Subaru with a serious expression.

"He's alright now. Go ahead." She speaks with her hands on her lap.

Subaru then picks up his hands and make them into fist as he looks toward Reinhard and shouts.

"Reinhard! I don't really get it, but do your thing!" He pumps a fist forward as he shouts.

Then suddenly, it was like a huge white aura appeared around Reinhard, waving like fire. Elsa then stops rushing around the loot house and stands in front of Reinhard with her arms dropping down.

"What are you going to show me?" She speaks as she looks at Reinhard with a smile.

Reinhard then speaks. "The swordplay of the Astrea family." Reinhard then grips his sword with both hands and holds it in front of him. Elsa then holds up her blade toward Reinhard.

"The Bowel Hunter, Elsa Grannhiert." Now with two blades, she stands sideways, holding a blade outward on both sides while she still looks at Reinhard with a smile.

Reinhard then pulls his sword back as the hilt is now beside his face. "Reinhard van Astrea of the master swordsman line."

Reinhard's sword begins to emit it's own arm before it's like everything becomes white. A sudden whale noise can be heard as Reinhard lifts his sword while Elsa rushes toward Reinhard. Subaru can barely see what's happening because of the aura, but he can try to make it out.

It appears as if Elsa shoves her blade toward Reinhard as Reinhard swings his sword down. By now, Subaru can't even find the words to describe what he was seeing as it looks as if a beam of light appeared in front of Reinhard. Then an explosion.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Subaru shouts as he gets hit by sudden wind from what could only be because of Reinhard. Wood and dust fly toward Subaru as he can't even see what is happening. Subaru closes his eyes as he gets hit by the wind.

As the dust and wind settles, Subaru opens his eyes to find that half of the loot house was now gone and turned into rubble. Subaru was in shock for a moment before he suddenly shouts out.

"Hunting monsters is my specialty, my ass! You're a monster yourself!"

Reinhard turns to look at Subaru with a smile as he says, "Even I'm a bit hurt by a comment like that, Subaru."

He then looks at the sword that he used to fight Elsa. It was now all broken like an old sword. Reinhard has a somber expression as he looks at the sword and says, "I'm sorry I asked too much of you." The sword then breaks into pieces and turn to dust as he says, "Rest well now."

Subaru stands up and looks toward Reinhard. "There's not a shadow of her left, let alone a body..." He takes a few steps before talking again while looking at the damage. "This is all that's left after just one sword swing?"

Emilia stands up beside him as she speaks in a shaky voice. "It's over now?" She takes a step before stopping and placing a head on her head as Subaru moves like he's about to catch her and speaks.

"Yeah, somehow or other... and I mean that literally."

Subaru can't help but stare at Emilia as he takes a step back.

"Why are you staring at me? That's quite rude." Emilia asks in a confused tone.

Subaru smiles as he says, "Oh, just... You still have your arms and legs, and even your head."

Emilia seems confused by the way Subaru as speaking and in turn replies. "Of course I do. Don't say such scary things."

Subaru moves his arms over his stomach and looks down as he says, "Yeah, you're right. It's obvious, huh?" He then looks at his hands and arms as he continues to speak. "I still have my arms, too," He then turns his head to see his back as he says, "and there's no knife in my back. or a gaping hole in my gut."

Subaru looks back toward Emilia with a smile. Emilia is only confused as she says, "You talk as if you've experienced those things before."

"There was a time when I did." Subaru replies with a smile.

Emilia would've widened her eyes with realization if she wasn't looking through Subaru's view as she finally realized the weight of those words that Subaru said then.

Subaru turns around to look at Reinhard, still smiling. "Oh, yeah, Reinhard... I haven't thanked you yet." He closes his eyes as his face shows relief. "You saved my ass. Back in the alley, too. I guess you heard my heart's cries for help, friend!"

Reinhard smiles at Subaru as he says, "If I did do that, I'd certainly be proud." Reinhard then smiles with his eyes closed as he says, "Friend, eh?" He then turns to look to his right.

Subaru notices a small figure in the direction Reinhard is looking. It's Felt. She's hiding behind a wooden beam with a scared and nervous expression.

"She was running around the streets in desperation, and she asked for my help." Reinhard speaks before looking back at Subaru.

"That's..." Emilia's voice speaks from behind Subaru.

Subaru looks toward Emilia as he raises his hand, facing his palm toward Emilia as he says, "Now, hang on. If she hadn't brought Reinhard, we'd have been destroyed. Just take a look at this face, and spare me the ice-statue punishment, okay?"

Emilia looks away with an annoyed expression and her eyes closed as she says, "I wouldn't do anything that violent. And what does your face have to do with-"

Suddenly, Reinhard shouts, "Subaru!"

Subaru looks at Reinhard with a confused expression when suddenly, the noise of the rubble behind Subaru breaking apart is heard. Subaru turns to looks behind him to find Elsa breaking through the rubble and rushing toward them. She has an angry expression and is bleeding from her forehead. In her right hand is a black blade.

"She'll go for the gut!" Subaru shouts as he moves quickly to grabs the giant club. He moves quickly and pushes Emilia to the side as he holds the club upside down and places the top of the club on the ground.

Elsa swings her blade but hits the club and pushes Subaru back. Elsa shows an even more annoyed look. "He got in my way again." Elsa speaks.

"That's enough, Elsa!" Reinhard speaks.

Subaru stops moving as he gets on one knee and his eyes closed. He hears the sound of footsteps moving in front of him. Subaru opens his eyes to see Reinhard standing in between him and Elsa.

Elsa then throws her blade at Reinhard, but it misses and flies around him. She then smiles as she says, "Soon enough, I'll disembowel everyone here."

She then backflips away before saying, "Take good care of your bowels until then."

She then scales the walls of the loot house and leaves. Reinhard runs over to Emilia as he asks, "Are you alright?"

"Whether I'm alright doesn't matter! More importantly..." Emilia replies in an angry tone.

Subaru is standing while holding his stomach as he says, "Ow..."

"Are you alright? That was far too reckless!" Emilia speaks as she is now standing in front of him.

Subaru stands up and looks at Emilia with a smile as he says, "Oh, it was no problem. I sure took the long road, but I finally reached this point."

Subaru then raises his finger to the sky as he shouts, "My name Natsuki Subaru! And I just saved your life from a heinous village!" He then reaches a hand toward her before pointing to the sky again as he continues to speak. "Are we okay on that?"

Emilia looks confused as she tilts her head and says, "'Okay'?"

Subaru then clarifies, "It means, 'Are we clear on that?' So..." He then moves his body to make the letters O and K as he says, "Okay!"

Emilia stops tilting her head as she looks at Subaru and says, "O-Okay..."

He then moves back to his other pose with a finger pointing to the sky as he says, "I, your rescuer, saved your life. And you are the heroine I saved! So wouldn't that mean you should repay me in kind? Wouldn't it?"

Emilia holds a hand up to her chin as she takes a step back as she says, "All right, I get it. Only if it's within my power of course..."

Subaru lowers his hand as he says, "In that case, I have only one request!"

Emilia's body tenses as Subaru smiles at her. He then waves a finger in front of him as he says, "Yes, my request is.." He then snaps his fingers as he face shows a serious expression. "Tell me your name."

Standing in silence, Subaru has a serious expression as he looks at Emilia. They both stand still, staring at each other until Emilia bursts out in laughter.

"Emilia." She says with a hand up to her mouth.

Subaru breaks his serious expression for a confused one as he says, "Huh?"

Emilia turns her head up to look at Subaru as she smiles. It's like she was glowing. Like she was an angel. "My name is Emilia. Just Emilia." She opens her eyes to reveal their purple color as they also shine brightly.

"Thank you, Subaru. For saving me." She reaches out her hand to Subaru as she continues smiling. Memories flash through their minds along with Subaru's voice. Memories from his second loop as Subaru speaks in his head.

All those times I got hurt, all the crying I did, all the pain I felt, all the fighting I did with my life on the line... And my reward was her name and a single smile.

"Sheesh..." Subaru says before reaching for Emilia's hand as he says, "Talk about unequal compensation."

Reinhard walks over to meet with Emilia and Subaru as Felt enters the loot house and walks over to Old Man Rom.

"Anyway, Subaru, I'm impressed that you're unhurt." Reinhard speaks with a smile.

Subaru points over to the giant club on the ground as he says, "That thing protected me at a moment's notice. If not for that, I'd be in two pieces right now."

Reinhard moves to pick the club up as he says, "True, if not for this..."

As Reinhard picks up the club, they all notice something. The club... was cut in two.

"Huh?" Reinhard and Emilia say in unison as Subaru takes a step back with a nervous smile. He looks down at his stomach. Suddenly, a hole in his tracksuit appears and flaps down.
"Uh-oh. I should have seen this coming." Subaru speaks as his stomach slowly shows the cut and he bleeds before blood spurts out and he falls back onto the ground.

"Subaru?" Emilia speaks in shock as Subaru falls. "Subaru!" She shouts as her and Reinhard move closer to Subaru.

Subaru opens his eyes to see Emilia and Reinhard. Emilia looks worried as she gets closer to him.

Man... She's so cute when she's panicking. A parallel world fantasy... Subaru thinks as Emilia's mouth moves, but no sound can be heard before he finally falls unconscious.

---

Suddenly, Emilia opens her eyes. She's back in the mansion. She jolts up, coughing as she holds her stomach. Her eyes are widened with fear as she rubs her stomach and holds her neck. Finally, it hits her that she's back in the mansion. Suddenly, she remembers something.

Ram. She thinks to herself as she looks around her to find Ram already sitting on her knees. She can't see Ram's eyes behind her hair though, but it looks as if she was coughing too.

"Ram?" Emilia speaks as she starts crawling toward Ram.

She reaches a hand for Ram's shoulder, but Ram smacks her hand away, startling Emilia. Ram the wraps her hands around herself as her body begins shaking.

"Disgusting." Ram mutters to no one but herself.

Emilia can't really think what to do so decides to not do anything. She then looks down the hall where Rem chased after Petra and Beatrice followed.

Meanwhile, Rem wakes up. She gets up on her hands and knees as she stares at the ground, trying to figure out just what to think about what she saw. It wasn't just what she was seeing, but also what she felt. She hated the feeling. She wasn't the only one to think that though as Beatrice also had the same thoughts. Beatrice was already awake and leaning against the wall. Rem then remembered someone important.

"Petra." She uttered to herself before turning to find the young maid still on the ground.

"Petra?" She once again repeated the young girl's name.

Petra slowly begins to move, getting up onto her knees while holding her head. Despite everything else that happened, she still couldn't forget the feeling of death and how much it hurt. And that haunted her mind. She was just about to begin banging her head against the floor again until she was caught in a sudden hug.

The blue-haired girl was giving her a hug. A hug that immediately calmed her mind. The blue-haired girl then began speaking.

"It's alright. You'll be fine. After that, Subaru was brought to this mansion. He'll be safe once he's here. Trust me."

Petra didn't know what to think. So instead, she just cried. Cried her heart out as she hugged the girl back. She screamed as loud as she could.

---

Outside the mansion, a scream could be heard.

"What was that?" Crusch demanded an answer.

The scream only made Fredrica tense up as she knew exactly whose scream that was. "Petra." She spoke.

This only made Crusch mad. And so, she decided to take action.

"Wilhelm, Felix! Follow me." Crusch shouted as she held her sword tightly as started walking toward the barrier.

"Are you sure?" Otto cut in. "None of us can even breach the barrier."

Crusch ignored Otto as she stepped closer to the barrier. Now, she was only a few niches away from the barrier touching her face. She took a deep breath before bringing her hand up. She slowly moved her hand closer to the barrier. Her hand was going to come into contact with the barrier. Or at least it was. But her hand went through it. This shocked everyone.

Why was Crusch allowed to go through the barrier?

"Hey, look. I can do nyit too." Felix spoke.

Crusch turns to face Felix to her right. Felix's arm was through the barrier. Wilhelm placed a hand on his chin as he was inches from the barrier.

"Hm." Wilhelm says before holding his hand with his palm facing the barrier. Like Crusch, he slowly moved his hand toward the barrier. And also like Crusch, his hand went through it.

"It appears that we've been granted permission to pass through the barrier."

'But why?" Fredrica questions with a worried look.

None of this made sense. But that didn't matter now. Crusch, Felix, and Wilhelm have been allowed inside the barrier. Crusch looked between Felix and Wilhelm.

"Never minds why, let's go!" She shouted before pushing on inside the mansion.

Felix and Wilhelm nodded at her before following behind.

Fredrica, Otto, and Garfiel all waited outside as they still couldn't enter the barrier. Otto and Fredrica both prayed that Crusch and her camp could help with whatever was happening in the barrier.

Crusch and her party run through the mansion, prepared for anything that could jump out at them. They come to a sudden stop. here, they decide to split up. Crusch was going to search on her own as Wilhelm and Felix go together.

Crusch runs through the mansion with her eyes scanning everything she can see. She turns a corner and immediately comes to a stop. Her eyes widen in realization by what she was seeing. In front of her was Emilia and Ram.

Emilia notices the sounds of Crusch's footsteps and turns around.

"Crusch?" Emilia speaks.

Ram lifts her head to face Crusch, but something feels wrong. Her eyes looked exhausted or perhaps disgusted. Despite Ram's shaking body, she stands up and turns to face Crusch.

She bows as she says, "Ms. Crusch." She then stands straight up to look Crusch in the eyes as she says, "May I ask what brings you to the Mather's domain?"

Crusch smiles as she starts walking forward. "I received a letter saying Mr. Natsuki was missing?"

Emilia quickly stands up as she realizes what Crusch is referring to. "That's right." She speaks quickly.

Crusch looks around as she notices how dark the mansion is. "Do you have any clues as to where Mr. Natsuki would have gone?"

She looks back to notice the disturbed looks on both of their faces. Emilia is even avoiding eye contact.

After a moment of silence, Emilia speaks. "Um, Crusch..."

Emilia is cut off as they feel reality shifting once again. Emilia looks up with worry as Ram moves her hand to grab her arm and grip it tightly. This surprises Crusch as she jumps back and looks around frantically. She turns around, prepared for an attack, but nothing happens.

She then hears a sound from behind her. She turns around to find Emilia and Ram on the ground, unconscious.

"Emilia!" Crusch shouts before she feels her consciousness waver. She reaches her hand for Emilia but soon falls unconscious.

Meanwhile, Felix and Wilhelm move through the halls. Upon turning a corner, they are met with a strange sight. Three people in front of them.

One was the great spirit. Another one was a young girl in a maid outfit. The young girl was being hugged by a girl with blue hair that looked similar to another person they knew.

The blue-haired girl looked up at them with worry in her eyes. There was a moment of silence before the blue-haired girl spoke.

"Felix? Mr. Wilhelm?"

Felix and Wilhelm were confused. But soon, that confusion went away as they remembered just who this blue-haired girl was. This was the girl Subaru told them about. But what was she doing up? Wasn't she in a coma? Did Subaru defeat gluttony? But wouldn't that mean Crusch also has her memories back? There were too many questions for them to ask. So they asked a simple one.

"What's going on here, nya?" Felix asked first.

Rem didn't really know what to say. She looked to her right toward Beatrice before turning back to Felix. She then opened her mouth to speak.

"I..." She was then interrupted by reality shifting. Petra immediately fell unconscious.

"Petra!" Rem shouted. Felix and Wilhelm were on guard as the looked around.

Beatrice was the next to fall unconscious, catching Rem's attention.

"Ms. Beatrice." Rem said before her eyes began to get heavy.

It was hard for her to keep her eyes opened as she let go of Petra, letting her and herself fall to the ground. Rem finally went to sleep.

Felix was completely terrified that he couldn't even say anything as Wilhelm only looked more serious. It wasn't long before Felix fell with the rest of them. Wilhelm quickly moved to grab his sword until it was like all his strength was zapped from his body, causing him to fall to his knees. Despite how hard he tried to resist, he couldn't. And so, he fell asleep.