The final confrontation

Hadest1430: Actually the reason why the oc has a wish like that is to be discovered in the later chapters. The reason for that wish will most probably be uncovered in Arc 4 if not sooner. Yo, that's a SPOILER.

And the reason why the 'stupid dude' didn't appear in the 1st chapter is because his appearance is hazy and the focus is on Subaru instead! The oc appears in the 1st chapter and not the 'Prologue' and that too at the end!

Come on! If the main Oc gets too much attention…what about Subaru, the holder of RBD? The ocs' actions made Subaru fail the fourth loop…

So, yeah I will have to hammer out the summary to fit everything which I want to say and what would attract readers.

I designed the oc after myself. Though some personal incidents might be aggravated in intensity and occurrences as compared to my real life, but that's for plot development.

And the changes from the canon which I referred to in the summary does not apply to only the main oc, there will be a lot of strange people and lots more of world building to be added to the canon. But well, that's for the future. The story is still at a juvenile stage.

I'm a depressed guy with bouts of depression sessions, which you people can figure out through the latest notice, which has been deleted by now.

People might get such more notices in the future too... but as long as I am alive and I am myself, I want to continue this fic.

Anyways, people, here is:

The 3rd chapter of 'A wish come true'!

Anyways this is a super long bonus chapter. Well, I went with the flow and it became a humongous one…I don't want to cut it down and deliver in smaller parts, just because.

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One of the earliest theories of evolution of life was the theory of 'Abiogenesis'. People later on discarded it saying things like- "How come life began from mud, straw and dirt?"

I don't know whether life began from these stuffs. But I know for sure that after death, people become one with these shit. And I suppose it was time for me to go down that shit-hole too.

It was all my fault. If only I had asked Reinhardt to come here with me and not told him to stand guard nearby, things wouldn't have turned out the way they had. I didn't want to stir up the events too much fearing that the future could turn worse. I couldn't do something about some new events due to the 'butterfly effect' that would catch me off guard.

But I couldn't enjoy this world if I died! I wanted to enjoy it, I wanted to live here, free from my shitty previous life full of nothing but study, study and study all round the clock.

I wanted to relish this world to quench my thirst for adventure. I wanted to fight Elsa head on and beat her to a pulp. I had the cards to do so. I expected no variations since I was the only one out of this world but I…..

"Whoaaaa…..!"

CRASH!

I crashed into a wall as I got hit in the gut by a stone projectile before I could react. The impact to my back reached the spine…the pain made me scream but what came out was just a guttural cough as the kick threw out my stomach contents which were nothing more than some acidic fluid. I had eaten nothing after coming to this world.

I tried to get up supporting my crouched body with my arms, but only to fall right away.

…I cast a reluctant glance at my left side.

[My left arm... kek…,it had been ripped off by the hooded mage earlier. The pain was still there, exhilarating but still painful.

The madness was getting on my nerves. No, it was resonating with me. I had lost too much blood… There was this sense of bereavement which made me reassure myself that it would all be fine as I had nothing to lose, while the scalding pain on my right hand owing to the Phantom Fire Sword made me remember that I was still alive.

Though not pleasant in the least, it helped me keep my consciousness which I feared I would lose any moment now.

[No, I don't want to die like this!

Just because that son of a bitch 'extra' turned up, I won't die without making a change. I was meant for greatness! I won't f*ing go down like this!]

The phantom series weapons - all 4 star grade weapons, though not very rare but not despised in the least both in terms of looks and features. And I knew why. I got them through the gatcha while playing 'Alchemia Story' and levelled up all the way using these. That was just a game… but the real weapons were taking a huge toll on me. This sword had the shape of rising flames. It was radiating heat in such a way that the upper blunt edge glowed bright red and the black sharp edge was making the air around it distorted due to heat waves.

The sword made sizzling noises in hand. My palm must be roasting real good, but I seriously couldn't use anything other than a fire elemental weapon because wind might cut me down instead, water might bring a flood here and I didn't have Earth elemental swords levelled up enough to be confident with dealing with this backup of a mage. And I'm not confident with anything other than a sword. I had zero combat experience! What else could I do?

And why the hell does Elsa need a backup?! Was I figured out? That Clown! I gritted my teeth in frustration.

Through a blurry vision, I scanned left and right. Felt was nowhere to be found. She must have run away by now. Reinhardt would come here in some time. Rom, the giant was bleeding as per trends. He was not dead yet. But things were not so right with the main cast.

Puck was occupied with some fire elementals. Wait, fire elementals?! There were at least a dozen of them, shaped like harpies?

What the hell was puck even doing struggling with those halflings! And what were those half-birds even doing here? Why are they fire elementals? They were supposed to be wind elementals. And they were so small! Too small! The same size as puck. What about Subaru? He was supposed to take the main role! He's hiding behind Emilia, guarding the injured Rom-ji.

No, no, no, they would have been dead without puck…

[Good job puck!]

"Goo.. Jo.. pu..", legible words didn't form from my mouth.

I had to do something about the gaping hole on my left side. I balanced myself up with the sword to stand on my knees and then pressed the flat end of the blade on my wound.

[AAAAAAAAAAARGGGHH!] I squealed under my breath.

It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! Should I rather let the bleeding go on? It would be a painless death. It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! Does doing all this shit even matter? Why not give up? It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! What do I even want? It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! What do I even want! What do I even want!

The heat sealed my skin and flesh, and molded them into one, enclosing the wound thoroughly. But the gap was too wide and I had to place the blade at varied angles to ensure that I didn't leave any place through which blood could leak. The pain wasn't less than before, but it made me feel alive. I felt so alive that I felt that I'd go mad.

Was this what Elsa always felt when fighting? Was this madness? Was I growing mad? I was going mad indeed!

[Then something strange happened… 'Come on! Who wants to be normal!'] I heard a narrative in my head, I was going mad for sure.

[No no no I need to stay calm. I have to survive…I have to…]

[Calm?!Why calm? You can just lay down and die… or you can just shit and die! Pfft! Bahahaha!] maybe my personality finally split in two. Such a shitty achievement which I longed for all the time, was now granted in this world when I was near death, when I was about to die. Who was this fucker? I really wondered who he was… I wanted to rip off his vocals so much. I wanted to softly press his neck and then slowly and slowly keep on pressing it till his voice box would be in my hand…

Ah… my imagination goes amok again… what could I do now? Let's give up and die! Better luck next time!

[Heh!Heeeeeeeeeeee?! What are you doing? You're not trying to get up? You have stopped the bleeding you know? Didn't you just now wish to strangle me to death?]

[What's the point of this conversation anyway? Talking to myself ain't gonna do any good. I would rather die peacefully…]

[What about those people whom you wanted to save? They are still struggling over there!]

[Ah…that? They can try next time. Maybe Subaru will give me a hint next time? Or I might be dumped and have to go on a solo route… I don't care either way.]

[So you aren't gonna move?]

[Nope]

[Even if I tell you that it was fate which brought you here and you can finally meet…]

[Nope]

[And that you can finally meet…]

[Not listening…]

[You can finally…]

"SHUT UP!" I finally lashed out, with a jolt. And I was the center of attention once again.

[Ah… there goes my peaceful death…] They might have let me bleed to death before, but now the hooded guy is again staring this way with that creepy smile on his face!

It got difficult to breathe again as I was lifted off the ground by my neck. An invisible force was squeezing my throat as I was lifted off the ground. I slashed haphazardly by swinging my sword in all directions, imagining some hand which might be holding me from some angle, but it was not getting any better. The force on my neck only grew stronger and I was growing tired through all the useless effort. I felt that my eyes might burst due to the pressure at any moment as I couldn't breathe anymore… that bastard… he was enjoying himself thoroughly. This was the difference that a mage could make. He wasn't apparently very strong or he could've taken a more direct approach to wipe us out. But he seemed to be quite adept in using his skills or it might just be that he was just going low key for fun.

I let go of the sword in my hand and caught my neck reflexively as I could no longer bear with it.

For me, an earthling from the interior (tho on the outside I was a blue-haired handsome dude with seductive red eyes like rubies, lololol am I going too far?) who didn't know the ABC of 'magic', the towering difficulty of the first checkpoint was beyond what anybody could handle, Reinhardt might be an exception though.

Wait…

where was Reinhardt? Felt should have already called him. Was time slowing down for me as I was on the verge of death?

"Just pathetic! Pfft! I want to laugh, but this is not even funny!", the hooded guy laughed while holding his tummy. His mood was really fluctuating really fast. Beginning from maniacal laughter to sarcastic laughter and then just scorn and insults as I could already feel his face twisting from disgust due to my pathetic display…

"Haaaaar!", a war cry was the last thing I could hear before I was back on the ground again. I breathed so hard after what seemed like an eternity. It felt like I could breathe all the air there was and I still won't be satisfied. After a few deep breaths and calming my brain down to take in info once again, I looked to find the hooded guy rolling on the ground holding the back of his head in pain. And a familiar black head was clobbering down on him with a wooden club.

"The…ead…", I laboured to speak, "Ghhooo for the heaaad!"

He turned to look at me and then towards the rolling guy. Aimed at his head, he brought his club down with such force that it would've made a fine ketchup for sure, if not for Elsa kicking him like a ricocheting bullet and shooting him my way.

He crashed onto me with such force that the two of us were slammed into the wall again. This time now my consciousness was fading for good before I could form any more narratives in my head or say anything to the voice, now screaming in my head once again.

The darkness swallowed me again.

[How many times did I faint now?...]

[GET UP! GET UP MAN! YOU WANT TO DIE HERE?! HEY I'M GONNA HELP YOU! GET UP!]

[He's done for. This is the second time I'm gonna die to that loser! If not for the system, I would have already been done with this kid's play.]

[CURSE IT! Why does a kid like him get to control my body! He can't even hold a sword properly! Just having a good weapon like that sword can't make up for one's incompetence… Well, figures…maybe he was right. It's no use thinking too much…let's just give up and be happy! SHIT!SHIT!SHIT!]

This person wanted to hit his head somewhere to put himself out of his misery, but he couldn't. Not ever since he was stuck inside this black space. Even with his years of experience of dealing with monsters, demon lords, dragons and cults and whatnot he had never come across such a situation. He was challenging the 'Tower of trials' along with his partners just like the other adventurers and they were making a decent progress. He had climbed 30 floors out of a total of 100 floors. That might seem like a low number, but there was none who had managed to climb the tower whole. Well, that wasn't his intention anyway. The loot from the monster drops was enough for them to keep on raiding the lower floors and not risk their lives by going to the higher floors, but this time on the first floor itself, they met that shadowy figure. Taking her for the darkness type, they used pacification and wind based healer skills on her. But she didn't budge one inch.

She just went on 'I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him.' Before going berserk and then swallowing the whole floor with her dark shadows. The last thing which he saw was the face of his partner running towards him to shield him.

[Idiot. It was my duty to protect you.]

When he woke up, he found himself confined to a dark space without any source of light. He could feel his body and all but that didn't matter since he didn't have a space to stand on. It was like he was in water, but he wouldn't move in any way no matter how much he tried. There was only him and a panel in front of him which appeared a little later, saying:

"The control of your body has been given to another existence. You don't possess the qualities to bring out optimum results of the trials." Next screen, "You have two options. Either let your existence vanish or help the new owner of your body overcome the trials."

Below the screen displaying the text was the sign with the designation: 'Witch of Envy'

He tried to circumvent this condition placed on him, but was only able to change it so that he could speak to the boy at will. But that too cost him a great deal of strain on his whatever, non-existent non-physical body.

The boy was so unskilled that he got both of them killed in the last turn. So he had no choice but to accept the contract. And now he could only watch what the boy saw through the panel in a 1st person perspective. It was still better than being executed after death or having to stay in this darkness forever. And he could not interfere these events whatsoever as per the contract.

[Say, bud., he spoke to the unconscious boy who was in -charge of his body.

[Don't you want to see her?]

[Don't you want to meet your Lily?]

"..." as expected he didn't get a response.

He now felt miserable trying to bait the boy into putting up a last act of defiance against death by bringing up his partner, but to no avail.

Another panel flashed before him in the darkness. However, it exuded more of a dark light which was visible even in the darkness while the letters on it were bright, almost blinding. It was strange but he nevertheless read what was written on it.

ESSENCE OF THE WITCH DETECTED!

RESTRICTION PLACED ON THE HOST WILL BE RELEASED.

PROCEED WITH CONFIRMATION…

NO RESPONSE!

NO RESPONSE!

RUNNING DIAGNOSIS...

HOST UNCONSCIOUS

RUNNING TROUBLESHOOTER...

PREPARING BACK-UP...

EXTRA CONSCIOUSNESS DETECTED.

CONFIRM TO PROCEED

DO YOU INTEND TO TAKE OVER THE BODY?

The last message kept on blinking before his eyes like tempting him to press the 'YES' button, AND the 'NO' button in blood red. He had no choice, did he?

Truly, the mage never imagined that the great Frederick von Raymond would die like that. Without being able to put up much of a fight. kek! It was almost as if he was not himself. Well, it didn't matter. The greatest hurdle in his path was finally dead. Now he only had to deal with his rose-haired bitch. Well, he might feel her up real good before killing her.

[I wonder how she will react on hearing that her lover was dead? I will relish her tears as I slowly strangle her… HEHE!]

"You know, your thoughts are all written over your face!"

He knew whose voice that was. It was better, he didn't want his revenge match to be over like that.

"And did you think that I won't recognize you if you put on some extra clothes, Cain? You still reek like a sewer-rat, you know that right?"

"I knew you were in there, Raymond! Were you playing low on purpose?"

Getting up from the rubble and laying the unconscious Subaru aside for the time being, Fred faced Cain with a confident look, almost at the verge of arrogance.

"Sort of…figured out that one hand is enough to beat the shit out of you."

"You should've seen your face a while ago before saying all that…"

"You're not the type to let insults pass. What are you playing at, Cain?"

"...", In reply the mage simply removed his hood and stared back at him emotionless.

"Still casting a suggestion spell? Eh? You got better at it since last time. Wow! you're casting on the entire loot house, must be really tiring…are you sure you aren't using an artefact?"

"..." A trickle of sweat could be seen on the mage's forehead. He quickly replaced that look with a triumphant grin.

[Still something up his sleeves, huh?] Fred wondered.

"Why are you still silent?…I'm trying so hard to have a conversation with you after years…you should cooperate, you know?"

"Cooperate, my ass!" Cain finally lashed out, "You dare lecture me on cooperation? The last time I helped you and your bitch on a mission, you returned the favor by throwing me into the sea!" He barked, his eyes bloodshot.

"Which time are you talking about? Oh! The Megalo shark quest? Heh! The deal was to catch and hunt a single one. You went ahead and poked at all the curious orcas and Elizabeth and I somehow managed to Steer them off our tail…it would've been the end of us if not for her."

"There you go bragging about your bitch!"

"How about you try saying that in front of her face? Do you remember that there was a time when you were so into her that you begged me to get out of your way since you couldn't ever beat me to it?"

However the next moment, Fred bent 90 degrees back, followed by a hard sound of something hitting the wall behind. He didn't need to turn behind to see what it was. He diffused the spell enchanted on the dagger, thrown at him.

On turning back, Cain was nowhere to be seen. Fred cast a barrier on the still unconscious Subaru and braced himself for what was about to come.

A light breeze surrounded him which slowly encircled him, with the intensity increasing each turn. It finally transformed into a small hurricane with him in the eye of it.

CLANG!

Fred deflected a blade aimed at his chest. However, this was just the beginning. Soon after, a flurry of wind blades were shot towards him all from different directions from the hurricane itself. Some blades were even being thrown towards outside Which made Emilia and Elsa stop fighting for a while and focus solely on avoiding the highly compressed wind blades, which cut through things mercilessly and without bias- spells, shields and physical materials alike.

The dome shaped barrier protecting Subaru however survived the onslaught. At the end, it remained standing like a cracked eggshell ready to shatter any moment, but instead it disintegrated into a golden fluid and surrounded him, encircling with a gentle breeze meant only for protecting him. It deflected and absorbed any more incoming blades using air currents.

Even Elsa and Emilia stopped on their tracks as they witnessed the terrifying hurricane relentlessly launch wind blades from all directions on the stranger inside the tornado.

Moreover, the fire-elemental harpies engaged in a war of attrition with Puck, dissipated in thin air as soon as the mana hurricane was manifested. The mage must've used a lot of energy to conjure this grand and deadly spell.

Witnessing Subaru's barrier which protected the sleeping Beauty against the onslaught of mana wind blades, an ingenious idea struck Puck. He managed to conjure an air current using temperature manipulation and guided some of the blades directed towards Emilia to Elsa.

"Take that bitch!" He mixed his own share of ice shards along with the blades. Elsa now had to dodge twice her share as the wind blades couldn't be deflected and it wasn't possible to selectively cut down the shards while dodging the blades. For the first while in this quarter of an hour long drawn fight, Elsa was being pushed back. The exhausted and cut riddled Emilia was finally able to finally catch some breath and tend to the giant whose condition was getting worse by the minute.

Elsa wouldn't have been able to survive all those projectiles if not for the buff from her partner. To be honest, she was doubtful how a lanky guy like Cain could be of help to her. But he had proved his worth. Mama was thorough with her children after all.

The spell finally ended after a minute, and Cain who had adjusted a few feet away now roared triumphantly.

"How does that feel you f*r! You should be glad that you died by my strongest spell!" He heaved with sweat all over his forehead.

"Yeah, I'm really glad.", the wind finally subsided revealing a man standing still with a burning inferno for his left hand.

[I had viewed some memories of the kid for a while and found some really good inspiration from a show called 'Black clover'! Well, it was ridiculous though...]

"Thanks for charging me up.", he returned a shark-like smile to Cain.

"Oh! You already passed out. Did you get thaaat bad while I was away?"

Cain had already fainted due to mana deficiency and now Elsa was the one left remaining. Her buff had run out and so had Puck's supply of wind blades as the hurricane had ended. Without any hesitation, Elsa dived straight at the unaware healer.

[Seriously! She's a total dumbass! What's she doing in the middle of a battle!]Fred cursed the half-elf who was still healing Old man Rom, oblivious of the imminent danger.

Fred pointed his inferno hand at the gut hunter and matched her speed and simply shot pure magical energy made of nothing but flames.

It hit her and threw her remnants a dozen meters away. His aim was off… He felt something pulling at his arm. Was it just his imagination? Or was it the kid? He might be coming back to his senses. It felt pretty shitty to be forced back into his cage of darkness, without even as much as a thank you after all the brain wrecking hard work. He had to match his mana wavelength with the wind blades' and had to simultaneously cast an energy harvesting technique from the 'Warrior' class into the sword arts meant for 'Magic Fencers'. He also had to catch all the blades thrown at him from all angles. It was not something anyone could do. It was not impossible for him as he had attained level 40 proficiency in these jobs. This was not all he could do! No one really cared to attain high proficiency in all rank 2 jobs!

[Others simply went for rank 3 jobs after attaining mastery over their respective rank 2 jobs. They became stronger than me… but I'm the ADAPTER!]

"BWAHAHAHAHA! kekh cough! !Ah! Curses! I'm gonna kiiiill yooou kiiid!"

Then he forcefully underwent an evident transformation as he stopped laughing all of a sudden, while jerking his head left and right.

"Achoo!...I laughed like that in the discord server last!" Fred looked around at the aftermath of the battle. Deep scars on the floor and walls of the loot house looked like somebody had scooped the place with a space-cleaving knife, a single straight black…not far from Emilia. Furthermore, Subaru was lying flat on his back, yet to come back to his senses and some golden fluid floating around him and encircling him in a protective manner. The now 'unhooded' guy lay senseless, stars in his eyes.

[Never seen him before.]

Elsa nowhere to be seen and Puck on the verge of dissipating. And feeling the tremendous heat from his left side, he looked to find a freaking blazing arm, like literally a burning left arm. It was on fire!

"It's cool, no doubt...

But HOW THE HECK AM I SUPPOSED TO TOUCH LILY?!

Ah, not that she exists...

So it doesn't really matter...

NO! How the hell did my arm get on fire! Hell! What happened to everyone while I passed out?", his patience died out. He was overwhelmed.

Just as he was trying to make sense of the situation, a familiar red haired figure dropped inside the loot house from the gaping roof. It was at least 15 ft. height from the top, but the knight acted as if it was normal.

[The red knight returns!]

"But apparently things have been wrapped up here." he chimed in.

Reinhardt did not reply. He looked around as if assessing the situation and glanced at everyone present before finally landing his gaze on Fred with a familiar countenance.

"Don't tell me you're sorry for doubting that I'd actually harm Emilia-sama."

The knight looked a bit shaken that his thoughts had been read.

"Do you..."

"No, I don't have any blessing of that sort. It's just written all over your face."

He was probably still not convinced, but did not speak any further as he bent forward to support the half elf who was about to pass out from exhaustion.

Puck turned to Reinhardt who was supporting Emilia, "I will leave the rest in your hands, knight of the kingdom."

"I will do my utmost to protect her."

"You there." Puck turned to me. "Thank you for protecting Lia."

"... It's fine."

Then the spirit dispersed, leading to one less person in the room.

It was yet to be dawn but the atmosphere had already become solemn as none of the members had anything to say or discuss.

"Reinhardt... What are you doin here? …" a familiar voice echoed weakly through the room.

"Ah Subaru!", Emilia called back to him, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, barely... My head hurts badly though." As his Vision cleared, he jumped back with a 'woah!' from his crouching position, trying to fend off the strange fluid circling him, but it rather tangled him like a meatball in spaghetti or more like 'tentacles' if you guys prefer that way and he tumbled over again which made Emilia burst into a soft laughter followed by mine while Reinhardt just looked in with a subtle smile.

"Accept it. It will heal you up, you might even make it into your familiar." Reinhardt said. Might be another one of his divine blessings.

Subaru did so and the thing settled in his body and then ultimately went and settled in his wrist like a bracelet.

[Cool. How did he get that?] I suppose that I would need to ask Emilia later on, Reinhardt might be able to tell me more about it too.

Subaru moved up to Emilia to support her in place of Reinhardt.

[He has got bold in this loop and Emilia too … She is gracefully accepting his support with a slight blush on her cheeks! What?!]

I wondered if this was really the canon Emilia or if it was just that she had fallen in love with him without realizing, but she was still a 14 year old kid. This thought made me quite nauseated and I fell down losing my balance. The flaming arm burned through the floor in that short moment and I forced myself to get up fearing that I might burn a hole right underneath me. That'd be really stupid if that happened.

Then something very canon-like happened as Elsa broke through a pile of rubble. And Subaru shielded Emilia again this time but instead with his bare arms crossed in a Wakanda forever pose, expecting to die even if it meant getting sliced in half.

[Pathetic... It was pathetic.]

[No, that's being macho. Every man must protect his woman like that.] the voice echoed in my head once again.

Was I hearing things again? Well, it didn't matter as I aimed my inferno arm at Elsa and predicted the interval she would likely reach him. Expecting that the speed of the beam would be the same as that of a bullet, I didn't think too hard and fired thinking nothing but 'fire'. To make things more convincing, I yelled 'FIRE!' expecting some command to activate. And it did activate as I was thrown back with a tremendous explosion. My vision blackened once again, this time for good I assumed. My front was wet even though it was burnt, probably due to blood oozing out.

[Do I even have enough blood to waste like that? Well... I... Don't … Not…ain…]

The explosion shook the entire house, activating the bracelet. A golden semi-transparent shield appeared in front of Subaru, protecting him from the lethal slash. However, the impact was so great that it sent him crashing into a wall again. His plight was at least not as bad as that guy who might have been a roast by now. He was worried about the blue haired guy but he had to help himself up before anything else. By the time he got up, Elsa had already disappeared with the mage in tow. She must have known that there was no chance of winning now that Reinhardt was there too.

He helped out the burnt guy who was stuck inside some collapsed cupboards and desks. His face was burnt to such a magnitude that it was barely recognizable. But he was still alive as they could see him breathing heavily and slowly.

"Emilia"

"Yes, Subaru"

This small exchange was enough for her to understand what had to be done. She sat down immediately to heal up the battered boy. At the end of the events, Emilia finally fell into slumber as she had depleted her mana down to her od. The burns were not completely gone but Fred was still better than before. She couldn't reattach his arm though, she had run out of mana.

Subaru and Reinhardt stood basking in the moonlight. They were in a dilemma as to how to get all these people home. Subaru was still stranded. His promise with Emilia was finally fulfilled in the 5th loop with lots of variables added and subtracted.

"You can come out now."

"Who are you talking to now? "Subaru asked as Reinhardt suddenly spoke, breaking his chain of thoughts.

"Some young lady who was running around for help."

Felt entered the loot house from a dilapidated wall. She had a light blush on her face, embarrassed on getting found out while peeping at them.

"Will she be okay? "she asked with a sorry face.

[She must be feeling really guilty.]

"Don't worry, she's strong. "Subaru patted her on the head, this time she didn't protest. "And I'll protect her with my life when she's in danger!"

Then with a determined look in her eyes she spoke up quite loudly, "Wait here. I'll go and bring her stone!"

She darted off without waiting for a reply.

"Should I go after her? "Reinhardt asked Subaru.

"You don't need to." Subaru replied with a sublime smile, one filled with pride,

"She was not lying. Just a gut feeling. Talking about guts…I don't want to see those people again! "

"I'll have wanted posters issued in the capital for the time being. Though I doubt it'll be of any help."

"Why? I'm sure they'll still be stalking people for their guts…both of them seem sick in their head! No, they are assassins, how can they be normal! My bad."

"The Gut hunter isn't from Lugunica originally. She's notorious among the criminals but her whereabouts are usually unknown even to the intelligence networks."

"Are you sure you should be telling me this info?"

"That's just how dangerous she is, Subaru."

"I'll keep that in mind!" He had seen what Elsa was capable of, both with and without the mage's help. He wished that he would never come across her again. The sufferings of Death differed upon the person who delivered that death…and he didn't want to be gutted alive again. Even remembering her pervy face in the previous loops sent a shiver down his spine.

"Things came to this because of my inability." Reinhardt lamented. "I sensed signs of struggle from this place but I couldn't approach here." Even his divine blessings did not help. "It was like the more I tried to come here, the further back I was sent away. I know that I'm just putting up an excuse for my incompetence, but it was just like…"

That time in the Sage's watchtower when he went to fetch the sage. The words didn't leave his mouth however as he gulped in frustration and guilt.

"Well, there was that mage along with the gut Pervert. He might have something to do with that."

Subaru remembered, "The mage was named something 'Cain' or 'Vain'. This guy seemed to know him." He said pointing at Fred.

"?"

"What?" Subaru asked reflexively. There was this unsettling look on the knight's face.

"Are you not familiar with this person?"

"No."

"But he seemed to know you very well. He said something like wanting to meet you to help you. He wouldn't tell me what, no matter how many times I asked him. But I've now seen what he meant by it."

This was the same guy from the last loop and thus Subaru knew him and it should not be the other way around.

"I don't suppose anyone here would know me. I'll then just have to ask him myself when he wakes up. Emilia-tan might know him perhaps."

But Reinhardt was highly doubtful about that. Fred was really excited about helping Subaru and the group but he didn't mention much about Emilia-sama. He had expressed his contempt for her every time they brought her up in their discussion on their way to the slums. He thought that it was something normal like every other person who knew and their disdain for her due to her uncanny resemblance with the witch…but now it seemed more like a sinister plan which had been set in motion for quite a time- Her insignia being stolen, the appearance of the gut hunter, a mage capable of even deceiving him and their confrontation with Emilia-sama. Only Subaru seemed to be coincidentally present there, given that he wanted to help her. But amidst all these events the important thing was that…

"I don't think he's a bad person though. He helped us. Even risked his life- recklessly."

It was no use thinking. He would have to hand Fred's over to the guards. Or rather he'd let him recover at his residence. He finally gave a long look at the boy's battered body. The wound on his left pectoral, seared thoroughly to prevent blood loss. Even veterans would hesitate before relying on this extreme method. He was reckless, even more than Subaru who dared to take Elsa's slash head on. Reinhardt didn't pay much attention to Fred's burning arm before as he prioritized Emilia-sama to him, but it seemed to be some sort of spell which had malfunctioned, leading to the explosion. His pectoral girdle was in bad shape, cracked ribs, a plucked out left arm. There were black marks on his neck, signs of being strangled.

There was this strange menacing sword which seemed to be forged in hellfire with a grudge so horrifying that it wanted to burn anything and everything mercilessly. With bright red crystals in the shape of rising flames endorsing its blunt edge, and the jet black sharp edge, radiating heat like anything else he had seen. This was the sword Fred was using. No wonder his right palm ended up turning into a burnt crisp. This guy…he didn't care about his life.

Reinhardt knew that only an inhumane amount of dedication would make a person go to such lengths to help someone else. It must mean that Subaru meant that much to him or that he had something which he couldn't give up on, something which meant so much more than his life or it was just that he didn't really care about his life. Nevertheless, it was still a wonder that he was alive. He could probably ask Felix to heal him up. It would be a shame if a guy like him ended up

disabled while fighting for a noble purpose.

"So what are you going to do now Subaru?"

"Oh about that.. I have no idea! I'm broke, can't read, penniless and clueless beyond anything…

Ahh! I really don't have a clue! "He jumped out in frustration.

"Why don't you stay at my residence for the time being then?"

"Can I? "his eyes sparked with gratitude for this savior of a knight. "Would it really be alright? I don't have anything to give you in return."

[My worries have been groundless…he wasn't even trying to take advantage of Emilia-sama.]

"By saving a royal election candidate, you've already done a great job. The entire knight order's efficiency would've been called into question if not for you. Think of it as a thanks from me."

"What are you guys talking about? I'm already back! Here's the stone!" Felt made her entrance jumping from nowhere.

[Just like a monkey]

"You can give it to him. You'll hand it to Emilia-sama right?"

"That's what I was trying to do from the start! It feels accusing even you say it like that!"

"Ahaha…my bad. Sorry, I didn't mean to sound rude. It's just that I need to clean this place up and I need to escort Emilia sama back to her lodgings. So you can come along to give her insignia back yourself."

"! I'm very sorry! You're a great guy! Thank you!" Subaru said with the most sincere tone he could.

"You guys can keep all the chatting to yourselves! Here's the stone." Felt said while handing the stone over to Subaru," And tell her to keep her belongings with her carefully from next time on."

"Are you gonna keep on doing all that pick-pocketing?"

"Of course! I'm gonna do it unless I can get it in this shitty place. If you want me to stop then those scumbags would've to make food appear here. That's never gonna happen and I ain't gonna stop."

Subaru glanced at Reinhardt waiting for his reply. He was staring at the girl's hand with an empty look. This was her way of survival so naturally he…

"I'm sorry. But I'll have you accompany me." Reinhardt caught Felt by her hand with a tight grip that made her squeal in pain.

"Hey! Let go! What the hell are you doing? It hurts!" She struggled but he the grip wouldn't loosen

"Reinhardt! She didn't mean it that way. "Subaru protested.

"It's not what you think, Subaru. You won't understand. Her way of survival and Emilia-sama being dragged into all this mess is a crime without doubt. But if I ignore what's going on here then it will be a crime which pales any other in comparison." He replied stubbornly. It didn't seem like he'd budge.

"At least go easy on her. She's a child. Me saving her would be a waste if she rots in prison."

"Don't worry." The reply was short. He turned to the little girl who was still struggling and cursing him without restraint.

"What's your name? How old are you? Where are your parents?"

"I don't have parents. Old man Rom is the only one like a family. My age …it's 15 or so I'm told. Let me go now! It hurts!"

"I see."

"What do…you…scum…" uttering those last curses, she fainted in his arms. The knight princess-carried the little thug.

[This is so off-trend.]

"Are you sure this is not kidnapping? I suppose that you don't have any such tastes." Sneering at the knight, Subaru narrowed his eyes.

"Uh…you don't have to worry about that Subaru. I can swear on my family name."

"Then what should we do with Rom-ji?"

"The giant can take care of himself. It'd only spell more trouble if I asked the knight-order to come here."

"I suppose so."

They left in tow, leaving the giant on the now cold floor. Reinhardt carried Felt while Subaru had the opportunity to princess carry Emilia.

[The fifth time's a charm!]

All the events which occurred since he came to this world resulted in this good ending. All the people he met, the circumstances which led to this, the decisions he made and…there was this blue haired person about whom he knew nothing. These were the key to end this loop.

"What about that guy?" Subaru asked. The battered boy was also left in the loot house, unattended.

"I have called someone to take care of Frederick. They must already be tending to him now. You don't need to worry."

"If you say so." He had nothing more to say so if that was the case.

Things were going to get a lot hectic from now on.

The moonshine shone on the lonely boy who lay on the burnt floor of the loot house. The cold light highlighted his beautiful facial features. And his only onlooker scanned him tip to toe with nonchalance. His detached left arm lay next to him, his body riddled with wounds of all magnitude all over but…

[He is sleeping so peacefully... It's almost as if he were a baby.]

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A/N: I'm back yet and with an extra large (7k words) chapter, since I didn't want to cut the suspense short. And well give me your feedback and criticisms.

I'll keep on improving the more I write until the fic ends.

The next chapter is an epilogue on the 1st arc. Arc 1 was short for reasons I didn't want to write parts which the fandom has memorized by now.

And my main oc didn't interfere with the beginning parts anyways so there was no point in it.

Arc 2 will be a long one. With relationships and discord and all that tension.

So I'm looking forward to it as well. See you guys next time!

And I've decided to post reference arts of the iconic scenes of the chapters. Uh… yeah in the discord server itself. In case you haven't joined yet, here is the link:

/z4sMtj2u

Drop in your reviews and criticisms. Don't be so much of a lazy bum. Giving me reviews gives me points to improve on. So that's it. Ciao.