The ball of acid flew through the air towards Elsa, and although she didn't fully understand what the substance was, she instinctively slashed out at the ball of helium hydride, only to split it in half and turn into two separate balls and hit her face and arm.

"Aaaaaaargh!" She suddenly flailed and yelled when the acid began eating away at her flesh, despite her ability constantly healing her.

"It seems like not even Curse Dolls are immune." I remarked as I held up my knife, dipped it in oil and lit it with Goa. "Infinite regeneration's only enemy is infinite destruction. The only thing that comes out of this, is infinite pain."

"You... bastard!" She yelled as she did an extremely gruesome act. She sliced off the parts of her body that were splashed with acid as they regenerated instantly, and I gave her a look of surprise.

"Well, I suppose that's one way to get rid of it." I didn't hesitate for another moment as I dashed towards her, only to be blocked by her black kukri knife, and I yelled over at Subaru and Emilia. "A little help here?"

Subaru left Emilia to heal Rom while he stood by my side and together, we charged towards the Bowel Hunter, determined to win this fight.

Subaru's club, somehow still on fire, was swung towards Elsa but she blocked it with her blade. I then charged towards her with a snarl, ready to drive my flaming blade into the heartless killer. However, she raised her leg and kicked me right in the gut and I crashed against the wall as I flew back, blood coming out of my mouth as I coughed. I was not built for fighting, even if Felt and myself did train my body for a few days. This... is really bad.

Subaru's club was sent reeling away and Elsa was about to strike down her blade. "No you don't! Ice Magic: Solid Hydrogen!"

My hydrogen atoms froze together as they squished themselves together, and the temperature of a certain area dropped drastically as they deposited into a solid, and created an invisible barrier for a second, which deflected Elsa's blade before it vanished. Hissing, Elsa ran towards me, but I realized I was out of both mana and stamina. Crap... am I... going to die?

Just as the last moments came, a voice sounded above the roof. "I believe that's enough."

The roof then came crashing down as Elsa stopped, regarding the man in the smoke who had declared the statement. The red-haired man turned around and faced the heinous Bowel Hunter, before looking at me and giving a nod.

"Thank god, Reinhard... you made it in time..." I said before my consciousness faded, and I drifted into a deep sleep.

3rd Person POV

"The Sword Saint?" Elsa said, clearly surprised that such a figure appeared here.

"The boy has told me that you would be making an appearance tonight." He gestured towards Y/N, now unconscious, with Emilia healing him after she finished healing Rom. "These clothes... and a blade unique to the northern provinces of Gusteko... there's no mistaking it. You're the Bowel Hunter."

"Bowel Hunter? What a scary name." Subaru remarked as he retreated towards Emilia's side.

"It's a name derived from her unique killing style." Subaru gulped as Reinhard explained. "Even in the capital, her name is well known as she is one very dangerous individual."

"Born from a line of master swordsman, correct?" Elsa smiled as she regarded Reinhard, smiling. "Didn't expect my prey to be so much fun."

"I have many things to ask you, but now I strongly suggest you surrender." Reinhard declared as Elsa readied her knife.

"You expect me to give up such juicy prey?" Elsa said as Subaru gulped.

Reinhard chuckled as he waved a hand at Subaru. "I suggest you step back, Subaru."

"Will you be okay though?"

"Of course. Hunting monsters happen to be a specialty of mine."

Elsa charged at Reinhard and the battle began without any sort of warning. Elsa slashed down at Reinhard while moving at incredible speeds, but Reinhard dodged and kicked her back.

'It is as the rumours say... no, you're even better than that." Elsa remarked as she noticed the Astrea sword. "But are you not going to use the sword at your hip?"

"The sword will only allow itself to be drawn when it feels an opponent worth fighting with. It seems that this not one of those times. A shame, but it seems..." Reinhard picked up a sword from the scattered contents of the loot house. "That this will have to suffice for now."

Elsa charged at Reinhard again, but before she could strike him, Reinhard's bladework severed her kukri blade and it flew into his hand. Elsa charged at him again as Subaru yelled, "She's got another one!"

The two blades clashed as Elsa looked at Subaru. "You knew. I'm impressed, not many knows about that." Elsa was knocked back again as Reinhard faced her.

"So if I divest you of all your weapons, will you surrender then?"

"I don't have a mere two fangs." She said as she as she began dashing through the loothouse at incredible speeds while attacking Reinhard from various corners and angles. "If I lose my fangs, I'll use my claws. If I lose my claws, then I'll use my bones. If I lose my bones, then I'll use my life. That's the way a Bowel Hunter fights."

As Elsa and Reinhard continued to exchange blows, Subaru looked not entirely reassured. "Surely Reinhard cannot fail to land the decisive blow, right?"

"If Reinhard was truly intent on fighting, all of the mana in the air would turn away from me, and I cannot use my spirit arts to heal your friend here. Now I am done. Please notify him." Subaru nodded as he turned his head towards Reinhard.

"Reinhard! I don't really get it, but you can do your thing now!"

Reinhard nodded as he began releasing an aura, and both he and Elsa readied their blades.

"The Bowel Hunter, Elsa Granhiert."

"Reinhard van Astrea, from the line of master swordsman."

With the introductions finished, Reinhard's sword let out a bright glow as it absorbed all mana around them, converging into a single stroke of light. Elsa slashed forwards as Reinhard brought the gleaming sword down, and an explosion followed as half of the loot house was blown away. Although Subaru and Emilia were not harmed, both of them experienced the shock and magnitude of such an attack.

"Woah, Reinhard, you said you hunt monsters, but you're pratically one yourself, you know that?" Subaru said as Reinhard pretended to look hurt.

"Well, anyways, thanks, as a friend to a friend."

Just as everything seemed to be fine, the rubble beside Subaru moved, and Reinhard suddenly was alerted as he yelled, "Watch out!"

Elsa erupted from the remains of the loothouse, and wore a look of hatred as she dashed towards Emilia before suddenly, Y/N stood up and Subaru grabbed the club.

"She'll go for the gut!" Subaru said as he yelled and picked up and lifted the club in a defensive position.

"Wall of Flames!" Y/N yelled as the spell connected. And although the spell did not stop Elsa's blade, it certainly did make her step back and slice a little bit too far than she wanted to slash.

"You two got in my way again." Elsa said as Reinhard approached and asked her to surrender.

"Well, it seems that the time is up. Take care of your bowels until then, everyone." Elsa left as she climbed over the walls and rushed away.

Y/N POV

"Woah, Y/N!" Subaru said as he looked at me, amazed. "How did you recover so fast?"

As I looked for an answer, Alchemis' voice sounded inside my head and I silently nodded to his instructions. It was another innate ability of the witch factor I absorbed, it seems, but of course I didn't tell them that. "It was one of my innate abilities, known as Vacuum Trigger. When very powerful attacks were performed or if the nearby mana in the air was sucked away, my body would automatically snap myself out of consciousness and adjust itself to adapt to the sudden change."

"That's quite awesome!" Subaru said, but before he could continue, Emilia came over and faced Subaru with a glare.

"How could you be so reckless like that? You could've been killed!"

"Well, at least we aren't missing any arms or something, right? I don't even have a hole in my stomach anymore!" Subaru said as Emilia gave him a confused look.

"You speak as if you have actually experienced this before..."

"That's because I kinda did... anyways, if it was not for that club, I would've been dead." Subaru pointed to the club, and Reinhard began to pick it up.

"Truly, if it was not for this...eh?" We stared at the club, now cleaved cleanly in half, and Subaru looked down at his stomach. As if it was impeccable comic timing, his tracksuit ripped, and a cut formed on his stomach as it began to bleed.

"SUBARU!" The three of us yelled as we rushed over to him.

Timeskip*

"Well, he's safe now." Emilia said as she finished healing Subaru.

"Sorry, it seems that my flames weren't enough to stop Subaru from getting an injury." I said, a bit saddened.

"Well, don't blame yourself! You risked your life today a lot of times, too, you know?" Emilia said as Reinhard nodded in agreement. Sighing, I speak into the air, expecting something. "Alchemis, is Elsa truly gone?"

My turquoise spirit miraculously appeared as he danced in a circle before replying. "Yup. Not sensing her in a 1-kilometer radius."

"You are... a spirit user?" Emilia said, astonished as Reinhard scrutinized Alchemis.

"Yup. Alchemis here is a spirit of fire, and although he can't use ice magic, he is quite skillful." I replied as he hid behind me. "His color is quite unique, since he does not currently possess a corporeal body."

"Well, I guess we all have our fair share of secrets..." Reinhard said before he followed Emilia's gaze towards Felt and Rom. "What would become of them now?"

"Well, I probably should not overlook their actions today, but unfortunately, I'm off duty today."

Emilia chuckled. "You're a bad knight." She then approached Felt as the smaller girl instinctively braced herself for a hit, but that hit never came. "Is he like a family member to you?" She asked Felt.

"Well, something like that. He's been helping me for a long time now, and he's pretty much the only person I have." Felt said, and seeing that she didn't mention me, I gave a slight cough in the background the catch her attention.

"Well, Y/N nii-chan has been helping too, recently. Although he has just arrived here, he has been more help to us more than anyone has ever been, so..." She ran up to me and gave me a hug, to my surprise. "I'm glad you didn't die back there."

"Anyways..." Felt said as she took out the royal candidate insignia. "I should give this back. If it's important, keep it hidden and don't let it get stolen again!"

Reinhard was looking until he was suddenly tense as he looked at the insignia, and I turned my gaze towards it, too. The middle red jewel engraved into the insignia was glowing slightly, and Reinhard stepped forward as he went to grab Felt's arm, but I stopped him midway and he looked at me as if telling me to let go, but I understood his intentions so I whispered in his ear.

"You're going to take her away because she's been identified as a royal candidate, right?" He gave me a shocked look. "Well, following your gaze and the magnitude of that object, it was quite easy to connect the dots. So don't be surprised. I only ask of one thing: Take care of Felt when I'm gone. When she's finished on realizing the situation, tell her that I'll be back when she needs me."

Reinhard nodded, and he turned towards Felt. "Your name's Felt, right? What's your family name? How old are you?"

Felt gave him a confused look, but she answered obediently. "I have no such thing as a fancy family name. And... I'm fifteen, I think."

"Emilia-sama, it seems that I cannot keep my promise to you. I will be taking this girl with me."

"Huh? Why, though? Is it about the insignia?"

"No, but if I overlook this crime before me right now, it will be way worse than the crime she committed." Reinhard said, but Emilia looked confused as Reinhard stretched out a hand to put Felt into a deep sleep.

"Emilia-sama, when the time is right, I may call upon you again. And Y/N, I will fulfill our promise." I gave him a thumbs up as I looked up at the moon while he took off, and let myself fall to the floor out of exhaustion, smiling as I realized that I've successfully achieved my goal.

And thus, I have conquered Arc 1.

Name: Y/N L/N

Authority(ies):

Authority of ? (Commonly known as Authority of Elements):

-Vacuum Trigger: An innate ability stored within the tesseract-shaped ? Witch Factor, allowing the user to spring themselves from unconsciousness when the mana fluctuations around them changes drastically, as a built-in self-defence mechanism of the body.

Elemental Masteries:

Hydrogen Mastery: Stage 1, 110/2000 complete. (Spells: Hydrogen Gas Formation, Hydrogen Gas Wall, Hydrogen Gas Mist)

Helium Mastery: Stage 0, 135/1000 complete. (Spells: Helium Gas Formation, Helium Hydride Acid Creation)

? Mastery: {locked}

Spirits: Alchemis- spirit of fire (turquoise)

Magic Spells:

Goa- shoots a small ball of fire from the tip of the user's index finger when imbued with mana.

El Goa- manifests three fireballs around the user, and shoots them towards the opponent at high speeds