Chapter 103: An ally in need
Elsa had been locked up for quite some time, tortured by 'mother' for her betrayal all the way back when they had gone to the Mathers Mansion to find Sora.
She had been consumed by the curse doll though somehow Sora had managed to not only free her completely from the curse, but he also managed to revert her back before she had received the burns from the fire that was consuming the mansion.
She had taken a liking to Sora, drawn to the warmth he gave her—similar to Meili's, yet distinctly different.
That warmth was what ultimately led to her change of heart.
After this event had transpired, Capella had her eyes set in punishing both Elsa and Meili however when she had the chance to punish both, a certain petite woman had convinced her that this was an opportunity to cause some issues for the Emilia camp and for those in the capital of Lugnica.
The Witch's Cult took notice when the Organization attacked the capital at the start of the royal selection, effortlessly causing significant destruction.
This attracted Capella's attention as well as Petelguese's at the time, both impressed by the amount of damage the Organization had done towards the capital though very disappointed with the lack of casualties from that attack.
Though what had Capella's attention was at the keyblade wielder her 'daughter' had told her about.
("A boy with a key? Oh! That sounds like a fun meatbag to meet! When you know you see him again, let me know. I want to speak with them!")
("Of course, mother.")
Although in current time, she wouldn't do such a thing like lead 'mother' to the Keyblade Master, she doesn't regret leading her to him the first time since thanks to him, she was freed from Capella's grasp, her and Meili.
Despite being on the constant run from 'mother', that was better than the punishments received should they not meet her standards.
Unfortunate for her that she got captured by the Sin Archbishop of Lust, she's been enduring all the hell that her 'mother's' been waiting to do on her and Meili since their betrayal.
As she was being tourtured by Lust, she began to say:
"My, what a naughty meat bag daughter you've become!"
"..."
"What? Nothing to sa~y?" As Capella says this, she stabs Elsa in the gut, not liking that she's been remaining silent for so long. "You've been quite the discipline girl, enduring all of this and yet not saying a single word. What change, you worthless excuse of a daughter?"
"..." Elsa remained silent, she wasn't going to say a thing while also determine to stay alive since she was starting to lose conscious again.
Capella tilted her head as she saw once again that the Bowel Hunter was once again in between life and death.
This had been the fifth time that Elsa's body had not regenerate and since the goal isn't to kill her but to regain information, she once again pored her dragon blood on the wounds to heal them.
Despite the pain that caused, she remained silent as she didn't want to give 'mother' the satisfaction of hearing her in pain.
After the wounds started to heal, Capella was intrigued on her 'daughter's' ability to not transform from the amount of dragon blood she's given as well as the nerves of steel she has.
She crossed her arms and started to tilt her head even more so than usual until something came to mind.
"I see. That curse of yours is gone, destroyed." As Capella said this, she just laughed since it made things a bit interesting for her. "It explains the attitude for the past few meetings of ours, that so-called silent boring expression!"
As she finished saying this, she grabbed Elsa's jaw and held it up so she's facing her.
Right as she was doing this, she could see the determination, the fire within the Bowel Hunter's eyes, showing that despite the number of times she's been close to death these past few weeks and how much pain she must be in, she's still determined as ever.
Seeing this only made Capella smile with excitement since it's been some time since she's had the chance to deal with someone has determined.
"Oh, this is new for you! This has just gotten a lot more fun, meat bag!"
Capella without warning banged Elsa's head onto the wall behind her, causing a portion of her head to start bleeding due to the strength Capella put when having her head hit the wall.
As she was losing focus once again with her vision getting blurred, she remained determine to show no emotion.
Seeing that Elsa's expression continued to be blank, she started to beat her up, slowly losing her patience with her.
While Elsa was receiving a beatdown from 'mother', she started to think back on the first day she had met Sora in the slums.
She had seen him walking around, looking for someone at first but his attention was drawn towards the poor people there who were just letting the day pass by.
("There is nothing you can do for them, child.")
Although she still stands by those first words she said to him, she didn't think that this interaction would lead into the situation she's in now, a traitor to the organization she was working for.
If it wasn't for Capella beating her up as well as not wanting to give her any emotion, she would've smiled at this thought since she has no regrets.
"Aren't you quite the meat bag, pretending to be tough, to have no emotions like a doll, like one of those disgusting worms that greedy bastard use to have."
"..."
"You can remain silent all you want! You can have that doll like expression! But we both know that you used to be such a beautiful monster! A real piece of art, gutting and slicing without a care. And now? You're just a hollow imitation of a human. What did that boy do to change you this much into such a bore? Tell me about it! Make it fun, meat bag!"
"..."
Elsa continued to have a doll expression though a question her 'mother' had said did attracted her attention.
What exactly of Sora had caused her to turn?
Reflecting back on the events of the Roswaal L Mathers Mansion, she had the best opportunity of eliminating the Keyblade Master when he gave her a hug.
She was tempted to use that chance to stab him and yet, something inside of her had stopped her from ending him.
There was the conflict within herself, since Sora's hug gave out a warmth she hadn't felt, one that very few had tried to get from her since they that warmth is similar to when she disembowels her targets.
('Why? There have been people trying to achieve what this...amazing boy is doing...so why do I feel warmth...?')
She recalled her questioned she had asked before, having questioned why she had the feeling of hesitation, feeling of wanting to accept the warmth Sora was giving her.
This was something that had pondered on her for quite a while though after the events of the watchtower and having had a chance to meet a younger version of Sora, she had understood what made him special to her.
It wasn't just his innocence—it was the way he cared. Even when she stood against him, he still saw something worth saving.
Despite the two being on opposite sides in the beginning, with her attempting to kill Felt and Old Man Rom all the while Sora had placed himself in the situation to protect the two; the situation where she was assisting Meili in halting Sora and the others from saving the kids...despite that, he still cared for her deeply.
He refused to let her remain in the darkness, despite how she didn't want to change up until that hug.
That one heartwarming hug had reached her darkened heart and assisted in bringing her slightly towards the light.
'I've never seen myself a hero, nor will I ever be a hero, the warmth that bowels give will always be fascinating...but, despite that, I will never betray him.'
As this thought was on her mind, Capella could instantly see a flicker of life within Elsa's eyes, catching her attention and interest.
"There we go! That's what I want to see!" She says this with a sinister smile as she slams the Bowel Hunter's head onto the ground. Seeing the glimmer of hope brought her joy since her enjoyment is breaking that down until the only hope her victims have would be her. "Was it that boy? Were you think of him? Thinking that he'll come by to the rescue? That's so adorable and disgusting!"
At one point in time, Elsa Grainhart would've taken pride in those words, wearing the title of 'beautiful monster' like a badge of honor, since that's what she was.
Now, there wasn't any feeling on that title from 'mother', beautiful monster.
As this was on her mind, Capella landed another punch onto Elsa once again, breaking some ribs with this attack which did caused Elsa to have a reaction, coughing up some blood.
As the Sin Archbishop of Lust threw another punch towards the Bowel Hunter, there was a mix of emotions behind these latest punches, to a point that it's very hard to tell if she was angry or not.
Regardless, Elsa remained determined to not break no matter what happens with the one thing keeping her from succumbing to the hell 'mother' is throwing at her:
'Don't worry Sora Dear, I'll be fine. Just keep Meili safe.'
She was aware of Meili being sent away to avoid the full wrath of Capella in order to draw the Keyblade Master out towards Gusteko.
The last thing she wants is being used as bait and accepts if she eventually is killed here, since she knows that eventually she would be killed with the lie she lived both before and after that faithful night...funny, two different nights had changed the trajectory of her life.
The first was on a cold night, attempting to steal some food and drinks in an attempt of surviving the cold hellish night.
Unfortunately for this night, she was caught by the owner.
Although she attempted to flee into the blizzard, hoping that the cold could at the very least halt the owner long enough for her to escape, to her surprise the man was able to catch her.
She took a beating from him though before the man had a chance to violate her, she had managed to stab him in the gut, disemboweling him and saving herself from death though this moment changed her trajectory as she felt the warmth of the man's blood.
('...So thrilling!')
She recalled her thoughts as a rush of emotions came from doing this one action, which might have helped her live through the next few years.
The second night being the one that she's been mainly thinking about, being saved by Sora, the Keyblade's chosen one.
If being covered by the dead man and his blood and insides that saved her from the cold hellish night created the Bowel Hunter, the hug filled with love and care from Sora that gave her a similar warmth managed to bring back a part of her humanity that Meili's able to bring out of her.
With that in mind, there was only the wish of having Sora not fall for the bait and to let her die.
So long as she can keep Meili safe, she's fine in dying here.
'Keep her safe, Sora Dear. Don't try to save me. I'm content with my life. I lived such a thrilling life with no regrets!'
Sora and Louis Arneb worked together to take down the regular Witch Cultists.
Louis focused on defense, covering Sora while the Keyblade Master launched relentless attacks.
Any cultist who charged at them fell in an instant.
The two twin oni sisters worked together with one of the most aggressive offense against the Witch Cultists that dared to face the pair.
Kishida and Yabuto struggled a bit with Yabuto starting to run into issues due to his leg injury, curtesy of Todd Fang.
Although it had healed enough to allow him for a bit of running and some combat, a full fledge war is something that he can handle without assistance.
This forces Kishida to work much more on the defense for the two of them.
Although the two were in some trouble against the numerous of witch cultists coming at them, Roswaal from a distance has been giving them some assistance from a distance while also protecting Meili and Frufoo from any witch cultists that dare to come close to his location.
While it seems like Sora's group are having the advantage, they start to notice a few of the defeated witch cultists start getting back up.
Only Sora sensed a strong darkness coming from these witch cultists, prompting him to turn his attention towards those specific witch cultists.
As he was charging at them, a few other witch cultists started to seem like they were transforming which caught Rem and Ram's attention.
Kishida and Yabuto had also noticed this though they were more focus on staying alive as one of the cultist had nearly managed to land a killing blow onto Kishida if Yabuto hadn't managed to block the attack.
Although Yabuto saved his friend, he had ended up opening the injury from his leg which caused him to collapse in pain.
"Darn...didn't think...that would hurt...this much..."
"Don't worry, I'll protect you!" Kishida declared as he wasn't going to allow his friend die here, in the cold of a place his friend hates.
As the one handed knight prepared himself to fight against thirteen cultists that were charging at him, Yabuto collapsed, his leg screaming in pain.
The cold seeped into his bones, dragging him back to the days before his father saved him—when survival was all he knew.
He hated this kingdom.
Hated its frozen grip on his past.
But he couldn't die here.
Being put back in a state of survival had caused his senses to increase while feeling that nothingness once again, allowing him to ignore his injury and to get back up.
Kishida noticed this and was worried that Yabuto is pushing his leg beyond its capabilities, prompting him to say:
"Don't start going nuts with that injury of yours."
"..."
Yabuto didn't say anything for a moment before snapping out of his fight or flight response upon processing the words of Kishida.
He took a deep breath before having his sword ready for battle.
"I can't rest until we've rescued that crazy woman. Once that's done, then I'll give my leg a chance to heal once more."
"Don't be like Waraki, if you push yourself too far, you might damage your leg beyond it's injury, possibly leaving you unable to walk."
"I know, but leaving you all alone with the burden of fighting for the two of us could get you killed."
"..."
Kishida shook his head, seeing that they are as reckless as their friend Waraki, just a bit different.
He set himself into his fighting stance, prepared to fight all the while allowing his friend, Yabuto, to continue his fight.
Yabuto understood the worries of Kishida in regards to his leg, starting to feel the sting once again.
Despite this, he powered through the pain and prepared for a fight against the cultists rapidly approaching them.
Right as the two were about to get into a harsh battle, a barrage of fireballs hit all of the witch cultists closing in, burning them to a crisp.
The two knights were caught off guard at this sudden attack before noticing Roswaal floating in front of them, landing onto the ground.
"My My, you two seeeeem to be at your limit."
"We had it covered, Margrave." Kishida spoke with an annoyed expression and tone. Roswaal turned towards the knight with a slightly cocky smile before responding with:
"Peeeeerhaps you both shooooould rest. It would be ashamed if we loooooost either of you."
"..."
Both knights weren't happy with this, being sent to rest by the Margrave...though considering how they are starting to be pushed towards their limit, they do acknowledge this as a chance to regain their strength.
Reluctantly they accepted Roswaal's words of taking this chance to rest, prompting Kishida to unsheathe his sword before assisting Yabuto in walking towards the direction of the wagon.
Right as they were doing this, a witch cultist they had thought was taken down by their sword had managed to get up and prepared to strike Yabuto down while he and Kishida had their guard down.
Right as it seemed like they were going to get caught by the cultist's attack, a mabeast jumped in between the two and ripped the cultist apart.
The knights were taken aback by this scenary, knights being saved by a mabeast. It didn't take too long to figured that this was Meili's doing.
The two turned towards the direction of the wagon to see a couple of Mabeast guarding both Frufoo and Meili from the cultists trying to reach them. During the initial fight starting, Meili had noticed some mabeast nearby, prompting her to ask Roswaal to assist in getting their attention.
Once he did, she used her divine protection to get their assistance to protect not only her but Frufoo from any witch cultists.
The ground dragon wasn't enjoying this though Frufoo understood that Meili is attempting to help by having Roswaal not worry too much on them since the mabeast can keep any witch cultists distracted or pushed back from attacking the two.
Since this allowed Roswaal a chance to best assist Sora and the others without having to stay behind the entire time, he spotted the issue with Kishida and Yabuto being cornered.
With that coming full circle, Meili noticed the two and quickly had the mabeast near the pair to protect them while they were making their way towards her and Frufoo's position.
While this was going on, Roswaal turned his attention towards Sora, seeing that he was in a hurry in closing the gap between himself and some witch cultists that were getting back up.
He had noticed it a bit odd though seeing that Sora was prioritizing on them made him think that they might be more of a problem than they expect.
He floated right towards the direction of the witch cultists though waited for Sora to make the first move.
Once the Keyblade Master had closed the distance, he swung his keyblade at one of the cultists only for this attack to be countered by a sudden dark shield.
Sora was surprised momentarily before quickly adapting to this new issue by jumping away as he sensed the cultist preparing for a counter.
Dodging the counterattack, Sora pointed his Keyblade at the cultist.
"Fira!"
A fireball formed at the tip and shot forward in an instant.
Right before the fireball could reach its target, the cultist disappeared from where it was standing and managed to get right behind Sora.
The Keyblade Master noticed this and quickly turned around in an attempt to block whatever attack was about to be thrown towards him.
Before the cultist had the chance to even throw an attack, Louis Arneb was able to intercept this and land a powerful blow onto said witch cultist.
This stunned the cultist long enough for Sora to land a hit with his Kingdom Key onto the cultist with everything he has, causing the cultist's darkness to disappear before also beginning to disappear itself.
Seeing this prompted Sora to immediately charge at the other cultists with dark auras around them with Louis right behind him.
As the two deal with the witch cultists with darkness in their hearts that are allowing them to put up a genuine fight with the pair, Rem and Ram noticed the witch cultists beginning to change into monstrous creatures, completely detestable to see.
The two were taken aback as well as disgusted before getting ready for a fight as the monster cultists started to charge at them.
Both nod at each other, knowing the combo they are about to pull off.
Right before starting, Ram takes this chance to use an Ether in order to restore her waning mana for this upcoming attack.
Rem moved her hand towards the direction of the monstrous cultists before using Ul Huma, creating and shoots three pillars of ice, with each being thick as a hundred spears bundled together.
As these were sent flying towards the monstrous cultists, Ram quickly followed up with using Ul Fura, which creates around her blades of wind.
Upon these blades being formalized, she sends them flying towards Rem's three pillars of ice.
Right as the three pillars were right in the middle of the cultists, Ram's blades of wind hit with enough force to the three pillars which caused them to not only shatter into pieces from the impact but also started to send ice shards all around the area, hitting all of the monstrous cultists with enough force to cut through some of the cultists limbs.
Although some had minor injuries and others received what seem like life threatening injuries, they began to heal up in a rapid pace.
This was alarming since having any witch cultist regenerate is a problem, having multiple of them in a monster form is more than problematic.
Seeing that long range attacks may not work, the two maids had their weapons ready for a close-range fight.
Rem pulled out her Morningstar all the while Ram pulled out her wand, ready to give it their all.
Right before they charged at the cultists, Roswaal approach the two which caught their attention.
He had prepared to aid Sora and Louis Arneb though he noticed what his two maids were doing and was impressed by their combine attack though he saw the same problem they saw, prompting him to go and assist them out.
"My Myyyyyy, what do we have heeeere?"
"Roswaal-sama." Ram spoke with respect, a little bit surprised to see him there.
"Cultists." Rem responded to Roswaal's question in a blank yet respectful tone.
Roswaal looked at his two maids before turning towards the monstrous cultists.
"Well then, alloooooooow me to lend you both a hand." Roswaal spoke calmly and with a confident expression as he began to prepare his sixfold magic.
Although this was a bit overkill since this type of magic rivals the Beast of the End, he can sense that it's best to be sure of eliminating these abominations.
As his ability was able to do this, he was a bit intrigued when a few were able to regenerate from just a little piece of their body.
It only took him a moment to realize that these monster cultists were changed through some means from the Sin Archbishop of Lust.
'That Sin Archbishop is sure quite the handle full.' Roswaal thinks of this right as he prepared to throw another overpowered attack to end these remaining cultists from existing, yet he paused when he noticed both his maids charging in.
He watched as the two oni sisters closed the gap between themselves and the abominations before beginning to do some close-range damage.
Although Ram is limited on how much of her oni power she can use before it starts to cause damage to her, she made sure to use it on the right moment.
This was to avoid the drawback but also land as much damage as possible to a monster opponent.
Rem immediately brought out her oni horn, increasing her strength and speed in order to have an advantage on the closest cultist.
Right as the two reach their respective targets, they don't hesitate in landing their strongest attacks which blows their respective opponents away, leaving them with half their body intact.
Right as both sisters were about to make a follow up attack, the two cultists attempted to return the favor by counter attacking.
The two oni sisters didn't sense that the attacks were something to worry about and easily dodged the attacks before landing a following attack on their opponents.
This attack delivered the same kind of blow though both were surprised to see the cultists regenerating from the two attacks.
Before either sister had a chance to try another attack, Roswaal quickly fired separate attacks to the two cultists, obliterating them right before they had the chance of regenerating fully.
Rem and Ram were surprised by this, not expecting their boss to intercept their fight.
Ram bowed in respect towards Roswaal, appreciating his assistance before her and her sister turned towards Sora's direction, seeing him and Louis Arneb managing to defeat the last few remaining witch cultists.
Just as the battle seemed to be reaching its end, the air itself trembled. Shadows swirled unnaturally, coiling together like a vortex of darkness.
Then, from the abyss, an enormous hand clawed its way into reality, slamming down with a thunderous crash that shook the battlefield.
A towering figure began to rise, its glowing yellow eyes piercing through the black mist.
The ground cracked beneath its weight as it fully emerged—standing before them was a giant darkness form, unclear on what type of heartless it is at first.
Before the monstrous figure could fully reveal itself, Sora's instincts kicked in.
He grabbed Louis and leaped back just as a massive fist crashed down where they stood.
The shockwave rippled through the battlefield, forcing them to brace themselves.
As the dust settled, the creature's form became unmistakable—it was a Darkside type Heartless.
Sora wasn't surprised by this revelation, seeing that this is the only type of heartless that would have a giant fist targeted at him.
The only thing that had his attention was the speed the Darkside type heartless was moving when throwing that punch.
'This heartless...it isn't normal like the others...' A chill ran down Sora's spine upon thinking this.
He had fought countless Darksides before, but never one that moved like this.
He tightened his grip on the Keyblade, prepared for battle against this stronger heartless along with Louis Arneb.
As the two prepare to jump in to begin their match with the heartless, Rem and Ram started the assault on the Darkside type heartless with range attacks of El Huma from Rem and El Fura from Ram.
This stunned the heartless though it didn't do much outside of that, prompting Roswaal to follow up with an attack of his own, the sixfold magic.
Despite how much mana this takes, Roswaal's mana count is absurdly high that pulling this attack a few more times won't cause him much if at all any trouble.
As he landed his attack onto the heartless, it looked to have been affected as it nearly fell on its back side.
Sora saw this as an opportunity to land a hit of his own, prompting him to charge right at the heartless.
Upon closing the gap within a few seconds right near the heartless's head, he swung his keyblade with all the strength he could muster.
Once landing his attack, a sudden glow flashed in the Heartless's eyes, a warning that came too late; Before Sora could react, a massive force slammed into him, sending him hurtling through the air.
He disappeared into the treetops, his silhouette vanishing against the darkened sky.
A distant crash echoed moments later, leaving everyone stunned by what had transpired.
"Sora-kun!" Both Louis and Rem shouted, left in sudden shocked by seeing the person they care about take such a destructive hit.
Rem's eyes were left with pure anger, an emotion that easily overpower any other emotion that was going through her mind; letting this rage guide her to charging at the heartless with everything her oni strength she can muster.
The second she was in close range, she threw her morningstar with all of her strength in an attempt to destroy the heartless's head as retribution for harming her Sora.
Once this attack landed, it looked like it had done some damage to the heartless though not enough to stun it like Roswaal's attacks.
This prompted the heartless to respond to Rem's attack in kind and immediately swung its right fist towards her with great speed.
Rem was left stunned while this was happening, seeing death right in front of her once again.
The last time something like this she felt was that fateful night, the night everything had changed for her and her sister.
Seeing this heartless poses such strength to leave her helpless made her angry...though despite this feeling of rage, her body just wouldn't react.
'I-I have to move...I can't die here...I can't!'
Right as it seemed like it was about to connect, Louis Arneb in the last moment managed to reach Rem's position with all of her strength and grabbed her arm in order to pull her right out of the heartless's attack right on the nick of time.
The second they had moved out of the way, the fist connected to the ground, leaving a large crater in a shape of the heartless's large fist.
Ram saw this and was thankful for Louis doing that since she was about to save her sister, which also allowed her to have enough for one big attack with all her remaining mana and her oni strength before it begins to cause her harm.
Ram steadied herself, her breaths sharp and uneven.
She had one shot left—one final attack before her body gave out.
Summoning the last of her strength, she forced her depleted mana to surge through her body, reigniting the power she had long lost.
A violent wind swirled around her, cutting through the battlefield like invisible blades. The Darkside Heartless froze, its glowing eyes locking onto her.
It sensed the danger.
Ram raised her wand, her voice ringing through the chaos:
"Al Fura!"
The air howled as a wave of wind blades erupted from her position, tearing across the battlefield with terrifying force.
The sheer pressure split the ground beneath her feet, sending debris flying in all directions.
Yabuto, Kishida, and Meili watching from a distance were in awe by the power the pink haired oni maid was showing, leaving them more than impressed.
The Darkside type heartless barely had time to react as it crossed its massive arms in defense, however the storm struck with full force.
The impact sent it skidding backward, deep gashes forming along its shadowed body.
For a moment, the battlefield stood still before Ram exhaled sharply, her vision blurring.
A sharp pain flared through her skull—her forehead, where her horn had once been, now bleeding from the sheer strain of the magic.
Her knees buckled.
'Too much... That was too much.'
She collapsed, defenseless.
The heartless shifted, its massive form looming over her.
Its eyes burned with primal malice, recognizing her as more than a threat. It raised its fist, preparing to crush her where she knelt.
Ram barely had the strength to lift her head.
Just before the fist could come crashing down, a flash of blue and gold cut through the air.
Roswaal L Mathers.
A surge of sixfold magic intercepted the Heartless's attack, forcing it to redirect its focus.
As its glowing eyes snapped toward the Margrave, a deathly aura surrounded him.
He hovered above, his usual playful demeanor gone.
"Oh my, oh myyyyy~... That was quiiiiite reckless of you, dear Ram." His voice carried an eerie amusement. Ram looked down while responding with:
"Apologies...Roswaal-sama..."
Roswaal just smiled at his maid, proud at the sheer power she had shown and how she's still conscious after giving the heartless everything she had...though the second he turned his eyes at the heartless, a sheer intensity was created to show that he's no longer playing around from here on out.
The moment the heartless locked its yellow eyes at the Margrave, it immediately started to go on the offensive, perceiving him as the same threat level as Ram.
Upon swinging his first attack at him, Roswaal barely managed to avoid it through flight.
He began to understand why the Keyblade Master was caught off guard by the attack, prompting a death like aura to surround him as he was about to go all out as well.
While Roswaal began to use high tier magic against the heartless, Rem checked on her sister as Ram was still stunned from overusing her oni power.
She wasn't the only one that went to check on her but also Louis Arneb, worried for the pink haired oin maid's sake.
While the two assisted Ram in getting back up on her feet, Yabuto and Kishida observed the fight as spectators, seeing that they are completely outclassed in this particular fight.
Meili and Frufoo were also looking over the fight and were both in shock and amazed by the power being shown.
Meili knew that she wasn't able to help much in the fight originally due to how oddly strong the cultists Sora, Louis, Rem, and Ram took on would be too much for her mabeasts to handle, now having a heartless that can be on the same level as Roswaal L Mathers and Sora makes her feel more useless.
Despite that feeling being in her mind, she was wondering if she should send a few of her remaining mabeast to check on the Keyblade Master.
"Should we go and check on the Keyblade Master?"
The two knights turned towards the mabeast tamer, noticing the concern in her voice.
They looked for a moment before turning back at the fight, watching how the Margrave was managing to land some powerful blows onto the heartless all the while avoiding any of its attacks.
The two were silent for a moment before Yabuto responded to Meili's question with:
"I think he'll be fine."
"Fine? After that attack he took?" Meili questioned.
"If he's anything like that stubborn rookie, he'll get back up." Kishida spoke with a confident smile, leaving Meili slightly puzzled.
His response lingered in her mind, but before she could dwell on it, movement caught her attention.
Rem and Louis Arneb were approaching, carrying Ram between them.
The sight prompted the two knights to rush forward, assisting in getting Ram to safety.
Meanwhile, Meili took charge, commanding the mabeasts to shield them from any stray attacks coming from the clash between the Darkside-type Heartless and the Margrave.
As the creatures moved into position, forming a protective barrier around Rem, Ram, Louis, Yabuto, and Kishida, Meili's gaze drifted toward the spot where Sora had been sent flying.
For a moment, worry flickered in her chest.
She had seen the Keyblade Master take a devastating hit, a hit that should have been lethal.
But then she thought of the trust everyone placed in him.
If they believed in Sora, then she would, too.
Her expression hardened, concern giving way to quiet confidence.
'Don't you dare die yet, onee-san needs you.'
As she thought of this, Roswaal continued to provide pressure on the heartless, managing to slowly wear it down.
He continued to attack with various different magic abilities, waiting for the right chance to use his sixfold magic once again as the final attack that would for sure put an end to this heartless.
As he was putting more and more pressure on the heartless, he saw his opening and quickly took the chance in putting an end to this fight.
The second he casted the sixfold magic and had it sent towards the heartless, said heartless immediately threw a punch right onto the magic attack.
Just as the Heartless's massive fist barreled toward Roswaal, a blur of motion intercepted the attack at the last possible second.
A resounding clash echoed across the battlefield as a Keyblade met the monstrous blow, barely holding it back.
Roswaal's eyes widened slightly before his usual smirk returned. "Myyyy, myyyyy~ Quite the draaaamatic entrance."
Standing between him and the Heartless's crushing strike was none other than Sora.
His stance was firm despite the blood trickling down the side of his face, remnants of the earlier attack.
Rem and Louis Arneb, watching from a distance, felt a surge of relief—Sora was still standing.
Sora let out a sharp breath, his grip tightening on the Keyblade.
He couldn't let the Heartless land another hit, especially since the first hit he barely was able to withstand it.
If anything, the left side of his head that's bleeding is a show of just how close to death he was in. With a powerful push, he redirected the creature's fist away, forcing it off balance.
Without hesitation, he lunged forward, closing the distance between himself and the heartless in an instant.
'I have to end this now. If it lands another hit—on me or anyone else—it's over!'
That thought burned in his mind as he leaped toward the Heartless's head.
Channeling every ounce of strength left in his body, he struck with a devastating blow.
The impact stunned the creature, its form flickering with instability which opened an opening for a follow up attack.
Seeing this prompted him to use formchange into the Second Form in order for this next attack to put an end to this particular fight.
Right as he goes for the finishing blow, all his mind could think of is how he can't be wasting anymore time before it's too late.
'I have to hurry! I can't let Elsa down! I refuse to let her down!'
Motivated to save her, the Bowel Hunter Elsa Grainhart, Sora swings Kingdom Key with beyond his normal strength and lands the final blow on the top of the heartless's head.
This was enough to cause the heartless to start fading away, having finally been bested by Sora and his allies.
Right before it would fully disappear into thin air, it tried one last time to attack the Keyblade Master, wanting to bring him down along with it.
Sora noticed this attack, yet his body was strained from the amount of force he used in the last attack, leaving him at the mercy of the heartless.
However, before the attack could actually land and put an end to Sora, both Rem and Louis Arneb saw the attack right before it swung its giant fist and had managed to work together to save their precious Keyblade Wielder.
The two jumped high with Louis using her strength to push Rem with enough force to allow the blue haired oni maid to reach the Keyblade Master.
The moment she reached him; she quickly pulled him right out of the range of the heartless's punch.
Right as she managed to save her love, she hugged him tightly the second she noticed the injury he had received from the heartless.
Although it pained her to see her love being hurt, she's grateful that he's still alive. She gave him a kiss in the forehead before quickly managing to land onto the snowy ground.
Once she managed to land safely with Sora in her arms, she turned towards the heartless to be sure that it didn't try to attack them again.
Upon looking at the Darkside heartless, she saw it completely disappear with a large heart appearing for a moment before disappearing as well a few seconds later.
It had been some time since seeing a heart released from a heartless though it's always oddly peaceful when that happens. She turned towards her love to ask:
"Are you okay?"
"Yes...I'm okay." Sora said as he got back on his feet, keeping his confident smile.
Although the side of his head that's bleeding a bit still stung badly, that pain didn't matter since he knew his friends are still alive.
This brought him joy...for a few seconds before they were all alerted by a large door opening in the direction of the Witch Cultist's base.
Everyone turned towards the direction of the noise and noticed a few giant witch cultists leaving the base.
Seeing this prompted Kishida, Louis Arneb, and Meili to be the first to prepare for a fight, knowing that the others needed time to recover.
Rem stood in front of Sora with Morningstar out and ready for not only a fight but to also protect her love.
Sora saw these cultists approaching them though that wasn't the focus on his mind, it was the door into the base that had his attention.
'Elsa...'
He can sense his heart telling him that she's in there, that he needs to move now. He swiftly turns towards Rem and tells her:
"Elsa's right through those doors, I can sense the connection. But it's fading fast."
"..." Rem was silent for a second, quickly processing what her love had just said before nodding, understanding that it's now or never.
Louis also caught on to what Sora had said, prompting her to assist Rem in charging right towards the giant cultists to give the Keyblade Master an opening for him to enter the Witch cult's base.
Kishida noticed this and quickly joined in assisting the pair with Meili commanding some mabeasts to be by Sora's side, their task being to protect him while the others assist her in finding a way to help in taking down the giant cultists.
Roswaal looked and although he could assist, he chose to have his role be back on defense as he tasks himself in taking care of Ram, Yabuto, and Frufoo.
Although helping Sora wouldn't take much effort since the two are the strongest of the group, he knows that the Keyblade Master can handle the task of rescuing the Bowel Hunter all on his own.
'This is a task you must complete all on your own, Keyblade Master Sora.'
Not only did Roswaal had this exact thought but so did Yabuto, Kishida, Ram, and even Rem; despite her distrust towards the Bowel Hunter, more especially thanks to the added memories of Natsuki Subaru's books of the dead, she knows that her love still has a strong connection to her despite it all.
Even though Sora also witnessed the other loops where not only did she not change but she managed to kill him in one loop, he still believed in Elsa Grainhart.
Knowing this and that this is mainly Sora's mission of saving Elsa Grainhart, she decided to help her love by stalling the giant cultists from blocking his path.
As her along with Kishida and Louis Arneb were able to distract the cultists, Sora saw his opening and with all of his remaining strength he ran right past them, entrusting that they can handle these witch cultists without his aid.
Right after passing the three, a few mabeasts followed him into the building. Louis Arneb prepared to follow though she noticed how Rem remained here in the outside, fighting off the cultists.
This made her quickly realize that she's placing her faith in Sora to handle the rest while they help him by taking down these cultists from what seems like to be from the many arms tribe.
The previous Sin Archbishop of Gluttony steeled herself as she assisted Rem in taking on one of the cultists all the while thinking to herself,
'Be careful in there, Sora-san~tsu.'
Author's note:
Apologies how long these chapters are coming out, being months apart. Since Season 3 had started, I did started to rewrite some of the chapters that cover arc 5, which I will continue after the next chapter I post since I have ideas to continue the current "arc 8" of this series. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.