Future Warfare Technologies

Three Months and Two Weeks since the Last Death (Nine Deaths)

In a room filled with a gloomy and lonely atmosphere, a young woman with beautiful purple hair was sitting on a messy bed. Her analytical gaze and calm smile adorned her face of fine and delicate features. Her greenish-blue pupil eyes were fixed on a young man with pale skin and unkempt black hair. With both hands resting on her slender legs, the petite girl spoke to the boy, who was sitting in a wooden chair with his eyes tightly closed.

"In a week we'll be officially inauguratin' the Reinvention Project and I was hopin' ya'd take one last look at the report on the first batch of artifacts we selected for production."

"..." Even though the boy had clearly heard what she had said to him, nary a response was uttered by his lips, which remained completely sealed.

Without any sort of reproachful reaction to the cold attitude of the young man, who had just plain ignored her, the girl kept her analytical gaze focused on him. However, her gaze temporarily strayed to the sphere resting in the boy's palms; no, the sphere was not exactly on his hands, it was floating a few centimeters away from his skin.

The young man generally always treated her cordially and warmly, even though his mental state made it difficult for him to do so, therefore for him to ignore her could well be considered an irregularity. And the source of such an irregularity was the black sphere. Thus, the girl did not utter another word. Patiently, she waited for a change to occur in the boy or the black light sphere.

Elapsed a few seconds, the sphere shook slightly and then abruptly vanished. The boy, who had not moved since the girl entered his room, sighed bitterly. "It's useless..." The movement of his eyeballs was visible through his closed eyelids.

Although the girl understood perfectly well what had just happened, not a single word of comfort sprang from her lips. Nothing I can say will be of any help to him; she thought. Her policy was to meddle as little as possible in the personal lives of her employees, and so it would remain; at least for a while longer. The boy reluctantly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the girl's delicate face.

"Do ya need me to repeat what I said?" She asked then, receiving a gesture of denial in response. "I'm sorry to barge into your room in this manner, but I sent one of the butlers to call for ya and ya didn't answer when he knocked on the door, so I thought it best to come and see how ya're feelin'." A faint, dying smile broke out on the young man's face, but the girl was unable to notice it. "For a moment I feared ya'd suffered another panic attack..." And with those words, the smile of the young man, Subaru, vanished.

"No need to worry, I was trying to do meditation together with Kuro, that's all. You know that when I do that I concentrate so hard that I lose track of my surroundings. And you don't have to apologize. This is your mansion, so I'd never claim that you're trespassing; besides, your presence will never be a bother to me."

"Heh, heh. How flatterin', Natsuki-kun, thanks. And yes, I know; I'm glad it was just that and not somethin' more... troublesome." A sincere smile graced the girl's lips, causing the boy's feeble smile to return, albeit more faintly than the first time. "Anyway. Since I took the trouble to come all this way to check on ya, do ya think ya could do it?"

"Take a look at the report of the first batch, right?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to make sure that the factory didn't make any mistakes."

"Okay, I'll do it right away. Did ya bring the report with you?"

Shaking her head, the girl signaled that the answer was negative. "It's in my office, shall I've someone bring it 'ere?"

"No, it's not necessary. If you like, you can go ahead. Give me a moment and I'll catch up with you." Understanding that this is what Subaru wanted, the girl got up from the bed and left the room. Within seconds, Subaru found himself alone again. "Shit, I gotta be more careful." Muttering that, Subaru rose from the wooden chair and opened a drawer of the desk located in front of it. There lay a roll of paper. Subaru took it and proceeded to put it away in a wooden box located under his bed.

He would have put that roll of paper away in the box in the first place, except that he was working so hard on the contents of the roll that he failed to notice his name being called until he heard Anastasia's voice on the other side of the door. He had been forced to summon his lesser spirit simply to pretend he was meditating, and it made him feel guilty. However, the effort had been worth it, he had finally finished the sketch of his firearm.

A day had passed since Anastasia asked him to check the final product report for the Reinvention Project.. The inauguration was less than a week away, and there was no one inside Hoshin Trading Company who did not have a backlog of work. There were thousands of documents to sign, thousands of reports to revise, thousands of inventories to approve. Fortunately for Subaru, his responsibility was unrelated to most of that backlog.

Nevertheless, despite this, that day he was together with one of the designers assigned to the newly established headquarters of the Lugunica branch of the Hoshin Trading Company. It was not uncommon for Subaru to meet with design department employees, and although Subaru had already fulfilled all of his responsibilities pertaining to the inauguration of the project, it was not inconceivable that a meeting would take place.

What was unusual, however, was that he was meeting with only one member of the department, especially if it was not the department leader. So why was he meeting with this person? The sketch he had just cautiously passed to the designer was the reason. A nervous smile came across the face of the person he was meeting with, a girl with chestnut hair and eyes, inconspicuous in appearance.

Alexa was the girl's name, and she was one of the first Hoshin Company product designers he met. Yet, that was not the reason he decided to approach her to help him produce the weapon. On the same day he was attacked by the fake Zarestia, Alexa accidentally saw the draft of his weapon. She was the only person in the department who knew of the sketch's existence, and although Alexa had not really understood what it depicted or represented, Subaru had decided to take that loose end and tie a knot with it.

During the transfer of part of the company from Kyo to the Royal Capital, Subaru contacted Alexa in various ways, always avoiding being caught by anyone. Once they returned to Lugunica for the second time, maintaining contact became more complicated, since the Hoshin Mansion seemed to possess eyes and ears on every wall, even so, Subaru managed to pull it off.

And now it was time for him to hand the sketch over to Alexa, so that she, using the contacts she had at the factory, could stealthily create a functional gun. Subaru was not in a position to plan everything himself, so he had been forced to rely on Alexa. And although she seemed like a simpleton on the surface, she was actually quite intelligent.

The one thing Subaru feared most was that Alexa would betray him and divulge the secret of the weapon. However, Alexa was a great admirer of his work, and that had caused her to be loyal enough to him not to betray his trust. Everything had gone well, and according to Alexa all that remained was to deliver the sketch to the contact inside the factory. However, Subaru had not left the mansion since his return, which involved the relocation of part of the company, and he feared that going to the branch office would arouse suspicion now that he had no business there.

Therefore, when the opportunity to meet with her at Anastasia's mansion arose, Subaru did not hesitate to seize it. Anastasia would meet with the company's top brass, the leaders and sub-leaders of the company's various departments, to discuss a variety of matters, among which was Subaru's recently reviewed report.

However, since the leader of the design department had to monitor something in the factory, the sub-leader of the department replaced him, and along with him, the third in the hierarchy was also assigned to the meeting with the head of the company. Such a meeting rarely took place, and this one in particular was happening because of the impending inauguration of the Reinvention Project. To waste the opportunity would have been a blunder...

The main meeting had already concluded, however, a second one, in which only the department heads would partake, had proceeded. With the security of the mansion focused entirely on the meeting room, Subaru knew that this was the perfect time to meet Alexa.

"Amazin'... A design as intricate as this could only be conceived by someone like you, Subaru-sama." With sparkling eyes, the girl admired the design of the weapon drawn on the sheet of paper. Even though Subaru had instructed her to put the sketch away the moment she received it, Alexa had not resisted the temptation to give it a glance.

The detailed drawing of the gun and its parts was not the same as the one Alexa had once seen by accident. Thanks to recommendations from Leith and other craftsmen in the company, obtained due to the excuse of improving the lighter mechanism, which would serve as a trigger to fire the gun's explosive ammunition, the design had been vastly improved.

His training with Julius was progressing more slowly than he had originally expected, despite his low expectations; whether it was the swordplay or the Spirit Arts. The self-loathing he felt had increased enormously after what had happened with Crusch Karsten, so creating the weapon had become a necessity to appease his spirit's displeasure. He needed something to protect himself with, regardless of what he had to do to obtain it...

"Put it away!" Subaru whispered sullenly, causing the girl to startle and immediately obey, thus putting the scroll away in a bag she was carrying.

They were both in the courtyard of the mansion. Subaru feared that communicating by means of letters would irremediably lead to the secret being exposed, therefore, he had instructed her with various courses of action to follow, which varied according to the circumstances. The last time they met, more than a week ago, Subaru informed the girl that he would have the design finished by the next time she visited the mansion, and instructed her to meet him at that very place.

Since Subaru normally trained there in the mornings, Subaru was confident that their meeting would not be a suspicious or unnatural one. However, the meeting that had brought them together had turned out to be more extensive than usual. For the same reason, Subaru found it necessary to extend his training session and sacrifice quite a bit of sleep. Fortunately for him, the guards of the mansion would never consider any of this as suspicious, since it would not be the first time he had strained himself in this way.

The meeting started at eight o'clock in the morning, and at nine-thirty Alexa came out into the courtyard, exactly when Subaru was taking a break. Perfect timing, Subaru had thought. It would be a quick transaction in which they would exchange as few words as possible, since the last thing he wanted was to attract the attention of the guards.

A short exchange of words with an acquaintance would be nothing unusual, still, and Subaru was aware that perhaps he was being overly cautious, bordering on paranoid, if his meeting with Alexa dragged on any longer than necessary, word of it might get back to Anastasia. If his boss started keeping a close eye on Alexa with Fang of Iron mercenaries, his plans would be thwarted.

"That's it. I'll see you at my next meeting with the design department." Having said that, Subaru wiped the sweat from his brow with a rag and stood up, walking away from the table that he and Alexa were sitting at. It was the outdoor table used by Anastasia when she was in the mood for a night of drinking, and the table where he always took breaks away from the sun's rays during his training sessions.

No one should find this to be suspicious, Subaru thought. However his blood ran cold when he heard a voice other than Alexa's. "There ya're Alexa! I've been lookin' for ya all over the mansion. If it wasn't for one of the guards tellin' me ya're 'ere, I would've missed lunch looking for ya... Hm? Subaru-sama, I didn't realize ya were here, my apologies." It was Zeilt. A bald man with a serious face. He was also the eldest within the product design department. Zeilt's gaze wandered from Alexa to Subaru, and noticing that they both looked slightly nervous, his brow furrowed slightly. "Is somethin' the matter? If it's somethin' related to Alexa's job performance, Subaru-sama, I can assure ya that-"

"It's nothing, Zeilt. She just went out for some air and I was taking a break from my training, so I took the opportunity to ask her how things were going in the department with the branch opening and the inauguration of the Reinvention Project." Quickly regaining his composure, Subaru responded to Zeilt, who had apparently misread the situation.

"I see..." Zeilt said.

"Subaru-sama was already boutta return to his trainin', so we'd stop botherin' him. Besides, we've lotsa things to do, so let's not waste time." Deciding it was best to get out of there, Alexa started walking towards the door that led to the mansion.

Subaru said no more; he took his wooden sword and began to swing it, striking the empty space in front of him repeatedly. Zeilt, without adding anything else, followed Alexa. However, as he was about to cross the threshold of the door, he and Subaru, who had been watching him out of the corner of his eye, exchanged glances. Subaru at that moment felt an uncomfortable tingling in his back, a sensation that did not disappear even when Alexa and Zeilt disappeared from his sight. Be that as it may, there was no turning back now, his weapon would be manufactured.

Fifty-Five Minutes since the Last Death (Fifteen Deaths)

A smile of relief slowly crawled from the corners of Subaru's mouth. Furtively, Subaru's emotions seeped into his face. Unbeknownst to him, it became apparent how he was feeling. Subaru was unaware of it, but a tiny sincere smile took place on his lips. It was almost imperceptible, but the shinobi warrior noticed it.

"Keh, heh, heh, heh, heh! Did I live up to yer expectations, Su-san?" With smoke seeping from his mouth and nose, Halibel laughed as he asked for Subaru's opinion of his combat performance.

Subaru's small smile vanished, and a countenance of seriousness was what took its place. "After what happened in Kyo, I expected nothing less from you, Hal-san."

"Kahahahahahaha!" Subaru's response caused Halibel to laugh uproariously, releasing a dense puff of smoke in the process. "Should I take that as a compliment, Su-san?"

"You'd take it as a reminder." Despite Halibel's good humor, Subaru's seriousness did not dissipate.

"A reminder? Of what?" Slightly confused, Halibel questioned Subaru about the meaning of his words.

"Those over there," Subaru said, his gaze moving to a spot located behind Halibel's back. The beast-man glanced over his shoulder in that direction, coming across a pile of hooded corpses. "were nothing more than cannon fodder; mere low-ranking cultists. The real showdown will occur when we come face to face with one of the Sin Archbishops. When that time comes you'll be able to prove to me whether or not you are up to my expectations, Great Shinobi Warrior."

"Hmm... Now I see what ya mean." A gesture of seriousness had come over Halibel's face, who responded with equanimity. Quickly, however, his typical carefree smile returned. "Ya stay calm, Su-san. I'll make sure we get outta this whole mess alive."

"That's good to hear." And with those words, Subaru turned his back on Halibel. "Let's hurry to the mansion. We've already wasted too much time detouring to get there."

Halibel had just joined the group, yet they had no time to celebrate. Nor did they have time to celebrate the swift elimination of the cultists who had attacked them. Otto, Leith and Utada were waiting for them a few meters away, at the corner of one of the many intersections where the capital's roads crossed.

A nod from Subaru was all it took for the mercenary and his two colleagues to get moving. In less than five minutes they would arrive at the mansion, once that happened, Subaru would take the reinforcements he deemed necessary and set off for the Royal Castle. The journey was just beginning, they still had a lot to deal with, and yet the feeling of relief that had invaded him a few seconds ago had not left his body altogether.

He had finally recovered his ace up his sleeve, his most valuable card. Halibel, the warrior who feigned to work under Anastasia's orders, but who in reality worked for him. Although he had initially regretted having consented to the Shinobi warrior's proposal, in the context in which he found himself he could only be profoundly grateful that he had done so.

Halibel's presence would completely turn the tables on the battlefield. The combat between Halibel and the Witch Cult's advance party had amounted to merely the hors d'oeuvre. A small display of power, which would have left Subaru dumbfounded had it not been for the fact that he had already witnessed the warrior's lightning-fast fighting style.

In less than a second, the shinobi warrior rained kunais on the hooded cultists, killing more than half of them. The black fog remained in place, however, there were those who managed to react fast enough, narrowly avoiding the sharp weapons from plunging into vital points of their body. However, this only slightly delayed their inevitable deaths.

Subaru had heard about this from Halibel himself, shortly after their reencounter during his second trip to Kararagi. Halibel was not simply a nimble warrior, capable of cloning himself and fighting using daggers, combat knives and kunais. His true forte was the magic that the Shinobi were accustomed to use to strengthen their fighting style, curses.

Unlike magic that uses mana as fuel or the Spiritual Arts, both of which have different uses at their disposal, curses have only one use; to kill the target. In order for a shaman or curse user to place a curse, it is necessary for him to have physical contact with that which he wishes to curse.

Halibel is an expert in the use of curses. Using his hair and nails, which he mixes with his weapons, he is able to inflict powerful curses. Subaru at the time was unaware of this, but during the fight against the fake Zarestia, Halibel had placed a number of curses on her, and although he had failed to kill her with these, he did manage to weaken her. Had it not been for the Oni girl's fighting style, and the strange sphere she carried, it is possible that Halibel would have killed her in no time.

Exactly that is what happened during the combat against the cultists; in less than a second, the careless cultists were severely weakened by the effect of the curse. Those most affected by it fell to their knees, vomiting copious amounts of bloody bile. Having detected the change in his enemies, Halibel delivered the coup de grace to the survivors using another of his unique and devastating techniques.

Employed only by the most experienced shinobi warriors, this technique consisted in the creation of sharp, almost invisible blades of mana and air, which could be placed in strategic areas of the battlefield. The unseen blades were perfect for setting traps for unsuspecting enemies or for those who desperately tried to flee from combat. Within seconds the cloud of darkness dissipated, revealing the massacre.

That small demonstration of power had bolstered the calmness of Subaru's spirit. He was confident that if things went off course with Utada, Halibel would be able to keep him at bay and even, if necessary, assassinate him. In silence, Otto, Leith and Subaru advanced toward the mansion, which was already visible several blocks away. Utada, on the other hand, had retreated slightly and had positioned himself next to Halibel, who was keeping a watchful eye on the rear.

"I wanted to thank ya for the help, Halibel-sama. It probably would've taken me quite a bit longer than ya to take down all those damned witch cultists."

"Oh! Ya don't have ta thank me, Utada-san. We're comrades after all, aren't we? As such we'd help each other whenever we get the chance. Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh."

"Yeah, ya're absolutely right, Halibel-sama." Nodding, Utada indicated agreement with the nonchalant warrior's stance on the matter. "Halibel-sama, there's one thing I'd like to ask ya."

"Hmm? I'm all ears, ya tell me!" Stated the shinobi warrior, to immediately afterwards puff on his golden kiseru.

"What were ya doin' so far away from the lady's mansion, did somethin' happen there?" Utada's voice did not indicate it, but it was clear that he was slightly alarmed.

"Oh, that! Ya see, we had no idea what was goin' on in the city. It was obvious that there was somethin' wrong, given the whole state of alarm thing and the plumes of smoke risin' over the business district, but we're completely in the dark 'bout what was really happenin'. So, under Ricardo-san's orders, I came out to investigate the area. It was then that I ran into ya. When I saw hooded lunatics chasing ya, I finally figured it all out." Halibel replied, looking at the three young men walking in front of them. "Still, to think that there would be more than one Sin Archbishop in the city..."

"Indeed, the situation isn't exactly in our favor." Utada said with extreme seriousness. "That's why Subaru-sama decided that the best thing we'd do was to go to the mansion to ask for reinforcements. I just hope the captain will be kind enough to spare us a couple of qualified companions to help us deal with what lies ahead; not that we intend for ya all to neglect the mansion, that's yer priority after all."

"A couple of companions...? You don't worry Utada-san, I'm sure Ricardo-san will select some people more than adequate for the task." Releasing a wide plume of smoke, Halibel offered words of support with a smile. Deep down, however, he knew where the situation was really heading to.

"Four archbishops, ya say! Shit, I didn't think the situation in the city was so dire!"

"Yes, I'm afraid it is. Besides, I'm pretty sure, from what I'd see in the vision, that their target is the castle." Overwhelmed, Subaru voiced his fears to a surprised Ricardo. Once they arrived at the mansion, Subaru wasted no time and proceeded to meet with the captain of the Fang of Iron, to whom he revealed most of the information he had gathered along the loops.

"The castle, huh? Shit, in other circumstances I would've shrugged the matter off by sayin' that the Royal Guard and the Knights of the Realm could take over, but against four Sin Archbishops I ain't sure that's gonna be the case. They'll be too busy confrontin' the cult, and that could lead to a lotta non-combatant deaths..." With his typical smile absent from his face, Ricardo made a quick analysis of the situation in the castle.

"And don't you think the Sword Saint could manage to defeat them without any losses happening on our side?" Subaru knew the answer, he had witnessed it, after all. Still, he wanted to hear the opinion of that experienced warrior, captain of the Fang of Iron and one of the people closest to Anastasia Hoshin.

"As I said, in other circumstances I would've said yes, but... Ya said you saw the Archbishop of Greed in your vision, didn't ya?" Subaru answered Ricardo's question with a nod. "That's what I was most afraid of... Thanks to the information bestowed by the Sword Demon, Wilhelm Van Astrea, prior to his death, it was discovered that the Archbishop of Greed's basically invincible, remember?"

"Yeah, I don't think I'll ever forget that day. You, Mimi and Julius gave us quite a scare. It took you about a month before you were able to regain full mobility of your jaw."

"Shit, don't remind me, boy!" Ricardo's shout caused Subaru to lower his head slightly in apology, eliciting a shrill laugh from Ricardo. Laughter that was quickly suppressed. "That's the thing. If the Archbishop of Greed actually defeated the Sword Demon so easily, who in his younger years managed to snatch the sword from the previous Sword Saint, then I can't say for sure that the current Sword Saint won't have any trouble facin' him. Especially if that invincibility thing isn't just an exaggeration."

"An immovable object meets an unstoppable force..." Subaru muttered, getting a nod from Ricardo in response.

"Yeah, that sounds 'bout right, kid. And when that clash takes place, the battle will drag on indefinitely. If the Sword Saint should be with his hands full, the rest of the Sin Archbishops will be able to roam the capital freely. I truly fear for the people of Lugunica, and for those in the castle. Ana-bo..."

Ana-bo. Subaru had only ever heard Ricardo call one person that; Anastasia. That was his affectionate way of calling her when there were no business matters involved, which was rarely the case. No one knew Anastasia better than Ricardo, one could well say that she was like a daughter to him. Therefore, it would not be surprising if Ricardo felt exceedingly worried about what might happen to her.

"Ricardo, I don't know whether or not what I'm about to ask of you will be to your liking, but I'm afraid I don't have time to sugarcoat my words, so I'll be blunt. I need you to gather the best members of the Fang of Iron and relieve them of their duties as guards of the mansion; instead, they will form the rescue team that will head to the castle with the goal of rescuing Anastasia. Ricardo, please lend me your support. Only in this way can I ensure that Anastasia's destiny is to achieve her much-desired goals."

"Destiny..." Ricardo whispered, his face completely expressionless. Both mercenary and inventor stared at each other for eternal seconds. Finally, a smile broke out on Ricardo's face. "What ya're askin' of me goes contrary to the orders given to me by the lil' miss. Nonetheless, since ya're the one requestin' it, my boy, then I guess I can't refuse." Laughing, Ricardo patted Subaru hard on the back, causing him to stagger. "I don't know how ya intend for us to travel across the capital if it's supposed to be infested by members of the Witch Cult, but I'll trust ya. After all, it was thanks to ya that we survived the assassination attempt on Priestella."

"T-Thank you... Ricardo..." Subaru replied, recovering the air he had lost because of Ricardo's friendly gesture. Once he had recovered, Subaru looked seriously at the beast-man and stated how he should proceed. "You don't need to call all the members of the Fang of Iron, just the ones you consider the best. Gather them in the hall, I'll be there in five minutes."

"What're ya gonna do, Subaru?"

"I'll pick up an artifact that I went through quite a bit of trouble to be able to create."

Having said that, Subaru left the room that served as the Fang of Iron's command center and headed for his personal quarters. On the way he encountered several mercenaries, who reacted in different ways upon seeing him. Some asked him about what was happening in the capital, others asked him about why he was there and some even wanted to know if anything had happened at his meeting with Otto and Leith.

Subaru had no choice but to simply greet them as he passed them by. He had wasted too much time traveling to Anastasia's mansion, and now his priority was to leave for the Royal Castle as soon as possible. In less than a couple of minutes he was already in front of the door of his room completely out of breath.

Without wasting time catching his breath, he opened the door and dove under his bed. There lay a wooden box. He grabbed it and slid it off the bed, where he proceeded to open it. Inside was a strange device with a metal handle that emitted a faint glow, which had a sort of button that served as a trigger. The body of the weapon was also metallic, but it was considerably more reinforced, had a wide butt, designed to be rested against the shoulder, and ended in a barrel that allowed the projectiles to exit.

"I don't know how helpful you'll be to me, but if I get the chance, I'd like to return the favor to Petelgeuse, Sirius, and Capella; especially those two bitches." The weapon resembled what might be found in his world, however its operation did not. The use of Lagmite was what brought the artifact to life. Gently brushing the button that functioned as a trigger, Subaru added. "With this and Halibel's help I'd finally be able to regain control over Anastasia's destiny."