A supposed victory with the defeat of the cult in the combined efforts of each camp. In everyone's face joy, exhaustion, and sorrow is evident. Joy for that the cult's torments has come to an end, Exhaustion for that they fought with all their might, and Sorrow for their victory came with a heavy cost.
As the rest celebrated their freedom from the cult with a loud cheer of victory, one camp remained quiet, as the one who made this defeat possible remained standing…unmoving. The Emilia camp immediately surrounded the boy checking if everything is alright with him.
[Earlier the same day, During the fight]
As thousands continue clashing swords with the cult, two people stand between the battle. A black-haired kid, with sharp hazel eyes, with a whip in hand and a great spirit in another, stare at the enigma in front of him, a smiling platinum haired young girl, wearing nothing but a single sheet of white fabric and a ribbon in her hair. As she noticed the intense glare she received from the hazel eyed boy, her wide smile seems to have grown in size and her small fragile looking hands clapped at him.
"Something is definitely weird about this girl, she seems…familiar." In the middle of this battle Subaru's mind seems to be lost in thought. He dug through his memories trying to recall an encounter with this girl he supposedly had.
"Oh, how wonderful" Said the platinum haired girl as she continued clapping while staring at the shocked expression of the knight and his great spirit. As she said this a sword swung at her killing her in seconds, only for her to appear next to the black-haired knight.
"Get away I, suppose" A certain drill haired loli yelled as she and the knight casted El Minya on the platinum-haired girl turning her to a corpse in mere seconds, only for her to appear once again behind their back softly giggling.
"Who and what are you" Subaru asked confused and scared as to why this seemingly normal girl kept on dying again and again only to appear seconds later.
"Oh, where are my manners" she cheerfully said as her smile began to radiate even more.
"I am Pandora, the Witch of Vainglory" she proclaimed loudly, earning the attention of many soldiers. The soldiers all have mixed reactions to the platinum haired girl's proclamation. Some feared her and avoided getting near the witch while the rest were enraged and readied themselves to attack the girl.
Hearing her statement, Subaru feared its implications. He had heard Emilia's story of a witch with platinum hair that attacked her forest before Emilia, herself, subsequently froze it. Subaru remembered Emilia's warning, telling him to avoid direct confrontation with the witch. Thus, he casted Murak on himself and Vita on the witch simultaneously as he ran away as fast as he physically can while the witch weighted more. He briefly saw ten men suddenly attacking her after he casted the spell.
But before he could distance himself significantly, he suddenly found himself lying by the dirt several meters away from the witch. He could see an unconscious Beatrice only inches away from him, barely out of reach. As he tried to reach out for her, a weight suddenly appeared on his arm. As he checked to see what was causing it, he was dumbfounded to say the least.
"Tsk tsk You shouldn't runaway before introducing yourself." She said as she continued to look down on him while standing on his arm.
"Hmm, that spirit seems to be quite a hindrance" She thought out loud as she eyed the unconscious spirit. Seeing that if she does wake up, she would continue interfering with her plans.
"Well then. The Great Spirit, Beatrice is fighting alongside the remaining Emilia Camp." She softly declared activating her authority, earning her a surprised and angered look from Subaru. She then jumped far back and called upon witch cultists to protect her
"What did you do!?" Subaru from the top of his voice as he saw his partner that was only inches away form him disappear. He started preparing his whip, a weapon he mastered after 5 years of training, and a deep red short sword was unsheathed by his other hand, a sword given to him as a sign of gratitude for earning Vincent's respect and for giving him back his throne. This same sword was crafted by a prominent blacksmith in Vollachia, and was even owned by Cecilus Segmunt, a man who collects great modern and ancient blades as a hobby, at one point. The sharpness of the blade was the real deal, during the past year as Subaru tried to master the blade, he kept on cutting himself by accident. Currently, Subaru is fairly decent in the way of the sword, but he is not greatly skilled with it.
"She was an obstacle I had to remove, now who are you" Pandora said as she smugly smiled and continued staring at the sharp eyed boy.
"I, Subaru Natsuki, Spirit knight contracted to the Great Spirit Beatrice, and serving the Half-elf, Emilia" Subaru declared as he immediately fought the witch cultists. Unlike the Subaru from four and a half years ago, this Subaru has mastered the way of combat, after ten years of experience. Even though he hasn't mastered all of his weapons, he is incredibly tenacious in a fight. He fought by using his whip to attack by afar, and slashing anyone who dares get anywhere close to him. As he defended himself and continued advancing towards the witch who kept on smiling and clapping to the spectacle before her.
"I assume he must be ready" Pandora thought as she was filled with glee for the implications of her discovery. She saw Subaru fighting with all his strength without even using his authorities. But beyond that she can see, that the image is almost finished, the canvas will now become art.
As Subaru cleared the wave of witch cultists, he saw the platinum haired witch approaching him with arms open-wide. Smiling and gleefully giggling.
"Are you ready, Great Sage for the tribulation" The platinum haired girl said as she kept on closing the distance between him and the knight. Subaru was shocked to say the least.
"Natsuki Subaru you are compelled to kill me" Pandora commanded. Subaru pounced forward against his own will. As she deactivated her authority she was slashed and killed by Subaru's blade.
The Vainglory witch factor now free from Pandora, moved on to its next host, the current sage candidate and future Sage. As Subaru felt the presence enter him, his vision becomes pitch-black. All he can see is an infinite sea of shadows. At the end of the garden of shadows, he can see a silhouette of a man eyeing him with great interest in his eyes.
"Come" The voice spoke with complete dominance as Subaru was immediately compelled to follow the voice's command
Author's Note:
This is my first fan fiction, I hope you enjoyed it. Any criticization is acceptable.