Huh?

Subaru blinked twice, then looked around with bewildered eyes.

He was standing on his feet in the middle of the ring, grasping the hilt of his wooden sword with both his hands. Julius was in front of him metres away, his right hand holding his weapon and the left one behind his back.

No… No way.

The black-haired boy realised what happened, and then started panicking. He had lived a while ago this same moment, then he ended losing his consciousness. That meant only a thing: Natsuki Subaru had returned by death, and his "save point" had-

"After showing that arrogance, and after accepting to fight for your honour, why are you waiting in this infamous way?"

Yes, his save point had been set right before the start of his fight with Julius, and Subaru had just witnessed the finest of the knight's overwhelming strength.

What I'm going to do? You cannot step back from a duel you just accepted. Think Subaru, think…

He didn't know if he could avoid the fight: Julius surely wouldn't let him step out. Subaru had to figure a way to survive the duel.

"I-It's nothing. We shall begin."

And to be able to do that, he had to study his opponent's moves.

Even without showing that, Julius was surprised by Natsuki Subaru's behaviour. A while ago he was wrapped in a cloud of hate, now he had a terrified look.

Maybe has he realised suddenly the trouble he has gotten into? This is hilarious, now it is too late to get out without facing me here and now.

He told Subaru loudly: "After showing that arrogance, and after accepting to fight for your honour, why are you waiting in this infamous way?"

A moment later, Subaru's reply came: "I-It's nothing. We shall begin."

"Well then, on the count of three: one, mew, three!" After Ferris ended speaking, both stood still. The ring was unnaturally silent, the surrounding knights waiting for the two opponents' first move.

Is he waiting for me? Julius thought This is an approach someone like him should not have. Well then, let us satisfy him.

Julius covered in few steps the distance between them, hardly followed by Subaru's gaze, then he tried to hit the black-haired boy in his stomach. Subaru stepped away, nearly falling on the ground for the momentum his dodge needed.

It is strange: this boy clearly is not fast enough to dodge that slash, but he was not hit. It seems he had already known I was going to hit there.

Julius turned himself to Subaru trying a horizontal stroke, but he blocked it with his sword. However, his grip wasn't strong enough and the boy's sword slipped, resulting in his left leg being hit.

I was wrong, it was only luck. He clearly has no strength or skills above the average citizen.

Subaru fell on his left knee, trying to get up without results; Julius walked to him, his raised sword pointed to his head. Then Subaru's arms fell by his side, his left hand grasping the sand of the field while the right one stood near the sword.

"Is that all you ha-"

Then the knight was cut off by a handful of sand heading to his face. Julius covered his face bending back his right arm, then the knight lowered it slightly and he saw Subaru getting up, pushing on his right leg. Suddenly the black-haired boy tried to hit Julius aiming to his stomach, left exposed by the raised hand. However, when the sword hit the designed target…

Julius: "...As expected, I should say. You undoubtedly lack technique and strength to be a knight, Natsuki Subaru."

The boy stood there, looking at the violet-haired knight saying that.

This is insane. It must be a nightmare.

He had managed to hit Julius the same way he had been hurt in their first duel, letting him lower his guard and then trying to distract him. However, the results of their attempts weren't the same at all: Subaru had been thrown on his back, while Julius just witnessed the stroke gritting his teeth.

"If you want to correctly deal a blow to your opponent, you shall fluidly move all your upper body while lifting with your legs. Like THIS!"

Julius, while he was still talking, quickly got himself in position: relaxed and slightly apart legs, the sword high on his right with its hilt near to his temple. Then he slashed from top right to bottom left. Subaru managed to put on something like a flat block just in time but the power of Julius's attack bent his arms, resulting in both the weapons violently hitting his right shoulder and making his torso turn on his right. The knight's next move was a horizontal slash from left to right, targeting powerfully the boy's exposed low abdomen.

Subaru fell on all fours coughing spit and blood, his head hung down. Julius got closer to him and reversed the boy on his back with an uppercut stroke, making his head bump with a muffled and hollow *THUD* against the sandy soil. Subaru's vision started to blur, with little stars appearing in the borders on his field of view. As his ears were filled by a continuous whistle, the blood started coming out from both his mouth and his nose.

Hahaha, here we go again. The boy hysterically laughed in his mind. This guy is totally out of my league. I don't know what I can do now…

While Subaru was thinking, Julius leant on him. His amber eyes were fixed on him, and his mouth was moving, but Subaru couldn't hear a single word.

I guess I'll have to try something different…

The violet-haired got up and started screaming, but there wasn't a triumphal look on his face: his usually neutral facade was twisted in concern. After seeing that, the light in the eyes of the black-haired boy started fading away.

…the next time.

This is wrong. This is horribly wrong.

"Ferris, come here!"

"What's happened, meow? You went too hard on him?" replied the cat-boy, coming closer to the two. His smirk vanished once he took Subaru's pulse. "I cannot sense his heartbeat. There is no time to lose!" said Ferris, starting casting healing magic.

The most powerful Sword Saint in the kingdom history clenched his fists, his Divine Protections, his Dragon Sword and his insane combat skills useless as his black-haired friend fought for his life. Why haven't I stopped Julius? I knew he was far more for Subaru, even if he was holding back.

The knights on the stands, who have been exulting after Julius's strokes, went suddenly silent after the semi-human leant on the boy lying on the ground. Most of them paled and, with some exceptions, everybody had anxious or saddened faces. That boy had insulted them but, in the end, he was moved by the desire of being there to protect the one he loved; now he had heavily paid his long mouth, lying on the ground and fighting between life or death.

Seconds passed while Ferris's magic was becoming more and more intense, but with no result at all. Finally, the healer said: "It's over: his soul left his body. There's nothing we can do now."

The semi-human knight felt tired and weak: his only value lay in his ability in water magic, but this time he had been useless. He was the referee of this fake duel and not only he had allowed this boy to get heavily hurt, but he couldn't save him and his life flew away from his fingers, regardless of his efforts.

Reinhard didn't know if he had to feel sad, angered, worried or guilty, or maybe all the previous together. Sad, because someone he had called a friend had died right now. Angered, because he had movingly warned Julius that there was no need of doing that and, known their difference in skills, the result of this showdown was obvious. Worried, because his alive friend was going to face severe trouble for murdering a royal candidate's vassal. And guilty because he was the Sword Saint, the knight amongst the knights, the ultimate weapon of Lugunica and the most powerful man in the world; and despite this, he had let die the one who had seen him not as the Sword Saint but as Reinhard, his friend. He now had fresh blood on his hands, after his grandmother's and royal family's ones.

"Subaru..."

And Julius just stood there, feeling horrified by himself. He thought he had a better mastery of his skills, he thought that if he had beat the boy while holding back all would have gone for the best for everybody. Now Natsuki Subaru lay before him, curled up in the sand, smaller than ever.

"This… It should not have ended like this." The violet-haired knight muttered, his hands nervously shaking. "You had to learn your place in the world. You never were supposed to die..."

"...Oh holy Spirits, what have I done?"

He couldn't think about the face Lady Emilia would have had after knowing her friend was no more going to be by her side.

Welcome back guys, I hope you enjoyed this.

I've been busy these days, so this small chapter is coming out a little later than I expected. I've some ideas but I'm buying myself some time to develop the plot. There is the chance to experiment with some loops only to join the canon (Subaru says "I didn't die." while awakening next to Emilia, so this chance does exist) or to diverge during Arc 3. I need to think about that.

Let's just say a thing: Subaru isn't weaker than in canon. It's Julius who this time is holding back less, not thinking that our boy never trained and actually is working as a butler at Roswaal's Mansion.

I concluded the chapter in this way 'cause I wanted to show the reactions of the knights more involved in the plotline; otherwise, loop after loop they will seem somehow heartless (nope, not the ones in Kingdom Hearts).

After publishing this I'll probably notice some orthographic monster, so a rewrite will come these days.

As you did before, review with all your constructive opinions (and eventually "Go home, you're drunk" if you like it).

See you in following chapters.