Beatrice clutched tightly at my hand, our palms slightly sweaty as we stared at the horde before us. “What should I do?” I asked.

“Just hold Betty’s hand, I suppose. And, if you can spare it, your void breath. Just breathe it right at me, in fact. I’ll absorb it without issue, in fact.”

I looked at her skeptically, “It destroys everything it touches.” I pointed out with a raised brow.

“Hm! Praise me! I’m so amazing I already analyzed it entirely, in fact! Now, don’t hesitate!”

“Ah yeah! Beako is the best!”

“Praise me more, in fact!” She smiled and raised her chin haughtily.

The rattling of chains sounded right next to my ear, followed by something flying past my face. A second later, a loud splat rang out as Rem’s flail impacted a rabbit that had gotten just a bit too close. “No time for flirting!” Rem shouted, “Subaru-kun, Beatrice!” She flung out the flail again, killing more rabbits that were getting too close.

“No need to tell me twice! Beako, are you ready?”

“Yes,” she replied simply, not even using her normal affectations. She nodded her head and looked into my eyes with a serious expression.

“Alright.” I inhaled, sucking in as much air as could fit in my lungs. Only after they were full to bursting did I let out an exhale— and along with it, a plume of deep purple fire.

It felt different, using the flames in my human form— lesser somehow. They impacted against Beatrice, only for her to easily backhand the flames and redirect them; they swirled in a mesmerizing display, separating and spinning around her in a helix spiral. Then, she grinned.

“Il Shamak!” Her grin became manic, the flames swirling around her going dead still, framing around her like a painting.

Then, all of the flames vanished at once, gone without a trace. In their stead, a purple ball formed in Beatrice’s hand, no larger than a small pebble.

“Beako, what is that?”

She ignored me, still intent on the tiny piece of magic in her hand. She laughed like a lunatic, the tiny purple stone in her hand glowing with increasing ferocity. With a wave of that hand, the pebble began floating slowly forward. It drifted through the air like a boat through a stream, slowly meandering but never stopping. It made contact with the first rabbit— the horned mabeast instantly vanishing as if it never existed.

This prompted more laughter from Beatrice, making me look at her in slight worry. “Beako?”

“Hmph! Just watch, I suppose. And you!” She pointed at Rem. “Grab onto me and Subaru, and don’t let go.” Beatrice abruptly turned around and cast her hand out at the villagers, “Minya!” She shouted, purple crystals flying out from her hands and hitting the top and bottom of the entryway— completely encasing the villagers within the trial chamber but not directly injuring any of them. Then she turned back out to watch the Insatiable Hare.

The next second, Rem did as instructed and wrapped an arm around me and Beatrice, bracing for... something.

“Oi, Beako? Why do I get the feeling that something really crazy is about to happen?”

“Because it will, in fact! Just watch.” She smiled again.

Then, that purple pebble stopped moving, just floating out there in the middle of the field of rabbits. Without warning, the pebble expanded instantly, easily becoming twenty feet in diameter. With it came a great lurch in my stomach, as if I was somehow falling, even though my feet were anchored to the ground. I lost my footing and slipped, but Rem’s grip on me held strong as she dug her feet into the stone below us. Beatrice was being held underneath Rem’s other arm, laughing like crazy.

I looked back out to the uncountable hordes of the Insatiable Hare, watching with wide eyes as rabbit after rabbit got sucked into the giant purple vortex. All of the snow falling through the air changed trajectory— now swirling like an icy storm into the manifested black hole. The snow on the ground started defying gravity, flying up into the air and toward the black hole. Then it was the dirt’s turn, all of the dirt near the black hole getting sucked straight toward the vortex, mixing with the flying icy slush and bodies of rabbits. Everything near the black hole became so much muddy, icy, chunky salsa— blood and guts swirling around and freezing as they, too, vanished into the black hole.

A giant crater quickly began forming underneath the black hole, but that was the very least of the devastation. Chunks of rock from the trial chamber began breaking free and flying at super-speeds toward the black hole. The trees around the clearing began to creak and bend ominously, a few of the smaller ones becoming uprooted entirely as they, too, flew through the air and succumbed to Beatrice’s magic. An intense roar of wind flew past my ears— as if I was sticking my head out of a car window. An uncountable number of rabbits lost their footing and got sucked up by the black hole for an uncountable number of minutes.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

The entire time, Rem just braced us against the ground with her inhuman strength. It felt like down was sideways— as if the direction of the black hole ought to be where the ground was. It made me sick, making me feel halfway upside down.

Meanwhile, Beatrice just kept laughing maniacally, her drills sucking in toward the black hole but not actually moving anywhere since they were attached to her head.

Finally, it ended. The few trees and slabs of rock that had still been flying through the air dropped and impacted against the ground with their forward momentum, causing great gouts of dirt to spray up into the air like mines going off.

Beako wiggled out from Rem’s grip, her tiny flats clicking against the torn-up stone floor. “Subaru, Subaru! Did you see that? Betty always wanted to try that spell, but there was never enough mana to do so, in fact!” She hopped up and down in excitement, her drills and dress slightly flying in the air.

“Oh... Yeah, that was amazing all right. Horrifying too. I think I peed Rem’s pants.”

Rem frantically looked down at her skirt-covered legs with mild panic before seemingly coming to a realization. “Rem doesn’t wear pants!” She pointed out.

I burst out laughing, the adrenaline from the moment prior mixing with Rem’s panicked outburst until I couldn’t take it anymore. I wiped at the corners of my eyes where tears of laughter had formed before letting out a big sigh. “Beako, kindly never do that again.”

She scowled at me but didn’t complain.

Looking back out into the field, there was nothing but utter devastation. A massive crater had formed in the earth, and many of the trees from the surroundings had vanished. Most importantly, not a single trace of the Insatiable Hare remained.

“Did we get all of them?” I asked aloud, praying to Murphy.

“We did, I suppose. Betty would know if I had missed any.”

“I can’t smell any of the Mabeasts, either,” Rem said.

“Well, if Rem’s cute nose says so, it must be true.”

Beako walked over and pulled on my sleeve. “Betty is cute too, in fact.” She looked up into my eyes pleadingly.

I smiled, “That’s true! Beako—” I lifted her underneath her arms and brandished her toward the sky, “Is the cutest!”

I could hear a commotion in the trial chambers behind me, making me turn my head around. “Beako, it wouldn’t be too hard to get rid of those crystals, would it?”

Beatrice’s smile faltered, still up in the air where I held her.

“Right?” I questioned again.

Beako slowly creaked her head toward the trial chambers and gulped.

It ended up just being simpler to blow a new hole in one of the walls rather than try to dismantle the dangerous Minya crystals blockading the main doorway. After a few warnings to clear the area, Rem blasted apart chunks of stone until a new, ragged entranceway was created. The villagers quickly began filing out after that.

“Subaru!” Petra, an orange-haired village girl, came running out from the dark trial chamber with her arms high in the air.

She crashed into my lower legs and wrapped herself around me in a fierce hug, forcing me to drop Beako’s hand as I returned Petra’s embrace. “Subaru! It was so scary!” Petra looked up at my face with big eyes.

“Yosh, yosh! It’ll all be okay now.” I reassured her, gently patting her head. “It’s all taken care of now.”

“Who is this limpet clinging to my Subaru, I wonder?” Beako grumpily asked from beside me.

“Beako, this is Petra. I’d like you to try and be friends with her if you can.”

“Hm! Betty only needs Subaru, in fact.”

Petra looked at Beako with glassy eyes, making Beako falter. “But, I suppose I can make an exception... this time.”

“Careful, Beako, your dere~dere is showing again.”

“Hmph!”

I looked past Petra and the rest of the villagers and refugees, filing out deeper from the chamber. A herd of pink-haired girls were meandering at the back of the trial chamber, one of them wearing black clothes compared to the white clothing of the rest of them.

I gently pried Petra away from my legs and passed her to Beako. “Be good and watch over each other for a minute, okay? Beako, keep an eye on my back, but otherwise, don’t interfere.”

From my left side, Rem gently put her hand into mine. “Rem is coming with you.”

Glancing at her determined expression, I replied, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Then, my right hand was suddenly grabbed onto as well.

“Betty must teach her contractor not to separate from his mightiest asset, in fact. Don’t try and stop me.”

I chuckled ruefully. “Got it, I won’t be convincing either of you to stand behind and watch anyway, will I?”

“Of course not / I won’t.” Beako and Rem said, respectively.

“Beatrice,” I began seriously. “I really think it would be best if you stay out of this one,” I warned for the final time.

“Betty will not leave your side, in fact.” Her grip on my hand tightened.

“Alright. Time to go talk with a Witch.”

I stepped forward, both girls in lockstep with me and holding either of my hands, Rem on the left and Beako on the right. I heard scurrying behind me and looked back only to see Petra following close behind and peeking her head around and over Beako.

“Subaru?” Petra spoke up from behind me. “Did the Ryuzu-s do something bad?”

“No, they’re innocent. But, Petra, shouldn’t you be with your parents?”

“Nowhere is safer than behind Subaru’s back!” Petra cheerfully exclaimed.

I let out a sigh, I really would have preferred to not be responsible for this child while confronting a Witch.

“Beatrice, can you send her through the portal for now?”

The portal spawned right behind Petra as she asked, “What portal?”

“Petra, when you get inside, ask Ram to check on Garfiel for me, will you?”

Then, Beako waved her free hand, sending Petra gently floating backward into the safety of my Sweet Home, much to her squeaky protests.

“Two less things to worry about now.”

We continued walking, the placeholder pink clones parting before me like the sea; my steps unerringly brought me closer to Ryuzu Shima. Or, perhaps, if my guess was right, Omega. I stopped directly in front of her and let go of Rem’s hand. She took one hesitant step back, and then I thrust my hand forward as fast as I could, tearing the crystal out of the collar of her jacket and into my hand. It felt warm to the touch.