Subaru woke up back inside the tomb as he wrapped his arms around himself, violently shaking. He looked at his shaking hands, he could still feel the rabbits eating him, tearing him limb from limb, entering him and eating his organs from the inside out. He could feel it all.

His mind finally broke...

"Why?"

Subaru started banging his head on the floor repeatedly.

"Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? WHY?!"

Subaru kept banging his head on the floor until it started to bleed. Before he could do anything else though he heard a voice as time slowed down.

"You have once again the qualification. I invite you..."

"To a witch's tea party."

Subaru was transported to Echidna's dream world feeling oddly calm.

"I don't often invite the same guest to my tea parties twice. Feel free to be proud."

"I...feel so oddly calm, it's kind of creepy. What's going on?"

Echidna explained that it was because of the tea he drank the last time he encountered her. She also explained that it directly affected his Witch Factor, encouraging his stability. And if it weren't for that, his soul would have crumbled to pieces. Though Echidna had other reasons as to why she brought him back.

"And I can't have that happening, you are far by the most interesting specimen I have seen. And I want to know more about you, such as Devils and your powers."

"Now I'm ready to accept your gratitude."

"...So can I assume this will keep working even after I'm outside?"

"Well, we are talking about your mental state. So long as you remember what should happen here, you should be fine. So where's your gratitude?"

They kept discussing until Subaru caught on to something that he didn't notice until now. So he asked Echidna how she knew about him.

"If you're asking me what I know, I know only what you know."

"Wait a second... does that mean...?!"

Subaru had thoughts running through his mind at that one sentence that came out her mouth. She only knew what he knew. She already knew he was a Devil since he told her after his first trial, but does that mean that she knows about his Anti Magic and his Time Looping ability?

"So there is no way it shouldn't seem strange to you. For you, this is happening after your first tea party with me, isn't it? So if you don't find this strange, then..."

"Then?"

"Then that means you know how this happened, don't you?"

Subaru had flashbacks to his previous loops, where he tried to tell Emilia about Return By Death, only to have the Witch of Envy appear and squeeze his heart to shut him up. And a flashback to a previous loop after he told Emilia about his Return by Death and the Witch of Envy destroyed Emilia's heart. Echidna seeing him hesitate, told him to test her.

"Y-You might not even have time to regret saying that!"

"If that provides to be true, can I expect you to break down crying over my corpse?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Subaru took a deep breath and calmed his nerves as he spoke.

"Echidna..."

"I... I've been returning by death!"

Subaru closed his eyes as he braced himself for the worse. But to his shock, nothing surprisingly happened. He slowly looked at Echidna, only to see she was completely fine.

"Hmm...It's a bit embarrassing when you're staring at me like that."

"...Wh-When I...When I die, I go back in time and restart the world. I Return by Death."

"I heard you. And before I heard you, I saw you."

This confirmed it. Not only did she know about Return by Death. But she most likely knew about his Anti Magic as well.

"I...Return by Death! Return by Death! Return by Death! Return by Death! Return by Death!"

"Hey, calm down! I know about how you feel but-

"I've been Returning by Death! I've died and started again, over and over!"

"I RETURN BY DEATH!"

"I get it, I said! Just listen to m-"

Subaru wasn't having it as he feel to his knees with tears in the corner of his eyes. He had to get all of this off his chest.

"I..."

"All this time..."

Subaru had flashbacks to all of his deaths.

"Ever since I came to this world."

When Elsa gutted him as he bleed to death in the loot house.

When Rem brutally murdered him in the hallway as he was also dying by the curse that a Mabeast placed on him.

"I've never, ever been able to say it to anyone..."

When Rem tortured him for information he didn't even have until Ram mercy killed him.

When he jumped off a cliff in order to save Rem.

When Puck froze him to death after Petelgeuse killed Emilia.

"Over and over... all alone... alone this whole time..."

When he was eaten alive by rabbits.

"I...I..."

Subaru finally broke down as he cried. He wasn't crying from sadness, he was crying from relief and happiness that he was able to get this all off his chest. Hikaru knew about his looping ability, but he didn't know how it worked. So the fact that he was able to actually tell someone about his Return by Death without any consequences brought him to tears.

Echidna happily kneeled down next to the crying Devil as she stroked his head affectionately and tenderly. As she told him that she knew every step he's taken on his path up to where he was now and that she was watching.

"But watching is all I was doing. So if you can, I'd like you to tell me yourself...what you have thought, how you have felt, and how much weight you have carried. I want to know. After all, I'm the Witch of Greed, who wants to know everything in this world, Echidna."

Subaru felt absolute bliss after hearing this from Echidna. He was so overjoyed that his tail slowly wagged back and forth. He was so happy knowing that he could tell someone about the many hardships and pain he had to endure on his journey so far.

Outside of the Tomb, Hikaru was waiting with everyone else. While everyone else was focused on the tomb, Hikaru closed his eyes and recalled the moments before he looped back. At this point he was getting frustrated, it seemed like the more they tried to fix things, the more problems would arise.

"Damn it! So not only do we have to deal with Elsa and the little girl now named Meili, along with the Eye of the Midnight Sun, Garfiel, and those Rabbits. I'll talk to Subaru about this when he and Emilia come out, we have to come up with a plan."

Hikaru's thoughts were cut short when he along with everyone else saw Emilia walk out the tomb. Hikaru sensing something was off, placed his hand around his Katana as he uttered her name.

"E-Emilia...?"

Back in Echidna's dream world, Subaru got done telling Echidna about the many hardships he went through. Echidna was very intrigued but at the same time very pissed off at someone.

"Terrible."

"Huh?"

"I'm not referring to your behavior. I was simply overwhelmed with rage at the one who put you through so much hardship."

"Me?"

Echidna narrowed her eyes as she explained that it was the Witch of Envy who gave him the power of Return by Death. They continued discussing about the Witch of Envy and Subaru's Return by Death ability until Subaru asked Echidna if there was any limit to how many times Return by Death can be used.

"Ah, yes. Truly the obvious question to ask. I will say in advance that this is only conjecture, but I would say... there isn't.

"...!"

Subaru was shell shocked, basically his power was unlimited so he could die and come back as many times as he wanted, not that he would want to anyway. He honestly couldn't tell if Return by Death was a blessing or a curse.

"Hey Echidna."

"Yes?"

"You said you knew everything that I knew right?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"So if you know about my Return by Death, does that mean you know about my other power too?"

"Yes, I do know about it. I had my suspicions and I must say it's truly fascinating, something I never read about nor seen. Though I just don't know how it works, so if you could explain it to me in detail as payment then I'll tell you what you want to know. How about it?"

Subaru actually did have questions, he wanted to know about the Rabbit that ate him. If he wanted information on how to defeat the Rabbit, then he had to tell Echidna some information about his Anti Magic.

"So she knows about my Anti Magic, she just doesn't know what it's called or how it works. And she had her suspicions as well, if I want information on that damn Rabbit than I have no choice."

"Well that power is called Anti Magic. It's no way in shape or form magic, it's actually a unique form of energy that negates all forms of magic. So I guess you can say all magic in my presence is meaningless. And using it to it's full potential requires specific tools, such as these."

Subaru summoned both the Demon Slayer and Demon Dweller swords and placed them on the table so Echidna could get a better look at it. She was fascinated, she's never seen swords like those.

"Ok! What else?!" Echidna exclaimed as she wanted to know more about Anti Magic.

Subaru sweat dropped as he continued to explain.

"Well it naturally opposes any mana and magic it comes into contact with, so only someone without magic power can wield it. And since I'm the only being alive that has no magic in me at all, let alone a gate, because of that, I'm the only being alive that's able to use Anti Magic, that's what makes me so unique. So I guess you can say they're bound to me."

"Now I see, normally a person without a gate, would be deemed as useless, but that's exactly what makes him 'special' and 'unique'. Because he has zero mana and doesn't even have a gate, he has the ability to negate magic and wield those swords. To top it all off he's the only living being in this world that can use this extraordinary ability. Truly fascinating, Natsuki Subaru.

Echidna blushed madly at the sheer thought of it all.

It was official, Echidna needed- no. More  like wanted Natsuki Subaru to herself. Not only was he a Devil, but he's literally a weapon against all things that's related to magic, Natsuki Subaru was simply an anomaly. His entire existence as a whole could bring the whole system of magic and everything that was thought about magic in this world into disarray, and to top it off, he was the only person in this whole world that could use this fascinating ability. This boy was by far the most interesting thing she's ever seen, she wasn't letting this chance go by, and Echidna wouldn't stop at nothing to get what she wanted.

Once Subaru was done explaining some things about his power, he grabbed his swords and dissipated them, shocking Echidna more than she already was. This boy just kept surprising her over and over.

"That's all I'm going to say for now. I explained about my Anti Magic, and how it works. But I'm not explaining about the swords and their many abilities. Maybe later when we meet again."

"Anyway, when I died by being eaten. Those rabbits could've fit in my hand."

"Ah, I see you've encountered the Great Rabbit."

"Great" Rabbit?"

"Great, not in size. but in numbers. It's one of the Three Great Mabeasts."

"...! You mean like the White Whale?"

"Yes, including those two, there is also the Black Snake, but right now I think you should focus on the Great Rabbit."

"You mean that little thing is as strong as the White Whale?! You're kidding right?"

"I see...you only saw one of them."

"Huh?"

Echidna drew a serious expression as she continued to explain.

"The Great Rabbit is a creature that moves in a herd. While they are weak on their own, their numbers total to the numbers of water drops in mist. They are the self replicating and will devour everything in sight."

"No way..."

Subaru then pondered on what he saw when he died in that loop. The fact that the rabbit easily bit his entire hand and leg off...and it was just a couple of them.

"If one single rabbit is capable of multiplying infinitely, than we just have to somehow destroy them all in one place right?"

"Yes, I suppose so. But that would be like trying to evaporate every raindrop that falls from the sky."

"Then what choice do we have but to run then?! No...that won't work. The barrier is still there."

"So long as the barrier is still there, Emilia and the others can't leave. The Great Rabbit in the Sanctuary, the attack on the mansion...I have to break the barrier and free them before any of that happens. Then I'll gather everyone at the mansion to defeat Elsa and the Mabeasts.

"I have..."

Subaru recalled Elsa's words back at the mansion.

"Though, since you came back sooner than expected, this didn't play out exactly as my directions specified."

...

"That means I only have four days from now."

Subaru asked Echidna if she had any ideas on how to solve this problem, with her explaining that she had one, but it carried such a great risk that she hesitates to even suggest it. She suggested that if he wanted to know more about the Great Rabbit, then should ask their creator for more information.

"Their Creator?"

"Yes, the Witch of Gluttony, Daphne."

"Wait! I thought the Witch of Envy created all the Mabeasts of the world?"

"No no, that is just a misconception from the long intervals of time. Information can be easily misplaced."

Subaru pondered on it some more, but he decided to go for it and asked to meet with Daphne. Echidna disappeared from his sight, but in her stead was a small tan skinned little girl, with bright red eyes and green hair. She walked over to Subaru as her white and blue one piece dress flowed with a small breeze.

"Hey onii-san, have you come here to see all of us?"

"Um, well I was waiting to see someone named Daphne. Are you-?"

"-Nah! I'm Typhoon!"

Typhoon gave a cheerful smile to Subaru, who seemed confused about her identity.

"So, I can assume you're also a Witch as well?"

"Yup, I'm the Witch of Pride!"

"Huh, Pride..."

It had been awhile since he heard that word, but it wasn't a positive nostalgic feeling, but an annoying one. He had been called that by Petelgeuse numerous times, but had no idea why.

"Hey what's your name?"

"Oh, right! My name is Natsuki Subaru, nice to meet you!"

"Me too! Me too! Hey Baru, are you a bad guy?"

"Huh? What is that supposed-"

Typhoon mumbled something as Subaru heard something akin to glass shattering. When he looked down he saw that his entire right arm had fallen off. Seeing this triggered some of his PTSD as he remembered when Rem blew his arm off in the hallway. But oddly enough, he didn't feel pain. Before he could do anything else though, Typhoon mumbled again and his left leg shattered as well. On the ground Subaru looked up at the smiling young girl, who was now carrying his arm.

"No pain? Then you aren't a bad, are you Baru?!"

Subaru had so many thoughts running through his mind as he tried to do everything in his power to calm himself down.

"W-What is this?! Is this some kind of magic?! If so, then why didn't my Anti Magic work? I don't feel any pain though."

Subaru came to the conclusion that whatever this was, was not magic. His Anti Magic negates anything that is magic related, so if his Anti Magic didn't counter whatever this was than this wasn't magic Typhoon was using.

"I had to judge you, just to make sure you weren't a bad guy. But you aren't so there we go!" She said as she tossed his arm to him.

Subaru began to lose consciousness from the shock of it all.

...

When Subaru awoke he saw two large round objects floating above him. He quickly recognized the shape and bouncy they were.

"B-Boobs?!"

"Wuh?! All men are the same I guess!"

The yellow haired voluptuous women punched Subaru several times, causing craters to form under his body. But what surprised him was that every time she hit him, he felt no pain from it, but actually felt good. He also could see heart shaped energy fly out of her fists every time she hit him.

When Subaru got up he saw that his arm along with his leg were reattached once again. Feeling overjoyed, he did a quick moonwalk to see if they were in perfect condition.

"Success! Thanks so much...um...?"

"Minerva. I'm Minerva, the Witch of Wrath!"

"Well, I can't thank you enough."

"It's nothing. As the Witch of Wrath it is my duty to heal all those who would be injured or to the point of death! No one will be hurt on my watch!"

"For someone with the title of Wrath, that actually sounds pleasant."

The two chatted for a bit before she waved him goodbye, giving him one last morning.

"Geez, don't get hurt anymore while you're here! I can't be coming by every time you have a bad run in with somebody."

"Yeah, I'll make sure of that! Thanks again!'

Minerva left him alone with a large coffin with spider-like legs.

"Um...?"

The coffin opened up revealing a small grey haired girl, restrained in chains and a large blindfold covering her eyes. She sniffed the air a bit as soon as Subaru got closer.

"Hm...peculiar smell you got!"

"...Are you Daphne?"

"Yeah and you'd be?"

"Natsuki Subaru, I came to talk with you about the Mabeast you made."

"Well, lets make this quick. I'm already getting hungry."

Subaru questioned the young girl about her involvement in the creation of the Mabeast. She went on to explain that she created the Mabeast to help cure hunger in humans by creating a food source that only ate mana and could be hunted for sustenance. However the Mabeast became too powerful and eventually became a scourge for humanity. Especially in the case of the Great Mabeast. The Great Rabbit was made with her insatiable hunger, so it cannot be reasoned with and will attack until there's nothing left.

Daphne went on to explain that the rabbit is drawn to places that have a lot of mana, so he could use a powerful magic user as a lure, then wipe them all out at once when they get together. Subaru mentioned that they multiply indifferently and asked if some would separate from the group, with Daphne explaining that there were many of them, but they all had the same consciousness and that they don't have the wisdom to avoid being killed or anything. Subaru was undeterred by this, even he knew you didn't need to kill a threat to stop it, he just needed a plan of action.

"Are you finished with me now?"

"Yeah. I still don't understand why you made them, but I'll try to. I also learned a lot, now I think I found some leads, so thank you."

"...!"

"And also..."

"Hm?"

"I will destroy the Great Rabbit, it'll be a piece of cake. I was able to kill the Whale after all! So just sit back and watch!" Subaru exclaimed.

Daphne was quiet until she emitted an intense pressure while she looked at Subaru.

"If you think a mere 'human'... is capable of that, then go ahead and try it."

"Well then I guess I have nothing to worry about, I'm a Devil! So don't compare me to normal humans because I'm not one! Subaru exclaimed as his eyes turned red and his pupils were replaced as slits as he looked at Daphne.

Subaru looked at Daphne...who began laughing feverishly.

"Huhuuhuhahahahahahahaha! Echidna was right! You really are something else Subarun! I'll wait in anticipation to you defeating my creation...Devil!" Daphne said as she smiled at Subaru licking her lips, sending some chills down his spine.

Echidna returned, happily smiling Subaru.

"You know...Seeing your face is such a relief, it's like being back home with my family."

"That's a somewhat confusing way to describe it. I was a bit disconcerted, too, when Typhoon jumped in the moment I tried to give my body to Daphne."

"Oh her?"

"Yes, the Witch of Pride."

Subaru remembered how she was able to tear his arm off and shatter him to pieces. He was curious about what it was since he figured it was magic. But it seemed that wasn't the case.

"Hey Echidna, Typhoon...her ability, what was it?

"Oh?"

"If it was a magic attack, I could've negated it with my Anti Magic but it didn't work. So her ability doesn't have any magic like properties or isn't even magic at all?"

"I'm surprised you were able to catch on that quickly. Well to answer your question, no it wasn't magic. Simply put, it was her authority of Pride."

"Authority? You mean like the Witch Factor you talked about?""

"Correct, Authorities can be manifested within people after they take in Witch Factors. Witch Factors are the complete opposite of Od Lagna."

"Od Lagna?"

" Yes, it is where all mana comes from in the world eventually returns to periodically. No one knows where it is located or whether it has a will of its own. It is said that those who awaken to prohibited arts have had their spirits destroyed by looking at it."

"So...Od Lagna is what gives people their gates and mana?"

"Correct, it's also speculated by some people that it's the world's will and gives Divine Protections to people. Its main function is to provide stability to the world & its inhabitants by regulating mana, souls and other aspects of life, while limiting the frequency of natural disasters that occur due to mana running short. Mana flows from Od Laguna to every individuals "Od" which is connected to via their gate."

"I see. So Od Lagna is what gives people their gates, mana, and divine protections."

"Though me and Hikaru are different cases."

"Anyway, you said that the Witch Factors are the complete opposite of Od Lagna, magic, and Divine Protections right?"

"Yes. As I stated before, Witch Factors are the complete opposite of Od Lagna and the Authorities granted by them can be considered as a backward compatibility of Divine Protections, No Divine Protection can be as strong as a Authority."

Subaru began to understand why he couldn't counter Typhoon's power with his Anti Magic. It's because she wasn't using magic, she was using her Authority. And Witch Factors weren't given by Od Lagna so it didn't have any magic like categories at all.

"I see so that's why I couldn't counter it. But I didn't feel any pain, sure I passed out from shock but at the same time I felt oddly calm."

"Well, the only conclusion I can come up with is that you're somehow able to counter and negate some of the effects of the said authority. Though I highly doubt it since that should be highly impossible, since there's no magic in the authorities at all.

"I see. Guess I'll never know until I try, I guess."

They continued to discuss some more until it was time for Subaru to go back to his body. She explained that something must have happened to speed his awakening.

"So did you learn everything you could?"

"Yeah, I learned a lot thanks to you and Daphne. When you get the chance make sure you tell her I said thanks for the information."

Subaru was about to leave until Echidna stopped him. Explaining that she needed one more thing as payment, she explained that she would take the handkerchief that was wrapped around Subaru's hand. Once Echidna received her payment along with the information Subaru gave her about his Anti Magic, Subaru began to fade away before hearing Echidna say that if he came back to her tea party a third time. There would be something she would like to tell him.

Subaru made it back to the tomb, checking his surroundings. He noticed Emilia wasn't anywhere to be found so he left the tomb and went to check outside. Once he made it out, he simply froze at the sight before him.

"H-Huh?"

There were shadows surrounding the entire place as he looked around and called for anyone that was still possibly alive. He continued to look around until he noticed a figure walking towards him. Subaru suddenly had flashbacks to his many attempts to tell someone about return by death only for his heart to get squeezed by the Witch of Envy.

"N-No way..."

"I love you."

"I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you."

The Witch of Envy kept repeating those exact words over and over again as she placed her cold hand on his cheek and hugged him repeating 'I love you' over and over again, sending shivers down his spine.

The Witch of Envy, Satella has showed up to the Sanctuary.