I do not own Re:Zero or any of the characters.
Whaling
Ian walked down the line of Ground Dragons, looking each over. They were all different colors and breeds, but aside from that, he wasn't sure what difference it made. Subaru had chosen one that he apparently saw the last time he was in the Capitol with Emilia, but Ian didn't know how to pick one.
"I don't suppose any of these is faster than the others?" Ian asked.
One of the dragons stood up a bit taller, its mouth seeming to curl into a smile. Ian raised an eyebrow.
"Someone's proud," Ian smirked, stopping in front of the dragon, looking it over.
It was the only one not wearing armor, instead having blake bone plating on top of its head and along its back and sides. Its hide was largely black with a strip of gold along its large lower jaw, the lower half of its hind legs, a waving line along each side, and then in a stripe down each side of its tail until the last quarter of the tail, which was entirely gold. There were a pair of blade-like horns extending from the top of its head, on behind the other, in the center of its skull's bone plating, and three small bone spikes along the top of its tail near the tip, the tallest closest to the tip.
"He'll do," Ian said. "He'll need reins, though."
The dragon turned its head away.
Ian smirked. "You know what? Maybe one of these other dragons would be better. I'm sure they could do the job better anyway, and they're all willingly wearing reins."
The dragon Ian had chosen growled and stepped between him and the dragon he was looking at off to the side. As the dragon lowered his head into Ian's path, a pair of whisper-like feelers extended from the sides of its snout.
Ian smirked. "You sure you don't mind me tugging on those?"
The dragon seemed to smile again, its eyes glinting challengingly.
"Well alright then," Ian smirked. "I guess that's decided."
"That's a good choice," Felix said. "That type usually has high stamina and tends to have the most personality. They usually don't like males, though."
"Well, I'll consider myself lucky that he likes me, then," Ian smirked.
Rem smiled and walked over the dragon surveying her before snorting and turning its head away."
"She's coming with us," Ian said. "Otherwise, I'm taking a different dragon."
The dragon growled before lowering its head slightly in acceptance. Ian smiled, running his hand over its snout for a moment. Then, they all headed inside to meet the troops.
Ian watched the world around them in silence as they rode. The sun was setting, so it would be time to begin soon. And then he and Subaru would be playing the bait while everyone else fought. Ian would be using his dragon and magic together to alternate between bait and fighting, but he would still be bait. Rem was worried about the plan, but agreed it was the best they could do.
Ahead of him and Rem, Ricardo, a wolf demi-human, Ian was pretty sure, was chatting with the other troops, trying to keep morale up. He was the captain of Anastasia's mercenary group, the Iron Fang, and the two lieutenants were a pair of toddler-looking siblings, a brother and sister named Hetaro and Mimi respectively. The three of them, as well as the rest of the Iron Fang, rode giant wolves called Ligers, as well as having truly massive buffalo-sized ones pulling their carriages.
"Are you alright?" Rem asked, looking back at him, seeming to be able to read him without needing to see him, as always.
"I can't shake the feeling that we'll have worse problems than Petelgeuse's attack on the manor," Ian said. "Given how that attack will end, the thought terrifies me."
Rem nodded. "We'll be okay. We won't let anything happen to each other."
Ian nodded, smiling. "You're right."
Rem smiled and leaned back against him. A couple hours later, shortly before the White Whale was scheduled to arrive, they reached Flugel's Tree and gathered all of the carriages together, everyone letting their rides rest and drink some water.
"I'll find you once the battle's over," Ian said.
Rem nodded, squeezing his hand. "I'll keep my promise and keep my distance from the whale so its fog can't catch me."
Ian nodded. "This fight's going to be horrible."
Rem nodded in agreement. She wrapped her arms around him and they remained there, standing together in the shadow of Flugel's Tree, until it was time to prepare. Ian climbed onto his dragon behind Rem, drawing his swords and wrapping his left arm around Rem, holding onto her tightly. Rem smiled back at him before grabbing the dragon's whiskers, giving each an experimental tug and earning an annoyed look from the dragon.
Just then, Subaru's phone began to play an upbeat musical alarm. Crusch called the soldiers to attention and Ian's dragon tensed below him. However, there was nothing around them. Finally, someone pointed out a shadow on Flugel's Tree, a massive one, and when Ian turned to look at the moon, he tensed. It was here. It swooped low, bellowing angrily, and Subaru gave the order.
"El Huma!" Rem shouted, firing a half-dozen ice spikes into the whale's underside, blood spraying out of it, then grabbed the whisker again, her horn extending. Ian felt her tense and squeezed her, kissing the back of her shoulder. She relaxed and smiled back at him before flicking their dragon's whiskers like reins. The dragon exploded forward, followed closely by Subaru's.
"Soldiers!" Crusch bellowed. "Follow those three fools into battle!"
"Unnecessarily rude," Ian grumbled.
Rem giggled. "True, though. Given our plan, we must be."
"True," Ian sighed.
Just then, several massive searchlight-like weapons suddenly lit up before firing a massive beam of pure blue mana each. As the dozen or so blasts hit the White Whale, the resulting explosions completely engulfed it, but it remained silent.
"They're firing the Night Vanisher!" Rem warned him and Subaru. "I suggest you close your eyes!"
Just then, a massive tune, which Ian was pretty sure was a magical mortar system, fires and a massive ball of shining white mana rocketed into the air, trailing smoke. Ian kept his eyes open but squinted and shielded them as the projectile shot over the whale before exploding and suddenly shining like the sun, making it as bright as day around them. Then, suddenly, the whale roared in rage, the ground trembling enough for their dragons to have to slow down a bit. Suddenly, a massive blast wave hit the ground, sending a cloud of dust and wind exploding outward from below it. As they looked up again, the whale thrashed and contort. Ian stared at it, taking in it's full appearance from the small white hairs along its body to the bat-like wings it had in place of fins. It roared again and Ian narrowed his eyes, tensing his sword arm in preparation of the fight.
"Ready to go fishing Subaru?" Ian asked.
"Hell yeah!" Subaru grinned.
Their two dragons shot forward, streaking under the whale as it watched. Then, it shrieked, flipping and diving after them, much faster than Ian had anticipated.
"Hit it in the eye!" Ian ordered.
Rem reached back, firing a barrage of ice spikes at it, but between the wind catching them partway and the whale's speed, the spikes hit just outside of the eye by about a foot.
"Nice!" Ian grinned.
"I missed," Rem said.
"Barely," Ian snorted. "But at the very least Wilhelm will have gotten the picture."
Rem nodded and took the right whisker back from where she was holding both in her left hand. Just as the whale was about to reach the ground, a green blur suddenly slammed into the side of its head beside its horn, a massive, deep gash opening in its flesh and earning a shriek of agony and a spray of blood. Ian looked back at the others, seeing Crusch's blade glowing a blue-green.
"The intangible sword with no regard for range," Rem said. "That's Miss Crusch's sword art, famous for it's hundred-man strike!"
"Hey, I wanna learn that!" Ian complained, just as the mana cannons blasted the White Whale again, this time in a near-constant volley.
When it ended, however, the whale was barely wounded by the blasts. It roared and turned, charging at Crusch, who ordered the army to take evasive action.
"Try for the eye again, Rem!" Ian ordered.
"El Huma!" Rem shouted, a huge barrage of ice spikes exploding from her left hand as her horn shone, drawing in as much mana as she could.
This time, a handful of the spikes found their target, stabbing entirely into the eye, unleashing a spray of blood and making the whale shriek in pain and veer off to the side, crashing harmlessly to the ground. As soon as it hit, Wilhelm shot forward, leaping off his dragon and drawing one of his six swords. The whale charged, opening its mouth wide to eat him, only for him to launch himself into the air over it.
"You're nothing but a monster!" Wilhelm roared, driving his first sword into the whale's head above its horn.
It thrashed and shrieked in rage as Wilhelm stabbed and slashed it multiple times before sprinting along its back, tearing its back open.
"How wonderfully cooperative of you, monster!" he shouted. "Coming here to be slain!"
Finally he stopped, driving his sword into its tail near the fin, and blood erupted from the wound like a geyser, coating him. He began to slash and stab it again, only for the tail to suddenly swing upward, flinging him before the whale dove after him. A second before it could eat him, his dragon caught him and raced out of the way before Ricardo reached the whale, slashing along the left side of its gums. Then, the rest of the Iron Fang attacks, their strikes tearing across the whale's left side.
"Soldiers, now fall back!" Crusch shouted.
Rem's arm swung around as the whale's pours opened, sending a barrage of ice spikes directly into its unwounded eye, blinding it. It shrieked, pours closing, and Ian looked to Crusch as her blade all but shone a light green with Wind mana. Then, she slashed, sending out a massive arc of Wind Magic, which sailed across the span between her and the whale before splitting the whale nearly in half across the middle, a massive deluge of blood spraying out of the wound.
"That's it!" Crusch shouted. "Now fire at its flank!"
"Al Goa!" two dozen troops shouted, the torso-sized fireballs in their hands erupting into massive streams of flame, each as wide as their torsos.
Ian watched as the spells hit the whale and exploded, completely enveloping it and sending out a shockwave that nearly blew Ian off his dragon. The troops began to cheer, but Ian narrowed his eyes. If the much larger cannons had done next to nothing, that spell wouldn't have either.
"Be ready to throw me," Ian said.
Rem nodded and summoned her flail, Ian gripping it just below the head. Then, as soon as the flames and smoke had cleared, she stood on the dragon's back and spun, flinging him around in a circle, then up at the whale. He activated his magic on the way and used it to land safely on its side before driving his sword into its hide, instantly gaining infinite respect for Wilhelm for being able to cut it so easily. He channeled his magic into his legs and blade, then took off spiraling around and around the whale as he streaked toward its tail, blood spraying out of it behind him. He could hear the army cheering in the distance, but the closer he got to the tail, and the tighter the spirals grew, the more nauseous he felt.
Finally, he slingshotted off the end of the tail, having just sliced off the fin, and flipped, grabbing Rem's flail before she swung him down into a circle along the ground, allowing him to use his magic to land safely and slow to a stop, though he doubled over and vomited immediately afterward. Once his stomach had settled, he stood up, wiping his mouth as he watched the Iron Fang hack at the whale near its fins.
"Can I have some water?" Ian asked.
Rem handed over a bottle, and he quickly washed his mouth out with it before climbing back up onto the dragon, wincing as the gashes his magic had opened in his thighs flared.
"Let's head for Crusch," Ian said. "I have an idea."
Rem nodded and steered the dragon toward her. As they sped across the battlefield, Wilhelm began to tear along the whale's back again before leaping to an eye and nearly splitting it in half. Finally, Rem slowed to a stop beside Cruch as Ricardo hurled Wilhelm up for another pass.
"Do you think you can take its horn off with your magic?" Ian asked Crusch.
"I can try," Crusch nodded just as Wilhelm cut the whale's eye out completely.
As she pulled her sword back, however, she stopped, staring at the whale, as was everyone else. It was hovering motionless, but its remaining eye was quickly darkening from gold to a dark, angry red. Suddenly, a deafening, ear-splitting shriek rang out of it, pores opening along its sides and amplifying the sound. When it opened its mouth and roared, the sound was deafening. Everyone clapped their hands to their heads. Then, fog exploded out of its pours, enshrouding it almost instantly.
It continued to shriek and roar as the fog rapidly spread above them, darkening the area around them as it blocked the shining mana sphere from view. Then, it fell, blanketing the world around them and blocking everything beyond fifteen feet from view.
"Soldiers, retreat!" Crusch ordered.
Someone began to pass the order, only suddenly scream in agony as a crunching sound echoed through the fog. More screams began to join his, along with crashes, until it sounded as though the entire army were being attacked all at once. Suddenly, a massive blast of a more condensed, solid fog shot toward them out of the normal fog, bigger around than they were tall while atop the dragon, and Rem steered the dragon to the side, the dragon all but leaping away as Crusch went the other, disappearing into the fog. The blast tore past them, leaving a deep trench behind, and Ian grit his teeth.
"We can't fight like this," Ian growled. "I'm going to try something!"
Rem nodded and Ian stood on the dragon's back, activating his magic before launching himself into the air. He spun himself in a circle, focusing the magix to the tip of his sword before slinging it high into the air. As he fell, the blast exploded into a massive sphere of wind magic, the blast wave clearing a massive area of the fog. Ian landed back on the dragon and sat down before looking around.
"Well done," Rem said as the soldiers in the clearing gathered around them and Crusch. "You didn't get cut that time."
"I got lucky," Ian said.
Crusch began to take stock of their casualties, getting a count of twenty one gone, though the commanders only remembered that there were that many missing, not who they were. A moment later, Wilhelm arrived with the Iron Fang and Subaru. Crusch ordered the troops to disperse into the fog and be ready for an attack from anywhere, only to be cut off by a piercingly high, vibrating shriek to rip through the air, almost everyone clutching at their heads.
Suddenly, a man began to scream, falling off his dragon and clutching at his face. However, when Subaru went to check on him, Ian could see he'd scratched deep gouges down his own face. More men began to scream, some passing out, others foaming at the out. One scratched the inside of his forearm until his fingers were dripping with blood before proceeding to beat his forehead against the ground.
"Rem, you okay?" Ian asked, ignoring a suddenly splitting migraine.
"That voice you're hearing..." Rem said, seeming in agony as she held a hand to her face, "It's the fog directly attacking our minds! It's similar to mana sickness...but much worse!"
Ian wrapped his arms around her and activated his magic, focusing it around them both. His headache weakened and Rem sighed, settling against him.
"Better?" Ian asked.
"Better," Rem nodded. "I think it's easing up a bit."
Ian slowly let his wind fade, and Rem grimaced but nodded. "We're going to go with Subaru to buy time."
Rem nodded and spurred the dragon over to Subaru's just as he climbed back onto it. Then, they charged into the fog together. Subaru spurred his dragon ahead, out of vocal range of everyone, and Ian had Rem stop the dragon for a moment. Then, she suddenly grimaced and spurred the dragon forward again.
"He reeks," Rem said.
"That's the plan," Ian said. "He'll keep it's attention, you and I will deal damage. I'll use my sword since I can use my Preceding Memories to stay alive. You use your magic from down here. And don't worry about hitting me."
Rem nodded and they shot forward. Finally, they spotted Subaru just as the fog in front of him cleared, revealing the White Whale about to swallow him hole.
"Ul Huma!" Rem shrieked, a gigantic pillar of ice, about five feet thick, exploding from the ground and slamming into the underside of its jaw, forcing its mouth closed and allowing Subaru to avoid it.
Then, Ian launched himself onto the whale, focusing his magic and plunging his blade into it before taking off. The whale shrieked in pain, a jet of fog firing ahead of Ian. Just as it enveloped him to the knee, he skipped backward, relieved to find he still had his leg. He avoided the fog this time, continuing to tear at the whale. Suddenly, Wilhelm crashed down on the whale from above, stabbing his sword into it before also taking off, running as fast as Ian's magic was allowing him to glide. Then, the two toddler-sized lieutenants appeared, their Ligers leaping out of the fog before the pair both screamed, twin blasts of light blue mana exploding into the Whale and blasting a hole in its skin. They both shouted for their captain, and Ricardo and his Liger landed on the whale, his cleaver tearing along its back, targeting the pours.
Ian began to do the same, hoping it would stop the whale from producing fog. Just as several pores opened ahead of him, massive ice spikes exploded into them, courtesy of Rem. Ian grinned, streaking past the pores, slashing them all before the whale began to flip. Wilhelm slashed one side fin off as he fell past it, so Ian slashed off the other before dropping onto his dragon's back, his magic cushioning his landing. He inspected himself for injuries, grimacing at one on his back and two diagonal ones up the front of his chest and over his shoulders like a "V" that wasn't connected at the bottom. He looked like he'd been in a fight with a swordsman, not a giant, flying narwhal.
He looked around as they slowed to a stop, as did everyone else. Everything was still and silent. Ian stood, launching himself into the air and spinning again before sending a blast of magic into the air. As the ensuing blast cleared the fog around them, they all looked around in confusion. The whale was gone.
"There!" Wilhelm shouted suddenly, looking straight up.
Ian looked up and shouted in surprise as he saw the massive blast of condensed fog descending rapidly.
"The fog is coming down!" Subaru shouted. "Scatter!"
Everyone complied instantly, but the impact still hurled them all. Ian looked to Wilhelm as he landed, seeing the White Whale was feet behind him, seconds away from swallowing him. He activated his magic and exploded into movement, blowing his dragon sideways but not hurting it. He flashed across the distance to Wilhelm, tackling him out of the way, barely, then hurled him into Subaru, both sailing out of the way of a fin. Then, Ian himself tackled Ricardo out of the way, barely avoiding it. As he landed beside Rem and the other two, a whale's shriek echoed above them and they looked up at the moon, all of their mouths falling open as they saw three White Whales circling above them, including the one that had just almost killed Wilhelm, Subaru, and Ricardo.
"You gotta be kidding me!" Subaru breathed.
"Clones," Ian said, feeling numb. "It made clones."
"Which is real?" Ricardo asked.
"None of them might be real," Ian said. "They could be a decoy while the real one escapes. Subaru, Ricardo, the two of you head back and tell Crusch that I'm pretty sure they're clones. See if she can come up with a plan. We'll all work to thin the herd. And tell her to take one of their horns off for a spear."
Subaru and Ricardo both nodded and sped off. As they did, Ian skipped backward one second several times, instantly gaining the three whales' attention. He stood, activating his magic before launching himself up onto the first whale, landing at the same time as Wilhelm. Both tore along the whale's back, but just as they were nearing the center of the whale's back, a pair of pores opened for each of them. Ian swore, but before they could be blasted, Rem shrieked in rage, her flail ripping across the whale's back, stopping the fog blasts from being fired.
"Thanks Rem!" Ian said, then swore as the next whale closed in. "Jump!"
All three leapt to the next whale, allowing it to crash into the first, hard. As they ripped along the second's back, avoiding several blasts of fog, three of Crusch's magic strikes slammed into the first whale's horn, breaking it off and allowing it to crash into the ground.
"Rem, go use your ice pillars to help them aim that into the air and have them get ready to use the cannons and magic to launch it!" Ian shouted.
Rem nodded and leapt off of the whale, her and Ian's dragon catching her and speeding toward the horn.
"That is an excellent plan!" Wilhelm shouted over the whale's shriek of pain as they leapt to the first whale, which was closing in again.
"Thanks!" Ian shouted back as he slashed across the first whale's undamaged eye, then tore along it with Wilhelm.
"Ian!" Rem shouted. We need to know which is the real one!"
Ian glanced up at the third, who hadn't been fighting so far. He grinned, then took as deep a breath as he could. "We'll get it in place!" He turned to Wilhelm. "If you had the ability to make clones in order to avoid dying, where would you be right now?"
Wilhelm looked up at the third whale, which was still circling above them. "I agree. That one's the real one!"
"I can get you up there if you can bring it down in front of the horn!" Ian said as they again switched whales.
Wilhelm nodded and Ian grabbed his arm, launching them both into the air before swinging Wilhelm around so their feet were pressed against each other's. Both jumped, Ian's magic launching Wilhelm up at the third whale. As he fell, a pair of fog blasts rushed up to meet him. He sighed.
Should have borrowed a sword to jump off of, he thought.
Just then, Ricardo and his two lieutenants all shouted, their magic blasts punching through the fog and scattering it, allowing Ian to flip and land on the hornless whale. He sighed in relief, then continued to shred the whale's back. A pore opened and he skipped backward, going around it. Then, as he reached the tail, it swung upward and he grinned, jumping and allowing it to fling him up at the third whale, which was thrashing and screaming in pain as Wilhelm did everything he could to bring it down.
When he landed on the tip of its horn, he jumped again, spinning and channeling his magic to the tip of his blade. "Wilhelm, get clear!"
Wilhelm dove off of the whale, stabbing his sword into its fin to hold on just before Ian's attack exploded into the whale's back. The blast barely hurt it, but it did shriek in pain and begin to fall.
"Wilhelm, shred the fin!" Ian shouted.
Wilhelm did as instructed and Ian landed on the opposite fin, tearing into it. The whale began to fall faster. Ian jumped, launching a second blast into its back as it began to stabilize itself and sent it plummeting again. Then, just as it began to level out again, a massive spear of ice ten meters long and eight feet wide stabbed into its good eye. It shrieked in agony, plummeting rapidly. Ian grabbed Wilhelm and leapt off a second before his magic deactivated, his entire body going numb.
"Shit," Ian mumbled, feeling himself speeding up. "Not good."
Suddenly, a chain wrapped around him and he was suddenly jerked into motion sideways before someone caught him, his head hitting something soft and warm. He smiled tiredly.
"I can...think of worse ways...to land," Ian panted.
"Hold on!" Rem said worriedly.
"I'll be...fine," Ian said. "How'd we do?"
Just as he looked up, the cannons and every magic user in the army bladed the broken back end of the horn, and sent it flashing through the air. A second later, it drilled itself completely through the White Whale, sending it crashing to the ground.
"Here," Rem said, placing her hand over his heart, her mana flooding into him as her horn pulled in more.
After a moment, he sat up straight as her horn retracted again. "Thanks. But how did you think to do that?"
"You reminded me esrlier that Lord Roswaal gives Ram mana," Rem said. "I figured I could probably do the same for you."
Ian smiled. "My beautiful genius."
Rem smiled proudly as they slowed to a stop beside Crusch. As they watched, Wilhelm tore into the White Whale, which was miraculously still alive, though likely not for much longer. After a moment, a particularly violent slash removed an entire third of the whale's head. then, a moment later, he drove his sword down into its head and it shrieked in pain, but the shriek tapered off before fading, the whale's eye sliding closed as the other two both vanished.
"It's over," Ian sighed. "Finally."
"The White Whale has finally fallen!" Crusch shouted to the army. "The Mabeast of fog that has kept us in terror for four hundred years has finally, by the hand if Wilhelm Van Astrea, been defeated!"
The army began to cheer and Ian smiled before looking to the sunrise, his smile falling. "We need to get moving if we're going to make it in time."
"Our forces need rest," Rem said. "You need rest. You can't fight a Sin Archbishop like this."
Ian sighed, nodding. She was right, of course.
"We will rest for four hours, then half of the uninjured troops will head for the village to evacuate while the rest of the troops head back to the Capitol for treatment," Crusch said. "As much as I want to help with the rest of the task, I'll need to head back as well, to make sure the injured get proper treatment." She paused, seeing Ian staring toward the mansion. "You should be proud. Your idea to use its horn as an arrow was ingenious. Wilhelm may get the glory, but the horn would have killed it anyway."
"I know," Ian smiled. "He can have the glory. After all the work he put in to avenge his wife, he's earned it. Oh, and Rem, when I said an army of Mabeasts, I definitely did not mean that one."
Rem laughed, nodding. "Agreed."
"Ian, Sir, Wilhelm said, kneeling in front of him. "I owe you a greater debt than I can repay. Not only was it your plan that allowed me to finally avenge my wife, but you also saved my life in the process. You have my deepest gratitude."
"You're welcome," Ian smiled. "But I'd prefer not to be called 'Sir' since I'm not a knight, and you owe me nothing. I saved you because I wanted to, and you killing it was your own victory. I just hurried things along."
"That much is untrue," Wilhelm said. "Without you, we could not have won this."
"Subaru had it handled," Ian said. "You should make sure to thank him, too."
"I already have," Wilhelm said.
"Good," Ian smiled, though it faded soon as he looked toward the mansion. "Honestly, though, I'm a bit more worried about the next battle than this one."
"Whatever we may face, I will be sure to repay my debt," Wilhelm said.
"And I'm sure you will," Ian said. "During the battle, I'll be leaving the masses to you and Rem, along with the rest of the troops. I'll deal with the Sin Archbishop, if there really is one, personally. My ability gives me a mandatory advantage for something like that while we're all exhausted already."
Wilhelm nodded. "I will trust your judgement."
Ian nodded.
"Unfortunately, you won't be going," Felix said, everyone turning to him, seeing Subaru behind him. "You and Rem both are too exhausted and too weak to continue fighting, especially against the Witch's cult."
"Like Hell I'm staying behind while she's in danger," Ian growled.
"Ian, she'll be okay," Subaru said. "I'll evacuate everyone before the attack, and if we're ambushed, we'll slaughter them this time, because we're not alone."
"It's not about-"
"Ian," Rem said, catching his arm. "It's alright. You need to trust Subaru now."
Ian grit his teeth and blew out a slow breath, clenching his fists. Finally he nodded, sighing and relaxing.
"Okay," Ian said. "Just hurry. If she's hurt at all when I see her again, I'm taking it out of your hide."
Subaru nodded. "I'll protect Miss Emilia with my life."
Ian opened his mouth before sighing and nodding. "Tell Beatrice I said hello."
Subaru nodded and left to get ready to leave. as they did, the remaining portion of the White Whale's head was cut off and strapped to a half-dozen wagons to be taken back to the Capitol with the wounded and half of the remaining uninjured troops. It was decided that Ian and Rem would go with them for treatment of their minor injuries, and Ian's semi-serious gashes from his magic, then meet up with Subaru and the others later. So, about an hour later, he and Rem were seated in the back of a carriage headed for the Capitol. After a moment, they passed an enormous group of Anastasia's mercenaries, led by Julius, all of them heading toward Subaru."
"What, did she only send half?" Ian asked.
"That half was keeping the roads blocked off so no civilians got in the way of the battle," Hetaro said miserably. "Now they'll be helping fight the Witch's Cult."
Ian sighed. "I may hate Julius, but maybe I'll get lucky and he'll die while killing the Sin Archbishop."
"That's a horrible thing to say," Hetaro said.
"He doesn't mean it," Rem said. "The only ones he wants dead are the Witch's Cult."
Ian nodded and sighed, then leaned his head back to rest.
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