Emilia POV:
"Darker than black, darker than darkness, combined with my intense crimson. Time to wake up, descend to these borders and appear as an intangible distortion. Dance, dance, dance! May a destructive force flood my torrent of power, a destructive force like no other! Send all creation to its source! Come out of your abyss! Humanity knows no other more powerful offensive technique! It is the ultimate magical attack! Explosion!"
The blast hit the Roswall manor and quickly dissipated. A green glow surrounded it. "That stupid barrier! We need to take it out!" Megumin yelled as she fell backwards. Luckily I caught her.
"Maybe you take a break on this. It's clear that you're not making any progress."
"That's not a mockery of my explosions is it?!"
"No no of course not!"
"We need a better plan of attack! It's clear that barrier is in the way."
"Let's head back now. We can talk about it with the others."
"Very well then! We can announce the plans once we're back!"
I picked her up and we started heading back to town. Most mornings for the past month or so we've been coming out so she could blow up the manor.
Back at home my family was always going out to different parks and places in nature. Sadly this world didn't have any cherry blossoms, at least not yet. From what locals said we came in during the middle of spring and it's around the start of summer now.
Somehow most people still wore thicker clothings and heavy fabrics. Especially Megumin who wore that big cape all the time. "Don't you ever get hot? Those aren't exactly summer clothes."
"Hm? Summer clothes? I wear this year round."
"Gee that seems like a pain."
"Quite the opposite! This outfit is perfect and suits me perfectly!"
"What about those bandages you always wear? I don't see a purpose in that."
"Oh that. It's just simply to make myself look tough!"
"You're funny. Same with that eye patch I bet."
"Yeah… It was a gift. Actually, so was my staff."
"Who were they from?"
She handed me her eyepatch. I held it gently and observed its details. It was clearly well made, a quality leather.
"Someone from the school I went to gave it to me. And the Staff was a parting gift from my class."
"I guess you were pretty popular there. They must have really liked you to give all that."
"You could say that. I am definitely the most skilled out of them."
"You're the strongest wizard in Axel right? I remember you claimed that when we met."
"Of course! I'm the strongest in Axel and of the Crimson Demons!"
I handed her back the eyepatch and laughed a little. "Does the second strongest also faint whenever he casts a spell?"
"That's just because explosion is so powerful!" Her voice quieted a bit "If I had more mana reserves it would be fine."
"Why not unlock some then? I'm sure you have enough points available."
"Because! I'm saving up for the next level of explosion!"
"Looks like I'll be carrying you back for a while. Lucky that you're smaller."
"You're not calling me a Loli are you?"
"No no. That's what Kazuma does."
For about an hour I carried her, till she gained enough strength back and could walk on her own. The part of the woods we were in had pretty scenery. It reminded me of Nikko national park. During this time of the year the trees were bright greens and the bushes were large and luscious.
There was probably at least another five months till the winter would roll around. When the show got heavy, my family would go to visit my Grandparents in Hokkaido. I was hoping it would snow like that here, that was always the best time of the year.
Finally we made it back to town, Megumin was quite exhausted. I wasn't sure where we were meant to go. I forgot to ask where Subaru and the others would be meeting.
I decided to just head to Rens, since it was closer to the gates anyway. Unfortunately the strange man and his Llama Pizza were outfront.
"Those are some nice pants you got there."
"Oh, thank you."
"No, pfff. I wasn't talking to you silly. See that guy back there? With the line in his green hair! Wait no, green line."
"I see. Sorry for disturbing you."
"No worries, really. Actually in fact I think you could be quite the friend. Provided you have some reputation with us of course. Im Scar of the sandlands!"
He shook the red jumped guy awake. "Huh? What? Oh. Don't let him sell you anything. It's all a scam!"
"No Grian! Don't say that! I would never scam anybody, I just want friends, that's all."
"Actually we're going to head inside now. Have a good day!"
I grabbed Megumin's hand and pulled her inside. Getting us away from Scar. He was notorious for taking everyones clothes, though weirdly enough all he wore was short shorts and boots. Guess he wanted to show his mussels off, he looks like a full on body builder.
Inside at the far table Subaru and the others sat. Aqua looked half asleep leaned over on the table with an empty bottle of wine. Puck came running over to me with an excited grin on his face.
"Lia! You were gone for quite some time. Everything alright?"
"It's all good! Just admiring the scenery a bit more is all."
I picked him up and tickled his belly. Back before we came to this world he hated it. Now he just yells "Stop! Stop!" While smiling and laughing uncontrollably.
Megumin took a seat and not a second later stood up and began to announce something. "The general Roswall has had a barrier set up for the past three weeks! My explosions shall be wasted no longer! I say we attack the Devil King's General and take down the barrier and fight him off from the manor!"
"Hey we need to kill that guy anyways! Might as well start with one of his pawns." Subaru agreed and stood up with her.
Kazuma leaned back and said "I don't see a point. It's not like he's doing anything to us. Just find a new thing to blow up."
I went and sat by them. The two had sat down again but it was already clear we would be doing this.
"I have thought up the perfect plan! Utilizing everyone's strengths to defeat a general once and for all!"
Aqua raised her head and squinted at her. "Let me hear it." She awkwardly said before unconsciously leaning over and landing on Kazuma.
"You're an integral part of this plan. Wake up."
"Don't worry I got this." Kazuma smirked and put his hands on her back, then shook her like an angry bull.
"What was that for!" She was about to start crying and scooted away from him. He patted her back a bit.
"Enough of that! Listen. First I have a question. Emilia! What is the strongest spell you have? Or that you're able to swiftly unlock."
I took a look at my card and scrolled through my list. I hadn't really paid much attention to it but it's been at least a month since I unlocked anything. After unlocking a few useful healing spells, Ice shard, Wind Burst, and Flame ball were all I needed for attacking.
"Actually I can unlock just about anything. I've got Fifty Two free unlock points."
"Fifty! That's enough for explosion!"
"Explosion? Why would I need that?"
"Because! The both of us shall stand on my hill above the manor. Aqua will use her sacred spell break and take down the barrier! Subaru and Kazuma will fight off any guards who may try to attack. Once the barrier is down we shall cast the most powerful magic in the lands on that manor and take down Roswall once and for all!"
Subaru thought for a second and asked "What about when the explosion hits us? That definitely doesn't sound safe."
Her face froze for a second "You've already died three times. I'm sure you'll be fine. KazuTrash on the other hand. Aqua can just heal him. And Emilia can heal Aqua. It works out." she said rushed and unconfidently.
"I don't trust this. You're gonna get me killed or something." Kazuma said, standing and slamming his hands on the table. "You trust this drunk to protect me from a nuclear bomb?"
"Nuclear bomb? I haven't heard of that before."
"Forget that. Not the main point."
"Well just don't let her drink tomorrow. I've already used explosion today so… Cant do it for twenty four hours anyway."
"I don't like this."
"My plan is flawless."
Around two hours later and with everyone having eaten and drank we left Rens.
"Come again soon!" Martyn said, waving us away.
Scar was still outfront, so we quickly hurried past him. However it was settled that tomorrow we would go attack the Roswall manor. Kazuma wasn't happy about it, and Aqua seemed to barely even notice.
The group went our separate ways for the day. It wasn't too late in the day so there was still some nice time to do something. Like having Megumin convince me to unlock explosion.
"So you agreed to the plan but haven't got any spells to use for our attack."
"I've been thinking about learning Absolute Zero Cannon. It takes forty points and quite powerful."
"That sounds like it would be good for you! A strong spell is perfect for a situation like these!"
"She's right. Sometimes I wish I had some magic to use. This sword is good but she can't get any good range attacks." Subaru said while admiring his blade.
It had served him pretty well so far, the first quest he took on the monsters had got cut up instantly. In addition he was constantly upgrading the enchantments and improving its tip.
Absolute Zero Cannon seemed promising. After looking over its stats multiple times throughout the day I decided to unlock it. What it did was project a large beam at negative two hundred seventy three degrees. Everything it comes into contact with will instantly freeze and shatter when struck with another force.
The only issue with it is that the mana cost is heavy, using forty percent of reserves. Normally in a day I'll use about that much of my mana without casting anything.
Nevertheless I think this was the right decision. This isn't the only time I'll need a powerful attack anyways. I'm sure this would've been perfect to defeat that Chimera a month and a half ago.
"Emergency! Emergency! All capable adventures meet outside the south gate of town immediately!"
The alert rang through town. Pouring from every street, alley, and building came a roar of adventures and news keepers. They flooded through the streets and quickly passed by us. Poor Megumin was nearly getting trampled by the bigger guys. Her small frame wasn't doing any favors. Subaru looked ready to run off alongside them. But last time we had one of these I made sure to tell him off for abandoning the party.
Once the wave of people cleared I helped Megumin back to her feet and we took off for the gate.
We passed by Kazuma who was standing near the back of the group alone. Subaru pulled him along to the front along with the rest of us.
On a large elevated platform in front of everybody was Roswall. Rem and Ram stood by his side.
"Who are those maid girls?" Subaru asked me.
"Shush about that."
The general took a deep breath in and spoke, projecting his voice to the crowd. "It has come to my attention that my manor's been the target of a series of attacks. All have been explosion magic, and the barrier that was painstakingly set up by these girls seems to be ineffective in deterring this criminal."
He took a step forward and raised his hand into the air. "Should the person committing these acts of terror not step forward, a rain of acid and fire shall rain on the town of axel. Now please, show yourself."
Megumin gripped her cape and threw it into the air. Stepping forward she was about to speak, until I pulled her back and held my hand over her mouth.
"What are you thinking!? You don't know what he's going to do if you tell him it was you."
"There will be five minutes." Roswall shot a burst of magic into the air, projecting a giant hourglass.
Megumin wiggled out of my hold and whispered back to me "Would you rather this entire town be destroyed? I shall own up to my explosions."
Before I could stop her she ran out to the space between us and Roswall. "It was I who bestowed those explosions upon your lousy manor!"
I ran up behind her, followed by Subaru and Kazuma. Too late now to stop anything. I guess all that's left is to see what happens.
"My my. What a young girl with such strong magic."
"My name is Megumin, user of the finest magic the Crimson Demons possess! My calling is that of an arch wizard, one who controls explosion magic, the strongest of all offensive magic! My lethal magic demolishes mountains, smashes boulders, and soon your life!"
"A fiery young one you are. What has gotten into you to cause such chaos at my abode."
"Hah! As if that's even a question. An evil man like you is the perfect target for my magic."
"Evil you say…" His eyes gave a purple glow and he winced his forehead. "Unfortunately for you I must confirm these suspicions. Your actions shall not go unpunished."
He aimed a fist at Megumin and opened his hand. He said something under his breath. A flash of green light shot from his palm and impacted Megumin in her chest. She fell to the ground unconscious.
"Enjoy the curse dear. Should I receive anymore explosions, it won't be contained to you next time." With a swift turn he and his maids vanished.
I quickly dropped down next to her and casted healing twice. She woke back up coughing. "Are you okay?" I asked placing my hand where he attacked her.
"We're definitely getting back at him." She looked over to me and gave a thumbs up and smile.
Kazuma stepped forward "We need to get her to Aqua. She can dispel the curse."
"Right. We'll do that right away."
All the adventurers who gathered began to go back into town. I helped Megumin to her feet and we went back too. It took awhile but we eventually made it past the crowd and started walking to the inn they stayed at.
"Here, this is the place."
Kazuma led us in and greeted the front desk worker. I had made sure to get a decent quality place to sleep for Subaru, Puck and me. Megumin started sleeping on the sofa there once we met her. But this place seemed quite trashy if I was being completely honest.
The halls were tight and doors were lined up only a meter apart. Smoke even came from the walls and stained them, people would definitely smoke tons here.
"So, how much did this place cost?" I asked.
"Um, well I think about forty thousand per month. We got the most expensive room since Aqua demanded a window, but hell of a lot better than those stables. Smelling horse shit every night nearly killed me."
"I see. That's good I guess."
He took us to the very back room and opened the door. The room was slightly larger than the rest seemed to be. About the size of a small bedroom.
Subaru went in first and seemed pretty disappointed. Then turned his attention to Kazuma and smirked, giving him a shoulder nudge. "You two are sharing a bed I see. Guess you two have always been close, didn't know you were that far along!"
"Shut up! We just don't have another choice. Can't afford a second room or bigger place and all."
"Yeah Yeah, I don't even wanna know what you're doing in the middle of the night. No wonder you're always awake so late in the day."
"If you lived with her you would understand."
"Stop arguing. We have more important things to worry about." I pushed past them and brought Megumin over to Aqua, who was fast asleep. Drooling on herself and muttering something in her sleep.
I lightly shook her shoulder to wake her up. It didn't work, so Kazuma stepped forward and said "I've got this. Not the first time today."
He did a quick stretch and a deep breath. "Alright." First he grabbed her cheeks and pulled as hard as he could. "This usually works."
Fortunately it did. She quickly rose and smacked his hands off her. "What was that about!" Changing mood quickly she gently set down her bottle of wine. Then went right back to flaming Kazuma. "Is a girl not allowed to sleep!?"
"Not right now. Here, they need you."
He stepped back and stood next to Subaru. Megumin and I stepped forward and I pointed to where Roswall hit her. "Roswall had put curses on her. According to Kazuma you can dispel it."
She raised her shaking hand and whispered something. A green glow grew and faded from her hand. "Well it's a good thing you brought her. This curse seems quite dramatic. The next time she would've used any magic it would've instantly killed her."
"What! Good thing I already used my explosion today. Or else both of us would have perished instantly."
"Anyway, stay there. Let me dispel this."
Aqua stood up and placed both hands on Megumin. "Sacred Dispel!"
The room flashed a bright blue for one second. Megumin looked like she just got roasted in an oven. Aqua had fainted and began to fall back, Kazuma caught her before she actually fell."Hey Megumin you alright?" I asked her.
"I-Im perfect."
Kazuma laid Aqua back down and sat on the bed by her. "Tommorows gonna be terrible." He sighed and flopped backwards.
"Well I guess we better be heading out. Be sure to thank Aqua for me. We will be here quite early tomorrow."
"Right."
We were leaving the room and Subaru turned around one more time. "Don't have too much fun tonight!" He smiled and shut the door behind us.
By now it was pretty late, not quite dark out but the sun was setting. We went to Rens, got dinner, then went back to our room for the night.
The morning started with Megumin shouting. "Rise my friends! We've got a general to obliterate!"
Subaru sat up and yawned. He peered out the window. "The sun hasn't even risen yet…". That was correct, it was still dark out. The only sigh that it was even morning was the stop across the street having just opened.
"Ahh well. I just thought an early start would be good."
"Too early." He laid back down and pulled a blanket over his head.
When it was actually time to get started the sun was out and a warm glow filled the streets. We walked over to Kazuma's inn and Subaru went over to their window. As always a thick layer of earth covered it entirely. Subaru knocked on the wall and shouted "Wake up time! We'll be at Rens so hurry up!"
"Sure, just a minute." We faintly heard him say.
I decided to leave Puck at the inn today. Despite his many objections I thought it would be the safest option for him. This would definitely be harder than the regular quest.
Luckily Scar wasn't there when we got to Rens. Must be too early for him. As always Martyn greeted us at the door and sat us at a table. Sometimes I wondered if these people even slept, everytime we came no matter what hour or day they were open.
Twenty minutes of waiting later the other two finally entered. We all ate breakfast and headed out for the woods.
After around two hours of walking we made it to the place Megumin always used her explosions. Subaru, Aqua, and Kazuma all waved us a temporary farewell and set off for the manor.
"Don't forget the signal!" Megumin shouted at them.
"I've got it! Don't worry!" Aqua yelled back.
And so we were set in for a long wait as the walk to the manor was quite aways.
Aqua POV: (Around an hour later)
My feet hurt and my back was sore. The sun beat down heavily through the trees. A fire demon was out here or something.
"Kazumaaa. Can you just carry me there?" I was already at least 20 feet behind them quickly losing ground.
"I don't see a reason to not. Might be a bit rough though."
"Really! You'll do it!" I ran up not caring about the needles piercing my entire lower half.
"Bind."
Before I could reach him a spiral of ropes wrapped around me and I hit the ground. Kazuma walked over and grabbed a loose rope. "Well this should do."
"Wait, this isn't what I wanted!"
"You didn't wanna walk did you?"
For a whole minute he dragged me on the dirt and grass as I bumped into sharp rocks and pointy sticks. He only stopped when Subaru told him to.
Now instead of just my legs burning up it was my whole body. My hoodie even got a bit torn, luckily it was only near my wrist though.
I wiped all the dusk and nasty stuff off my clothes and looked forward. They had waited for me for a minute and once I was ready we started walking again.
The rest of the way was the same. I suffered while the boys just talked and joked around. I didn't dare to ask for another favor from Kazuma. It couldn't go well.
Once we approached the manor, about a hundred feet away just in the forest we hid behind some trees. "So what are we doing?"
Subaru drew his sword and looked out at the manor. "Go clear the barrier. Once that is done I'll guard you two while we get out and send the signal."
"Right!" I looked out to see a good spot. I spotted the barrier powder sitting on the ground. "Kazuma! You're with me!"
I grabbed his hand and pulled him along with me to the gate. Worthless doing that though, he was only slowing me down. Once we made it to the barrier I tried touching it. Instantly I was shocked and fell backwards. A green wave of energy rose from the point and disappeared into a dome.
"Oi you alright?"
"Better than when you dragged me."
That was a lie though. My whole right arm went numb. I couldn't even move it. After another second my heart started beating, sweat started forming way more than before. I really couldn't move my arm.
No, it's okay. I still had one working arm. I just needed to clear this barrier. Raising my other arm I took a deep breath. "Spell break."
The spell sent some ripples through the dome and seemed to weaken it, but it still stayed intact. Right, it's okay. I just needed it to be stronger. "Sacred spell break! Sacred spell break!"
The barrier once again ripped, but this time huge cracks formed throughout it. Just a couple more. "Sacred spell break! Sacred spell break!"
At one the entire barrier shattered and the dust scattered everywhere getting into my eyes and nose. Immediately two guards ran out from the side door and charged at us.
Subaru came out from behind the tree and held his sword in front of them. "You two get a bit back. Kauzma, support me from behind."
"Sure." He responded standing up and getting ready to use magic.
I got up too and hid behind Kazuma, placing a hand on his shoulder. My mana was already super low from all the intense spell breaks, and I needed to save some for the signal. So I would be no help currently. A guard ducked down and shot off some magic. It was easily countered with a slash of the Skizz Blade. However the other guard hit him with a blast of flame.
After another few minutes they took down the guards. They were quite weak. Wonder why a general would hire someone like that.
We ran out back to the forest and I shot a beam of magic into the air. Just before we could get a bit farther away the two maid girls stood in the forest in front of us.
They stepped forward and Rem spoke.
"Nee-Sama Nee-Sama should we fend the intruders off?"
"Rem Rem. We must defend Roswall."
"Very well."
Rem reached into her dress, and somehow pulled a massive spikey ball and chain out. She came at us with breakneck speed swinging it with a wide sweep.
Subaru blocked it with his sword but quickly initiated us to back away. The only direction we had to run was the manor. Terrible timing if I might add. A giant blue beam of energy was heading towards the manor. But before it could reach the building, another blast, this time of fire was on an intercept course.
The two attacks met midair and repelled the flame, quickly overpowered the other and pushed it back to the origin. Then the incantation circle of Megumin's explosion formed in the sky.
Once again an attack from the maids came, this time both magic and ball chain. We dodged the ball but Subaru got hit by a flash of ice. His feet got frozen to the floor, unable to move them and without enough time to block the ball it hit him directly in the head.
Without enough time to react the explosion went off. Kazuma grabbed and shielded me from the blast. Then the high winds blew us away and we hit a tree.
Finally the smoke cleared, the manor was still standing but heavily damaged. She clearly took something, this explosion was at least double the size of normal.
Through the dust in the background I saw Ram approaching us. There was a glow emerging from her hands. I'll have to do something this time.
"God Requiem!"
My attack was a direct hit. Ram fell to the ground, her magic was stopped.
I think that drained the last of my mana… Slowly everything went black and I fell unconscious.
Author's Notes:
Might be awhile before the next chapter! This time I thought it would be fun to do from the girls' perspectives since Subaru and Kazumua have gotten the main POV's for the past 4 chapters. I won't be able to write much for the next week so assume about 2 and a half weeks for the next chapter.
Hope any readers have been enjoying this one so far, next chapters gonna be a big one! Until next time.