Trotting along the Lifaus highway under the bright full moon, the ground dragon-drawn carriage drove smoothly down the road.
Rem was at the reins, accompanied only by the familiar sound of claws scraping against dirt and gravel, with the occasional traveler passing by.
But she wasn't entirely alone—she had a beloved companion—one that was currently out of reach.
He lay sprawled on the carriage floor beside the cargo, resting on a makeshift leather sleeping bag. His mouth was agape, limbs splayed out in a haphazard manner.
Rem couldn't help but smile at the sight; words failed to capture the joy and warmth she felt whenever she saw him sleeping so peacefully, allowing her to admire his handsome and charming features.
The only thing missing was a glimpse of his beautiful eyes. Her heart raced at the memory of the last time she saw them, during a cozy tea moment after her heartfelt confession.
The atmosphere and setting were simply perfect.
Suddenly, she heard the ground dragon huff. Turning, she noticed its neck craning back to look at her, its beady eyes fixed on her.
"Stop staring at his face, woman. That's the fiftieth time you've done that today." If Rem could understand animals, that's what she imagined it would say.
Rem let out a soft giggle as the ground dragon huffed and turned its head away, clearly in a bad mood. It was understandable, especially after Subaru had crashed right after taking the reins.
At that moment, Rem was eagerly waiting for her hero to awaken. She had asked him to wake her up once they reached the monument he hadn't seen on their way to the capital.
Now, as she traveled across the plains with no high ground in sight, she could see the towering structure in the distance. Its impressive height made it a visible landmark for travelers.
Flugel's tree stood majestically over the Lifaus highway, like a protective mother watching over her playful children.
'We're here!' she thought, feeling excited that her hero would soon wake up so they could spend more time together.
Suddenly, the ground dragon came to an abrupt halt, causing Rem to lurch forward slightly, and some of the lighter cargo tumbled down.
"Ow! What's going on—" she began to complain, but stopped when she noticed the dragon's unusual posture. It was trembling slightly, a low growl rumbling from its throat.
It was afraid of something.
"What's wrong?" Rem asked, her concern growing as she observed the animal's behavior. She tugged on the reins to get its attention, but the dragon remained fixated ahead, its instincts warning it that looking away could be dangerous.
Just then, she heard the sounds of yawning and shuffling behind her. Turning around, she saw Subaru waking up, likely disturbed by the sudden stop.
"Oh, Remmy! Good morning, or is it good night? Anyway, how are you?" he said, rubbing his eyes to shake off the sleep.
When he received no response, he looked up and noticed Rem was no longer focused on him; instead, she was scanning the surroundings cautiously.
"…Rem? Is something wrong?"
Before she could answer, a piercing shriek echoed through the air, the unmistakable cry of an injured creature.
"…"
".."
"Ooookay, what the hell was that?" he asked, alarmed as he quickly moved to the front seat, all signs of fatigue fading away fast.
"Rem isn't sure, but she senses something dangerous nearby," she replied.
After a bit of prodding and thinly-veiled threats courtesy of Subaru, the ground dragon finally agreed to move forward, its steps still cautious.
While all three were looking around, Subaru, With his six eyes, had a broader and an enhanced perspective than anyone else, allowing him to quickly identify the problem.
"Uhhhhh," a stupid sound escaped his lips as he stared in shock at what lay before him, catching Rem's attention.
"Subaru-kun! What's the matter? Do you see something?!" Rem inquired, to which he simply pointed ahead at Flugel's tree.
Rem followed his gesture and gasped. In the distance, yet still visible, was a massive, pure white creature with a large, curved horn on its head.
She recognized the creature; even though she hadn't seen it, its description was etched in her memory, just like everyone else's.
"I'm going to take a wild guess and say that's the White Whale, right?" Subaru asked seriously beside her.
"Y-yes, that's the Great Mabeast of the Fog. The White Whale, just like Rem told you about," she confirmed with a nod.
When he was first learning about the world, Rem was the one who patiently sat with him, teaching him everything from legends and stories to history and geography, including the Great Three Mabeasts: the Black Serpent, the White Whale, and the Great Rabbit.
"But Rem is confused. Why is the White Whale here of all places?" she asked, her worry evident.
"No clue, but I'm guessing we're not the only ones to run into it," he replied, glancing toward the near base of the tree.
Following his gaze, Rem furrowed her brow in confusion. "An army?"
Subaru nodded as he surveyed the army with his six eyes. Most of them were members of various ages, clad in armor and mounted on ground dragons. A few wore white and orange robes, probably mercenaries. In the back, he noticed some oddly shaped cannons alongside others in magician robes.
His eyes glinted when he recognized two familiar figures: a male with cat ears and a woman in dark green hair.
He recognized those two.
"Crusch Karsten," he said.
"Hmm?" she replied.
"Crusch Karsten is one of the candidates for the throne," he explained, watching as the army readied themselves.
"I'm guessing she's here to take down the White Whale," he remarked, his gaze fixed on the wounded creature.
He could see two individuals on top of it, slashing away, one was heading directly for its eye. One was a large wolf demi-human he didn't recognize, and the other was an old man he remembered well.
"Take down the Whale?" Rem echoed, pausing to think before quickly realizing the implication. It was clear why a throne candidate would target the Great Mabeast of the Fog.
"Killing a legendary Mabeast is a one way ticket to stardom. It's kinda obvious what she's after." he said, narrowing his eyes at Wilhelm for a moment.
"Regardless of Crusch-sama's intentions, Rem thinks we should leave," she suggested, gently patting the frightened ground dragon.
Subaru immediately shook his head and jumped onto the carriage. "Nah, we're staying to watch."
Rem looked taken aback, and even the ground dragon turned its head in surprise, as if it understood his words.
"B-but Subaru! This is the White Whale! It could be dangerous!" she protested.
"Oh, come on, Rem! This is a potentially legendary battle! One that would be written and sung as stories of legends! Don't you want to witness it firsthand?" he told her, but she remained unconvinced.
Seeing this, Subaru offered her a reassuring smile. "Rem, We'll leave right away if it gets too close, Okay?"
Rem opened her mouth to argue but quickly closed it, letting out a resigned sigh. "Rem can't discourage you, can she? Fine, Rem will do as her hero says."
She hopped next to Subaru, getting as close as possible without actually touching him. Whether he noticed or not, he seemed oblivious to her presence, as well as to the twitching eyes of the ground dragon nearby.
The ground dragon was itching to swat them both with it's tail.
Unfortunately, she couldn't do that. The last time she tried to, she ended up being slammed into the ground. So, with great reluctance, she held back.
Subaru and Rem found themselves as mere spectators to what was about to become a legendary confrontation—one that would be sung about and etched into history… or so they thought.
The white whale crashed down onto the earth, creating a massive trench. This, of course, sent debris flying everywhere, including towards the nearby army.
Subaru and Rem winced as they watched the army scramble for safety, but tragically, some were crushed while others were trampled in their desperate attempt to escape.
"They are not faring well," she said, wincing at the sight.
Subaru remained silent, pursing his lips. He had wanted to witness the fight from afar, thinking it would be exciting, but seeing the army in such disarray left him with only one option.
With a determined huff, he stood up, catching Rem's attention. "I'm going to help," he declared.
He barely took a step before feeling a pair of hands gripping him tightly. He turned to see Rem looking at him with a mix of shock and fear.
"NO! You can't!" she exclaimed, shaking her head vigorously.
"But Remmy, I—"
"No! Subaru-kun, this is the White Whale! It's a dangerous Mabeast that has lived for four centuries and was created by the witch herself!"
She locked eyes with him as she spoke, "Rem knows how strong her hero is, but she can't let him go fight it! He could get hurt! And Rem won't allow that!"
"Please, just listen to Rem and—" her words faltered as she felt a pair of arms wrap around her, pulling her close and pressing her against him.
After a brief moment, he released her and smiled warmly at her.
"I realized I never returned your hug from before, so consider this your overdue payment," he said, then knelt down and planted a gentle kiss on her surprised face.
"I know you're worried about me, but please don't. I'll be okay. You know why? Because I'm the strongest." He flashed her a confident smirk.
"Just stay here and watch and see how I take down that fish in no time." With that, he turned and ran into the fog.
Rem stood there, watching him vanish into the mist, feeling frozen as she grappled with her own turmoil.
'Subaru… kissed me?!' She felt hotter than lava, her legs trembling as the memory of his soft lips on her forehead replayed in her mind.
The ground dragon stared at her, and if it could, it would have rolled its eyes at the sappy scene. Still, it was quite annoying that she had to be near such a terrifying creature.
Actually, that woman was so distracted that the dragon could easily swat her with its tail and get away with it!
Unfortunately, they were soon enveloped by the thickening fog before it could carry out its plans.
---------------------------------
Subaru ran into the thick fog, which was nearly impossible to see, but the six eyes he possessed rendered the obscurity ineffective.
'Interesting, this fog isn't a spell; it's just pure wind mana,' he mused, observing the green mana swirling around him.
A Mabeast capable of wielding mana on such a grand scale… No wonder this creature has been a threat for four centuries.
Unfortunately for it, it had just made the gravest and last mistake of its existence: Fighting him.
As Subaru scanned his surroundings, he noticed the soldiers in complete disarray—some were panicking while others ran aimlessly. The White Whale circled ominously above them.
"Tch. That Whale is picking them off one by one," he clicked his tongue in annoyance.
With a flick of his wrist, a surge of blue energy erupted, dispersing a significant portion of the fog and clearing a wide path for visibility.
This revealed two soldiers, both looking battered and injured, their eyes filled with panic and fear.
"Wha—Who are you?" one of them stammered, taken aback by the sudden clarity.
"Names Natsuki Subaru. I'm just a friend," he responded with a smirk.
The soldier opened his mouth to say more, but Subaru ignored him as he seized both him and his companion.
In an instant, the space around them warped and twisted, and they found themselves in a completely different location, specifically at the base of Flugel's tree.
"What the—" the man exclaimed in disbelief, but Subaru paid him no attention as a blue orb formed above them, drawing in all the fog and clearing the area around the tree.
Once he finished, he grinned and addressed the soldier, "Stay here; I'll go fetch the others," he instructed.
Subaru suddenly teleported again, this time appearing near two demi-human kittens who were riding a strange wolf-like creature.
"'scuse me," he said, quickly grabbing the startled children. Before they could react, he teleported to where the two original soldiers were.
"W-what?! Did we just teleport?" exclaimed one of the boys as he stumbled off his mount.
"Mimi thinks We did! Wow! That was amazing!" the girl kitten exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Stay here, I'll get the others," he instructed before vanishing once more without another word.
The group of four could only watch in amazement as more and more people were teleported to the base of the tree.
They felt a mix of confusion and a bit of fear, but they were incredibly thankful to be out of the chaos.
"Hetaro! Hetaro! Are you seeing this? This weird lookin' fella can teleport people!" the girl shouted as more individuals arrived.
"Yes! Yes! I see him! Please stop shaking me!" Hetaro replied, overwhelmed by her enthusiasm.
More and more people appeared—soldiers, mercenaries, magic users—essentially everyone trapped in the fog.
After teleporting another group, Subaru noticed someone with certain feline ears and quickly teleported next to them.
"Cat-ears! How's it going?" he called out cheerfully behind the femboy, who yelped in surprise at the familiar voice.
"S-s-Subaru-kyun?!"
"The one and only! I'd love to chat, but now's not the time," he said, grabbing the cat and teleporting to the giant tree.
"There are many injured people. You are the best healer this kingdom has to offer, so I need you to heal them, okay?" he instructed before disappearing again.
Felix could only blink in confusion; one moment he was lost and disoriented, stuck running in a seemingly endless fog and the next, the man who had seriously hurt Julius had appeared, somehow teleported him here and vanished.
Subaru then appeared next to the two warriors, Wilhelm and Ricardo, who were struggling on the ground after their battle with the whale, both visibly injured.
"Hey, Wilhelm. How are you holding up?" he asked, catching them off guard, especially Wilhelm.
"Subaru-dono!" Wilhelm exclaimed, his eyes widening in surprise. Ricardo also perked up at the mention of the name.
"Wait, your name is Subaru? As in Natsuki Subaru?!" Ricardo asked, blinking in confusion.
"Yeah, that's me. Have we met before?" Subaru replied, tilting his head.
Ricardo remained silent, taken aback by Subaru's appearance. When he heard about the person who defeated Julius, he had expected someone intimidating, not this seemingly ordinary, albeit oddly dressed, young man.
"Well, whatever the case is, we can get together later. I'll take you both to Flugel's tree," Subaru said, grabbing them and teleporting them there, leaving them astonished.
Subaru continued to teleport around, rescuing people as the White Whale launched its attack on the soldiers still trapped in the fog, saving them just in time.
"Go find Felix; he'll take care of your injuries," he instructed the two mercenaries he had just saved.
"Wait!" Just as he was about to teleport away, a shout caught his attention. It was Felix, rushing towards him with a worried expression.
"Crusch-sama! She's not here! Where is she?!" Felix asked, and Subaru's eyes widened in alarm.
'Crap, I completely forgot about her!' he thought, quickly scanning the fog for any sign of her.
Then he spotted her and immediately felt a surge of panic. "Shit!"
Without saying a word, he teleported closer to her and saw the cause of his panic.
The White Whale, its jaws wide open, was barreling straight toward the duchess, who wore an expression of sheer terror. Subaru understood she was unable to defend herself.
Raising his hand, he summoned a bright red dot that intensified with each passing moment.
"Cursed Technique Reversal: Red!" With a flick of his finger, the dazzling red dot shot forward with incredible force.
It collided with the side of the White Whale, striking the creature hard. The sound of cracking followed by anguished howls filled the air as the beast was knocked off course, soaring away.
Next, he teleported near Crusch, who had fallen off her ground dragon by that point.
"Phew, talk about a close call," he remarked, glancing down at the duchess, who looked at him in shock and disbelief.
"Yo, Crusch Karsten, was it? Man, that's one hell of a coincidence to run into you now of all times, right?" He flashed her a reassuring smile.
"Natsuki Subaru?!" she gasped.
"Yep, that's me! I guess my reputation precedes me," he replied with a light chuckle.
He then extended his hand to help her up. "Come on, Crusch, you don't look great down there," he said.
The duchess took his hand and stood up, though she appeared visibly shaken, likely from her near brush with death.
"What are you doing here?" she asked. Shouldn't he be at the Mathers domain? Why was he on the Lifaus highway? And at a time like this?
"Well…" he scratched his head, "Emilia left me in the capital for a while, and I was on my way back home. I guess we just happened to run into you while you were battling the Whale."
"We?" she repeated, then shook her head. She seemed to stave off the despair that had been on her face earlier. "No, that's not important. What about the whale? Where did it go?"
Subaru had to give her some points for regaining her composure so quickly, especially after a near brush with death. 'Looks like that tough military persona is the real deal after all.'
As soon as she posed the question, both Crusch and Subaru heard the whale's deep roar. Crusch scanned the area but saw nothing, while Subaru had a clear view of the creature circling them.
"Hiding in the fog, huh?" he sneered, raising his hand. In an instant, he unleashed several small blue orbs in various directions, each was a vacuum that sucked in the fog and revealed the battlefield.
Crusch was curious about his magic, having never witnessed anything like it before. However, she held back her questions when she caught a glimpse of the Mabeast
Its side appeared slightly caved in, likely due to broken bones, and its eyes glowed a fierce red instead of the usual yellow. She could sense its anger through her wind reading, sending chills down her spine.
"Crusch," Subaru called, drawing her attention as he extended his hand toward her, holding the peculiar items he wore on his head.
"These are my sunglasses. Keep them safe until I come back," he instructed. After a brief hesitation, she took them. They were the strangest things she had ever seen—like monocles with dark-tinted glass. How could anyone see through them? She couldn't figure it out.
Then it hit her. "Wait, Natsuki-san. What are you planning on doing?"
Subaru focused on the whale before responding. "It's simple: I'm going to kill the White Whale. The rest of your army is at Flugel's tree, so please head there while I handle this."
"What?!" she exclaimed, incredulous. "Natsuki-san! You can't expect me to just stand by and not fight! We spent so long planning this subjugation and tracking it down! Numerous men and women have had their lives and loved ones taken away by the whale, and you expect us to stand down?! Do you really think you can take it on alone?!"
She couldn't possibly sit this one out; there was too much at stake, and they couldn't just throw in the towel over a setback!
Subaru paused for a moment after her outburst before turning his gaze toward her, causing her to flinch. Those two glowing azure-blue eyes seemed to pierce right into her soul, sending a chill down the spine of the tough duchess.
"Crusch, your army has been defeated and routed, and most of your soldiers are injured. And don't even get me started on those cannons you brought along. You are not in any shape to fight at all. So yes, I expect you to step aside and let me handle this."
"But—!"
"Is your pride really that important? Is it worth risking your life? When you can live to fight another day?"
That immediately silenced her. Her hands tightened into fists. It was true; her pride was important to her. Yet, it was also the source of her stubbornness. Her identity as a duchess and the Valkyrie was the foundation of her pride which fueled her confidence in her capabilities as a military strategist, convincing her that she could take on The White Whale.
But now, it seemed that everything she once believed has proven to be wrong.
Was her inflated pride truly so important that she forgot her own despair and arrogance before she was rescued? Did she genuinely believe she could still stand strong when her army nearly laid in ruin?
Was her ego truly worth dying for?
"…"
The duchess remained silent, tightly biting her lip, clearly frustrated with the inner turmoil and doubt.
"Crusch, just go to Flugel's tree. I'll handle the whale," he said, his eyes fixed on the creature soaring around him, its gaze locked onto him.
He flashed a confident smirk; the whale was clearly eager for a fight, and he, Natsuki Subaru, the strongest Jujutsu sorcerer, was ready to deliver.
"I suppose Whale Sushi is on the menu tonight."