Re;Kingdom, Starting a Life with Amnesia from Zero

Arc 4 – “Eternal Contract” – Sanctuary Arc

Chapter 36 – “The One You Will Come to Love Someday”

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A few weeks ago, Jens was summoned to this majestic, yet amazing world, and a girl named Angel helped him out to meet up with the love of his life, Emilia. Together they had defeated the Blood Hunter, Elsa Granhiert. Right now, that girl, Angel was standing a few meters away from Jens, and like that, she ran towards Jens and gave him a hug.

Angel : “I am so glad you’re alright.”

Jens widens his eyes and gives her a hug back. After a few seconds, they let go each other and Angel looks around, noticing familiar faces.

Angel : “Jens… Even Yang? Such an amazing reunion. I never expected you all to appear here.”

Jens : “What are you doing here Angel?”

Lisa : “It appears my message was perfectly timed, wasn’t it Kanade?”

Angel nodded.

Melissa : “What are you talking about Tattletale?”

Angel : “After the Conquest against the Witch Cult, Tattletale appeared at the Camp meeting, and I was standing there as guard. She informed the other camps about this Event, and other kinds of information. Once I heard that the Barrier was collapsing, I knew that Emilia would be there, and now that I see Jens alive, it means you did a great job protecting each other.”

Lisa : “Mhm! It’s basically my fault that she came here.”

Joking around, Tattletale puts her hands behind her hair and whistles.

Melissa : “So you entered the Barrier, just for the sake of Jens and the ones you know? Quite a Lugnician Mage you are.”

Angel : “I’m not an Angel Human. I am a human, so entering and leaving the Barrier wouldn’t be a problem.”

Melissa sighs and looks towards the ground. Seeing this, Angel decides to interfere with the current situation.

Angel : “So what are you all planning to do now? Repower the Barrier?”

Yang : “Well, Kanade, as you might’ve noticed. We got some… Minor problems to deal with as well.”

Angel looked behind the group, and noticed an unconscious Damsel of Distress in a Yang Prison.

Angel : “People are attacking the—”

Then, after looking more around, she noticed corpses and spray’s of blood on buildings. She narrows her eyes slowly and twitches her tongue.

Jens : “Yeah… We should head towards Temple, and deal with the ones that are standing in our—”

??? : “Can I have you attention please!”

Suddenly, a loud, piercing voice flew through the ears of everyone in the area. It was the voice of a familiar one, but Jens couldn’t figure out who it was.

??? : “Prepare for a great battle! A majestic one! A phenomenal one! Team History is attacking the Sanctuary! The Blood Cloud is here as well, but oh well! Come out, Come out! Wherever you are! Come and face the real King at the Temple, or else your maiden will be very sad, or even dead!”

Hearing ‘your maiden’, Jens immediately thinks of Emilia, but she wasn’t even gone for longer than two minutes, would she really be already captured by the enemy?

The Blood Cloud, an organization loyal to the Washuu King and Regulus Corneas, and only them. Why are they doing this? No… Why would they follow one of those two?

Angel : “The Blood Cloud…”

Lisa : “According to my Semblance, the Maiden being Emilia is very small… In fact, it’s close to ten procent. Are we really going to risk it?”

Melissa : “Do we even have a choice though? There’s no way we can let Emilia die, can we?”

Yang : “You’re right. Jens, it’s up to you. What do you think?”

His mind was racing. He didn’t know what to choose. Either the safety of Emilia, or the safety of everyone else? Either way, he could potentially choose to go, and if he’ll die, Return by Death— No… He hasn’t experienced of death in weeks. It would be more terrifying than actually dying.

Jens : “We… Should go and investigate the surroundings of the Temple.”

Lisa : “That sounds like a plan. Yang, did you recognize that voice?”

Yang : “M-Mhm? It did sound familiar… but I don’t really know who it was.”

Lisa : “Yeah, I got the same problem. Even my Semblance doesn’t fill the spot. Perhaps we haven’t seen her in ages? It has to be someone from the Warrior and Warden times for us.”

Angel : “Warrior and Warden?!”

Lisa : “Calm down Angel, we aren’t Warriors or Wardens anymore. However, the ones who still are, must face a battle against us. They should leave those organizations immediately.”

Angel : “Alright… So, are we going?”

Jens : “Yeah… Let’s do this!”

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Dashing through the valleys. Sprinting like never before, Jens rushed through the village, and the group followed him. Something was off however, there were barely any people fighting anymore? Could the loud, piercing voice scared the civilians away? Why was it this peaceful right now?

Melissa : “Hold on!”

Hearing this, the group stopped, and so did Jens. Yang activated her gauntlets, Melissa looked at Jens, Angel, Lisa and Jens stood there, silent.

Melissa : “The enemies. The ones causing this, is this just the Washuu King?”

Lisa : “Perhaps. However, as we already know, the Blood Cloud and the Clowns of V are here as well. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the Slaughterhouse Nine appeared as well. But, that would be a very, very ugly situation.”

Yang : “Does that even matter at the moment? We need to hurry, and help that Maiden. Remember?”

Lisa : “Wait, Melissa has a point. Now that I think about it, we’re literally going in against all the odds. A triumph with zero deaths… is below ten procent. E-Even succeeding the Trials is extremely difficult.”

Jens : “Yeah, so? That doesn’t mean we should stop right here, right? We cannot allow that mother fucker to run away with this! Destroying the world?! Fuck no!”

Lisa : “That’s not the point I’m trying to make. Perhaps a new methodology is required for this operation. We’re… Facing something we do not have any information of.”

Melissa : “People fear what they cannot understand, is what Nathan would say… Anyway, that’s what I was trying to say yeah. Heading towards the Temple is brainless as hell. We should explore the Village more, and group with other groups as soon as possible in fact!”

Jens : “I see… I’ll head for the Temple my self then–”

Lisa walked towards Jens and grabbed his shoulders, shaking them.

Lisa : “Stop being fucking edgy! Listen to us, this is a matter of life and death! Are you fucking stupid? Heading towards the Temple is literally a Trap. Who knows who we’ll be facing. The ones causing this will do whatever it takes to stop us. Do you understand now?”

Yang : “Even though I don’t like the way Tattletale put that in words, she has a point. We cannot lose anyone, especially not you. You’re strong, but that doesn’t make you invincible. We all want to bring back Emilia, IF she even is there.”

Melissa : “What about–”

??? : “Firecracker? Jens?”

An pretty mature voice came from behind Jens. Everyone turned around, and grabbed their weapons. However, something like that was unnecessary for an encounter like this.

It’s a man with close to black hair, but still gray. He wears a red cape, and has a great sword on his back. His facial hair and facial features are quite handsome for a man of his age.

Yang : “Uncle Qrow?!”

Qrow : “Oh god, it really are you two…”

Looking at him, Jens does not recognize him what so ever. However, as Yang runs towards his arms, and Qrow embraces her with his, he quickly realizes that he must’ve been someone regarding the past of the Warriors, perhaps an old friend of his.

Qrow : “It’s good to see you back, Sunny Little Dragon.”

Yang : “It’s great to see you as well, you old man.”

He snickered. He didn’t laugh out loud, and soon after looked straight into the eyes of Jens.

Now Jens knows exactly who this man was. Back in the Capital, when Weiss started to cry, Jens saw visions of the past, or something like that. He saw this man talking with Raven Branwen in a bar. The two talked about him, about his Amnesia.

Qrow : “It’s good to have you back as well, King.”

The man forms a fist and wants to give Jens, who he called the King, a box. Quite iconic, isn’t it? Calling someone a King, and then saying hello with a fist bump, ironic in fact. Jens fist bumps Qrow, and he smiles at him.

Yang : “What are you even doing here? At the Sanctuary? I thought you were staying away from this for a while, no? You said that you would leave Jens alone!”

Qrow : “That’s what I was planning, until I got attacked by Glory Girl and Neo.”

Lisa : “Hey old man, how is Glory hole doing?”

Qrow : “She seemed to be a tad different from before the disappearance of Jens. But still the old Glory hole.”

Lisa : “Hahahahahaha. Still the old Glory hole.”

She laughed out loud. Melissa however, felt a bit excluded from the conversation, just like Angel.

Jens : “It seems the three of you knew each other a while back, didn’t you…?”

Qrow : “Well, if I may be honest, Firecracker and Tattletale have never seen each other before until after your reappearance of the Legacy. I mean, I knew Firecracker–”

Jens : “Stop right there, reappearance of the Legacy?”

He interjected.

Qrow : “Yeah, you regained your powers, right? The swords? Those powerful weapons?”

Jens : “Yeah, I know those, but what are they? As in, why am I the one that is the keeper of such an powerful power?”

Qrow : “God, I wish you’d explain that to me before you lost your memories. You only told it to some people… With one of them… Not being around anymore…”

Jens : “Who?”

It was a deadly silence. They could hear everything, but not a single voice. Until,

Qrow : “Summer Rose…”

Yang : “Ruby’s Mom… She died that day…”

Jens : “O-Oh… I’m sorry for mentioning. I… shouldn’t have asked it what so–”

Qrow : “No it’s fine.”

Like that, nobody had the courage to either say something, or to do something. Yang looked at the ground, and Jens noticed sorrow in her eyes. Qrow looked at his arms, as if he lacked the power to regain the courage to fight. This Summer Rose was a dear person to those who knew her.

It really is painfully to lose someone you care about. Every single memory you shared with that person is scattered, and remembering those memories makes you nothing but sad or nostalgic to the good times.

A depressing aura was hanging around everyone. Even Angel and Melissa were sad to hear it.

Lisa : “Alright old man! Are ya ready for the Masterful Fucking Thinker Plan?”

Qrow : “Sure… Go for it little bird.”

Lisa closed her eyes and then clapped them. She pointed one hand to the sky, and the other one at Jens.

Lisa : “Fuck! I can’t fucking wait to kick their asses! We have the one they want, Jens. Now that we’ve Qrow and Yang… I have an AMAZING PLAN!”

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Tattletale throws Jens at the hard ground. Jens, who is embraced by a very right rope, is incapable to move what so ever. Yang has her gauntlets ready, and aims them at Jens. Qrow has his Great Sword in his hands, and points it at Jens. He was treated like hostage. Tattletale stood there, like a leader, like her heart was burning with flames of a Lion.

Tattletale : “Show your faces! We’ve the one you want!”

They’re at the Temple. There seems to be no one there. But that can’t be the case what so ever. It was a mossy ruin, with stairs in the middle. They headed up, and then downstairs, into the abyss of the ruin. There were trees surrounding the ruins as well, and beautiful golden flowers.

From the abyss of the Sanctuary, a Man with a mask walked towards the hostage and the group. However, he took a distance of around seven to ten meters.

――――It was Masquerade.

Masquerade : “Oh My? Oh My! What kind of event is this?! Qrow?! Yang Xiao Long! Tattletale? Oh, and my dear dear dear Jens! What is this? Who’s birthday is it? HAHA!”

Listening in disgusts, Qrow instead smiles at the one with the mask. Even though this all is an act, he has to act nice.

Melissa and Angel however, were no where to be seen. Perhaps they were watching at the show from afar, waiting for a moment to assassinate the one scheming all of this?

Lisa : “Listen up Washuu King. We’ve got the King here. Who is this ‘So-Called’ Maiden you have there? Oh and please, don’t be such an asshole, please get her immediately.”

Masquerade : “Oui Oui madame!”

He swung both of his arms, and created nothing but a flash. It was a blinding flash, and after a few seconds, the flash disappeared, and Weiss Schnee and Emilia were in his hands, unconscious.

Yang formed a fist out of her hands, but she had to stay calm. This plan was impossible to fail. They must succeed.

Emilia : “A…Ah….”

Masquerade : “Please tell me, why the fuck would I believe that you are betraying Jens? What would it benefit you?”

Lisa : “I hope you don’t actually think I’m that stupid. Because I hate when people call me stupid. You’ve a great leader, Washuu King.”

Masquerade : “Do I? I don’t think you know a single thing about my leader what so ever.”

Lisa : “In fact, I know everything about your leader. Because of that, every single wish of ours can be granted. Yang wants her Ruby back. Qrow wants to see Raven again. And I――”

Unable to say it, she struggles really hard. She blinks her eyes twice, but no words leave her mouth. Is she even able to say something personal here, right now?

Lisa : “――The suicide of my brother… I want him back… More than anything.”

Masquerade : “Wonderful! You all are nothing but――”

Suddenly, everything before the eyes of Masquerade became black. He had no vision what so ever. A pitch black shadow was keeping him from seeing anything. Did someone curse him? Did his hair come infront of his eyes?

――Jens appeared in front of Masquerade, summoned his sword, and swung it. He swung it as hard as he could to cut his head off.

Even though the rope was tight as hell. The legacy of Leo allowed Jens to summon daggers, and cut the rope easily. It’s something which is easy to forget.

Masquerade : “WUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!”

It actually hit. Jens cut his eyes, and he cracked his mask. Masquerade however―― No, the Washuu King however, turned around immediately, and ran into the stairs, heading towards the abyss of the Sanctuary. Emilia and Weiss collapsed and lied on the ground.

Lisa : “Fuck! Jens! NOW!”

Jens dashed towards the stairs, but was stopped because of a Forcefield. He landed on his back, and noticed that his nose started to bleed. He grabbed Emilia and Weiss, and dragged them towards the group.

――Footsteps.

――Footsteps were approaching them.

――Footsteps were approaching them from the abyss of the Sanctuary.

―――― Roswaal L Mathers appeared. He was standing on the top of the stairs. Next to him, a girl with light green hair, brown complexion and red eyes. To his other side, there stood a woman in a suit.

Emilia and Weiss slowly regained consciousness. They looked around, and analyzed the surroundings. Jens already summoned his sword, and stared at Roswaal with full disgust in his eyes.

Roswaal : “Yooooou knoooow, I really need something to lose. There was something bothering me for over a few days. You know Jens, you really aren’t that amazing. You’ve failed many times in your life. Even when the two of us were acquaintances, you still were a shit bag. However, as you were an idiot towards me, I’ve something in exchange.”

The Clown grabbed a black book. A gospel.

Roswaal : “The Book of Wisdom. I’ve had this for over a year now, and I knew everything which would happen these weeks you were with us. Even I, it was me, who send the Blood Hunter towards you all. Because you all are those disgusting people that FUCK EVERYTHING UP FOR ME!”

Jens : “W-What…. You KNEW ALL OF THIS?!”

Roswaal : “I fucking knew that the Witch Cult would attack Nastra. I KNEW that you will fail today as well! Because you know what, there is someone here as well! Honey, coooooome here!”

――Footsteps, again.

――It were heels.

――An extraordinary beauty appeared on the top of the stairs. Black hair, purple eyes. Purple outfit, the Blood Hunter, Elsa Granhiert from Gusteko stood in front of them.

Roswaal : “Juuuust like my Gospel told me, you’ll fail! Over! and OVER AGAIN!”

Jens : “Do you really believe what your Gospel says?!”

Roswaal : “Oh… Of course it’s not true, I mean… I know you are can do that thing… You proved many times that my gospel was wrong, but today will be different! Every single friend of yours, they’ll die! They’ll burn! They’ll pay for their sins! And in the end, I can finally be together with my … Echidna.”

Emerald sighed.

Tessa : “Was that anything you wanted to say, Roswaal?”

Roswaal : “Talk, you whore.”

Tessa smiled.

Tessa : “It’s good to see you back, Yang, Weiss, Qrow… Even Jens.”

Weiss and Yang recognized the woman. She was the woman who invited them to join the Warriors. She was the one who formed Team RWBY. Qrow knew her as well. She was the one that assigned him for team STRQ. A team of Summer, Taiyang, Rave and himself, Qrow.

――Jens however, did not recognize the woman what so ever.

Tessa : “I’ve some business to attend to. Roswaal, Emerald, Elsa-chan, make sure to fix this, cleanly. Oh, and don’t you dare to make that kid not suffer.”

Roswaal swung his arm, and created a portal for Tessa Fortune to leave the scene. Just like that, she disappeared.

――This situation was extremely… If not one of the ugliest.

What are they supposed to do, fight them? Even though they haven’t fought Emerald Sustrai yet, they know that she’s strong, otherwise she wouldn’t be there.

――Elsa Granhiert, The Blood Hunter.

――Roswaal L Mathers, The Clown.

――Emerald Sustrai, The Illusionist.

They were all here, standing, in front of the group of nobody but…

――Jens, the King.

――Emilia, the 42nd Princess of Lugnica.

――Qrow, the Ex-Warrior.

――Yang, the Sun Dragon.

――Weiss, the Ice Queen.

―――and Tattletale….

Tattletale grabbed a short knife she had behind her back, and threw it as hard as she could towards Elsa, but without moving, the knife suddenly was fired to a different direction.

Elsa : “My My? I don’t think I’ve any reason to fight any of you. However, as it currently looks like, there are some animals… escaped out of their cages. I can’t help it, but SLAUGHTER them. So, if you excuse me, I’ll go and slice them, into a millions pieces!”

Elsa Granhiert dashed towards Tattletale, in an instant, she appeared in front of Lisa. However, Yang immediately pushed her away with one of her Bullet Punches.

Elsa : “Ouch…. That did hurt, a bit?”

Yang : “You maniac…”

With Jens at the center of the scene, Emilia and Weiss still in not a state to fight, and being surrounded by three villains, what will Jens do?

Qrow : “Jens… We got this. You should go, go as fast as you can go, and enter the Trial Grounds. We’ll keep Emilia and the other safe.”

Jens : “A-Are you sure?”

Roswaal : “Of Cooooourse! Your friends have never failed, have they?”

Hearing this, Jens becomes slightly bit irritated. He’s already stressed, but even making fun of him? Truly annoying.

Then, Roswaal started collecting Fire Mana, and released a barrage of fireballs towards the group. However, a giant Knight, made of Ice Mana appeared and acted like a Barrier.

――The Arma Gigas, a part of Weiss Schnee’s Semblance was summoned, and saved their lives.

Weiss : “Why are you always the one who get’s into the trouble, Jens?”

Even though it was no time for joking around, Jens laughed.

Jens : “Roswaal. I am not angry for what you did. Not even in the slightest!”

He grabbed his Great Sword, and pointed it at Roswaal. The Clown immediately looked at the boy in disgust. Slightly narrowing his eyes, opening his mouth out of anger, Roswaal could not resist looking at him.

――Emilia however, could not stop looking at him.

Jens stood in front of Emilia, with his back towards her. He confronted the villains like this, reckless as ever, but he knew, that he would succeed, no matter what it would take.

Jens : “However, I’ll fucking kill you. You’ll pay for what you did. Not to me, but to my friends. You gave people a life, only to sacrifice them? What about Ram… What about Rem?!”

Roswaal : “They’re nothing but human sacrifices for me! They’re trash! Garbage! Worthless piles of shit! They’re nothing compared to Echidna! I need them to bring her back, and after that, they’ll be discarded like shit!”

Hearing this, Emilia starts to tear up. Even though Emilia is the one who’s participating in the Royal Election, it was Roswaal L Mathers who helped her. He gave her a place to stay, for over seven years.

Jens : “I see. So that’s how you see the peoples who will face you―― No, the people who will be your end?”

Roswaal : “Weeeeeeeell… Be my guest!”

Roswaal opened his arms, and released flying, burning arrows towards the group. Jens opened his arms, clapped them, and released a shock wave of dark energy, removing them from reality, and absorbing it.

He activated his Semblance again. The second time after his memories were Erased.

――Doing this, Jens felt something weird. It felt like he lost something deep, deep inside of him, but he couldn’t figure out what it was.

Roswaal : “You filthy bug…”

Weiss decides to stand up, grabs her weapon, and points it at Elsa Granhiert.

Elsa : “I never fought against a Schnee! This sure is promising!”

Weiss : “Never imagined to see either, Granhiert.”

――”NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!”

Suddenly, everyone heard a female scream. It was the scream of Tattletale. She screamed as hard as she could, and then, two girls from above the houses appeared and jumped towards the scene.

――Angel created a pure Wind Strike, and fired it right at Roswaal. He dodged it, as he ducked. However, he looked above of him, and noticed a flying spear.

That instance, Jens appeared above the spear, and kicked Roswaal as hard as he could towards the group. In fact, he used Roswaal to launch himself into the abyss of the Sanctuary, and fell.

Roswaal fell on the dirty ground, Melissa and Qrow were surrounding him. Roswaal stood up, and lifted his hands up.

Roswaal : “You’re already late…! HAHAHAHA!”

Emerald : “Mhm…”

Before he lost consciousness of hitting the surface of the ground as hard as possible, Jens heard another scream, a scream of the girl he loves.

――”Come back… Please!”

The voice of Emilia scattered in his mind like something unforgettable.

He fell for over a few seconds, and still hadn’t hit the bottom, instead he threw his dagger, and teleported himself towards the ground.

But just now, the moment that he was supposed to prove him self, he started to doubt. Not even about himself, but about Emilia. Will she be safe? Will she… One day understand that Jens loves her?

Jens doesn’t want to marry. He just wants her to be happy, and live a happy life with her. He wants her to understand what love is.

――Jens is the one she will come to love someday.

――At last, Jens vision started to become very, very blurry. He leaned against a wall, and slowly felt himself sweating. Then, he dropped his weapon, and collapsed on the ground.

Jens : “W-What? What is this?! I… I’m so exhausted… Am I dying? I can’t… Breathe…”

――He lost consciousness that instant.

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Elsa : “Oh? Jens really is something, huh? Then it seems, I’ve to go, right Roswaal?”

Roswaal nodded.

Qrow : “Wait. WHAT THE FUCK!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

Roswaal : “Oh? Are we going to scream? I think we’re gonna scream. Because someone really, really, really, really, reaaaaaaaally wants to fuck himself up. Elsa has no need to be here. She has to deal with the other ones. The ones that will actually cause problems. Jens is safe, but are the others? Fuck no! Theeeeeeey’ll burn, they’ll die because of Jens–”

Emilia : “No! You’re wrong! We can protect ourselves! We’re born preserve life, you as well, Roswaal-sama… Why… are you like this, now? You weren’t like that, never.”

Roswaal : “Hooooney, trust me. I never cared about you, or your stupid cat. You’re nothing but a filthy vessel. You’ll be used to fulfill the role of Satella, and destroy this world even more. But at last, I’ll get to be back with Echidna.”

Ignoring what he said, Elsa shrugged, and turned around. She entered a valley, but before she could so. Yang fired a bullet out of her gauntlet, hoping to kill her with it. However, Yang instead hit a house, which collapsed immediately.

Emerald : “Guess it’s my turn, may I?”

Roswaal : “Get the Heiress and Yang. Don’t bother using your powers, they’re not worth it. I will deal with Qrow, Tattlefuck, Melissa and my dear Angel.”

Everyone grabbed their weapons, and Tattletale grabbed another dagger.

Tattletale : “You know, people really like fucking up names. It really is a bad habit!”

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Emerald Sustrai grabbed a pair of convertible revolver-sickles. They are firearms with jungle-green grips, each stored inside their own separate leather casings on a belt wrapped around Emerald’s waist. They appear to be revolvers with long, curved blades, presumably with both melee and ranged functions.

Emerald : “You know, I always wanted to kill a Schnee… But a Schnee and a Yang? That’s how honor feels like.”

Yang : Hey! Shut up! Nobody will die, you’ll be the one who get’s his ass kicked, remember?”

Emerald : “Is that so?”

She cracked her finger, and suddenly, there were eight, no… Nine Emerald Sustrai’s in front of them.

Weiss : “Don’t waste your energy on them! They’re fakes!”

Yang : “A-Ah…”

Emerald : “Is that so?”

Suddenly, the left most Emerald swung her sickle, right through the stomach of Yang, and like that… She collapsed with an open stomach.

Yang : “AAAAAAAGHHH!”

Weiss : “YANG!”

Weiss orders the Arma Gigas to swing it’s sword towards all Emeralds, and hits them all, except one, who jumps on it’s sword and dashes towards his head.

The Arma Gigas forms a fist, and tries to punch her from his sword, instead she disappeared, and appears on his face. She was a master illusionist. Nothing was what it seemed.

Weiss dashes towards Yang as fast as she could, and tried to close her open stomach with her hands.

Weiss : “Yang! Stay with me…! Fuck… Her Semblance was different from before… How the hell did it upgrade?!”

Seeing the Arma Gigas fight Emerald Sustrai, Emilia runs towards Yang and Weiss. She removes her hands from Yang’s stomach, and instead starts healing her. Puck appears on her shoulder and starts healing as well.

Emilia : “This might take a while! Try to protect me in the mean time!”

Weiss : “Understood!”

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Even though his eyes are still closed. A scent of… something was luring him.

His eyes were closed, but he was walking towards a direction.

――A scent of peace.

――A scent of tranquillity.

――A scent of love… A scent of the affection for a person was luring him, and made him walk towards a place he was unfamiliar with, even though it felt natural.

??? : “I love you… I love you… I love you… I love you…”

Jens nodded. He didn’t know if he actually nodded, but if he could, he would’ve. He couldn’t feel his body, but he knew that he was walking towards the one who he has to love.

??? : “I love you… I love you… I love you… I love you… I love you…”

Yes. He knows. He loves her as well. Nothing was known to him, but it all felt right. Walking into the darkness. Following the voice of love… Following the scent of love… Every single thing of it felt natural, despite it being completely unknown to him.

??? : “I love you… I love you… I love you… I love you… I love you… I love you…”

But why must Jens go through hell for all of this? Isn’t it quite weird? Wasn’t he just helping Emilia the other second ago? Why is he already following a path towards a different――

――Instead of arriving at the destination of his life… of his will… He felt his face being slapped by someone, and regains consciousness.

Immediately, Jens stands up, and looks around.

??? : “――”

There’s nothing but darkness. What was that dream just now?

――Was it even a dream though?

But then, he suddenly sees a flickering light in the distance, perhaps an entrance towards… The Sanctuary…

Right… He was here to finish the Trials… and nothing else. Why did he just forgot about all of that right now? Could it’ve been the scent?

Walking towards the flickering light. He notices something less attractive, a person.

――It was a person with a mask in his hands.

Jens : “… Masquerade.”

Masquerade : “Oh… We finally get to talk.”

Instead of a blood lust which would originally flow through the mind and blood of Jens, he felt at ease, and instead stood in front of him, calm… and confronted him with a fact.

Jens : “Don’t think that I haven’t noticed it. Your absolutely worthless excuse made no sense what so ever… Show your damn face… Elis Rose Evergarden!”

――Without actual confirmation, Jens pulled the connections together, and formed a theory. He explained it to Tattletale right before they would confront the Temple of the Sanctuary, and she confirmed that the possibility was extremely big. The fact that right before they would’ve to go to the Sanctuary, and Elis would go to other business? No way, there was no doubt. This man, it had to be him.

The man they were fighting, was his friend all along?

Just like that, the man grabs his mask and throws it into a thousand pieces. He smashes it, and even stands on it.

――Elis Rose Evergarden. That was the person Jens saw.

――Furuta Washuu. That was the person that was standing in front of Jens.

Furuta : “You really are amazing, Jens.”

――Jens. That was the person that Furuta saw in front of him. A person… that he wants to kill, and nothing else.