Date a Bride (Date A Live Fanfiction)

We are not made out of flesh or bone, nor bound by the fragile threads that tether the living.

We do not cling to life to face death.

And yet, we feel it—the fading presence of our kin, from the tallest trees to the smallest leaves. They did not merely wither; they vanished, reduced to ash.

"What's the matter, you filthy monster?!"

With every passing second and every clash, our numbers dwindle.

The land that once birthed them lies scarred and barren, abandoned by the forces that once nourished it.

Flames—towering infernos—devour everything in their path.

"Just moments ago, you were so full of yourself—look at you now!"

A storm of lightning tore down from the heavens.

Each bolt shattered the sky, ripping through the air and slamming into the ground, casting jagged bursts of light over the ruins.

Under normal circumstances, with our master beside us, even the malice and deceit of our enemy wouldn't have tipped the scales. Victory would have been ours.

But she can't fight beside us—not this time. She's already facing her own battle.

"Can't you see? Your pet can't defeat me! SHOW YOURSELF, YOU FILTHY SPIRIT!"

Shot, burned, shattered—the tide was shifting, and more of us were falling.

With each loss, a faint breeze brushed past those who remained, carrying whispers through the emptiness...

Remember our purpose...

"!"

A blinding beam of light ripped across the battlefield, its radiance so fierce that shadows dissolved in its wake, carving a path of pure intensity as it screamed toward Artemisia.

Artemisia didn't move—her body still, eyes locked ahead.

In the blink of an eye, her sword arched back. With a swift, fluid twist, she swung her blade forward, releasing a surge of energy from its edge.

A fierce glow erupted from the saber, matching the oncoming beam's intensity as the two forces tore toward each other.

The beams met in mid-air, colliding with a sharp, violent flash. The force of their clash rippled through the space around them, sending shockwaves in all directions.

For a moment, there was silence, the glowing remnants of the canceled beams flickering out like dying embers.

Artemisia stood still, her saber lowered slightly, the faint shimmer of light lingering around its edge.

Her expression remained unreadable, her eyes once clear blue—now a deep crimson—locked down at the sea of flames beneath her—toward the pale, trembling body of the creature.

Its shape, twisted and gnarled yet still resembling a dog, was tangled in grey leaves and vines that once pulsed with life.

Now, they were charred and lifeless, curling inward like withered roots.

"That attack was weaker than the one before... Was that the last glimpse of power you had left?"

The creature gave no response, only a low, pitiful groan as it struggled to remain standing.

She descended slowly, and as her feet touched the ground, a shockwave of mana rippled outward, pushing the flames aside and clearing the area around her.

The molten lava, bubbling and glowing, was the only remaining source of light.

Each step she took was deliberate, crushing dead leaves and scattering ash beneath her feet as she moved toward the creature.

As she approached, the creature's pitiful groan shifted into a low, threatening growl.

Small tendrils sprouted from its body, thin and fragile, a stark contrast to the towering vines it had once wielded.

But for the creature, this wasn't the end—it refused to give up.

With one last burst of desperation, it lashed out at her, the tendrils whipping toward her, wild and desperate yet lacking the strength of its former attacks. They sliced through the air, brittle and unfocused, aimed directly at her.

"..."

Yet Artemisia's pace didn't falter, nor did her expression waver. She simply tilted her head to the side, effortlessly avoiding it—One after another.

Before she decided to catch one mid-air as if they were no more than strands of silk.

"Enough of this!"

Her eyes narrowed, as she drove her sword into the ground, freeing her hand. with the other, She tightened her grip on the tendril, yanking it forward with swift, unyielding force.

The creature lurched, its neck snapping back as it was pulled off balance. In one fluid motion, Artemisia grasped it by the neck, holding it firmly as her gaze locked onto its glowing eyes.

For a brief moment, defiance flickered within the creature's stare, but it quickly faded, replaced by the stark realization of its own helplessness.

"You're already out of Reiryoku..." she murmured, pulling its face closer to hers. "What about calling your master to give you more? It's the only way if you don't want to turn into ash..."

The creature's glowing eyes remained fixed on hers, unmoving as if it had already accepted its fate. There was no response, no desperate plea for mercy—It simply stared back at her.

"Oh, right..." Artemisia sighed as if the thought had just crossed her mind. She raised a hand, briefly covering her eyes.

"You're nothing more than a puppet, empty of emotions or a soul... Even if you called for her help, she wouldn't care. Her life is above yours."

That's right...

Artemisia withdrew her hand back, meeting the creature's gaze once more.

"I don't know why I thought you even had a soul. Maybe it's because you put up one hell of a fight. You didn't give up—not until the very last trace of Reiryoku left your body."

We merely exist to fulfill our purpose,

"You deserve that compliment at least..."

Our purpose of protecting our master to the last glimpse of power we received from her,

Artemisia's eyes narrowed, but this time, her gaze held something other than hatred—It was quite the opposite.

The creature, in a final act of defiance, reached with its mouth and bit her hand with all its remaining might.

She felt nothing from it, no pain, no fear, only a strange sense of pity

"Even now, you still fighting,"

Slowly, she reached for her sword, pulling it free from the ground and raising it above her head.

"But it's over."

Pity? Feelings like that were meant for those who deserved them, not a monster that brought destruction to this world.

MASTER!

The creature suddenly loosened its bite, as if surrendering.

"So, you've finally given up? But it's too late..."

Yet something felt wrong. This wasn't an act of submission. Artemisia realized it too late as she watched the creature slowly lift its head toward the sky, the glow in its eyes flaring with intensity.

MASTER IS IN DANGER!

With a swift, decisive motion, Artemisia brought the sword down, ready to deliver the final blow.

Time seemed to freeze in the split second before the blade could connect.

"Die—!"

Before A deafening roar—no, a scream. No, it was something else entirely.

"What in—!"

The ground beneath her feet began to tremble violently, as though the island itself had come alive in protest.

As if maintaining her footing wasn't challenging enough, another problem suddenly arose.

"—the world..."

The sky above erupted in an explosion of light. In the blink of an eye, everything was consumed by an unnatural, blinding pink hue—far more intense than the midday sun. The radiance flared outward, swallowing the horizon and casting endless, jagged shadows beneath the flickering flames.

MASTER!

"!"

Artemisia's attention snapped back to where the creature had been moments ago, pinned firmly in her grasp—only to find nothing but a handful of withered leaves slipping through her fingers.

"Ran away...? No, it didn't..."

Her gaze shifted upward, drawn to the concentrated point of light gathering at the airship's cannon.

"Was that creature truly soulless?"

Part 2:

MORE!

Everything was happening in mere fractions of a second.

Faster!

Moving swiftly through the dead earth, the heat was unbearable.

For our duty...

Life had been almost entirely wiped from the island. All that remained was ash and ruin.

For our purpose...

Only a handful of us remained—scattered fragments of a family that had already been torn apart. But that was fine... each one of them had already fulfilled their duty.

For our MASTER!

And for those few still standing, the ones fortunate—or perhaps cursed—enough to survive the consuming flames.

Who clung to the last sparks of their fading energy. They had to give up everything—their lives, their dwindling energy—devoted to one purpose alone: to protect the one we serve.

And for am I —the last of us—with the final glimpse of energy I received from my siblings I will see this duty through to the end—To fulfill my purpose...

To remain by my master's side. To protect her.

Master...

"Ember?!"

A blinding light flashed. An earth-shaking roar followed.

An explosion tore through the air, flattening everything in its path, scorching the ground into a desolate wasteland of cracked earth and dust.