Chapter 4 – Demonically Arachnid
"Karen! Visual on Meili?!" Subaru asked his A.I. while running through the bushes.
"There is a heat signature in the shape of a child, approximately 200 meters ahead"
"Is she moving?! How fast is the temperature dropping?!"
"It does not seem as if her body temperature was descending."
"What?" Subaru asked in confusion. As the teen reached where the child was, he crouched for a moment to check on her condition. The moment he touched her, however, he realized that she was not unconscious.Her pulse is… normal? And she isn't cold to the touch. "…Meili? Why are you pretending to be unconscious?"
The girl flinched in his arms, proving her guilty of his accusation. The man had seen right through her and now she is going to be punished for what she has done to the other children. She opened one eye, bracing herself to accept her fate, her life completely at his mercy. But this notion was completely scrapped from her mind the moment their eyes locked. He was… giving her a look she had never seen anyone else give her. She did not know what it was, she had never experienced it before, yet it wasn't the manipulative and dominant gazes Mama would give her. Nor was it the authoritative and playful looks Elsa would command. It was warm. His gaze alone felt warm. Subaru was looking at Meili… with worry. …What?
*Growls*
"Subaru! Incoming hostiles from all directions! They are approaching at a rapid pace!" Karen alarmed.
Before Meili could answer, Subaru found himself surrounded by mabeasts. "Damn… So it was a trap? Meili, did someone threaten you?"
"…I…" Meili was now the one confused about his assumption. She sincerely did not know how to answer. The boy had not yet realized she was an assassin; he thought the assassin had used her instead to lure him into a trap. She shoved her confusion to the back of her mind and decided to play innocent for the moment, just like Elsa always taught her to be so that no one would suspect her. All she had to do was act the part while commanding the surrounding wolgarms into devouring him. "I'm scared mister!"
Right before Subaru could reassure her, one of the mabeasts leapt towards his neck with the intention to bite. Instead, however, all its fangs reached was a piece of armor too hard for it to penetrate and so, the dog beast's last memory before dying was the left hook Subaru landed on the side of its skull, which broke it apart. At this aggravation, the other creatures rushed at him in droves, to which the Avenger answered by deploying the mechanical limbs of his suit. "Karen! So sorry for depending on you so much, but cover the front!" Subaru exclaimed to his partner. The legs began dicing and stabbing all the monsters coming from the front, giving Subaru some leeway into constructing a plan. He had the idea to shoot a web of many strings between the two trees behind him, creating a makeshift wall for the wolgarms rushing from his back. As expected, the wolgarms on the vanguard were not smart enough to avoid, so all of them crashed into each other as the web held them back. "That should buy us some time!" Subaru affirmed while gripping Meili tightly with his right arm. Seeing as Karen had made an opening between the mabeasts in front of them, he charged in between the monsters and made a successful escape, as they could not reach his speed.
"Subaru, we've built a good distance, but I doubt they won't be able to catch up."
"…Yeah, I know that! But our priority here isn't fighting but getting back to the village!" Subaru responded while running. "For the time being, just have your sensors on high alert and tell me if there is any threat around!"
"Roger."
As Subaru and Karen got a hold of the situation, Meili panicked internally. He made mincemeat of my puppies! Who is this guy?! Just you wait! She then sent a command through her divine protection to the wolgarms that were trying to catch up to them to stop chasing in-group and instead spread out to surround them.
"Subaru, the heat signatures that were chasing are spreading, it's as if someone was commanding them on how to chase us."
"I doubt the animals are strategic enough to organize themselves in the middle of a hunt. Therefore, there really is an assassin… They probably have some kind of ability to manipulate mabeasts then. Damn, how annoying!"
Just as Subaru could finally see the clearing Rem and the kids had been in before, the wolgarms from his sides closed in. He stopped in his tracks, readying himself to fight when the ones to his left leapt towards him. The first two aimed for his legs, but he just kicked them on the side, impaling them on a thick branch sticking out from a tree. Another three appeared immediately after atop a mount of dirt, jumping from above towards his left arm. He punched the one in the middle in the snout, hard enough to knock it out cold, while the other two got beheaded by the mechanical legs. The second wave finally rushed from the right, however, and because he was holding onto Meili, attacking with his body was not an option. Five jumped him, two from above, three from below. The suit's remaining legs made short work of the top ones, but Subaru realized that the ones from below would descend on his exposed arm and Meili, biting them to shreds regardless of what he attempted. "Damn, Damn!" As he made a last minute attempt to cover the girl with his body, a mace flew and crashed onto the ground at his right, crushing the bodies of the three wolgarms on its path.
"Subaru-sama!"
"Rem!" Subaru expressed relief in his voice.
"I've already taken the other children to the village. Is that the last one?"
"Yeah, so let's dip outta here before more come!"
"Understood!"
As the two kept running towards the village, Meili descended into an even more panicked state internally. DAMN, DAMN, DAMN! Am I really going to get captured like this?! This guy may be an idiot, but the others will realize for sure that I'm the assassin! If Mama discovers I failed and I was captured, she'll surely send someone to take me back to her! To punish and kill me personally! It cannot end like this! Reaching deep inside her, even down to her very Od, she called forth all the wolgarms in the entire forest to charge against them. It didn't matter if she got struck or even mauled to death in the process, she didn't care anymore. Anything would be better than another of Mama's punishments for naughty children…
*HOWLS*
"Subaru-sama…"
"Subaru-"
"Yeah, I can tell… the amounts of howls is abnormal… most likely the entire pack is heading here."
"That could mean hundreds of them! Wolgarms live gregariously…" Rem commented, alarmed by the situation.
"Rem, that barrier thing. How did it work? Did you repair it?"
"…Emilia-sama had come down to the village to repair it; she was there when I brought the children. She and Beatrice-sama…"
"WHAT?! But the entire purpose of- Augh, that worrywart!" Subaru complained, but behind the mask, he was smiling sheepishly knowing that Emilia had come regardless of his instructions. I guess she and I can be similar in our stubbornness. "Regardless, if that barrier is active, even an army of wolgarms can't invade the village, right?!"
"Indeed. Although it varies from mabeast to mabeast, even a thousand wolgarms cannot penetrate the barrier."
"Good! Cause I can see the village lights in the distance already!"
The maid looked ahead, seeing the faint glow of torches and the sound of worried voices belonging to the villagers.
"*Spurt* *Cough, cough*"
"!" Subaru and Rem were alarmed by the sudden coughing fit of the girl on his right arm, realizing that she was profusely bleeding from her nose and mouth, her eyes looking bloodshot. "Meili?! What wrong?!"
Rem, however, recognized the symptoms of abusing a divine protection. "!" She stopped in realization of what was happening. "Subaru-sama, let go of her! She is the assa-"
"*Cough* Kill them!" Meili said in a raspy voice while jumping away from Subaru's grip. She pushed her divine protection to the limit to call forth all of the wolgarms in the domain and now her body was recoiling in the strain of her decision.
"Meili!" Subaru reached for the bloodied child on the ground.
"Subaru! Multiple hostiles behind you!" Karen advised while bracing the metal legs for the incoming horde.
"Tsk!" Subaru grabbed the unconscious Meili with his right arm once again and turned to see… Hundreds if not thousands of red eyes looking at them, at the center the smiling puppy that had bitten him. "This is some bullshit…"
"We are outnumbered…" Rem muttered.
"Yeah, and when we were so close too…" Subaru made a split second decision before the dog monsters attacked. "Rem, take Meili and go back to the village at full speed."
"What?! Subaru-sama, she is the assassin! She drove these mabeasts feral, we should just leave her here and-"
"Let them devour the one that drove them insane? If it was a monster like them, I'd consider it… But Meili is just a kid. I already surmised she is the assassin… No kid should be put in such a situation."
"…"
"Rem… Please take Meili and-"
Rem's forehead began glowing in a pinkish aura, a horn-like protrusion sticking out from the center. "I know I'm in no position to judge you but… I just can't agree to your softy act or your suicidal tactics."
"Rem, what is-"
*GROWL*
The horde rushed in droves and Subaru and Rem saw themselves surrounded immediately. A dozen charged from the left and another dozen from above. "El Huma!" As Subaru braced himself, Rem accelerated at an absurd speed, obliterating the earth with every step. With her morning star in tow, she wiped out the beasts from the left with her mace while impaling the ones from above with ice spears.
"Woah!" Subaru yelled in surprise. She was already plenty strong, but it's like her power multiplied all of a sudden! It started when that horn appeared from her- wait, horn?!
"Do you like demons?" Subaru remembered her words. Rem… are you-
Subaru's senses flared in alarm as he suddenly looked to the right to see a dead wolgarm's face just centimeters from him, impaled on the bionic limb. "Subaru, snap out of it!" Karen exclaimed from within the helmet.
"R-right!"
The Avenger rushed in as well, trying to create an opening between the dogs that were rushing from the side closest to the village. It felt useless, however, as every time he killed one two more appeared. This is getting out of hand! "Rem! I'll create an opening so-"
"…die…" Rem wasn't even paying attention to him. She just kept slaughtering the mabeasts to their left, swinging her mace with one hand while casting ice with the other. It didn't help that her forehead was bleeding. "Die, die, die, die, diE, DIE DIE DIE MABEAST MABEAST MABEAST MABEAST WITCH!" As she scattered wolgarm brains and entrails around the place she locked eyes with an aghast Subaru. She had a manic, toothy smile on her blood soaked face as she suddenly swung her mace towards his head "WITCH!"
"WOAH!" Subaru avoided by crouching at the last second. "What the hell are you doi-!" She said witch just now!He stopped his question the moment he processed this thought. While Rem danced around, the wolgarms kept, for some reason, focusing on Subaru and charging against him even if Rem killed them in the process. Subaru, in the middle of this, quickly pondered.
She is at her most volatile whenever the witch is mentioned… The wolgarms are just mabeasts, what correlation could exist between them and me to make her attack me as well…?
He avoided an ice spear while stomping on another dog. "Tsk, the longer it takes to implement my strategy, the more dangerous it becomes!"
She is correlating me to the dogs, but why?! And why do they keep zeroing-in on me!? How could she- Correlating? To the…
"HE REEKS EVEN MORE OF THE WITCH!"
Correlating! To the witch! To the smell of the witch!
"That's it!"
Rem was still cackling while crushing the mabeasts around her, but her movements had grown slower and duller. The mabeasts were getting more and more chances to bite and claw at her flesh before dying and so she had become a wound-riddled mess, her skirt and uniform torn all around.
"*pant, pant* Mabeast… MABEAST, WITCH!"
As she rushed again, she made a mistake; she focused on the wolgarms and Subaru ahead of her, ignoring the ones to her right, creating the perfect moment for them to jump at her without fearing retaliation.
"…Wha-" Just as they were about to kill her, Subaru rushed in too, pushing her away and taking the brunt of the assault.
"KGH!"
Subaru's exposed right arm was getting fiercely bitten and clawed. The mechanical limbs had managed to slice through most of the beasts, but he still saw himself injured by the few that slipped by. He began crushing the skulls of the creatures gnawing at him one by one with his left fist. However, some of them let go and drew some distance between them and him.
"Tsk, they are not as dumb as I though… Must be the pack leader's influence."
"Subaru-sama!" Rem was in shock. She could remember… going feral, attacking him and the little girl in his arm as if they were monsters as well, yelling and smiling while rejoicing in the carnage.
I knew it… I'm just a-
"Rem! You okay?!"
"H-huh?" She asked from the floor, dumbfounded.
As Subaru moved around, killing the beasts that were still rushing at them, he laid out his plan to Rem. "I'm going to create an opening, so take Meili to the village while I distract them!"
"What?!" Rem noticed that the unconscious form of Meili was strapped to her by one of his webs.When he pushed me out of the way he… "Stop, please! If something happens to you for saving me, then I…" I really would deserve to be called a monster. She lamented while not completing her sentence.
"Stop putting yourself down! Ungh!" He answered while kicking a couple of the dogs away. "I'm not planning on dying, so don't go killing me off just yet!" He flashed her a mischievous smile. "I told you, didn't I? I'm demonically inspired today!"
"Subaru, engaging web-grenades."
"Thanks Karen!" Subaru prepared his left wrist and manifested from it two ball-like projectiles, emptying his current cartridge. "Web-grenade!" With his right hand he threw one of the projectiles towards the mabeasts blocking the route to the village. With his left he threw towards the bulk coming from the forest. Both balls suddenly expanded into big nets, trapping the mabeasts they landed on inside of them. He then rushed towards the opening to the left, the one that went deeper into the woods, leaving the maid and the assassin behind.
*GROWL, BARKS*
"Now go! Rem!"
"B-but I-!"
Subaru then finalized his strategy by abusing his newly discovered curse. "Alright you lot! Did you know I once die-" The world froze and the colors faded. As he felt all come to a halt, the black and purple mist appeared, and with it, the cold, shadowy hands. They caressed his face for a second and then… they grabbed his heart mercilessly, threatening to either crush it or remove it altogether. Nevertheless, Just as the pain kicked in and he felt like screaming, the world turned back to normal. "GAHGH!"
*GROWLS, HOWLS, BARKS*
His smell! It increased all of a sudden!
Rem noted in a panic as she saw his form grow smaller in the distance of the forest, a hungry pack of monsters following behind. She then realized that even the wolgarms that had focused on her at the moment of his distraction rushed in pursuit behind him.
They are chasing him! He realized they were attracted to the smell and he used it to his advantage!
Rem was now alone, with an unconscious assassin and a bunch of mabeasts trapped in ball like nets. Subaru had sacrificed himself in order to save two girls that had attempted to murder him. Rem realizes that, were she to rush behind him as well, she'd be wasting the opportunity created from his trust in her. Subaru really does trust her. Even after all she has done, he is still good enough of a person to trust her. "Please… don't die…" Rem lamented with a shame-filled face while getting up from the ground and running towards the village. "I swear… I will come back for you!"
As all of this transpired, back on Arlam village a half-elf girl and a couple of spirits were tending to the cursed children Rem had brought over. Within the mayor's house, beds with the unconscious kids had been laid out. "It's honestly nothing short of a miracle that they survived this long, in fact." A blonde little girl affirmed.
"Even though they had activated and they were placed by different dogs for each one of them, their curses vanished all of a sudden. It's as if someone had killed the wolgarms that planted the spells on them…" Puck thought aloud with a paw on his chin.
"…If their curses vanished, would that not mean that Subaru killed the wolgarms responsible?" Emilia asked in concern for the safety of her friend.
"It is a possibility, I suppose." Beatrice affirmed. "Still, they were far too weak to have made it on their own. Even if he killed the wolgarms and dispelled the curse, their hearts would have stopped from the weakening effects regardless. The maid deserves some credit for stabilizing their condition until we arrived, I suppose."
"Rem…" Emilia wondered about the maid. Even though you were adamant about coming at first… And you tried to kill Subaru before… Why?
"They are back!" Ram, who was outside the house, yelled while pointing to the woods.
Hearing this, the villagers congregated once again near the fence the young man and the maid had exited the Arlam from. Likewise, Emilia and her group, who were done healing the children, came outside as well, alerted by the commotion. "What's going on?" The half-elf asked.
"The maid and the last of the missing children is back!" A young man answered.
"Rem!" The pink haired maid that had been on the lookout as well yelled in worry seeing the tattered state of her twin.
"N-Nee-sama…" Rem muttered in a low voice seeing her sister's worried face.
"Rem!" Emilia chimed in as well. "Is that… Is she alive?!" The silver girl then panicked seeing the bloodied state of the child that was stuck to her. She then noticed that… Subaru wasn't among her group. "W-where's Subaru?"
"I think it'd be better if we discuss this inside…" Puck interrupted while trying to comfort his daughter.
Inside the house, Rem sat down and relayed the details of her and Subaru's situation while laying Meili onto one of the beds. As Emilia approached to heal her, however, Rem stated the girl's true intentions. "Emilia-sama, Meili is a mabeast user. She is the assassin that created this whole mess to begin with."
"What?! But… she is just a kid…" Emilia expressed her confusion while taking a look at her. She then noticed that her wounds seemed completely different to those of the other kids, seeming like the ones produced by overuse of divine protections. "Sh-she really is…? But then, why would Subaru risk his life to save her?!"
"He stated the same thing you did just now, I bet." Ram commented from the side, a frustrated expression on her face at the self-sacrificial act of the new guard. "She is just a kid. Barusu is just that stupid to think this assassin's life has value as well." She huffed to the side while caressing her younger twin's head, trying to comfort her. "Might as well get the most out of it. If we heal her, we can get some information out of her."
"But she-!"
"There is no use trying to argue about this, elf girl." Beatrice commented while healing the assassin. "If the boy is still in the woods, and he was bitten by multiple beasts, chances are he is cursed as well…"
"…If that's the case, then he'll likely die fighting them off within half a day. Perhaps less if exhaustion catches up to him." A frustrated Puck answered, looking reluctant about sharing this information because he knew what Emilia would do knowing about it. He forced himself to speak it, nevertheless, because in her state not knowing could perhaps be more dangerous.
"Then we have to go rescue him!"
"Emilia-sama, Barusu's job is to protect you." Ram responded matter-of-factly. "Although you might not like it, he ought to be able handle this sort of situation by himself."
"Fighting an entire pack by himself is suicide and you know it!" Emilia claimed.
"But fighting it together doesn't guarantee victory either! It just increases the risks!" Ram answered the candidate. "It's better for us to await for Roswaal-sama to come back and hope that Barusu somehow manages to survive until then…"
"I have to agree with her, Lia…" Puck chimed in, much to the shock of his contractor. "Barging in there to save him places you in an absurd amount of danger. I cannot agree to that." He said with a serious voice.
"Puck, how can you say that…?"
"You know what my priorities are. If it helped you in any way, I'd agree. But if you are just risking yourself for no reason-"
"Subaru is 'no reason'?!"
"That is not what I meant and you know it!" Puck attempted to backtrack his words to no avail.
"…No, it is. So not just the maids, but you as well, huh? I'm glad to know your feelings on the matter." Emilia slipped a few tears. She sniffled and dried herself with her hands before making a resolved statement. "If I have to go alone, I'll do it. You can just… wait here with the children."
"Lia! You can't just-!"
"I'm going as well." Rem surprised them by coming out from her stupor.
"Rem…"
"It's my fault, nee-sama… If I had listened to him from the start instead of arguing we wouldn't have been surrounded… And he wouldn't have had to act as a decoy…" The blue demon lamented.
"Even so…"
"Please, let me make things right. I can't live knowing he had to die for me of all people…"
"…What do you mean by that, Rem?" Ram muttered in confusion, aware of her sister's guilt towards Subaru but confused by the bigger implications of her statement.
"Then, it will be the two of us. Beatrice, Puck, take care of things here." Emilia commanded in a serious tone.
"*Sigh* …Barusu really is nothing but trouble." Ram sighed in exasperation. "Emilia-sama, I'm going as well."
"Nee-sama!" Rem's face lighted up. Her expression denoted a mix of relief and worry. She was confused about endangering her sister because of her mistake yet she felt happy she would choose to help her regardless.
"My clairvoyance should allow me to spy his location if we get close enough to where he's been." The older twin affirmed while puffing her chest to her sister's admiration, trying to reassure her.
"Ram…" Emilia muttered in surprise.
"…Ugh! Alright, I'm going as well!" Puck yelled with a conflicted expression. Gone was his normally relaxed tone.
"Thank you, Ram, Puck." Emilia nodded at them with relief. "Beatrice, please stay here and take care of the children and Meili."
"Huh?!" Beatrice asked as she finished healing the assassin. "And why should I?! I have helped more than enough already, in fact! You should be grateful that I-!"
"Betty, please." Puck begged with a worried expression.
"Of course Bubby!" Beatrice answered with a childish glee. She immediately realized her behavior just now and tried to regain some seriousness again. "*cough, cough* Just remember, elf girl, that were something to happen to my library while I'm away, I'll hold you and everyone here responsible."
"Of course, I understand. Thank you Beatrice." As Emilia gave her thanks, her group rushed outside. Their destination: the thick of the forest, in the direction Subaru had run.
"DAAAAAAAGH! YOU ARE SO ANNOYING!" Subaru yelled in frustration while running, dodging and striking against the horde pursuing him. Within the sea of trees, deep into the forest, the boy was fighting for his life while thinking of a way to return to the village. His right arm was bloody all over, but he had stopped it for the moment by wrapping some webs around it. This distance should be enough, right? Now I just have to find a way between the beasts and I can run back to Arlam… Ugh, if there were taller trees I could swing from them away from this crowd!
"Subaru, there is a cliff up ahead. Be careful."
A cliff, eh? He thought up a strategy. "Karen, deploy a drone! I want to know how deep the cliff is!"
"Understood." At his command, an exploration drone deployed from his back from where the extra limbs would sprout. The drone flew over him and went ahead, in the direction of the cliff. "It seems to be about as tall as a 25 story building. There's also spike-like rock formations at the bottom."
"Lethal enough for these morons to fall to their doom!" Subaru affirmed in relief. "Alright! You lot, come get me! I've died once befo-!" The world was frozen once more and the cold, dark hands embraced him and his heart once again. As he was about to yell in pain, however, time came back to normal.
"Subaru! You are experiencing another cardiac dysrhythmia!" Karen yelled in a panic.
"I-It's fine! It's all p-part of the plan! My smell increased!"
*GROWLS*
*HOWLS*
"The beasts are getting more aggressive! They are not even trying to surround us anymore; they are just trying to catch up desperately!"
"Good!"
Subaru came out of the forest, stepping into the border atop the cliff. He sprinted at full speed and jumped off it, heading directly towards the bottom. The growling mabeasts were so feral; they did not even think about the consequences of such an action and jumped as well.
Seeing them fall hook, line and sinker for his plan, he shot a web under the airborne horde towards the top of the cliff. The web stuck to the rock wall and the tension stopped Subaru in midair for a moment only to propel him forward immediately after, underneath the dog monsters. The wolgarms could do nothing but watch him in frustration as they fell to their deaths. The moment Subaru climbed over the cliff, he heard the splat and death throes of hundreds of mabeasts crashing onto the ground and impaling themselves in the rocks below.
"Phew, that should be the en-"
*GROWL!*
Subaru looked ahead of him in surprise. The little puppy that was the pack leader was surrounded by some bigger, older looking wolgarms. "I take it you are the actual brains of your pack, huh? I really keep underestimating you lot; you are no simpleminded animals…" He chuckled nervously.
The mabeasts charged at him and Subaru ran once again into the forest, rushing deeper into it. The pack leader's inner circle seemed smarter than the younger wolgarms. Although their numbers had drastically dropped, they were surrounding Subaru from all sides, not leaving an opening for him to escape, as if they were guiding him somewhere.
"Subaru, the drone detects a cave-like rock formation up front. It seems to be an abandoned coal settlement."
"Most likely their breeding grounds." Damnit, I keep walking deeper and deeper into their hideout and I can't do shit! "I have to keep my cool if I want to make it out of this!"
As Subaru kept running through the forest, Emilia's group approached towards the commotion Ram had detected through her clairvoyance. "Emilia-sama, over here!" The group rushed through the trail left behind by the horde, spotting some broken webs and dead dogs along the way, until they finally reached the cliff Subaru had been in moments prior.
"Wh-what is this…?" Emilia asked, befuddled. The group looked over the border to find… a myriad of mabeast corpses mangled by gravity, spreading all over the bottom of the cliff.
"They were probably chasing Barusu to the cliff and jumped along the moment he…" Ram lamented.
"Y-you don't think…" Emilia frantically thought with a disturbed expression, trying to deny their possible reality.
"Emilia-sama, nee-sama, Subaru is alive!" Rem cut their train of thought short. "I can detect his smell from deeper into the woods!"
"His smell…?"
"Yes, it increased all of a sudden, but I can definitely tell it's his!" The blue demon girl affirmed while gripping her weapon in one hand. "Follow me!"
The group went after the maid as she ran into the forest once again. "I can sense something up ahead!" Puck called out to them. Moments later, they were able to corroborate his warning as they heard the sounds of a battle; growls, snarling and barking clashing with the sounds of the boy as he gasped and panted while fighting off the monsters.
"Subaru!" Emilia yelled the moment they came into the clearing the Avenger was fighting on. His right arm seemed bloody and he definitely looked tired, but he was holding his ground pretty effectively against the wolgarms. The moment one rushed, he'd web it up and throw it towards the others in the pack. When they got too close, he'd punch or kick them away. When he couldn't react on time, the extra limbs would dice or impale them. It was the moment when he was cutting down an wolgarm that had managed to sneak behind him that he noticed Emilia's group.
"Emilia?!" He asked in surprise while dodging and kicking away another dog. "Ram and Rem too! What are you doing here?!"
"We came back to help!" Rem yelled while swinging her mace towards the main pack. She managed to crush a couple of them as the others dodged.
"El Fura!" Ram pointed her wand towards the ones that dodged her sister's strike and slashed them apart as blades of wind shot out from the tip.
"I'll have you know I'm here too!" Puck yelled in a cheerful tone as he and Emilia summoned a multitude of ice spikes and shot them towards the pack as well, destroying and freezing the majority of them.
"Holy shit!" Subaru was surprised. In an instant, the amount of enemies had decreased to less than half. However, just as he and the group relaxed, more begun coming out from the cave as an army. Emilia casted a wall of ice between him and the incoming mabeasts, granting Subaru enough time to regroup with her before they broke it.
"Subaru! Are you alright?! Are you uninjured?!" Emilia knew the answers to these questions but her worry got the best of her and she questioned him without even thinking.
"I'm fine, it's mostly my right arm, but I already stopped the bleeding." He reassured, but he noticed he failed miserably the moment he mentioned bleeding, as the faces of the half-elf and the blue oni turned to worry. "Er- look, let's focus on the battle first, okay?!" He changed topics the moment the wolgarms begun jumping over the remains of the broken ice wall, rushing towards them.
"Right!" Emilia and Rem nodded.
"You've made a mess, Barusu!" Ram yelled while slicing the incoming dogs. "I take it you were the one that made that bloodbath by the cliff, right?! These monsters won't let you go now, especially so because you killed the bulk of their pack!"
"They were not letting me go from the get-go, you dingus!" As he webbed up an incoming group, he argued back. "And what's that you are doing, summoning wind blades?!"
"It's called magic, you ignorant buffoon!"
"I know it's magic! I'm asking how you do it so I can think up a strategy to exterminate these things!"
"Exterminate them?! Subaru, we have to push them back and run away!" Emilia yelled at him while shooting spikes towards the hostiles ahead.
"No can do, Emilia-tan!" Subaru justified himself. "The dogs that bit me?! They are up there, atop the cave; it's the puppy and the ones overlooking this whole mess!"
"What?!"
"If that's the case, we just have to kill those and be done with this!" Rem yelled while lifting her palm, aiming towards the puppy and the older wolgarms. "AL HUMA!"
"Wait Rem! It's no u-" Subaru tried to warn to no avail. Rem constructed a giant, ten-meter long, spear of ice and shot it towards the leader. For a moment, it looked like it would land, but then a bunch of the dogs jumped in between the spear to protect the pack leader. They impaled themselves in the ice, killing themselves in droves until the momentum of the spear ceased and it fell onto the ground.
"Kuh!" Rem lamented in frustration.
"They killed themselves…" An aghast Emilia muttered.
"They can sustain themselves without food, just mana… They are probably really sensitive to the way it fluctuates around them and can detect whether a spell is cast or not." Puck affirmed. "If they know a spell is casted, the pack leader can command them accordingly. Unless, of course, it's fast enough for them to be unable to react, like Roswaal's fire balls."
"…Rem, how many more of those things can you summon?" Subaru asked trying to get her out of her frustrated state.
"One more, I think. Why?"
"Ram, I'll ask again, how do you create those wind blades?"
"What do you mean how? I just command the air with magic into turning into a blade of wind." Ram could not understand what Subaru was asking, defaulting to the most obvious description for her powers.
"So you remove the oxygen from around you to form it into a sword like projectile and you shoot it?"
"Remove the- What?"
"You create your wind blades by transforming the air into a blade, right?"
"Yes! What are you getting at?!" Ram asked in confusion while cutting down another dog.
"Good, then…" Subaru looked towards the cat spirit floating above Emilia. "Puck! Cover us!"
"What are you going to-?!"
"Just do it!" Emilia ordered.
"Alright!" Puck responded, amazed by his contractor's tone of authority. He started conjuring multiple spikes, keeping the army of dogs coming from the cave at bay.
"Thank you, Emilia-tan." Subaru nodded to her. "Now, I'm going to lay down my plan to you three, so I don't want no complaints or buts, just do it, ok?" Subaru commanded in a serious tone.
As Subaru explained his strategy, the three raised their eyebrows in confusion, not understanding what he was saying.
"Are you insane?!" Rem asked in worry.
"Subaru, I can't-!" Emilia's and Rem's complaints went interrupted, however.
"I said no questions, just do it! Trust me; I'm not going to die, so just do what I told you!" Subaru said with a confident grin.
"…" The half-elf refrained from commenting, frowning at the boy.
"I… I understand." Rem meekly answered back to his conclusion of the argument.
"…I hope you know what you are doing, Barusu." Ram said before pointing her wand once again towards the wolgarms. "Ul Fura!" However, instead of aiming directly at them, she begun creating wind blades just before where the caved lied, keeping the beasts from advancing towards their group. The blades danced around, with no clear direction, surrounding the pack in a circle around their cave of origin. A dust cloud began to form and elevate, blocking the view for both parties. The moment the dust started to settle, Ram deactivated her spell.
"EMILIA, NOW!" Subaru yelled while running towards the dust cloud. Emilia casted a continuous wall of ice in the form of a deformed circle, almost ellipse-like, surrounding the cloud and the wolgarms with Subaru inside.
"Honestly, if we had a butt load of coffee creamer, it would work wonders. But the dust in low oxygen should suffice…" As he commented to himself, the wolgarms picked up on his scent and directed their focus onto him. The puppy that was standing on top of the cave jumped out and stood in front of Subaru.
*GROWL!*
The puppy growled at him before turning into an enormous, 5-meter tall wolf-like being, with a horn on its snout.
"So that's your true form, eh? Gotta say, not impressed." The young man mocked with a cocky grin.
"Subaru, they have surrounded you." Karen warned, her sensors relaying him the information from inside the mask.
"Not a problem. Anytime Rem!"
"Is he inside already?" Rem asked from the outside, unable to see what was happening.
"…Yes, I think." Emilia confirmed; a worried expression painted on her face. "Rem…"
"Yes! Al… Huma!" The maid strained herself and casted another giant ice spear. This time, however, instead of shooting it, she casted it above the formation of ice walls Emilia had constructed, making it hover for a moment.
"Great!" As the mabeasts charged at Subaru with the intention of mauling him to death, he jumped over them and stuck to the giant ice spear that was floating above.
"And now, to stick this and get out!" He jumped towards the top of the ice wall and begun running across it while sticking his webs to it.
"REM, NOW!" He yelled after creating a thick enough web all around the top of the wall and jumping away, back towards his party.
The dogs that had managed to climb over the wall were crushed to death as Rem dropped the ice spear on top of the ellipse wall. The wolgarms were now all trapped inside a dust cloud within a dome of ice, sealed off from the air outside by Subaru's strings that acted as a tape of sorts.
"Emilia!"
"Yes!" Emilia conjured a spike to penetrate through the wall. She shot at it and the ensuing crash resulted in a small fissure.
"Ram!"
"You don't have to yell, moron." Ram lifted her wand once more and casted an air current into the fissure. "Fura!"
The moment the air went into the fissure, the ice spear on top of the wall was sent upwards with excessive force, turning into chunks of melting ice in the air. The walls of the structure broke down to reveal a flaming inferno inside, the cave and the wolgarms burning and blown to smithereens. The wind current created from the explosion was strong enough to push the group back a few meters. As they regained their bearings they realized what had happened and turned to Subaru for answers.
"What the hell happened?! What was that?!" Emilia asked frantically.
"That, Emilia-tan, was a dust explosion." Subaru explained with a smile.
"Dust explosion?" Rem asked in wonder.
"Yeah." He looked at her. "It's produced when a lot of dust settles in an enclosed space. It's why I asked Ram to create a lot of wind blades around the cave. To pulverize the rocks around it into dust particles and suck out the oxygen."
"You asked me to create a dust cloud to generate an explosion?" Ram asked in confusion as to why he would know something so obscure.
"My ice walls were created for the enclosed space… But then, how come we didn't just crush the wolgarms with the ice spear from the start?"
"If we had used the ice spear to crush them, they would have just retreated into the cave for safety. I needed to jump in there so they would be too distracted to notice the spear."
"But what about the fire?" Puck wondered. "How did you ignite that from just dust?"
"Well, that's the thing, it wasn't just dust." Subaru made a gesture with his fingers, indicating the small size of something. "I used the fire pyroxene crystal I nabbed from the kitchen yesterday!" He unmasked and commented with a grin and a wink.
"Huh?" They all asked.
"You see, before you arrived, while I fought the wolgarms off, Karen noticed that the rocks around the cave and inside it were, in fact, coal. When the fine dust settled inside the ice walls and the spear was floating atop me, I struck the pyroxene to ignite it and stuck it to the bottom of the spear. Then, I used my webs to seal off the top of the ellipse wall and so that the spear could get stuck to it when it fell down, separating the space inside from the air outside. After that, we just needed the air from Ram's spell to come in through the fissure created on the wall by Emilia-tan to elevate the settled coal dust particles and then… Boom! Dust explosion!"
"But why would you know how to make such a thing?" Puck asked in utter confusion about his knowledge.
"Why wouldn't I? It's all basic physics."
"Physics…?"
"Science! Like my suit!"
"Well, I think I've learned not to question your insane ramblings anymore Barusu." Ram commented while dismissing any worry she might have had. Or rather, not wanting to admit she was worried to begin with. "After all, even you must be capable of spouting something smart once in a while."
"Oh, haha, you are just hilarious." Subaru mocked back. "Anyways, let's go back to the village; I want to check in on Meili."
"Oh! Right!" Emilia remembered that the child assassin was still an issue they had to resolve. "Um… Are you fine, however? Can you walk?" She remembered her worry.
"Yeah, I'm ok… I know I was mad at the beginning, when I saw you risk your asses for me, but… Thanks Emilia-tan. And you too, Ram, Rem. I'm glad you came." He smiled while thanking his three saviors profusely.
"Hey, hey, I thought I told you I'm also here?!" An exasperated Puck punched him on the cheek with his paw.
"Yeah, you too Puck!" Subaru chuckled.
"I… You are welcome, Subaru." Emilia wanted to thank him instead. Were not for him, the village kids would have died, and she would have been none the wiser about who or what did it. If anything, I should be the one thanking you… Causing nothing but trouble since meeting you…
"Is something wrong?" Subaru asked preoccupied while noting her worried expression.
"…It's nothing, dummy." Emilia shook her head and gave him a playful look and smile while trying to reassure him.
"Oh, whoa, no need to get rude. Geez, Emilia…" Subaru mocked back as well in a playful tone.
"You might be creative, but you really are a buffoon. Stop salivating over your master's thighs the moment you're not in danger, disgusting Barusu."
"Oh, drop it, you moron!"
While Subaru and Ram started arguing back and forth, Emilia giggled from beside them while Rem smiled sheepishly, happy that Subaru was now safe and everyone was finally comfortable enough to relax around each other.
"Thank you, Subaru-sama…" She muttered in a low voice, unheard to everyone.
However, from the back of the group, Puck watched them with unease.
Lia has never been this obsessive about someone, nor had she ever been so defiant towards me… It's only been three days and yet… Ever since he came around, she has… changed.
The spirit nervously thought while glaring at the boy joking and laughing around his daughter.
Subaru… don't you dare ever do something to upset her or I'll…
The group returned to the village without a hitch, only encountering one or two wolgarms that had yet to be killed-off properly on the way.
"They came back!" The mayor exclaimed while the light of dawn entered the village through the gaps between the trees. As the party came out of the woods, the crowd of parents and villagers surrounded them.
"Subaru-sama!"
"Thank you so much!"
"Thank you!"
"Geez, y-you don't have to…" Subaru humbly denied the praise while looking embarrassed towards the ground. "I-I'm just glad you are all okay, is all…"
"You as well, Emilia-sama."
"!" Emilia turned towards the crowd in surprise. "I-I…"
"We are sorry we were apprehensive about you at first because of your… appearance. But, we truly are grateful for what you did to heal the children." An old woman approached the half-elf with a gentle smile.
"Thank you, Emilia-sama!"
"We'll back you no matter what!"
"I… T-thank you…" Emilia had to hold back tears. The villagers were thanking her from the bottom of their hearts. To think the day would come where people would be glad to greet a silver haired half-elf would… Emilia felt elated. "Thank you!"
The maids were smiling from the back when the parents of the children turned to look at them as well. "Please, let us thank you as well."
"I…" Rem looked troubled, not knowing how to answer.
"No need, as servants of Roswaal-sama, it is just a part of our duties to assist you as well." Ram covered for her.
"Still, thank you for saving our children."
Ram and Rem processed the parents' words and tone for a second before smiling sincerely. "You are welcome." They answered in unison while bowing slightly.
"Yeah, thank you!"
"Thanks!"
"We are in your debt!"
"Thank you! Ram-chi! Rem-rin!"
Ram's brain froze at the mention of those names. "Who… Who told you those were our names…?"
"Oh, the village children, of course!"
"Yeah, they said that Subaru told them your names!"
The parents laughed and chuckled aloud while Ram's reality crumbled around her. "I'm swear, I'm castrating Barusu so that he can't leave behind any aggravating, name-calling off-spring."
Rem, however, could do nothing but giggle a little at her sister's dismay.
As the crowd dispersed around the village, the parents taking their children back to their respective homes, Subaru's group reunited in the mayor's house once more, where a now awake Meili stared them down while tied to a chair.
"So… What do we do with her?" Beatrice asked.
"Hey! Beako! You got out from your dusty old library!" Subaru saluted the little blonde.
"Whose library do you think you are calling dirty you-!"
"*Clap, clap* Alright, alright, enough of that." Subaru interrupted the spirit's complaints before she could finish, much to her chagrin.
"Mmmmmmngh!" Beatrice muttered in unintelligible annoyance.
"Just so you know I will not talk." Meili acted confident. "The very fact that you captured me means that you're too much of a softy to kill me."
"Then we'll just torture you." Ram deadpanned.
"Hmph, I've been through worse than just torture. I will not talk regardless of what you-"
"NO TORTURE." Subaru finalized with an assertive tone.
"Subaru, she is not a kid, she is an assassin. With the confidence she displayed in her act up until now, I doubt you were her first target." Puck commented with a serious tone.
"The cat is right. I've killed before. And if you let me go, I'll likely kill again. So let's get this over and-"
"We are not killing you." Subaru affirmed. "We are not here to torture you. I'm… here to help you." The Avenger kneeled to be on eye level with the little girl, his dull browns locked with her olive greens. "Please… tell me. Who set you on this path? Who hired you? Who manipulated you into doing these atrocities?" He asked in real worry about the girl.
Meili's mind froze. What is this idiot asking…? No! He is just looking for information on Mama! If I give it to him, Mama will torture me to death for sure! "J-just kill me!" Meili yelled in a panic.
"We are not going to kill you!" Emilia kneeled as well, locking eyes with her as well. "Please, Meili. Talk to us. We… we want to help you!"
"Y-you…" Meili did not know how to respond. To begin with, the whole plan was set in motion with the intent to drag her out and kill her. But, not only she survived, she wanted to help her would-be killer. "What is wrong with you lot?!"
"We want to help you. That is all. So please… let us do so."
"I…" When Mama sends an assassin to retrieve me for failing… what can I do? "P-Please… keep me hidden!"
"Hidden?"
"Make it look like I died! I don't want Mama to know that I lived!"
"Mama?" Subaru asked.
"!" Meili flinched in alarm. I let it slip! "L-look! Just… Please, keep me hidden!"
Subaru and Emilia got up. "Seems like her mind is not all there yet. She's panicking." He commented about her pleas to the group.
"…For the time being, I suggest we make a room for her in the dungeon underneath the mansion."
"Hold it, we are not throwing a little girl into a dungeon!" Subaru talked back against Ram's suggestion.
"Subaru, I know you might have your reservations, but we can't exactly let her off the hook for endangering people's lives…" Emilia pleaded with him.
"…But still… A dungeon…"
"I can accommodate it to look like a proper room, Subaru-sama."
"Rem?"
"The cells are spacious, and they have proper conditions for living, such as bathrooms and the like. They are more like rooms with bars at the entrance than the dungeons you'd find in a prison."
"…I see. Then allow me to accommodate it with you." Subaru responded to the maid while turning to look back at Meili. "I'll throw some plushies for you as well. I'll have you know, I'm good at sewing!" The young man smiled at the braided kid while trying to reassure her.
"Plushies…" Meili's eyes turned soft for the first time at the mention of the toys. Maybe prison life will not be so bad after all.
"If you lot are done arguing about the girl, let's return to the mansion. I'm tired and I want to sleep." Beatrice claimed while yawning.
"Beatrice is right…*Yawn* Lia, I overextended myself today, would you mind if I return to my crystal?"
"Mhmm, Thank you Puck!" Emilia nodded and thanked her father figure as he dematerialized back into the green crystal dangling from her neck.
"Yeah, my bad, I guess. I'm sorry for interrupting my first language lesson." Subaru rubbed the back of his head with a little embarrassment.
"Just be grateful I agreed to more than one lesson, I suppose." The Great Spirit cut his apology short. "Do remember your side of the deal." The little girl turned around and exited the house.
"Language lesson? What 'deal' Subaru?" Emilia asked him, curious to what had transpired between the two behind her back.
"Oh, yeah, I didn't tell you. Beako agreed to teach me how to write if I share some stories from my world with her."
"Now you have me curious as well… I want to hear stories from your world too!" Emilia asked while smiling.
"Sure! I'll tell you all about it during our date!" He boldly claimed while winking.
As they smiled to each other, Ram exited the house as well while holding onto Meili. Rem, however, stood there a little longer while staring at Subaru intently as he flirted with Emilia.
It was noon now and Roswaal had yet to return. Ram, who was guarding Meili, estimated that her master would arrive by the evening. Emilia and Betrice were napping soundly in their respective rooms. All the while, Subaru and Rem prepared Meili's accommodations in the dungeons beneath the state.
"Wow, this place looks kind of luxurious for a dungeon. It even has a small barred window at the top of the wall, overlooking the garden. It's like a pricey single's apartment…" Subaru was surprised by the space of the supposed 'cell'.
"We´ll be accommodating a little girl after all. I think we should make things brighter around here." Rem commented with a smile while making the bed.
"…Heh." Subaru chuckled.
"What is it? Subaru-sama?" The maid wondered.
"It's just… You've done a complete 180 in a couple of days… I guess I really did make an impact on you." He smiled in relief.
"How do you mean?"
"Well… When I first met you, you sort of hated me and wanted to kill me… now, you are accommodating a room for an assassin that tried to kill you with a smile."
"O-oh… I-I'm sorry about-" Rem gazed downwards, feeling ashamed.
"No, no, don't be! It's all fine, really!" Subaru reassured her, noticing how he had ruined the mood. "It's just… you had your guard up all the time, so… It was kind of difficult to approach you."
"I…" Rem wanted to say something but she then noticed his right arm, now that Subaru didn't have his armor on him. "You right arm… It's injured quite a bit."
"It's not nearly as much of a mess as your uniform." He joked.
"Please, let me heal it." She put her hands over his wounds and started pouring healing magic over them.
"*Sigh* That's soothing. It feels… good. Thank you."
"Don't be. To begin with, it's my fult that you…"
"Hey, come on, stop blaming yourself."
"I… I can't." Rem felt the shame returning to her once again. She could not look him in the eye. "Subaru-sama, I…"
"Ah, ah, me first. Can we address the whole 'sama' thing?" Subaru interrupted. "We are colleagues; I'm not your boss. So… Please, just call me Subaru."
"…S-Subaru-kun…" She muttered as she finished healing his arm.
"…Well, that'll do."
"Subaru-kun, I… I'm sorry. About my behavior. About wanting to kill you. About forcing you to act as a decoy… I truly do nothing but cause trouble…" Rem began tearing up and sniffling.
"Hey, listen to me. I don't know what's troubling you but… just say it. Let it all out."
"I… When you came to the mansion… when I smelled your scent… you reeked of the witch cult… Of the zealots that destroyed my home… mine and nee-sama's." Rem declared while remembering the bloody night.
The corpses of her parents and the village chieftain. Her entire village, burnt to the ground. And the cultists holding knives, approaching her with the intent to end her life and her race. How her sister jumped in to save her… only for Rem to smile as her precious twin lost the horn that proved her ancestry.
"*Sniffle* I… I'm so sorry… It's all my fault that my sister lost her horn… and that you got injured… I really am nothing but a replacement… If she had accompanied you then you wouldn't have been…"
"Seriously, you belittle yourself too much." Subaru laughed while Rem looked at him amidst her tears, confusion in her face. "You talk about how I would've fared better with Ram, but with how we argued, the dogs would have gotten the jump on us, I assure you."
"Huh?"
"Rem… I'm glad you were the one there. You healed the children. I cannot do that. You saved them, not me."
"N-no… that's wro-"
"It's not wrong." Subaru assured. "Plus, I don't know what you see in Ram, cause I sure don't. I mean, you work your butt off, you are stronger, you can heal people, your cooking is great, your tits are bigger- Err, scratch that last one!" He said in a panic while blushing. "I wasn't thinking! Forget it!"
"…Hehe, you are a pervert…" Rem chuckled between sobs.
"Ugh… let me, let me start from up top again, please!" The young man pleaded. "L-look… I just think, now that I know you, that you are amazing. I trust you. And… I'm glad you were there for me."
"But I'm… Rem is only a replacement for Ram…"
"Oh, of course you are not! You are so much more than that!"
"But-"
"Look, if you're hung up about being a replacement… then be a demon together WITH Ram!" He put his healed hand over the oni maid's head, patting her hair near her horn.
"You remember what I said about demons laughing in New Year's? Let's be like that, Rem! Let's talk about our plans for the future… and laugh!"
"Even if I'm weak…?"
"Sure! What's wrong with being weak? I'm weak as hell in comparison to a lot of other people. Doesn't mean I don't get to look forward to stuff. Plus, if you are weak, that just means you can rely on others to help you and compensate for your weakness. And in return… you can compensate for theirs! I mean, I'm a guy that just climbs walls and shoots strings at people. I needed a ton of equipment and guidance from others to be useful. How can it be wrong to NEED help?"
"Subaru-kun…"
The light from the window came into the room, shining over Rem.
"We can lean on each other! Lend me a hand; I'll lend you one back! What do you say?"
"…Hehe… You are *sniffle* demonically inspired." The maid answered with a tear-filled smile.
My hero…
"Right?" Subaru winked while flashing a grin.
"Even smoother~" Karen chimed in from his left wrist. "Genius, Philanthropist, want me to scratch Playboy from the list?"
"Oh, shut up! You ruined the moment!"
"Hehe!" Rem laughed while Subaru complained to his bracelet, a genuine smile painted on her face.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Hope you enjoyed this one; it was a bit shorter than the others were, but I sure had a blast writing the fight scenes, in fact. I'm planning for the next couple of chapters to be interludes before heading for arc 3. As such, I thought it'd be interesting to see Emilia, Ram, Rem and Beatrice react to Earth culture, like music and the like. I had a couple songs in mind, like "All The Stars" by Kendrick Lamar (It played in Black Panther during the credits.) or "Sit next to me" by Foster the People or even "Blitzkrieg Bop" by Ramones (It played during Homecoming). Any suggestions on that? Oh, and thanks for all the feedback and reviews! See you next week!
