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In an unmarked land, a field of green with no tree or shade to hide from the sun in and stretched as far as the eye can see, no landmark in sight, there laid two boys.
They both were unconscious, mumbling to themselves in their sleep.
"Mmm… Emilia-tan…" escaped the lips of the boy with black hair.
That boy was one Natsuki Subaru.
He was a boy of normal stature, with nothing noteworthy in his appearance outside of his hairstyle which resembles that of his father, and his eyes that many comment on as being mean or intimidating.
He was of good stature and height, wearing an orange scarf with a long black hooded coat, under it was a light brown buttoned blazer, a brown belt, an open green jacket and black trousers tucked into lighter brown boots thatched the colour of his boots.
The sun soon started to irritate him, which prompted him to wake up.
And his reaction was nothing but confusion, the last thing he remembered was.
"Agh!"
A sharp pain shot through his mind as he tried to recollect where he was before he was thrown into the field but the only thing that kept coming up was the pain.
Once he realised trying to remember things is useless he started analysing his surroundings, and after a short moment, he spotted something.
It was a boy that seemed to be more or less the same age as him.
That boy was wearing a gold-trimmed green mantle, white shirt, black pants, and leather boots with a short sword on his belt.
That boy was Satou Kazuma.
"Hehe," he was laughing piggishly as he rubbed his belly underneath his shirt.
"Maybe he's having a nice dream?" Subaru thought.
"I'm going in…hehe"
"He's totally having a perverted dream!" That shout from Subaru made Kazuma's eyes flinch.
He opened his eyes and lifted his torso from the ground.
Took a glance at the area around him and went back to sleep.
"...WHAT!" This made Subaru shout again.
He ran to Kazuma's side and grabbed him by the collar.
"How can you see yourself in an unfamiliar land and still be asleep!" He screamed while shaking Kazuma rapidly.
"STOP IT, YOU IDIOT!" It came as a surprise to no one…well, both of them that this made Kazuma mad.
"IF YOU BROUGHT ME HERE FOR SOME SICK GAME OF YOURS I'M NOT PLAYING! LEAVE ME ALONE!" He shouted back at Subaru's face.
"I DIDN'T BRING YOU HERE! I NEED SOMEONE TO HELP ME FIGURE OUT WHAT'S HAPPENING SO WAKE UP!!" It seemed more and more that this was gonna turn into a shouting match where each person screamed louder than the person before him.
"MAN, I HAVE NO IDEA! I'M JUST A SHUT-IN JUST LET ME SLEEP!!!"
"I WAS ALSO A SHUT-IN BUT THAT DIDN'T STOP ME!!!!"
"Once you leave the path of hikikomori you're a normie for life." Stated Kazuma as if it is a matter of fact.
"Why are you saying this so seriously as if it is a matter of fact?" Don't steal the narrator's lines.
"But seriously man, I have no idea and I really don't wanna try, I'm tired." He waved his hands at Subaru's face as he started to slowly lay down on the ground.
But before he could, Subaru grabbed him by the collar again, catching Kazuma by surprise.
"Don't you have people important to you that you want to go back to?" He stared him in the eyes waiting for an answer.
"I…I do, or at least I think" After answering in a sad tone Subaru let go of him and they both stood up from their spots.
"So you too can't remember much, we'll think about that later, so let's get going shall we?" Subaru mumbled to himself as Kazuma finally pushed himself up from the ground.
"So, how are we gonna figure it out? How to get out of here I mean" Kazuma was the first to speak.
"Well first, let's inspect our surroundings" Subaru answered promptly.
"Wanna choose a direction and follow it?"
"Sure! Let's go th-" Subaru was quickly shut off by Kazuma
"Let's play rock paper scissors to decide who picks the direction! Sounds fair?" He laid down the proposal.
"Why would we need t-"
"Good! Glad we're on the same page!" He wasn't gonna take no for an answer
Both boys were walking in an unspecified direction, Kazuma in the front grinning like an idiot, while Subaru in the back was down in the dumps.
After a while of walking, and keeping their eyes on the horizon for any noticeable landmark like mountains or anything, Kazuma had enough and his patience exploded.
"AHHHHHHHHH! FOR HOW LONG DO WE NEED TO KEEP WALKING? WHY ARE THERE NO MOUNTAINS OR ANYTHING!"
"I think you should be concerned by something else" This prompted Kazuma to immediately ask
"What?"
"The fact that THE SUN HAS NOT MOVED FROM ITS SPOT THE WHOLE TIME!" he screamed while doing a wry(jojo) pose.
Kazuma slowly panned his face towards the sky in a cartoonish way to face the same realisation as his companion (for the time being).
"I wanna give up" escaped his lips in the most deadpan voice and expression.
Subaru started looking at Kazuma's hip, specifically his sword.
'Maybe…maybe not…maybe…maybe not, wait NO! Let's not start thinking dark thoughts yet, we still have time' he was also panicking but in a different way.
They both felt dejected and so, they dropped to the ground to rest.
"This is gonna take a while" Subaru mumbled as a sigh escaped his lips.
Just as they both were resting a robotic sound went through their ears.
"Stand up, both of you"
As expected a loud unfamiliar voice that suddenly came out of nowhere and put both on edge.
They both stood up back to back and looked around them to find the source of the voice.
"Who are you!" Exclaimed Subaru.
"Shouldn't it be obvious? I'm the one that brought you guys here"
This seemed to make both of them tense up furthermore.
"Why exactly may I ask?" Kazuma was really getting worried now, none of his party membe- "Ugh!" A thought that every time he got close to brought him great pain that let it escape his mind.
"Quite simply, I want you two to fight!" The voice announced in a cheerful sound.
"What makes you think we'll go with your whims?" Subaru needed to stall for time to figure something out.
"Two NEETS taken to another world and having a difficult time coming into a raging battle to prove who is superior, sounds fun doesn't it?"
After the voice said that, both boys lowered their stances and stared at each other, both open-mouthed and eyes wide in shock.
They brought their arms up in the air and slammed into each other in a tight hug.
"Finally someone that understands me for real for real!" Kazuma couldn't be more than happy at the notion of someone in his same predicament.
"I get you, bro! I really get you!" The tears of joy in Subaru's eyes could not be understated.
They both finally found a familiar unfortunate soul.
"It seems my speech had the opposite effect, let's change that shall we!"
Both boys still ignored whatever the voice was going on about, as then a speck of light as small as a fly formed and flew towards Kazuma's ears.
"He has a harem following him, a maid, an elf, and a spirit"
This made his tears dry out and his eyes bulged out.
She then flew towards Subaru's ears.
"When he dies he can talk to other people about it, and it's not as painful or disturbing as yours"
The smile on Subaru's face became just a tad bit condescending.
They both broke the hug and stared at each other.
"So a harem, huh, and you say you suffered"
"And you can retur-" he felt a pulse running through him 'no way! Even in another world without even specifically talking about it!' But that seemed to calm Subaru down a bit and made him analyse the situation.
"Wait…she's trying to push us to fight each other! You need to realise this yo- what's your name again? We didn't actually exchange names did we?"
"Satou Kazuma"
"Don't answer in my place you damn voice! But yes that's my name, remember it well for it will be the name of the person who killed you, harem bastard!"
"Calm down! You need to see what's going on he-"
"The dumbass harem-having bastard is named Natsuki Subaru"
"Hey! I can see the bias, you dumb voice!"
"Hehe…" The weird laughter caught Subaru off guard and made him slowly look over to the source, none other than Kazuma was making that weird laughter.
"Hey voice, what will the winner get?" A shadow was cast over his eyes as he sent a piercing gaze toward Subaru.
"Are you really going with what this voice wants!" He can't believe that he's stuck with a lunatic.
"Two wishes!" It answered as a ding-ding sound effect fired off.
"Wait is it to the de-" Before he could ask any more questions a shard of ice pierced through the air towards him with great speed causing him to jump away to the side.
"Seems this is settled, let's get the show on the road!"
"Wait, I still don't consent to this!" As much as Subaru screamed, it seemed like things were moving against his will and he could do nothing but fight now.
"Oh! Before I forget, your spirit isn't with you, but I'll allow you to have this, it will have the same abilities as your actual spirit, Isn't that so kind of me!"
Out of thin air, a pink light formed, in the same way the light that represents the voice did, and flew towards Subaru.
"But my contract doesn't allow this"
"It's alright, in this world everything I allow can happen, don't question it, just trust me now let's get ready, the readers are getting impatient"
Reality is transforming
"Wait! We're doing a fight game intro and everything?" This was starting to get more and more weird.
"You might need to focus on me, boy!" Kazuma ever the scumbag kept taunting him.
"Ok you asked for it" and Subaru was having enough of it as well and wanted this to be over.
"Wait, contract, what did I mean by that?"
Concert 1
PUT ON A SHOW!
Kazuma just as before was eager and ready to jump into action, Subaru having a harem life (supposedly) after proclaiming he had it tough has pissed him beyond belief and now he's out for blood.
He dashed with his sword in tow ready to take a life.
Subaru quickly responded by bringing out a whip out of nowhere.
He quickly shot it and it latched on to Kazuma's sword, and with a quick pull, both the whip and sword flew to his hand.
"You're awfully motivated for a simple misunderstanding, you know!" Ever the sensible person he is, he still tries to reason with Kazuma.
"There's no misunderstanding, normies must die!" Kazuma was not having it, he then quickly extended his arm toward Subaru and said.
"Steal!" A bright light escaped from the palm of his hand, blinding Subaru for a moment, and after it faded, Subaru felt the weight from the items in his hand to disappear completely.
After he opened his eyes he found both the whip and sword to be gone and now in Kazuma's possession.
"What th-" before he could finish his words of confusion, his adversary latched the whip to his leg astoundingly fast and pulled it back, making Subaru fall towards the ground.
Continuing his combo, Kazuma pointed his other arm at Subaru and chanted.
“Create earth!” a bunch of rocks that were surrounded by sand which flew in a spiral with the rocks as its center formed, they then launched toward their target
When the attack reached Subaru, it all got shattered leaving only the dust and sand to hit him.
he then hastily tugged the whip back to him and regained his footing.
“You're a bit hasty, don’t you think”
Yet Kazuma wasn’t affected by the taunt, or so it would seem on the surface, in his head he could only think of
“YOU DARE ACT COOL HEADED YOU LUCKY BASTARD!”
The fight was now at a standstill where both fighters were staring each other down, no one taking the first move.
The pause was broken by Kazuma who yet again dash forward, but more calm and collected this time.
In retaliation, Subaru shot his whip again but this time it missed even though he was sure he was on the mark.
“Perhaps a special dodge blessing or skill like Reinhardt?” were questions that arose in Subaru’s head but he had to leave them for later as Kazuma was now face to face with him.
Kazuma started slashing with his sword wildly yet still accurately and Subaru responded by dodging most of his attacks and countering those he couldn’t with his whip.
The difference in strength was apparent, Kazuma packed the biggest punch between the two, but Subaru was more nimble and capable of reacting to opponents vastly stronger than him.
The trade didn’t last before Kazuma found an opening right as Subaru countered another sword strike with his whip, so Kazuma quickly rested his foot on his chest and pushed with as much might he could muster at the moment, launching Subaru a multitude of feet away.
Not letting the opportunity run past him, Kazuma made a run for the downed Subaru and chanted another skill.
“Create water!” Water then shot out of his arm and hit Subaru followed by him casting another skill.
“Lightning!” Creating a lightning bolt that hit Subaru and visibly made him spaz out from the shock.
Subaru woke up with the most painful migraine he felt in a while, but he was in the middle of combat so he needed to get his bearings quickly, he quickly stood up, but when he did he felt a gust of wind rushing from his back and quickly dodged it.
After looking back, the space behind him was occupied by no one.
“Easy there! That skill you have is really deadly, you know, it could’ve killed me” He spoke in a direction while he was turning his head to try to find Kazuma.
"You got some sharp intuition" a sound came from Subaru's back which alerted him to hastily jump away and regain his stance focusing once more on his surroundings.
"Well more so that it already got me once" Subaru mumbled to himself.
As Subaru continued to take caution and search his surroundings he noticed something.
In a specific spot, something began to form from rocks, obviously the work of Kazuma.
It was a golem.
As soon as its creation was finished it went after Suabru, but this time to not let his opponent get the upper hand again, Subaru stretched his arm and chanted his spell.
"Minya!" What followed was a crystal being formed, purple in colour, beautiful in look but destructive in power.
It launched towards the golem and when it collided with it, it made the golem, which was made of rocks, turn into a crystal-like substance on the side where it was hit.
That side quickly began to spread covering the whole golem and making it tumble towards the ground, shattering on impact.
The silence continues as Kazuma hasn't shown himself yet, and Suabru stays still paying attention to his vicinity.
After a few seconds, Subaru jumped back and as he did, the sound of a sword slash occupied the space where he was standing, that was Kazuma yet again on the attack, but something different happened this time.
"What the hell! Why is my arm stuck!" Kazuma, who is still invincible, is unable to move his arm due to an unseen force.
"Invincible providence, the moment I heard the sword swipe I made sure to lock you so you can't escape anymore, now will you finally give-" Kazuma yet again, ever the impatient man he is, didn't listen nor did it seem he is willing to back down, and he felt that it was high time he finished this whole fight.
"Explos-"
Yet, before he could unleash his final trump card, Subaru quickly interjected with his own trump card.
"E.M.T!"
"-ion!"
By using his absolute defense spell EMT, Subaru removed the effects of mana from his surroundings with him in the center of the effect, so, Kazuma's last resort didn't work.
Before he can have the time to think, Suabru quickly dashed towards him now that he is visible again, thanks to E.M.T, and held his other arm.
Quickly delivering a powerful knee to where the sun doesn't shine for Kazuma.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"
Knocking him unconscious.
CUT!
"Phew…" Subaru finally signed as the announcement of the fight being over graced his ears.
This fight was seriously tiring and stupid at its core, and he is thankful it is finally over!
"Congratulations!"
And so the voice governing this land, or Subaru thought it did at least, showed itself again.
"That was truly an entertaining round! It will be remembered for generations to come!"
"Spare me your gibberish" Subaru was getting tired of this place and the jokes of this voice.
"Ho? How come you don't like listening to your lovely commentator! You break my heart!"
"In that fight"
"Hm?"
"All of those spells and skills, moves that I don't know nor understand, yet I excited them perfectly as if I trained for a long while in them" he brought his palm towards his face, lamenting the experience he just went through.
"Well, of course, that's because you did"
"Also my dea-"
"Ah! Sorry, but you're not allowed to talk about that! Save it for your thoughts only!"
"..." he could only quietly stare at the speck of light that the voice used to represent itself.
He then looked at the light that followed him in battle.
He felt like it represented something, and then his mind can only wander back to before the fight began, 'a contract' he didn't know what a contract meant yet somehow it was of great importance to him.
He clenched his fist and looked towards the announcer.
"I won right? So give me my wish now!" He isn't waiting and asking anymore, he is demanding.
"And who said you won?"
"What! But the round is over!" His anger was starting to boil up, any more and he might lash out at this thing, knowing fully well he probably can't do a damned thing to it.
"That is true, you won the round, but I didn't say how many rounds you're going for"
"You sadistic…" he had to calm himself, he shouldn't fall for such obvious taunts.
"But you could…"
"Could what"
"Kill him."
This made him slowly turn his back and face the fallen fighter he had a duel with moments ago.
"If you do, he won't stand back up, he won't be able to fight, and you'll win by default!"
The announcer thought that the answer that Suabru would give was going to take a while to come out, but contrary to what it thought.
"No"
"No?"
"I am not going to kill him" he rotated, now facing the announcer again.
"He might take the chance to kill you, you know?"
"I am well aware"
"And yet you still choose to let him live?"
"I am not changing my answer" Subaru's eyes were brimming with nothing but determination, he made a choice and he was going to follow it true.
"How curious…then tell me, what would you do if, for instance, he killed you instead?"
"He can't" a quick response.
"...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! OF COURSE, HE CAN'T KILL YOU! WHAT A WONDERFUL ANSWER, HE TRULY CAN'T!"
The way this voice acted made Subaru uneasy, it was showing a part of itself it didn't show before, and that voice… sounded sadistic.
"That's quite the resolve you got, are you sure you can follow through with it~"
"As many times it takes until I win" yet he still stood his ground.
"You're funny you know because you're the only one who can give such a response and mean it, IT EXCITES ME"
A sudden ungodly pressure washed all over Subaru making him tremble and fall backwards.
"Oh well, this was fun, for giving me such joy I'll give you the win now~"
"What!" This came as a surprise because this thing didn't sound too keen on letting Subaru go without him going through a living hell to pass its demented trails.
"But before I do-"
'And here's the twist,' Subaru thought to himself.
"What is your reasoning for not killing him? it's not like blood and violence is unusual to you, and you would've run the risk of not going back to your world"
He was flabbergasted, to say the least, he didn't think it would actually let him through and was just toying with him.
"It's simple really, he also has people he wants to go back to"
"..."
"When we met for the first time there and I asked him, even though he was lazy and dismissive, he seemed to genuinely care about the people he knows, whether he remembered them at the time or not"
"Such a simple reason"
"Well I'm a simple man after all" he proclaimed with a wide smile.
"Now I regret going with your whims, maybe I should've put you to the fight again?"
"No no no no, please!" He was quickly on all fours begging not to go through that again.
"Well, I already gave you my word, so I won't be going back on it now, I assume your wish is to send you both back to where you came from?"
"Yes," he can finally rest now.
"Alright, goodbye, Natsuki Subaru"
A translucent crystal formed around Subaru and Kazuma, lifting them in the air, vanishing bit by bit from its bottom.
Subaru just continued to stare at the announcer, hoping to remember this experience when he gets back.
"For now, at least"
"WHA-" and so he vanished before his scream could reach the announcer.
"I wonder who's next on the list?"
A blue panel showed up in the air.
"The dark lord of Nazarak maybe?"
As the panel showed an image of a skeleton wearing a dark robe.
"Or maybe the Von Degurechaff girl?"
"Ooh, so many options!"