The Duel!
"Priscilla Barielle-sama and her attendant, Al" Marcos requested Priscilla to step forward.
"This selection is pointless! I am the one suited to rule this nation" boldly declared Priscilla as she stepped forward with Al behind her. "All you people need to do is grovel at my feet and serve me!" continued Priscilla looking down at them and proceeding to go back to her original position.
"Head of the Karsten family, Crusch Karsten-sama and her attendant, the knight Felix Argyle" continued Marcos as Priscilla finished her arrogant speech.
"Should I become the new ruler, I will make the dragon forget the covenant it demanded, The Dragon's kingdom of Lugunica doesn't belong to the dragon it belongs to us." stated Crusch as she stepped forth with Felix standing behind her and the nobles started whispering to each other that the idea was bad.
'Why the heck doesn't she want the Dragon Kingdom to be ruled by the dragon! Well that's probably a personal grudge' thought Subaru as he heard her speech.
"Anastasia Hoshin-sama of the Hoshin Company and her attendant, knight Julius Eculius" said Marcos and Anastasia stepped forward while Julius moved to her side.
"I am a greed gal, so I want everything" declared Anastasia without a hint of shame in her voice. "No amount of commercial success can satisfy me, I want my own country." continued Anastasia like a child wanting a candy.
'Not a hint of shame...' Subaru mentally face-palmed.
"Emilia-sama, her knight Subaru Natsuki and the man endorsing her, Roswall L. Mathers" continued Marcos as Emilia stepped forward while Subaru got out of the line to stand by her side.
"I have only one wish, for all to be equal, I desire to create a nation where all citizens are equal!" declared Emilia with the best voice she could muster and walked back to her original position.
'The only one who has a noble cause is Emilia-tan' smiled Subaru mentally.
"Finally, Felt-sama and he attendant, the knight Reinhardt van Astrea" said Marcos.
"Hang on! Don't get the wrong idea! I never said that I would become the next ruler! Who would want to be in a royal selection?!" complained Felt like the child she was.
"Are you saying you are withdrawing from the selection?" asked Marcos.
"Damn right I am!" replied Felt turning towards him.
"This is a joke! I overlooked this because it was an urgent situation, but to drag it out this long is senseless!" interrupted one of the nobles.
"He's right, The Astreas offer us a gutter to rule us while Margrave Mathers endorses a half devil? Utter foolishness!" agreed the so called "wise man" with a bald head sitting beside Miklotov while Subaru was gritting his teeth in anger.
"It is not at all nice to call a half-elf, a half-devil" replied Roswall in a serious voice but his smile didn't leave his face.
"That silver-haired half-devil matches the description of the witch as it has been described for generations" said the baldy ignoring Roswall's comment. "Do you not understand that it is a grave crime to even allow her in the throne room!, that filthy wom-" continued the baldy and Emilia looked like she was about to cry but... Subaru had ENOUGH!
"EL OXY" muttered Subaru under his breath. This spell is one of Subaru's many original spells, it basically removes the oxygen from peoples lungs through yin and wind magic.
Every single person in the room felt a chill run up their spine,they couldn't breath and they felt intense bloodlust from one single person even Reinhardt flinched at that and of course only Emilia and Roswall felt nothing.
"W-who i-is doing t-his?" asked the baldy, fear evident in his voice.
"Subaru, don-" whispered Emilia grabbing his sleeve to try to stop him.
"Please Emilia-sama, let me do this" replied Subaru interrupting her sentence.
"But-" said Emilia not willing to let him do this but she reluctantly let him go when she saw the determination in his eyes. "Just don't hurt them, please"
"Of course" Subaru simply replied and turned his head towards the wise men with a serious expression, when he saw all the people struggling he simply snapped his fingers and all the pressure was gone (which wasn't required to deactivate the spell by the way) and everyone gasped for breath.
"Members of the sage council, as you know I am Emilia-sama's knight Subaru Natsuki and I am contracted to these 6 lovely buds" announced Subaru as his spirits appeared on his head and circled on top, which looked like a crown.
"Isn't he the one who took down, Elsa Granhiert?" whispered the nobles to one another.
"What do you want interrupting this meeting" asked Miklotov still catching his breath as he was old.
"I would like to ask what problem do you have with Emilia-sama joining the selection" asked Subaru turning his head towards the baldy.
"Can't you see she is the spitting image of the witch of envy!" replied baldy with anger in his voice.
"Then do you mean to say that, The Dragon, The First Sword Saint and The Sage failed to seal the witch?" asked Subaru in a calm voice while masking his anger he casted the spell back on him.
"N-no" replied the baldy cowering in fear and gasping for breaths, Subaru took pity on him and removed the spell again.
"Even if the Dragon has chosen her, she is a half-devil her participation is not possible" interrupted a noble who wanted to sign his death warrant.
"If you are defying the candidacy right of any of the candidates then that means you are defying the Dragon himself is it not right? meaning you are a traitor" simply replied Subaru turning towards him and giving him a death glare with his already scary eyes making the noble flinch.
"Now do you have any problem in Emilia-sama participating in the selection?" asked Subaru smiling in a creepy way making everyone flinch, no one said anything so Subaru took that as a yes and continued Subaru as he returned to Emilia's side "Now please re-introduce yourself please Emilia-sama".
"Allow me to formally introduce myself to the honored council of wise men, my name is Emilia just Emilia, I am accompanied by the great spirit of fire, Puck and my Knight Subaru Natsuki and I am a silver-haired half-elf." said Emilia deciding to trust Subaru.
"A great spirit?" the knights and nobles murmured between themselves.
"I understand that my half-elf lineage and other similarities to the witch subject me to prejudice, but" Emilia took a breath thinking about all the ways Subaru supported her, she had to give her best too. "I adamantly refuse to let all my potential be plucked out because of that stupid reason!" finished Emilia as she looked towards the council of the wise men, seeing the baldy sweating she felt a sense of satisfaction.
"Now that all disturbances have been dealt with, let us discuss how the royal selection will proceed." stated Marcos while gray colored smoke was filling the room through a floor tile of the room which soon enough completely filled the room.
"Fula" chanted Subaru sending all the smoke through the window and when everything cleared Rom was seen trying to run away with Felt on his shoulder.
"Hey, Old man Rom what are you doing here?" asked Subaru without a care in the world that knights were pining him to the ground with their swords.
"I don't know who you are but for stealing into the castle you must die" said Marcos as he walked up to him and ignored Subaru.
"Now, I don't think that's the way to treat the family of one of the royal candidates." said Subaru trying to save him.
"Yeah, let him go!" shouted Felt as she was restrained by two knights.
"I am afraid, I can't do that as you have already publicly stated that you have no intention of participating in the royal selection, I am not obligated to follow your orders" replied Marcos looking towards her.
"Fine... I will do your stupid royal selection, you want me to try to be the next ruler right?" said Felt smirking at them.
"Wh-what're you sayin' Felt?" questioned Rom shocked at her statement.
"That old man is my family, so let him go right now and treat him with care!" continued Felt not bothering to answer him now.
"Very well" replied Marcos while the knights sheathed their swords and carried Rom outside.
"We will talk later Old man Rom" said Felt smiling at him.
"Hey, Nii-chan thank you for trying to save him" said Felt turning towards Subaru.
"No, problem Felt you guys helped me a little too so consider my debt paid now." replied Subaru even though he knew that he didn't owe them anything while Felt just smiled back at him.
"Hey, Reinhardt did you plan this too?" asked Felt turning towards him.
"Of course not, it was something greater guided by fate itself" replied Reinhardt who was glad with with the outcome.
"Are you some sort of slave to fate?" asked Felt
"No, from now on I will be your knight" replied Reinhardt as he kneeled down in front of Felt.
"Fine then, I will work you to the death" said Felt smirking at the idea but little did she know that it was IMPOSSIBLE for he had a divine protection for everything.
"So, now may we conclude that , Felt-sama and her knight Reinhardt intend to participate in the royal selection?" asked Miklotov as their talk ended.
"Sure, I am in but let me say one thing, I hate the nobility, I hate the knights, I hate this kingdom!, I hate everything about it so I am planning to tear it all down!, So how about that!?" said Felt with a satisfied smirk.
"W-what are you saying?" questioned the nobles as if she was mad.
"If I become the ruler, I'll destroy everything!, I will take down every last one of you and bring a little fresh air in the country!" shouted Felt at the top of her lungs.
'That sure was a different kind of speech...' thought Subaru face-palming mentally.
"Your mistress is quite the intense lady" said Miklotov to Reinhardt as heard her speech.
"Felt-sama's words will reach the ears of all one day" replied Reinhardt not at all fazed by her speech.
"In any case, all the candidates are finally here! The royal selection will now begin!" announced Miklotov standing up from his seat.
TIME-SKIP
Subaru, Felix, Reinhardt and Julius were chatting in a room while the candidates were talking with one another.
"Subaru, can you come with me for a moment?" asked Julius with an uneasy look on his face.
"Yeah, sure, we will be back in a moment, Reinhardt" replied Subaru as he followed Julius.
"Subaru, will you accept a duel challenge from me?" asked Julius when they walked out of the room.
"What brought this on?" questioned Subaru in return.
"The other knights think that you should be punished for disrespecting the sage council." replied Julius with a sigh.
"The other knights?, you don't think the same?" questioned Subaru yet again.
"Yes, I think that it was not right to disrespect Emilia-sama for her looks alone, I don't want the other knights to challenge you and lose miserably, so will you accept?" asked Julius.
"I am not that impressive but yeah, I would also like to know how I fare against the 'Knight of the Knights'" replied Subaru instantly energetic to go up against a real person instead of mindless beasts.
TIME-SKIP
Subaru and Julius were standing in an arena with Reinhardt and Felix both handing them a wooden sword each.
"Julius, you should reconsider it please, It's not like you." pleaded Reinhardt to Julius to stop.
"You know that he is not weak and can take me on easily, right?, besides we are only having a friendly duel." replied Juilus as he took his sword in his hand.
"Fine but keep it friendly please." said Reinhardt as he walked to the side lines.
"For disrespecting the sage council I bestow Natsuki Subaru a death penalty, but sadly as he is Emilia-sama's knight we will fight with wooden swords!" declared Julius to the knights as he raised his sword in a heroic manner.
"3...2...1 Gnya" Shouted Felix in a cute voice and the knights spectating the match started cheering for Julius
"Don't speak like that when you are not a girl Felix!" complained Subaru as he took a defensive stance and strengthened his mana reinforcement.
"Fine then I will go on the offensive" said Julius as he observed Subaru's moves and used mana reinforcement and he was infront of him instantly and sent a barrage of slashes and thrusts towards him but they were either deflected, blocked or dodged. Seeing that Julius was struggling to hit Subaru the cheers soon died down.
Subaru was only able to keep up because of Lumi's spell, if only their swordsmanship was taken into account Subaru wouldn't stand a chance against Julius but due to his creative use of spirit arts he was able to keep up with him.
After a minute of Julius trying to land a hit 'That's enough defense' thought Subaru as he turned the tables by trying to hit Julius making him block and that was enough for him to go on the offensive.
Somewhere Else
A guard burst in to the room the royal candidates were conversing in.
"Report. Sir Natsuki and Sir Julius are dueling in the arena!" said the guard panting for breath.
"What, we have to stop them?!" panicked Emilia as she stood up from her seat.
"I just wanna ask one thing, who issued the duel?" asked Anastasia not concerned at all.
"I was told it was Sir Julius." replied the guard.
"Then, I have no intention of stopping them" stated Anastasia as she played with her scarf.
"But your knight and my knight are fighting, are you not worried?" asked Emilia panicking even more.
"Worried, about what?, that Julius will take it too far and I will have to pay for your knight's treatment?" said Anastasia as if that's the only thing that would happen.
"I can't agree with stopping it before they finish either" said Crusch voicing out her opinion.
"If they are just duking it out, you could have just waited till it ended and told us who won" said Felt as she looked towards the guard.
"Yes ma'am, but the fight was well... too one-sided that I-" replied the guard not wanting to disrespect someone.
"I have to stop it" interrupted Emilia as she ran towards the arena.
Back to Arena
The moment Subaru switched to offensive it was obvious that Julius was having a hard time, Julius tried everything to try to turn back the tables but to no avail. Subaru used wind magic to increase the speed of his strikes and earth magic to strengthen his sword which was very easy to implement but very effective. Subaru then jumped and raised his sword only to bring it down with such force towards Julius making him raise his sword horizontally to block it only for it to break making him jump back to avoid the strike.
"You really are strong, Subaru" complimented Julius as Reinhardt tossed him another sword.
"Not really, you are strong too Julius, as expected from the greatest knight" replied Subaru.
"I will have to get serious now it seems." said Julius as he took a stance while his spirits appeared around him.
"I would very much like that" said Subaru with a grin.
Julius leaped forward and was in-front of Subaru in an instant and sent a uppercut towards him. 'He's faster' thought Subaru a little surprised at first but managed to block it and a very strong gust of wind followed the attack hurling towards him at great speed from his left side only for Jean to appear on his head and a wind barrier to form in-front of him and protecting him.
'Thanks for the save Jean' said Subaru telepathically as he dodged another strike from Julius.
'No problem, Subaru' replied Jean as the other spirits materialized on his head. 'He sure is getting serious.'
They continued clashing swords when a burning ball of fire and an earth spike were sent towards him from his right and left respectively only for Ruby and Noelle to form a ice shield and a earth wall to block it.
"UL Akra" muttered Subaru under his breath and a golden light surrounded his body increasing his speed and strength. He immediately switched to offensive and Julius was not able to keep up with him which ultimately resulted in Subaru's sword being mere milimetres away from his neck.
"Do you surrender?" asked Subaru with a cocky grin on his face while Emilia and the other candidates finally reached the arena to see what happens next.
"Of course... not" replied Julius as a large earth spike emerged from the ground below Subaru and supposedly collided with with him while Julius jumped back and a large amount of sand in the air caused due to the supposed collision with Subaru blocked the spectators view.
"EMT" (Now I can't remember which is the spell for the barrier, it is either EMM or EMT, I decided to go with EMT, please tell me if I am wrong.)
"S-SUBARU NO!" shouted Emilia as she waited for the dust to settle down. When the dust finally cleared Subaru was seen completely unharmed and was wearing a grin on his face.
"Thank... god" muttered Emilia under her breath with a relieved expression on her face as her legs lost their power and she sat on the floor.
"VITA" shouted Subaru as Julius legs couldn't handle the force of the spell which made him fall down unable to stand up again.
"I... forfeit" said Julius admitting his defeat, Subaru removed the spell and offered him a hand to get up which he gladly took while Anastasia had a surprised expression on her face.
"I still have much to learn, it seems" muttered Julius standing up.
"Don't work yourself too hard, Julius, you are stronger than most people" said Subaru trying to cheer him up.
"What was that spell you used?" asked Julius curiously, ignoring his compliment.
"It was a yin spell "VITA" it increases the weight of the object that you use that spell on." answered Subaru.
"Interesting, I have never heard of such a spell, where did you learn it?" asked Julius curiously.
"Lets just say I got some help from a shut-inn loli" replied Subaru with a smile and Julius looked dumbfounded.
"Good Job Bigbro!" shouted Felt from the spectating seats while Priscilla had a amused smile and Crusch had a neutral expression indicating that she was observing with interest.
"That was a good duel" said Subaru as he walked out of the arena with Julius, Anastasia and Emilia following behind.
"Why do you tend to get in trouble, Subaru!" pouted Emilia as she scolded Subaru.
"Sorry Emilia-sama, but we were just having a friendly duel." replied Subaru trying to calm her down.
"That wasn't friendly, launching a earth spike isn't friendly at all!" shouted Emilia yet again.
"Ya' need to calm down ya know" interrupted Anastasia "Julius did it because he knew your knight could handle it" continued Anastasia making Emilia calm down a little.
"Fine, but promise me you would tell me first before doing anything like this" said Emilia looking towards him.
"Emilia I know how important promises are for you, so I can't promise because if situation calls for it I will have to do it but I will try my best." replied Subaru.
"Fine, try your ABSOLUTE BEST" siad Emilia emphasizing "absolute best" and Subaru nodded
"Well then, we will go now" said Anastasia as she started walking away.
"See you soon Emilia-sama, Subaru" said Julius as he bowed and followed Anastasia.
"Yeah, see you Julius" replied Subaru as he waved a goodbye at him and turned towards Emilia and continued "We should go back too, Emilia-tan".
TIME-SKIP
Roswall, Emilia and Subaru were sitting in a carriage, heading back to the inn.
"Subaru-kuñ, as you requested I and Emilia-sama have made a deal with Crusch-sama to let you train under Wilhelm-dono with the sword." said Roswall with his usual eccentric way of speaking.
"Thanks about that, when will the training start?" asked Subaru curiously.
"You will stay at the Karsten manor from tomorrow and I will be returning to the mansion." replied Emilia gloomily.
"I am pleased to see that my Emilia-tan can't live without me." said Subaru playfully, noticing her displeasure at the fact the he will be staying at the Karsten manor away from her.
"It's not like that! I can live without you!" pouted Emilia, looking angry in her mind but to Subaru she looked like the cutest thing ever.
"Lets see if you can prove it!" replied Subaru with a smirk.
"I can prove it! stay in the capital as long as you like!" said Emilia pouting and looking away while Subaru just laughed at her making her pout even more.
Done 3600+ words, I really hope I did a good job on this one and I hope the fight scene was at least decently written. anyway if you enjoyed the story please fav and follow and leave a review, please, please *Making cute faces*.
