Chapter 20: defense! A Subaru power showcase!
Author's note: and so, the break is over. Now, the grind starts again. Short chapter, kind of not that proud of it, but I was off of writing for a month, so I think it's excusable, but the next one will be of normal length.
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Far away. Far from a certain homebound group, a half-elf and his troops fired off magic with deadly accuracy. Each struck a target, killing it, and even if the projectiles did not, just striking the ground caused a chain reaction that would ripple across the battlefield in devastating waves.
Animal limbs, torsos, and heads were strewn in all directions, some cut cleanly off by wind magic, others broken off from their structurally weak points due to freezing and crystallization. Chunks of flesh dyed the air with their smell as they were carried by wind in the midst of turning to ash, making it hard to breath, almost solidifying the air into a tangible mass.
As of this moment, the horde had finally begun thinning out. To the point that from where they were standing, all of those one the ramparts could make out the edge of the mob through thin breaks in the tree line.
When the first person pointed this out, cheers resounded in triumph, only for a quick reprimand from the ex-oni chief to silence them. But even then, their happiness was not quenched in the slightest, rather it was intensified into a powerful determination.
They wanted to finish this, to have the feeling knowing they saved so many from the fate of being overrun, and all the glory that comes with it. Subaru, being no stranger to that feeling either, yearned for not even a single casualty, believing it would be the only thing to make victory that much sweeter. He fired magic attacks in anticipation of the end, all at faster intervals to decimate dozens of mabeasts per volley of purple crystals.
He believed that there was no chance of any deaths occurring. Everyone will get to go home to their families and friends, receiving nothing but praise from everyone around for their service. After all, no reports came in saying that there was a flanking maneuver around town, from any of the guardsmen posted around the perimeter.
It could only mean smooth sailing from here, or so thought Subaru.
Suddenly a massive bang shocked the entire group, ending their focus on the mabeast horde, along with any celebration they might have had. It happened so suddenly that it took a couple of moments for everyone to comprehend what had occurred.
Everyone stared in shock as a massive boulder had suddenly appeared on the ramparts, one with a diameter of twice the width of the wall itself with a perfectly smooth surface. The next thing that was looked at was not the boulder, but a pair of legs jutting out from under its massive weight, a puddle of blood pooling quickly underneath it.
Subaru's thinking was stagnant, his belief that no one would perish was proven foolish. A surge of anger went through him, a burning hot rage that could scorch a person should it take physical form. There, three people had taken up the fight to protect this town.
Now, all there was is a massive stone, that which had blood steadily flowing from beneath it. Subaru looked around him to see the reaction of the others, coming to a shocked conclusion when all he saw were faces that had veered their eyes in guilty silence.
After all, why would they take the time to mourn the loss of their comrades' life when the enemy is still near? Subaru's anger became much more intense as he came to understand, and even agree, with that thought, this time at himself for being so hung up on death, even when he has seen it multiple times, even when the alien feeling of watching someone die came to him again and again over the long period of time he chased the devil's cult.
Why does he have that feeling now of all times? It was because of responsibility. He was meant to protect them, just as he was meant to protect the town, not to mention that was the place they were part of to begin with.
As he bashed himself for that thought, a hand tapped the top of his shoulder, a voice raised in tandem, which stirred him within a spiraling mindset. He turned around in surprise, finding the person who had begun speaking.
"Barusu."
The voice came from Ram, who upon looking at his face, could almost read his thoughts. "We can mourn them later, Barusu. But now, we must keep fighting and minimize our casualties."
'We can mourn them later…' That phrase angered Subaru, even when he knew that is what he should be doing, he still can't stop getting angry about being unable to protect them, all because his attention got cut short.
"Minimize our casualties..?" Subaru looked at the maid, his eyes holding a look of anger, not at her but at the cause of the casualties. And after looking into her ever listless pupils, he spat in a low voice."There shouldn't be any casualties in the first place! I said that I wouldn't let anyone die, does this look like I've kept that promise!?"
"No." Ram's emotionless voice shot down Subaru's attempt at receiving any form of supportive speech. This one word carved a scar into Subaru, hitting him like a punch, but regardless of the flinch her response elicited, Ram continued anyway. "You didn't keep your promise, even if it was meaningless."
"What do you mean meaningless?"
"It is meaningless, not because you were incapable of protecting, but because no one required that promise to fight for you in the first place. They all decided to protect this town of their own volition, at least that is true for those who aren't tempted with money. They knew there was the chance of them dying, so why are you pinning the blame onto yourself?"
"Because I made a promise, is it not obvious? I can't let anyone die."
"You can say that, and I won't speak against it, but that is different from what I speak. What I'm saying is that you should trust others to not need your protection at all times. They have that responsibility to do so for themselves, and you have one to continue leading them. Your ineptness always amazes me, that you are always unable to learn how to live with the wills of other people, even when that answer has been given to you multiple times."
"Truly, what did Roswaal-sama think when he put you in charge..?" she added after giving Subaru a swift head turn.
Subaru pondered what Ram just said, finding nary a fault in her words. She hit the nail on the head perfectly, making Subaru notice the way he looks at others. He sees them as people who must be protected at all times, to never even have the chance of coming into danger.
He does not respect how the world works, how dangerous it is. He believes that as long as he is around to protect the people, that harm will never come their way. But, he can never predict the unexpected, and when the unexpected happens, he blames himself.
Even after one hundred years, I have never been able to believe in anyone other than myself, because I can't let anything happen to anyone. Subaru knew that was always the truth, that he will never be able to keep everyone safe, but he could never not try.
Suddenly, a whirring sound could be heard in the distance. One that could only belong to a large, heavy object traveling at a high speed. It soared from deep with the forest in an arc, a giant boulder with a perfectly smooth surface.
It flew high over the mabeasts, aiming straight for the idle Subaru and Ram. However, Subaru had been on guard the whole time, having learned his lesson. He swung his left arm to the side, using the elven strength he was born with to punch the boulder into smithereens. A gust of wind carried by its drag fluttered his long hair like a flag in the wind.
"Ram," he began to announce. "Thanks. I'll continue to fight, in fact, I'm going to end this right here and now."
"Hah… you always amaze me by how flippant you are." Ram closed her eyes and sighed. What was his current train of thought? Her need to know wrenched her eyes open, leading them to Subaru's.
To Ram's surprise, Subaru's eyes were not ones of someone who was given relief, but more like the glare of a person who was given a clear path to take. His anger did not abate, but it was transformed into resolve.
"Barusu, don't let them down." she relented, and Subaru nodded in response, then turned his head to look out to where the boulders had emerged from, finding that another handful were launched towards the wall's position.
Upon that instance of Subaru predicting their flight path, he took a step, releasing a wave of air pressure and launching himself up to meet them. He pulled back a right hand, turning it into a fist and preparing to unleash a single high velocity blow.
"[mana infused fist]!" Subaru chanted the name of his original spell, wrapping his closed hand in a coat of black flame. He waited to unleash the attack until he got close to the leading boulder, and when he was, he uncurled his arm to slam his fist into the stone.
From an outside view, it would look like the boulder was unscathed, that the attack didn't even leave a dent. However, that couldn't be further from the truth. Subaru's attack, rather than using mana to create an impact on the boulder's surface, injected mana directly into its core, overloading it with pressure and causing debris to blast from the back like a shotgun.
That debris became infected by ying mana, turning them to crystals which became planted into the next flying boulder. Shadow mana spread over the surface of it, causing another explosion that struck the next boulder and the next in a chain reaction.
After all the boulders have been intercepted, Subaru began sending all the mana infected rocks down with a wave of his hand, right into the unsuspecting mabeast horde. What unfolded next was wide scale destruction, which erupted the very earth.
Subaru turned around, looking deep into the forest to catch a boulder being propelled upwards from the trees. Within a moment, Subaru did not waste time, rushing to where the boulder was and destroying it with a single blow.
As the fragments of stone separated like a curtain to reveal the ground below, Subaru could see an unnatural glow emanating from within the trees under him. It was a yellow tinged sight of splendor, a grand spotlight of sparkling prominence, and, above all, it was where Subaru's target was.
I've found you! Subaru rocketed downwards, headfirst then flipping and landing on both his feet with a crash, cracking the ground on impact. He looked around for where the person responsible for this was, only to be surprised upon looking at where his foot was standing and the sound caused by such.
"Uff! Uff! Rgrrrr…" the sound came from a small dog with a bald patch on its head, growling because Subaru slammed down right onto its small tail with his right foot. Before Subaru could react and lift it though, the dog ripped its own tail off and threw itself onto the ground in a roll.
Subaru stood still, reactionless as the dog pulled itself back up, lowering itself into a fighting stance with bared teeth. He felt the mana in the air being depleted, and a second later the creature began to have a yellow glow around it yet again.
"So," Subaru spoke in a low voice. "You are the one who is responsible." the way he spoke, with ice cold intimidation that would make a person shiver, fell on deaf ears. Instead of getting a clear reply, the dog began undergoing a transformation.
Its entire bone structure changed in seconds, growing much larger in size, muscle, and maturity. Its puppy teeth were replaced with viscous fangs, and the bald patch on its head grew a large horn the size of its snout. The small dog from before was a mabeast in disguise, compressing itself into a less intimidating form.
Subaru thought of this as quite surprising, so he couldn't help but comment on it:
"You know, I never saw a mabeast use magic before. It truly is a shame that such a gift was granted to something so deplorable." As Subaru said this, red glowing eyes began to emerge from all around him, creeping in closer.
They all poked their heads out from the shrubbery, making a non-verbal announcement that Subaru was surrounded from all sides. They were all crouched, waiting for a signal to pile onto their quarry. However, this is where it ends for them.
"Like I'll ever let myself get caught by something like this. Ul Murak!" Subaru raised a hand to the sky, starting a devastating attack before anything else could even make the first move.
All the mabeasts were yanked from the ground then lifted high into the sky, so high that they had a clear view of the town square of Arlam. They floated in suspense, struggling to free themselves from their weightlessness, writhing in confusion.
After a few moments to gain more altitude, Subaru had decided to cut off all of the mana going into the spell. The pipeline of mana becoming dry caused all of the potential energy that the Ulgarm gathered to become kinetic. All fell with a whistling sound, crashing to the ground in a spray of blood, layering the ground in a red paint.
"Well, it's not like I expected much of a fight to begin with. After all, they are among the weakest types. But you…" Subaru spoke, noting the incredibly weak magic resistance of the mabeasts. All of them were slaughtered by him with ease, unable to break their fall, the only option being to accept their deaths.
There was only one who did not succumb to Subaru's expertise, who managed to prevent a fall at his hands. The giant Ulgarm survived, using earth magic to wrap its feet in stone to tether itself down. It used its intelligence to stay alive just a little bit longer.
But, Subaru won't stop because of that, he has many other techniques under his belt, many that can kill just as easily as the last. "If I can't throw you up and make you fall, then how about I knock you down into the ground. Ul Vita!" Subaru channeled his mana, creating another gravity field. This time however, he changed it to go the opposite direction.
"Two times the world's gravity." With that sentence, the gravity of the area around Subaru began to get heavier. Plants with thin stalks were being bent. Trees, which are supposed to be the sturdiest of all, began experiencing distortion at the base of the trunk due to the weight increase.
The mabeast, which was the target of this attack, was stressing its muscles to keep itself standing upright. It growled in a growing rage, then glowed with a yellow aura upon using its mana. It shot a stone spear that emerged from the earth, aiming to impale Subaru like a head stuck on a pike. However, he simply held out his palm facing forward, then let the spear crumble to pieces upon contacting his hand.
Subaru thought that this creature could not die any slower, opting to increase the pressure to expedite the process. "Five times the world's gravity." The world within his range became heavier yet again. The trees, which were already succumbing to the change in weight, snapped to splinters.
The mabeast, which was barely resisting beforehand, now fell into the ground unable to pull itself up. Its bones creaked, pain shooting across its body from the strain. Subaru did not stop though, instead increasing the pressure even more.
"Twenty times the world's gravity." With another increase in weight, bones snapped to shards that poked out of the giant Ulgarm's skin, its eyes popped out with ease and fell dangling from their stalks. The bodies of the smaller subordinates turned to mush, seeping into the dirt to leave nothing left.
That was still not enough. Subaru still remembers the lives lost because of this monster, increasing his anger, and how far he is willing to go.
"two hundred times the world's gravity." The result of this change happened in an instant. Everything around Subaru had disappeared, crushed down to atoms, leaving nothing in the area of effect other than a perfectly flat clearing of hard-packed stone. All life and fluids vanished, all except for the doer, who stood, immune to his own sorceries.
Subaru had not experienced the effect of the spell itself, but he still noticed how heavy and compact the air is, and had an issue drawing breath. Because of this, Subaru let go of his grip on gravity, letting the air pressure return to normal. He tested the ground with fake steps, finding that it was hard, dry, and perfectly smooth, like the dining hall of the mansion.
"The magic has been taken care of, but I still need to go back and make sure they were able to finish the rest off." Subaru mused, then began floating and shot himself up like a bullet towards the ramparts of Arlam.
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Subaru soared, thrown around by wind like a feather due to being weightless but still making his way in the desired direction. He flipped around midair so that his feet could point down, giving him an easy way to land, then thrust his feet down and made contact with the ground while reducing his weight.
Upon doing so, the people who were standing there flocked towards him like fish to their food. They all had looks of triumph painted on their faces, so much so that Subaru does not even need to check if they finished the horde off, he believed they did.
"Subaru-sama, we finally did it!" A person yelled from the crowd of soldiers, as happy as can be after hours of grueling mana drain, prompting another to speak up as well. "It was all because Ram-sama wiped them out with a single blow!" This caused everyone to begin piling on their own praise for the respective maid, more so from the oni rather than the mercenaries.
"Alright, alright, let's all calm down." Subaru tried to get the people so dazzled by Ram to lower their excitement. Once they did, he cleared his throat to begin a final monologue, flagging the end of their fight.
"Everyone, as you all saw, we have done it. This giant feat that we thought was impossible, the enemy force that outnumbered us thousands to one, we achieved the impossible by defeating it. Be proud of yourselves. To the people who are not affiliated with this town, but still chose to help, you will receive your rewards soon, after things have been sorted. To the guardsmen and oni who used their strength to help defend our home, you all have my sincere thanks."
After he said this, the mercenaries all celebrated among themselves, congratulating each other on being rewarded. The oni and guards did not do that, instead, they bowed, promising to still pledge themselves to Subaru.
And yet, there were still some who were not addressed.
"And… to those who died, you have my sincerest apologies." Subaru made a final statement, not saying it out loud, but more at himself. He lost his span of attention, leading to tragedy. He couldn't be anymore sorry.
"Subaru." Suddenly a voice appeared behind him along with a new presence. He turned around, finding that the person speaking to him was short.
"Beatrice?" Subaru exclaimed upon peering down to identify the person that just teleported. His surprise abated, now replaced with questions he wanted to ask her. Beatrice said that she would come back after helping Puck with something, so this must mean that it must be over.
"What happened, did you finish helping Puck?" Subaru asked the question.
"Yes, I suppose. But it wasn't a quick fight." Beatrice's words caused a spark in Subaru's brain, which led him to frantically ask the spirit what had happened. The question caused Beatrice to raise an eyebrow, she sighed and wiped some dust off of her dress before addressing it.
"Betty fought someone? Well, yes. Bubby asked for my help fighting a sin archbishop, and I can't just say no, in fact." Subaru's nerve shattered, but Beatrice viewed it to be nothing more than a hassle, so she sighed again.
Before Subaru could sputter out another question, she interrupted him again. "If Betty told her contractor, he would have left his post to help her, in fact. It would make you look irresponsible."
Beatrice knew Subaru would act like this, and now, she had a long explanation ahead of her to make.
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Author's note: bit of a short chapter, but that's because there really wasn't much that I could think of. Next chapter, like I said, is from Puck's POV, where there will be a big battle going on. It starts a little bit before this chapter, around twenty minutes before the conclusion of Emilia's POV. Hope you liked this one and I'll see you at the final climax.
