The Liphas Highway.
Subaru Natsuki and Rem sat atop their borrowed steed with their enemy directly in front of them.
The White Whale. The mabeast that stalked the mists and had taken an immeasurable amount of lives over the past 400 years, was now stuck horn-first into the ground with a huge, winged demon immolated in flamed standing atop its head.
Subaru Natsuki found it to be rather ironic that he was now teaming up with someone who took his title from one of the Seven Deadly Sins. The person he wanted to kill most in the world, quite interestingly did the same. But, he could tell with a single glance that Evil Lord Wrath was definitely not the same kind of person as that green-haired madman.
"Demiurge has already informed me of the situation. We are to slay this creature as soon as possible. That is your goal, isn't it?"
Without hesitation, Subaru nodded in response. "Destroying this thing is why we're here."
For a reason Subaru did not understand, Evil Lord Wrath's cruel smile seemed to grow wider, as if something the Japanese teen had said pleased him. "Destroy? Not defeat?"
"I understand." No further words than that needed to be exchanged for their introduction.
Beneath Wrath's feet, the downed White Whale flailed around uselessly, attempting to free itself from the ground. Its body writhed, angry that it had been driven out of the sky, angry that it had been harmed by these unfamiliar strangers. It desired to lash out and attack, but was prevented from doing so.
"Continue to struggle. Because you will not be granted a peaceful death." Though Wrath did not race his voice, every word was laced with malevolence. But his aggression was shown just seconds later as he stomped one of his huge feet down onto the Whale's head, sending waves of pain shooting through every fiber of the mabeast's body!
"Wrath-Guy! We can't let the Whale get back into the sky! Let's hammer him as much as possible while we've got him stuck! Pour on the pain!" Subaru thrust a fist into the air, wanting to deal as much damage as humanely possible while they had the White Whale on their turf. Despite noticing that the Evil Lord was a winged creature, and riding atop a flight-capable Inferno Stallion, there was a reason he wanted to do things this way.
He wanted the White Whale to suffer. To scream in agony in an unfamiliar situation, not knowing how, or why it had ended up this way. Just the same way as it had done to towns, travelers, and Rem.
The same way undead had a natural desire to harm living beings, demons had a very similar inclination to causing suffering in as many ways as possible. Which was exactly why Evil Lord Wrath needed no second reminder when the human boy told him to go on the offensive. Though he would usually never listen to an inferior lifeform, especially a human, he had been specifically instructed to assist Subaru Natsuki in any way possible.
Leaping off the creature's head, Wrath descended down and landed a hard fist straight into the Whale's underside, the massive blow threatening to impale the mabeast right there! The impact from the punch was so strong that it produced a shockwave that could be felt throughout the area.
Yet again, the Whale moaned in pain that it did not understand.
The White Whale, just as its name implied, was covered all in white body hairs that sprouted from a hide that resembled roughly chiseled bedrock. The pectoral fins extended from the
underbelly like dangerous scythes, with the smaller dorsal and caudal fins shaped similarly.
Setting aside the disparity in savagery, the shape of the White Whale very much resembled that of the whales Subaru knew—but its size betrayed his expectations twice over. As far as Subaru knew, the blue whale, the world's largest whale, was almost one hundred feet long, give or take, making it literally the largest mammal on Earth. However, the enormous body of the whale he saw in the distance easily surpassed one hundred feet, probably large enough to be close to one hundred sixty-five. Its giant frame was closer to a mountain than a living creature.
But that wasn't what Subaru Natsuki saw. Not at all
Sitting right here in front of him, helplessly stuck in the ground by its own horn? "You're just a big target for us right now!"
"Rem, kick this thing's ass and don't let up!"
With a wave of her hand, Rem once more fired an El Huma spell, sending half a dozen spears of ice flying at high speed straight at their enemy. And they landed dead-center! It was a good thing that they were going up against a creature that was so big. Nobody needed to be a marksman in order to land their shots against something so huge. And because it was grounded with Evil Lord Wrath ensuring it didn't get airborne, the Whale had no hope of any sort of nimble evasion.
"Time to show my stuff!" this was the moment that Subaru had been waiting for. In reality, it only felt like a day and some change. But Subaru felt as if he had been awaiting this moment for years. The chance to finally contribute to a battle alongside his faithful Rem filled every inch of Subaru with resolve. The Hand of Alglol activated, the familiar black plates spreading down his arm. On the palm, Subaru saw that creepy-looking eye with its slitted pupil staring back at him. It was finally time to see what this weapon could do against an opponent who really deserved to feel its fury!
Sebas had given Subaru a crash course in all of the spells this item had stored within it. And the Japanese teen already had a few ideas in mind of just what he wanted to start with!
[Fireball]!
The eye embedded within the hand of the gauntlet stirred to life, and from his command, a spherical blast of fire shot out from Subaru's hand like a rocket, smashing straight into the White Whale's body in the same spot there Rem had impaled it with her spears of ice! The moment the fire spell landed, the attack exploded from the impact with the mabeast's body, causing it no small measure of pain.
"Direct Hit!"
Of course, Subaru wasn't expecting the entire Whale to be incinerated from one shot. That would have been a braindead delusion that not even he could fathom. But the mere knowledge that he could contribute was comforting to him.
Following up on his attack, Evil Lord Wrath wasted no time in proving his worth by repeatedly pounding the helpless mabeast, its body still rampaging while attempting to free itself from its place in the ground.
Among the seven Evil Lords, Wrath specialized in physical attack. He was gifted with incredible vitality, meaning that it would take nothing less than an absolute onslaught to wear him down. And though he preferred beating his opponents into submission with raw force, he did have the inherent ability to cast a certain number of spells. However, they were noticeably weaker than someone of the same level as himself who had dedicated themselves to pure magic.
But considering that it seemed the White Whale did not respond kindly to being burned, Wrath felt it only appropriate to gift the creature another dosage of pain. With a wave of his mighty arm, the fearsome demon announced his attack, "Suffer!"
[Flamewing]!
An immense wave of flame burst forth, splashing the entire body of the White Whale in an incandescent inferno! This spell was typically one that was meant to be used against a group of enemies for widespread damage. But considering the size of his target, it worked just as well.
The thrashing around was so intense that the White Whale finally freed itself from its humiliating trap, writhing around in the air as it attempted to flee back to what it assumed was the safety of the sky. And as if lashed out, the fire that once ravaged its body simply seemed to...dissipate. And it was Rem in particular who found this to be unusual.
Since the creature appeared to be in so much agony, one would think that it would have difficulty staying airborne. But, that didn't seem to be the case. As a matter of fact, aside from its howls of displeasure, the White Whale was still floating calmly in the sky just the same as when it first arrived.
"So, it's back in the air." Though this may not have been an ideal situation, Subaru didn't sound particularly distressed. "Makes me wonder if we didn't do as much damage as we thought." He really hoped that wasn't the case. Because the way Wrath pounded on the mabeast as it was grounded sure looked painful enough to his eyes.
"I am rather doubtful that is the case. At first glance, they appeared to be spectacular strikes, but I believe that white hair scatters the mana from our magical attacks, dulling the force. My magic did not do as much damage as it appeared, either."
Subaru grimaced. "Ahh! Are you serious? So it's got magic dampening fur?" He was immediately reminded of those enemies in video games who were heavily resistant to certain weapon types of elemental attacks. But even still, there was rarely an opponent who didn't have a vulnerability of some kind.
"But even still, I feel like his physical attacks were really putting the hurt on the Whale. We can rely on them! And besides, if you look closely, you can see that its fur is not as pristine as before we began. Those fire spells definitely were burning the hairs off, little by little." Meaning, if they kept that up for a prolonged period of time and singed off all the creature's hair, it would become more vulnerable to magic.
The idea of striking as hard as Wrath was simply out of the question. But there was something he and Rem could do. Just because their magic-based attacks were doing lessened damage, that didn't mean they were not doing any damage.
"Looks like it's time to get off the ground and show this thing that it's not safe in the air or on the ground!" Subaru didn't know what the White Whale was thinking right at this moment. But he wasn't going to allow this monster a single minute to recover. Not even an instant to begin to think that it could turn the advantage back toward itself.
"Rem! Let's fly!"
"Right, Subaru!"
Kicking off the ground, the Inferno Stallion took flight into the air, racing off with the same grace as it would have exhibited on solid ground! It took a mere few seconds for them to catch up to their target, as the Whale had only decided to retreat out of what it assumed was its foe's attack range.
It was wrong.
Appearing right in front of the White Whale's face, the two took the mabeast by complete surprise. It had no memory of ever having been followed into the sky where it felt protected. "Surprise, surprise!"
Aiming the Hand of Algol directly at the White Whale's left eye, a malicious grin spread across the face of Subaru Natsuki as he prepared his attack. This was one of the spells Subaru had been most curious about using. And this was absolutely the perfect chance to test it out!
[Shockwave: Shotgun]!
The attack may have been invisible, but it soon became clear why it bore the name of a shotgun. Released from the eye upon the hand of his gauntlet, a condensed blast distorted the air, slamming into the naked eye of the White Whale at near point-blank range! The vicious attack destroyed the creature's eye, with a veritable regurgitation of blood splashing from the wound. The Whale, wounded and partially blinded recoiled in pain it had never before experienced.
"Geez, that spell really put the hurt on it! Gotta make sure I'm careful with it." He could already imagine what that same sell would do if it was applied to a person's body. However, the White Whale would get no such consideration.
Because the duo was not finished with it. Not yet.
"Al Huma!"
This time, Rem had decided to change her tactic. She materialized her ice shards not into long spears, but into small ice crystals that were of identical size to her own fist with pointed ends. With a wave of her hand, over a dozen of these ice fragments shot out like bullets, each one of them landing dead center on the right eye of the White Whale, robbing it of its other eye and forcing the beast to recoil in agony!
"We did it! We took its eyes out!" Subaru did not doubt that if this creature could speak, it would be cursing them with every breath. The thought made him smile.
But they had little room for celebration, because Wrath zoomed in from underneath them, landing a jawbreaking uppercut on the White Whale's chin! The sound of the impact was truly sickening to hear. And each subsequent blow was reminiscent of thunderclaps from their heaviness. The White Whale was far too large and not anywhere nimble enough to dodge such attacks. And to add insult to injury, it was now completely blind.
Not satisfied with simply making the creature's brain rock from side to side within its skull, Wrath's claws savagely shredded the Whale's face. From nose to cheek, there wasn't a single area left untouched on the mabeast's visage that did not look as if a feral animal had gone and turned it into a scratching post as blood poured from each and every wound.
At this point, the legendary White Whale felt like nothing more than a punching bag for their abuse. If this monster had not been responsible for the suffering of 400 years worth of people in this world as well as contributing to no small measure of Subaru's own trauma, then he might just find it within himself to feel slightly bad for this creature. But he couldn't. And he wouldn't. As a creation of the Witch of Envy and a terror that did nothing constructive in this world, the White Whale deserved no pity from him. And nothing less than its death would satisfy Subaru Natsuki.
The look of vindictiveness in his eyes grew steadily as Subaru felt emancipated for one of the first times in his life.
Unable to withstand the agony, the White Whale writhed in midair, completely unable to respond to the unrelenting attacks of the three. And it was perhaps the loss of both of its eyes that made the beast realize it was time to change tactics.
The White Whale, angry at having an eye gouged out, let up a roar that seemed to prompt a change in the mabeast's body. Immediately after, the White Whale's body quaked in hatred and rage as a
change came over its flesh. The instant that change began, Subaru was unable to repress a sense of revulsion that made his eyes narrow in disgust.
The White Whale opened its mouth. No, those words were both correct and incorrect. To more accurately express the scene...
—The mouths of countless cavities over the White Whale's entire body opened and began to raise their voices, all releasing that same infernal howling at different frequencies. And a moment later?
Raising a chorus, the countless mouths spewed an immense amount of mist. In the blink of an eye, the mist poured onto the plains, and the world around them was blotted out in a whiteness so thick that Subaru could only see a few feet in front of him. His vision obstructed, Subaru understood that the White Whale had acknowledged them as its enemies. It was the Demon Beast of Mist raising its war cry that announced the true commencement of hostilities.
But Subaru Natsuki was not afraid.
If this had been the first time he'd experienced this, his body would have been quaking in terror. But it wasn't.
Confidently, Subaru placed a hand on Rem's shoulder as she kept the two of them aflight on the Inferno Stallion. Looking over her shoulder, the blue-haired maid felt her hero's bravery flow into her body when she saw the expression of resolve in his eyes. There was no need to speak any words between them. Instead, the maid gave her hero a nod that seemed to communicate to him that she understood that he would not lose heart simply because of this fog.
"Too bad for you, asshole. But we already planned ahead for this."
Meanwhile, from a sizable distance away, both Sebas and Demiurge were watching the battle unfold.
"They appear to be doing quite well for themselves."
"Indeed. Though this creature does seem to have an incredible amount of HP in order to take so many hits from Wrath the way it is. Unless forced to the ground, it does not ever seem to lose altitude." Demiurge wondered why that was. Perhaps its ability to fly was a passive skill that was active regardless of the White Whale's consent?
Sebas nodded in agreement. If he had to guess, he would estimate that the White Whale was significantly below the level of an Evil Lord. However, it truly did seem to possess a frightening amount of vitality. But that said, it was rare that one could win a battle such as this on stamina alone. Especially when the opposition was dealing so many vicious attacks back to back.
"Even though this is an existence that has terrorized this world for the past 400 years, from my estimate, I believe it is clear that this beast is not accustomed to organized opponents who come prepared for its shallow abilities." Coming in against unknown opponents and simply expecting to succeed every time was the mindset of lower beasts. "I do not believe Aura would be interested in this creature at all. Don't you agree, Sebas?"
Stroking his beard, the butler silently nodded. Unless being employed as an attack dog, there was little in the way of creativity that one could do with creatures that could not understand complex orders. "It seems the White Whale truly would best serve Nazarick by falling in this place." And though it was not his immediate intention, if this creature disappeared from the world, perhaps the people who had suffered so unnecessarily at its hands would be brought some solace.
He felt Subaru Natsuki should be proud to give that to the victims.
"Look! It seems that the White Whale is finally beginning to understand the situation it was in."
From the distance, both men could see that the battlefield was quickly being covered in a sea of white mist. No doubt this would obscure the vision of anyone who may be unfortunate to be trapped inside.
But, that didn't matter if the prey was capable of simply leaving.
The White Whale, called the Demon Beast of Mist, used what could be called the Fog of Elimination in order to erase its targets from the memories of others, and even the world itself. Subaru had already memorized this and taken measures to ensure that they wouldn't even be in the same vicinity when the White Whale decided to employ this attack.
"Sorry, but I'm not playing these games."
Though the newly spewed out mists had blanketed the Liphas Highway in a sea of whiteness, its range was still limited. Subaru, Rem, and the Evil Lord of Wrath had all flown as high into the sky as possible until they had escaped the confined of the mist. While not higher up than the top of the Flugel Tree, everything on the ground would have looked insignificantly small from their height. Well, if everything wasn't covered up by the mist, of course.
"What a shallow technique, hiding itself in the mist like that." Wrath sounded unimpressed by the White Whale's choice in defensive maneuver. "Does this beast truly believe that it can escape its suffering by doing something as simple as hiding away like this?"
He sounded eager to cause more suffering to the White Whale. To further prove that it was not the predator in this situation.
And to be completely honest, Subaru shared that sentiment.
400 years of treating an entire continent as if everything below was its personal playthings. Centuries worth of people wondering if they would have a calamity in the form of a colossal whale flying over their homes to drag them into oblivion. Truly, everything that came from the hand of the Witch did nothing but cause misfortune.
"We're safe from the Fog of Elimination right now. And to be completely honest with you, I really get the feeling that the Whale is afraid of coming out of that cloak of mist."
The fact that the White Whale had taken this long in order to employ the power for which it was most infamous further showed that it wasn't thinking strategically. Which told Subaru that while it was swimming beneath the mists, it was probably waiting to locate its game. But doing so was probably a whole lot more difficult when one had no eyes to locate their target.
"But still, I wish there was some way to get it out of that mist..." Because their target now understood the danger it was in, the chances of the White Whale coming to them were low.
Subaru needed to take control of this situation.
Take control.
"Everything that can be exploited, must be exploited."
The words of Demiurge suddenly returned to his mind. Subaru knew what he needed to do.
"Alright you two, I have a plan! Rem, I need you to cover your ears! And Wrath can you get some more altitude? I'm gonna force the White Whale to come up out of the mist, whether it can see or not! And when you see it peek its ugly face out of its little hiding hole, you can tear it up all you like!" He was going to use the Witch's Scent to ensure that the Whale came running in their direction. This side effect of revealing the taboo of Return By Death made mabeasts lose their senses and attack him with all the frenzy they could muster.
"And when I give the go-ahead, I want Rem to really lay into it." All she needed to do was wait for his signal. Subaru had something horrifically painful in mind. "There's another spell from this thing that I think is going to be of real help to us."
With a nod of understanding, Evil Lord Wrath took off even further into the air. So far in fact that Subaru was glad that this was a dark, starry night and that Wrath's burning wings made him look like a huge, glowing firefly from this distance.
"Alright, Rem. Cover your ears."
Upon hearing this, the maid touched her hands to her ears, doing her utmost to block out as much sound as possible. Though she was not completely comfortable with the idea of using the Witch Scent in order to attract mabeasts, everything that her beloved Subaru had planned up until this point had gone so much more positively than anyone could have imagined. Especially since they were facing down one of the Three Great Mabeasts. How could she not have faith in anything he would do going forward?
Putting his plan into action, Subaru steeled himself for what was to come next. His mind clear, he then spoke the words and willingly invoked the taboo—
"I am the one who can Return By Death—"
The instant he spoke it, Subaru's heart was wrenched by a state of shock that he didn't think he could ever get used to. But still, his mind remained clear, even as it seemed to drift away from the world itself. The sense of paralyzing fear was not nearly as strong as it had been in the past.
"I'm not gonna die in a place like this. You created this monster, and now I'm doing you a favor and sending it to meet its maker. You should be thanking me!"
"I love you."
It was a delicate woman's voice that spoke to him. But it was not one he enjoyed hearing, not one that he would have any desire to see the face of to whom it belonged. Shadowy hands surrounded him as if attempting to smother his very existence in their cold embrace. His entire body became engulfed in the love of this unseen entity before his mind began to reconnect to the world.
"…I'm back."
Shaking his head, Subaru patted Rem on the shoulder to let her know she could take her hands from her ears, now. "It's done! So, how do I smell?"
"You reek!"
Feeling that the first phase of his plan was a success, he fist-pumped inside his mind. "But even still, you didn't have to say it so dismissively."
When he'd encountered the White Whale in the previous loop, the White Whale had doggedly pursued Otto's dragon carriage after Subaru shifted over to it. At the time, he'd said nothing concerning the taboo. So if Subaru gave off an even stronger scent than before, he ought to be prime bait for the White Whale.
And moments later, his hypothesis was proven correct. The sound of the mabeast's roar raced across the plains with such speed that even some of its own fog was blown away. The White Whale swam through the fog, following its nose to the source of the Witch's Scene, barreling straight toward Subaru and Rem in a perfectly straight line. Being so clear in the line of sight, it was nothing but child's play for Rem to move out of the way on their Inferno Stallion, which was proving to be their lifeline while up here in the air!
But missing its target wasn't the only thing the Whale had done. Once again, it had fallen straight into a trap.
Flying down from the heavens like a burning rock, Evil Lord Wrath's fanged smile He had to admit that the human boy was talented in making his enemy dance to the strings of his will. His fist pulled back, Wrath prepared to activate one of his special skills. And this was one of his abilities that he was particularly proud of. Along with being a physical skill, the area he excelled in, it would not only deal fire damage to the opponent, but the attack would deliver increased damage the lower the user's own karma level was. And in the case of an evil demon such as himself, the White Whale was in for a whole new hell of hurt.
[Fist of Iblis]!
The moment his attack connected with the underside of the White Whale, a thunderclap of a shockwave resulted from the colossal force it delivered. Wrath's fist, engulfed in an infernal heat incinerated a great deal of the mana scattering hairs from the point of impact. The Whale suffered and cried out in agony as it was sent flying down into the ground where it collided with an earthshaking tremor! The impact was so immense that a great deal of its own mist was blown away from the scene, granting outsiders a more comfortable view of the battle that was nearing its climax.
"Hell yeah!" Subaru didn't think that the Whale would actually be sent into the ground so ruthlessly. But that made things far easier for him. Or rather, for the person sitting in front of him. "Alrighty, then, Rem. It's your show, now."
Looking back at the black-haired teen with surprised eyes, Rem was uncertain of what he meant. Of course, she would assist in defeating this foul beat in any way she could, but was this something that Subaru had already thought of in advance? "Subaru...?"
"It's down, now. And Wrath's attack seems to have burned off a good portion of those annoying hairs. You know what this means, right?"
With a nod of understanding, Rem now knew that this meant a very vulnerable weak spot had been opened up for them.
She wouldn't waste his opportunity to take revenge for all the people who had been slaughtered by this beast.
For a brief moment, her eyes glowed a vibrant pink, the same color as the ethereal horn manifesting itself in the middle of her forehead. Rem, unlike her fallen kin may not have had two horns. She may not have even been her amazing older sister. But she was the one who her hero had chosen to stand by his side and take on this legendary fight with him! Her single horn awakened, Rem began to gather mana to her aid with much greater speed. And the best thing was, she didn't need to exert herself. Because she only needed a single hit on a downed enemy.
A spike of ice began to form itself in the air right above her upturned hand. It steadily grew in size until it was twice as long as Rem, herself. Then four times. Six. Ten! Fifteen. Twenty!
Her spell was now roughly the size of a large building's pillar, and the spear-like tip was poised to pierce its target.
"AL HUMA!"
Shooting down with incredible speed, also being helped by the pull of gravity, Rem's attack soared past Wrath, and seconds later, the White Whale was impaled through by the veritable gungnir of ice. The protection it received earlier from those blasted magic dampening hairs was gone, and blood erupted not only from the point of contact, but the beast spurted out blood from the many other wounds it had received over the course of the battle. The way the Whale groaned out into the world as if pleading for help was almost pitiful. It didn't even have the strength to attempt to fly away. Not that any of them would let it. At this point, the White Whale was nothing more than a wounded animal. But it would soon be put out of its misery forever.
Rem and Subaru descended to the ground where the White Whale had left a truly impressive crater from its fall. Dismounting the Inferno Stallion, it was Subaru Natsuki who would deliver the final blow. The fog was clearing, and all who were watching took this as a sign that the life of the mabeast was nearing its end.
The claws of the Hand of Algol at the ready, Subaru activated the spell that he had been waiting to use. The one that he knew he could only make use of against the most detestable of enemies. Placing his hand on the Whale's body, he knew it was time.
[Open Wounds].
The effect of the spell was exactly what it sounded like.
And from the moment it spread throughout the mabeast's body, splurts of blood discharged and spewed from every wound the Whale had incurred over the course of this battle. Its empty eyesockets poured fountains of blood that dyed the wonderful green fields of the Liphas Highway a sickening red. The brutal slash wounds received from Wrath's claws gushed like a faucet that simply would not turn off, and Subaru did not even flinch from the torrent of red hailing down upon him.
The way the Whale's body ade those subtle movements was probably the same way a human moved when they were struggling on their last breaths. And Subaru wasn't going to leave anything to chance.
Wordlessly, the Japanese teen walked to the head of the White Whale. He and Rem had taken out its eyes, so there was no way the mabeast could see that he was there. Placing the Hand of Algol upon the forehead of the beast, Subaru spoke what he felt would be the last of this confrontation.
[Shockwave: Shotgun].
The blast fired from his hand and delivered a deafening, lethal blow to the White Whale. The powerful, condensed attack scrambled the creature's brain on top of the multitude of other terrible wounds it had received.
And with that, the White Whale's 400-year reign of terror had ended. Along with the flickering flames of its life.
Turning to walk away, his sneakers caked with the blood of his enemy, Subaru Natsuki refused to give his hated enemy even a final look. "I don't ever want to see you again."
Unlike before, there was no savage smile on his face. No feeling of glee that he had gotten back at one who had caused him so much emotional turmoil and fear. Rather, Subaru Natsuki felt as if something heavy had been lifted out of the depths of his heart. The anger toward the White Whale seemed to slowly vanish.
The chapter of the White Whale's importance to his life, was over.
With a sigh of great relief, Subaru now felt as if 1000 years of stress had been alleviated. Like he had finally woken up from a terrible nightmare.
The White Whale was dead. And he'd helped kill it. Him!
But unsurprisingly, Subaru was not left with his thoughts for long. Because he soon found himself tackled to the ground by the familiar blue-haired maid. "Subaru!"
"Ouch! Rem! Warn a guy before you're gonna body-check him, please!" Just seconds later, he'd sounded like his old self. Finding the maid sitting on top of him, she looked down at him with the most wonderous expression a girl could muster.
"You were amazing, Subaru! At every moment you were in control of everything! I knew you could do it, I just knew it!"
While he was of course flattered by the praise, especially coming from someone that was so close to his own heart, he couldn't pretend like he did this alone. Yes, Subaru already knew what happened when he tried to tackle everything in life by himself. He could have never accomplished this if he didn't have the girl sitting on top of him right now. "Not just me, Rem. You really did the most by keeping us away from the Whale when we were in the air. And that last ice attack? Too amazing for words! You really showed me your fanatical side today and I'll never forget it!"
"The two of you are getting quite comfortable in the blood of your foe. Though I cannot say that I do not approve."
It was that spine-chilling voice that belonged to the Evil Lord Wrath, who'd just now landed on the ground near them. Pulling himself up, Subaru then realized he was covered in the disgusting blood of the Whale, and it felt gross! "This shit better not ruin my tracksuit! Argh!" Just another reason to hate that stupid monster!
"Also, I guess we owe you a massive thanks, too. You hit like a freakin train, and without your strength, there's no way we would have been able to do all that damage with just magic alone."
After a moment of silence between the three of them, the red eyes of the winged demon stared into Subaru's existence before he asked, "How was it?"
Eyes widening, Subaru could only assume he was talking about the feeling of victory against such a mighty opponent. And to be completely honest, it hadn't all sunk in, yet. This was not simply a personal victory. Though he had no particular desire for personal glory in this, Subaru was not ignorant enough to fail to realize what the defeat of the White Whale would mean for the country. The entire continent, even.
"Your feelings against this beast were personal. You did not relent in your fury against it, never giving it a chance to breathe. And now you are the one who is permitted to live another day. To crush your enemy with an uncaring fist. That is winning."
"I won't deny that there's some truth to that. After all, a weak guy like me even thinking about fighting a monster like this should be a pipe dream! But when I think about all the harm it's caused, I couldn't help but be glad I got to sock this bastard real good." Turning the tables on your opponent was a feeling that couldn't even be described with words. It was almost as if the whole world was on one's own side when the situation changed.
Seemingly amused at his response, Wrath felt it was time for him to make his exit. "I would not be upset if we were to meet again." And with that, the winged demon vanished in a burst of incandescent flames bright enough to illuminate Subaru's eyes even though closed eyelids!
"Though his appearance was very frightful, I do believe he was of great help to us today, Subaru."
"Yeah, you're right. We'll definitely have to thank Demiurge for sending one of his men to help us out. Where are those two, anyway? Since I remember the, I know they didn't get erased by the mist." He looked around, seeing no one else in sight. At least, until a familiar voice made itself known.
"That is because we were never caught in the mist, Subaru."
It was Sebas, alongside Demiurge, both of whom were approaching from behind, having seemingly appeared out of nowhere.
Being the first to approach, Sebas turned his attention to the Japanese teen. "I believe applause are in order, then, Subaru. You have accomplished one of your goals in defeating this creature. You must feel proud."
Rubbing the back of his head nervously, all he could do was feel embarrassed at such praise. "Don't say it like that! Rem gave it her all and really held me down! I couldn't ask for a better partner in the heat of the moment!" Without even knowing it, Subaru had pulled the blue-haired oni in by the shoulder, prompting a soft blush from her pale cheeks.
"Well then, guys. A deal's a deal. You assisted me in the defeat of this thing. That means you get to keep the body." He would have offered them both a handshake, but the two of them in their sits were so immaculately clean next to Subaru and Rem who were caked from head to toe in the White Whale's blood. "I dunno what you feel like doing with it. But that part ain't my business!" He couldn't resist a wide-toothed grin upon saying this.
Subaru didn't even remember the last time he could smile from his heart like this.
"I believe the effort is worth the reward." It was Demiurge who spoke this time. There was no expenditure or loss on their side. And both Subaru and Rem had walked away relatively unscathed. Demiurge felt that Subaru Natsuki could become an even greater source of information to their cause. And one worth a continued investment.
Turning back to the fallen creature, Rem could only wonder one thing, "We have no issue in relinquishing the body of the White Whale to you. But how exactly will you be transporting it. Will you be able to teleport such a large corpse?" Though she had her suspicions of Sebas and Demiurge from the beginning, having felt their assistance had come at too convenient a time, the end result could not be argued with.
They had lent aid that had ended with the death of one of the Three Great Mabeasts. This was truly a historic triumph for all those who once feared the White Whale. For the world itself!
Having already formulated his departure for the creature's body, Demiurge turned to the maid to answer, "We will have no issue in doing such. But thank you for the concern."
Before Subaru could speak once more on where they would go from this point, he looked up at the sky. It was still nighttime. By his estimate, the Witch Cult shouldn't be arriving in the village outside Roswaal's mansion until sometime this afternoon. But that didn't mean he didn't want to get ahead of them, too!
About to open his mouth, Demiurge held up a hand, stopping the teen. "Someone is coming. A large group of people. And they are armed."
"Armed?"
"Armed?"
Subaru and Rem both spoke at the same time.
This was the Liphas Highway, so it was entirely possible that they were simply being approached by travelers who were moving through the night. And, after the experiences that he had endured on this particular stretch of road, Subaru wouldn't blame anyone for traveling with a weapon. But even still, a large group? Who was it?
"You gotta be kidding me. This better not be a band of roaming bandits. I'm not in the mood." But instead of any tinge of apprehension or fear in his tone, Subaru Natsuki simply sounded exasperate. He even rolled his eyes.
"Alright, I guess we'd better make sure they don't get too close to the—"
The moment he turned to look, Subaru saw that Demiurge had vanished. He was gone from the scene completely.
Fortunately, Sebas had not gone and done a Houdini on them. He merely placed a hand to his lips, signaling for Subaru and Rem to remain quiet about the absence of his partner.
In the distance, Subaru saw a platoon of ground dragons, each marching in tandem with one another. But they didn't look like any sort of merchant company he'd ever seen. No, there were too many of them. Far too many.
"Subaru, look!" Rem was the first to spot sight of the identity of the newcomers. Some of the dragon riders were carrying tall flags. And on their face was the symbol of a golden lion's head emblazoned on a shield.
His eyes widened in surprise. Subaru knew that crest. How could he not? He'd seen it on so many of the walls within the house of that person while he had been undergoing treatment.
"It can't be..."
As the militia drew closer, Subaru noticed that they began to pick up speed. And he knew exactly why. They could see the corpse of the fallen White Whale and how its blood polluted the ground.
Struggling to make out any faces, it took but a few more moments before he recognized the three among the dozens of soldiers in tow. And that was because they were the ones in front. And each one of them wore expressions of bewilderment, confusion, and disbelief.
They were Ferris Argyle, Wilhelm, and last but not least, Crusch Karsten.
And all Subaru Natsuki could wonder, with an equally unknowing expression was, "What the hell do they want?"