COTE X Re: Zero: A Demon's Isekai

The debut of Sloth.

Here's something you don't see often. A double update. 

Enjoy.

Ayanokouji POV: 

The overwhelming sense of nausea slowly receded from my mind. My vision cleared, as the bright rays of the Sun cascaded down upon me. I looked around, getting my bearings. With my current location in mind, I could confirm that we had been sent back in time by a few days. I cracked my neck, as I stared down at Subaru, who was clinging onto Rem for dear support. I turned next to me, noticing Ryuuen. He slowly opened his eyes, and turned to me. 

"So that's how it feels when the brat dies?" He asked, rubbing his head. "What's worse is I can't fucking recall what happened just before that. Is that shit common?" He looked up, asking me. I had missed my timing intentionally, just by a little to confirm both the deaths, and to test for myself whether return by death would happen instantaneously or not. Turns out, there was a small time buffer that I could exploit. I nodded. 

"You should be fine in a minute." I told him. I looked at my phone. 100%. Finally. It was starting to take too long for him to die. 

"They're moving." Ryuuen noted, observing Subaru and Rem. He put out the flame on his eyebrow, as a tiny plume of smoke rose into the air. Ryuuen noticed my gaze. "It feels a little different. And before you ask, Monster, yes I do believe it made me a little stronger. Not by much, however."

"I see." I nodded. So even if he did die before Subaru, Subaru's death did make him stronger. Now, the only question is, was Subaru affected? "Follow them back. I'll be there with you in a minute." Ryuuen nodded, leaving. 

I took a step away from my vantage point. The stone floor creaked underneath my feet, and there were already cracks forming where I had been standing. I sighed. A little breeze blew forth from the action, blowing rubble away. 

That shouldn't have happened. The simple act of breathing has started affecting my surroundings? I wasn't supposed to get this much stronger, but killing them both simultaneously has increased the multiplier of my strength exponentially. While individually, they both might provide me with the same increment in strength, combined the effect is multiplied by itself. Somewhat like squaring a number in mathematics instead of doubling it.  

But, given the timeline of my rewind, thankfully I will not have to re-establish the connection I had formed with Crusch and the furry. However, this presented me with the opportunity to try something else. Subaru was clearly in shock, and not acclimatizing to Return by Death well just yet. Given his shocked state, Rem might take him to the mansion a day earlier than anticipated. Ryuuen will only confirm this for me later.  

With time on my side, I opened up the map of relics. The glowing lines greeted me once again, and I worked on them, scanning for the marked relics. The line closest to Roswaal's mansion glowed the brightest, leading from the forest on his property and then deep into the forest lands. The path eventually stopped short of a river that ran across the center of the continent. I stepped down into the street, blending in as I began to ask around. Knowing the landmarks would certainly be helpful. 

The people of this world are surprisingly helpful. The river was known as The Great Tigracy river, which no one would explain the origin of. The closest city as a landmark was Pristella, and a geographical landmark was the Redonas Plateau. It seems the time to collect the first relic has arrived. 

Now's the time to bring the trio back together.