Re:Modern Warfare

by ArcherFromArnor

The cast of "Watching Him Die Again And Again" are inside the theatre, as the screen shows them missions of Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 2019. Only the protagonist they see on the screen, is Subaru.

5. Mission 5: Proxy War

The last viewing didn't leave much of a choice in terms of mood for the people of theater, Priscilla aside.

It all seemed like Subaru had already revealed his fate to them, with cold, unwanted words for those that stood by his side.

Some still tried to know if this was worth believing or nothing short of a lie. Others felt their heart fill with pain, sorrow, or wrath. Verily, anger was rising within a lot of people. The Duchess Karsten, Felt, Julius, Aldebaran, Garfiel, even Reinhard…But why?

Against whom? For what?

What would such feelings bring? What would it change?

For some the answers were as obvious as the color of the sky. Others were still pondering on the reason why they felt this way.

They didn't want to lose Subaru, this was for sure. But shouldn't tears, grimaces, cries and sadness be enough?

Wasn't the fear, pushing the maids around the black haired boy to hold on him as if it was the last time they would ever be able to lay their eyes on him, enough?

"Why would things even go this way…?" A pink-haired oni whispered as she held her face close to the boy's hair, "Why would you leave us?"

She didn't raise her head, nor did she want to. Not because she was afraid of anyone around her to see the tears at the edge of her eyes, at this precise moment when only the sobs of those who couldn't hold back could be heard in the theater, she couldn't care less.

In this endless sorrow, Ram's only comfort was simply to stay in her current position. As close as she could, whispering to his ear every word she wished for him to hear.

"Do not leave us…Do not leave me…" She kept whispering, squeezing his shoulder as if to urge him to listen.

Ram had much like everyone else, one lingering thought at the back of her mind growing bigger and bigger as every second passed.

Roswaal had already let this thought install itself in his mind, and became quite apathetic to it. If this is how things were supposed to end, then…

"Is this it?" Otto sighed painfully, closing his eyes while leaning on his chair, "How long has it been…? A year?"

"Don' say anythin'..." Garfiel cut him, both hands covering his ears, "Otto…Shut up…"

Otto barely moved when his friend called him, his only reaction being to slightly glance to the side where Garfiel was, and fell back into grievance.

"To hell with these words anyways," he gritted his teeth, his entire face trembling in sadness, "to hell with all…"

"I don't want this to be true as well, but…" Petra cried in silence, hiding her face against Subaru's arm, "making myself illusions…Is pointless, isn't it?"

Frederica, surprised upon hearing her apprentice say such words, turned towards her with strange surprise.

"Petra-chan…" She uttered while holding a hand to her mouth.

Frederica couldn't believe that Petra, out of all the people in the theater, was psychologically readying herself for the worse.

Petra, out of all people, was doing her best to keep her tears for herself and appreciate her time near the one she loved.

"If only I had such strength…" Frederica smiled while sobbing, "if only…"

Who would blame her? Or rather, who would blame all of them, for letting their emotions get the better of themselves? There was no reason to be ashamed, Frederica knew it.

But still…For a child to be seeing a reality when she still grasped over the possibility of this all being a deceit.

"But I do not," she uttered to herself, wiping her tears away, "You…Would not leave us, Subaru-sama. Not after everything you did…"

At the other side, the blue-haired maid was perhaps the only one bearing great sadness, and remaining completely quiet.

Rem was silent. Rem was unmoving. With nothing but a tear-filled face, the blue oni of the Mathers domain didn't have the strength to move. Didn't have the strength to speak. Didn't have the strength to even think.

All she wanted, and all she needed at the moment, was to stay right here. To stay next to Subaru, to touch him, to feel him.

On his lap, Beatrice was turned around, her face buried on his chest and clenching on his cloth. Subaru was the one who delivered her from her prison of loneliness, he was the one who broke the chain of the book she was a slave to, and broke the never ending circle she was subject to live for four hundred years.

He was the one who promised to give her joy, to give her unforgettable memories, to never leave her and to hold her hand.

"You promised…" She sobbed, shaking her head against his vest, "you promised, in fact!"

"But he is bad at holding onto his promises…" Emilia replied as she kept her eyes towards the screen, unable to look anywhere else, "this is just how you are…"

Although she was smiling, it was a clear smile of defeat. A smile one would bear knowing there is nothing left to do, because this is what Emilia believed.

There was nothing else to do.

There was nothing else she could do.

"Because I failed," she said with a broken voice, still smiling, "because I lost."

This would remain in her mind, in repetition.

"I lost. I lost. I lost. I lost."

"When this all ends, you will be taken away, Subaru…" She whispered, "you will be taken away from me…My knight…"

Next to her, hearing every word she was uttering, the Duchess of the Karsten house kept her eyes closed.

To her thoughts added what Emilia had just said, understanding very well what the elven princess' words translated into. And what she wished to do, if it was not for her iron will, was to shout at the top of her lungs towards the silver-haired half-elf, so she could shut her mouth.

Emilia was lamenting on how she was about to lose the one she didn't even know how to feel about.

But Crusch Karsten, was about to lose the one she realized she loved. Her rage was getting the better of herself, at how this woman dared to complain about what she could lose when she had all the time fate could provide with him. A time Crusch didn't have, that no one else had but Roswaal's camp.

She didn't spend a year with him, she didn't share much with him, she didn't have a bond as strong as those of the Mathers camp would have with the boy…Yet she couldn't help but think that she deserved it.

That she deserved it more than them. More than all of them. More than her.

She wanted to curse them. She wanted to let out all the thoughts that were running in her mind right now, of how they murdered him, tortured him, made him suffer to no end, and yet had the gal to feel sorry for losing him.

As if she had a right to. As if she could.

As if this lie she told herself was true.

"For I am no better…" she said in a voice so faint none could hear.

So yes, Crusch decided to remain silent. But not out of willpower.

Out of shame. Out of disgust.

Like everyone else in the Emilia camp. Like all those who felt the anger rising in their chests.

Their wrath was for none but themselves.

For their faults, and their failures.

Felix was one of the few who stayed silent without any apparent emotion on his face. The fate of Subaru Natsuki was of little importance to him, and if he had to choose, he would rather him go back to his world.

For both their sakes, it was for the better.

"Would you really come to aid me when I need you most, only to leave without letting me pay you back, my boy?" Wilhelm whispered, clenching his hands in anger, "even a little…"

Rare were those Wilhelm was attached enough to express any kind of feelings. Even his closest friends from years ago were barely in his mind.

But Subaru, as new as their relationship was, had already taken a significant place in the old sword demon's heart…Which was to no surprise only for himself. Others would simply wonder if he was really the Wilhem Van Astrea they heard about or knew.

"Had it not been for you, where would I be now?" thought one of who bore the same name, seated not far away from his grandfather.

"Where would I be…" Felt repeated, sobbing silently, "big bro…"

Ricardo and the triplets remained silent, grieving in their own way, so was Julius and Anastasia.

Even if silence, in some way, was more telling than a thousand words. Most understood what was the meaning behind their muteness.

Even though Anastasia was quiet for other reasons than sorrow for the boy. She was quiet because she didn't want to voice her thoughts louder than she already did, but to her it simply seemed too vague to be the conclusion.

It didn't make sense to the merchant princess.

"How pathetic," Priscilla clicked her tongue, not wanting to look down and dirty her eyes with such a disgusting sight.

"..." Al didn't dare to say anything, her thoughts were already made clear to him.

But even then, there was one question which remained in the helmeted knight's mind…

For the string of fate that tied him to Subaru, if what was written was for him to be taken back…

"Then what about me?" He thought to himself, in a tone of wonder.

"CIA…"

"It…It's starting again?" Emilia spoke in a hushed tone, seeing the screen lit up.

Every single soul in the theater turned their gazes towards the screen once more, their hearts either heavy, confused, or expecting.

"Really now…" Otto sighed with a tired expression.

"What's the damn point…" Garfiel growled with a tear in his eye, breathing heavily.

"This is not the end…" Anastasia squinted her eyes, caressing her scarf in a delicate way.

"Why would it show us more? Didn't it…Didn't it show enough as of now?" Petra whimpered in her seat, "I don't…I don't want to…"

The screen lit up to show Subaru sleeping on the couch from above, as a hand was coming closer to his shoulder. As he opened his eyes, Subaru's hand went straight to his holster. It only took a fraction of a second, but it was enough for Subaru to have his finger on the trigger, while Hadir put his hands up with an expression of shock at the speed.

People were quite divided by what they had just witnessed. A part was of course impressed by the speed with which Subaru had reacted, while others…

"So this is his way of waking up now…" Rem grimaced, pulling herself closer from Subaru, "I much preferred when you slowly woke up, with such an innocent face…"

When she was conscious and working at the manor alongside her sister and the newly arrived butler, Rem had countless occasions to watch over the black-haired boy. The way he had to slowly open his eyes, the gentle, and warm smile he would give after yawning and getting up from bed.

"All that to be changed by such…" Rem did her best to not whimper, holding the arm of her love as tight as she could.

Now, the way he opened his eyes after sleeping seemed so…Brutal.

It was ruthless, desensitized.

"He is far from being as peaceful as he looks here," Frederica sighed with a shake of her head, glancing towards the sleeping boy near her colleagues.

"This is what war does to a person," Wilhelm grunted between his teeth, "for one who spent a great time fighting in sweat and blood, taking the lives of many…Peace of mind becomes a luxury."

"In a way, I feel like his reaction speed should be praised," Reinhard spoke with a small smile, while his eyes translated his pity, "but…Considering the reason why he gained such skills…"

"He stands somewhere he may die any second," Ricardo continued for the sword saint, "so yeah, kinda worth being praised if you want my guess."

"…Ah, sorry," He made sure to not point his gun at Hadir, putting it back in the holster as he got up from the couch.

"That is some incredible reflexes," Hadir laughed, impressed by Subaru's speed, "if I was Russian, I would've been done for."

"...This man really seems to despise Russians…" Reinhard hummed from his seat in a rather disheartened way.

"Didn't they destroy and occupy his home?" Felt replied to him, "I mean, it's kinda fair to hate the invaders if you ask me."

"Perhaps, my lady. But showing such constant disdain is a behavior that I would call rather unhealthy." Reinhard concluded his thoughts.

"It is true that he brings it up every time he can, he nearly seems…Obsessed," Crusch followed Reinhard's comment.

"He hates them," Wilhelm spoke with narrowed eyes, "he hates them with passion. A fire raging in his heart every time he is reminded of them."

Crusch, Felix, Ricardo and Julius turned towards the old sword demon, whose voice began to turn grimmer.

"Whatever they did, it left a scar in this man's mind. A wound so deep that it will only be healed with spilled blood," he closed his eyes briefly before reopening them with a more hardened look, "a desire of vengeance."

"I guess if someone knows about that, it gotta be you." Felix said in a hushed tone.

Subaru didn't respond with nothing but a tired nod of his head, stretching his arms and legs, "we're set?"

"Yes. My sister is supervising the last preparations, we will be attacking at any moment," Hadir looked at the other room, where his soldiers prepared themselves, "I hope you took enough rest, CIA. Because there's no breaks until we have taken that airbase."

"أنا كويس"(I'm fine) Subaru replied, tapping the shoulder of Hadir as he went forward.

"This is really…A strange language." Emilia commented in wonder as she heard her knight speak.

"Somehow, it always has an angry tone behind it," Petra nodded her head to the elven princess' words, "it even sounds a bit threatening…"

"Eh…That's a bit impolite to say." Aldebaran scoffed from his seat for only his mistress to hear.

"I feel the opposite," Crusch mused aloud, "it sounds rather peaceful."

"I guess…It is a question of earring?" Emilia smiled at the Duchess, "though, when Subaru speaks it, it's true that he seems a bit calmer."

"It's certainly because the language is not his usual one, so he's kinda more careful when speakin' it." Anastasia deduced, nodding to her own explanation.

"Your Arabic is not bad at all," Hadir chuckled with an expression showing how impressed he was,, "I'm surprised. I suppose it is normal for CIA agents to learn more languages, but a tongue like ours is quite difficult to master."

Subaru remained quiet, his mind wandering away to memories he didn't know if he wished to remember.

"Let's just say I had a…Good teacher." A hint of distaste could still be perceived in his voice as he walked to a greater room with Hadir, a place filled with guns, explosives and military equipment.

"There is something going on…" Otto grunted to show his worry, "a good teacher?"

"It doesn't seem like the roots of this language's apprenticeship is giving him fond memories." After a long while remained quiet, Julius finally spoke his thoughts, surprising most of his own camp in the process.

"I thought he'd stay quiet longer." Mimi murmured to her brother.

"He seemed very upset…I hope he managed to calm down," Tivey sighed while looking at his sister, "well I can't really blame him…"

"I know…" Mimi exhaled with her ears down, "I know."

"You're in my house here, CIA. I set up shop on the edge of Barkov's base... Keep those fucking dogs in check," he scoffed with a malicious intent, picking up a bottle with a tissue inside from a box, "Friends close, enemies closer..."

"This is…A very dangerous, yet useful advice…" Crusch spoke out, her eyes wide in surprise.

"How ironic…" Roswaal smiled slowly from his corner, having lost his accent, "I never understood which one you were to me…Or which one I was to you."

"I…Don't think I get it," Emilia looked at Crusch expectantly, "why would you keep your enemies close to yourself…?"

"It is metaphorical, Emilia-sama," Crusch replied to her, "it means that you should always watch your enemies, so that they may never attack you when you least expect."

"Really? I rather understood it by sayin' ya could hide a knife under a coat of friendship," Anastasia put a hand under her chin in thoughts, "but I guess ya're kinda right too."

"Of course, the first thing you think about is how to slyly make use of one's trust." Crusch scoffed towards Anastasia's words.

"Sorry for making my way to the top with any means I can~" The purple-haired merchant answered with a smirk.

Hadir then handed the bottle to Subaru with a smile, "I told you we had our ways. No grenades, those are a luxury we can't afford…So we improvise."

The screen focused on Subaru's face, coming closer to his eyes before a quick blink occurred, to switch towards his point of view as they saw through his eyes.

Subaru grabbed the bottle to examine it, rubbing the sticker to reveal the brand of the liquor.

"Vodka?" He questioned, as Hadir smiled widely.

"Even on our lands these fuckers crave for this poison, so we will do them a favor by raining these down on their faces so they get a good taste."

"So this is a weapon!" Otto exclaimed with wide eyes, "I wonder how it work-"

The merchant stopped in his tracks as he swiftly remembered the way his friend got rid of the archbishop of sloth back then, during their chase.

"Are they gonna throw the bottle on 'em?" Garfiel raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Will they attempt to…Drunk the enemy with them?" Frederica tried to figure out the use of alcohol.

"Wouldn't that be pretty dangerous?" Emilia answered, glancing towards Crusch who simply shrugged in response.

"...I really hope it's not that…" Otto thought to himself, realizing he might be one of the only ones who figured out how to use these bottles.

"Mh…It is ingenious." Priscilla smirked from above, waiting for this viewing to unfold in the more interesting parts.

Subaru seemed impressed, as he stored the bottle and saw resistance fighters carrying a large, bomb shell. "أخذ هذه إلى مدفع الهليكوبتر يا الملازم." (Taking these to the canon, Lieutenant)

Hadir nodded his hand as he gestured with his hand, "بسرعة يا ابن عم!" (Quickly, cousin!)

"Ah, there," Anastasia pointed out, "now I get what ya meant by'always angry' lil' maid."

"They seem to be in a rush, maybe the tone is appropriate." Crusch intervened.

"This tone and this language really doesn't go well together though, I agree nya," Felix commented as he caressed his ear, "it always makes me shiver when I hear it…"

"Mh…I wonder how such a language came to be…" Julius thought aloud, more to himself than anyone, "for a tongue to sound so immensely different from ours…"

"It's…True. We never really heard different languages in our world, did we?" Felt wondered as she looked up to her knight.

"I am afraid we do not have enough luck to hold such diversity in our world, Felt-sama," Reinhard smiled, although a bit disappointed, "the only thing that differs in terms of language might be the dialect, or accents."

"Yeah, like the western gal," Felt sighed, disappointed as well, "man that's a shame. It would really be awesome to have several languages."

"While I agree it would be quite a rich heritage for different territories of our world, our situation is also quite favorable in a way, considering there is no issue with communicating with every inhabitant of our world." the Duchess pointed out, earning many acknowledgements towards her words.

"We are quite lucky to not have any language barrier indeed," Julius mused, "I would certainly not be able to work for Anastasia-sama would that had been the case."

"I was so sure he was about to say something like that." Otto said in a deadpan voice.

"Can't do nothing but simpin' when ya're a knight." Garfiel shook his head.

Hadir looked to the side and picked up a rifle, which was a wooden stocked AK-47 that he handed to Subaru, "I hope you can take strong recoil, this one is old. Left by the soviets who invaded our brothers in the east, when they were invaded themselves by the Russian scum."

"So these Russians invaded more places…" Wilhelm thought to himself, "they most definitely are a force to be reckoned with."

"Perhaps a powerful empire?" Reinhard narrowed his eyes, "they could be the equivalent of Vollachia to us."

"Regarding what we know…" Felix narrowed his eyes, remembering his past adventures in the southern empire, "they might be even more powerful than Vollachia nya…"

Such a simple thought managed to send shivers down the spines of a few people in the theater, including Reinhard. Vollachia was already quite the ruthless and powerful place, to think of anything more threatening than that was simply insane.

"The east…The Afghans?" Subaru thought aloud as he picked up the Ak, checking the bullets in the magazine, and the ejection port, "mh…Seems a bit rusty, but it should do. Kalashnikovs are known to be reliable in the long run, after all…"

"We already saw this weapon," Frederica recalled, "during the attack on the city…"

"Yes, the terrorists handled them." Reinhard nodded his head, "so it is an effective type of weaponry?"

"How come such dangerous people wield such dangerous weapons?" Julius couldn't help but grumble, following the thoughts of Reinhard.

"Why wouldn't they? Maybe they are the origin of these weapons?" Mimi thought aloud.

"Subaru's world so far sounds way more regulations and rules than ours, even when it comes to international laws as we saw," Julius pondered as he remembered the bits of the viewings he saw, "I expected powerful weaponry to be regulated as well…"

"I don't think it is as strict, Julius-dono." Wilhelm intervened, pointing out, "even in our world, anyone can get his hands on a sword. I do not see how it could be any different in Subaru-dono's world.

"Mh…I guess I simply had too many expectations." Julius sighed while crossing his arms, keeping the rest of this thoughts to himself.

"Are you surprised?" Hadir picked up his binoculars as he walked up the stairs, "When the soviets left Afghanistan, they couldn't retrieve all their equipment. Artillery, weapons, ammunition…They left a lot for the Afghans to suit themselves," He explained while Subaru followed him up the stairs, "and when they learned about our struggle…They didn't hesitate to share some with us."

"They left while leaving their weaponry?!" Felix exclaimed in disbelief, "how incompetent is this nya?!"

"I have to admit that I expected more from such an advanced military…" Rem didn't know if she had to smile or not, though she found the situation to be quite laughable, "though, I wonder why you don't sound surprised at all?"

She said as she looked up to him, but as her eyes watered every time she looked at his face, she had to quickly cease this and look back to the screen.

"This is cruel on its own, isn't it…" She murmured, burying her face closer to his arm, "Subaru…"

"But wait, are the soviets…Russians?" Felt raised an eyebrow, "what is this? Some sort of nickname?"

"I suppose it is?" Otto replied, looking back towards the helmeted man who began to scratch the edge of his helmet.

"It's like their old name. Before being called Russia, the place was the soviet union," He explained them, trying his best to remember correctly, "it was some sort of a modern empire. It was bigger, held more territories…But was also pretty much extremely weak on the long run."

"And then?" Priscilla urged her servant to continue.

"Well, what had to happen happened," he said as he fell back in his seat, "It countries within it got free and declared independence."

"It really isn't surprising, considering the sheer incompetence they display by leaving their weapons to their enemies," Crusch scoffed, "how can they be a dangerous empire?"

"It isn't an empire anymore though, at least not officially," Al replied to the Duchess, "on paper it's gone. But when it comes to their actions, they definitely didn't let go of their habits."

"And the rest of the nations just…Let it happen?" Emilia wondered, a bit surprised herself by what she was asking.

"Eh, they aren't hiding themselves from having the same goals," Al laughed, "Russia just like the United States, Great Britain, and all the countries who can…They have their pseudo empire still going on."

"How can a world sound so fascinating, and yet horrible at the same time?" Anastasia couldn't help but speak with gritted teeth, "so much potential…"

Subaru looked down to see the pieces of Soviet artillery getting loaded with shells, and mortar pieces.

"Here, take some of these as well. It might come in handy during the assault." Hadir handed over a box of smoke grenades for Subaru to pick up.

"Soviet smokes…" Subaru chuckled, "those are from your eastern friends as well?"

"Indeed, they are." Hadir smiled.

"It's still a bit surprising. I didn't expect the Talibans to give you a hand. Last I heard the middle east was still quite divided."

"Oh, we have our differences…But when it comes to the freedom of our lands…We are united in struggle," Hadir laughed rather warmly as he looked in his binoculars, "have you ever been to Afghanistan, CIA?"

"So they are united when it comes to war? It is quite noble in its own way." Ricardo whistled, "though, can't tell if it's really useful if they hate each other the rest of the years."

"For now we don't know enough knowledge to talk about that," Crusch replied.

"I guess…"

"Only once. For a recon mission." He looked down at his right arm, "it was quite the trip. Learned a lot."

"Like what?" Hadir asked, genuinely curious.

Subaru sighed as he rubbed a scar on his arm,"that you don't fuck with the Mujahideens."

"هذا لا تفعل!" (That you don't!) Hadir laughed loudly, as he got back to his observation.

'Why would you use such crude language…!" Emilia sighed in frustration.

"The Muja…Hidin?" Felt tried to repeat, "What the hell?"

"A class of warriors, perhaps? Subaru seems to respect them." Crusch narrowed her eyes, "they also seemingly wounded him."

"He seems rather proud of the scar, doesn't he?" Ricardo smirked, "Ah! you ain't a real soldier before cherishing your battle scars!"

"I would rather him have none at all!" Emilia shot back with an unpleasant expression, "he can be proud of something else! Anything else!"

"I agree, I suppose!" Beatrice joined the half-elf, "he has enough scars as it is, in fact!"

"Hey hey chill!" Ricardo put his hands up front, "I was just explainin' his reacton!"

"Keep them for yourself, in fact!" Beatrice replied again.

"They seem to be very on edge…" Al cleared his throat, "the entire situation is getting to their heads."

"You were no different a second ago." Priscilla didn't even look towards him.

"Yeah but not anymore, so I'm definitely better. Right?"

Priscilla only replied by slapping her knight's face, wishing for him to shut his mouth. Which he did, after grunting in pain from the power of the hit.

Subaru looked a bit around him. A bit far, as the screen zoomed to them, he saw snipers taking position over the edges around the bases, while others were preparing machine guns, RPGs and what looked like tiny planes…

"Mh…" Subaru hummed, looking at the devices.

"Russians only understand violence, CIA…So I show them violence," noticing the interested look on Subaru's face, Hadir picked up a plane on his own from behind, "Barkov may have an air force, but I have one too."

"This really sounds…Barbaric." Anastasia muse, a bit grossed out.

"While I would agree, it seems to be all fair," Crusch crossed her arms, "an eye for an eye."

"Ok, he really, really hates them," Felt seemed impressed by the man's hatred every time Russians would come to the discussion, "nearly as much as I despise nobility."

"Felt-sama, you are far away from that old version of you I believe!" Reinhard smiled on the side of his mistress.

"No."

"Felt-sama!"

"…Those are teleguided planes," Subaru realized, his voice showing his surprise, "drones."

"RC planes," Hadir nodded his head proudly as he turned the drone around, "loaded with C4."

"That's…EID, not C4," Subaru scoffed, noticing the poorly shaped explosive.

"I will call it whatever I want, do not judge," Hadir laughed back, "Like I said, luxuries we cannot afford."

"C4? EID?" Petra repeated, "woah…Why does it sounds like something incredibly amazing, yet so dangerous at the same time?"

"Considering they are going to use them as weapons, I believe because it IS dangerous!" Otto replied, "and it's certainly nothing pleasant to see…"

"Nothing in this world is pleasant to see, when it comes to war…" Frederica held a hand to her heart, "and we are probably at the beginning yet…"

Hadir put the plane into position and picked up the remote. It was a smartphone plugged to a joystick's device with antennas.

"It's still impressive that you managed to work something like that out," Subaru praised them, looking back under to see the rebels testing out the planes.

One of the rebels looked up to Hadir, "تم تعلية أول موجة. احنا جاهزين سيدي."(First wave up. We're hot, Sir.)

"جيد. نطلق الثانية بعد أن نخرق".(Good. Launch the second one after we breach.) Hadir replied, taking a deep breath.

"They are preparing themselves…" Wilhelm narrowed his eyes, "the assault is about to happen."

"So we are going to see a battle in Subaru's world uh?" Ricardo grunted, "Wait, do I want to know or not?"

"It's a little bit too late to be sayin' that, don't ya think?" Anastasia glanced at her mercenary, who grimaced while scratching the back of his head.

"Maybe…But I fear for the lil' ones boss." He mumbled while patting their heads.

"We can take it…" Tivey replied, still with a saddened face.

"Y-Yeah…" Mimi tried to utter, her voice breaking a bit.

"Goodness," Anastasia sighed glancing towards the twins, "ya don't need to bear this face just yet, we don't if what we saw is missleadin' or not."

"Do you mean…" Mimi widened your eyes.

"It needs more info, but I'm pretty sure Natsuki-kun isn't leavin' us any time soon." She winked at them, making them smile and raise their ears in excitement.

"So the screen thingy might be lying?!" Tivey said in a bright voice.

"I'll kill him!" Mimi hissed, both happy and angry towards the warden keeping them in here.

"My lady…" Julius thought aloud with perplexed eyes, "what urges you to make such a claim?"

"Like I said," Anastasia turned back to the screen, "it's difficult to say without further insight. But I have that gut feelin'."

"...Then, I hope…"

"Have my intuition ever failed, Julius?" Anastasia turned towards him with a smirk.

"Never, my lady." Julius was swift to answer, without wasting a second.

"Then, just trust me." She smiled.

As he heard footsteps from behind, Subaru turned around to see Farah join them, greeting Subaru and looking back at her brother.

"Are we ready?" She asked him with a determined voice, as Hadir nodded his head with a look of eagerness and rage.

"We are commander," he nodded his head, handing the remote to Subaru, "let's show them hell, CIA. Like never before."

"They seem to be underestimating their enemies…This doesn't smell good," Otto voiced his concern, unable to stop his leg from moving, "bad surprises usually happen because of this."

"Hey! Don't jinx it!" Garfiel slapped Otto's shoulder, "You'll put Capn' in the shit!"

"How am I supposed to change the course of an already pre-set thing?!" Otto reprimanded, not liking to be taken as the cause of something he didn't do yet.

"This man harbor such a level of hatred, he never misses a chance to express it," Petra looked up to Frederica, "It's like he means every word when he says he will give them hell."

"Because he certainly does, Petra-chan." Frederica sighed with a tired smile.

"They are in a war," Priscilla spoke from above, commenting on what she had heard, "there will be no good in harboring anything but ill thoughts against their enemies."

"Because you get something out of dehumanizing them?" Otto replied to the crimson princess.

"Yes. A lack of regret in the actions you take against them," she replied without sparing a glance towards the merchant, "therefore shielding yourself from a weakness of mind."

"No one should ever go into battle without some form of respect towards its enemies, Barielle." Crusch shot back, outraged by the words of the baroness as a warrior herself.

"Spare me your worthless sermon, Karsten," the princess rolled her eyes in annoyance, "your words have as much merit as the number of wars you have been in."

"Because ya did?!" Garfiel exclaimed in defense of the Duchess.

"Yes." Priscilla stared down at him, "I did."

Everyone in the theater fell silent for a brief instant, glancing at each other. Some were perplexed by what she had just said, while others like Crusch or Reinhard, were shocked to know she was telling the truth.

"What…" Crusch uttered to herself, "how?"

"I would have never guessed myself," Wilhelm frowned, knowing by the expression of his master that Priscilla was speaking the truth, "how uncommon…"

"You?! Out of everyone in here?!" Felt couldn't help but raise her voice, "YOU have been in a war?!"

"Perhaps the mud which replaces your brain spread through your eardrums, gutter rat," Priscilla replied, getting upset at how her viewing was delayed, "I have been in wars. Not just one."

"I guess this explains why you're such a bitch," Felt didn't even show a sign of anger towards the baroness' insults, "man, it had to be tough for you to win anything. Still bitter over the loss taken, eh?"

"Felt-sama…!" Reinhard exclaimed in distress, not liking the look in the eyes of the baroness one bit.

But Felt simply ignored it, sitting down in her seat again while facing the screen, failing to notice everyone's slack jawed expressions glancing back and forth between her and Priscilla.

"Tha' was a good burn, brotto." Garfiel whispered to his friend's ear.

"It was…But I don't think Felt-sama noticed it…" He whispered back, slowly turning to the screen again.

"Asma, put yourself in position with your team," Farah told a woman behind her holding a wooden bolt action rifle.

"That's…German? A pretty old model as well." Subaru commented, recognizing her sniper rifle.

"I am a rather old school woman, ya know?" Asma replied while proudly showing off her rifle.

"Her weapon seems to be made mostly of wood," Julius thought with a hand on his chin, "I remember Subaru's previous weapons to be mainly made of metal."

"So, the wooden ones would mean an old kind of weapon?" Crusch thought aloud, perking up with what Julius was thinking.

"I believe so, Crusch-sama. Even Subaru's actual weapon seems to be a mix of metal and wood, perhaps to symbolize an in-between with two generations of weaponry?" Julius continued to muse aloud, a thought over which most of the theater agreed on.

"I mean…Yes and no?" Al replied from up above, "Bro's weapon is a Kalash. It does mark a sort of new era because this gun was said to be more reliable and solid than anything else thanks to a brand new system, so much so they became the most popular rifle worldwide. But guns were made of full metal long before it."

"I see…So this 'Kalash' is a symbol of innovation in this world of elaborate and brutal warfare…" Crusch looked back at the screen in wonder.

"Asma is the leader of my marksman team, CIA," Farah pointed with her hand, "from Damascus to Baghdad, you will find no better eye than her."

"Is that so," Subaru acknowledged with a nod, "how good are you Asma?"

"I once shot a hummingbird from 50 yards away." Asma raised an eyebrow with a smile.

"She did WHAT?!" Al exclaimed from his seat, earning a slap on the helmet by his princess.

"Do not bark so loudly in my presence fool."

"Y-yeah…My bad…" He grumbled as he got back up.

"Pff, Rein can do it." Felt waved off, while Reinhard smiled uneasily from her side.

"I mean there's little he can't do, that's a bit like cheating." Emilia replied with a small smile to Felt, "this is still an impressive feat from this woman."

Subaru only stared at her for a second, blinking several times trying to process the information, "well that's-"

"Naked eye." She cut him.

"…Yeah ok that's pretty impressi-"

"And iron sights only." She concluded.

"Damn it, calm down! I get it!"

"Even Subaru seems to be impressed," Otto laughed at his expression along with Garfiel.

"If capn' can't believe it, that really got to be amazin!"

"He looks soooo silly like that," the half-elf smiled when she saw her knight's expression on screen.

Even with such an appearance…He managed to be cute.

Asma began to laugh as she cocked a bullet in her rifle.

"فرح قالتلي عن مهاراتك. بس هلق خليك عارف انو في غيرك بصيد يا حلو~"

(Farah told me about you. Now you know you're not the only one with a good shot, cutie~)

"..."

"..."

"..."

"I take back what I said." Emilia said as her face darkened, "he is not cute. Not at all."

"Someone just stop him…" Ricardo laughed out loud, "this guy ain't taking a break is he?!"

"This shit is surreal…" Al shook his head in despair.

Crusch only smiled meekly, both tired and used to it at this point.

Priscilla rolled her eyes, tapping her heel on the ground to show her dissatisfaction.

She winked at him as she walked away towards her team," يالاه يا ولاد العم, صفوا على المواقع!" (Come on cousins, in position!)

"Did she just…" Subaru hesitantly faced Hadir, who simply laughed it off.

"Looks like you have some fans, brother!" Hadir laughed as he handed the controller to him.

"Tch."

Subaru chose to ignore his comment as he took the controller and looked at the screen.

The scene changed to show the point of view of the drone's camera, as it flew over the walls of the base.

"I'm in." Subaru told Hadir.

"So we are seeing…Through this little bird shaped 'plane' ?" Otto squinted his eyes.

"This is fascinating…" Anastasia couldn't help but muse to herself, "such a technology would be so useful here…"

"I am afraid it would be unwise, however. We do not know in which hands these could fall, Anastasia-sama," Ram spoke without averting her gaze from the screen.

"Will they use these to make reconnaissance?" Tivey jumped from his seat in excitement, "this looks amazing…"

"Yeah, they're not even moving from where they were and they can see everything up ahead! This is like pink-maid's magic!" His sister replied, sharing his excitement.

Ricardo perked up on what they had just said and remembered how Ram had indeed a similar power, seeing through the eyes of bugs. However, Ram didn't really find it useful to react to such a comment.

"Might be why she found it familiar…" The dogman uttered under his breath.

"Good, stay low…" Hadir looked over his shoulder to see the camera, "their anti-air systems cannot detect something as little as that so long as you don't go too high."

The camera showed several helicopters in station mode over the base, as Subaru made his drone come closer to one of them.

"Several choppers on the tarmac…Everyone takes a heli!" Hadir said loudly as he got right back next to Subaru, "you'll get one shot at this brother…"

"One shot at this? What will he do?!" Emilia suddenly gasped in fear, having a bad feeling about what would come next.

"I think it's obvious by now…" Crusch wiped a bit of sweat off her forehead.

"It's a weapon, so…We have to expect death." Felix sighed, he too felt uneasy about what was to come.

As he had the helicopter right in sight, Subaru flew the drone right in the cockpit of it. The camera froze, the point of view switched back to Subaru as he saw all the helicopters, including the one he aimed, explode in air and spin out of control to the ground of the base.

"Impact confirmed! Targets hit!" Hadir howled as the rebels yelled in glee for this victory.

Everyone in the theater was taken aback by the explosion, watching slack-jawed at the iron-made flying machines being brought down by such tiny weapons.

"S-Subaru…" Emilia whispered with a hand on her mouth.

"Such a destructive power…" Frederica was doing much the same, both in awe and fear.

"These were explosives?!" Otto widened his eyes, T-they can have controlled flying explosives?!"

"Ok, that's scary." Anastasia felt chills down her spine.

"To be able to blow up a position, without even moving from where you are, while guiding your own messenger of death…" Wilhelm weakly nodded his head, "this world has truly mastered the ways of war."

"That was good flying brothers…But the best is yet to come!" Farah voiced loudly as she came down the stairs to join the other rebels ready for assault.

Subaru and Hadir followed her, as Hadir pointed towards the artillery pieces, "it's our time to shine, our group will cover us with the cannons while we breach! The airbase is dead ahead, we will make a run for the walls."

"They took down these flying machines so they could storm the walls," Julius mused while poking the armrests of his seat, "but what about men-reinforcements?"

"I think they'll take that into account too." Ricardo replied to him while leaning forward a bit "just watch."

"You seem to be very confident, eh?" Al called out.

"At this point, I think it's fair to be!" The dogman laughed out loud.

"We are finally entering the interesting part." Priscilla smiled, bringing her full attention to the screen.

"You were eager to see the battle start, princess?"

"Of course. I believe the purpose of this specific viewing is to show us this very moment." She seemed to be in a good mood, eager to see what would come next.

Subaru stopped to look around him for a moment, and quickly processed the support they would receive.

"This should be enough to pierce the first line of defense and raid the interior of the base…But as we breach in, the call for reinforcements will ring right ahead…" Subaru thought aloud, more to himself than for Hadir to hear, "we might need an extra here."

"Sadly, this is all we have…" Hadir replied as he shook his head, "this is all or nothing, CIA. We take the base, or we die here!"

"Please speak for yourself and die, without my contractor included I suppose!" Beatrice couldn't help but snarl at Hadir, disliking how he included Subaru in his will to die.

"You think Subaru would run away if things were to go bad, Beatrice-sama?" Ram replied to her with a cold tone, "are you not supposed to be the one knowing him best?"

The whole Emilia camp had to stop and look back at her for a second, trying to process this moment where Ram, for the first time, used Subaru's name properly.

"A-Are you okay…?'" Emilia hesitated to talk, reaching towards the maid.

"I am fine, Emilia-sama," Ram replied, her hands not going away from Subaru's shoulders, "do not worry about me."

"This' weird." Garfiel widened his eyes, looking back at Otto.

"I think she's having her own troubles right now." The green merchant exhaled, leaning back in his seat.

"Sister…"

For Rem it was different. Thanks to the blood she shared with Ram, she knew something wrong was happening with her sister…But sadly, it didn't seem like there was anything she could possibly do.

The theater was filled with people dealing with several pains at the same time. The viewings, themselves…And the consequences of it all.

"أو نغش" (Or we cheat) Subaru scoffed, as he turned his radio on.

"Watcher, this is 3-1. Currently moving in Barkov's base with the local forces. Requesting air support."

The radio buzzed for a second, as if someone tried to reply but changed his mind at the last minute.

"And maybe some tea service as well, Subaru?" Laswell sarcastically replied.

"I'd love that, but maybe another time Kate. If you want me to win this one, that is?" He laughed in response, hearing a sigh at the other end of the line.

"Pffft, alright, come on" Felt giggled after hearing his rebuttal, "this was fun."

"He's really…Close with that woman isn't he…" clearly uneasy, Emilia held a fist to her heart.

"There is no need to feel jealousy over it, Emilia-sama." Next to her, while bringing a comforting hand to the half-elf's shoulder, the Duchess answered her thoughts.

"Crusch-sama…"

"Natsuki Subaru, even in this world…Did not forget about us," she reminded her with a small smile, "furthermore, when he is so out of our reach…"

"I know," Emilia replied, "we have no say on his choices…But even then…"

"..."

"Even then, now that I come so close to the reality of what I feel…It only hurts, Crusch-sama…" Emilia uttered with tears at the edge of her eyes.

"I…I know…" Crusch replied, holding Emilia's hand in hers as an act of compassion, "I know it only too well…"

The scene changed to Laswell in her command center looking down at papers with a tablet on her side.

"Sending a bird is out of the question. If they take it down, they will know the US is involved, can't risk that." She explained, "they have S-400 anti-air systems in there according to reports."

"S-400? In this part of Urzikstan?! Subaru sounded shocked, "Since when do they expect rebels to show up with a Cobra helicopter?!"

"We are still looking into that, it might be because of a PMC…But this is for another time," Laswell sighed, "I might have something for you."

"I'm listening." Subaru took position near Hadir and the rest of the group.

"We have a gunship that can reach your position in about half an hour…But it will only enter the perimeter if you take out the S-400, radar, and coms. I will give the order for it to take off, you need to pull this one out if you want it there, understood?"

"A gunship? Isn't that more dangerous?" Subaru wondered, not knowing if it was better or worse.

"Too far over the clouds with a certain altitude, with no S-400 and coms, they won't ever know what hit them." Laswell explained, "it will pass by, do its job, and fly away undetected."

"Sounds like it's in my capabilities, let's do this," Subaru cocked his rifle," 3-1 out."

"Copy. Good luck out there. Watcher out."

"A gunship?" Ricardo repeated, "oh this is about to be good."

"Another odd name…" Reinhard spoke to himself, "a gunship…"

"A gun is what they are using to fight, and a ship is…A boat?" Anastasia tried to figure out what it could be, "Mh…Could it be an armed boat?"

"I do not see any river, or body of water around," Julius followed his lady's assumption, "how odd."

"No, big bro said earlier that what they needed was air support, so it flies!" Felt corrected them, earning a gasp of surprise from the merchant princess.

"A-A flyin' boat?!"

"Woah! They would have such a technology to make floating things fly?!" Mimi exclaimed to her mistress.

"That's…Amazing but why wouldn't they just use a plane with guns?" Crusch frowned in confusion, "it does not make sense to go as far as to make ships fly when you already have flying machines…"

"Maybe…It is not possible to put guns on planes?" Felix tried to think with his master as well.

"No, no…Remember on the first viewing? That viking fella came around flying, and then the entire place was on fire!" Tivey replied loudly.

"Then, a different type of firing process? Maybe even more powerful nya!" Felix exclaimed.

"Mh…Perhaps…" the Duchess thought again, "but then, why would it be on a ship?"

Meanwhile, Al observed the situation unfold in front of him, blinking under his helmet several times at the thought process these people were having.

"I don't even know if I should tell them or…" He uttered to himself, glancing to his right to see if Priscilla was as confused as they were, to see that she was focused on watching the screen rather than asking herself pointless questions.

"هل يأتي خداعك يا أخي؟" (Will your cheat come, brother?) Hadir uttered to him.

"If we're brave enough…" Subaru laughed as Hadir followed.

Farah walked in front of all the rebels, facing them as the canons prepared to shoot the base.

"Brothers! Sisters! This is the moment we were all waiting for! We get in there, attack their armory, take their weapons, and take their airfield! Retrieving the land that is rightfully ours, we will not back down!"

"نعم كريم!" (Yes, Karim!) The rebels shouted together.

Farah then turned around, facing the airfield.

"من أجل أرضنا! من أجل الحرية!" (For our land! For freedom!)

Everyone raised their eyes up front as Farah held her rifle high over her head.

"FOR URZIKSTAN!"

As the cannons fired their shells to rain down the base, even their hellish rumble was not enough to muffle the war cries of the resistance army, standing up and running towards the walls with rage in their hearts, as one mortar shell destroyed the wall they were running towards, breaching the base for them.

"Cannons! Fire the towers! Let's not give them any advantages! Snipers, get ready to defend our advance from the enemy troops! Mortars, adjust your shots from 20 to 30 meters beyond the initial target, to deal a maximum of damage to their equipment!"

Farah coordinated her troops like a real army commander, to Subaru's own surprise. He didn't really doubt the lady's ability to lead, but to see her in action was clearly a different deal than what he expected.

"Impressive," Wilhelm smiled at the commander, "very impressive."

"It seems like she knows how to inspire good spirits to her troops…Good. This is half of the battle," Julius commented with his own smile.

"Indeed, I believe she is very much experienced when it comes to commanding her troops." Reinhard praised with a slight smile.

"Yeah! She's hella good!" Felt smiled with a fist in the air, "Come on guys!"

"Wow! That was so cool!" Mimi couldn't help but shake her tail in excitement.

"Gotta admit what we gotta admit." Ricardo smirked with his hands up, impressed by Farah's panache.

"I knew she shouldn't be underestimated the second I saw her, but this is still quite impressive isn't it?" Crusch smiled at the sight of the Urzikstani leader bringing fire to the soul of her troops.

"She is amazing…" wishing she would hold such voice power one day, Emilia stared at Farah in awe.

"Hm, she surely knows how to make an impression'." Anastasia smiled as well.

"Seeing competence one in a while is refreshing," Priscilla nodded her head in satisfaction, "this is not around here, that I shall see anyone capable after all."

The resistance began to run towards the field as Subaru followed them up close. Looking up, he could see the bombs coming down and obliterate several positions in the base, taking the guards towers down to cover their approach.

The path they took was like a natural built trench, the ground offering positions to hide behind with holes, rocks and fallen trees.

"This looks so dangerous…" Petra gasped in fear for her hero, as the screen showed how he ran to take cover, "more than the other times…"

"Because he actually doesn't have the advantage here…This is a group of rebels fighting against a military force," Otto followed the little maid's thoughts.

"They have no other choice, have they?" Frederica said as she winced, looking at these young men and women fighting for their land, "they are here to free their territory."

"And they are on their own. Remember that Subaru-dono wasn't even supposed to help them in the beginning," Crusch grunted in frustration, "they were at the mercy of such an empire on their own for so long…"

"Through here! Come on cousins!" Hadir yelled at the top of his lungs.

As they ran, a loudspeaker began to echo in the base, certainly from the commander.

"Мы под атакой! Южная стена пробита! Укрепляйте периметр! Управляйте своими станциями! Авиагруппы немедленно явиться в ангар!"

(We are under attack! South wall has been breached! Reinforce the perimeter! Man your stations! Air groups report to the hangar immediately!)

While most of the cast was confused over the sudden language they heard, the subtitles provided by the screen managed to make them understand this Russian language as well.

"Now, this is a weird language…" Anastasia grimaced, "I really can't get used to that."

"We heard a bit before, but it sounds really…" Crusch winced as well, "distasteful?"

"Unusual would be the word, Crusch-sama." Ram corrected her, earning a nod from the Duchess.

"Well, most of the languages in here are unusual to be honest…" Felt scratched the back of her head, "even ours has that accent to it…"

"But don't you think it's fascinating? The language Subaru speaks with the locals, and the language the Russian speaks…They are in the same world, yet these two tongues doesn't look a single bit like the other." Petra pointed out, to everyone's approval.

"I wonder just how many they have…And if they're all like that," Garfiel said thoughtfully, "so different."

When one group of the theater were in wonders about the linguistic riches of Subaru's world, the other part was more interested by the turn of events this story would showcase.

"Their reaction time was immediate," Ricardo hummed with a smirk, "didn't waste a second before sending reinforcements where the fire rages."

"I fully expect this empire to react accordingly, but I am quite afraid of what is next," Julius replied to the dogman, "we are going to witness their capabilities to fight back in direct combat."

"This ought to be interesting don't you think?" Ricardo began to rub his hands, "let's see what they got."

The first Russian troops began to show up and take position over the walls to defend, but they were quickly shot down by the snipers in position who were waiting for them to show their faces.

One of the rebels ran towards the hill with a heavy machine gun, a PKP Pecheneg, and dived on the ground with the bipod down as he began to fire up the breach to pin the Russian forces.

"This is our opening, keep firing!" Hadir told the rebel, as he came closer.

"This is so nerve-wracking…!" Crusch exhaled, watching the group running to the field.

The excessive sound of the machine gun, coupled with explosions, screams of men and rush through the eyes of Subaru, managed to fill the theater with a tense feeling of fear while being unable to take their eyes off the screen.

They were hooked to their seats, staring with bated breath.

"Don't do anything too bold, please…" Emilia whispered, watching her knight run under the sounds of power blowing up and fire raging over him.

Subaru went in front of Hadir and picked up a Molotov, lighting it up and throwing it over the wall, immediately hearing cries of fear on the other side.

"He put fire to the-!" Frederica's breath was cut short, "so this is how it is used!"

"Oooooh! This is so smart!" Petra cheered with stars in her eyes, under the worried gaze of Frederica for her young apprentice to have arson tendencies after seeing such a use for alcohol.

"Wait…Didn't she find Roswaal-sama's…" Frederica thought to herself with rising fear in her heart.

"Aaaaah, I knew it!" Otto gripped the handles of his chair, "man, this is smart but also so damn scary! Alcohol being used in such way!"

"It's bette' than gulpin' in down like you do every damn night!'" Garfiel picked up on his friend's remark to throw a jab, "At least captain' is makin' good use of it!"

"WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT OUT LOUD?!" Otto reprimanded the tiger boy, whom would had shared sensitive information to the people around, if they weren't too focused on the screen to even care about what they were saying.

"Perhaps this would help to convince you into stopping such unhealthy habits, Otto-sama," Frederica, who in contrast had heard everything, didn't waste the opportunity to remind Otto of such a bad second nature of his to abuse on his liquor.

"It definitely gives second thoughts…" He sighed as he turned towards her wincing, disappointed in himself for the reputation he had around his own camp members.

"Hm…So this is how they make a weapon' outta it." Anastasia narrowed her eyes, "I never thought of that."

"I mean, this is high impro i'd say," Ricardo commented, "it's ingenious as hell! But it ain't anythin' that would come to our mind, since ya know…We don't need that to make a fire."

"Aye! One magic sweep and we go!" Mimi said with striking gestures.

"It is original, but rather obsolete." Tivey continued with a nod of his head.

"Hey, they make do with what they got! Don't be too haughty now!" Ricardo grabbed both their heads in his gigantic palms, shaking them.

"One would say, through hardships would come the most nonsensical ideas to survive…" Julius wondered, eyes full of admiration, "I suppose this is most true."

"And to whom do we owe such words?" Wilhelm questioned with an assured smile.

"I believe you know him as much as I do, Wilhelm-sama." Julius smiled.

"Nyow would you look at that…" Felix shivered, "is this what you expected of these bottles, Crusch-sama?"

"...I must voice my surprise," she scoffed, "but I cannot say I dislike it. Such ingeniosity should be praised."

As they came closer the machine gunner stopped firing, and Subaru picked up a stun grenade from his belt which he stepped forward to throw by the hole.

"What's this now?" Roswaal narrowed his eyes, "another one of these grenades?"

"Looks like it's another throwable weapon." Reinhard thought aloud, interested into what would be the result of it.

When it blew up, he rushed inside followed by Hadir and other rebels, all of them shooting the disoriented soldiers waiting at the wall before taking cover with whatever they could find, the place being filled with containers, storage packages, vehicles and small buildings.

"Hm…" Emilia grimaced, her eyes saddened by the sight of her knight taking lives in cold blood. Of course it wasn't new, but this wasn't something she could get used to, no matter how many times she saw it.

"It's okay," Feeling the remorse in Emilia's voice, Ram spoke in a respectful voice, albeit her eyes still directed towards the screen, "he can take a hundred more lives if he has to, Emilia-sama. Under such circumstances, I would much rather see that, than him being the one losing his life over a moment of pity for whoever he faces."

"Correct, in fact." Beatrice replied, still holding her contractor close tightly.

Emilia took a deep breath in and exhaled, but couldn't erase the sadness off her visage.

"I know…" She uttered, "I know."

"Even if nee-sama is right…Subaru-kun…" Rem whispered with her fist on her heart, "Subaru-kun shouldn't even have to fight there…"

If only she was there to protect him, is what she thought. But would he even allow her to follow him on such dark, rotten lands? She knew better than most that he would categorically refuse.

Yet, she still wishes she could be there. Anywhere he was. Just so he didn't have to walk such plains of desolation alone.

If only such a wish could come true.

"We're in!" Hadir laughed loudly.

"This is only the first part, don't get cocky now!" Subaru warned him, as he took position on the side of the cover and began to shoot enemies from his firing angle.

"Good, he's not getting carried away." Julius smiled in relief, "at least your mind grew along with your age there."

"Ya're too harsh, Julius-kun!" Anastasia teased with a grin, even though she was agreeing with her knight.

"I am only stating the obvious, my lady."

"Big bro's managing to keep a composure while under the heat of the fight, that's kinda amazing of him," Felt mused, proud of her battle hardened big brother, "he's got this."

"The second wave of drones should be here any second! As soon as they explode, we move in, yes?" Hadir told Subaru while he began to shoot towards the enemies.

"Wait for the mortars to shoot first! If they take cover from the rain, they won't be able to react in time to defend themselves from the drones!" Subaru replied, seeing more and more troops showing up.

"I do not know if my heart agrees with such tactics," Reinhard winced, thinking about how the enemies would have low chances of survival with the said coordinated attacks, "but I must agree that Subaru's ideas seems to flow quite naturally, even in the heart of such a battle zone."

"Hey! If it isn't them, it's him!" Felt reminded him, "big bro is doing his best to keep himself and the people he fights with alive, and it starts by taking down the guys on the other side!"

"I acknowledge that, my lady." Reinhard bowed his head, "But please understand, that as a knight-"

"Where do you see knights over there?!" She cut him right through, "remember this is big bro's world, and these guys are just dipshits! No reason to fight with honor if they don't have any to begin with!"

"..."

"I hate to say this because it sounds so unbecoming, but…" Otto spoke for Reinhard to hear, "I agree with her, Reinhard-san."

"Tch, you guys just can't take the fact that I'm right!" She shot back at the merchant.

"Wha- I am agreeing with you!" Otto blurted in outrage.

"But you're doing it like a pussy!"

"L-Like a what?!"

"Felt-sama!" Reinhard stopped his lady from going further, quite embarrassed by her choice of words while Garfiel couldn't stop his laughter.

While the exchange of gunfire continued, Russian troops began to regroup to form their defense, several squads making their way towards the breach.

"Смотреть слева! Смотреть слева!" (Watch left! Watch left!) The first squad yelled to the other, noticing the rebels coming out of the breach and shot their weapons, taking out three of the rebels who couldn't get to cover in time.

"Damn it!" Garfiel grunted as he saw the fighters die.

"They couldn't make it in time…" Otto winced at the sight of the dead soldiers, knowing full well it could have been Subaru if he didn't move as fast as he did to take cover.

"Such is the brutality of war…" Roswaal sighed with narrowed eyes, "if only it was as easy~than keeping all your companions alive~"

"The enemy is taking position, their surprise effect has lost its advantage by now," Wilhelm leaned a bit closer, "the fight will become more tough as of now."

Emilia, Rem, Ram, and Beatrice felt their heartbeat rise upon hearing the old man. When all they could see was already full of near death experiences, then what could anything more than that even look like?

Everyone else shared the same thoughts, but now wasn't the time to grieve and mop over what they were witnessing, not while Subaru was still alive and pushing through.

"Shit, we're pinned!" Subaru gritted his teeth as he picked up a smoke grenade from his belt, "Farah tell your troops to keep their positions for now!"

"This is one of the 'smoke' Hadir gave him," Crusch mused aloud, "do you think the name gives a self-explanatory use?"

"I believe it indeed, Crusch-sama." Wilhelm replied, "considering the situation they are in, it would also be most useful."

"So ya sayin' that thing is about to unleash smoke?" Anastasia picked up on the Duchess' thoughts, "hm…I guess, to blind the others it could be useful."

"This is precisely what they need, obscure their enemy," Julius noted, "they are currently trapped under fire, and need a way out of this tightening grasp."

Farah heard him and nodded her head while taking cover, Subaru threw his smoke grenade over his head, making the enemy troops unable to acquire targets.

"Spot on." Anastasia smiled.

"Mhm." Crusch grinned as well, satisfied with her correct assumption.

"Hadir!" Subaru yelled, losing his patience.

"Right!" Hadir agreed, looking back to see the canons ready to fire, "they are about to shoot!"

"Give the order now then!" Subaru yelled as the cannons fired from afar.

Hadir picked up his radio while the shells flew up his head, "Yasin, we're inside the base! Get more planes in the air!"

"Understood! Second wave coming in!"

"Here it comes…" Ricardo leaned in.

The bombs hit the ground, successfully hitting the enemy positions up ahead the rebels as the sound of flying drones could be heard in the distance, going down LIKE kamikazes to finish off those who would have survived from the mortar blasts.

Most of the cast found itself disheartened by such a sight, aside from people who had already seen much worse or similar like Roswaal or Wilhelm, the sight of a fleshed out corpse burned down by the blast of an altirelly-or a C4 drone- was not anywhere near appealing.

"By the gods…" Frederica uttered, flabbergasted by the sheer violence of explosions which turned the enemy side to bits, while making sure Petra wouldn't look.

"Yeah, alright." Ricardo grunted while keeping his own twins away from such a sight, "I don't even know what I expected…"

"You thought it wouldn't be so ugly?" Al commented from the above, seemingly unphased by whatever was showcased on the screen.

"War in itself is ugly, so no," Ricardo replied with a click of the tongue, "but at least, less…Bloody. Would be cool if the guy holding us up thought about the kids around."

"I don't think he can do much about what bro is seeing, though." Al shook his head.

"AHAH! THEY'RE GETTING IT!" Hadir shouted, "COME ON COUSINS!"

"Hadir don't rus- Damn it!" Subaru cursed out loud even though no one heard him, getting up to follow Hadir in their advance.

"You stupid fool, in fact!" Beatrice yelled in frustration, "Don't you dare bring Betty's Subaru into trouble with your maladive hastiness!"

"Why won't you stay put," Ram cursed under her breath, squeezing the boy's shoulders, "don't go and get yourself killed for some stranger's sake."

Crusch raised an eyebrow in surprise as she managed to hear the maid, thinking about how ironic were her words considering the very reason why Subaru was seating her in the first place, started by what she seemed to loathe.

"..."

And Emilia, who had grasped her words as well, decided to remain silent.

"Captain, Lieutenant! I see several helicopters taking off from the north of the airfield!" One of the snipers told them through the radio.

"They are coming for us…" Farah looked up at the sky as she saw them approach.

"Tell Yasin to send another wave!" Subaru tapped Hadir's shoulder as he went up front, "a part of it focuses on the choppers, the rest can hit the ground forces!"

"Copy CIA!" Hadir replied as he took cover to contact his men.

"Wait, what is he doing?!" Otto got up from his seat with a jolt, "Stay back you moron!"

"No no no no!" Emilia held a hand to her mouth, "don't go over there! What are you doing?!"

"Subaru-kun!"

"Barusu!"

"You stupid contractor!"

"...I would want to add to such worry, but you surely know what you are doing…" Crusch thought to herself, albeit her heart beating faster.

"I will forever curse that warden for putting mineself in the same room than these utterly pestering, barking animals!" Priscilla tapped her heel in annoyance, unable to properly enjoy the scene presented to them with so much noise in the background.

"Farah, you and your team stay in cover until the helicopters are dealt with! I'll bait them, you guys can flank when you have an opening!" he began to shoot towards the first helicopter he saw, successfully hitting the front glass if it wasn't for its bulletproof capabilities.

"What do you mean, bait?!" Crusch blurted out, cursing her own thoughts for what she had said a second ago.

"Captain, what the fuck?!" Garfiel yelled with his hands upwards in incomprehension.

"WHY DOES IT ALWAYS COME BACK TO THIS?!" Otto nearly cried in frustration, "GET A BRAIN YOU DORK!"

"Subaru! No!" Emilia yelped, gripping the edges of the seat in front of her.

"Tch." Ram narrowed her eyes, clutching the shoulders of the boy in front of her.

"Subaru-kun! This is too dangerous!" Rem leaned forward, afraid of the bravado her hero was displaying.

"You better not worry Betty this much, in fact! You better fight them off,and win!" Beatrice tried to dry the ears coming out of her eyes as she spoke.

"His ways didn't change, it seems…" Reinhard lamented with a faint smile, seeing how easy it was for his friend to put himself in danger.

"You guys should just trust him more, geez!" Felt retorted in annoyance to see so many people panic for nothing.

Surprisingly, Felt was the most confident in Subaru's ability to fight through. Smarter than she seemed, she already knew there was nothing to truly worry about when it came to these viewings and the role Subaru had in them.

"Ты сука!" (You bitch!) The pilot gritted his teeth as he activated his guns to shoot towards Subaru.

He quickly ducked down, sliding towards a lowered wall and ducking behind it, then he glanced towards Farah's group.

"Now!" Farah ordered one of the men with an RPG.

He jumped out of cover, aimed, and shot a rocket which the pilot saw and tried to avoid unfortunately too late as it hit the back rotor of the helicopter, making it spin in the air.

"Wow! Alright, I like that!" Mimi cheered up.

"It was daring, but we have to admit the diversion worked." Wilhelm thought aloud, albeit not pleased with how it had to play out.

"It blew up! It blew up in flames!" Garfiel howled, "Let's go captain'!"

"One down, we have two more coming!" Hadir spat out, "Yasin, where are the planes?!"

"They're coming, Lieutenant!" Yasin replied in haste, "taking off right now!"

Subaru changed cover as his eyes focused on the second and third choppers coming, the first one crashing with a loud roar in the background.

"They saw the first one go down with an RPG shot…They will expect the same tactic and make maneuvering support." He thought to himself, as he met with a group of enemies shooting at him, forcing him to take cover sooner than expected.

"SHIT!" Ricardo spat out, "that was close!"

"Way too close…" Tivey continued, watching with his ears down in stress.

"Seems like he's under pressure," Anastasia mused with a shaking leg, "glad he didn't take the hit though."

"He needs to be more focused. The middle of a battlefield is not the place to wander in thoughts." Julius severely reprimanded, letting out his anxiety more than anything.

"Wha- Give him a break! He wasn't even that unfocused!" Otto replied in outrage to his friend, "you know it won't hurt you to show worry like a normal person?"

"..." Julius just glared at Otto for a second before averting his gaze, the merchant knowing he had won just by the expression on the knight's face.

"Please, don't be so reckless…" Emilia whispered, joining her hands in front of her face.

"Please…"

"Shit!" He grunted as he pulled another Molotov, throwing it towards them.

When they saw the bottle, the soldiers began to take their distance and take cover, a moment of inattention which Subaru used to take aim and successfully hit three of them who dropped dead on the ground, the bottle falling on their bodies and lighting them on fire.

"..." Reinhard opened his mouth as if to say something, but couldn't get a word out.

"This is…Kind of morbid." Al grunted, "man, poor bastards."

"And what could possibly be the issue?" Priscilla asked of her jester, fanning herself, "they are dead. Fire should not inflict them any pain, would it?"

"It's more of a question of respect, princess. Yeah they're enemies, but once they're dealt with it sounds disrespectful to burn their bodies, you know?" Al tried to make a point to his master.

"While I fail to grasp why respect should be given to your foes, this is neither the boy's intentions to perform such an action you call 'disrespectful', neither anything which could be considered wrong," Priscilla replied, her eyes back to the screen, "for a corpse which will be forgotten, abandoned and left to rot in the middle of these desolated grounds, would it not be better for it to be burned to cinders, away from further degradation?"

"...I guess, said like that." Al concluded, not willing to fight Priscilla on this matter and rather, trying to process the thought of her actually defending Subaru.

She was obviously warming up to him, but it was a premiere even for him.

Subaru continued to run to his position, but quickly noticed that he failed to bait the helicopter who took the rebels as targets. There, he saw one of them attempting the same tactic as him.

"No! Farah, tell them to go back to cover!" He shouted in his radio, a second before the helicopter ignored the rebel trying to get his attention and shot his miniguns to the second one with the RPG, shredding his body to bits in front of all his comrades.

Frederica promptly covered the eyes of her younger maid, while most of the cast let out gasps of fear and disgust at the sight of the sudden death, aside from Priscilla who clicked her tongue for the foolishness of the rebel, who so easily died for such a little mistake.

"Inexperienced men have no place in a battlefield." she uttered behind her fan.

"That was…Scary." Anastasia sighed as she witnessed the sheer destructive power of the helicopter's weaponry.

"We should have expected as much, and yet…" Crusch held a hand to her forehead, "I suppose we will not get used to such brutality."

"Hm." Wilhelm remained stoic, not feeling as if anything he saw was new to him. He was impressed by the speed and force of the weapons used, but the result was not anything he didn't already experience.

"FUCK!" Subaru spat out, before being reminded of his own fight as a bullet hit the corner of the wall he was standing behind, breaking the cement which spat out dust a few centimeters from his nose.

"Ugh!" Otto held a hand to his mouth, "damn it!"

"No!" Rem gasped in fear, "Subaru-kun!"

"Okay now THIS was too close!" Ricardo was shaking on his seat, "get your shit together lil' boss!"

"Subaru…!" Crusch felt like her nerves were at their edge because of the frustration.

Emilia and Beatrice only stared with wide eyes, unable to say a word because of the fear of the moment taking over.

Ram, breathed out heavily, ruffling the hair of the boy in front of her to reassure her nerves, as the viewing seemed to become more and more tense.

"He is dead, cousins! Focus on the enemy and keep fighting, for his death to not be in vain!" Farah shouted to her troops before they tried to check on him out of shock.

The helicopter went forward to Farah's position, but right as it began to spin its miniguns, one of the drones struck its side and exploded it in air, the carcass falling down, as another batch flew towards the last helicopter.

"Holy shit!" Garfiel let out without thinking, at the surprising crash.

"I nearly forgot about those!" Felix realized, "they are surprisingly useful nya! Though…A second earlier would have been better…"

"Hopefully they may get their advantage back with these," Reinhard commented, "if they do not turn the tide right now, things might become even more difficult."

"Они используют гребаные игрушки, чтобы заполучить нас!" (they're using fucking toys to get us!) yelled the pilot as he blew several drones up, until one collided with the front of his chopper and blew up.

"Poor guy…" Tivey sighed.

"Seeing your death coming right at you must be so scary…" Mimi continued, "I feel bad for him."

"I guess they knew what they were in for, just like us." Ricardo grunted, patting the heads of the twins.

"One doesn't become a soldier without the fear of death constantly looming over him," Wilhelm closed his eyes, "such is the path that is taken."

"It's still fucked up." Felt uttered with a grimace on her face.

"The choppers are down!" Hadir yelled as he kept up.

Using the rumble of the carnage, the rebel which tried to bait the helicopter initially, aimed towards the troops who pinned down Subaru, shooting one in the leg and the other in the abdomen.

"Nice! Good cover!" Otto said in relief.

"Finally these guys are useful, you mean!" Petra replied with a frown on her face, "Subaru is the one doing all the work during all this time! It was about time somebody helped HIM!"

"..."

"..."

"I mean I kinda agree with her." Felt nodded her head.

"Yes, Petra-chan is right." Frederica patted her head in satisfaction.

"Alright but still, he helped him!" Otto replied, "So it's good to appreciate it!"

Subaru nodded to him in thanks and ran towards his enemies, finishing the two soldiers off as they were trying to reach their weapons on the ground.

"That was just an execution…" Anastasia looked away in disgust.

"They were still trying to reach towards their weapons, Anastasia-sama. Barusu was in his right to stop them once and for all." Ram replied to her in a cold tone.

"I was not showing disdain towards Natsuki-kun, ya know?" Anastasia raised an eyebrow towards the maid, "but rather, the action itself."

"Not like there was any choice either, boss." Ricardo commented on the side.

"I know." Anastasia nodded her head, disliking how she was nitpicked on for such a meaningless reaction.

"More than the action itself, I just dislike it." Emilia exhaled in sadness.

"I think we all do, Emilia-sama…" Crusch replied, assuming that she talked about the viewing itself.

"It is about my knight, Crusch-sama…He kills without second thought, doesn't even seem disturbed by it…" Emilia winced, "my knight…isn't like that."

Crusch narrowed her eyes towards the elven candidate, failing to hide the sudden resent which rose in her mind towards her. She was tired of her constantly complaining and crying about everything Subaru was doing in these viewings already, yet had to keep a facade in order to keep her camp ties in place.

Subaru was doing what he had to do, because he had a mission.

And Emilia wasn't understanding that.

« Они уже сбили несколько вертолетов! Они окружают нас! » (They've taken out multiple helicopters already! They're swarming us!) The remaining troops shouted as they fell back, "Мы не можем оставаться здесь! » (We can't stay here!)

« Используйте гранаты! Держите их обратно! » (Use grenades! Keep them back!) The commander shouted on the radio.

"They're retreating! Looks like they did get the advantage back!" Felt cheered as she tugged Reinhard's coat, remembering what he pointed out."

"Indeed, my lady. It seems like they are." The sword saint answered with a smile.

"They won't give up that easily," Julius narrowed his eyes, not sharing the same excitement as the two others in front of him seemed to bask in, "but it is a step forward."

Subaru and Hadir kept their advance as they lead the way for the rest of the rebels who charged the positions, leaving the Russian troops more and more exposed as the rebels gained more terrain.

"They're about to put themselves in defensive positions and use grenades, we need to act fast and keep pressuring them!" Subaru ordered as he shot a solider right in the head, "Hadir, Farah! Both your groups control each flank, force them to retreat to the center and pin them with a suppression fire!"

"A-Alright!" Hadir nodded his head in surprise, turning to his sister who agreed with him.

Subaru picked up another Molotov and threw it to his left, effectively making the enemy distraught and out of cover.

"Seems like they were surprised at his sudden orders," Crusch pointed out, voicing her thoughts, "I suppose they expected him to simply follow like the others."

"Capn' should be the one leading all of them already!" Garfiel stood up, taking over what Crusch had said, "they'd already be winnin' if they let him take the lead!"

"That is perhaps the worst thing which could happen, Garfiel-dono." Crusch shook her head, reprimanding the betrayed young boy who thought to have found yet another Subaru supporter.

"Why is that, Crusch-sama?" Otto asked with a curious expression, "Far from denying your words but, Natsuki-san already proved himself to be a competent leader in the previous viewings, don't you think?"

"Of course, this much is something we cannot deny, Otto-dono. However, you must remember the situation they are all in right now," Crusch raised her eyes towards the screen, showing how Subaru was running alongside the rebels, "this army and these people, are affiliated with Natsuki Subaru by nothing but an alliance."

The front row took a moment to look at the screen, some already perking up with what the Duchess tried to say.

"I don't understand…What would happen if Subaru-kun decides to lead them?" Rem, still confused, decided to ask of the Duchess for more information.

"Rem-dono, if I would step into your lord's mansion, and I began to give you orders only Roswaal-sama would be allowed to command most of the time, how would you react?" Crusch pointed out, while Rem widened her eyes in realization.

"I would…Certainly be outraged, Crusch-sama."

"Because such is not my right to do so," the Duchess nodded her head, glad that the maid had understood her, "same goes for Subaru-dono here. He has no right to give orders to people he doesn't know for more than a few hours. Such is not his place."

"Hey, I don't think bro was trying to do that, you know? He just proposed a plan…" Al tried to interject, feeling like they were blaming Subaru for something he didn't come close to attempt.

"Ah…I was just voicing my thoughts over the matter, do not take it to heart Al-dono." Crusch smiled back at him, assuring him she didn't mean anything wrong.

Aldebaran nodded his head and threw her a thumb up, glad to know nothing too outlandish was taking place here.

For an instant, Roswaal eyed back and forth between Crusch and Aldebaran. noticing how unusual it was for these two out of all people to friendly interact with each other.

"How interesting…" Roswaal smiled to himself.

To Roswaal's surprise these viewings seemed to create as much discord than actually bringing the people of the theater closer.

"Ah, should I really find it as surprising as it appears to be?" He said in a hushed tone to himself, smiling at how obvious it actually was.

How would it not conclude to people getting closer, when the source of what they are here and worrying about is the same for all?

"It seems that you really have a certain trait of character, to bring whoever you meet closer…" He closed his eyes for a second, thinking about his past life, "if only I was…No, if only my existence was different, then perhaps…"

For a brief instant, Roswaal remembered that he was himself a man with wishes. Beyond the tool of the witch, was still a human.

Unfortunately, this man only came around every once in a while, during a fleeting dream.

One of them, noticing Subaru's approach, decided to throw a grenade towards him hoping that he wouldn't notice in the middle of this bullet storm.

However, Subaru did, and immediately kicked the grenade back with his foot before running to cover, grenade which then exploded in mid air.

"WOAH! THAT WAS SO COOL!" Felt cheered up with stars in her eyes.

"HAVE YOU SEEN THAT?! BROTTO! BROTTO CAPN' IS AMAZIN'!" Garfiel brutally shook his friend with both hands on his coat, while his eyes kept staring at the screen.

"Yes! YES I DI- GARFIEL!" Otto whined in despair as he felt like his stomach couldn't take such movements much longer.

"Erm…" Frederica winced with a smile, acknowledging how heroic this movement was, but nonetheless disliking how dangerous it was, while her little maid and younger brother were watching.

"Subaru might have lost his leg!" Petra pointed out with a pout, "why does he toy with my heart like that!"

"GAH!" Mimi and Tivey covered their ears.

"Subaruuuuuu!" Emilia clenched her teeth, feeling her heart was about to stop after witnessing such a move from her knight.

"Such reckless behavior is bad for my temper…" Crusch exhaled, having nearly broken the armrest of her seats in anxiety.

"This kid is born bold!" Ricardo laughed, appreciating how impressive Subaru was rather admonishing him for his actions.

"That would have been me, I'd have lost another member." Al grumbled under his helmet, pointing out how his luck was even worse than his outer-world counterpart.

"Bravo!" Priscilla raised her fan up, her eyes lit up in excitement, "such a display is finally worth mine divine sight! Give me more!"

Out of everyone in the theater, Priscilla was most certainly the most loud and high spirited right now. For a long time now she was waiting to see something interesting happening in the heart of this battle, and this simple move from Subaru on screen seemed to have made her heart skip a beat.

"That was a bold move brother!" Hadir praised, as Subaru panted in actual fear of perhaps having lost his leg when he noticed the time between his kick and the explosion of the grenade.

"Pft, he doesn't seem really satisfied with his own actions here." Anastasia scoffed, noticing the shocked gaze of Subaru.

"Let us just be relieved that he completed his action in time, my lady." Julius replied respectfully, trying to stop thinking about what his friend had just done.

"Come on! Keep these positions!" Farah commanded from her side, chasing the enemies out from the flank towards the main hardpoint of their position.

"Они повсюду! Ебаные тараканы, нам нужно отступать! » (They're everywhere ! Fucking cockroaches, we need to retreat!)

"Отступать!" (fall back!) The captain yelled at his troops.

"Seems like they're getting overwhelmed, finally." Al changed his seated position.

"For now, our side seems to be gaining more ground." Felt thought aloud, earning some glances here and there from the theater, noticing how invested in this battle she was.

"Guess we have a side now?" Ricardo glanced at Julius, who nodded his head.

"Isn't it obvious?" He smiled back at the mercenary, both amused by this situation of theirs.

«Установите опорный пункт. Из города приближаются подразделения поддержки» (Set up a hard-point. Support elements are inbound from the city!) Their commander ordered through the radio.

"Сколько времени? "(How much time?!) The captain asked while panting, the pressure of the situation gaining on him.

"Около 10 минут, может меньше, если поторопимся, мы делаем так быстро, как можем! Вы, ребята, держитесь со всеми, кто есть!" (About 20 minutes, maybe less if we hurry, we're doing as fast as we can! You guys hold on with everyone you got!)

"Это будет слишком поздно! Мы будем мертвы через 10 минут, нам нужно отступить на базу! » (This will be too late! We'll be dead in 10 minutes, we need to fall back to the compound!) While talking to his commander, one of the captain's main got shot in front of his eyes, causing him to gasp and drop the grip on his radio as he hid back to cover.

" Копировать! Перегруппируйтесь с основными силами внутренней базы и подкреплениями, займите оборону и удерживайте позиции! Не дайте им взять эту авиабазу, поняли? Используйте все, что есть в вашем распоряжении, но я приказываю вам не потерять базу!" (Copy! Regroup with the main forces of the inner base and reinforcements, take defensive positions and hold your ground! Do not let them take this airbase, understood? Use anything at your disposal, but I order you to not lose the base!)

As he went forward in haste, Subaru didn't take the time to check his surroundings, and a Russian soldier jumped on him in the middle of this mayhem, pinning him against the wall.

Nearly everyone in the room didn't manage to hold their voices at the sudden attack. Watching with bated breath and crippled stances as Subaru was fighting off his assailant.

"Shit!" Felt cursed out, "This guy is huge!"

"Come on capn!" Garfiel howled as if Subaru could hear him.

"Do not touch Betty's contractor!" Beatrice yelled as well.

The soldier tried to choke Subaru by pushing him against his throat, cursing him at the same time while attempting to punch his guts. Subaru retaliated by kicking his kneecap and headbutting him, being careful to hit his nose and not the helmet.

"Oof!" Ricardo held a hand over his mouth in reflex.

"Nice!" Felt smirked, "now he's done for!"

The soldier groaned and took out his knife, towards which Subaru just scoffed and raised his rifle, as his enemy gasped in fear…Until he pulled the trigger, for nothing to come out of the muzzle.

"What?!"

"Why is nothing coming out?!"

"SUBARU!"

Subaru looked back and forth between his enemy and his rifle, both realizing that it was jammed. The soldier growled and tried to draw his pistol out of his holster, but Subaru quickly threw his rifle to his face, pulling out his own pistol right away and shooting the soldier multiple times as he let himself fall down on his back.

"So much for the gun that never jams, Mikhail!" Subaru spat out, slowly getting up to see the rebels taking the advantage.

"There we go! That's my capn!" Garfiel shouted in glee.

"This was a good fast thinking performance," Wilhelm nodded his head in approval, "even though, Subaru-dono has already made his mark as quite competent in terms of improvisation."

"That he did." Crusch chuckled, remembering how he came up with the idea to bring one of the world's biggest calamities down.

"Mhm, good. Keep on that track." Ram whispered,

"W-Who is Mikhail?" Emilia looked to her right and left, wondering if there was something she missed, even though she didn't feel like she had zoned out enough to not hear something like that.

But Crusch shrugged at her question, making it known that she had no idea as well.

"Maybe…He is related to Subaru's weapon?" Reinhard tried to make a deduction with what he had heard.

"It nearly got him killed, so screw him!" Felt blurted out, not caring about anything else, "good thing big bro is resourceful."

"It has always been one of his forte to turn any situation to his advantage, I didn't expect anything less to be fair." Anastasia mused aloud, "That's not anytime soon that you will bring that fella down."

"I guess, for you to recognize that, he must have impressed you enough?" Crusch pointed out, as Anastasia snorted to her reply.

"You kidding? Since the beginning I acknowledged his place around 'ere! Why do you think I have the same goal as you, after this all ends?" She said with a finger up and a wink, which didn't appease Crusch at all.

"...Right, how silly of me." Crusch turned around, facing the screen again, not noticing how Emilia eyed their conversation with an uncomfortable gaze.

"They are retreating!" One of the rebels shouted, "they're getting in the inner base!"

All of them approached a squared position of sandbags, crates and materials, behind which Farah made a sign for everyone to regroup on her.

Hadir, his men and Subaru joined her as she pointed towards a red little building on the right.

"This is their armory, we should find ammunition and weapons inside if we take it, but this is a key position," She explained, "they might still try to defend it or trap it…"

"No," Subaru shook his head, "they didn't have enough time to successfully trap the entire armory after the order of retreat, so if it's defended, it's just the guys inside."

"Good," Farah nodded to him, "You have more experience in these areas, so I will trust you CIA. My team will secure the rest of the perimeter until the gate of the inner zone, you and Hadir secure that armory."

"Count on me, commander." Hadir smiled as he looked at Subaru.

"Roger that," Subaru nodded to Hadir, tapping his shoulder, "let's go."

"The situation is calming down…They did it?" Felt looked up to the Sword Saint, who faintly smiled at her.

"I believe they have reached their first objective, Felt-sama. But the battle is not over."

"It's too soon to call it quits yet, but for now they're the ones on the winning side," Otto breathed in relief with a hand over his torso, "let's hope it continues this way."

"They are not wasting time, good," Frederica nodded her head, "the sooner they are done, the sooner they will be out of danger."

"It looks like they gained control of the entire first part of the base," Priscilla narrowed her eyes, "however, they will be meeting the fiercest resistance after they step further into the second part of this battle…The enemy had the time to regroup, and take positions which will give them a serious and undisputable advantage on all of them."

Al kept listening to her while keeping his mouth shut, thinking about what she was explaining aloud.

"Most of them are untrained, unprepared fighters. Turning the situation around will be, again, a duty solely rested on your shoulders." She concluded, smirking confidently as she knew she wouldn't be disappointed.

They both approached closer to the red building while checking their surroundings, but the enemies seemed to have left the zone, except for the voices inside of the armory.

" Они здесь! Блин, а где остальные?!"(They're here! Shit, where are the others?!)

"Они уехали! Мы сами по себе!"(They left! We're on our fucking own!)

" Бросай мне винтовку, быстро! Они прямо снаружи!"(Throw me the rifle, quick! They're right outside!)

"…Hadir, stay here," Subaru murmured as he brought his scarf up to hide his face and readied his pistol.

"Wait, he wants to face them alone?!" Emilia yelped in fear, "Subaru, no!"

"Is it because he wants to avoid putting someone else in unneeded danger…?" Reinhard winced at his friend's actions.

"Or…He has something else in mind?" Crusch whispered, watching with attention at what would happen.

He took a deep breath and kicked the door of the armory down.

" Руки! Покажи мне свои чертовы руки!" (Hands! Show me your fucking hands!)

"WHAT?!" Otto exclaimed in surprise.

"NO WAY!" Felt looked around to be sure they all heard the same thing as her.

The whole theater was in sudden shock upon hearing Subaru speak yet another language, the language of his enemies much less.

At the second he entered, the Russian soldiers aimed at him, but didn't shoot because of their surprise of hearing their language.

"Ч-что за херня?!"(W-what the fuck?!)

"Бросьте это на землю. Сделай это сейчас или я просверлю дырку в твоих головах" (Drop that on the ground. Do it now or I'll drill a hole in both your heads.)

"Кто такой ублюдок?! (Who's that motherfucker?!)

"Как ты думаешь, что будет?! Ты стреляешь в одного из нас, другой все равно убьет тебя! Ты не выиграешь здесь, сука!" (What do you think will happen?! You shoot one of us, the other one will kill you anyways! You ain't winning here bitch!)

"He…Wants to spare them?!" Otto realized, no knowing if it was a good or a bad thing.

"Subaru…" Reinhard smiled in joy, realizing that his friend was ready to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. Now, he only hoped that his two foes would comply with his demands.

"Ugh, that'll just bite him back!" Mimi raised her fist up, "Just get rid of garbage!"

"I…Don't really know which side to take…" Tivey let his ears down, confused on the stance he should take.

"Unfortunately, Subaru-dono is no mercenary. What he does has a goal and purpose." Crusch didn't even turn around to reprimand the twins.

"Hey hey, Duchess…" Ricardo sighed in annoyance, disliking that he couldn't really talk back to a royal candidate.

"You better leave my kids out of this, Duchess." Anastasia, for one of the rare time since the beginning of the viewings, let out a threatening tone to her royal counterpart.

"No, I think I will do as I please," Crusch replied in a nonchalant tone, "children or not, they are not immune to be reprimanded for their unwelcome words."

Mimi and Tivey kept grimacing behind the Duchess' back, while Anastasia kept staring at the verdant-haired woman as if she was about to declare war.

"Я здесь, даю тебе шанс спасти твою жизнь. Либо ты сдаешься мне прямо сейчас, либо стреляешь в меня. Но выбери второй вариант, и десятки повстанцев, ожидающих снаружи, подожгут этот чертов арсенал и сожгут вас, двух засранцев, дотла! Ну что брат?" (I'm here giving you a chance to save your life. Either you surrender to me right now, or you shoot me. But choose the second option and the dozens of rebels waiting outside are going to torch this fucking armory up and burn you two assholes down to cinders! So, what is it brother?)

"И если мы не умрем здесь, они все равно будут мучить нас, как собак!"(And if we don't die here they'll torture us like dogs anyways!)

"А ты вообще кто такой?! Думаешь, мы тебе поверим только потому, что ты говоришь по-русски?!" (And who the fuck are you anyways?! You think we'll trust you just because you speak Russian?!)

"Либо ты мне веришь, либо умрешь очень мучительной смертью, по крайней мере, я даю тебе шанс выжить, товарищ, но выбор за тобой!" (You either trust me or die a very painful death, at least I give you a chance to live comrade but that's a choice up to you to take!)

"Please…Be reasonable…" Reinhard silently pleaded to the two men in front of his friends.

"If they don't take that deal, it'll not be a waste to get rid of such stupidity." Al scoffed, while Priscilla glanced at him in surprise.

"Would you look at that? You actually spoke sense, for once." She said with a genuine smile.

"I mean, at this point…" Al laughed at her reaction, realizing how she managed to influence him.

"I actually want them to surrender now, it would be useless to die after being given that chance!" Felt exclaimed, agreeing with her knight.

"No matter what happens, Subaru-kun will not be held accountable," Rem narrowed her eyes, "he took the decision to give them mercy, even though they don't deserve it. Shall they refuse it, the consequences will be theirs to take."

"Look who's talking about consequences." Al uttered to himself.

The two Russians glanced at each other before gulping, and after a few seconds, slowly began to put their weapons down.

هدير ، عندي سجينين هون. جيب شي لاحجزهم"

(Hadir, I have two prisoners here. Bring something to detain them.)

"UGH, THANK THE GODS!" Otto exhaled, dying over the stress of what was about to happen.

"Thank you, truly." Reinhard sighed as well, bowing his head in gratitude to the soldiers who decided to preserve their lives rather than die in vain.

"Well! At least they're not all stupid!" Felt exclaimed with a smug, "Consider yourselves lucky big bro's the one you had to face!"

"H-hum…Felt-sama, if Subaru-sama wasn't there, maybe they would not have to live this situation at all?" Frederica thought aloud, "Would it not be unfortunate for them then?"

"I mean yes! But no! But you are right, but this is n-" Felt began to confuse even herself, "ugh, you know what I said!"

The rebels then entered the armory and brought the two soldiers away, while Farah walked past them along with Hadir to meet Subaru in the armory.

"Beautiful work CIA! The armory is ours!" Farah exclaimed in joy, "Cousins! Come and resupply, our battle is not over!"

"Farah…" Subaru stopped her by grabbing her shoulder, "they're prisoners. Right?"

Farah looked in Subaru's eyes and then turned her gaze towards both men being detained.

"What you think of right now, they are doing it to us," she said with a disgusted voice over what she remembered, "إنهم ليسوا معلمينا".(They are not our teachers.)

Reassured, Subaru shot a warm smile to the leader of the rebels, who smiled back as well.

"They are not their teachers…Those are wise words." Wilhelm agreed with a proud smile, "in times of war, it is sometimes so easy for one to let itself be drawn by the desire to make the enemy pay for every single thing they have committed."

"To be able to hold such a feeling and stay truthful to your ideals, it truly demands incredible bravery." Crusch smiled in respect to Farah's words.

"The girl is young, but she has strong willpower, I suppose." Beatrice closed her eyes, relaxing now that danger seemed away from her contractor.

"Hearing you say that is more disturbing than I thought…" Felt mused with a stare towards Beatrice.

"Should I remind you of the age difference between you and me, I suppose?!"

"Ah, looks like these guys aren't that stupid in the end, right princess?" Al turned towards Priscilla.

"They certainly took the correct decision in this case. Nevertheless, dead or alive, it is of little importance."

"I'd have fully expected them to fight back, for some reason…" Otto couldn't help but wonder, while Garfiel and Frederica agreed with him.

"They seem to be a prideful army, surrendering sounds unbecoming of them," Frederica followed the merchant's thoughts, "however, i'll remain relieved that they decided to listen to reason rather than pride."

"Yeah, would've been a real shame if they didn't take capn's deal here. Would have died for nothin'." Garfiel nodded his head.

"I didn't know you spoke Russian; this is a very good skill considering who we are fighting!" Hadir laughed in surprise, "you never cease to amaze, CIA."

"Ah, you don't say!" Otto exclaimed, followed by laughter from the entire front row.

"I aim to please," Subaru sighed before looking towards the weapons on the armory racks, "What the…"

"Is there a problem?" Noticing his sudden frown, Farah turned her eyes to the weapons.

"He looks disturbed." Felix grimaced, not liking this one bit.

"He just saw something." Crusch replied, waiting to see what caught Subaru's attention.

"Those are MK17 rifles," Subaru thought out loud as he picked the rifle, "Russian troops should not have these at their disposal…"

"Why not?" Hadir questioned, "Those are just guns. They can just purchase them, right?"

"I mean…That's the principle of weapons…" Anastasia wondered aloud, "if these are 'just guns' then yes, anyone could purchase them, especially an empire."

Otto gulped down as he couldn't stop his ears from listening to the merchant princess, wondering if she had any hands in weapons deals.

And he wasn't the only one, considering that both Crusch and Emilia turned towards her with a skeptical gaze.

"...What?" Anastasia looked back and forth between both candidates.

"You seem to be talking from experience, is all I was thinking." Crusch narrowed her eyes.

"Mhm…Have you ever dealt with weapons, Anastasia-sama?" Emilia questioned as well, with a more worried gaze than the Duchess.

Anastasia took on a more bored look, her feelings mixed between outrage and upsetness.

"Just shut up, and focus on the screen." not willing to go further on the topic, Anastasia was direct in her rebuttal, uncaring of the Duchess' eyes turning red in anger.

"Oh, please do not mind me. I am just makin' sure people are not immune to be reprimanded for their unwelcome words." the merchant queen winked with a haughty smile.

"..." Emilia remained silent, unable to offer counter words or support to the Duchess, who just turned back around.

There was nothing else to say.

"No, these rifles are under FN Herstal, a Belgian company which works under NATO. Russia can't buy any of these," He explained as he turned the rifle around, "here it is, the serial number."

"So there is rules when it comes to weapons, as Julius-san suggested!" Otto realized.

Julius didn't know if he should be satisfied with his deduction being right or not, since it meant that some weapons could truly be far more dangerous than others considering Subaru's reaction on screen.

"Could it be…That they only consider a certain level of power to be under regulations?" He thought aloud, wondering what was the limit put in place in this world when it came to weapons.

"Or, it is all a question of who produces the said weapons." Anastasia narrowed her eyes.

"My lady?" Julius turned to her.

"I am just sayin', that maybe in this world there are places which would have it much better if some people have weapons to fight." She concluded.

"So these people…Would make their weapons easily accessible…" Julius followed her thoughts, "I see. Your insight is greater than ever, my lady."

"Or, it's just business, ya know?" Ricardo whispered.

"What will this do?" Farah asked.

"Determine how they got their hands on this," Subaru replied as he turned on his radio," Watcher, you copy?"

"Affirmative…What is going on?"

The scene switched to Laswell who seemed a bit surprised by Subaru's sudden call, and immediately took a serious expression when she heard his tone of voice.

"That's a lot of lights, and screens…" Emilia thought with a worried expression, "are these…Maps?"

"It seems like it…" Crusch replied, trying to figure out what the woman on screen was up to.

"So wait, where is this lady?" Mimi pointed with her finger, "we didn't see her around big boss bro at all!"

"She is somewhere else, but we can still see her thanks to the power of the screen," Tivey explained, "just like during the last viewing where we saw the mean wolf person and big boss bro at two different places."

Mimi twitched her ears in excitement as she heard her brother's explanation, "this screen is so powerful! That's amazing!"

"I think we had already figured out," Reinhard scoffed as he heard her cooing in excitement, remembering how he himself couldn't do anything against the power of this room.

"We got a situation here. I just found FN SCAR rifles in one of the armories of the airbase, about to transmit the serial number now."

"Rog', just a second," Laswell replied as she began to type on her keyboard, "go ahead."

"L006697"

"…I got it."

Several images started to pop up on Laswell's multiple screens showcasing weapons, crates, a ship, and issued orders, making her stare at them in confusion.

"She just typed in these numbers and got ALL of that to appear?!" Frederica exclaimed with wide eyes.

"This' the power of their 'technology', so it doesn't really surprise me no more." Garfiel crossed his arms, "still amazon' though."

"I just wonder…What does this all mean?" Rem grunted as she didn't like being clueless of what was happening on screen.

"It will be explained soon, sister." Ram reassured her, as she was confused as well.

"What's the situation?" Subaru asked her as he kept checking the weapons.

"This is coming straight up from the Belgian military. It was part of a shipment destined to the SOCOM, but from the intel I have it was considered lost in the sea…"

"Lost?" Ricardo frowned.

"Yeah, not so lost. Not at all!" Al voiced his resent over whoever's incompetence lead to weapons being in the wrong hands.

"Lost uh…" He replied as he loaded the SCAR with a 7x62 magazine and checked the aim.

"I will make a call so troops can retrieve them, can't leave those in the open," Laswell said as she brought a computer keyboard closer to her, "good work Subaru."

"Yeah…" He hesitantly replied as he attached the rifle to his carrier strap, "all good."

"…You just took one for yourself didn't you?"

"Nah." Subaru scoffed as he tapped his rifle.

"Pft." Petra had to hold off her laughter, while both Garfiel and Otto didn't mind voicing it out.

"I hope this one doesn't…Uh…'j-jam' on him." Emilia said in worry.

"He seems to be rather satisfied with this weapon, I believe he is confident in how to use it." Crusch nodded her head with a smile towards the half-elf, "I am sure things will go well with it."

"Yeah, he really seems to like it. Maybe it's more his style?" Ricardo put a hand under his chin, "Everyone is more confident with a weapon that speaks to him."

"I wonder what's big bro's favorite weapon?" Felt thought after hearing the dogman.

"I wonder how dangerous he would be with it…" Otto followed up with an uneasy expression.

"OI, I WANNA SEE NOW!"

Farah and Hadir watched the scene with grins, not knowing if it was serious or comical, but judging on Subaru's expression, they decided to laugh it out.

Subaru picked up other SCAR magazines and stuffed them inside of his plate carrier, as Farah rallied her men to the entrance point.

"Everyone! To the gates! The tarmac is through this passage, they will not escape us!"

"Alright, they are resuming their assault." Wilhelm pointed out.

"I have a feeling we are not prepared for what is to come…" Crusch felt a weight on her stomach, having been accustomed too much to the saying of 'rest before the storm'.

"Mhm, I just hope Subaru does not do anything stupid…" Emilia mused while looking at her knight in the front row.

Farah then tried to open the gates with the help of some of her men, but quickly realized she was unable to push further.

"It won't open…" She cursed through her teeth, trying to look for an issue.

"They must have locked it, these cowards!" A rebel grunted.

"Should we blow it up? They must have C4's in the armory…" Another replied.

"I got a better idea!" Hadir exclaimed as he rushed towards a truck, "I'm going to ram it! Stand aside!"

"He is going to…W-wait! With that thing?!" Emilia exclaimed, looking around and noticing the surprise of most people as well.

"It's like a big car!" Garfiel roared, excited to see what would happen.

"Oh boy…" Ricardo whistled.

"Ahahahah, and why not? That's smart." Al laughed.

As he was turning the engine on, Subaru received a call from Laswell.

"ETA in about 20 minutes Subaru, any news about these S-400?"

"Nothing in this area Kate, I gather these have to be on the tarmac," Subaru sighed as he looked up towards the airbase, "we're about to head there."

"I can't stress this enough, Subaru. Take them down, or you'll have nothing. We can't risk a lead towards us falling on Russia's hands," She reminded him with a dead serious tone, "if this can't be done you'll be on your own."

"I got this. 3-1 out."

"The fact that they would prioritize the secrecy of their involvement rather than coming to the rescue of their soldiers is…Concerning." Reinhard winced as he feared for Subaru to be fighting a battle too tough for him.

"Yeah, that's kinda cowardly if you ask me, but big bro seems to be fine with it." Felt said in a serious tone, crossing her arms, "they gotta have their own reasons."

"Politics, and the importance of the mission." Wilhelm narrowed his eyes dangerously.

"Old Wil?" Felix turned to him, curious about his words.

"Subaru-dono was certainly given the duty to act for the sake of the politics he is fighting under. They have more importance towards their goal than the lives of their soldiers." The old man explained, with a glint of bitterness under his tongue.

He knew war only too well, after all. It was what he built his life around.

Hadir rammed through the gate using the truck, destroying the metal doors with a loud rumble.

"تعالوا على أبناء العم!" (Come on cousins!) A rebel shouted while making a sign for his group to follow, نحن نسير على هذا النحو!""(we're going this way!)

Subaru followed with hasty steps, "don't rush! This is their last line of defense, we must advance cautiously!"

"Wait…!" Julius shouted.

"What are they doing?!" Rem followed, seeing how Subaru was running behind them to stop them.

"Hey, don't be stupid!" Otto punched his armchair.

"Oh-oh…" Al murmured in frustration, "that doesn't sound good."

"..." Priscilla watched with attention, not saying a word as she hid her face behind her fan.

But as he tried to warn them, a voice rang through Farah's radio from the snipers covering them.

"كريم! مروحية أخرى قادمة إلى موقعك! " (Karim! Another helicopter is coming to your position!)

"Fools." The crimson princess closed her fan shut, snorting in disappointment.

"لا! ارمن! انزل عن الطريق! "(No! ARMEN! GET OFF THE ROAD!) Farah yelled at the top of her lungs, as the Russian helicopter flew right in front of Armen's group, making a strafing run on the road and turning them to pieces with its machine guns.

"يا الله!" (Oh God!)

"ARMEN!"

"اللعنة عليكم أيها الروس!" (Curse you Russians!)

The theater was filled with sudden gasps of disgust and fear once again, no one being able to get used to the brutality of this world's warfare.

"Fuckin' hell!" Garfiel had his breath cut short witnessing the brutality of the scene.

"Not again!" Otto cursed with a hand on his ear, "damn it!"

"ugh…" Ricardo clicked his tongue in disgust.

"That was dumb…" Mimi sighed, before receiving a slap from her brother.

"Show some respect!"

"They're dead! Get to cover!" Subaru yelled, grabbing one of the rebels by his plate carrier to pull him back as Russians troops took defensive positions ahead of the road and began to shoot towards them.

"He saved this one's life," Anastasia exhaled in pity, "a second more and…"

"He would have joined his comrades in death." Julius grimaced, "but is it for the best…? He will now live knowing that he should have been killed…"

"The hell are you talking about?" Ricardo frowned in confusion, "of course it's for the best if the guy's alive!"

"...You are right," the knight sighed, "apologies, I was…Lost in my thoughts."

"Get yourself together." Ricardo grunted.

The dogman mostly disliked the effect of such speech could have on the twins. He perfectly understood what Julius was referring to, but it was not the mindset he wished for Mimi or Tivey to have.

They were now standing at the other end of a short road a few meters away from the tarmac, where several barracks stood at each side of the passage, while enemy troops fired from their positions up ahead.

"That's our only way…" Farah whispered in frustration, seeing how impossible it was to reach the other end at first glance.

"There's too many of them!" Hadir grunted, "Looks like their reinforcements came, after all!"

"We need the drones!" Farah replied while trying to shoot from her cover, "This is our only way to get out of here!"

"The helicopter is coming back!" One of the rebels yelled as he struggled to run back to cover.

"We're pinned! We can't get him!" Another one yelled with heavy breathing, "He'll tear us apart!"

"They are getting overwhelmed!" the Duchess gritted her teeth, "this is bad…"

"The one who loses his mind in the middle of the battle has already lost," Wilhelm grunted as well, "they need to collect their thoughts and remember why they are fighting here."

"It's easier said than done, they are attacked from all sides!" Felt replied to the old man, "but yeah, they gotta move, now!"

"I sure hope they could hear ya, but I got the feeling they don't," Anastasia winced while showing resent for Felt's annoying voice, "so be a bit more quiet, alright?"

"Oh fuck off!" Felt made a quite rude movement with her hand towards the merchant princess.

"Felt-sama!" Reinhard shouted in distress.

"Yeah yeah, etiquette and all that," the little blonde scoffed while turning back to the screen, "keep that for the real world."

"I would please ask you to show some respect towards my lady, Felt-sam-"

"No. Fuck you too." Felt cut him, without turning around and leaving everyone around astounded by Felt's interactions.

Aside from Priscilla, who couldn't help but laugh her heart out to these people jumping at each other's throats for everything and anything.

"CIA, tell me you have a plan for this helicopter!" Hadir yelled with a glint of fear in his voice.

"And of course, it's left for him to save them out of this!" Rem snapped.

"They have no other choice, Rem." Ram replied, albeit being as upset as her sister.

These people's incompetence shouldn't but Subaru in danger. This much was something Ram couldn't stand and kept being silent about.

Subaru looked over their cover for a second to observe what kind of scenery they had to deal with and managed to come up with a plan.

"I do! But I'll need one of your molotovs, I used mine!" Subaru grunted as Hadir immediately handed him a bottle without thinking twice.

"Thanks!" Subaru then jumped out of cover and ran towards the stairs of the nearest barracks, while the helicopter prepared to make another passage and gun down the road.

"HEY!"

"WAIT WAIT WAIT!"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"STEP BACK, I SUPPOSE!"

"You stupid…!" Emilia's words were cut short as fear rose in her heart, her body crippled in place.

"ماذا يفعل؟! سوف يطلقون النار عليه! "(What is he doing?! They're going to shoot him!) One of the rebels yelled as he saw Subaru sprinting up.

When he reached the top, Subaru and the pilot were somewhat at the same level, glancing at each other in the motion of one second, in which Subaru threw the Molotov right to the cockpit before jumping inside of the barracks, a bunch of bullets nearly grazing him.

Everyone in the theater felt their mouths fall down at what they had just seen, struggling to let out a single sound, taking a moment to process what they had just seen.

At this point they were used to their friend being a daredevil, but the bold solutions he would fearlessly accomplish were still impressive enough to never cease to amaze.

"Would you stop putting my heart in such a difficult state…" Emilia held a hand to her chest, trying to calm her breath.

"Tck." Ram squeezed the boy's shoulder, as if to punish him for what she had just seen.

The pilot yelled as the fire spread inside of his vehicle and lost control of it, before it crashed on the side of the barracks, the blades breaking against the ground and sent flying everywhere.

"AH! Capn' really didn't miss it!" Garfiel smirked.

"Everything is so chaotic, I really wonder how they can keep fighting under so much pressure…" Frederica added up in worry.

"That was brutal…" Otto trembled, "I really feel bad for this man…"

"Don't expect a kind death when you deal with such destructive weapons," Ricardo commented, "being in such a powerful weapon means you die in a powerful way if ever you get beaten."

"Well…The heli is taken care of…" Subaru said through the radio as he grunted and held his head, standing up with difficulty while trying to catch his breath.

He turned around to see the bullet shots on the stairs he just escaped from, "how did I not get shot from this one?"

"Subaru….!" Emilia felt like she wanted to grab him and reprimand him for his actions.

"Perhaps it would be best to not do what you would consider yourself dangerous, then…" Crusch growled, trying to keep her hands to herself.

"Stupid Subaru-kun." Rem pouted, squeezing his arm.

"I see. I will have to hammer some reason into you, it seems." Ram narrowed her eyes.

"Because you were expecting to get injured?!" Beatrice yelled in outrage, "You stupid contractor!"

In her anger, she hit the sleeping boy's belly with her elbow, even though she knew it would be useless.

"Beatrice-sama, I believe our Subaru is not really responsible for the actions of the one on screen…" Crusch smiled, knowing she couldn't even hurt him if she tried.

"Let Betty do what relieves her, in fact! Betty has the right to hit Subaru if she wishes so!" Beatrice waved her hand.

Quickly, the camera changed to show Hadir and Farah looking at the crashed helicopter in disbelief after hearing that Subaru was alright.

"بدأت أعتقد أن هذا الرجل استبدل ذكائه بالجرأة." (I'm starting to believe this man traded his intelligence for boldness.) Hadir whistled while laughing.

"لا تفكر حتى في اتباع مثل هذا المثال!" (Do not even think about following such an example!) His sister reprimanded.

"Even them?! That says a lot!" Felix sighed, "Subaru-kyun really needs to be more considerate about himself!"

"Why can't you be like this?" Ram reprimanded Subaru, slapping him on the head.

"Nee-sama?!" Rem yelped as she felt shocked-just as the entire front row- to see her sister slap Subaru.

"Would you kindly get your hands away from Subaru, Ram-sama?" Petra stared at her superior with threatening eyes.

"It is alright, Rem. He does not feel anything anyways." She replied, not looking towards Petra at all.

"Ram?!" Emilia seemed afraid by such an answer, looking at Ram in alarm as if she was about to use Subaru as a punching bag in the next viewing session.

"I very much believe it would be wiser to not go to such length even if he is asleep, Ram-dono." Crusch sternly replied, still feeling a bit nervous about the hit Subaru had just taken for nothing.

"Indeed, should you touch my contractor again, Betty will not hesitate to use force to put you back in your place, in fact!" Beatrice was the most angered out of all.

It was already quite infuriating that some of the women in this room dared to break her contractor's hands, now some wanted to hit him to vent some frustration?

This was nothing short of unacceptable for Beatrice.

The camera came back to Subaru, went to the window of the barracks and began to shoot the enemies trying to advance towards the rebels.

"Hadir! The planes!" Subaru reminded him through his radio, while taking out several Russian soldiers going out of cover.

"Yasin!" Hadir called through the radio.

"فهمت الملازم! إرسال موجة أخرى!"(Understood Lieutenant! Sending another wave!)

The scene changed to show the Russians taking their defense.

«Не подпускайте их ближе!» (Don't let them any closer!) A soldier yelled to his men.

«К нам на помощь идут танки!» (We got some tanks coming to help!)

"АХ! ЭТИ КОРИЧНЕВЫЕ СУКИ КОНЕЦ!" (AH! THESE BROWN BITCHES ARE DONE FOR!)

"Brown? They're using their skin color as a form of insult?" Felt raised an eyebrow.

"Yep. Not uncommon." Al scoffed, "you'll get used to it."

"That's low and stupid, but I wouldn't expect anything less from these guys." The little princess shrugged, having already acknowledged her hate towards the enemies of Subaru.

"Race as one of the means to hate one another, how original." Priscilla clicked her tongue.

"You seem kinda upset, princess."

"Of course, when I see such animals not even deserving to be walking the earth, how could I not feel angered?" She began to fan herself.

"...You are this much against racism, princess?" Al seemed surprised.

"When it comes to judging a man, many factors come into question, Al. Competence, skills, behavior, knowledge, ambition," the crimson princess explained, while keeping a rather disgusting glare at the screen, "someone's origin is not one of them."

"But-"

"Look at these supposed 'brown' people they deem inferior. Yet, they are pushing, fighting, and while they are outnumbered and under-equipped in this world of advanced warfare, they are still on the winning side. Does that not say a lot about superiority?" She pointed out.

"Alright, but-"

"Pride over yourself is important, but underestimating others based on something so trivial will only lead to ruin. Such is the way of the losers." She spat out, leaning back on her seat while opening her fan again.

"Okay Princess I get everything you just said, but you are still the first one who openly bashes the silver-haired girl at the election over her appearance."

"Because she is the exception." She replied without a doubt.

"So there are exceptions now uh…" Al replied, deadpanned.

"Yes, there is. Have you ever looked at yourself in a mirror, for example? Why do you think I keep you around mine camp, if you are not an exception?"

"...Right, I went too far didn't I? My bad." He apologized while turning back to the screen, feeling like going any further would be fatal for him.

«Нам также нужно уничтожить их аванпост вон там!» (We also need to take out their outpost over there!)

One of them said as he pointed out to the top of the hill, "вот где они сбрасывают свои дроны!"(this is where they're throwing their drones off!)

"Oh shoot!" Tivey yelped, "they figured that out!"

"It was only a question of time," Julius replied, "it seems like the situation is becoming more and more complicated from now on, this adds up to the list."

"I want to think this is nothing Natsuki-kun cannot handle, but…" Anastasia sighed, feeling the stress rise even for her.

«Понятно! Командование, у нас есть повстанцы, запускающие дроны из здания к юго-западу от базы! Нам нужно уничтожить их!» (Got it! Command we have some insurgents launching drones from a building south west of the base! We need to clear them out!)

"Понял, солдат, сейчас посылаю отряд!" (Understood soldier, sending a detachment now!)

The scene came back to Subaru as he tried to see for an opening from the backdoor of the barrack he was in, when a soldier opened the door.

Emilia gasped in fear as soon as she saw the soldier much like everyone in the front row.

Subaru ran and rammed against the soldier by his waist, pinning him against the guardrail of the stairs outside and punching him in the face as he grabbed his legs and flipped him over.

"Ahahahahahah!" Ricardo couldn't stop laughing, "let's go little boss!"

Crusch held a hand to her heart, exhaling in relief.

"Natsuki-san!" Otto watched in horror, "since when are you so violent?!"

Garfiel couldn't even hear him, as he was too busy jumping in place at the sight of his role model taking down every enemy he met in such a cool way.

"Is it even worth it to be scared anymore?" Petra chuckled, "it seems like every time a situation like that happens, Subaru overcomes it."

"That is not new." Frederica smiled while patting the head of her little maid, still calming down her heart at the scene she had witnessed.

But right as he looked on the side, he saw another soldier aiming at him, but was shot through the throat before he could pull the trigger.

"Oof!"

"Wow…"

"What the…"

The sudden fear everyone felt at the sight of the soldier was immediately wiped away as they saw him die just as quickly.

Subaru looked at the direction where the shot came from, and made a small salute with his hand on his forehead in thanks.

"You're welcome cutie." Asma murmured to herself as she ejected the bullet from the chamber of her KAR98 and loaded another.

"I shall allow you to call Betty's Subaru like that just this once, since you looked over him at Betty's place, I suppose." Beatrice nodded her head, appreciating how Asma protected her contractor.

"How strange…Even though I should feel thankful, I still feel resentful." Crusch smiled with narrowed, dangerous eyes.

"Cutie, uh…" Ram whispered as she looked down at Subaru's face, "it doesn't really fit you Barusu, not with these eyes."

"..." Rem silently watched the screen, closing her eyes and pouting as she had to feel thankful towards this woman.

As Subaru came down the stairs, the wave of drones flew over his head, crashing down the enemy positions and creating an opening for the rebels to advance.

Subaru quickly ran around towards them as they pushed forward, forcing the defense troops to fall back after issuing great damage from the RC planes.

"This was a good hit, took 'em down a notch." Felt smirked.

"He reunited with them, and they seem to have reversed the situation…Right?" Felix was looking for anyone else to confirm his thoughts, wanting to be optimistic on this matter.

"I wouldn't say they have reversed the situation yet, Felix-dono," Wilhelm crossed his arms, watching with attention, "but they have at least managed to keep a tight stance on their attack."

"At least he's not alone, there's less chances of him doing anything rash…" Emilia tried to reassure herself as much as she could.

"I doubt that, but whatever makes you feel less worried, Emilia-sama." Otto uttered, smiled uneasily at the head of his camp.

"The hangar! It's right there sister!" Hadir yelled out.

"I see it! Get us more planes in the air Hadir!" She replied, a hint of eagerness perceived in her voice.

"Yasin!"

"Commander, we're attacked!" Yasin yelled through the radio, "we can't do anything for now…I'm sorry!"

"They're getting to the safehouse!" Hadir realized, "Sister…"

"Uh oh…" Al leaned forward, "this doesn't look good."

"They have no air support now….Oh no." Rem widened her eyes in fear.

"Things are going to get incredibly more difficult by now, these little flying birds are what pulled them out of trouble!" Mimi held her ears in anxiety.

"They gotta have a back up plan! Ain't no way they just thought it would be that easy!" Ricardo raised a hand towards the screen in protest.

"...I really hope so." Julius spoke in a rather neutral voice, observing attentively.

Farah cursed under her breath, looking at Subaru joining them, she widened her eyes.

"CIA! Tell me your air support is close!" She said in a voice hinting her fear.

"It's here in a few minutes, I just need to take out these!" Subaru pointed out to the S-400 missile systems, "or we're on our own."

"The fear is rising in their hearts, however it seems like Subaru-dono is keeping himself calm." Wilhelm seemed surprised, "hm…"

"Wilhelm-dono?" seeing the old man lost in his thoughts, Crusch called for him to lay out his mind.

"It seems like Subaru-dono has learned to not fall into panic, Crusch-sama. I was simply observing how amazing it was, for such a young age."

"He is 25 years old…Were you not the same at his age?" Crusch questioned.

"No. I was still making rash, and rather stupid decisions. It was way easier for me to give up on my rational thoughts in battle than you think, Crusch-sama," He explained, remembering how reckless he was during the demi-human war, "Subaru-dono has already reached enough experience to not give up on his instincts even when the situation is as chaotic as that."

"Hm…" Crusch nodded her head, acknowledging the sword demon's words, "I suppose it is another one of his marks as an experienced soldier."

"Inexperience rarely goes into account, Crusch-sama. It is a question of survival, most of the time," Wilhelm turned towards her, but avoided her eyes, "it is…Impossible to blame a man who would take a rash decision when hell is a few steps behind him."

"So, you would say it is natural?"

"I would." Wilhelm concluded, as both him and Crusch turned back at the screen.

"The last of their forces are regrouped here…It's all or nothing!"

Farah breathed out aloud, as Hadir looked at her worriedly.

"Hey hey!" Subaru snapped her out of her thoughts, "لا يمكنك الاستسلام الآن كريم ، ليس قريبًا جدًا من النصر! إذا تعثرت الآن ، فإن كل أورزيكستان ستعاني!"

(You can't give up now Karim, not so close to victory! If you falter now, the whole of Urzikstan will suffer!)

"There is something about hearing him talk in that language that is…So strange and yet…" Reinhard watched in wonder, unable to find the words he wished to speak.

"Yeah no, I get what you mean," Felt smiled at her knight.

"He always had the right words at the right time doesn't he…" Emilia smiled fondly for a moment.

"Hm…" Crusch smiled as well.

"Looks like lil' boss knows what to say to get the warriors out," Ricardo praised proudly, "that's good!"

"It is even more impressive that he is doing it in her own language, I guess…" Al wondered, himself amazed by Subaru speaking such flawless arabic.

"Speaking in her mother tongue will make her understand." Priscilla replied, smiling behind her fan, "she knows these words are directed to her and only her."

"I guess you're saying it hits closer to home this way?" Al chuckled while agreeing with Priscilla, "Yeah, you're probably right about that.

Hadir looked at Subaru with determination, acknowledging his every word. As Subaru tapped his shoulder.

Farah calmed down her breath while staring in his eyes, grimacing in distaste of ever fathoming the thought of despair.

"لديك طريقة مع الكلمات ، وأنا أعطيك ذلك." (You have a way with words, I give you that.)

She smiled at him, preparing her rifle again, "انطلقوا يا أبناء عمومتنا! انطلقوا! تذكروا لماذا نقاتل من أجله! تذكروا من نحميهم بقوتنا وأيدينا وقلوبنا!" (Come on cousins! Push through! Remember why we are fighting for! Remember who we are protecting with our might, our hands and our hearts!)

The rebels answered to the war cry of their commander with shouts of their own, a new fire raging in their eyes for the sake of this battle.

"A good leader always knows how to fire up her troops." Anastasia commented in admiration of Farah.

"She got what it takes! That's for sure!" Felt clenched her fist in excitement, "Come on guys! Take this win!"

"Capn' got her!" Garfiel howled, "right in the heart!"

"What?" Rem turned towards Garfiel.

"Can you repeat that, Garfiel-sama?" Petra inquired of the tiger boy.

"What do you mean, shield of the sanctuary?" Crusch narrowed her eyes towards him.

"That she's fired up! Look at her, she's right boutta' kick their arse now!" Garfiel pointed at the screen.

"Oh." Rem turned back at the screen.

"It makes sense." Petra turned back at the screen.

"Good." Crusch turned back at the screen.

Garfiel watched them in great confusion, while Otto stood behind with horrified eyes, happy for Garfiel to have appeased the storm brewing from these girls.

He perceived an aura only a keen eye could perceive.

"There we go," Wilhelm smiled, "now the battle starts again."

"How are you going to turn this around…?" Crusch thought aloud with eyes full of expectations.

"There is nothing a brave heart cannot do, Crusch-sama. If it is a battle of wits, the heart which fights for the better cause will always win." Wilhelm told in a wise voice.

"I need help to take out the coms building and these fucking trucks. You're with me?" Subaru asked Hadir while looking in his eyes, to which Hadir grunted and nodded his head.

"Let's do it, brother!" He answered, "For Urzikstan!"

Subaru threw another smoke grenade forward, covering the approach of the rebels while he got out of cover.

Few soldiers focused on him and Hadir, but their constant firing pushed them to remain in cover.

As Hadir hid behind a jeep, Subaru dived forward to put himself into a prone position, having a window to his enemies as he began shooting towards them.

"There are so many different techniques to use these weapons, but Subaru seems to be the only one who knows them…" Crusch commented as she saw him being the only taking different kinds of position to fire, "I suppose he is more effectively trained than any of these people.

"The elite of the elite, Crusch-sama." Felix repeated while twitching his ears, "Subaru-kyun is no mere man at this point."

"I agree that he seems far more trained and fit for this fight than any of these people, rebels or russians." Julius continued as he wondered the same as the Duchess.

Farah's rebels managed to get the edge of the compound, forcing the troops to fall back in the hangar, while Subaru reached the communication device.

It was a medium sized metallic device about the size of a truck, filled with glowing buttons, cables, and a satellite parabola on top.

"That's the first step…" Subaru thought while reaching the computer of the satellite.

"Do you know how to turn it off?" Hadir questioned, taking cover behind it while shooting the enemies retreating.

"Uh…Yeah?" he said with an unsure voice, glancing at the top of it.

He then pulled out his pistol and shot the antenna, breaking it as it fell down and looking down to the computer showing a "disconnected" warning message.

"Here, all good." Subaru sighed, turning to Hadir who chuckled with a shake of his head.

"He didn't know how to use it?" Felt asked with a deadpan expression.

"He didn't know how to use it." Reinhard replied cheerfully, "but he still managed to accomplish his objective, I suppose."

"So long as it works." Felt nodded her head.

"So long as it works…" Hadir laughed at how ridiculously effective was Subaru's solution.

"Pft," Felt laughed loudly, "I like this guy."

The scene changed to the last Russians on the compound.

«НАМ НУЖНО БОЛЬШЕ ПОДДЕРЖКИ! » (WE NEED MORE REINFORCMENTS! THEY'RE FUCKING US UP!) One of the Russian soldiers shouted as he ran back to cover.

«Тяжелая пехота идет к вам, они будут здесь примерно через минуту! Держитесь!» (Heavy infantry coming your way, they'll be here in about a minute! Hang on!)

«КОМАНДУЙТЕ, ЧТО ИХ СЛИШКОМ МНОГО, МЫ…» (COMMAND THERE'S TOO MANY OF THEM, WE'LL-) The soldier couldn't continue his plea as a bullet pierced his head.

On the ground near the lifeless body of the Russian soldier, the radio could be seen turning on as a voice shouted at the other end of the line,

«Солдат?! Солдат! Солдат, докладывай!» (Soldier?! Soldier! Soldier, report!)

"They did it…? They…" Emilia wanted to speak, but the sight of such death and blood made her reluctant to.

"This is war." Ricardo grunted.

"Never expect to receive kisses n' hugs when you have robbed someone of what they hold dear." Felt shook her head at the sight of the dead soldier.

"They got what they deserved! I ain't crying for no one!" Garfiel clicked his tongue.

"It's still ugly. I agree with you, but…" Otto was at loss for words, and decided to not continue.

The camera went back to Subaru as he and Hadir cautiously made their way forward to the base, shooting any leftover enemies they could see. Soon, the tarmac was cleared, the last remaining soldiers being either inside of the hangar or running away.

Subaru quickly went to check the S-400 battery missile, and made sure the rear was down and deactivated.

"Watcher, 3-1 here. We're good, the coms are out and the S-400 is out of service."

"So you pulled it off, that's good news…You'll be needing this one," Laswell exhaled in worry, "several heavy infantry coming towards you. Tanks, and troops. Lots of troops."

"Oh…" Otto gulped as he heard the news.

"Maybe they're not out of the woods just yet then…" Emilia held both her hands over her chest.

"They're certainly not." Anastasia affirmed, having a feeling that things were far from done.

"…Right, thanks for the heads up, we'll hurry here," Subaru coughed out a bit, "3-1 out."

"What is it, CIA?" Noticing his unease, Farah asked him.

"We'll be under some heat soon, Farah. We need to get inside that hangar and take defensive positions. Now."

"…I see," Farah turned around, looking at her troops, "Cousins! We need to take this hangar now! There might be more enemies coming!"

Subaru slowly took the lead and lifted left hand and turned into a fist up, telling everyone to stop.

"...What are they doing…?" Petra instinctively began to whisper as the atmosphere began to quiet down.

The only thing which was heard on screen, was the cracking noises of the fire left behind by the explosions around the compound, as Subaru and the rebels slowly advanced towards the hangar.

"They seem to be very cautious…So cautious they do not utter even a sound," Crusch observed, lowering her voice as well, "it seems like they do not wish to rush anything."

"This is somewhat stressful…" Rem commented as well, keeping a tight grip on Subaru's left arm.

He looked around an instant and faced the rebels.

"فرح ، أنت ومجموعتك تأخذون القنابل اليدوية لهذه الجثث وتلقي بكل شيء بداخلها. هدير أنت والآخرون تتخذون مواقع هنا. أي شيء ينفد من هذه الحظيرة ، فأنتم حرين بالإطلاق." (Farah, you and your group take the grenades of these dead bodies and throw everything inside. Hadir, you and the others take positions here. Anything that runs out of this hangar, you're weapons free.)

The fact that he talked in Arabic made everyone widen their eyes, realizing that he knew where the enemies were hiding. But before executing themselves, the rebels turned to Farah, who smiled wide at Subaru.

"اذهبوا يا أبناء العم! افعلوا كما يقول!" (Go cousins! Do as he says!) She ordered them.

"Grenades? He wants to…!" Otto quickly figured out.

"That is dangerously smart." Wilhelm admitted, stroking his beard in thought.

"I still don't get it?" Mimi looked at her brother seeking answers, "what's the deal?"

They quickly picked up all the grenades they could from the bodies of dead Russians, while Hadir and his men mounted their weapons over obstacles, either crouched or prone, taking aim towards the hangar.

Subaru joined Hadir, and then ordered everyone to throw their grenades.

A rain of little green explosives fell inside the hangar, which in a few seconds alerted the troops hiding inside, who ran out of cover out of fear.

"ГРАНАТЫ! БЕГИМ!" (GRENADES! RUN!)

"БЛЯДЬ!" (FUCK!)

"НЕ ОСТАВАЙТЕСЬ ЗДЕСЬ!"(DON'T STAY HERE!)

And just as planned, Hadir, Subaru and his group fired upon the soldiers who showed themselves, all the while the floor trembled with the number of grenades thrown.

"THAT IS WHAT WAS GOING ON!" Mimi yelled in surprise.

"They were preparing to ambush them," Julius mused, "but in such a limited area, they were at the mercy of such a tactic…"

"It was rather unexpected, can't really blame them," Ricardo hesitated, "with such a crushing advance, they certainly thought they'd be more and more confident."

"I'm pretty sure they would have been, if it wasn't for Subaru briefly taking command." Crusch testified without a hint of doubt in her voice.

"I agree, these rebels don't look like the smartest out there when it comes to warfare." Felix nodded along with his Duchess.

"That's…Yeah, I mean that's what rebels are. They're just civilians who took up arms to defend themselves, I don't know what you expected." Al joked from above.

"Well, being a civilian does not exclude foolishness, don't ya think?" Felix replied, while Al only waved his hand up.

It was not to agree with him, but rather to say that he didn't wish to continue further discussion with this irritating catboy.

"Wise decision, Al." Priscilla praised while glancing towards her jester.

"Thanks. Really not in a mood to deal with that guy right now."

"Is there ever one?" She sarcastically replied, making Al chuckle under his helmet.

It was quite unfortunate that no one but Roswaal could see them right now, to witness one of the few moments ever when Priscilla Barielle and Aldebaran would actually bond in some other way than punches and threats.

"حسنًا ، تحرك ولكن ابق على أهبة الاستعداد. لا نعرف أبدًا ما إذا كان أحد لا يزال هنا"(Alright, get moving but stay on guard. We never know if anyone's still here.) Subaru got up, leading the troops while on guard.

Soon enough he stepped inside of the hangar, tapping Hadir's shoulder to take a side while he'd take another, and found nothing but dead bodies.

"They seem to be having that teamwork going on," Felt grinned, "Good! Big bro needs trustable people like that with him."

"I do agree that Hadir has gained quite a rapid synergy with Subaru." Reinhard smiled as well, agreeing with his lady.

"Yeah, too fast." Garfiel spat out.

"Yep." Otto didn't seem happy either.

"Everyone inside the hangar, come on!" Farah ordered her troops.

"Seems like the place is ours," Subaru breathed out, as all the rebels entered the hangar.

"There! The last armory!" Hadir pointed out the red building.

As the three of them approached it, they overheard the voices inside.

"Ah, there we go again…" Otto grunted while leaning on his chair, "do you think he'll try to spare them again?"

"Knowing capn'? Definitely." Garfiel answered without a doubt.

"I would like to believe he would as well." Frederica hopefully spoke.

"I think it's rather obvious, but you're free to be dumb." Petra nonchalantly replied.

"Yeah, I thought so to-HEY!"

«Черт! Они здесь! И они отключили связь!» (Shit! They're here! And they cut the coms!)

«Возьми пистолет, запри дверь! Подкрепление идет!» (Get a gun, lock the door! The reinforcements are coming!)

«Мы могли бы просто сдаться…» (We could just surrender…)

"You could." Reinhard spoke as if the Russian could hear him.

"That would be the most sensible choice, I suppose." Beatrice spoke out.

«Ты хочешь оказаться на видео на YouTube с отрезанной головой?! К черту это!»

(You want to end up on a youtube video with your head being cut off?! Fuck that!)

"There's still some dog bastards inside," Hadir spat out.

"I hear them, CIA get to the door, we'll cover you." Farah replied.

Subaru went forward and tried to kick the door open, yet it wouldn't.

"Shit." He cursed as he shook off his leg.

"Ouch, I don't think that feels any good." Tivey warned in a sad voice for Subaru.

"Черт! Они здесь!" (Shit! They're here!)

"Do you still want to try and make them surrender, CIA?" Farah questioned him.

"We don't have time for new prisoners!" Hadir intervened, "CIA, let's dispose of them!"

"Hadir is letting his feelings take over." Frederica shook her head.

"His hatred towards his enemies leaves no other choice for him." Wilhelm grieved in a grave voice.

"Considering the situations, I would understand why prisoners would be too inconvenient too." Crusch mused to Wihelm, trying to justify Hadir's behavior by something more than sheer hatred.

"They are putting the weight of the choice on Subaru…" Emilia lamented.

"He dealt with it before, so they expect him to do it again." Anastasia pursed her lips, thinking out loud.

Subaru looked back and forth between Farah and Hadir, and soon heard a call from the radio.

"كريم! هذه أسماء! القوات الروسية على باب القاعدة! لقد أحضروا جيشًا حقيقيًا! " (Karim! This is Asma! Russian troops are at the door of the base! They brought a real army!)

"They really don't have time nyow!" Felix grunted.

"Yep! dices are thrown." Ricardo smirked.

"What will you do, Subaru-kun?" Rem spoke in a hushed tone.

"For fuck's sake." Subaru grunted as he punched the door of the armory.

"Слушай сюда! Я даю тебе последний шанс сдаться! Сложи оружие и открой эту дверь, ты будешь пощажен! Если нет, мы убьем тебя прямо здесь и сейчас!" (Listen here! I'm giving you one last chance to surrender! Lay down your guns and open this door, you'll be spared! If not we'll fucking kill you right here and right now!)

Subaru obviously seemed angry, his heart beating fast of the situation they were about to face.

"Мы не будем открывать дерьмо!"(We won't open shit!)

"Давай, киска! Мы тебя ждем!"(Come on pussy! We're waiting for you!)

"They've picked their choice," Subaru sighed while glancing at Hadir.

"..." Reinhard's gaze turned grim at the decision taken in less than a few seconds.

"They made their choice…" Julius closed his eyes.

"Indeed." Wilhelm acknowledged.

"There's a hatch on the roof, help me up CIA!"

Subaru and Hadir moved to the side of the armory where Subaru gave Hadir a boost up to the top of the armory. Hadir then crouched over the edge right where Subaru was below and offered his hand.

Subaru grabbed his hand, and got lifted up on the roof where the hatch was in evidence for them.

Hadir grabbed the handle of the hatch while Subaru layed down on the side, his gun barrel a few centimeters from the opening.

"Three, two, one!"

Hadir opened the hatch, and Subaru immediately shot the first Russian he saw in the head, as Hadir shot the two remaining ones from his position.

Subaru then jumped inside the armory, seeing one of the soldiers still alive, trying to crawl towards a rifle.

He looked up to Subaru when he heard his boots hitting the ground of the armory, and he pointed a pistol to the soldier's head, pulling the trigger to end his misery.

"Ugh, why?!" Emilia couldn't help but condemn what she had just seen.

"He was going for his weapon, Emilia-sama…" Crusch replied, noticing the sadness in the half-elf's voice.

"But Subaru could have simply taken the weapon away…He didn't need to execute him!" Emilia retorted to the Duchess, tearing up.

More than the way this soldier had died, it was all about Subaru's actions. She hated how merciless he became, she hated how cold blooded he became, and how every time she felt like she could be reassured that this Subaru was the same as her knight, he could perform such an action that would throw her off miles away.

"Natsuki-kun had already given him a choice, ya know? He is not responsible for someone's else's actions." Anastasia replied in a bored tone.

"Subaru isn't like that!"

"Maybe the one you keep at the edge of a leash, but not this one," Anastasia turned away from the half-elf, "you gotta accept that there was a drastic change around."

"..." Emilia didn't further the conversation either, feeling like the urge of isolating herself back in her room would come back at any moment if she did.

There was still a lot she had to think about and accept when it came to these viewings.

Hadir entered the armory and opened the door for her sister and the militia to resupply, while Subaru observed the weapons inside.

"Western weapons…Again…"

Subaru grunted as he picked up an LMG, "An M249…Just where did they get those…"

"Unregulated weapons again, uh," Ricardo thought aloud, "seems like these will be more and more common if ya ask me."

"There is perhaps something bigger going on under our nose for these kinds of things to happen." Julius narrowed his eyes, trying to think about an hypothesis.

"If anything, it looks like something Subaru himself wishes to investigate…Maybe not immediately, but you know…" Felix pointed out to his comrade knight.

"I hope he does. Such a dangerous matter cannot go unsolved." Julius concluded.

"كريم لدينا مشكلة" (Karim, we have a problem!) One of the rebels yells from outside, hurrying Subaru out of the armory.

The lights of the base all went out bit by bit, soon leaving nothing but the red emergency light from the armory.

Everyone in the theater gasped at the sudden shutdown of lights and red glows all over the buildings.

"Ok, this is scary." Felt grimaced.

"It doesn't give a sign of good omen, if I may say." Reinhard understood.

"قطعوا الكهرباء ..." (They cut the power…) Farah whispered with a dead tone, "أبناء العم ، اتخذوا مناصبكم وتمسكوا بأسبابكم!" (Cousins, take position and hold your grounds!)

"They're about to strike back with all they got…" Subaru clenched his teeth, readying the LMG as he checked the belt of bullets and loaded it while walking forward to cover.

"I would rather die than back down to fucking swine!" Hadir cursed as he took position as well.

"Oh no…They are preparing for the worst…!" Otto gasped.

"What?" Petra turned towards Otto and Garfiel at the edge of their seats.

"He just announced that he would fight to the bitter end." Ram dangerously narrowed her eyes towards Hadir for dragging Subaru along with him.

"It doesn't seem like Subaru himself wants to back down, sister…"Rem, who had understood her sister's feelings, replied to her.

"Please do not try anything too dangerous…" Crusch whispered with a hand over her heart.

Emilia, even with how confused she was over this, still hoped the same for her knight.

"Give me something worthy of mine eyes once more." Priscilla was probably the only one smiling with great expectations.

She already knew her protegé would survive, how he would triumph over his foes was what interested her the most.

"3-1 to watcher, where's my air support?!" Subaru hurriedly spoke through his radio.

"It's right here! Entering the canal in 10 seconds!" Laswell replied in haste.

"I don't have 10 fucking seconds!" He replied in an angered voice, putting the bipod of the LMG down in position as the Russian tanks made their appearance on the compound.

It only took a fraction of a second for the people of the theater to understand the gravity of the situation Subaru had found himself in. Soon, the place was filled with eyes reflecting fear and gasps of horror.

"By the dragon!" Otto yelled in fear, "Those are the armored carriages which destroy building we saw in the previous viewings!"

"And there is more than one!" Ricardo yelled in alarm, "Fuck, he needs to get out of here!"

"Go!" Mimi yelled.

"RUN!" Tivey yelled.

"SUBARU-KUN!" Rem shouted in fear.

Ram kept looking at the screen, her hands on Subaru's shoulders.

"Subaru! Subaru please go!" Petra tightly held Subaru's right arm, her heartbeat going faster and faster.

"No….No, Subaru…" Emilia's mouth was paralyzed, unable to speak anymore as she felt like death itself was walking towards Subaru.

"..." Crusch's breath began to go faster and faster, staring at the screen in disbelief.

"SHIT! Big bro, get out of here!" Felt growled in fear, "COME ON!"

"Subaru…!" Reinhard uttered as if he could do anything from his seat.

As soon as they showed up, the tanks began to fire, while troops appeared alongside them and shot the rebels inside of the hangar who fought back with all they could.

"This is a hopeless fight." Wilhelm grunted, tightening his grip around his armchairs.

"He needs to do something! Anything!" Julius exclaimed in frustration.

"What do you want him to do?! He needs to bail out!" Mimi retorted to the knight.

"And leave everyone behind?!" Tivey seemed shocked by his sister's words.

"He gotta be reasonable about this!" She replied to her brother, not feeling ashamed of what she had just said.

"We need more firepower! This isn't doing anything!" Hadir yelled through the rumble of gunshots and tank shells.

"KATE!" Subaru shouted through his radio, to what Laswell replied in haste.

"It's here!" She answered with a hint of relief in her voice.

Subaru widened his eyes with a breath of hope, just before hearing the voice of the operator at the other end of the line.

"What? What is happening?!" Emilia demanded as she saw Subaru on screen breathe out.

"Their reinforcements are here…There might be a chance!" Crusch seemed shortly relieved as well.

"The air support?! It's here?!" Anastasia seemed interested to see what it would be about.

"It was about damn time!" Felt seemed happy to see something good happen.

"Let's hope it will be enough to fight back…" Julius however, wasn't completely sure about feeling like a victory yet.

"This is wildfire, cavalry's here and ready for tasking."

"Oh no…Oh no no no! KATE!" Subaru shouted back in his radio.

"What…" Otto glanced at Garfiel, who seemed confused as well.

"They were the only ones inbound to help you! Stop whining and give them their targets!" Laswell reprimanded in a frustrated voice.

"I TAKE IT BACK! I'LL DEAL WITH THE TANKS, TELL THEM TO FUCK OFF!"

Saying that most of the cast was astounded was an understatement. For a brief instant, not a single person in the theater was able to tell what was going on and more especially, how to feel about this all.

None of them knew the history behind these interactions, but for Subaru to be so distressed about calling back reinforcements in such a dire situation, whatever past him and this plane shared had to be extremely cataclysmal.

"..."

"What the…"

"..."

"You…YOU…" Beatrice took a deep breath, "YOU STUPID CONTRACTOR, IN FACT!"

"...URGH WHATEVER! DON'T BE STUPID!" Otto held both hands on each side of his head, "DON'T SPIT ON SUCH HELP!"

"YEAH! AIN'T THE TIME TO BE PICKY CAPN!" Garfiel shouted as well, while everyone watched with more or less the same thoughts in mind.

"I am sure he has legitimate reasons but…" Crusch clenched her hand, trying to deal with her anxiety, "It is not the time for such thoughts to surface."

"Would you cease such foolishness?!" Julius cursed while holding a hand over his eyes.

"Calm down Julius-kun," Anastasia tried to intervene as soon as she noticed how seriously upset was her knight, "I'm sure Natsuki-kun got his reasons yeah?"

"My lady, with all due respect, Subaru is currently acting like an imbecile!" Julius retorted with an expression mixing his guilt and fear, "More than how he usually is!"

"HEY!" Garfiel turned around to Julius, pointing his finger at him, "AS MUCH AS YA'RE RIGHT, DON'T INSULT CAPN'!"

"BUT WE WILL LET IT GO BECAUSE HE IS REALLY BEING STUPID RIGHT NOW!" Otto replied as he turned around as well.

"EXACTLY! JUST THIS ONCE, YA AIN'T PUSHING YAR LUCK!"

"...You guys are taking this so seriously right now…" Felt seemed stupefied by their sudden defense towards Subaru, even though she thought he was being unreasonable as well right now.

"Because he is serious!" Otto said as he referred to Julius, "we can't leave others to make it a habit."

"Others?" Reinhard raised an eyebrow.

"We are the only ones who can call Subaru stupid!" Petra nodded her head frantically as she leaned over to answer Reinhard.

"Indeed." Ram closed her eyes with her head high.

"...I feel like we should not be doing that." Frederica said with an uneasy smile.

"Because we shouldn't! Nee-sama, please take back what you said!" Rem pleaded while pulling Subaru towards her.

"Not only her! But all of you, I suppose!" Beatrice turned to her camp members, who all so easily insulted Subaru.

"It is alright, Beatrice-sama, Rem," Ram said from above, "no one will ever have the right to insult Subaru as an idiot except us."

"Why should you be an exception, in fact?!" Beatrice reprimanded.

"Because he is our idiot." She tilted her head to answer, as if the response was obvious.

"...I don't know if I should even counter that…" Emilia shook her head, nearly wanting to smile.

"You're still mad for that one time?! Come on Sage! It was 3 years ago!"

The gunship operator replied on the radio with an outraged voice.

"Hold on…" Felt realized.

"Wait…!" Emilia widened her eyes in surprise, "he just called him…!"

"Sage?" Reinhard seemed more and more confused.

He was one of the few who secretly tried to pierce the mystery behind this surname of Subaru.

"So it isn't just a nickname given by his enemies?" Ricardo gazed at the boy up front, "more people know him as Sage."

"What could this possibly mean? Even the one who guards us here seemed to refer to Subaru as the Sage…" Julius mused as he recalled the first day in this theater.

"Sage…" Priscilla tapped her armchair with her finger as she thought about what such a name could mean for both her world, and the world she was seeing on screen, "how intriguing…"

"Why would Subaru-kun be referred to as a Sage?" Rem glanced at Beatrice, who was currently the closest to him.

"...I wish I knew myself, I suppose." Beatrice replied as she tugged her contractor's clothes.

"Even the wolf called him that…But right now, he refers to himself as 3-1…" Otto put a hand on his chin in thought.

"Or CIA." Garfiel added.

"Isn't it strange that he has so many names?" Petra commented, "why can't they just call him Subaru?"

"They also call him that, but it seems like it is only for those that are close it seems." Crusch replied in a stern voice.

"Well if that isn't really promising~" Roswaal smiled wide, "I wonder if this is related to…that*"

"It could be 3 years or 10 years, it doesn't change the-"

"So they do have a history, nya!" Felix twitched his ears, looking towards his lady.

"But what could be so terrible that Subaru would act this way…?" Crusch replied, bewildered.

"It had to be either painful, or…Quite upsetting." Wilhelm snorted in amusement.

"CIA! We would really need help right now!" Hadir called Subaru, seeing him arguing through his radio.

"Sage! Give us the targets, we'll deal with it!" The operator replied as he heard the begging of Subaru's ally.

Subaru grunted before he turned on his radio again, "Targets are in the compound, all allies are regrouped in the hangar, you're cleared hot for everything that moves outside of the building!"

"Roger that!"

"Thank the dragon, it seems like he got his senses back…" Otto breathed out, leaning back on his chair.

"Aye, capn' fought his stupidity on this one." Garfiel nodded his head.

"I mean if he doesn't he just dies!" Mimi shouted, "it was about time he got his head outta his ass!"

The scene switches to show the clouds in the night sky, suddenly pierced through by a gigantic plane.

The sight of the plane sent everyone at the edge of their seats. As if most of the things they saw in these viewings until now weren't already amazing on their own, now they were seeing the biggest metallic object they had seen yet fly sky high.

"What is this?" Anastasia was slack jawed, trying to understand how such a metallic structure was in the air.

"This…This is a weapon?" Emilia put a hand on her mouth, worried.

"It seems like it…" Crusch gulped in fear of what this thing could do.

"It's one of these planes?! But it's so big! Even bigger than the one we saw last time!" Felix seemed quite afraid at the sight, "is this…Is this a gunship?!"

"It doesn't look like a ship at all!" Otto exclaimed in alarm.

"IT LOOKS EVEN BETTER!" Garfiel howled in joy.

"YOU SEE THIS?!" Felt pointed to the screen, "THIS LOOK SO HECKIN' COOL!"

"I…Do see it my lady…" Reinhard replied, awestruck by the plane.

"Eh, knew they would be impressed." Al laughed at everyone's reaction.

"And what does this thing do?" Priscilla, curious, demanded more details from her knight.

"Well, you will soon witness it yourself, princess." He replied, as Priscilla hummed in response.

"Very well, let us see."

The camera looms over it, passing right over its structure, as it slowly puts itself in an angled position with its side facing the ground, where the red lights of the airbase could be seen in the dark plains. On its side, three different sized cannons aimed down to the airbase.

The camera then came quickly closer to the plane, soon changing to the point of view of an operator turning on several switches and looking through a computer screen.

"Oh, we are changing points of view…!" Petra seemed excited.

"I really hope this gives a definite turn to this battle." Despite her worried tone, Frederica was somehow confident that this add on would be a decisive help for Subaru.

"Considering the size, I believe this will be a great help," Ricardo pointed out, "big weapon means big damage."

"I am really interested to see how it works…" Julius mused, showing his interest.

"I think we all are. Even if it definitely looks like a very destructive thing." Anastasia replied with a smirk.

"Going through thermal, targets in sight. let's clear them out." The operator spoke as the screen before him turned black and white, showing human forms glowing in white.

"Beware to not fire at the hangar, friendlies are inside!" Another voice spoke through the radio, which was the pilot.

"Copy, no shots towards the hangar."

"So we are seeing through the eyes of the man in the plane." Wilhelm mused.

"It's their time to shine, probably…" Felix deduced, curious to see what would happen.

"The coloring changed?" The sword saint was lost in his own amazement, "it allows one to see enemies in the dark sky…"

"Yeah! It's like a vision to see in the dark!" Felt told him, "how cool is that?!"

"...I am capable of doing the same, my la-"

"You don't count!" She cut him right through.

"Several heavy vehicles pinning down the hangar, more than a 100 meters of distance, engaging with the 105." A third feminine voice spoke.

"We're going for the boom right away? Copy, 105 set!"

As the operator fires the cannon, the scene changes to show the compound getting leveled by the explosion of the shell, turning a tank and its surroundings to fire and dust while enemy soldiers were running in fear.

"Tango down!" the operator laughed.

"HOLY!" Ricardo coughed in surprise, "WHAT THE HELL?!"

"...May the dragon ever preserve us from having to fight such an enemy…" Reinhard gulped down as he thought about how much destruction could this plane bring if it ever attacked a city in Lugunica.

"IT WAS ABOUT DAMN TIME!" Felt seemed angry, as she pointed at the screen, "Come on! Get big bro outta here!"

"I didn't even know what I was expecting but by the dragon, this is…" Otto instinctively leaned backwards as if he was scared the plane would aim at him with its cannons.

"LET'S GOOOOOO! DESTROY 'EM ALL FLYING BOMB!" Garfiel stood up from his chair, yelling in excitement.

"I suppose I should let him vent out for now…" Frederica watched her little brother with a smile. She felt her own stress go away now that Subaru had this kind of help with him.

Petra seemed relieved as well, as she leaned over Subaru's arm and looked at the events unfold.

"I know you will win now…" She thought.

"It just…" Julius' eyes couldn't look away, his own body paralyzed, "d-destroyed…"

"It took only a matter of a second, and right from above…" Crusch was as shocked as the royal guard, "they had no chance to ever escape it…"

"...This is scarier than I thought…" Anastasia murmured to herself.

Mimi and Tivey couldn't utter a word, trying to recover from the thought of such destruction displayed for them to see.

"I do not feel like I should even be surprised anymore, but…" Emilia sighed tiredly.

"You took your time to come, Subaru-kun got in danger more than necessary because of you!" Rem shook her fist at the screen, blaming the plane for taking too long to come.

It was surprising for everyone how she didn't seem to care about the sheer firepower of it.

Ram exhaled in relief as Subaru finally received help to deal with this battle, and gently squeezed the boy's shoulders with a faint smile.

"You did a good job." She whispered in his ear.

"Wow, I already knew what would happen but it wasn't that violent in my memories." Al seemed amused, "but it's still quite the fireworks."

"Very good…" Priscilla's ruby eyes stared at the screen with deep interest, "go on, I know how to appreciate such performance."

"Scary~" Roswaal smiled wide, "with such firepower at your disposal, your venue in this world would have been so much different I presume?"

Even though Roswaal was speaking to himself in a joking manner, even he couldn't hide the anxiety he had at the thought of Subaru being able to put his hands on such firepower.

As the greatest magician of the Kingdom, he himself displayed powerful capabilities already, one could say, capabilities even stronger than the likes of what he was seeing in this modern warfare.

However, what put a chill down his spine was the capability of such power being brought up by men without any magical attributes. They had reached such destruction, with their minds, hands and technology.

If these people could match the power that Roswaal could after years and years of selective breeding, growing his magical power over and over to the point where he was…Then how much more could they accomplish?

Or, how much more did Roswaal not witness yet?

Adding to that, was the mystery of what these viewings held for Natsuki Subaru.

Maybe, all of this was a warning of some sort. For the likes of Roswaal that would try to go against this boy.

"Against my teacher…" He uttered, no smile present on his face.

"This warden and I, needs to have a talk, I guess~"

"Several troops going for the flank, reloading the 105." The feminine voice replied, "others are still approaching the hangar, too close to friendlies, use the 25mm."

"Understood, 25mm set, engaging infantry."

The scene showed the Russian soldiers tried to run to the hangar getting shredded by the minigun with a loud roar from the sky, preventing other Russians from attempting the same tactic, as they fell back.

"Ah! Now it's their turn!" Ricardo spat out with a hint of bitterness in his voice, "reap what you sow."

"Damn that gotta hurt…" Al grunted, rubbing his shoulder just over where his lost limb was.

"If you ask me this was fast enough to not feel a thing." Felix sighed with his ears down.

"I don't know if I am fine with it nya…"

"They're retreating towards their armored vehicles…Damn these APC'S can reach us with their cannons." The girl sighed.

"Taking control of the 40mm. Engaging infantry."

The scene showed the AC-130 with a frontal view, shooting its canons to the ground, a glowing fire flashing the dark scene switched between the result of the projectile firing from the plane and the plane itself, showing the devastating force of the weapons used, as the enemy troops were sent flying around the tarmac.

"So they either have a weapon which shoots little projectiles, this one which shoots mild blasts, and the third one which causes a massive destruction?" Julius mused aloud, "they have such versatile weaponry…"

"Are you jealous?" Anastasia smirked to her knight.

"Impressed, my lady," Julius looked back at her, "I would need more from these men to be jealous."

"You think you could fight them?" Felix turned towards his friend, "they don't seem that strong nya."

"By themselves, they would be easy to fight if the battle was strictly physical," Julius put a hand on his chin, actually interested in such a question, "however their methods revolve around the use of these weapons firing deadly metallic projectiles…"

"Rather useless against a sword wielder who needs to be so close to strike." Wilhelm continued his thoughts.

"Indeed," Julius nodded in approval, "if speed is the key, perhaps I have my chances. But I do not exclude the great possibility of loss would I ever get hit by any of these projectiles."

"Nevertheless, one hit is all it takes to kill you," Ricardo replied as he poked his head with his finger, "if it gets there, you're done."

"So it's more of a question of who can hit who first…" Tivey thought aloud, "in both cases, one mistake will be a deadly one. I do not expect these people to be able to fight a knight at close range."

"They don't use magic so they'd be done meat." Mimi answered, "but if they bring that thing though…"

Julius, Ricardo, Felix, Tivey, Mimi and Anastasia looked back at the screen, as the gunship kept firing on the ground and destroying the tarmac.

"If they bring that, we're just dead." Ricardo began to laugh, as everyone else agreed with him.

"105 set!"

"Switching to 105, spotting another tank on the side…Firing."

This time the scene didn't change from the operator's view, as the white tank on his screen suddenly turned dark, much like the troops around it.

"Got it."

"What they see in front of them is nothing compared to what they cause every time they fire…" Crusch's hands trembled as she noticed the difference of perspective, "I saw many things worthy of spreading fear through one's mind with these viewings, but this…Is yet another league."

"This world's weaponry is another league on its own, Crusch-sama." Wilhelm contemplated.

"Would we ever have access to these…How would warfare change in our world?" The Duchess pondered.

"It wouldn't change," Wilhelm replied in a grim tone, "no, it would not. We would just make it messier than it already is."

The sword demon was certainly someone who had seen enough battlefields for an entire lifetime. He, more than anyone in this room, would know how bloody and unsettling could one be.

Which is why he was more than legitimate to know that nothing good would come out of men and women of this world having access to even more ways to kill.

So Crusch, while remaining silent, agreed with the sword demon while closing her eyes in respect.

"Several armored vehicles in place, clear them out with the 40mm." the feminine voice advised.

"Copy 40mm engaging armored vehicles."

The scene showed the remaining APC'S and heavy trucks trying to fall back, only to get blown up by the cannons, killing off the rest of the armored reinforcements sent.

"Is…Is this over?" Otto was slack jawed, seeing as all the reinforcements were wiped out in seconds.

"Please, let it be…" Emilia clenched her fist, "there has been enough death for today…"

"It seems like it, there is no one left to attack." Julius replied.

"Yeah, I think it would be really wild if some of them still decided to fight after witnessing that." Ricardo scoffed as he nodded his head.

"I still see some of them right there," Felt pointed out the white dots going away from the hangar, "but it looks like they're running away."

"One should know when a fight is unwinnable," Wilhelm nodded his head, "even if a soldier is told to fight to the bitter end, there are more honorable ways to go than being killed so easily and uselessly…"

"Agreed. If they have to die, t'least they should die fightin'," Garfiel crossed his arms, "but hell, if they died now it would just be in vain."

"I'm glad we all agree that sometimes you gotta avoid fighting what can blow you up without effort," Al seemed unamused, as if everyone forgot that sometimes people have a will to live.

"The compound is cleared of any armored vehicles, leftovers are running away. We can finish them off with the 25mm or…"

"Negative, they know they lost," Subaru sighed through the radio, "good firing."

"It seems like Subaru had enough for today as well," Emilia whispered, "good…This is good."

Hearing him say that they should spare the remaining combatants showed her once more that he didn't fully transform into a merciless soldier, which Emilia was more than happy to see.

She needed these moments, as meager as they were, to remember that her Subaru, her knight, was still somewhere under the appearance of such a brutal man.

This is what she was clinging on so she could still be able to look at her knight, the one in this room, in his eyes once he wakes up.

"So…The fight is finally over?" Frederica seemed happy, holding a hand on her heart, "thanks goodness…"

"Thank you, Subaru." Reinhard discreetly bowed his head to his friend, thanking him for his mercy over his enemies.

"What is this? Did I just hear you compliment us?! You got over it?!" the operator seemed to be overjoyed.

The scene switched to Subaru with a deadpan face, showing how covered in dust and dirt he was, "Exactly, right as you shot the enemies this time! What a coincidence, am I right?"

"This guy's so fucking stubborn, on God!" the operator laughed in the radio, which made Subaru chuckle as well.

"I mean I can't really blame him for that one." The woman replied with an understanding voice.

"...No way…" Otto widened his eyes, "he has issues with them because they fired AT him?!"

"So they nearly killed capn'?!" Garfiel seemed outraged, "what the hell?!"

"Subaru could have died by thi-" Rem bit her tongue, remembering how brutal was the death of those who died by that plane.

"Tch, incompetence reigns around, I see." Ram had a threatening glare as she heard the reason, thinking of how she would punish the people in the gunship.

Emilia grimaced at what she heard, feeling like she wanted to hug her knight at the thought of him being turned to dust by one of these cannons.

"You stupid, useless, disgusting people, in fact!" Beatrice yelled in outraged, "how could you even confuse the enemy with Betty's Subaru?!"

"Now this explains a lot nya!" Felix seemed scared as well, fearing for the worst.

"And here I thought their quarrel was something stupid and trivial…" Crusch held a hand on her forehead, "it actually makes lots of sense."

However, as everyone processed the thought of the gunship mistakenly killing Subaru because of a misfire, one person in the whole theater burst into laughter.

Unable to stop herself, laughing so loudly that she had to hold her stomach, she simply couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"And to think that from this world to the other, this boy constantly has to be careful of his enemies AND allies!" Priscilla wiped a tear off her left eye with her finger, "How ironic!"

The entire Emilia camp stared at the crimson princess. Some in anger, others in shame.

"And to hear you all admonish these people for nearly killing the boy," she abruptly stopped laughing, taking a much more condescending stare towards the front row, "how could you ever look at yourself in the mirror, and see a being deserving to live, I wonder?"

"Don't start again!" Felt immediately threw back at her, "we get it! You don't need to add anything to that!"

"Oh, but I will," Priscilla elevated her voice even more, "it is important for all of you to remember that you have no right to criticize anyone for a result they didn't reach, when you managed to do far worse to him."

The theater fell into silence for a brief moment, none in the Emilia camp managing to speak as they were too busy looking down in shame or holding back their tears.

"Enough," The Duchess spoke in a strict, angered tone, "we understand, Barielle. But it is enough."

"Is it now, Karsten?" Priscilla narrowed her eyes to the verdant-haired woman.

"Yeah, I kinda agree." Anastasia looked up to the crimson princess as well, "we're all kinda on edge after that viewing. Would be better if you didn't stir up anythin', right?"

"For everyone and for you, too." Felt stood up as well, tapping the shoulder of her knight to warn Priscilla, "Remember that in this room, what happens ain't the matter of the kingdom. If you're against everyone, then everyone will be against you here and on the other side."

"I am truly quivering on my seat," Priscilla scoffed as she leaned on her hand in boredom, "have you learned to threaten people at the same place you learned how to dress in such a way?"

While she felt her anger rise at her words, the little princess was surely reminded to not go too far by her knight, grabbing her hand as he shook his head.

It was not his way of preventing her from lashing out. Rather, Reinhard was telling his lady that she needed not to waste time on that woman.

So she simply turned around back to the screen, and soon after the others had followed, leaving Priscilla with a sense of satisfaction, for this time.

"Sage, the tarmac is cleared from hostiles. We're heading off. Good hunting for the rest, over." The pilot spoke through the radio.

"Thanks for the help Wildfire, won't forget it, over."

The scene switched to show the gunship flying away while the tarmac is filled with cheers of victory from the militia, as Subaru, Farah and Hadir are walking out side by side.

"So you do kill Russians…" Hadir laughed.

"Only the bad ones." Subaru replied, stopping for a moment to look at all the devastation and death looming over the airbase.

"...Oh…" Frederica watched with eyes full of sorrow.

"Such is war," Wilhelm shook his head, "the aftermath of a battle is sometimes as troubling to live than the battle itself."

"May they all rest in peace." Reinhard bowed his head in respect.

"Even those who fought against Subaru?" Petra titled her head towards the sword saint.

"Perhaps they deserved to die, perhaps they never asked to be here in the first place…" Reinhard replied with a sad smile, "I am unable to know. But there is never a good reason to not respect the dead, I believe."

"They're dead anyways, nothing they can do anymore even if they were evil before." Felt continued his thoughts, her arms crossed.

"هذا هو ثمن الحرية ،" (Such is the price of freedom,) Farah spoke with a solemn voice, "ما أخذ بالقوة لا يسترد إلا بالقوة". (what was taken by force, will only be retrieved by force.)

"إنهم يمزقون فقط ما يزرعونه ، بعد كل شيء". (They only rip what they sow, after all.) Hadir spat on the ground, showing no respect for his enemies.

"Those words are as wise as they are true," Crusch acknowledged Farah's words, "there is no sympathy to expect from those you have wronged and robbed."

"Absolutely nya! I will not cry for any of these people!" Felix barked as he remembered the Russian's actions in the last viewings.

"This was meant to happen, I believe," Wilhelm contemplated, "no army can never beat the willpower of a whole people."

"Yeah, they had it coming no matter what." Felt nodded her head.

"Yup, bad stuff happens to bad guys, that's the way it is." Al snorted.

"Conquest goes both ways, and the weak always bows to the strong…" Priscilla whispered from behind her fan, "you have failed to uphold your power, and now, you are at the mercy of those who took the sword from your hands…"

"So now…" Farah turned to Subaru, ready to talk about his part of the deal, but Subaru cut her off.

"Now we bury our dead. We will talk about the rest tomorrow." Farah was surprised to hear that from Subaru, who didn't take his gaze off the result of their assault. She understood however, with a simple look in his battle-hardened eyes, that he couldn't be more serious.

"…You are right," Farah shook her head while acknowledging Subaru's words, "ليغفر الله تسرعي". (May God forgive my hastiness.)

"...I doubted it as I watched you over all these actions of yours but…" Emilia smiled as tears fell from her eyes, "you hate this, don't you?"

She looked at Subaru in the front row with a look of care and understanding that she didn't hold for a while towards her knight.

"You hate all of this as much as I do…" She whispered, "but you keep carrying on, because…"

She didn't finish her sentence, as she couldn't stop her emotions and guilt from taking her over. But these words were most obvious after all.

"Beyond the armor of every warrior, is a man," Crusch smiled at what Subaru had said, "thank you, Subaru…For remaining who you are."

Reinhard, Julius, Otto and Garfiel all smiled in genuine respect and couldn't possibly describe how glad they were that they could still recognize their friend even under such special circumstances.

"I wonder what is this 'God' they sometimes refer to," Felt pondered, speaking out her thoughts, "this is not the first time they refer to it."

"I wondered about that too," Felix twitched his ears in curiosity, "they don't seem to be worshiping a dragon like us, or multiple deities. But they call upon it in dire times nya."

"So this God of theirs is also a synonym of protection?" Frederica mused, "I see…We might not be so much different…"

"At least not on a cultural side." Otto replied to her.

From the other side, another group of rebels showed themselves at the base, which were Asma, Yasin and their team.

"Yasin! Asma, you survived!" Farah exclaimed in relief.

"They're alive!" Felt shouted in glee.

"Another good news…" Reinhard smiled in relief.

"Their help was detrimental to this victory…It is good that they may witness it." Wilhelm smiled as well, happy about what he was seeing.

"سوف تحتاج إلى أكثر من ذلك لإنزالتي ، يا أختي". (You would need more than that to take me down, sister.) Asma smiled while hugging Farah.

"This is it…This is our victory!" Yasin sighed in relief.

"This is only the first step…" Farah corrected him, "but a great step nonetheless…Come, we still have work to do."

"أعتقد أننا مدينون لك بهذا النصر ، يا حلو. شكرا لمساعدتك." (I believe we owe you this victory, cutie. Thanks for your help.) Asma smiled at him before following Farah, to which Subaru only gave a nod of his head.

"Why is she even calling me that?"

"UGH, COME ON MAN!" Ricardo gestured towards the screen in annoyance, "how the hell can you be so blind?!"

"I wonder how he became so dense?" Rem tilted her head, tugging Subaru's clothes, "Subaru-kun doesn't seem that unaware of Rem's feelings…"

"No, Rem. He absolutely was," Ram corrected her sister, "it changed when you conveyed your feelings to him."

Rem widened her eyes with a blush on her face, but quickly pouted back at Subaru.

"Rem should have made you notice it sooner…" She whispered as she poked his cheek.

"I will never understand how capn' does it." Garfiel shook his head.

"Me neither…" Otto sulked in his seat, "me neither…"

Emilia and Crusch closed their eyes in annoyance, trying to ignore what they had just heard from Asma, while Priscilla stared at the screen with a bored look.

Contrary to the two other candidates, she didn't care much. She knew what would be the final outcome, after all.

"Today is great victory for Urzikstan…And Asma is right, we owe it to you!" Hadir said as he put his hand on Subaru's shoulder, "thank you, brother…"

"We make a good team, it was a pleasure to give a hand." Subaru smiled back at him, but glanced back to the tarmac, "but Barkov will retaliate."

Hadir nodded his head. His eyes showed his ire of determination, "And so will we, brother…So will we."

The screen then faded black.

"Aaaaah, this was so intense!" Otto held his hands on his face, relieved for this viewing to finally being over, "my heart couldn't handle more of that!"

"It was so scary, but so cool at the same time! And capn'! Capn! was the coolest!" Garfiel recalled the events, shaking in his seat like an over-excited fan, "remember when he kicked the grenade?! Or when he threw the bottle in the helicopter?!"

"I was right beside you the entire thing, Garf…And it happened literally some minutes ago!" Otto grimaced at his friend, who suddenly grabbed him by the shoulders.

"But it was so cool wasn't it?!"

Frederica finally relaxed in her seat as well, even though she was one of those who didn't feel like she should worry too much about Subaru in these viewings, she wasn't immune to such a wild cumul of events and brutal warfare.

Petra leaned against Subaru with a sigh of relief, still amazed by the battle that the one she so admired had just fought restlessly. She too, had never doubted his capacity to bring victory, even though it didn't mean that she would shy away from scolding him if he ever did anything close to that in front of her.

Ram closed her eyes as she ruffled the hair of Subaru, relieved that he got out of this battle unscathed, but also that he managed to bring victory to the righteous people.

Truth be told, Ram wasn't the one to really care much about the results of a battle that didn't concern her more than that. People living or dying, so much as they weren't those she considered close to herself, was meaningless.

But as far as she knew, Subaru would always fight for the cause of the people that deserved it the most, and his battles were on the contrary full of meaning.

In conclusion, if Subaru would fight for a cause, Ram thought that she would support it as well. At least, so long as no one else she cared about would go against it.

"You put yourself in needless danger multiple times, I suppose." Beatrice fell against her contractor, "you scared Betty a lot, and even made her cry a bit."

Beatrice squeezed her contractor's tracksuit as she rested her head against his chest, closing her eyes as if to take a nap.

"Betty will make you apologize a thousand times, in fact. With lots of hugs, and snuggles I suppose."

"You did good, my hero…" Rem uttered as she snuggled closer to Subaru's side, "I am very proud of you."

Rem's heart was under pressure during this entire viewing, but to see the one she held in such high regards in her heart triumph over his enemies would always bring a smile to her face.

"He did it! Big bro did it!" Felt was relieved, feeling like she could jump in joy at the conclusion of this viewing, "he beat them all back, and took all the wins!"

"A very pleasant sight to see, my lady," Reinhard agreed with a hand on his chest, "Subaru certainly fought valiantly to bring victory to these people."

"He fought more than valiantly!" Felt turned towards her knight with excitement in her eyes, "he was badass, Reinnhard! B-A-D-A-S-S!"

"I…Am sure you are right, my lady." Reinhard replied with an uneasy smile, not sure if he knew what that word meant.

"Damn, I really didn't know he had that in him! But the more I see these viewings, the more he seems to be far more than we ever knew…" Felt's smile slowly faded away, as she was gradually lost in her thoughts.

"My lady?"

"I was wondering…What if there is far more that we didn't know about big bro? We still don't know what this all is about, but…" Felt winced as she turned towards her knight, "maybe…maybe we are seeing this as a warning…?"

"A warning?" Reinhard repeated, trying to understand.

"Yeah…As if to tell of something that will happen…And something we could…" Felt's tone seemed more and more unsure, "like, prevent?"

"..." Reinhard blinked several times, slowly beginning to understand what she meant by that.

"If there is anything of the sort, Felt-sama…" He assured his master with a confident tone, "we will do whatever we can, to prevent it."

Felt looked in her knight's eyes and began to smile again, "yeah, you're right! That we will!"

Ricardo kept smiling as he rubbed the head of the twins, all happy to know this viewing ended in a victory for Subaru.

"This is most certainly but the beginning," Wilhelm pondered, "We may face more. Things perhaps even more stressful than this."

"I believe we most definitely will, Wilhelm-dono." Crusch replied with a smile, "but at least, let us enjoy this moment of relief, knowing that Natsuki Subaru has brought victory to his side."

"These moments should be enjoyed as much as possible nya, this only lasts until the next battle starts…" Felix sighed as he leaned in his chair.

"But I hope that…He gets a bit more of a break now…" Emilia hesitated, breathing out with a hand on her chest in worry, "even if he has to fight more, he needs to rest his mind more than one night."

"I am sure they will have due rest, Emilia-sama," Crusch put a hand on the half-elf's shoulder, unsure if she had the right to do so, "they…They seem to be used to what a battlefield is like."

"Mhm…But even if they are, Subaru is reeeeaaaally stubborn, you know?" She replied with a meek smile, "if you don't tell him to rest, he will just continue working until he tires himself up too much."

"...I see," Crusch smiled back at the elven princess, but as she saw Emilia smiling as well, the Duchess began to feel ashamed.

Emilia was still holding close friendship bonds with her, but Crusch was the woman who for a brief moment, felt animosity towards this woman over her own selfish reasons.

More than feeling guilty, she felt disgusted. Of her own self and her own hypocrisy.

Why did she even hold these thoughts towards Emilia in the first place? Aren't they allies? Or rather, aren't they friends?

Between all the people in this room aside from her own camp members,Crush should be the closest to the elven princess and the boy, so why?

It took an instant for her to realize that Crusch had failed the first and foremost lesson taught to anyone who ever decides to wield a weapon.

"The one who holds a sword should always master his emotions before mastering his weapon…" She whispered to herself, feeling more and more ashamed.

"Crusch-sama?" Emilia brought the Duchess out of her thoughts, who lifted her head as soon as she heard her name.

"No…I'm sorry, Emilia-sama," Crusch smiled uneasily, "I was lost in my thoughts for an instant."

"Ah, I see!" Emilia smiled once more.

"Now wasn't this really interesting~?" Roswaal tapped his lips with his finger, "I certainly learned a lot from this! However…"

Roswaal looked up at the ceiling as if there was someone to look at up there, "I wonder when you will show up again, dear warden~? I surely hope you would have told us the best way to contact you and have a little chat."

"Well, it surely was eventful!" Al stretched his only arm up as he turned towards Priscilla, "what did you think, princess?"

"I am very pleased," Priscilla closed her fan shut in one gesture, smiling wide in satisfaction, "this viewing was informative, interesting, and very entertaining. I surely wish more of these were as fascinating than this one."

"You're just talking about how the plane obliterated the compound or…?"

"More than that, Al. Way more than that," She glanced at him, "the boy displaying his skills, the leadership of their general, the languages spoken, and the way this fight was so originally lead and won…All of these are worth remembering."

"I see, so your type of thing is epicness…Good to know!" Al snorted as Priscilla raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Nevertheless, now I wonder what is next?" Priscilla stood up from her seat, "what more will you show me?"

"So…What did you think of all this?" Anastasia turned towards her knight with a smirk.

"..." Julius stared at Anastasia without a word spoken.

For someone who had to be by her side at all times, he knew her enough to tell how she felt just by a simple look over her face, and now he could see that Anastasia, behind that smile of hers, was feeling unwell.

"My lady…" Julius whispered, making his worry known to the merchant princess.

"...I guess it's useless to hide to ya," she sighed, not letting go of her smile as she directed her gaze towards the screen.

"That thing, Julius…It kinda scares me."

"...I understand why, my lady. But rest assured, such things are far from our reach."

"You sure about that?" She glanced at him, "I think we should worry."

"And why is that?" He asked. To find the appropriate words to reassure her, he needed to know what she had in mind first.

Anastasia sunk in her chair, her eyes fixed at the screen as she calmly took her time to speak.

"Don't ya think these viewings could be a warning?" She whispered, "a way to tell us…That with everythin' we did to Natsuki-kun, somethin' is coming?"

"My lady, I do not believe Subaru holds any grudge towards us enough to launch such a destructive retribution…" He replied with assurance in his eyes, remembering the gunship very well.

Julius knew Subaru. At least, he hoped he knew him enough, to know that his heart was at the right place when it came to him, his mistress and everyone else in this room.

"Really?" Anastasia scoffed, "you remember what we saw when we first came into this room?"

"...Do you mean…" Julius tried to act as if he didn't understand immediately, hoping it was not what Anastasia was talking about.

"We saw him die, quite brutally I'd add, by the people in this room," she spoke in a very uneasy voice, even though she kept smiling, "we saw him being tortured by those so close to him…And we even saw how we all wronged him in a way or another."

"..."

"So yeah, I think we should worry…" Anastasia closed her eyes, "because as far as I'm concerned, we still don't know what these viewings are about, but if these people care as much about Natsuki-kun to send a flying metallic weapon as powerful as the sword saint to keep him alive…"

She then looked up to Julius with eyes reflecting her fear. And he, trembled as he understood.

"Then what would they send, if they ever knew what we did to him?"