Early that evening, the group reached Fort Mavi just south of Puella. 'Fort' was a rather generous term since there was no actual fort to speak of. Mavi was just an enormous field camp set up around a supply dump. Whole legions came across the plains to resupply before moving out again. The region was covered in field camps.
Subaru had been all for pressing on to Puella tonight, but Brador had warned against it. "We're right up against the western slope of the Ganadahar Jungle, Lord Subaru," Brador explained. "And Octavian's forces regularly use the jungle to mask ambushes under the cover of night. You really want to wait until morning to head further north, believe me."
Since everyone was exhausted after today 's long walk, Subaru reluctantly gave way.
They planned to spend the night at Fort Mavi and meet the Emperor the following morning. Brador had gone off somewhere to make a report, leaving the group alone.
The dominant feature in the region was an enormous tower. The structure was a massive solid pole that had numerous perches thrusting out. Subaru recognized it as what Anri had called a wyvern roost, and this one was occupied. Half a dozen wyverns perched on the roost.
Subaru had never seen a wyvern before. He 'd heard about them, but he'd never actually seen one. Now, he discovered that what was called a wyvern in this world greatly defied his expectations. The creatures were massive feathered monsters, much larger than Patrasche. Each wyvern could easily carry four men and possibly more. They had only two feet, and their large wings appeared to be paired with a small and seemingly useless set of secondary wings. Their black feathers had a strange scale pattern almost as if they were some fusion of bird and dragon. The wyverns had a long, sharp beak that looked like it could easily crush a man whole, and their long, sharp claws could rip a man in half.
Subaru studied the well-organized army camp.
This camp is … much less confused than the Lagunican army camp was, Subaru admitted. During the Whale Hunt, when we set up camp for the night, Crusch and her senior officers were frequently forced to explain to the men how to put things together and how to set up tents. These men have it down to second nature.
Then again, most of the men in the Lagunican army were conscripted peasants except for the small number of professional soldiers who were loyal to a noble family and could be ordered to assist the army. If Garfiel is right that all of these men are forced into the army for years and years, then it makes perfect sense that they 'd be much more experienced than the soldiers I encountered during the Whale Hunt.
In fact, I remember the Lagunican nobles talking about how the Vollachian army was the most fearsome fighting force on the continent. I wonder why.
Subaru triggered Reason and Judgment.
These soldiers are much better equipped than the Lagunican soldiers, A dry voice remarked. They all wear full plate armor compared to Lagunican soldiers, who are expected to self-equip or be given weapons from their lords and often wield a wide variety of weapons and armor as a result. This results in a very uneven set of equipment since nobles will wear full plate armor while the peasants are forced to make do with whatever supplies are available or what they can scavenge. Not to mention the sheer weight of a suit of armor. Without substantial training, conscripted peasants are likely to simply collapse under the weight.
Are the men in this camp some manner of elite soldiers in the Empire or can Vollachia really afford to equip their entire force in full plate?
…No, they're likely not elites. All of these men belong to different units and legions. Multiple legions compromised solely of elite soldiers seem very unlikely.
If you assume that these men are an example of the 'typical' Vollachian legionnaire, then much can be extrapolated. Vollachia appears to rely on an army composed of heavy infantry. They wear thick armor and carry heavy shields. It's a panoply that seems designed to handle large masses of poorly equipped foes, which matches Garfiel's commentary about kholop rebellions in the Empire.
Their swords appear fairly standard for that purpose as well, as are their spears.
Interesting. You should remember this for later as you attempt to understand the underlying dynamics of the Empire.
Subaru canceled Reason and Judgment, and time resumed its normal flow.
"Lord Subaru," an army major said calmly as he supervised his soldiers making camp. "My soldiers will set up a tent and create a fire for you."
Subaru nodded, trying to remember the major 's name. "Actually, we've brought our own tent, but a fire would be welcome," Subaru said, not because he really needed the major's assistance in starting a fire but because he thought it would be rude to completely decline his offer of help.
"Of course, Lord Subaru. Do you need any help pitching your tent?"
"Thank you, but I think we pretty much have it figured out by now."
The major nodded. "Very good. The mess tent will be set up shortly. Please join my men and I for supper."
Subaru 's smile grew fixed. "Thank you, Major. That's very kind of you."
The major smiled at him and walked away.
"Well," Emilia murmured. "It will be nice to have a hot meal after the past few days."
Subaru snorted. "Yeah. Hold that thought."
"Huh?" Emilia asked.
"Yeah," Garfiel grumbled. "I say we stay here and eat some more of those biscuits in Patrasche's saddlebag."
"I don't understand," Emilia confessed.
"Army food leaves a lot to be desired, Mili," Subaru sighed. "I had the dubious pleasure of living off it for a few weeks during the Whale Hunt. I kept pretending that I found it delicious to try and impress Felix and Crusch," He said with a shake of his head.
"Yeah," Garfiel reflected. "The shrimp and I ate it constantly while we were tearing the north apart, looking for you two with Crusch's army!"
Subaru glanced at him. "Did you guys ever eat with Falric and Marwain?"
Garfiel snorted. "Yeah! I just loved their sense of humor! "
Subaru had a sickly smile. "'With weevils or without,' right?" He remembered.
Garfiel looked positively ill.
"What weevils?" Emilia asked, sounding hopelessly lost.
Subaru sighed. "It's a joke that Falric and Marwain like to make. Every time we ate, they argued over what the best kind of Hardtack was."
"What's Hardtack?" She asked.
Subaru made a face. "It's… like a flavorless biscuit that's as tough to chew as wood. They say that Hardtack doesn't go bad, but most of what I ate was covered in blue mold, and plenty of the biscuits were infested with bugs."
Garfiel looked nauseous. "Yeah. And Falric and Marwain would argue about the weevils. Marwain kept saying that the Hardtack without bugs was obviously better to eat, and Falric would always argue that if even the bugs wouldn't eat that Hardtack, then it obviously wasn't fit for human consumption. Their commentary was almost worse than the food."
Garfiel shuddered in recollection.
Felt snorted. "Wimp," She said dismissively.
Garfiel snorted. "Yup. You got me beat, shrimp. I am totally fine with being too big of a wuss to eat literal garbage. That 's all you."
"Subaru," Emilia said, looking faintly green. "Maybe we should just… eat rations tonight."
Subaru sighed. "Can't, Mili. We've been invited. We should be social."
"Seriously?" Felt complained.
"We don't have to eat it, Felt," Subaru explained calmly. "We'll just get the food and bring it back to our tent. What we do with it afterward is our business."
"Oh! Thank you, Captain," Garfiel said in relief. "I was worried there for a second."
As the sun slowly set, the camp was full of tents and blazing fires.
The tents here are much bigger than in Crusch 's forces, Subaru reflected. And they 've made way more fires in the camp. We only had one or two for the entire camp during the Whale Hunt. Here, every camp has its own fire. This must waste an awful lot of wood. Aren 't these guys preparing for a campaign? They're wasting an awful lot of money like this. Is Vincent trying to impress us?"
Subaru and his friends took their places in the long line that led to the mess tent.
The major they 'd spoken to earlier was walking past, and he gave them a double take.
"Lord Subaru!" He said in shock. "You don't need to wait in line. Just go to the front and get your food."
"Thank you, Major," Subaru said politely, grabbing both Felt's and Garfiel's shoulders before they could take him up on his offer. "But we can wait. The men have worked hard today, and they're hungry. They have every right to be fed first."
The major stared at Subaru as if his commentary made no sense. He finally gave an awkward nod and then hurried off to return to whatever business he was engaged in.
Felt, whose stomach was both bottomless and made of scrap iron after living all those years on the streets, gave Subaru a look of annoyance, but she also nodded, showing that she understood his plan.
Subaru discretely glanced around and noted that several soldiers looked surprised. Standing directly behind Subaru was a man in more elaborate armor and wearing a helmet that had a horsehair crest hanging down the back. Subaru took him to be a sergeant or some other kind of lower officer. The man looked begrudgingly impressed by Subaru 's comment.
It 's a simple way of trying to impress the soldiers, Subaru thought. They hate nobles throwing their weight around. Or if not 'nobles,' then whatever aristocrats they have in Vollachia. Making a few inroads with some of the junior officers and enlisted men could be fruitful. They're likely to give us a more candid and accurate description of what's going on down here than Vincent would like us to have.
Besides, we 're in no rush to get our hands on these kinds of rations anyway.
As the line slowly approached the mess tent, Subaru 's nose twitched.
Is that bacon? He thought in disbelief. Bacon and … gravy? And fresh bread?
As the group marched into the mess tent, Subaru discovered his nose had not deceived him. Rather than Hardtack, it looked like the soldiers were being fed real food.
Subaru 's friends all looked confused at this meal but they agreeably took the food and started to walk back to the carriage.
Subaru was the last to get his meal. The camp cook handed Subaru a dish he couldn 't immediately recognize. It was a large bowl of mashed potatoes and gravy, seasoned with chunks of cured bacon. The chef also gave Subaru several warm biscuits to sop up the gravy.
"Get used to it," The sergeant behind Subaru told him not unkindly. "Food on the march leaves something to be desired, but we'll be back in the barracks soon and then we'll get some real food."
The other soldiers around him murmured approvingly of this idea.
This isn 't real food?! Subaru thought in disbelief, but he quickly hurried back to the carriage.
"You don't like my food, Sergeant?" The chef snarled. "Nobody is forcing you to eat it!"
"Just give me my vittles, Cook," The sergeant said wearily. "And try to keep it in the bowl this time."
The soldiers had set up a large fire near the carriage for Subaru and his friend 's exclusive use. They all sat around the fire as they ate. The other soldiers were all gathered around their own fires, one to each tent. The night was warm and balmy in the south, but the soldiers stayed close to the fires anyway.
Drinks were served in bottles with literal bottle caps, something that only Subaru had seen before.
"What is this?" Felt asked in confusion, trying to pry off the bottle cap with her fingers.
"It's a Vollachian thing," Garfiel muttered dubiously, shaking his bottle and trying to figure out how to get the cap off. "Vollachia is supposed to be really far behind the rest of the world in magic, but they're world leaders in food storage and preservation. That allows their armies to eat well on the march."
"How do we get these things off?" Emilia asked, picking at the bottle cap.
"I'll show you," Subaru said, pulling his keys out of the satchel and quickly popping the bottle cap off of Emilia's bottle.
Emilia looked amazed as she studied the discarded bottle cap. "How did you do that?" She asked.
Subaru absently took Felt 's bottle away and handed it to Emilia. "Here," He said, handing her the keys, "You put the tip under the edge like so," He guided her, "And then you apply a little pressure and-" The cap flew off.
Emilia laughed in a childlike delight.
Subaru shook his head with a smile as he handed Felt back her bottle. Even after all this time, it still amazes me how Emilia can be so fascinated by the littlest things.
"Garf, let me try to open yours!" Emilia urged.
Garfiel handed his bottle over with a laugh. "All yours, Frosty!"
Emilia struggled a bit, but she managed to pop off the bottle cap. "Oh. But we don't have any cups," Emilia noticed.
Subaru mimed drinking from the bottle before handing it over to Emilia to open.
Emilia frowned as she opened Subaru 's bottle. "But isn't drinking directly out of a bottle that way rude?" She asked skeptically, slipping the keys into her pocket.
Subaru snorted. "In this crowd, your table manners would have to be impressively bad to get anyone 's attention," He said, taking a long swig from the bottle. The drink appeared to be some variety of apple cider.
"Hey!" Garfiel protested. "I have good table manners! Very good table manners. I grew up with Beta, and trust me, she took no prisoners," He grumbled.
"Yeah. Me too," Felt grumbled. "Red insisted on me learning all of that formal crap when we first started attending banquets. He was always insisting on things. Even if he was wrong…"
Subaru moved decisively to change the subject before Felt could slip into a funk. "Hey, Garf, how come the Vollachians have such good food?"
"Because of those," Garfiel gestured toward the wyvern roost.
"They eat wyverns?" Emilia asked in shock.
Garfiel shook his head. "No, Frosty! They have a lot of wyverns. Vollachia has more wyverns than anywhere else in the world. The Vollachians can talk all they want about the discipline and power of the army, but it 's the wyverns that really make the Vollachian army unstoppable. They're basically the only country in the world with significant air power."
"Doesn't Lagunica have wyverns too?" Subaru asked.
Garfiel shrugged. "Every nation has wyverns, but that doesn 't mean that they have enough to form large units of riders. Wyverns are incredibly expensive to feed because they're obligate carnivores."
"Use normal words, fleabag," Felt complained.
Garfiel rolled his eyes. "They only eat meat. Earth dragons are omnivores, so they're fairly cheap to feed. That's why every nation relies on earth dragons so much. Vollachia is the only nation that can feed a large population of wyverns."
"How come?" Subaru asked.
"Fish," Garfiel said succinctly. "Vollachia has an enormous coastline and a huge fishing fleet. The other nations don't have easy access to the sea. It's blocked by mountains or swamps or deserts. As a result, fishing fleets never really caught on in the other kingdoms. But Vollachia harvests tons of fish every day. The wyverns love fish, and they don't mind if it's a little rotten. But for long campaigns, they needed to keep the fish at least somewhat fresh so they spent a lot of time and money working on improved means of food preservation. The fact that the Vollachian soldiers also wound up eating better was mostly a coincidence."
Subaru shook his head with a chuckle. "Garf, you're like a walking encyclopedia."
"Thanks, Captain!"
"What makes wyverns so important in war?" Felt asked.
Garfiel raised an eyebrow. "Scouting, for one thing," He said. "Wyverns can easily fly out of arrow range and scope out troop movements. Their riders also carry crude explosives made of fire crystals. They frequently fly over enemy units and just drop bombs on them. The bombs aren't very powerful compared to the stuff that the Demi-Human Alliance plays with, but they throw a lot of shrapnel around, and most of the soldiers from other nations are only lightly armored, so the shrapnel is deadly . None of the other nations have any real defense against the wyvern riders. "
Felt digested that. "If the Vollachian army is so powerful," She asked. "Why didn't it ever conquer Lagunica?"
"The dragon mostly," Garfiel shrugged. "If Vollachia attacks Lagunica, the dragon will show up and slaughter their whole army. It did that several times until Vollachia got the message. And even ignoring the dragon, Lagunica does have some advantages. For one thing, Vollachia's magic sucks. They don't like mages, and they tend to discourage people from studying magic. As a result, they can easily be overwhelmed by Lagunican magic."
"Sounds like every war between the two nations would be pretty bloody," Subaru mentioned.
Garfiel nodded. "From what I've read, they were. I think that Vollachia stopped invading Lagunica because they just weren't getting anywhere in the conquests as much as because they were afraid of the dragon. Once in a while, Lagunica attacked Vollachia. The dragon wasn 't obligated to involve itself in non-defensive wars so that gives us a pretty clear idea what warfare between Vollachia and Lagunica would be like without the dragon as a factor. Vollachia had a habit of invading Lagunica or Kararagi, taking a large amount of territory and then discovering that it couldn't hold it. Vollachia needs to devote a lot of military power just to keep the kholops in line. When the army is somewhere else, rebellions pop up all over the place. Then the army needs to rush back and stamp out the revolts while the other nations just take their land back. "
Emilia sighed. "Sometimes the history of geopolitics is really sad," She said, standing up.
"Where are you going?" Subaru asked.
"I'm going to ask the major for an extra tent," Emilia replied. "We won't all fit in ours tonight."
Subaru started to get up.
"Subaru," Emilia sighed. "Please? I can walk across the camp without a bodyguard."
Subaru muttered something under his breath but sat back down as Emilia walked off.
"Does anyone know where Brador went?" Subaru asked, mostly just to break the silence.
"Haven't seen him since we arrived," Garfiel said.
As the trio talked, they failed to notice the robed and hooded figure who watched them intently from just outside the camp 's firelight.
Emilia walked across the camp toward the Major 's command tent. Several soldiers looked up from their fires as she walked past, their eyes growing wide with awe at the beautiful half-elf.
Emilia, of course, completely misinterpreted this. I hope that we can just disappear after this, Emilia thought sadly Then we can go back to the forest. I'm sick to death of everyone staring at my ears and my hair.
"Ah. There you are. I've been looking for you," A voice said.
Emilia blinked, sensing that she was the one being addressed. She turned to find a man wearing a spotless white suit speaking to her. His hair was white, and his expression was smug.
The soldiers were all staring at the man in confusion, clearly having no idea who he was or what he was doing there.
The man 's face brightened. "Oh my. You are rather exquisite, are you not? Assuming that you 're still intact when the Lady is finished with you, you'll take a place in my collection. I'm beginning to think that elves make the best wives."
Emilia stared at him, her expression completely baffled.
"Wives?" A soldier asked in confusion.
The man gave the soldier a cold look. "Please be silent," the man said, theatrically rubbing his temples. "I make no claim upon you, and I ask that you make none on me. I am the supreme existence on this world and I would truly hate for my placid mind to bestir itself with intrusive thoughts regarding other individuals. Please pretend to be nothing more than pictures in the background for the duration of my visit, and we will get along fine."
As Emilia studied the man, her heart stopped, and her face filled with horror. She raised her hand and pointed a trembling finger at the stranger, fighting for breath.
The man looked petulant. "What in the world are you doing? I've had to come all the way out here on this hot, clammy night when I should be luxuriating in my spacious mansion, and each moment that you stagger, you are doing nothing but delaying my return to my sainted means of being. Why would you do such a thing?
"I've never asked anything of you, and yet you seem determined to impugn on my valuable time despite my attempt to bring you back to my mansion as swiftly as possible. Now I ask you, does that seem fair? Does that seem equitable to you? Enough of all this foolishness. Now, please, come along quietly. I wish to get home as fast as I may." The man reached out for her.
Emilia flung herself backward, and she found her breath. "You're the man who attacked the forest!" She screamed.
The man blinked. "What are you talking about?" He asked in confusion.
Then he shook his head and shrugged the question off. "No matter. I have a task to fulfill and fulfill it I must before I can return to my blissful life. Every word you speak delays this, so please, just come along quietly. I've already been forced to acknowledge your existence in a frankly intrusive manner so please be silent and do your best to give no further impression of independent thought during our return home."
"Hey!" A hulking sergeant shouted, grabbing the man by the shoulder. "Who are you? What are you doing-"
A moment later, the huge sergeant was just gone. His body turned to dust and drops of blood. The other soldiers stared up at the man in horror.
The man in the white suit looked livid. "You dare to lay your disgusting hands on me!" He shouted. "I asked you for nothing but that my own rights be respected and you dare to put hands upon me ? I am Regulus Corneas, the Archbishop of Greed, and I am here only to satisfy a demand of the Gospel, but you all dare to obstruct me in my necessary path! You will pay dearly for this insult! And you- " Regulus turned back to Emilia and blinked to realize that she was gone.
Emilia had already taken off running as soon as the name 'Regulus' had been uttered.
My collar seals my magic , She thought desperately. But even if I had my magic, it would be no use against that monster. The one that fought off both Subaru and Reinhard. We need to get out of here. We need to escape. He 'll destroy the whole region.
As Emilia raced back to the carriage, she met Subaru and the others who had come running at the sound of her scream.
"Mili! What's going on?" Subaru demanded.
"Regulus!" Emilia screamed.
Subaru went pale. No more words needed to be said. The group turned as one and bolted for the carriage.
This is every nightmare that I 've ever had! Subaru thought desperately. I have no chance of protecting Emilia from this monster! None at all! Even the talisman won 't give me a chance of driving him off! Our only hope is to escape.
Behind them, Subaru could hear screams of terror and sounds of explosive destruction as Regulus savaged the soldiers attempting to confront him.
I can 't even warn them! Subaru thought in anguish. There 's no time! Either we run, or we die!
We 'll hitch Patrasche to one of the wagons lying around, and then we'll get out of here!
Regulus suddenly dropped out of the sky and landed in front of them as if he 'd simply jumped the whole distance. The group skidded to a halt in front of him.
"There you are!" Regulus exclaimed to Emilia petulantly.
Subaru leaped in front of Emilia and thrust her behind him.
Regulus 's eyes bugged out of his head. He looked like he'd seen a ghost.
Regulus 's face twisted in sheer hatred. " You , " He spat.
"Me," Subaru snorted, his heart racing. He pulled the talisman out of his satchel and glanced back at the others. "Get out of here," He whispered.
"I'm not leaving you!" Emilia whispered in a shaking voice.
"Your collar means you can't fight," Subaru hissed as Regulus stood there, seething and muttering to himself. "You can't help right now. You'll just put all of us in danger."
Emilia blinked, looking stricken. Subaru inwardly winced but he had no time to deal with this right now. He prayed that Felt and Garfiel would drag Emilia way, but they both seemed frozen in horror at the appearance of the dreaded figure whose name had haunted their footsteps for months.
"What are you doing here, Regulus?" Subaru blustered. "And why are you messing with my… my servants? Lye told me that we weren't supposed to go after one another's servants."
Regulus blinked, and for a moment, he seemed almost puzzled, but then he shook it off. "Irrelevant," Regulus pronounced. "My Gospel requires me to take the elf, and so that is what I shall do."
Subaru slowly moved away from his friends, dragging Regulus 's attention like a magnet. "Well. my Gospel says that she says with me, " Subaru growled, desperately trying to come up with a plan. "So I think that we're going to have a problem! If you remember our last fight, it didn't go very well for you!"
Regulus looked livid at this reminder. He seemed to grab a fistful of air and flung it into Subaru 's face.
Subaru instinctively triggered Indomitable, and the same wave of power that he remembered facing in Arlem washed over him harmlessly. The tents, supplies, and even trees and boulders behind Subaru were all obliterated, scoured away as if struck by an invisible avalanche.
Subaru dashed forward, charging toward Regulus, who seemed comically surprised that the same attack he 'd tried last time hadn't worked against Subaru this time either. Subaru punched him in the face as hard as he could.
Regulus went flying backward and smashed through the wyvern roost, waking all the huge birds and sending them into flight with a scream.
Regulus skidded out on the dirty ground, his body rolling over and over until he slowly came to a stop.
Subaru didn 't bother to look at Emilia. He turned to Felt and Garfiel. He threw his satchel over Garfiel's shoulder. "Get her the fuck out of here already! What ?! Do I have to sing it for you?! " Subaru demanded.
Felt and Garfiel both blinked and jumped into action, dragging Emilia away. The half-elf fought with every step, kicking and screaming.
I don 't want you to die beside me, Mili! Subaru thought desperately. And … I am going to die here. That 's why I gave you the satchel with all of our things. It was a miracle that I survived the last fight against Regulus, and I'm fresh out of miracles.
Twenty seconds on Indomitable.
I need to do something.
Subaru shouted, " Pridebreaker! "
He felt the power surge out of him, and dozens of spirits immediately came to his aid. Subaru lifted the talisman.
Even with all the power of the talisman, the spirits ' magic is still useless against someone who can't be hurt!
Subaru pointed at Regulus who had regained his feet. There wasn 't a speck of dirt on his clothes, nor had Subaru's attack knocked a single hair out of place. Flat murder was written all over his face.
Subaru ordered the spirits to attack, and the entire area exploded as the spirits unleashed all the wrath of nature.
The earth beneath Regulus 's feet broke open and collapsed. Regulus plunged into a deep chasm with a shriek of rage.
Subaru forced the spirits to crush the edges of the ground together and superheat the rock until it started to melt.
Then Subaru used air and water magic to freeze and harden the resulting seal so that Regulus would be trapped inside of a mass of solid rock.
I know that won 't kill him, but it might at least trap him for a minute or two. That could give Emilia and the others-
The earth erupted like a volcano as Regulus crashed through hundreds of tons of rock without any visible effort. He landed on the ground and charged toward Subaru, looking determined to strangle him with his own two hands.
Shit!
Subaru frantically tried to think of a new plan.
Making him fall worked before, so … Subaru gave the spirits a new order.
Regulus 's charge was interrupted when he suddenly fell into a sinkhole. The earth simply parted under his feet, and then several tons of dirt flew up in the air over his head as if lifted by an enormous invisible steam shovel.
Regulus froze in place, looking up in bewilderment at the mountain of dirt hovering over his head. The dirt trembled for a moment and then solidified into one massive boulder which the spirits promptly dropped on Regulus 's head, burying him in the earth.
That won 't even slow him down! I need to keep going! What else?!
Subaru looked around frantically for anything that he could use to hurt or even distract Regulus for a few more precious seconds. He saw a dozen barrels of drinking water in the army camp not far away. Subaru gestured toward them, and the barrels suddenly burst, and huge bubbles of water flew through the camp toward Subaru until he was surrounded by gigantic floating bubbles containing thousands of gallons of water.
The bubbles quickly dispersed into tiny droplets and then froze, hardening into thousands and thousands of tiny frozen darts that floated in mid-air.
Regulus shattered the boulder with a sound like thunder. Regulus seethed and hissed as he clawed his way up out of the ground.
Subaru launched the ice darts in rapid fire at the insane monster. Subaru ordered the spirits to target the Archbishop 's eyes.
Although they couldn 't hurt him, the darts were an annoying distraction. Subaru watched as Regulus, in spite of his invincibility, struggled to suppress his natural instinct to protect his eyes from attack.
Now what?!
What about the lightning bolt that killed the whale? But there 's no storm tonight…
In desperation, Subaru gestured toward the air and water spirits, trying to picture how lightning would develop during a storm.
The spirits quickly gathered in a tight ball and started flowing together in a tight circle, their ephemeral bodies rubbing against one another.
In moments, static electricity built up and began to crackle between the spirits. However, instead of the charge dissipating with each spark, the spirits tossed the energy back and forth between them like children playing catch, and each discharge was bigger than the one before it.
Finally, the lightning surged to levels that the spirits could not contain, and a great spear of lightning broke free from the spirits and crashed into Regulus like an avalanche.
Regulus staggered, blinded by the flash and franticly rubbing his eyes, but otherwise, he was completely unharmed.
Shit! What the hell do I need to do to discourage this asshole?!
Garfiel and Felt struggled to drag Emilia away from the battle, but she fought them for every step.
"Let me go!" She demanded.
The trio was swiftly caught up in a veritable river of human bodies as the Vollachian soldiers all fled from Regulus 's terrifying power. Hundreds of soldiers raced toward the dark, foreboding trees, hoping to take shelter in the deep jungle near the camp.
The press of bodies was so thick that the trio quickly became separated in spite of Felt and Garfiel desperately trying to hang on to Emilia.
Garfiel was swept up in the flood of bodies, and they steadily pushed him toward the jungle even as he tried to get back to Felt and Emilia.
Garfiel 's strength was useless against so many desperate bodies, and if he tried to fight back against the flow, he'd just be driven to the ground and run over.
Emilia broke out of the crowd and fell to the ground with a gasp as if breaking free from the current in a river. She got to her feet and raced back to the camp, where she could hear the thunderous sounds and explosions from Subaru and Regulus still fighting.
Felt staggered out of the crowd after her, desperately trying to reach Emilia. She looked back and forth between Garfiel and Emilia in consternation. Then she raced after the half-elf, biting off swears.
Alright. When all else fails, bluff!
"As you can see, Regulus," Subaru said in a taunting voice, "My powers have grown by leaps and bounds since we last met."
Subaru sauntered over to the homicidal Archbishop, acting as if he had nothing at all to fear from the invincible monster.
"How are you doing all of this?" Regulus demanded.
"I am Subaru of Pride," He laughed, even as he inwardly winced at naming himself this way. "I have powers that you can't even imagine. Perhaps you should just get out of here while you still can."
Regulus hesitated.
He 's thinking about it! Subaru exalted, fighting to keep his expression disdainful. He just might go for it!
Subaru tried to nudge him further. "Come on, Regulus. I'm sure you've heard about what happened to Capella. You don 't want the same thing to happen to you, " He taunted.
Regulus looked at him sharply, his normally smug and sullen expression twisted into panic and terror.
With an air of desperation, Regulus picked up a handful of dirt and flung it at Subaru.
Subaru triggered Indomitable , and the moment he did so, the spirits dispersed in a panic as the dirt brushed over him and hit the tents behind him, somehow exploding like cluster bombs.
Shit! That pushed him, alright! It pushed him the wrong way !
Subaru dashed forward and knocked Regulus flying. The invincible archbishops skidded out on the dusty ground again.
Thirty more seconds until I can use Indomitable again! And no Pridebreaker! What the hell am I going to do now?!
Regulus pulled himself back to his feet, his eyes wild with both hate and fear. He reached down, seizing handfuls of dirt, and started throwing everything that he could find at Subaru.
Indomitable timed out, and Subaru desperately twisted to avoid being pulverized by the shock waves of Regulus 's power. Subaru felt the wave come so close that it ripped long tears in his shirt sleeve.
Suddenly, Subaru was driven to the ground by a crushing force. Subaru fought to lift his face and discovered that a tree had fallen on him from behind, pinning him to the ground. Subaru fought to break free, but it was no use.
Twenty-five seconds!
Regulus raced up to Subaru, panting heavily, his face pale and his eyes wide.
Is Regulus … afraid? He thought in shock. What the hell could this monster have to be scared of?
Subaru stared up at Regulus, and he saw his own death.
Wow. So this is how I die, Subaru thought with a mix of wonder and horror. Well. At least I finally stood up to this monster. That 's something. And at least Emilia is safe. Maybe I can even go out smiling…
Suddenly, Emilia was there. She flung herself in front of Subaru, her arms spread wide. "Leave him alone!" She screamed at Regulus, her voice filled with equal parts, "You'll have to go through me" and "I'm about to die."
"Emilia!" Subaru screamed. He used every ounce of strength that he had to try to push the tree off his back. His muscles screamed in protest, and his bones threatened to crack, but the tree trunk wouldn't move. "Get out of here!"
Regulus stopped in his tracks, looking back and forth between Subaru and Emilia. Then, he seemed to regain some kind of self-control.
He looked at Subaru with loathing and then struck Emilia hard in the temple
The elf 's eyes rolled up in her head, and she collapsed, caught in Regulus's arms.
"Emilia!" Subaru screamed, crawling and biting at the dirt, breaking his fingernails off in the sod as he fought desperately to pull himself free.
Ten seconds!
Regulus scowled at Subaru with eyes that wished him a painful death, but then he turned away. Regulus leaped up into the sky and was gone.
And so was Emilia.
"No!" Subaru screamed, triggering Indomitable and smashing the tree to bits.
Subaru desperately raced after them, tears falling down his face. He charged across the open field in the direction that Regulus had jumped, although they were both long out of sight.
Running in almost total darkness, Subaru tripped and fell, catching the ground hard with his face.
He struggled to his feet and failed. The weight of the world seemed to press down on him with all its weariness and despair.
Subaru desperately clawed forward for a few feet, trying, fighting, hoping …
And then he collapsed.
"Subaru!" Felt yelled, racing over to where Subaru lay motionless, face down on the ground. "What happened? We got separated from Emilia and-"
"Regulus took her," Subaru whispered in a voice as fragile as glass.
"What?!" Felt gasped.
Subaru got back to his feet and looked at her with a blank expression. "Regulus took Emilia," He said in an emotionless voice.
Felt 's hands climbed to her mouth. "Oh no," She whispered.
Subaru walked a few feet further toward where Regulus had vanished, and then he reversed direction and staggered back. He moved like someone in a dream.
"Regulus took Emilia," Subaru said, his voice growing steadily more raw as the horror overwhelmed him.
Felt looked around as if desperately searching for an idea, a plan, or even just something comforting to say. "We… We'll get her back," She said weakly. "She's not dead! If Regulus wanted to kill her, he would have just done it! He's taken her to be a bargaining chip! She's a hostage! That means that she's safe, and it gives us time to rescue her!"
Subaru looked at Felt with eyes of flame, and she took an involuntary step back.
Felt recoiled before the same eyes she 'd seen the night Subaru had presided over the slaver executions.
"Don't you understand?!" Subaru roared. "Regulus took Emilia! He took her away! This is all your fault! What the hell were you doing?! Why did you let her come back here?! What were you thinking?!"
Felt blinked. She stared at Subaru, her face twisting in guilt and sorrow. "I… I'm sorry," She whispered in the voice of a little girl.
Subaru glared at Felt with such raw hate that, for a moment, she truly feared that Subaru might attack her. Then Subaru turned and staggered off into the darkness.
Felt licked her dry lips. "Subaru…"
Hundreds of terrified soldiers milled about in the dark jungle. When they had finally stopped hearing the sounds of Regulus 's explosions, the soldiers had all slowly come to a stop. Now, they just stood around arguing with each other.
To avoid panicking about Subaru, who was now locked in single combat with the only monster that he 'd ever seemed to fear, Garfiel frantically searched the crowd, trying to reunite with Emilia and Felt.
Only when he realized that they 'd gotten separated from the group did he start to panic.
Are they lost in the jungle?! Or worse … did they try to go back and help the Captain?!
Garfiel leaped into action, charging through the crowd and shoving people out of his way as he frantically tried to follow their back trail out of the jungle and back to his friends.
A grizzled old man in full armor saw what he was doing and leaped in front of him before he could leave the group. "Hold on there, boy!" He shouted.
The good manners that the Ryuzus had drilled into Garfiel made him reluctant to simply knock down an old man, so he briefly halted. "Get out of my way!" He roared.
The old man rubbed his short white beard. "You can't just run off like this, son!" He said firmly.
"My friends could still be fighting that monster! I need to go find them!"
"Son," The man said in a fatherly tone. "First of all, nobody here is any kind of match for that freak. The stories of Regulus's depredations have terrified Vollachians for centuries. I've heard that the bastard even made sport of the Blue Lightning, and he's one of the top fighters in the world."
"Old man! Out of my way," Garfiel hissed, trying to push past him.
The old man wouldn 't let him. "And secondly , " The old man insisted. "This is the Gandahar Jungle. It's under the Witch's curse. All the paths lead to the mabeast-infested swamps at the center, and no paths lead back out."
Garfiel stared at him. " This is the Gandahar Jungle? " He gasped.
"I'm afraid so."
"Why the hell did you all run in here?" Garfiel demanded, feeling like an utter fool for blindly following the soldiers and assuming they knew where they were going. "You escaped Regulus just to end up in an escapable trap!"
The old man had a pained expression on his face. "Well, I suppose that nobody was thinking all that clearly back there," He admitted. "Folks just wanted to get the hell out of dodge, and they followed the men in front of them. It's one of the drawbacks of military training, I guess. We're taught to assume the person leading us has some sort of idea of what he 's doing."
"Well, how are we going to get out of here?!"
"That is the four hundred gold coin question," The old soldier admitted. "The Imperial army does have instructions for what to do if you accidentally find yourself lost in the jungle."
"What's that?"
"Number one, stay together," The old man emphasized. "The witch's power of manipulating paths and our sense of direction seems to be reduced by large numbers of people traveling together."
Garfiel scanned the crowd of well over a hundred frightened soldiers. "Alright. We've got that taken care of, I suppose. What else?"
The old soldier sighed. "The only way out of the jungle is to cross the Black Morass at the jungle's heart. And it is absolutely stiff with giant mabeasts of all sorts. "
Garfiel pursed his lips. "So what?" He demanded pugnaciously. "I faced the Iotuns in Kararagi!" He blustered, trying to quiet his own worries.
The old man raised an eyebrow. "Kararagi? What rank are you, son?" He said, sounding impressed.
"I don't have a rank," Garfiel snorted. "I'm not even Vollachian. I came here with Subaru Natsuki and our other friends. Now, I need to find them again. The Captain is fighting Regulus, and he needs our help!"
The old man looked thunderstruck.
"Sergeant!" An abrasive voice shouted.
The old man looked annoyed and let out a small sigh before answering, "Over here, Lieutenant!" He said respectfully.
A young man with a pugnacious expression pushed his way through the crowd. He wore heavily embossed armor that seemed much more expensive than the other soldiers.
The Lieutenant looked at the old man with faint annoyance. "Horatius."
Horatius nodded his old head. "Lieutenant Pompey," He said respectfully.
The Lieutenant looked disgruntled. "Did any of the other NCOs make it into the forest? "
Horatius 's face remained respectful despite the blatant disdain. "Not that I've found, sir," He said in a neutral tone. "It appears that it's just you and me and a whole lot of legionnaires. The rest of the men must have been smart enough to run in another direction."
The Lieutenant 's eyes narrowed, perhaps suspecting ridicule in Horatius's bland comment. He glanced at Garfiel. "What are you doing out of uniform, soldier?" He demanded.
"I'm not a soldier," Garfiel said tersely, eying the man with faint dislike.
"And what are you then? A runaway serf?!" The Lieutenant seethed.
"The young man says that he was traveling with Subaru Natsuki," Horatius stepped in with a placating tone. "He was the dignitary that we heard about during dinner."
The Lieutenant mulled this over. "Fine. But keep up or fall behind, boy. We don't have time to coddle you."
Garfiel snorted and folded his enormous arms across his barrel chest. "Do I look like someone who needs to be coddled? "
The Lieutenant looked shocked at Garfiel 's retort, and then his face twisted in outrage.
"Sir," Horatious stepped in between them. "We should plan to escape the jungle as soon as possible. The longer we stay in here the worse things will get. And we have no supplies."
The Lieutenant hesitated. "Do we have a contingency plan for this type of situation, Sergeant?"
"Yes, sir. Imperial policy states that we should stay together as much as possible and fight our way through the Black Morass. Once we cross it, the curse reportedly weakens, and the survivors may be able to find their way out of the jungle."
It was obvious that all of these uncertainties and caveats did not sit well with the Captain, but he clearly had no better ideas. "Alright. Let's prepare to march. All of you! Get in line!" The Lieutenant stormed off shouting and berating the soldiers until they fell into something resembling ordered ranks.
"How come you knew what to do in the jungle, and he didn't?" Garfiel murmured to Horatius.
Horatius snorted and lowered his voice. "The Lieutenant is as green as new wood," He whispered. "He's only been in the service for about a year. I've almost finished my ninth tour of duty," He said with evident pride. "There's not many Imperial policies I haven't come across over the years. After this tour, I can finally retire. A Sergeant Major is a respectable rank for an enlisted man to go out with. But Pompey's family are Patricians and he came into the service as an officer. Never mind that he has absolutely no idea what he's doing."
Garfiel looked at him sharply. "So, an incompetent officer is going to be leading us through an unknown jungle full of monsters?" He asked in a sinking tone.
Horatius squeezed Garfiel 's shoulder reassuringly. "Just stay close to me, kid. I'll get us through this mess in one piece, and I'll clean up after him. I always do."
Subaru staggered away from the devastated army camp on unsteady legs. He had no idea where he was going, but he had to keep moving. Grief and despair followed just a step behind and if he stopped, if he let them catch up and engulf him, he 'd never shake free again.
Subaru tripped and fell, catching the ground with his face. He couldn 't even be bothered to try to arrest his fall with his hands.
"No," Subaru whimpered. "Emilia…"
It was over. No matter what Felt said about planning a rescue, the truth was that Subaru had never stood a chance against Regulus and he stood no chance now. Even with his new powers, he couldn 't even scratch the mad archbishop.
I 've lost. That's all there is to it. It's done. I've lost everything. The game is over, and I lost.
Subaru couldn 't find the strength to move, not even to pull his own face out of the dirt. Terror and despair weighed down on him like a mountain.
I lost. Felt is right. They probably do want Emilia as a bargaining chip. But even if I do whatever they say, there 's still no guarantee that I'll ever see Emilia again.
The Witch Cult is a legion of monsters in human skin, murderers that play games with other people 's lives. And when you play those kinds of games, you change the the rules as you go along to make sure that you don't lose.
No. No matter what I do, even if I do everything they say, Emilia isn 't coming back.
The offer they make won 't be to return Emilia. The offer will be: Do as we say, or we'll torture her and then kill her. We'll bring you her broken body piece by piece so you can see what you wrought.
That 's all. There's no escape. There's no end.
Fine. I 'll be their bitch if that's what I need to do.
Want me to give you guys the Book? No problem.
Ask me to join the Witch Cult? OK.
Need me to free the Witch of Envy? On my way.
Want my immortal soul? Here it is, no questions asked.
Anything for Emilia …