“Shamak,” Beako opened the fight with her signature move, instantly blinding Petelgeuse.
A moment later, Julius cut through his blinded form, killing the archbishop before he even realized he had been ambushed.
“Good work everyone!” I shouted as I walked up behind Julius. I clapped him on the back once, much harder than necessary, forcing him to take a step forward.
“Now, we just need to wait for Petelgeuse to come back to life as an abomination!” I declared cheerfully.
“Don’t say that with such a happy face, I suppose.”
“Aw! Beako! You are so cute when you scrunch your face up like that!” I kneeled down and rubbed her cheeks with both hands, causing her face to distort.
She slapped my hands away, “Stop that!” She sighed. “If you are that desperate for attention, you can hold my hand I suppose.”
“Subaru-kun Subaru-kun,” Rem chirped from my other side. “Hold my hand too.”
“A flower on each arm!” I shouted into the heavens. “What did I do to deserve such happiness, I suppose!” I slightly made fun of Beako.
“Did anyone else hear Subaru talk about an abomination a second ago, or was that just me,” Julius looked at us in bafflement, keeping Petelgeuse’s dead body in sight in the background.
I grabbed onto both girls’ hands. Then, I turned my attention to Julius and replied seriously this time. “You heard me. Petegeuse is about to resurrect as a creepy spirit monster. I suggest burning it to death.”
“Very well. Ia!” Julius cried, sending out the immature fire spirit. “Get ready.”
Sure enough, within moments Betelgeuse’s body began to get up and twitch. I could already see the unseen hands beginning to form.
“Now, Julius.”
“No need to tell me twice. Al Goa!” A massive stream of flame erupted from Ia, drowning Petelgeuse in its downpour.
The archbishop screamed and flailed. “This wasn’t supposed to happen, desu! What about my love love love love, erotic love, platonic love, eternal love. I am supposed to be loved!” He continued to shout and scream his insane cries even as his body dissolved around him. We collectively ignored him.
“That was easy, I suppose,” Beako said once it was all over.
“Beako!” I glanced at her, scandalized. “Don’t jinx it!”
“I have no idea what you are talking about, I suppose.”
I stared at Petelgeuse’s dead body just long enough to confirm that I felt Sloth’s authority enter my body— signaling Petelgeuse’s true death. “Welp, it’s time to go help the others!”
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Things were not going as smoothly near Crusch’s side of the battlefield. Both Ley and Greed were still rampaging around, though it looked like all of the cultist fodder was dead.
I could see Felis running an impromptu triage station, a steady stream of wounded making their way to his carriage.
Ram was doing a good job keeping Greed occupied, along with Wilhelm, but at a glance I could tell they were just buying time— unable to make a decisive blow. Crusch, and all of Anastasia’s remaining mercenaries were fighting Ley, but I couldn’t see the wolf headed Ricardo anywhere. Hopefully he was still alive. Honestly, if it were me, I would have directed Ram to fight Ley instead, but I suppose this was the way Crusch decided to spread out her forces.
The battlefield looked more like a world war one battlefield than a grassy field— great scores of earth were turned up, with equally large craters pocking the battlefield. The entire road looked destroyed, the gravel from the path nowhere to be found. I couldn’t see grass anywhere near the fighting, instead trampled dirt and mud became the new normal.
Wilhelm had a cut on his forehead, but it didn’t look urgent, and he was still moving just fine. Ram appeared unharmed, but with both of her horns active, it was possible she’d already healed from any possible damage she could have taken. Those two were fine, at least for now.
Crusch had a broken, or maybe dislocated arm. Her right hand swung limply at her side, and she awkwardly held her sword in her left hand. Mimi was the only of the three tiny siblings still on the battlefield, and one of her ears were scored— as if someone had taken a bite out of it.
I took in the battlefield from above, Beatrice flying the two of us over. On the ground below us, Rem and Julius rode back to the battlefield on their ground dragons.
Luckily, the villagers and Emilia were nowhere close to the fighting. Since we knew our flank would be attacked, we had sent everyone to sanctuary for evacuation. In this situation, it didn’t make sense to try and send anyone through the fighting back to the capital.
“Betty can kill or trap the archbishops, I suppose.” She looked at me for guidance.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Focus on the tall one with the white hair,” I commanded without mercy. Greed had to go. “You won’t be able to kill him, and we’ll need to save your pocket dimension for the insatiable Hare later, so we shouldn’t trap him either.”
“Betty’s contractor sure does say outrageous stuff, I suppose.”
“Can you fling him into space?”
“Space?” Beako scrunched up her face. “I do not know what you mean, I suppose. Space is all around us, I suppose.”
“I mean, fling him up really high into the sky. Keep flinging him up until there’s no air left.”
“Betty can do that, I suppose.”
With an almost negligent wave of her hand, Beatrice lifted Greed up into the air and brought him level with us in the sky.
“Isn’t it way too rude to just suddenly lift someone in the air!” He shouted, “We haven’t even been intro—”
“Beako get rid of him.” I had no interest in listening to his nonsense.
With another negligent wave of her hand, Greed disappeared up into the sky. Huh, I never even learned that dude’s name. I waited a bit, to make sure I felt his authority attach itself to me, signaling his true death. It almost pinged off of my soul defenses, but I let it through since I had been expecting it.
Immediately, left devoid of an enemy, Ram and Wilhelm descended upon Ley, jumping through the air and looking so much like they dropped from the sky on top of him. Beako and I watched from above as Ram and Wilhelm quickly cornered Ley, Ram lopping off his head with some well-placed wind magic. His body collapsed to the floor, and I could see Crusch nearly fall to her knees in relief.
Beatrice landed us back on the ground, near Crusch.
“Can you go help with the wounded?” I knew Beako was a master tier healer.
“Will Subaru come with me, I wonder?”
“Not this time. I want to go check in with Crusch.”
“Very well, I suppose.” Beako walked off, to the healing cart that Felis was stationed at.
“So much for epic, fate defying battles, I guess.” I whispered under my breath. In Canon, Greed had been practically invulnerable. But I guess once you knew someone’s weakness, and had the means to exploit that weakness, things became a lot simpler.
It was almost boring, in retrospect.
Then, I glanced back behind me at the remains of the battlefield. No, this battle certainly hadn’t been simple. I could see bodies laid out on the ground, tarps covering their forms. A crowd still surrounded the carriage for the wounded, Felis frantically moving from person to person trying to perform triage. I watched as Beako joined the fray, and I could see Felis practically sigh in relief as Beako lifted some of his burden.
After all of this, I would need to have a good chat with Emilia, but I wasn’t really looking forward to it. Even if she had been in the right, the way Emilia treated Subaru after his duel with Julius stood out in my mind. Comparing Emilia to Rem, there really was no contest. Rem remained loyal and loving no matter what, whereas Emilia rejected the man who constantly saved her life. Those two were not alike at all, and in my opinion, Subaru was a fool for going after the wrong woman.
Crusch slowly walked over to me, exhaustion causing her face to metaphorically droop. “If you had that much military force in reserve, what did you need us for?” Crusch asked without heat. She genuinely wanted to know, she wasn’t trying to lay any blame on me. The old Subaru might not have been able to tell the difference, but I wasn’t the old Subaru.
“Beako is somewhat... Special. She never would have joined the fight until today, I suppose.” I smirked at the hidden joke.
“I see. Beako is the great spirit who cast off the Sin Archbishop of Greed, then?”
“Yeah,” I agreed fondly. “She’s the best.”
“Be careful you don’t make your other girl jealous.” Crusch warned.
“Don’t worry. Rem will always have first place in my heart. The number one place, in all honesty, but don’t tell Beako that or she’ll pout.”
Crusch’s lips upturned in a smile. “Very well, Natsuki Subaru.” She sighed. “Pardon me, but I need to get my arm treated. Is there anything else you wished to discuss?”
“Do you have everything handled from here? It looks like things are wrapping up.”
She waved me off, “Don’t worry about us. At most, the remaining cultists are chaffe. We’ll handle them. I wouldn’t want to delay the hero of the day.” She smiled at me.
“This is no time for modesty, I take it?”
“It would be in poor taste, yes. Honestly, I wish I could bring you into my camp. No, my pride demands that I must insist you join my camp. With you by my side, it would be impossible to lose the Royal Selection.”
Her offer never would have tempted Canon Subaru, and yet Crusch’s offer did somewhat tempt me. On one hand, she was a highly skilled and highly trained aristocrat, easily able to take over politicking as queen of Luginica. In addition to that, she had the divine blessing of wind, easily able to tell if someone was lying. On another hand, she had the might and skill of both a warrior and a military commander. In all honesty, without Canon Subaru’s interreference, Crusch was logically the best candidate for the throne.
“I’ll have to decline you offer,” I said. I looked forward to Ram, and then glanced behind me at Beako already near the healer’s carriage. “It would be in poor taste to abandon the loyalty I’ve fostered.”
“That it would be, Natsuki Subaru.” Crusch smiled. I could tell from her face that it wasn’t a purely happy smile, since it had an undercurrent of disappointment but also understanding. “You would not be the man I made the offer to if you actually took it.” Her mind made up, Crusch nodded once, and then walked off to Felis’ carriage.
Without looking behind herself, Crusch lifted up her hand and waved the back of it at me as she walked forward.
I shook my head. Maybe in another timeline.
By that time, Wilhelm and Ram had already made it most of the way toward me. I walked the remainder to meet them.
“And Rem?” Ram immediately asked me.
“Safe. She’s at the healer’s station helping out I think.” I waved in Felis’ direction. Rem had followed Beako and I out of the mansion, with an agreement to meet us there after the fighting.
“Then we can catch up later, Barusu.” Ram sped off, running much faster than a human possibly could. Well, any human other than a Van Astrea, I suppose.
“Wilhelm,” I nodded my head toward him.
“Your hunt went well, I take it?”
“Three Sin Archbishops, dead. I can guarantee it.” I said with conviction. Though, poking around in my soul I didn’t see the authority of Gluttony. I glanced over to Ley’s headless body. Yep, still dead.
“I see.” Wilhelm sighed, tiredly, but with an undercurrent of satisfaction. “Then a great evil has been lifted from our world this day. You be careful, the evils of the world will surely find you in retaliation.”
“I’ll be ready,” I promised. “That’s actually partly what I wanted to talk to you about.”
Wilhelm raised a brow.
“Sometime, would you help teach me the sword?”
Wilhelm stared at me for a long while, seeking something in my eyes. “The air of your request does not seem that same as it did last time,” he observed with a tilted head. Then, he re-straightened, “But I must decline. Though you have the right mindset for it this time, I believe your true strengths lie elsewhere,” He looked off toward Beatrice. “If you should ever find yourself bored of learning magic, then come find me.” Without any further words for one another, Wilhelm walked off.
It was kinda awkward though because we were going the same direction.