12 Chapter 11 - A Straight Bet

Masquerade : "How serious?!?—"

Raven : "Wait—"

Jens didn't even move and this loop was already different from the former one. Raven stopped Masquerade from ending his sentence.

Raven : "He already returned... The Witch Miasma is relatively recent, it smells exactly like him."

Raven kept her hands on the sheet case of her sword.

Hearing those words, Jens became nauseous as he knew that Raven had some kind knowledge about his ability. 'Return by Death' the ability which allows him to die over and over again to make things right was not a secret anymore, atleast to Raven.

Raven : "We surrender, but I want to have a talk with Jens. Come here and we stop this attack. Beatrice and the others, if you make a move, we'll have no choice other than destroying this mansion and killing everyone. Allow me to talk to Jens and everything is gonna be okay."

Beatrice : "Surrendering? You're just a coward, I suppose. In fact, you didn't change at all."

Masquerade : "Come now Beatrice-sama, don't be so harsh on Raven. After all, you only blame others because of your lack of usefullness, I mean, you're the one that allowed Echidna die, remember? Hahaha, what am I even saying?! I suppose— No HAHA that's not my line. I mean, if you were just a little bit faster, Echidna would still be alive right now."

Masquerade looked at Beatrice. His tuxedo was still as clean as ever but his words didn't leave Beatrice mind. Beatrice collapsed and bursted out in tears.

The name "Echidna" also didn't leave Jens' mind. It was familiar. He remembered hearing stories about a giant monster called Echidna, or something like that.

Jens walked towards Raven. He walked down the main hallway where at the end he saw a giant door with Raven and Masquerade standing in front of it. Ram, Rem and Beatrice stood in front of them and Yang and Emilia followed Jens.

12 steps, it took 12 steps to reach Raven. Jens finally stood in front of Raven, but a twist of mind occurred—

Raven : "Jens..."

Jens : "Raven. What's important?"

Raven : "Are— your memories gone?"

Raven said those words with anxiety in her voice. She didn't look so prideful right now compared to a couple minutes ago. She didn't sound scared, but rather sad.

After hearing those words, Jens didn't know what to respond. He knew that he was breathing heavier than normal and he felt a slight headache in his head.

"She knows about my Amnesia. If I say yes, I won't gain any knowledge of them. But pretending to know about my past is ridiculous. This is insane. It's a bet I cannot afford to lose. If I return again, she will know it, at least, that's what I assume..."

Jens : "No."

Those words left everyone in shock. Masquerade didn't move at all and —

Masquerade : "Ha—Hahaha! HAHA! This is truly amazing, I knew it!"

Raven : "Then it's clear. We'll come back. Masquerade, give them a gift—"

Masquerade : "How cruel?! You are even scaring me Raven! Are you sure of this action?"

Beatrice : "I'm done with this crap! You won't leave this mansion! I'll kill you!"

Beatrice pointed her hand towards Raven. That moment, Masquerade grabbed Jens and stood in front of him, acting like a living shield. It was as if these two knew who the former Jens was.

Beatrice : "Jens... You... BETRAYER!"

Hearing her cute voice, it echoed inside of Jens' skull and couldn't think of anything except the fact that he truly... betrayed Emilia. He stood at the side of Raven Branwen and Masquerade. He was unable to move, as he was in a quite shock.

Yang : "Mom stop thi—"

Beatrice : "It's too late Yang! Ex Shamak!"

Beatrice summoned thousands, if not more black needles. The needles released a cold aura and were pointy.

Beatrice : "I'll dance on your grave, Raven..."

Beatrice made her hand a fist and then, the needles were fired. However, Uta, Mask, Masquerade, whatever his actual name is, ran towards the needles recklessly and—

Masquerade : "Ex Barierre!"

The man created a shining barrier of light. Both Raven and Jens were in that barrier.

Beatrice : "Ram, Rem, finish this! I've to summon Master myself!"

Raven : "Running away huh— I thought that I was the coward. Masquerade, deal with Emilia. Leave Yang unharmed. I'll deal with these three fools."

Masquerade : "Raven-sama?! You're so dangerous?!"

Masquerade snapped his fingers and disappeared.

Raven : "No. Let me fight you Beatrice, let those two demons summon Roswaal."

Ram started to get irritated and—

Ram : "Don't call me a demon you bitch! Fura!"

The maid with pink hair, Ram, released a hyper speed shockwave of wind and fired it towards Raven.

Raven : "—"

Raven grabbed her sword and blocked the attack. She actually sliced through the shockwave. Jens still, stood next to Raven and did nothing.

Raven : "Activate your Authority Jens!"

Jens : "—Uh.."

Beatrice : "I'll deal with you myself then! Ram, Rem, Al Minya!"

Beatrice teleported both Yang, Emilia, Ram and Rem away. The location was unknown, but it wasn't important as Jens' mind couldn't proceed the things that were happening anyway.

He collapsed and kept looking towards the two. Beatrice and Raven Branwen.

Raven : "You know Beatrice... I used to wish we could have a tea party... But wishes make you weaker."

Beatrice : "Save your breathe Raven, I suppose. In fact, enjoy your last breathe."

Raven : "Let's begin this then..."

Raven put her sword in somekind of case with different colors in it. The inside of the case started to spin and it ended on a white color. She grabbed her sword and her red sword changed to a white sword.

"She has... six swords in that thing? That case keeps changing her blades— that has to he it. White, Black, Green, Yellow, Red, Blue— Yang, Yin, Wind, Earth, Fire and Water... She's able to use all six magic—"

Before Jens could even proceed his thoughts, Raven dashes towarda Beatrice but—

Beatrice : "Foolish!"

Beatrice created an barrier around her and pushed Raven away through multiple walls of the mansion. Raven realized she was in the diner room, which had five walls between her and Beatrice. She was fired through five stone walls, yet she still survived.

Raven : "Ha..."

Raven started to run towards Beatrice again, but this time, her blade started to shine brightly and her armor started to shine too. She jumped towards Beatrice and tried to hit an attack, however—

Beatrice : "Shamak!"

Like Jens, Beatrice released a black smoke cloud and Raven didn't understand where she nor Beateice were.

Raven : "I'll kill you!"

Raven quickly changed her blade to a green one and swung one time with it, creating a small tornado near the mansion and destroying parts of the mansion along with the garden. The smoke called 'shamak' disappeared and then—

Beatrice : "Changing blades— A sword which was created in Mistral. It has to be the 'Raven Death Edge', I suppose."

Raven : "Correct. Multiple techniques that are long forgotten by Lugnicians. Echidna-sama teached you those magics. I'm confident that you still have contact with her, am I right?"

Jens : "Y.."

Raven turned around and looked towards Jens.

Jens was completely mind broken. His brain didn't work anymore. The amount of things he saw just crushed his mind and broke his soul, he was nothing more than an empty shell.

Raven : "Jens!"

Raven grabbed Jens and opened a red portal.

Beatrice : "Don't you dare to take him with you. Emilia will be very sad!"

Raven : "Since when do you care about that girl?"

Beatrice : "I don't, I suppose. However, I will not fail my quest. I will follow Roswaal's orders and I will kill you!"

Raven : "You won't. A foolish girl with a dream can't achieve her goals like this."

But then—

A girl, a beautiful girl showed up. She came from the main hallway and stood behind Beatrice. She was injured, yet not that much like Raven and Beatrice. It was—

Emilia : "I can't allow you to steal Jens from us."

Raven : "Filthy abonimation!"

Emilia : "I don't care how you call me. Jens is my friend. I'll save him! Pack—"

Pack suddenly appeared out of her green crystal and—

Pack : "Hello Raven. Long time no see. I'll freeze you. You can sleep along with my mother! Emilia, let's do it!"

Emilia : "Got it! Absolute Zero!"

Emilia crystalized herself and Pack changed into a giant monster. He was atleast a few hundred meters tall. The whole mansion was nearly destroyed, but the feeling Jens had was unique. The mana around him, it was completely gone. The whole area was frozen and everything was frozen except Beatrice, Pack, Raven and Jens.

"Pack... What are you?"

That was the only thing Jens could think about.

Raven : "Such a smart move. Changing into your Star Beastification form to absorb all the mana in this area. I assume that you froze Emilia for her own protection. You're such a good person Pack."

Pack : "Remain silent while I deal with you."

That thing, that thing which is supposed to be Pack started to create giant crystals of ice, at least a few meters long and fired towards Raven.

Raven : "But—"

Raven then closed her eyes and Jens' vision started to fade. He couldn't see anything except black. A split second later, realized he closed his eyes, and when he realized it, he opened them.

The only thing he saw was his body twisted and his limbs cut off. He saw a dead Emilia next to him and the head of Raven on a ice pinicle. He was barely alive, but the amount of blood which was around him was immense.

He turned his head, only to see both Ram and Rem dead. Their eyes were removed from their head and their fingers were gone. He was still in the frozen lands of the mansion, but Pack was gone.

He turned around again and saw Yang's head and arms on the stairs. The stairs were entirely frozen and so were her eyes.

Everyone was dead, except Jens. Jens couldn't think of anything except—

"Why. Why me. Why Emilia. Who did this? I wanna die. Kill me. Satella. Kill me. I wanna die. I dont want to live. This world is wrong. I want to be gone."

However, those thoughts didn't leave his mind, until—

Jens heard footsteps from behind. He looked up and saw—

Masquerade : "Jens! You're so cute. I love you so much. You know, I admire you. Love is maybe not the right term. But I truly admire you. You're great. The fact that Satella chose you instead of me is truly extraordinary. However, I personally don't really care anymore. The thing is, you act with a reason. Which is the only thing I hate. You act like trash. I'll kill you anyway, as this 'loop' isn't as good. I mean, I'm the cause of your amnesia after all. Despite Raven asking you, I know that you don't remember anything. HAHA! This is so sad. Everyone is dead except you. You truly are the protagonist and the paragon of justice. The fact that you don't understand most of this doesn't matter anyway."

It was Masquerade, he looked through the eye holes and saw beautiful red eyes. Yet his face remained unseen.

Masquerade : "I'll kill you. I have to. This moment will break my heart. But my love knows that there has to be a better outcome. Also, pretending that you didn't lose your memories was truly facinating. I didn't know you had such guts to face Raven and lie. Truly amazing. I keep admiring you and more but—"

Right then, Masquerade sliced Jens' head off. That was the moment that he, Jens, officially lost his life.

Masquerade : "Uhh... Too much blood—"