Chapter 21: The roar that shook the earth
Author's note (pre-timeskip): Last POV of arc 2, then we go on to the interlude chapters.
Author's note after over a year and a half: Hello, it's been a while. Some of you may think I died, but in reality I was dealing with college, which coincidentally is the reason why chapters kinda stopped being written, that and burnout. With the start of college, I have had infinitely less time to do the things that I want to do, so as i'm trying to make time to finish assignments, go to classes, hang out with friends and such, it ended up kind of pushing writing out of the schedule. Writing is something that I want to pursue in the future, however I have been procrastinating for far too long, which is why I decided to sit down and actually get this made. In terms of whether I will get to the interlude chapters, I don't know, and I'm sorry about that. I have so many things that I can do for this fanfic, but I don't know if I can do it at the pace that I want, which has been something which has been bugging me for months now. This fanfic was always somewhere in the back of my mind, and I've been wanting to complete it but I never click on the google doc, and it has gotten to the point that I need to say enough is enough. This chapter, like the previous AN says, is the last chapter of arc 2. With some chapters to transition to arc 3, which I honestly forgot what they were going to be about. (this is why you should write things down so you don't forget them) but i'll try to dig for what they are. It's been ages since I've read anything re:zero, so if anything is too OOC then that's a good explanation.
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Fear the shadowed hand. Where all that lives can drown in its void. She took those words into heavy consideration, attempting to decipher the new message. A hand of shadows, as in a place? Or perhaps a play on words..? Perhaps even a person.
These messages have always been cryptic, even incomprehensible at times. And yet now it seems as if it was written specifically in regards to her. Why should she fear it? A that that can drown all that lives, does that mean that it is a thing that can bypass immortality?
Never once had she ever received advice that told her to avoid something. It was always messages like 'appear in this location' and 'kill such' that were precedent so far, but now it was a warning to fear something so vague.
Is she meant to run? To escape before these waves of darkness lap at her feet? Capella found it aggravating that a suggestion to flee would ever be communicated to a powerful being such as herself. With a scowl, she stowed the gospel back into her flesh like a stone in the mud.
After making sure that no new words would burn themselves into the pages of the gospel, she looked from her perch towards the chaos engulfing the city. Capella was currently huddled at the top of a tall tree, in a place where she could spy, but also far enough to not be spotted by any nuisances.
She transformed her eyes, elongating the distance she could see. Now using this hawk vision, she was able to see a half-devil man firing magic at Meili's mabeast army.
Capella practically spat at his very image, and how loved he was. All the love in the world belongs to her and her only, not to the spitting image of a demon, but rather a goddess like her. She had been watching that lot for a while now, after his disgustingly hideous little maid was locked up to starve like a dog, and throughout his deplorable public service announcement, Capella made sure to spectate it all.
Perhaps leaving things to Meili was a bad decision, after all, a puppet is no good without its master controlling it directly. What a waste of time, if Meili hadn't convinced Capella that she could handle it, things may have turned out differently.
Meili promised on her hands and knees that Mother would not be disappointed, and because of that sincerity, Capella had expected a good show of slaughter which she could revel in. this was not that.
"Hey." suddenly a voice called out from below her, male. "Is the view that great up there?" Her annoyance was already at the peak, and this voice made sure it would go higher. Capella looked down to find that she was being watched by an old looking cat.
Just by looking at it, she could feel that it was not normal, it reeked of mana. "What do you want, spirit? Can't you see that this fair lady was in the middle of something?" it was that feeling, the sensation that her dominance was being challenged.
She slid off the branch, the need to correct such disrespect gave her a reason to act. "Did you come here to die, or did you come here to watch your loved ones die with me? I'm fine with either."
"Hmm… can I have some time to think?" it said in a sarcastic manner, as if it was playing a prank. Things kept going wrong, and now she has to deal with some random spirit, how did things turn out like this?
The main force, rather than flooding into the city, was being used as target practice by that accursed half-devil. The second half, which she transformed one by one into speck sized flies, was being crushed by the maid she believed was not worth dealing with, who also somehow predicted that batch's location.
Annoyance after annoyance, it was all so rage-inducing that Capella wanted to rip the hair out of whatever was nearby, regardless of who or what. All of this preparation, foiled by some loveless nobody. This lady has no choice than to take matters into her own hands. That was the option she was leaning towards.
She transformed her arms into large, beast-like appendages, bolstering razor sharp claws. This form, which she did not change since mimicking the appearance of the silver-haired maid, looked like that of a monster.
"This lady is extremely agitated, so how about you let her tear you to shreds."
"If you want a fight, then I can give you one any day of the week, so how about we take this somewhere else?" Puck responded to Capella's angry threat, ready to take her on. He began to tap into his mana reserve, using some of the large pool of mana reserves he sourced from Subaru and filling the area with black gas.
Reality began to warp as the smoke wrapped around the pair, and in an instant, Capella found herself in a completely different part of the forest. The cat spirit found the place they were in to be a hassle to fight in, that was why he decided to change the scenery into that of a cliff's edge.
"A place like this should suffice. This way, we won't disturb anyone, isn't that right, sin archbishop of lust?"
"For even the smallest of ants to already know the fairest lady makes her happy that it is such a household name. She might even consider leaving you to crawl back to your hole alive if you grovel, though you may lose a few insignificant pieces."
"Tempting offer, too bad I don't make deals with villains."
Capella smiled, her offer was rejected, but now she gets to shed blood without regard. She pushed a foot down, then launched herself at Puck with a raised up claw ready to slash downwards.
Puck had preemptively began casting a spell, then waited for Capella to get closer before unleashing its might. "Ul Goa!" the spirit chanted, causing a sudden increase in the temperature in the air, enough to boil water, followed by an explosion that engulfed the two.
In a black cloud of smoke, a body emerged engulfed in it. That person was Capella who had grown wings and flew back, burns riddling her limbs and face, which she quickly healed with her authority.
"Your attempts at damaging this lady are feeble at best. Magic, weapons, curses, all fall useless against her, but that would require far too much thought for a feeble minded insect."
Capella found it amusing that anyone would ever dare fight her, she loved it even more when they found out she is well and truly unkillable, which leads to that delicious look of despair that is ever so sweet.
A look of admittance that they cannot win, defeat spelt as clear as letters in their eyes. Capella was addicted to the look of pain on someone she reviled, especially those who only got in her way.
She used her authority again, splitting her stomach into a razor sharp maw. The mouth began to glow with orange intensity, spewing black flames that swirled towards Puck. The spirit responded in turn by sending mana to the ground, causing it to fracture and fall.
The weight of the debris was swept off the edge of the cliff, causing the pair to fall. Capella in midair glared at Puck as they descended, the spirit staring back while sticking to the bottom of a falling boulder in a sitting form.
The rubble crashed into the bottom of the precipice in a cloud of smoke, a sound of wings flapping followed by the sin archbishop emerging unscathed from within. A sudden gust of wind appeared to blow away the smoke, revealing Puck sitting atop the pile, looking down on her as if on a throne.
This sight caused Capella to clench her teeth and spit, cursing his cocky attitude that she will make sure to stomp into a fine powder.
She turned her left hand into a lion's head, shooting it forward like a rubber band towards him. It roared, ready to bite down on him. However, Puck manifested a dozen ice spikes above him, shooting them downwards and pinning the appendage down.
Without giving her the chance to make another move, he created wind blades and shot them at Capella, cutting her to pieces. Now as a puddle of blood and gristle, the pieces squirmed and reconnected into a complete body.
"Do you think that this is enough to keep this lady down, worm?" she boasted about her inhuman toughness, further attempting to drive the seed of despair into her opponent. Not realizing that her opponent was beyond that.
"Of course not," Puck responded. "But did you not realize yet? This was all part of the plan."
What the spirit just said raised a chuckle from Capella. "Plan? A bug is not capable of making plans that could ever work on the loveliest in the world."
"This whole thing, it was all meant to be a distraction for you. I mean, why would I bring you all the way here if not to draw you away from the big picture. Right now, everything could have already been over, you do realize that right?" He mocked her, with a grin.
She could see the spirit enjoying himself over there, and it caused her blood to boil. Meili's failure of a plan caused her to be ridiculed by a mere hairy rag. "Something so disgusting, degenerate, perverse. Perhaps I should give you the pleasure of a new look, one you can have for the rest of your existence." she stomped the ground again, diving directly at Puck with the speed of a hawk.
She was a mere millimeter from slashing the spirit's face to ribbons before an unknown force stopped her attack. It twisted around her at lightning speed and repelled her away.
It was a little girl in a pink dress, with swirling twin tails, who had erected the spell. "You will not lay your hand on a single hair on bubby's head, I suppose." a new party has joined the fight.
"Oh! How disgusting, another foul smelling cur dares reveal itself in this lady's presence. And Just when she's about had it with the stench, a second has to pop up." Capella showed that she was revolted, going so far as to pinch her nose.
"I thought that you could use an extra playmate, so I called Betty over. We have no intention of letting you interfere with the efforts being made to stop this mess, nor of losing. Turn tail and run, or would you rather experience the embarrassment of losing to two ants." Puck said in a serious, yet mocking tone.
A burning sensation was felt in cappella's chest, it could not be love, which she lives to receive. No… It was anger, one that spread throughout her entire body like a tide of red. Run, to even suggest that to a being so powerful, both in body, influence, and reverence was an insult beyond any other.
Capella looked down, shaking, only to pull her head back up to release a laugh that shook the entire area. "kehehehe… GAHAHAHAHAHA" The ground seemed to rumble as she spread her arms out and cackled.
She took to the air, a now burning glint in her eyes like hellfire. "Fine then, two miserable ants should not be so surprised when a dragon's flame burns them to charred slop. This lady will show you that you are all nothing but bags of meat begging to be cooked into food worthy only of a dog's plate." Capella started her all out attack with a black fire breath, this time much more potent than the last.
The breath was eaten by the shield Beatrice erected instantly. "Betty will take care of the archbishops' attacks, I suppose. I leave it to bubby to counter." Both the siblings agreed instantly on the formation, with Puck already preparing a collage of magic attacks to throw at the archbishop.
Dozens of spells or different elements, levels, and trajectories. The aim is to hit as many as possible even if the archbishop dodges some.
"Gahahaha, throwing out random spells like that is so wasteful. How are you far worse than my expectations were for you, whoever classified you as a great spirit is an embarrassment, even for a lowly, filthy animal." She laughed, tanking the whole spectrum of spells and healing all of it while laughing.
Capella prepares another attack, turning all of her limbs into jagged claws, and diving at the two spirits. Beatrice creates yet another barrier, to which Capella gladly clashes with, hammering blow after blow after blow.
Beatrice is expressionless as she holds up the shield, even if it cracks she can instantly repair it. Puck meanwhile, prepares an Al goa to throw at the archbishop. The need to aim is nonexistent at point blank, and so he sends it the moment it's ready, engulfing Capella completely.
The sin archbishop of Lust recoiled back, letting out a shriek, however as quickly as she flinched she sprang back onto the shield, hitting it more relentlessly. The strikes seemed more powerful too, enough that Beatrice actually needed to try to maintain the shield.
"This is becoming absurd, I suppose." Beatrice muttered, looking at the demonic appearance of the archbishop pounding onto the shield while burning. She put a burst of mana into the shield, throwing the archbishop back into the middle of the clearing. Beatrice has decided it's time to end things.
Putting down the shield, it was time for her to duel the archbishop. "El Minya." she began peppering the archbishop with the shards of dark magic. Capella did not attempt to dodge the first few resulting in them planting into multiple vital areas and spreading across her body.
Capella realized that it would be too troublesome to get hit by those attacks again, quickly transforming her body to get away from the spreading mana and splitting apart. "This lady thinks it's about time to end this, if she stays with this hideous bunch any longer their stench might wash off on her."
She turns her hands into hungry maws that reach out to Beatrice in an attempt to devour her, however the blond spirit teleports out without giving them the chance. Beatrice is well aware that she can never beat lust in a battle of attrition, so she must choose to obliterate her now. "Ul minya."
A purple crystalline ring appears around Capella, which instantly coils around her. "What is this, one of those leashes you beasts like to wear? Huh?" the archbishop attempts to free her arms but it seems to be no use.
"No, because this leash was designed for you, I suppose." the spirit replied, as a bright light shines above Capella's head. In mere moments, it all ends.
"Damn!" Lust curses. She must take desperate measures. Morphing the shape of her mouth, she turns her upper teeth into a bladed whip which she then uses to wrap around her neck.
"Hm?" The spirit only has time to say that before witnessing the archbishop beheading herself just as the light beams down on her. The light of the spell that struck the remainder of her body froze it in an instant turning it into a crystalline statue with no hope of ever regenerating.
However, the head manages to avoid being grazed by the mana, falling onto the ground with a squelch and looking almost alien from the transformation. After a second, it begins to bulge and regrow.
"Betty will not allow you to regain footage, not after gaining an advantage." Beatrice immediately fires multiple shards of dark magic at the head, however it immediately grows hands and moves away in time to avoid the blow.
"Hold still, I suppose. El Vita." The spirit immediately casts a spell that sends the head down into the ground, holding it from moving by increasing the gravity. "El Minya" she then holds dozens of shards that appear above her, ready to fire onto the archbishop.
However before she can unleash them, Capella's head spews out snake venom at her, forcing Beatrice to use the shards as a makeshift wall to block.
"Kahahaha" Beatrice could hear laughter from in front of her wall, putting the now unusable crystals down, she could see that Capella has now been fully regenerated, which causes her to click her tongue. "Congratulations, you have achieved something I would never expect an ant to be able to do. But you are an ant nonetheless, and any achievement you have and ever will make is as small and insignificant as you are, and that includes and hope of harming my divine body."
The first thing the archbishop did was mock the moment she was able to speak as was her nature, however Beatrice was not phased. "Have you finished blabbering? Betty is still just getting started."
The archbishop wasted no breath, charging at the stand still beatrice. The archbishop had unmatched speed, striking out at beatrice at many angles faster than any normal person would ever be able to react.
It stands to note that Beatrice is no normal person, and any attack that capella would make was instantly deflected by her. The clash was like a dance, a roaring one that caused the trees and ground to shake.
Capella transformed to different forms to better strike at the spirit, however it was all listlessly stopped before it could amount to anything. And so they danced under the light of the moon for what felt like an hour, releasing sparks from the clash of magic and flesh.
All the while watching from his throne atop the rocks was puck, who knew better than to interfere. Suddenly he heard a sound that wasn't from his sister's combat, he looked up at the cliff up above him. That mana signature is familiar…
He realized that it was that bothersome new maid that just won't leave him alone. It sounded like she was fighting someone or something, well it doesn't matter to him, but he wouldn't want to see Subaru's face if something happened to her.
"If you think she is worth your time, help her." he gathered some minor fire spirits and told them to go test her. They flew away like fireflies, and thus with their departure he went back to spectating the fight ahead of him.
"Feeling tired yet, wretch? This lady can go on until time itself gives out!" it was true, Beatrice was beginning to feel fatigue, she rarely uses this much magic in one fight, it has to end sooner rather than later, or she might actually fall.
Suddenly a resounding lion's roar could be heard far above, it was this moment where the fight reached its turning point. Loud enough to grab the attention of the archbishop, Beatrice wasted no time taking advantage of this moment, making a grabbing motion at Capella. "Ul Murak!"
Capella felt her body lose all its weight, only for it to be grabbed by a massive invisible hand. "What the hell is this you filthy frilly rat, unhand me this instant!" Capella was angered by suddenly being grabbed.
"Betty will do no such thing." The spirit dragged the archbishop along the ground, right to the center of the area they were fighting in. "This is over"
The archbishop tried to release the fingers from around her, however they weren't even physical, all she could do was struggle to release herself. "You think you won? Just because this lady is unable to move now doesn't mean anything, not only that but judging by the look on your face, it's draining you faster than you would like."
Beatrice was now showing clear discomfort, this spell uses a great amount of mana for being an extremely powerful means of restraint, enough for a normal person with a normal pool of mana to call off using this spell completely.
However, that doesn't matter.
Before the sin archbishop could react to what she saw looking up, she was completely crushed by the weight of a massive body, one of a howling wagpig. The sin archbishop was enveloped completely, finally bringing peace and quiet to the clearing, all except for the moaning of the mabeast with a very big booboo.
Beatrice let out a sigh of relief, preparing to use Ul Minya to erase the archbishop completely. However before she could, a loud growl was released and the ring that was put around the wagpig shattered.
The wagpig was launched by a great force underneath, a black scaly monster, a dragon. It towered above Beatrice, big enough to be able to stomp and crush her. Beatrice feared the fight ahead of her would be far more taxing.
The sin archbishop was madder than ever before, but not directly at the spirit, no. the anger which has been pooling up in her the whole time was for one certain Meili. "This whole night has been nothing but humiliation. I will make her rue this day for the rest of her existence, mark my words."
Her words made Beatrice nervous, her careless self-indulgent personality was all gone and only anger was there.
"You, spirit." the dragon pointed at her. "This lady will come back sooner or later to turn you to sentient manure for her garden, as is your rightful place. It is about time for me to leave anyway." the dragon pointed at the sun currently rising to show that it is becoming morning.
"This lady is mother to many children, and now one has made a grave mistake which must be rectified." These words were spat with venom. She then spread her wings, releasing a maddeningly loud roar that shook the world.
And before Beatrice could deliver a snarky response about being able to wait, the dragon soared into the sky and left her and puck (and the sad looking wagpig that was starting to limp off) some alone time.
"Is it about time we head back?" Puck asked.
"Yes." Betty responded. "Betty has spent far too much time away from Subaru."
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Subaru and Beatrice walked towards the mansion through the road carriage path, after dealing with the aftermath of the battle, the people congratulating him on a successful defense, and paying respect to those brave fighters that fell, he enjoyed a walk home to take his mind off things.
He plans on taking a good sleep till noon so that he is well rested enough to focus on important duties. Him and his spirit chatted until they got tired of talking, Subaru would press to know what happened at the fight with the bishop, but Beatrice would not answer him, making him exasperated.
Soon they were within the reach of the mansion's front gate, and in front of it stood a trio of maids, ready to welcome him back.
"Welcome back, Subaru-sama." Rem was the first to greet him. Bowing down and visibly smiling that she was able to see him well.
"I'm back, how is everyone doing? I'd like to also know what happened on your end too" Subaru greeted back.
They have all been through their own ordeals, but they all looked fine except for some visible scratches and rips in their outfits that were easy to discern.
"Another horde trying to sneak around and attack the city from behind." Frederica explained briefly about the events that had occurred from Rem's point of view, including Emilia being responsible for the city being overrun from the opposite side.
"You did all that?" Subaru looked to Emilia, who wasn't prepared to even talk except for maybe a greeting.
"Uh u, Uh… Yeah." she stumbled to find her words, fearing she sounded like an idiot. However, Subaru smiled in response to her.
"You did great, if there is anything you would like then please let me know. Thank you, Emilia." Subaru did something crazy to Emilia, he bowed his head in sincerity, causing both Emilia and Rem to gasp.
Emilia because she doesn't think she did anything too crazy and Rem because she was feeling strangely jealous. However this wasn't a bad feeling to Emilia.
"No, Thank you, Subaru." Emilia Smiled deeply, a slight shade of red on her cheeks. Everything went well in the end, they all made it out, but there were still those who suffered. But even still, it ended better than she could have thought.
She wants to do better in the future, for Subaru who helped her so much. And for all of those in the Subaru camp, who she now owes so much to. As they all collectively turned and walked inside the mansion to figure out what to do next, they all felt triumphant and confident enough that they were able to take on whatever comes next.
Chapter 21 ends.
AN: so it's finished, somehow it took me shorter than I thought, done in like 2 days of work, but I guess that shouldn't surprise me having been able to write 10k words in like a little over a week in the past. After this is a chapter similar to the OVA of season 1, and followed by a chapter of younger Subaru in the dark afflicted forest of Elior. Hope to see you there. I'll try to write even if just a little with all that college work being due and stuff.