Uploading date: 8/17/2018 [M/D/Y]

Forgive Me [Arc 3] - Remade

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Chapter 7: Slothfulness

Everyone has gathered around, all ecstasic on the defeat of the white whale. Subaru was in the center of it all, getting ready to speak up, "Everyone, I thank you all for participating… this victory couldn't have been achieved without all of your hard work and determination, rejoice!" Everyone raised up their fists and yelled their battle cries, and once it all died down, Subaru got serious, "That's what I'd like to say… but I've still got a score to settle with the witch cult that happily fell into our grasp…"

Their gazes turned dark, harsh may the truth be, the final battle has only just begun, half of the uninjured had been given to aid Subaru and all of the Fangs of Iron as well. Subaru was going to continue when suddenly, a small little hand raised up, "Sorry for interrupting, but we were only tasked with the blockade and acting as reinforcements for the white whale, and I don't see how the witch cult and the white whale are connected"

Bonk Bonk

"Geeez! You're always so fussy about the details, if you can't trust them then trust Mimi!" The little hand retracted in pain as a staff bounced off his head. "O-Onee-chan!" Tivey, the last of the three Pearlbaton triplets, retorted out in pain. Ricardo could only chuckle at their antics while the others sigh. Subaru then comes up, "I can't really say there's any definite proof, but that doesn't really matter… Crusch gave me half of hers and I'm paying for your service you know?"

"O-Oh… then that dispels my doubt…"

Tivey sat back down, and handed Subaru all their attention, "We're all headed towards the Mather's domain, there's a village near the mansion in which Emilia is situated in, first things first, we're going to evacuate all of them… as for the cult, they've been sighted in a cave east of the village. We act fast and strike before they have a chance to notice!"

They all stood up and shouted out their battle cries once more, "We've lost many people during this subjugation, many whom, we don't even remember! But from onwards, we won't lose anyone else! We'll make it back alive!" Subaru declares while pumping his fists into the air, everyone doing the same, and in time, they were on the road.

The forest was pretty quiet, nothing but the rumbling of leaves, and the sound of blood splattering on the ground, "Stay silent ya hear? Can't have em knowing our location" Ricardo said as he swiftly sliced down another running witch cultist. The rest of the Iron Fangs currently with him nodded and split off.

"We'll leave the big ones to you, boy" Ricardo whipped the reins of his Riger and left, back into the forest, sniffing out more witch cultists.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the forest, Subaru was walking, alone, "This place doesn't really evoke good memories…" He has gone down this path once, well, he was being dragged over here by witch cultists back then, it hurt a lot, he'll get his revenge right now.

The rustling of bushes caught his ear, he felt shadows creeping in every corner of the forest, just like moths to lights, Subaru thought to himself. The shadows from the forest concentrated into circles of darkness and from them, witch cultists appear, one by one. "Do I smell that bad?" Subaru joked around. The witch cultists bowed to him, something they did the first time he returned to the mansion, it surprised Subaru just a tad bit but he kept his composure.

"Take me to your leader… is kinda cliche, so let's go with lead me the way please?" Subaru asks them, in a rather polite tone, despite his heart being filled to the brim with hatred. The cultists point deeper into the forest, Subaru followed their line of sight, and somewhere past the shrubbery, he could make out an opening, "Okay, that should do" He snapped his hands, and as if they could read his mind, they disappeared out of sight.

"Woah… didn't think they'd actually go away…"

As he got closer, he felt watchful eyes, not the eyes of the cult, more, the eyes of his comrades, it was comforting, knowing someone was backing you up. He pushed through all the bushes and leaves, making it to the clearing on the other side. This was definitely the place, though he didn't have a good look at it last time, he knew this was exactly the place, he instinctively knows, cause one of, if not, the most traumatizing scene had happened right here, in this place.

"Ahh~ You do not know how long I've been waiting for you… Desu!"

In the mouth of the cave, stood a man, a man Subaru had scorned till his death. The way he hates this man wasn't like how he hates Julius, that was merely just because they were incompatible, the hatred he feels for this man wasn't like how he hated the whale, that was merely just an animal acting on instinct, the way he despises this man wasn't like how he despised Elsa, while she mercifully ends her opponents with a fatal strike, this man goes the extra mile, twisting his victims limbs, breaking their necks, crushing their bones. The man Subaru hates the most, his name was-

"Betelgeuse… Romanee-Conti…"

Subaru muttered aloud, enough for the man in clerical attire to hear him, and once he did, his eyes widened, to the fact that it could be considered inhuman. "Ah~ For you to already know my name, I'm truly honored… Desu!" The man exclaims while he does a bow that could practically break one's spine. No matter how much he hates this man, he has to stay calm, no matter how much he has to buy time for the rest to prepare.

"Thanks for waiting, I was kinda busy so it took some time, did you wait long?" Subaru asked the madman, in all honesty, he hasn't a single clue what he's talking about, he's just going with the flow. Subaru starts to walk closer to the cave entrance, Betelgeuse literally on his toes, "For you to have the scent this strong on you… I'd never doubt that you were Pride! Desu!" he maniacally spouts out.

Subaru heard about it from Julius and Wilhelm, the Witch cult has seven cardinals, all representing a sin, and apparently, Betelgeuse is sloth, or so he's been told. As for what he's seen, it doesn't really support the claim, "You're the Cardinal of Sloth if I'm not mistaken, right Bete-san?" Subaru nonchalantly asks the green haired man.

"Ah~ Even if you do know my name in advance, it's still very rude to not to do a proper introduction… Betelgeuse Romanee-Conti, Sin Archbishop of Sloth of the Witch cult, a pleasure to meet you, Desu!" He spouted out while doing his inhuman bow once more, it crept Subaru beyond compare, but he managed to hold a straight face.

"Guess it'd be wrong to keep you waiting… Natsuki Subaru… and as you said… I'm Pride…" He replies with his own introduction, a false one to add. He hesitated a bit at the end, not sure if the others are going to catch what he's trying to do, he'll just have to trust them the best he can, if he can't, well, he's basically dead in front of all these cultists.

"Such a strange name you have… ah, but it is befitting of your title! And so is your looks, the fact that you weren't humble, Ahh~ how prideful you are, such pride you have inside you! Your pride of loving the witch is slithering all around you! Ahhh, but I must not lose, my slothiness must get the better of me! It mustn't happen! Desu!"

Betelgeuse went on with his ramblings, about how he was slothful and how Subaru was filled with Pride, are all witch cultists like this, Subaru thought to himself. All of a sudden, Betelgeuse slammed his head into the wall, screaming out in frustration, making Subaru, and a couple of other witch cultists beside him flinch.

"Ahh~ I've been so slothful! He even went as far as to find out my name! And I've been taking the leisure of waiting here, not thinking even once to do research about the person I was waiting for! How slothful! I'm slothful! Slothful! Slothful! Slothful!"

He kept on slamming his head to the wall, pulling out strands of his hair out, repeating out "Slothful!" It struck Subaru in awe, this guy is beyond diligent, the punishments he can put on himself is amazing. "Yo Bete-san, I'd stop that if I were you, breaking down if front of a fellow Cardinal, where is your pride at, huh?" Subaru asks, in a supercilious tone. Since Betelgeuse was spouting nonsense about sloth, he thought that it would be fitting if he was Pride, he also did a sharp glare, taking advantage of his sanpaku eyes.

"Ah! You truly are Pride! Desu! Please forgive me for losing my composure so suddenly!"

"This guy is too gullible…" Subaru whispered to himself. "But… now, with you here, we can finally commence with the trial! Desu!" He said while gleefully playing with his fingers, trying to get as much information from the madman as possible, Subaru questions him, "Trial? I wasn't told anything about this?"

"In that case, let me explain! Desu… In order to commence with the revival of our beloved witch, we have set out to find a suitable vessel for her! And with the announcement of a silver haired half-elf competing in the royal election, we've all been ecstatic! Such a perfect, pure vessel, it's only destiny that she's to take the trial! Whether she is suitable to host the witches soul is up to the trial, if she passes, then we will have the witch enter the world once more through her!"

"And if she fails the trial...?"

"Then… we discard of the vessel, as it will be proved to be imperfect! Desu!" He screamed out in pleasure, Subaru is hating this man even more by the second. They thought of only the witch, everything else is secondary, though, this is normal in cults, to them, the witch is a deity or some sort of saviour, but they've been blinded by that sentiment that they forgot what the witch actually was, a monster, one that destroyed half the world centuries ago.

"I see…" His voice spat out, seeping with rage, but he contained it, he shouldn't let it get out of control, "Now, fellow cardinal! Please show my your proof of love, your gospel!" He said, while arching his back into a rather painful position. He's been told by the others, every cultist receives a gospel upon invitation to the witch cult, it's a sort of holy prophecy book that guides you in live, Subaru had no such thing on his person, except for that book he borrowed from Crusch's library the day before.

"Guess it's a good time now… I'll bring it over, give me a second…" Subaru turns around and puts his hands in his pockets, the other cultists looked at him confused and then Subaru made an abrupt stop in front of two bushes and then he turned back and gave off a victorious smile, "Taste our sneak attack!"

"HAA!"

"AAAAH!"

From the bushes, two shadows leaped. They both shouted at the top of their voices and set loose a destructive shockwave at the mouth of the cave, hitting its ceiling and collapsing it, all the cultists were now either crushed by the rocks or trapped within the cave, all but one remained, Betelgeuse. "Ahhh…"

He just stared dumbstruck at what had just happened, but he snapped back into reality when Subaru started to walk towards him, "Let me reintroduce myself… Natsuki Subaru, self-proclaimed knight of the silver haired half-elf! The man who's gonna crush all your dreams! Remember me done in the pits of despair Betelgeuse!"

After his stunning second introduction, Betelgeuse bit on his own fingers in frustration, "Knight! KNIGHT!" Betelgeuse screamed out, his eyes bulging, he was losing it. "Wilhelm-san! Finish this off!" A shadow leaped from the top of the cave. Betelgeuse looked behind him and there he was, with a sword ready to slice Betelgeuse in half.

"Cur-"

Before he could mutter anything else, he was chopped up in half, all that's left is a bloody corpse, cut in half near the stomach region. "Hah, good job Wilhelm-san, looks like that was enough to finish the job…" Subaru said as he walked towards the old butler, Mimi, and Tivey following shortly behind him.

"It wouldn't have been possible without your help, Subaru-dono, you really did have him fooled there"

"Yah! Your acting is soo good Onii-san, you almost had Mimi there for a second! Hey, you'd be pretty good in a theatre don't you think?"

Subaru could only scratch his head at Mimi's roundabout compliment, she and Tivey were looting the corpse, they really were mercenaries, weren't they. "But didn't he say he was a self-proclaimed knight? He said it rather proudly too…" Tivey quietly mutters out, but not quiet enough to evade Subaru's ears, "Hey I heard that! And I'll be a fully fledged knight to Emilia-tan, someday…!"

The two ignored him and kept going with their plundering, wriggling inside the cloak of the corpse, "Oooh~ What's this…" From one of the pockets, Tivey takes out a book, donned in black patterns and several patchworks, it was definitely and old book, but it was kept at good condition, must have been something important.

"Hmm, it smells bad… and everything written inside is just gibberish…"

"Huh, that might be the Gospel Betelgeuse was talking about, something about your proof of love"

"KYAA!"

Tivey freaks out and tosses the bock over, it reaches over to Mimi, and she flails it over Subaru's way, with no room to dodge the shot, he caught it with his hands, fumbling a little bit. "Geez what's with you guys, it's just a book…" Opening and looking over the contents, it truly was gibberish, it was neither japanese alphabets nor this worlds glyphs, a completely unknown language, maybe one created by the cult?

"What are you doing?!"

"Don't look at it!"

The two kitties hid behind Wilhelm, terrified, "You guys fought a giant whale but you're scared of a dusty old book?" Subaru flipped through the pages some more, there really wasn't anything readable here. Now knowing that, he stores the gospel in his pocket, hoping that he could inspect it some more later on.

The four of them made their way to the village, after making sure that all that was left of the cultists, were mearely just ashes. Julius, Ferris and the other soldiers sent by Crusch had already reached the village, bringing along with them several merchants Anastasia had gotten into contact with, it seems preparations for the evacuation were starting, they could all hear the bustling from the village.

Subaru and the other three entered the village through the front gates, Subaru wearing Emilia's identity nullifying cloak in case Emilia happened to be at the scene. Once they reached there, however, only Ram was present, no sign of Emilia anywhere, it put Subaru at ease, "This should go around smoothly…"

Subaru removed his cloak, and waved over to Ram, who could only scoff at him. They all got off and greeted one another, when it was Subaru's turn, Ram said, "Emilia-sama could still be somewhere around the corner, Barusu, taking off that cloak this early is just foolish…" Subaru nervously laughed as he realized his mistake, "Ah, but you're here so Emilia won't have to come right? Hah, I can always count on you, Ram!"

Subaru put his hands up for a high five but Ram just turns around, ignoring him, "About Rem… you're going to apologize aren't you?" She says while glancing back at him, "Ah… yeah, sorry… guess I just told her to come back without really explaining anything now didn't I, wait she's not here is she…?"

"Fortunately not, she's waiting in the mansion with Emilia-sama, though she could drop by at any time…"

"Well, then I'd better make a run for it when that happens," Subaru said while scratching the back of his head, the two of them proceeded into the village, where the preparations were going on. They made it to Julius and Ferris who were in the village square, discussing the situation with the village elder. Once they were done, they turned their attention to Subaru, looking rather relieved.

"Since your here well and alive, I'm taking that their leader has already been taken care of?"

"Yep, they fell for it hook, line and sinker!" Subaru said while snickering. Felix replied with a thumbs up while Julius nods, "So all that's left is the underlings -nya?" Subaru replied with a "That's right" Once their boss was taken down, they were expected to all scatter around in panic, that was the initial plan so things should go smoothly from here on out.

"Then, since my job here is done, I might as well join in"

Julius said while resting his hand onto the hilt of his sword, Felix drooped down, mostly at the fact that he is of no use in the frontlines, "Guess being a lady has it's downfalls too -nya…" She says while sliding his feet over to where Ram was, "Ferris-sama, being a lady doesn't necessarily prevent one from fighting…" she says, as if trying to console the downed cat-eared knight.

"Nya… Ram-chyan is so kin-"

"The only thing stopping you is that you are weak…"

"Nya?!"

What seemed to be consolation just ended up with a brutal insult, however true it was, "Ah, don't mind Ram, Ferris. She'll diss anyone that isn't Roswaal or Ram, and I guess Emilia as well…" Ferris falls to the ground, having taken a huge blow from Ram. "The fact that you're not actually participating in the frontlines shows that you might even be weaker than Barusu… Ram didn't think it would be physically possible for something like that to happen…"

"Oi, Nee-sama, that's a little harsh don't you think? On me that is…"

"Weaker than Subaru-kyun… nyo! I won't accept this, nya! Ram-chyan, you take that back n- Where are you going nya!" Ram had already walked away from the conversation midway, Ferris ran away to catch up to her, Julius and Subaru just watching from the back. "Will those two be okay?" Julius asked Subaru, rather worried. "Nah, don't worry, if anything, Ferris would probably be on his knees before he could even touch Ram, she's terrifying…" Subaru replied while shaking.

"Scary…"

Ricardo and the rest of the Fangs of Iron had returned shortly after, having killed a handful of cultist, and after taking a little rest, they all departed once more, this time, with Julius and Subaru accompanying them. Being bait isn't a calming job, Subaru knows that now. Everyone was surrounding him, ready to slice anything that gets past them, right now, he is the most important piece, losing him could mean the battle to them.

"Even so… I can't help but feel even more powerless like this…"

"You shouldn't worry yourself with trivial things Subaru, lift your head up and stay prepared" Subaru only grumbled at Julius's remark, Subaru wanted to be the protector, not the protected, but reality sure is hard to take in. Subaru heard sudden rustling in the bush, followed with an ominous feeling, one that made him react instantly, "EVERYONE GET DOWN!"

Ricardo grabs both Mimi and Tivey and hurls himself to the ground, Julius unsheathes his blade swiftly and ducks down, ready to strike, Subaru hastily throws a fire gem over to the rustling bushes, but it burst midair, as if something stopping it. "Impossible… didn't we kill him already!?" He motioned everyone to step back but a few didn't react fast enough and were grabbed by an invisible force.

Subaru eyes widened in despair as three of their men were flung into the air, the others looked on shocked but ready for another attack nonetheless, but their composure deteriorated when the men were stretched out in half, blood leaking out of their bodies. Julius waved his sword in front of Subaru, not having the slightest intention of letting anyone get to him, but it was futile.

"MGH!"

Subaru felt something covering his move, it was the same invisible force that grabbed the others, he was only able to nudge Julius, with the invisible force pulling him back. "Subaru!?" Instantly reacting, Julius tries to slice at whatever was behind Subaru, but it didn't work. Before he could do so, something shot him back, really far back. Subaru leg was grabbed and he was dragged straight into the forest.

"Captain!"

Mimi shouted out, and Ricardo reacted quickly. Putting his fingers in for a whistle, he orders his Riger to follow Subaru, and it did so with tremendous speed, but it was nearly blasted apart halfway, its body was slammed to a tree by the explosion, two cultists were stopping them in their tracks, "Little shits!"

.

Subaru was dragged through the forest and near to a pond where he was pinned onto a tree, rather forcefully, that's gotta hurt. "Tch… and just when I thought I had the upper hand…" From the forest, a hooded figure came walking in, giggling, the voice of a woman, Subaru thought. "You truly are slothful Pride… you had me for a second, but your pride has blinded you! Desu!" The woman in front of him was undoubtedly Betelgeuse, but how, he has no idea, he'll bluff for now.

"I'm not sure how you're still alive, Bete-san… I remember destroying all that's left of your body, it makes no sense…"

"Hahaha! My, my, you're so naive, Pride! You've destroyed two fingers with that single move, that puts me at a great disadvantage, but I still have three other fingers! If you want to destroy me completely, you'll have to cut off all my fingers! Desu! But of course, I'll never let you!"

The grip around Subaru's body tightened, and Subaru's face scrunched up in pain, "I wouldn't be laughing all crazy like that right now, that's a really cliche move you know…" Betelgeuse didn't seem to be listening, he just kept up with his maniacal laughter, in his new feminine body, "I'm getting Ferris vibes just looking at you…" Trying to wriggle himself out is impossible, he can't possibly release from this monstrous grip, but he did notice something, a streak of purple going around him, it must be the force keeping him pinned on the tree.

"I didn't really want to use this cause then I'd have to thank Julius… but to hell with that! La, Rental Goa!" From his chest, a little red light appeared and a burst of flames burst out to Betelgeuse, Subaru slid down the tree and quickly got back on his feet, "Hey, that's not bad, nice one, La" Subaru bumps his fist to the spirit as thanks.

"You, Natsuki Subaru!"

"Yep, that's me, now catch!"

Subaru throws out another fire gem at Betelgeuse who fumbled as he tries to catch it, Subaru shapes his hand into a gun with La on the tip of it, "Goa!" Another burst of flames shot out and this time, it was a direct hit and the caused the fire gem to detonate, blowing up pieces of the woman Betelgeuse had possessed.

"Whew, that was a real pinch right there…"

Subaru wiped out the sweat off his forehead, looking over to La, "You spirits are amazing, aren't you… heh, maybe I should get into a contract with Beatrice? We'd make a pretty good duo… I think…?" Subaru looks over back to where he was dragged from, shouting and blasts could be heard, "Guess we'll have to help them a little…"

Subaru makes his way through the brush, La fading out to rest. As he was about to make to the clearing, a cultist could be seen flying his direction, he shifts his body to the side and lets them pass, their body slammed into a tree, a bone or three might have broken from the sound of it, "Hey watch where you're throwing your enemies!"

Ricardo peeked in from a tree and was glad when he sees Subaru, "Bro! Thought you were a goner there for a sec! Glad you're alright!" He gives Subaru a massive pat on the back, "Ricardo, gather all our remaining troops, I've got new info" Subaru said while making his way to the clearing. "Julius! Tell everyone to fall back, we've got a big problem on our hands!"

.

Everyone was making their way back to the village, all the while, Subaru was explaining to them the news, "He has these cultists he calls fingers, apparently there are five of them, when we killed him the first time, we buried two of them… turns out he can possess these fingers, and he used one to get me that time, La burnt that one so there should be two left, when he possesses one of them, they should be able to use his ability, not sure what it is but it's invisible force that's hard to see, I can see it just little bit that last time so i'll be able to tell if it's coming"

"Since there are two left, they are bound to be far apart, since that's safer for him right?"

"That's what I think, anyway… but I'm sure the possessed one will target me, I can deal with him alone"

"Are you sure?"

"I've run through these forests before so I've got a good idea of how to trick one of them… brute strength isn't always the best way, and I won't be able to blast him with fire like I did with La again… speaking of which, your spirits are quasi-spirits right? They're not fully fledged spirits yet aren't they? Cause their strong…"

"That might not be because of the spirits but because of your affinity to them… from our duel before, it was obvious your a Yin magic user, so I was thinking of giving you Nes, but I ended up giving you La because she's a bit stronger, though I because of your clashing attributes, I didn't think you would have been able to make La do a full force blast, your spirit affinity may be even greater than mine…"

"Wait, don't you have that spirit divine protection thing? Wouldn't that mean my spirit affinity is much greater than a normal human!?"

"No, my Divine protection of Spirit gathering only makes them more interesting to spirit, so befriending them should be easy, but making a contract requires trust, that's where spirit affinity comes in, a higher affinity means spirits would be more trusting of you, so I wouldn't say yours is higher than average but i'd say that mine is a bit lower"

"That makes sense… I am friends with two gre-"

A blast could be heard from the direction of the village, their eyes widened, the mushroom cloud was large, not as large as the ones Subaru's seen on television, but in this worlds standards, it was pretty large. "They're already attacking the village!" They all rushed over quickly, and made it to the village. The moment they arrived, they met Wilhelm, carrying helping up Ferris, who had his knights uniform burnt and torn pretty badly.

"Ferris! What happened?"

"Nya… there was one among the merchants, Subaru-kyun. Ferri-chan was able to catch him but it was too late…" Felix was bleeding badly, but it seems under control as he was healing himself. They all looked into the village, carnage everywhere, the army was struggling to fight back, and in the corner of his eye, Subaru could see Rem, "Shit… at a time like this...?"

"Subaru?"

"Julius, I'll borrow La for a little bit longer, tell everyone to go in the defensive!" Subaru said while flicking his hood on, "Where are you going!?" "I have a rough idea of where the last two are going to be, I'll handle those two, you guys just make sure to make the deaths at a minimal!" And with that, Subaru went to the place where Rem was.

.

"Hahaahah! Such devotion, you truly do love this village, don't you! Let us test your love!"

"Shut up! Witch cultist!" Rem swung her morning star towards the cultist, but it seemed to have stopped mid air, then it was flung over at a distance, effectively making Rem unarmed. "Gh!" Rem summoned her horn and glared at the cultist, "Gyaahah! A Demon!? To think that you were a demon!"

Rem snarls at the cultist and rushes forward, but she was simply slammed away without any effort. "Using simple methods won't work on me, young demon!" The cultist lowers herself down and with her hand outstretched, Rem feels danger closing in, but she can't see anything and she was too slow to react, that was when, "Look out!"

Someone grabbed her and rolled out of the way, the house she was behind in was smashed to bits, "Are you alright!" the hooded figure asked Rem, she nodded hesitantly and he helped her up. The hooded man looked over to the cultist and sneered, "Oi, Bete-san… your business is with me, so you'd better leave people out of this, ya got that?"

"Pride… you're still alive!"

The cultist leered at the hooded figure once again, "I'm surprised you know it was me from the get-go, this cloak can hide the user's identity you know?" Her face scrunched up in agony, "I will never again mistaken your smell! Why, why must the witch love you? Someone who doesn't even seek her?" Her hand's stretch out once again, Subaru could see purple streaks coming from behind her, this time, it a little bit more noticeable than last time, "Suba-"

"La, El-Goa!"

From the palm of his hand, a blast of fire shoots out and clashes with the invisible force, canceling each other out. "Excuse me miss but I'm please this one to me, I'm the only one who can see his ability!" Rem nods and flees the scene, the hooded figure looks back at the cultist and sighs, "Now that Rem's gone, I'll have to deal with you myself, Betelgeuse!"

"Natsuki Subaru…!"

Without warning, Subaru dashes his way towards the forest, Betelgeuse instantly going after him from behind. Subaru grabs something from a nearby tree and runs deep, very deep into the forest. Betelgeuse just forcing the trees out of his way. "Too bad Pride, I've cornerned you now! Desu!" Subaru opens up the hood of his cloak and snickers at Betelgeuse.

"Do you know what this is?"

In his hand, was a green crystal, Betelgeuse just stared blankly at it, quite confused, "The fact that you don't know what this is means you've already fallen for my half-assed trap!" Subaru spreads his arms around, showing that the area was now flooding with mabeast, though, it was ones he's never seen before, it seems they have moved here with the extermination of the Ulgrams.

They all leaped for Betelgeuse, ripping his new body limb for limb, there is no way he's escaping that. Subaru swiftly leaves the scene returning the barrier stone back to where it was as he entered the village. It seems with the arrival of Subaru's group, things have gotten under control once more, but there was still some extreme losses.

"Tch, so much for keeping everyone alive…"

Subaru curses himself for not foreseeing this event sooner, he made his way to the busiest part of the village, the square, dust was flung into the air, houses were getting smashed, as Subaru pushed through to see the scene, it was a duel, between Emilia and the final finger, Subaru's eyes were full of dread.

He say the purple streaks dash straight for her, he was about to yell out to her but she suddenly dodged it, for what reason, he doesn't know yet. That was when he concentrated on the field, there was particles of ice everywhere, that was Emilia's doing, and she was using it to find out the trajectory of the attack, she's much more skilled than Subaru can ever imagine.

The battle went on and on until Emilia landed the final blow, she froze the ground and the finger along with it, then Puck comes out to do the honors of breaking the ice. She dealt with the final finger in an extraordinary way, it was bewitching.

"Glad to see you're still alive..."

Julius called from behind, Felix following shortly behind, Subaru turns around shoots them a thumbs up. "Good job, -nya" Just as Subaru was going to continue with their conversation, he heard someone's voice calling from behind him, it was Rem's voice, she must have come to thank me, is what Subaru thinks. He would probably have to reveal himself, but it's all good now, so it doesn't' matt-

"Gh-!"

La was flung away from him, just then an ominous feeling shuddered Subaru's body, it was unlike anything he's felt before, it was someone invading his mind, he knew exactly what this was, "Excuse me-" As Rem calls him, he dashes out to the forest, in the opposite direction.

Rem looked over a little surprised, she might have startled him, that's what she thought. Julius lowered his eyes, something terrible has happened, he could tell once La was forcefully taken out of Subaru, he's fearing for the worst. He and Felix run over to follow Subaru, and Rem, still wanting to thank the hooded Subaru, went with them, leaping a little ahead.

.

"You won't ever leave me won't you…"

Subaru says in a course voice, he was talking to the person who has trespassed into his consciousness, in other words, Betelgeuse himself. 'Running away is futile! Futile! FUTILE! With your body, I'll continue the ordeal, the body that you don't deserve, your body that is loved by the witch!' Subaru grabs his head as he tries not to slip into insanity.

He runs through the forest, stumbling in his steps, trying to force the voice in his head out. "Screw you…!" He stops by a tree, clutching his head in pain that's when he heard footsteps behind him, several of them to be exact, "Um, excuse me…" Rem voice entered his mind. 'No, please leave, leave me alone!' Subaru pleaded to them, even if only in his head.

Just then, Subaru felt like he was disconnected from his body, he was now possessed. He turned around and smiled, Julius, Felix, and Rem were a little on edge by the smile, but then he removed his hood, and Rem screamed, "Subaru-kun!" she was about to lunge at him when both Julius and Felix restrained her, "Rem-chyan! No!"

"But, Subaru-"

"Please look carefully, Rem-dono…" Julius said with a very stern gaze, but it was aimed at Subaru, he just looked back with an eerie smile. Julius unsheathed his sword once more, "Who are you? And what did you do with Subaru?" He giggled, and giggled, "Subaru… Natsuki Subaru… you've made fun of my love, but now, I've conquered you… Natsuki Subaru is no longer! There is only I, Betelgeuse Romanee-Conti, DESU!"

Just then, Julius slashed at his cheek, a small cut bled out. "Bring back Subaru this once!" He placed his hand on the cut, then looks at the blood dripping in his hand, "Pain… Ahhh~ this is fresh pain… lovely pain… This body, is a great body, don't worry… I won't make it go to waste, I'll make sure to push it to its limits while we perform the ordeal…"

"Give back Subaru-kun!"

Rem screamed out, hearing this, he just laughed out maniacally, "You're not getting your Subaru back! I've already taken control, he's never coming back! EVER!" Julius trusts his sword forward, trying to threaten him, but he doesn't seem unfazed one bit, "Ferris?"

"Unfortunately, no sort of magic would be able to work here… the only thing that could save him nyow would be a strong enough spirit, none of you spirits can possess bodies yet and I doubt all of them combined could go against him… we can only hope Subaru-kyun can fight back…"

"HAAAHAHA! Nothing can help you no-" Subaru slammed his own head to a tree, he fell down to the ground, his head bleeding, "Subaru-kun!" Rem rushed over to his side, ready to heal the wound, "No, Rem-dono!" Suddenly, Rem was caught by the neck, not by Subaru's arm, but an invisible force.

"Didn't I tell you… it was futile, hit yourself all you want, you can't make me leave this body!"

Julius was cautious, Rem was now held hostage, the situation was just getting even worse by the second. Subaru, still stripped of all his control, could see the scene unfolding, he saw black hands wrapped around Rem's neck, they were tinted with purple as well, this was Betelgeuse's ability, "Unseen hand! Do you see it now, Natsuki Subaru! I will kill her, and those other two with my authority!:

Through all the cackling, Rem's voice was heard, "Subaru-kun can break through… please, Subaru-kun, hear Rem's voice!" He just kept on cackling, while ever so slightly tightening the grip around her neck. And then, something suddenly ticked, Subaru punched himself and the unseen hands disappeared.

"Subar-"

"SHAMAAAAK!"

Subaru chanted out, and black smoke erupted out of his body, it was unlike any shamak he's done before, it was large enough to engulf all three of them and it could be seen from the village. Subaru leaped out from the black cloud and made a run for it.

He reached over to a cliff, the same cliff where he jumped off a month ago in one of the loops. He was out of mana, having released it for his ultimate shamak, "You said that if I stopped your fingers… I could kill you… so why are you still alive, Betelgeuse!" He could hear the madman laughing in his head.

'I had already made you into a finger without you knowing, you absorbed the witch genes from my body the moment I died! And since you didn't have a contracted spirit, it made it even easier to take control of your body!"

"Darn it, if I knew I'd have paid Beatrice a visit…"

He could hear footsteps from behind him, they had already caught up to him, 'I'll let you have your final words with them' Betelgeuse tells him, with an added snicker in the end. "Shut your yapping…"

He faces the three of them, holding something on his hand, "Guys… thanks for all you've done, but that's enough, I can't burden you all with my life, so… this is goodbye…" Without warning, Subaru smashed a fire gem on the ground, the cliff side broke apart, with Subaru falling down to a spiked death field.

As he fell, he saw their dreaded faces, but there's nothing that can be done now, and like that, he died.

.

A/N

[For Warlock Readers!] Message from Red: If your all wondering where warlock is do not worry! It is being rewritten and as soon as the rewrite is done it shall continue! Also after forgive me is done Conrad of Lugnica will be continuing. If you do not know what it is, it is Ella's backstory and the story of Conrad. Sorry ReviewR, used forgive me so more people will check out COL. Anyways to ReviewR.

Okay, then… nothing really much to say, but I'll try cram the rest of the story in two more chapters. I'll change a few things in those chapters, some may be major but I'll make it so that [Perpetual Promise] can still be the sequel, well, I've technically dropped it for now… but having something to read with a giant cliffhanger is better than having nothing to read at all, right?