RE:Avenger

by Just-Another-Marvel-DC-Geek

The Re:Zero world realizes, through the introduction of a particular young hero, just how small the world they live in truly is. Basically, Subaru is MCU Spider-Man and madness ensue upon the arrival of the Marvel multiverse unto the world of magic, witches and spirits.

13. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 – Whales were not made for Riding

The Lifaus Highway. It is normally regarded as just another road connecting the Capital with the northern territories of the kingdom, the only special landmark of such a place being the Flugel Tree. Tonight, however, it would become the site of an historical battle.

Basking in the twilight of the settling sun, an army composed of mercenaries, foreign soldiers and knights alike approached the great tree in order to prepare their assault against the White Whale. At the helm of the formation, Crusch and Priscilla rode their arranged carriage, seemingly arguing about inane last-minute arrangements whilst the rest of their forces marched behind. Somewhere in the middle of the convoy, Natsuki Subaru and Rem were riding their own steed, Patrasche, as Ricardo behind them cheered-on his men to battle.

"Man… Sure must be tough being the one to rouse up the soldiers." Subaru commented to the maid while staring at the boisterous wolf-man.

"Are you worried about Ricardo-sama, Subaru-kun?"

"It's just… I know he is smiling and all, but even I'm nervous about this. Crusch and Priscilla were also pretty relaxed… I suppose that's the difference in mettle between a leader and, well, me."

"You say that, but you seem pretty calm to me!" A noisy voice yelled merrily from beside them.

"Huh?" Subaru turned to see Mimi and another kid similar in appearance to her riding a wolf. "Oh, Mimi!"

"Hmm? You know me?" The cat-girl asked in confusion. "I don't remember meeting you?"

"Ah, well, Anastasia mentioned you… an adorable fur-ball for her second-in-command." The boy teased the dwarf feline. "Figured that couldn't be Ricardo, too burly!"

"Hehehe! Yeah! I'm adorable aren't I?!" Mimi said as she swayed back and forth in her ride, a slight blush painting her face. "You know how to compliment a girl, I see!"

"Stop moving!" The other cat riding alongside her complained. "You are going to make us fall at this rate!"

"You seem to have quite the handful for a companion, erm…"

"Hetaro" The boy introduced himself. "Younger brother to this goofball."

"Nice to meet you Hetaro." Subaru nodded at the boy.

"I heard from Anastasia-sama that you are the one responsible for the alliance." Hetaro looked at Subaru with interest. "I must say that as the one that gives the orders in our little troupe, your capacity for making allies has me quite intrigued."

"Hold it, you give out the orders?" A wondering Rem questioned. "But weren't your sister and Ricardo-?"

"The second-in-command and the Captain, yes." Hetaro sighed tiredly while staring at his rambunctious sister. "But as you can see… the pair of them are a bit too scattered as it is to command in the middle of battle."

"Ehehehehe!" Mimi kept laughing while brushing off her sibling's concerns. "Hey! Has anyone ever told you it's impractical to wear pajamas to battle?!" The Pearlbaton girl pointed at the boy's suit while giggling.

"It's not- It's not a pajama, it's a suit that-" The young man attempted to defend to no avail. "I'm just- It allows for movement while-"

"It's so tight! Are you trying to asphyxiate in there?! Do you even have any other clothes?!" Mimi continued chuckling as she fired question after question.

"Subaru-kun has nothing but underwear under the suit." Rem stated confidently while picturing an image in her mind. "Were he to start choking, he'd have to get naked to-"

"AH! So he's an exhibitionist!"

"…Okay, whatever." Subaru rubbed his temples furiously while trying to calm down. "…Must be tough having to handle her." He then giggled at the poor younger boy.

"…Not as tough as you must have it." Hetaro responded in kind. "You said you were nervous? When I heard you were a hero or something from beyond the waterfall, I figured you were someone that could make even Reinhard tremble. Instead…"

"I'm just me, right?" The Avenger rubbed the back of his head sheepishly while Rem pouted at the cat-boy for the implication.

"Bad Hetaro!" Mimi yelled while swinging her staff.

*BONK*

"YOWCH?!" The feline rubbed his forehead in pain.

"Uh, Mimi? I wasn't exactly offended or anything…" Subaru felt bad about the boy and so he attempted to reassure the siblings' concerns.

"…I didn't mean to offend, if that's what you are saying." Hetaro continued as he kept rubbing his front. "It's just… hearing about the crazy rumors that circulate about what happens beyond the waterfall, what with the technology you shared with our mistress, I figure a battle against the Whale wouldn't even faze you."

"…To be honest, it's not the battle that has me nervous. It's what comes after."

"…The Witch cult…" Rem spat in disdain.

"Yeah…" The memories of the 'vision', as Subaru called it, made his hands tremble. "I've heard the rumors, you know? That their archbishops possess powers incomprehensible to the normal mind?"

"From what was said in the debriefing, your metias registered that he can lift things with his mind." Hetaro kept commenting on the situation. "While it would be good to be careful, I think the matters of discussing an strategy for the cultists should be left for the reserves and Emilia-sama. Our priority right now is the Whale."

"…You are pretty good at dispelling such concerns, eh?" Subaru complimented the boy.

"Well, I'd like to think I've learned something from Ricardo…" Hetaro smiled while his sister cheered. "Apart from the bad jokes, I mean."

"Hey, who tells bad jokes now?!" The loud and boisterous voice of the wolf-man resounded from behind.

"Heya boss!" Mimi got up on her seat and saluted Ricardo.

"For the love of- Mimi! You are going to make the Liger trip!" Hetaro kept complaining.

"Hehe~!"

"Now, what was this about being nervous?!" Ricardo questioned while staring at Rem and Subaru. "And here I thought ya were a tough guy!"

"Aw, c'mon man!" Subaru fake-cried as he conversed with the demi-human. "It's just… like the calm before the storm? I've fought weirdoes before, but your world is just as much of a mess as mine!"

"HAH! Too true!" From the other side, Aldebaran interjected. "I mean, if I have to choose between Alien invasions and Witch cultists, I'd just be trapped between a rock and a hard wall."

"Alien? Whazzat?" Mimi asked with curiosity.

"Hrmm… how to explain it…?" Subaru racked his brains for a moment while looking for a good description. "Al?"

"Hey, don't look at me; you are the one that has fought them." The helmeted man dismissed.

"Well… think of lizard demi-humans? But, like, ugly and super-evil." Subaru explained with a troubled face. "Actually, they also had extra arms and some had these weird, pointy weapons that shot out purple rays that can disintegrate you."

"That sounds so cool?!" Mimi's eyes shined with light when Subaru described the Chitauri weaponry.

"I mean, the weapons were cool… what they did with them definitely not." Subaru responded to her wonder dejectedly.

"From how you describe them, they sure seem nasty." Ricardo answered as well while sinking into thoughts for a second. "But I bet my boys and I could kick their asses in no time, hahaha!"

"I mean, if you can fly and have, like, a gazillion reserves…" Al commented while giving out a sigh. "Honestly, it was a wonder how WE drove them off back on Earth."

"Is that how your world is called? 'Earth'?" Hetaro wondered. "Honestly, I kind of thought it would be cooler…"

"So even YOU want something to sound cool, eh?" Subaru teased while Rem laughed.

"Hehe! Hetaro is still such a wittle bwoy!" Mimi kept the teasing going with her mockery.

"NNhaaa! Stop that!" Hetaro complained as Ricardo ruffled his hair.

"No way, no way!" The wolf-man denied him mercy.

As the group discussed they eventually arrived to their destination. Under the heights of the Flugel Tree, Subaru and the rest contemplated how the day turned to night while making their preparations for the attack.

"Move it! Move it!"

"Yeah, deploy them over here…"

"Whose Liger is this?!"

"Sure seems loud…" Subaru said as he sat on the base of the tree.

"Well, it's to be expected." Al responded indifferently. "Honestly, it's kind of insane. The moment an Avenger appears in this world shit hits the fan and we are already hunting down a calamity and the cult… you guys work fast!"

"Ehh… It's more like I don't want the worst possible outcome happening, so I have to work on the double."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"…" Subaru shut up while pondering on his vision some more. "I… Well, these guys are dangerous, so I just… I have to make it my responsibility to stop them while I'm here."

"…While you're here?" An intrigued Al remarked on the connotation.

"…It's still pretty bare-bones, but… I'm working on a way to return to Earth." Subaru admitted to his fellow.

"…Y-You mean, like-"

"Yeah, like, actually returning." The young man nodded, clearing out any doubts. "If, and that's a BIG if, I manage to… recreate the machine the other Avengers used to travel through time and beat Thanos… then there's the possibility that I- That we could go home, Al."

"For real?!" Aldebaran perked up with absurd surprise. "I-I want in! I want to go back!

"Woah, woah! Easy there, dude!" Subaru calmed the one armed knight down. "There's a whole lot I have to research before completing it! Right now, the only clues I have is that the one operating it was Ant-Man and that it had to do with Quantum physics. Any idea how those two work?"

"…I'm going to be honest; I didn't even know there was an Ant-Man." Al deflated. "And I'm no nerd, so unlike you I have no idea where to even begin with physics, let alone Quantum mechanics or whatever…"

"…Well, for the time being I'll research everything I have on Ant-Man after the fight is over. If I find anything that might work, I'll have you know."

"…Thanks, pal. I appreciate it. Truly." Al hugged Subaru with his one arm while sniffing inside his helmet.

"Of course, we're on the same boat here after all." Subaru hugged back. As he did so, he noticed a certain old man looking over a bed of flowers. "Uh… I have to go, there's something… Someone I have to see."

"Oh, sure!" Aldebaran stopped hugging and let go of the boy. "I'll be returning to the formation, don't want Princess chewing me out…"

"See you later!" Subaru dismissed while trotting towards the elder. "H-Hey! Wilhelm!"

"Hmm?" The butler turned around to see the young man responsible for this excursion. "Subaru-dono…"

"Hey man!" The boy greeted cheerfully. "So… you ready? I've heard this is pretty personal for you and I… thought it would be good to loosen up some first." Subaru stretched around while trying to cut short the tension of the situation.

"Hmm… I thank you for your concern, young man. But I was focusing on my motivation right now. Sharpening my resolve, you could say…" Wilhelm stared back at the flowers.

"…These flowers… Are they special or something?"

"It's not about the flowers themselves… but rather, about the one I once viewed them with." The butler closed his eyes while basking in the breeze swaying the flowers.

"…Your wife."

"Indeed." Wilhelm opened his eyes slowly. "I met her while practicing the blade. She was overlooking a field of flowers, not much different from this one… I'd say I was about your age back then."

"And then…"

"I lost her… and the only thing remaining was the sword and the guilt for me." Wilhelm looked back at Subaru with a firm gaze. "I cannot express how thankful I am, Subaru-dono. There are many things I ought to atone for… But tonight you've given me the chance to start on such a path anew. Thank you."

"…Well, I'm just glad I could help someone. More often than not, I've noticed how I've done nothing but feed on the problem…"

"Don't humble yourself so." Wilhelm denied the self-deprecation of the young man. "As you said, you've got nothing to be ashamed for. Hold your head high."

"…Thanks man." Subaru processed the words for a moment before drawing a smile on his face. He then raised his fist to bump with the butler as a sign of respect. "Let's beat the shit out of this fish, okay?"

"…Okay." Wilhelm raised his fist as well and responded to his salute positively with a chuckle.

The pair parted ways and returned to their positions. Soon the Whale would be upon them, Crusch and Priscilla watching through the 'E.M.T. 1' how it slowly approached their location.

"It won't be long now…" The Duchess commented while staring in the direction the calamity was supposedly coming from.

"I've heard stories… of how its size leaves castles to shame." Priscilla voiced as well before smiling sadistically. "I'm sure it will look like the most majestic of paintings once it sits as a corpse beneath my shoe!"

"*sigh* Always a show-off, aren't you? Sharing a carriage with one such as you had to have been the most taxing chore of this entire excursion." Crusch suspired in worry about her companion's mind. "Your arrogance will be your undoing."

"Hmph! I'd worry more about myself than my rival. If you die, it'll be more of an achievement for me."

"Is that a threat?" Karsten narrowed her eyes.

"It's a warning you fool. But if you want a threat, I can more than easily become one…" The Baroness glared as well.

The pair of noblewomen made the motion of unsheathing their blades, seemingly ready to strike at each other, much to their subordinates' chagrin. However, such an action was interrupted the moment one of the knights pointed to the sky. "LOOK!"

"!" The two turned their sights upwards and widened their eyes as the moonlight shining on them was suddenly covered up.

"GUOOOOOOHHH!" With a thunderous growl and an ominous fog following behind it, the silhouette of the White Whale glared at them with shining red eyes.

"…Ah!"

"…Goodness…"

"It's… It's absurd…"

"Big…"

"…You've come." Wilhelm muttered while glaring heatedly at the beast.

The creature swam over them as the mist encircled the highway, trapping them with it. "GUOOOOOOOHHHH!" It taunted once more as it took to the skies.

"T-Troops…" Crusch reached for her blade seriously this time. The nervousness of the situation had caught up with her as well, making her appearance just as surprised as her men.

"…Men." Likewise, Priscilla raised her blade and hesitated for a moment before attempting to give the order to charge.

Everyone was tense and scared of the sheer monstrosity in front of them. To the people who had seen it before, it reignited their terror. To those who had never witnessed the beast, it devastated them how the rumors didn't live up to the creature. Before anyone could do something, the calamity mocked their forces once more.

"GUOOOOOOO-!"

"LET'S FUCKING GO!"

*ZAP*

*BOOM*

As it yelled, the Whale's mockery was cut short by a blue bolt of lightning hitting it on the snout, prompting it to recoil in pain. "GUUOOO!" It complained while losing some altitude.

Subaru, in all his teenage impetus, had charged ahead with Rem and Patrasche before the order to advance was given, managing to land an electric attack on the monster. "First blood!" He signaled with a finger pointing at the sky and a smile at the two candidates behind him. He laughed before turning around and covering his face with the Spider-Man mask. "Alright! Full speed ahead Rem!"

"Yes!"

"E-Everyone!" Crusch screamed as she regained her courage. "Follow that fool!"

"You heard the Karsten girl! Take the glory!" Priscilla barked at her own men as well while pointing her blade at the monster.

"RAAAHH!"

"HAAAAH!"

"AAAAAHHH!"

With a rumble akin to a tremor, the soldiers all followed behind Subaru. The battle between the White Whale and the united forces of the alliance has begun.

Meanwhile, in the Mathers territories…

"…They've engaged." Emilia said to Beatrice, Puck and Ram as they stood around a table inside one of the offices of the mansion. Her hands shook as she tried to repress her worry.

"…It'll be alright." The pink-haired maid attempted to reassure herself. "If anything bad were to happen, Rem can just use Barusu as a meat-shield."

"That's not very nice!" Emilia reprimanded the oni. "They'll… They'll be fine! We have to-!" Emilia paused for a moment before proceeding with her words, a conflicted look in her eyes as her tone calmed down. "…We have to trust in Subaru."

"…We have other things to focus on, in fact." Beatrice interrupted their banter. "Maid, any movement on the part of the cultists?"

"…" Ram checked the transmission emitted by Karen. "None that would indicate they are willing to approach the village."

"Maybe they won't attack at the scheduled time?" Puck suggested.

"…Knowing him…" Beatrice thought a bit more about the man they were about to fight. "He's too dedicated a man to make such an oversight. It won't do any good for us to be overconfident."

"…How exactly is it that you know the archbishop, Great Spirit-sama?" Ram wondered in an ominous voice. Emilia widened her eyes at the maid and turned to look directly at Beatrice with a perplexed gaze.

"…Does it matter to you, maid?" Beatrice huffed while looking away.

"It matters if it endangers our lives." The servant retorted in a serious tone while narrowing her eyes at the Spirit.

"…" Puck looked at her fellow Spirit with a nervous look before staring directly at his contractor.

"Beatrice…" The half-elf gazed at the little girl whilst talking with a serious tone. "We managed to verify that there were no cultists in the village thanks to your smell… But if you know something else… anything…" She pleaded with a preoccupied look.

"*Sigh* …If it's any consolation to you, I knew him BEFORE he became the Archbishop of Sloth." Beatrice sighed with a tinge of sadness. "Geuse… It's a tragedy he has fallen to committing such… 'Atrocities' in the name of the Witch."

"…" Emilia froze in place the moment she heard the nickname. Something within her just…. 'Clicked', as if she knew something or someone who once went by such a name. At this, Puck could do nothing but tremble slightly. These behaviors, however, flew over the maid's head as she kept wondering about the cultists.

"Hold on a second, Beatrice-sama." Ram narrowed her eyes. "How would you know him? From what I know you-"

"Have confined myself to the library for the four past centuries, yes…" Beatrice's fists trembled for a moment as she sat down. "As I said, I knew him before he became the Archbishop of Sloth… After all, he is a Spirit much like myself, I suppose."

"A Spirit…" Ram brought a finger to her chin as she processed the revelation. "This could prove troublesome… We could be dealing with a master of spellcasting along with his power of moving things with his mind. Emilia-sama, we should inform the reserves of the army about this while-"

"HGHK!" Emilia kneeled over as a surge of memories that were supposed to be hidden away coursed through her.

"LIA!"

"EMILIA-SAMA?!"

"I…" She whispered when another memory hit her.

"I am… fine… Yes… Yes! Of course I'm all right! Nothing is wrong in the slightest! Because I just… I… I have just… been granted salvation like never before!" The crying expression of a smiling man with gentle brown eyes and green hair manifested before her.

"…Geuse…" The elf-girl muttered as she shed some tears on the floor.

"…" Beatrice looked at the girl with surprise, perplexed as to how she reacted. As if she knew her friend as well.

"Emilia-sama…" Ram tried to get her Lady to get up but was immediately stopped by Puck.

"…" The grey cat floated around his daughter for a second before managing to lift her from the floor. Her gaze, nevertheless, remained unfocused and cast downwards, worrying the other pair as they watched. "She's had… a tiring day. Ram? I think it is best for you to be the one to inform the army. For the moment… Lia should rest." Puck indicated while opening the door of the office, Emilia following behind in a dazed state. "I'll take care of her; I'll make sure she wakes up before dawn." The duo then left the room as Beatrice and Ram looked at the door with worry.

"…Beatrice-sama." The maid decided to take the advice of the other Spirit and focused on trying to know more about the upcoming battle. "Petelgeuse… Is there anything else we should know about him?"

"…I suppose it's unavoidable." Beatrice lamented with a frown bordering in tears before continuing her response. "If he puts the library in danger… then I have to make a choice, right?"

"Beatrice-sama?" Ram noticed how the little girl seemed to ignore her, looking not at her but rather beyond, to the window facing the forest.

"…Maid, I'll tell you what you NEED to know about him to prevail."

"…What I need to know?" Ram commented in a troubled tone. "So you won't reveal all you know?"

"I promise to tell only what his abilities entail, that should be enough right?" The little girl retorted back. "After seeing the images of what he has become… I'd rather preserve any memory of the past to myself. It'll be harder for you to do your job if you knew the kind of man he was before, I suppose."

"…Very well." Reluctantly, Ram sat down as well and began listening to the Great Spirit's descriptions of the cultist's powers.

"…" Unbeknownst to them a certain artificial intelligence had recorded the entire interaction, including Emilia's little breakdown, with the intention of informing her own master later on.

The night went on as the pair conversed and the battle raged on still. As one oni investigated the enemy, her twin instead confronted another directly.

"HAH!" Rem yelled as her mace hit the Whale on the side of its face.

"GUOOOOOO!" The monster complained as it recoiled in pain.

"Hmph!" As Rem fell onto his arms, Subaru grunted while building some distance between his group and the calamity. The White Whale was floating away from him and Rem, attempting to regain some of the altitude that it lost from the clash with the hero and the oni. However, the army would not hesitate in exploiting this opening.

"FIRE!" The green Duchess exclaimed as she pointed her sword at the beast.

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

*BLAM*

"GUUUUUUOOOOOO!" A diverse number of magic-fueled cannons fired off from the back of the army's formation, the vast majority impacting the monster on its side. The standout of the attack, however, was the night-banisher that exploded above the Whale, blinding it to the second assault of magical blasts.

*BOOM*

*BLAM*

"GUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"What a relentless assault…" Subaru suspired as the monster's body was covered in the flames, light and smoke from the ongoing attacks.

"Surprised?" Crusch inquired as she caught up to him and Rem in the field. Behind her, Wilhelm sat on his own dragon in silence.

"Are those the weapons you suggested in the mansion? The ones that could harm it?"

"If basic spells don't work, then we just have to use something with a bit more of a kick!" Mimi ran up to them and suggested as well.

"Hold it, you knew?!" A betrayed teenager stared in shock at the little cat. "Was I the only one on the dark here about what those things were?!"

"…Actually…" A guilty Rem looked away from the man she loved.

"You knew about the cannons as well?!"

"GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"!" As Subaru bantered with the pair of girls, Crusch looked on with surprise at the result of their attack. The magical cannons were indeed powerful, strong enough to melt rock and metal in an instant. And yet… after the smoke and flame dissipated, the Whale floated still in the air. Although it seemed to have sustained some minimal damage, it ignored it as it continued to glare at the army below it. "Tsk…"

"Hmph… it looks like its tougher than we gave it credit for." Priscilla commented as an expression of annoyance was painted on her face. "Looks like the capability to disperse magic wasn't restricted to low-level spells."

"Our cannons barely made it lose any altitude." Crusch admitted in equal frustration as the Baroness. "Looks like we'll have to be more physical in our approach." The noblewoman turned to look at the swordsman behind her, earning a nod and a bow as the old man rode away in the direction of the beast.

"Commoner." Priscilla directed herself towards the hero in the group.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"If you can truly bait the monster now would be a good time." The Baroness directed her sword at the riders circling around the mabeast in pursuit. "We are about to attempt an assault from the side, lure it in a way that it ignores the troops."

"On it!" Subaru whipped the Patrasche's reins, commanding her to move directly below the Whale's nose. "Rem, I'm gonna be a bit busy directing here, can you watch my back?"

"Always!" Rem nodded furiously as the pair rode towards the most dangerous place within the battlefield.

"Crusch! Priscilla! Keep the cannons firing!" Subaru yelled as the distance between them grew. "We have to keep the pressure going!"

"Don't have to tell me twice." Crusch muttered as she directed the cannons to fire once more. "Keep the assault going! Even if it doesn't lose altitude, so long as it can't move this way we can direct its movement the way we want to!"

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

*BLAM*

"GUOOOOOO!" The monster grunted in pain once more before its nose noticed the alluring scent of the boy running under it. "!"

"Hey! Shithead!" Subaru taunted with a smug glare. "Bet I smell reaaaaal nice from there! Come get some!"

"GUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOO!" The thunderous growl reverberated throughout the battlefield as the Whale pursued the young man. It was at that moment that it decided to take the fight a bit more seriously as the pores on its skin opened up, exuding a foul looking fog as if projectiles they were in the direction of the Avenger and the maid.

"HYUP!" Subaru grunted as he directed Patrasche to jump from side to side to avoid the incoming barrage.

"EL HUMA!" Rem shot a myriad of ice spears at the beast from below its jaw. Although they barely did any damage, enough for the Whale to mostly ignore it, the provocation garnered the attention to make the monster ignore its side for a moment.

"NOW!" Wilhelm yelled as he and the soldiers jumped on top of the monster. "HAH!" in one movement, and with a furious swing, the butler jumped from his dragon onto the back of the White Whale and began a relentless assault against it. He started by flaking the mana absorbing tendrils on its back, cutting away at the flesh with enough force to dent his fine blades nearly instantly. As he did so, Ricardo and his troupe jumped as well.

"Hey, hey! Leave some for us!" The wolf-man sliced and diced alongside his fellow soldiers as they retaliated with all they had. Fireballs, wind-blades, ice bullets and the like; the army was going all-out in their attempt to kill the mabeast.

"Ready Hetaro?!"

"Just jump already!"

"BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!" The feline twins yelled in unison, creating a devastating soundwave; one strong enough to uproot the trees and bushes on their way as they impaled themselves on the Whale's side.

"GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" In a fit of pain from the restless offense, the Whale began to thrash around in the air.

"Good! Keep the attacks going!" Subaru cheered. "Rem! Take the reins! I'm jumping as well! Make sure to catch me once I leap back!"

"Be careful!" The maid worriedly said as the young man climbed on top of the monster alongside the other soldiers.

"So you're finally joining-in as well, huh?!" Medium, who had accompanied Wilhelm on his assault, commented as Subaru landed beside her. "At this rate- *SWISH* HAH! You'll miss out on the fun!" She said as she cut off more tendrils from the monster's skin. "Where's your weapon?! You are not going to tell me you plan on fighting it barehanded?!"

"Don't worry, they are right here!" Subaru showed off his wrists before jumping towards the horn of the beast. "Listen up everyone! I'm gonna make it crash on the ground! Once it's down, we are attacking with all troops!"

"Subaru-dono!" Wilhelm questioned the proclamation. "How do you plan on doing such a thing?!"

"Just jump off and watch!" At his orders, a number of the soldiers leapt away from the monster's back, the only people remaining airborne on the Whale being Ricardo, Wilhelm and Subaru. "You really want to stick around and find out, huh?!" The surprised boy exclaimed at the two.

"Sorry man, but if you are doing somethin' insane it'll be real rude of me to just run away!" The wolf-man laughed while cutting away at the skin once more.

"Don't worry about us, Subaru-dono!" Wilhelm alleviated the young man's worries. "I'll make sure to jump away at the last second, just focus on landing the beast! HAH! *SLASH*" Wilhelm yelled as he cut into the Whale's flesh, stabbing with reckless anger.

"GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The pained monster growled in anger.

"Alright! Just don't go dying on me!" Subaru said to the pair as he shot his webs at the monster's right flipper. The strings stuck to the mabeast's tightly, restricting its movement as Subaru pulled with all his strength. "Good thing I know this works now!" In a similar fashion to the previous loop, Subaru electrified the webs, paralyzing the flipper. The Whale was now unable to stabilize its flight and began freefalling. However, unlike the almost suicidal attempt he performed in the past, Subaru was able to take advantage of the lower altitude of the monster and decided to direct it towards the ground instead of the tree. The fall would be vertical this time around, in the middle of the encirclement created by the army. "LET'S… GOOOOO!"

"GUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"It's coming!" Priscilla said before exclaiming her orders. "Widen the circle! We attack the moment it lands!"

"HAH!" The soldiers responded to her order with a yell.

"Jump away!"

"Now!"

Ricardo and Wilhelm yelled as they leapt off from the monster as it fell. Subaru, hearing their warning, fled the beast's back as well with Rem catching him in her arms. "Oof! Thanks Rem!"

"No problem!" The girl smiled angelically as she felt the weight of the young man in her embrace.

With its right side momentarily paralyzed and at the speed it was advancing, Subaru was sure the monster would be unable to redirect its flight upwards and it would inevitably crash onto the ground. And so it did. "GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

*CRASH*

"…" In a crater created by the reverberation of the impact, the White Whale flailed around in silent pain, clenching its eyes shut as the smoke and dust around it dissipated.

"NOW!" Crusch yelled as she, Priscilla and all the ground troops that had gathered in a circle around the monster attacked in unison. "HYAHH!" With a thunderous yell, Crusch swung down her blade of wind magic and sliced into the monster's flesh. At point-blank, her Hundred-Man slash easily proved fatal; nevertheless, the Whale survived it easily.

"Behold my blade! The magnificence that shall end your life!" With a prideful proclamation, Priscilla drew her Yang Blade from thin air and proceeded to envelop the Whale in flames and white lights as it cut away its flesh. The monster, however, remained unmoving.

"Attack!" Aldebaran rushed alongside his lady, stabbing the creature with all his might as the soldiers at his sides assaulted it as well.

"HYA!"

"DIE!"

"DAAAAAHH!"

"FUCKIN' MONSTER!"

The encirclement closed around the White Whale, in all directions the soldiers stabbed, slashed, burnt and flaked the helpless beast. From an outsider's perspective, it looked more like a one-sided massacre almost enough to feel sorry for the monster. However, even with all the attacks and wounds it was sustaining, the calamity remained unmoving.

"Miserable…" An impatient Wilhelm, enraged by the lack of action of his opponent, rushed in and pried the beast's left eye open. He then stabbed the eye with one blade in the center whilst using the other to draw a circle around it, gouging it out completely and tossing it away. "How do you like that, bastard?!"

"…" The Whale, even with the pain of losing an eye, did nothing. Not even a grunt it emitted. One would have to wonder if it was even alive, and yet, the proof was right there as it still drew breath and twitched at the pain of the injuries it sustained.

"…Tsk!" The butler spat in frustration at the passivity of the monster. He just could not believe such a creature was responsible for his wife's death, it made no sense a being this weak could have taken Theresia's life.

"…Something's wrong." Subaru's brow furrowed as he stared at the assault from a distance. He and Rem had built some space between themselves and the beast after it crashed onto the earth, thinking it would be over soon. However, the monster's reactions, or lack thereof, rubbed the young man and the maid the wrong way.

"…Subaru-dono." Crusch and Priscilla, sensing a silent disturbance as well, drew some distance from the monster after their first assault. "You can feel it too, right?"

"This thing…. It's like its taking all the attacks on purpose." The Baroness narrowed her eyes as well. "It shouldn't be this weak… it makes no sense."

"Princess… are you sure about that? Isn't it just a mabeast?" Al, who had been standing beside his lady, commented on the situation. "Bro, what do you think?"

"…We should withdraw the men immediately, something is-" Just before Subaru could complete his sentence, his senses perked up in alarm. He gazed back at the Whale to see it staring with its now open, completely red right eye at him. The White Whale was glaring directly at Subaru with a crimson stare. The sheer animosity of the look paralyzed Rem, Al, Crusch, Priscilla and Subaru as they stared back, time that the monster used to emit a most terrifying and gut wrenching screech.

"GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"!" The avid fighters like Wilhelm, Ricardo and Medium, as well as the vast majority of the army that was still waiting around the encirclement, noticed instantly what was going on and took a step back from the creature. Their lesser skilled companions, the fighters that were still hacking at the mabeast… weren't so lucky.

"What the-?!"

"GAAAGH!"

"AAAAH!"

Without prior notice, the growl of the monster completely destroyed the ground the soldiers were standing on. With their footing decimated, the soldiers fell into the expanding crater en masse as the Whale towered above, regaining its flying capability.

"!" Subaru noticed instantly what it was about to do and quickly rushed in to save the men trapped under the beast. Nevertheless… he was a second too late.

"Subaru-kun!" Rem yelled in worry as the boy rushed forward into an unsalvageable situation, attempting something in vain.

"WAIT-!" The boy screamed and shot his webs at the group in vain before the monster's cruel mockery interrupted his actions.

"GUOOOOOOOOO!" With a malicious glint in its still functioning right eye, the calamity exhaled an exuberant amount of fog on the soldiers trapped underneath it, covering them in a merciless fall of mist that erased them from existence.

"GYAAAAAHH!"

"HHAAAAAAAAA!"

"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The many men yelled in pain and despair before their voices ceased all of a sudden. They were gone from the world. Subaru, who had rushed forward, could do nothing but stare with a dumbfounded expression at the monster. Even in this situation… even with one of its eyes gouged out… the monster had taunted them into attacking just so it could decimate their forces. It made a mockery of their efforts.

"GUOOOOOOOOO!" With another yell, the White Whale covered the field in a thick mist, dividing the space between the army and itself with a wall of fog, as if saying that if they wish to fight, then they will have to cross such a border. It didn't help that some of the soldiers were trapped inside that fog as well, rendering them with little to no visibility; to top it off, the wall was advancing on the direction of the camp, which meant that if they didn't do anything to remedy the situation, they would lose all their visibility as well. The monster's silhouette then disappeared into the air as it took to the skies once more, all the while its right eye shined with a malicious glint as it gazed at Subaru.

"Damn monster!" Wilhelm spat as he glared back at the crater where his comrades just died in.

"Absolute animal…" Priscilla glared heatedly as well as she felt insulted that a mabeast of all things would dare toy with her men's lives like that.

"The fog of elimination… If I hadn't witnessed it, then I wouldn't believe it…" Rem hesitated in slight fear as she gazed at the crater.

"…Maid, do you remember the faces of the people that died just now?" Subaru noticed the question asked by Priscilla with some confusion.

"…No." Rem answered with reluctance. "I know what I've witnessed; I know people just died… But I just can't remember any of them…"

"So it really does erase their existence…"

"…Subaru-dono." Crusch approached the boy as he lifted his mask, still standing in front of the crater he was unable to reach in time. "We have to keep moving, the battle is not over yet."

"…" As the Duchess stood behind him, she was unable to gaze at his face. However, she did not need to see to know the expression written on it. Subaru was angry, unbelievably so.

"GUAAAAGH!"

"YYYYAAAAAGH!"

"HUUUUAAAHHH!"

"Now what?!" An irate Aldebaran asked in annoyance. As the group surrounding Subaru turned around to inspect the screams, they witnessed many of the soldiers screaming in anguish. The odd thing was that nothing seemed wrong with them. They had no visible wounds on them or any sort of ailment and yet… they were twitching and thrashing around in the ground, screaming in pain. Then, just as sudden, they had begun self-harming as their screams grew in volume.

"Stop- Stop that!" Flop, who had been standing in the back of the formation with Felix, was now trying to stop one of the men on the ground from killing themselves. "What's wrong with them?!"

"It seems like some form of mana-sickness!" Felix said as he proceeded to heal the man the merchant was holding down. The man visibly relaxed before falling unconscious. "I can somehow alleviate them, but at this rate… we won't last long."

"…" Subaru clenched his fists in impotence about the situation.

"If we regroup in this state, we'll be an easy target…" The Duchess assessed the situation.

"But if we disperse, we'll be just as helpless as we can't locate the monster." The Baroness completed her sentence.

"…But we can pinpoint its location." Subaru interjected with a serious tone.

"You have a plan?"

"Subaru-kun?"

"…If we stay still and grouped up, we'll suffer the same fate as them." He put his mask back on and turned to look at Crusch and Priscilla whilst trotting towards Rem and Patrasche. He climbed his dragon's saddle once again before continuing with his directive. "I'll lure it away with my smell; in that instance, have everyone regroup. Sorry Rem, but you're coming with me into the thick of the fog."

"It'll be fine as long as I'm with you." The maid nodded at the man as he rode with her once again.

"Good."

"Natsuki Subaru!" Crusch yelled in worry at the madness of such a plan as the boy and the maid ran into the fog once more.

"…Let him be, we need time and he can buy it." Priscilla interrupted the worried Duchess' cries. "I don't think he would suggest something so bold if he didn't think it through. We have a job to do at any rate."

"…Wilhelm! Follow him, make sure to hunt the beast down as he lures it!" Crusch ordered the butler as she turned to gather the men.

"At your command!" The old man affirmed at his liege's order and bolted towards the battlefield within the mist as well; Ricardo, Medium and the twins, as well as some of the other soldiers, following closely behind him.

The pair of hero and maid were cleaving through the mist at top speed as Patrasche ran through the field and roads. Although they could barely see ahead of them, Rem and Subaru's instincts were sharp enough to navigate around the disaster. They had a general idea of where the Whale was, not many meters away from them in fact, floating above. Although Subaru's scent was already strong enough to lure it somewhat, the distance between them and the bulk of the army was still rather short; they needed to advance some more before attempting to regain the calamity's full attention.

"It's pursuing, but it's still keen on assaulting the other soldiers!" Rem exclaimed in anger as she sensed another fog barrages from beside them, followed by the screams of the soldiers dispersed in the mist.

"GUAGH!"

"Tsk!" Subaru gritted his teeth in frustration. "Guess this is as far as we can gain its attention the good way!"

"Subaru-kun?"

"Subaru, don't you dare-"

"Sorry Karen, Rem, but I have to do this!" The boy inhaled deeply before screaming from the bottom of his lungs. "DID YOU KNOW?! I WAS ONCE DEA-!" Before he could complete his sentence, the hands and shadows of the jealous Witch covered the boy in their embrace. However, this time around, the form of the woman spawned behind him as well. A shadow-clad lady, irradiating a darkish-purple aura, hugging him from behind, hugging tightly as she whispered unintelligibly in his ear. Just as the whispering woman was crushing Subaru's heart, the flow of time returned to normal and the young Avenger rocked on his seat in a jolt of fear and surprise. "GHGK- Di-Did it work?! Do I smell?!"

"Yeah, you reek!" Rem confirmed in a worried tone.

"Stop giving yourself such conditions!" Karen grumbled as well.

"Sorry, not sorry~!" Subaru dismissed the preoccupation of the two before his senses and Rem's picked up on the beast once more. "Rem! You feel that too?!"

"Yes!"

"Subaru-dono!" Wilhelm called out to the boy from behind with his squadron in tow. "We've come to assist!"

"So this is where the fun's happening, right?!" Medium yelled in excitement, followed by a laugh from Ricardo.

"Good, cause it's right beside us right now!" Just as Subaru finished talking, the figure of the Whale appeared from the right side of the group. It glared at them with a menacing left eye before expelling forth more fog barrages and ground breaking screeches.

"NOW!" Without hesitation, the group of fighters avoided the attacks and rushed forward to strike at the monster. The knights and mercenaries stabbed, slashed and destroyed the mabeast's flesh from the side, not letting such an opening go unpunished.

"GUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The Whale complained at the group's efforts. The monster was about to shoot out another gale of mist at the group before an irate Subaru covered its vision. The mabeast couldn't see his face, but it could no doubt sense his wrath.

*SPLURT*

*KRAK-BOOM*

In a swift motion, Subaru stabbed his whole arm on the White Whale's left eye and released a thunderbolt directly inside its head. Such an action could kill most anything, and kill it did. As the boy retracted his bloodied arm, Rem leapt from behind him and threw the beast away with a swing of her morning star.

"HYAH!"

*BLAM*

The spiked ball hit the unmoving monster squarely on the face, launching its limp body a few meters back. As it recoiled from the force, it fell onto the ground before thrashing around in a spam in the crater created by its own weight. The impact created a draft strong enough to dissipate the fog near the group and generate a clearing in which they could clearly spectate the monster's suffering.

"…Even now…" Wilhelm looked on with hesitant eyes at the dying beast. Even in such a situation, where it looked like they prevailed, the air around them felt odd. "Subaru-dono."

"…Yeah." Subaru agreed to the sentiment, looking at the arm he had used to penetrate the monster with doubt.

"Didn't that feel way too easy?" Ricardo narrowed his eyes as well as the squadron regrouped in front of the dying beast.

"GUUUUUOOOoooo…" With a pitiful howl, the monster ceased its thrashing and finally resolved to stay still; life escaping its remaining eye. As its movements stopped, however, the unthinkable happened.

"What the-?!"

"The hell?!"

"Huh?!"

The group witnessed in astonishment… how the body of the Whale they just killed disappeared from existence right before their eyes. Subaru felt a sense of Deja-vu; imagining the dusted, the Leviathans of the Battle of Earth as he watched the Whale's body disappearing.

"Hey, hey, what was that?!" Mimi yelled in shock.

"You are not seriously telling me such a gigantic thing can up and disappear like that!" Hetaro accompanied this sentiment with his own confusion.

"Were we fighting a fake?" Medium suggested with a questioning look, gazing towards Subaru and Wilhelm.

"…Most likely." The young man suggested. "Wilhelm, that thing… didn't you gouge out its left eye?"

"Indeed I did, and yet… It still possessed it as we fought it just now." The butler concluded this train of thought before pointing out to Subaru's right arm. "Subaru-dono… the blood in your arm is gone as well."

"Maybe… Just maybe..." Hetaro began to derive a conclusion. "Could it have been a clone of the real thing?"

"A clone?" Subaru perked up at the cat's reasoning. "Is that possible?"

"It's not an unheard-of art in Kararagi, but…"

"…Are you seriously implyin' such a ginormous monster can summon clones of itself?!" Ricardo spoke with a surprised look.

The group argued in the mist for a short time before the monster made its presence known once more.

*GUUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Cleaving the fog around them in half with its horn, the monster attacked the fighters below it with another ground-shattering screech.

"TSK!" Rem, Ricardo and Medium gritted their teeth as Patrasche and the other steeds jumped away from the danger.

"GUUUUOOOOOOOOOO!" As swiftly as it attacked, the mabeast retreated just as fast. It flew over Subaru and his companions before attempting to immerse itself on the mist surrounding the clearing once more. But Spider-Man wouldn't let such an action go unpunished. Immediately as the monster hovered above them, he shot a web at its belly and flew away with it.

*THWIP*

"HUP!" The boy grunted as the momentum carried him away.

"Subaru-kun!" Rem called out in a worried fashion.

"Subaru-dono!" Wilhelm, likewise, yelled his name. Nevertheless, the old swordsman had read the young man's intentions like a book and just resolved in helping instead of fussing over the dangers of such an action like the oni maid did. "The left eye! It's missing!"

"So there's a chance it's the original, eh…?" The Avenger muttered to himself before crawling towards the back of the monster. "Thanks Wil!"

"GUOOOOOOOOOOOO!" As the mabeast flew high into the mist-covered skies, Subaru attempted what he had performed in his previous loop: ride the Whale and direct it against the tree. With his companions to catch him this time around, he was confident they would prevail in such an endeavor with him ending up a broken mess afterwards.

All right, time for a little showing-off… Subaru thought before jumping on top of the horn a he had done so in a previous life. However, just as he was about to shoot electric webbings towards the Whale's flippers, his senses alerted to an incoming projectile from his left. "!"

"GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" In unison, two Whale screeches resounded at the same time. As Subaru heard them, a barrage of elimination fog shot through the mist in his direction. With barely anytime to dodge, Subaru chose to jump away from the monster and dive into the void below.

"…Hmph!" In frustration, the boy sighed as he glided towards the ground and the White Whale disappeared into the mist above him.

"Subaru-kun!" The oni maid approached Subaru faster than anyone and helped him to stand up.

"Subaru!" Medium yelled as he made his way to the ground, landing in a crouching position. "What the- Were you flying right now?!"

"…Nope, just gliding." Subaru dismissed the girl's astonishment as he continued looking upwards in the direction of the monster.

"Subaru-dono, what happened up there?" The butler interrupted the chatter as he inquired. "Was it the real Whale? Did it attack unexpectedly again?"

"Yeah! Wha's goin' on?!" Ricardo asked with irritation as well.

Before Subaru could reason with his group, his senses alerted to yet another attack, this time from above their position. "DISPERSE!" Not doubting his word the group split up, just in time to witness as a cascade of fog poured directly onto the position they were just standing on and forming another hole on the earth instantly. In astonishment, Subaru and his companions looked up at the creature that just attacked them. However, the fog atop of them had cleared with the recent gale to reveal… Two White Whales floating above in the sky.

"….What the fuck?" Ricardo whispered in bafflement.

"L-Look!" Hetaro pointed at the sky near the Whale farthest from the group. Following his finger, the group saw how, from the mist surrounding the monster, another Whale spawned into existence.

"Holy hell…"

"…Is this how you did it?" Wilhelm's whisper went unnoticed by everyone except for the young Avenger. "Is this how you killed her? You wretched beast…"

"…So it can clone itself using the fog…" Rem concluded with a somber tone and a glare.

"And even if we kill them, they'll just disappear into thin air…" Medium progressed with her own words. "How are we supposed to kill it then?!"

"…We don't have to kill all of them. Just one will be enough." Subaru concluded whilst narrowing his eyes at the Whale flying the highest.

"You've got an idea?!" Mimi perked up at the words with a glint of excitement. In such a scenario, any conclusion was welcome.

"When I was above, the injured Whale was keen in preventing me from taking control over its appendages by having the clone attack me, even with itself on the path… Which means that it was indeed the real one and it cannot afford to die, so it's willing to use the clones to protect itself in such a case." The young hero explained. "Hey, Karen?" Subaru called for his assistant. "Connect me with Crusch and Priscilla."

On the other side of the battlefield, the Baroness and the Duchess were directing the reserves and the injured as the bulk of the army regrouped. "Cease your dawdling about and return to formation, morons!" Barielle growled at the panicking soldiers. Many had resulted injured in the assault of the Whale after it escaped from their grasp, and as such, morale had gone down significantly. Even with two strong leader figures like them commanding, the soldiers could barely muster any strength or courage resulting in many deserters.

"I don't wanna die!"

"Dammit, I just came for the money! This is suicide!"

"Stop complaining you spineless swine! You knew what you were signing in for, so get your shit together!" The Vollachian matriarch barked once more as she glared at the cowards with disdain.

"Felix, how are things on your end." Crusch, who had stood in silence as Priscilla ordered around, turned to gaze at her knight. "Have the afflicted calmed down?"

"*Sigh* Most of them, nyes." Felix nodded with exhaustion. "Nevertheless, our forces have been halved by the disaster…"

"At this rate we'll just become easy pickings for the beast…" Crusch lamented with a frustrated scowl.

"Hey! Anyone there?!" As the noblewomen were mulling over their situation, an incoming message radiating from their wrists alerted them to answer. "Crusch-san! Priscilla-san! Answer!"

"Natsuki!" Crusch lifted her arm as the hologram picture manifested the young man's face in front of her. Similarly so, Priscilla lifted her wrist and listened in. "How are things on your end?! We heard some sounds of battle from afar!"

"We have somewhat of a problem I'd say!"

"What?" The Vollachian woman spat with arrogance. "You are not going to tell me you got your squadron killed or something?"

"Not that awful! Well… It could be even worse." Subaru refuted the prideful woman's claim before pointing his wrist at the sky. "Look for yourselves!"

"!" Both Crusch and Priscilla widened their eyes at the image. Understanding that one Whale was already a handful, three could easily decimate the army.

"As it turns out, the White Whale can clone itself!"

"Clone?" Karsten asked with incredulity. "Subaru-dono, you mean to say that it can duplicate itself in a fashion similar to the Great Rabbit?!"

"I didn't know the Rabbit could do that… But I don't think it's that absurd." Subaru reasoned.

"Explain." Priscilla barked at the boy once more. "Are you implying that it can only maintain two clones at a time?"

"Exactly!" The boy nodded in approval at the Baroness perceptiveness. "We managed to slay one of the clones, but it popped out of existence the moment we killed it! Right after that, another clone was born…"

"You managed to kill one?" Crusch looked at the boy with surprise for a moment.

"Don't celebrate too much! The clones are actually easier to deal with than the real one, if only slightly!"

"And where's the real one then?" The Matriarch asked in annoyance.

"It's the one up top! The other two are the ones attacking as the original just rests!" Subaru explained before addressing his theory. "I think that if we can kill the original, the other two will follow suit!"

"But it's so far away… I doubt even my blade could reach it… and the cannons will lose most of their power before the projectiles impact…"

"Not to mention that it has already demonstrated to possess some level of intelligence. It won't allow you a second chance to lure it away into the ground like you did before, boy."

"That's why we are making use of the clones!" The boy suggested to the pair.

"How so?" The Karsten Lady pondered, bewildered by such a proposal.

"As I've said, the clones are weaker than the original, and that goes doubly so for their intelligence! They seem more instinctual, so let's have the clones crush the monster and drop the tree on top of them!"

"!" Crusch and Priscilla widened their eyes once more at the proposition. "Use the clones?! Drop the tree?!" The green-haired woman asked in bafflement.

"That's right!" Subaru continued explaining. "We can kill the Whale by trapping it; forcing it into a position in which the Tree will crush it!"

"But that still requires two other conditions to be accomplished." Priscilla interrupted. "Even if you can ride one of the clones to pursue the original, we still need to distract the other so that it won't interfere, that and a way to restrict the movements of the monster from the sides. And how will you collapse the tree?"

"We can restrict its movements by having the mages and Rem shoot out powerful spells from the sides! We fire some to test it and it dodged them instead of tanking them like before!"

"So its focusing on healing right now…"

"As for distracting the other clone… You better decide which one of you will do it right now, cause one of them is heading your way!" As Subaru said this, the hologram projected the image of one of the clones flying into the fog.

"GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" In the distance, Crusch and Priscilla heard the growl of the monster coming closer. And so did everyone else.

"We are fucked!"

"Oh shit, Oh shit!"

"NONONONONONONO!"

"Will you calm down already, you witless imbeciles?!" With a thunderous insult, Priscilla silenced the sobbing messes behind her and Crusch. "Right now, Natsuki Subaru and his detachment are fighting off the real deal within that fog! We, on the other hand, have the task to distract this one and make sure it doesn't try anything stupid! Let me be clear about this: if you refuse to die fighting that monster, you will die by mine sword and my power! I, your future Queen, command you to fight, so do so already!" As she finalized her proclamation, Priscilla pointed her blade towards the wall of fog, just in time for the horn and snout of the beast to peek out. The Whale stared them down, a mocking grin drawing itself on its face.

"GUOOOOOOOO-!"

*SPLURT*

Just as it penetrated the wall, a blade shot up at the monster and stabbed it in the nose. From behind Priscilla, Aldebaran had thrown one of the swords in the carriages as a javelin. "…Seriously, everyone is acting so cool around here, even some nobody like me feels like standing out."

"Al." Priscilla summoned the helmeted man to her side. "We are riding to battle, have the men encircle the monster; I want three layers in the formation. The first two consisting of soldiers willing to leap on top of it and stabbing, alternating between each other in case it shoots fog forward. The third layer composing of powerful mages and ranged fighters capable of preventing it from gaining altitude."

"Consider it done, Princess."

"Karsten."

"…Barielle." Crusch responded to the command of the crimson Lady.

"You focus on dropping that tree. We depend on your signal here, so you better know in which direction it'll fall. Watch the pictures in your bracelet for reference and positioning if you need to." With those words, Priscilla rode away with her men towards the mabeast's clone.

"…" At the attitude of the Baroness, Crusch resolved herself to study the battle. The possibility of the unexpected taking place in such a chaotic fight could prove fatal to such an improvised plan. "Felix, have the cannons directed at the base of the Flugel Tree and reposition all forces and injured to the north side of the encampment."

"At your command, Crusch-sama!"

As Crusch and Priscilla performed their duties, Subaru and company had begun to put their plan into action. Within the fog, the hero and his allies discussed their positions in the strategy as they continuously dodged the gales of fog raining on them.

"Hey! Wilhelm!" Subaru yelled as he repeated a zigzagging pattern with Patrasche to circumvent the towers of mist falling on them.

"Subaru-dono!" The butler responded in kind. "What do you require?!"

"I'm gonna board the clone and use it to chase the original! But I need someone to prevent it from rebelling too much when I'm up there! Do you and Ricardo care for some reckless action?!"

"My blade is yours!" Said the old man as he danced around another gale.

"I'm all up for it man!" Likewise, the wolf-man giggled and looked ahead at the monster shooting at them. "You two! Focus your spells to restrict the movements of the real deal once we lower it, a'ight?!"

"YEAH!" Mimi and Hetaro nodded at the order of their captain's command.

"Rem! I want you to help Hetaro and Mimi once we have attracted the Whale! Can you shoot anymore Ice spears?!"

"As many as you want, don't worry!" The maid responded merrily. She liked the fact that her hero needed her so much.

"Good, then…" Subaru braced himself for his next action, as attracting the clone will require a bit of pain. "HEY, DICKHEAD! DID YOU KNOW?! I WAS ONCE DEA-!" Much like before, the woman cloaked in shadows embraced him in her cold arms once more. His heart was crushed and a dull, freezing pain flowed through his body for what seemed like an eternity. And just before the woman finished her whisperings, reality returned to normal. "GHAGHK!"

"GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The roaring clone and the original glared at the boy from the sky. However, the real Whale remained static on its position as the copy instinctually approached the arachnid at full speed.

"It's coming!" Ricardo yelled.

"…Jump now!" At Wilhelm's command, the trio of butler, wolf-man and hero leapt from their steeds onto the monster's back. Without wasting any time, Subaru jumped once more towards the horn of the beast and wrapped its flippers in his electric webs, rendering them limp.

*ZZZZAAAAPP*

"GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The pain of the frying electricity annoyed the clone as it attempted to rotate in order to shake off the people on its back. However, the Leader of the Iron Fang and the Sword Demon would not let such an action to happen.

*SLASH*

*SWISH*

"GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The Whale grunted in pain once more. Wilhelm and Ricardo knew the clone would attempt to throw them away so they cut the fins of the tail off, rendering the only thing capable of directing the movements of the monster useless, their own weight on the backside of the tail and Subaru's command of the flippers becoming the driving force of the floating behemoth.

"HEADS UP, EVERYONE! IT'S GONNA… HNNGGHH… GET REAL DIFFICULT TO BREATHE NOW!" With that warning, the trio boarding the mabeast flew high into the sky, all the way towards the main Whale.

"GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Noticing this, the original began escaping the bastards that would dare hunt it down. If they could turn one of its clones into their own vehicle without killing it, it meant that they could also do it to itself as well. The cockiness of the taunting it had performed in the beginning by letting the soldiers attack it had backfired and now the injuries of the beast rendered it weak enough to be brought down by a mere three fighters.

*SHWING*

*SLASH*

*BOOM*

"!" The White Whale, in its impetus for escaping the trio pursuing it, found itself surrounded by all kinds of ranged attacks. Ice spears and sonic gales shot from left and right alike, limiting its path towards the tree beyond the wall of fog.

"BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" The twins yelled another wave of sound attacks as the monster attempted to regain altitude. The attack, in consequence, forced it to lower itself once more, into the path that the army was constructing for it.

"GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" In its rage, the monster decided to shoot out more fog cascades over the opponents below. Nevertheless, this proved fruitless, as the forces had dispersed themselves in such a way that even the barrage of mist-blasts could be dodged by simply shifting their positions slightly. No matter what it tried, the monster had been locked in a path towards its demise; its only hope now was the remaining clone outside the mist.

"Another blast! Disperse!" Priscilla yelled as the clone she was fighting opened its pores to retaliate with more fog-gales against the people encircling it.

*BOOM*

*CRACK*

"GHAGH!" The yells of some unfortunate soldiers that were unable to obey the command in time reverberated through the field. Although Priscilla had done a good job of directing her forces, the Whale clone proved to be quite the opponent, even if it was just a weaker copy of the original.

"…So this is how a cornered beast fights, huh?" The matriarch narrowed her eyes at the monster before shooting a slash of fire from her blade as it approached her. "Don't think that you being tough has anything to do with me being weak. In the end, I'll be the one to prevail!"

"…" From a distance, Crusch observed the situation as it unfolded. From the bracelet, she was able to hear Subaru's grunts and the real Whale's growls, alongside a shaking image of the pursuit. In front of her, she could see Priscilla's struggle against the monster from an outsider's perspective, watching clearly how the clone proved more troublesome than expected.

However, as she stared, she noticed something neither the Vollachian nor Subaru could have predicted. The Whale clone, ever so slightly, was drawing the woman's army into the fog. If Priscilla lost visibility on the monster, then her group would become easy pickings; likewise, Subaru's flank would become open to the copy's attack and they would end up decimated. She wanted to order a detachment to redirect Priscilla, but she knew that she didn't have any forces to spare. All of her men were preoccupied with either healing the injured or were injured themselves, the only able soldiers were the ones directing the cannons towards the tree.

"Dammit! At this rate…" As she mulled over her uselessness, the Duchess noticed a growl on the distance.

"GUOOOOOOO!" From within the wall of fog just south from her position, the whimper of the original Whale could be heard. Likewise, on her wrist's device, Crusch heard the exact same whimper as Subaru pursued the monster.

"…" The noblewoman stood silent for a moment whilst staring at the situation before the shine of brilliance radiated over her. "That's it!" She yelled as she resolved on an idea. "You there! Merchant!"

"Uh- Me-me?" The blonde figure of Flop, who had been helping Felix treat the injured, came to be noticed by the Candidate. "What is it?"

"You are riding with me! I need someone on the reins of my dragon for what I'm about to do!"

"R-Right!"

"Felix!" The noblewoman continued ordering.

"Yes, Crusch-sama!"

"On my signal, you'll direct the cannons to fire on the tree!"

"YES!"

"Let's ride! Merchant!"

"The name is Flop!"

The duo rode away on the Lady's earth dragon towards the position of the crimson Baroness. However, their route was not a direct one. Instead of drawing a straight line towards Priscilla's forces, she navigated a semicircle around the clone, approaching it from a northern position towards the south. As she did this, she communicated with the noblewoman in the thick of battle.

"Barielle!" The Duchess called out from her bracelet. "If you can hear me, position your strongest fighters at the north of the Whale's standing!"

"Why the hell would I do that, you incompetent mongrel?!" A furious Priscilla yelled back at the Karsten Lady that dared order her around. "If you have an idea feel free to share it and I'll gladly improve it with my presence, but don't you think you can boss mine existence around!"

"We have to strike it from the north at full force! To push it south within the next minute!"

"That'll just drive it back into the fog! We'll lose visibility on the target again you imbecile!"

"Just do it! It'll work out! I'm heading that way right now!" As she said this, Crusch could be seen in the near distance by Priscilla, heading towards them from the north and directly under the tree's shadow. She was standing on top of her dragon, holding a glowing-green blade as she prepared another slash for the monster. Her strength alone could cut the beast's flesh, but it wouldn't be enough to push it into the fog.

Whatever Crusch was attempting, Priscilla could see she was confident it would turn the tide of the battle. Although hesitant for a second, she decided that such a situation could be crucial for the outcome, so she resolved herself to, reluctantly, trust the green Duchess' judgement. "You better be right, mongrel…" She muttered before ordering her men. "Free the south position! Attack from the north at the same time!"

"Princess! If we do it so suddenly, our forces will- URNF!" As Al protested the reckless plan, his complaint was met with a heel stabbing itself on his abdomen.

"Just do it you morons!"

"A-At your command…"

Priscilla and her men proceeded to open their formation, forming a semicircle around the north of the beast, directly facing its snout and horn. Such a position was dangerous, as it could release larger amounts of fog from the mouth and wipe them all away in an instant. The moment the last of the soldiers distracting the rear of the monster ceased their attack and returned to the new formation, the clone decided to breathe its fog of elimination on Priscilla's forces.

"GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" It opened its jaws slowly, savoring the coming deaths with joy as it gathered mist within its mouth.

"I-It's coming!"

"Goddamn!"

"…" Priscilla raised her blade in defiance, preparing a Yang-slash of light and fire to project on the monster. Her panicking soldiers attempted spellcasting and preparing projectiles as well, but the fear made them hesitate and take longer on the preparations. Just when the Whale was about to exhale and destroy them, Crusch's steed jumped over the terrified men as the Duchess swung her sword down.

"HAAH!" With a battle-cry befitting a Valkyrie, Crusch performed a full-powered vertical slash across the Whale's face, forcing it to shut its mouth and gaining enough time for the rest of the forces to charge.

"NOW!" Priscilla took advantage of Crusch's attack and opted for the offensive as well.

*SWISH*

*BOOM*

With a swing of her sword, flames and light danced alike, as they surrounded the monster's face and exploded against it.

"GUOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Seeing the suffering monster, the soldiers ceased their hesitation and attacked as well; rushing in droves against the mabeast's figure and pushing it back at full force.

"RYAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"HAH!"

"YYYYYAAAAAAAAAH!"

*BOOM*

*SWISH*

*SLASH*

*BOOM*

"GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The clone screeched in pain as wave after wave of attacks rained on it, pushing it back a meter or two as the fighters in front of it retaliated in reckless abandon. Still, even if they were proving annoying, the forces would eventually run out of weapons or mana; soon they would be rendered useless as the Whale proceeded to devour them, all it had to do was bade its time until then.

However, the clone Whale would not get such a chance.

*STAB*

"GU-!" With an unfinished screech, the clone fell silent as a gigantic white horn pierced it from the side, in the direction of the fog wall.

"GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The White Whale, the original monster, spawned from the wall of fog and impaled its clone on the side whilst escaping from Subaru. With the counterweight of its own copy, the monster fell belly down onto the ground, creating a ditch as it crashed from the momentum of its landing.

"GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" From behind the two Whales, the clone being driven by Subaru, Wilhelm and Ricardo appeared as well, impaling the back of the real White Whale and pinning it to the ground in front of Priscilla and Crusch's forces. As they impaled the Whale, Wilhelm and Ricardo jumped back towards their steeds as Subaru, instead, opted for jumping into the air and aim for the original beast once more.

"You are not going anywhere!"

*THWIP*

*ZZZZAAAAP*

"GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The monster dissipated its dead clones and attempted to fly away from the trap, ignoring the multiple wounds dealt to its back. However, Subaru foresaw this and shot another set of electrified webs at the beast's tail and flippers, paralyzing them momentarily.

"SCATTER NOW!" In unison, Priscilla, Crusch and Subaru ordered everyone to disperse from the pinned down monster and farther away from the shadow of the tree.

"FELIX, NOW!" From the pit of her lungs, Crusch ordered her knight to bring down the tree as the army ran full speed back to camp.

"NYES!" The cat responded and turned to the firing squad once more. "FIRE!"

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

*CRACK, CRACK, CRACK, CRACK*

With a tremor capable of shaking the entire Capital, the Flugel Tree began its descent on top of its own shadow, the arc of the fall aiming for the calamity resting underneath it.

"GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" With its only remaining eye, the Whale looked on in shock how the monstrous plant was inching closer by the second until finally…

*BLAAAAAAAAAAAM*

*FFFFFZZZZZZ*

The Flugel Tree fell, and with it, the White Whale was crushed into the ground.

"GUOOOOOooooo…" It released a pitiful whimper as the dust settled, the visage being a most sorry and pathetic one. Impaled from all directions by the branches, covered in stab wounds and burns, the once White Whale was now covered in the red and pink of exposed flesh. "GUUUOOooooo…"

"…" As the monster thrashed around under the weight of the tree, a lone swordsman walked up to it. Reminiscing in times long gone, of the wife he once challenged before the throne in his youth, the Sword Demon unsheathed his blade. "This is for my wife… Theresia van Astrea!"

*SWISH*

"GUOOOOOOOOOO!" The Whale moaned in pain as the old man dashed forward, stabbing his sword deep within its head.

*SLASH*

*SWOOSH*

*SHWING*

"SPLURT*

*STAB*

With unparalleled skill and speed, the Demon cut the flesh of the monster around its neck. Hundreds of strikes, with each of them representing a memory of his most beloved flashing through his mind. "RYAAAAH!"

"GUOOOOOOOOOO!"

*SWISH*

*SLASH*

*SWOOSH*

The horn was cut off, the flesh was fileted and the blood was spilled. Wilhelm didn't care, all that was coursing inside his mind were the images of his wife. Their first dance together in the moonlight, before a bed of flowers. Their first kiss in the Throne Room, before the Kingdom's greatest. Their first fight over petty marital stuff. When their son was born, the son he failed to nurture. When their grandchild was born, the grandchild he had forsaken in his stupidity. All of these events culminating in a bloody sword hovering above the head of the beast that took her life. "Sleep… for all eternity."

"!" The Whale looked at the blade, shining with the flash of the morning sun, with fear and expectation. It knew what was about to happen and it terrified it.

"Why do you wield the sword?"

With the image of his wife staring at him, Wilhelm looked at the monster under his feet not with hatred or disgust anymore, just… pity; pity that such a creature even existed in the first place.

"To protect…"

The Sword Demon lowered his sword at top speeds.

"You."

*SWISH*

"GUOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooo…" With one final whimper, the life of the White Whale escaped its body. In reluctance as its head was sliced-off, the monster closed its remaining eye as it cried a bloody tear; in the dawn of a new day, the calamity of fog and mist was no more.

"…"

"Do you love me?"

"You should know…"

"I still want to hear you say it sometimes…"

"All right… Someday… When I feel like it."

"It's over…" Subaru said as Crusch, Priscilla and himself watched the scene unfold from a distance.

"Theresia. At last… Theresia, I… I…" The old man put a hand over his tearful eyes before screaming to the skies.

"I LOVE YOU!"

"Wilhelm…" The Duchess whispered the name of her servant as she looked on with a melancholic frown.

"Celebrate, you dolts!" Priscilla, in all her arrogant insensibility, cut short the cry-fest and turned to the army behind them with her sword held high. "It was only natural with mine presence here, but rejoice nonetheless! The Beast of Fog has been vanquished!"

"RYAAAA!"

"YEAH!"

"EEEEEH!"

The soldiers all hollered and celebrated at the matriarch's proclamation, they had witnessed history take place right in front of them.

"…I'm sorry I dragged you along for such stunts, Rem." As the atmosphere around the beast's corpse calmed down and the light of dawn bathed the entire battlefield, Subaru apologized profusely to the maid that he had pushed around during the fight.

"It's fine, Subaru-kun…" Rem dismissed the words of the man and insisted instead on her reward. "Just remember to take me on that date we cancelled for this expedition once it's all over, okay? There's many places I wish to see with you…"

"…" Subaru widened his eyes at the bold proclamation, a blush painting his face quite rapidly. Rem had essentially asked HIM out on a date; her mischievous and playful smile only denoting that, ost certainly, she was attracted to him. Subaru couldn't play dumb to her feelings anymore. "Uh- Yeah! Sure… Um, yes."

"I'll make sure to wear a dress that'll make you look only at me though…" With a slight blush, the oni maid seductively suggested while winking at the arachnid boy.

"…" Subaru would never admit it but he was most definitely a pervert. Just imagining a pretty girl in a dress was enough for him to sweat buckets, and Rem's tone and mannerisms did not make it any easier on the poor boy. Now the only image in his brain was Rem wearing the outfit she had worn during their date in the previous loop. "Hoo boy…" He whispered as he looked away from the girl, a reddened mess coloring his expression.

"Fufu!"

"So, are you excited yet, Flop?!" The Vollachian bodyguard asked her merchant brother with an excited tone. "This guy is amazing! You should have seen him in the fog! He was all like 'SWOOSH!' and the Whale was like 'AHHH!' and then he did his 'ZAP' thingies and the Whale was like 'UOOOOOH!' and then, and then-!"

"Medium! Just… Just hold on a moment…" The brother of the blonde girl stopped his sibling's rambling for a moment as he regained his breathing. In the heat of the battle, Crusch's pushing around had taken the man's breathe away and he found himself exhausted. "Seriously… *pant, pant* I hope the metia we bargained for can make miracles after this…"

"Oh, you are such a wet noodle, Flop!" The girl laughed. "This happens because you offer yourself to help but don't ever bother to exercise!"

"W-Well, I expected to just stand back and see you fight… But I couldn't just do nothing when everyone went insane." The blonde man rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Hey! Al!" Priscilla, who had been reorganizing her forces after the battle, decided on a more… 'Childish' course of action in the downtime between the campaign against the Whale and the Cult. "Make sure you capture the glint of the sun behind mine figure! It has to look majestic for the paintings that'll recreate it later!"

"UH- Princess?! I don't exactly know how this thing works!" Aldebaran, who was holding the Baroness' bracelet, was being instructed by his liege to take a picture of her as she posed majestically atop the cadaver of the monster, her sword pointing at the sky as the sun shined behind her. "Do-Do I press on the side, or…?"

"Make sure that the paintings later on include these common rabbles kneeling before me!"

"AAH! Bro! Help me out here!" Aldebaran begged for Subaru's aid as the boy finished flirting around with Rem. "How do you take a photo with this?!"

"Just tell Karen to take a picture of Priscilla!" Subaru indicated from his position.

"Got it!" Aldebaran yelled back.

"Natsuki Subaru." As the young man turned around, the Duchess herself faced him as she made her way in his direction.

"Uh, hey! Crusch-san…" Subaru did not know how to approach the situation. On the one hand, he felt relieved now that the battle was over. On the other, the amount of loses they had sustained in the fight was not minor. Sure, in comparison to the bulk of the army, the deceased were numbering on a handful, but for Subaru a death was still a death, and many soldiers died because of his bold approach against the calamity. He felt ashamed and so, he was expecting the Lady to scold him if not straight up berate him for his stupidity. But the attitude if the noblewoman was, rather, the complete opposite.

"I'm glad you are safe." Crusch answered with a radiant smile.

"…Huh." Subaru nodded in some confusion. "You are… Are you sure you are not mad or anything?"

"What for?" The Duchess frowned at the young man's negativity.

"Well, it's just…" The boy swallowed his nervousness before responding. "I made all those grandiose promises as a hero and all…" He turned his head towards the side, overlooking from the hill the pair was standing on, and casted a downwards gaze at the convoy below. With regret and shame clear in his eye, he saw how corpses covered in bloodied blankets were being loaded into the carriages. Some of the soldiers beside the formation were crying, which did nothing to ease the guilt. "My recklessness allowed so many people to die… If I had been a better-"

"I simply must stop you right there." With frustration painting her face, Crusch narrowed her eyes at the young man with a glint of disappointment. "I will not have the hero of this excursion berating himself over events beyond his control."

"…The hero of this excursion?"

"You are, are you not?" The noblewoman chuckled for a second before returning to her dashing smile. "Subaru-dono… No, Subaru-sama. You might feel guilty about the losses we have suffered and that is most reasonable. I, too, feel this way. But you can't ignore that your actions today have not only avenged our losses, but ended a four hundred year-old reign of terror. You might come from a world where you were hailed a hero, but coming into this battle, I had my doubts… Needless to say, such thoughts are now completely dispelled seeing your performance."

"…"

"I have to say, things beyond the Great Waterfall must indeed be insane if their heroes can come up with the idea of riding a calamity as if it were a ground dragon." The Lady locked her radiant amber eyes with Subaru's dull browns. "Were not for the alliance, I would have taken you under my wing and never let go…" She whispered in a soft voice just loud enough for him to hear.

"Uh…" The boy's face turned red once more, seeing how yet another beautiful woman flirt and compliment him again. "I'm-I'm really grateful abo-bout-"

"Fufu, relax some." Crusch giggled at his nervousness. "I understand your stance… You wish to help this world, and a position under one of us Royal Candidates would just limit such options. It is disappointing, to say the least… But nevertheless, I would like for the two of us to remain friends and allies, regardless of what happens in the future."

"I…" The boy widened his eyes before relaxing and stretching his hand at her. "Thank you, Crusch-san."

"Just Crusch is fine." The Lady winked at him and took his hand on her own, shaking it. "You have my trust… Spider-Man."

"Still… My mentor would have ended this in a jiffy, if I'm being honest."

"How so?"

"Well… He would have shot a projectile strong enough to split the monster in half."

"That does sound most impressive." The noblewoman widened her eyes at the explanation. "He must be quite the powerful mage."

"Nah, not magic." Subaru boasted. "Technology. He wore a suit of armor capable of flight and combat alike. Some really advanced stuff!"

"Technology, eh…" The Duchess brought a finger to her chin whilst pondering on the possibilities.Such prowess could indeed prove game changing…

"Subaru-dono." As the pair of hero and Lady discussed, the voice of a gruff old man singled the boy out. "May I have a word?"

"Wilhelm." The swordsman's liege turned to her subordinate.

"Crusch-sama, I may be speaking out of line, but I wish to offer my blade for the battle ahead."

"…To fight the Witch Cult." Subaru pointed out.

"Indeed." Wilhelm kneeled and raised his head to look at Subaru's face. "I wish to help you in this battle still. Thanks to you, I was capable of slaying the monster that took my wife's life. Words… they are just not enough to convey these feelings… I fear all I can offer is a 'thank you', and yet that is not enough. My life may be a meager thing… But that and my sword are all I can offer as a token of gratitude."

"It's fine, man!" Subaru kneeled as well to be on eye level with the butler. "We were able to get this far because you were there to help me. Help us all. Congratulations… on avenging your wife. I'm sure you were able to do so because of how much you loved her!"

"We'll be seeing a lot more conflict in the coming hours… It'll be better if we can count on the largest amount of fighters possible during such trials."

"We…" Wilhelm widened his eyes at his Lady's implications. "Crusch-sama, you don't mean-?"

"I do." The Lady nodded, clearing out any confusion. "I'm coming along with the two of you; Wilhelm, Subaru-sama."

"Oh…" Subaru turned to the Lady in surprise as both he and the butler got up from their kneeling positions. "Don't you, like, have to take back the Whale to parade it in the Capital or something?"

"Parades can wait until after the conflict is over… Moreover, I need someone to take back the injured and deceased to the state anyways. Felix can do that with no problems."

"Then-"

"We'll send the medical carriages, as well as half of the men with Felix. The rest of the army will march towards the Margrave's territory with Priscilla and me at the helm once we rendezvous with the reserves that were guarding the Highway's road."

"…As representative of the Emilia Camp in this expedition, I simply must come as well." As the trio discussed the details of the mission, the voice of the blue oni resounded from behind the young man.

"Rem? Are you sure you are not injured?" Subaru tilted his head in worry. "You used your horn and magic a lot… I wouldn't want you to overexert yourself."

"Worry not, Subaru-kun." Rem answered with a grin. "Rem will be all 'recharged' once she gets a few hours of riding Patrasche whilst hugging you."

"…It seems like someone is smitten with you." Crusch laughed at the blushing boy.

"It's not- I mean, I'm not looking for- Holy cow, I'm-!"

"Worry not, I understand." The noblewoman giggled at the sight before teasing. "Although… I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't exchange Barielle for you in my carriage…"

"Huh?!" Rem and Subaru shouted in unison, the boy having an even fiercer reddened expression while the girl's head filled with images of the Duchess and the young man together, much to her dismay.

"Hohoho~, the fire of youth at work!" From beside the mess, Wilhelm laughed.

As the army finished reorganizing, Subaru and his group bid farewell to the departing carriages that headed for the Capital with the beast's head in tow. "Take care! Crusch-sama!" Felix, who had been tasked with leading the convoy, bid good fortune to his liege before disappearing into the horizon.

"I will, Felix." The Lady whispered as she waved her hand at the leaving group.

"Hmm?" Subaru turned around to see Ricardo's way. He saw the Wolf-man and the little cat, Mimi, waving at the convoy as well. "Hold on. Did Hetaro leave with the group just now?"

"He sure did!" Ricardo giggled at Subaru's preoccupation. "I know what yer' thinkin'! That Mimi and I are a mess, so why the hell would we send the one with a head on his shoulders to oversee the Fang's injured?!"

"Truth is Hetaro isn't Mimi's only big-headed moron brother! I have Tivey as well!" The cat-girl giggled from the Wolf-man's lap.

"You have another sibling?"

"Another twin, you mean! These guys are a trio!"

"Technically the denomination would be-" As Subaru attempted to correct the duo's words, the loud feline interrupted once again.

"AH! Here they come! Here they come!" Mimi excitedly pointed at the road with her staff.

"Huh?" The young man turned around to see another set of carriages approaching them.

"My Lady made sure to come as well, huh?! She must really be excited about flaunting that device of hers!"

"Anastasia is coming? I thought she'd stay in the Capital…"

"She said she wanted to take a look at the technology ya left in the Margrave's territory, bein' that ya have no alliances now, she figured it didn't harm to take a look so long as she asked!" Ricardo reasoned with the boy.

"More like 'so long as she pressures', the sly girl…" Subaru narrowed his eyes as he stared at the carriage in front of the formation. It looked luxurious, and Royal Knights surrounded it in all sides, denoting that someone important was indeed riding it. "Has she never heard of inconspicuous? Moreover, I recognize all of them from the arena that day… Hmm?" As Subaru pondered on the people escorting the vehicle, the visage of a familiar purple-haired knight covered his vision. At the helm of the formation, Julius was riding with a stern semblance while staring directly at Subaru from a distance. "Ugh… This is gonna be awkward!"

AUTHOR'S NOTES

HEY EVERYONE!

Been a while… Sorry this chapter took so long; December was just not my month. College and work piled up, exams and internships acting up. I have 'SOME' free time right now, so I was able to finish the chapter at long last. I wanted to upload on Christmas, but… Family came over and I just didn't have time. Then, my dad invited me to watch 'No Way Home' (Which was, no lie, the best Spider-Man AND MCU Movie of all time in my opinion; it's just that good!) and I just couldn't say no, so… Yeah! That's about it…

I promise to upload more frequently and if I don't, just know I didn't abandon the fic, just bidding my time. Anyways, as always, feel free to post reviews and criticisms alike and please, don't kill each other in the comments. See you all in the next chapter!