Chapter Text
She was petrified.
Not just upset or scared. She was legitimately trembling at the knees.
In Emilia's arms laid the unresponsive, unmoving, body of a young man. The air was still hot from the previous attack being dispersed in the air, so she had no way of gauging if the boy's body temperature was dropping.
"A-A. . a?"
She let out a small squeak, feeling her heart catch in her throat. The thought that what laid in her hands could be. . . a corpse? Emilia didn't even want to entertain it. However, the scene before her eyes was impossible to deny.
"You damned filthy whore! He's mine! Disgusting, adulterous, slutty women like you should be burned at the stake! You make a mockery of love with that fetishized, ugly body designed only to seduce men! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! Ah~! I'll burn EVERYTHING. . !"
Despite the fuming, deranged, madwoman currently spewing curses and death threats at her like she was the greatest evil in this world, Emilia's attention had been squarely captured by the young man clutched up against her. Her head drifted next to his chest, and she put her ear up against him whilst silently muttering every prayer she could think of.
*. . .-hum. . .Thu-. . .*
'I-Is it. . ?'
There was something! There was something! There it was! She heard something! She heard it! It wasn't silent. . . ! A heartbeat! She'd heard a heartbeat!
"I-It is. . !"
Emilia gasped, suddenly struck with a burst of energy that made her barely able to restrain herself. What she'd hoped for so desperately had come true. . . It really was him. She was not able to keep some tears from leaking out of her eyes as a vibrant smile slowly grew on her face.
He's alive.
Somehow.
They'd been granted another chance.
Maybe things would never go back to the way they'd always been, maybe he'd refuse to even look at her, maybe he'd even try and take his revenge against all of them for what they did. But that didn't matter, because right now she was just so happy he was alive.
Slowly, she pulled his body closer into contact with hers, wrapping him in a deep hug. Emilia couldn't keep herself from expressing the joy she was feeling, so she buried her face into his shoulder and wept. All the tears she'd been holding in since he'd died. The emotions she'd squashed deep within herself to remain strong for the rest of the camp were now on full display.
"H-Huaaagh. . ! Subaru! Y-You're. . . Y-You're *hik* alive! Alive! Alive. . !"
He was still unconscious, and their situation was still precarious, but Emilia momentarily lost all her awareness and gave into the feeling. He couldn't hear her right now, which was still disheartening. . . but what she wanted to choke out next was something that needed to be said, regardless of whether or not Subaru was awake. Just as the stream of apologies were about to flow from her lips, the sound of yin magic caught Emilia's attention.
"K-Kah. . !? H-How could you leave Betty all alone like that, I suppose? The Cult w-. . ."
The drill-haired spirit fell silent, as the flight magic she'd used to arrive here gently placed her onto the cobblestone road. In Emilia's arms was something, or rather someone, beyond comprehension.
". . .i-is that. . ?"
The other person that accompanied Emilia had finally made it to the battle. In the rush, Emilia had been forced to momentarily leave Beatrice behind so as to ensure her quick arrival. Now, however, the great spirit could see the scene playing out in its full glory.
"Yes. H-He's alive. . !"
Emilia wanted to share the joy in her heart with Beatrice, but unlike her, Beatrice's butterfly iris's trembled in trepidation. By all accounts, the fact Subaru was alive was great news. . . but what did that mean for them? The pain she'd felt since Subaru's death had eclipsed the suffering of those 400 years many times over. She wasn't sure her heart could take the words she knew she deserved to receive.
"Now you too? Ah~! You degenerate, lustful creatures, take your hands off my husband! Our pure love cannot be compared to your perverted whorish prostitution! You've come to take him away from me? Haven't you! Haven't you? Haven't you!?"
Not one to be ignored, Sirius launched a wanton attack towards Emilia and Subaru, but she quickly reacted, swooping up Beatrice into her grip and launching herself away. In the midst of the attack, she was able to kick Julius's unconscious body out of the line of fire, however, she couldn't recognize him after how much his look had changed.
"A-Ah, B-Betty is. . . !"
As Emilia flew through the air, Beatrice's tiny body was crushed into Subaru's, her cheek smushing up against his. Until now, Beatrice had largely detached herself from the idea of seeing her contractor again, so having their reunion be so. . . abrupt, made Beatrice flushed with embarrassment.
"Let's wait? Please wait? You should wait? Do wait? We ask you to wait. We were still eating, ~tsu!"
Instantly, Emilia could sense a new presence behind her, and she responded by sending a devastating kick to the person who dared sneak up on them. However, her foot ended up grazing stale air by the time she realized they were gone.
"W-What? That was odd, I know there was someone behind me. . ."
"Allow us to introduce ourselves. We are the Witch Cult's Sin Archbishops of Gluttony, Roy Alphard!"
The word 'Gluttony' being muttered in any proximity to Subaru was enough to evoke glares from both Emilia and Beatrice, both of whom were torn between their intense hatred for the raggedly-dressed child and their desire to protect Subaru rather than fight.
"My husband! GIVE HIM BACK! HE'S MINE! Ah~! I'll burn you all to cinders!"
Both Emilia and Gluttony were once more forced to evade Sirius's attack, forcing them both back into the alleyway from which they started. It was becoming obvious that they weren't going to make any headway at this rate, and Emilia wasn't sure she could handle the two of them at once.
"How unfortunate I should have to meet you again, Sirius. I shall be taking Subaru with me, so take this opportunity to run away. I do not plan to spare any of you that try and stop me."
Unable to resist taunting the Witch Cultist that caused them so much trouble back in Priestella, Emilia hugged Subaru even closer to her, achieving the intended affect and making Sirius even more overwhelmed by her belligerent ramblings.
"You. How dare you speak as if you know the extent of our love? Ah~! All you understand is manipulating men with that sinful body, you putrid slag! I'll scorch that pretty skin of yours black~!"
As Emilia prepared to dodge the oncoming attack, she caught a glimpse of the unconscious form of a certain Appa Salesman who laid right behind her. Suddenly, she realized how foolish that behavior of hers had been, as there was no longer enough time to bring up an ice wall and block the attack.
"Vita, I suppose."
The fireball's direction immediately switched by 90 degrees, contacting with the ground like it had been forced down with gravity magic. Oh, actually, it HAD been forced down with gravity magic.
"T-Take more care with Betty and S-s. . . I-I suppose. . ."
Beatrice was annoyed at Emilia's bravado putting them all in even more danger, but as she began chastising her, the utterance of Subaru's name still completely eluded her and she ended up muttering out the last part of her statement with a shameful sound.
"I would if I could. . . However, I doubt our escape will be easy! H-aah~!"
"How careless of you, ~ts-. . .ah!"
As Gluttony appeared once more behind the trio, Emilia predicted his attack and landed a devastating kick to his face, sending the child Archbishop flying through the brick walls lining the road. With everything that had been entrusted to her at this moment, it was safe to say Emilia was flush with latent energy.
There were very few fighters who could survive the onslaught of two Archbishops working together; much less whilst carrying and defending two others. Any other combatant would acknowledge the situation was dire and likely lose their fighting spirit. . . but weirdly enough, she felt more free now than she'd ever felt before.
"Hold on tight Beako. . !"
"D-Don't call Betty th-. .kya!"
Emilia wrapped Subaru's dangling arms around Beatrice, only briefly taking a moment to take in the overwhelming cuteness resulting from that choice. Beatrice's face was red like an appa, and she reluctantly fell into the hug to hide her face from the grinning Emilia. It would be easier for her to maneuver around with Subaru's limbs locked around them both instead of dangling in the air. That's why she did it. . . there was no ulterior motive. None.
None at all.
"Ah~! AH~! AH Aah~! Ra~ah~! AAHH~!"
Safe to say, Sirius was not a fan of this scene. The words to describe her rage no longer existed in human language, and so she refused any attempt at actual communication. With each scream, she launched another flaming attack at them, which Emilia parried using ice walls and creative applications of her magic.
"This is troublesome. . . containing her without directly attacking is a tall order. Not to mention, her emotions are beginning to affect me. . ."
Before, Emilia had been relatively immune to Wrath's emotional transmission effect largely due to her focus on Subaru and the overwhelming feelings of joy eclipsing any outside interference. Now that her focus was off Subaru, even though Emilia was aware of Sirius's ability, she could still feel it pulling her mood to an angrier and angrier place.
"The best course of action is retreat, in fact! Minya!"
Beatrice cast a Minya spell at Sirius, but the bandaged woman swung her chains out in front of her, shattering the crystals before they could make contact. Roy was still down for the count, but Beatrice couldn't discount a scenario where he got the drop on them.
"B-But we can't leave all behind those other people. . ! They were fighting and doing their best. . !"
Emilia could tell the identity of one of them (Kadomon's hair was a dead giveaway), but the other person who'd collapsed beneath Subaru had also taken considerable damage. If this was one of the capital's knights, Emilia was prepared to gift him a handsome sum for fighting such a hopeless battle and protecting Subaru.
"We have to think of something, I suppose. This is unsustainable, in fact. . !"
Beatrice saw another fireball coming at them and cast Murak onto them all before all of them leapt into the air once more. Any situation where Emilia had to put Subaru down was out of the question, Emilia was certain once she did that those two Archbishops would do everything in their power to snatch him up. The longer she stayed here, the more Sirius's authority would affect her judgement. . . if she got angry enough, she might even put Subaru's life at risk while they fought. However, fleeing also was not an option, as the remaining fighters would be hunted down and eliminated.
It really was tricky. . .
"I have an idea. Beako, when we land, I'll need you to make a distraction!"
"Gya~ ! Betty warned you, in fact! No calling Betty by that name!"
The indignation rolled off Emilia like Beatrice's protest had never even been spoken. She would be sure to pinch that hussy's cheeks later for acting so derisively towards a distinguished spirit like her! But now. . .
"Can you do it? I know this is a lot of responsibility for a young girl like you. . ! H-aah~!"
Emilia blocked another fireball with her magic, calling out to Beatrice with concern laced in her voice.
"Don't measure me by those pitiful standards. I'm much older than you, in fact! Of course Betty can do it!"
Beatrice shuffled around in the sandwiched position she was in, trying to keep Subaru from flying off whilst simultaneously keeping a hand free to cast magic. During their previous encounter with Sirius, Subaru had speculated Shamak to be a potential counter for Sirius's 'Nect'-like authority, but it turned out to be largely ineffective. If Beatrice had gone into this fight without that information, she was certain that would've been her go-to plan of countering Sirius's ability.
However, with that inkling of knowledge in the back of her head, she still figured it could be useful as a diversion. Beatrice just prayed Emilia could make it work, as her mana wasn't infinite.
"AAAH~! AAAGHGH~! MINE~! GIVE HIM BACK~!"
As Emilia scaled down the sides of the alley, Sirius's bloodshot eyes met her determined purple-blue eyes, each of them reflecting off each other's killing intent and doubling it back at one another.
"You want him so bad? Fine, take him!"
Emilia tapped Beatrice's foot with her own, signaling to her that the time was now. If they had a moment in private, Beatrice would really need to lecture this girl about what constitutes 'proper preparation', as it had been less than 5 seconds between her agreeing to this plan and her receiving the signal.
"El Shamak!"
The Capital rang with screams of fleeing citizens and the cracks of flames sporadically burning down buildings throughout the city. There were bottlenecks being formed left and right, with people being trapped within the narrow roads of the shopping district and funneled directly into enemy fire. It was total chaos.
Needless to say, he had his work cut out for him. Even with his magnificent abilities, having to take all those detours to go and rescue unfortunate folks wandering the streets slowed him down considerably on his route to track everyone down.
Deciding he needed to take another pause to scout his surroundings, he paused on the roof of a building and scanned the horizon for any signs of life. With the large blaze that embroiled large parts of the Capital, just the resulting gusts of wind that fueled the firestorm were comparable to the windspeeds one might see in a hurricane.
Amidst the tempest, he stood unbothered.
*slash* *slash*
Two witch cultists who'd spotted him on the ground fell to their knees, their bodies sinking into the floor. Before they'd even had a chance to attack, they'd been mercilessly cut down.
"Wow! It appears my eyes didn't deceive me. . .He really is a magnet for trouble!
"Where? Where did you take him~!? AH! WHERE~!?"
Having vanished from her sight, Emilia along with Beatrice and Subaru, were nowhere to be seen. The shamak spell had been easy enough for her to dispel. With just one swing of her chains and some of her flame magic, the black cloud dispersed into the stagnant air.
*Clink*
Behind her, the sound of a sword whizzed dangerously close to Sirius's ear. Luckily for the Archbishop, she still had just enough time to move out of the way for this surprise attack.
"G-GAH~! H-Ha-h. . ?"
In front of her stood. . .
"M-My dear. . ? Ah, there you are~! Don't worry, my love for you will never wave-. . ."
The smoke fully cleared, and the shape she'd made out suddenly became much more descript. The thing in front of her was not her dearest husband's vessel, it was instead a crude mockery! A statue made out of ice, with a face perfectly resembling that of Natsuki Subaru. In its hand was a sword crafted from the ice that made up his body.
"You. You are not him. Where is he~? Tell me! TELL ME NOW."
As she finished speaking, a fireball engulfed the ice statue, rendering it into a cloud of water vapor that contained enough heat to scorch wood. Her frightful magic wasn't something to be toyed with so easily.
". . . ."
Looking to her left and right, Sirius could not see anyone new coming to attack her. The alleyway had become eerily silent, leaving her no choice but to return to the main road and go finish off the other two combatants. Perhaps that would be enough to draw out the assailant.
However as she entered onto the primary street. . .
*Clink* *Clink* *Clink* *Clink* *Clink* *Clink* *Clink* *Clink* *Clink* *Clink* *Clink* *Clink*. . . .
An entire army birthed itself before her very eyes. All of these soldiers bore a striking resemblance to Subaru, each commanding a different type of weapon. Spears, swords, bows, axes, even simple balled fists.
"None of you. None of you. None of you. None of you. None of you. None of you are HIM~!"
She screamed as she lobbed attack after attack at the ice soldiers, but nearly every one of her attacks was blocked by a corresponding ice wall. This back and forth was getting quite annoying.
"I'll burn them! Yes, I'll burn each and every one of them! AH! The men you left here, I'll boil them into bubbling flesh and red vapor~!
Sirius decided to ignore the pesky clones for now and instead focus all her energy on killing the other two men. Both Julius and Kadomon were piled up on top of one another behind the wall of Subaru soldiers. All she needed to do was cleave a path through them, and she would have no problems eviscerating the remaining attackers.
*Fwoosh* *Fwoosh*
Sirius cut down two of them, while another lobbed a spear at her. Before it could make contact, she shattered the projectile with her chains and launched a fireball at the last two that blocked her path.
"AH~! Primitive, pestilent, provocative, portraits of my husband will not deter me, you half-witch slut~!"
One of the Subarus with axes gets shredded through by Sirius's chains, leaving only an un-armed statue to fend off the bloodthirsty Archbishop.
However, in the moment before that Subaru was forced to throw itself at Wrath, a familiar voice broke the silence.
"That's enough! Subaru isn't your husband, s-so stop saying that!"
Right behind her, on a roof overlooking the entire battle, Emilia revealed her location to the enemy. The words Sirius had spoken seemed to rile her up as intended, but they had the added benefit of revealing the location of Subaru and Beatrice (who still sat in her arms).
"I will hear nothing of it from you, whore. Return him now, and I'll let these two go."
Her palm was outstretched, aiming at the unconscious bodies of Julius and Kadomon. The threat was obvious, which only made Beatrice even more annoyed that Emilia responded to the Archbishop's taunts in the first place. However, considering the way the battle was going, this outcome would've come to pass regardless of whether or not they showed their location, forcing them to intervene.
"Never! Besides, what kind of spouse would attack the face of the one they love so easily?"
Emilia was filled with indignant rage, having to watch the beautiful images she crafted of Subaru getting smashed into rubble.
"Slaggish half-witch, I suppose all that matters to you is one's face when it comes to affection? What a vapid understanding of true love~! My husband is my husband regardless of the vessel he inhabits, you damned cyprian!"
Several large ice crystals were launched at Sirius, which she narrowly avoided with a well-timed dodge.
"I care for him much more than you! He's not some vessel for you to abuse! Ha-aah~!"
Flame and ice collide once more in the air, leaving clumps of ice strewn all across the cobblestone road. It was then that Emilia deliberately shoved Subaru's head further into her chest to get Sirius even angrier.
"Careful, I suppose! Her authority is influencing you more than you realize, in fact!"
Beatrice screamed this out to Emilia, who by this point, was ready to go down in the street and settle this dispute with Sirius once and for all. Each of them were only feeding into each other's rage, which increased the odds of one of them getting injured. Should that come to pass, there would be no hope of victory. Subaru would be taken, and the both of them would die.
"If I remember correctly, did you not do the same thing to my dear husband once his name was eaten? It was quite easy for you to attack him then, wasn't it~? AH~! How flimsy was that love of yours~!"
Fury flared up in Emilia's chest, which only made her push Subaru even deeper into their embrace. Making Sirius mad right now had become just as important as protecting Subaru. No, it might be even moreso. . !
"We don't like it. We dislike it. We detest it. We despise it. We really despise it. We hate it. We loathe it. Stop interfering with our eating, ~tsu!"
A large piece of a nearby building was momentarily lifted up into the air. Beneath it, stood Gluttony, who had finally recovered from the midst of the previous attack. His head was still bleeding and he looked to be in considerable pain, but he was back in the fight once again.
"Which first? Who should we eat first? So many juicy targets, not one can be missed! Not one~! Gluttonous drinking ~tsu! Gluttony ~tsu!"
The large chunk of rubble was hurled up at Emilia, Beatrice, and Subaru, who were currently preoccupied with Sirius's attacks. No doubt, Gluttony was planning on attacking Wrath alongside the remaining fighters, but it appeared he saw this as the best opportunity for an ambush.
"Beako, i-it'd be great if you could handle that!"
Emilia sent another large huma crystal crashing into Sirius's location. At her request, Beatrice scoffed and looked at the oncoming boulder with a hint of trepidation in her eyes.
"Tell Betty your plan earlier, I suppose! It's cutting it real close, in fact!"
The rock approached rapidly, getting closer and closer to their position as Beatrice racked her brain for a plan to deal with it. Currently, she'd already used a decent proportion of her mana just by flying here and by casting vita and minya. As it stood, she lacked sufficient power to cast Al Shamak, but even if she could cast that spell, it would be a waste to use it on a boulder. She would instead try and target both archbishops and seal them away.
This left only one option.
"Murak, in fact!"
The weight of all the bodies in Emilia's arms lightened considerably. Along with that, the stress on her body decreased enough for her to employ some evasive maneuvers before the rubble could make contact.
"What did you say Beak-. .?"
"JUMP!"
She leapt into the air as the stone collided with their original rooftop position, creating a momentary smokescreen from all the dust it kicked up.
"So I can't attack one of them, and the other can recover instantly from all my attacks. . ?"
Emilia grit her teeth, as she began to seriously contemplate just taking Subaru away from this chaos and returning with reinforcements. The idea was foolish, as by the time they made it back, those other two fighters would most certainly be dead. However, risking Subaru's safety by continuing to engage with these freaks was making it all the more tempting to run away. . .
"G-Get down, in fact!"
The half-elf immediately yielded to Beatrice's warning, as a sharp gust of air slashed through the smokescreen above her head. It would've completely finished her off had Beatrice not detected the attack as it left the wielder.
Luckily for the two of them, the smoke beneath the attack remained undisturbed, allowing Emilia to once again hide from the enemies' sight.
". . .-k-kh!"
The jagged edge of his weapon slashed through witch cultist after witch cultist, leaving the black-robed men strewn all across the brick roads in the Capital. Only a few managed to detect his presence at all, and he was barely trying to hide it.
"Man, this really is quite the mess! I haven't had to use this many techniques in a long time. . ! I better get a raise for all my hard work!"
Throughout the city, he'd probably killed over 100 cultists, although the number was likely a lot higher by the point. From an outsider's perspective, he seemed to be in several places at once, however the reason behind this illusion was actually even more ridiculous.
"Well ain't that a sight!"
In front of him was the Royal Castle of Lugunica, currently being sieged by the lion's share of the remaining cultists. With battalions of knights having been wiped out at the entrance, it was surprising that fodder cultists could've been capable of such a feat.
The only person left there was a green-haired man with a set of heavy armor. He looked to be holding off the entire legion of Witch Cultists all on his own, despite being slightly injured and likely all out of mana.
'This'll make for a great laugh!'
In an instant, nearly all the remaining cultists were completely cut down by the secret spectator to their battle. Naturally, the green-haired knight watched this spectacle with shock and awe.
"Well then…"
His figure suddenly became translucent, as if light itself was still trying to cope with the fact that this person had long since disappeared.
"How are you?"
". . . !"
The hair on the man's back stood up on end, as the presence appeared behind him so fast that he could barely track the figure's movements. With little hesitation, he swung his sword to meet the threat. . !
*CLANK*
"Hey, that's not very nice. You should be greeting your savior with a smile, right?"
His strike was stopped by a simple flick of the wrist. The man was certain his broadsword was durable enough to cut through marble like butter, yet the assailant had managed to stop it like it was nothing.
"A-A pipe. . ? Wait, are you not an enemy?"
Seeing his sword blocked with such an unorthodox tool, the knight couldn't help but feel some shame at how easily he'd been made a fool. He relaxed the grip on his weapon and pulled the sword back to a guarded position.
"That's what I wanted to tell you, but it looks like my surprise failed."
The unknown person slipped the pipe back into one of their pockets, let out a sigh, and raised their hands in defeat.
"T-That was some amazing speed. . . !"
The green-haired knight sheathed his sword once he saw that the assailant's intentions were not hostile. To think that he would face two different opponents to outclass his speed. . . and in the same day, no less!
"It wasn't that amazing if you were still able to follow me. . ! Next time I'll be sure to give it my all."
They both chuckled at that statement, but for different reasons. The interloper couldn't help but be embarrassed that he'd assessed this man's strength low enough to try a trick like sneaking up on him, and the green-haired man was still trying to process the fact that this person hadn't even given it their all.
"What's your name?"
He asked the green-haired knight his name out of respect, at which point the armored fellow quickly obliged him.
"Marcos Gildark, Knight Commander and Captain of the Royal Guards."
Marcos bowed his head slightly as he gave his introduction, implicitly thanking the man for intervening when he did.
"Nice to meet you, Marcos Gildark, Knight Commander and Captain of the Royal Guards."
At the teasing statement made by the unknown person, Marcos was stuck wondering what it was this guy was smoking from his pipe. This wasn't the time for jokes, people were being slaughtered left and right!
"You can just call me Marcos. . ! I also ask you refrain from those practical jokes of yours until this situation is resolved!"
Marcos quickly regained his stature as a Royal Knight, gradually checking the status of each of his fallen battalion members to begin treating each of them with healing magic. There were a few he couldn't recognize, but the outfit told him everything he needed to know.
"Hey, hey, I'm just trying to add a bit of levity to this gloomy place. . !"
". . . ."
Trailing behind Marcos and he went over and checked the pulse of each of his men, the prankster tried to make small talk with the uptight knight, but failed miserably.
"Well Marcos-san, I daresay, if you managed to catch a glimpse of my movement, these grunts shouldn't have posed much of a problem for you. How did you end up in that precarious situation anyway?"
He posed an interesting question, at which Marcos grew silent. Asking a Knight to divulge a defeat was like asking a parent to give up their child. It was the secession of a sacred vow they'd made to protect one another.
". . .I-I suppose I've got no choice. If anyone could bring down that monster, it'd be you."
At this, the unknown person's eyes glinted with a renewed interest. He hadn't come here to hunt down monsters, but if his intuition was correct, wherever this opponent was would also be the location of the person he was searching for.
"It was a Sin Archbishop of the Witch's Cult, goes by the title 'Gluttony'. Before he launched the full-scale invasion of the City, he attacked us while we were off guard. I managed to fend him off. . . b-but not before he killed several of my men. He likely ran off towards the merchant district."
Marcos gripped the hilt of his sheathed sword, upset with himself for letting the Archbishop escape his grasp. It might not have been an easy fight, but the commander was confident if Gluttony hadn't retreated, they could've beaten him.
"Tell me what you know about him."
The figure pulled out a blade from his pocket, wrapping a couple of his hairs around it.
"Well, this isn't the first time we've come across this particular scumbag. Aside from demonstrating considerable speed and regeneration, I haven't borne witness to some of his more infamous abilities. If I recall, most of our data comes from Subaru's run-ins with him."
The captain paused for a second, having just remembered that Natsuki Subaru was, in fact, alive. He was there when Reinhard had brought him before the Sage Council and deliberated his fate. He would have to be careful not to disclose too much. . .
"You don't say? Well that's quite convenient for me."
"Why's that?"
Marcos didn't expect that answer from this guy, much less the smirk on his face.
"He just happens to be my boss, is all."
His cloak drifted out behind him as the person's face was briefly allowed to be exposed to Marcos.
"W-Wait a minute. . ! Are you. . !?"
The person disappeared before Marcos had uttered a single word.
"T-This is intolerable, I suppose!"
Beatrice shout-whispered this to Emilia, who sat with Beatrice and Subaru inside one of the abandoned buildings that dotted the side of the road. Initially, one would think their situation wasn't quite so dire, but with the context of what was happening outside, it was impossible to hide.
"We'll be the ones to eat him, alright? Right? Yes~? That's why we've spent all the time preparing, so we get to eat ~tsu!"
"GAH! AH~! AH! COME OUT NOW!"
The two archbishops were currently pummeling the ever-living shi* out of one another, whilst simultaneously leveling ever foreseeable hiding place with flames and debris. With Gluttony's reemergence, they at least had some reassurance that Sirius couldn't use them as hostages, as the Archbishop of Gluttony wouldn't allow them to be killed before eating their names/memories.
However, that was only a short-lived comfort, as Wrath's authority to transmit damage meant that Gluttony's reckless mode of attack would like end up killing them all!
". . .-tch! If we could just grab those two and escape, we could leave and let these two finish each other off."
Emilia clicked her tongue, watching the madness outside with labored breath. She absolutely would not allow either of them to take Subaru, and she was prepared to die here if that was what it took to keep him safe. However, it would be an affront to everything she knew about Subaru to leave the two people who'd been fighting alongside him to just meet their fate.
"Betty thinks we should take this chance to move Subaru away from here and return to grab the others, in fact."
It was a good plan, but it assumed that they would be able to leave their hiding spot without getting noticed. Emilia wasn't confident that they could do so. Using a spell like Shamak would only draw both of their attention to the fact they were escaping, which would be a death sentence for the remaining fighters.
"Is there any chance we could snatch the two of them with a well-timed diversion?"
She pointed to the unconscious pile of men on the corner of the street, to which Beatrice bit her cheek and tapped her foot.
"Can you outrun them carrying all four of us, I suppose? It's more likely one of them will become unfastened in the ensuing chaos, in fact."
The half-elf felt torn. She knew what Subaru would do here, it wasn't even a question. However, she also knew the realistic consequences of her choices. It was like she was being forced to choose between the Subaru in her arms and the Subaru in her mind.
"W-We can't risk Subaru's safety. . ! Please, listen to Betty!"
The spirit looked ashamed with herself for saying that sentence out loud, but if it was up to bearing the guilt of two random people's deaths vs the guilt of killing Subaru and second time, she knew what she wanted to do.
"I-I'm sorry Beako. . . but I know what he would want me to do."
The drill-loli felt her objection catch in her throat, before she buried her face into the unconscious Subaru's shoulder and wept.
"I promise, we'll all survive! We have to!"
Scooping her arms around Subaru and Beatrice once again, Emilia bent her knees and prepared to launch out the window at the fastest speed possible. This was a gamble, a big one.
*CRASH*
The three of them shattered through the building, their course making a bee-line to the unconscious Julius and Kadomon. From the look of both the Archbishops, it appeared neither of them were close enough to intercept them in their escape.
"H-Hurry. . !"
Emilia threw Julius over her shoulder, while Beatrice gripped onto Kadomon's arms.
"Murak!"
Casting one last spell, Beatrice lightened everyone's weight as they got loaded up onto the already overloaded Emilia. With this decrease in load, Emilia once again pushed herself off the ground and shot away from the scene at lightning speed.
As they cleared the edge of the main road, it appeared like their hopes of escape had finally been realized.
"Where is it that you think you are, tsu~?"
In that instant, Gluttony appeared behind the five of them, sending them all flying right back into the ground. His teleportation had allowed him to cut them off in the decisive moment.
Their gamble had failed, and Gluttony was now taking his time to decide which of them to eat first, ultimately deciding on Subaru.
"Ah~! There you are! DIE!"
Not caring to spare a single one of them, Sirius launched an attack meant to kill every single person present. Once again, Gluttony was briefly unable to telelport as he watched the oncoming flame prepare to destroy them all.
*SWOOSH*
The attack was sent careening off course with a simple wave of the hand. This person had just suddenly appeared, dressed in kimono, and wielding a comically oversized pipe.
". . .-hk!"
Gluttony was no longer above them either, instead all they could see was a massive crater in the ground where he'd been standing.
"I think its about time I got a raise. . . Isn't that right, Su-san?"
The wolf-human turned around with a smirk on his face, having once again proven himself the strongest man in the Kingdom.
Author's Note
Halibel in the HOUSE! Let's go, I know it been a while since I dropped a chapter, but real life stuff + botting has made it difficult for me to keep as frequent a schedule. I do have some large projects in the works which I hope you all will enjoy, but those will not have my name on it so yea. . . To be honest, I'm getting like really sick of writing fight sequences, but thankfully, the next chapter is where I'm gonna drop the BIG cliffhanger, so I hope all of you are prepared! This was only the first stage of this story, so I'm excited to see how you guys will react to the next chapter!
I can't think of a poll for this one, so how about this:
Which story do you want to see a new chapter for most?
A. The Secret
B. Cast Reacts To Arc 7 Shenanigans
C. Another Chance (after the next chapter I'm going to drop)
I know a lot of you have been waiting for updates, so I'd feel better knowing which stories you guys are the most excited for. As it stands for botting, what I'm planning on doing is continuing to upload new chapters of Another Chance on Ao3 (cause my fic already got botted and there's no way the staff will fix it for some reason), while The Secret, Cast Reacts Arc 7, and all future stories will be set so only Ao3 accounts can view them. Don't worry, they'll be crossposted to for you to read! I just don't want to deal with this botting stuff ruining any of the other fics I've made.
Here's my typical plugs that I normally put at the end of each of my chapters:
I also have a discord server for anyone interested in getting updates for when new chapters are releasing. We've got roles, a lot of active members, and an overall good vibe going on. It's pretty decked out by this point, so I suggest you check it out:
I also do have some other announcements though! My server members have been really active recently and we’ve actually done a couple live reads of my chapters. Since it turned out pretty decent, I thought, why not just do them for all my stuff? Anyway, what I’m trying to say here is that I’ve begun setting up a backlog of live readings for people to listen to (if they’re interested in that kind of thing). If you want to participate in those, then join the discord!