Just a little familiar of zero oneshot, which may or may not get a whole story later on.
"Hey, partner?"
"Hm?"
"Do you want to die?"
"What's with this all of a sudden? Dying sounds painful, not to mention it'd be too troublesome to sleep through."
"Then why don't we leave with everyone else?"
I couldn't answer.
I, Reiner Lute, the laziest mage in Roland. Am standing against an army of seventy thousand. For the sake of a small girl who won't let me rest. For the sake of a kind maid. For the sake of a beautiful princess.
That's really not like me.
"… I suppose. Maybe I want to see if I can change things. Just this once."
"Partner, even if we die here on this hill, nothing will change. Well, I suppose you'll be the one doing the dying. Swords don't die after all."
I laughed, it wasn't all that funny, but it was enough for now.
"I suppose. But, even if I do die. Maybe I'll make a difference."
Me and my partner were silent for a moment, before Derflinger broke it.
"Well, what the hell do I know? I'm just a sword, swing me around one last time, won't you partner?"
"Ah, that sounds troublesome. But I guess I don't have much of a choice now."
"Hah, you never change. Still as unconcerned as ever. Guess that's what made you such an interesting partner."
A few arrows embedded themselves in the ground a few meters in front of me.
"I guess they won't just stay over there while I take a nap, eh? Best get this over with then."
"I'm with you partner, let's give them hell."
With those last words, I casually unsheathed my sword, my partner, my friend. And walked towards the enemy. Dodging only by the minimum distance required to not get hit by the arrows and magic heading towards me.
When there was barely fifty meters between myself and the soldiers, my eyes blazed crimson with the symbol of the Alpha Stigma. And I began to cast one of my own spells.
"What I seek is the steel warrior, Goremu!"
As my hand moved in the air, it created a familiar blue glyph. A spell inspired by Guiche de Gramont, the closest thing I ever had to a student. And a scant few meters in front of the approaching legion, a dozen steel golems rose up to challenge them. Tearing through the surprised swordsman.
It was then that I charged.
If I stayed in the open for too long someone would get a lucky shot, best to stay in the thick of it.
With the runes of Gandalfr blazing on my left hand, I carved a bloody path towards the nearest enemy flag. Aiming to maim when possible, kill when necessary. Feeding enemy spells to Derflinger while blocking those I couldn't with my own.
The first enemy unit was in chaos. When I reached the flag, it wasn't hard to determine who the commander was. He was the guy in the fanciest suit of armour. Unfortunately for him, he had to die. A bolt of lightning courtesy of a swiftly cast Izuchi did the job. Then I was moving once more.
When I cut my way out of the enemy unit, their morale broken as they fled, I was stuck about a hundred meters away from any other unit I could take cover in.
Seeing the approaching dragons, I decided to use what I learned from someone almost as familiar with death as myself.
"What I seek is the water cloud, Mizumi!"
From this glyph came a torrent of water, which then started raining down. But I wasn't done.
"What I seek is the burning fields, Kurenai!"
Next came a wave of fire, which turned the water into mist. This created a cloud above my area of the battlefield. But I had one more step left.
"What I seek is thunder, Izuchi!"
Putting in over double what a regular Izuchi would need, I charged the blast to levels which would make the bolt unstable. So when it hit the cloud above, it spread out. Creating a blanket of highly electrified water above me. Right where the dragons were flying.
While doing this, I didn't stop moving. And I was nearly in the next unit. Dodging arrows as I went, I prepared another spell to break their formation.
One of Colbert's tricks this time I think.
"What I seek is the changing atmosphere, Terafomingu!"
Not directly a combat spell, my last one manifested as a near invisible orb which expanded upon reaching its target. What does it do? It breaks apart carbon dioxide into pure carbon and oxygen. The result? Lots of black stuff and flammable gas in the air.
"What I seek is the burning fields, Kurenai!"
I imagine you can guess the result. When fire meets flammable gas, generally an explosion occurs.
That was exactly what I needed to get in their ranks.
The next moments played out much like the first unit I got into.
I'd rather not think of how many people I'd already killed today.
This cycle continued, until the enemy formed up into one large unit. A good two hundred meters away from the one I had just routed.
It was a decent strategy. The best way for the to beat me was to stop me from getting into the thick of their troops.
But, it would take more than steel to stop me.
Because I had a little trick from a temperamental pink haired girl to back me up.
"What I seek, is absolute destruction, Explosion!"
Like a few of my spells, this one started of small. A pure white light, about the size of a large coin flew at the enemy. Some of them were clever enough to get away from it.
But none of them expected the sheer destructive power behind it. When the light hit the ground, an area of around fifty meters was obliterated in a white light.
It effectively tore a hole in their formation, a hole I gladly took advantage of.
And now, for the last time. I was in their midst. By now I was sporting a number of cuts and scorch marks on my body. My vision was getting blurry from the blood loss. My extremities were beginning to numb from overusing my magic.
I just had one target left.
In truth, I had already done what I needed to. There was no way the enemy would be able to catch the retreating ships now. But I would do everything I could. Because I would likely never do anything else.
The spirit of the men around me began to break.
I saw many of them begin to flee.
I saw the enemy commander.
MY vision was failing.
I leapt towards him, bringing Derflinger up to meet him.
I felt my blade cut into flesh and tear through bone, but I did not see for my sight had gone.
I heard men all around me fleeing.
I kept moving; I had done all I could. Maybe, if I could get to the forest I would live another day.
Nobody stopped me.
My vision returned, just a bit.
Enough for me to know I was far enough from the edge of the forest to not be seen from the battlefield.
I collapsed next to the nearest tree.
Derflinger broke the relative silence.
"That was one hell of a ride partner."
His voice was grave.
"We did it though, didn't we? I managed to get their commander right?"
There was a moment of silence.
My vision was failing again.
"Yeah, you got him partner."
I sighed in relief.
"Good. looks like I managed to do something after all. Wait till I get back. Maybe they'll finally let me nap all day after this."
Derflinger remained silent.
"Hey, Derf. I'm feeling tired. I'll just take a nap here, ok?"
"Yeah, partner. You do that."
I barely noticed the sadness in his metallic voice, as I slipped away into my slumber.
"Sleep tight partner. I'll miss you."
Men don't like death.
They don't like to kill.
They don't like reluctant tears, and they don't like to cry for nothing.
What's the feeling like when someone can't choose their own life?
How does it feel to have a family member die?
What is the emotional state when someone a person likes dies?
Nobody wants to face these, but why is the world laughing and thirsting greedily for these meaningless sadness?
I've never thought of trying to change anything. But if I don't change it, sadness will be unavoidable, and I don't want to lose anything…
It may be troublesome to say this, but…
It's time to move forward. I've always been trying my best not to face this problem head on, but if there's a need, why not look back at my past head on?
And,
To enjoy a world where a person won't lose anything and anyone.
A wonderful world where that girl and Kiefer won't cry, Tai, Tony and Fualu won't die, and Sion wouldn't be in a dilemma.
Moving forward to a world where everyone is happy and could sleep all day.
Reiner Lute.