Chapter 33 – Sunrise
2023 AD / LAND OF THE OD LAGUNA / DRAGON'S KINGDOM OF LUGUNICA CAPITAL CITY
"AAAAAARGH-!"
"NOOOOO-!"
"CRUSCH-SAMAAAA-!"
The soldiers of house Karsten cried death rattles in droves as the Hulkbusters slayed them without effort. The impossibly powerful and bulky robots that had spawned by the dozens assailed the troops of the Duchess mercilessly, their canons of concentrated nuclear blasts disintegrating any and all life in their path with ease.
Flames.
Red.
Ruin.
Tears.
*BOOOOOOOOOM!*
"ARGH-!" Crusch yelped as an explosion sent her flying into a pile of debris. Her forehead and exposed left arm bleeding steady rivulets of blood from recent wounds; her valued sword long broken, as was her armor, and her burnt clothes trashed into ashen and dusted drapes by the blasts of heat flying overhead. "Hngh… Can't… Give in…!"
"Crusch-sama!" Wilhelm yelled as he ran to her master's side; alas, even if he expressed worry, there was not much he could do. His blades too were either broken or melted, many an injury filling a battered old body as he glared at the mechanical juggernauts aiming for his liege.
*ZNMMMMMMMMMMM!*
"Wi-Wilhelm… Run…!" In a haze of confusion due to the blood loss and fumes of smoke, the trembling Crusch Karsten tried to order through gasps of air as she tiredly stood up, despite scraped knees and an aching, broken left leg. "Fight… Still…!"
"Blasted bastards!" Noticing his master's shaken state, Wilhelm insulted with aggravated animosity the Hulkbusters looming before them.
Nevertheless, these ones remained indifferent to his insults whilst charging laser beams. Ready they were to erase the Duchess and her swordsman from existence, when the barrier of sound broke around the Sword Demon-
*SLASH!*
"Huh-?!" As the Hulkbusters were about to slay the elderly swordsman and the noblewoman, a sudden flash of red and white burst through the machines, splitting them in twain irreparably and saving their lives. "That flash… Reinhard?"
*ZOOOOOOOOM!*
"Hmph!" Reinhard grumbled while overflying the ruined Capital, discarding yet another broken blade whilst on the search for more Hulkbusters to slay. It was mindboggling to believe for the Sword Saint but since Subaru and Ultron left, the assault of the infinite mechanical army had only just intensified. The Kingdom of Lugunica had surely seen better days…
It had barely been five minutes since Subaru and the Watcher had left the land of Witches and Spirits to fight Ultron in the distant lands of the Greater Multiverse, and yet, the assault of Ultron's best sentinels had decimated the Kingdom's greatest defenses already. It was chaos unbounded, in scales never seen before for the people of this world.
Unlike the legionnaires, whose Vibranium encasing shells merely acted as plate-armor to protect the circuitry rather than fully shielding them from attacks, the Hulkbusters proved clearly superior in every aspect. Not only was their Vibranium plating and distribution better processed, their blasters and propulsion were radically more potent, and for every limb they lost, another was immediately issued by the mothership. In truth, the Royal Candidates and the Sword Saint both believed that they were better off fighting just the earlier legionnaires than this second wave; the modular adaptability, resilience and might of the Hulkbusters was THAT frightening.
The terror of knowing that Ultron held back the entire time when toying with Reinhard was finally sinking in.
*CREA~K!*
"AAAAAACK-!" Garfiel squealed on the ground as his left fist broke from attempting to bash a Hulkbuster's head in.
*DASH!*
"GARFIEL!" Frederica shouted as she rushed to her brother's aid; the head-maid fully transformed into her cougar form now.
"GOA!"
The Hulkbuster had charged its laser again, ready to obliterate the blonde siblings in a blaze of plasma, when myriad fireballs suddenly burst forth from over the destroyed buildings, raining wrathful flame upon the robot.
"Roswaal-sama!" Frederica chanted her master's name with relief as the Margrave hovered over her.
"Hah… I made it in ti~me." Roswaal commented unamused as he descended onto the ground. "How do you fee~l, Garfiel?"
"Tsk, I'd feel better if I didn't hafta see yer ugly mug… I'll be fine; just need ta touch some earth an' I'll be- Urgh!" Garfiel scoffed, holding his broken left fist. "Damn, this DOES hurt like a bitch!"
"Just stop moving it, you dolt-!" As Frederica reproached her brother, her sharp senses detected a threat up ahead. "Roswaal-sama!"
"?!" Alarmed by Frederica's warning, Roswaal glared as the blaze born from his recent Goa suddenly dissipated; the Hulkbuster had appeared again, aiming its propulsion beams at the wizard and the siblings once more.
*SLASH!*
"…Reinhard." Margrave Mathers acknowledged the Sword Saint, as he appeared as if out of thin air before him; the Hulkbuster that had just tried to kill Roswaal and his servants reduced to scrap metal in a flash by the redhead's might. "Any pro~gress in culling out these abominations?"
"Hngh…" Reinhard sighed with disdain as he shook his head, the remains of buildings, the androids and the dead littering the streets. "No matter how many are slain, they just keep coming…"
"-I suppose they'll just si~mply continue spawning if we allow the cocoon to fly sti~ll." Roswaal answered as he looked at the sky with hatred. But as they stared to the gargantuan ship in the sky…
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH-!" Amidst the maelstrom of explosions and battles raging across the entire city, the voice of a singular girl reverberated in the air.
"-?!" Although undetected by Roswaal, Frederica and Garfiel, Reinhard's ears were certain in what they heard: Felt's painful cries resonated from the back alleys of the thrashed Market District. "FELT-SAMA-?!"
"Reinha-?" Roswaal attempted to ask what the sudden spike of panic in the redhead's face could symbolize, but it was no use. As soon as he turned to speak to the man, the Sword Saint had already become a blurry afterimage. "Hmm~, already left I see…"
"Seriously, how fuckin' fast is pretty boy-?!" Garfiel asked with frustration as the redhead vanished.
"…Let's hope fast enough to end this battle once and for all." Frederica bit her lip as she gazed at the city with pity.
*ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*
"FELT-SAMA! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Reinhard cried as he explored the roads of the Market District extensively, rushing between alleys, streets and avenues in the blink of an eye in search for his liege.
"Hmngh…" Felt's weak moan reached Reinhard's ears once more, indicating her nearby location to the worried Sword Saint.
"Felt-sama!" Reinhard exclaimed, with premature relief, as he turned left into an alley. He was successful in finding Felt, her unconscious little frame lying atop a broken stall of vegetables as her blonde head bled slightly from a concussion over her right temple. However, besides her, on the street the stall was lined on in fact, a most bizarre situation was occurring indeed… "Huh-?!"
*SLASH!*
A Hulkbuster's left arm went flying into the air as a 'blade' cleaved it roughly apart, a black-haired and voluptuous naked woman dancing circles expertly around the machine as she dodged its many lasers and punches with a crude weapon in hand.
"Mnfu! I'd much rather like it if you could scream back after such a wound…" The disappointed chuckle of the woman insinuated sadistically as the roughly cut arm of the Hulkbuster fell to the stone slabs of the road. "You and your allies are quite the boring lot; you don't talk, you don't squirm, you don't bleed…"
"…" The Hulkbuster ignored the woman's banter altogether; its cut left arm aiming to the cocoon in the sky as it requested a replacement whilst its right arm aimed a charging laser beam at both her and the blonde girl she was protecting.
"You really are no fun! Can't you at least hear when a dame is talking?" The woman however mocked a cry of sadness as she braced herself for the next devastating attack.
*SLASH!*
But before the replacement arm could be issued or the laser beam be fired upon the pair of girls, the red and white flash of the Sword Saint's blade cleaved the sentinel apart.
"Ara~! I cannot believe it! Mighty Sword Saint has come to my rescue… How quaint." The naked, burnt and bloodied woman laughed cutely as Reinhard stood before her, over the remains of the recently slayed Hulkbuster. "Were you hoping for a kiss on the cheek for that action? Or do you find me that gorgeous you'd do it for free? I'm flattered nonetheless."
"…What is the meaning of this, Elsa Granhiert?" Sword Saint Reinhard inquired; a deathly glare to his blue eyes as he turned and looked at the assassin behind him, Elsa Granhiert AKA 'The Bowel Hunter'.
"Hmm? Oh! You mean why I was fighting the metallic giant. I thought it was someone vesting a fancy armor; I have experience with those after all." Elsa affirmed with a teasing stare. "I surmised someone that big would bleed a lot, shower me with quite warm guts… Turns out, it really was just a husk of iron though. Disappointing."
"You know that is not what I'm talking about." Reinhard rebuked with a demanding voice however. "I'm asking what is the meaning behind YOU, of all people, fighting to protect Felt-sama?!"
"Isn't it obvious?" The assassin smirked smugly as she poised her 'blade' over Felt's unconscious neck. As it turns out it was the detached, broken forearm of a legionnaire. From the palm of the hand of the legionnaire forearm, where its propulsion beam was located, a blade of plasma energy continuously spawned; it was what had allowed the assassin to cut apart the Hulkbuster at the joints, albeit with great strength, despite its immensely tough Vibranium armor.
"?!" Reinhard's eyes shrunk in alarm as the assassin threatened his Lady's life. "Let go of her-!"
"I'm buying my life, Sword Saint." Granhiert stated with a smile as her weapon shone blue and red on the Royal's throat.
"Buying your life?!" The Sword Saint spoke with disbelief.
"You might not be aware of it, but your precious slum-dwelling dolly here fell from the rooftops as she escaped the giant armor's brimstone and flame." As she stared at the unresponsive Felt with curiosity, Elsa explained whilst the wounds around her exposed body slowly healed. "I stumbled upon her as I crawled away from the Prison Tower's ruins… Ah, by the way, I think I might be the only one to have escaped that hellfire alive; all other prisoners looked like charred remains under the debris."
"…" Although feeling slightly guilty about the Prison Tower's inmates, because its collapse was a direct result of his and Ultron's clash, Reinhard's focus remained undeterred, concentrated on his liege alone. "Granhiert… Put away your blade."
"I'm afraid I cannot do that, not when my safety is not assured-" Elsa refused as she instead closed the distance between the blade and Felt's neck by a few millimeters.
"Look around us! The Capital is a warzone!" Reinhard protested as a single trickle of sweat fell from his brow. "More monsters abound, I need to be there fighting them! We can scarcely afford you the attention to-!"
"Oho~… So no matter what, I will die because this is a warzone? Is that it? Is that what you are saying?" Elsa's face looked amused rather than concerned by Reinhard's words.
"What?!" The Sword Saint failed to comprehend the twisted woman's logic.
"Because if that is the case, if there are other places you'd rather be than here, I might as well kill girlie and get this charade over with-" The assassin spoke nonchalantly as the plasma blade's heat left a burn mark on Felt's throat.
"STOP-!" As Reinhard was about to order Elsa, or rather beg for leniency before her unreasonableness…
*ZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPP!*
"?!" The pair stood silent as the deafening explosion of thunder and electric currents rang loudly above the Capital.
"Huh…?" Elsa's eyes looked upward with confusion, her attention grabbed by the Hulkbusters paralyzed in the air. Just seconds earlier, they flew all over the city, all over the Districts in search of people to slaughter, incinerate, blow up and pummel to death… Now, they all simply stood or hovered still, as though the puppeteer's cords controlling them all suddenly went rigid. "What the…"
"The 'cocoon'…" Reinhard mumbled as he looked past all the robots however, his eyes fixated on the mothership's erratic movements instead. "Is it trembling?"
"'Cocoon'…? No, it's falling-!" Elsa's eyes soon followed the Sword Saint's own, her sharp gaze noticing the spiraling motion of the ship with dread. "The 'cocoon' is falling down!"
"Kuh-!" Reinhard's eyes grew ever so distressed at the notion, even though the sentinels had ceased their attack; the mechanical danger lingering over all persisted undeterred.
"Fufufu-!" Elsa's dread soon took a malevolent tone as her gorgeous yet sadistic smile intensified, her grip on the plasma blade tightening as everyone's lives ran in danger. "How exciting~!"
"UWAAAAAAAAA-!"
"NOOOOOOOOO-!"
"IYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH-!"
The echoes of Lugunica's screaming citizens and soldiers ran rampant around the Capital, their brief moment of respite as the Hulkbusters and legionnaires stopped moving ending with the abrupt realization that their city will soon become a crater under the gargantuan construct.
"ELSA!" Reinhard's eyes spelt great distress as he stared at the grinning assassin with complex eyes. "Your life is in danger in this situation too! If you saw the meteors that almost destroyed the kingdom earlier… then you must know also that I can take care of the 'cocoon' as well-!"
"I don't much care if my life ends Sword Saint; not if I take all of you with me." The cruel woman assured with malice however, her evil gaze locking with Reinhard's desperate own. "With the entire city made my hostage… you MUST surely promise my survival now."
"…!" Reinhard's eyes darted from Elsa to Felt and to the cocoon repeatedly as his fists clenched so tight they bled, his teeth grinding hardly with each other behind his frowning lips.
"Why do you hesitate so much, hmm? Is your hatred for me greater than your compromise to the Kingdom's safety?" Elsa teased playfully, the shadow of the mothership growing larger by the second. "So you'd REALLY rather see me dead before saving your Kingdom! Fascinating!"
"…ALL RIGHT! I PROMISE!" The infuriated Sword Saint screamed as he glared at Elsa one last time before jumping into the skies.
"…It is a deal then, Sword Saint." Granhiert lowered her blade as the red and white flash of the Sword Saint diminished into the red sky. "I won't take backing down later…"
*ZOOOOOOOM!*
With a deathly scowl painting his face, Reinhard stepped on cloud after cloud until reaching the altitude of Ultron's mothership. The colossal construct approached uncaring, unstopped and most quickly towards the Sword Saint awaiting below it, all the while, said Sword Saint's Divine Protection of Evaluation inspected the mothership in search for a point or node in which weight concentrated.
"…There!" Reinhard judged as he stared at a part of the structure in which the Vibranium gleamed radiant red, the frame exposed as inactive Hulkbusters, legionnaires and other unidentified machines hung in resting, yet to be deployed in combat. "Hmngh-!"
In a feat of absurd herculean strength, the Sword Saint gripped the mothership tightly from the frame, slowing its descent to a halt and bringing it down to earth slowly as he stepped from cloud to cloud away from the Capital.
*CRAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!*
"Fuuu…" Reinhard exhaled with relief as he managed to land the ship by the outside of the Capital's walls successfully, the resulting tremors drastically weaker than those of his previous clashes with the Synthezoid. "Hmm? The sun is…"
Looking into the horizon, to the east, over the cratered and burnt grasses and thickets of the Lifaus Plains, the first rays of sunlight shone brightly. Washing upon the Dragon's Kingdom of Lugunica gloriously after an arduous night of fighting, the inside of the Capital too witnessed these radiant gleams with awe…
*KLANG!*
"…How is…?" To the west of the Capital, in the parks of the Residential District, an injured and battered Julius Juukulius uttered in confusion as the Hulkbuster he, Hetaro and Ricardo were fighting with seconds earlier dropped to the burnt grass unceremoniously. "…Is this a tactic of some sort?"
"Uuuuuh- Might want a raincheck on that pal…" Ricardo indicated as he stared above their position with wide eyes. "Holy shit…"
"Huh? The armors are-?!" Hetaro shouted as his mouth hung agape, the legionnaires and Hulkbusters that were raiding their location earlier were all falling en masse across the entire Capital.
"By the Od…" The purple haired knight mumbled in alarm. "Did… Did we win?!"
*KLANG!*
"They are falling-!" At the east of the city, by the avenues nearest to the canals, Medium yelped with a toothy smile despite her burns and bruises. "It's raining armors! They are all falling!"
"My word…" Flop gazed with shining eyes from the support carriages as the falling armors shone like sporadic stars as they fell in the gleam of morning's light. "It's… This is unreal… Have we actually…?"
"Motherfucker… Are you serious?!" Aldebaran looked around amazed as the androids continuously fell to the ground and the flames, the fumes of burnt barricades dying whilst red skies turned blue. "P-Princess-!"
"I know, Al..." Priscilla spoke stoically as the light of dawn bathed her in an intensely divine veil. She stood tall atop a mound of smoldering and broken legionnaires, uncaring for her charred dress, wounded body and exposed figure. Whilst she basked on the sun, her fiery hair flowing majestically in the morning wind, the Baroness smiled triumphant as her ruby eyes gazed at the remnants of battle cockily. "It is my victory on this day!"
*KLANG!*
"Crusch-sama!" To the south of the Capital, Felix cried as he ran to his injured master's side, uncaring for all the victory as he focused only on the injured woman in front of him. "Crusch-sama! Please, answer me-!"
"I'm… Not so injured… *Cough-Cough!* I'd lose consciousness…" Crusch interrupted the catboy's worried sick spiel as she announced her status; a dashing smile on the girl's face, disregarding the blood covering her, as the sun illuminated her body. "I'm… Hnghk-! Well, not fine… But I'm alive… Haha…"
"Crusch-sama… Please, do not jest! Not when you are injured like this!" The feline shook his head with frustration as the Duchess chuckled at her own expense. "Just… Stay put! I'll heal the most grievous wounds first-!"
"I'm sorry Felix… About laughing…" Karsten apologized as the catboy's healing mana flowed through her bruised and fractured body. "I just… Could not help bu- rghk… But be thankful… That we lived…"
"Hmm, yes." Wilhelm, who was resting his worn-out body on top of the defunct Hulkbuster Reinhard cut down, nodded in approval of his Lady's affirmation... Whilst staring at the smoldering battlefield and the meager forces and men remaining under House Karsten's banner. "We should be thankful… For living to see another day, as well as to those who fell to make this victory possible…"
*KLANG!*
"My goodness…" In the northern front of Lugunica's Capital, where the Market and Residential Districts met, Rem spoke with shock as her horn deactivated. "Nee-sama-! Subaru-kun-!"
"It would seem that way, Rem…" Ram answered with a monotone voice as she admired the rain of metal, the reverbing sound of steel breaking apart stone pavements and clay rooftop slabs that inundated the streets for solid minutes on end. "Barusu won…"
*Clop-Clop-Clop-Clop-!*
"I-I-I cannot- I just cannot continue on with all of these heart-stopping surprises~!" Before the twins, mounted on a destroyed carriage as the blue Ground Dragon called Frufroo galloped slowly, the tearful and exhausted Otto Suwen cried as he approached. "Is it over?! Is it really over-?!"
"Oh~! Brotto, yer back 'n one piece!" Garfiel called out to the grey-haired man as he bandaged his shattered left hand with some gauze. "Man~, we got real worried about ya, ya know?! Ya promised ta come back quickly an' all! Where were ya at?!"
"Hnpf-!" Otto mumbled unintelligibly as he disembarked from the carriage with difficulty, his sore back and injured butt making it hard for him to move rapidly. "I was busy… Not dying…"
"Your legs are trembling like a newborn fawn's…" Frederica, who was covering herself up with her master's cape, pointed out before the green-robed young man dropped to the stone pavement, his shuddering calves giving-in under his weight and forcing his tired body to rest at last. "Ah, he fell-"
"DAAAAGH-! My body hurts! My back hurts! MY ASS HURTS!" Otto cried pitifully again as he lay splayed belly-up on the stone. "That Mimi girl is INSANE! She pulled stunt after stunt- I feared her more than I feared the armors! After travelling with that little monster- I don't even KNOW how I am alive right now!"
*Stomp!*
"Bugh-!" Otto almost spit his last meal from yesterday as Ram suddenly stomped him on the stomach, prompting the boy to look at the pink maid on top of him with dread. "What in the blazes was that for?!"
"Hmph! What business has the chauffeur complaining about pains? Out of everyone here, you are drastically, by FAR, the least injured." The pink oni mercilessly ripped a new one on the tired merchant as he trembled under her sole. "Be a man and suck it up."
"That's so cruel! Nee-sama!" Otto teared up again as the maid bullied him.
"Heh!" Ram chuckled derisively.
"…Something on your mi~nd, Emilia-sama?" On the background of this interaction, looking at the injured yet cheerful Camp celebrating triumph over doom, Roswaal inquired to the half-elf standing to his right.
"Hmm…" Emilia shook around with worry, her gorgeous amethyst eyes darting throughout the Market in search of something or someone as the sun of dawn gifted her lustrous silver hair with most magnificent a glint. "Felt… When the big armors appeared the blasts of fire and explosions separated us- What if something happened to her?"
"If you are talking about the blonde moppet that ran around yelping like a panicking hen, Betty saw the Sword Saint rush into the sky in search of her." Beatrice, the Great Spirit of Yin standing right under her, affirmed with an uncaring tone. "And if the child of Astrea went to look for her, then chances are she's safe already, I suppose."
"So she's with Reinhard?" The half-elf reaffirmed, receiving a nod of confirmation from the Spirit.
"The sole thing Betty is worried about her contractor, in fact." Beatrice grasped her little chest with worry as she reminisced about Subaru's earlier disappearance. "She can sense him… Betty senses her Subaru's presence, that he still lives, and yet… She cannot pinpoint where he is or where he might be. It feels as though he were everywhere and nowhere all at once, as though he were in a land far beyond Betty's reach, I suppose…"
"Looking at the monsters we've just faced, I would no~t consider that farfetched." Roswaal reasoned with melancholy. "Land far beyond reach sounds… Apt to what Su~baru-kun's world is."
"Subaru's world… Its monsters were this astounding, yet he claimed to have fought the like beforehand. Even then, if he lost, he bounced back and triumphed." Emilia's eyes glittered with equal amounts of awe and fear as she pictured the stories of Earth the Avenger had told her in the previous two months, comparing them to the current situation in Lugunica. "*Sigh…* Genuinely though, this entire battle has been such a disaster in comparison to the heroics he described. There was SO much occurring in such little time, I could not react accordingly. That was really, REA~LLY embarrassing; I am just chuffed he was not here the past few minutes to witness me fumble around incompetently. Especially so after he left… So little time, yet so much damage done…"
"You should take it as a lesson in expectations versus rea~lity then, Emilia-sama." Roswaal recommended with a smirk as he dragged out his words. "Most plans fail to survive first contact; it is not sho~rt of a miracle the one proposed by Su~baru-kun succeeded in keeping the general populace safe."
"The citizens, yes; but our soldiers…" The half-elf frowned as she registered the dilapidated state of the streets, injured and deceased mercenaries and knights lying against the piles of debris and rubble that once were lustrous fountains, statues, houses and shops. "All the bloodshed, it's horrible…"
"Urgh…"
"It hurts…"
"H-Hey! Stay with me…!"
"…"
"…No matter how brilliant the stratagem, there will always be a price to be paid." Roswaal's characteristic creepy smirk waned ever so slightly as the cries and laments of the survivors rang loud around the streets; even with Ultron and his monsters defeated, it was hardly time to be celebrating a victory.
"The injured-" The half-elf's eyes narrowed down on a soldier bleeding on the ground besides a decimated legionnaire, his burnt, charcoal-black abdomen leaking steady rivulets of red as he begged for air desperately. "…"
"Girlie-?" Beatrice inquired with vexation as Emilia approached the clearly dying man and, the blink of an eye, crouched and started healing him.
"Ghhk-! Hah…! Hah…! Gaghk-!" The soldier gasped loudly as a strange force suddenly eased the pain of his wounds, comfort replenishing a strained body with vigor as his charred sinew slowly but surely wove itself together. His ailing body visibly relaxed as the water mana worked its effect on the burns and slashes, but as he turned to look at his savior to thank them proper… his glazing eyes woke fully in surprise and shock when the figure of Emilia appeared at the forefront of his vision. "H-Harkh-! Ha-rf-! H-H-H-Half-Dev-!"
"Please, at ease…" Emilia requested with a stern voice, interrupting the man's squirms and panics with words of reassurance. "I cannot treat your injuries properly if you reopen them with your shakes… Stay put and the pain will vanish soon."
"Hrghk…" Swallowing his pride, the man closed his mouth and allowed the half-elf to continue healing him with mixed feelings held back.
"Emilia-sama…" As Rem came around to notice what was occurring behind her, she gazed at the half-elf with awe for her action.
In her vision, the Emilia she knew was someone who would normally remain to the background, not doing anything unless it were completely necessary, and even then, doing it whilst diminishing her presence the most. Going out of her way to heal one of the knights that had so callously attempted to arrest Subaru earlier and call her a Half-Devil was, in all honesty, shocking for the oni... Surprising was that even her pointy ears were exposed, as if not ashamed to tell anyone anymore that she was a half-elf.
Had something changed in her since they last met?
"Phew… Rem, Beatrice?" As Emilia successfully managed to save the knight's life, this one passing out on the stone floor with a relaxed neutral expression, she stood up to look at her companions capable of healing magic with determined eyes. "The battle may be over, yet that is not the case for our duty. I know you have your own injuries as well, and that you should have the right to rest after the fight… But I fear there might be more soldiers around us struggling to stay alive, with grievous wounds that need posthaste treatment. If we have the faculties to help them, then by all means we should."
"You are assuming an awful lot there, half-elf." Beatrice pouted as she stared at the Royal Candidate with doubt. "What gives you the right to think that Betty would go out of her way to aid the brutes that tried to incarcerate her Subaru, I wonder?"
"…Precisely because it is what Subaru-kun would go out of his way to do, Beatrice-sama." Rem explained with a fond smile.
"…" The Great Spirit of Yin turned to face the oni with a frown. "These are not hapless village children; these are soldiers, mercenaries and knights that allegedly wanted Betty's contractor hanged a mere two weeks ago."
"It does not mean that Subaru-kun would leave them to die just for that." Rem argued with her radiant smile unfaltering. "He fought alongside them to vanquish the Whale and the Sin Archbishop of Sloth, did he not?"
"…It's frustrating how easy you make a valid point, I suppose." Beatrice shook her head as she acknowledged Rem's point, walking forward reluctantly as she and Rem followed Emilia. "But only until Betty's Subaru returns… For which it shouldn't be long now, I suppose."
"Very well! Let's go, everyone!" Emilia smirked as the two girls followed behind her into the Capital's streets, in look for casualties still clinging to life.
"Uh-Princess? Rem?! I can help too!" Meanwhile, Garfiel squealed as he raised his right hand in the air, a complex look on his face, feeling sidelined by the leaving half-elf and the blue oni. "Me'self knows healin' magic as well!"
"Your own wounds are quite grievous already, Garf." Ram shook her head with disappointment as she gazed at the battered blonde boy. "Black burns, wide cuts, a broken fist… Now that Ram looks closer, your legs are trembling not unlike Otto here was moments earlier. Perhaps Emilia-sama saw through your play, which is why she ignored you altogether."
"Erm- It ain't so bad I need ta rest-" The ferocious boy attempted to rebuke childishly, but fortunately, he had an older sister looking out for him.
"Garfiel is staying with the carriages, he needs his wounds treated." Frederica affirmed with a stern, commanding aura.
"Huh?! Ya don't get ta decide- URGH!" Garfiel squealed in pain as Frederica quickly pinched his left thigh, a searing stab wound dealt by one of the legionnaires plasma blades concealed under his baggy, stretched trousers.
"Stop trying to act tough, that should be reserved for the likes of Otto-"
"Owch?! Why are we piling on me still?!" The merchant protested with indignation as the blonde head-maid bullied him with an off hand remark.
"-The point is Garfiel that you shouldn't go out of your way to help others when you are a mess yourself… Despite the example Subaru-sama sets." Disregarding her serious demeanor and stern speech, Frederica explained with worried eyes. "Get to the carriages and treat your wounds; Emilia-sama and the others can take care of the most injured by themselves."
"Mrgrrr…" As a blush painted his cheeks, Garfiel bit his lower lip with embarrassment to his half-sibling's reproaches. "Just ya wait… I'll be back in two feet in a jiffy, faster dan da Spider strings, just ya wait!"
"…I will sa~y, how can things develop after this?" As everyone went their separate ways, Roswaal remained pensive whilst standing still in the middle of the cracked streets, musing to himself with most vexing an expression on his face. "The aftermath of losing thi~s many soldiers, buildings and resources shall be quite the hea~dache for the Council and the Court. They will look for a scapegoat for sure, Su~baru-kun…"
*KLANG!*
"TAKE THAT- YOU FUCKIN'- RUSTY FUCKERS-!"
"PIECE OF SHIT-!"
"FUCKIN' DIE!"
"DIE! DIE!"
"Egh…" Surrounding Heinkel Astrea, in the avenue parallel to where the Emilia Camp had reunited, the surviving soldiers and knights all complained loudly when the robots fell in droves. Stomping repeatedly on the deactivated machines, the hollering men under his command cried to the heavens above with maniacal faces and anger as they desperately attempted to cut the Hulkbusters apart. "Ya'll are too loud! I haven't even drank tonight, and I'm already getting a headache…"
"Hey! Marcos-!" Shaking an unconscious, green haired titan of a man splayed on the stone, the bruised Bordeaux of Lugunica's Council of Elders spoke with urgency. "Answer me Marcos! Are you fine-?!"
"He seems to have passed out, elder." Heinkel looked at the unconscious Royal Knights' Captain with pity as he explained to the elder. "The metal monster demolished his armor of rock in one punch, blasting him away against a wall. I would say he is hurting more from a bruised ego rather than a battered body though. He's the Royal Guard's Captain, pride of Lugunica's knights, but his greatest was not enough to match the metal-men's assault…"
"Kuh…!" Bordeaux clicked his tongue in recognition of the fact. Ten minutes, fifteen minutes in total had transpired since Ultron and Subaru left, and Lugunica's finest had been utterly useless in stopping the invasion. For Marcos Gildark of all people to be reduced to an unconscious mess would have been unthinkable! SHOULD be unthinkable! Yet, reality had a way of twisting the impossible and making it happen, it would seem…
"…" Heinkel mumbled with disgust at the battlefield as Bordeaux lamented Marcos' defeat with anger. "Natsuki, ya motherfucker…"
For the redheaded man, the last thing he needed this day was to see so many people die in battle; he had dismissed the idea of an invasion early on, figuring it the pipedream of a man that had bought onto his own pride. Alongside Marcos, under the guidance of Bordeaux, he had come to assist on the arrest of Subaru Natsuki under the pretense of inciting a revolt, or even worse, a Civil War in the midst of a Royal Selection. He had figured Subaru was just some insolent charlatan with unbelievable dreams, delusions of grandeur, calling himself an 'otherworldly' visitor for the sake of clout and prestige. It didn't help that said bastard had managed to, somehow, demolish one of the heads of a terrorist organization like the Witch's Cult, along with vanquishing the Calamity that slew his mother; this last one most infuriating of all. The only thing he was looking forward to this week, beyond blacking out from drinking on his Manor's luscious sofas, was beating the snot out of the brat that dared think himself more than what he actually was.
But unfortunately for Heinkel, the brat's predictions came true, and a titanic, world-ending catastrophe did indeed occur. The sole reason the knights were able to act appropriately and timely to avoid major casualties and loss of life, from both nobles and normal citizens alike, was BECAUSE Subaru had been successful in manipulating everyone under his thumb, like pawns on a chaturanga board. Nevertheless, this did not mean he appreciated or even agreed to the methods of the Avenger… If anything, he now found him so suspicious that he would much rather ensure having him gone, if only to promise some stability for the Kingdom after the whole disaster.
Heinkel feared Subaru's presence could lead to more catastrophes of unprecedented magnitude. And as if to answer his fears with additional dread…
*FWOM!*
"HMM?!" The redhead paralyzed in awe as, before him, Bordeaux, Marcos and all other soldiers present, a door that distinctly appeared to be a tavern's entrance spawned out of thin air.
"WHAT KIND OF TRICK IS THIS-?!"
"ANOTHER ENEMY?!"
"I KNEW IT WAS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!"
"BATTLE ISN'T OVER?!"
"PROTECT THE ELDER~!"
The soldiers all panicked as the tavern door burst open, the ethereal and dazzling light emanating from the portal prompting them to draw their blades and weaponry in succession. They expected another villain to greet them with blasters at the ready to kill everyone, for the strenuous battle to grow even fiercer as a new robot made its presence known to them. What they did NOT expect however was-
"THE HELL-?!" The loud and annoying voice of a teenager to emanate from the fissure in reality.
"HUH?!" Heinkel exclaimed in shock as a known figure exited the portal. "You are-!"
"What the hell!" Subaru yelled with frustration as he crossed the portal, his sharp eyes boring holes on Heinkel's nervous expression. "Of all people, why is the first person to greet me a shoddily-shaven drunkard?!"
*Thud!*
"SUBARU NATSUKI!" Astrea screamed in surprise as he fell to the pavement on his butt, wide blue eyes almost shooting from his skull.
"Err-! He's back-?!" One of the men asked in a confused voice.
"Didn't he leave with the giant- erm, giant star-filled baby-man?" Another knight inquired.
"What's with the black and gold armor?" One other of the soldiers present observed with jealous eyes the Iron Spider Mk. 2 layered over the boy's body.
"Man, I want one too…" The one beside him commented with a nod.
"Hold on, if he's back…" At last, one of the men disregarded the unnecessary enigmas and rationalized with shining eyes.
"Ah, yeah, I know what you guys are worried about, so I'll come out and say it-" Subaru smirked as he turned to look at elder Bordeaux cockily. "Ultron's dead. So dead, there's not even rust of him left."
"…We-" Bordeaux's already pale expression went even paler as he assimilated the boy's words.
"…So we really DID win?!" Marcos behind him woke up in surprise as Subaru announced victory.
"Oh-! Hey Marco-Polo!" Subaru waved to the tired Captain with glee. "Had a good nap-?"
"WE WON!"
"IS IT OVER?!"
"OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD-!"
"OD BE DAMNED, WE ARE ALIVE!"
"HOLY SHIT-!"
"YESSSS!"
"GODDAMIT, WE LIVED, WE LIVED-!"
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-!"
"Uh… Yeah, we won." Subaru nodded in affirmation as the angered, maddened and red scowls of the knights surrounding him turned into smiles of relief and tears of joy at the drop of a hat. The tense air around him had done a complete 180° turn, becoming a relaxed and even happy occasion instead.
"So we have triumphed…?" Heinkel on the floor struggled to stand up as he clung to a ruined building's wall.
"Yep! We won… Doesn't mean it didn't come at a good cost." Subaru frowned slightly as he turned to look at his surroundings, past the celebrating knights. "These robots… Hulkbusters? Wow… I have only ever seen them in videos and plans, not the built, physical thing itself. When I left, you dealt with those? For that long?"
"When you left- that long?! It was almost dawn when you vanished and it's barely dawn now that you've returned!" Bordeaux angrily claimed as he kicked the Hulkbuster lying before him. "We didn't stand a chance to these… These fucks-!"
*KLANG!*
"It's only been that little time?! Wow, things really do work different on other Universes." Subaru stated with awe at the complexity of time in the parallel realities.
"Of course it would be different." From the portal behind him, a woman's voice answered the Avenger. "By the reason in which gravitational pull can control time, temporal displacement when suddenly transitioning from one plane onto another would surely apply to us. Not to mention relativity, too."
"Karen!" The teenager turned to look at the feminine figure exiting the light with relief. "That's why it took slightly longer for you?! Even though we crossed almost at the same time!"
"?!" However, not everyone shared his enthusiasm in the presence of the Synthezoid. "ARMOR!"
"FUCK- FUCK!"
"CRAP-!"
"OH SHIT-!"
"Huh-?" Subaru noticed everyone's swing in mood with alarm, his Spider-Sense alerting to danger as the men all suddenly pulled broken swords on him.
*SHWIN!*
"WOAH-!" Subaru gasped as Heinkel's chipped and disfigured sword hung closely above his forehead.
"What is the meaning of this, Natsuki?!" Heinkel screamed as Karen stood out of the portal past the Avenger in full; his previous apprehensive stare now became full-on glare whilst questioning Subaru. "WHY ARE YOU TALKING SO CAREFREE WITH ONE OF THE ARMORS-?!"
"Dude, it's not what it looks like-! Karen is not-! She's not AN armor, she's-!" Subaru attempted to explain desperately to the gathering of yelping knights, the tavern door Karen and him had appeared from dissipating into nothing as he spoke. However, no matter how he argued, it was all to no avail for the knights' paranoia and anxiety peaked in the presence of the woman.
"KILL THEM!"
"YOU BASTARD, I KNEW THIS WAS ALL YOUR FAULT-!"
"BASTARDS-!"
"I'LL KILL YA TWO-!"
"Come on, come on-! This is NOT what I figured would go down coming back-!" Subaru freaked out as the angry mob led by Heinkel and the reinvigorated Marcos cornered both him and Karen against a wall.
"Subaru, behind me-!" Karen ordered the teenager as her palms' propulsion beams gleamed blue in ready for the confrontation. It was quite sad, really; even though her new face's expression was one of delight just seconds ago, now it had morphed into a wary frown in the presence of the men her master had saved.
"Wait- Karen! The beams are not necessary! We can-!" The boy was incapable of deescalating the situation, even when begging his companion to listen to him.
"SO YOU STAND BESIDE THE MONSTER NOW, NATSUKI?! HAVE YOU SOLD US ALL?!" Marcos angrily screamed as his arms enveloped themselves in thick rock, earth mana conjuring a most formidable armor around his solid frame.
"M-Marco-Polo, it ain't like that! Ultron is gone! Pinky promise! I-!" Subaru tried to reason to the Captain, but he too displayed anger unchecked whilst staring at the machine. He was in no state to cooperate after the humiliating defeat against the Hulkbuster.
"THAT'S IT! I DON'T CARE HOW MUCH YOU COMPLAIN, I'M PUTTING MY FOOT DOWN ON THIS ONE AND KILLING YOU ONCE AN' FOR ALL!" Heinkel insisted with a glare, receiving nods and screams of approval from his men.
"Please, just listen to me everyone! Karen is NOT an enemy-!" The Avenger shook his head vehemently, but once more, no one bothered to listen.
"…!" Bordeaux, infuriated by the ridiculous back and forth elicited by Subaru's arrival, drowned all yells with one loud exclamation of his own. "SSSSSSSSSSSIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENCE!"
"…" The crowd, Heinkel, Marcos, Subaru and Karen, they all shut up and froze up staring at the elder with surprise.
"ASTREA! GILDARK! STAND DOWN, THAT IS AN ORDER!" Bordeaux demanded with a furious, bloody scowl, the veins on his forehead threatening to pop any second now. "LIKEWISE YOU LOT! STOP DAWDLING LIKE THE MORONS YOU ARE AND HAVE SOME DIGNITY! GO GET OUR INJURED, BRING THEM TO THE MEDIC TENTS AVAILABLE BEFORE THEY ACTUALLY BLEED TO DEATH!"
"B-But elder, we-!" One of the men attempted to argue, only to receive an infuriated glare back.
"SPEAK ONE MORE WORD AND IT'S TO THE GALLOWS WITH YOU!" Bordeaux announced as he pointed to the soldier.
"…!" The knight covered his mouth pitifully as Bordeaux continued ranting.
"NOW WHAT ARE YOU ALL WAITING FOR?! MOM TO COME KISS YER ASSES?! GET GOING! YOU HAVE BROTHERS-IN-ARMS TO SAVE! MOVE IT, MOVE IT!" The elder returned to barking with ire, prompting the lower soldiers to scatter around by his order.
"Ahahahahaha… Man, thanks for the save-!" Subaru gleefully thanked the old man with a vibrant smirk as the mob vanished, his figure visibly relaxing whilst he stepped forward. However, the Avenger was wrong to assume he was free of trouble.
"YOU!" Bordeaux screamed again as he pointed a trembling, severely accusatory index finger at the boy.
"Eep-!" Subaru squeaked in shock as he backed to the wall again.
"…You are not off the hook yet, Natsuki!" The elder stressed with a glare. "Do you even realize how hectic the circumstances are?!"
"W-Well… I guess a bit-?" The black-haired teen tried to reason, only for the councilman's eyes to stare daggers back at him. "…A LOT, alright. A lot. Hmm-Hmm, I get it. It is hectic, a lot of hectic. Vast amounts of it."
"…Want to make this right?! You and your… 'Friend' follow ME. Got it?!" Bordeaux ordered as he lowered his finger, turning around and walking in the direction of a carriage.
"U-Uh-huh…" The Avenger nodded slowly in response, walking closely behind him.
"Subaru? Do you think this a wise decision?" Amidst mumbles, Karen inquired with vexation as in turn SHE followed behind the elder too.
"It's pretty much the only one we have? We want to ensure, now that the battle is over, that everything else goes smoothly… As smoothly as it can possibly be, at the very least." Subaru whispered a clarification to his mechanical companion. "We cannot simply boss everyone around, can we? And if bushy eyebrows here will bother listening… We can wing it from there."
"…E-Elder, what should we-?" Meanwhile, as the boy and the Synthezoid whispered, Heinkel wondered aloud to the Council member with a preoccupied frown of his own.
"You take five knights and escort us three to the Castle, Heinkel." Bordeaux explained despite not looking at him. "Marcos, you go fetch all other councilmen outside the southern City walls for an emergency meeting in the Throne Room; and order a detachment to go around the Capital to fetch the Candidates and their surviving members as well."
"Consider it done, elder-!" As Marcos was about to bow down to the councilman, Karen's voice disrupted the conversation.
"I can take care of that last one, actually." Karen advised as she timidly raised her hand. "If it's just the Candidates, I can contact them summarily."
"…Do so immediately then." Bordeaux demanded as he stared at the woman suspiciously.
"…" Karen's eyes lit up, titillating as she suddenly connected to all five Royal Candidates' bracelets.
*BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!*
"Hngh?" Whilst Felix regenerated her broken left arm, Crusch turned to look at the bracelet that had saved her life during the confrontation with the Whale; the communicator Subaru had gifted her. If it began lighting up, vibrating and beeping, then there was only one answer… "Subaru has returned!"
*BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!*
"Ugh… Blasted sound, never carrying along a good piece of news." Priscilla growled whilst she looked at the vibrating bracelet on her left wrist with bored eyes, disappointed that it had broken her concentration during her moment of calm. However, soon she realized the connotation behind the alarm sounding at all. "Hmm… Mayhap it does carry a positive message."
*BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!*
"Huh?" Anastasia looked at her wrist with wonder as the bracelet's alarm resounded loudly, the Mauve merchant princess sitting beside a caravan of reserve mercenaries outside the Capital's western wall.
"Nhaaa… My Lady! Please, stop that sound~!" Mimi begged with annoyance from her lap as she covered her ears.
"It's not as if I wanted it to sound, Mimi." Anastasia lamented whilst inspecting the device, a finger on her chin as she pondered aloud. "Haum… Could this mean the battle really is over? I couldn't really believe the hollering inside the City for certain, but if Natsuki-kun himself is calling then…"
*BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!*
"Mnghaugh…" Felt tiredly moaned as she woke up from her senseless state, the beeping alarm of her bronze bracelet issuing a killing headache throughout her tiny body, like a sudden rush of waves on a quite lake disrupting the calm. "Auegh… My head is killing me… C-Crap, is this blood-? Fuck, am I de-dead? Aungh…"
"Ara~! You wake up at last!" The soothing, motherly voice of a woman spoke with surprise. "Did you sleep well little one?"
"Mwanh…?" Felt groaned as she realized the comfort of her head, as she realized that she was resting on a pillow of some sort.
"Enjoying it? I will say, I don't think I've ever allowed anyone to rest upon my thighs before. Not even Meili I have allowed to do such a thing, if only because she never asked for it." The unseen woman rambled playfully as Felt opened her eyes properly to look at her. "Maybe I should offer it when next we meet, to ease the mood…"
"Whan-?" The blonde girl's pupils shrunk inside her crimson irises when the face of the woman speaking to her became clear to her. Hazy sight turned solid, and the motherly presence comforting Felt as the bracelet woke her up was none other than… "E-E-E-E-ELSA-?!"
"Felt-sama!" Reinhard shouted with relief from beside her as she woke up, but his relief went ignored as the Royal Candidate screamed still.
"R-Reinhard! What the hell is going-?!" Felt tried to shout whilst squirming to her feet, but her alarm would not do anything to aid her situation.
"Now, now. We don't want that head of yours rolling down, do we?" Elsa interrupted Felt's panic as she poised a cold piece of the legionnaire arm around her neck.
"Ghk-!" The Royal Candidate fell silent as the assassin threatened to cut her jugular open.
"GRANHIERT!" Reinhard screamed with anger as soon as the blade came into play, demanding an answer from the black-haired woman. "I thought we had a deal?!"
"We have, for sure, but you must understand that she doesn't quite know about it… Does she?" Elsa simply smiled with relaxation, unfazed by Reinhard's ire.
"D-Deal-?!" Felt inquired as she stared at the rough piece of Vibranium on her neck, her eyes slowly darting to the protruding plasma blade at the end of the arm with fear.
"…I can explain later, Felt-sama." Reinhard lamented with frustration as he prompted his master to look at her vibrating arm. "For the moment… Please, answer to your Metia's call."
*BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!*
"SUBARU!" Beatrice's mouth outlined a smile as her contract with Subaru suddenly indicated his presence had returned. Her puffy cheeks grew rosy and her butterfly eyes gleamed in the sunlight as she stared in the general direction of the Lugunica's Royal Castle. "Betty's Subaru has returned! He has returned! Betty can sense him most certainly!"
"Eh?! F'real?!" Garfiel yelled with a smirk as he rested inside a carriage, alongside many an injured and tired soldier. "Cap'n is back?!"
"Hmm!" Emilia nodded in affirmation too with wide eyes and a hopeful chuckle. "Subaru is the only one who could activate the Metias without Karen around! If they are suddenly sounding in alarm, then it most surely means he has returned!"
"Not surely, he HAS returned Emilia-sama!" Rem, who had been treating a knight's wounds just seconds ago, corrected whilst gladly giggling along in admiration of the bracelets. "Subaru-kun is back!"
"Then what are we waiting for?!" Otto asked with vibrant emotion as he too inspected Emilia's silver and gold Web-Shooters. "If it is Natsuki-san, then answer him! Emilia-sama!"
"Hmm! Just… Erm…" The half-elf, although nodding in agreement with the merchant, hesitated slightly as she fiddled with her apparatuses. "Urm… Was it this light…? No! This one…! No, that one is not it either…"
"…Of the three buttons lining the side, the u~pper one is the one used to call, Emilia-sama." Roswaal advised with an indifferent smile from outside the carriage. "That is the one Su~baru-kun pressed when we organized the battle three da~ys ago."
"Ah! Yes!" Emilia acknowledged the mage's explanation as she pressed the light closest to her wrist. Immediately after, a blue holographic screen projected itself before the group, its image the one all present had been most eagerly awaiting for.
"Hallo~? Is this thing on-? Karen, you are filming this, right? One-two-three testing, one-two-three testing~!" The young Avenger asked as his right eye inched uncomfortably close to the screen. "Oh, it is! Hello there-!"
"SUBARU!" All Camps on the other side of the transmission shouted in cheerful unison when the face of the boy greeted them with a smirk.
"Uwaaa~, what a shout! Now THAT is what I expected for a welcome!" Subaru sounded in relief as he boarded a carriage during the call. "Better than what actually greeted me, a bunch of shriveled old raisins here-!"
"Huh? Isn't that-?!" Crusch noted with surprise the two men riding with Subaru on the carriage.
"Who, exactly, are you calling a raisin?!" The old councilman beside the Avenger growled with disdain as he stared into the camera.
"Oof! Tough crowd today…" Subaru looked at the elder with boredom before staring into Karen's eyes once more.
"Bordeaux?!" Wilhelm exclaimed with surprise from his seat beside Crusch, amazed by the elderly man's wounded appearance.
"Good to hear you are still kicking, Wilhelm." Bordeaux nodded in acknowledgement of the Sword Demon before he prompted Subaru to proceed talking. "Enough pleasantries; continue instructing, brat."
"Urgh… Just so you all know, we can only hear your audio right now, whereas you can all see and hear us simultaneously. Almost a one-sided broadcast." Subaru affirmed as he shook his head at the elder's mannerisms.
"Eh? Can you not see us? Subaru?" Emilia asked with preoccupation.
"Sorry to say Emilia-tan, but I'm not calling the usual way right now. I'm having Karen here transmit to you all from her eyes alone."
"Hold on, peasant." Priscilla's voice interrupted with disgruntlement. "Is mineself not right in remembering that Karen was a disembodied mind that resided on your suit of armor?"
"Well not anymore!" Subaru commented with a smirk as he denied with his index finger. "Say hello Karen!"
"…You do realize that if I'm filming, I cannot look into the camera, right?" Karen deadpanned with disappointment on the teenager.
"…Crud, I didn't think about that one." Subaru scratched his head nervously. "W-Well, you'll see Karen proper when we get to the-!"
"Will you get to the point already brat?!" Heinkel protested with infuriated frustration from the carriage's driver seat. "By the Od, you are insufferable!"
"Geez, okay! Okay! I'm getting there!" Subaru cried pettily as the man shouted. "You are rude as hell, man…"
"Uhh… Natsuki-kun? What exactly is the order of business here?" Anastasia wondered with monotony as she admired the Avenger's new armor.
"Err, well, I'll make this short. The gist of it is like this: We won! Ultron's dead! Yay~!" Subaru claimed with not much cheer in his voice as he recalled all the fighting that had transpired just to get to this point. "But… It is not all sunshine and rainbows after victory. Who knew? Point being, Bordeaux here has issued an emergency meeting with the Council of Elders and the Noble Court present. Add to that, he wants all Candidates and their surviving Camps present in the battle to report to the Royal Castle's Throne Room- like yesterday. Asap."
"Is that where you are headed right now?" Roswaal's voice asked to the boy, prompting a dismal glint on his black-brown eyes to appear.
"…Yes Roschi, I'm going to the Castle with bushy eyebrows here." Subaru nodded as he affirmed with a disappointed voice. "I'll… Listen people, I will make everything clear there: About Ultron, his army, all I CAN explain myself, I will reveal there. So… See you in the Throne Room, everyone. Spider-Man O-U-T!"
"Ah, wait-! Subaru-!" Emilia attempted to say something, however…
*BEEP!*
The transmission ended before she could even speak.
"…MO~! Subaru, you nincompoop!" Emilia blurted out with a frustrated pout as the teenager ended the call abruptly. "What gives?! Why would he end the conversation so cryptically?!"
"…I wa~ger it has something to do with the heavier contents of what he wishes to speak about, Emilia-sama." Roswaal affirmed as he scratched his chin. "You must su~rely know what I'm talking about, right?"
"…Apart from explaining properly to the nobility and the knights what had occurred, Barusu will most likely bring ALL recent events into the limelight, Emilia-sama." Ram closed her eyes solemnly as she braced herself for her master's judgement.
"…!" Emilia fell silent as she processed Ram's words, her animosity towards Roswaal reigniting slightly as she reminisced on all that occurred in Sanctuary when Subaru was juggling between saving her and the world. Following this, the faces of all present during the trials and tribulations of the Forest of Kremaldy grew sour as they stared nastily at the Margrave.
"Huh?" Rem looked at her Lady's Camp with mixed feelings, as the air grew tense. It was something to be expected after all; of the Emilia Camp, she was the only one who did not witness or experience the events of Sanctuary. She was out of the loop on Roswaal's attempts. "What is- Nee-sama? Emilia-sama? What is occurring? Is something amiss? Did Rem forget something?"
"Just as Subaru has said..." Beatrice responded the blue oni's troubled questions with mysterious words of her own. "It will all be answered in the Throne Room, maid. It is best for you to wait until then, lest we risk you doing something… reckless I suppose."
"Reckless? But Rem wouldn't…" Rem tried to argue, but Ram quickly pulled her into a hug from behind. "Nee-sama…?"
"…Just wait until we arrive to the Castle, Rem…" Ram advised with conflicted eyes unseen to her twin.
"…Ta da Royal Castle's Throne Room it is then, huh?" Garfiel lying on the carriage's floor stared into the distance at the palace atop the mountain of the Capital, the sunlight illuminating its silhouette amongst the cliffs sacredly. "Sure must be a luxurious room an' all… NOT. At least not after all da tremors an' shit."
"I have never been there before… Or rather, as a servant, I've never gone beyond the outside gates of it." Frederica sweated slightly as she prepared the reins around Patrasche's snout, so the onyx Ground Dragon could pull the carriage properly. "Will they really allow demi-humans in so callously?"
"Not like they have an option, Frederica-san." Otto reasoned with a tired smirk. "You saw that man too, elder Bordeaux of the Council. He look frustrated at the premise, knowing demi-humans were amongst the bunch, but he still made the proposal. It seems Lugunica's top can't afford discrimination when they are scrambling for all details of the story, demi-humans included."
"Moreover, don't forget that one of the Royal Candidates is a demi-human too." Ram affirmed as she stared at Emilia. "If Barusu is to spill all the beans, they will let us through."
"Although, I think the first order of business would be for all of us to change into more… appropriate attires for an all-hands meeting." Emilia announced as she stared at everyone present, prompting them to do the same with slight embarrassment. "Battle torn rags and exposed wounds are sorely what I wish to show Subaru right now…"
Thus, the Royal Camps all prepared for the revelation…
Of the Greater Cosmos beyond them.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
1ST ANNIVERSARY BABY~!
Hey hey hey! Guess who's on a streak?!
I mean, I'd call it a streak, but another chapter is the least I owe you after a three-week absence before the last update. Still sorry about that by the by.
Also, this chapter was by far shorter than the previous ones, and mostly shorter than the normal ones, so that's that too. I'll make sure the next one is longer overall, as it will deal with the consequences of Arc 4 properly.
ALSO Also, to everyone scratching their heads at what the hell chaturanga is, it is a centuries old name for chess that originates from India. In the world of Re: Zero, just as they have different names for foods, games like chess possess other denominations as well.
A-N-Y-W-A-Y-S, that's all for today folks!
See you on the next chapter!
Bye-Bye!