Destined~1!

Standing on a path with nothingness surrounding Subaru started contemplating. The path gave him a weird vibe from any perspective he could calculate. The white background sheet was screaming danger, so he made a mental note to not touch it.

Spreading his perception, he found two presences some distance ahead of the single lane 32-meter wide path. One of them wasnt much of a threat he knew, well from magical observation. He was completely oblivious to their physical capability.

The problem was the second one. He knew this presence was none other than the Queen he was searching since a long time. But there was an unusual itch in him to fly instantly forward and see what the actual fuck it was. However, this itch was somewhat scaring him.

'Ah! Screw it.'

Muttering to himself, he opened his [Dimensional pocket], and he took, not a thing, but an alive man who had his katana in hand. He was none other than the flame breathe user.

"Oh! Interesting. I never knew there is such a way to travel". While appraising the surrounding with his enhanced sense, Kyojuro asked with a straight face.

" It wasnt transportation, just a temporary shelter." Subaru sighed as he faced forward, following his partner turned too.

"So, any plan before we proceed?" Subaru asked causally.

"We will go and slay." Subaru grinned upon receiving the same idea he had in mind.

...

Even having physical abilities far ahead of a normal being, they were walking at a decent yet human speed. Because of the unknown and wary habitat, they wordlessly agreed to take time to reach their destination.

"So what after this? I mean after taking revenge what are you planning to do. Well, if you remain alive, that is." Subaru asked without much of a thought as to pass time. He already knew how long it would take them to reach their first checkpoint, so he decided to lay low for now.

"Hah! After this, I am planning to start my dojo and nurture potential youth to inherit my traditional breathing form and continue this legacy to eternity!"

"You seriously talk like an old man sometimes." Chuckling a bit they continued their journey.

It wasnt after long when Kyojuro called for Subaru in a bit less energetic tone unlike usual.

"Nishimiya Subaru".

" Hm?" Without turning his gaze he asked.

"If I...die today, can you look after my family in your free time? My mother and little brother are the only ones whome I can call family, so if in the future whenever you get time, please check on them for me." These words were something that doesnt go well with his ever sparkling personality, but Subaru could understand. He knows how it feels to leave behind someone, whome you loved.

"Hmm. Sure."

....

After walking for almost half an hour they reached a certain point where the mana signature started darkening all of a sudden.

"You feel that?"

"Uh-huh". Both pairs of bluestone and flame orbs were wandering around to find the owner of this mana presence, which was overwhelming in the air. The mana was so dense that a person like Cha Hae-In, who was overly sensitive to mana, could have gone into a frenzy. Kyojuro was slightly uncomfortable with it but fortunately, he knew better than anyone, how to regulate his breathing. So this overwhelmedness was something he wasnt much bothered about.

" ABOVE!!" As Subaru shouted he as well Kyojuro leaped out of the target zone in an instant.

*THUD*

*CRASH*

With a thud, something crashed on the spot where both we were standing, to be precise, where Subaru was, some blinks ago.

A visible crater former around the crashing zone, with small smoke of dust enveloping the huge figure of the invader.

Subaru, despite having a vision covered with smoke, saw the attacker with his eyes changed crimson. His brows raised upon recognizing the appearance of the one, which he thought might not have existed in this world, for some reason.

"Blood Red Commander, Igris." Grinning, Subaru announced his invader's name as he stood straight with his mind forming a spell already. It was much after when the crash happened, and the animalistic figure of flames dashed toward the red knight.

"Flame breathing, fifth form. Flame Tiger". Kyojuro was the first to take action. Subaru canceled his spell upon seeing the situation.

Igris was thrown backward quite far. His body slid involuntarily at a high pace with flames still blanketing him. Seeing himself nearing the edge, Igris took out his long swords and stabbed the ground to decrease his propel.

(A/N: I know Igris is the best girl, but wiki says he is a 'he', so yeah...)

Finally, almost half a foot from the edge, the crimson Knight got a hold of himself before he leaped in the air without wasting a single drop of a second. However, Kyojuro was also ready with his counter, as he also disappeared from his spot.

*CLANG*

The place where two pieces of metal collided was in mid-air just 20 ft above ground. Subaru was impressed highly by the spectacle of the two great swordsmen.

The two figures descended at the same time after just a single collision like it was an agreement beforehand.

Kyojuro had his blade gripped with both hands and stance with the tip of the blade facing his opponent. Igris had a more relaxed stance, with the blade being held in one hand and another one behind the back. However, the small glint of rage behind the cladded armor showed how annoyed Igris was upon failing his primitive assault.

" Subaru Nishimiya. You should go ahead. I will look after this one until you fight with the bigger fish. But just dont die and dont kill that thing either if it's possible. " Subaru thought for a second and after evaluating the possibilities, he nodded and summoned some of his soldiers.

[My liege.]

Kneeling in front of him what showed was a mutate ant and several 'A' rank ravens flamingos.

"Don't interrupt their fight. Protect the human. And kill the red one if the second objective becomes impossible to keep up." Commanding, Subaru used his flight and leaped quite forward from the battle zone.

Igris had no option to stop Subaru from not getting assaulted by flames was everything he could care about.

Subaru was now alone walling down the path toward the destination. He was prepared for this battle. One of the main reasons he was so eager to obtain much power in so less time, is so when the opportunity arises he wouldn't let the knife miss his enemy's nape.

After walking straight for some minutes, something unexpected came into his visual perception.

"A gate inside a gate?" There was a blue portal like the gate was raging with blue smoke on its perimeter. The size of it was the same as the one he ventured in with Fubuki. Subaru didn't wait for too long and crossed the line and entered the dungeon.

...

Just after walking some steady steps, he came across a totally different scene. The previous white background vanished and got replaced with a cave-like setting.

The new surroundings wasnt much different from the normal dungeon, except for the presence of an abnormal mana existence. Subaru has never felt someone with this huge amount of mana before. This entity wasnt trying to even suppress its magical power, basically to show its dominance.

Walking forward, he found tens of huge rocks uncarved protruded at different spots. A certain memory flashed in his mind when he first met Yuno, which put a smile on his face. The ceiling of the cave was worth accommodating a 15-floors building.

The temperature was bone-chilling however, the infinity around Subaru also worked as a temperature regulator, so it was wasnt difficult for him to face this harsh condition.

Making the bare minimum amount of sound, he walked quietly toward the source of mana. It wasnt long before he saw 'her' and when he did his eyes went wide in shock.

The only figure apart from Subaru was sitting on one of those rocks while gazing into the endless darkness, with her chin resting on her knee and hands crossed across the same leg. Her body was fragile yet not malnourished. From this point, he could see her body, despite being athletic was developed in the best way a girl could desire for.

Her Sakura-colored long hairs were falling off the rock and reaching almost the ground. Her straight bangs were covering her cream skin forehead, elegantly. Her turquoise eyes rounded around the pupils displayed sorrow and loneliness that could wrench anyone's heart. The pinkish-red marking on canthi displayed her uniqueness from normal existence. The most striking feature was her horns.

Her beautiful red horns.

The pair of red beauties were reaching up to a meter in height and were uneven at various spots. From any point of view, she was looking like a true piece of art that one couldn't help but gawk at. Subaru stared

at her for an uncertain amount of time, but still, he wasnt tired a single bit. After what seemed an eternity, in a whispering tone, only two words left his mouth.

"Zero Two?"

_______________________________

A/N: Finally!!!!!!!!

After fucking long 73 chapters, I finally introduced her. Various things will be cleared out from here and the next chapter will reveal the various assumptions you guys had since the very start (some of them were true tho...)

Oh yeah, I created a Ko-fi account so if you have $ to spare then throw it here...

ko-fi.com/svneighter40560

Anyway, drop a comment if you are liking the chapter. See ya~