Chapter 5: 6 Vs 1, And The Red Knight

"Hehehe... what an odd ability, and for you to actually hit me, I like you. I'm Elsa, and they call me the bowl hunter. I hope you enjoy this hunt as much as I do." Elsa licked her lips as blood could be seen going down her cheek where the disk cut her.

"So close... But keep this up, guys! Even if she's crazy strong, we have the advantage in numbers!" Subaru yelled in a sort of motivational way, his eyes full of determination.

"That woman's movements aren't normal... Even her strength, not to brag but it makes no sense a lady with a small body like that could brute force their way against me!" Rom pointed out as he got ready to attack again, looking at Elsa.

"Stay alert! I've heard of her! She can move around in ways that make no sense, like she's a spider as she moves, and like a cockroach to kill!" Nilcaris alerted to get everyone to stay wary.

"Spider, Cockroach, or Bitch! I don't care! You don't cross a thief like that, you don't cross me! Like that..." Felt moved at immensely high speeds, blitzing most people in the room as she quickly disappeared.

This caused Elsa to look at the exact location she would appear at, ready to counter. "A Divine protection of wind, how rare, I bet your guts will be pretty little one, a pity a promising child has to be hunted down like this."

Again, her attack was blocked by 5 amethyst disks which all broke this time intercepting the dagger attack aimed at Felt's neck. This forced Elsa to backstep to avoid Felt's attack, one that still resulted in her right shoulder being sliced open as blood began leaking out.

There was no rest for her, however, as more amethyst disks were launched at her, and she deflected them with her blade, but then Rom attacked again, and before she could dodge her legs were frozen by in place Emilia and Puck, so she stopped Rom's club with her free hand while deflecting the disks thrown by Nilcaris.

"Hehehe, to think I would be overwhelmed at such a place, how exhilarating, I guess even ants can lift a rock if they work together, please keep trying, it only makes the hunt much more memorable," Elsa spoke calmly despite her difficult situation.

"Shut up! And just go die in hell! Do you have any idea how much I lost today because of you?!??" Felt came in dashing through the air like a bullet and stabbed Elsa in her back, seemingly aiming for the heart.

Blood splattered as Felt hit just the right spot sending an impact through the Bowl hunter's body. This caused Rom to sigh and loosen up a bit as he stopped feeling her push back, and The golden-haired thief to smile in victory.

(It's not over yet, this bitch wouldn't die so easy...) Nilcaris thought and immediately acted moving his hands.

It was indeed not over as Elsa cut part of her foot out of the ice and kicked Felt off with such force it sent her flying through the building's wall, a move that was somewhat blocked by the amethyst disks that absorbed part of the impact at the moment of collision. Not stopping there, the bald old man was the next victim as she pulled the loosely held club out of his hand, before going for the neck with her dagger once more.

Coming to the rescue again, Nilcaris put more amethyst disks as protection, but Elsa was already used to it, and switched up her movement instead of turning around with a high axe kick that crushed Rom's head into the wooden floor, moving much faster than before, as if she was showing the amethyst eyed young man just how much she was playing with them.

"How cute, now only the ones who matter and an inconsequential extra are left. So, let us pick up from where we stopped. I'll get those bowls after I'm done with the main prey of the hunt." The bowl hunter's body slowly but surely put itself back together right before their eyes as she looked at them with a seductive smile before licking her blade.

This silence didn't last as Puck and Emilia now had her open with no allies of theirs next to her, began unloading their icicles like a machine gun, something which prompted Elsa to move around as she dodged and parried.

That was not the end of it, as Nilcaris no longer had to play defender, he began throwing more amethyst disks at her, and even them to block her path, causing the bowl hunter to sustain various injuries throughout her body, and even lose a lot of her clothes as her dress started having parts of it torn off, revealing more of her slim curvy body.

"It's been a while since I had such an exciting hunt! I'm sure your guts will look magnificent once I tore you open!" Elsa blushed at the thought of it, but her movements didn't stop being precise and deadly in the slightest, even if she was having a hard time getting any closer to them.

Whenever she found an opening for Nilcaris, Emilia or Puck would cover, and when she found an opening for Emilia the other two would cover. As for Puck, not only was he high up in a bad position to attack with the other two present, but there were no openings to be found.

Then there was Subaru, huddled up right behind Nilcaris.

"Hey, Subaru, I'll need some of that Natsuki charm to do its work on this psycho, are you up for it?" Nilcaris proposed not losing focus of the battle at all as he spoke.

"You bet I can!... Just got to be Subaru, right?" Subaru spoke with excitement but it could not mask the cold sweat on his face or his trembling.

"Exactly right, I know you can do it! Just don't listen when I shout for you, got to sell the act." Nilcaris nodded a smirk on his face, and then once again he signaled to Puck.

"I'll be counting on you too." After taking a deep breath, Subaru run up, grabbed Rom's club then yelled. "What kind of crazy psychopathic bitch do you think you are?!?! What gives you the right to go around collecting people's guts?!?! Worry not! For I Natsuki Subaru, the newest and most broke hero will punish you!"

"Subaru! Wait!" Nilcaris put on the act of trying to reach for him.

As he went toward Elsa the turret of icicles stopped attacking her, and the bowl hunter herself smiled amused. "And what do we have here? an inconsequential prey trying to be a hero, hehehe, allow me to give you the embrace of death you deserve for your foolishness."

"Subaru! What are you doing?!?" Emilia's expression sold her panic at this moment. 

Once Subaru was close enough, Elsa ignored him and went for Nilcaris. "Come on, If you'll lay a trap at least make it enticing, you're disappointing me, my little blue-haired prey."

"Oh, you mean, like this? Puck now!" Nikcaris smiled and once she was close enough, several amethyst disks appeared in front of him.

"How cute, you believe that's enough to stall me?" Elsa shook her head and went through the amethyst disks like they were nothing.

"Look at the sunset today, how pretty, in days like these, a young lady like you... " Instead of finding Nilcaris's bowl to slice, the last disk in front of him was a portal that put her in the middle of the air, vulnerable before a Puck that had time to charge up his attack.

Those words left the mouth of the cat-like spirit as he stood there floating with a giant icicle ready above him. "... should DIE."

Having no time to do anything or platform to dodge in any way, all Elsa could muster in trying to tank it somehow. "How sweet of you, little spirit... it's been a while since anyone called me a young lady..." 

Those were her last words before she was sent plummeting to the ground at high speeds as the massive icicle crushed her, then the building caused mass destruction as debris flew off, and the impact created a gigantic crater in the ground as smoke escaped from it.

Outside the building, the group watched except for the unconscious one as Nilcaris had long used portals to get them out, the moment Elsa began attacking him.

"Is she dead for good this time? I mean, she has to be dead, right?" Subaru asked as he looked at the amount of destruction and could not see someone survive that at all.

"I believe so... Though I have to admit that she was quite intimidating... Now..." Emilia said looking at the smoked-up crater that used to be the loot cellar, before turning to Subaru with an annoyed expression. "Subaru! What were you thinking in there? Were you even thinking?! Do you know how worried I got when she charged at you like that? What if she decided to attack you?! What then?!"

"I... It was all Nil's plan! I'm sorry I got you worried!" Subaru folded immediately bowing in apology.

This caused Emilia to look at Nilcaris with her teary-eyed pouty expression of frustration.

"He's fine, I would have portalled him in time if she moved in any way to harm him. I just trusted my capable friend, that's all." Nilcaris smiled at her.

Emilia sighed in response before holing her temple and shaking her head, which made her look rather tired. "Don't ever do something like that again!" She yelled at both of them.

"But it was going to be one of our combined special moves, the Portal Hero Call. An S tier distraction." Nilcaris joked with a smirk.

"OOOh! I like the sound of that! I go in and sound like a cool hero to distract them, and then you plot some crazy stuff on them like this!" Subaru nodded loving the idea.

"They won't listen at all..." Emilia shook her head having given up on caring her expression turned neutral.

"Lia, don't be so mad, it's good that they are dedicated to being your meat shields." Puck smiled as he fell on Emilia's hands clearly tired.

Though his comment irritated Both Subaru and Nilcaris, none said a thing due to the spirit's weak state.

"Rest Puck, you did way more than necessary, thanks." Emilia smiled as she brought his body near a crystal on her neck, and he was absorbed inside as his body turned into particles.

"Now what matters, Where's Felt? Old man Rom is here, but she's nowhere to be found since Elsa kicked her out of the building." Nilcaris pointed out.

"That's right! She has the badge!... Did she run away? This way we'll never find her again!" Subaru complained as he realized.

On the other hand, the white-haired half-elf looked petrified.

(This will be problematic... then there's Elsa who I should verify if she's really dead, already escaped, or is simply unconscious.) The amethyst-eyed young man thought to himself.

[None of the above! it seems! Be careful! She's aiming for Emilia!] Genive alerted.

Coming out of the crater disfigured into having various chunks of her missing as her body reformed in real time, Elsa threw her black dagger at Emilia at full strength just before Genive noticed her.

The dagger moved at such speeds that Nilcaris was barely able to open the portal in time, having the dagger pierce into Elsa's head, just as she was on the cusp of attacking Emilia herself, but this didn't stop her as she still pushed the half-elf young woman to the ground, before pulling the dagger off her own head, ready to stab her, and even as throw disks at her and even tried to rope her with the portal sasso, she just broke through it with her strength.

(This is bad, I guess I was too arrogant and should have called that overpowered bastard... I guess I'll have to try and fix this one.) Nilcaris kept making portal lassos and amethyst disks to stall her as he approached then pulled her off Emilia before throwing her off.

"How rare... You, you actually managed to get me angry!... I thought dancing with you would get boring, but you're full of surprises aren't you?! Fine, egg me on, and show me, all your tricks, entertain me." Elsa's full attention changed as she focused on the amethyst-eyed young man.

"I would rather not dance with a dangerous woman, but since you insist, I'm not one to reject a challenge." Nilcaris smiled despite his clear disadvantage on a 1 on 1 with her.

At the same time, Subaru went to check on Emilia and she was coughing as the bowl hunter had choked her neck with her monstrous superhuman strength, leaving deep purple marks on her neck from the strain.

"Are you ok?" Subaru asked looking at her.

"I... cough... I'm fine... Get... Nil.. Out... of here... I have a way... to win... but you need to leave... Now!" Emilia was slowly regaining her footing, but all the magic she used that day was taking a toll on her, adding to this injury, and it was not optimal. 

"What? Why?! We have to do this together, we're not leaving you. Look at Nil, he's fighting until the end, how are we looking at his face later if we don't do the same?" Subaru shook his head refusing to do that at all.

"My last move... I would be the only survivor... But you're right! We'll fight... Until the end... We're going to struggle, fight, and claw our way through!... Cough... cough..." Emilia pulled through and got up.

So, Nil was joined by the two.

"Hahaha, I don't know if you're some creepy undead or whatever, but it's about time we blow you away, and get our happy ending!" Subaru said with a wide smile, seemingly happy to have pulled Emilia up.

"That's a lot of confidence coming from the weakest link." Elsa smiled her body already halfway through reforming.

The bowl hunter threw her dagger at Subaru and quickstepped to Nilcaris. Then as the portal to throw her weapon back at her opened, she grabbed it and avoided the other portals Nilcaris opened to try and throw her off, finding an opening and going for it before he could react.

Fortunately for the amethyst-eyed young man, an ice wall protected him, something done by Emilia. This however only, attracted her attention back to her, as she full sprinted at Emilia at absurd speeds, giving none of them time to react.

Just then when there was nothing left to do, the bowl hunter herself stopped right before a sword came flying through, and only stopped when it pierced a wall nearby, leaving a crater on it.

"That was a close call if I've ever seen one, I'm glad I made it in time." A flaming red-haired young man with sky-blue eyes clad in some sort of uniform with the colors white, black, blue, and e bit of yellow. "And to think, I would meet the bowl hunter here, you're quite infamous... I am Reinhard Van Astrea, at your service, it would be best if you surrendered now, you don't seem to be in the condition to fight." 

(So he came... Did Felt call him?... Or was this just meant to happen? It doesn't matter, I'm much weaker than I hoped, so from now on, I'll rise until I'm unstoppable, and continue rising after that, forever, that's going to be my path, one of infinite growth!) Nilcaris wondered a bit frustrated and relieved, but at the same time, his will burned brighter than ever.

"Would you look at that? The tiny spirit was right, what a wonderful day. One where I get to face so many enjoyable opponents all at once!" Elsa was ecstatic as she looked at Reinhard ready for the next battle her body close to fully healing. 

"Please grab that old man, and get as far as you can, and don't worry, I'll keep her busy." Reinhard looked at the trio as he spoke.

As such they did, as Nilcaris carried the big old man on his own refusing help, despite the fact he could just portal him away. While Subaru carried a tired Emilia.

"Hmmm, sir Reinhard? was it?... Huh, be careful, she's a real monster." Subaru commented.

"That's not helpful at all, say useful information, like she mostly aims for the stomach or neck, she is extra fast, very flexible, moves in an erratic way, can regenerate from extreme and even brain damage unfazed, has superhuman strength, and incredible battle expertise," Nilcaris added feeling as if what his friend said was useless information.

This caused Reinhard to nod, then say. "Good thing, fighting monsters is my specialty, and thank you for the information, I'll take both your reports into account."

(It's this overpowered guy, even if I lied or said nothing, he would still win easily... Even though I only watched the anime, I heard that he has over 100 divine protections from fan conversations... what kind of bullshit character is he? In a world where most people have no divine protection, and those that have tend to be considered strong, he has way too many!) The amethyst young man found Reinhard's broken character build, to be revolting.

"Could any of you pass me that sword?" Reinhard asked despite already having a very decorated sword on his waist.

So, Nilcaris went and got the sword from the wall and then portalled it to Reinhard.

"Thank you..." Reinhard was surprised to see the portal, but his focus now was the bowl hunter, who had been watching it all unfold calmly as her body healed finally healed back to peak form.

"How rude, you have such a pretty sword on your waist, and that's what you'll use against me? A common sword... Such a stingy man to give me that when I could have the taste of a legendary weapon." Elsa said with an amused look.

"Unfortunetly this sword can only be drawn when it's needed, and it appears today is not the case. I however hope this will be enough to satisfy you." Reinhard swung the regular sword a few times to see if it was still good enough to use, and then he took a stance.

"I would like to say yes, but honestly, so long as I'm entertained the details don't matter." Elsa also took a stance, ready for whatever came.

(Hmmm... This is giving me an idea... Genive prepare your scanners for a full and thorough analysis... I'll need to keep tabs on Elsa's signals, especially) Nilcaris commanded.

[Ok... But what are you planning to accomplish with that?] Genive questioned.

(It will be fine, I have a plan, don't worry, just do it.) Nilcaris insisted.

[Fine, go and be mysterious... Hmph!] Genive snorted and focused on doing her part.

The battle between Reinhard and Elsa began.

Elsa moved at her actual full speed not holding back a single atom, while Reinhard looked calm.

Blow for blow, none of her attacks even grazed him at all.

"It seems the blue-haired young man was right about you. His observation skills aren't bad at all." Reinhard commented.

"Here I am pouring everything I've got only for you to think of someone else, how ruthless, I thought the men of the Astrea family were supposed to be gentlemen," Elsa called him out her movement at such a speed the others could not keep up at all.

(Ok, I have to wait for that moment, and then... Now!) Nilcaris was planning something.

"Oh yes, but of course... Pardon me..." Reinhard's common sword began to glow as he calmly paired her fierce attacks, and then once it reached peak glow an explosion of light took place as he swung it, creating another crater right in front of the last one, as the common sword crumbled to dust in the man's hand.

But the destruction didn't stop there, as the sword attack had destroyed everything in its path until the city wall now had a split in it, like a cake with a slice missing.

(I think it worked... Is Elsa out cold?) Nilcaris asked.

[Affirmative, but what's your plan here, really? I thought you would just let things stay as they were, just more streamlined.] Genive confirmed before asking.

(Don't worry, you'll see...) Nilcaris smiled devilishly. 

[That smile inspires zero trust... I don't like where this is going...] Genive started thinking the worst...

"I'm sorry, I pushed you so hard, rest well," Reinhard spoke to the last pieces of the broken regular sword.

"That's amazing... There's nothing left of her at all... You said your specialty is fighting monsters, but aren't you one of them!" Subaru commented as he looked at the absurd scene.

"That's a quite hurtful thing to say to someone you just met." The flaming red-haired young man said with a small smile.

"Is this finally over?" Emilia having recovered a bit asked after she was done checking on Rom, still lying there.

"It seems to be the case, though I wouldn't be shocked if something even worse happened," Nilcaris said with a deadpan face.

"... Don't say such scary things..." Emilia was left a bit awkward by his pessimism.

"Yeah, and I'm sorry Sir Reinhard, you really saved us there... Really, how did you even know to come here?" Subaru posed his question quite curious.

"Well, there are two reasons... One, the first explosion here was quite potent and hard to miss, and two, that girl over there came to me just as I was headed to investigate." Reinhard answered then pointed at Felt who was hiding in the corner.

"Oh, Felt! Does that mean we get the badge back? I still have the mitia right he-" Subaru asked excitedly.

The golden-haired girl in question though ran up to the unconscious Rom.

(There is going to be a lot to be done from now on.) Nilcaris walked up to Felt.

"He'll be fine, Emilia's healing seems pretty efficient." He smiled as he spoke.

"Yeah... I'm sorry to all of you for earlier, if it weren't for you guys we would have died for sure... I'll give the badge back, can't go around having life debts." Felt grabbed the badge from her top reaching between her small breasts before pulling it out, and in her hand there it was. 

A triangle emblem with round edges and a red gem in the middle that was glowing as Felt held it.

Noticing this glow, Reinhard grabbed her arm immediately.

"Hey! You're hurting me! Let go, Reinhard!" Felt complained trying to struggle out of there, but there was no way out for her.

"How could this be?!... Felt, what's your family name, and your age?" The flaming red-haired young man asked. 

"I don't have anything fancy like a family name, and I think I'm about... 15? I can't say for sure since I don't know my birthday. Now just let me go!" Felt replied looking a bit confused by all this, as she tried to escape his grip.

"It seems things have taken a turn, Lady Emilia, I shall be taking this girl with me," Reinhard said with a serious expression.

"... May I ask why?" Emilia looked curious and slightly concerned.

"It's a matter of utmost importance. Felt, you'll be coming with me, and you're unfortunately not allowed to refuse." Reinhard said not answering much but looking serious.

"Don't go getting too close! Just because you saved me, it doesn't mean I-" Felt was obviously opposed to it, but Reinhard pointed his hand at her and soon she fell asleep.

"That's not very knightly of you..." Emilia pointed out.

"That's to say the least! What do you think you're doing to her?!" Subaru was also not very pleased.

"Calm it down you both, he's a knight, and she's a criminal, remember..." Nilcaris said.

"Even then this-" Subaru was about to keep speaking, but Nilcaris came to him and shook his head.

"It will be fine, trust me," Nilcaris adds, and it calms the Black-haired young man.

"Hmph, If I don't see Felt well, I'll fight even if you're a knight," Subaru added before stopping.

"I understand your feelings, but this is an emergency, as for you Lady Emilia, I'll most likely call upon you soon, I hope you understand, and take care of your friends," Reinhard responded then gave Emilia back her badge at last. "Since today, might be the last calm night we'll get for a long time."

After that, he left with Felt.

Leaving, Subaru, Emilia, and Nilcaris with an unconscious Rom. Just like it was said, there would not be too much rest from then on as the future of this world had a lot in store.

(Time to start my plan...) Nilcaris smiled ready to began something of his own.