Never in Otto's life did he think things would turn out this way.
He was a simple man and a simple merchant. Sure, he was in crippling debt from a miscalculation he made.
But he was a simple man who always suffered from terrible luck, something he unfortunately had gotten used to.
But this is too much.
Running away from the White Whale, one of the Three Great Mabeasts, that terrorized the world and remained undefeated for 400 years.
What a joke. They were going to die out here.
It was then Xeno-san, someone he had only met a few hours ago, suggested something.
Xeno: "Rem, keep everyone safe."
Rem: "Xeno-kun, what are you...!?"
Xeno: "I'm going to jump off the carriage and distract that thing. I want you to keep everyone here safe."
He was planning on using himself as bait!? Was he insane?
Rem-san, Xeno-san's companion, obviously rejected such a thing, but instead of talking sense into him, she offered to sacrifice herself!?
The two of them burst into an argument, seriously trying to convince the others that they should be the bait.
Otto: 'They're insane. Both of them are completely crazy.'
But he knew there were no better options. It was that or everyone else dies.
The situation escalated when Rem tried to jump off, only to be locked in place by dark purple chains.
He didn't know what happened next, too focused on driving the carriage as fast as he could.
Xeno: "Otto, do me a favour and make sure she reaches Roswaal's Mansion safely. I've already placed all the money I have below the seat."
Is he seriously thinking about money at this point!?
Rem: "Noooooooo!!!"
Rem-san screamed, followed up by the sounds of... wings flapping?
What in the world was going on anymore?
...
The White Whale closed in on one of the carriages fleeing from it. With its functioning eye, it could see the delicious fear etched on the faces of both the drivers and earth dragons.
It opened its gaping mouth to swallow them whole. The rest would share the same fate in due time.
That was until pain shot through it, as multiple balls of energy hit its side, altering the beast's trajectory off course.
The White Whale turned to its attacker, seeing the same man who had stabbed it in the eye with bones, somehow hovering in the air with skeletal wings.
The White Whale, sensing the Witch's miasma on him, charged in a wild fury to eliminate him, temporarily forgetting the others.
A bead of sweat dropped from Xeno's forehead. Now that its attention was on him, his wings flapped, trying to make as much distance from the White Whale as possible.
And to make sure the beast continued targeting him, he spread his arms wide, and from his palms, projectiles resembling basic magic missiles launched out in waves.
Even though Xeno wasn't aiming, due to how large the White Whale was, hitting it was easy. The balls of energy impacted its body, making it roar in pain.
The blasts themselves only served to enrage the whale further than do any damage. Its massive body picked up speed, and at the pace it was going...
It wouldn't take long before it devoured Xeno.
...
Do you know how terrifying a giant flying whale chasing you is?
And not only chasing you with the intent of eating you, but somehow moving faster than you as well?
Enough to make someone shit their pants, that's for sure!
Beads of sweat dropped from Xeno's face, his heart beating so fast it felt like it might explode. It didn't help that, with how fast he was flying, the strong and cold wind constantly hit him.
For good reason, too. The White Whale, he tried to outmaneuver it, which didn't work at all. He wasn't adept at flying, while it had been flying for all of its life.
And don't even get him started on his attacks. They were only scratching its thick hide.
Xeno: 'Think, Xeno, think! You work wonders under pressure. Now would be a great time to come up with something!!!!'
The whale was about 100 metres away from him. He covered his ears from how long its roar was, ringing his ears.
Xeno: 'Uuuuuugh, that was soo loud... Loud... loud...! Loud!! That's it!!!' A new idea formulated in his mind.
Without hesitation, he executed it, creating a ball of light purple larger than his body, costing around 30 points of his Envy.
Turning around, Xeno threw the ball straight at the White Whale before creating ears mufflers and wrapping his entire body in a diamond-shaped cloak, flying away even faster.
On the other hand, the whale, in its arrogance, thinking the ball was another attack, ignored it.
Which proved to be a fatal mistake.
Because the ball wasn't an attack. It was a giant flashbang. Which exploded right in its face.
A burst of striking, bright purple light blinded it, and so did the deafening sound that followed suit.
Once again, it roared in agony.
...
While Xeno was moving in his newfound mode of flying, it didn't take long for him to land on the ground, getting on his feet instantly.
He saw the White Whale wailing around in the air. Blind and deaf, he let out a sigh of relief at the temporary distraction.
Xeno: 'That should buy me some time now for the important part.' His pupils turned red.
'Gluttony, tell me everything, and I do mean everything, about the White Whale. Its biography, abilities, all that jazz.'
[Name: Nil (has no real name)
White Whale (given by the people)
Age: 400+
Relation: Detests your existence.
Title: Witch Beast of the Mist (given to it by the people)
History:
This infamous creature is one of the three Great Mabeasts created by the Witch of Gluttony, Daphne. It doesn't know why its creator made it, nor does it care. Since its birth, it has been terrorizing the world, eating merchants, destroying towns, sometimes even cities, and killing any army that dared challenge it. With the last subjugation being attempted 14 years ago.
Behaviour:
It is quite intelligent as well, choosing to pick off its prey leisurely within its mist. Knowing when to strike or let its victim escape, following them whilst hidden. It can be influenced by the Witch's scent like yours, sending it into a blind, hateful frenzy (it's not strong enough for that now). Though it can't be controlled by Meili's Divine Protection of Demon Manipulation.
When threatened, it will enter its attack hue (Phase 2, if you will), create clones, hide in the sky, watching from a safe distance as its clones kill its prey.
A particular thing about its behaviour is that it shows a willingness to listen to the commands of someone from the Witch Cult. A brown-skinned midget, to do their dirty work.
When it's inactive, it would hide around the Great Waterfall.
Abilities:
Thick Skin: Its thick skin allows it to take a lot of punishment from multiple strong warriors, taking relatively small damage. You need to be on Wilhelm's level in order to do serious damage to it and make it feel threatened.
White Hair: Covering its body are white hairs that have the effect of scattering magic energy, reducing their effectiveness.
Mist Manipulation: The White Whale has pores across its entire body that allow it to release its mist. And this mist can be used for offensive and other purposes. For example, by releasing its modified mana, it can produce a mist that it can swim through the air, reaching speeds that of an earth dragon.
Mist of Mental Contamination: Another kind of mist it can generate that the White Whale can spread far and wide, causing effects akin to mana poisoning or experiencing mental attacks ranging from pain to madness.
Mist of Annihilation: The White Whale can weaponize bursts of its mist to rip apart chunks of the ground. Not only that but also erase the target from the world itself, leaving no trace or memory of their existence.
Mist Clones: When it feels as if its life is threatened, the White Whale enters its Phase 2 (Attack Hue), creating two smaller and less powerful clones of itself from the mist. If the original dies, so do the clones.]
Xeno: "..."
Xeno: 'S-Say, Gluttony... h-how long do I have to keep it distracted for?'
[Hmm... 10 minutes should be long enough.]
Xeno: "..." He gulped, feeling a shiver down his spine at the prospect.
Xeno: "You got this, Xeno... It's just a giant killer whale that can make clones and has existence erasure... No big deal, right?" His words didn't comfort him at all.
Xeno: "..."
'I'm going to die if I don't play this smart.'
...
Having recovered from the effect of the flashbang, the White Whale scanned the area for its prey.
"Over here, you overgrown fish!"
A loud voice caught its attention. Turning around, it saw Xenophanes standing 30 meters away.
Now wearing a pair of dark purple goggles to protect his eyes, Xeno once again made the same attack and threw it towards the Whale.
This was Xeno's entire strategy: stay away and throw flashbangs at it for 10 minutes and hope it works.
The White Whale was obviously not falling for the same trick. It swam to the side moments before the ball exploded, gaining distance in an arc.
Xeno: "Alright, let's see how you like this!"
He mused, running away with the flap of his bony wings.
Snapping his fingers, hundreds of sharp bones manifested above the White Whale, raining down on its skin and burying deep inside.
0ain to ringed all over its upper body.
But that wasn't all. Sharply turning around, Xeno sent an entire barrage of energy orbs spreading out from his palms.
With him firing, most of them would miss, and besides, the Whale could easily avoid them. Something it was actively doing.
But what made these energy orbs special was that they tracked their targets, so it didn't matter how much the White Whale tried to evade them. All of them eventually impacted across its body.
Just for good measure, Xeno also spawned flash bombs (yes, that's what he was calling them) surroundings the White Whale, making them explode all at once.
A brilliant light purple illuminated the area for miles. The Whale's screams were drowned out by the ear-piercing shockwave.
Xeno: "When in doubt, SPAM."
He said, swinging his arms, firing hundreds of orbs, bones, and dozens of flash bombs at the White Whale from all angles.
The Mabeast, to its credit, was managing to inch closer and closer to Xeno, but each time it got within 100 meters, he could fly away, continuously shooting at it.
No matter where it went, Xeno's projectiles would always follow suit. The attacks were weak, lightly scratching it no matter how many he threw.
But they sure did sting a lot.
The White Whale felt every inch of its being scream in pain. Each time it moved, the countless sharp bones embedded in its skin would be disturbed, radiating pain.
And each time one of the dark purple orbs would destroy an area of said bones, more would take their places. Each one feeling like it was being pricked by a needle.
Then there were the light purple bombs. They exploded, flashing bright lights into its eyes and deafening it with loud noise.
The White Whale's eyes were entirely bloodshot, a constant ringing echoing throughout its mind.
It had never felt this much pain in its life, and it was driving it mad. Its screams carried just how much pain it was in.
If anyone could hear it, that is.
With all the flash bombs around, the noise pollution was too high for anyone to hear it.
This endless cycle only ended when the White Whale reached its absolute limit.
A burst of mist shot out from its body, knocking away all of Xeno's attacks.
Xeno shielded himself with his wings as all the mist blew past, knocking him out of balance.
Catching himself rather quickly, Xenophanes looked in horror at the sight.
There were not one, not two, but three White Whales now.
All of them let out a powerful roar.
Even from how far away Xeno was, he could see the sheer hate in all three eyes.
All three, without coordination, charged straight at him.
The White Whale had officially reached Phase 2.
...
Far away from Xeno's and the White Whale's battle, three carriages travelled at full speed.
Total silence reigned supreme within the carriage housing Rem and Otto. The air was even more tense than before.
Ever since Xeno had left, Rem hadn't moved or spoken since. Nervously looking behind him, Otto saw Rem's teary yet empty eyes stare intently at the chains binding her in place.
Otto: "Rem-sama... We're almost at Roswaal's territory." He awkwardly tried to converse.
Rem didn't respond. Continuing to stare at the dark purple chains.
Otto: "You're... really worried about Xeno-san?"
Rem: "..."
Otto: "Rem-san, I'm sure Xeno-san will be fine. I'm sure he will return soon." He tried to comfort her.
She didn't react.
Otto: "I know you might not believe me when I say this, but... I believe Xeno-san will return safely."
Rem: "What makes you believe that?" Her voice was hoarse. She turned to him, wiping a fresh set of tears.
Otto: "H-He seemed quite capable of handling himself." He blurted out nervously.
Rem narrowed her eyes, not satisfied by the answer.
Otto was completely out of his depth here. How was he supposed to comfort her? He didn't know, but he had to try.
Otto: "Xeno-san... I don't know what to think of him." Internally, Otto was processing his own emotions as well.
"We only met a few hours ago. We know little to nothing about each other. Yet Xeno-san chose to use himself as bait just to save complete strangers."
He had seen it in Xeno's eyes when he asked about how the others were doing, and how relieved he felt when they were alright.
He wasn't doing it just to save Rem-san, but all of them.
Otto: "I will be forever thankful for it. That's why I've taken it upon myself to finish what was his last wish. Getting you there safely is the least I can do. But beyond that..."
He turned his attention back to the road, hiding his own hopeful expression.
Otto: "I don't want Xeno-san to die either. I want him to return... So I can properly thank him for saving all our lives."
Rem: "..."
She didn't respond. Instead, she continued staring at the dark purple chains. Ironically, her restraints were the only closure she had at the moment.
As long as the chains were there, that meant her hero was still alive. But if they ever disappeared...
She didn't want to think about it.
...
Xeno: 'Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!!!!!!'
Xenophanes was on the verge of a panic attack. He could barely stall one of these things: now there were three of them.
He was perhaps the first person in history who managed to piss off the White Whale so much that it activated its Attack Hue and attacked with its clones.
Which was making a bad situation even worse. Sure, Xeno still had around 1000% of his Envy left.
But he was burning through hundreds of his Envy just to deal with one. With three, he couldn't do the same without diminishing his supply.
So his only option was to run.
Run he did, encasing himself in a diamond-shaped cloak. Xeno flew at much higher speeds than before, barely enough to outmatch the White Whales.
Constantly shifting his position, making sharp turns, last-minute attacks, and other such things, he was managing to survive.
He didn't know how much time had passed, but he was hoping it was enough because his heart couldn't take more of this.
Swiftly, Xeno descended as the clones smashed into each other. Then, making another turn to the left, he avoided the main one attempting to swallow him.
One advantage he did have was the way he was flying. Not only was he faster, he could turn in any direction without issue.
The only downside was that he was effectively blind. And getting dizzy from all the maneuvers he was pulling off.
The clones and original charged at Xeno from different directions. Two from the sides and one from above.
Xeno, sensing this using Envy, drove straight down. With the Whales following, spreading out to give chase if he changed direction again.
He didn't.
Xeno continued with his downward trajectory. The ground rapidly approached; it wouldn't be long until impact.
It was then his cloak started spinning like a drill, charging down even faster. The moment he hit the ground, Xeno didn't stop. Instead, tunnelling into the ground.
The same couldn't be said for the White Whales.
All three of them rammed their heads into the ground. The earth split, massive chunks of stone flying off. Creaks spread far and wide.
Flying back up, neither of them saw any signs of Xeno. He was still in the ground, safe and sound.
The clones, in their madness, swam higher up. Then descended back down again, ramming their heads against the ground.
The earth split once again, but nothing changed. Undeterred, the clones continued repeating the same thing over and over again.
While the clones did that, the original, on the other hand, settled at a fair distance away.
Not too high, not too low either.
Its bloodshot and weakened eyes stared down at the ground.
Viscous hate was present in its eyes as it awaited for Xeno to show himself so it could tear him apart.
And it would wait.
No matter how long Xeno hides.
...
For several minutes, the same thing repeated without change. The clones randomly struck the ground, creaking open the earth.
While the original kept an eye out on the surroundings, the White Whale waited and waited for any sign of Xeno's presence.
But nothing changed.
It waited and waited even more. Something was bound to change.
It didn't.
The White Whale seemingly gave up, letting out a large stream of mist in frustration, covering most of the surroundings.
Dispelling its clones, the White Whale, swimming through the sky, gratefully left the area.
Everything went quiet for the first time in a long while.
It stayed that way for another few minutes.
Until, seeing the coast was clear, Xeno finally resurfaced again.
Drilling back into the opened earth, he spun in the air, the cloak widening, flicking all of the dirt off him.
The moment his feet touched the ground, Xenophanes immediately collapsed onto the shattered floor.
Breathing heavily, his pupils flicked like static, turning to look at the mist covering the area, checking if anything was around him or not one last time.
He let out a breath of pure relief.
Finally allowing himself to relax after what felt like an eternity.
Xeno: 'I survived hahaha... I can't believe it hahahah... I ACTUALLY SURVIVED hahahahahahahahaha!!!' He burst out into booming laughter. He did it, he was alive.
Honestly speaking, he thought he would have died again. Thank goodness that didn't happen.
Dying? Xeno wasn't mentally prepared for that experience again.
Regardless, he couldn't be happier. He couldn't wait to go back home and jump into Rem's arms.
Surely, after this ordeal, he earned his right to be pampered by Rem and even Emilia if he played his cards right.
Xeno: 'After this, I'm never leaving Roswaal's Mansion ever again.This world is too scary for me.' Getting up, he wiped the dust off his clothes.
Once all of it was completely gone, he scratched his body until he was feeling sore from all the hiding in the ground.
Xeno closed his eyes and took one big breath of fresh air. Now prepared, he planned to fly back home.
Opening his eyes, his pupils immediately disappeared as a similar scene played out.
Right in front of him was a bloodshot eye glaring at him with visceral hatred.
The White Whale had returned.
Xeno: "AAahhhhhh–!!!"
Unlike last time, the White Whale didn't give him any time to react. Within the instant, Xeno moved, all the pores in its body had already built up mist.
Before Xeno could even react, a violent burst of mist shot out from its pores, destroying everything around it.
Xenophanes was no different.
It watched in satisfaction as the mist turned Xeno's body and disintegrated him from existence.
Not even a splatter of blood remained of him.
The White Whale flew out victorious, mocking laughter uncontrollably escaping its mouth. It was the most joyous laugh it had in centuries.
Swimming away, laughing, it relished in the moment in its mind over and over again.
...
The morning light of the sun cast down upon the earth as a new day had come forth.
The skies were clear today, with the occasional birds flying.
Not more needed to be said. It was a brand-new day. All was calm, even the place of where a desperate battle had been fought.
Leaving what were once beautiful fields into ruins.
Within those ruins lay a shirtless Xeno.
Cuts littered his body, be it his chest, face, or legs. No part of him was spared from the cuts. They weren't fatal or deep, fortunately.
Xeno lived.
Eventually, his eyes flicked, a strange sensation making Xeno highly uncomfortable as he woke.
Xeno: "Ugggh!!! What... happened!?" His mind was spinning.
The last thing he remembered was being attacked by the White Whale. That alone made his mind jolt awake.
His eyes snapped open. Getting up swiftly, he scanned around for any signs of the White Whale with Envy.
There were no lives present around him. Still, he didn't drop his guard.
Xeno: 'Nothing for now, that's good?' Sensing no immediate threat, he decided to tackle the obvious issue first.
Xeno: 'This feeling, having no sensation on my skin... I know this uncomfortable feeling anywhere. It's the second function of Gluttony.'
Identifying the problem only confused him even more. He was currently using Envy right now. Then how was it that he was nonexistent right now?
Xeno: 'Something isn't right.' His pupils turned red.
'Gluttony, what the heck happened to me and why am I not dead right now?'
[Good morning to you as well, sleepy head. For your questions, the answer is simple.
You survived because the White Whale decided to use its Mist of Annihilation on you. That's the only reason you're alive. If it had done literally anything else, you would be dead.]
Xeno: 'That... makes sense? But... how did I even survive being nonexistent?'
[Right, you're less smart when you wake up. My second function is literally making you nonexistent for stealth, then snapping you back into existence. Obviously, existence erasure can't kill you, genius.]
Xeno's eye twitched.
'Really funny, Gluttony... You ass.' He thought grumpily.
Still, there was no point in arguing.
Xeno: 'So can I just snap myself back to existence like normal, then?'
[Yes.]
Xeno: "..."
'Is there anything else I should know about?' He said suspiciously.
[You'll be in lots of pain the moment you do. You know, from all the cuts on your body.]
Xeno: "..."
'Asshole.'
Taking a deep breath, he used Gluttony on himself and, like it had said, sharp pain shot through his body.
Gritting his teeth, Xeno went on to use Water Magic on himself. Alongside that, he summoned his spirits.
It took nearly 20 minutes for him to heal himself back up.
The moment he was done, he remade his bone wings and flew straight towards the mansion.
Xeno: 'Everyone must be worried sick about me.' With that thought in mind, he accelerated to full speed.
...
It was an hour-long journey, but he finally reached the mansion. It was exactly the same from when he left.
Landing on the front lawn, the now-not-shirtless Xeno looked around for anyone present.
Xeno: 'Empty. I was hoping Emilia would be here. Then again, her daily talk with spirits must have been long over by now.' He sighed but continued onwards.
It's been a week since he left the mansion.
A wave of nostalgia hit him. He really did miss this place.
And already, he had so many things to do.
First things first, check up/hug Rem. She must be worried sick about me.
And second, surprise everyone with the fact he's no longer crippled now.
Xeno: 'Emilia, Meili and Beatrice will be overjoyed by the news. I bet even Ram would be happy, no matter how much her tsundere heart denies it.'
He chuckled, opening the front door.
Moving through the quiet halls, Xeno reminisced about how clean and orderly the mansion was.
Some part of him was worried that Ram would have turned this place into a pile of ash by now.
Xeno: 'I suppose my skeletal hands really did help keep this place tidy, didn't they?' He thought to himself proudly.
'Actually, now I think about it... Isn't this place a bit too quiet?' He noticed since he arrived.
The soundtrack weren't playing?
Xeno: '...Oh, right! I went unconscious, so all my constructs automatically disappeared. Damn, I guess I have to replace it... Again.'
He cast away the thought for now.
Instead, he needed to meet Rem and Ram. And, like always, the two were together. He just hoped Ram wouldn't be too mad at the stunt he just pulled.
Turning around the corner, he saw the two of them chatting about something. From the looks of things, it wasn't about what he just did.
Xeno: "Rem! Ram! Guess whoooo?" He cheered, spooked, running towards Rem for a hug.
He really needed tons of physical comfort right now.
The two of them hurriedly turned around in shock.They must really be surprised to see him.
It didn't matter. He leapt straight at Rem, arms wide open for a hug.
Xeno: "Rem, argh!!!"
Before he could embrace her, a solid kick landed on his solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him and sending him away from the two of them.
Groaning, Xeno held his stomach, breathing in and out rapidly.
Xeno: "The fuck's wrong with you, Ram!? I just recovered!" He said indignantly, pointing a finger at her.
But instead of the smug or maybe even angry look he was expecting from Ram...
All he received was a hostile, guarded and... suspicious look?
It wasn't only her either. Rem also gave him the same look.
Xeno: "Rem? Ram?" He asked, confused.
Rem was the first to speak, and the words that came out...
Shocked Xeno to his core.
Rem: "Who are you?"