Subaru ran, two dogs hot on his heels. Ahead of him stood a small pup—smirking at him, teeth bared, its wide, red eyes glowing with malice.
The growls of the horde echoed behind him.
"I'd love to finish you off right about now," Subaru muttered, glaring back at the little monster.
The dog growled and stomped its paws into the dirt with unnatural strength. Black smoke billowed around it as its body began to grow—larger and larger.
Subaru's eyes widened.
Within seconds, the small pup had transformed into a towering demon beast king, ten times Subaru's size. It roared, exposing razor-sharp teeth, and snarled down at the lone human standing before it.
Surrounded on all sides by the smaller beasts, Subaru stood his ground. He glared up at the giant.
"…I've got an ace up my sleeve too."
Subaru, the new butler of the Mathers estate, raised the villagers' sword in one hand—and with his other, thrust it toward the sky.
"Shamac!"
The mabeasts blinked in confusion…
Before a dense black cloud surged out, enveloping them, drowning their senses in darkness.
***
Meanwhile…
Toyota woke up, tears in his eyes, groaning.
His wrist was on fire. His shoulder burned like flesh had been ripped out. He didn't know how long he'd been unconscious, but now the sky was completely dark.
He felt something on his forehead. Blinking through the pain, he pulled it off.
It was a note. The handwriting was barely legible.
"yo luck i don kill yo on spot
im let yo go cause yo use full
scam bat"
"…What?" he muttered, confused.
The note made no sense. None of it.
Before he could process it, he heard it—off in the distance:
Trees crashing. A monstrous roar.
His blood turned cold. Whatever that was… it couldn't be good.
Forcing his broken body up, he started to run. Every step sent pain shooting through him—but he ran anyway.
This is my fault.
This whole event happened early because of me…
On his way through the forest, his foot caught a root sticking from the dirt. He tripped, falling forward.
Instinctively, he reached out to brace himself—
BIG mistake.
His broken wrist slammed into the ground. The pain was blinding—like hornets made of fire and glass were eating him from the inside out.
Tears and snot streamed down his face. He screamed into the dirt.
He hated himself.
This entire incident would've been resolved without me…
But still… he stood back up.
That's when he heard it.
In the distance—a voice. Familiar. Desperate.
"Shamac!"
And the entire forest was suddenly swallowed by black fog.
"Ha… everything's almost over." His voice cracked, but still, he had an uneasy feeling.
Something's going to go wrong…
Did I forget something?
"I don't think so…" he mumbled. "I'll just watch from a distance… and help if anything goes wrong."
I can't waste any more of my points. Not until I know I'm no longer needed.
Even though his pain was unbearable, Toyota could feel something growing inside him. A kind of resolve. Like a foreign entity that had always been there—silent, dormant—but now, in this moment, it pulsed. Tugged at him.
He wobbled forward before collapsing onto a log, resting his upper body against it, using his chin to prop up his head.
He couldn't see what was happening through the fog. It was thick—ink-like, swallowing everything in sight.
Then, as it began to clear—
He saw it.
A massive beast—a dog more than 10 meters tall—spasmed violently before collapsing, a sword jammed deep into its throat.
"Ha…" Toyota let out a breath. "I actually helped…"
His eyes widened slightly, realization dawning.
"By keeping the sword intact all this time… Subaru was able to land the killing blow. Unlike in the anime, where the sword broke and couldn't pierce all the way."
He felt like celebrating.
But then—he saw him.
Subaru.
Collapsed beside the beast's claw. He was breathing—barely—but not visibly injured.
And around him… the smaller dogs.
They had been watching. Giving their leader space. And now—they were creeping closer.
"No… no, no, no—come on, Subaru. Get up. Defend yourself!" Toyota gritted his teeth. "I know you've been fighting a long time… but if you stop now… you'll die!"
But Subaru didn't move.
He seemed… resigned. Like he was waiting for it.
"What's wrong with you…?" Toyota muttered, trying to force himself up. His body wouldn't budge.
What changed?
He scanned his memory, trying to remember what had been different—what he'd altered by being here.
Then it hit him.
The boco fruit.
Like a butterfly's wingbeats could cause a tornado… he must have changed Subarus moment with the centipede. The fruit Petra gave him had fallen out of his pocket.
No…
Originally, Petra had secretly placed the boco fruit in his pocket—a kind of plot armor device. Subaru was meant to use it during this fight, to restore mana to his broken gate after casting Shamac.
But now—without it—he had nothing left.
No mana. No tricks. No energy.
Nothing.
"…All because of me."
And Subaru—the boy who kept dying to save others—was lying there, powerless.
While the beasts closed in.
"I can't let you die yet…"
Toyota's voice trembled, barely above a whisper. "I keep forcing myself into positions where I have to save you…"
His legs were trembling, but they still worked better than his arms. That was all he needed.
Run.
"I'll draw them in with the Witch's Scent… then run. It should buy enough time… enough time for that f***ing clown to finally show up."
Again, like before, the moment he tried to speak clearly, something censored his words. As if the world itself was refusing to hear his curse.
But he didn't have time to care.
"Subaru Natsuki… can return by death."
He managed to get the words out fully—uncut this time. They left his mouth clearly, with weight.
And they resonated—deeply—with his very soul.
But…
Time didn't stop.
There was no stillness.
No freezing of wind or heartbeat like before.
Only… a sudden rush of wind around him, blowing through his hair, brushing past his neck.
And then—
(System error forein entity interfering, translation function rebooting.)
Something comforting.
Soft.
Almost like a hand… almost like breath.
A warm presence blew past his ear. Whispered into him.
Not with malice.
But with something far more frightening.
Something deeply personal.
Something he had heard not just once. Not ten times. Not a hundred.
But trillions of times.
A voice that echoed across the very fabric of his being:
"Aishiteru."
(I love you.)
It was in a different language…
Yet he knew its meaning.
How did he know?
It was confusing on multiple levels, but there was no time to think—
Only time to run.
To save the person who needed help.
His legs, still numb with pain, carried him forward.
Why am I risking my life so much? he thought bitterly.
Was it really just fear—fear that if Subaru died, he wouldn't understand the next loop?
No…
That wasn't it.
Was it pity? Pity because he already knew Subaru's story—his tragedy?
Yes… but that wasn't the full reason either.
It was because…
He loved—
No.
He envied heroes.
The ones who had no strength—
Yet still did everything in their power to be useful.
TOYOTA'S FLASHBACK
Growing up, his parents were rich.
He had everything they thought he wanted.
But he was lonely.
Painfully, unbearably lonely.
He was forcibly isolated.
Never allowed to go outside.
He didn't know why.
His entire education was handled through private tutors—but none ever stayed long. They were changed weekly, always rotated so he'd never get attached.
He didn't understand his parents.
Didn't even really know them.
He saw them maybe once a year.
The rest of his time?
Spent within the walls of a vast, impersonal compound.
He had everything—an indoor track, a private gym, a massive library, a home theater… but not a single friend.
No siblings.
No warmth.
His only connection to the outside world came through books and movies.
That's how he learned about the world—how he learned to feel.
Looking back now…
He realized this was the first time someone had called him by a real name and not a number.
He remembered now.
There were others. Other people with numbers.
Other sections of the facility.
But they were never allowed to meet.
He only ever heard whispers.
Whispers about containment breaches.
Occasionally, there were screams—loud, sharp, echoing through the walls.
But every time, without fail, someone would immediately come on the intercom and reassure him:
"It's just a problem with the sound system. A phone connection issue."
It happened… often.
Too often to be coincidence.
One time, there was an enormous crash—something slamming through the ceiling of his room. When he looked up, he saw…
A man.
Wearing ancient Greek robes, looking like he'd been ripped out of history.
And his eyes—
They glowed like Herobrine's from Minecraft—blank, white, unnatural.
The man locked eyes with him.
And then… he cried.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry…"
And then, in a flash of light, he was gone.
Disappeared.
Toyota remembered blinking slowly, confused. The hole in the ceiling was gone too—like it never happened.
Later, they told him someone had been performing a stage play in the west wing.
An actor got lost during rehearsal. That's all.
Just a show.
Just a mistake.
Nothing more.
Whenever he asked the person on the intercom for anything, they would happily and immediately oblige.
Whatever he requested—it would be in his room within 24 hours.
Every time.
Toyota felt… strange.
In every book or movie he read, when someone made a request, the other person would hesitate. Sometimes they'd refuse. Sometimes they'd negotiate.
But here?
They just… said yes.
No friction. No delay.
Was that normal?
It was a boring existence.
He didn't like asking for things—because that meant he'd receive them.
And the moment he got them… the thrill was gone.
Flashback End
Ever since coming to this world, he'd felt alive.
Sure, he'd been in pain.
Sure, he'd nearly died.
But he'd felt more freedom than he ever had.
He was somewhere new.
Somewhere where he could actually make friends.
The thought made him smile weakly—just before his legs finally gave out.
He collapsed from sheer exhaustion, his body trembling, his thoughts spinning in circles.
Did I succeed? Will he survive…?
Then—something landed on his back.
Its claws dug into his flesh, hard.
The impact whiplashed his head forward—straight into a rock.
And that was the last thing he remembered.
***
"Ul Goa."
Subaru blinked.
From a distance, he watched in shock as fireballs rained down across the forest, erupting all around him.
An area-of-effect barrage—massive in scope, yet impossibly precise.
Each orb of fire dodged him and Toyota.
And hit only the mabeasts.
Burning them all to ash.
In the center of the chaos, a hovering figure slowly descended, robes flowing like smoke.
A wide, smug smile stretched across his face.
"Oh my… you look an absoluuuuuuute friiiiight."
Subaru sighed, shoulders sagging in relief.
"You're late."
Roswaal chuckled theatrically.
Then, casually, he tossed a boco fruit toward Subaru, who caught it on instinct.
"What you diiiiid," Roswaal drawled, spinning his finger through the air, "was quiiiiiite the gamble."
(AN: I have senior skip day this week for my high school, so for a limited time, I will make longer and more chapters. As soon as we finish arc 2, Toyota is going to make large changes to the plot and not just follow the original storyline.
I've also set an official release schedule: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Bonus chapters will drop on Saturdays if my demands are met. 🔫
Trade deal:
You give me 50 power stones, and I give you a bonus chapter.
Sounds fair, right?)