Chapter 10: The Gods Must Be Crazy

"What the- Who the hell is... He's even got my tracksuit and everything!"

What the hell is even happening?!

It was difficult to comprehend to Subaru, who had only been awake in this world for no longer than a day or two from his perspective.

Both the Subarus locked eyes for a split second, before turning their heads away from one another.

"Ugh! I remember imagining this scenario happening in my head one time, but not like this!"

"You're telling me! I knew it would be weird seeing myself when I got back to the tower, but this gives me the chills."

Unfortunately, whatever conversation they were attempting to have was cut short by Reid, who began walking towards the Subaru in the tracksuit. The boy, noticing that it was only a matter of time before Reid started their battle, turned around, resting his hand on the brow of the massive dragon that was lying behind him.

It had been a tedious effort procuring a mode of transportation like this. However, dragon-riding happened to be a pastime of one of the many people Ley had consumed. Putting that knowledge to use, Subaru had managed to best one in combat and earn its respect. It was the best thing he could think of at the time. Apart from simply learning to fly himself, his other options were to walk on foot or take a ground dragon, which would have been weeks, if not months of travel. There simply was no other option.

And even after all that effort, he felt terrible about what he had to do next. Keeping a dragon here would only brew more chaos. He preferred to keep that to a minimum.

"You can go home. Fly safe."

The beast flared it's nostrils, and began to remove it's head from the tower, before offering a response.

"As you wish. If you require further assistance, you need only summon me."

The boy nodded, before turning to a perplexed Emilia.

"Emilia-tan! Could I have a sword please?"

But the girl was petrified. She simply stood in place, shifting her gaze between the two black-haired boys, unsure what to do.

The [Weak] Subaru did a double-take, noticing that he had said Emilia's name differently.

Tan?

The boy shook his head and came to a conclusion.

That guy really is me!

"Emilia! Give him the sword, you can trust him!"

The girl looked up at Subaru hesitantly, before smashing her palms against the sides of her head.

"A-Alright. Subaru, here!"

The girl picked out a short blade from the array of weaponry that surrounded her and launched it towards him.

The [Strong] Subaru caught the sword, before taking a brief survey of its structure.

Sharp and thick, a premium chunk of ice, fashioned by an expert in the Ice Brand Arts.

"This is good, but it won't hold up for very long against this guy."

Subaru took his hand, waving it up and down next to the sword, chanting a spell that matched his affinity.

"Minya".

A dark crystal formed, hovering in the air parallel to the blade. Reaching into the depths of his memories, Subaru recalled a spell that he had used in conjunction with Emilia to entrap the Great Rabbit in a cage of ice and darkness. With a small amount of creativity, he would attempt to use that same technique to reinforce the sword.

"Cocytus."

The crystal and the weapon in his hand began to merge. As the ice began to darken, it seemed as if the blade had been removed from time itself.

"That'll do it. And just as an extra measure..."

He placed his hand on his chest, chanting another spell.

"Murak."

His body lost it's weight by a significant margin, allowing for much higher movement and reaction speed. Empowered with the gate and physical prowess of a new body, it was finally time to see if magic might push him far enough to compete with the sheer physical strength possessed by the very first Sword Saint.

"Alright Reid, I'm not coming at you with that weak body anymore. It's honestly kind of scary just how big the difference is right now, I hope you're ready."

Reid cocked his head, a devilish grin was burned into his cheeks.

"Wouldn' have it any other way! You better show me somn' special with all at' talk yer makin'!"

Subaru rolled up his sleeves and spat back.

"That goes for you, too."

The two stood still for a moment. Of the audience composed of the [Weak] Subaru, Meili, and Emilia, neither could move an inch.

The [Weak] Subaru's hair stood on end, taking in the sight before him, a fight between [Himself] and a man with legendary strength was about to erupt.

But before he could consider it any further, both the men disappeared. The air around the hallway began to push and pull, dust was kicked up and rocks were thrown in all directions. To the spectators, it was difficult simply to keep their eyes on the duo.

The flash of red combined with the flash of black, swinging along in a dance that roared up and down the hallway, assaulting the brick floor with each step.

Reid had a chopstick in each hand, blocking strikes with one and launching strikes with the other. The dark purple blade in Subaru's hand glimmered with each swing, expertly weaving through each of Reid's blind spots, before being knocked away by the chopstick in his left hand.

"Ha! Yer on a whole different level than ya' were before kid! But ya' still got a lot further to go before ya' can do much against the likes a' me!"

Unexpectedly to the boy, Reid's right hand doubled in speed, flying past Subaru's line of sight and landing into his side, smashing him into the wall in a similar manner to Julius.

Dust billowed out from the crater and brick, before a glowing sword sliced through it, banishing the dust from the air.

"Fat chance."

The boy took a familiar stance and smashed his right foot forward into the floor, cracking the carefully fashioned tile into a mosaic. He lifted his sword with both hands, emitting an eruption of shifting colors at its peak, which began diffusing into the air like a hot steam.

"This one is for Julius."

Reid, deciding he would take the strike head-on, lifted his chopsticks in an X shape to meet the sword.

Typically, Ley's ability, Lunar Eclipse, did not transfer spiritual arts. For someone such as Julius however, the techniques being used were ultimately a manipulation of mana that the spirits provided, meaning that as long as one had the affinity for the mana, as well as the required weapon, being a sword, his techniques could still be executed.

And thus, Subaru had the perfect attack in mind.

"Al Clarista."

The young man spoke, before his target was consumed in an array of blinding white. The tower shook under the shock of the blast, sand and dust spraying through the corridors in all directions as the hallway was turned into a kaleidoscope of colors.

"Jeez! Onii-san, we need to get out of here!"

Meili grabbed onto the [Weak] Subaru, tugging him away from the scene.

"Wh-Hold on! We have to get Jul-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the [Strong] Subaru was in front of him, with the unconscious body of the knight over his shoulder.

"If you have any trouble carrying him, just ask Emilia-tan."

The monster in the form of a boy spoke as he handed off the unresponsive Julius to the [Weak] Subaru, before disappearing back into the cloud of dust.

Emilia stood still for a moment. The way that boy said her name, she knew that he remembered. But what about the Subaru that was next to her? The one that didn't know…

She berated herself internally again, this wasn't the time to be dwelling on such things. Closing her eyes and shaking her head, she resolved to make her best effort.

The girl pointed toward the knight that was in the boy's arms. His regalia was torn and tattered worse than it had been before, and blood was dripping down his shoulders and back. Reid had done a number on him.

"Subaru, the Green Room isn't far, we need to take care of his injuries."

Subaru nodded, and the group made their way out of the battleground.

Reid stood with his chopsticks in a cross shape, having just deflected the blow that Subaru had dealt him.

"Not bad kid, I ain't seen someone quite as stubborn as you since I met Trisha."

The man dropped his hands, carefully taking a look at the chopsticks he was holding. They began to disintegrate, having been charred black from Subaru's attack.

Reid was now without a weapon.

"Looks like if I'm gonna beat ya' right, I'll have ta' get a little serious."

He reached his hand over his head and ripped off the eye patch he had been wearing. Then, turning to the wall, he took note of the crater that he had slammed Julius into.

"Guess I'll be takin' this."

On the floor was the knights sword, having been dropped after Reid's decisive hit. He reached down and grabbed the weapon, then stood upright and swung the blade dryly through the air a few times.

"Not a bad sword. If I had t' say, it might even be better than that chunk of steel my neighbor used to lug around."

After taking a few test swings, he adopted a stance that Subaru was familiar with. His arm hung limply at his side, hilt in hand. He simply stood straight.

At first glance, one might think he was full of openings, but his body had been rested in a natural position. Since no part of his body was extended or stressed, it meant he could defend attacks from his front, just as well as his backside.

Reid was serious.

"Throw a man in tha' wilderness for a decade n' this is tha' result. Always on guard, but never wasting any movements. That's one thing Trisha never picked up, she'd waste er' energy like sticks on a boulder."

Subaru was alerted by this, noticing just how familiar he was with the fighting style Subaru himself had adopted. But he also noted a discernable difference. Reid might have changed his stance, but he still had to rely on his eyes to see. Subaru however, had been fighting in a dark cave, devoid of nearly all light for years.

He could telegraph the attack of his enemies without ever seeing it. He hadn't been putting that ability to use in the light so far, since he could see just fine, but he hadn't thought about it before. Now that he was faced with an opponent that could easily match him, small efficiencies like this would be the determining factor in his fight.

"Right. Well, in that case, I'll take you on with my eyes closed.

The Sword Saint was perplexed.

"Th' hell?"

Subaru mimicked Reid's stance, but instead closed his eyes and tilted his head slightly forward, limply holding the shimmering blade to his side.

The red-haired man stood with his finger on his chin for a moment, before letting out a hearty laugh.

"Ha! Ya' caught on pretty quick there din' ya? I thought'cha were just bein' smug, but yer pretty quick-witted aren'cha? Now I can't trace yer movements from the look in yer eyes… Looks like you'll just be the one defendin' this time!"

Reid smashed his foot against the ground, charging directly at the boy, his sword swaying behind him as he ran. Coming to a stop directly in front of Subaru, he slammed both feet into the ground, raising his sword directly overhead.

Subaru stood completely still, monitoring the noise around him closely. Directly above him, he could feel a slight change in air pressure. He remained in place, waiting for Reid's strike to reach its climax before he would take any action.

The man laid into the hilt of the blade with his body weight and momentum, bringing it down in a verticle line directed straight at the boy's head. It wasn't until the sword was within inches of its target that he detected some amount of movement.

Subaru simply moved his body slightly to the side. The attack missed by a narrow margin, however, the boys face remained unchanged as the wall behind him disintegrated from the sheer air pressure generated behind the strike. Not moving from his stance, the boy had prepared a counter, raising his right arm.

Reid, realizing that he would not be able to dodge the attack, raised his sword to block it.

"Dumbass."

After having pushed himself into a defensible stance, Reid's brow furrowed, realizing that the strike was not coming.

A bead of sweat went down his forehead, as he saw a purple crystal disappear from the boys attacking hand, clearly a decoy to make the red-haired man believe that he was holding the sword with that arm.

Reid's side was completely unguarded, and in place of the attack that Subaru had faked, a blow was issued by Subaru's remaining left arm. In no less than a tenth of a second, Reid had raised his fingers, in an attempt to catch the blade.

Subaru internally scoffed at this, as the attack had incredible power behind it, in addition to the weapon being an extension of Minya, a spell that could easily consume it's host and destroy them. However, surprise painted his face when the boy noticed the outcome.

Catching the blade between two fingers, Reid directed the flow of the attack through his body, which quickly escaped through his feet, cracking the floor below him and sending a shockwave throughout the tower.

"Surprised? That's a neat trick I've been workin' on, if ya' know just how ta' take the hit, ya' can make it all disappear into tha' ground. Pretty nifty ain't it?"

Subaru wasn't all that shocked, this man was the Sword Saint after all, it was clear that he would have some kind of insanely unfathomable tricks. However, the boy moved his concern elsewhere, where the man's fingers were touching the blade that was covered in yin magic.

"That's cool, but it looks like you forgot about something pretty important."

Subaru opened his eyes for a moment, telegraphing his attention to the blade, before Reid noticed.

A thin purple shimmer had taken root in the man's finger, which quickly began to spread further up. Quickly taking action, Reid weived his sword directly through the knuckles of his fingers, as if he were cutting them off from the root. However, the appendage appeared undamaged, and the purple aura surrounding it disintegrated into the air.

"What?"

Subaru was truly surprised this time, not only had Reid completely redirected the energy of the blow, but he had also cut through his own finger without severing it, a feat that meant the sword would have had to slide its way through the atomic structure of his hand, while also negating the defect that Subaru's mana infused sword had passed to him.

"Yeah, another trick o' mine. The pinnacle of learnin' the sword. I can cut through just about anything. Steel, magic, hell even light. I've gotten pretty good at, it if I say so myself."

The Boy clicked his tongue, realizing that the tricks he had seen so far were merely the tip of the iceberg.

"Come on now, this is seriously unfair..."

Reid vocally fired back, unhappy that the boy was still complaining.

"Oi, shut yer trap, ya' got two whole days ta' sit around scratchin' yer ass, ya' prick."

Subaru flinched and backed away, looking at his hand. The black marks and scars were gone. He looked normal. So ironically normal that it almost made his skin crawl knowing the body he was currently inhabiting did not belong to him.

"You're right. I guess you and I are both in the same situation aren't we?"

The red-haired man tilted his head in confusion.

"Huh?"

Subaru balled his fists and closed his eyes.

"Nothing. Now, where were we?"

Reid stapled on his typical grin, before adjusting back to his position again.

"Ah, yeah. I was just gettin' ready ta' kick yer ass!"

And the hallway of the 4th floor erupted once again in an onslaught of swordplay.

The little girl sprinted down the hallway, holding her red dress in tow as she made her way to the commotion that was brewing further down the passage.

Subaru is in danger again, Betty won't let him get hurt any longer!

Coming to a halt, the site of the wreckage came into view.

Rooms in all directions had been caved in, enormous gashes cutting through the walls were visible, sometimes cutting through several rooms entirely. Brick and dust layered the floor, as a haze of ash seemed to subtly line the air.

"Beatrice!"

Out of seemingly nowhere, a familiar boy appeared in front of her, shoving her to the wall.

A slash opened in the floor between the two, in the exact spot where she had just been standing.

"Mah, sorry bout' that. Ya got my blood boilin' a little, coulda took yer head off."

A familiar red-haired swordsman, as if completely ignoring all of the warnings he had given Beatrice, simply turned and launched an attack at Subaru, who was standing in front of Beatrice.

Realizing he wouldn't be able to dodge with the little girl in his way, he simply blocked the blow with his crystalized sword, which resulted in the destruction of everything that wasn't directly behind the boy.

"Beako, get out of here! This guy is only concerned about me!"

Her head twitched at the way he said her name.

Beako?

The way he said it was familiar.

"Wait... Could you be... Are you Betty's Subaru?"

The boy kicked away Reid's sword. His eyes were open so that he could keep sight of Beatrice, and now that he wasn't attacking blindly, he would be telegraphing his attacks, which essentially meant that he was unable to attack.

Now that he had pushed away Reid for a moment, he summoned the mana within him to distract the Sword Saint.

"Ul Shamak!"

The first thing he did was grab Beatrice in a princess carry. Her face was frozen, a sign that she was lost in the depths of Shamaks effects. If she were contracted to him, this wouldn't normally be an issue, but now that he was in a different body, there was nothing preventing them from accidentally attacking each other.

That was simply another risk he wasn't willing to take.

Making his way outside the cloud of darkness, he came to a stop. The little girl in his arms immediately sucked in an exasperated breath, stifling a few coughs that also tried to escape.

"S-Subaru... I don't feel the contract... Are you really...?"

He let the girl down from his arms. She stared at him with pleading eyes. He didn't want to see those precious butterflies leak tears again, so he attempted to calm her.

"It's me, Beako. There's a lot of stuff happening that I really can't explain right now. It's fine if you don't trust me, we can-"

"Betty trusts you." She cut him off with a scowl, as if she were angry at the fact that he didn't think she would return his trust.

Noticing the surprised expression she earned from him, she crossed her arms and put on a smug look.

"Betty's Subaru is hopeless with me I suppose, it is only obvious that she would assist him, in fact."

Subaru shook his head, unable to understand why she was so trusting of someone she hadn't forged a contract with.

"I'm not the same Subaru. Look Beako, I have a different body. You won't be able to use any of my mana."

The girl let out a "Hmph!" before adopting another smug look.

"Shows how much you know, Subaru. Betty can take all the mana she wants from you, I suppose."

Releasing her crossed arms, she placed her hand on his stomach. He could feel almost all of the mana get drained from his body in only a few short seconds.

"The rules of the contract said that I can only take my mana from Betty's Subaru. Contract or not, you are still Betty's Subaru. As such, Betty is upholding the contract perfectly fine, in fact."

Subaru began to shake, before hopping off the ground and grabbing Beatrice under the arms, spinning like a top.

"Beako found a loophole, that's my Beako! Beako for life! Beako forever!"

The girl began to squirm in his grip, attempting to hide the blush that had nearly turned her face as red as her dress.

"The contract said nothing about this in fact!"

Subaru stopped and pushed his cheek against her head, as if he were hugging a cat.

"Yeah? Well, I don't have any contracts anyway, so I can do what I want!"

However, the affectionate display was disrupted by the sound of metal flashing through the air. The cloud of darkness that was behind them had disappeared in an instant, and Subaru found himself face to face with the red-haired demon yet again.

"Oi. That's real cute n' all, but yer forgettin' somethin' pretty important, ain't ya, ya prick?"

The duo turned to regard the man that was now approaching behind them.

"Subaru, where did you get all this mana?"

The girl questioned him. Looking at her hands, she felt almost overcome by all the mana she had pulled from him. She hadn't had this much since her time in the Forbidden Library.

"It's a long story, let's just say that I have a lot of people I can borrow from. Shall we get started?"

Beatrice nodded. "With this much, Betty could hold E.M.T. for a full twenty minutes."

She raised her hands up to him, opening and closing her fingers a few times.

"Carry me."

Subaru did a double-take. At first, he was wondering why she would want to be held, but then came to a realization.

"Oh, I get it! Let's do this."

He turned his back to the girl and allowed her to climb onto his shoulders, locking her legs around his neck. Pushing her hands forward, she gave a quick chant.

"E.M.T."

A large purple shield was generated around the two. Subaru readied his sword and closed his eyes.

"I guess I can go all out now, thanks Beako."

He began to walk forward, nearing the man in red.

"Ohoh? Not gonna dodge anymore? Ya startin' ta grow an ego there, aren'cha?" The man spat.

Subaru cocked his head and opened one of his eyes, giving off a beaming smile.

"I've got a sword custom made by Emilia-tan, Beako on my shoulders, and a bunch of powers out of nowhere. It won't last long, but for the time being, I might as well be a god."

Reid sucked in a breath and gave another crazed smile. Stomping both his feet to the ground he let out a proclamation.

"Assertin' yerself like at'? In fronta' me of all folks... The gods must be crazy!"

Ripping his sword through the air, Reid spun his body and cemented his feet to the ground. His target was a boy with black hair, every inch of Reid's attention focused its bearing on Subaru.

The boy simply stood with his eyes closed and a smile on his face.

Reid's sword tore through the air, raising dust and sparking the atmosphere as it went, before colliding with the transparent purple shield that was encircling the duo of Subaru and Beatrice.

"Wha-"

Before the Sword Saint could speak, a frozen sword cast in a purple hue smashed into his sternum, flinging him into the wall at incredible speed.

"Ghk-"

As his back collided with the wall, Reid was dumbfounded. Whatever he had just attempted to cut completely negated his attack. He had come across many things that were incredibly strong, but under the pressure of his swing, there was never anything that he considered to be impossible to cut.

This was easily the strongest shield he had ever seen. Breaking his body out of the wall, he choked out a laugh between the coughs that were plaguing him.

"Now 'at's somethin'. Yer surprisin' me with somethin' new around every corner."

He said, wiping a small amount of blood that had made its way down his lips.

"You're telling me. That was all the strength I could put into my swing, but you don't even have a scratch."

In response, the man spit out some of the saliva that had built up in his mouth and pierced the boy with an evil gaze.

"I'd be inclined ta' say the same, but there's a lot more where that came from, hope yer new toy can keep it together long enough for me ta' have a bit more fun."

He glared daggers at the purple shield that protected the duo, considering how he should deal with it. After a moment, he decided to simply have fun with it. His typical slash would barely do anything in this particular case, because the connection that generated the shield was inside the shield, meaning he couldn't simply break its connection. The way the shield formed itself was incredibly unusual. It was transparent as if it were a bubble, yet its structure was solid. He didn't want to think about it anymore.

Surely, if he hit it with the biggest, hardest thing he could think of, he would simply blow right through it.

Reid centered his gaze on the purple orb, and his opponents in the middle. If he attempted another strike that failed to break it, he would take another blow from Subaru. He didn't care. He would walk it off.

"Now." He mumbled under his breath.

Raising his sword above his head, light began to shine. The air surrounding him began to shudder, and the passageway, or whatever was left of it, was enveloped in a deep light.

"Wha... Oh shit."

Subaru gulped, understanding what came next.

"Don't worry, I suppose, Betty will protect you!"

Despite Beatrice's words, he still found himself shaken. As Reid brought the sword down, the roar of the wind took on the distinguishable sound of a beast. The tower swayed from the push and pull of the air, and a blinding light eliminated all sense of sight.

The mass of white assaulted Subaru's vision, and he could feel the air pressure inside the shield increase steadily from all the action that was taking place outside of it. Beatrice held him tightly, her arms around his head.

Subaru decided he didn't want to take the chance if the shield didn't hold.

"Solar Eclipse, Neiji Rockheart."

Unbeknownst to Beatrice, Subaru's body had been taken place of a bare-chested man. He held his hand forward, preparing his next technique.

Taking a step forward, he met the blow head-on, raising his hand to catch the sword if it managed to pass through the bubble.

"Palm of the Fist King."

The glowing sword collided with the shield, energy deflecting and surrounding the barrier as Reid pressed into it.

For what seemed like an eternity, Subaru kept his eyes on the sword, preparing for it to pass through the globe of purple.

But it didn't.

Taking advantage of the Sword Saint's failure, he changed back into his preferred form. Holding the hilt of his sword to his right ear, pointing it in the direction of Reid.

I'll put all my remaining mana into this one!

The light from Reid's sword began to fade, and as it did, another took its place.

The man in red was transfixed in place by the white glow that was not his own.

Gathering all of his mana into the tip of the sword, Subaru had prepared another move.

"Al Clauzeria!"

Chapter 10, End.

Okay, that was fun! I'm trying to make this fight as interesting as it can be. Ultimately this is a fic about power fantasy, so you're gonna see epic battles like this unfold. I still like the idea of suffering, lower lows, higher highs, that kind of thing, but I am not good at writing a bunch of depressing stuff. Hopefully that's not a problem for you guys, but I felt like mentioning it regardless since a few of the last chapters had their fair share of it. Anyways, let me know what you guys think! I'm hoping I didn't ass pull Subaru's strength here, I tried to make everything seem like it made sense. You know, giving him a different body and all. Unfortunately it's a one-time thing. Subaru isn't going to stay like this. It was just me having fun and trying to make things interesting. Anyways, I'm posting this late, and I have to be awake in about 5 hours, so there are bound to be mistakes. If you see anything totally out of place, let me know so I can fix it. Thanks everybody! :)