Wish Upon a Sin

Arc 2 - Chapter 17

When Subaru had first come across the trio of cultists in the middle strata, he had been panicking out of his mind. While it was true that he didn't have a well-defined place in the grand plan, there was no good reason for him to be so close to enemy lines, especially without his escort.

But when they had bowed to him, not even asking a single question of him, he had calmed considerably.

He had spun a tall tale of how he was going to infiltrate the Crusch camp's position, to which the cultists had not reacted at all. Not that they would, the emotionless blighters.

However, very quickly, Subaru had thought of another possibility. What if he could use them?

"I need your assistance," he had said. "If I approach alone, I will appear too suspicious. That's why you three are going to chase me. Once we get to the clearing, give me a twenty second head-start, then start your pursuit."

The cultists had said nothing. It was unnerving, the way they accepted everything he said so silently.

"Act as though you intend to cut me down," Subaru had ordered. "I have contracted spirits, so I'll be safe. Don't use so much mana enhancement that you catch up to me, allow me to set the pace. Don't use magic until the enemy has almost reached us. Don't use more than one spell each, and make it below El-level. Try and make it flashy."

The cultists had merely nodded.

"As you command, Lord Pride," the lead one had uttered, his voice flat and monotonous.

Now, Subaru was witnessing them die. They must have known there would be no way to escape once they reached this far.

And yet, they had done so anyway.

Even now, one was ducking and weaving between the riders' weapons, losing an arm in the process, diving forwards and raising his remaining hand towards Subaru, all in an effort to make the illusion as strong as possible.

The air rippled, and the cultist fired a blade of wind, his last action before a sword took his head and his life.

"Akua!" Subaru yelled out, and the golden light shimmered into existence just in time to block the spell.

The shield cracked from the force of the blow.

The cultists' really hadn't been pulling their punches. When Subaru had said 'below El-level', they must have assumed everything just underneath that was fine.

He had to hold back his exasperation. Sol had barely fueled two spells, and he was already running out of steam again.

But he could not afford to mess this up. Not when things were going so perfectly.

"Oh, thank goodness," he said as the riders moved up to him. He didn't need to fake the breathless relief in his voice. That was entirely natural.

"I thought I was going to die. You guys are lifesavers. Really."

The lead one, an old man with white hair and beard, stared down at Subaru.

"...yes, quite," he said. For some reason, he wasn't wearing armour like the other riders. Instead, he was wearing a finely tailored butler's uniform, but he did have six sword sheaths strapped to his waist.

Subaru felt his guard rise. The man was in servant's garbs, but he clearly knew his way around those swords he was carrying. Subaru wouldn't be surprised if he was the most dangerous person among them. It seemed only the strongest eschewed armour in this world.

"I must apologise to you," the man continued. "I did not expect them to push so hard to kill you, even to the point of ignoring us. Do you have an idea of why that might be the case?"