AN: What up folks?! Here we are, watching as our Red Lanterns continue messing around with world traveling. This time, we get to see Wilhelm drag Felt along through a very messy situation.
Each of these chapters will bring a unique consequence or result to their prime world, in more ways than one. But we'll have to see what exactly happens, won't we?
Also they revealed what Shaula looks like in the actual Light Novels, and color me surprised she looks almost exactly like I imagined!
Big things happening in Arc 8, get your tail feathers ready!
So please, relax, take some sippy sips...and ENJOY.
Arc 8: Crisis of the Multiverse
Chapter 44: Flesh and Soul
The White Whale, scourge of this world for nearly as long as several centuries, had noticed something. Floating above the ground, hovering over the mass casualties it committed, it could see two red streams of light racing to him. The Whale roared at them, hoping it's mighty voice could divert the oncoming attackers...but they dove down, and then raced just above the grass. The Whale actually widened its eyes, as they used left over traces of its own crafted fog to hide away. The Whale turned in the air, only for several javelins constructs to shoot out from the fogged area and stabbed into its ribs.
The Whale wailed in pain, just as Felt flew on over and used a large knife construct to begin stabbing the Whale on its massive back. The monster roared out as it released a shockwave from its body, causing many of the corpses to fly off the ground, allowing Wilhelm to use them as cover, as he placed the collar around his neck; his Aeon Armor forming around him. Felt was also flung off, but she flew down under his belly. She grunted as she summoned a scimitar construct, stabbing it into his belly and charging forward, cutting as she did.
"Duryahhhh!"
Yelling with pure antagonism, she carved a hug cut along its under side, all the way to its chin, before dissipating the construct and firing beams into its large wounds. The Whale howled in agony, before Wilhelm flew in a curve using his Revenga Art.
"Revenga Art 2: Crimson Emperor!"
A construct of a ridiculously large sword was in his grasp, he lifted up and with an almost eager smile, he slashed down. The proceeding slice, completely severed The White Whale's lower jaw in half.
The blood trickled down, creating a small lakes worth onto the battlefield, all the while the monster screamed in agony. Before it could use its Fog of Elimination to begin truly defending itself, Wilhelm jumped into it's mouth and began using all the sword constructs he could to begin chopping away.
The Whale screamed, as Felt flew around and chopped off its tail, resulting in mind shattering pain for the beast. Before it could think of anything, any kind of plan to escape this torment.
There would be none.
Wilhelm's traditional sword stabbed through the top its back, before spike numerous constructs poked through as well. Wilhelm, covered in liquid crimson, eyes flickering red light, and with that eerie grin; looked like his moniker, a demon. Wilhelm...laughed.
"Ahahahaha! AHAHAHAHA! DIE YOU WRETCHED BEAST! DIE!"
Wilhelm sucked in some air, before hurling out a vicious and heavy stream of napalm blood all along the top of the Whale's head. Felt flew over and joined in on the napalm blood assault. In the end, the Whale, had it's entire top covered in steam, which only covered the fact that it had all it's flesh melted away. The Whale's eyes went white as its body quickly crashed onto the ground. With pieces of the ground flying up, along with carriages and bodies as well, this was the signal. The signal to the end of this beast's unmitigated rampage on the world.
Wilhelm stopped his smile, glancing over to a heavily wooded area, knowing full well what he had to do next.
Theresia grabbed a spare sword from its hilt, staring back at the sudden challenger before her. It was Pandora, the true benefactor and secret leader of the Witch's Cult. With the Sword Saint losing her Divine Protections, as they suddenly transferred over to Reinhard as a young boy, she was significantly weaker than she'd normally be. And against the Witch Cultist with a truly formidable Authority, this was an easy outcome to see, she'd lose.
Yet Theresia charged forward, intedning to fight with every fibre of her being. Pandora smiled-
"-Thereisa!"
"HUH?!"
Theresia was swooped up by red energy and right up into the sky, she was then quickly hugged tightly by an old man she did not recognize.
"Who-?!"
"-Quickly we must flee out of here!"
"But-!"
Having been so distracted by the sudden appearance, she had been unable to watch the proceeding battle that was occurring at the time, looking back...she could see the White Whale's corpse, and the young lady flying behind them. Felt yelled out to him, as they continued flying ahead.
"Wil-jii, where do we go from here?!"
"The Ring has detected an energy source, one that is similar to the force that brought us here! We're going to see if we can use that to escape!"
Theresia tried to wrestle herself free, but noticed quickly how high they were, and even she was sure she'd die if she fell from this height.
"Who the hell are you people?! Where are you taking me?!"
"Please Theresia! Just bear with it until we get somewhere safe!"
"But my men, my mission is-"
"-The Whale is no more, and for now, I will need to explain everything to you!"
They suddenly dove down, racing forward towards fissure in space and time, Theresia screamed for them to stop, sensing something odd about it.
Her yells went unnoticed, ignored even, as they got to it, the three of them dissipated into light and vanished from this world.
Pandora was left to ponder what had just occurred, but glancing behind herself...she could see the Algol Tree, startling her significantly. Her mind was racing, trying to come up with why she was suddenly witnessing her goal in front of her...only to see it suddenly crumble like cheap glass. Her eyes dropped tears, as her entire reason of being suddenly vanished. With that, she immediately ran away, knowing that her Authority no longer existed and she had to get to safety.
In the end, Theresia was never found, her Dragon Sword being the only thing found in that graveyard. It was later to be written in this world's history that Theresia was successful in killing the White Whale, but perished alongside it, with her men as well. Her name would be echoed as the Sword Saint who finished the infernal monster, with her grandson being given the opportunity and successfully eliminating the depowered Witch's Cult and Demon Beasts. Giving the lineage of the Sword Saint much more political advantages, and cementing their power as Lugnica's true weapon.
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Wilhelm and Felt took a moment to gaze around their surroundings. It was a snow covered forest, so much so, one would wonder if there was never a moment in which it ceased.
"Are we in Gusteko?"
"I doubt it, it doesn't feel the same."
"Riiiight, well, I guess you may have a point there then?"
They made their way back, as Theresia pointed her sword at them.
"Hold it! Stop right there!"
"Hey now, what's this lady thinking now?"
Felt put her hands on her hips, tilting her head with this action.
Wilhelm showed his gloved palm to her, trying to calm her down.
"Please, put that away, there is no need for it."
"Am I supposed to really believe that?! After seeing you kill the White Whale, kidnap me and send me through some weird tunnel, only to end up here?! Who are you people, why did you bring me here?! Huh?! Explain!"
Wilhelm and Felt both glanced at each other and sighed.
Felt was first.
"Well, I guess I better do my damndest introduction. Hey, I'm Felt, what's good?"
"..."
Making a peace sign and smiling, showing off her yeaba tooth.
"Wait, golden hair and red eyes, could you be-"
"-Royalty? Probably. But I don't really see myself as that, so I just live a kinda' normal life, if you can call it that."
Felt chuckled, but could see that Theresia was still on guard at this point. Wilhelm went next and mustered the courage to tell her.
"I am Wilhelm, Wilhelm Van Astrea."
At first, Theresia almost burst into laughter, until she locked eyes with Wilhelm. It was at that moment, a feeling rushed into her, her very being. Her sword fell onto the snow, and her eyes widened into an expression of horror. The very air around them grew still, even the chill of this snowy place couldn't disturb the moment.
Theresia fell on her behind, breathing erratically, and when she noticed the sword at Wilhelm's side, she truly had her eyes begin to shake uncontrollably.
"Theresia!"
"Stay back! W-Wait a second!"
Theresia screamed at Wilhelm, who understood that she was trying to catch her bearings. Felt watched on nervously, contemplating what to do if she turned violent and the chaos that could potentially result in it.
Yet, Theresia took deep breaths, finally letting herself get control of herself.
"O-Okay, Okay. Now, please, explain to me just what in the world is going on."
Wilhelm took a knee, but kept his distance from her.
"What would you like to know?"
"Everything! Why are you so, well, old!? Why are we here?! Where are we?! And what is that weird armor you are wearing!? Just tell me, everything!"
"Very well, but, brace yourself."
Thus, Wilhelm would begin explaining everything he could about just what was occurring.
With time passing, Felt floated in the sky, gazing at the snow laden trees and hills, leaving Wilhelm alone with Theresia. When she looked down, she could see that Wilhelm was now standing up and so was his former wife, feeling as though the conversation was done, she glided back down.
Once her feet landed, she walked over, but got really anxious when she saw the former Sword Saint's creeped out face.
"Hey Will-jii?"
"I believe, she has not taken it well."
Theresia chuckled, but one that was much more mocking than actually happy.
"Oh? Is that right Wilhelm, I DIDN'T TAKE IT WELL? Well, excuse me for not being swept into the motions like someone."
"Theresia…"
"I cannot believe anything you just said. NO, I just don't want to."
"Theresia listen to me."
"How?! How did you let all of it happen!?"
Wilhelm was startled by her scream, while Felt got a bit of a defensive stance.
"Wilhelm, answer me! How could you let all that happen?!"
"I was fulfilling my duty."
"...WHAT DUTY?! How does starting a war against the other nations help anyone?!"
"They were the aggressors, we gave the necessary warnings despite our better judgment, but they still sent their spies, sent their warriors and killed Mathers and his maid Rem-san."
"And that gives you the right to have millions killed?! When we fought for our country, it was for the safety of our people, to cease all the killing that was going on! And what? You just came to assume that avenging a small group of people, needed such a dramatic response?!"
"Even now I do have some regrets about how it was handled, but we did the best we could!"
"Yeah? Well good on you! How about losing Priestella, even if it was to get rid of the Witch's Cult, there had to be another way!"
"I truly wish there was, but things happened as they did! And there is no going back to fix them!"
"I just can't...Raiding the Tower, killing the Fauzen family? Making my grandson a living weapon, just point him somewhere and he'll go a bunch of people?! ...And the Karsten family-"
"-Crusch is another matter entirely."
Theresia slammed her foot into the snow.
"REALLY?! Really, you are going to stand there and say that?! We knew Crusch, she's only slightly older than Reinhard! I always had some idea that they could've grown up to be respected acquaintances, maybe even more than that, but this what I have to learn then?! Instead, she's a criminal mastermind, who only garners the ire of the country she was born in?!"
"She did that of her own accord! She could've lived a simple life, been complacent with her own unfortunate circumstances. Instead, her ego and pride resulted in the deaths of thousands. In the death of my leader's unborn child! I can promise you that, no matter who she was in the past, it's inconsequential to what she is now! If any of us find her, I can guarantee that she will meet a grisly end."
"...!"
Theresia shook her head, tearing up at the sight of an angered Wilhelm.
"What happened to you? Wilhelm, why are you so consumed like this?"
"...When you died, I had lost myself to grief. We all did, our son, our grandson; everyone was crushed when it happened. Our family was never the same afterwards."
"But you, I want to know why you."
"...My sinful ildillegence, in not finding the Whale or avenging you, probably had something to do with it."
"...Wilhelm, why did you take me? Why did you help me come to this other world?"
"Because, I wanted to save the other me, the shame of having to kill you all over again."
Felt lowered her head, Theresia glanced away, as Wilhelm shifted his eyesight away from her. Felt took the initiative and tugged on his hand.
"Felt?"
"Hey, don't let it get to you."
"How can I not?"
"Welp, the thing to take away from all this, is that while shit did go hazily wrong on our end, we did our best."
"Yet my wife is probably demonizing me."
"Nah, she's just surprised about how much things have changed. In the end, ain't no way of going back to the original status quo. Like my Rom-jii once said, 'Life is a big crap sandwich, sometimes you just gotta take big bite of it, and move the hell on'."
"Goodness, what an upsettingly gross analogy."
"Right, ahahaha!"
Felt laughed as she crossed her arms, Wilhelm return the favor by patting her head.
"Hey, what the heck?!"
"Subaru-sama told me you actually were a fan of this, so here is your thanks."
"Geez, at least give a little heads up."
She fussed a bit, but soon relaxed as Wilhelm removed his hand off the top of her head. Neither of them noticed Theresia watching over the two of them, actually wondering how much of her husband was still intact within this older man. A swirl of emotions and thoughts filled her head about what it could mean to be observant of him.
A hope within her, that there might have been something that would make her see HER Wilhelm again. That though his flesh may have aged, and his heart grew a little colder...maybe that which made up his soul, was still there, buried.
"Wil-"
"-Wil-jii! There is someone coming here!"
Both Red Lanterns got battle ready, then Theresia snapped out of her stupor and also raised her sword. From the corner of a tree, a pair of amethyst eyes looking at them.
"Huh? H-Hey, isn't that, wuh?!"
"Emilia-sama?!"
Emilia, wearing a simple light cyan cloak draped over a warm looking brown jacket, peeked her head fully away from the tree.
"Huh? Do you know me?"
"Well, in a sense we do."
Wilhelm bent down to whisper to Felt.
"Felt, I believe this is another, timeline, as Ovidius called it."
"No kidding, she looks like neechan from when I first met her."
"This is a world we honestly should not be meddling in-"
He turned around and saw Theresia completely shoken by the sight of Emilia. Wilhelm remembered that Theresia never met Emilia before, and that the appearance of a silver haired half elf, would lead anyone from her timeline to think otherwise.
"Theresia, wait, she is not an enemy!"
"W-Wait, you said Emilia, right?"
"Correct, she is a valued ally and our current ruler in our world."
"I don't believe it, to think she's…"
"Please, lower your sword."
She did so, and Emilia approached slowly, making sure to keep her distance.
"Um, may I ask what you are all doing here?"
"Ah, I apologize Emilia-sama. We did not wish to intrude in this home of yours, please accept our most humble apologies."
Wilhelm did a perfect headbow, Felt did a head tilt wave, and Theresia just nodded. Emilia was...curious. She had never met these people before, yet they seemed to know her well…
"If it would not be a bother, may I ask where we are currently?"
"Oh, well this is Elior Forest."
"I see, well rest assured we will be leaving in due time...but are you safe at this moment?"
"I am, not to worry."
"I do hope at this point you are contracted with Puck-sama."
Emilia raised her brows in shock, and just then Puck materialized in front of her. He looked at the three individuals in front of him.
An old man in a strange metallic armor, with purple energy lines in it.
A short girl in a red uniform.
A red haired woman in Royal Knight attire.
"Strange, I can sense that, minus the woman there, you two genuinely care for Lia."
Puck was amused by this, and strangeness about all of it.
"Did you need something from Lia?"
"Not at all, we just needed to find a place to rest before we went back to our own wo-, ahem, I mean home."
"Hmmmm."
Puck scratched his cheek with his paw, having no choice but to believe the stranger and the odd circumstances here.
Wilhelm used his Ring and scanned the air...before the Ring flickered, letting him on the good news.
"Excellent. Felt, Theresia, I've found our way out of here."
"Yeah boy! We need to get back and see if we can get back with the others!"
But when they said that, they both looked back to Theresia, who could only stare blankly at them.
"Theresia, what do you-"
"-I'm going with you."
"Are you?!"
"Yes, I need to see for myself what you've done to my Kingdom, my home. I sure as hell need to give my family an earful for their behavior! Heinkel is especially going to get some, for sure. And I know Reinhard needs some stern finger wagging. So come on, what are we waiting for?"
Wilhelm watched as Theresia put her hands on her hips, in a truly commanding tone...making the old warrior smile tenderly.
"Very well."
Wilhelm had his ring help levitate Theresia, Felt and himself began floating off the ground.
"Wow, mister, you can fly?!"
"Something of that sort Emilia-sama."
"Hmmm, I wish I could fly."
"It's nothing special, I do prefer walking most times to be honest."
Wilhelm chuckled, as he locked eyes with Emilia.
"Emilia-sama, in the future, you will meet a man named Natsuki Subaru."
"S-Su-Subaru?"
"Indeed, place your full trust in him, and I'm sure you will succeed."
"Succeed? In what exactly?"
"...You will see."
As they began flying up, Wilhelm yelled out one more thing.
"If you ever need some advice or help! Look for a man named Wilhelm Van Astrea, tell him that a fan of flowers told you so!"
"O-Okay!"
Emilia waved them goodbye, watching as the red streaks of light got further and further away.
"Puck, they were nice people weren't they?"
"Hm, I would say so, I felt a kindness in them for you."
"But how did they know me? It is so strange."
Emilia pondered the puzzling question in her mind about the identities of these strangers…
"AH! I forgot to ask for their names!"
"Ahhhh, my daughter has more issues than even I can deal with."
"Hey, that was a mean comment right? Hey, Puck? PUCK!"
Puck laughed, as Emilia fussed with him…
Eventually, in this world, let's just say Emilia's future would be more awkward than anything. Emilia had decided to leave the forest early, brought on by the bravery shown to her by those strangers. Out of nowhere, she would encounter Wilhelm, and with each turn of an awkward conversation after another...he would join her, leaving to be her guard in Roswaal's Mansion. It was with this, that the two would encounter Subaru...and their adventure to redemption for all three would begin.
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Traveling through the tunnel of timelines, they could see the lights and streams of colors, eventually they went to the right side and made it inside.
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"Huh, we're in the capital now!"
"But it looks like it previously did, so we're still not in the proper place just yet."
The three visitors looked around, left and right, before all three of them leaped up to the top of a carriage, letting the thing take them away.
"I wonder if we will meet more recognizable faces?"
"I know around here is the stomping grounds of my old buddies."
"Ah those three helpers of yours, I believe Subaru-sama called them 'The Three Stooges'?"
"Ton, Chin and Kan; those were buds you know?"
Felt looked to the passing streets somberly, remembering…
"That Day, when Exogenesis attacked the Capital...they died protecting Heinkel at his home."
"...I am sorry for my sons ineptitude."
Theresia clenched her fist, knowing of another reason to give her son a verbal and physical whooping.
"Felt-chan, on behave of me and Wilhelm, we both apologize immensely for Heinkel sacrificing your friends."
"Thanks, I've learned to bottle up my anger on him, helps fuel the Ring better. But I appreciate it though."
Felt nodded with a small smile, making Theresia begin to pat Felt on the head as well. Though Felt fussed, she just let it happened and enjoyed. Wilhelm looked around, trying to get a feel for where exactly in the Capital they were in.
"Well, let's just find out where to-"
"-WILHELM!"
A voice rang out from the crowd, with all three jumping off the carriage, racing to find the source of it. Until eventually, Felt pointed over to a corner.
"Wil-jii! Over there!"
Wilhelm nodded and the travelers hopped over small ledges, sprinted past parked carriages and hurried over to the crowd, rushing past people, until they were in front of a cafe.
"Looks like we've finally made progress."
"As did we, I suppose."
Beatrice, Emilia and the gemstone around her neck, which housed the soul of Rem...were ecstatic to see them.
"Wilhelm, who is that?"
Emilia pointed to Theresia, only for the Red Lantern to laugh just a little.
"Well, it's a long story."
Now, this group, would begin yet another attempt at returning home…
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Rosenrot blocked a construct attack, then rolled under several red beams before hopping up and knocking down a Red Lantern. Moussaka raced over and fired numerous amounts of beams at his back, only for the Spirit to swing back and use his duo-axe to slam him to the ground. Jolokia used his own battleaxe to trade blows with him, but quickly realized how strong he was, grunting and heaving with each strike. Then a vine popped out of the ground and smacked him through a dune.
Rosenrot then saw as a female Red Lantern charged at him with dual wielding sword constructs. He tilted his body with each attempted strike, just to have her eat a powerful headbutt, and then fired his eye beams through her chest, killing her. He hurried as bamboo shoots erupted out of the ground and from their tips began firing orbs of light. Each Red Lantern had to do their best to dodge all of the oncoming fire. Using the newly created bamboo forest as cover, despite his massive body, he rushed over trying to spread the forest farther, trying his best to make it closer to the Tower.
Jolokia flung his axe, as it spin cut through the bamboo, resulting in Rosenrot actually catching it and lobbying it back at him. Jolokia used his Ring to create a shield construct, which saved him from his own battleaxe.
Kong, who had been busy aiding other Red Lanterns trying to push back Longinus, noticed what was going on on the other side of this battlefield and decided to get involved. He hurried through the sky, curving in the air to dodge the oncoming blasts from the bamboos. Kong made it in front of Rosenrot. This large old man, with wild white hair and connected large white beard, flexed his chest muscles in front of him.
"And who might you be, I do declare?"
"I am Kong Wolfsberg! Main master of the Bo Tekken Ryu Style, and I cannot permit you to go any more!"
"That is quite the title, I believe I'd show the utmost etiquette and let you know that I am Rosenrot. A pleasure I am sure, I do declare."
"I wish I could say it was a pleasure…"
Then, it started raining.
Kong made the first move and went for a straight spear hand strike, but Rosenrot dodged it, and lifted his duo-axe to slice him good, but was stunned by Kong stepping in closer and using a powerful heel kick to deflect his axe. Rosenrot fired eyebeams, but Kong rushed under them and landed an outside roundhouse kick. Rosenrot went for his own karate chop, but Kong caught it, and judo tossed him. Rosenrot landed on his feet and spun around...just to eat a powerful palm strike, then got followed by a harsh elbow strike. Kong did not want to use the power of the Ring, or at least rely on it too much...he wanted to prove the worthiness of his martial arts. Rosenrot, spun around his weapon, trying to cut him up, Kong waited…
"HAH!"
"What?!"
Using a powerful downward stomp, his foot actually landed where the axe head met the pole, making it stab into the ground instead. Using Rosenrot's stunned outlook to his own advantage, he landed a powerful bent wrist attack on the side of his head, and then struck him with back hand punch. He went into a combo of high kicks and mid punches, not giving Rosenrot a moment to even breathe.
He then went for his own final strike, a massive front kick, which instead utilized his massive big toe, which he trained for years in perfecting. It was always an instant kill shot.
With a loud snap, his foot landed, and rocked Rosenrot...or not.
With massive haymaker punch, Rosenrot broke all of Kong's toes on his attacking foot. Kong then tried for a spinning elbow only to eat a half uppercut to the chin. Rosenrot used his axe to cut open his chest, but was yet again stunned when he ate a leaping knee strike.
Rosenrot followed suit by using his sharp finger to dig open Kong's chest wound further. Kong landed several punches on him, making him step back. He tried for a side foot kick, but Rosenrot used his sharp finger to cut apart the bottom of his foot. Kong made his cut open foot land on the sand, causing the pain to rush into him, but he had to ignore it. He went for a powerful straight punch...and so did Rosenrot, whose fist collided with his.
Kong saw his knuckles implode on impact, as Rosenrot lurched on one foot, readying a two fingers for an attack. Kong readied his good forearm to try and block the strike, but the two finger spear strike broke the bones in his arms. Rosenrot threw a punch onto his chest, breaking the bones there which began to rub onto his internal organs. Kong...used his napalm blood as a projectile attack, which made Rosenrot to step back, opening him open for a spear hand, combining it with the energy of his Red Ring.
"HRAGGHHHHH!"
He landed the strike...seeing the hit did nothing but smudge his armored head. The green slit of his helmet, shined a tad, and Rosenrot grabbed his wrist, and snapped it in two. He then stomped on his knee, breaking the damn thing. Kong, on one knee and completely covered in blood, was hit in the face with a knife hand strike. The resulting attack, made the side of Kong's face, burst open to a bloody mess, with only his eye left to swell into a disgusting size.
Rosenrot raised his duo-axe high, Kong could only apathetically watch.
Jolokia hurried through the bamboos, cutting through as many as he could and could see what was happening.
"Groooar! No! Kong-shisho!"
He slashed a powerful projectile crimson slash from his battleaxe….only for a mass of bark to block the hit from out of nowhere.
"NNNNOOOO!"
Rosenrot had his axe descend...yet Kong showed no fear or apprehension.
"This man, Rosenrot, he showed me some respect by not using any of his plant magic in our duel. I respect him for that at least. I do not fear this whatsoever, for I know I leave nothing unattended. I am sure my wife will join me and my son eventually. And the Bo Tekken Ryu dojo is in good hands…"
His thoughts rushed to her. The one he entrusted the future to, the one who was his shining pupil. All the hard work, all the ardorous battles she faced, the bows she gave...and the proud smile she would sometimes put on, gave him his final hope.
"I leave everything to you, Frederica-"
With a sudden swipe, half of Kong's head was sliced clean off, and his body hit the ground.
"NOOOOOO! GROOOOAAAAARRR! KKKKOOONNNNGGGG!"
Jolokia pushed through the giant vines that obstructed his path, tears flooding out of his red glowing eyes. Yet Rosenrot rushed him, chokeslamming him to the ground, kicking large amounts of sand up. Jolokia tried to also vomit out napalm blood, but Rosenrot shoved him away. Jolokia got up, raised his battleaxe up, only to get a massive front kick land on his chin, making the proud warrior drop his coveted weapon.
Once again, Rosenrot raised his weapon…
In the capital, Callaloo was at home with her son, letting him play with her large tail. She could only laugh at his struggles to pull and tug at it, bite it softly, before bear hugging it again. Looking at the window of their home, she watched the grey skies, as the rain began to fall. Her child then ceased his playful antics and crawled over to snuggle up to his mother.
"Awww, worried about papa?"
He nodded, making her nuzzle her nose on his forehead.
"No worries, papa is coming home, I promise."
Callaloo smiled…
Jolokia watched as the axe began to descend upon him, regretting his tactics. His mind showered onto the memories he-
"JOLOKIA!"
Attero the Guiltylowe, headtackled Rosenrot on the side, making his swing miss entirely. The spirit then used his free hand to grab onto his mane, and flinging him away through a now muddy dune. Jolokia got to his feet and tried to wrestle the duo-axe out of Rosenrot's grasp. The Dark Spirit wanted none of it and used piercing finger techniques to begin stabbing into his shoulder and neck. After being palm struck back, Jolokia used his Ring to fire multiple attacks out to him, which Rosenrot spun his weapon to deflect them, then stab the ground and gigantic vines and twigs smacked him away. Using the giant vines to carry him away, he simply stood still and let them take him closer to the Tower.
Jolokia hurried as he wiped the blood off of his face, and watched Attero shake his head.
"Grrr, Attero, help others take out those magical plants, I'm going after him!"
"Right!"
Jolokia got his battleaxe and followed him, flying through the air, as Attero began his work cutting down those bamboo shoots.
Rosenrot glanced down, and saw two individuals making their way very close to the Tower. He hopped down to confront them, recognizing something familiar about them.
Once he landed in front of them, making a smashing entrance, he could easily see who they were.
"Color me truly surprised, I do declare! I didn't believe I would encounter you two here."
Shaula and the Subaru from her world were both stunned to see the massive crimson armored being in front of them. He waved around his doubled axe around, tilting his head at the sight of Subaru.
"Whatever happened to your hair and eye? White and blind; the world you are from must've been remotely harrowing, or maybe you did that to yourself, I do declare?"
Shaula got in front of Subaru…
"Master, you'll have to go on without me."
"Shaula?"
"This guy, oh I can feel it, this guy is giving me bad vibes. I'll take him on, while you make your way to the Tower."
"G-Got it, good luck."
Subaru rushed off, around these two next opponents.
"Soooo, you know me and Master?"
"Well, in regards to Subaru I have only heard of him in passing."
"And me?"
"...Last time we met, I almost killed you, I do declare."
Not a shred of lies was sensed into his voice, but every ounce of malice surely was. Shaula instinctively knew that this Spirit was more than she anticipated to encounter. Even in the years of her mercilessly killing countless people for Subaru, she only encountered the most bare minimum of struggle. She could remember Garfiel and Roswaal being the hardest encounters she made, but they barely made her break a sweat. Yet, here was someone who was actively making her nervous about how hard this fight would be. Even if she won this fight, there was no telling if she could make it out in one piece.
"Let your thoughts not trouble you Shaula, let me release you from all these worries."
"Bull! Me and Master are walking right on over you and fulfill everything he wants and desires!"
"Hmph, forgive me. I came to the understanding that you were like the Shaula I knew."
He then readied his pose, ready for combat.
"But I see now, you are a pathetic puppet without a shred of self, I do declare. Something disgusting like you, should have no right to live!"
"Don't talk about my love like it's something to freakin' mock! I'm gonna wreck you up, really good!"
Shaula raised her fists, glaring madly at the much larger opponent.
Their fight was now to begin.
Subaru, kept running as the rain soaked him down, but he could see that the Tower was very close…
But he peeked over his left side and saw a Morningstar coming right at him, he fell on small dent on the mud, saving him from the oncoming killing threat. He wiped the mud on his face and looked, seeing that a blue haired maid, who looked a lot like Ram was rushing over to him.
"Rem will not let you get away Natsuki Subaru!"
Subaru looked to his other side, and all of his hallucinations came to the consensus that they did not know who this girl was, but surmised it was a girl named Rem who was apparently Ram's sister. Rem aimed her palms at him, firing multiple ice spears...only for a crimson shield construct to block them. Landing in front of him ...was Petra.
"So, a version of Rem-nee san is here?"
"Petra-chan?! You are one of these freaks too?!"
"I really don't like being called something mean like that!"
Rem brought her weapon back to her, gripping it tightly, as she fumed at her angrily.
"Even if Rem must swipe you away, I must not allow that man to live!"
Petra looked over, seeing the white haired Subaru crawl away from them, never noticing the eager smile plastered on his face.
"Well, even if he isn't the Subaru that I know, I sure as heck know seeing him die would upset my tummy."
"Then you stand against me?!"
"Sure, this is a good chance too…"
Her memories flashed of the fondness Subaru shared with her, and not Petra. All the meals he potentially had with her and not Petra. The cleaning duties they shared, and not Petra. The secret nightly embraces, that were not Petra.
Were not Petra.
Not Petra.
Not Petra.
Not Petra.
...Only Rem.
"This'll get my mind clear of you, once and for all."
With her body completely soaked, Petra gave what should have been an adorable smile, but it was anything but.
Elsa kept hurrying over hopping and leaping around the random explosions that were occurring all around her. She would have maybe run away at any other point, but seeing all this devastation, all these battles going on, well it awakened her bloodthirsty nature. In front of her she could see the Memory Eater Subaru hurrying to reach the Tower...only for a red streak of light to land in front of her.
"Oh well hello, are you here to be my first today?"
Jolokia, gripped his battleaxe as blood oozed out of his body, his very grey fur was soaked in it, as he snarled at the woman in front of her.
"I recognize you, grrrrr, the Bowel Hunter, Elsa Granhiert!"
"My my, I am so pleased to hear that I gained some kind of, well notoriety with my work."
"If you can call it that, I am still wondering how you are still alive."
Elsa raised her brows for a moment, before smiling obnoxiously sensually at him.
"So someone tried to kill me? How exciting, very exciting indeed."
"Grrr, I do not know how you got here, but I am sure it that smae that has led to the madness occurring all around us. Either way, I am going to finish what Atrocitus-sama started."
He threw his battleaxe to the ground, getting into a boxing stance.
"And I will honor Kong's memory...I WILL STOP YOU WITHOUT MY RING, OR MY WEAPONS!"
Elsa watched, stared at the saber tooth tiger beastman, covered in blood, wounds surrounding different parts of him. This man had every intention of beating her with only his martial arts and raw strength, his bulking muscles proved as much. The rain poured around these two.
Elsa laughed.
"Ahahaha, ahuhuhuhu! Oh my, I have never seen such a declaration before! Goodness, I think I'm going to enjoy-"
Her eyes opened, as a single glimmer, that which represented death, flickered in her eyes.
"-CUTTING OUT YOUR BOWELS."
"GROOOOAARRRR!"
Elsa raced to him, as Jolokia stomped forward.
Battles were happening all over the place, against those who sought to destroy and those who sought to save, and the rain, could not even alleviate a single moment of it.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Frederica and Mimi walked down the hill, as they were watching on in total confusion.
"Hey Fredi-nee, what the heck is happening?"
"I believe, I know what this event is."
Soldiers were battling each other on these grassy hills.
On one side, humans.
On the other side, demi-humans.
"Oh crap, this is the Demi-Human Civil War."
"Wah?! Wha?! You mean when Lugnica was pretty mad at itself?"
"The Witch of Envy caused Lugnica to take on a discriminatory stance on Demi-Humans, resulting in hostile relations, sparking this powder keg."
"Jeez, without us Red Lanterns around these guys are sooooo helpless."
"Maybe so-"
Just then, several human knights noticed them and one of them pointed.
"Look over there, more demi-freaks, get them!"
They charged, getting the attention of Frederica, who simply flew over and punched one of their heads to chunks. The other knights tried to run away, but Mimi flew over them and used a sharp lining construct to quickly behead them. With their death cries, other nearby human knights and mages noticed them as well. Realizing the results they just handed down, both of them squinted their eyes in annoyance.
"Oh poop."
"Oh crap."
In that moment, Frederica rushed over and began using only her physical power to begin punching, kicking and slicing away any knight that dared get close to her. In a completely harsh moment, she picked up an injured soldier by his foot and used him as a blunt weapon, pummeling to death his companions. Mimi used her small size to good use, moving past and around enemies and began to use construts of knives and pick axes to murder them.
Eventually once there was a literal small hills worth of bodies piling up behind them, it resulted in what anyone would expect.
"R-RETREAT! FALL BACK! RETREAT!"
The humans ran away, turning tail and leaving their injured behind. The demi-humans roared in applause, turning their attention to their saviors.
"Hail to the Crimson Warriors! Hail to our...HEROES!"
The men and women in this army cheered on Frederica and Mimi, who had blood splatters on their faces and hands.
Both Red Lanterns glanced at each other and then back to them, really getting a moment to reflect on it.
"Mimi."
"Yes Fredi-nee san?"
"...I think we fucked up."
"Yup, yup."
Mimi hugged her fox scarf and Frederica face palmed, both now being drawn into a war...THAT HAPPENED OVER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
And this was only the beginning.
On some grassy fields, where there golden flowers all around, gracing some old ruins...there was a young man. Who had now overheard several commanders and regiment leaders, talking about two Crimson Demi-Humans slaughtering three entire regiments.
"Maybe that will be my test, to make myself, STRONGER."
A young Wilhelm, whose brown hair swayed in the wind, watched as golden petals danced around him.
A different war, was set to come.
[TO BE CONTINUED…]
AN: Frederica and Mimi are storming into battle! And the 2nd Battle for The Tower is really heating up! Now things are shifting into gear as we watch Frederica and Mimi begin their own intruding on a past event. How badly will they mess things up here? Well, we shall find out!
NEXT TIME: CH. 45 - "Nessun Dorma".
Catch you later!