Chapter 27: Bishop Spotting.
Author's note: Hello, everyone, Sorry for the long wait. Writing this chapter has been an absolute nightmare on multiple fronts. Back during late December and through my break in January, I was actually working on this chapter and ended up finishing it two weeks before the new semester started. However, after I read it, it just wasn't right. It was going through multiple chapters worth of plot points without actually going into them and was simply not one of my better chapters.
That is why I decided to instead take that chapter and split it into 3 whole chapters, because that was the amount of content being stuffed into a relatively small chapter. I worked on it with what time was left of the break, but I did not finish as the semester started. Even though I now had to deal with the constant stream of course work, I was still working on it with what little time I had. That was until all four of my classes conspired against me and gave me a major paper assignment each, which completely halted all my work until I had finished them.
It has been 7-8 months since I posted a chapter, which makes me feel like I'm just lazy. However, it's here now, and that matters to me more than that. Hopefully with this semester calming down somewhat, I'll be able to keep working on the next chapters and hopefully be able to wrap up arc 3 with that long awaited Subaru chapter that I've been wanting to write for ages. Thank you to everyone that was patient with me, and I hope you enjoy it.
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Emilia mulled over her previous loop, its events, and what she learned from it. All of these things point to the beginning of an arduous investigation into Petelgeuse and any weaknesses she can turn up, but even then that would be the bare minimum when it comes to defeating him.
Emilia needed to think of something, anything that she can do to create an opportunity to change the course of things. However as things stand, that idea seems like a far off pipe dream. She doesn't want things to end up as pure luck, she wants to end things thanks to her own actions and her own skills.
If she continues to rely on her luck, when the day comes that she has to fight someone far stronger than Petelgeuse…
Emilia suppressed a shudder at the thought. Petelgeuse himself was already exceedingly dangerous, enough so that Emilia hopes she will never run into anything like him so long as she lives.
Petelgeuse was even able to attack the city under everyone's nose, fast enough to not alert those in the manor until it was too late for them to do anything. All of this, for an unholy crusade to kill those he deems slothful. He killed anyone regardless of who they were, and then, at the end of it all…
He killed Rem.
Just so that Emilia can feel the weight of her choices, the weight of her incapability.
She was fully aware of this fact. Doubly aware that it was because of the fact that she waited for trouble rather than making the first move, however that line of thought is merely her hindsight speaking. Nothing could have been done by Emilia to predict Petelgeuse and the Devil cult's attack. Even with all the rumors circulated about, there was nothing to indicate the time frame, location, or anything that Emilia could have used to her advantage. All that she can do now is try and defend against it going forward, that is her responsibility so long as she has return by death.
Knowledge is the crux of every single successful loop so far. Not just the brute strength of herself and her allies, nor the outcome of a one-in-a-billion fluke. Those things do come in handy, however they have never been the backbone of her loops. I need to get a good start to find Petelgeuse. I have the feeling that a back and forth loop of me just dying again and again until I get lucky is not possible this time around, especially if Petelgeuse is as strong as he seems.
Then Emilia remembered it, the best source of information in this whole mansion. "Of course, where else would I learn about someone like Petelgeuse besides the forbidden library? Alright, enough slacking about!" Emilia gripped her broom and began to furiously brush along the length of the hallway, all whilst she made engine noises. After she was done, all that was left was a spotless hallway in her wake.
Emilia sprinted around the mansion to locate the forbidden library. Even the slightest dip in the ambient temperature is a clue of its whereabouts. However, all the running ended up with Emilia being caught by Frederica who had been searching for her. After being scolded by her, Emilia managed to convince Frederica to put off the errand run to the city for an hour, citing business with Puck as a matter of importance.
"The forbidden library could take up to an hour just to find, let alone finish up what you have to do. Make sure you get it done by then, because I expect you to be out the front door." Frederica gave Emilia the conditions, and while they were not ideal, she should be able to work with them.
She wandered around the halls of the mansion for about twenty minutes, carefully sensing any changes in the environmental temperature. On the third floor of the mansion, she finally felt a cold, crawling sensation which she associated with the forbidden library. And, lo and behold, the moment Emilia touched a door it began to transform into a large, overbearing cast-iron door. She pulled her hand from its cold, almost adhesive surface that glued her finger tips to it. She winced as some skin off her outer layer peeled off and remained stuck to the door, like stickers.
Emilia pulled her hands into the sleeves of her maid uniform and used them like oven mitts to rotate the wheel handle and get into the forbidden library. As the door rotated open, cold air greeted her like a slap to the face. "Is it just me or is it really cold here today?"
"You came at a bad time." Puck answered her, and for what it was worth, it didn't seem like he was lying. His eyebrows were scrunched more than Emilia thought was possible, what was previously assumed to be the limit of brow strain was broken beyond repair, reaching a new height of brow compaction. Even the way Puck growled under his breath as he was forced to acknowledge Emilia's existence against his will was *aggressive*.
"Okay, I'll bite. Why are you so mad?" Emilia crossed her arms as a frigid wind rushed past her and out of the library door. She suppressed a shiver.
"I'm not mad." Puck replied, trying to appear as if he wasn't about to explode in a frosty fury.
"Oh really? Then why is it so cold today, to the point that some skin peeled off on the door when I touched it? I had to stretch out the sleeves of this reaaaaally nice uniform just to be able to turn the handle on the door." Emilia pointed to the door as well as to the now widened cuffs of her clothes.
"First, that's gross. Clean it up when you leave. Second, if it's such a problem, come back on a different day. I'm not obligated to act nice and bottle my emotions like certain people." He flicked his tail, which hit the table he sat on with a thud. Classic sign that a cat was especially annoyed. "Or would you rather I let my emotions blow over completely in an outburst?"
Emilia did not like who or what Puck could be referring to. "Sure," she said. "I may or may not have had a couple of outbursts in the past, but that doesn't mean you are allowed to equalize your little tantrum to me being pushed over the edge," Emilia sighed in exasperation. Regardless however, she came here for a reason. "As much as I would like to come back at a different day, I need your help *now*."
"What for?" Puck asked. "If it means getting you out of here, I'll indulge you for now, but make it snappy."
"What information do you have on sin archbishops? Specifically on one called Petelgeuse."
Puck looked at her as if she said something nonsensical. "Listen here you… this is a forbidden library."
"Yes?"
"Its purpose… is to store forbidden knowledge."
"I thought that was implied?"
"All of them pertain to the Roswaal estate or something related which would end up harming said estate if revealed to the world. Sin archbishops don't count. Okay?"
"Mmm hmm," Emilia nodded.
"Just because this place is called the forbidden library does not make it an encyclopedia for every secret that has ever existed. That includes sin archbishops."
"I can't imagine that this place has nothing at all. Are you sure? Reaaaally sure?" Emilia tried to press him for more, but a firm shake of Puck's head made her back down eventually.
"Sin archbishops are not a natural phenomena that alchemists can experiment on and study, they are a secretive terrorist organization. That means that we know barely anything, and what can be learned in the forbidden library can equally be learned from rumor and folktale."
"So I'm left with nothing then? Maybe there is something hidden in the forbidden library that could help" Emilia is desperate for even one clue, if she has to use her remaining time to scour the library for the faintest clue, she will do so.
But, as if he could sense the desperation wafting from Emilia, Puck sighed. "If you want information so badly, go break into Subaru's office. Just bust down the door and start rummaging through his crap. He's the one who's so obsessed with the cult, anyway. Happy now?"
"Thank you Puck, I love you!" Emilia swiftly pranced over to where the cat was sitting. His facial expression quickly morphed from surprise, to a braced grimace. It was too late for him, the beast had already planted a kiss on his furry cheek before he could react in time. It truly was the end for Puck, who died before he could even live. The monster, the savage beast danced away from his body and towards the entrance to his home, now grave.
"Oh yeah, Puck, how do I know when you will stop being mad?" Emilia looked back towards him, only to see the elderly cat cloaked in a darkness that emanated a sense of danger.
"- GET OUT! -" It was a roar that caused Emilia's hair to be blown back as if by wind, one that echoed throughout the entire mansion for all to hear, perhaps even reaching the far away city of Arlam. Emilia slammed the door shut and ran away as fast as could be achieved with her frilly uniform on.
After a brief interrogation from a dismayed Frederica, Emilia was now allowed to leave with Rem towards the city to buy groceries. After a brief shopping trip, Emilia waited until night time to begin the raid on the mayor's (Subaru's) office.
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Way past anyone's bedtime, Emilia sneaked through the long and dark hallways. Emilia was always scared of situations like this back in Japan, where something could show its head around a corner and start sprinting at her. However there was something much more terrifying than anything produced by her fear of the dark out in the world.
She reached the office after navigating the layout of the mansion, paying careful attention not to pass by Rem and Frederica's rooms due to their excellent hearing. She tried the door knob, but the door was locked. She then looked back on a trick Subaru taught Emilia when she was training to master complex ice formations, or at least that was his cover to teach her how to break into rooms in an emergency.
"Place the hilt against the opening of a lock, then create ice that fills in every single corner. Once that is done, melt it slightly while maintaining an even turning pressure, and–" Click, the door opened with a begrudged croak. "Hehe, Bingo!"
The room inside was decorated but not cluttered, the very definition of orderly business. In the middle was a wooden desk clear of all items except for a quill and ink atop its glossy tabletop, it was highlighted majestically by the moon light seeping in from the window at the back. To the side was a large bookcase filled to the brim with books off to the side, which made up that wall of the room.
Emilia went over to the bookcase and scanned the various shelves. She only knew rudimentary runes, so she could still read the simple titles of the books and found all of them to be dedicated to either politics, history, or economics. Admittedly all things which Emilia knew little about. All that she did know was that they weren't what she was looking for.
She stepped back from the bookcase and walked behind the desk to look through the drawers. There were a total of seven drawers, each adorned with a small bronze knob that was used as the handle to pull them out from their slot. Emilia moved the chair back so that she can first access the unlocked middle drawer.
When she opened it, all that was contained were pens and various instruments used to sign letters and documents. Emilia unceremoniously closed the drawer and moved on to the ones on the sides. The right and left drawers contained nothing but opened letters and unfilled government documents respectively.
Emilia closed those drawers too and knelt down to begin investigating the lower drawers. The four remaining ones had locks on them, so Emilia took out her handle and began picking them too.
With a satisfying click, she opened one and began to take out things from within it. She grabbed three bunches of stapled papers together in her hand and began to rifle through each one. Emilia could barely decipher what was on the pages until she glimpsed lines at the bottom of the pages with similar looking signatures.
"These stacks of papers are just legal documents, Contracts, whatever they are, they are just Subaru's work stuff. Hah… For someone so obsessed with destroying the Devil cult, you would think that there would be more cult related stuff around, but I guess he wouldn't leave anything out in the open.."
"Yes, but that's what makes him so likable." Emilia's head shot up like a rocket and slammed into the underside of the table with a loud crack. The voice behind her startled her but now the pain of bashing her head into the wood nullified her surprise.
"The fact that he focuses on making sure that we are his priority, that his personal revenge is secondary, and works just as hard as any of us to the point where it appears he is carrying the world on his shoulders… that is why I respect him so much." Emilia knew who the voice was, and even if she didn't, she could recognize the almost obsessive fawning of Rem whenever she spoke of Subaru.
"Wh- why are you here, Rem? Having trouble sleeping?" Emilia asked with her head still clutched in her hands, either to stop her brain from oozing out or to numb the pain. When she asked this, Rem raised the eyebrow not covered by her bangs and simultaneously placed her hands on her hips.
"Rem could ask Emilia the same thing." The maid said, and Emilia finally realised how suspicious she looked in the current moment. She is sat here, in what was supposed to be a locked and secure office, sifting through papers that were supposed to be in a locked and secure drawer, all in the middle of the night while others are supposed to be asleep.
"Uhhhhhh…" Emilia's brain flat lined and could not come up with any excuse as to why she is in said locked and secure office. She's not going to lop my head off for this, is she? That is the first thought that crossed Emilia's mind.
"Subaru's information related to the Devil cult is in none of the drawers." Rem said.
"Okay." Emilia placed the documents that she most certainly did not pilfer back into their respective place. She would have liked to be able to close the lock, however Subaru cleverly didn't teach Emilia how not to leave evidence. Emilia hopes he is nice about it when he realizes it was integral to putting a stop to Petelgeuse. "Mind if I ask where they are then if they aren't in the drawer or the bookcase?"
"Well isn't it obvious? They are behind the bookcase in a hidden room." Rem stepped to the side of the bookcase and pulled on the top of a book called 'History of Lugunica's Fine Arts', which caused a hefty click to emanate from behind the bookcase. As Emilia watched a portion of the bookcase split in half and move to reveal a doorway to a secret room, she was shaming herself for not suspecting that there would be something like this here.
"Of course the lever would be hidden in the least eye-catching book." Emilia grumbled as she moved past Rem and into the darkness of the hidden room. Rem walked a couple of footsteps behind Emilia, so as to not stumble on one another in the dark.
"This room dates back to before Rem and Nee-sama were even born." Rem recounted as she lit a nearby lantern. "From what Subaru-sama had said of this place, it was built after the Devil cult launched an assault on the mansion one day. They had attempted to burn down all the information Subaru had on the cult, as well as anything else of value afterwards, perhaps because they suspected that he learned too much. Ultimately, they failed to achieve their goal for the most part, which is why he placed the texts on the cult in this hidden room."
"What a convenient lore drop, Rem. If the cult was so worried about what Subaru knew, then there must be something really juicy in there that will be a huge help for us." Emilia took a good look around the room to examine its contents.
For a secret room, it was disappointingly small with very little room to walk around, unlike the expansive secret rooms she had seen in tv shows and movies. It was almost like a secret closet the way it was wide but shallow in depth. There was also one small bookcase up against the back wall, its shelves taken not by books, but by bundles of loose paper tied together with a spine made of thin rope, separated from other bundles unrelated to their contents.
"It really does fit the vibe that all the knowledge here was obtained via intelligence, like some secret organization's filing cabinet." Emilia made note of the papers' distinct lack of leather binding. She imagined Subaru sitting at his desk at night, and a figure jumps out of the shadows and hands him papers exactly like the ones on the shelf, information given via spy work.
"It is nothing so exciting. This was the result of a very long and arduous search, research, and studying in order to obtain all of this information. In fact, almost all of it was written in Subaru's handwriting. With how little is known about the cult though, it is something of a treasure trove."
Perhaps that was the case, Puck did say the same thing after all. But, treasure trove or not, it is meaningless if she doesn't begin reading through the material. Emilia picked up a bundle of papers and was surprised to find that it was titled.
It was a dossier for an individual named Regulus Corneas. This particular bundle was much thicker than most of the other ones, seemingly because a lot of research went into this certain person. This and maybe everything else here seems pretty handy to read, I'll do that later, but right now I need to find something about Petelgeuse.
Emilia placed the dossier off to the side and began looking through the remaining bunch. She moved aside documents on various individuals most likely tied to the cult until she saw something that caught her eye, a thin bundle of old, dusty paper. It was simply titled 'Geuse', in a messy, unkempt handwriting akin to that of a child's.
Geuse? Petelgeuse? Something seemed especially eye-catching about these papers, so Emilia turned the first page to read through it. And– she can't. The writing was completely illegible to her.
"What… messy handwriting." Emilia commented on the proficiency with which this document was written. Emilia already required effort to read normal runes, but to her these were nothing more than scribbles on a paper. Not only that but as they moved further across the page, the structure of the writing began to droop and sag, the end result being a paper that looked like its entire left side was drooping as if it was having a stroke.
"I can barely read any of this. Are all of them like that?" Emilia turned around and asked Rem, who shook her head in response.
"Remember how Rem said that this took a long time to collect? Some of these were from when Subaru-sama was still young, so the handwriting isn't the greatest."
"So can you read any of this?" Emilia turned the face of the paper towards Rem.
"Yes," the maid nodded.
"Okay, then what does this say?" Emilia pointed at a rune on the paper she herself didn't recognize. "Considering you are such an expert in runes, you should be able to know what this one is supposed to be."
"Yes, I see. That one is illegible." Rem said, which made Emilia drop her arm in defeat. Emilia did not want to waste time trying to understand the writing of a child, so she placed that off to the side to decipher later.
She looked for a little while longer until she found a dossier on Petelgeuse that was in a much fresher condition than the last document. Still in Subaru's handwriting, but noticeably neater and more advanced in its prose. It had at least thirty pages judging from its thickness, hopefully there is something concrete within said thirty pages.
"This will do." Emilia commented, then turned around and tried to take it with her. However, Emilia halted since Rem was stood in her way. The maid's arms were crossed, adamant in not letting Emilia pass.
"Sorry Emilia, but this document is priceless to Subaru-sama. Rem can't let you go outside with it, that would be a betrayal of his trust. You will have to read it here." Rem had a firm argument. One that had no point in being contested.
"Okay, fine." Emilia relented, then sat down on the floor and began flipping through page after page of the document. She skimmed only what popped out to her eye with chagrin at how little time she had to do so. Eventually she will need to sleep, what awaits her is a formidable enemy.
As she began reading, much of the first page consisted of excerpts from the few survivors or witnesses alive. They highlight how he didnt need to move to kill a person, which Emilia knows to be the invisible hands. How he always has a group of people following him around and doing his bidding, the fingers.
On the few pages, Subaru detailed an encounter he had with Petelgeuse himself. The fight lasted for not a long time in actuality, both traded blows with Subaru even managing to land a killing blow. However before Subaru could react, Petelgeuse seemed to possess one of his followers and escaped before he could finish the job.
Possession..? So even if I did manage to kill him, if any of his followers were still alive that would mean his revival. Not only is he insanely strong, but he also has a bunch of extra lives walking about? How is that even remotely fair?
With that new dizzying thought, Emilia now has to also make sure to kill all his fingers before finishing him off. Otherwise he will just come back and Emilia isn't sure she will have enough tricks to kill him a second time. She continued reading.
It notes how despite the fact that Petelgeuse has an invisible force surrounding him seemingly at all times, he still used earth magic to defend himself, so the force does not actually do much in terms of defending him but instead seems to purely be for attack or movement. In the same page Subaru does note an undodgeable attack that seems to shut down the body of those too close to him, another thing for Emilia to look forward to.
In the page after there is a theory that magic that affects a large enough area should be able to affect him fully. Emilia recalled the moment of them being chased, where Rem threw a firework at Petelgeuse to blind him and give them a chance to escape. While that isn't a matching example to Subaru's theory, it does prove that Petelgeuse can't defend himself from a surprise attack from multiple angles. A reassuring discovery.
The next few pages were a repetition of information Emilia already knew from her first encounter with the madman, such as him attacking villages when they are at their weakest, burning people alive, and generally being exceptionally dangerous due to how active he is. Right now, that is meaningless to her. She stood up and placed the document where she found it. "This is everything I could have wanted, even if it turns out that Petelgeuse is even more overpowered than I thought. There is one weakness, Rem, and we will make sure to abuse it as much as we can."
"What are you talking about?" Rem tilted her head.
"Isn't it obvious, Rem? We are going archbishop hunting in a couple of days, not just the both of us though, but as many people as we can get."
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"Do you really expect me to believe that?" The city's guard captain crossed his arms and sighed. He leaned on his desk and looked down on the person sitting in the guest chair, Emilia. "Look, you might have gotten lucky and ended up saving the city, but what you are asking for is to wait for him to make the first move. Furthermore, if he really is out there I would be purposefully sending my men into danger."
"Sure, but what happens if you don't? I know what Petelgeuse can do if he gets past us and into the city. Everyone will die a terrible death. Men, women, children, everyone. Isn't that why we have to do this? If we can find where he is coming from, we can all wait for him to get close and launch a final assault on him. We can beat him."
Emilia stood up and looked the captain square in the face. He faltered slightly, as Emilia's gaze held a conviction he could not put up with. This was an opportunity for Emilia to push him further. "Do you have a family?" That question struck him, as it required him to imagine a reality he did not want to think about.
"A wife and two kids. If something were to happen to them…" He inhaled sharply, a glint was born in his eyes. "Fine. For their sake, not because you asked us to. Give us the time and we will begin the search for this *Archbishop*."
"Good. but don't worry, it won't just be your men who are risking their lives. Me and the other maids under Roswaal will be out there too. We have as much personal stake in this as anyone else."
"Good. The more allies we have, the greater the chance we can come out of this alive, we'll make sure to hire some people too. Though with how the mabeast invasion turned out, I wouldn't be surprised if no one agreed. Glad to be working with you." And so the deal was struck between collaborators, now it was time to begin the hunt for Petelgeuse.
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Cloaked figures move in unison through the night in a small group. They are camouflaged thanks to help from the darkness, however they must be careful not to stand out. They look past trees, bushes, and over long distances uncovered by trees but there is no sign of anything.
"This better be something good." He muttered and kept moving to search for the elusive sin archbishop. His is not the only group searching for Petelgeuse, but only one of many. If they find him, they retreat and inform the main fighting force, what matters is that they don't get caught before then.
In the meantime, Emilia's group consisting of Rem and Fredercia stood together on the city walls with a part of their major fighting force, with the rest spread out on different areas on the walls. Among the present fighters and mages psyching themselves up for his arrival, Emilia alone was nervous that Petelgeuse wouldn't appear at all.
"Emilia-san, are you certain that he will show up?" Frederica asked a question Emilia herself wasn't sure she had the answer for. As she looked out towards the night covered forest, her nerves began to grow as a knot in her stomach.
"He'll show up, I know that much. But…" Emilia began to say.
"But we don't know whether we want him to or not." The guard captain interrupted her, his arms crossed. He did not look angry or impatient, but he had an unmistakable look of being on edge. "My men are spooked enough as it is, and the longer we wait the worse it gets. Remember, an archbishop is a monster most people have never gone up against and lived, I included. Fear cannot be helped."
He said this and looked back towards the shaded reaches outside the wall. Something about what he had said made Emilia annoyed, enough that it began to show on her brow. He wasn't just wrong, he was completely wrong. Wrong where he wasn't even in the same dimension as correct.
"No," Emilia said. "He will show up. Here, today, and don't think that it will be any other way." Emilia was adamant now, nothing could possibly change her mind nor the future. Petelgeuse will show up and attempt to attack the city, any other assertion is foolishness.
The maids next to her nodded in agreement, and they kept scanning the surroundings for any approaching scouts. However…
The ground shook under Emilia and the others' feet and nearly knocked them off balance. A sudden boom that racked their ear drums and beat against their bones, as if it originated from within their very cores, it took the breath out of their lungs. As they all pushed to get on their feet as fast as possible, they looked, not out towards the abyss, but inward towards the city.
What they witnessed was a massive pillar of smoke float and pool in the sky, originated by a fiery explosion on the ground below. The explosion could be determined to have taken place in the old town, the birthplace of the city that symbolized Subaru's leadership. This wasn't just an assault on the city and its people, but a declaration of war on the very belief that the city had for Subaru.
"Look," someone from the collected force pointed up high above the city. "What is that up there?"
Emilia had to strain her eyes to see what it was, but as she came to recognize the figure, a gasp escaped from her mouth. Above the city, he used his invisible hands to stand above and witness the destruction that was about to unfold.
Petelgeuse..! Emilia was about to announce his presence, however the guard captain stood in front of her to issue orders.
"They are here! We must get to the old town and stop them before things spiral out of control. Go!" Without the need to give the order, the people on the wall already began to move towards the location of the explosion.
As the group ran as fast as they could to contain the chaos, another explosion halted them. This one was far closer than the first, and now sowed chaos on the fighters.
"They planted bombs!" someone yelled, followed by another explosion further off. Many people had begun to run out of their homes and into the streets to run away, but other homes were silent, the people in them most likely decided to hide in the hopes that they may be able to avoid this calamity. Another explosion, flames now cover an even larger portion of the city, screams could be heard from across the city as people were dying left and right.
However all Emilia could do was glare up at Petelgeuse. His faraway figure that blended with the night sky extended its arms out to relish the sight, and though Emilia could not see it, she knew that he had that ear to ear spanning grin on his face. Another explosion, this time almost right on top of the group.
"Quickly, this way," the captain pointed to the alley opposite the explosion that almost caught them. As the group began to use the alley to make a beeline towards the presumed location, another person yelled out.
"Hey, look at this, it's making a weird noise!" In their hand was a sack that they pulled out of a sewer drain. The captain pushed through the group with a knife out and opened it, his face twisted in shock. Inside the bag was a bunch of glowing red orbs that seemed to glow in intervals at the frequency of a countdown that slowly got faster and faster. Emilia realized before everyone else, this thing was about to explode.
"Everyone get away from it!" Emilia's warning was heard far too late, they could not run out of range in time. She suddenly felt someone grab her waist, followed by her suddenly being pulled up into the sky and away from the group. As Emilia reached the apex of the jump, the explosion engulfed every single person there.
As the ground approached, the impact was reduced and she saw that the person who had carried her all the way here was Frederica. In her other arm, Rem was being let down onto her feet. The three of them were safe, only them.
"We would have known if the cultists encountered the others, we would have seen them or at least been warned by someone who did. How did he get past us?" Frederica asked as Emilia got balance on her feet.
"I don't know!" Sweat dripped down Emilia's forehead. Panic began to set in. All that came to Emilia's mind was how to reduce the suffocating feeling of guilt and failure. Petelgeuse should not have been able to sneak past, especially if he flew. Yet in the end it was his victory as he watched from above his potent work.
"Emilia, I think it would be in our best interest to escape," Rem said.
"How can you say such a thing..?"
"I'm sorry, Emilia. But Rem does not believe that continuing like this will do anything other than lead to our deaths, it would be better if we went to warn Subaru so that he could come and help us. Though the archbishop might escape by that time," the blue haired maid concluded.
"No," Emilia shook her head. She will not accept that.
"Emilia…" Frederica started, but Emilia turned away from her.
"No! I won't leave, not when people are still in trouble. Remember what Subaru told us before he left? Our job is to watch things while he is gone, and I'm sticking to it."
"But how can we do anything?"
"I don't know!" Emilia answered that she had no answer. That answer was as good as anyone else's. Emilia hopes to figure that out, but is worried by how much damage will occur in the time it takes for her to think.
"Fine, we'll have to figure it out as we go, but for now, we have something bigger to focus on." Frederica said, her legs transformed into beast-like appendages. A fiery determination burned in her eyes.
"Let's hurry." Emilia pushed the anxiety back into the pits of her mind, now was not the time for worry. She has to put her focus completely on this task, so as to not slip and fall into the depths of despair again.
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The flames grew larger by the time Emilia and the others exited the alley, so large that an intense orange glow emanated from the city like a fire pit crackling. They crossed the street and went down another pathway, all in hopes of finding at least someone to rescue, someone that could tell them anything.
However what they found were bodies strewn on the ground and missing limbs, burnt by the sudden inferno. Not just that of guards, but of civilians too, who attempted to flee the abrupt chaos. However they could not escape, too many explosions were planted throughout the city for them to have a chance. Another bomb exploded, however it was so loud that it faded away in the chaos.
"Come on, Emilia-san. There is no time to waste, if we hesitate, who knows how many more could die. We can still save the day for someone at least," Frederica said to Emilia and rushed ahead of them. Rem gave Emilia a final nervous but reassuring gaze, then followed behind the head maid.
"Yeah," Emilia said, then ran after the two deeper into the blazing city. She moved past curtained windows, broken glass and burning wood, then stopped as she saw the two of them halted completely. As her heart dropped at what she saw, she could only describe it as a nightmare.
In front were bodies upon charred bodies, small and large, all covered in burning rubble. Skin peeled away to crisped, dark flesh of the now unrecognizable faces of the deceased. Emilia covered her nose so as to not smell the scent of it. She did not want to learn what this smells like.
"The way is blocked by all the damage, we'll have to take a detour," Frederica said with a grim expression. She turned on her heel and went into a house off to the side. Emilia and Rem followed behind her, past the overturned features of the home and the bodies of its inhabitants, right through to another door on the other side.
Frederica burst through it and the group found themselves in another alley surrounded by smoldering flames. Emilia kept running, she hoped Frederica was not leading them to a dead end. As they turned a corner, fire blocked them a bit away so Frederica instead moved to a window that looked into the alley and climbed through it.
Emilia and Rem climbed in after her and found more bodies, a couple, each clutched within the other's arm, a single dagger piercing them both. Emilia stopped to pay respects to them silently, a single question formed from within her mind and crept out from her mouth.
"How?" She asked, which prompted the maids to look at her.
"I thought we already discussed that we have no clue." Frederica tried to remind Emilia, but she waved those words away.
"No, there has to be something. How did he get past us, he couldn't fly his cultists with him. Not only that but if he engaged with a group of scouts that they had to signal first thing to let everyone know. They wouldn't just die in an instant. There has to be something else but what could be? How could it be?"
"You know, Emilia. Rem has been thinking, and she might know where he came from, the only thing that matches," Rem's words caught Emilia's attention.
"Where? What do you think it could be?" Emilia was instantly paying attention to what Rem had said. Information that she might finally find use out of.
"Well-" Rem began, however a crack was heard from the ceiling above and it collapsed in between the two. Frederica had screamed at Rem to watch out before pulling her away. Fire and smoke began to cover the place from the crack in the ceiling, and Emilia's group had to be divided with Emilia alone on the opposite side.
"Emilia, we need to meet on the other side. We'll have to split up for now!" Rem called over the rubble as more piled on. It was slowly covering more and more of the view from each other, eventually it would lead to a complete collapse. As Rem turned to escape, Emilia called out from behind her.
"Rem, wait! Finish what you said, hurry!" Rem looked at her, now only Emilia's face could be seen over the burning pile. It was dangerous to stay here any longer, the smoke built up more and more to create a suffocating atmosphere.
"Emilia!" Rem tried to get the words across as soon as she could. "I think he came-" Before Rem could finish however, the world decided to drown her out with sounds of destruction and ruin. The ceiling broke through completely, and the mound of rubble that separated them burned like a completed abstract art piece.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" A guttural scream from Emilia, like she had watched someone die, except right this moment, instead of a person it was a chance. Even if it was a guess, even if it would turn out wrong, it would have meant another idea Emilia could use.
"No, no, no, no, no, NO!" As the ceiling collapsed further, Emilia was driven away from the building so as not to be buried. She left out into another alley, left with nothing but frustration. She punched the alley wall, headbutted it, however that amounted to nothing but a sore pain in her body. The chance was gone.
As she lamented it, she heard a scream ahead of where she was. A woman's. Emilia shook her head because now was not the time to grieve, even though it almost hurt her physically to think about. As she ran towards the screams, she avoided falling bricks and burning wooden beams.
She took another turn down a T-junction and found the person in danger. A woman with her hand placed against the wall limped as fast as her working leg could carry her away from a single hooded figure, one of Petelgeuse's fingers.
At once, both the woman and the finger spotted Emilia. The finger took out a dagger from within his sleeve and held it out to his side. He firmly planted his fore foot on the ground and stressed the muscle in his leg to leap forward.
"Help!-" the woman reached out towards Emilia, eyes wide and pleading. As the hooded figure drew closer and closer, his dagger faced towards her, Emilia took a single deep breath. Now or never, Emilia!
"Huma!" The dagger was thrusted towards the woman as fast as the eye could blink, but as if the air itself was brought down to freezing temperature, a barrier was created in an instant to intercept the strike. With a loud clang, the ice held and the dagger was bounced back with equal force, upsetting the balance of the finger.
"And then, little spirits. El Huma!" By her command, the lesser spirits coalesced their mana together into four icy spikes that floated briefly in the air before being shot towards the finger at high speeds. However before they could hit, the finger recovered his stance and struck two out of the air before flipping away to dodge the last couple.
Hmm, would have preferred one to hit, but at least he gave space for the lady. Without wasting another second, Emilia equipped her handle and grew an icy sword from it. "This loop might be over, but I still have to fight as hard as I possibly can, even if I'm destined to fail. Spirits-chan, support me!"
The two rushed forward towards the other, weapons aimed towards the vital spots of the other. Emilia swung first thanks to her extra reach and was subsequently deflected by the finger's dagger. Because of the dagger's lighter weight, the finger swung vertically down on Emilia which she deflected sloppily, chips of ice flew in a radius from the sword.
As the finger readied a second swing to attack into Emilia's exposed side, the spirits manifested a shard of ice and shot it towards the finger. This forced him to draw away and allow Emilia the chance to recover. With this new chance to attack, Emilia lunged forward and swung for the wrist.
Thanks to the new chip in the sword, the movement path of it was harder to read, which allowed Emilia to land the hit on his wrist. The dagger was tossed from his hand, a new opportunity for Emilia. She went for an overhead strike as that was sure to finish him, but before she could swing down, he lunged under her sword and tackled her to the ground.
The sword was flung from her hand at the sudden impact of her head with the ground, which made her neck open to being wrapped around by the finger's hands. She struggled to push him off, but he was too heavy and oxygen was no longer being taken in. She reached for her sword. She reached for a rock, she reached for something.
In her hand she finally found something to hold and swung it with as much force as she could on the head of the finger. The item was a wooden plank that cracked over his head, no damage. Desperation kicked in and Emilia used magic to cover the end of the wooden plank with ice and with as much strength as she could muster, slammed the ice into the head of the finger and threw him off.
With the crushing force now off her neck, Emilia rolled over and gasped for air. With her hand on her throat, as if that would improve her ability to take in air. She got on her knee and stomped with her other foot to stand herself up, ready to continue to fight.
But, the finger was dead. His head crushed, like a baseball bat to a pumpkin, caved in and splattered its innards around. Emilia wanted to vomit. The many times she saw blood, yet she was not any more used to it, not to mention that it was made worse by the fact that it was her own doing.
Emilia heard the woman scream again, she was going to explain that it was an accident, but when she turned to what she pointed at, she saw what made her scream. Outside the alley, fingers stood in rank like a small army unit. Side by side, the fire illuminated their backs and hid their front in shadow, all except for their eyes that seemed to glow ominously in the dark.
"Get behind me!" Emilia stood in front of the woman as the fingers began to flow through the alley like a flood. Back to front, shoulder to shoulder, it reminded Emilia of a movie about a small army of spartans that took on an infinitely larger army by using a narrow mountain pass, except this time Emilia was not an infinitely larger force, she wasn't even the spartans.
Emilia tried to form her barrier into a ball and spin it towards them in the hopes of taking them all down with a strike, however one from the second row extended their hands past the one in front and fired off a Goa, which struck Emilia's barrier and broke it.
The sudden billow of hot air in Emilia's face made her cringe, which the fingers took great advantage of as they lunged forward with great speed. Like a wave crashing down on her, the fingers came with all their knives aimed at her from all angles, all of which connected.
Suddenly, shockingly, Emilia found a dozen knives in her body. Her arms and thighs were fully pierced through, while 2 knives were in her stomach and another into her heart. But what finished Emilia off was not the daggers being thrust in, but the few seconds later where they were all wrenched out of her violently, not so dissimilar to the Wolgarm Emilia encountered not so long ago.
The act of the daggers being ripped out of her so violently resulted in her innards being stuck to them. The serrations had caught onto anything that could be actively pulled out like stretchy gum, leaving Emilia with a screaming pain that echoed throughout her body. With sinew and nerve stolen, her guts and her blood vessels abducted from her body and brought into the world like an eldritch birth, her body collapsed, and she died.
Chapter end.
Author's note:
It feels great to finally have something out there rather than to not post something. I have no idea how many chapters it will take to finish arc 3 exactly, but from how I am structuring it, there will be around 6 chapters till the end of arc 3. We will have to see if anything ends up changing. If there is one thing I can say, it is that I have noticed an improvement at least on a prose level thanks to some of the writing classes I'm taking, which makes me hopeful.
Thanks for reading this chapter. Tell me what you think in the comments, would love to hear what you think.