Third Time's the Charm

by SugarcaneSoldier

Dying again was much more painful the second time for Tanya von Degurechaff, but what came after was intriguing, to say the least, and she was nothing if not opportunistic. Taking the opportunity presented by Aqua would expand her opportunities by much more than she could have dreamed possible… but why did the good have to come with so much insanity!

62. Revenge and Misguidance

Megumin woke up.

As it had been yesterday, and the day before, and for the past week, she woke alone. No comforting weight was groggily shifted off her chest. The ever-present cat-adjacent smell that pervaded any room her familiar spent time in had become further muddled. No frenetic cry for food split the air, rousing Megumin from her slumber.

Instead, Megumin sat up in bed and immediately rose, absentmindedly opening the door and picking up the change of clothes someone else had washed for her. There was no time to waste, after all!

She had to find-

Her newborn routine, birthed only a week ago, choked. After a moment of stillness, a moment of silence, a moment of pervading, unavoidable self-reflection clawing out her insides, she busied her mind and continued putting her clothes on. She had to find… her familiar.

Megumin nodded, and she smiled determinedly once more as she put her hat in place, taking care not to catch her reflection in her mirror as she sat at her desk. Yes, they hadn't found anything yesterday, or the day before, or for the past week, but today, Megumin would change that!

She picked her staff up from where she'd thrown it onto the ground the night before. They would find her familiar, and if Wolbach was there…

Her grip on her staff tightened, the wood creaking beneath her grip. Her breath hitched, and then-

She burst out of her room, throwing the door aside, her smile now a scowl but still equally determined. She'd show her a thing or two about Explosions, teach her a thing or two about kidnapping someone else's familiar.

Megumin breezed past the expansive map of the Boglade forest she'd purchased a week ago, when her familiar had first gotten kidnapped. Parts, portions, and large swaths of the map were painted over with red ink, while other papers with notes and theories scrawled across them sat around it on the dining table of the mansion. Megumin paid all of it not the least bit of attention.

They'd spent last night planning today's excursion, after all. Today, they would head deeper into the forest. For all the guild knew, from their patchy records and unhelpful advice, the Demon King had an outpost somewhere in the center. They'd already searched the edges, which meant there weren't many other places she could be.

Her familiar had to be deeper inside. There simply wasn't any other option.

Megumin busied herself in the kitchen, making a quick meal. She could feel that they were closing in on her familiar, any day-

She shook her head, almost sending the plebian oatmeal she was consuming flying. No, not any day, today. She would find her familiar today! The realization that they would find her familiar today brought her smile back.

Megumin really was looking forward to it.

A minute after she'd finished, her teammates had not yet risen, and she couldn't help but tap the end of her staff on the ground in lieu of tapping her foot. They were wasting time!

With a shake of her head, she exited the mansion. She would spend her time wisely while waiting for her hopeless party to assemble.

It took almost fifteen minutes, during which Megumin had practiced a handful of chants she would choose between when using her Explosion, but they did meet her on the porch.

She didn't bother looking at them or even greeting them as she marched away from their mansion. "Alright! Let's go meet Yunyun at the guild. Today, we will find my familiar, and if that treacherous General is anywhere nearby, we'll make sure she knows just what kind of ant hill she kicked up!"

Even when the response she got to her declaration was half-hearted and tired and frustrated, Megumin did not let it damper her spirits. If they were unable to sound enthused, she would make up for their listlessness ten times over! For that was what being a true Crimson Demon meant!

Her first step was almost a trip, but she recovered easily enough and put the thought that had caused her to stumble out of her mind.

Her party would never abandon this quest, after all. Not that they'd need to, since they'd find her familiar today.

Megumin almost furtively looked back at them, but she resisted the urge and continued striding forward. No, they wouldn't do that.

They met up with Yunyun, whose face Megumin didn't see owing to her hat being tilted too far forward and whose responses to Megumin's declaration were more unenthusiastic than they normally were. They all quickly made preparations to leave, gathering potions and ropes they'd put up a small quest for others to gather before they left.

As the light of Teleportation glowed around them, Megumin steeled herself. She was well prepared for the inevitable clash with Wolbach, and they'd faced many opponents in the last week during their search for Megumin's familiar.

Nothing could stop them now! Today, they would find her!

As the light faded, and the terrain around them resolved into a mix of snowy whites, muddy browns, and the ashen grays of the trees, Megumin immediately began marching. "See anything yet, Kazuma?"

"Yeah."

She whirled around towards her compatriot-

Megumin flinched.

His eyes, usually either mischievous or lazily blank, were slightly sunken into his head. He stank, more so than was usual, and he was hunched over. His clothes were covered in a patchwork of stitches, and the blood staining his shirt was likely a mix of his own and the blood of the monsters they'd killed. There'd been a lot of close calls-

With a gulp and a dramatic flourish, she spun back around and closed her eyes, keeping her chin held high. "Good! What have you spotted, Kazuma?"

"Tanya and his friends."

-OxOxO-

Megumin strolled up to them nonchalantly, a wide grin on her face. "So, my rival is here to attempt to show me up again, eh? I can appreciate your attempts to outdo me, but know that for as long as I live, I will always be the greater Mistress of Explosions."

Tanya raised an eyebrow at the girl's upbeat attitude. That didn't bode well.

Rather than responding to her, he pointedly ignored her and looked instead at her partymates.

Their expressions and demeanors matched their appearances, unlike Megumin. The bone tiredness, the sunken eyes, the tattered clothing, and the hint of desperation in their eyes were all magnifying the scowls and pointed looks sent into the back of Megumin's upbeat head. Yunyun's gaze was filled with a touch more understanding than Kazuma's, whose frown was beaten out by Aqua's silent, petulant glare. Even Darkness, with her desire for abuse, was looking worn out.

Tanya looked back at Megumin, whose drained visage seemed annoyed that Tanya had ignored her words. "I'm not here to do that," he began.

Megumin raised a confident eyebrow. "Oh? Then what are you here to do?"

Tanya stared into Megumin's eyes. "I'm here to put a stop to this."

Megumin blinked rapidly, while her teammates simultaneously collapsed to the ground. Yunyun was sniffling and blubbering an apology, Darkness and Kazuma were sighing in relief, while Aqua was openly jubilant.

Tanya's eyes remained locked with Megumin's. She was doing a very good job at not hearing her party, or perhaps she was failing to hear them because of Tanya's assertion. Regardless, she seemed disbelieving.

"What?"

Megumin asked, her eyebrows creased and confusion evident. Rather than confusion, however, Tanya saw fear in the shrunken pupils and shaking irises of the young girl.

Tanya doubted it was fear of him.

"I'm putting a stop to your search," Tanya repeated. He looked over his shoulder at Viktoriya, and then over the other at Lorelei. They stepped away from Tanya, giving the pair of them more space. Tanya opened his mouth to continue speaking.

Megumin, apparently over her shock, didn't let him. "How could we stop now!? Wolbach is somewhere in the forest, chasing after Chomusuke. If we don't keep chasing her-"

"No."

The word sent Megumin backwards a step. Her party, now finished with their celebration, flinched, but Lorelei and Viktoriya had joined the four of them, positioning themselves between them and Megumin.

"No," Tanya repeated. "That is not what is going on here."

He waited a beat, for her to really absorb what he was saying before continuing. "You have been searching through this forest for a week for any sign that Wolbach is still here." Megumin's breaths came out in shorter and shorter gasping pulses, but Tanya paid her hyperventilation no mind as he continued to speak. "You have not found any. You are denying-"

"SHUT UP!"

Behind the Crimson Demon, he watched Megumin's party all cringe in response to the roar. Tanya merely raised an eyebrow. "Loss is something-"

She shook her head again. "SHUT UP! I am MEGUMIN! Mistress of Explosions, the best Archmage the world has ever seen! I'll find Cho-"

She winced again, and took another step back, and, after a moment of screwing her eyes shut, steadied her breathing. "I'll find my familiar…"

She looked up and glared at Tanya. "And you will help me!"

Tanya's perplexed expression melted into a bored one. "Oh really?"

Megumin sneered. "Really. I'll do to you what I did to my last prospective rival," she spat out. "I challenge you!"

Tanya let out a bark of laughter. He'd been hoping to get this over with quickly, though he hadn't exactly expected it to go smoothly, with how thoroughly she had been pushing her party when they'd dropped by to talk with Kazuma and how despondent Kazuma had been at the meeting with Ignis.

"Really, all this just to-"

Megumin's expression twisted furiously, her irises literally flashing, and Tanya saw an echo of someone else that gave him pause. Not in the specific features of her face, but in the glowing eyes of the girl before her, Tanya saw the rage of the Bloody Valkyrie.

After a moment's more consideration, Tanya let out a sigh. It was annoying, but they did have enough time for this, and Tanya would much rather take care of this problem now than letting it fester. "Alright. I suppose I expected this." He tossed aside his weapons and coat. "What do I get if I win?" he asked, his lips a thin, slightly upturned line. For all the strengths of Kazuma's party as a whole, they could all individually be beaten fairly easily.

This wasn't really about the fight, of course, and if she were thinking clearly, Megumin would undoubtedly realize just how badly this was going to go.

Megumin faltered at Tanya's words, the light in her eyes dimming, and Tanya's grin grew as he cut off any potential offer or backpedaling. "No, wait, I have an idea. If I win," he said, rolling his shoulders, "you have to listen to me. No interruptions." He spread his arms wide open, seemingly defenseless.

"No denials of the truth."

Megumin raised an eyebrow of her own. "The truth? My familiar is still out there. We'll find her, with or without your help," she declared, her voice filled with fire and bravado. Tanya narrowed his eyes.

"You don't believe that."

Tanya's words mercilessly smothered the anger the girl felt, and the rage briefly gave way to flashes of other emotions. Fear in her eyes, grief in the skin around her eyes and nose, humiliation in the curl of her lips all passed across the girl's features, until they coalesced once more into blinding fury. Her eyes glowed bright red, the pupil barely visible.

She breathed in deeply through her nose. "No spells. We fight until one of us capitulates."

Tanya continued to smile, even as Yunyun mumbled something about not doing this again. Considering her remark about her 'last prospective rival,' Tanya guessed Megumin had done a similar challenge with Yunyun at some point.

"Perfect." Tanya took the stance Dust had taught him. It would help him keep his balance, even without a spear to wield. For a moment, Megumin's fury seemed to dissipate, her entire body clearly telegraphing her desire to bodily tackle Tanya to the ground along with a sudden bout of apprehension.

Tanya frowned. That wouldn't do.

"Well," Tanya commented, "if you're just going to stand there, perhaps you'd like to hear what I have to say after all? This isn't a better use of our time than traipsing through the woods."

Megumin snarled once and then charged, shouting loudly. She jumped up, sailing through the air-

Right through where Tanya had been. He dodged to the side and watched Megumin roll to the ground. Megumin was faster than Tanya had assumed, but Tanya might have actually shot himself if he hadn't managed to dodge an attack that telegraphed.

He rushed to the girl's side, who was snarling as she began to rise. Right as she got onto one knee, Tanya reeled back a foot and kicked her in the shin, sending her cursing to the ground once more.

Tanya jumped back from a blind swing of her other leg, circling around the girl. "Give up," Tanya ordered. Megumin swore at him as she tried to get back up.

Tanya sighed. "Fine," he said.

As she finally managed to get onto her hands and knees, Tanya kicked her in the stomach.

He did it again, and again. He backed away, waiting.

The other four all cried out as Megumin fought to spill her guts, but Tanya knew they wouldn't intervene. He'd already laid out exactly what he would do to Megumin to Lorelei and Viktoriya in the event Megumin remained obstinate, and while neither exactly liked it, both agreed this was the most expeditious way to end the whole charade.

"Bind!"

Tanya raised an eyebrow as Kazuma managed to get off a Bind on Viktoriya, who swore at him. Lorelei rushed over and punched him in the chest, winding him and causing him to go down. After a moment, Tanya turned back to Megumin.

With Aqua around, whatever damage occurred wouldn't last long.

After puking the meager breakfast she'd apparently had, Megumin was left panting, and Tanya bent down slightly, ignoring the expanding brawl behind him. "Yield, Megumin," Tanya said. After a moment, he added, "Please."

She tried to swipe at Tanya, but he dodged out of the way, scowling. Megumin, shaking on wobbly legs, raised her fists up. Tanya's annoyance began to deepen into frustration. "I… I'll never give up. NEVER! I-"

"Megumin, look at your friends!"

Viktoriya's shout broke through Megumin's shouting, and, slowly, she did turn towards them.

She was frozen as she stared at them, and they, in the middle of grappling with Lorelei, stared back at her. She let out one aching breath, and then another.

She collapsed back to her knees. "I… I yield."

She hung her head. "Ch- Chomusuke…"

The waterworks threatened to start, but Tanya swept in, kneeling down next to her, placing a hand on one shoulder, and staring into her eyes. "Megumin."

She looked up sharply, tears forming in the corners of her eyes, the anguish twisting. "I… I had Chomusuke for over a year."

Her smile was broken and blubbery. "I- I brought her back, and Komekko thought she was food. I… she still might think I'm keeping her for that…"

"She was always there. When my parents were gone, and Komekko was asleep, Chomusuke was there. So… so many people wanted to take her away, to-"

She let out a sob. "To kill her. It…"

Another choked sob escaped her. "It's not FAIR!"

"Megumin…"

She broke away from Tanya, scrabbling across the ground to hold onto her staff. She hugged onto it with both arms. "I…"

She stared past Tanya, into the forest, her rage returning. "I'll kill you Wolbach! I- I'll fucking KILL YOU! I swear vengeance against you, in the name of Chomusuke! No matter the price-"

"Do you think you can actually beat her?"

Tanya interjected in the middle of Megumin's vow, and she looked back at Tanya, confusion on her face and fear in her eyes once more. "What?"

"Leave her alone, T-"

"No," Tanya interjected over Kazuma's mercy. "Can you actually follow through on that promise? Is your Explosion powerful enough to defeat a Goddess who isn't bound to a single spell?"

Megumin's anger began to flee her, her face slipping into passivity. "Are you willing to really pay any price for revenge?"

Megumin's gaze sharpened, staring through Tanya. "You… you killed a Duke of Hell. I…"

She nodded in response to her own words. "I want that kind of power."

A beat of silence hung in the air for a moment as Tanya considered how to respond. "That's a fool's errand," Tanya eventually replied.

"You…" she began, "Kazuma told us you think you can kill the Demon King. I'll help. I'll do anything if it means getting revenge on Wolbach," she replied.

Tanya raised an eyebrow, and Megumin slowly got to her feet. "I swear, on my name as a Crimson Demon. Help me achieve my goal, and I'll do whatever you want." Tanya looked back at the girl's party. "I can destroy anything or anyone. I'll-"

"I don't need all that," Tanya began as he rose to his own feet. "I can make you stronger."

Megumin blinked in shock. "You can?" he heard Kazuma ask. Tanya rolled his eyes.

"Of course. You'll have to give it up, though."

Megumin blinked in shock again. "Give… what?"

Tanya nodded once. "Indeed. Your Explosion spell is undeniably strong, but its drawbacks are simply impractical for you to continue using it."

Megumin's mouth shut with a click as Tanya continued. "It leaves you unable to walk for some time and unable to use the spell again for most of twenty-four hours. It's unsuited for close quarter combat. It is, undeniably, a detriment to your entire party."

Tanya was silent for a moment, studying Megumin's face for a moment. He raised an eyebrow. "Do you really think you can beat Wolbach, whose Explosion spell was on par with yours?"

Megumin's breathing picked up again. "Of course," Tanya continued, "that ignores the fact that with Chomusuke dead," he said, pausing for a moment to allow Megumin to flinch, "she's even more powerful."

Tanya stared deeply into Megumin's eyes. "I can help you overcome her. If you swear to never use your Explosion spell ever again, if you discard that superfluous bit of fat from yourself…"

He shook his head. "No, if you discard your Explosions, and all the other oddities that make you a Crimson Demon, I can make you powerful. I can give you your revenge. Just swear it to me."

Megumin licked her lips, her eyes darting to the people behind Tanya, to her friends. He looked back as well.

They weren't grappling with Lorelei anymore, but standing. Lorelei looked somewhat conflicted, while Viktoriya was stone faced. Aqua and Darkness looked nervous, Yunyun was scowling more fiercely than Megumin had ever seen her scowl, while Kazuma was-

He turned back around. "Swear it."

Her gaze flicked back to Tanya, and then…

Her gaze lowered. "I'll do it."

Three feminine cries of unhappiness erupted behind Tanya. "Swear it," he repeated.

Megumin flinched. "I… I swear. If it means getting revenge for Chomusuke…"

Her gaze snapped back to her friends. "If it means helping my party, and not being a burden, and obtaining the power to kill a goddess, I swear I'll abandon the ways of the Crimson Demon, of the Mistress of Explosions." She sniffled once. "I'll seal away-"

SLAP

Shocked, Megumin was once again silent, and Tanya glared at the now hatless Archmage. "I won't help you." He turned away from her, facing the forest. He was sure that the action was as theatrical and ridiculous as he was that Megumin needed the spectacle.

The slap to the face and pain was quickly forgotten, desperation and incredulity marring her tone. "Why? I'll give it all up-"

"Exactly," Tanya shouted. "In the face of adversity, you cannot break," he declared, looking back over his shoulder. "If you sacrifice everything you are on the altar of revenge or survival, all you'll be left as is a monster. A monster that might not even complete the goal it was created to achieve."

He reminisced. "I experienced it myself, the fury of someone utterly bent on destroying me, no matter what. She was undeniably powerful. I," he faltered, looking down at the ground, "I, in a moment of… supreme weakness, tried to do the same."

He'd abandoned one of his core beliefs in desperation.

He took a steadying breath. "However, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't regret it."

He wasn't going to let it happen to a friend if he could help it.

Tanya turned back around, a sympathetic frown on his face. "I can respect your desire to avenge what you've lost and to spit in the eye of a holy being," he said, meaning every last word. How couldn't he?

"I will not help you make the same mistake I did."

He turned back around, facing the forest once more, suppressing the urge to tap a foot. Hopefully, that would be enough.

"Then…"

Tanya couldn't help the smile on his face as a few footsteps squelched across the wet ground, towards where he'd seen her hat fall.

There was a deep breath, and Tanya felt a smile worming its way onto his face.

"BEHOLD! I am MEGUMIN!"

Tanya turned around to find Megumin posing, and his smile grew.

"I am the foremost expert of the magic of EXPLOSIONS!" she cried, thrusting a hand into the air. She stared up its length at the sky. "No one, and I mean NO ONE is better than I when it comes to Explosion magic!" She lowered her hand, thrusting it at the forest. "I wield it in the name of VENGEANCE!" She swung her staff to the side. "I wield it in the name of DESTRUCTION!" She planted her staff in the ground. "I wield the most powerful magic in the WORLD!" She pulled her outstretched arm in, forming a fist and bringing it close to her chest as her head dipped down and her eyes closed.

She took in one last deep breath. "I will never abandon the path that she set me on! I will SURPASS she who set me upon the path of Explosions!" She looked up suddenly, pointing a finger into the forest. "Let everyone hear my cry: I shall rend from this world the cretin known as Wolbach for the injustice she has delivered to me with my awesome power!"

Suddenly, a fireball bloomed in the distance, and a shockwave of force and fire erupted from the treeline, flattening some trees and roasting others. Then, with a self-satisfied smirk, Megumin fell backwards onto the ground.

Their whooping and clapping might have been just a tad underwhelming considering it was just the seven of them, but Megumin's triumphant visage almost immediately broke down into blubbery tears. Viktoriya and Lorelei finally stepped away from their party, and they rushed towards her and affirmed her decision.

Or, they all complimented her little speech, which was about the same thing where they were concerned.

"If it's any consolation, you would make a fine Aerial Mage," Tanya commented as he looked down at the girl. Megumin's wet face pouted at Tanya for a moment, and then she asked, "Will… are you going to help-"

Tanya rolled his eyes, and Viktoriya interjected. "Of course we are! Just because we're not going to make you an Aerial Mage doesn't mean we aren't going to help you. We've got a few ideas on how to make your Explosion better-"

She mock-glared at them. "Why didn't you say so from the start! I never would have gotten swept up in your admittedly cool speech otherwise!"

Kazuma paled slightly. "Wait, you weren't just lying out your ass?"

Kazuma was given a few token chuckles as they all broke up and began heading for the capital for a little bit of shopping. Yunyun, with a still-sad Megumin on her back, was profusely apologizing to a teary-eyed Megumin for mentioning Chomusuke again, Darkness and Aqua were supporting the Archmage with pats on the back, and Lorelei and Viktoriya were walking behind the four of them and rolling their eyes at their antics.

Tanya glanced to his side at Kazuma, who was bringing up the rear with him. His smile seemed entirely too self-satisfied for someone who hadn't done anything. "I'm honestly surprised how well that went," he mused.

Tanya cleared his throat. "Well, I wasn't going to risk her going rogue on some vengeance quest. I've dealt with two too many berserkers in my life."

"Of course," Kazuma replied with a roll of his eyes. "It couldn't just be that you were worried and wanted to help her in your… very you way."

Tanya glared back and raised an eyebrow. "Of course I wanted to help her. Though you continue to surprise me, considering you apparently weren't the least bit convinced that I was actually going to go through with it." He'd noticed the boy's silence when Megumin had said she would give it all up.

He shrugged. "Well, y'know. I just… assumed, based on my very limited knowledge of the second world war, and the whole… 'Friendship Crystal' incident, and that thing Eris told me about you, that you'd done some not-so-good…"

Tanya raised an incredulous eyebrow at Kazuma, and he held up his hands in defeat. "Alright, shutting up!"

He bolted for his friends, babbling about getting her walking so she wouldn't be such a weight on Yunyun's back, and Tanya could only shake his head. Honestly, he was just as glad as Kazuma that things had gone as well as they had.

It meant they had more than enough time to pick up the materials he'd ordered the last time he was there to make some genuine twenty-first century condoms and get back to Axel in time for their next fight at the arena.

-OxOxO-

Mitsurugi eyed his opponent. They were strong.

The man's level, forty-two, had been announced at the outset of their bout. Mitsurugi was actually two levels below that, despite all his hard work in the past few months. A gap of two levels might not have sounded like much, but at the levels the pair of them had achieved, even a gap as seemingly simple as two levels represented over a hundred hours or more of killing monsters.

Still, despite the gap, Mitsurugi knew he would win. In fact, he was certain he couldn't possibly lose.

In spite of his unshakeable confidence and certainty, he was dragging the fight on. The crowd had quieted from its initial hype and was now watching the pair size each other up for the third time. The muscled ruffian across the ring from him rolled his armor-clad shoulders and smirked at Mitsurugi.

"Heh, that was a pretty good shot," he said. Mitsurugi barely paid him any mind, as his attention was focused on the crowd, or, more specifically, one part of it.

The so-called 'Royal Seat,' that had been reserved for the Governor, was empty. Despite her and her friend fighting and decimating their competition earlier, neither were there now. If they'd left because they somehow knew about his plan, then-

"Hey," responded his opponent, "I get the feeling you aren't taking me seriously," the man with the mohawk said. Mitsurugi scowled and then refocused his attention.

The man grinned. "That's more like-"

He rushed towards him, sprinting and raising his sword in front of him. The ruffian's grin grew, and he shouted, "Berserker's Barrage!"

Seized with wild abandon, he took three bounding steps and then swung both blades down onto Mitsurugi. The crowd began to cheer once more as he deflected them with his blade and dodged the lightning quick follow-up from the left ax while blocking the right. He stepped back, dodging the right this time while smacking away the left one and sending his opponent back a step. Mitsurugi thrust his sword forward, being forced to dodge to the left as the ruffian dodged into the right of the thrust. Mitsurugi brought his sword up and blocked the overhead blow a second time.

Again and again, Mitsurugi dodged, deflected, and batted away the blows of his opponent, always just failing to strike him in return. He could feel the sweat pouring off of him from the exertion of blocking all of them, especially without using any skills.

Despite it, he was dreading the grumbling of his armor from having to clean off the sweat than the chance of getting hurt. That simply wouldn't happen, though the chance-

CLANG

The cheering of the crowd aided Mitsurugi in covering up the swearing of his armor with swearing of his own, feigning having been bruised. The ruffian paused. "That must've hurt. Why bother taking the hit?"

He didn't answer the question verbally. There was no need to speak, no need for dialogue, and no need for him to use any skills.

He rushed forward again, and just as the Berserker raised his axes once more, Mitsurugi spotted the occupants of the Royal Seat return.

Finally, Mitsurugi's scowl was replaced with a grin.

He turned his attention back to the fight, his sword's glow intensifying. He ignored the light and, just as it grew to become blinding, he slid to the ground, ducking under the now wide blows of his enemy.

He popped up to the side of the man, his sword held against the man's bare side, the thinnest line of blood now dripping from right below his ribs. "Do you yield, Potemkin the Barbarian?"

The man, grinning, shook his head. Right as Mitsurugi tensed for an attack, he shouted, "I yield!"

Mitsurugi paused for a moment, and then sighed. His shaking head had been wistful.

The crowd went wild, and Mitsurugi nodded to himself and spun in place, heading directly for the Royal Seat. He had to get to the pair immediately.

The arena, the enemy he'd beaten, and the cheering crowd fell away immediately, the tournament of Axel's strongest almost out of his mind. His first fight was the last one in the preliminary round, while the next fight would be his second, against her.

She appeared to all the world an innocent child, but he knew what she really was. The pair of them were monsters wearing human flesh, and he would be the one to save everyone.

As she directed her gaze towards him, he fought the urge to sneer as he saw a brief flash of concern appear on her face. Another piece of her facade to trick everyone, even the Goddess sitting at her side that she was somehow controlling with magic.

Still, despite the whirlwind of emotions swirling underneath his own adamantite mask, he made an effort to wipe away his emotion from his face and voice. He couldn't give away the ruse yet. "I got worried you'd run away! Scared of losing the rematch?" he taunted.

She rolled her eyes in response. "Of course not. I had a brief matter to attend to, but I'm back and ready to kick your ass a second time," she responded. Mitsurugi grinned beneath the mask, though it was undoubtedly more bloodthirsty than she would have ever expected.

He mentally thanked Eris that Aigis blocked his killing intent.

"Although," he mused, "It does feel a little insulting that you'd make yourself and your friend the top seeds so you could fight each other at the end. Almost feels like you don't think anyone else could win." Almost like she'd stacked the odds in order to accomplish her nefarious goals.

She blushed. "I- well," she stammered briefly, "I have no idea what you're talking about. Any such rumors would obviously be false, and-"

"Yeah, yeah," the other Reincarnate at her side, Kazuma, if he remembered correctly, mused. "We all know you two just couldn't resist facing each other down."

He grinned. "Just had to show everyone how you two tango, right?"

They blushed and stammered again, and Mitsurugi's eyes narrowed. Right, he'd said something about their relationship being on the rocks during that poker game he'd had with Serebryakov. Was it that well known that they were having an argument, and had it really persisted this long?

He briefly wondered what they could possibly be arguing about before shaking his head. It didn't matter. "Regardless, I had a gift to offer the pair of you that I picked up in the south as an… apology for missing your birthday, Serebryakov." He managed to put on a remorseful enough tone as he held out the pair of brooches.

They accepted them easily enough, fretting about the price of the ornate, gilded crows for only a moment before putting them on. He couldn't help the smile that infected his tone as he turned to head to the locker room for the intermission between the preliminary round and the one to follow. "See you in the arena!"

-OxOxO-

As he walked away, Tanya scowled. "Damn, I wanted to ask him if he's doing alright."

Viktoriya raised an eyebrow. "Why? Did something happen?"

Tanya rose from his seat… and then glanced down at the bauble Mitsurugi had given Viktoriya, his eyebrows furrowed. He then glanced at Mitsurugi, who was disappearing into a tunnel in the stands, like the stadiums she recalled from his first life.

Mitsurugi's armor had been adamantite, he knew that for a fact. It should have been some of the strongest armor around, but now he was wearing a different set. Tanya hadn't seen his whole match, but the man he'd fought hadn't managed to scratch or dent his armor. In a fight between two relatively equal opponents, some kind of damage was to be expected.

That there was none meant his armor was still adamantite and was just meant to look like pakhalon for some reason. Alternatively, orichalum was stronger than adamantite, but an entire set of orichalum was comfortably worth the entire economic production of half of Belzerg for over half a decade, minus a windfall like the Mobile Fortress Destroyer, which safely ruled that out as an option.

Why make it seem like he was invulnerable to magic? They were the only mages in the tournament, and they wouldn't fall for something like that.

"Tanya?"

He shook his head. "I am worried something may be wrong with Mitsurugi," he finally said. "When Takashi was telling me how the battle against the Mobile Fortress Destroyer went, he said that Mitsurugi said he couldn't read a book left by the Reincarnate who made the damn thing," he said, side-eyeing Aqua. She didn't notice, too busy bickering with Kazuma over the popcorn.

"Obviously, he speaks Japanese, so for him to claim he couldn't read the book is irregular. Takashi said he felt something was up with him," he continued. Darkness and Megumin suddenly joined in the argument with Aqua and Kazuma, with Darkness taking the hits from the supposed goddess and their party leader while everyone pretended not to notice Megumin taking the bucket for herself.

Tanya's eyes lingered on Darkness for a moment, and then he made up his mind. "For now, take off that brooch and put up an illusion. I think we should tell him about our origin more fully," he finally said.

Alarm bloomed on Viktoriya's face for a moment, until Tanya put his own gift into a pocket in his pants. "Are you sure? Do we really want him that involved?"

Tanya sighed. They'd discussed who to bring into their plan to partially modernize and militarize Axel, and Mitsurugi was one of the people constantly on the line. He was undeniably a strong fighter and had at least a passing familiarity with the military, both in this world and his first. Furthermore, he was from modern Japan, which allowed them to disclose more openly the hows and whys of what they wanted to do, something that couldn't be said for the various governmental and guild figures they'd already begun bringing in.

Or, he wouldn't immediately think they were crazy, at the very least.

However, his current two teammates were obsessed with him, and he seemed dead-set on finding a Mage to join his party, regardless of whatever else was going on around him.

"Maybe not, but a part of me wonders what we'll lose if he isn't brought in rather than what we'll gain if he is," he said.

After a moment of thought, Viktoriya nodded once. "Alright. After the tournament?"

"Maybe even after the fight," Tanya added, and Viktoriya nodded again. "Alright." A briefly mischievous look flashed on her face. "Maybe your understanding of each other will grow after you cross blades?" she said with a smirk. Tanya just rolled his eyes and left down the central staircase of the Royal Seat, ordering the worker standing at the bottom of the staircase to attend to the needs of those in the booth to get more popcorn for the idiot quartet.

A few minutes of time saw him standing in the sand waiting for his fellow Reincarnate to show up. He'd affixed his bayonet to the end of his rifle, and had checked over both his grenades as well as the spare knives she barely bothered to bring with her anymore.

After checking them over one last time, the crowd began to swell in volume, and Tanya found himself grinning. Despite his apprehension that something was wrong with Mitsurugi, he was looking forward to the rematch. For all of the raw strength he had available in his relics and the Impedance, it was a wholly different challenge to wield his power as a chisel rather than as a hammer.

Finally, he came out, still wearing that dark blue mask, his sword resting at his hip. Although Tanya obviously couldn't see his face, he could still tell that he was feeling standoffish from his stature. "You took off your brooch." He paused a beat. "Was it that ugly?"

He waved his concern away. "Relax, I just didn't want it getting broken during the fight," he replied, patting the pocket he'd put it in. "Before we start, I wanted to ask you something," he continued.

Mitsurugi's entire body tensed up, and Tanya tried to put him at ease. "Relax, it's nothing major. I've been considering… the future, and Viktoriya and I decided that we should let you in on a few of our plans."

He remained stock still and tense. "Your plans? Why?"

Tanya tried to smile disarmingly. "Obviously, our time in Axel has been a bit different compared to most other Reincarnates. To cut to the chase, we have a concrete plan on how to push back the Demon King, if not take him down outright. We think you have a place in that future."

Despite her attempts to put him at ease, he seemed to be getting more tense. "I don't…"

Suddenly, he shook his head and finally relaxed a bit. "Alright. After we fight?"

Tanya nodded once in reply, smiled, spun around, and took a dozen paces. The announcer was blathering on about camaraderie or their skills or some other hogwash, but Tanya paid them little mind and focused on the fight.

He spun back around, and they both remained unmoving for a moment. Tanya's mind raced, wondering whether he could implement the tactics he'd used last time to pull off a second win.

Mitsurugi rushed towards him, and Tanya shook his head and flew backwards, waiting to see how he'd respond as he hung in the air. Excited whispers broke out in the crowd, but Tanya remained focused. Had he come up with some way to hit her?

He stopped moving and shouted. "No agreement this time!" and then slashed through the air-

Tanya's eyes widened comically as he ducked down to avoid the bolt of bright blue energy rushing towards her. It slammed into the roof, causing the crowd to shriek.

Tanya touched back down with a scowl. "Alright, I'll try not to fly anymore. Wouldn't want this thing to get known for killing spectators," he mused.

Tanya watched Mitsurugi pause, and he wondered again what was up with him. Why was that giving him pause?

The man in shining white armor shrugged. "Alright," he said. With another slash of his blade, a bolt of blue energy sped towards Tanya. He threw up an active barrier and marveled as the energy melted off of his shield. It definitely had less speed and kick than a bullet, but it made up for that with its heat and size.

"Impressive," he replied. "I'd hate to get hit by that."

A pair of clones seemed to peel off of Tanya's back, and Mitsurugi stumbled back as they began to stalk around him. "What in the-"

Tanya, who had peeled off and mirrored one of his illusions while a second one had taken his original place, didn't reply as he stalked around his left side. No need to give up the illusion yet. Tanya could tell he was struggling, but-

The armor-clad man charged towards the one in the center, and all three of them mirrored his decision and charged. The fake raised its rifle, telegraphing an intent to skewer him.

Without warning, he planted a leg in the sand and spun in place, facing Tanya dead on as the other two disappeared and he caught Tanya's blade on his own. "Nice try," he replied, shoving him off balance. Tanya frowned, flipping and hovering safely to the ground, and Mitsurugi stalked towards him once more.

Tanya shook his head and began backing up. "You know you can't catch up to me," he taunted.

Without a word, he launched another wave of blue energy at him, forcing him to activate his Active Barrier once more. He frowned as the blue energy washed over his Active Barrier. Tanya didn't know enough about that attack to know how many times he could do it.

Tanya raised his rifle and layered a piercing spell and a lightning spell into his shot. He'd see how he liked it.

"Projectile Parry," he intoned as Tanya pulled the trigger. His blade twitched to the side, and a small spray of sand behind him erupted into the air and simultaneously electrified, creating a small patch of glass.

Tanya stared at the glass. "Huh," was his eloquent response. He fired three more times without enchanting the bullets. All three hit his armor and didn't seem to do a damn thing, besides make it hiss ominously.

Tanya felt a kernel of frustration build within his chest, and he prepared a dehydration spell. Perhaps he could end this how he-

Mitsurugi charged forward again, and Tanya launched his spell, only for it to not slow him in the slightest. A raw Lightning and a Napalm also failed to do the slightest bit of damage to him, though his armor let out a loud hissing again, barely audible over Mitsurugi's yelling and Tanya's spell.

He managed to backpedal away from one strike and block another with an Active Barrier. It cleaved through it and Tanya felt himself go flying, the wind knocked out of him. He rolled for only a moment, and then he activated his Flight spells once more and righted himself, panting to regain his breath.

Mitsurugi seemed shocked, for a moment, but then Tanya smirked. "Glad I've got on adamantite under here," he commented, even though that blow had definitely bruised his chest. "That would have cut right through me otherwise."

"Sorry," he apologized immediately, "I didn't-"

Tanya took out a grenade and pulled the pin on it. "Don't be so fast to apologize," he commented, chucking the grenade in the meanwhile. Mitsurugi tensed, readying his sword.

"Wind Breath!"

A great plume of sand went up in the air, obscuring the flight of the grenade and causing Mitsurugi to curse. In the meantime, Tanya rose a few feet off the ground and sent another three rounds into the cloud, tracking his mana signature and making sure all three hit.

Three dents rang loudly and were followed by a loud curse and then the detonation of Tanya's grenade, sending even more sand flying. Rather than partially immolated, or seemingly even affected, Mitsurugi, his armor slightly blackened and otherwise unmarked, strode towards Tanya unerringly.

"Fucking hell," Tanya said, a scowl twisting his face even as he admitted his admiration for the man's hardiness.

"This," Mitsurugi replied, "is getting annoying. Precision Strike!" he began running towards him.

He swung his sword overhead, leaping into the air to try and meet Tanya, but Tanya swept around him in a wide circle, firing the last of the bullets in her gun and reloading while glaring at his armor. Mitsurugi landed and then charged again, and they danced around the arena for a moment, one chasing the other.

Tanya frowned as he dodged for a fourth time. He'd already used a lot of the tools in his arsenal, and it didn't seem like any of them were doing anything.

He had a few more ideas, but he'd rather not use them on someone he considered a close acquaintance…

"Invigorate," Mitsurugi muttered. "Vitalic Projection!"

Another, much larger beam of energy sped towards Tanya. He dodged around it, and then winced as his barrier was hit by a follow up beam, along with Mitsurugi. She poured more energy into her Active Barrier-

His blade screamed through it again, even as he sailed past him uselessly, and Tanya growled in frustration. "Fine then. Sorry, Mitsurugi." He leaped into the air again, and Tanya waited, allowing him to come closer.

His sword plunged through the air, and Tanya pointed her weapon at his eyes. Without any other movement, or even another word, a glowing white blob, shining with the intensity of the sun, popped into existence across the bridge of his mask's nose and covered both eyes.

He flailed through the air, shouting in pain but still trying to hit Tanya. His blind swing went wide, and Tanya barely had to dodge as he watched the man crash into the ground. Tanya floated down, hurrying to his side to draw some blood from the apparent weak spots of the armor around his neck while also keeping his attention focused on his sword. He thrashed around, groaning in pain. "What the hell-"

"It's like looking directly into the sun, except even worse so that you can't just close your eyes," he helpfully informed him. The man continuing hissing in pain, mixing in some muttering under his breath as Tanya leveled his rifle at his neck-

Suddenly, he shot back up, all pretense of being injured gone, and smacked away his rifle. Tanya swore and tried to spear him again-

Something flew towards Mitsurugi from the cheering crowd. For a moment, Tanya looked away from his opponent, meeting the gaze of an absolutely huge man covered in tattoos.

Then, he looked back to Mitsurugi, who was holding… a Voice Amp?

His smile was audible. "I YIELD!"

A blue glow surrounded the pair of them, emanating from Tanya's pocket. Swearing, he thrust his rifle forward again, trying to kill Mitsurugi. He pushed the blade aside and then, in one fluid motion, dropped his grip on his sword and grabbed onto the barrel of Tanya's gun despite the glowing white light burning out his eyes.

Then, they were gone.

-OxOxO-

She'd risen when someone had thrown something at Tanya, but her face had only morphed from concern to anger when the brooch she'd taken off disappeared from the banister she'd placed it on. She immediately sent out a burst of static over a Communication spell.

She got no response and felt her face twist. She rose from her seat-

One scream, then several, rose up from the crowd, and Viktoriya swore, her mind beginning to race. Half the stadium was trying to leave at once, and there seemed to be fighting going on near where they'd disappeared from.

"Darkness, Aqua, Lorelei, get to the exits. Someone is probably going to get injured. Try and keep people peaceable," she ordered as she grabbed her rifle from the corner she had propped it up in. "Kazuma, you and Megumin go to the guild. Someone should have been dispatched to them and the police, but I want to make sure. Tell them what happened and that-"

Far away, something exploded, and Viktoriya's stormy expression grew severe. "Or, go help put that out with Aqua, I guess. Yunyun, you're with me. We've got to break up that fight."

Viktoriya flew over while Yunyun began to get ready, sputtering behind her. She soon hovered over the fight, mind racing and wondering how she'd find Tanya. "Break it up! Everyone should leave the premises-"

She blinked in shock. As she had ordered, the fighting stopped, which she hadn't expected. The immediacy of the action was almost as off-putting as the eerily uniform was every single one of the people fighting stared directly up at her.

The hulking man in the middle, who currently had one hand wrapped around one woman's head and another pulling on a rope with another, dropped the woman and pointed up at her. "Bring her down!"

As one, the formerly quarreling crowd launched a wave of magic, knives, nets, and ropes at her. She threw up an Active Barrier, only for the hulking man to leap up from the stands with a shout and attempt to punch her Active Barrier. She tried to pull away, only for a net to manage to land on top of her Active Barrier and cause her to sink slightly.

The man's fist connected with her barrier. Amazingly, it cracked.

Then, he fell back down to the ground, rolling through the air and across the ground. Frowning severely, Viktoriya deactivated her Active Barrier, sent the weighted net fly off to the side with a Flight spell, and then reactivated her Active Barrier with double the mana.

She floated down a few feet, leveling her rifle at the man while spinning up her Observation spells to keep track of the two dozen people clambering down from the stands. None were too close, yet.

Now that she was getting a better look at him, tall didn't do him justice. Sure, he was as tall as Lorelei, but he was also incredibly well muscled. His thighs seemed to be as large around as at least Megumin's head, perhaps Kazuma's, while each and every one of his tanned muscles was lined with geometric tattoos. His head was not spared, with every inch of his bald head and face covered in inky lines.

His smile was crazed. "Viktoriya Serebryakov. We have been contracted by one Mitsurugi Kyouya to kill you and your boss, Tanya von Degurechaff. Say your prayers!"

He rushed towards her. Viktoriya raised her rifle and shot the man once.

The bullet bounced off of his chest as he continued his charge, his shouting only growing louder. Those who had clambered down from the stands were fanning out once more, launching yet more knives and spells at her.

Viktoriya momentarily dithered over what spell to enchant her bullet with as the man practically flew towards her, his fist unwinding from his side.

She fired a second shot, aiming for the man's chest. It hit, burrowing through his skin due to the Piercing spell.

Despite the bullet hole in his chest, he continued forward. "One-Shot Bear Fist!" he shouted. Viktoriya mentally swore and poured more energy into her Active Barrier. How wasn't he-

GONG!

His blow landed against her shield, once again cracking it.

Then, he remained standing, and Viktoriya's momentary worry abated. Around the bullet hole, his already tanned skin began to change color and become even darker as the heat was sapped from him. Glittering underneath the man's unkempt beard, Viktoriya could make out a few glimmering shards of ice in his mouth.

The attacks from around her had faltered, and Viktoriya used the moment to poke the man with her gun. The standing corpse immediately collapsed to the ground, and Viktoriya looked around at the group of assailants that had been following his orders, her eyes scanning them and hoping that the death of their leader would take the fight out of them.

From anger to worry to resignation, all of them had reacted in some way to the hulking man's death; however, none of them seemed to be willing to put down their weapons.

She took another look at them, turning around. All of them seemed at least visually similar to the adventurers of Axel. Over half were thieves, two were Mages of some kind, three were Rangers, and the rest she couldn't tell by looking at them.

"Would you all like to continue?" she asked. Tanya was… probably fine, she was sure. He wasn't stupid and would retreat if he thought he couldn't win.

Despite knowing that, she felt a desperate, pleading thrum in her heart begging them to let this end so she could find out where Tanya was.

One of the thieves stepped forward. "While we really would rather not fight, we've been contracted. We'll fight until we cannot."

"Speak for yourself!" One of the Mages shouted. "We'll fight until-"

"What kind of contract?" she asked the Thief. If it was just money, then Axel could probably outbid whoever it was, or, failing that, they could ask Ignis for assistance.

Her question received no answer besides the simultaneous tensing of all of her assailants, and Viktoriya's eyes narrowed. If they weren't willing to negotiate for more money, then something more important than money was at stake. Either their lives or the lives of someone they cared about, probably.

Viktoriya sighed and looked beyond the fighters. "Yunyun, let's take them out. Aqua can use Resurrection on them once we get their bodies in cells."

That caused all of them to charge Viktoriya. She vaguely heard Yunyun stuttering out a reply, but she ignored it and focused on the fight ahead. Hopefully, once they were in a cell, they could get some information out of them.

Viktoriya had still not received a reply from her Communication spell.

-OxOxO-

The light emanating from Tanya's pocket faded, and Tanya yanked away his rifle from his opponent and activated his Reinforcement spells for the first time alongside an Active Barrier.

A flare of killing intent was the only warning Tanya got of the attack as it came.

"Hyah!"

"Grah!"

He winced as a pair of daggers from above and a spear from the side struck her barrier. He twisted away from Mitsurugi and aimed his rifle at the new assailants. "Napalm!" he shouted, sending both of them back. He took a brief moment to figure out where he was.

Tanya blinked. This… was Keele's Dungeon, if he wasn't mistaken.

A wave of water washed over the ground, pushing the Napalm down the corridor, towards a dead end. The pair jumped over it and rushed towards him once more. Tanya almost looked for the source of the water, but the spear and the knives returned. Tanya deflected the knives with an Active Barrier and managed to use his rifle to bat the spear to the side. Tanya took in his new opponents.

His eyes widened for a second. It was Mitsurugi's teammates!

"What the hell is this?" he managed to grind out as he spun up another, stronger barrier. Their weapons had to be enchanted for how easily they were breaking through his defenses.

"Mitsurugi," said the unknown voice, "contracted the Yatagarasu to kill you. It's nothing personal, just-"

The twin blades and the spear fell on his barrier, trying to pierce it. Tanya snarled and expanded the barrier, pushing both back. He fired wildly, and one of them cried out.

"Fireball."

Tanya tried to shield against the spell, but it splashed against the wall, sending a wave of flames and catching his clothes. He swore at the pain. How-

With another snarl, he took in a deep breath, activated his Active Barrier, and used his Chemical Conversion spell to change all of the oxygen in the bubble into carbon dioxide. The fire quickly petered out, Tanya used Heal to fix the damage to his arm.

"RUNE OF SABER!"

Tanya's Active Barrier crumbled like half-ply toilet paper, and only Tanya's reinforcement spells allowed him to jump away from the blade aiming for his midsection.

Tanya's breathing, now labored, fought to keep his wits about him. Another glance around revealed that it was just him, Mitsurugi, his two teammates, and an unknown man who was undoubtedly a Mage, though his face looked almost… bored.

He assessed the chief threat and found himself disliking his odds more and more. The scuffs and marks Tanya's battle had marked his armor with were all gone, and judging by the empty potion vials and flasks surrounding the Mage, he'd likely fixed whatever damage Tanya had managed to inflict, if he'd managed anything. Both of his teammates seemed to be in good health, meaning whoever had screamed had likely downed a potion to fix the damage.

Shit.

"Now you die, monster," Mitsurugi said, his sword once more drawn. Tanya merely raised an eyebrow, trying and probably failing to hide how much exertion blocking their attacks was causing him. "Monster? I'm not the one who's attacking someone completely unprovoked."

His words did not draw out a response, and Tanya frowned. Why was he doing this? Did it matter? What could cause him to think Tanya was a monster?

They continued to press forward, Mitsurugi standing in front of his teammates. Behind them, the Mage stood at the door, his face the perfect picture of boredom despite his vigil at the doorway. If he could get out-

"I wouldn't try it," he warned. "We've got backup waiting outside if you try to escape. I'm ending this now."

He rushed forward, and Tanya pointed his rifle at him.

FWOOOOM

The gout of Napalm couldn't be dodged in so small a space, and though both of his teammates managed to avoid damage by dint of the few feet of distance separating them and their leader, Mitsurugi did not.

Tanya licked his lips at the heat emanating from the tip of his rifle, focused entirely on his enemy's chestplate. Despite the force behind the attack and the flames sticking to his armor, Mitsurugi was still advancing on him, marching closer and closer with each second that passed.

After seven seconds, he cut off the flow and took the rifle in both hands. While Mitsurugi was briefly unbalanced, Tanya fired his gun.

BANG

The shot, unenhanced, pinged off of his helmet, sending him even more off balance.

BANG

The next, only slightly given penetration enhancement, deflected off of his arm. He steadied himself despite the attack.

BANG BANG

His other arm and chest were targeted. The latter shot ricocheted off and hit the leg of one of the girls. They both immediately disengaged, heading back towards the Mage, while Mitsurugi pushed forwards

Tanya nodded and then fired again and again. Again, he picked Mitsurugi's head, his chest, and then his groin. Each and every shot bounced off, not even leaving a scratch. The only sign of damage he could think of was the sibilant hiss that echoed through his mind after each shot.

He was confident, now. He had to be wearing Orichalum.

"How in the hell did you manage to get a full suit made of Orichalum?" he mused to himself.

Mitsurugi paused in his march forward, and Tanya lowered the output of mana to her Active Barrier and redirected it to another spell. "Oh, you figured out my new Divine Relic?" he boasted, malicious pleasure ringing in his voice. "Well, all I'll say is that the Goddess Eris is a-"

Tanya's eyes widened, and he modified the plan and spell he'd come up with. "I'll apologize to you later Mitsurugi," he said softly, making sure the pity he felt was showing on his face.

Mitsurugi's breath picked up. "What? Why on Earth would you do that, you megalomaniacal bitch?" he asked, a nervous laugh ringing out.

"Well," he replied, "it's clear to me that you're not actually in control any more," he said, as if it were obvious.

He tilted his head, and Tanya smiled. All he needed was time, and if wanted to give it to him, he was more than glad to allow it. "Hiring people to kill me, trying to kill me yourself, ignoring your allies, and claiming you can't read Japanese are all incongruous with the Mitsurugi I know, who made sure his teammates wouldn't get hurt and definitely knew how to read Japanese based on his ability to speak the language. I am certain that your armor is the cause of your erratic behavior, considering the Divine Relic that I have that causes me to act erratically."

Mitsurugi stood still for a moment, holding a hand up to his head. "It… does?"

Tanya nodded once. "Well, in a fashion. A malevolent entity taking over my body counts, I'd like to think."

"And to answer your original question," he continued, "I'm apologizing for how I'm defeating you. Right now."

"I am invincible," Mitsurugi barked back, taking his sword again. Tanya's smile grew as he wavered in place. "I am going to end your plans to regain your army of… darkness…"

"Heheheheh…"

He suddenly stopped wavering, standing ramrod straight. "Why did I just laugh?"

Then, he began to sway again. Tanya walked up to him, lazily dodging past his lethargic sword swing and setting his sights on the other three, who were staring at him open mouthed. He pointed his rifle at them, completely ignoring Mitsurugi.

The Mage aimed his staff, his bored expression completely gone. Tanya sped towards him, his great strides aided by a Flight spell. The Thief and the Spearwoman tried to defend, but Tanya had already won.

"Sleep."

The pair dropped like a sack of rocks, while the Mage wavered on his feet. "Piss," he swore. "Fucking… Sleep spell-"

He cut him off with a rapid punch to the gut and another two Sleep spells, and he was down with the other two. He turned back around.

Mitsurugi, somehow, was still standing. He… seemed to be choking, actually.

He frowned. "I didn't mess up the ratio, did I?" he mused as he paced closer, his Active Barrier up in full force once again. Mitsurugi lunged towards him and missed completely, and Tanya found himself with his back once again to the corridor's dead end.

"What are you-"

"Well, I can't get through your armor," he said, "Orichalum is the most overpowered bullshit I've ever seen. However," he said, spinning slowly in a circle with one arm outstretched, walking closer to the wall at the end of the room, "whether you're wearing that armor or not, you need to breathe, and I happen to have a handy spell that I can use for Chemistry! Specifically, I'm making laughing gas-"

He pointed a hand at the empty doorway, where the Passive Barrier he'd put in place briefly shone. Mitsurugi missed it as he continued to choke, retaking his sword in both hands. "I… this mask… filters the air. Doesn't let in… contaminants."

Tanya raised an eyebrow. "Well, if you don't want to choke to death, I'd suggest-"

"NO!"

Tanya's eyes narrowed, and he grabbed a hold of his rifle in both hands once more. "Don't kill Mitsurugi-"

"You… idiot!"

He was panting as the air in the room grew more and more filled with laughing gas and less with air. Tanya's own supply, being recycled from the carbon dioxide he was breathing out and kept safely inside his Active Barrier, was keeping him upright and healthy. "Don't do anything rash, you glowing piece of-"

He didn't respond. "Fortification."

His choking lessened, and Tanya swore, rapidly increasing the amount of nitrous oxide. He had to go down eventually, sooner rather than later.

"Invigorate. Precision Strike. Expert Handling. All or Nothing Strike…"

He trailed off, and then, "One hundred and twenty percent! Stance Change, Full Body!"

In an instant, his body shifted, going from barely holding onto his sword to standing strong, his sword held over his head. He began running towards him, his gait wobbly but still charging.

Tanya backed up three steps, and he lurched forward, matching his pace exactly.

"RUNE…"

Tanya tried dodging to the side, but he wobbled after him. He wove through the air to slip past him, but he crashed into the wall and sped towards Tanya. No matter how Tanya moved, Mitsurugi somehow managed to wobble in just the right way to keep pace with him, the sword swinging inexorably downwards. He backed up-

Only for his back to run into the wall. His eyes widened as the sword finally began to descend, and he layered Active Barrier after Active Barrier between them, in every inch, in every centimeter.

It sliced through them easily, cutting through the barriers he'd formed high in its swing. It broke through each, the sound of tinkling glass resonating with each and every Active Barrier it broke through. He struggled to make more, to put more between them, to squeeze them in the shrinking space in between each other, while kicking the knee of his impenetrable armor rapidly.

Twenty, fifteen, ten, five, four, three, two…

And then, the glow of the sword flickered.

It broke through one more, leaving one last barrier.

Another moment passed, and the sword's light died. Mitsurugi stopped moving.

Tanya held her breath in anticipation. Was this another feint, like at the arena?

Second after second passed, and, after ten full seconds passed without Mitsurugi moving even the slightest inch, Tanya breathed a sigh of relief.

CRASH

"HRK!"

His last barrier was destroyed by Mitsurugi's fist snaking out to grab his throat.

Surprise overwhelmed him, and he fought, pounding on the armor and desperately fighting to live, to not die…

"…Viktoriya!"

Another moment passed, and Tanya found he wasn't dead. He wasn't even choking.

He blinked in shock and looked down at Mitsurugi's inscrutable mask. He…

Despite grasping his throat, he wasn't crushing it. Tanya blinked in confusion. How… what…

The armor hissed again, Mitsurugi tilted his head at her and dropped his sword, and tapped on the side of his helmet.

Tanya coughed. "I… what? Mitsurugi? How in the world-"

The hissing of the armor became constant as Mitsurugi shook his head, leaving Tanya even more confused. What was happening?

The man gripped his chin, as if thinking, and then took off his mask and let it fall to the ground, revealing that Mitsurugi was actually knocked out.

He looked absolutely horrible. His skin had become sickly yellow, with his eyes bulging out of their sockets. He was drenched in sweat, and his hair looked like it hadn't been washed in ages. Tanya was fairly sure that most of that was not caused by either a lack of air or laughing gas.

Also, because Tanya did have to do a double take, he was, in fact, not conscious.

"Huh?" was all he could say. He shook his head again and then dropped him and began to…

Tanya stared, barely able to comprehend that he was drawing in the blackened soot on the chestplate of his armor. It took a few moments, and Tanya had a coughing fit in the meantime, the pain in his bruised chest making itself known.

He stopped and gestured to his chest, and Tanya tried desperately to comprehend what it had drawn. It looked like… a blob, with lines radiating from it, along with a set of four thin lines inside it.

Tanya looked between the crude pictogram and Mitsurugi's still-unconscious face. "Uhh… I have no clue. I'm not very good at this sort of thing," he said.

Mitsurugi rolled his head and then jammed a finger into his lips, and pointed with the other hand at the four lines.

It took him a moment to realize what he was doing. "Lips? Those are lips?" he asked, partly incredulous.

He put his hands on his hips, and Tanya held up his own hands. "Sorry! So… lips. And the blob is…?"

He knocked the side of his helmet, and Tanya squinted. "A… brain?"

It nodded rapidly. Lips and a brain…

Tanya's eyes widened. "You can't speak because of something in your head?"

His shoulders fell, and the hissing picked up an octave. It then pointed at him. Him?

Tanya looked at the drawing again. The lines coming off of the brain…

Tanya looked down at his gloved hand, to where one of his rings sat, and then back at the armor. "Are you… trying to communicate with me mentally, Mitsurugi?"

He nodded rapidly, and Tanya's eyes narrowed . "Wait, no," he said, coughing, "This could be a trick from the armor controlling you."

He put one of his hands to his forehead in the universal sign of exasperation, and then used the other to raise one of Mitsurugi's eyebrows. Without saying a thing, the armor ejected Mitsurugi and remained standing, holding its arms out.

Tanya shook his head. "I… do you mind if I sit down?" he asked. He was getting-

His eyes snapped open, and he threw his Passive Barrier back up and began converting the air inside into Oxygen again. He cleared his throat. "Right, that was close."

He shook his head and looked back at the now standing piece of armor. If it had really wanted to kill him, it would have just crushed his throat, which meant he could probably extend it a measure of slack. "I wasn't lying about having a Divine Relic trying to control me," he said. He looked between the armor, Mitsurugi, and the other three for a moment.

"How about yes and no questions?" he finally asked. The armor nodded rapidly.

"Are you trying to take over Mitsurugi?"

It vehemently shook its head, and Tanya frowned. It was probably lying, but…

"Then why was Mitsurugi trying to kill me?" he asked rhetorically. He couldn't think of a single reason that he might want to do that.

He frowned. Well, no, he had deprived a number of Reincarnates of their Divine Relics, and killed a few that really wanted him dead…

His frown deepened. Now that he thought about it, he'd also killed those adventurers that had harassed Lorelei, and that Thief from his first day there, and she'd colluded with Verdia and been on the fence about-

Alright, maybe, if he found out about some of those things devoid of context, he might have a reason, but as soon as he-

The living armor tapped his barrier, and he snapped back to attention. "Right, sorry. Yes or no questions. Um…"

It shook its head and gestured to its chest, to two words. Naughty, and Zircon, with the first few characters of both underlined. Tanya blinked for a moment, mind processing what he was being told.

"He- wha-" he coughed again, shocked and appalled. This… it was too much.

Not another misunderstanding!

"How the- He thought I was a Nazi?" he asked incredulously. The armor nodded rapidly, and he looked between the armor and Mitsurugi.

He'd done a lot of morally dubious things while in this world, but he was fairly certain he hadn't done anything that bad! "What the hell!"

The armor just shrugged in response to his words, and Tanya sighed. "I… did he convince you I was a Nazi?"

It nodded hesitantly, and Tanya sighed again. "Alright. I think we need to have a very long discussion. In the meantime, how about we go back to Axel? We can Heal him and then discuss this… miscommunication," he bit out, "like adults."

He headed for the other three, but the armor blocked the way. It didn't have a face, but from the way the helmet was angled down at him, he got the feeling it was skeptical about his intentions.

He gave it a flat look. "Do you really think you can beat me?"

After a moment's hesitation, it nodded, and Tanya's response that he wouldn't lose to a piece of armor was quickly cut off by the memory of just how little damage he'd done to it during their fight. Now that he was closer, he could see very small dents where his bullets had landed.

Considering it was a piece of metal, he got the feeling it wouldn't die just by getting a hole blown through it.

Tanya sighed. "Alright, fine. How do you propose we build up enough trust to get out of here, at least?"

It brought one of its hands up to its face and mimed shook his head in response. "I'm not getting duped into taking my ring off. I'm not getting taken over." It shook its head rapidly, only stopping itself from trying to write out something on its chest when it realized there was really any room left.

For a moment, they stood there, both silent in contemplation. Then, it mimicked taking a ring off of a finger and holding it over the finger. At Tanya's raised eyebrow, it sat down in front of the door and gripped its knees with its arms.

Tanya raised his other eyebrow at the absolutely ridiculous display, but it just nodded at him. Tanya frowned severely.

Again, if it had wanted to kill him, it would have already done that. His frown lessened. If it really had been convinced he were a Nazi, then it would have every reason to try and kill him…

With a long, drawn out sigh, Tanya spun on his heel and stalked into the other corner, away from the door. He took off a glove and slowly inched his ring off.

Bit by bit, the near-constant hissing sound gradually turned into a voice in her head. "…me? Can you- ah! Yes, you can, excellent."

It cleared its throat, despite not having one, and, at the other end of the corridor, gestured with one hand while keeping the other around its knees. "My name is Sacred Armor Aigis. I'm a multi-talented divine relic that can speak and sing."

Tanya gaped at it. Considering how imposing and majestic it looked, she'd been expecting a more flamboyant or deep voice, rather than the slightly nasal and otherwise plain sounding one echoing in his head.

The silence after his introduction stretched on. "I have, ah, heard of you, of course. My latest master has told me much of Tanya von Degurechaff, Nazi girl bent on the conquest of the whole of Belzerg-"

"Alright," he cut in, "all three of the things you just accused me of are false."

It held up a finger to respond, only to pause and counted out two fingers.

It looked at him in confusion. "Er… three?"

Tanya nodded once. "Yes. I am not a Nazi, I am not bent on the conquest of Belzerg, and I am not a girl."

The armor made a choking sound, and Tanya raised an eyebrow once more. "But- he-"

"I got that changed recently."

The armor remained motionless for a moment. "But… you look so much like the Princess, and her mom was so- though, I always did get a feeling that-"

Tanya cleared his throat. "Yes, well, that is also a long story. Can we leave yet?"

It held up a hand to its nonexistent chin. "Well… how do I know you're telling the truth?"

Tanya sighed… and then he smiled. Right! "My partner, Viktoriya-"

"Damn, she's taken?"

He leveled an acidic glare at the armor, and it slouched. "My apologies. Continue."

"Viktoriya," he continued, "recently received a truth-telling bell as a birthday gift. When we get back, I'll swear I'm not a Nazi, and then Mitsurugi and I can have a frank conversation about how the hell he came to the conclusion that Viktoriya and I were Nazis."

The armor was silent, and Tanya eyed Mitsurugi's body and rolled his eyes. He still didn't know how in the hell-

"Fine, but!" it said, "I will have my master don me once more and carry his compatriots with him, in case you try something."

"Fine," Tanya agreed, "but I'm carrying his Divine Relic so you can't hurt me."

It waved a hand. "No problem. I can't even use the thing as anything but a giant hunk of steel, so that's fine with me."

Thus, Tanya, carrying a giant sword unsuited for his size, and a bright white suit of armor, cradling the girls in his arms protectively and the Mage over his shoulder, began to make their way out of Keele's dungeon.

"So… that rabbit lady you hang with is pretty sexy. Do you think-"

Somehow, the walk back began to feel almost as painful as his battle with Mitsurugi.

-OxOxO-

"Zachary Crila."

Zachary blinked and looked up from the desk he was working at. What?

He'd been putting the final touches on his manifesto and had asked his friends to leave him be. They weren't even supposed to be there because it wasn't yet night time-

As he turned around from his desk, atop which sat the physical proof of his decision to make not just the Eris Church, but the world, a better place, his eyes widened as he took in his surroundings once more. The presence inside the building, inside his very room…!

"I am Eris, your Goddess."

He fell out of his chair, scrambling as he did so, and eventually rested on his knees before her, breathing heavily. It… it couldn't-

"You… am I in Heaven?" he asked. Eris hadn't been spotted among the living for decades. Had he accidentally died and not-

"No, I am here, before you, in Axel. With the chaos going on, none will notice my presence," she said. He nodded, and then…

"Chaos?" he asked, confused. What-

An explosion rocked the building, and he looked to the small window in the eaves of the roof. He saw several plumes of smoke darkening the sky, and his face contorted. What was going-

"Pay no attention to the outside world, Zachary Crila. We must speak."

He nodded rapidly and directed his gaze back down to the ground. Of course. He waited for her to speak, his whole being ready to receive her next words, her than-

"What you seek for the Eris Church is good, Zachary Crila. You seek for the Church to be run well."

He felt tears welling up in his-

"I need you to stop."

His breath caught. What? She-

"Zachary, please. Look at me."

He looked up-

He couldn't help it. It was wholly unbecoming of one who was devoted to their Goddess, who had taken a vow to uphold the faith and wear the cloth. It was horrendous of him, and even…

No, an Axis Cultist would have done the same, but he was not an Axis Cultist! He was a follower of Eris, so he shouldn't have done it. He should have done something else, anything else, or even nothing at all. That would have been better.

When Zachary Crila looked at his Goddess, he flinched.

Not in shock or awe, but in disgust.

It was not the relative youth of her face compared to what the histories spoke of that did it, of course, nor was it the pain present on her face.

The sunken eyes, the sallow skin, the desperation of her features. The crackling white lines snaking out from beneath her chin like lightning. The whirling, shifting, blackening and lightening habit she wore.

He couldn't help it.

"Why?" he asked. Why did she look-

"Why?" she asked, rhetorically, anger leaking into her voice. "What a question. Zachary Crila, you are killing me."

His breath caught.

What?

He was- he was-

"What?"

His voice was small, smaller than the slightest mouse, quieter than the softest swish of the wind.

She stepped towards him, and he tried to look back down, to somehow fall to his knees even further, but, in a rush, she gripped his forearms and painfully yanked him upwards. His breathing became more and more rapid. He looked down at his arms, his bare arms. She was touching-

"Look at me and hear! Zachary Crila, you are killing me."

He looked up at her face.

He could see it, the pain in her eyes, in the sweat and white hairs coming out from under her habit, in how her arms were shaking him, relentlessly. "How-"

There was pain in her eyes, pain and terror. "You are breaking me, Zachary. The Anniversary comes, demanding prayer and power and sacrifice. You ask questions and demand better, and I love that," she sniffled.

The shaking in her arms increased.

"Please, I need you to stop," she whispered.

It hurt.

The sound of her sob, of her sniffle. He could feel the pain physically manifest in his heart, in his mind, in his eyes.

"I can't take it anymore. With Aqua gone, I'm doing too much. Just… for a little while. You… you have to."

"I…"

He answered swiftly. "Of course. If- if I had known I was hurting you, I would never have done it."

He wouldn't have. He wanted to fix things, not break them further, not break his Goddess.

She peered into his eyes, and he found himself falling into them. Despite the pain and the terror, he couldn't help but find the color enthralling-

She released him, and he almost collapsed. She turned away, looking once more at the smoke outside the window. "Good…" After a moment, she continued. "Thank you, Zachary Crila. I promise, things will become better with time. Just give it a bit more time – even a few weeks should be enough to clean up after the Anniversary," she said, her voice meandering, the quaver that had been there now gone.

Zachary stood again, his head still bowed deferentially in her direction. Then-

"Shit!"

He looked up sharply. What had happened? "What-"

Her sigh cut him off, and he waited for her answer.

"So Mitsurugi failed to kill Degurechaff. Too bad."

Zachary blinked rapidly. What had she just said?

"What?"

She looked towards him, an eyebrow raised. "Hmm?"

He… he couldn't believe it. He… he must have misheard, of course. Just a bit of clarification would make his doubt, his question go away.

"You… said Mitsurugi failed to kill… Degurechaff?"

She nodded absently, rubbing at the spindly white lines on her face. "Yes. She's an enemy of Heaven- an Atheist of the highest order. She can't be allowed to beat the Demon King."

"But… why?"

Eris flinched, and then shot an accusatory look at him. "I thought you said-"

"Why?" he asked, more firmly this time. "She… she doesn't discriminate against any religion. What's so bad about that? Why should people be treated differently if they're an Axis Cultist or an Eris Worshiper?"

The terror returned to her eyes. "Zachary Crila, stop, please-"

He refused to hear her.

"And… why should I stop now?!" He yelled. "Is… is this chaos also your doing? Why shouldn't the church be run better? Is every last monster and undead really irredeemable?"

Each question sent Eris stumbling backwards a step, closer and closer to the wall with the window perched above it. "Zach, plea-"

"NO!" he roared. "You are here. Answer me! Why does the Church answer the every whim of the Kingdom, when Heaven is the ultimate authority? Why cannot those who rely on the Luck you provide have a say in how the Church is run? Eris, enlighten me! Why!"

She collapsed to the ground, shaking more and more, tears welling in the corners of her eyes, a line of drool leaking from the corner of her mouth colored like a rainbow. A seed of hesitancy, of reluctance, of remorse burst into existence within his mind, but his next whispered words were past his lips before he could stop them.

"What is the nature of Luck?"

From somewhere, not within his ears or his mind, but somewhere deeper and more fundamental, Zachary Crila heard a crash.

The breaking of a pane of glass, echoing and resonating and breaking, over and over. Tens, hundreds, thousands of panes of glasses, one after another and simultaneously. The sound of the shards of glass as they flew through the air, forming a great wave of glittering, tinkling decay, impacting each other as they fell, only to rain down onto a great stone surface, echoing on and on and on and on and on beneath his skin.

He looked down at Eris to find that she was screaming. She was screaming, wailing, rainbows bubbling up from her mouth and tears and snot running down her face, the lightning on her skin glowing with the intensity of the sun, her clothing burning and curling like the leaves of a flower in the fire, her hair glowing brighter and brighter and flailing and whipping about nearly as much as her arms and legs.

His soul was echoing that scream.

Then, before his very eyes, Eris's face split. Right down the middle, a seam, a long, continuous dent appeared for only a moment. In the next, the dent deepened and lengthened, crawling down her face, her neck, and beneath her clothing and into her head, revealing not flesh but more and more and more skin.

When it stopped, when the perforation quit moving, Eris became silent for the shortest possible time.

Without fanfare, the two halves fell apart.

The skin that shouldn't have been was gone in that same instant, replaced by a bubbling, multicolored goo taking the place where organs and blood and bone should have been. It leaked onto the ground, curling and burning and caressing the wood.

Eris still spasmed, still glowed, still screamed, as her eyes rolled back into her head. Her eyes glowed the same white as her hair and the lightning snaking over her skin.

Eris still screamed.

Zachary knew. She was echoing the scream of a hopeless Crusader who couldn't hit anything, of a holy man who wielded Luck like a pen and a sword, of a child who had picked a four-leaf clover, of a family who could barely make ends meet, of every last one of her followers, devout or not, devoted or not.

Eris echoed his scream.

Zachary Crila was screaming.

Then it stopped. The room around them lost all color, and Zachary panted. He…

He could still feel it. He could feel the pain, the aching horror, the terror, the-

"I can't believe you'd go and do this in the mortal plane. What a-"

He looked up. What-

"Who-"

The tall, old man robed in pure white barely gave him a look. "It doesn't matter. Farewell, Zachary Crila. I hope you find the pain and suffering you have caused your Goddess worth it."

Then, his Goddess was gone, along with the old man, leaving nothing behind, and Zachary started screaming once again. For what felt like an eternity, he screamed and shouted and wondered why he'd done it, wished he could take it back, because he hadn't meant to do that.

Eventually, the pain ended. Zachary remained on the floor, nearly catatonic, wondering what in Eris's name he'd just done.

He would receive no answers for the rest of the very hectic day.

-OxOxO-

A/N 1: What a doozy! I'll be honest, this one was kind of a struggle to get through with how much was going on. I hope that doesn't reflect too poorly on the quality.

In other news, I think there'll only be maybe one or two more chapters until The Anniversary, which itself will probably take a chapter or two, in addition to me updating and finishing Five Most Loyal. It'll be an interesting few months!

A/N 2: If you'd like to donate to support me monetarily, search for Sugarcane Soldier on the website of the Patrons.

Thank you to WarmasterOku, Afforess, UNSC_Kawakaze, and Theewizzz for supporting this story and everything else I write. Make sure to vote if you haven't yet!