Chapter 12:

"Subaru."

Subaru sucked in air, his whole body shaking and sweating, the disgusting feeling of blood flooding his airway was gone.

Subaru forced himself to stay standing despite how terrible he felt, and said, "We… have… to go."

"Eh?"

As he always did, Subaru grabbed Clement's hand and pulled him away from the living room and to Subaru's bedroom. He shut the door once they were in it.

Subaru opened his window while Clement pestered him about what was going on.

Subaru turned around and faced Clement once he had opened his window. He flinched as he remembered Clement's despair at the end of his last loop and his decapitated head lying in front of Subaru from another loop.

"Clement… I'll explain in a bit. For now, just trust me… and jump out of the window here."

Clement nodded after a moment and walked over to the window. He hopped out of it and easily landed on the snowy ground after the short jump.

Subaru placed his hands on the frame and looked glanced behind him, fear of what happened in his last loop haunting him before he jumped.

As he fell through the air his body froze as trauma filled him, but a moment later he safely landed on the snow. He sighed, his heart racing, and stood up, glancing at Clement to ensure he was okay.

"Follow me."

Subaru began running, Clement closely following him.

Subaru ran through the streets, trying to remember the route he took to get to Amai's tower however many loops ago it was that when he became a spirit arts user.

As they ran Clement asked, "Hey… can you explain what's happening now?"

Subaru ignored him, trying to remember if he was supposed to go left or right at an upcoming fork in the street.

"Hey, Subaru, what's happening?"

Subaru ignored him again, remembering that he was supposed to go left.

Subaru glanced behind them to make sure Aura wasn't trailing them but saw no one other than Clement.

"Hey, Subaru, is everything okay?"

Subaru clenched his jaw, feeling superficial anger building up inside of him. Was he okay? Of course not. How could he be? Shouldn't it be obvious that he isn't okay?

"Am I okay…? Are you stupid?" Subaru stopped running and turned around. "Do I look okay?"

"How am I supposed to be 'okay' with everything that's happening right now?"

Clement clenched his hands into fists. "Maybe if you actually told me about what's going on then I wouldn't have asked something that's supposedly obvious."

"I already said that I'll tell you later. Just shut up and follow me! I'll save us both from this hell we're stuck in. You hear me? I'm going through hell trying to find a way out of this."

Subaru felt the emotions that he had been bottling up spilling out of him.

"I've been going through all kinds of pain to keep you alive. I've been doing so much...I've been suffering so much! I've even suffered through dea-"

His breath stopped along with the world. Clement, his frozen face full of anger and confusion, was slowly covered by shadowy mist along with everything else around the two.

Fear filled Subaru as he remembered what the punishment for speaking about Return by Death was.

Wait- hold on- please stop!

His fear only multiplied as a shadowy tendril-like hand reached towards him.

It caressed his chest slowly and steadily slipped through his chest and slithered towards his heart.

The hand caressed his heart, sending fearful chills up and down him.

Then, it grabbed his heart and squeezed, once again etching insane fear into it and sending terrified pain coursing through Subaru.

Then, the shadowy hand and mist left, and the world resumed.

"Gh-"

Subaru barely managed to stay standing, chills ran up and down his spine, and his body was coated in sweat despite the cold air around them.

He had broken his contract and was punished for it. He had gotten too worked up and had spoken about dying.

"Subaru! Don't you remember what we were just talking about? I'm fine with going through hell with you! Just tell me what's going on."

"Gh…"

Subaru wiped some sweat off his brow and whispered, "Sorry…"

He sighed, "I got worked up over something dumb…"

His voice was quiet and weak as he said, "So, sorry, I'll explain in a moment, for now we have to keep moving. We're heading to Amai's tower."

"A-ah. Yeah… I guess I got worked up too. If I was a better friend then I guess I would have had more trust in you, huh…"

"No, this whole thing was my fault. Let's just forget about it, and keep moving."

"Okay."

Shortly after they stepped up to Amai's tower which was tucked away in a corner of the city, right nearby one of the city's walls.

The tower was about four stories tall, with a large room at the top where Subaru had previously made many memories. Though those memories were only nestled within him now.

Subaru and Clement stood in front of a large wooden door. Subaru took initiative and knocked on it.

They both held their breaths as they waited for a reply, silence surrounding them.

Then, the door opened slightly, revealing an old man peering out, his face adorned with dozens of wrinkles and his chin covered by a white beard.

His eyes landed on the two before him. "What is it that you two need to come to me so late at night?"

Subaru took a short breath, "We need help. We're being hunted down by two people, and need someone to protect us."

Clement added, "We have plenty of money, too."

Amai eyed the two, then the area behind them.

Amai said, "Come in. We'll discuss this inside where it's safer."

"So, you want me to protect you from two assassins?"

Subaru nodded.

The three of them were sitting at a table in a room about halfway up the tower. The room was decently sized and had a table and a small kitchen within.

Two cups of tea were sitting before Clement and Subaru.

Amai sighed, "You two are aware that I've long since given up on the life of an adventurer, right? Both my spirits and I aren't all too ready to fight right now."

Subaru looked down at the cup of tea in front of him. He bit his lip, before taking a breath to relax himself.

Looking back up, he said, "Please…"

Amai looked torn, it was obviously in his nature to help people but he just wasn't able to fight properly right now.

Amai gave into his will and sighed. "Fine. I'll do it. Although I expect a good payment in return."

Clement nodded.

Subaru relaxed even more, glad that such a strong man was there to protect them.

Subaru picked up his cup of tea and drank it, the warm liquid wetting his throat.

"Thank you, Amai."

Amai nodded, "I'll do my best to protect you two."

Amai added, "So, could you describe these assassins to me?"

"Ah- yeah."

Subaru cleared his throat and gathered his thoughts.

"There's Zei, a skilled swordsman. He's sadistic and likes to draw out his victim's suffering. Then there's Aura… She's an archer with pinpoint accuracy."

Subaru paused, pushing terrible memories away, and said, "She's also the one who requested that Zei be sent to kill us."

Aura nodded. "All right. Thank you for the information. You two can stay here in this tower until this situation is resolved. Is that fine with you?"

Subaru nodded, not waiting to hear Clement's opinion.

"There's a guest room on the floor above this one. Please make yourselves at home."

Subaru and Clement left the room, quietly walking down a small hallway that led back to the main central staircase that spiraled along the outside of the tower.

They approached the staircase and began to walk up it, after a few moments, Clement paused and asked, "Hey, Subaru?"

"Yeah?"

"How did you… know so much about those two, Zei and Aura?"

"Ah- I talked to Youra earlier today to try to get him to stop it… now that I think about it, I also ran into Lain earlier…"

A chill ran up Subaru's spine. If Aura was still alive and hunting him down, wouldn't that mean Lain had lost to her when they fought earlier?

He bit down on his lip. If Lain was dead that meant he had gotten another person killed. Only this time he wasn't able to reset it because his save point had updated.

He swore to himself that he would find out Lain's fate when all of this blew over.

Subaru stopped walking up the stairs.

"Lain? That mage who healed us after we fought Hans?"

He continued, "...but… Lain is… likely dead…"

"Eh?"

"While I was walking with him to Youra's house, Aura attacked us and stabbed me. Lain healed me and fought her while I ran away to Youra's… I never went back there to check on him."

"O-oh…"

"And now Aura's here…"

Clement walked up to Subaru and put his hand on Subaru's shoulder.

"If… he did die… then it isn't your fault. He's the one who decided to engage her."

"But…"

"Y'know, Subaru, you always blame yourself for everything."

Subaru stayed quiet for a moment before saying, "I do… don't I?"

"It's a bad habit."

"Yeah, it is."

Subaru sighed, "And it's a tough one to break…"

After that, they began walking back up the stairs.

However, just as Subaru reached the top, the tower shook.

"Huh?"

It shook again as the tower began falling to the side.

Subaru's eyes widened as the wall behind him became the floor.

What?

A scream escaped his lungs accompanied by a scream from Clement as they fell along with the tower.

Crashes came from surrounding rooms as furniture fell and fragile items broke.

Then, the tower hit the ground, the wall cracking and breaking into pieces. A moment later Clement and Subaru hit the ground too. Pain exploded within them as bones broke and bruises formed on them. Blood flowed up Subaru's throat from some kind of internal bleeding.

He could hear Clement screaming in pain nearby.

Before he could cough the blood in his throat out, the opposite wall of the tower crashed down upon them. Subaru curled into a ball and braced himself for death.

"Fufu~"

A girl watched as the tower hit the ground, the once-tall structure turning to rubble as it hit the ground.

Her shoulder-length blonde hair swayed slightly in the wind as she smiled at her handiwork.

"Well," Her voice was quiet as she whispered to herself, "That should be enough to end them."

She turned around and came face to face with a man. His hair was brown and he had a black cloak on. A sword was held tightly in his hand. His face was full of confusion.

He glared at her. "Who are you?"

"What does it mean to you?"

"I've been hunting down a man who was inside that tower. Natsuki Subaru."

"Oh? My bad! Sorry, but I probably just killed him. Hehe~"

The man looked down, "Damn… I was looking forward to killing him… He was so terrified of me…"

"My bad, my bad-"

She suddenly jumped to the side, easily avoiding a slash of the man's sword.

"Oh? Going so far as to try and kill me?"

"Shut up!"

He jumped at her, swinging his sword in an arc towards her.

She smiled and whispered something. A moment later the man's sword snapped as a small explosion surrounded its blade.

Thrown off by the sudden shift in weight, the man fell to the ground.

"Wha-"

He hit the hard ground.

"Hmph. You just tried to kill me, didn't you? Didn't you?"

The man scuttled away from her.

"So… isn't it only fair that I try to kill you now?"

"Hk-"

"El Dona."

Several large spikes of earth shot out from the ground under the man, tearing him apart and sending pieces of him all over. Blood sprayed through the air.

"Yuck!" The girl shook her head as blood rained on her.

Aura held her breath, she had ducked down and was lying flat on a slanted roof, out of view of that girl. Sweat dripped down her cheek.

That girl was strong. She had easily beaten Zei.

Aura did her best to stay calm. When the moment was right she would slip off of the roof and run away through the alleyway below.

Luckily that girl hadn't noticed her, as Aura hadn't ever seen her look over towards her.

She would just go to Youra tomorrow, tell him that Subaru was dead and pay him, then she would get out of town. She wouldn't risk the possibility of that girl hunting her down later.

Just a moment ago that girl had been shouting "Yuck! Yuck!" over and over, but now it was eerily quiet. Aura decided to take her chances and began to slowly creep down the roof but froze when she heard a soft voice. "I found you!"

Chills ran up and down her body. She slowly looked up towards the top of the slanted roof and saw a girl standing up there, her clothes wet with blood.

"Hey, were you with that man? Were you?"

"A-ah, no."

"I think you were~"

Aura's eyes widened as the girl said, "El Huma."

Dozens of sharp shards of ice formed in the air around the girl.

"Ghk-"

They rained down upon her, piercing through her and smashing through the roof below. Blood poured out of her dying body. Pain screamed within her, but her throat was filled with blood that stopped any screams from leaving her.

The girl smiled, her blonde hair swaying in the wind.

A voice called out to her, "Sister…"

"Mel…"

The girl turned around and stared at a woman standing on the roof behind her.

However, death wasn't so grateful so as to end Subaru. Pain resounded all across his body, yet he was alive.

He coughed out blood and groaned.

He slowly opened his eyes. It was dark, yet he could still feel a breeze coming in somewhere between the rubble that lay over him. He had to get out soon because his lungs were being constricted by a heavy weight over his chest.

Subaru struggled to move his arms, yet luckily they weren't broken. He slowly began to move around the rubble over top himself. There wasn't too much, but it was already getting significantly harder to breathe, and he could feel panic begin to creep over him.

Clement was almost certainly dead, but if he could get out from under this rubble then he might be able to find out who had done this.

Light filled the small space around Subaru as Ceres formed nearby.

[What happened?]

[Bad things...]

Ceres floated around the tiny space.

Subaru continued to move chunks of the tower around, pushing them off the side and slowly increasing the height of the area around him.

Then, a little strength flowed into Subaru. He let out a small confused sound.

[I'm... giving mana.]

[Ah- thanks.]

And so, Subaru managed to dig a hole up through the rubble using the slight power Ceres mana gave him. He breathed a sigh of relief when he crawled out of the rubble.

He could feel that many of his ribs were broken, along with a number of fingers. He couldn't see out of one eye. His whole body was battered and sore. Blood dripped down his face from a gash on his forehead, and blood also was soaking into his shirt from some wound under it, but he wasn't in danger of being crushed anymore.

Subaru forced himself to stand, luckily his legs weren't broken because he had curled into a ball before the opposite wall had hit him. Though his head ached with pain, pain that was only amplified with every step he took.

Subaru coughed out more blood as he reached the end of where the tower had fallen and stepped onto muddy grass.

He slowly walked away from the tower, his remaining eye scanning the area for anyone who could've brought the tower down.

"Ah, hello!"

Subaru jumped and turned around towards the voice that had spoken to him.

His eyes landed on a short girl, about half his height. She had blonde hair that reached her shoulders. Subaru's eyes widened as he noticed that she was drenched in blood.

She continued, her voice full of energy, "I take it that you're Natsuki Subaru?"

Subaru slowly nodded, coughing out more blood as he sucked in air to speak.

However, the girl continued before he could speak. "So, you're the guy that weirdo was hunting down."

Subaru spoke, his voice was weak and tired. "Weirdo…? You mean… Zei? What happened… to him?"

The girl wordlessly pointed off to the side. Subaru followed where she had pointed with his eyes and froze. A field of blood and viscera lay nearby, presumably all that was left of Zei.

"A-ah…"

"He tried to kill me, so I killed him. Hehe~!"

Subaru swallowed hard. "Were… you the one who… knocked down the tower?"

She nodded excitedly. "Yes! I made it go boom just like this! Al Goa!"

Subaru froze in horror as an insanely hot fireball formed in front of him. A second later the girl sent it flying at him.

Subaru barely felt any pain as the fireball literally incinerated him in less than a second, leaving absolutely nothing of him behind.

The girl clapped at her magic, shouting, "Wow! Wow!"

Then, she walked away from the collapsed tower, a smile on her face, leaving behind a field of death all caused by her.