After the New Promise

Nine hours since the Last Death (Five Deaths)

As the Bowel Hunter complained resentfully, she fiddled with the knife in her hands. Both Subaru and Anastasia were paralyzed with fear, as if just the movement of a single finger could be enough to end up being disemboweled. In this way, a stalemate was formed between the murderer and the two victims. Stalemate that was not broken by any of the three main actors, but by one of the secondary actors who was only a few inches from the scene.

"Waaaaahhh!" A small figure jumped between Anastasia and Subaru, letting out a loud scream in the direction of the assassin. With feline reflexes, Elsa took a powerful leap upward, easily dodging Tivey's magical sonic attack.

"Miss, Onii-san, don't just stand there, follow Mimi! Bro, Onii-chan, you take care of coverin' the rear!" Going ahead of everyone, Mimi motioned for the only two non-combatants to follow her. Meanwhile, her two brothers lagged a bit behind them.

"Alright Sis!"

"Alright Onee-chan!"

Both brothers answered from behind. Subaru, who was barely able to process the information overload, just ran while pulling Anastasia, whom he had instinctively taken by the hand when Mimi motioned for them to follow her.

"Al Goa!" A gust of warm wind rumbled inches behind them, and with it, two cremated corpses of Wolgarm were strewn down the path they had trodden just a second ago. Subaru, with his heart in his mouth, watched as the remains of the mabeasts that were about to attack him flew into the air. Tivey, who was a user of fire element magic, had been his savior.

"Natsuki-kun, I didn't expect ya to have such good instincts!" Her voice high with tension, Anastasia praised Subaru's quick thinking, who had managed to react before her.

"I didn't expect it either! I guess circumstances really do make the ma-! Argh!" Jumping slightly to his right, Subaru barely dodged the attack of one of the serpent-like beasts, taking his boss with him.

"Waaaahhh!" A sound wave that colored the air a bluish hue exploded right where Subaru and Anastasia had just been, disintegrating the Arkalb that had attacked them.

"Hey! Be more careful, that attack almost hit me!" Subaru complained, looking over his shoulder at Hetaro.

"I'm sorry! But if I hadn't, you would've been bitten by it!" After apologizing, the little demi-human argued in favor of his action, then quickly attacked a Black Winged Rat that had approached from the flank.

"Mimi?! Where're we heading?!" Subaru asked the girl, who ran several yards in front of them and led the way.

"Anywhere safe for the lady! Our top priority is to escape to the nearest bunker, but first we must get rid of these annoying mabeasts!" Without looking back, Mimi answered Subaru's question. The orange-haired girl, in addition to guiding the step, was the one who was in charge of eliminating any obstacle that interfered in their path."Waaaaahhh!"

Jumping into the air, Mimi disintegrated with her scream a flock of Black Winged Rats, who were blocking the way along the corridor. Do they want us to go out to the courtyard? Subaru thought, looking out into the open space that stretched out beside the corridor they were escaping through. And as he did so, he realized something. The place didn't look like it did when he and Julius walked past it just a few minutes ago.

What had once been a Zen garden covered in river rocks, was now covered in multiple flowery patches that were completely out of place. And now that he was paying attention to them, he could tell that a strong sweet aroma was coming from them; one that made his nose burn. What is that supposed to be? He wondered, suspecting that the answer was related to the insistence of the smaller beasts to remove them from the corridor.

"Anastasia, do you see those flower patches spreading across the courtyard?!" Subaru, wanting to make sure not to lose vital information in case of failure, questioned the girl regarding them. "Do you've any idea what they could be?!"

"I'm sorry, Natsuki-kun, but they're as unknown to me as they can be to ya! Why, did ya notice somethin' important related to 'em?" Apparently, Anastasia had not yet realized the mabeasts' intentions; and it is not as if he could blame her, as the situation did not merit such analyzes of the environment.

"I think the mabeasts are trying to get us out of the corridor to force us go through there!"

"Oh! Ya're right, Natsuki-kun! How clever of ya! Ya thing those flowery patches are some kinda mabeast?" Surprised, the girl realized that Subaru's deduction made sense. You don't have to act so shocked, he thought.

"I'm not sure, but it's quite possible that it's some kind of trap, so we must avoid leaving the corridors at all costs!" With his heart beating faster and faster, Subaru conveyed his conclusion to Anastasia.

"Hmm… Did ya hear that, Mimi?!" After thinking about it for a moment, Anastasia asked the little girl.

"Yeah, miss! Do you want us to avoid leavin' the corridors?" The girl returned the question, after nodding.

"Yes, Mimi. We'll trust Natsuki-kun's judgment once again. I think after what just happened, it's the logical thing to do." Stunned, Subaru looked at Anastasia. She, noticing his gaze, returned it with a satisfied smile. "I told ya, Natsuki-kun, I'm a gal who's great at judgin' people!"

"T-Thanks, Anastasia! I'll do my best to get us out of this situation alive!" After that, both of them, hand in hand, continued running through the wooden corridors of the inn. While, around them, the triplets didn't stop launching attacks at the dangerous multitude of beasts that attacked incessantly. Blood, bone, and flesh rained down on them, painting the scene of their escape red.

Elsa, annoyed, watched from the ceiling of the dining room as her target and the royal candidate slipped out of her hand. Licking her lips, she readied her knives. The first to die would be the candidate. She would have liked to play with her a little more, to finally uncover her innards. The very thought of appreciating the bowels of a candidate for royalty made her shiver with arousal. However, that could wait. She had to take care of her first, then the triplets, to finally carry out her work.

The woman moved into position to gain momentum, a knife in each hand. First she would slice off the girl's legs, then she would behead her. That would stop her target and cause the anger of the little guardians. After that, she would only have to gut the three. Just thinking about the execution of her plan on the fly excited her enormously. Smiling ecstatically, the woman launched herself on the attack. However…

"I cannot allow you to take another step, Bowel Hunter, Elsa. My lady entrusted me with her safety and that of her employees, so it is my duty to prevent you from leaving here alive." Steadfast as a pillar, Julius the Valuable Knight stood in front of her, his sword drawn. Combing his bangs, the knight indicated that her life was about to be extinguished. This man's naivety made her smile widen.

"I see, I see... You are the royal candidate's knight, so you were expected to appear before me sooner or later. However, at the moment I have a job that needs to be done, so I don't have time to have fun with you. " Licking her lips, the woman looked directly into Julius's eyes.

"I think exactly the same thing. And since we both share the same idea, I believe we should stop unnecessary talking." The position of his feet changed, indicating that Julius was about to attack.

"It's fine by me…" With a thrust, the assassin lunged with the intention of stabbing the knight in his abdomen.

With agility worthy of one of the most prominent knights in the realm, Julius dodged the blade that was aimed at his gut. In the same sequence, he stretched out his arm, performing a powerful lunge. The blade of steel brushed the throat of the assassin, who performing a backward somersault, avoided by only a few millimeters the attack directed towards her neck.

After putting some distance between herself and her opponent, the woman cleaned the wound on her neck using her index finger. With her kind-countenance gaze focused on the blood pooled on her finger, Elsa smiled. Her grim smile conveyed an air of lust that could chill even the most trained of knights. However, Julius's visage was not the least bit altered.

"I see that what's said about you isn't a lie. You truly deserve to be considered the Knight among knights." Without looking at his face, Elsa praised Julius' skill with the sword. He, without feeling the least bit moved, remained silent, carefully analyzing each movement and gesture of the assassin. "Though… You can't even consider yourself the shadow of HIM…" It was for an instant, but something within Julius's gaze wavered.

"What are you talking about?" In an imperturbable voice, Julius questioned the woman.

"I'm talking about…" Sticking her tongue out slightly between her scarlet lips, Elsa licked her finger from one end to the other, wiping down the last particle of blood from it. Her gaze turning perversion, the woman shot him a bloody smile. "You don't get even a little close to him, the Sword Saint…" Her smile widened, showing her crimson-stained teeth. "Valuable Knight, you are too far from the level of the Sword Saint…" Frantically, the woman pointed one of her knives at him. "… I can beat you. And I'd really like to see what your insides are like!"

Resembling a spider, Elsa jumped off the ceiling and, swinging, fell gracefully onto one of the dining room tables. Julius, not wanting to waste any more time, followed her without hesitation. Returning to the dining room, he realized that there was no one left; only the corpses of various Fang of Iron mercenaries and multiple mabeasts. The siege, without a doubt, had begun.

There was no sign of Ricardo anywhere, so his only theory was that he was looking for the mabeast-controlling girl Subaru mentioned. If that was the case, then his ally, Captain of the Fang of Iron, would have finally begun to trust the emotionally broken boy's word. Which reinforced Julius's wish that his judgment had been correct. Sure, the attack Subaru indicated, transpired, but that still wasn't enough to calm his heart; quite the opposite...

"Anastasia-sama, I hope everything turns out well at the end of the day..." After whispering that like a mantra, Julius once again coated his heart with steel and prepared to finish off the enemy in front of him.

"You're truly a very well-trained dog, always ready to protect its master. I personally enjoy more of the freedom with which we're all conceived. Though I suppose I'm a very simple woman, since I'm satisfied with just observing the hidden beauty of the bowels whenever I get the chance." With her eyes radiating joy, the woman spoke of her passion to the knight who, according to her, lacked the freedoms with which every human being is conceived.

"You are but a sick woman who is satisfied with the lowest desires. My duty as a knight of the Kingdom of Lugunica is to extirpate beings like you, who compromise its safety." Without hesitating for a moment, Julius raised his sword and pointed it at Elsa. "Fell Goa!"

Two living dots of light materialized in the air around Julius; they were two of his six lesser spirits, Ia and Aro. Both spirits stood in front of Julius and enveloped his sword, while casting a mixture of fire and air magic towards Elsa. An attack, similar to a horizontal tornado of fire, embraced several meters in its path, consuming the table Elsa was on in the process. The entire place would have gone up in flames, had it not been for Aro's wind magic to hold the fire back.

"Not bad at all…" As Julius expected, Elsa had easily dodged her attack. Using the dining room ceiling as a support point, Elsa had jumped, bounced, and landed behind him. Arching her arm, Elsa managed to slice off part of Julius's uniform cloak, who had avoided the attack by rolling forward.

"Goa!" Before getting back to his feet, Julius ordered Ia to attack with the most characteristic fire element spell. A wall of flame was erected between Julius and Elsa, allowing the former to regain his posture. "Al Dona!" Now it was Ik's turn to attack. The yellow-colored spirit caused the portion of the ground, on which Elsa was standing, to explode, rising into the air.

"Too late!" But the murderer was no longer there. Attacking from the knight's left flank, the assassin lunged toward him. This time, however, Julius did not choose to use the power of his companions. Using his sword to intercept the attack, Julius threw a knee into the woman's abdomen. And even though she was able to arch her back in order to avoid it, she couldn't completely dodge his knee. "Argh!"

With his sword, which was now located at his side, Julius made a lateral cut aimed at the assassin's back. Elsa, reacting in time to prevent the attack, stopped the advance of the steel with the edges of her two knives. However, the force applied by the knight in his thrust was enough to wrench one of her knives from her hand. Still, using her remaining one, the woman managed to deflect the blow and back away from Julius.

"I may not be as strong as the Sword Saint. But that doesn't give you reason to underestimate me, Bowel Hunter." Firmly, Julius followed with a thrust, managing to throw the woman off balance momentarily. Temporarily defenseless, Elsa tried to back away even further, but the knight wouldn't let her.

Vigorously lowering the sword he had raised in the air, Julius sliced through Elsa's right arm, the one in which she had her last knife. The arm fell to the dining room floor with a thud, covering it in blood. Shredded skin, sliced flesh, and crushed bone, that was all that was left of the Bowel Hunter's right arm.

With the white of her humerus exposed and strips of skin, like folds of cloth, surrounding the visible piece of muscle that would not stop expelling blood, Elsa tore part of her black dress to make a makeshift tourniquet, all at enough speed to prevent Julius from delivering the final blow. Her gaze, unchanged, continued to observe Julius sinisterly; managing to slightly disturb the spirit of the knight.

Why do I perceive Elsa so far from defeat? Julius wondered, as he cautiously approached the now one-armed killer. One misstep could spell his end. However, Elsa had run out of knives and was missing an arm. So why didn't he feel like he was close to defeating her? His instincts, honed over multiple battles, told him something was wrong.

"This isn't the time to be stopped by doubts." He told himself. "Clarista!" Using his technique in which he used the power of his six lesser spirits to strengthen the edge of his sword, Julius lunged forward to deal the final blow to the cruel woman.

"I don't think it's a good idea to let that touch me…" Looking at the sword that emanated a magical glow, the armless assassin leapt back nimbly, leaving behind a trail of blood drops. Even her current state, the assassin was capable of mind-blowing stunts with incredible agility.

Managing to avoid Julius' attacks despite his insistence, Elsa was able to retrieve one of her knives. Even so, the knight only had to attack on the right side of the assassin to achieve victory. In what looked like a cat and mouse chase, Julius inched closer to the woman, who seemed to be losing stamina. Seemingly realizing her worsening situation, Elsa decided that her only hope lay in an all-out attack on which she would bet everything.

Using the wall to propel herself, the assassin propped up her heel and lunged at Julius, seeking victory in a counterattack. Julius, who was waiting for such a desperate move, stopped short and readied his sword. At wind speed, Elsa cut in the direction of the knight's abdomen. Covering that same point with his sword, Julius prepared to receive the blow. The attack would come from the left side, so he just had to focus on...

"Ahhhhhh… It seems that I was the one being underestimated." Using his sword to push the woman away, Julius put distance between them.

Losing his calm demeanor, Julius looked down at his thighs. There, piercing the muscle of his left leg from side to side, was one of Elsa's knives. How, if the one she had recovered was still on her left hand? Looking back at the assassin, a slight panic, uncommon for him, flooded his body. The arm that only moments ago had been sliced off, was back in the assassin's body. It was all a feint… He realized, too late.

"Miss, it doesn't look like we're managin' to lose the mabeasts!" Mimi's cry reached Subaru and Anastasia, who were still running with their hands joined. It was obvious that both, from the sweat on their foreheads and their labored breaths, were about to reach the limit of their stamina.

"Shit! It's been almost f-five minutes… since we started escaping! How's it that… they keep finding us… over and over again?!" Subaru complained between breaths, in response to the girl's remark.

They had already gone through the entire structure of the inn almost completely, turning and swerving multiple times, but beasts were still appearing with the intention of assassinating them. They were at a point in the inn almost opposite to where the dining room was located, so the amount of mabeasts that kept appearing was much less than at the beginning of the siege. And luckily for them, the anomalous flower fields were no longer in sight.

"Ahhh, ahhh, ahhh…" Hearing incredibly forced exhalations and inhalations, Subaru looked to his side. It was Anastasia, whose snow-like skin was paler than normal.

It was obvious just by looking at her, that Anastasia's physical condition was not very good. And from the time he had spent with her, Subaru had realized that she was slightly sickly. However, because her line of work did not involve great physical exertion, Anastasia had lived a life with even above normal health. But now was when her weak and sickly complexion was most noticeable. And if they didn't do something to get rid of the mabeasts soon, she would be unable to escape alive.

"Anastasia, why haven't we left the inn yet?! This is where all the mabeasts are concentrated, if we leave here and go to the nearest bunker, we…" But before he could finish, Anastasia looked him straight in the eye.

"If we do that now, we'll only get the mabeasts to chase us outta the inn! We'd be endangerin' a lotta innocent people who've nothin' to do with this conflict! That would be very irresponsible of us!" Showing her more dignified side, the girl firmly refused to leave the inn when they were still being followed by the beasts.

Inwardly cursing his short view of the whole situation, Subaru fell silent and kept running without looking back. If only I were stronger, he thought in frustration, and then suddenly stopped in his tracks. As expected, his action sparked a reaction from the entire group. Mimi, who had been alert in the search for new escape routes, turned to them, prepared to attack whatever it was that had provoked his reaction. So did the two brothers who came after them.

"What happened, Onii-san?! Did you see somethin' that made you stop?!" As Tivey and Hetaro covered the perimeter around them, Mimi approached them.

"No! Sorry for alarming you Mimi, Hetaro and Tivey!" Responding to the little girl, Subaru apologized, while also addressing her brothers.

"Natsuki-kun, then why…?" Anastasia, who had been forcibly stopped at the moment Subaru halted his sprint, looked at him with slight reproach. Her face, pale, gave the feeling that at any moment she might fade.

"Anastasia, let me carry you!" Looking directly into her eyes, Subaru expressed his desire to help the girl. "I can tell that you're very tired, and though I'm too, I can still go on without any problems. Please let me start repaying you for your kindness by carrying you on my back."

"My kindness…?" She asked, tilting her head in confusion. For her, the only time Subaru touched on that subject was almost a month ago, after the signing of the alliance contract with her company. But for Subaru, it was a response to the conversation he had with her before his previous death. "Hmm… Ya mean what I told ya after the contract was signed? Ya didn't have to take it so literally." As expected, Anastasia linked it to what she told him after the contract was signed.

"I insist, let me help you. Besides, now that you're my boss, it's my duty to make sure you're okay by the end of the day." Subaru, holding out his hand, decided to approach the matter from the point of view of the employee-boss relationship. Smiling slightly flustered, Anastasia took his hand again.

"Ya're turnin' out to be quite reliable, Natsuki-kun. What happened to the dreadful condition ya were in durin' the afternoon?" As he hoisted her onto his back, Subaru heard Anastasia ask him about his mental state. For an instant, the thought that the girl was extremely light, flashed through her head.

"I decided that I would try to do something about it." He replied, glancing at her over his shoulder. Looking ahead again, Subaru whispered. "… To do something regarding my weaknesses…"

"Miss, Subaru Onii-san, the break took too long!" Alarmed, Hetaro indicated that time had run out. Looking at him, Subaru could feel his heart sinking and his stomach churning with nausea.

From the direction where Subaru assumed the courtyard to be, a dozen of oversized bear-like creatures rushed towards them. With their eyes dyed red and grotesque flowers protruding from their fur, the beings that had waited patiently in the form of flowery patches finally decided to make their move.

"Waaaaahhhh!"

"Waaaaahhhh!

Together, the brothers launched an attack towards the crowd of beasts. However, their attacks were stopped by walls of rock and fire that emerged from the ground. With his eyes wide with terror, Subaru saw two more groups of beasts join the one of the bear-shaped mabeasts. One was composed of creatures similar to a gigantic black hippopotamus. The other consisted of repulsive beasts with the body of a horse, a human torso instead of a head, which had a mouth vertically along its chest, and a horn instead of a human head.

Releasing a screech similar to the crying of hundreds of human babies, the being, which could only be compared to a centaur out of the imagination of the most twisted demon of all, released fireballs from what appeared to be a mane of flame that formed on his back. For their part, the hippo-shaped mabeasts joined the fight using their enormous body. And finally, controlling the land at will, appeared a cub-shaped beast that seemed to be functioning as the leader of the mixed group of mabeasts.

"Miss, Onii-san, we have to escape from here immediately! Dona!" Taking Subaru out of the trance he was in, Mimi indicated that it was time to continue fleeing, while magically creating some sort of earth barrier to cover them. Agreeing, Subaru strengthened his weakened spirit with determination and started running like never before in her life. However…

"Mimi! Hetaro and Tivey aren't followin' us!" Near his ear, he could hear the alarming statement of a very dazed Anastasia. Without looking back, Mimi answered her mistress.

"They'll stay behind so they can give us a chance to escape, Miss! Mimi also thinks there's no other way!" Staring at the road ahead, the girl declared her brothers' intentions.

Subaru, feeling his blood freeze, thought about trying something; he didn't want to survive at the cost of the lives of the two children. But nothing occurred to him, there was nothing he could do for them. Then, mired in frustration and pain, Subaru remembered Julius's strong words. For them, for everyone around him, life could only be lived once, and yet they were still able to display great acts of bravery due to the determination that moved their spirits.

Julius had told him that he must always fight to find a way, that death never would be a path to choose. Those children weren't just throwing away their lives, they were willing to give everything of themselves to save their mistress, and consequently, save him. They were all struggling, with the goal of continuing to live together with their loved ones.

And although Subaru could not yet fully accept Julius's words, he felt that not to go ahead would be to disregard their determination. His spirit was weak, but not theirs; so he would honor them by striving to deal with his eternal weaknesses. He would go on without turning back. He would respect their determination, and trust that he would meet all of them again after that nightmare was over.

"Trust them, Anastasia! If I stop now, their determination will've been in vain!" Encouraging the girl, Subaru focused on closely following Mimi, who with her screams disintegrated any mabeast that managed to make its way towards them.

"Ya're right, Natsuki-kun…" She replied, falling silent after doing so. Subaru would strengthen his spirit, that's what he would do to honor them all. In his mind he kept repeating that, while ignoring the guilt, pain and shame that kept building up in the back of his mind, like a leak during a heavy rain.

It's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault… If I died, I could fix it… If I died, I could fix it… Putting more force into his strides, Subaru struggled to ignore those thoughts; what no one noticed, including him, was the look of utter despair on his face.