On the last day, after returning from the village with groceries, Subaru headed straight to Kaeya's room — just like they'd agreed.
"Hey, Kaeya… wait—seriously? You're just lazing around like that?" Subaru asked.
Kaeya pushed himself up from the bed. "What was i supposed to do when you weren't even here?"
Subaru sighed, sitting down on a chair in Kaeya's room.
"Let's get this over with. Give me your arm."
Subaru hesitated. Still, he extended his arm, albeit reluctantly.
"Even if I can't sense a curse directly, I can still remove it. If there's a reaction... that means it was there." Kaeya said.
"That's not exactly comforting!" Subaru said. "What if you miss it and I end up dying again!?"
Kaeya didn't reply.
A dark pressure settled in the air as he drew on his weird ability.
Seconds passed.
Then, from Subaru's wrist, tendrils of black smoke began to emerge — Subaru's eyes widened as he watched the shadowy mist.
Kaeya finally let go, exhaling slowly.
"There it is," he said, "You were cursed. If you'd stayed awake last time… the pain would've been excruciating. But you died in your sleep, so your body never registered it."
Subaru stared at his arm, still half expecting the smoke to return..
"Well… that's a relief, I guess…"
But his words trailed off suddenly — as if something had just occurred to him.
Subaru started shaking in place as he held his hand. "Wait.. the place that the black mist came from is where the shaman touched me, right?"
Kaeya nodded.
Subaru had a manic look of fear and dismay as he reached the conclusion.
"Could that puppy actually be... We have to get to the village!" Subaru yelled and ran out the door.
"At least explain your findings before running off." Kaeya sighed as he stepped out of the room, watching Subaru disappear down the hallway.
.
.
"The village? What for?" Ram asked as she stood with her sister in front of Subaru.
Subaru raised his left hand, revealing a faint but still-visible mark near his wrist.
"Kaeya said the one who gave me this wound is responsible for cursing me."
He paused, then added "It was the dog that the kids were playing with!"
Ram and Rem both stiffened, their eyes widening in shock.
"That dog-looking thing cursed everyone it bit! If we don't act now, those kids… the entire village could be in danger. Kaeya and I are going. If you don't believe me, then come with us. But we can't all leave. Emilia needs someone here."
He looked between them. "Only one of you can come."
Ram's brow twitched. "You're making your own rules again… and according to Roswaal-sama's orders, there's no reason either of us should go with you."
Subaru didn't back down. "Maybe not. But was that the only order Roswaal gave you?"
Silence hung heavy for a moment.
"Very well, Barusu. I'll allow you to act on your judgment."
"Sister…?" Rem blinked, clearly surprised.
"Rem will accompany you," Ram said decisively, glancing at her sister.
A grin spread across Subaru's face, and he pumped his fist in triumph. "Just what I wanted to hear!"
"Rem, that's my decision, so please go. I'll stay behind and protect Emilia-sama."
"Sister, you shouldn't have to—" Rem began, her voice low with concern.
"Subaru, Are you going somewhere?" Emilia came down the stairs looking worried.
Everyone looked back to see Emilia running down the stairs while holding her nightgown.
"I heard loud voices, so I came down to see what was going on... what happened?"
"Something might be happening. But you don't need to worry."
"You look like you're going to do something dangerous again!" Emilia ran towards the smiling Subaru with a worried look on her face.
"We were just wrapping up a dispute on that particular topic."
"I can't stop you, can I?" Emilia smiled tiredly.
"I guess not, no." Subaru rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"In fact, if you do, it'd be a hindrance in several ways... " Subaru looked apologetic.
"Fine, fine, I get it." Emilia sighed and smiled at him. "I won't stop you. It's probably no use telling you not to be rash or reckless, too, right?"
"Depending on what happens... I mean, it's not like I want to do any of that." Subaru smiled at her.
Emilia quickly extended her hand and touched Subaru's chest while looking down and whispering.
"May the blessing of the spirits be with you."
"Huh? Say what?" Subaru asked in bewilderment.
The half-elf princess smiled up at the boy. "It's a prayer to send you off. It means to come back safely."
Subaru nodded. "Got it, Emilia-tan."
Just then footsteps approached their position.
"Oh, you're going too, Kaeya?" Emilia asked, tilting her head.
"Yes, I have to be there in case of any trouble after all." He replied.
Emilia giggled lightly, looking a little relieved. "Then... I'll leave Subaru to you. Keep an eye on him for me."
"I'll do my best. No promises if he runs off, though."
"Who do you think i am, A five year old?!" Subaru protested.
"Alright, let's get moving before something else happens," Kaeya said changing the subject and waited for Subaru to pass the door first.
"Okay, I'm off."
"Take care."
Emilia remained standing at the front of the mansion, looking at the two as they ran with Rem towards the village..
.
.
"Weird... it's too quiet."
Subaru glanced around, feeling a slight chill.
They were running towards the village as fast as they could.
Before he could think any further, three shadows burst from the bushes at his side — snarling mabeasts, eyes gleaming with bloodlust.
El Fura
Three blades of wind slashed through the air, striking the beasts mid-leap. They fell down with sharp yelps, lifeless before they even hit the ground.
Subaru staggered back, heart pounding. "W-What the hell?!"
There was no time to breathe. More bushes shook violently — dozens of mabeasts poured out, surrounding them on all sides.
"Tch—stay behind me!" Rem shouted towards Subaru, swinging her morning star with brutal precision. It crushed a beast with a sickening thud, the spiked head spinning back to catch another in the side.
Subaru's mouth hung open as he watched Rem — mowing down monsters like it was second nature.
"Get ready to move." Kaeya ordered.
With a single, powerful swing, Kaeya unleashed a roaring slash — a wave of fire surged forward, clearing a wide, burning path through the horde.
"Now, Run! I will meet with you after dealing with these Ma beasts."
Rem quickly grabbed Subaru's wrist and started running toward the village. Both of them knew, He would be able to fight more freely if they weren't there.
.
.
Now that Subaru and Rem had already left, Kaeya stayed behind to clean up.
"Guess I'm on janitor duty."
The mabeasts — looking like oversized, mangy dogs — rushed at him with snarls and snapping jaws.
Kaeya raised his palm toward them — and with a flash, a stream of fire erupted from his hand.
The beasts in front had no chance. They were engulfed instantly, their charred remains hitting the ground with dull thuds.
The others skidded to a halt, growling, clearly more hesitant now.
After a tense moment, they rushed him again — this time attacking from multiple directions at once.
'So they're not completely brainless after all,' Kaeya thought. 'This would have been a lot easier if i just worked on flying magic.'
But he brushed the thought aside — no point whining now.
Lowering his stance, Kaeya slammed both hands onto the ground.
Huma.
Sharp, jagged spikes of ice erupted in rings around him, spearing the mabeasts directly beneath them.
The unlucky front-liners were impaled on the spot, yelping once before falling silent.
The ones behind leapt over their fallen comrades, lunging for him with even more fury.
Kaeya spun sharply and swept his hand sideways — In a single clean sweep, two dozen mabeasts were shredded mid-air, their bodies falling apart before they even hit the ground.
The ones that survived seemed to grow more vicious, pushing forward with reckless abandon.
Kaeya moved like a blur- weaving between them, dodging every claw and fang. Each time he passed a beast, a small wind slash flicked out from his fingers — slicing necks, legs, or stabbing straight into organs with surgical precision.
One after another, they dropped. However, no matter how many he cut down, the mabeasts kept coming — like an endless tide of ants.
Kaeya had only ever practiced casting magic in straight lines — he couldn't just spin around and blast spells like a beyblade. And ofcourse, Its not like this was a big problem, But he always tried to think of the most effective way of solving a problem before heading into it without thinking. So, If he wanted to wipe them out in one go, he needed to herd them in a single direction first.
And so, Kaeya turned on his heel and bolted.
The mabeasts howled and chased after him, but they had no chance of catching up.
As he sprinted, a thought slipped into his mind.
He frowned slightly.
If Subaru ran into even half of what he was facing right now, it could end badly.
'It's like I over-leveled in a game and now the main quest mobs can't even touch me,' he thought.
The hunt continued, But a timer was set in Kaeya's mind.
He had to wrap this up soon — and catch up with Subaru and Rem before anything happened.
.
.
His sprint came to an end when he saw a straight cliff in front of him, Since he couldn't just run 90 degrees above he turned around.
The spot he was in now was a small clearing — roughly oval-shaped, with dense trees circling it like walls.
And from the path he'd just come, an endless wave of Ulgrams kept pouring in, more and more by the second.
It was like someone had kicked an ant nest.
He created 3 clones tasking them mentally to make sure no mabeast comes to close to him while casting.
And what he was about to unleash wasn't just a casual lightning shot.
Right after mastering Zoltraak — Kaeya had wondered something on the lines off: "What if I could make it bigger? Preferably a long range spell."
It took twenty clones and four brutal days of non-stop work....from his clones of course, he just had to supervise, but he pulled it off.
The upgraded spell: Ul Zoltraak.
Kaeya planted his feet on the ground, This was the first time he was going to use it properly as well as by himself. And so for better output he started to mutter the steps one by one.
"Alright, First squeeze the air tight... pull everything into one spot..."
Above him, the atmosphere started to twist — a giant invisible cylinder of condensed air forming.
"Second, charge it full of yang magic, So that the atoms get jumpy, ready to pop if you must."
"Next, I have to rip their electrons off... ionize the whole thing into a plasma channel..."
The space above him began to faintly glow — bluish, crackling with tension.
"And finally..." Kaeya pointed his hand upwards.
BA-KOOOM!
A gigantic plasma beam exploded forward horizontally —A roaring cylinder of lightning, wide as ten subaru's tied together in more of a circular shape, tearing through the Ulgrams like paper dolls.
In mere seconds, Dozens of beasts were wiped out.
Kaeya exhaled, releasing the last of the built-up energy. The beam faded slowly, leaving a long blackened scar in the ground stretching far out of sight.
Even though the speed of both Zoltraak and Ul Zoltraak was around the same the main difference was in the area covered.
However this move had for the first time depleted his mana significantly, If he had to make a rough estimate it was around 40% left. This spell alone took 15% of his mana and the rest was gone because of his earlier training which he wasn't able to recover properly, However it was not really going to be a problem since most of the Ulgrams were dead.
"..That worked better than expe-"
Before Kaeya could even catch his breath, a massive fireball came hurtling toward him at incredible speed — almost as fast as the spell he had used earlier.
Instead of trying to block it with an earth wall, he dashed sideways, slipping just outside the blast radius.
The explosion behind him tore up the ground with a violent roar, a blazing sphere of destruction nearly 20 meters across.
Taking advantage of the chaos, a figure clad in a black cloak darted out from the smoke.It was a woman — She aimed straight for Kaeya's back, trying to slice him open before he could react.