Reckless idiot. No wonder he's died a few times.
As I—Toyota—caught my breath, I couldn't help but think: The people who insult Subaru probably never left their chairs.
This guy's built like a machine. He ran all the way from Roswald's mansion and still has stamina to sprint through the forest.
And I used to run track. My mile time was 5 minutes, 14 seconds. But Subaru? Just from looking at him, he probably has better endurance than 95% of people back on Earth.
Weak, my foot.
Should I let Subaru save this possum who's playing dead? I know she's needed in the future storyline, but if any child in this entire story deserved to be merked, it's her. Sure, she was just following orders, but she willingly killed even her friends when told to. My bad—friend being Petra. If it wasn't for her coworker being killed, she never would have become an ally. Instead, she would've stayed a child assassin, killing for money and dolls. I believe her power was either to control Ma beasts or to speak their language—I can't quite remember. But I knew she was behind this whole thing. The hit was ordered by Roswald to test Subaru. If it wasn't for that gospel, maybe Roswald wouldn't have turned into the psychopathic clown he is. But I knew, in the future, I'd have to suck up to him to survive in the mansion.
God I hate clowns.
Toyota noticed Subaru stopping next to a large log, and, of course, next to it was the possum of a girl. Subaru muttered to himself, nervous. "It's just a puppy… Why am I getting cold feet now?" He leaned over and picked her up in a princess carry. "I'm glad you're alive. Just wait, I'll take you back and—"
Growl.
His words were cut off by the growl of a ma beast. It resembled a Huge dog, but it had a horn coming out of its head and a long tail with barbs, reminiscent of a stegosaurus. It even had a trail of spikes down its spine. To summarize, it looked like a devil Doberman about 7 feet long 3 ½ feet tall. Subaru gulped. "You're not a puppy."
The growling beast crept closer and closer, as if sizing up its prey. "This wasn't the deal," Subaru muttered. The beast slowly stopped, its haunches taut, as if it was about to spring. Its tail thrashed from side to side like a cat's. Subaru, already ridiculously tense, waited for the pounce, then screamed, "If you're gonna come, just come at me!"
He seemed to have forgotten that he was still carrying the possum girl.
Meanwhile, Toyota, who remembered this exact scene, knew something was wrong. The situation was already altered because of him. In the canon, Subaru was way more cautious. He would've put down the girl, ripped off his butler outfit, and used it like a professional dog trainer. I must have given him too much confidence by telling him the future. Guess I have to take over. Subaru seemed to have forgotten Toyota was there, so he decided to do exactly what was supposed to happen. Reaching Subaru from behind, Toyota grabbed his uniform and yanked it down hard. The black butler uniform ripped straight down the seams. Subaru, now ridiculously annoyed and angry, screamed at him, "What are you doing?!"
Toyota wrapped the ripped cloth around his arm. "Move aside."
He stepped right next to the middle of the log, waving the cloth in front of the demon dog, trying to catch its attention. A loud taxicab whistle came from Toyota's mouth. "Hey, hellhound, over here! Hey, hey, hey!"
The beast shifted its haunches toward him and, with terrifying speed, lunged forward, its jaws wide open. Toyota felt instant regret. This is gonna hurt.
He let the lunging beast bite into his arm with the cloth and then, using the momentum, spun his arm like a windmill, slamming it toward the fallen tree. A sharp thick branch poking out impaled the flung beast through the abdomen instantly, incapacitating it. Guts and blood spilled out of the wound as its life drained away.
"Disgusting."
"F*, that hurt.** I am never doing that again." As he moved the cloth off his arm, Subaru looked down, wide-eyed. "You actually killed it."
"Are you sure you're a normal human?"
"Well, I think I was… I don't know about now."
Subaru looked at him. "Fair point." His gaze shifted to Toyota's arm, which, now that the cloth was removed, revealed a bunch of puncture marks from the beast's teeth. "You okay?"
Toyota gritted his teeth but managed, "I'll live."
Subaru forced a laugh. "Good thing it doesn't seem like a pack animal, otherwise we'd be screwed."
Toyota looked at Subaru in horror. His face darkened. "You just reminded me… we need to run."
Subaru's face contorted. "You don't mean—"
Suddenly, a bunch of glowing eyes appeared all around them, and growling sounds filled the forest.
"You had to jinx it, didn't you?"
Subaru, his face falling, could only mutter, "My bad."
One of the many Ma Beasts jumped toward Subaru, who was carrying the possum girl.
"Paws off the girl, you bastard!" Subaru screamed. He managed to dodge deftly to the side.
Toyota could only stand in the Ma Beast's way.
There's no way I'm letting Subaru get killed. If he dies... then I might die. I don't know how this alternate world thing works. Wait—wasn't there a rescue?
As Toyota prepared to take on the assault of multiple Ma Beasts, one of their heads just suddenly exploded—blood and gore flying everywhere. Especially on Toyota's face... and Subaru's shoes.
Subaru could only stare, dumbfounded, as the weapon that had once killed him... saved him.
The sound of chains clanking resonated throughout the area. Landing in, both arms spread wide as the chain wrapped around her—
"The children are safe and have returned to the village. I see your efforts to buy time have gone well."
Toyota and Subaru, noticing three approaching Ma Beasts behind her, could only scream—
"Rem! Look out!"
But with the reflexes of a demon, she turned around, whipping the chain and bringing the wrecking ball flying behind her. Heads and limbs were decapitated and severed.
One of the Ma Beasts came in from her blind spot, rushing in with its tongue lolling out. In a show of acrobatics, she jumped into the air with the chain swirling like a ribbon dancer. Her bare fist hit the top of the monster's head, sending it down in a single strike—brain matter flying everywhere as its skull cracked open and the ground indented.
Subaru and Toyota, In sync, said:
"You're way too strong."
Rem, whose cheeks were puffed in a blustering annoyance, could only muster out, "Are those appropriate words to speak to a girl?"
Subaru could only grin and said, "Sorry, that's my weakling's vocabulary. By the way, are you planning to wipe them all out by yourself?"
But Toyota knew this was what would happen, and quickly replied, "There are too many already, and it'll only get worse."
As Subaru scanned the forest, he realized—there were so many eyes. Almost hundreds. Looking at them.
"We're going to have to reset," he said, looking at Toyota.
"Subaru, are you serious? You're giving up?!"
Subaru, with a look of disgust and determination, said, "Of course not. We just need to escape and not get encircled. So let's keep moving."
"There's the perfect protagonist," Toyota grinned.
"Me,"
"The protagonist?" Subaru blanched. "Nah, that'd be Reinhardt."
Toyota could only sadly glance at Subaru.
"Not all protagonists have to be OP."
Subaru whistled back, "Yeah, but it would be nice."
"Enough talk!" Rem shouted, as she was single-handedly taking on all the Ma Beasts. "We need to make it past the barrier, and we win! Head for the village—the bonfire!"
The sound of whistling chains and bone being smashed echoed behind them.
Subaru could only grin as he was running away.
"That traumatic sound at my back is oddly reassuring."
"I don't know how to feel when you say that," Toyota grimaced—especially since he knew that all of this was real and not just a story.
As they raced up ahead with Rem. at their backs fighting the Ma Beasts, they could see the lights of torches from the village. Even while carrying a girl, Subaru still seemed practically bursting with energy. And it felt utterly ridiculous.
Am I out of shape or is this man just... made of muscle?
Subaru yelled over his back, "Rem! We see the bonfire and villagers—we made it to the barrier!"
He looked back. Seeing his shocked gaze, Toyota turned.
And saw quite a scary sight.
Rem was completely covered in the blood of the Ma Beasts, full of gore as her wrecking ball mace with chains swung from side to side.
The sound of wind whistling came upon them abruptly—as Rem could only shove the two—
Hit by a blast of what seemed to be psychic energy, she went flying, and the ground seemed to indent and explode with her—almost like she was hit by an invisible stick of dynamite.
"Rem, you idiot, what have you—what have I—!?" Subaru started to lose it.
This is bad. Subaru's starting to loathe himself again.
Looking in the direction where the blast originated, he saw the bald puppy. Multiple Ma Beasts flanked around it like it was some sort of gang leader.
As Subaru gritted his teeth and looked down, trying not to cry, thinking the worst he noticed...
A terrifying aura.
And a horn.
That seemed to be full of magical power.
Starting to grow and glow.
As Rem. rose from the ground, even covered in blood—she started to laugh.
"hehehehehehehehHEHHEHEEHEH—"
Every scratch mark that was visible on her started to heal at a rapid pace. But her mental state was clearly starting to break. As she started laughing maniacally and swinging her wrecking ball back and forth, making mush of the Ma Beasts that still dared to face her.
She manically kept screaming:
"Demon beast, demon beast, demon beast, demon beast, demon beast, demon beast, demon beast, demon beast—HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"
The grin that came from her face was bone-chilling.
The puppy with a bald spot merely stood in place, sizing her up. The Ma Beasts smartly encircled her from all angles.
Subaru screamed:
"LOOK OUT!"
Quickly handing the little possum girl to Toyota, he ran forward—breaking through the encirclement. He pushed Rem. forward as he took on the brunt of the attack from the Ma Beasts.
Toyota could only feel rage as he watched Subaru get ripped apart by the many Ma Beasts swarming him—each pulling at a different limb.
He wanted to dropkick this child—the cause of it all.
Even now, her eyelids were twitching, showing she wasn't actually asleep.
If I kill her... maybe this attack will stop.
But he showed self-control.
Because he knew.
That Subaru wouldn't die.
Rem, coming out of her berserk state, finally realized what was happening. She screamed Subaru's name.
And in a raspy voice, as if awakening from a stupor, she swung her wrecking ball chain—slicing all the Ma Beasts on top of Subaru in half.
She could only mutter repeatedly, "Don't die, don't die, don't die, please don't die…"
Subaru was clearly unconscious, blood pooling around him.
Toyota could only say to the frantic Rem, "He won't die. But... there are a lot of curses on him."
(AN: Trade deal, give me 50 power stones, and I will give you a bonus chapter.)