A/N: Hello and welcome to apex of this loop and of this mini-arc! This one is a little bit longer then usual but its packed with action! This chapter was very fun to write so I hope you all enjoy it! Unfortunately though, due to FFnet not allowing image embedding, the piece of art I had commissioned for this chapter won't be visible to readers on here, but will be on the other sites this fic is hosted on. Its a very nice image of Rem in the festival outfit she is wearing, so I highly encourage seeking it out!
Chapter 69: The Endless Eight – Part 15
As the second strike of the gong echoed out into the crisp night air, the three that were set to take the stage emerged from behind the curtain. Letting Emilia take the first several paces out, YN and Subaru followed suit behind her, keeping their distance uniform as she proceeded down the runway to its edge. From there, Emilia hoped to project her voice to as many as she could, being in the very center of the crowd that had gathered.
Walking down the runway, YN did his best to keep his back straight, and his face expressionless. The less attention he drew to himself, the more would be on Emilia. Keeping his hands behind his back, Subaru noticed this and copied it, hoping to keep a uniform appearance.
Reaching the end of the runway, Emilia came to a stop, and so did the two that followed her. Perhaps maybe only arms length away, they seemed to be more like security guards then they were confidants of the royal candidate.
As Emilia cleared her throat and swallowed her nervousness, YN's eyes scanned the crowd.
First seeing Julio, he was off to Subaru's side of the runway. Arms crossed and swords barely visible under the dark cloak he now wore, YN would not have recognized him had his large pair of spectacles not reflected the lantern might all around them under his conical straw hat.
He's obviously lived up to his words yet again, but that get-up is new...
Scanning those around him more, his eyes caught the familiar hue of blue that always set the chemicals in his brain to a state of relief and relaxation.
Standing just off to his side of the runway was the maid who held his heart. Still wearing her beautiful pink dress, Rem smiled at YN. Bringing a hand up through, she blew a kiss aimed right for him, causing his face to turn a slight shade of scarlet.
She's teasing me with that, isn't she?!
But, seeing as Emilia was done preparing herself, YN turned all his attention not to her, but to the outskirts of the festival.
Waiting.
Watching.
Anticipating the arrival of the shape-shifting monster.
Clearing her throat once more, louder, Emilia bowed, causing the crowd to go silent, and to signify the start of her speech.
Straightening herself, she looked back to YN. Catching her glance as he turned his vision back up from Rem, Emilia quickly looked away again.
She looked kinda nervous...
The last time YN had seen Emilia speak, she had started strong, but had begun to falter once the heckling had begun. This time however—
Emilia: H-Hello, thank you all f-for coming here tonight. To the festival—, a-and to hear me speak!
Holding her hands closely together, she fidgeted with her fingers as her knees slightly buckled inward, and her pointed elf ears began to turn red, along with the rest of her face.
Emilia: I— I—, umm...
With her words failing her, Emilia shut her eyes and tried to regain her composure. Doing so though, this was obvious to the crowd, which had begun a light murmur upon seeing the struggling speaker.
But to her rear, someone had taken a half step forward, and said her name. Softly, just loud enough for her to hear.
?: Emilia.
Almost startled by the sound of her own name, Emilia spun her head around to see who had spoken it.
Standing closest to her by a single pace next to YN, he looked upon the half elf with a stern look. Quietly, and only being audible to herself, Emilia responded.
Emilia: Suba...ru?
Meeting her gaze, he only gave her a simple nod, for even he knew that conversing here up on stage wasn't the time for a pep talk. He had to inspire as much confidence in her as he could hope to with a single gaze and a nod.
Seeing a twinkle form in Emilia's eyes, she returned her attention to the crowd. Bowing once more, she straightened herself out once more, and spoke with a renewed sense.
Emilia: I would like to introduce myself.
Reacting to her sudden change in tone, the crowd's murmur stopped, and all attention was now paid to her once more. With eager eyes and baited breath, the many people of the festival awaited what this guest had to say to them.
Emilia: My name is Emilia, and I would like to announce that I am one of the candidates to become the King of—
*CRASH*
Just as she had begun to speak with the confidence and prowess expected of someone to take the throne, a large crash from far beyond the festival grounds, cutting off Emilia's words and taking most of the crowd's attention away from her.
Swallowing his anxiety, YN looked to the spot Julio had been.
Gone. Which only meant one thing.
YN: Tch! Here it finally comes.
Hearing his reaction, Subaru looked over to YN, surprised at his reaction. Noticing Subaru was also aware now, YN gestured towards Emilia.
YN: Let's go, secure Emilia-sama.
Nodding in agreement, Subaru and YN approached Emilia.
Turning at hearing those words though, Emilia had begun to protest immediately.
Emilia: Subaru—! YN—! I have to finish what I'm saying first—
*CRASH*
With all three up on stage locking in on the source of a second crashing sound, all but YN were shocked to see its origin.
Standing atop a ruined set of stalls, already burning from their collapsed lanterns, was the multi-armed monster of YN's memory. With four arms stretching out wide, it craned its head about as people in the crowd began to move away, the shock of such a display still ingrained in many of them, preventing them from running immediately.
With its vision coming across those up on stage, it's four hands curled into fists as it bent its knees, ready to charge. Acknowledging it's provocation, Subaru and YN both stepped in front of Emilia.
Launching itself forward with a mighty leap, the beast quickly covered ground as the crowd only narrowly removed itself from its path. Having located its target, YN knew everything that mattered, was starting now.
YN: Subaru, now!
Subaru: Right—!
Taking Emilia's hand, Subaru had managed to surprise her a second time in only a brief setting.. Giving Emilia one final look of confidence, Subaru uttered the word needed to give him and Emilia a chance to escape.
Subaru: Shamak!
Instantly engulfing the stage in a sea of inky black, YN heard the two rush back down the runway past him as he would now need to split away on his own, as this spell wouldn't last long. Or fool the beast enough for that matter, that's for sure.
No! It's happening again!
Just like last time when caught inside a cloud of yin magic, YN's gate seemed to be outputting reserves of his yang magic, and its effects were already weakening the concealment of the spell. If Subaru had just set off a smoke bomb, he was being the equivalent of a vacuum cleaner, his mere presence of was enough to dissolve the shrouding cloak of inky darkness.
If this goes away too quickly, Subaru and Emilia can't make a clean escape!
While knowing full and well he was the intended target of the beast's assault, YN needed to make it appear as if Emilia was the target, if only to prevent suspicion.
Readying mana in his palm, YN needed to somehow delay the monster, no matter what it took.
YN: Jiwald!
Sending the scorching rays of heat towards his foe, the monster raised up its two upper arms, directly taking the heat and shielding the rest of its body.
Leaving a wave of heat and rising white smoke from its blasted forearms, the beast resumed its charge towards YN, extending one of the arms out, not to hit or slap him, but to grasp him.
YN: Arg!
With his offensive move being unsuccessful, YN needed to change strategies, but was quickly out of time as the open hand reaching for him had left him little opportunity for escape.
I have to dodge at the last second or else I'm screwed! One of the other arms will get me for sure!
Bending his knees, ready to throw himself off the stage, YN did his best to time the grab when—
?: Heeya!
Hearing the sound of another oncoming attack, the beast redirected its arms at the source of the cry, narrowly blocking the two lightning fast slashes that followed. YN was only able to witness two reflections of light from a blurry dark figure before it was repelled away by the beast using its same, previously scorched forearms.
Twirling and spinning midair as the figure recoiled from being pushed back, it skidded to a halt across the festival grounds. Having fully stopped its motion, YN was finally able to tell just who it was.
While his conical hat still concealed his face at the angle he held his head, the stance and the style of his two short swords being held in a backhand style made it obvious.
Julio!
As the beast turned its footing to acknowledge the swordsman as its opponent, Julio reached for the long black cloak over his body, and twirled it off himself. Spinning it as he removed it, he made use of its large surface area as it expanded from the rotational energy. Twirling it in front of himself he released it, but before it could fall to the ground, like a discus puck, Julio roared as he removed his conical hat as well, throwing right into the fully open and expanded cloak which was now concealing him from direct view of the monster.
Being projected forward toward the beast like a frisbee, the hat caught the cloak, and in the eyes of the monster, appeared as if Julio himself had jumped toward it himself. Extending out its lower arms to the incoming "Julio", the real one jumped back into action.
Projecting himself faster than he had thrown the hat, Julio created an illusion of false speed. Just as the cloaked hat was halfway between where Julio had originally been and where the beast continued to stand, Julio slashed his way through his discarded garments with one sword, and readied the other to strike, catching the beast off guard, not expecting the sudden velocity increase.
Seeing it was in jeopardy, the multi-armed monster haphazardly raised one of its upper arms to bear the impact.
Sinking his sword directly into the beast's open hand, Julio was stopped by its continued strength. Even with his sword sunk all the way through and piercing through to the other side, the beast was not ready to give up.
Flailing its arm about, Julio was unable to hang on. Being forced to leave his sword embedded in the monster, he once again spun, twisted in midair and came to a grinding halt, this time on one knee, gasping for air in his exhaustion.
YN: Julio!
Julio: Go! I'm not as chipper as I once was, but even these old bones can keep this behemoth busy long enough for you to escape!
Knowing he had no time to argue, YN turned to run in the direction of where the ground dragon and carriage would be waiting, previously set up by Subaru in their discussion.
Wait!
Realizing he had failed to see where Rem had gone, either with Subaru and Emilia or not, YN needed to make sure she wasn't anywhere and looking about, he had expected the beast to continue to keep its attention on Julio, yet instead, a shadow quickly descended upon YN.
The monster had chased him, and he had just let it catch up to him.
About to be grabbed, the shadow quickly subsided as a familiar hue of blue rushed past his peripheral vision, followed by the sound of rattling chains and rusty pipes.
Beating back the beast's lower open palm, Rem stepped between it and YN. With her horn fully in view and her teeth and fangs bared, Rem yanked back her morningstar with anger.
Rem: Don't you dare try to take Rem's YN-kun!
Seeing she was fully enraged, YN hesitated on whether he should reach out to her and pull her away from a fight he knew she couldn't win.
Reaching back, Rem launched another strike with her morningstar, which was only intercepted and caught by one of its lower arms.
Rem: Try and block all of this with only two arms! El Huma!
Summoning many spears of ice at once, Rem launched them forward towards the beast in an attempt to overwhelm it, but to much of her dismay, it charged towards her in retaliation, shrugging off the ice projectiles.
Stepping back and taking YN's wrist, Rem struggled to find an outlet in the brief handful of seconds she had until—
Julio: Focus on me!
Hoping to redirect the beast's attention back to him, Julio launched towards the beast once more.
Having none of it though, the multi-armed monster simply backhanded the incoming Julio, who had not retained his formal levels of velocity with his weakened state. Flinging him across the ground, Julio rolled to a stop.
Seeing he was dispatched for a while at least now, the monster turned its attention back onto Rem, who still had the head of her morningstar held by it. Suddenly yanking it forward, Rem, and YN by Rem's own grip on him still, were pulled forward suddenly and violently. But with Rem getting the worst of it, she fell to her knees, right before the monster.
Raising it's one free upper arm high above itself, the beast was set to crush Rem under its fist where she was.
YN: Rem!
Yelling aloud, YN, full of panic and fear, placed himself between her and the monster.
There was no time to grab her, or push her, or pull her away.
Raising both of his own hands up in the air, aimed at the beast, YN didn't intend to catch the fist, or try to block it.
I will protect Rem! I must!
Pouring what felt like every bit of mana in his body between his two outstretched palms as quickly as he could, YN had no time to focus on the precision of his work.
But, even with all his mana being utilized, he felt it was insufficient.
This isn't enough to do anything! Damn it!
With the sensation of hopelessness only lasting for a microsecond, a faint white flash spun around YN's vision. Unable to understand why, or what it was given his current situation, he suddenly found himself with a great amount of mana at his disposal.
Where did—? No, no that's for later.
Unsure if he had tapped some kind of reserve, YN at least knew this wasn't a byproduct of using his Od like the last time he ran out of mana, this was genuine energy he had all of a sudden.
Utilizing it, YN poured all of it into his palms and fired it off as haphazardly, yet promptly as he could.
YN: Jiwald!
Releasing two wide, uncontrolled Jiwalds up to the beast, with one hand indisposed with a sword through it, one launching a strike, and two occupied with Rem's morningstar and chain, it had no arms left to block.
As Julio looked up from where he laid on the ground, the brilliant white light nearly blinded him. From his perspective, the beast that towered over YN who was shielding Rem, and with his hands reaching up high to protect her, Julio was overwhelmed by a flashback to his final days in the demi-human rebellion.
Having been struck down much like was now, his troop had been ambushed by a large mabeast while on a reconnaissance task inside enemy territory. Just like how Rem was currently, so had been one of his comrades. As the towering mabeast had gone to strike its killing blow, someone had come to save them.
With a flash of white, he saw that one person, defiant, yet willing to risk themselves to protect others.
It had been the only time he had seen their handy work on the battlefield, and although they were a great enemy, they had been gallant enough to save what would have been an enemy to them otherwise. For that, he respected this person more than almost anyone else, and had been one of his reasons for leaving the war altogether.
Standing tall as they did, protecting the vulnerable, Julio smiled as he drew the parallel between YN and the one in his memory, the one who had ended the demi-human war.
Julio: I can still recall that day... He's just like her right now...
Smiling through the pain, Julio spoke softly to himself as the blinding white light of YN's yang magic engulfed the monster and the surrounding area.
Julio: Just like the former Sword Saint...
Having unleashed more mana then he ever thought he could hope to, YN fired off his two Jiwalds, one from each palm. But with the light subsiding, he could instantly tell it wasn't enough to disintegrate the multi-armed monster.
Having dropped both the morningstar and its chain, the beast recoiled backwards nonetheless, rubbing its eyes with its two lower, formally occupied hands. While YN had not made a decisive blow, he had managed to land a tactical one as he managed to remove the monster's sight, even if only temporarily.
Turning around to his immediate flank, Rem was still in shock as her horn had just subsided and her expression lost its frenzied aspect. Picking her up, YN gave her a gentle shake.
YN: Hey! Rem! Can you move? Are you okay?
Still dazed and slightly foggy-eyed from the bright flash and her near death experience, Rem hesitantly answered.
Rem: Y-Yes, Rem is fine.
YN: Good, get to the carriage, I'll be right behind you.
Replying with a single nod as she continued to have her mind return to her, YN turned to assist his other comrade. Running over to his side, YN knelt down next to Julio.
YN: Julio, can you stand? If we're gonna get out of here, we gotta do it now and do it quickly.
Wincing through the pain, Julio flipped over to his back.
Julio: YN-dono—! Is Subaru-dono alright as well? Emilia-sama? Was Rem-chan unharmed just now?
YN: They're all fine.
Helping the demi-human to his feet, YN looked over to the multi-armed monster still struggling to deal with its surroundings despite having no vision and trying to use its own physical properties to heal its injured hand, face, and forearms.
YN: Emilia-sama and Subaru have already been evacuated to the ground dragon carriage, they're just waiting for us now, so let's go.
Stumbling while dealing with his injuries, Julio inquired further on YN's actions.
Julio: Then you must make haste! It's my atonement to stay behind and keep this monster occupied.
YN: And you did. You upheld your promise. Now come on, we can't uphold our side of the deal if you meet your end here.
Taking a step in the direction of where YN had to go to meet back with Rem, Subaru, and Emilia, he hoped to bring Julio along with. Realizing what YN was trying to convey, Julio weakly smiled as he accepted his logic.
For him to offer me a seat in escaping this tragedy... I am honored to have regained his trust.
Brushing the dirt off his yukata, Julio reluctantly accepted YN's offer.
Julio: I graciously accept.
Rushing past the broken and battered remains of many vendor's stalls, and the stage and platform itself, Julio followed YN to the supply gate near the rear of the festival, opposite of the direction of the main gate, where many of the festival goers were still trying to funnel out of.
Just within the entrance was the ground dragon and carriage they'd arrived in, and at its driver's seat was Rem. Seeing them both arrive, a sense of relief came across her face, but she kept her urgency. Knocking on the side of the carriage, Rem got the attention of both inside.
Rem: Subaru-kun! Emilia-sama! Julio-san is here! He's injured!
With the door opening to reveal Subaru and Emilia, they were both surprised to see Julio, but quickly moved over to allow him to enter.
As YN climbed up onto the seat next to Rem, the door to the passenger compartment opened once more, with Subaru stepping out.
Subaru: Rem! Switch out with me, Julio is going to need two healers, I'll back up YN out here.
Julio (muffled): That—! That isn't really necessary—!
Turning to yell back inside, YN watched Subaru argue with Julio who was still out of view.
Subaru: If you don't die before you lose any more blood, we're going to have to get a whole new carriage!
Confused as to why Subaru was this alarmed over Julio's injuries, Rem silently pointed at it first as she jumped back off the driver's seat.
From the way YN and Julio had come, a small trail of blood was present. While not entirely alarming on its own, if Julio had stayed stationary like this while still bleeding, YN could see the urgency Subaru might have.
Subaru: Rem, can you—?
Rem: Rem will assist Emilia-sama, Subaru-kun, please help YN navigate our escape.
Nodding at her in agreement to what he was going to ask, Subaru took the seat on the bench next to YN, and upon hearing Rem safely enter into the carriage, he slapped the reins of the ground dragon, ordering it to move with all haste.
Exiting out into the town's streets, YN and Subaru found themselves in a part of it they'd never been to before. With many tiny narrow streets in what appeared to be the poverty stricken part of town, their options of escape seemed limited.
YN: Damn it, what now?
Subaru: I convinced that cart driver to bring the carriage here and stay with it in case we needed a getaway car like we planned during our talk, but I don't know how he got it in here.
After having discussed the danger of an attack with Subaru in their guest room after Rem had gotten Emilia to leave with the excuse of fixing her hair, Subaru had suggested a medium to make a quick escape.
Before they had left for the festival, Subaru and YN sought out someone to bring and wait with the carriage by the back supply gate while they attended the festival. That someone had ended up being the same cart puller who Subaru had run into previously while YN and Rem spoke alone after getting their festival outfits.
It seemed fated that Subaru would always step out into the street in front of him in almost every loop, without fail, except this time it had happened when they both left to wait outside for Emilia and Rem before departing to the festival, easily solving their problem.
Or so they thought.
YN: Wasn't he supposed to stay here and drive it if we needed to? We don't know the layout of this town and he claimed he knew every alley way, every street...
Subaru: He probably took off and ran at the first sign of the attack... We're just lucky he didn't take the carriage too.
The next hurdle the two had to overcome with the evacuation was actually evacuating. If they managed to get away, which they had, actually escaping the town was another ordeal altogether. Having someone who knew the layout could get them out the quickest. With that resource now no longer at their disposal, YN and Subaru needed to act quickly.
YN: I think that's our only way out. It's tight, and I don't think it's the right way, but we can't fit the carriage down any of these other streets.
Looking around at their options, Subaru agreed. Any other street was too crowded with junk, or slums, or was altogether too narrow. Ordering the ground dragon down the street, the group pressed on, hoping the beast was still unaware of their location.
Taking several lefts and a few rights, the carriage meandered down the alleyways and streets almost too small for it. All the while, they both heard the sound of smashing and people crying out as the multi-armed monster was most certainly trying to locate them. At times sounding closer, and at times sounding more distant, they feared with every corner they took, it might be waiting for them in ambush.
But finally, after one last alley, the scene of a main street came into view.
Subaru: There!
Pulling out into the more open area, the two looked at their next option.
Subaru: Now which way do go—?
*Crash!*
Cutting off Subaru's words, to their right at the end of the street a thick cloud of dust had been stirred up.
To YN and his memories though, that only meant one thing.
YN: Shit! It's found us!
Rearing the dragon to the left, YN commanded their beast of burden onward with no delay.
Getting the carriage moving once more, Subaru kept his vision glued behind them, and watched as the monster emerged from the settling dust, in full pursuit of them.
Subaru: It's closing in!
Hearing the beast get closer and closer with each approaching step, YN had to think fast.
We can't outrun it! I don't even think we can out-turn it or—!
YN: —hk!
Only briefly turning his head to the side to get an idea of if he should turn down the next main street or not, his vision was blocked by a large open hand, intended on snatching him right from the seat.
Jerking the reins in the opposite direction, YN slung the carriage to the side, allowing him to narrowly escape being grabbed, but—
*Crash!*
Hearing the splintery sound of wood cracking and breaking, the hand missed its target, and instead took its share right out of the carriage itself.
YN: No!
Realizing his selfish action, YN steadied the carriage down the street he was on now. Realizing he had endangered everyone inside, he prepared himself for the worst before turning himself to face the consequences of his actions. But to his surprise—
Emilia: Hiyaa!
As a brilliant display of ice shot out from behind the carriage as YN went to look, the entire street behind them was suddenly encased in a sheet of ice. Looking further down, the wreckage of the torn out section of the carriage, it's rear half and the entire roof, was now encased in a frozen mass. After missing its target and grabbing the carriage, the multi-armed monster seemed to have got itself tangled in the ensuing debris field.
Normally, and with YN's experience on dealing with the beast, freeing itself of this would have been like ripping a wet paper bag. But, taking advantage of its bound state, Emilia had called forth her ice, and frozen the debris that entangled the beast, and upon further freezing the street as well, had pinned the debris to a nearby building.
Subaru: Are we all here!?
Throwing a loose board off himself, Julio sat up and answered Subaru.
Julio: Yes! We're all fine!
Handing the reins off to Subaru, YN jumped over the mangled mess that was the wall between them and the carriages interior behind him.
YN: Rem?! Are you okay?!
Brushing some dust off her lap and shaking her head, Rem nodded as to not confuse YN as she tried getting anything loose off of herself.
Rem: Yes, Rem is perfectly fine, is YN-kun unharmed as well?
YN: I'm fine, but that was all my fault—
*Crash!*
Just as YN was going to apologize for his rash movement that endangered everyone, a small explosion of ice erupted at the far end of the street.
Giving chase after them and ripping stuck, frozen pieces of debris from itself, the multi-armed monster once more was free.
Subaru: Agh! Damn it! How do we get away from this thing!?
Climbing over to where YN had been, Julio took the reins from Subaru.
Julio: I'm sorry Subaru-dono, but you're taking us in a most inefficient way.
With Julio now at the helm, the cart was jerked hard to the side, taking them down a narrow street. With YN taking a hold of what he could, Rem grabbed onto him for her own balance while Subaru had just managed to reach out to Emilia to keep her from falling off as well.
Feeling the entire carriage list to the side and then back straight again, the four staggered once more, but completely regained their balance.
Emilia: Julio, please be more careful, you might reopen your wound!
Keeping his vision fixed forward, Julio concentrated on his driving rather than responding to Emilia.
Coming out onto another main street, Julio banked the carriage once more and turned them down it. Crashing out from where they came from, the monster was slowly closing the distance.
Rem: El Huma!
Emilia: El Huma!
With both the girls raising their palms, they each fired a mighty barrage of ice spears at their opponent.
Bracing itself with its arm, the beast took each shot without so much as a flinch, doing nothing to slow it down.
Subaru: Strength isn't going to be enough!
Looking back ahead, Subaru noticed the street ahead split. Breaking into one large "Y, " this gave him an idea.
Jumping down into the carriage from the drivers bench, Subaru called back up to Julio.
Subaru: It doesn't matter which way you go, but I need you to act like you're going to one side, and then fake like you're going to the other side at the end of this road.
Julio: Subaru-dono, I don't mean to call into question your methods, but won't that be too obvious?!
Subaru: It is, but that's why I have another idea.
Stepping towards the end of the carriage where it was broken off, the wind of their speed began to blow Subaru's hair up and forward. With his back facing everyone else, Subaru stared down the rapidly approaching beast, hell bent on taking YN.
YN: Subaru! What are you doing?!
With even YN being unsure of him, Emilia stepped forward to try and pull him back, but Subaru's words stopped her.
Subaru: This is the only way I can make myself useful, Emilia-tan. So let me do this.
Rem: Subaru-kun, please rethink this—
Subaru: I think you all have the wrong idea here.
Opening his arms up wide, the wind blew his yukata around as the fabric it was made of rippled about.
Subaru: I'm reckless, sure. But I can make the right sacrifice when needed.
Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, Subaru prepared himself.
Subaru: Julio-san, tell me when.
As YN and Rem were still unaware of what his intention was, they both had a small fear Subaru was going to invoke a Return By Death to better prepare for the beast next time, and while Julio was also weary of what Subaru might try, his intuition did not perceive any life taking measures.
It was only Emilia who now understood Subaru's intent.
Emilia: Subaru your gate can't—!
Julio: —Now!
Opening his eyes wide, Subaru thrust forth all the mana he figured he could muster through his gate.
Subaru: Shamak!
The very moment after calling forth his yin magic, Subaru felt it.
Crack!
With a combination of feeling an immense pain in his abdomen and the feeling of losing any and all mana in his system, as the black inkiness of his creation swallowed him up, he fell backwards, passing out.
Emilia: Subaru!
Running forward, Emilia was next engulfed into the black as she caught Subaru by his arms as he fell.
Rem: Emilia-sama!
Reaching out on her own, Rem stuck her hand into the incoming darkness, managing to grab the bow and sash of Emilia's dress.
As the carriage was leaning to one side from the sudden turning motion, it slammed back upward causing them all to lose their balance once more.
Rem: Eek!
Finding herself pulled forward, Rem also disappeared into the black mist.
YN: Rem!
With only her hand free from the abyss of black, YN grabbed on and attempted to pull her back to safety, except instead, he felt himself being pulled forward as well.
They all still have a hold of each other!
Sliding forward, YN grabbed the remnants of the carriage's side door frame with his spare hand and held on.
YN: AARRGGHH!
Feeling his arms nearly being pulled apart, YN struggled.
What do I do!? If Subaru falls and dies, that's it! I can't let that—!
*Crack*
With the wood of the frame cracking in its damaged state, YN staggered forward, still holding on.
YN: Shit!
Firmly planting his feet down, he hooked one in an open hole in the wood floor. But with the weight moving further toward the rear of the carriage, YN in turn felt that on the hand he had clasped around Rem's.
With his free hand now, he grabbed her wrist, using both now to hold the weight.
I need to be stronger! I have to be!
Hoping for another miracle like what happened when he last cast his jiwald, YN vainly expected another flash of white in his peripheral vision.
But none came.
YN: Rem... I'm sorry I can't hold one anymore—
Stopping his words, YN felt a warm sensation in his hand that held Rem's. While she was still trapped in the shamak of Subaru's creation, he knew that they could not hope to hear each other, but from her one action, YN knew exactly what she was doing.
She's giving me her mana!
Feeling the strength he knew he needed returning to him, YN tensed every muscle in his body.
Just like when Rem told me to focus my mana in my fist when I knocked Leo over, I have to do that here, but with my whole body!
Putting Rem's mana to work, YN felt his entire body become extremely warm, but this time from his own effort. A small haze of stream or white smoke seemed to raise off him, more so where his skin was exposed on his arms with his sleeves pushed back.
I've gotta put everything into this!
Feeling his muscles groan as they burned mana for their strength, YN pulled back with all his might.
YN: AAAAGHH!
The further back he managed to get them, the less the weight was. Just as the shamak was beginning to subside, YN reached the weight's equilibrium and his previous force pulled everyone back with great speed.
Emilia: Woah!
Rem: Eeh!
Losing his footing, YN staggered backwards into the remaining half-wall behind the driver of the carriage. Having lost control of his strength trying to pull them back, he hit with enough force to knock his breath from his body.
But in the backwards motion was a chain, a train of people all going the same way as YN.
The first to hit him again was Rem, falling back into him.
YN: Gah—!
Next, was the half elf.
YN: Eh—!
And finally, was the passed out Subaru in Emilia's arms.
YN: —!
With no air in his lungs and weight on his chest, he began to flounder in order to get the space to breathe.
Feeling his distressful state right behind her, Rem managed to free him from behind everyone.
Rem: YN-kun!
As Emilia bent down to tend to Subaru, she had noticed YN had also fallen to his knees, pounding his fist on the ruined floor.
Rem: YN-kun!
Without words to yell, YN felt his mind burning for air, but his lungs would not open after being compressed so hard initially. Looking up to Rem, his blood shot eyes said it all.
Between using all that mana, pulling, and then getting the wind knocked out of him so many times, Rem's instincts instantly knew the trouble.
Kneeling down in front of him, she took a deep breath.
Almost envious of her ability to breathe, YN, on the brink of passing out, looked up at her as his vision began to darken.
Seeing her shut her own eyes, her face got closer. Just before wondering if his eyes were being affected by the lack of air, he felt a sensation unlike any others fill his body.
From his mouth, down his throat, and into his lungs, a great warmth filled the upper half of himself. A warmth filled with kindness, strength, and faith. Feeling it fill him, some of his senses seemed to return. His vision cleared slightly and his hearing was less muffled.
But as they did come, the sensation left. Not as if it fizzled away, but rather, it was removed. Sucked right out of him.
With Rem's face filling his eyesight again, he saw her exhale heavily, eyes wide open. And just as before, she closed them again, and took in an even deeper breath, fully filling her own lungs. As Rem's face approached again, YN felt the same renewed, warm sensation in his body once more, and his returning senses finally figured out what was going on.
She's—! She's breathing for me!
Repeating the action again, YN's mind was now fully under control again.
Coming off to breathe into him a fourth time, YN turned his head and coughed several times.
YN: *Cough* *Cough* *Cough*
But as he did, Rem put her hands on his shoulders and turned him back towards her.
Rem: YN-kun! Oh thank goodness!
Seeing a small tear exit her eye, he tried his best to sit up while clearing his throat.
YN: Ahem. Thanks Rem, I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't done that.
Rem: Is YN-kun hurt anywhere? Is his body fine?
YN: Yeah it's fine, just—
Looking down at his hand, the same one that had first cast Jiwald, and coincidentally, the same one Rem had given him mana through, YN opened and closed it several times, feeling the fatigue each pulse caused him.
YN: —Just worn out.
In truth, YN's entire body felt heavily fatigued, as if he just had a very long and demanding day at the mansion.
I can't imagine the last time I was this worn out... I must have used all my mana...
Looking up, YN noticed they had never once stopped, and with the inky darkness of Shamak gone, so was the beast.
YN: D-Did we get away?
Emilia: It looks like it, all thanks to Subaru.
Hearing the silver haired girl answer him, YN poked his head around Rem to better address her.
YN: Yeah, that was some good thinking by him.
As Emilia also sat on the carriage's floor on her knees, Subaru's head laid peacefully on her lap.
Emilia: It would be better if his thinking didn't end up with him endangering himself.
Playing with the ends of his hair that had been pushed by the wind earlier, Emilia continued.
Emilia: I'm sure he damaged his gate doing that. Subaru... you dunderhead.
Smiling after saying that, it was clear Emilia still was heavily thankful for his actions. But as she said that, the carriage came to a stop as they reached the outskirts of the town.
With the buildings turning into stables and farm houses, the carriage was now parked at the true edge of Saluzzo. Looking out into the dark landscape which was only visible from the light of the moon, only agricultural fields were visible, with the treeline and forest being very far in the distance. On the street they had just exited out on, it continued into a country road, dead straight out through the fields and into the forest.
Looking towards the three currently conscious individuals in the back, Julio instructed them of their whereabouts.
Julio: We're on the only other road going in the direction you want to go out of Saluzzo. The forest ahead is safe, but very thick, and the road's winding pattern will mean your return trip will take longer.
Emilia: I see. Thank you, Julio.
Stepping down from the carriage, Julio bowed to the half elf.
Julio: Please, forgive me Emilia-sama, this event I'm sure was most unsatisfactory. I take full responsibility.
Emilia: No, if anything it's my fault... I should have known my attendance would have caused some sort of issue... I just never imagined something like this was possible...
Opening his eyes wide at her reasoning, Julio tried to correct her.
Julio: Emilia-sama—!
Emilia: But I'm not discouraged. I know I'm surrounded by people who care about me and believe in me.
Taking a moment to look at Rem, YN, and the boy whose head laid in her lap, Emilia turned her gaze to Julio.
Emilia: You included. If it weren't for you all, there's no telling how badly things could have ended...
About ready to say their final goodbyes, the group could see each other by moonlight alone. While the moon at this point of the night hung high, it's glow was just enough for visibility.
Which is why when it was blocked out for a moment, they all took notice.
Rem: What was that?
As they went quiet, trying to peer up into the night sky to see if the darkness could have been only a passing cloud, the only sound they could hear was a pair of wings being beat. With each thump, they heard it, circling overhead until the object passed over the moon once more, revealing its appearance.
Emilia: Is that—?!
Looking at the others responses, it was clear Julio's was the only other one of genuine surprise.
We never mentioned to him that the beast was a shapeshifter, and it doesn't look like he knew that either.
Turning his vision over to Rem, she looked back at him, as if awaiting directions.
She knows too we can't just say that's the monster from before in front of Emilia. We've gotta phrase things correctly.
YN: A dragon, now? That can't be unrelated.
Of course it decided to shape-shift. I'm surprised it took it this long though.
Rem: It is circling as if looking for something. Perhaps it and the monster are working together.
With Rem casting the false idea that the dragon and the multi-armed monster were two different entities, YN realized that Rem had thought to cover any and all suspicion that they might somehow know more than they had let on when finding out about the attack.
With everything going on, that was really smart of her to say.
Julio: It's too coincidental to be otherwise... For a dragon to turn up now of all places...
Changing its path, the dragon began to fly overhead of them, continuing to circle, but tightening it as it went over, signaling it was going to attempt a dive.
Putting a hand on his short sword, Julio gritted his teeth.
Julio: Damn! The four of you—!
Cutting his own sentence off in the middle of it, Julio propelled himself upward onto a pile of crates and barrels. Taking another leap, he landed on the roof of a nearby two story building on the last block of the town.
Julio: Ride for the forest as fast as you can! I will buy you all time to escape.
Taking another leap, Julio landed at the steeple of a large bell tower one building over, the highest nearby point.
Emilia: Julio! You can't! Not by yourself!
Pushing his glasses up, Julio yelled back down to the carriage as YN took the driver's seat.
Julio: Go! And let this old man fulfill his childhood dream of slaying a dragon!
Unsheathing his only remaining sword from its scabbard, Julio held it in his signature reverse, backhand style. Reflecting the moon's light off his blade to it, the dragon began its descent, falling from the heavens with its wings pulled in.
In only a matter of moments the three conscious on the wrecked carriage watched as the same moonlight reflected off the dragon's black scales as it swirled in its downward fall, before spreading its wings wide again, and aiming right for Julio.
But, bending his knees, Julio jumped, and as the dragon tried to readjust, he flipped and spun. Focusing his inertia around his blade, Julio maneuvered in ways the dragon couldn't hope to account for. As the dragon passed underneath him, Julio straightened his body, letting his sword extend out and rip into the wing of the dragon. Perhaps reaching a bone of some sort, Julio's direction rapidly changed as he was pulled along on the dragon.
With its wing now torn, the aerodynamics of its flight characteristics were changed, the dragon flapped its wings and turned as Julio hung on, trying to keep itself airborne.
It's just going to heal itself, but he's bought us time!
Watching as the dragon failed to correct itself, a large impact could be heard several streets back. With both being beyond their vision and the dust cloud from their impact rising, YN snapped the reins, and commanded the ground dragon out into the dark country road.
Reaching out to the horizon line, Emilia softly spoke to herself.
Emilia: No... Julio...
Feeling the quality of the road change though, Emilia was forced to hold on as the path became bumpy. Also feeling this, Rem crawled onto the seat next to YN, keeping a keen eye out for any return.
Looking back at the half destroyed carriage, YN surveyed the damage.
YN: We really are lucky that thing didn't take the whole carriage out. How are you holding up back there, Emilia-sama? Are you cold?
Emilia: I'm fine, the cold doesn't bother me, but for Subaru...
Letting the boy continue to rest on her lap, Emilia tried draping some of her long sleeve fabric from her dress to help keep him warm.
If only he knew Emilia was hugging him right now, he'd never shut up about it.
Noticing they were about halfway between the town and the treeline now, Rem spoke up next.
Rem: How is YN-kun's breathing? Is his body still sore? Is he cold? Rem can warm him up if needed.
YN: I think I'm fine for the time being, it kinda hurts to breathe but I think that's part of the all-over soreness I feel right now. Nothing serious.
Rem: Then at least let Rem drive. YN-kun can rest his head on her lap.
YN: I'll go for as long as I can before I do. I want you to rest too.
Rem: Please, Rem insists that YN-kun—
Placing her hand on YN's to take the reins from him, the night sky was once again dimmed for a brief second as the light from the moon was blocked.
Noticing that, they each looked up and saw what they most feared again.
YN: Damn it! Heads up!
Yanking the reins hard to the side, YN was just barely able to dodge a swooping attack on the carriage once more, and had narrowly prevented the entire thing from falling into a muddy rut.
Hearing the sound of chains next to him, YN noticed Rem had stood up on the seat, ready for the next incoming attack. Looking outward, YN knew that the dragon would have many opportunities to strike again before they reached the forest ahead, and there was no guarantee some trees would stop it from attacking.
Think, think, think! We have no way of attacking it. Any ice we throw at it just bat's away, and any yang magic just gets deflected!
Turning his head over his shoulder, YN hoped that somehow the sudden movement of the carriage had jerked Subaru awake, but alas, he remained passed out.
C'mon Subaru! I need you to wake up and tell us how to fix this!
With the light from the moon being blocked once more, the dragon dove again. As YN took evasive action, Rem whipped her chain at the incoming attack, and Emilia shot ice while protecting Subaru.
YN: —Tch!
Only narrowly avoiding the strike this time, YN was sure their luck would run out soon.
Rem: Does YN-kun have a plan?
Struggling to come up with anything, YN faltered on his words.
YN: I— I can't! This is Subaru's kind of thing. I'm not good at making these decisions like he is. He's hero material, not me.
Feeling helpless at his own inability to think, Rem dropped her morningstar, and placed both of her hands on YN's face, and turned it toward her.
Rem: YN-kun.
Noticing the unmistakable glint of determination and confidence in her one visible eye, Rem continued.
Rem: —If nothing else, YN-kun should always remember that no matter what, he is Rem's hero.
Seeing she had gotten his full attention, Rem stood straight, and picked back up her chain and hilt.
Rem: —And because of that, Rem knows that YN-kun can become a hero to anyone when he needs to be.
YN: Rem—! I—!
Rem: But Rem won't hesitate to help her YN-kun, so she'll help him now. We'll think of something, together! We'll escape this, together! Because Rem believes in her YN-kun!
With her azure eyes burning with passion and confidence in the one she looked up to, YN gritted his teeth, and took a deep breath, doing his best to clear his mind and consider all his options.
Rem: Good. Rem knew her YN-kun could focus. Now—, recalling everything YN-kun has seen, what has worked, and what hasn't when dealing with this monster? Has YN-kun noticed anything new?
Taking Rem's suggestions into account, YN compared this beast with the one had seen in the last loop, and the snippets of memories he had of it in previous loops.
YN: I— I can't recall!
Rem: Then is there a weakness we can exploit? It appears that while it is tough, it's accuracy when attacking is poor. Even Subaru-kun's magic was able to fool it.
Wondering how Rem could come to that conclusion, YN tilted his head slightly.
YN: In my experience, it's usually pretty good at hitting its mark. But this time...
Rem: Is missing three easy attacks really what YN-kun would consider accurate?
Thinking about her words, she was right. Between the three dives as a dragon and the swing that nearly completely destroyed the carriage, these were unlike the memories he had of the shape-shifting beast. Combining that with Subaru's Shamak actually working earlier, this was a for-sure pattern.
She's right.. It is less accurate, but why?
YN: No, it's not. Something is different.
Rem: Rem doesn't think it's the darkness out here. It was missing any attacks it had made in the town too where it was bright enough to see.
Putting a hand to his chin, the pressure of another incoming attack began to weigh on his mind more.
YN: It's not the light... Wait—!
Realizing what it may be, YN recalled one way they had inhibited the monster.
Rem: Does YN-kun have a plan?
YN: Maybe— but before me and Julio got into the carriage, even if it didn't actually do any damage, I managed to blind it with my magic.
Rem: That would explain its sudden loss in perception. Outside of its initial complete loss in sight, YN-kun may have caused it some long term, if not permanent partial vision damage.
YN: Should I just try another Jiwald then? But try and make it as wide and bright as I can?
Rem: Rem would advise against using the same trick again. If it learns we know it's weakness, it may use that to its advantage. It's also unknown if it would cause more damage then what it already has sustained.
YN: What if I tried using El Jiwald and aimed for its eyes? It would be hard, but it might be our only choice.
Rem: And what if YN-kun misses? He is already low on mana and fatigued, if it doesn't work, YN-kun is leaving himself wide open to being taken.
YN: We need El Jiwald's brightness, but Jiwald's scattering property... If only there was a way to combine them and—
Rem: Al huma!
Breaking off from the conversation, Rem launched a sudden, but massive ice spear at the dragon as it came down for another dive, deterring it from doing so but being unable to make the projectile connect.
'Al Huma...' Wait, that gives me an idea!
YN: Rem! I have an idea, but I'm going to need your help.
Rem: Of course. Rem will always be by YN-kun's side.
Looking up at the circling dragon, YN knew he needed to act fast and set up before the dragon made its next dive at them.
YN: Rem, I want you to make another ice spear like you just did, but I want you to hold it here.
Rem: Yes.
Turning away from him, Rem raised her hand up one more, palm facing the sky. As the mana rushed to form its shape, Rem appeared to have put more into it, making it larger than her last one. Almost obelisk shaped, this ice spear of Rem's creation had definitely ended up being more sizable then her last.
YN: It's bigger than last time, but that actually works better.
Rem: Rem did not wish to disappoint her YN-kun.
As the mass of ice radiated it's frigid air, YN walked behind it, and pointed his palm at it. Curling his fingers forward, YN pointed each of his fingertips at the ice, much like he had when he cast El Jiwald at the head mabeast.
YN: Rem, I want you to focus on keeping this ice spear as solid and intact as you can. Forget about trying to aim it properly or trying to make it rigid.
Keeping a keen eye on the dragon, YN knew its next dive attempt would be any second now.
YN: Once I cast my magic, wait just a second before you launch it. Before it reaches near the dragon, I want you to completely let go of it and let what I think will happen, happen.
Nodding without looking at him and keeping her vision glued to the dragon above, Rem put all of her faith in YN.
Emilia: W-Wait!
Raising a hand up to the two in front of her while standing on the drivers bench, Emilia called out from the ruined passenger compartment of the carriage, still attending to Subaru.
Emilia: If you shoot your own spell into Rem's, they won't grow stronger, you'll only make each other weaker! All you'll have is the light and no heat!
YN: That's exactly what I want!
As Rem still stood with one foot up on the bench, and the other up on a ruined post of the carriage, right now, her head was even with YN's in height as he stood normally in front of the drivers bench. Seeing the dragon turn and bank, the next dive had begun. Turning their heads, more or less standing equal to each other, they nodded to one another.
YN: Here it comes!
Rem: Rem is ready!
Watching as the dragon descended, it dived at a much harsher angle of attack, pulling its wings in for maximum velocity. Just as the mana in YN's palm was ready, he felt himself give it everything he had.
That's it... But if I try to force more—!
Suddenly feeling a surge of power, it wasn't mana, but rather something different. The sensation reminded of when he had run out of mana and needed to use magic in the last loop.
This must be what Emilia was warning me about... using my Od.
With more than likely no more mana left between him and Rem, YN knew the need facilitated an emergency.
As the dragon seemed to almost slam right into the ground, it spread its wings wide once more, riding its former speed in a new direction. Even with the ground and only flying just above it, the dragon rocketed towards the carriage, lining itself up for the perfect shot.
YN: El Jiwald!
Firing his five beams of concentrated yang magic into Rem's ice spear, upon impact they spread out and lit up her magic creation brightly. Like a sunbeam entering a prism, light filled its crystalline structure as it began to hum with a resonance. While still increasing in brightness, Rem followed her instructions, and launched it out towards the rapidly approaching dragon.
Rem: Al Huma!
Launching it with such a speed, it made both of their hair blow back in the opposite direction it had been from the carriage's motion. With such motion, the ice homed in on its target. Keeping his continuous beams of light fixed in on the ice as it raced away, it's brightness continued to grow.
But, even with the extra power Rem had put behind her launch, the dragon easily anticipated the projectile's path, and barrel rolled well in advance to avoid being hit.
You fool, that's what we wanted!
Cutting off the flow of his own spell, YN called out.
YN: Emilia, look away! Rem, now!
Having kept her palm open to channel mana and control to the growingly unstable ice spear, upon her relaxation of her hand, YN pulled Rem in tight to him, and turned them both away, facing away from the dragon, and the impending result of their combined magic.
Just as the brilliant ball of fused magical spells was to pass the dragon, it looked directly at it, almost as if mocking its own poor aim. But at the very moment it was at its closest it could ever hope to meet the dragon, Rem's control and constraint on the ice was let go.
Letting its pressurized energy expand and shatter its icy host, a massive explosion of blindingly bright yang magic filled the dragon's vision as splinters of ice shrapnel simply bounced off its jet black scales.
As the three on the carriage shielded their eyes, YN was unsure if he had managed to get Rem and him to look away in time, as even with his eyes closed and looking away, he felt as if the sun had just come up.
As they had turned their back, the next few seconds after the explosion seemed to last an eternity.
D-Did it work?
Expecting to feel the entire carriage be destroyed if the dragon reached them, YN waited with baited breath. Assuming the worst, just as he went to peak, he heard a hard thud against the ground.
Fully turning back around, he was met by a thin cloud of dust behind the carriage, followed by a scraping sound. From within the dust that had been kicked up, it's presence fell further and further behind and away as they continued forward.
Rem: Were we successful?!
Almost as if on queue, the dust behind them began to settle, and from it, the black scales became visible.
At the shock of the magic flash-bang going off, the dragon had lost its lift, and had stumbled to the ground from its low altitude and rolled to a stop. Continuing to gain distance from it, they were almost to the forest, but what remained unknown was if they had merely slowed down, or completely halted the dragon's pursuit.
With the carriage rolling onward, the dust from the crash completely settled, and the dragon set about righting itself. Keen on wanting to continue to give chase, it once more stopped.
Rem: — — —
YN: — — —
Watching as the dragon remained still, Rem grabbed YN's hand looking for security in the anxiety they both felt now.
Feeling another change in the road's texture, the ground dragon and carriage had successfully entered the forest and were advancing deeper within it. As the ride smoothed out, the ground dragon's Divine Protection was also finally active, making their ride much more comfortable.
But with the dragon still in view, Rem and YN continued to watch. Turning its head, the dragon seemed to look right at them, but then turned away.
And then again it turned its head.
And again, in the opposite direction.
And then it's whole body, away from them.
And again, now facing a new direction.
More and more rapidly it spun its head and body, as if trying to articulate itself. It began to walk, in a direction away from where they were retreating from.
With results still being inconclusive for either Rem or YN to breathe a sigh of relief, they were quickly answered.
As if being obvious to it, the dragon tripped into an irrigation ditch, one that lined each side of the road, tumbling into the shallow mud below. Looking to Rem, YN whispered, as if not wanting to give even the slightest clue to the dragon their location should it have super-hearing it could fall back on.
YN (whisper): Do you think it worked?
Nodding, but keeping a serious face, Rem whispered back.
Rem (whisper): At least long enough to get away, yes.
Staying as cautious as ever, Rem remained as healthily skeptical as one should in this situation, still standing atop the carriage's driver bench. As the ground dragon at the head of the carriage continued onwards down the only path available, the road took a slight bend. YN and Rem watched in complete silence as the winged dragon kept fumbling about, trying to articulate itself with its heavily distorted vision, or perhaps complete absence there of.
It felt as if until they were completely clear of its potential vision, they could not even be allowed to breathe, let alone blink. The two could feel each other's heart beat in their hands they still held.
Soon, they had progressed far enough down the road's bend where the entrance of the forest was no longer visible, but they each kept to their silence. Slowly, Rem and YN's hand grips got tighter and tighter, as if the building suspense of the unknown was fueling their muscles. But only after a moment, a voice spoke up.
Emilia: Umm, is it okay to look now?
Realizing Emilia had indeed done as YN called out during the final gambit, he was surprised to see she hadn't looked up once since then.
YN: Y-Yeah, the coast is clear now.
As Emilia brought her hands down from her face they were covering, so did Rem come down off the driver's bench.
Emilia: Did— Did you both kill it?
Shaking her head, Rem answered.
Rem: No, YN-kun and Rem simply distorted it's vision enough to get away. Which is why we must remain cautious.
Emilia: I see... That was reeeeally scary though, wasn't it?
YN: Yeah, it was.
Looking over to Rem, YN admired the maid's blue hair gently blowing in the wind as they traveled on, but they did so at much slower pace than before thanks to the near washboard condition of the road and the ground dragon's divine protection struggling to compensate for it.
Rem kept her vision glued to the night sky above, barely visible through the tree branches that grew overhead, keeping an eye for any sign the dragon was searching for them.
We really did it, didn't we? Me and Rem...
As he looked over her, Rem stepped back up on the bench once more, and jumped down into the ruined carriage interior to inspect the damage fully for herself.
Kneeling down, Rem looked at the condition of the wheels and frame.
Rem: We should be fine for now, but Rem is afraid this carriage will need to be disposed of, it's far too damaged to be repaired.
Turning her head to face Emilia, Rem remained knelt down.
Rem: Emilia-sama, Rem must apologize for the substandard conditions we will be expected to endure for the next few days of travel back to the mansion.
Emilia: Please, don't worry about me. It was YN, you, and Subaru who really did all the heavy lifting. All for my sake...
Continuing to smile warmly at the boy in her lap, Emilia looked weakly at him before turning her vision back up to YN.
Emilia: I'm also sorry for not listening to you both when you warned me. Because I was too headstrong, Subaru ended up harming his gate, and you, YN, you were forced to call upon your Od, weren't you?
Remembering the feeling he had when casting his last spell, YN didn't understand the sensation at first, but from what Emilia said, it made sense.
I think it's like what Beatrice said, my Od is the container for my mana, and using it is like using my life force...
Rem: YN-kun's gate might be damaged as well. Rem did give him mana while still in the city when he was nearly out.
Emilia: You also used a lot at the festival. Did you feel anything different when that happened?
I did... I saw a flash of white just out of my vision and felt some mana enter into me... I don't know how... Did Emilia somehow transfer some to me? Is that even possible without physical contact?
YN: I—, I think I just acted in the moment. Maybe I used some of my Od then too.
With a brief tint of sadness coming across Emilia's face, she hid it by looking back down at the boy on her lap still.
Emilia: I see. Well—
Looking back up, as if forcing a smile, Emilia continued.
Emilia: —anyway, thank you both for protecting me.
Giving her a warm smile in response, YN bowed his head.
YN: Just doin' my job. But if we're on the topic of 'thanks.'
Turning to Rem as he said that, she continued to remain down on her knees, inspecting the wheels of the carriage as they rolled along.
YN: Rem.
Moving to see him easier, Rem turned her gaze up to YN as he put a hand atop her head, instantly making her face turn a slight shade of pink.
Rem: Y-Yes?
Lightly giving her precious, soft blue hair a few pats, YN answered her.
YN: Thank you, for giving me strength, and for believing in me. I'm glad we were able to work together so well.
Closing her eyes and enjoying the sensation of her praise, YN began to feel the after effects of his adrenaline and mana both running out.
YN: Also, I'm really sorry, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave you both alone. I'm going to pass out here any second.
Intentionally stepping backwards, YN let his back slide down the remaining portion of "wall" left behind from the carriage's destruction.
Emilia: Wha—wha?! Is—?! Is this just like what happened in the Capitol all over again?!
Astounded by the similarity of the events, Emilia was surprised to see such a repeat. But smiling warmly at him as she walked over and knelt next to his slumped over body, was the maid who held his heart.
Rem: Please rest well, YN-kun.
Passing out as Rem ran her fingers through his hair just once, Rem stood once more.
Rem: Emilia-sama, Rem will take care of the carriage navigation until YN-kun or Subaru-kun recover. Please notify Rem if you require anything.
Emilia: I-I can drive too if it's not too much trouble—!
Rem: There is no need. Besides, Rem would like to have YN-kun's head on her lap for a while.
Picking up the passed-out groundskeeper, Rem took him up to the driver's bench. Sitting him down, Rem laid his head across her lap. With her short cut dress still being worn, the side of his face pressed gently across her exposed thighs. Taking the reins, Rem assumed the role of driver.
While Rem is upset she probably won't be able to see her YN-kun's reaction to this, she is at least glad he will hopefully stay warm.
Ignoring her own fatigue, Rem, along with Emilia began the long trek back to the mansion.
The long trek back home.