"Слушай сюда! Я даю тебе последний шанс сдаться! Сложи оружие и открой эту дверь, ты будешь пощажен! Если нет, мы убьем тебя прямо здесь и сейчас!" (Listen here! I'm giving you one last chance to surrender! Lay down your guns and open this door, you'll be spared! If not we'll fucking kill you right here and right now!)
Subaru obviously seemed angry, his heart beating fast of the situation they were about to face.
"Мы не будем открывать дерьмо!"(We won't open shit!)
"Давай, киска! Мы тебя ждем!"(Come on pussy! We're waiting for you!)
"They've picked their choice," Subaru sighed while glancing at Hadir.
"..." Reinhard's gaze turned grim at the decision taken in less than a few seconds.
"They made their choice…" Julius closed his eyes.
"Indeed." Wilhelm acknowledged.
"There's a hatch on the roof, help me up CIA!"
Subaru and Hadir moved to the side of the armory where Subaru gave Hadir a boost up to the top of the armory. Hadir then crouched over the edge right where Subaru was below and offered his hand.
Subaru grabbed his hand, and got lifted up on the roof where the hatch was in evidence for them.
Hadir grabbed the handle of the hatch while Subaru layed down on the side, his gun barrel a few centimeters from the opening.
"Three, two, one!"
Hadir opened the hatch, and Subaru immediately shot the first Russian he saw in the head, as Hadir shot the two remaining ones from his position.
Subaru then jumped inside the armory, seeing one of the soldiers still alive, trying to crawl towards a rifle.
He looked up to Subaru when he heard his boots hitting the ground of the armory, and he pointed a pistol to the soldier's head, pulling the trigger to end his misery.
"Ugh, why?!" Emilia couldn't help but condemn what she had just seen.
"He was going for his weapon, Emilia-sama…" Crusch replied, noticing the sadness in the half-elf's voice.
"But Subaru could have simply taken the weapon away…He didn't need to execute him!" Emilia retorted to the Duchess, tearing up.
More than the way this soldier had died, it was all about Subaru's actions. She hated how merciless he became, she hated how cold blooded he became, and how every time she felt like she could be reassured that this Subaru was the same as her knight, he could perform such an action that would throw her off miles away.
"Natsuki-kun had already given him a choice, ya know? He is not responsible for someone's else's actions." Anastasia replied in a bored tone.
"Subaru isn't like that!"
"Maybe the one you keep at the edge of a leash, but not this one," Anastasia turned away from the half-elf, "you gotta accept that there was a drastic change around."
"..." Emilia didn't further the conversation either, feeling like the urge of isolating herself back in her room would come back at any moment if she did.
There was still a lot she had to think about and accept when it came to these viewings.
Hadir entered the armory and opened the door for her sister and the militia to resupply, while Subaru observed the weapons inside.
"Western weapons…Again…"
Subaru grunted as he picked up an LMG, "An M249…Just where did they get those…"
"Unregulated weapons again, uh," Ricardo thought aloud, "seems like these will be more and more common if ya ask me."
"There is perhaps something bigger going on under our nose for these kinds of things to happen." Julius narrowed his eyes, trying to think about an hypothesis.
"If anything, it looks like something Subaru himself wishes to investigate…Maybe not immediately, but you know…" Felix pointed out to his comrade knight.
"I hope he does. Such a dangerous matter cannot go unsolved." Julius concluded.
"كريم لدينا مشكلة" (Karim, we have a problem!) One of the rebels yells from outside, hurrying Subaru out of the armory.
The lights of the base all went out bit by bit, soon leaving nothing but the red emergency light from the armory.
Everyone in the theater gasped at the sudden shutdown of lights and red glows all over the buildings.
"Ok, this is scary." Felt grimaced.
"It doesn't give a sign of good omen, if I may say." Reinhard understood.
"قطعوا الكهرباء ..." (They cut the power…) Farah whispered with a dead tone, "أبناء العم ، اتخذوا مناصبكم وتمسكوا بأسبابكم!" (Cousins, take position and hold your grounds!)
"They're about to strike back with all they got…" Subaru clenched his teeth, readying the LMG as he checked the belt of bullets and loaded it while walking forward to cover.
"I would rather die than back down to fucking swine!" Hadir cursed as he took position as well.
"Oh no…They are preparing for the worst…!" Otto gasped.
"What?" Petra turned towards Otto and Garfiel at the edge of their seats.
"He just announced that he would fight to the bitter end." Ram dangerously narrowed her eyes towards Hadir for dragging Subaru along with him.
"It doesn't seem like Subaru himself wants to back down, sister…"Rem, who had understood her sister's feelings, replied to her.
"Please do not try anything too dangerous…" Crusch whispered with a hand over her heart.
Emilia, even with how confused she was over this, still hoped the same for her knight.
"Give me something worthy of mine eyes once more." Priscilla was probably the only one smiling with great expectations.
She already knew her protegé would survive, how he would triumph over his foes was what interested her the most.
"3-1 to watcher, where's my air support?!" Subaru hurriedly spoke through his radio.
"It's right here! Entering the canal in 10 seconds!" Laswell replied in haste.
"I don't have 10 fucking seconds!" He replied in an angered voice, putting the bipod of the LMG down in position as the Russian tanks made their appearance on the compound.
It only took a fraction of a second for the people of the theater to understand the gravity of the situation Subaru had found himself in. Soon, the place was filled with eyes reflecting fear and gasps of horror.
"By the dragon!" Otto yelled in fear, "Those are the armored carriages which destroy building we saw in the previous viewings!"
"And there is more than one!" Ricardo yelled in alarm, "Fuck, he needs to get out of here!"
"Go!" Mimi yelled.
"RUN!" Tivey yelled.
"SUBARU-KUN!" Rem shouted in fear.
Ram kept looking at the screen, her hands on Subaru's shoulders.
"Subaru! Subaru please go!" Petra tightly held Subaru's right arm, her heartbeat going faster and faster.
"No….No, Subaru…" Emilia's mouth was paralyzed, unable to speak anymore as she felt like death itself was walking towards Subaru.
"..." Crusch's breath began to go faster and faster, staring at the screen in disbelief.
"SHIT! Big bro, get out of here!" Felt growled in fear, "COME ON!"
"Subaru…!" Reinhard uttered as if he could do anything from his seat.
As soon as they showed up, the tanks began to fire, while troops appeared alongside them and shot the rebels inside of the hangar who fought back with all they could.
"This is a hopeless fight." Wilhelm grunted, tightening his grip around his armchairs.
"He needs to do something! Anything!" Julius exclaimed in frustration.
"What do you want him to do?! He needs to bail out!" Mimi retorted to the knight.
"And leave everyone behind?!" Tivey seemed shocked by his sister's words.
"He gotta be reasonable about this!" She replied to her brother, not feeling ashamed of what she had just said.
"We need more firepower! This isn't doing anything!" Hadir yelled through the rumble of gunshots and tank shells.
"KATE!" Subaru shouted through his radio, to what Laswell replied in haste.
"It's here!" She answered with a hint of relief in her voice.
Subaru widened his eyes with a breath of hope, just before hearing the voice of the operator at the other end of the line.
"What? What is happening?!" Emilia demanded as she saw Subaru on screen breathe out.
"Their reinforcements are here…There might be a chance!" Crusch seemed shortly relieved as well.
"The air support?! It's here?!" Anastasia seemed interested to see what it would be about.
"It was about damn time!" Felt seemed happy to see something good happen.
"Let's hope it will be enough to fight back…" Julius however, wasn't completely sure about feeling like a victory yet.
"This is wildfire, cavalry's here and ready for tasking."
"Oh no…Oh no no no! KATE!" Subaru shouted back in his radio.
"What…" Otto glanced at Garfiel, who seemed confused as well.
"They were the only ones inbound to help you! Stop whining and give them their targets!" Laswell reprimanded in a frustrated voice.
"I TAKE IT BACK! I'LL DEAL WITH THE TANKS, TELL THEM TO FUCK OFF!"
Saying that most of the cast was astounded was an understatement. For a brief instant, not a single person in the theater was able to tell what was going on and more especially, how to feel about this all.
None of them knew the history behind these interactions, but for Subaru to be so distressed about calling back reinforcements in such a dire situation, whatever past him and this plane shared had to be extremely cataclysmal.
"..."
"What the…"
"..."
"You…YOU…" Beatrice took a deep breath, "YOU STUPID CONTRACTOR, IN FACT!"
"...URGH WHATEVER! DON'T BE STUPID!" Otto held both hands on each side of his head, "DON'T SPIT ON SUCH HELP!"
"YEAH! AIN'T THE TIME TO BE PICKY CAPN!" Garfiel shouted as well, while everyone watched with more or less the same thoughts in mind.
"I am sure he has legitimate reasons but…" Crusch clenched her hand, trying to deal with her anxiety, "It is not the time for such thoughts to surface."
"Would you cease such foolishness?!" Julius cursed while holding a hand over his eyes.
"Calm down Julius-kun," Anastasia tried to intervene as soon as she noticed how seriously upset was her knight, "I'm sure Natsuki-kun got his reasons yeah?"
"My lady, with all due respect, Subaru is currently acting like an imbecile!" Julius retorted with an expression mixing his guilt and fear, "More than how he usually is!"
"HEY!" Garfiel turned around to Julius, pointing his finger at him, "AS MUCH AS YA'RE RIGHT, DON'T INSULT CAPN'!"
"BUT WE WILL LET IT GO BECAUSE HE IS REALLY BEING STUPID RIGHT NOW!" Otto replied as he turned around as well.
"EXACTLY! JUST THIS ONCE, YA AIN'T PUSHING YAR LUCK!"
"...You guys are taking this so seriously right now…" Felt seemed stupefied by their sudden defense towards Subaru, even though she thought he was being unreasonable as well right now.
"Because he is serious!" Otto said as he referred to Julius, "we can't leave others to make it a habit."
"Others?" Reinhard raised an eyebrow.
"We are the only ones who can call Subaru stupid!" Petra nodded her head frantically as she leaned over to answer Reinhard.
"Indeed." Ram closed her eyes with her head high.
"...I feel like we should not be doing that." Frederica said with an uneasy smile.
"Because we shouldn't! Nee-sama, please take back what you said!" Rem pleaded while pulling Subaru towards her.
"Not only her! But all of you, I suppose!" Beatrice turned to her camp members, who all so easily insulted Subaru.
"It is alright, Beatrice-sama, Rem," Ram said from above, "no one will ever have the right to insult Subaru as an idiot except us."
"Why should you be an exception, in fact?!" Beatrice reprimanded.
"Because he is our idiot." She tilted her head to answer, as if the response was obvious.
"...I don't know if I should even counter that…" Emilia shook her head, nearly wanting to smile.
"You're still mad for that one time?! Come on Sage! It was 3 years ago!"
The gunship operator replied on the radio with an outraged voice.
"Hold on…" Felt realized.
"Wait…!" Emilia widened her eyes in surprise, "he just called him…!"
"Sage?" Reinhard seemed more and more confused.
He was one of the few who secretly tried to pierce the mystery behind this surname of Subaru.
"So it isn't just a nickname given by his enemies?" Ricardo gazed at the boy up front, "more people know him as Sage."
"What could this possibly mean? Even the one who guards us here seemed to refer to Subaru as the Sage…" Julius mused as he recalled the first day in this theater.
"Sage…" Priscilla tapped her armchair with her finger as she thought about what such a name could mean for both her world, and the world she was seeing on screen, "how intriguing…"
"Why would Subaru-kun be referred to as a Sage?" Rem glanced at Beatrice, who was currently the closest to him.
"...I wish I knew myself, I suppose." Beatrice replied as she tugged her contractor's clothes.
"Even the wolf called him that…But right now, he refers to himself as 3-1…" Otto put a hand on his chin in thought.
"Or CIA." Garfiel added.
"Isn't it strange that he has so many names?" Petra commented, "why can't they just call him Subaru?"
"They also call him that, but it seems like it is only for those that are close it seems." Crusch replied in a stern voice.
"Well if that isn't really promising~" Roswaal smiled wide, "I wonder if this is related to…that*"
"It could be 3 years or 10 years, it doesn't change the-"
"So they do have a history, nya!" Felix twitched his ears, looking towards his lady.
"But what could be so terrible that Subaru would act this way…?" Crusch replied, bewildered.
"It had to be either painful, or…Quite upsetting." Wilhelm snorted in amusement.
"CIA! We would really need help right now!" Hadir called Subaru, seeing him arguing through his radio.
"Sage! Give us the targets, we'll deal with it!" The operator replied as he heard the begging of Subaru's ally.
Subaru grunted before he turned on his radio again, "Targets are in the compound, all allies are regrouped in the hangar, you're cleared hot for everything that moves outside of the building!"
"Roger that!"
"Thank the dragon, it seems like he got his senses back…" Otto breathed out, leaning back on his chair.
"Aye, capn' fought his stupidity on this one." Garfiel nodded his head.
"I mean if he doesn't he just dies!" Mimi shouted, "it was about time he got his head outta his ass!"
The scene switches to show the clouds in the night sky, suddenly pierced through by a gigantic plane.
The sight of the plane sent everyone at the edge of their seats. As if most of the things they saw in these viewings until now weren't already amazing on their own, now they were seeing the biggest metallic object they had seen yet fly sky high.
"What is this?" Anastasia was slack jawed, trying to understand how such a metallic structure was in the air.
"This…This is a weapon?" Emilia put a hand on her mouth, worried.
"It seems like it…" Crusch gulped in fear of what this thing could do.
"It's one of these planes?! But it's so big! Even bigger than the one we saw last time!" Felix seemed quite afraid at the sight, "is this…Is this a gunship?!"
"It doesn't look like a ship at all!" Otto exclaimed in alarm.
"IT LOOKS EVEN BETTER!" Garfiel howled in joy.
"YOU SEE THIS?!" Felt pointed to the screen, "THIS LOOK SO HECKIN' COOL!"
"I…Do see it my lady…" Reinhard replied, awestruck by the plane.
"Eh, knew they would be impressed." Al laughed at everyone's reaction.
"And what does this thing do?" Priscilla, curious, demanded more details from her knight.
"Well, you will soon witness it yourself, princess." He replied, as Priscilla hummed in response.
"Very well, let us see."
The camera looms over it, passing right over its structure, as it slowly puts itself in an angled position with its side facing the ground, where the red lights of the airbase could be seen in the dark plains. On its side, three different sized cannons aimed down to the airbase.
The camera then came quickly closer to the plane, soon changing to the point of view of an operator turning on several switches and looking through a computer screen.
"Oh, we are changing points of view…!" Petra seemed excited.
"I really hope this gives a definite turn to this battle." Despite her worried tone, Frederica was somehow confident that this add on would be a decisive help for Subaru.
"Considering the size, I believe this will be a great help," Ricardo pointed out, "big weapon means big damage."
"I am really interested to see how it works…" Julius mused, showing his interest.
"I think we all are. Even if it definitely looks like a very destructive thing." Anastasia replied with a smirk.
"Going through thermal, targets in sight. let's clear them out." The operator spoke as the screen before him turned black and white, showing human forms glowing in white.
"Beware to not fire at the hangar, friendlies are inside!" Another voice spoke through the radio, which was the pilot.
"Copy, no shots towards the hangar."
"So we are seeing through the eyes of the man in the plane." Wilhelm mused.
"It's their time to shine, probably…" Felix deduced, curious to see what would happen.
"The coloring changed?" The sword saint was lost in his own amazement, "it allows one to see enemies in the dark sky…"
"Yeah! It's like a vision to see in the dark!" Felt told him, "how cool is that?!"
"...I am capable of doing the same, my la-"
"You don't count!" She cut him right through.
"Several heavy vehicles pinning down the hangar, more than a 100 meters of distance, engaging with the 105." A third feminine voice spoke.
"We're going for the boom right away? Copy, 105 set!"
As the operator fires the cannon, the scene changes to show the compound getting leveled by the explosion of the shell, turning a tank and its surroundings to fire and dust while enemy soldiers were running in fear.
"Tango down!" the operator laughed.
"HOLY!" Ricardo coughed in surprise, "WHAT THE HELL?!"
"...May the dragon ever preserve us from having to fight such an enemy…" Reinhard gulped down as he thought about how much destruction could this plane bring if it ever attacked a city in Lugunica.
"IT WAS ABOUT DAMN TIME!" Felt seemed angry, as she pointed at the screen, "Come on! Get big bro outta here!"
"I didn't even know what I was expecting but by the dragon, this is…" Otto instinctively leaned backwards as if he was scared the plane would aim at him with its cannons.
"LET'S GOOOOOO! DESTROY 'EM ALL FLYING BOMB!" Garfiel stood up from his chair, yelling in excitement.
"I suppose I should let him vent out for now…" Frederica watched her little brother with a smile. She felt her own stress go away now that Subaru had this kind of help with him.
Petra seemed relieved as well, as she leaned over Subaru's arm and looked at the events unfold.
"I know you will win now…" She thought.
"It just…" Julius' eyes couldn't look away, his own body paralyzed, "d-destroyed…"
"It took only a matter of a second, and right from above…" Crusch was as shocked as the royal guard, "they had no chance to ever escape it…"
"...This is scarier than I thought…" Anastasia murmured to herself.
Mimi and Tivey couldn't utter a word, trying to recover from the thought of such destruction displayed for them to see.
"I do not feel like I should even be surprised anymore, but…" Emilia sighed tiredly.
"You took your time to come, Subaru-kun got in danger more than necessary because of you!" Rem shook her fist at the screen, blaming the plane for taking too long to come.
It was surprising for everyone how she didn't seem to care about the sheer firepower of it.
Ram exhaled in relief as Subaru finally received help to deal with this battle, and gently squeezed the boy's shoulders with a faint smile.
"You did a good job." She whispered in his ear.
"Wow, I already knew what would happen but it wasn't that violent in my memories." Al seemed amused, "but it's still quite the fireworks."
"Very good…" Priscilla's ruby eyes stared at the screen with deep interest, "go on, I know how to appreciate such performance."
"Scary~" Roswaal smiled wide, "with such firepower at your disposal, your venue in this world would have been so much different I presume?"
Even though Roswaal was speaking to himself in a joking manner, even he couldn't hide the anxiety he had at the thought of Subaru being able to put his hands on such firepower.
As the greatest magician of the Kingdom, he himself displayed powerful capabilities already, one could say, capabilities even stronger than the likes of what he was seeing in this modern warfare.
However, what put a chill down his spine was the capability of such power being brought up by men without any magical attributes. They had reached such destruction, with their minds, hands and technology.
If these people could match the power that Roswaal could after years and years of selective breeding, growing his magical power over and over to the point where he was…Then how much more could they accomplish?
Or, how much more did Roswaal not witness yet?
Adding to that, was the mystery of what these viewings held for Natsuki Subaru.
Maybe, all of this was a warning of some sort. For the likes of Roswaal that would try to go against this boy.
"Against my teacher…" He uttered, no smile present on his face.
"This warden and I, needs to have a talk, I guess~"
"Several troops going for the flank, reloading the 105." The feminine voice replied, "others are still approaching the hangar, too close to friendlies, use the 25mm."
"Understood, 25mm set, engaging infantry."
The scene showed the Russian soldiers tried to run to the hangar getting shredded by the minigun with a loud roar from the sky, preventing other Russians from attempting the same tactic, as they fell back.
"Ah! Now it's their turn!" Ricardo spat out with a hint of bitterness in his voice, "reap what you sow."
"Damn that gotta hurt…" Al grunted, rubbing his shoulder just over where his lost limb was.
"If you ask me this was fast enough to not feel a thing." Felix sighed with his ears down.
"I don't know if I am fine with it nya…"
"They're retreating towards their armored vehicles…Damn these APC'S can reach us with their cannons." The girl sighed.
"Taking control of the 40mm. Engaging infantry."
The scene showed the AC-130 with a frontal view, shooting its canons to the ground, a glowing fire flashing the dark scene switched between the result of the projectile firing from the plane and the plane itself, showing the devastating force of the weapons used, as the enemy troops were sent flying around the tarmac.
"So they either have a weapon which shoots little projectiles, this one which shoots mild blasts, and the third one which causes a massive destruction?" Julius mused aloud, "they have such versatile weaponry…"
"Are you jealous?" Anastasia smirked to her knight.
"Impressed, my lady," Julius looked back at her, "I would need more from these men to be jealous."
"You think you could fight them?" Felix turned towards his friend, "they don't seem that strong nya."
"By themselves, they would be easy to fight if the battle was strictly physical," Julius put a hand on his chin, actually interested in such a question, "however their methods revolve around the use of these weapons firing deadly metallic projectiles…"
"Rather useless against a sword wielder who needs to be so close to strike." Wilhelm continued his thoughts.
"Indeed," Julius nodded in approval, "if speed is the key, perhaps I have my chances. But I do not exclude the great possibility of loss would I ever get hit by any of these projectiles."
"Nevertheless, one hit is all it takes to kill you," Ricardo replied as he poked his head with his finger, "if it gets there, you're done."
"So it's more of a question of who can hit who first…" Tivey thought aloud, "in both cases, one mistake will be a deadly one. I do not expect these people to be able to fight a knight at close range."
"They don't use magic so they'd be done meat." Mimi answered, "but if they bring that thing though…"
Julius, Ricardo, Felix, Tivey, Mimi and Anastasia looked back at the screen, as the gunship kept firing on the ground and destroying the tarmac.
"If they bring that, we're just dead." Ricardo began to laugh, as everyone else agreed with him.
"105 set!"
"Switching to 105, spotting another tank on the side…Firing."
This time the scene didn't change from the operator's view, as the white tank on his screen suddenly turned dark, much like the troops around it.
"Got it."
"What they see in front of them is nothing compared to what they cause every time they fire…" Crusch's hands trembled as she noticed the difference of perspective, "I saw many things worthy of spreading fear through one's mind with these viewings, but this…Is yet another league."
"This world's weaponry is another league on its own, Crusch-sama." Wilhelm contemplated.
"Would we ever have access to these…How would warfare change in our world?" The Duchess pondered.
"It wouldn't change," Wilhelm replied in a grim tone, "no, it would not. We would just make it messier than it already is."
The sword demon was certainly someone who had seen enough battlefields for an entire lifetime. He, more than anyone in this room, would know how bloody and unsettling could one be.
Which is why he was more than legitimate to know that nothing good would come out of men and women of this world having access to even more ways to kill.
So Crusch, while remaining silent, agreed with the sword demon while closing her eyes in respect.
"Several armored vehicles in place, clear them out with the 40mm." the feminine voice advised.
"Copy 40mm engaging armored vehicles."
The scene showed the remaining APC'S and heavy trucks trying to fall back, only to get blown up by the cannons, killing off the rest of the armored reinforcements sent.
"Is…Is this over?" Otto was slack jawed, seeing as all the reinforcements were wiped out in seconds.
"Please, let it be…" Emilia clenched her fist, "there has been enough death for today…"
"It seems like it, there is no one left to attack." Julius replied.
"Yeah, I think it would be really wild if some of them still decided to fight after witnessing that." Ricardo scoffed as he nodded his head.
"I still see some of them right there," Felt pointed out the white dots going away from the hangar, "but it looks like they're running away."
"One should know when a fight is unwinnable," Wilhelm nodded his head, "even if a soldier is told to fight to the bitter end, there are more honorable ways to go than being killed so easily and uselessly…"
"Agreed. If they have to die, t'least they should die fightin'," Garfiel crossed his arms, "but hell, if they died now it would just be in vain."
"I'm glad we all agree that sometimes you gotta avoid fighting what can blow you up without effort," Al seemed unamused, as if everyone forgot that sometimes people have a will to live.
"The compound is cleared of any armored vehicles, leftovers are running away. We can finish them off with the 25mm or…"
"Negative, they know they lost," Subaru sighed through the radio, "good firing."
"It seems like Subaru had enough for today as well," Emilia whispered, "good…This is good."
Hearing him say that they should spare the remaining combatants showed her once more that he didn't fully transform into a merciless soldier, which Emilia was more than happy to see.
She needed these moments, as meager as they were, to remember that her Subaru, her knight, was still somewhere under the appearance of such a brutal man.
This is what she was clinging on so she could still be able to look at her knight, the one in this room, in his eyes once he wakes up.
"So…The fight is finally over?" Frederica seemed happy, holding a hand on her heart, "thanks goodness…"
"Thank you, Subaru." Reinhard discreetly bowed his head to his friend, thanking him for his mercy over his enemies.
"What is this? Did I just hear you compliment us?! You got over it?!" the operator seemed to be overjoyed.
The scene switched to Subaru with a deadpan face, showing how covered in dust and dirt he was, "Exactly, right as you shot the enemies this time! What a coincidence, am I right?"
"This guy's so fucking stubborn, on God!" the operator laughed in the radio, which made Subaru chuckle as well.
"I mean I can't really blame him for that one." The woman replied with an understanding voice.
"...No way…" Otto widened his eyes, "he has issues with them because they fired AT him?!"
"So they nearly killed capn'?!" Garfiel seemed outraged, "what the hell?!"
"Subaru could have died by thi-" Rem bit her tongue, remembering how brutal was the death of those who died by that plane.
"Tch, incompetence reigns around, I see." Ram had a threatening glare as she heard the reason, thinking of how she would punish the people in the gunship.
Emilia grimaced at what she heard, feeling like she wanted to hug her knight at the thought of him being turned to dust by one of these cannons.
"You stupid, useless, disgusting people, in fact!" Beatrice yelled in outraged, "how could you even confuse the enemy with Betty's Subaru?!"
"Now this explains a lot nya!" Felix seemed scared as well, fearing for the worst.
"And here I thought their quarrel was something stupid and trivial…" Crusch held a hand on her forehead, "it actually makes lots of sense."
However, as everyone processed the thought of the gunship mistakenly killing Subaru because of a misfire, one person in the whole theater burst into laughter.
Unable to stop herself, laughing so loudly that she had to hold her stomach, she simply couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"And to think that from this world to the other, this boy constantly has to be careful of his enemies AND allies!" Priscilla wiped a tear off her left eye with her finger, "How ironic!"
The entire Emilia camp stared at the crimson princess. Some in anger, others in shame.
"And to hear you all admonish these people for nearly killing the boy," she abruptly stopped laughing, taking a much more condescending stare towards the front row, "how could you ever look at yourself in the mirror, and see a being deserving to live, I wonder?"
"Don't start again!" Felt immediately threw back at her, "we get it! You don't need to add anything to that!"
"Oh, but I will," Priscilla elevated her voice even more, "it is important for all of you to remember that you have no right to criticize anyone for a result they didn't reach, when you managed to do far worse to him."
The theater fell into silence for a brief moment, none in the Emilia camp managing to speak as they were too busy looking down in shame or holding back their tears.
"Enough," The Duchess spoke in a strict, angered tone, "we understand, Barielle. But it is enough."
"Is it now, Karsten?" Priscilla narrowed her eyes to the verdant-haired woman.
"Yeah, I kinda agree." Anastasia looked up to the crimson princess as well, "we're all kinda on edge after that viewing. Would be better if you didn't stir up anythin', right?"
"For everyone and for you, too." Felt stood up as well, tapping the shoulder of her knight to warn Priscilla, "Remember that in this room, what happens ain't the matter of the kingdom. If you're against everyone, then everyone will be against you here and on the other side."
"I am truly quivering on my seat," Priscilla scoffed as she leaned on her hand in boredom, "have you learned to threaten people at the same place you learned how to dress in such a way?"
While she felt her anger rise at her words, the little princess was surely reminded to not go too far by her knight, grabbing her hand as he shook his head.
It was not his way of preventing her from lashing out. Rather, Reinhard was telling his lady that she needed not to waste time on that woman.
So she simply turned around back to the screen, and soon after the others had followed, leaving Priscilla with a sense of satisfaction, for this time.
"Sage, the tarmac is cleared from hostiles. We're heading off. Good hunting for the rest, over." The pilot spoke through the radio.
"Thanks for the help Wildfire, won't forget it, over."
The scene switched to show the gunship flying away while the tarmac is filled with cheers of victory from the militia, as Subaru, Farah and Hadir are walking out side by side.
"So you do kill Russians…" Hadir laughed.
"Only the bad ones." Subaru replied, stopping for a moment to look at all the devastation and death looming over the airbase.
"...Oh…" Frederica watched with eyes full of sorrow.
"Such is war," Wilhelm shook his head, "the aftermath of a battle is sometimes as troubling to live than the battle itself."
"May they all rest in peace." Reinhard bowed his head in respect.
"Even those who fought against Subaru?" Petra titled her head towards the sword saint.
"Perhaps they deserved to die, perhaps they never asked to be here in the first place…" Reinhard replied with a sad smile, "I am unable to know. But there is never a good reason to not respect the dead, I believe."
"They're dead anyways, nothing they can do anymore even if they were evil before." Felt continued his thoughts, her arms crossed.
"هذا هو ثمن الحرية ،" (Such is the price of freedom,) Farah spoke with a solemn voice, "ما أخذ بالقوة لا يسترد إلا بالقوة". (what was taken by force, will only be retrieved by force.)
"إنهم يمزقون فقط ما يزرعونه ، بعد كل شيء". (They only rip what they sow, after all.) Hadir spat on the ground, showing no respect for his enemies.
"Those words are as wise as they are true," Crusch acknowledged Farah's words, "there is no sympathy to expect from those you have wronged and robbed."
"Absolutely nya! I will not cry for any of these people!" Felix barked as he remembered the Russian's actions in the last viewings.
"This was meant to happen, I believe," Wilhelm contemplated, "no army can never beat the willpower of a whole people."
"Yeah, they had it coming no matter what." Felt nodded her head.
"Yup, bad stuff happens to bad guys, that's the way it is." Al snorted.
"Conquest goes both ways, and the weak always bows to the strong…" Priscilla whispered from behind her fan, "you have failed to uphold your power, and now, you are at the mercy of those who took the sword from your hands…"
"So now…" Farah turned to Subaru, ready to talk about his part of the deal, but Subaru cut her off.
"Now we bury our dead. We will talk about the rest tomorrow." Farah was surprised to hear that from Subaru, who didn't take his gaze off the result of their assault. She understood however, with a simple look in his battle-hardened eyes, that he couldn't be more serious.
"…You are right," Farah shook her head while acknowledging Subaru's words, "ليغفر الله تسرعي". (May God forgive my hastiness.)
"...I doubted it as I watched you over all these actions of yours but…" Emilia smiled as tears fell from her eyes, "you hate this, don't you?"
She looked at Subaru in the front row with a look of care and understanding that she didn't hold for a while towards her knight.
"You hate all of this as much as I do…" She whispered, "but you keep carrying on, because…"
She didn't finish her sentence, as she couldn't stop her emotions and guilt from taking her over. But these words were most obvious after all.
"Beyond the armor of every warrior, is a man," Crusch smiled at what Subaru had said, "thank you, Subaru…For remaining who you are."
Reinhard, Julius, Otto and Garfiel all smiled in genuine respect and couldn't possibly describe how glad they were that they could still recognize their friend even under such special circumstances.
"I wonder what is this 'God' they sometimes refer to," Felt pondered, speaking out her thoughts, "this is not the first time they refer to it."
"I wondered about that too," Felix twitched his ears in curiosity, "they don't seem to be worshiping a dragon like us, or multiple deities. But they call upon it in dire times nya."
"So this God of theirs is also a synonym of protection?" Frederica mused, "I see…We might not be so much different…"
"At least not on a cultural side." Otto replied to her.
From the other side, another group of rebels showed themselves at the base, which were Asma, Yasin and their team.
"Yasin! Asma, you survived!" Farah exclaimed in relief.
"They're alive!" Felt shouted in glee.
"Another good news…" Reinhard smiled in relief.
"Their help was detrimental to this victory…It is good that they may witness it." Wilhelm smiled as well, happy about what he was seeing.
"سوف تحتاج إلى أكثر من ذلك لإنزالتي ، يا أختي". (You would need more than that to take me down, sister.) Asma smiled while hugging Farah.
"This is it…This is our victory!" Yasin sighed in relief.
"This is only the first step…" Farah corrected him, "but a great step nonetheless…Come, we still have work to do."
"أعتقد أننا مدينون لك بهذا النصر ، يا حلو. شكرا لمساعدتك." (I believe we owe you this victory, cutie. Thanks for your help.) Asma smiled at him before following Farah, to which Subaru only gave a nod of his head.
"Why is she even calling me that?"
"UGH, COME ON MAN!" Ricardo gestured towards the screen in annoyance, "how the hell can you be so blind?!"
"I wonder how he became so dense?" Rem tilted her head, tugging Subaru's clothes, "Subaru-kun doesn't seem that unaware of Rem's feelings…"
"No, Rem. He absolutely was," Ram corrected her sister, "it changed when you conveyed your feelings to him."
Rem widened her eyes with a blush on her face, but quickly pouted back at Subaru.
"Rem should have made you notice it sooner…" She whispered as she poked his cheek.
"I will never understand how capn' does it." Garfiel shook his head.
"Me neither…" Otto sulked in his seat, "me neither…"
Emilia and Crusch closed their eyes in annoyance, trying to ignore what they had just heard from Asma, while Priscilla stared at the screen with a bored look.
Contrary to the two other candidates, she didn't care much. She knew what would be the final outcome, after all.
"Today is great victory for Urzikstan…And Asma is right, we owe it to you!" Hadir said as he put his hand on Subaru's shoulder, "thank you, brother…"
"We make a good team, it was a pleasure to give a hand." Subaru smiled back at him, but glanced back to the tarmac, "but Barkov will retaliate."
Hadir nodded his head. His eyes showed his ire of determination, "And so will we, brother…So will we."
The screen then faded black.
"Aaaaah, this was so intense!" Otto held his hands on his face, relieved for this viewing to finally being over, "my heart couldn't handle more of that!"
"It was so scary, but so cool at the same time! And capn'! Capn! was the coolest!" Garfiel recalled the events, shaking in his seat like an over-excited fan, "remember when he kicked the grenade?! Or when he threw the bottle in the helicopter?!"
"I was right beside you the entire thing, Garf…And it happened literally some minutes ago!" Otto grimaced at his friend, who suddenly grabbed him by the shoulders.
"But it was so cool wasn't it?!"
Frederica finally relaxed in her seat as well, even though she was one of those who didn't feel like she should worry too much about Subaru in these viewings, she wasn't immune to such a wild cumul of events and brutal warfare.
Petra leaned against Subaru with a sigh of relief, still amazed by the battle that the one she so admired had just fought restlessly. She too, had never doubted his capacity to bring victory, even though it didn't mean that she would shy away from scolding him if he ever did anything close to that in front of her.
Ram closed her eyes as she ruffled the hair of Subaru, relieved that he got out of this battle unscathed, but also that he managed to bring victory to the righteous people.
Truth be told, Ram wasn't the one to really care much about the results of a battle that didn't concern her more than that. People living or dying, so much as they weren't those she considered close to herself, was meaningless.
But as far as she knew, Subaru would always fight for the cause of the people that deserved it the most, and his battles were on the contrary full of meaning.
In conclusion, if Subaru would fight for a cause, Ram thought that she would support it as well. At least, so long as no one else she cared about would go against it.
"You put yourself in needless danger multiple times, I suppose." Beatrice fell against her contractor, "you scared Betty a lot, and even made her cry a bit."
Beatrice squeezed her contractor's tracksuit as she rested her head against his chest, closing her eyes as if to take a nap.
"Betty will make you apologize a thousand times, in fact. With lots of hugs, and snuggles I suppose."
"You did good, my hero…" Rem uttered as she snuggled closer to Subaru's side, "I am very proud of you."
Rem's heart was under pressure during this entire viewing, but to see the one she held in such high regards in her heart triumph over his enemies would always bring a smile to her face.
"He did it! Big bro did it!" Felt was relieved, feeling like she could jump in joy at the conclusion of this viewing, "he beat them all back, and took all the wins!"
"A very pleasant sight to see, my lady," Reinhard agreed with a hand on his chest, "Subaru certainly fought valiantly to bring victory to these people."
"He fought more than valiantly!" Felt turned towards her knight with excitement in her eyes, "he was badass, Reinnhard! B-A-D-A-S-S!"
"I…Am sure you are right, my lady." Reinhard replied with an uneasy smile, not sure if he knew what that word meant.
"Damn, I really didn't know he had that in him! But the more I see these viewings, the more he seems to be far more than we ever knew…" Felt's smile slowly faded away, as she was gradually lost in her thoughts.
"My lady?"
"I was wondering…What if there is far more that we didn't know about big bro? We still don't know what this all is about, but…" Felt winced as she turned towards her knight, "maybe…maybe we are seeing this as a warning…?"
"A warning?" Reinhard repeated, trying to understand.
"Yeah…As if to tell of something that will happen…And something we could…" Felt's tone seemed more and more unsure, "like, prevent?"
"..." Reinhard blinked several times, slowly beginning to understand what she meant by that.
"If there is anything of the sort, Felt-sama…" He assured his master with a confident tone, "we will do whatever we can, to prevent it."
Felt looked in her knight's eyes and began to smile again, "yeah, you're right! That we will!"
Ricardo kept smiling as he rubbed the head of the twins, all happy to know this viewing ended in a victory for Subaru.
"This is most certainly but the beginning," Wilhelm pondered, "We may face more. Things perhaps even more stressful than this."
"I believe we most definitely will, Wilhelm-dono." Crusch replied with a smile, "but at least, let us enjoy this moment of relief, knowing that Natsuki Subaru has brought victory to his side."
"These moments should be enjoyed as much as possible nya, this only lasts until the next battle starts…" Felix sighed as he leaned in his chair.
"But I hope that…He gets a bit more of a break now…" Emilia hesitated, breathing out with a hand on her chest in worry, "even if he has to fight more, he needs to rest his mind more than one night."
"I am sure they will have due rest, Emilia-sama," Crusch put a hand on the half-elf's shoulder, unsure if she had the right to do so, "they…They seem to be used to what a battlefield is like."
"Mhm…But even if they are, Subaru is reeeeaaaally stubborn, you know?" She replied with a meek smile, "if you don't tell him to rest, he will just continue working until he tires himself up too much."
"...I see," Crusch smiled back at the elven princess, but as she saw Emilia smiling as well, the Duchess began to feel ashamed.
Emilia was still holding close friendship bonds with her, but Crusch was the woman who for a brief moment, felt animosity towards this woman over her own selfish reasons.
More than feeling guilty, she felt disgusted. Of her own self and her own hypocrisy.
Why did she even hold these thoughts towards Emilia in the first place? Aren't they allies? Or rather, aren't they friends?
Between all the people in this room aside from her own camp members,Crush should be the closest to the elven princess and the boy, so why?
It took an instant for her to realize that Crusch had failed the first and foremost lesson taught to anyone who ever decides to wield a weapon.
"The one who holds a sword should always master his emotions before mastering his weapon…" She whispered to herself, feeling more and more ashamed.
"Crusch-sama?" Emilia brought the Duchess out of her thoughts, who lifted her head as soon as she heard her name.
"No…I'm sorry, Emilia-sama," Crusch smiled uneasily, "I was lost in my thoughts for an instant."
"Ah, I see!" Emilia smiled once more.
"Now wasn't this really interesting~?" Roswaal tapped his lips with his finger, "I certainly learned a lot from this! However…"
Roswaal looked up at the ceiling as if there was someone to look at up there, "I wonder when you will show up again, dear warden~? I surely hope you would have told us the best way to contact you and have a little chat."
"Well, it surely was eventful!" Al stretched his only arm up as he turned towards Priscilla, "what did you think, princess?"
"I am very pleased," Priscilla closed her fan shut in one gesture, smiling wide in satisfaction, "this viewing was informative, interesting, and very entertaining. I surely wish more of these were as fascinating than this one."
"You're just talking about how the plane obliterated the compound or…?"
"More than that, Al. Way more than that," She glanced at him, "the boy displaying his skills, the leadership of their general, the languages spoken, and the way this fight was so originally lead and won…All of these are worth remembering."
"I see, so your type of thing is epicness…Good to know!" Al snorted as Priscilla raised an eyebrow in curiosity.
"Nevertheless, now I wonder what is next?" Priscilla stood up from her seat, "what more will you show me?"
"So…What did you think of all this?" Anastasia turned towards her knight with a smirk.
"..." Julius stared at Anastasia without a word spoken.
For someone who had to be by her side at all times, he knew her enough to tell how she felt just by a simple look over her face, and now he could see that Anastasia, behind that smile of hers, was feeling unwell.
"My lady…" Julius whispered, making his worry known to the merchant princess.
"...I guess it's useless to hide to ya," she sighed, not letting go of her smile as she directed her gaze towards the screen.
"That thing, Julius…It kinda scares me."
"...I understand why, my lady. But rest assured, such things are far from our reach."
"You sure about that?" She glanced at him, "I think we should worry."
"And why is that?" He asked. To find the appropriate words to reassure her, he needed to know what she had in mind first.
Anastasia sunk in her chair, her eyes fixed at the screen as she calmly took her time to speak.
"Don't ya think these viewings could be a warning?" She whispered, "a way to tell us…That with everythin' we did to Natsuki-kun, somethin' is coming?"
"My lady, I do not believe Subaru holds any grudge towards us enough to launch such a destructive retribution…" He replied with assurance in his eyes, remembering the gunship very well.
Julius knew Subaru. At least, he hoped he knew him enough, to know that his heart was at the right place when it came to him, his mistress and everyone else in this room.
"Really?" Anastasia scoffed, "you remember what we saw when we first came into this room?"
"...Do you mean…" Julius tried to act as if he didn't understand immediately, hoping it was not what Anastasia was talking about.
"We saw him die, quite brutally I'd add, by the people in this room," she spoke in a very uneasy voice, even though she kept smiling, "we saw him being tortured by those so close to him…And we even saw how we all wronged him in a way or another."
"..."
"So yeah, I think we should worry…" Anastasia closed her eyes, "because as far as I'm concerned, we still don't know what these viewings are about, but if these people care as much about Natsuki-kun to send a flying metallic weapon as powerful as the sword saint to keep him alive…"
She then looked up to Julius with eyes reflecting her fear. And he, trembled as he understood.
"Then what would they send, if they ever knew what we did to him?"