"Hold still!" Beatrice insisted, wiping Mimi's struggling face with a pocket handkerchief. "Your face is covered in blueberry!"
Late that night, Beatrice, Puck, and Mimi were resting in a glade after having successfully stolen a bag of pyroxene crystals and a large blueberry pie.
Puck had devoured the mana from half of the stones all by himself and his fur already looked a lot fluffier and glossier than when they 'd escaped. Beatrice had lied about not being hungry, in order to stretch out their supplies.
At Mimi 's instance, Puck and Mimi both had a slice of pie. Mimi then devoured the rest by herself.
Now the trio lay down on soft moss inside a glade deep in the forest.
"Alright," Puck mused, sounding on the verge of sleep. "If we're all full then it's time to go find Subaru!"
Beatrice glanced at Mimi 's now clean face. "We also need to help Mimi find her brothers," Beatrice pointed out.
Puck stared at Beatrice and raised his eyebrows.
"And find Betty and Bubby's mother, I suppose!" Beatrice added hastily.
As Beatrice expected, this immediately shifted Puck 's attention. "Betty," Puck sighed. "We need to focus on finding Subaru."
"Betty and Bubby's mother is likely already with Subaru!" Beatrice declared. "They're probably hard at work solving the problem."
Puck blinked. "What problem?"
Beatrice looked awkward. "Whatever… problem that Subaru and Betty's and Bubby's mother are… solving."
Puck sighed.
"Does Betty know which way Subaru is?" Mimi asked, trying to head off an argument.
"That way," Beatrice said confidently, pointing off to the south.
Mimi nodded. "Then Mimi will come too. Mimi doesn't know where the closest Hoshin Trading Company outpost is anyway. We'll find a big city somewhere along the way. Then Mimi can find her way back to Miss Anastasia and her brothers!"
Chaco was carried back to his office on a cushion by his secretary Carl, a tall young man in a spotless suit. Chaco had just spent more than three hours answering questions and fending off accusations about the slave revolt in Girali, the international situation, and General Brendig 's foreign army of mercenaries. Chaco felt almost ready to pass out from sheer exhaustion. Only his determination kept him upright as Carl carried him back to his private office.
Carl opened the door to the dark office. He carried Chaco to his desk and touched the fire-stone lamp on the desk, illuminating the office.
The lamp revealed a strange figure casually laying down on the nearby couch in the dark. He was a wolf demi-human wearing a blue robe, open at the chest and sucking on a kiseru pipe.
"Blessed Ancestors!" Carl yelped.
"Halibel!" Chaco shouted.
Halibel gently sucked on his pipe. His expression was shell-shocked and morose.
Chaco had a million questions but a glance at Halibel stilled his tongue.
Chaco had grown up at Halibel 's side. He'd seen Halibel in mirth and in mourning, in rage and in kindness but he'd never seen him quite like this before.
"Carl," Chaco snapped, stepping off the cushion and onto his desk. "Stand guard outside. Lock the door. I am not to be disturbed for any reason. Understood?"
"Yes, sir," Carl said. He quickly left the room with a bow.
Halibel didn 't say anything.
Chaco climbed down a flight of stairs that led from the top of his desk to the floor. The stairs were a special addition that Chaco had commissioned years ago when he first took possession of this office. "Halibel, what happened?! "
Halibel touched his forehead as if he had a terrible migraine. "I don't even know what to say, little brother," He muttered. "When I decided to rope Subaru Natsuki into this mess, I had no idea what I was playing with…"
Chaco fumed. "I knew that you had something to do with all this! What happened?! "
Halibel sighed. "I thought that I could use a monster for our own gain," He said helplessly.
"I need more information than that, Halibel!" Chaco pressed as he walked over to Halibel and struggled to climb up on the opposing couch. "The Assembly of City-States is ready to crucify me!"
Halibel started. "They think that you're responsible for all this?!"
Chaco made a face as he sat down. "Not exactly. They blame me for not seeing it coming and preventing it," Chaco grumbled. "If you hadn't freed most of the hostages, they'd probably burn me at the stake. Turns out nobody seems to really care about the ones who died in the arena."
Halibel sucked on his pipe. "I warned you not to enter politics, little brother," He chided gently.
"Never mind that. What happened?"
Halibel thought for a moment and then sighed. "Alright. So, I started out by going to Girali and trying to find ways to sneak the hostages out. Unfortunately, your demand that none of the Lagunicans know that we were involved put me in a bind. No matter what I tried to do, this weird elf named Bran kept showing up at exactly the wrong time and making me have to fall back to avoid causing a stir by killing him. I tried to get rid of him quietly but the Gods must really love him because everything failed, seemingly without him even being aware of it.
"Finally, I gave up on the direct approach. I realized that we needed a diversion. As you requested, I went to Abiate to meet with Sphinx and to try to get her help to get rid of Brendig and resolve the hostage situation in Girali. If Sphinx would supply the Girali rebels with weapons and explosives then that would cause enough of a stir for me to slip out the hostages without anyone being able to prove that it was us. I told Sphinx about all the suffering out in Girali and how he was using demi-humans as miners and working those miners straight into the ground."
Halibel took a puff from his pipe. "Sphinx turned me down flat. "
"What?!" Chaco yelped. "But did you tell her about everything that was-"
"Little brother," Halibel put up his hand with a sigh. "I told her everything that you asked me to tell her. I told her about the discrimination, the abuse, the persecution. And just like I told you, she wasn't interested. Sphinx said, and I quote, she could encounter identical abuses just down the road. She didn't need to cross the continent to find them. She told me that the Alliance wasn't interested in helping us sort out our problems unless we saw fit to help the Alliance with theirs."
"We can't do that!" Chaco said immediately. "Relations with Lagunica are already strained! If it ever came out that we were supporting a terrorist organization-"
"I know, little brother," Halibel puffed on his pipe. "You don't need to tell me all that. I know why we can't. And that's why I knew before even asking her that Sphinx wouldn't get involved."
Chaco rubbed his forehead. "I don't understand. If Sphinx said 'no' then why have you been gone so long?"
Halibel sighed. "After she rejected me, Sphinx told me to get lost. She said she had a much more important meeting coming up that she needed to prepare for."
"More important?" Chaco asked in surprise. "More important than one of the strongest fighters in the world who's bringing a message from the Counsel-General of Kararagi?"
"Yeah. That pricked my ears up too. So I hid in the caves and listened in. Turns out her next meeting was with a pair of Subaru Natsuki's confidants. She told them that Subaru was headed to Girali and that they should try to meet him there."
"Girali?!" Chaco echoed.
"Yeah," Halibel snorted. "Not sure when Girali became the center of the universe but it sure feels like it was for the past few weeks! Anyway, I put two and two together and figured that now I had the perfect plan. All I needed to do was convince Subaru Natsuki to stir up enough trouble in Girali and then either he'd be forced to deal with Brendig personally or he'd give me plenty of cover to do it for him and then we could save Kaguya and the others. So I impersonated one of Sphinx's agents and offered the kids a lift."
"What did Subaru Natsuki want in Girali?"
"He was looking for a magic book," Halibel deadpanned.
"I beg your pardon?"
Halibel snorted. "Little brother, I couldn't make up this kind of stuff if I tried. I managed to get lots of info out of those two on our long journey west. They really aren't very good at keeping secrets. Anyway, I quickly realized that these guys and their boss had no real interest in Girali. Their plan would be to try and stay undercover until they found the treasure that they were looking for and then slip away without ever alerting Brendig to their presence. Once I figured out that Subaru would try to stay out of trouble, I needed a way to raise the stakes. I stopped in Priestella and picked up some explosive primers from an old friend."
"You did what?!"
Halibel snorted. "I hid them in my cargo. I knew that there was no way the Girali guards would find them on their own. But as soon as we arrived, the guards started probing my wagon with some weird gadgets that I'd never seen before and they found the primers immediately. We were captured and enslaved."
Chaco 's eyes widened as he noticed the metal band around Halibel's neck. "Brother! You're wearing a slave collar!" He said in horror.
Halibel made a face. "Yeah. I told the other hostages that I'd go last in getting the collars removed. Sort of a penance. The mages are still working on the others."
"Why did you let them collar you?!" Chaco demanded. "I know that you could have fought your way out!"
Halibel shrugged. "You told me that none of the Lagunicans could be allowed to know that I was in Girali and trying to free the hostages. If I'd fought my way out, everyone would have been able to guess who I was pretty easily. So I let them collar me."
Chaco shook his head in horror. "Halibel," He whispered. "I would never have asked you to do that! "
Halibel grinned at him. "I owe you my life, little brother. I've got no issues risking it for you."
Chaco glanced away, looking guilty.
"Besides," Halibel continued. "There's an alchemist in Girali. Netty. She owes me a ton of favors so I had her 'rent' me as soon as I got into town. And I knew that if I got in really over my head, Netty would make sure you found out where I was and you'd make sure that I got extracted. So I wasn't all that worried." Halibel puffed his pipe. "You know, I'm not really sure what she's going to do now that Girali is a ghost town. She left town with the other merchants during the exodus to Lagunica. Maybe I should look her up and see if I can help her get back on her feet."
"Any idea where the Girali guards got that gadget that they used to sniff out the primers?" Chaco asked.
"No clue," Halibel said shortly, blowing a smoke ring. "But I'd never seen them before. If it was invented in Girali, the smart money is on that weird elf Bran doing the inventing."
"Did he survive the battle?"
"I don't know that either. He wasn't a focus of mine in all that chaos. I was in big trouble there. I was dealing with an honest-to-god witch, a small army of rebel slaves that had gone berserk, an enemy army, a horde of giant mabeasts, and I had a few dozen civilians to keep safe. And all of that with my power sealed! I still don't know how we made it out alive!"
Halibel picked at his collar with a look of disgust on his face. "Letting them collar me was not a good plan on my part. I thought that the collar wouldn 't affect me very much. I remembered hearing that the Sword Saint had to wear a control collar sort of like this one during a visit to Vollachia. I guess the Vollachians were nervous about him roaming their country so they only agreed to let him in if he wore it. Apparently, he reported barely noticing the strain. Reinhard and I are supposed to be kind of on the same level so I assumed that the same would be true for me. But I forgot that I'd only be a match for the Sword Saint when I use my three shadow clones to quadruple my power. Like this, I'm less than a quarter as strong as Reinhard van Astra. And thanks to the collar, all of my magic was sealed, " He sighed.
"You didn't realize that?" Chaco asked incredulously.
Halibel chuckled. "Come on, little brother. I never claimed to be smart. Just a great fighter and a great lover. Anyway, Subaru Natsuki finally showed up but then he struck a deal with Sonas. Apparently, Brendig was digging those tunnels specifically to try and find some kind of… ancient weapon, buried in a vault under the city."
"A weapon?"
"Don't ask me. I don't know what it is," Halibel continued. "Felt and Garfiel got the bright idea of flooding the tunnels to make sure that Brendig didn't get his grubby hands on it but then they got captured. That's how Brendig realized that Subaru Natsuki was in town. With his friends captured, I figured that Subaru would take care of Brendig for me but Sonas managed to take his wife hostage and that put me back at square one. Still, Subaru had Sonas and Brendig's undivided attention and that left me some wiggle room. Subaru and I came up with a plan to touch off a slave revolt and then Subaru led an army of mabeasts to the city. I got the hostages out in the chaos."
Chaco made a face. "Maybe we should try to finish what he started," He murmured, pacing around the room.
Chaco glanced at Halibel. "I keep hearing about this Subaru Natsuki," Chaco muttered. "What was your impression of him?"
Halibel sucked on his pipe. "I think that he's a sleeping dragon. And we should just let him lie. "
Chaco frowned.
Halibel shook his head. "I've never even imagined power like that. Commanding the Iotuns to attack the city was wild enough but Subaru used some kind of weird magic on the slaves that made them unstoppable. A hundred untrained slaves in terrible condition managed to take the entire city like a walk in the park. He even managed to give them all a divine blessing . "
Chaco started. " What ?! That 's impossible!"
"Don't tell me, tell him!" Subaru grumbled. "Almost a hundred people were placed under a spell that not only gave them a divine blessing and made them fight like veteran warriors but it made them absolutely obsessed with Subaru Natsuki! I don't need to tell you what this means or what kind of army he could raise if he was ever of the mind."
Chaco swallowed hard and shook his head.
Halibel sighed. "We all thought that Subaru's wife and friends had been killed by Sonas. I got the hostages away and stashed them somewhere safe so that they could get their collars removed here. I only heard this secondhand from Netty but apparently, Subaru went absolutely insane for a while, burning people alive. Apparently, his wife and friends actually did survive their fall into the caves, which makes absolutely no sense to me and I have no explanation for it. They even managed to find their way back out of the caves. Then Subaru led the slaves over the border before they could be recaptured by forces from Fusumi. "
Chaco 's face twisted in disgust. "I need to give the mayor of Fusumi a piece of my mind. I ordered him not to interfere with those fugitives and he ignored me. He claimed that allowing rebel slaves to escape Kararagi would destabilize the entire country's power structure!"
Halibel sighed. "I feel like all kinds of things are destabilizing lately."
"What kind of power does Subaru Natsuki possess?" Chaco whispered.
"No idea, little brother. I'll tell you this much though. He's not in control of it. When he was controlling the rebels, he seemed like an entirely different person. Netty said that later, when he was himself again, she watched him try to replicate some of the spells that he used the prior night. With absolutely no success."
"That's not much comfort," Chaco murmured. "Anything else?"
Halibel shrugged. "I doubled back and watched them leave Kararagi," Halibel said. "Just making sure that they really did get out of our territory. I thought about trying to kill him but I was honestly worried that he'd somehow miraculously remember how to use his power when I attacked and kill me instead!"
Chaco 's eyes widened. "You were afraid you couldn't beat him?" Chaco asked.
Halibel snorted. "Which one? The boy I spoke to in Girali and observed during the exodus could be obliterated by a snap of my fingers, with or without my collar. The monster who attacked the city on the other hand…" He trailed off. He shook his head. "I'd never felt anything like it. He made me feel… weak and fragile, you know? Really can't say that I much cared for it," He grumbled. "But it did give me some remarkable insight. I'm planning to go see Kaguya next week. Maybe she'd be willing to give me another chance."
Chaco started. "What? Why? What's changed?"
Halibel chuckled. "She left me because she was afraid of being close to someone who could destroy her by total accident. Now I can tell her that I know just how she feels. I worry that Subaru Natsuki could obliterate me just as easily as I could kill her . We have common ground now. Compared to that monster, I 'm just as helpless as Kaguya is…" Halibel poked at his collar. "Besides, I got this thing right now," He sighed.
Chaco looked pensive. "Maybe Montefort had the right idea after all. Maybe we should all join forces to hunt him down and-"
"No," Halibel cut him off.
"Excuse me?"
"No. Don't do it, don't analyze the benefits, don't even think about it," Halibel said seriously. "I've never even imagined such raw power before. Subaru has left Kararagi and he seems to be at least more kindly disposed toward us than he is toward Lagunica or Gusteko. Take the win and just hope that he never comes back this way."
"And if he does?" Chaco pressed.
Halibel sucked on his pipe. "Do you know any good prayers, little brother?" He said with a sardonic smile.
Late that night, Subaru and his friends rode in a carriage toward the Crystal Palace.
Garfiel, Felt, and Emilia were fast asleep. Emilia was dreaming on his lap but Subaru was wide awake. He felt like he had an awful lot to think about.
This must be it. The power that Roswaal and Kor ë coveted.
After spending all that time with Beatrice and Puck, I thought that I understood the power of the spirits but it 's like Emilia said, spirits don't normally work well together.
But under the influence of Pridebreaker, I could summon hundreds or even thousands of spirits to my aid and force them to weave spells for me.
The tornado and the earthquake I created could have each leveled cities when properly applied. But there 's so much more to it than that. When I touched the spirits, I understood a fundamental truth about this world: the world is as the spirits make it.
I finally understand what Alpha meant when she talked about the Od Laguna 's dream. I thought that she was just reciting some weird folklore. But the spirits are fragments of the Od Laguna. The rain falls, the wind blows, the soil becomes rich and fertile, and it's all because the spirits decree that is what will happen there. Because the Od Laguna dreams it that way. And by commanding the spirits to change their behavior, I can permanently change the land itself!
Frederick told us that the Kararagi desert was spreading and that it would be a disaster for the whole continent. With a snap of my fingers, I could bring water to that desert and make the whole thing a verdant grassland.
Anri and her people have a terribly short growing season. One word to the spirits and they 'll bring the heat of the tropics to Gusteko and make it eternally summertime!
But that 's only the tip of the iceberg. I was able to give all of the rebels a Divine Blessing. I created a whole army of people cherished by this world. Even after Pridebreaker ended, the blessing persisted. The world acted as if these people had been blessed from birth.
The whole experience was a whirlwind in my head. I 've only just begun to understand how the spirits manipulate the Od Laguna's dream but it worked.
I could create whole cities full of people cherished by this world. I could grant blessings to people all across the world. I could make this world a real utopia.
A cold voice whispered to Subaru from the depths of his mind. You could even create armies, blessed with every possible advantage. You could create a legion of Reinhards.
Subaru stiffed. Hell, no. He thought awkwardly, instantly feeling guilty. Reinhard 's my friend, not a tool. Or at least, he will be my friend again once we get this business with Emilia straightened out. I can 't just treat him like a template to copy.
But still, The same voice whispered. Imagine the potential impacts. Giving farmers a blessing of green fecundity could allow for an agricultural boom the likes of which this world has never known. Giving police officers Crusch 's Blessing of Wind Indication could allow them to sense the lies uttered by any suspect and to never imprison an innocent man again. Felix's Blessing of the Water makes him the greatest healer in the world. Why not offer it to every healer in the nation and end disease and sickness forever?
You could change this world and make it a true paradise, and this is a worthy goal for any king. And you offer these blessings freely to any who wish them, asking so little in return. All that they must do in order to receive your blessing is kneel to their rightful king …
Subaru mulled that over with an exultant grin, his mind running wild with ideas.
I could take any wasteland in the world and transform it into a paradise. I 'm like an artist and the entire world is my canvas. I can rewrite this whole world the same way that an author could edit a page!
Mastering this power will obviously take time. This kind of magic must come from the dawn of time. Perhaps it 's the same sort of power that the Gods used in their acts of creation.
A man couldn 't hope to master this kind of Divine magic with a mortal mind. Luckily, I have something far beyond an ordinary mind.
I 've already grasped the core truth of this magic. I can see the way forward, just a tiny hint of a path but it's enough, it will allow me to pursue this power.
I can study this magic. I can learn it and I can master it!
No matter what reason people are fighting, water shortages, or lack of food, I can immediately remedy the problem. I can reshape this world in any way that I wish.
The Archbishops are threatening a town? I bet that once I really master this power, I could just make a gesture, and their Authorities would abandon them! Imagine the looks on Capella or Regulus 's faces when they become utterly vulnerable to the vengeance of an angry village of farmers!
A fascinating idea, The cold voice observed, But really, you 're still thinking too small. You can certainly rewrite this world but imagine rewriting its people.
You know that so many people in this world look at Emilia and think that she 's a monster. They don't realize what a wonderful person she is. And it's all because of that ingrained distrust and racism against silver-haired half-elves.
Don 't you realize that now you could simply wash it all away?
It 's obviously far more complicated to reshape a living soul than to reshape the land but you know that someday you could simply reshape the hearts and minds of everyone in this entire world with your power and make them all live in peaceful harmony.
They 'd want to live in peaceful harmony. They 'd be unable to understand why they ever wanted anything else.
Subaru hesitated. That 's going pretty far. I mean, what's the difference between that and simply brainwashing people? People do have rights.
Do they have the right to be wrong ? The voice mused. Mistakes have consequences. Mistakes do not only impose costs on the person making the mistake but also on the people around them. Civilization is about each of us giving up certain choices in exchange for security and prosperity.
Should a man have the right to kill another man over an argument? Or to abuse his employees? Or to rape a drunken woman?
What sin is there in denying the people the ability to make these choices? What difference is there between denying them the power to make wicked choices and simply telling them that they will be punished if they do make them?
In both cases, the choice is forbidden but your way causes far less suffering for all.
You can sense that a war is in the offing in Lagunican between humans and demi-humans. And perhaps between nobles and peasants. The kingdom might simply disintegrate into a hundred warring provinces.
Should the actions of a few angry nobles be permitted to cause suffering for so many?
By reaching into their thoughts and ending the senseless, irrational hatred that humans have for demi-human, you could end an entire war before it starts and spare whole generations unfathomable misery.
And better still, they 'd stop viewing Emilia as a witch. They would finally see her as the angel that she is.
You can give her that. You can make this world a paradise for your lover. All you need do is muster the will to take action.
It will be difficult. At first, few will understand the great work that calls to you. Many might even seek to stop you out of misguided fear and doubt.
All great works require sacrifice. The ignorant may not understand at first but they will be forced to comply.
Subaru smiled out the window as he stroked the sleeping Emilia 's hair.
Rest easy, Mili. Our problems are nearly behind us. I know what to do now. I will remake this whole world piece by piece and make it the sort of world that you deserve to live in.
After all our trials and tribulations and struggles, I will finally fulfill my promise to bring you happiness.
I will bring you paradise.
You deserve nothing less.
It was finally daylight in Girali. The sun shone down brightly down on a deserted city.
Colonel Brasca was exhausted. She hadn 't slept in about three days. First, she'd had to deal with the Iotun and slave attacks, then she'd spent a full day desperately trying to reach General Brendig and rejoin his forces. Then, Brendig demanded that the troops all move back to Girali at a forced march to deal with something that he refused to tell Brasca about. Worse, Brasca was forced to inform the General that Subaru Natsuki had freed the hostages and escaped the city.
Brendig had been furious and he had put the blame for this mess squarely on Brasca 's shoulders.
Brasca and Brendig stayed in Girali while Brendig instructed the remnants of their men to secure the obelisk for no explained reason.
Thus, Brasca led a detachment of men back to Girali to obtain the obelisk under Brendig 's watchful eye. Brasca had no idea why she was doing this. If Brendig suspected that there was something noteworthy in the obelisk because of the Iotuns' fascination with it or if he was just making busy work for her as a punishment.
The General was not commanding the mission. He was here as an observer and Brasca knew that Brendig was just looking for more mistakes to add to his report on her service during the mission so that he could use her as a scapegoat to dodge all the blame.
Brasca knew that the Iotuns would be no trouble now that the sun shone but she knew also that there could be other dangerous surprises in the city so she sent the bulk of her forces to secure the obelisk while her personal guard helped her search the city, General Brendig following silently behind.
After a few hours, Brasca had found nothing. No one living inhabited the city. It appeared that Girali would be reclaimed by the desert in short order.
Brasca and her guards made their way to the obelisk only to discover that it was gone.
"What?" Brasca whispered as she entered the small courtyard around the obelisk. The courtyard was deserted and the obelisk lay all over the courtyard in pieces.
"Colonel, what happened?! Where is everyone?!" Her captain asked.
"Colonel!" Brendig snapped. "Where are your men?!"
"There should be close to a hundred men here!" Another soldier said.
"What happened to the obelisk?!" A third said.
"Where are the Iotuns?" Brasca said slowly.
The captain hesitated. "If you remember, ma'am," He said slowly, trying not to sound like he was lecturing his superior officer, "The Iotuns die in sunlight so-"
"Where are they?" Brasca repeated. "When Iotuns die in the sunlight, they burst into a pile of foul guts and body parts! No one knew that the endless night would just vanish so the Iotuns would have had no time to run! Their entrails should be all around us but there's nothing here!"
"There is nothing here," A mage whispered in horror. "No people, no spirits, not even any mana."
Brasca looked at him. "What are you saying?"
"This entire area is completely lifeless!" The mage whispered. "I can't imagine what happened here! It's like some dark force simply devou-"
Brasca 's heart stopped as she heard the sounds of rattling chains behind her.
Brasca turned, her hand on her sword and she saw a strange misshapen blob of darkness that was pulling itself up from underneath some fragments of the obelisk. Nothing within the darkness could be seen. It crept forward and with every slow, ponderous step, Brasca heard hoarse panting and the rattling of chains.
The blob approached the general.
Brasca couldn 't understand how the thing had gotten so close to them unnoticed but it was now less than five feet away from Brendig.
If Brendig had bolted, he could have outrun the thing since it wasn 't moving all that fast but instead, he froze.
"Stay where you are!" Brasca commanded the blob.
If the blob understood, it made no sign. It suddenly pounced forward, knocking Brendig off of his riding dragon. It landed heavily on top of him, knocking the wind out of the old general.
"Retreat!" The Captain shouted and the men fled.
The general struggled but the thing on top of him seemed as strong as strong as a strangling snake.
"Brasca! Help me!" The general howled.
Brasca hesitated for a long moment and then she spurred her mount and fled the scene.
There 's no point in rescuing a general who's already fitting me for a court marshal! Brasca thought grimly as she fled. She wasn 't sure herself if that was her actual reason or just an excuse to flee the monster in fear.
Brendig struggled in the monster 's iron grip, cursing his incompetent and treacherous lieutenant.
Brendig 's eyes slowly adjusted to the profound darkness that he found himself in until he realized what he was looking at.
Laying on top of Brasca was a blindfolded young girl with pale blond hair. Most of her limbs were chained together and she moved by dragging herself across the ground with her one free arm.
Her teeth were sharp and jagged.
"So hungry," Daphne whispered to Brendig with a predatory smile.
Some days later …
"I'm sorry that I'm late," Montefort said, slipping into the small room where the trio habitually met. Zyst and Willard Picket were already present.
Montefort paused for a split second when he was a young owl demi-human standing beside Zyst.
"I see that we have a guest tonight," Montefort said quietly. "Zyst, you seem to be branching out somewhat in your choice of friends."
Zyst gave him a sour look. "This is… 'Peepers,'" Zyst muttered awkwardly. "He was captured during the Sword Saint's raids in the south."
"Raids?" Willard asked.
"Sir Reinhard appears to be working very hard to locate the Vollachian radicals that threatened his father," Zyst replied. "He's had no luck locating them yet but any number of bandit camps have been located and surrounded due to the actions of Sir Reinhard and his men.
"Peepers belonged to such a group in the south which decided not to surrender and were nearly eradicated. Peepers did surrender and Sir Reinhard took him into custody. One of my Inquisitors found out about his divine blessing and informed me. We spoke to the judge and made an arrangement for Peeper's sentence to be service instead of execution."
"That's all very fascinating, Lord Zyst," Montefort muttered. "But what is this bird doing here?"
"Delivering a report. I sent him off to Freehold to investigate the rumors. You can go now, Peepers."
Peepers gave a cringing bow and scurried out of the room.
"Freehold?" Willard asked.
"The new village formed by those refugees," Zyst explained.
Willard sighed. "Well, at least we'll finally get some useful information. All I 'm hearing is rumors about how the 'amazing' Subaru Natsuki managed to liberate several hundred slaves, punish their oppressors, bring them to safety, and then send them on their way with their pockets bulging with gold!"
"The rumors appear to be fundamentally accurate," Zyst said.
The room was dead silent for a moment.
"What?" Willard asked pointedly.
"According to Peeper's report," Zyst said. "About four hundred and fifty slaves were liberated by Subaru Natsuki in Girali. Girali has now been abandoned. He managed to elude pursuit and escape over the border into Vollachia. The refugees returned to Lagunica and apparently went to Priestella where one of their leaders had friends and family to draw on. This leader, one…" Zyst quickly checked the report, "Xiao Long, was apparently once a nobleman in the area."
"Xiao Long," Montefort mused thoughtfully. His eyes widened. "Oh yes, I remember now. Baron Tai Long's oldest son. The Captain that was presumed dead during that border skirmish. He's alive?"
"Apparently, he was captured by slavers," Zyst replied. "Upon arrival in Priestella, he managed to obtain an audience with the ruling council, among them his nephew Baron Gejzi Long."
"I expect that was an emotional reunion," Montefort commented.
"We're assured that it was," Zyst replied dryly. "In fact, Gejzi's first reaction was to renounce his title in favor of his uncle, the rightful heir. I'm told that Xiao declined and was just grateful that Gejzi had been doing such good work taking care of the family and the people. Xiao apparently knew a place that would be good to build a city so the refugees pooled some of their money together and bought huge tracts of farmland a day or so northeast of Priestella. They're building farms and homes close to the Tigracy river. Some of the slaves went off on their own but most decided to stay together and rebuild their lives. Xiao was elected chief of this new village."
"How large?" Willard asked.
"Four hundred or so," Zyst replied.
Willard raised an eyebrow. "That's not a village! That's a fair-sized town!"
Zyst nodded. "Apparently. It seems that Xiao knew that merchants often stopped in the area to spend the night on their journeys across the continent so he decided that building inns and shops in the vicinity would be profitable. Apparently, the refugees still have a great deal of the gold that Subaru Natsuki gave them. So the town is flourishing with artisans and craftsmen from all across the continent, eager to assist them in setting up their community for a share of that gold. "
"Where did this gold come from?!" Willard asked.
"Evidently, Subaru Natsuki got it from Tolian Sonas," Zyst explained.
Willard snorted. "You mean he stole it! I can 't believe that the locals are calling this man a hero! He murdered an honest businessman and stole every gold coin that he had! And the people act like Subaru Natsuki just handed them the money?! That money wasn't his to give!"
"Willard," Montefort said patiently. "I understand that Lagunican sensibilities are somewhat… strange to you but I would urge you to keep such thoughts to yourself. I fear that you are most unlikely to be able to convince Lagunican peasants or a group of recently liberated slaves to feel guilty about the murder of a slave owner or stealing from him the gold earned by the sweat of those same slaves' brow. In fact, I suspect that if you made such an argument in any Lagunican city, you would be staring down a lynch mob in short order."
Willard fumed.
"Anything else, Zyst?" Montefort asked.
Zyst nodded with a grave look on his face. "One more thing. I asked Peepers to go and investigate the village because my first investigator reported something so ridiculous that I refused to even consider it."
"What was that?" Montefort asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Apparently, the refugees are largely divided into two factions. The ones who fought in the rebellion with Subaru Natsuki and the ones who didn't. The rebels are inexplicably devoted to Subaru Natsuki, treating him as some strange fusion between King and God. There was a large amount of conflict between them at first but as things settle it appears that the other slaves are prepared to accept the rebels' oddities in the same way as one might accept a friend belonging to a cult or some such."
"Nothing terribly strange about that," Montefort offered.
"No. That wasn't the strange part," Zyst said meaningfully. He took a deep breath. "I have had it independently confirmed by three separate investigators that more than eighty of these slaves possess a divine blessing."
Montefort raised an eyebrow. "Eighty out of four hundred? That is absurdly high. Perhaps Sonas was specifically buying slaves with a blessing?"
Zyst shook his head. "The slaves are all in agreement. During the battle, Subaru Natsuki used his 'power' on them. This power allowed neophytes to fight with the skill of combat veterans. And he also used his power to give them a divine blessing from the world."
The room was completely silent.
"That's impossible!" Willard snorted.
Zyst didn 't reply.
"What kinds of blessings are these?" Montefort asked slowly. "Perhaps this is some kind of trick that Subaru Natsuki came up with."
"The Divine Blessing of the Mountain King," Zyst replied.
"And what else?" Montefort asked.
Zyst took a deep breath. "Eighty some odd people who all have the Divine Blessing of the Mountain King, " Zyst shook his head.
"That's impossible," Montefort whispered.
"Divine Blessings occur for maybe one birth in a hundred!" Willard objected. "And most of those are useless! One in a thousand might have a useful blessing. And a rare blessing like The Divine Blessing of the Mountain King occurs in only one in a hundred thousand!"
"Believe me, Willard, I am well aware of the statistics!" Zyst grumbled. "The Divine Blessing of the Mountain King is an extremely powerful blessing. We see it only a handful of times in a whole generation. And now we're finding out that eighty people somehow just obtained the blessing out of thin air!"
"There are legends of people obtaining blessings spontaneously," Montefort mused.
"I know," Zyst agreed. "My people are studying everything they can get their hands on in regards to that. We must understand how this happened."
"There's no way that Subaru Natsuki could simply give these slaves a blessing! Even if he is a witch!" Willard scoffed. "Perhaps the slaves had this blessing all along and simply didn't tell anyone out of fear of being persecuted or hurt?"
"Don't be a fool!" Zyst snapped. "These slaves all being born with that same blessing is already statistical nonsense! Much less them all being enslaved and gathered at Girali by raw chance! Besides, are you seriously arguing that Sonas could have kept eighty men with the Divine Blessing of the Mountain King in bondage?!"
"As little as I like to admit this," Montefort cut off Willard before he could argue back, "I fear that the possibility of Subaru Natsuki somehow giving these people a blessing is one that we must seriously consider…" He turned his gaze toward Zyst. "You understand what this means?"
Zyst nodded gravely. "If we can take these reports at face value then Subaru Natsuki appears able to place a blessing on people at will as well as cause them to be zealously dedicated to serving his will and given elite fighting skills. If this is true, he could conjure up an unstoppable army virtually out of thin air."
Montefort nodded. "We've been assuming that if push came to shove, Sir Reinhard and Cecilus Segmunt would easily be capable of dealing with Subaru Natsuki. We may need to reassess that belief."
"But then what's left?!" Willard gasped. "If not them, then who?!"
Zyst took a deep breath. "I might have an alternative option. I was recently approached by… someone. Someone who might be able to assist us in this matter."
"Can you trust them?" Willard asked.
"No," Zyst said flatly. "But if they can aid us in dealing with Subaru Natsuki as promised then perhaps a limited alliance will be necessary."
Montefort mulled it over. "Perhaps but not yet. Let's see what happens next."
"Where is Subaru Natsuki right now?" Willard asked.
"According to my reports," Montefort murmured. "He is now in Vollachia at the invitation of the Emperor."
"Vincent?!" Willard protested. "I thought that he was on our side!"
"It appears that the Emperor has uncovered our little agreement with Octavian," Montefort said. "Pity. I was hoping to play both ends against the middle for a while longer."
"What about Cecilus? Is he still here?" Willard squeaked.
"Cecilus is unaware of any of these events," Montefort said dismissively. "He is not a good actor. If he knew, it would be obvious. Although, I'm not certain what game Vincent is playing at, keeping Cecilus here right now."
"He might be planning to make a move against us," Zyst worried.
Montefort shook his head. "No. Vincent will strike out against us, make no mistake, but as long as his crown and his life are threatened, that will get his undivided attention. Any direct attack against us or Lagunica would destabilize the south at the worst possible time for Vincent. In the meantime, just to be sure, I 've ordered Sir Reinhard to desist in his sweeps of the countryside for the Vollachian radicals and to remain in the capitol. If Cecilus does make a move, we'll be prepared to counter him."
"What about those radicals that attacked Lord Heikel?" Zyst asked. "Are they partisans of Vincent or Octavian?"
"Perhaps neither," Montefort replied simply. "They claim to seek independence for the province of Garkla and with the south hovering on the verge of civil war, this seems like a fine time to make their move."
"If I might bring this back to our original topic," Willard said. "What do we plan to do about Subaru Natsuki now? He may be in Vollachia but the screams of his faction grow louder everyday. Now he's a hero that freed hundreds of slaves and filled their palms with gold! We need to find a way to regain control of this situation!"
Montefort nodded. "Agreed. Zyst, do you have any assets at the Grand Archives? Or could send some there?"
"Many of my people have been admitted to study in the Archives at one point or another and could easily reacquire the credentials to be admitted again. Why do you ask?"
"I haven't forgotten how frightened Gustov became when I mentioned this 'Empyrean King.' Gustov knows something about this mess. We need to learn what it is. Knowledge of our foes strengths and weaknesses is all that might save us now."
Zyst nodded. "I'll send a group up there immediately. They'll ask to do research on the Old Kingdom and see what they can turn up."
"Any word on General Brendig?" Willard asked.
"I heard back from Brasca," Montefort said his voice unusually grim. "Apparently, General Brendig was killed and devoured by some strange monster."
"I assume she meant a Iotun?" Zyst asked. "'Monster' is a poor description even for a mabeast."
"My niece is not inclined to hyperbole," Montefort chided. "If she said that a monster ate him then I expect that is precisely what happened."
"Perhaps," Zyst answered. "But I think that we all know what really happened."
The trio were silent for a long moment.
"Then Brendig has failed in his quest and Daphne walks the earth," Montefort sighed. "What's the impact on the Witch's Shrine?"
Zyst didn 't answer.
"Lord Zyst?" Montefort asked with an edge in his voice.
Zyst sighed. "I'm afraid that the situation is exceptionally grave. The Sanctuary being breached was bad enough but the loss of Daphne's seal was catastrophic to the integrity of the Shrine's seal. It still remains the strongest seal by far but each witch who revives appears to be unraveling it exponentially. Also, we have received… intelligence that Daphne likely plans to free her sisters."
Montefort digested that. "Sir Reinhard remains our greatest asset against the witches but he is legally forbidden from leaving the country," Montefort continued. "Luckily, we still have time to act. For now, Daphne appears to be trapped in an isolated section of the desert while attempting to restore her powers. Despite this, the Kararagi authorities will discover her presence before too much longer. That might make them more credulous about the existence of the other witches. And the need for extreme measures against Subaru Natsuki."
At twilight, a hooded figure raced through the thick woods. They wore the purple robes of the Witch Cult.
Their breath burned in their lungs but they pushed themselves faster and faster as they ran through the thinning trees until they reached a small clearing in the forest that had a neat and simple cottage in the middle. A thin stream of smoke rose from the chimney.
As they approached the door, the Cultist took a deep breath to build up their courage before knocking on the door. They raised their hand but before they could knock, the door opened on its own.
The cottage inside was filled with a blinding white light and the Cultist staggered back several steps, falling to their knees and pressing their forehead into the soft mud.
Trembling, they sensed more than saw a person approaching, a person that seemed to be wrapped in a luminous white aura.
"Report," The cottage dweller whispered in a voice so beautiful and melodious that tides and hurricanes would immediately stay their course to pay heed to it.
"I failed, Goddess," The cultist whimpered in a trembling voice. "Daphne is free."
"So I sensed," She murmured. "What went wrong?"
"As you commanded," He whimpered, "I convinced Sonas to find a way to shut down the beam empowering Daphne. Then I gave sensors to the guards to ensure that they would capture Subaru Natsuki's peons and force him to cooperate. Subaru Natsuki succeeded in his quest but it was too late and even with the beam shut down, with the Great Machine still feeding her vast amounts of power, Daphne's resurrection became inevitable. I thought that Brendig would fortify the seal on her body with the binding chains that I had supplied him with but Subaru Natsuki's fools managed to flood the tunnels before he could locate her!"
The witch paused. "Why did you not stop them?" She asked curiously.
"The Gospel misled me, Goddess!" He begged. "It warned me of a great dark flood but I thought that it meant Daphne's Endless Hunger blanketing the city with night! I had no idea that those two simpletons would take action without their master and destroy the dam!"
"Hm. And what else?"
"I did find a way to force him to give into his own darkness, Goddess, just as you instructed! That part was completely successful! I cut the rope and dropped his friends into the abyss. There is no way that they could have survived but… somehow they did survive and I have no explanation," He said pleadingly.
"I do not recall telling you to murder them yet," She murmured.
The cultist swallowed hard. "I… You told me to make him embrace his own dark side, Goddess," He said weakly.
"And what of Subaru Natsuki?" The voice murmured. "Does he suspect anything?"
"He knows nothing, Goddess," The Cultist swore. "I left the medallion as you instructed. When the heretics see him carrying that medallion, they'll be emboldened to come out of hiding! I spoke to him just as you said! I told him only what you bid me to say and nothing more!"
"Only what I told you to say?" The voice mused. "Hm. Did I bid you to speak to him of me? Did I give you permission to tell him of your mistress? Of the Order's origins? Did I ask you to tell Subaru Natsuki about Light's Wrath?"
The cultist spasmed in the dirt. They desperately pulled their hood back revealing blond hair and pointed ears.
"Goddess!" Bran gasped, daring to raise his gaze no higher than the flawless bare foot in front of him, a pale limb that was so pale as to be luminous and that seemed to spurn the smallest particle of dirt. "I…"
"Did you truly believe that I wouldn't watch you?" She asked calmly. "Did you think I needed you to speak my name aloud in order to hear you?"
Bran trembled. "Goddess! I… I feared that he might flee the city with the task uncompleted! I needed to say something to persuade him to remain! That was my only motivation! "
"Hm. But that isn't entirely true, is it?" The voice chided gently. "You were so eager to obtain the prize that I offered you as a reward, after all. It seems that you intended to hedge your bets. After all, you don't care who bestows the blessing upon you. And Subaru Natsuki already has the shards of another Authority. He will need to bestow it somewhere. It appears that you were attempting to play both sides against the middle."
The words, so gently spoken, caused Bran to shudder in fear and bury his face deeper in the mud. "Mercy, Goddess! I did all that you asked! Forgive me!"
"I fear that you shall not become my 'Wrath' today, Bran. I have no use for a puppet who attempts to pull its own strings," The voice said calmly. "I believe that I shall have to teach you to better respect your gentle Goddess's commands."
Bran looked up with an expression of wild hope on her face. This promised to be a gruesome punishment but anything that implied that he would learn also implied that he would live and that was better than he had expected a moment ago.
Then he screamed and rolled over in the mud.
Bran wrenched at his robe, pulling it up and seeing with horror that his right leg had become square and brown.
His leg below the knee was now made of wood.
"Goddess! Mercy!" Bran begged at the top of his lungs.
"I have no use for a puppet who attempts to pull its own strings," She repeated. "But perhaps I can make you into a better puppet."
Bran desperately tried to kneel and grovel but one of his legs was wooden now and he could no more move it than he could control the leg of his kitchen table.
Bran fought to rise but his body spasmed again and his head pitched forward helplessly, striking the ground and chipping a tooth.
Bran saw with horror that his left leg was now wood as well.
"Goddess! Please! I can help you!" Bran thrashed, trying to force himself upright as the horrific transformation crept up his body. He imploringly raised a hand to his mistress, a hand that was already stiffening and turning a varnished brown. "Forgive me!"
The witch gazed off into the distance with a thoughtful expression. It was unclear if she was even listening to his pleas.
"Please! I… I don't want to-" Bran screamed desperately as the creeping death swept up his torso.
With his arms now turned to lifeless wood, he fell face-first into the mud. He managed to turn his head so that part of his face was free of the mud puddle. His voice died as his lungs solidified in his chest but his lips worked soundlessly. The transformation flowed up his face, causing his jaw to fall open and lay still.
Bran 's face lay half in the mud. He looked up at his master, silently begging for forgiveness with his one eye that lay outside of the puddle but the witch wasn't even paying attention to him. She stared off into the distance pensively.
Bran 's eyes hardened in his face and his hair became a solid block of wood.
Finally, his body lay at rest. A crude, life-size puppet. His wooden eyes still twitched, holding a glint of horrified awareness.
The witch turned and walked back into her cottage, closing the door behind her.
Well. That 's where we stop for now. I hope that people enjoyed it since I literally spent almost two years on this. I can't say that it lived up to my expectations but I hope that people enjoyed it at least a little.
I feel like maybe I bit off more than I could chew with this arc. After the way the organic world-building worked out for Gusteko, I think this arc might have been a little overambitious. I had a lot more complex world-building that I wanted to do for Girali but most of it had to be cut as not really fitting in the story.
I really liked the Iotuns. The story didn 't really come alive for me until I introduced them to the story this summer. The original plan was that Subaru and Emilia would meet a charismatic revolutionary outlaw similar to Dutch Van Der Linde from Red Dead Redemption. The outlaw would seduce Subaru into helping him overthrow the city rulers in the name of outlawing slavery. However, in the end, the outlaw would prove to be just as much of a tyrant as the man he replaced, relying on mob rule and demagoguery to silence his enemies. Ultimately, Subaru would need to rescue the slaves and lead them out of Kararagi.
I spent almost a year working on this but in the end, I needed to scrap the idea. Red Dead Redemption Two had hundreds of hours to develop the character of Dutch Van Der Linde and I just couldn 't devote enough time to the outlaw to make him satisfyingly ambiguous so that Subaru being betrayed and misled would feel meaningful.
Anri was introduced in Arc 4 because I knew that alone, Subaru and Emilia have a hard time carrying a whole book. I got a lot of mileage out of that girl. She carried all of Gusteko on her back. Originally, Rose was going to represent Girali in the same way that Anri represented Gusteko. Rose was supposed to be a good woman who actually wasn 't such a good woman because she was willing to ignore horrors happening right around the corner. Her part in the story was ultimately mostly cut out.
Girali went through a bunch of revisions. I wound up moving it to south-central Kararagi just to avoid needing to drag our characters clear across the continent on a long and boring road trip. Originally the collars were slaved to the obelisk and if the slaves walked too far away from it, their collars would explode. Xiao and Baagh were originally enemies. Baagh commanded a group of rebellious slaves who were unable to fight back effectively against Sonas and were reduced to making ineffectual actions from the shadows to annoy him. These actions would up getting the whole community punished without actually accomplishing anything leading to everyone on the Shelf disliking the rebels.
Xiao was originally the head of a legion of slave guards. They were basically slave collaborators who enforced quotas in the mines and informed on their own people in exchange for more privileges and luxuries. As a result, everyone on the Shelf despised Xiao and his men. Xiao was supposed to argue that it just made sense to cooperate with Sonas since they had no means of fighting back or escaping and he would ultimately switch sides when Subaru gave him a workable revolution plan. I spent months working on this plot line but it was really hard. Any stories that discuss slavery in detail bring up all kinds of socio-political issues that need to be handled very carefully. The plan was for Baagh and Xiao to both be morally gray, possessing both virtues and laudable goals but also fundamentally flawed, short-sighted, and hurting the people around them. Ultimately, I wasn 't able to make Xiao and Baagh sufficiently gray on gray morally so I gave up on that plot line.
Bringing Felt and Garfiel deeper into the story felt like a good idea. We needed a reason to care about the slaves or the rebellion would have felt pointless. No one is going to be overly invested in bit characters we don 't meet until the second Act. Enslaving Felt and Garfiel gave the arc a feeling of immediacy that I think helps the flow. Originally, the plan was that they wouldn't have met Subaru in this arc at all. Priscilla, Felt, and Garfiel would come across Regulus during their journey to Kararagi and he would try to take Priscilla for a wife. Priscilla quickly offends him and he tried to destroy them, blowing up the bridge from Lagunican to Kararagi. Felt, Garfiel, and Priscilla only survived due to a massive stroke of luck. Unfortunately, they were captured by slavers while unconscious, fitted with collars, and then carted off to Vollachian gladiator schools. The arena scene was originally going to include Priscilla and be in Vollachia. Felt and Garfiel would have reunited with Subaru in Arc Six after he reached Vollachia with the slaves and met with Vincent.
I realized pretty quickly that bringing Priscilla into the story as a main character was probably a mistake. I added her on a whim in a last-minute edit to Arc 4 and I realized quite quickly that I had no idea what to do with her. At first, making her travel with Felt and Garfiel sounds funny but canon Priscilla 's attitude is so caustic that you don't want to spend much time with her. I needed to completely reinvent her personality to make her palatable. And her luck is such a broken ability that she's almost as OP as Reinhard so I wasn't really sure how to handle it. Almost any problem the trio ran into, outside of bumping into Regulus and Capella, could be solved by getting lucky enough. I needed to mainly ignore her luck just to make the Abiate section of the story interesting. Otherwise, it would have been as much a comedy road trip as Mimi and the Spirits.
With that in mind, I started to reinvent Priscilla as a more tragic character, somewhat justifying her arrogance and her acerbic attitude. The life of a Vollachian royal really does suck. I started re-imagining Priscilla as a strategist who grew up with a knife at her throat and now views just about everyone as a threat to be managed or an asset to be utilized. It 's almost too bad (at least for Priscilla) that Subaru is going to turn her proposal down flat because he would actually be good for her. Maybe we'd do a what-if story someday about that.
I did learn a few things about Priscilla 's background during the journey though. She'll have a larger role next Arc and hopefully, she'll be a sympathetic character.
I was sure that I wanted Felt and Garf to meet Anri on this trip as well as show off some of Gael 's abilities.
I knew that trying to put Halibel in the story was a risk and I 'm not sure how well it worked out. For one thing, folks probably guessed who he really was long before I gave it away and someone like Halibel needing the others to help him, much less being restrained by a slave collar might strain credulity, but I enjoyed playing with him. Originally, the character of Koh was a monk from the Order of Traders that Hoshin started. I did enjoy rewriting Hoshin's back story. Giving a merchant a kick-ass origin and providing a philosophical basis for greed and how trading and commerce weren't for the good of the merchant but rather for the good of everyone else amused me.
There was also an awesome scene in an older draft where Al fights Regulus but I realized that it wasn 't time for that kind of fight in the story.
I introduced the Garklan Liberation Front just for laughs. It gave me a chance to do more shit to Heikel and it gave Crusch a chance to be more than just a comedic prompt which she 's been a little too much in these books.
I spent almost the entire two years working on Subaru 's dream quest. I was really sure that this was an Act that needed to be there but it was very hard to write. I played around with all kinds of different versions. In one draft, instead of being sent to the future, Subaru was sent back in time to the day that he first came to Lagunica but this time with no Authority, and since Sycorax was impersonating Emilia, she despised him from first sight. I also had drafts where in order to gain the pages, Subaru had to face monsters created by Echidna who posed him logic puzzles and riddles to prove his worth for the book since the only thing Echidna respects is brains. Also, fun fact, originally Sycorax was called the Hollow which is an old term for a ghost or wraith in English, but I dropped that because I was worried people would think this was a self-insert character due to my screen-name :-)
The scene that I knew from the start that the Act needed was Subaru realizing that Emilia was actually the demon in disguise. I spent MONTHS trying to polish this Act. Not sure how well it worked but I hope that you enjoyed it. I kind of like the idea of Virgil and Sycorax being flawed copies of Beatrice and Puck but folks not noticing it except in retrospect. Incidentally, those two ARE still alive but they 're both very unhappy right now. They're being punished by their creator and they blame Subaru and Emilia for this.
What happened to Kor ë you ask? Well, not counting Subaru and Daphne, we have three different witches contending to control the situation including Korë. The three are in violent contention and the balance of power shifts constantly between them. As a result of this, Korë wasn't able to put in an appearance as she planned. Don't worry, you'll see her next Arc.
Subaru 's power boost in this story went through a lot of revisions. Originally, Brendig would gain control of a legion of indestructible golems known as Ironborn from the original Sun King's Army and Subaru used the spirits to basically melt them by creating a tiny nuclear-powered sun twenty feet overhead. I feel like the current status gives us a hint about what Subaru's real power allows while still keeping him from being OP. Subaru now understands how Pridebreaker is used but he can't yet consciously control the spirits under its influence.
All in all, I look at this arc as a learning experience. I think that trying to juggle all the competing plotlines left the story feeling thinner than it should have been. So I guess we just learn what we can from the experience and move on.
For right now, I 'm taking a break and working on something else. Three years of Subaru and Emilia have left me a little burned out. I'm currently working on a dark urban fantasy with Lovecraftian overtones. I'll probably put a link here when it's done.
Don 't worry, assuming continuing interest from the public, we'll return to see their adventures in Vollachia.
I know that people are interested in more what-if stories. I might tackle the story where Capella is forced to be Subaru 's slave that I discussed during King of Shadows since folks seem interested but be warned. That is a dark and disturbing story. As you can see, Subaru has absolutely no mercy toward people who kill his loved ones.
There 's also a what-if that I really want to tell about Emilia effectively dying and Subaru going one hundred percent to the dark side. Unfortunately, it requires a ton of Arc 6 spoilers so that one is on hold for now.