Chapter Text
This was bad…..this was really bad.
The feverous aura emanating from the room was immense, four figures inside, one of them had a dead expression pinned against a woman whose eyes exerted murderous intent.
The two remain at a standstill, witnessing to the whole tense atmosphere.
Why?
It had been approximately 5 minutes since either party moved, surely the assassin would have struck no? But there was one problem.
One, massive problem she possibly can't overcome.
That man.
The man who had been staring at her.
He felt like a fortress..
Elsa Granhiert was no stranger to challenge, she had prevailed so many times after all, she's an elite assassin, who had years of experience under her belt. She's killed damn near everyone she's been contracted to kill and yet…..
The man standing before her….it made her feel something that she hadn't felt in a long, long time.
It wasn't dread, it wasn't the anticipation of a great battle, she wasn't even filled with bloodlust no, she felt something primal.
Ah.
It was…
Badump….badump…..badump…
Fear.
Elsa Granhiert was struck with fear. Fear for her life, her instincts screaming at her to flee, to get away from whoever this monster was. She was sure he was itching to fight her. Normally she would oblige, to taste blood both from her and him, but this time no, no, this time she wanted to get away from the man.
She was fairly certain her employer poked at something he shouldn't have, or was this a deliberate trap to ensure a highly sought out assassin such as her would perish and give Lugunica reputation?
It all stared at being tasked to get an insignia, now this was no laughing matter as it did determine that anyone who owned such a relic was proof they were eligible for the throne. Though it proved to be easy as she tasked a thief to retrieve it and meet up with them when the sun set where she'd inevitably gut them all and leave them to die.
That was the plan.
Until a man showed up at the room she was about to turn into a slaughterhouse.
At first she didn't think much of him, she'd have her fair share of seeing intense looking individuals, and she'd remember how she gutted them too, but somehow she had gotten a feeling that wherever this man got his scar was...well it was certainly a worthy opponent to leave him with a permanent graze because his very posture screamed danger.
She planned to end things swiftly but the man held out his arms, no questions, not a word uttered but simply raising their arms. Elsa thought it was a sign of peace, meaning her cover was blown because why would a man hold a sign to stop the escalation of things when nothing even happened yet? To him she was supposed to be nothing more than a rival buyer, he was here to buy off the insignia as well was he not? Why else would the man know of it?
Unbeknownst to her the main reason the man raised his arms was to test whether or not she knew sign language because he was too afraid to speak and couldn't move a muscle to put out the fact he was going to go to the bathroom.....and run away.
Now she was here, daggers out, locked in fiercely with this mysterious fighter.
As her thoughts raced about what the next move of this man was, would he strike with a frontal assault? Would he start to conjure the spirits around him? She didn't know, she didn't know a thing about what he was going to do yet every bit of hair on her body was rising to the sensation of anticipation. If one attack wasn't enough he would probably send tens at the same time, she'll be ready for it.
Meanwhile, said man only stared at her with a blank expression whilst a loud beat roared having everyone on the edge of their seat including a certain thief and a giant.
He was Natsuki Subaru.
And he was damn sure…..
“I'm going to fucking die……”
If you ask Natsuki Subaru what his hobby was he'd probably say playing video games, be it console, computer or in his phone though he'd prefer consoles but as a true gamer he plays on every single game platform, you name it and he'd probably played it over 50 times already!
If you ask him what he was going to do this evening his answer would have been to play the new game he picked up on GameStop.
[Neptunia Girl Fighters IV] yet another wonderful sequel to the already incredible game Neptunia Girl Fighters, Subaru had been a fan of the franchise for years! He'd been following them since the day they released, the game featured over 20 playable characters in the original roster and the game quickly hit off gaining widespread coverage and popularity, with its most notable unique gimmick amongst the many fighting games being the ability to chain parries and fluid mid-air combos.
Subaru wasn't the one to brag but *cough* well….. he's the 3rd best player in Japan, having a ton of trophies and showcases about him. He wasn't an attention hog though so he mostly kept to himself, he's quite proud of his achievement and so are his parents but aside from gaming he can confidently say he's…….
A coward.
Badump!
Sweat protruded from his left cheek, the place where he got a scar from all those years back when he tried feeding some pigeons, now things were off to a decent start and all until the wind picked up and the bag of seeds he was carrying was blown away by the wind.
He gripped his fists extremely tightly but not too tight since he'd scream in tears hurting himself, remembering that, if Jehovah was there he'd have a fucking witness to ensure he was legitimately being targeted by God himself. The bag flew from his hand and through an act of coincidence, circled around its trajectory and hit him in the face causing him to be covered in bird seeds...
Why was he getting bamboozled for simply feeding pigeons?
As if that wasn't enough he was really sweaty that time so it practically stuck to his face like butter on the wall and all the birds came flocking at him to peck away at his face and some left scratches leaving him with three large gashes perfectly marking his face that acted like claw marks.
Damn you God…..
He was only out for the night to pick up the game, he wasn't expecting to get magically sent off to whatever this place was!!!!
Why him!?! Goddamit he wasn't the type of person meant for this!!! Pick someone able, not him, he's a sack of shit according to his own thoughts. Honestly it was a miracle he even made it this far in this new world, apparently people are afraid of the scar he got on his face not knowing the horrendous context behind said scar.
Now he was here, face to face with possibly the one to kill him, he didn't even want to be pinned in this situation for fuck's sake! Insignia? What the hell was that! Those thieves at the back alley had a huge error regarding him, he didn't even wanna chase whatever that blonde haired girl that passed by them had.
It all started when he fell off the damned bridge he quickly swam back and hoped nobody saw the blunder he was at or he might have died of an actual heart attack! Then these thugs approached him while drying off and when he turned to look at them they went pale and knelt for some reason.
Now okay, back in Japan his face was notoriously known for being too scary, it didn't help he had such a good poker face so everybody thought he was some black belt martial arts master or a practitioner of Tai-Chi
Newsflash; he wasn't, he hadn't even been to a dojo. He did however move boxes as a side job, seeing as he never really went to college because he's already set up for life because of his gaming career he decided to pursue a job that would at least make it feel like he was working his butt off, now it may have seemed stupid at first just to feel like he's had a role on society but eventually he did come to like the job even if it payed a quarter of what he earns daily by streaming.
He also had a morning exercise routine to help with the job, he isn't buff per say but you could say he's fairly well-built for his age but there is no way he's a fighter.
He's a coward, Natsuki Subaru will admit it, he will run away from anything he perceives as danger. If you are within the vicinity I'm sorry and I will pray for your safety but there is no way I'm going to rush there, I'd probably piss my pants even just thinking about it!
So back to the thugs, Oh yeah he turned around and they were in fear of my face and begged to be spared, just as I was about to confront them about the whole misunderstanding until one of them dropped their knife and my heartbeat skyrocketed, they probably thought it was my way of signaling I was about to castrate their corpses but really I was just afraid!!!! I swear!!!
Then some girl rushed past me, as I pointed her out the three immediately apologized and told me they knew her and would help me out in finding her.
“I—i swear I know her! H-her name was Felt! She's a known thief in these parts! P-please we can help you find her for disturbing your focus on killing us you can kill her instead if you'd like! Please kill her!”
Okay, he was NOT thinking about murdering a literal child just for shifting his attention. Definitely not! These three were way too much.
I couldn't quite say anything as the tall one and the shortstack dusted me off like I was some royalty and helped me by asking the locals. Eventually seeing as they felt satisfied with aiding me they left and swore to never bother him again. I couldn't utter a single word because of how scared I was! He was just gonna ask for directions, ask some knights and maybe greet the king and telling him how lost he is.
Not that it would ever happen, this was reality, the best thing to probably happen to him would be to stay alive and beg for coins.
Now Subaru was here, certain he was gonna get his organs rearranged or his face pummeled. He really, really didn't wanna die but the sheer fear from moving made him stand still.
Why…
Why does God hate my existence so much……
“Isn't this enough….?” The teen mumbled out loud while having a menacing laugh, one that sparked the danger signals of the Bowel Hunter who stepped back by sheer instinct.
What was this man thinking? Elsa Granhiert thinks…… isn't it enough? Was he talking about me? What did he mean by “isn't this enough?” Don't tell me……
Elsa’s eyes widened in shock and disbelief, the woman flickered that thought she formed from that single sentence and ingrained it into her mind.
By saying that does he mean he's willing to spare my life by telling me there's already enough bloodshed?! Does he want to let me go?! Does this man take me for a fool! I am the Bowel Hunter! If I go empty handed without fulfilling the wishes of my client, Mother will come and consult my behavior and try to correct me! She will make my life a living hell again!
To hell with everything, Elsa swallowed her fear and gulped the remaining hesitation, SHE WILL FULFIL HER END OF THE BARGAIN.
Through blinding speeds she circled the man, leaving behind a furious whirlwind on every step she took, the man didn't react to it, only staring at her starting location, seemingly unfazed by her skills, skills she had honed for decades.
The man twitched his fingers, Elsa became extremely alert seeing that, This was it! He was planning his move! I'll be ready!!
From the right? Was he going to strike there?
From the left? Was he planning on incapacitating her movement?
Or was it on both sides? Was he going to forcibly shake the ground to interrupt her focus?!
Her eyes squinted sharply, awaiting the next move with bated breath. Then the raven-haired man let's both his hands out like he's preparing for an attack of sorts. That pose was unfamiliar to her, she's studied a lot of physical combat, this form was full of openings but the man’s figure made it seem like it was encased in solid iron, an unbreakable defense.
If it wasn't physical was it……
Magic?! He was going to use Spirit Arts?!
Then the man let out another whimper, to many they wouldn't have heard it but her experienced heightened sense made it easy to word out what was coming out of his mouth.
“Really pathetic…..”
To Subaru, he was wallowing in intense fear and paranoia, he tried to move and kneel down to beg for mercy but it just stuck him that this woman was moving faster than he could perceive so all that was left was him in an awkward pose.
To the Bowel Hunter? It was a warning sign, a sign she took as an experience of Death holding her cheek as an ultimatum.
Hearing those words made her focus be interrupted as she came crashing down on the wooden floorboards, her daggers clattered on the ground.
Her chest felt constricted…..
She was thinking about whether or not she should hold on to her dear chest tightly, it felt as if the very air was suffocating her, just his mere presence alone and uttering a few words made her, a highly skilled assassin, quake her legs in fear.
She couldn't breathe....
Pathetic? He….he knew about my plan to strike his neck? So that's why he left it wide open for me to callously attack, it wasn't out of overconfidence, no he was deliberately allowing me to attack, to make me feel as if I had accomplished something…..
For the Bowel Hunter, striking the neck might as well have been a coward's way out, it was swift and easy to execute unlike where she'd tear their guts wide to relish on their slow, painful and agonizing demise. But she shaved off that mentality, she wanted to end things fast otherwise....
Otherwise.....
Otherwise what? What was there to do...
In reality…..Elsa Granhiert wasn't achieving anything…..he was ALLOWING her to strike that opening and if she struck him she was certain…….
She would have died miserably….
Honestly, what was she thinking? This threat could have possibly swatted her away like a fly. The mere fact she's standing here proves his first words about sparing her…..does he want me to leave Mother? To reform and become a better person……. This man…..
Footsteps echoed as the sound of his walk becomes eerily closer she looked upwards towards the man, no- not a man…this…..being-
It was akin to an ant looking over a human. She was the ant, he was the towering presence of indestructible force. She was sweating profusely, slowly backing away out of sheer human instinct.
The beating was getting louder and louder, his presence felt like it was bending the space around them…
Badump….badump….badump…..
“Ahhh….”
“Augh……”
Badump…..badump…..badump….
“PLEASE SPARE MY LIFE! I'LL REFORM, BE A CONTRIBUTING MEMBER OF GUSTEKO AND NEVER BE A KILLER AGAIN!”
BADUMPBADUMPBADUMP-
Just then a loud squeak was heard, interrupting the tense event, both parties looked in confusion as a silver-haired individual with pointy ears stared at the scenery in worry and a bit of confusion as she opened the door.
“Umm…. excuse me?”