"Kid...?" Before I can even turn around, he's dead on the floor. There are two small holes on his forehead, blood is leaking from them, staining the flowers on the ground red. The so called Child of Prophecy, a sixteen year old, is dead.
The Baroness only takes a second to process the gruesome scene and then glares at the swordsman with fiery anger. "You...!" She turns around clenching nothing in her hands. "Huh?" It's like she was expecting something.
Oh I know, she just tried summoning her sword. It's day in this field, we can clearly see it, but for some reason her fire sword doesn't answer her call. That's why our strongest fighter can only look at her empty hand in shock.
Fucking Reid Astrea of all people snorts. "The hell you doin'? Weirdo." And swipes his chopsticks through her throat, the chopsticks he is holding with his arms, even though he has no arms. It's a gruesome sound, to hear the proud Priscilla Barielle choke on her own blood, her death won't be as quick as Iori Ishida's.
Still, after less than a second her throat closes up. I don't know why that happens, but I do notice how her shiny right earring exploded in a thousand little pieces, the expensive and shiny jewel on it now being completely destroyed.
Priscilla only seems to glare harder at the man, trying to land a punch on him. He has no care for that however. "Regeneration?" It happens in one second, his arms that he does not possess move at incredible speeds cutting her at all angles.
It's like an explosion of gore and beauty. Priscilla's essense, her blood, her organs, her skin, everything flies everywhere, and so does every single jewel, every single expensive thing in her body. The red mixes mostly with gold, it's something that a serial killer, that a witch cultist, would find beautiful.
He chuckles after turning that proud woman into red mist. "Man... maybe if ya had some more years under ya belt." He sighs. "Seriously, the hell are ya weaklings doin' here?" That's something I can't answer, because that stupid prophecy didn't explain anything.
A cold chill runs through my body. "I don't wanna die...!" Even after saying that, I can't move. I'm the weakest here, my body, my gate is all messed up. I was always going to die anyways, but... This is too messed up, I wanted to grow my merchant empire a little bit more, I wanted to become king and improve the kingdom.
Anastasia Hoshin is greedy, but she takes care of what she has, because she loves what she has. Now I won't ever be able to take care of anything ever again, because if Iori and Priscilla already went down, what chance do I have?
Emilia is pointing her hands at him, it's like she's trying to throw magic, but can't. "Just die already...!" She's crying, she's absolutely livid. "You...! You're gonna pay for that you absolute piece of shit...!" I don't think I have ever heard the half-elf swear, but it's obviously justified in this case.
He tilts his head. "What are ya tryin' to do anyway? Ya ain't hitting me by pointin' those pretty hands..." Suddenly his one eye shines in realization. "Oh, I forgot, my bad. Y'all can't use spirit magic here, there ain't no spirits where we are." This bastard...!
Through tears Felt shouts at him. "Tell us that before the fight starts fucker...!" She dashes at him, her speed is impressive as always must be a Divine Protection. To my surprise however, she drops the Life Sword.
Instead she draws a knife from her back sheat. She must be more used to it, and it's not like the Life Sword has any impressive capabilities anyways, it's just a sword that kills souls, if you actually hit those souls.
Felt is in front of him in a instant, and then she's cut in half in a instant as hell. For the second time today I see a kid die, for the third time today, I see someone die. The swordsman yawns. "Borin'..." Of course she's boring to you!
Of course we are, I don't have any training, Priscilla can't summon her sword, you didn't give Iori a chance, Emilia can't use her trademark magic, Felt is fifteen, Crusch is not even awake...! This fight is impossible, we lost as soon as Emilia drew that sword. I hate her. I hate him.
Emilia lowers her hands, giving up on spirit magic. I guess she realized it's impossible to best fucking Reid Astrea, it would be already impossible even if she had her specialty, so obviously this can't be done.
He pouts. "Y'all lookin' at me like I'm the bad guy, but it's y'all's fault for comin' here. Just stay out." It's too late to say that now, isn't it you piece of shit. "Honestly the hell did y'all hope to do anyways? There's no way any of you can even scrat-" He's cutoff, mostly because he had to suddenly jump sideways.
A massive ice crystal just erupted were he was, I can simply watch in astonishment, because it appeared so suddenly. It's not only that either, the area that was filled with flowers is now slowly dying, because it's becoming colder and colder, it's snowing even...!
Emilia's face looks perfect for someone with the title of Witch of Envy. "Die." Reid dodges another ice crystal, this one is bigger. "Die." This time he has to cut it as well. "Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Just die already...!" It's not only ice crystals either.
It's like Emilia has become a witch of ice, she's throwing everything at him possible at him. He always either dogdges or cuts in two before it can hit him however. And it's not long before he reaches her.
There's a smile on his face. "Geez, if ya came back after a year, maybe y'all can do it... Nah, with one year I might even drop dead." He separates Emilia's head from her body, I don't know where the girl drew all that strength from, but it wasn't enough.
His gaze slowly shifts to me, and then my head is looking at my own body. My last thoughts are about how someway Crusch, the woman who's passed out, lasted the longest.
Being alive again is a weird experience. "Ah..." I'm more surprised than in pain. My death was a quick one, I didn't even feel it. Reid Astrea stabbed through my head in a flash, like he said, I got killed quickly.
Still, I notice I'm holding something. It's Crusch, I'm holding her legs while Priscilla holds her front... It's almost like nothing happened at all... Except the eyes of the Baroness are open wide, it's almost like she saw a ghost. Nonetheless she doesn't move, not one inch.
Emilia who was holding the sword falls back down, she's gripping at her throat. "No...!" It's almost like she's making sure she's there at all. And as she realizes she is, she slowly crawls away from the sword.
Speaking of swords, Felt drops mine on the ground, and she soon falls as well. Not passed out, simply looking at the ceiling while breathing hard. Her face is completely pale.
Anastasia grasps at her neck, she's doint the same thing as Emilia. "Fucker, I'll kill him...! I'll kill him...!" But she's displaying a lot more anger. It doesn't take a genius to realize what's going on here.
Reid Astrea carved through each and every one of us, probably even the sleeping Crusch. The only reason I didn't see the rest, is because I went down first. Which begs the question... How are we alive in the first place?
I take a deep breath and look at the shocked Priscilla. "Let's slowly put Crusch down, okay?" I say that because I feel like she could drop the girl down at any minute now. Priscilla slowly and robotically nod.
With great care we put Crusch's body on the floor, as soon as we do so, Priscilla walks a few steps away and... "Argh...!" Begins vomiting. It's a cruel sight, to see a proud woman like her acting like this.
The next thing that happens is Emilia realizing the situation, she gets up and rushes towards... Priscilla. "A-are you okay!?" Of course seeing someone in distress would knock the shock out of her body, she learned her lesson from her previous moment with the wounded Crusch.
Priscilla stops vomiting as soon as Emilia reaches her. "I... I'm fine half-scum, please worry about yourself." I can't tell whether she's being nice to Emilia or not, but it's great to see her eyes returning to almost normal.
She clenches her fists so hard blood is drawn. "That man... had the gall... to wound my body... to break my jewelry... I'm going to kill him. I'm going to end his lineage. I will shatter his precious sword." It seems all her shock has turned into anger.
Emilia pats her back. "I don't know about the last two...!" I'm glad to see these two have their own side handled, so for now I ignore them.
It seems like I'm the least shocked one here, so I head towards our thief first. "Hey Felt, are you alright...?" I don't know how one comforts someone that just died. Probably. I could be wrong of course, maybe only I did... Yeah, I definitely don't believe that.
Felt however, just bites her hand and shouts with a muffled voice. "Fucker...!" She's just like Priscilla, so naturally she's gonna react the same way. She then releases her now bleeding hand. "I'm gonna cut off his damn balls...!" It's strange, but I'm happy about her current state.
Felt, Priscilla and Emilia. They all more or less escaped the shock of being killed, now there's only one more person I should check on. "Let's do it together Felt." I receive a nod from her and then walk towards Anastasia.
She's now looking all around us, like she's afraid some ghost might jump her. I put my hand on her shoulder, ready to try and snap her out of it, but she slaps that hand away. "Don't touch me...!" Yeah, maybe I don't know how to do this.
I pause for a moment. "So... I think we should reunite to think of a strategy with how we should go about this. You down?" I'm trying to take her mind off the situation, I don't want her thinking about how she died.
Anastasia covers her face, I think she's crying. "I'm... I'm down. We need to discuss what path we are all gonna take now." This one probably, there's no doubt that this is what the prophecy wants. Though I don't blame Anastasia for wanting to run away.
I nod. "Good to have you back Anastasia..." I make a thinking pose. "Or maybe I should call you Ana? Your name is kinda of a mouthful." Now that I think about it, I haven't spent too much time with her, so maybe a nickname would be a good thing.
The merchant snorts. "Ya givin' me lovin' nicknames after we almost fuckin'... after we actually fuckin' died?" I grin and nod, I have to stay calm and handle the situation. "That's... Sure, ya can call me Ana kid." That's good, think of my nickname.
I have a responsibility to this group, because Reid took me out first, because my death was painless. So it falls onto me to pick up the pieces of my party members... I really need to thank Emilia for lighting up that load and talking with Priscilla.
I raise my voice. "Hey everyone, come here for a second!" As dark as it is, I need to find out what happened while I was... dead. They have most likely seen things I haven't, and besides we should probably all group up anyways.
Felt gets up with a sigh. "Coming...!" She's walking weirdly towards me, as... uncounth as is to think this in such a situation, it reminds me a woman who just had rough sex. It's almost like she's having difficulty with moving, her legs trembling.
After her it's Emilia who answers. "I'll be right there...!" She's moving a bit slower than Felt, mostly because she's seemingly helping Priscilla walk. The blonde in question still looks absolutely pissed off, which probably means we are going for a round two soon.
And now we are all together, but first of all...! "I'm really glad we are all okay." For one moment, I thought that this story was going to end in the darkest way imaginable. I... Well, if it happens, it happens, but I would rather avoid it.
Right now I'm looking for some way to put blame on me, that voice even said I should win, but... Obviously I can't beat that guy, not now. It's easy enough to realize it's no fault of my own, and the same thing goes for all the girls.
Priscilla's rage doesn't die out. "Indeed Puppy. It's a joyous occasion that we are all okay, even if it's expected, since the world works on my favour." My eyes open wide in shock, I didn't expect her to still be saying stuff like that after what we just went through.
I can't blame her though, I still think I'm the protagonist for example. Because being the protagonist doesn't mean everything going your way, it means crushing everything that doesn't go my way...! Including dumb swordsmen!
Anastasia glares at Priscilla. "Are ya really still on that!? Get a grip on reality for once, bimbo!" I guess Priscilla really must be coming off as delusional. "You literally got grinded into mist, so please realize you ain't shit already...! This was the incorrect path, so let's go back!" This was definitely not the incorrect pact.
Priscilla snorts. "Delusional? No, I understand the situation very, very well! But I am Priscilla Barielle, and the gods sing my name...! All this situation has done, is set me up for greater pleasure once I separate that man's skin from his flesh, and then his flesh from his bones!" I have a feeling Priscilla would be scary in a war...
Before Anastasia can say anything back, I interject. "Priscilla is right." The merchant immediately sends me a betrayed look. "In the end, we have to end this one way or another. It's clear that this is the right path... and we really need to find water and food soon." I frown. "If we turn back, and find nothing... then we wasted precious hours and got weaker from it."
I continue. "Besides, if this is the wrong path... then let's make it the right one." And for that comment Priscilla sends me a smile, her anger having faded out a little. "First of all, I know this is a heavy ask, but I need to know what happened when I was dead..." Does a man like Reid Astrea have any weaknesses?
Anastasia snarks. "What's the point numbskull? I saw pretty much everythin', there's no way we can beat that guy..." So she was the last to go down? Or at least one of the last ones...
Emilia nods. "I agree with Anastasia..." And now it's Priscilla's turn to send someone a betrayed look. "I mean, I even did stuff that I don't understand, and he was still fine..." Did we fail to win even after a protagonist power up?
I try putting a smile on my face. "We can win, trust me! Remember that voice from before? It talked again, and it said I should have won, so...!" I'm trying to encourage Emilia into not giving up, because if morale drops to zero, it's over for us.
Sadly I'm immediately shot down by Anastasia. "That voice again? Ya sure you ain't just goin' crazy?" I... sure hope not. "Unless you're makin' it up to cheer us up... You are, aren't you?" And here it comes, the bane of any hero party, distrust.
I look down. "I'm not making it up, I definitely heard a booming voice. Just like when we first got here... I remember exactly what it said, 'You should have won that, disappointing." I sigh. "Sorry, but please believe me..." I am now beginning to relate to Subaru. Who knows maybe she also hears a mysterious voice sometimes...
Anastasia frowns. "I... Ya know, maybe you're tellin' the truth. I don't know ya enough to tell when ya are lyin' or not, but unless the voice left detailed instructions on how to beat Reid fuckin' Astrea, we are screwed." And just like that Anastasia rips off the hope I was trying to instill onto the group.
Felt suddenly leaves our little meeting, before we can question what she's doing she raises her voice and starts screaming to the void of the tunnels. "Reinhard! Hey you stupid knight! I'm here, so come already! Reinhard...!" We simply stare at her in silence.
I tilt my head. "What are you doing...?" If nothing else, her strange actions have actually took me out of the depressed state I was almost in. I'm beginning to think the best way to help someone out of a funk is by being a weirdo.
Felt shrugs. "Calling for help. You never know with that guy, he might genuinely hear it and come to help." I doubt that, but okay... "Reinhard! Come here you fucker! Reinhard!" Honestly, I'm surprised you have the mental strength to go around screaming...
Anastasia's eye twitches. "What are you doing? You're just gonna make my headache worse brat...!" So she already has a headache huh? That's gonna come with the dehydration I suppose. I'm honestly surprised I don't have one yet, specially after Reid penetrated my fucking skull.
Felt makes a smug face. "With all your yapping, you might as well be doing the same thing as me... Actually, I'm probably doing better, because that freaky knight is freaky." Who knows, maybe he has a Divine Protection of saving my ass... Felt might be right...
Anastasia's right eye twitches. "Fine, if y'all all wanna die again, feel free. So let me tell what happened back there." She points at Priscilla. "Ya got you throat fuckin' ripped off, then healed, then he cut ya so much that ya couldn't heal anymore, what was up with that?" Immediately Priscilla goes pale.
It sounds like a horrible death, I'm surprised she is talkative at all. She powers through whatever memories she must facing and answers the question. "As long as I have something I love I can heal. That's all." Something she loves...?
Anastasia's face shifts in disbelief. "And ya love jewelry? Is that it? The things were all gettin' destroyed... And it also doesn't help that ya didn't bring out your sword." So Priscilla was weaponless?
Priscilla nods. "Indeed, I can transfer my wounds to my jewelry, because I like them. That's all." She crosses her arms. "Admittedly I don't know why my sword failed to show up however... It was quite... vexing, to say the least."
I make a thinking pose. "I think I know why. It's because it's night out, technically. So even if it was sunny in that place, it was probably inside our minds or something." Which means Priscilla is heavily nerfed right now...
Priscilla's face shifts to anger. "That must be indeed the case, but if I were to wait until the sun comes out... Then I would probably be much weaker by then." The issue of not having food or water comes up again.
Felt points at the Life Sword, who is still on the ground. "You could use that legendary thing over there... Big bro isn't much of a swordsman." That sounds like a good idea, Priscilla is definitely the better fighter here.
I nod. "You might as well Priscilla. Besides, Reid will always aim at first anyways... By the way, what does 'cosseting' means anyways? Just after stabbing me, Reid mentioned cosseting parents." It's not a word I have heard before at least.
Priscilla shrugs. "I don't know, but I guess I will be indeed wielding the Life Sword for now." She walks over it and picks it up, giving a few swings. "It's not as good as mine, but... It will do to claim his head." Where did you even get a sword that can match this supposed legendary one anyways?
Emilia suddenly interjects. "Oh, I remembered! Cosseting means caring, so Reid meant caring parents... I don't see how that related to killing you though..." I don't see it either, actually now that I think about it, Reid should be the only one of three heroes who ever became a parent, but I don't see how that relates to us.
Anastasia then looks at Emilia. "Speakin' of weird things... What was that!? You suddenly became like... a master magician, and accordin' to Reid one can't even use spirit magic there..." You can't? Things really are unfair... It actually reminds me of a Cataclysm.
Emilia frowns. "I don't rea~lly know to be honest. I was just getting sadder and sadder, and I just... wanted him to stop, to die." A rage inflicted power up huh? And apparently it wasn't enough...
I send her a questioning look. "Can you do it again Emilia?" If she could our chances would be higher, that's for sure. We aren't exactly dealing with a fighter that doesn't require our very best...
She looks down. "I don't know, but... I'll try my best." I can only hope that such will be enough.
I slowly walk over to the sword. "Okay, anyone else have more information they want to share?" I'm met with silence. "Okay then, I'll be pulling it out on three. I'll move first, and he will definitely aim at me first, keep that in mind." It's like a bull seeing red.
I close my eyes, and take a deep breath. "One, two, three...!" And pull the sword, hoping that this time we won't die again.
AN: Six level 1 Pokémons Vs. One level 100 Legendary Uber Tier Pokémon... Also one of the six Pokémons is fainted. Hey at least you only need to damage that Pokémon once! Where are Iori's priority moves!?
Should have just learned to avoid trainers, smh.