His blade was drawn, the forest was serene and beautiful. There was little noise, the light reflecting off his sword and and the sound of his own footsteps was all that he could sense.
Even Awareness and Enemy Detection did little to aid him.
Only for the latter to suddenly flair up as a high level creature appeared.
'Ok, the baby blood sucker is still fine, but what about these guys?' the Spider pondered. She moved from her spot amongst the tree tops to the lower canopy of the forest. Using Clairvoyance she could see that Subaru was back at the beach, huddled behind the wreckage of their ship. But where was the other one?
Her own Detection Skill went off, and she looked right below her. She could see the shimmer of something invisible. 'Hah, trying to be Rambo aren't ya. Or was it the Predator? probably the latter.' Kumoko joked as she decended from the trees.
He quickly rolled out of the way and she could see him change to a move defensive stance. The two stared at one another, neither making a move. 'Oh come on, another stand off, be more creative.' complained the spider. Then he turned visible, and changed his stance to a more lax one.
He looked bored now.
"Are you going to bite my face off or what? Usually by now most monsters attack like rapid animals." Kazuma said. 'Excuse me, I'm not rapid animal.' Kumoko snarled while rasing her front legs. "Don't like being called an animal huh, you're smarter than that." Kazuma joked. 'Wait, was he trying to get a reaction out of me.' Kumoko panicked.
"You've been stalking us since the morning haven't you?" Kazuma asked. 'I'm no stalker, I was just investigating.' Kumoko retorted while raising her front legs higher.
"I'm going to take a guess, you got isekaied. the fact that you can understand Japanese is the most obvious sign of it." Kazuma stated. 'Oh, he's good.' Kumoko thought while nodding. "Of course, number three is an OP god damn Spider." Kazuma said while walking away. "Welp, I'm going to see if Subaru is done panicking now." he said while waving her goodbye.
'Hey, wait for me.' She followed after him.
He was done, the beach was now truly secure. In his hands was the remains of the dingy's hatchet, more an axe head than a proper tool due to the loss of the handle. His held it like a life preserver, the weapon ready to be used at a moment's notice.
"Hey Subaru wha?... What the hell did you do to the beach?" Kazuma shouted. "Made it defensible, no thanks to you!" Subaru shouted back before coughing roughly. "Anyway, I saw the spider. Its harmless." Kazuma shouted before letting out an ow.
"That's bull." Subaru replied. Kazuma walked down from the forest, passing by the impromptu barriers made from sharpened scrap, before standing next to him. "Dude, you won't believe what I have to say." he started. Subaru looked back to the forest, and jumped back as he saw the spider walk past the barrier. "Why did you bring it here?!" He asked in a panic. Kazuma quickly put his hands up, "Look that Spider is another isekai victim." Kazuma stated.
Subaru looked at him like he was crazy, before looking to the spider as it waved at him, them back to Kazuma. "No," he said before slinking down. "No?" Kazuma asked. "No, this is all a bad dream. I'm going to pinch myself and we'll be back out on the water." Subaru said before cringing from pain as one of his hands pinched his arm.
"Well ok, while you're doing that I'm going to get back to fixing the ship." Kazuma said while walking over to the scrap barricade. The large White Spider just stared at him, he stared back. His grip on the broken hatchet tightened as he locked it clean in the eye.
'You know, I didn't notice this before, but he smells weird.' Kumoko thought. Kazuma was busy taking apart Subaru's barricade so it was just the two of them. 'Maybe I should share some stuff, I mean the town is nearby.' she planned. She raised one of her scythes, prompting Subaru to raise his axe head and take a defensive stance, before drawing in the sand.
Subaru just watched as she slowly wrote out a series of Kanji, occasional wiping some away and replacing it. "Its too early for this shit." he muttered while staring down at her. 'Yeah, you ain't a cup of sunshine yourself.' Kumoko thought back.
When she was finished the message read as such. "Hello my name is Kumoko, I've been reincarnated as a spider and have been alive for some months. There is a town a couple kilometers away that I've been spending some time at, they're nice people. I could help with the boat if you want." Subaru read it, before looking at Kumoko. "What money do they use?" he asked. 'Uh... I didn't think of that.' She thought, shrugging her front legs in response.
Kazuma came over and read the message himself. "She doesn't know what money they use." Subaru said as Kazuma looked up. 'Hey, it's not like they paid me to be the divine beast.' She snarked at them. "Doesn't matter." Kazuma replied while walking over to their supplies. 'What is he grabbing?' Kumoko looked to Subaru. "You think they'll accept trade?" he asked while holding up some of their potions. A quick Appraisal revealed them to be above average grade healing potions. 'Oh, they'll take them.' Kumoko thought while nodding her head.
"Are you crazy, we only have so many of those?" Subaru voiced his thoughts. "Yeah, I'm not trading all of them. Just a couple to get us stocked for repairs and food." Kazuma replied. 'They will catch a fine price, but what else do they have?' Kumoko pondered. "Fine, just lead the way." Subaru said while gesturing towards her. 'Ah, don't you two worry.' she said to herself.
The town they came too, was not what they were expecting. They were following Kumoko closely, the people around them seemed to brighten up as they saw her. Mutters of the Divine Beast reached their ears, but there was also plenty of curiosity about the two of them. Subaru had prompted to hide most of his feature with a large cloak, preferring not to unnerve the townsfolk. Kazuma on the other hand had taken off the domino mask to show his real face.
There seemed to be far too many guards, to many soldiers for a town of this size. "They seem to be preparing for something." Subaru stated. "Yeah, war." Kazuma replied.
Many people had begun to prostrate themselves in front of Kumoko. "Oh great Divine Beast, please keep us safe from the conflict to come." one of them begged. Kumoko seemed to nod before bowing in return. "Oh travellers, the divine beast has decided to gift us with your presence. Have you come to give us aid?" Another asked.
Kazuma and Subaru looked at one another. "Our ship was wrecked, the... Divine Beast was kind enough to guide us here." Subaru spoke up. "We have supplies to trade, but we do not have much to give." Kazuma followed. Some seemed to react in misery, others with fear.
"We can't do this." Subaru muttered quietly. "Yes we can." Kazuma replied. "We have something that may aid you, but we cannot give it for free." Kazuma spoke up. Some of the guards began to get close to them at this.
Kazuma pulled out one of the healing potions he had bought. The people gazed towards it. "These potions can cure illness, repair great damage, and even let you recover from near death. We can give five, but we will ask for supplies in return." Kazuma announced.
"What is going on here?" A voice shouted. Everyone turned to see a man in a fairly disheveled state. The mutters quickly turned to that of the lord in front of them. "He must be the ruler of this place or a nobel with influence here?" Subaru whispered.
"You two, why are you here?" the man asked cautiously. "Our ship was destroyed while we were sailing and washed up here. Your resident Divine Beast-" he gestured to Kumoko while saying this. "-Guided us here. We are in need of supplies to repair our ship and sail out." Kazuma answered. "Why were you sailing? Surely you weren't so arrogant as to think a boat can hold out against a relentless Sea Dragon?" The man inquired.
Kazuma chuckled at this. "You see, we had no intention of facing a Sea Dragon. Just some simple traveling after the sky broke and the horizons broadened." Kazuma answered. That got more people whispering. "What are you doing, they'll think we're crazy." Subaru whispered to him. "Are you implying... To be from beyond our map?" The man asked. Kazuma looked to Subaru, Subaru shook his head, and Kazuma turned back to the man.
'The manor was hectic to say the least. Sure the spider was busy creeping around elsewhere, but now father has brought in these two weirdos.' thought a young vampire child as she looked at the two people her father had let in.
"As I said, There won't be to much issue for our deal right?" The first one asked. He had a sort of scummy undertone in his voice, talking as though he had my father in a corner. The other one hardly ever spoke, to busy just standing and looking around while making sure no one saw what he looked like beneath the cloak.
"Yes, five potions and your temporary services in exchange for two weeks of food, several stacks of lumber and a full set of tools." her father replied, thoroughly exhausted from haggling with the first one. "Its been a pleasure. My friend here will start hauling our stuff to the beach while I start gathering intel for you, have a good day." the first one smiled while sliding the five bottles towards her father's end of the table.
'They better not be back.' she declared while glaring at them.
'This is so unfair, why am I being interrogated?' Kumoko wondered as Kazuma and Subaru starred her down. "So, how did you just... Accidentally start a war?" Subaru asked cautiously. 'I didn't start it.' She retorted. "They said you killed some random nobel who kept harassing you, and the kingdom that he is from has just declared war because of what you did. I just had to sell my skills and service to the lord here for a week straight to get our supplies." Kazuma trailed off. 'Ok, so maybe I did. But he had it coming.' Kumoko said while raising one of her scythes.
"So as punishment, you will help Subaru fix the boat while I'm off helping the nobel here." Kazuma said. 'Hah, as if.' I snorted at this. Then Kazuma quickly shoved his left hand into my mouth and I was greeted by an absolutely terrible taste in my mouth, far from the worst thing I've tasted but still disgusting. Subaru cringed as he witnessed it. He pulled his hand out of my mouth; "Undead flesh doesn't taste good does it. I know that you could kill us both right now, but you didn't." Kazuma stated. 'Ha, as if, I got a good thing going.' I waved him off.
"There's something here that you're afraid of, isn't there?" Subaru asked. Kumoko froze up at this. "You're scared that whatever it is will find you. You want to leave on the boat with us don't you?" Subaru pushed further. 'They know, but will they even help me if the Demon Lord does show up?' she asked herself. "Trust me, we're all running from things." Subaru said cryptically.
She stared at him with far greater intensity than usual. 'I mean, I can't just leave the baby bloodsucker, not with those kidnappers still out there. But the Demon Lord is still on my tail.' She pondered. "Anyway, you can join us if you want, but only if you help us get it sea worthy." Kazuma said.
Subaru continued hauling their payment to the beach as Kazuma stared down at her. "We've all had shit lives, haven't we?" he asked in general. 'Maybe, but I have some time... to wrap up some unfinished business.' Kumoko replied.
It went well at first. Kazuma would used Stealth and Dash to quickly reach the enemy position, take down notes on key figures, supply lines, and total fighters present. Subaru would be hard at work, turning their supplies and the wreck of the dingy into a proper small sailing ship. Kumoko would show up every so often, usually leaving behind strings of silk that Subaru could use for the ship.
Their progress was slow when alone, but extremely fast together. Their new ship was only a few days away from being sea worthy.
There was just one problem.
They couldn't just leave all these people. Kazuma was also taking notes of escape routes, gaps in their lines, or exploitable weaknesses in the enemy's morale. Subaru would pop by town and aid in the construction of barricades, comfort those who had fallen under distress, and generally keep kids calm. Kumoko was usually doing her own thing, she'd appear for a few minutes, then teleport away, then appear again some hours later.
The boat won't be finished by the time the enemy army reaches them.
Kazuma pulled back the string of his bow, the arrow level with the helmet of the lead knight. He quietly used Snipe, letting the arrow fly through the air before striking the knight clean in the eye.
He was never asked to kill any of them, but he was doing it anyway. His employer would probably cry out in frustration at his actions, but it felt necessary.
This army, the kingdom who owns it, sent someone here so that they could die and start this war. It was snide, cruel, and underhanded. Something he was very familiar with.
Wiz, for all the loyalty she may hold to her jackass of an employer, never allowed such tactics. Vanir, his teacher, was a large fan of them though. But how did it start this again?
Oh yeah, killing people.
This wasn't the first time he'd killed people, definitely won't be the last. His first kill though, that will always be with him. It was just hours after being betrayed, being bisected at his waist by Gram. Some random adventurer had found his corpse, and was looting it. His anger and drive for vengeance brought him back, which led to him tearing the poor fools head clean off his body.
Honestly, if Wiz hadn't found him that very day, he'd either be trapped in that forest as some strange boss monster, or been purified by some party of adventurers. He's been tempered, but still, the anger that first brought him back may never disappear.
He knocked another arrow as the next knight came walking through the very same path as the last.
All things considered, the boat looked good. Its design was based off of an episode of a show Subaru had seen once, something about myths and busting them. It was fairly long, but not to wide. There was a stabilizer on the one side to make sure the boat couldn't capsize. There was a large sail made from numerous weaves of Kumoko's silk.
It had enough space for the necessary supplies, and all the willing passengers.
He was going to return to the town, one last time to say goodbye.
He was running, one moment he was watching the outskirts of the first battle. Kumoko was closer, probably after the XP that humans gave.
Then She arrived.
And Kazuma understood, just what Kumoko was running from. She tore through the battlefield like a shounen mc.
All to get to Kumoko.
The last thing he saw before he fled was Kumoko flying through soldiers on both sides.
'He's back, at least the other one isn't' thought Sophia as she glared at the robed figure. He was busy conversing with her father, trying to haggle more things from him no doubt.
Though it seemed he was far more positive for her father than the other. His brow was only half as furrowed and his wrinkles far less noticeable as they talked.
Until the other burst through the front door. "There's a big problem." his voice echoed. Her father's normal level of stress returned at the sound of his voice. Yet as the first one walked in, disheveled and clearly terrified of what he saw, even she felt fear.
He was vivid in its description. Some woman in scant clothing burst onto the field as the soldiers fought, before tearing her way through all those around her. It even went after the Divine Beast who had arrived at the field for reasons unknown.
She could only tear up as her father spoke next. "The demon lord is here."
The evacuation was boosted tenfold, there was little people left in the territories as the enemy stormed closer.
"Do you think she'll actually show?" Subaru asked. "No idea, if she's smart she might already be at the ship. Besides, I haven't seen her since the Demon Lord tore her way through the first battle." Kazuma replied. There were still in the lord's manor, having spent the last day here waiting for Kumoko to return before they left.
Their agreement was for the three of them to convene near the lord's manor, then leave as his family left as well. It was shaky at best, but still decent.
"Let's just go, the army is almost here and I'd rather not be caught in the cross fire." Kazuma suggested as he stood up. Subaru looked out the window, the image of a flames grew closer to them with every moment. "Fine." he answered.
The two left the room and made their way to the front entrance, only to find a most bizzare sight. The family butler shielding Sophia with his body as a group of assassins edged closer. Kazuma acted first, throwing one of his knives with a cry of "Snipe." and nailing one of the assailants in the head.
The others turned to them as Subaru clenched his fists. "Invisible Providence." he said as invisible hands sprung from his chest and surged forward. Kazuma unsheathed his sword and another knife as they rushed them.
Arrows and spells clashed against Invisible Providence as Kazuma cut into their front line. Yet one continued on their path towards Sophia and the butler. Then the butler rose up, sharpened fangs were his teeth once were, and charged. He cut through the first assailant, only to be stopped as the apparent leader grabbed him by the neck.
"Vampires, such a plague. Both must be snuffed out." he muttered before decapitating him. Sophia cried as loud as she could as the leader strode closer. Subaru rushed through the crowd and grabbed onto her with Invisible Providence. The two of them were flung into the wall, Subaru making sure to curl around Sophia to protect her.
The leader then turned to Kazuma. "More Undead, how annoying." he said while readying his blade. Kazuma turned to him, his own sword ready. The two rushed forward, Kazuma readying Drain Touch in his other arm, while Potimus aimed clean for the neck.
Weapons struck, and Potimus missed.
Drain Touch struck as Kazuma's blade sunk into his chest. Kazuma smiled victoriously, then blanched. Potimus stared deep into his eyes, his expression blunt.
Then Potimus thrust his arm clean through Kazuma's chest.
'No, it can't be. Will... will I have to use Return By Death?' Subaru asked himself as Kazuma's body slid off of the elf's arm and crumpled to the floor. He looked down to the crying child in his arms, he couldn't let this progress. He had to make his choice.
The elf was already charging him. He pushed Invisible Providence to its limits and prepared to make his stand before being sent back to the past.
Only to be stopped as something massive teleported in and punched the elf right in the face. He looked over this new visitor; She had a human torso, which ended around the waist and connected to the body of a massive spider, a massive White spider.
She struck a pose and smiled as the elf was flung back.
"Ku... Kumoko?" he asked. She turned to him and smiled victoriously. She then turned back as the elf got back up. Then he noticed her expression shift to unease. "Anti magic barrier." The elf muttered. Kumoko prepared herself for a fight as he sent four arms straight for the elf.
He didn't bother to dodge as the arms socked him across the face and sent him further across the room. He pulled Sophia as close to his chest as he could and took out a knife. "Keep your head down, we don't know how tough he is." he told her, not caring if she could fully understand him or not.
Then he watched as the elf emerged, with half his face gone and a layer of machinery underneath. 'What the fuck, when did skynet get isekaied?' he thought as the elf glared at them. He got close to Kumoko and whispered to her. "We can't let him get close, do you have any ranged options that haven't been nullified?" he asked quietly. Kumoko just nodded as some of her eyes seemed to glow. "Alright, I'll keep him on his toes, you just line up your attack." he planned quickly.
'Why must it always need like this? Always face down, with my body a shredded mess? Aqua, that bitch. Mitsurugi, the fool. That kid he tore apart, and who knows how many others. It's so unfair, so aggravating.
WHY MUST I DIE FOR THEIR SAKE, LOSE ALL I HAVE FOR THE SELFISH DESIRES OF OTHERS!!!!???'
"Undying Rage" I muttered. My body slowly forced itself back up, my spine faintly twisting as my body was forced to stand with a clean hole through the chest. My limbs grew sharper, my strength greater. The elf was busy, forced to defend himself from Subaru's unseeable offense while moving rapidly to avoid the power of some massive spider woman creature.
Its was Perfect.
My blade was still lodged in the elf's chest. Not much of a problem with the pair of knives in my belt. The elf could barely see as my body forced itself to strike, driving both knives clean into his neck before I rushed pass him.
Subaru expressed shock at seeing me back up. The Spider woman, probably Kumoko if he was being honest, seemed unfazed. I barely noticed that the elf had taken most of my right arm in return.
"I failed to kill you once, Such a mistake should not be made again." The elf said. I raised my remaining Knife in response, Subaru clenched his fists and began to Levitate, Kumoko simply craned her neck to glared at him.
It was now three V one. The Terminator Vs The Undead Scumbag, The Forgotten Hero, and The Nameless Spider.
Only for another to interrupt their battle before it could heat up. "Hello All, Maou Shoujo Ariel-Chan in the glorious flesh" Said Ariel as she struck a simple pose.
Kumoko was left dumbfounded, her jaw almost dropping to the floor as she looked at her natural predator. Subaru just opened and closed his mouth several times, torn between the fact that this is what terrified his friends and how terrified he was in her presence. Kazuma was still feeling the side effects of Undying Rage, his expression locked in wrath as he stared at the crazy Demon Lord.
The Elf though.
"Ariel... Is that you?" he asked cautiously. "Oh course it's me Potimus. After all, who else would do this." She said before appearing before him and taking his head off with little effort. "Ah, this body still isn't fit to fight you it seems." the metallic head of Potimus spoke before Ariel smashed it with her foot.
"Now, you three." She said while turning to them. Subaru was busy comforting the still terrified Sophia. Kumoko was occupied putting Kazuma back together. Kazuma was just looking at Ariel with an expression somewhere between a thousand yard stare and the most concentrated glare one could imagine.
"Its good to see you again Kumoko, Though I didn't catch your names." She said happily. "Why would you want our names?" Subaru asked cautiously. "Well, to be honest, I'm a bit interested in these other worlds. One of Kumoko's alternate minds, Body Brain was their name if I recall, has merged with my soul so I don't really have any motivation to kill you." Ariel replied. 'Kumoko's WHAT!!??" The other three occupants in the room thought at the same time.
"Like I'd-" Kazuma started saying, only for his body to give out and his form to slump against the wall. Subaru and Kumoko looked at him for a second, before looking at the Demon Lord. "Right, there's a lot to say, and we don't exactly have a lot of time." Subaru answered. "Oh, you don't need to speak it, I still have a connection to Kumoko after all. She can just tell me with Telepathy and Far Speech." Ariel answered.
"You could use Telepathy?" Subaru whispered to Kumoko, who could only shrug in response. "So, I'll pop by your head when I have a question. I just wanted to talk to you before so you don't start panicking. Though killing one of Potimus' body is a bonus." Ariel explained.
She left not long after that, leaving the very same destructive way she arrived.
Subaru was holding Sophia close to him, the small child having finally fallen asleep, with a large bag slung over his shoulders. Kumoko had Kazuma's limp body slumped on her back, almost drunken murmurs leaving his mouth as she carried him. Kumoko quickly teleported the group to the beach, and the ship.
The boat was barely large enough for Kumoko's new form, but they'll make it work. "But should we really take her?" Subaru asked, gesturing to the sleeping Sophia in his arms. "Hyeup." Kazuma slurred out while Kumoko rested his back against the wheel. 'Why not." She replied using the now purchased Telepathy skill. "Still, see is no place for a young child." Subaru reasoned. "Sheut, h'll be Fiiiine." Kazuma replied.
Subaru just grimaced. A week long trip on a boat with a limp drunken undead, a giant spider woman, the small child who just lost everything, and Himself.
Oh how complicated his life keeps getting.