Mamoru clenched his fist as he realized the implications of the Archbishop's words.
If Elsa wasn't here, then that meant that she was either heading towards the village or she was already there. The only reassuring thing about this was the fact that Subaru hadn't looped yet.
Mamoru realized that Elsa was never truly meant to fight him, that was never truly her goal in the first place. Her goal was to make him think that she would fight him while slipping away during his clash against the Sin Archbishops.
He quickly turned towards the direction of the village and ran as fast as he could.
But as he ran towards the village, he turned his head to his right as he heard something.
It was Gluttony, he was matching his speed.
Mamoru's eyes widen as Roy ran slightly ahead of him, stopped, and kicked Mamoru straight on his head.
He sheer force of that sent Mamoru flying backwards as he tumbled slightly on the ground.
Mamoru couldn't believe this, where did he get such physical strength from?! He was human, he wasn't a demi-human from what he could tell.
Mamoru quickly realized that slipping away from this fight would prove rather troublesome.
Up until now, he had the advantage in this fight, but due to his rather young body, his exhaustion from the fight and using the Authority of Wrath and the fact that one of his opponents could regenerate caused the tables to turn in the Archbishops favor quickly.
Mamoru despised this with all his being. He hated this, why do all of these damn attacks have to happen merely two months after he was born? If he just had some time, time for his Authorities to truly merge within his body, time to train himself, if he was given a year to prepare...He knew that he would be able to annihilate these Sin Archbishops.
Regulus? Capella? Roy? Lye? And any other Archbishop? If he was just given some time, then he knew that he could take them on...Hell, at that point he'd be able to take them on all at once! Only if he was given some time....
But no, of course he had to face five Sin Archbishops in the span of a week.
All of this because of Roswaal and his damn wish to revive his Mother.
He found it almost hysterical, Roswaal was most likely trying to once again converse with Echidna, while Mamoru could just say her name and speak to her whenerver he wanted, where he wanted.
Mamoru sighed as he let go of his forehead and faced the two Sin Archbishops.
He was going to use his Unseen Hands to push both Gluttony and Lust away, so that he could make way to the village and kill Elsa.
Mamoru summoned as many Unseen Hands as he possibly could. The total was 40 of them, while the number doubled, that wasn't enough for the young Mabeast. He wanted more, but he would need to make due for now.
The two Sin Archbishops charged straight towards Mamoru while he was getting ready to use his Unseen Hands to either slap them away or rip them apart and run towards the village.
And as they were about to clash...
Mamoru blinked while looking around...He looked as he saw the moon up in the sky...That shouldn't be the case, the sun had just fell...Right?
But then, he heard a voice behind him that sent chills down his spine.
Otto: Sitting all alone, huh?
Subaru died.
*Earlier*
Subaru couldn't help but feel a sense of dread as they once again evacuated the village.
It just felt...Off, it just seemed a bit...Too easy. Subaru wasn't sure if he was just paranoid, but atleast the sight of the cute blond haired loli next to him that tried to deny the fact that she was purposefully trying to stand next to him made his worries lessen slighlty.
He then heard a loud noise coming from the mansion, from this angle where he was standing at, he could see the mansion slightly, and the sight made his eyes widen.
Was that...A Dragon?
As far as Subaru could remember, he never had to face a dragon. So, why was there a dragon there?!
This made Subaru's anxiety reach a whole different level.
It didn't help when he heard the fearfull screams coming from the villagers that were still in the village.
Subaru ran straight towards the scream as Beatrice tried to follow.
When he reached the origin of the scream, he wanted to puke, he felt sick to his very core.
Tens...Or even hundreds of Mabeasts were eating some of the villagers, Subaru's eyes were about to well up with tears, but a familiar voice caused a chill to go down his spine.
Meili: Wow~ Onii-chan looks kinda scared there. Is everything alright?
Subaru's eyes widen as he looks at the one responsible for this.
Meili: Ah- right. I just remembered that you were kinda close with Petra-chan, right? Don't worry about her, kay? I made sure that she died painlessly. She should be...Right over there.
She pointed her finger towards the direction of the villagers, Subaru looked but it's not like he could tell which corpse was which...
Beatrice: Minya.
Beatrice had finally caught up with Subaru and the moment that she noticed what was happening and who was responsible for this, she fired off her magic at the young girl.
But her magic never reached Meili as one Mabeast jumped infront of the young girl, taking the attack for her.
The Mabeast fell to the ground while shattering due to the crystallization of it's body.
Beatrice looked slightly annoyed as she walked infront of Subaru and raised her hand to once again fire off her magic at Meili.
Subaru wanted to say something, but before he could say even a single word, he heard footsteps behind him.
Beatrice heard it too as she turned around and her eyes widen as she screamed something, but Subaru couldn't quite hear it.
He heard ringing in his head, he couldn't hear anything else, but he still turned around. But he wasn't able to see who the person behind him was as he fell to the ground while clutching his stomach in pain.
It hurt. It felt like his guts were flowing out of his stomach, it burned him, it felt like his stomach was constantly on fire.
The last thing Subaru saw before closing his eyes, was the image of Elsa smiling down at him, like a predator who just caught it's prey.
*Present time*
.....
No...
No...No...No...
No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. NO! NO! NO!
Otto: Uh...Natsuki-san?
Mamoru stood up from the bench as he started to walk away from the merchant.
Otto: E-Eh? W-Where are you-
Mamoru: Fresh air.
Otto's eyes slightly widen as he heard Mamoru's voice, there was no emotion behind it, no anger, no happiness, no sadness, no nothing. It was almost like he wasn't even hearing a living person speak.
Otto: E-Eh?
Mamoru turned to look at Otto, he looked the merchant dead in the eye before saying...
Mamoru: I just...Need some fresh air...
And so, he walked away to some dense part of the forest as Otto simply wondered...Wasn't Mamoru already outside?
*Later*
Mamoru was standing in the middle of the forest, where exactly? He didn't know, neither did he care. The only thing he cared about was the fact that no one saw him here.
Mamoru collapsed to his knees as he raised his right hand into the air...Then proceeding to smash it against the ground.
The ground shook as the power of his punch could be felt across the ground around him.
Then he did the same with his left hand. And then his right, then his left, then his right, left, right, left, right...
This went on and on as Mamoru gritted his teeth.
Mamoru: Damn it...
Out of Mamoru's back, came 40 Unseen Hands as they started demolishing the forest around him.
The ground burst, trees fell as the Unseen Hands showed off their power.
But it simply wasn't enough, was it? What does it matter if he has them, when he has to fight enemies that are seemingly invincible or are seemingly immortal.
Mamoru then pulled back his head...And smashed it against the ground. Causing blood to fly out of his forehead.
He bashed his own head again and again. More and more blood flew out of his head as he continued to slam his own head against the ground.
Each time, he uttered a single word...
Mamoru: Damn it...
And he slammed his head.
Mamoru: Damn it...
And he slammed his head.
Mamoru: God...DAMN IT!!
He started to breath heavily, blood flowed down his forehead as he looked at the ground.
Nothing but Wrath fueled the young Mabeast, he wanted to kill, butcher, torture and rip apart all those that stood in his way.
He wanted to make these Sin Archbishops feel the feeling of dread, the feeling that you'd die no matter what you did. To feel helpless, to be able to see such emotions on their faces would truly satisfy the white haired boy.
But it won't happen as he is right now, with the power he currently lacks, that won't happen.
......
......
......
Mamoru smiled as he put a hand on his chest.
Mamoru:..Aha...That's right...
"That" Ability that he didn't use against Regulus...Why didn't he use it against Lust and Gluttony when he knew his Father was in danger?
Mamoru: That's right....
He was scared. He knew that, he wasn't scared of not being able to kill these Sin Archbishops.
He was scared because he knew if he used "that" then he could kill Subaru's friends by accident. He didn't want to repeat the mistake he made back in the mansion...
But it didn't matter now, did it? So what if Emilia, Rem or Ram died? Better them than having his Father die again.
Mamoru smiled maniacally, he was going to let go of his fear. Subaru might hate him for it, but if it allows Subaru to live after that, than the price would be worth it.
Finally, Mamoru decided to use "that" to-
???: Mamoru?!
That voice...
Mamoru turned his head to look at the familiar voice infront of him.
His father, Natsuki Subaru...
Subaru was about to say something, but he quickly shut his mouth as he saw Mamoru's blood flowing down his head.
All the destruction the Unseen Hands were causing stopped instantly, as if the sea suddenly calmed down during a storm.
Mamoru didn't say anything as he looked at Subaru with a shocked expression.
Subaru took a deep breath before deciding to finally speak up.
Subaru: Are you alright?
Mamoru:...H-How did you...F-Find me..?
Subaru scratched the back of his head while looking sheepishly to the side.
Subaru: Well, Otto told me that something was off about you, so I went to check up on you. Also, those invisible hand that were rampaging across the forest were kinda a dead giveaway...
Mamoru looked away as he simply stared at the ground with no words coming out of his mouth.
Subaru's face quickly turned serious as he asked Mamoru a question.
Subaru: Also, are you alright?
Mamoru looked at his Father with a bewildered expression.
Mamoru: A-Am I a-alright?! I should be asking YOU that! You're the one that died! Not me!
Subaru started walking towards Mamoru with an unreadable expression on his face.
Mamoru quickly got up from the ground as he started mumbling loudly enough for Subaru to hear.
Mamoru: Anyway! This time I should go to the mansion alone! That way, you won't be in danger and I'll-
Mamoru froze as he felt Subaru's hand on his head.
Subaru: "You'll go alone" huh...
He started to rub Mamoru's head while talking to him.
Subaru: I don't know what happened in the previous loop, I don't know for what reason you weren't there with Beako or why there was a dragon at the mansion, but...
Subaru stopped patting Mamoru's head as he fully kneeled down to look Mamoru in the eyes.
Subaru: But I'm sure that there must have been a good reason for it.
Mamoru was...Confused, to say the least. What was Subaru walking about? Why wasn't he blaming him for his death?
Subaru: You know, I've been watching you for these past two months...And I've noticed something. You never really ask help from anyone for anything, do you? But I guess that just means that we have more in common than I thought.
Mamoru was starting to get frustrated, there was no time for this, Mamoru has to get to the mansion to stop the whole-
Subaru: I guess what I'm trying to say is that...Shouldn't we ask for help?
Mamoru's thought process stopped as he blankly looked at Subaru.
Subaru: Like you know, we can ask for help against whatever you faced, and-
Subaru stopped speaking as he noticed that Mamoru gripped both of his shoulders.
Mamoru: Father...Don't you...Trust me with this...?
Mamoru's expression was hard to distinguish, it was a mix of sadness, fear and even a hint of confusion.
Subaru took a deep breath before speaking.
Subaru: Yea, at this point I do, but I have a better question for you. Do you trust me?
Mamoru's eyes widened as he heard Subaru's last words in that sentance.
Mamoru: Of course I trust you, I would put my body and soul to prot-
Subaru: Would you really turst me with whatever plan I came up with that involved the others?
Mamoru looked speechless as he heard Subaru's words.
Subaru: Let's be real here. The whole plan was pretty much made by you, since everytime I tried to make a suggestion, you kinda ignored it everytime when I mentioned the fact that I wanted the others to be involved with it.
Subaru looked to the side as he smiled a bit.
Subaru: I guess I kinda realized by looking at you that I really should ask for help a bit more often.
He looked back at Mamoru who looked befuddled at Subaru's words.
Subaru: What I want to ask is...Mamoru, I want to ask you to leave everything to me, alright? Let me be the mastermind for now....
Subaru then smiled at Mamoru, a genuine smile, a smile that Mamoru loved to see...
Subaru: So, trust me, kay?
Mamoru looked blankly at Subaru for a moment, before small tears started to fall from his eyes as he put his face against Subaru's shoulder.
Mamoru: Y-Yea...I-I trust you...
About 2800 words.