Chapter 10:

Subaru's thoughts raced as he ran up the stairs. He knew going up here was probably dumb - he had no way of protecting himself from Hans, but there was no way that he was able to just wait down there. Anxiety built up within himself. Then, he tripped up the stairs, his foot catching on a step.

He managed to catch himself. "Ghk…" He shook his head. He had been so confident a moment ago, but now that he was nearing Hans, and that the adrenaline from when he and the others had been running was gone, his determination was faltering.

"Hey, Subaru?"

"Uh- sorry." He rose to his feet and began walking up the stairs.

"It's okay. Just take a deep breath, 'kay?"

"I'm fine, really."

Subaru started walking up the stairs faster.

"I won't stop telling you to until you just do it."

"Mmh..."

"C'mon."

"...Fine."

Subaru took a deep breath. He held it for a moment, before exhaling. The short sequence helped to calm his racing heart. "Alright…" Subaru's fears melted away.

He continued up the stairs.

They finally reached the surface again.

However, neither Youra nor Selena were there.

Subaru looked around. "Huh…?"

The forest was still.

A loud crack resounded around them as a lightly armored man gripping a sword flew through a large tree, and landed in front of the two, tearing up the ground under them. The tree groaned and threatened to fall over from the hole now within it. Youra groaned. Blood began to flow from a large gash on his forehead.

"Y-Youra!"

Youra rose to his feet, leaning on his sword, saying, "You… two. You followed me?"

Subaru nodded, "Yeah."

"Stay away from us… Hans is a strong opponent."

With that, Youra dashed back in towards where he was flung from.

Did Hans really fling Youra like that?

Subaru hadn't seen Hans do anything like that before…

Subaru disobeyed Youra and slowly moved closer towards where Youra had gone. It'd be useful to get as much information out of this loop, just in case it failed. Subaru shook his head. If this loop failed, he would run away. This was his last shot. He shook his head again, this time telling himself to stop being so pessimistic.

A chill ran up Subaru's spine a moment later as he saw standing in a clearing up ahead. He faced away from Subaru. Subaru's eyes moved up, towards where Hans was looking. They fell on Selena, standing strong, despite shallow cuts up and down her body. She held her large and heavy sword with both hands, it was pointed towards Hans. Youra stood behind her, the blood from the gash on his forehead flew steadily, dripping down his face and onto the ground beneath. His sword was held with both hands like Selena's. Subaru quickly ducked behind a nearby tree, he carefully leaned out from behind it and towards them.

All stood still. Hans held two daggers in his hands, blood stained their blades. Youra still held his sword. Selena's arms were still despite the weight of her sword.

It was a moment later that the still was broken, exploding into a hectic clashing of blades. Subaru ducked back behind the tree, not daring to let Hans see him. Subaru leaned his head forward, his forehead rested against the rough tree bark. He just had to trust in them to defeat Hans now.

Subaru felt a tap on his back. He turned around, fear popping up within him for a moment. All that was behind him was Clement. He held one of Hans' daggers in his outstretched hand. He whispered. "Here, take it. I stole it while Youra fought with Hans earlier. Use it to defend yourself if anything happens."

"Eh? No, you can keep it. Keep yourself safe with it."

Clement sighed, "You really need to put more worth in yourself. Take it."

"No, really, I'd be useless with it."

Clement frowned. "Just take it." He placed the dagger in Subaru's hand, forcing him to close his fist around it. Clement said, "I have other ways of defending myself."

A moment later all hell broke loose when a deafening roar of an explosion surrounded them. Subaru's eyes widened and he threw himself forward, onto Clement. A moment later fire surrounded them. Subaru squeezed his eyes shut, ready for the pain and fear of death.

Weightlessness overwhelmed his senses as the force of the explosion pushed him off of the ground, flinging him through the air. Pain exploded all over as he hit the ground. His consciousness faded.

It was just after that when an explosion ripped the tree they were behind out of the ground. Subaru's eyes widened and he threw himself onto Clement. A wall of fire followed by a shockwave knocked the two away.

Subaru groaned, as his consciousness came back to him. "Wha… ghk… what happened?"

He slowly sat up, his body screamed at him to stop and tried to resist. He froze as his brain registered his surroundings. The Vanity Grove was engulfed in flames. The large trees were almost all on fire. Burning branches and cinders fell from the canopy above. Blood dripped down Subaru's face from a wound on his forehead. He could feel many other cuts and bruises all over his body. Subaru ignored the pain and hurriedly looked around. His eyes landed on the dagger Clement had given him. It was stuck in the ground nearby. He reached his aching arm over towards it and pulled it out. "Ah- Clement."

Subaru looked around for the man who had helped him so much this far. "Cle- Ghk… Clement!"

Hearing no response, he got to his feet putting the knife haphazardly into his tracksuit's pocket. He looked around wildly. It was a stupid notion of his, but he didn't want anyone other than Hans to die during this fight.

Subaru was in an area clear of any trees, they had probably been blown away by that explosion, as the ground was uneven and torn up. Several burning logs were laying on the ground around the clearing. Smoke from the fires blocked the sun above.

He began limping around, gritting his teeth in pain, and looking around. His eyes landed on a speck of blue a few meters away. Subaru ran over to the blue, which stood out in the grim environment. It had to be Clement's cloak. "Cl- Clement…"

The man was indeed there. A trail of blood ran down from his split forehead, and he had many other wounds across his body, just as Subaru also probably did. "C'mon… Clement." He kneeled next to the man and shook him to try to wake him.

Clement was limp in Subaru's arms. Subaru nervously moved his hand down towards Clement's wrist. He placed his finger on Clement's wrist, his own heart pounding in anticipation. Subaru sighed in relief as he felt a pulse.

"Why-"

Subaru froze as he heard an all too familiar voice sounding out from behind him.

"The one I've gone through all this for has finally come out."

Subaru placed Clement back on the ground. He stood up and turned around to face the man who had put him through such great pain these past few hours, Hans.

The man had gashes and cuts all across his body, though none were too deep. He held a bloody dagger. Blood was stained across his shirt, and some was splattered across his cheek.

"Hans… What… did you do?"

Hans cocked his head to the side, "Why should I tell you that?"

Subaru bit his lip, then relaxed. "I guess thinking that… thinking I could win was stupid." Tears bubbled up in his eyes.

Hans stepped over towards Subaru. He grinned and leaned in close to Subaru, grabbing his shoulders and whispering in his ear. "You know, I'm doing this all because I just can't stand you… no… It's that miasma that I can't stand."

Subaru slowly pulled the knife out of his pocket, and gripped it tightly.

Hans continued. "Why do you have that miasma? Why? That putrid, evil, reeking miasma of the Witch of Envy?"

Subaru took a deep breath. "I… don't even know who that is!" He thrust his arm towards Hans and plunged the dagger deep into the man's abdomen. Subaru twisted it and pulled it out. Hans' eyes widened and he jumped back.

The murderer put a hand over to wound and screamed, "GHAAAH! Damn you! Go to hell! Fula!"

A translucent blade of wind formed and flew towards Subaru. Subaru jumped to the side and dodged it. He began running away. He hadn't planned this far ahead.

Just gotta get away... If I can find Youra or Selena then...

Subaru glanced back at Hans. The man's arm was raised towards Subaru. He whispered something and another magical blade of air began to form. However, just before the blade finished forming, an arrow flew through the air and pierced Hans' arm. The murderer yelled in pain.

Subaru turned away and just focused on running. He had to make space between him and Clement.

He heard Hans yell, "Goa!" Subaru recognized the incantation from one of his loops, but he didn't have the time to remember what it did. Subaru turned his head to see what was coming now.

A swirl of fire formed in front of Hans' arm, he held up the one that didn't have an arrow in it. The swirl of fire flew towards Subaru. Subaru wouldn't be able to react in time. His eyes widened and he braced for the pain of burning again.

No! Subaru mentally screamed as horror overwhelmed him.

However, the pain of burning never came. A bloody and battered Selena leapt in and blocked the fire with her sword. Subaru gasped. He tripped over air and fell to the ground. The woman cut through the swirl of fire and ran towards Hans. He yelled, "F-Fula!" A blade of air formed in front of him and shot off towards Selena. Selena cut the air in two and jumped towards her brother. He dodged her strike and pulled out his fourth and final dagger. Selena swung again, and Hans swiftly parried her blade. He jumped away from her.

"Ul Goa!" The man yelled the incantation before he even landed.

Dozens of small 'bullets' of fire shoot out in an arc towards Selena. She jumped through them, twisting and turning in the air to dodge them. Behind her, a powerful fire raged where the bullets landed. She slashed at her brother.

He managed to parry her again but was knocked off of his feet by her strength. He rolled to the side, dodging another strike, and also accidentally dodged another arrow. He quickly got to his feet. He yelled, "Murak." And jumped away. A simple jump caused him to fly several meters into the air. While in the air, he grimaced and grabbed at his chest.

Subaru was still on the ground, surrounded by the burning forest, amazed by the fight and the magic.

Another arrow flew through the air, though it whizzed past Hans and hit a nearby tree, one of the few that wasn't on fire.

Selena yelled, "Minya," and a purple crystal formed and whizzed towards Hans. His eyes widened, and, being unable to dodge it, he moved his arm to block it. It pierced his arm and began turning it into the same kind of crystal. The crystallization moved up his arm, towards the rest of his body.

He yelled in pain and then said, "F-Fula." A blade of wind formed and cut his arm off just below his shoulder, blood sprayed out of his shoulder. Shortly after, he fell onto the ground, clutching his amputation.

Selena ran over towards him. He glared at her and whispered something that Subaru couldn't hear. Subaru froze in disgust and fear as Selena's abdomen split open. She fell to the ground, writhing in pain, clutching her guts. Panic filled Subaru as Hans stood up.

The murderer starred at Subaru. He was clutching his chest again. "My… gate… just… hold in there…"

The man gagged and fell to his knees as he vomited. Another arrow pierced Hans' shoulder. The murderer fell onto his side. He took deep breaths as he slowly stood up and limped towards Subaru. A trail of blood traced his path from his wounds. "I'll kill you… I'll kill you…" He repeated on end as he walked. Subaru was frozen in fear. He screamed at his body to move. Hans bent down and picked up his dagger.

The man said, "Murak."

He leapt forward, the simple jump propelled his weightless body towards Subaru at an insane speed. Moments before Hans would have reached Subaru, Clement jumped at Hans. He hit the murderer, and Hans flew away due to the spell. He hit a flaming tree and fell down.

Clement landed on the ground shortly after. Blood dripped from his various wounds.

Subaru snapped out of his fearful daze. "Cle-Clement…"

Clement was breathing heavily, "You… can explain what happened while I was out later… for now let's just take care of this guy."

"Y-yeah."

Clement rose to his feet, his body swaying from his still cloudy mind.

Hans, who was already back on his feet, lunged at Subaru and Clement. Blood poured from his amputated arm. He landed and ran towards the two, once again using that spell to move faster. Though, as he approached the two men, Hans canceled the spell's effect.

He ran towards Subaru, completely ignoring Clement in his craze. Subaru jumped away from a sluggish slash by Hans. Clement ran at Hans and lunged at the murderer. Clement tackled him to the ground, which they hit with a thump. Luckily, Hans' dagger was knocked out of his hand. Clement yelled, "Subaru!"

Subaru ran over to the two and gripped the dagger Clement had given him earlier tightly.

Subaru hurriedly kneeled down next to the two men. He stared at the green-haired murderer before him. Nausea overwhelmed him as he realized what he had to do. He had wanted to do it so badly these past few hours, yet now that he had the opportunity he hesitated.

Subaru bit his lip. He closed his eyes and remembered all of the hate he felt for this man. His hesitation faded away, and he-

"Ful-"

-Stabbed the dagger into the man's throat.

~End of Arc 1.~

Thank you all for reading this arc, and being so supportive. I hope everyone enjoyed it. I still have a few interludes before Arc 2 begins. Once Arc 2 begins, you should probably expect slower uploads. I don't want to become burned out.

I have three total arcs planned for this story. Arc 2 is already shaping up to be a lot longer than this arc was. I hope everyone continues to enjoy reading this story, and once again thanks for the support.