Übel had killed quite a lot of demons. She did not keep count, because counting was boring and she had better things to do with her attention. But the bodies had piled up around her, fading into mist one after another, and she had moved through them like a blade through water. The battle had been satisfying in a way that few things were. The chaos, the danger, the moment when a demon lunged at her and she cut it down without thinking.
She felt great.
That one particular female demon had been very strong. Stronger than the others, with a strange magic that made the air around her feel heavy and wrong. Übel had to work for that kill, dodging and cutting and dodging again, her staff moving faster than her thoughts. But she managed to win. The demon fell, and Übel stood over her, breathing hard, a smile on her face.
The humans had won here. The battle was over. Some soldiers had died, because battles always killed someone, but most of them survived. The demons had broken and fled, their lines shattered, their leaders gone. The humans cheered and hugged each other and cried over the bodies of their fallen friends.
But what about the retreating demons? Some had escaped into the woods, running toward the hills, hoping to disappear into the wilderness. Soldiers were sent to chase them, to make sure they did not regroup or return. Übel did not volunteer. She had done enough for one day.
It was around late midday when she felt it. A huge surge of mana from the direction where Subaru had been stationed. The energy was massive, overwhelming, the kind of power that made the air itself tremble. Übel turned her head toward the source, her eyes narrowing, her hand tightening on her staff. Then the surge faded, as quickly as it had come, leaving behind a silence that felt almost unnatural.
Regardless, she returned to the camp. The tents were still standing, though some had been torn down during the fighting. The wounded were being treated in makeshift medical areas. The dead were being laid out in rows, covered with cloth, waiting for burial.
Wirt stood near the command tent, his armor scratched and dented, his face smeared with dirt and blood. He looked anxious, his eyes constantly scanning the camp, the forest, the horizon. When he saw Übel, he hurried toward her.
"Where is Subaru?" he asked.
Übel shrugged. "I do not know. I felt something from the forest, but she was not with me."
Wirt's jaw tightened. He turned and shouted orders to a squad of soldiers, sending them into the woods to find her. The men disappeared between the trees, their weapons ready, their faces set.
The waiting was the hardest part. Übel found a spot near the edge of the camp and sat down, her staff across her knees, her eyes on the forest. She did not worry. Subaru had survived worse. Subaru had survived things that should have killed anyone. But still, the minutes stretched on, slow and heavy, and the sun moved across the sky.
The squad returned. They had found the men who had been stationed with Subaru, most of them alive, though some were wounded. They reported that a blur had hit her, something fast and powerful, and she had disappeared into the forest before anyone could react. They had searched for her, following the trail of destruction, until they found a clearing that had been burned and scorched, the trees turned to charcoal, the ground blackened and cracked.
In the center of that clearing, sitting beside a fading demon, they had found Subaru. She was bloody and exhausted, her clothes torn, her turban dirty. But she was alive.
They brought her back.
The camp erupted in cheers when she appeared. Soldiers who had never spoken to her clapped her on the back and shouted her name. People who had doubted her, who had wondered why Wirt had hired a strange girl with a turban, now looked at her with something like awe.
Wirt pushed through the crowd and stopped in front of her. His face was a mixture of relief and curiosity. "Was it only one demon?" he asked. "The one you fought in the forest?"
Subaru nodded. Her voice was tired, rough, but steady. "Yes. Just one."
"What was his name?"
Subaru looked at the ground for a moment, then back at Wirt. "A demon named Rivale. The Bloody God of War, or something like that."
Wirt's expression shifted. His eyes widened. His mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. The soldiers around him went quiet, their cheers fading into shocked silence. Even the wounded, lying on their blankets, turned their heads to look at her.
Übel did not know who that demon was. The name meant nothing to her. But apparently these warriors knew him. Their faces told the story, pale and wide eyed, as if she had just claimed to have killed a storm or wrestled a mountain.
Rivale. The Bloody God of War. A name that carried weight, even among people who had never seen him fight.
Regardless, the celebration continued. The cheers returned, louder than before. Someone brought Subaru water and bread. Someone else offered her a blanket. She accepted both, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders, drinking the water in slow sips.
Later, when the crowd had dispersed and the camp had grown quiet, Subaru and Übel found themselves near a small pond at the edge of the camp. The water was dark, reflecting the stars that had begun to appear in the sky. The air was cool, carrying the smell of smoke and damp earth.
Subaru refused to go in with Übel. She sat on a rock near the edge, her blanket still around her shoulders, her turban still on her head. She looked tired, more tired than Übel had ever seen her.
Übel shrugged and walked into the pond alone. The water was cold, but she did not mind. She dipped her head under the surface, letting the water wash away the blood and dirt. When she came back up, her hair was dark and wet, clinging to her face.
"How was your fight?" Subaru asked. "What was the battle like?"
Übel floated on her back, staring up at the stars. "Busy. Lots of demons. Lots of killing." She paused, thinking. "That one female demon was very strong. Stronger than the others. But I won."
Subaru nodded. She did not say anything.
"How strong was your demon?" Übel asked.
Subaru was quiet for a moment. "Very strong. The strongest foe I have faced yet."
Übel turned her head to look at her. "Stronger than me?"
Subaru scratched the back of her head. "I do not know about that. Uh." She looked away, her cheeks slightly red. "I have not fought you. Not really. Not the way I fought him."
Übel laughed, soft and low. "Fair enough."
She floated in silence for a while, watching the stars move slowly across the sky. Then she turned her head again, looking at Subaru through the darkness.
"Did you learn anything new today?"
Subaru looked at her palm. She turned it over, studying the lines, the scars, the way the moonlight caught her skin. Then she raised her hand toward the sky, toward the stars that were scattered across the darkness like grains of salt on a black cloth.
"Yeah," she said. "I did."
Übel waited.
Subaru's voice was soft, almost a whisper. "The sky sure is starry today."
Übel looked up. The stars were bright, countless, scattered across the darkness in patterns that had no names. They had always been there, probably. She had just never stopped to look at them before.
"Huh," she said. "It is."