This is- my head hurts
12 January 423
To be fair, I should've expected for things to explode in my face. I knew well enough that this world was deadly despite hundreds of contingencies planned for the occasions I could've ended up facing today.
Dealing with these Archbishops? I thought about this being a possibility, and while I didn't make a full plan to contain the absurdly dangerous fiends I was currently facing, I knew their weaknesses.
Regulus was a complicated bundle of joy. Despite his seemingly-OP ability, he had a glaring flaw that made him the easiest to face compared to Lye since his Authority was tied to a limited amount of uses. Stillness of an Object's Time was technically an unbeatable barrier, with its ability to 'ignore' attacks making it one of the worst enemies to face in a fight, even if said fighter was the Sword Saint.
A time-stopping barrier, one that worked in conjunction with the bastard's Lion Heart to avoid the upkeep of such a technique. If he used his Authority, he would've suffered a strong enough strain to suffer a stroke and die. But since he had this secondary ability, he could easily shrug the costs to another individual. Someone that he considered 'his wife' and... giving him in return love and affection.
Subaru managed to beat him by finding where the 'wives' were stored away, and getting them to stop giving him 'love' and thus fueling his infuriating defense. I was quite sure I wasn't going to be as lucky because of two distinct problems.
1. I couldn't exactly leave the room to find where... more or less 78 women being around the capital. This number was a precise one since I wasn't sure if Regulus had eventually gained new girls and then used his ability against possible enemies in the span of a couple of centuries, but I was certain the amount of kidnapped women was well below the 100s;
2. Right now, Reggie wasn't my opponent. At least, not the one I had to face directly. Lye was another can of worm I wasn't glad to open. I knew some of his backstory, and I knew how troublesome he was to handle for more or less everyone on this planet.
The claim might sound absurd to someone that didn't have the time to study his Authority, but considering how frightening the scope of 'Gluttony' was, I was legitimately worried for Julius since the guy had little means to handle the speed of the short prick.
There were a couple of solutions that I could bring up to deal with both opponents, but by the end of the day, I couldn't move to save all the innocent ladies that Regulus had kidnapped up until now. He was fighting Reinhard, and since revealing his real ability out loud would draw too much attention and push him to beat a quick retreat at the chances of being killed because of it, I needed to gamble really hard on the lives of innocents.
Was I happy about it? Nope. But I didn't have much of a choice on it, and I needed to be hasty with how I dispatched Lye if I wanted to have a chance to kill Regulus too. And the best way to deal with the shorter Archbishop was to allow Julius to use his powerful long-ranged magic to cripple the prick while he was distant enough from the two of us.
"Bukharin! How are you standing?" He asked with a irked tone, still smiling despite his annoyance at my unscathed form. "Tell me~!"
"How about no?" I shot back with some sass.
He chuckled, shaking his head. "I suppose I will have to beat you into telling me!"
Bolting once more towards him, now I had legitimate reason to feel worried as he didn't seem interested in using his Authority on me. Rather, he was preparing to attack me with his weapon.
I barely took a guarded stance as he came close enough to strike, but before Lye had the chance of hurting me, I saw a bright flame erupting from Julius' sword swiftly grasping the excited Archbishop and pulling him away from me. As he struggled against his elemental restraints, I decided to barrage him with a couple of Gaster Blasters.
The beams ultimately helped him to be freed from his Fire and Wind prison, but not in a shape to attack once again. Scorched by the intensity of the blasts, Lye looked like a shivering mess as he tried to stand up. He was temporarily stopped, but I knew he was far from dead.
I needed to strike now that Regulus was distracted with the Nine Divine Generals, Felix, and Reinhard. The idea was simple, but the completion hung on a little acting session I needed to win against the dangerous jerk.
First, I created a couple of new mana constructs that were to move right behind him. The tiny objects I conceived were quick to rush silently across the floor, using the debris left around by the attacks of the Gaster Blasters to smoothly arrive at their destination. I knew I couldn't exactly expect those to elude him for long, and so I knew I had to make a good enough distraction to stop him from preventing my tricky scheme.
"Julius. Burn him," I muttered quietly. "We need to help the others."
The knight didn't need to be told twice. Preparing another Fell Goa, his Spirits unleashed another powerful stream of fire intensified by the wind element. The charring corpse of the previously scary Archbishop seemed to cook brightly as he succumbed to that kind of death.
Shifting my attention to the remaining issue, I couldn't help but grimace as I saw the group of people stacking against him delivering a couple of destructive attacks that did no damage to the smug-looking attacker.
I could count seven high-tier spells being used, but I was sure that it paled to the ones used while I was distracted with Lye.
Gods, how many girls died at this point?
As it became clear that his companion had perished against us, Regulus decided to turn his attention on me once again. He looked cocky, but I could already see a sliver of nervousness at how quickly his strong partner had died.
"Really impressive, Lord. But I feel like you're growing a little too comfy with your stay in this cruel and pitiful world," The white-haired man commented with a sigh. "A pity that you're my target. I would've wasted more time trying to see where your pride dies, and where your true fear emerges."
I shrugged. "Not everyone can get everything, Reggie. But I guess you know this better than anyone in this world being the puppet of a childish mastermind."
He tensed up at the new information relayed, but instead of showing surprise, he seemed mostly... annoyed.
"Yes. And I would've preferred to not think about that distasteful thought. Still, I forgive you. After all, you're about to die."
"S-Shut up!" A voice exploded from behind the curtain offered by the various knights stanced against the Archbishop. I frowned as I traced the shout back from Dvoynoy. The prince had been there the whole time... and I had completely missed him when I first entered the room. "You're the one t-that should be shivering in fear like the coward y-you are!"
...Something about this feels oddly familiar. I continued to listen at the prince's outburst, but my attention soon trailed back to Regulus... only to see the man actually trembling a little.
"W-What are- what are you? I thought there was nobody here that was meant- how is this- this possible?" He was actually shivering while saying those words and I couldn't help but feel a terrible dread slowly rise up from my chest.
Where do I feel like I've seen this happen before? And why did I feel a sudden need to bail out of the room as quickly as I could?
I glanced briefly to where Elsa and Meili were, expecting the two assassins to be moving to stand closer to their ward... but the two were standing far from their charge. The child had a nervous look on her face, while the Bowel Hunter... looked incredibly perplexed. This was an unnatural reaction considering how frail and meek the guy had appeared until that very moment. Why were they worried, and why...
Why is this so familiar?!
"A-And now! Lord Bukharin shall put an end to your pathetic misery!" The prince exclaimed once again, this time clapping his hand together to emphasize the loudness of his voice.
Much to my skyrocketing panic, something did happen as he clapped his hands. A bright light consumed the shocked Archbishop, and soon his body was engulfed in a powerful explosion that obliterated his whole body at once. I wasn't much surprised by the development since this was all the result of the mana construct I had sent to handle Regulus.
Just as I could produce Gaster Blasters, I could also make objects akin in their efficiency and capacity. And in this case, the one tool of destruction I decided to employ were three tiny-sized Sheer Heart Attack, the ones that were known to be used by Yoshikage Kira from Jojo. The tiny devices that looked like remote-controlled cars with a cat-eared skull on their frontal side, were meant to explode on contact once they arrived at their destination. In this case, Regulus' upper back.
Yet, while I did plan out that kind of resolution, I hadn't made it possible for anyone beside me to trigger the blast since... that would've been a silly effort to go through considering how many lives were put at stake while fighting someone like Reggie. Somehow Dvoynoy had managed to hijack my magical control and... outright enable the explosions to happen at his command.
I turned again to regard the confusing prince, but I found my stare slowing down as I finally realized that now that the explosion was over, there was something 'odd' about the whole room and its occupants. It took me just a few moments of silence to finally realize what was wrong at the moment. My jaws dropped as the room went suddenly quiet... and stiff.
Nobody was moving... all except me and... Dvoynoy.
"Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!" The young man started to laugh without any major reason. Shaking his head, he tried to get hold of himself as he showed immense glee at Regulus' explosive demise, but he seemed to quickly get over it a couple of minutes later. "Ah, this is truly what I missed. Seriously, this whole act is tough and all but... it's kind of fun. I almost lost it and all, but man, that was a lady explosion."
My eyes widened as I noticed that the Gustekian noble's voice had changed to a completely different pitch. It was no longer the shy and potentially socially-incapable young man I had met. No, this was-
"Ivan."
'Dvoynoy' stopped and tensed up as he snapped a glance at me.
"Oh, you're aware! How interesting and marvelous!" The now-revealed prince commented happily. "Now, isn't that something that further confirms how you and I are meant to be? Truly a match [Made in Heaven]!"
How how HOW!?
"W-What are you- how are you here!? I made you sign a contract and-"
"Oh that, yes. That was a nasty trick you pulled on me," He interrupted quietly, sighing at my furious stare now aimed at him. "You see, Johnny boy, I like you and I want you. Sadly, I can't claim you now without making it too non-consensual. Think of the readers! They need to be bestowed of a romance deign of the best Yaoi story possible... I've yet to find the Author and tell him that, but I'm sure he will be understanding after a proper mindwipe-"
What was he talking about? Author- is this-
"Author? You mean that this all is-"
"Okay, maybe I should stop talking about that topic. Let's focus on you, my dear waifu that is also my husbando... and surely my braido," Ivan interjected again. "I don't believe I can say how much I love being there so close to tickle you in your sleep, and maybe even explain how this devious plan came to be when I was actually tied by that tragic mistake of yours."
"I wanted that contract-"
"And now it's not there anymore, so deal with it... bitch!"
I frowned, my brain suddenly overwhelmed by the degree of insanity that I was being subjected to. "How are you-"
"Enough, my dear. It's time for you to stop being a hassle for my poor aching heart. I believe a little room-wide 'mind-rewrite' will do."
"No, wait-"
"I believe the word I need to say is something like- ZA WARUDO!"
"Yes. And I would've preferred to not think about that distasteful thought. Still, I forgive you. After all, you're about to die."
"That sounds like a... lot of issues to go through," I calmly suggested, suddenly frowning as I felt somewhat sickened by something... I couldn't recall. "How about you just talk it out and... let the sins crawling on your back go free from this maddening struggle."
The Archbishop frowned at my comment. "My what now-!"
A bright light consumed the shocked Archbishop, and soon his body was engulfed in a powerful explosion that obliterated his whole body at once. I wasn't much surprised by the development since this was all the result of the mana construct I had sent to handle Regulus.
Just as I could produce Gaster Blasters, I could also make objects akin in their efficiency and capacity. And in this case, the one tool of destruction I decided to employ were three tiny-sized Sheer Heart Attack, the ones that were known to be used by Yoshikage Kira from Jojo. The tiny devices that looked like remote-controlled cars with a cat-eared skull on their frontal side, were meant to explode on contact once they arrived at their destination. In this case, Regulus' upper back.
...
Why do I feel like I have made that line of thoughts already?
I felt perplexed at that strange mood that had taken over my mind, but as I tried to shift my attention to the fact the Archbishops were actually dead and not faking their current demises, a strange sense of nausea had my legs wobbling and my head grew lighter for a moment.
Tripping backward and crashing my butt on the floor, I saw everyone noticing this through that moment of silence as they waited for any sneaky attack or trap to unfold.
"Johnnyah!" Felix bolted from his position near the Sword Saint, quickly checking on me as I tried to handle the sickness that got to me so suddenly. I slowly recollected my thoughts and soon I recognized this as something that I should've expected. By fighting so fiercely and creating constructs that were dense as hell with magical power, I had unconsciously strained my Gate to a point where my entire being was feeling sick.
Despite my efforts to keep the cat-eared knight from helping me with this, I was still treated by the professional medic as he tried to sublant some of his own mana to fix my low reserves. I looked around, and I saw both the knights and Bordeaux approaching us and forming a somewhat defensive perimeter. Now that the threats had been eliminated, the little truce had terminated, and by all means we were in a weakened state to act against any imposition from the Emperor-
"The meeting shall resume tomorrow after lunch," Vincent proclaimed with a serious tone. "Lord Bukharin shall be treated as the greatest guest and be given medical assistance at once! No harm shall be given to him until in our care, or else my honor as ruler of this grand empire shall be put under discussion."
Various nobles quickly muttered loudly about this imposition, most supporting it, while a couple were quick to lament the 'easy opportunity' that was killed in such a 'stupid manner'.
I merely glanced at the monarch, noticing his eyes were on me. The man held his wife close, and in that moment I realized that, while it would've been easier for him to act now, it would've been ungrateful and a wrongful sign of a good ruler. Nodding in his direction in an attempt to show my gratitude, I allowed Ferris to help me stand up as we were escorted by a group of Volacchian guards out of the meeting room.
My attention was faltering even more despite the fact I was no longer in a dangerous situation, and I just couldn't keep consciousness going for long as we approached the doors. Just as we made a couple of steps towards it, I found my attention moving to a particular individual I hadn't noticed in the room up until now.
Hiding his frame behind a curious Elsa and Meili, Dvoynoy looked quite concerned for my health and I felt surprised and touched by his presence here and by his reaction over my conditions.
The more I thought about him, the more I felt like I shouldn't have felt that much 'happy' about it. I just couldn't connect dots as my thoughts were having trouble keeping afloat in that sea born from my growing unconsciousness... and soon I was almost limping by Felix' shoulders as I ended up being dragged to the closest medical room.
With this horrible ordeal coming to an end... I felt my brain burn as I knew I had missed on something important. But what and why it was important... I just couldn't tell.
Tired and confused, I barely kept awake for the rest of the day. Something beyond the strained Gate had me this tired and... for a moment, I felt a tiny body resting over mine. And my dreams were filled with a sea of silver.
Afterthoughts: I will be honest. I had to rewrite this chapter... a lot. Like I had a general plan about it, but then I realized that cramping it all in a single chapter would've spelled the end of this story. Like there is a lot to unfold in this arc, and I don't want to rush my blows too quickly about it. Let's just say that the next chapter begins the completely new story. One about devious pricks, mythical creatures from unknown lore and... Pandora.
Lastly... did you all know that Dvoynoy means 'Double' in Russian?
Omake 12: What if (Satella)
"A silly girl that is trying to forget our first talk together," I interrupted with a snort, her cheeks flaring red at the embarrassing call out. "You're my friend, Satella, and I'm not backing away from this stance."
...
The girl gave a slow nod. "I... I see. And... maybe I should return the gift with something of... mine?"
I wasn't sure how I was supposed to take what had just happened. When Satella had leaned in for a kiss, I thought that it would've been the only thing she would've offered me for bringing her books.
What I failed to understand as she pushed me on the ground and started to unfasten my clothes was that she wasn't just referring to the gifts I had brought to her today. No, her attempt to 'return' the kindness went a little beyond to that. It started from her genuine happiness of having someone to talk to, to play with, to kiss, to love and... to end up in that kind of awkward situation.
I wasn't mad. Nor I was exactly ashamed about how far things had gone with that big gift. And what a big gift it was... but still, while I was chill about the whole thing, a certain someone was panicking over all kinds of bad scenarios that would entail the discovery of that forbidden relationship. The Witch of Envy... with a 'Lord' from the very Kingdom she was hated by.
The scandalous thought had her entire face blushing, but I was surprisingly calmer at that prospect considering nobody but us was going to know about this. I wasn't exactly planning to tell anyone, that is, and I knew Satella would've kept quiet too if she had been able to speak with other people beyond her prison.
In fact, despite the incredibly adorable sight I was bestowed by her worried state of mind, I couldn't help but have my eyes linger over her clothless form. It was surprising how dresses could do much in hiding that kind of beauty from the eyes of those that were able to see Satella beyond representations from books. It was actually ironic how the Witch of Envy had a body that would've easily gained the envy of many women in Lugnica, if not the entire world.
And coupling that with her personality and natural cuteness, I could only smile at that bizarre outcome of that simple day. I had stayed there for hours now, and I wasn't feeling any sense of worry about turning up late. The most important thing was that I presented myself by the end of the day, lest I could've ended up inviting a party of 'rescuers' to try and find me by the sealing grounds.
Not a funny idea considering how awkwardly close it would get to learn about the truth about my visit. Which is why, despite my happiness over the aftermath of that visit, I had to prepare myself and get back to Erindor.
Grasping at her arm, Satella tensed up, eyes widening in surprise as she finally regarded me with a shocked expression.
"O-Oh right, you're still... here."
I frowned, trying my best to not chuckle at that awkward realization. "Did you think I had left?"
"No, I mean- Yes? Didn't you say you had to return to Erindor or else people would've worried about you?"
"Well, I was thinking of doing this right now but... I wanted to ask if you were alright."
Satella nodded, covering herself a little more with the towel we had used as a sheet. "It's... fine. I think. Maybe I shouldn't have been that much... impetuous."
"I believe that was what made the whole thing fun," I pointed out. "But if it makes things better, I want to say that I love it..."
"Thanks-"
"And I love you."
Her jaws dropped. "That's so sudden and-"
"And I think lying about it would be just dumb from my part. After all, I don't think what just happened was 'nothing'."
"It wasn't. It just was... it's something I can't properly judge," The young woman admitted. "I'm happy. I'm super-happy- but part of me wants to be ashamed about... about going that far. And that suddenly. It sounds like I took advantage of you."
"Nonsense, I could've told you to stop. I didn't because I wanted that to happen too," I rebuffed without hesitation, getting her to stare at me in surprise once again. "It was amazing, and I don't regret any of that. Do you?"
"No-"
"Then it's not the end of the world, Satella," I continued with a nod. "I know you're still unsure about this, and I will not push you to give a quick closure to it. I want you to think about it and... I want you to not be stressed by this."
"I-I..." She paused, gulping nervously before sporting a determined look. "I... I love you too."
To make her point clearer, she leaned forward and stole another kiss. I accepted it, allowing it to become the farewell to that visit.
The next month proved to be one filled with lots of questions about the matter and numerous thoughts about how she was really handled the matter... but when I was given the chance to visit once again, I was given confirmation that my worries were unfounded.
As soon as I arrived in her domain, the Witch of Envy rushed towards me and, in a sight I had only imagined happening in one of the dreams ensuing that first intense contact, she pressed her lips onto mine. As she pulled away, a nervous but adorable smile adorned her face.
"W-Welcome back, dear."
Thus I became tied with the woman that had been behind the almost-destruction of the world... and prevented Subaru's appearance in this world. That last bit did come to bite my ass in due time, but I wasn't regretting how things happened. I had a lady that was waiting for me after all, and I wasn't planning to have her worry too much with my antics.