Chapter Text
For as long as he could remember, Subaru had always woken up very easily: as soon as his consciousness awoke, his eyes opened, and he was ready for a new day. But he had a very hard time falling asleep, constantly tossing and turning and thinking about the past day. And, interestingly, he and Emilia were complete opposites in this respect, as she fell asleep easily but had trouble waking up.
But this time something was wrong. His consciousness returned painfully. It was too disturbing an awakening for someone who had gone to sleep in a soft bed. First, his consciousness returned, and then his eyes opened. The first thing he saw was a stone ceiling dotted with cracks and mold here and there. Looking around, he noticed that there were no windows in the room, and the only source of light was the dim glow of a torch. A moment after waking up, his body suddenly felt heavy, his head felt stuffed with cotton wool, and the ringing in his ears did not help him come to his senses — evidence of the battle he had fought, as well as proof that he was alive.
"Ahh... My head is splitting!" Subaru thought.
"Okay! Breathe in... breathe out... Breathe in... Breathe out..."
"Phew! Now, where am I and what happened?" Exhaling the accumulated fatigue along with the air, Subaru began to slowly and calmly analyze the situation he found himself in. He had instilled this quality in himself along with the experience of countless deaths for his own survival, because if he panicked every time he woke up, the number of his deaths could become terrifyingly high.
"So, the last thing I remember is... That's right! That bastard Gluttony! How dare he use Rem's memories like that! Damn it! And I was so close! Subaru's gaze was already clouded with rage at the memory of the battle he had fought, but he pulled himself together and continued to search his memory. "...The next thing I remember is that man appearing behind me, and then..." — And then, remembering the feeling of emptiness he had experienced the day before, his eyes widened...
His name.
— No...! — Cold sweat ran down his back, and he began to realize with horror: — Could it be my name? No!
The despair he now felt threatened to break him. The realization that everyone he loved would forget him was unbearable. Would everything he had achieved, all the people he sincerely loved, look at him as a stranger? Would one single mistake destroy everything? His eyes began to fill with tears, and intermittent moans began to escape from his throat, which was painfully constricted.
"Because you are my hero!"
— ...
And then he stopped, remembering her voice. The pain faded into the background when he remembered. He remembered the one who sincerely believed in him and would not let him give up, no matter how bad things got. That's right: Natsuki Subaru never gives up — not while there are those he loves and those who love him.
"I can't!" Gritting his teeth and pulling himself together, he continued, "I can't just give up like that! No one may remember, but hasn't it always been this way? I have to reunite with the guys, and then..."
Bang!
But then a sound interrupted him.
Trying to stand up, Subaru felt something holding him down, digging into his hands and feet. Pain. In his hands and feet, at his wrists and ankles. Not unbearable compared to his previous experiences, but pain is pain. He heard... a clank? Glancing down, he found the source of the sound.
Chains.
Cold and rusty. Strange. Why were they so thick? Whoever had decided to shackle Subaru clearly had exaggerated expectations of his strength.
His sudden attempt to stand up resulted in him painfully hitting his knees on the stone floor with a dull thud, and the chains digging into him began to clank with renewed force, tearing a small layer of skin and causing blood to pool in some places.
"Gah! What the hell is this...?"
"Look! The monster's awake!" came a rough voice filled with disgust, anger, and something else. Fear? Horror?
After being so rudely interrupted, he forgot his pain and looked at the source of the voice. A man. Large and strong build. His body was covered in knight's armor, and a sword was visible at his belt. But something was wrong with his silhouette. Or rather, not with the silhouette itself, but with what was between Subaru and the knight. A grate.
"This abomination still dares to look as if nothing happened!" came a second voice nearby, no less disgusted than the first. Subaru didn't even notice the second knight until he spoke.
"Looks like I'm in a prison cell or something."
The cell smelled of dampness, iron, and the faint smoke from the torches behind the bars. The cold shadow from the bars pierced his gaze, adding to his sense of hopelessness.
The second silhouette was shorter than the first, but the equipment was the same, except for the size. He couldn't be called "solid" or "muscular," but there was no uncertainty in his posture—proof of his competence as a knight, even despite the horror and fear visible in his eyes. Subaru couldn't help but feel respect.
"Wait, what am I doing here?" Subaru interrupted himself and decided that he needed to clear up this misunderstanding and ask about his situation. "Um... excuse me, but I woke up here and... heh heh, it seems we have a misunderstanding here...?"
His voice was uncertain, and a nervous laugh escaped his throat. Although the cell was eerily quiet, every sound he made echoed, making his words louder than they actually were. He felt a little afraid, because he hadn't been thrown into a cage for no reason, right?
"Really?" said the large knight, folding his arms. "So all those sacrifices were a misunderstanding?"
His eyes filled with anger, and he brought his face close to the bars of the cage and asked quietly in a low, cold voice.
Subaru involuntarily felt a chill run down his spine, and the chains in his hands creaked as if to show him there was no way out.
"!" Swallowing involuntarily out of fear, Subaru continued, "I... don't understand what sacrifices you're talking about, and if you could explain, then maybe..."
"Shut up! Don't you dare behave like that! Not after the massacre you and your friends caused!"
He was interrupted by the second knight, who was shorter in stature, and the fear in his eyes was now only a faint glimmer.
"Friends?" Subaru's eyes widened in confusion, and he began to listen intently.
"The victims included women and children, and they all had terrible wounds left by the whip with which they were tortured to death!"
"Wait! Wait! Wait! My weapon is, of course, a whip, but I would never..."
"There are witnesses who saw you carry out the massacre," interrupted the large knight in a cold and calculating voice, leaving no room for excuses, "and some of them claim that you acted together with the archbishops of Gluttony, and do you know what they say?
Holding his breath involuntarily, Subaru listened to what was about to be said and heard something that made his eyes widen and his body tense up.
Subaru's heart began to beat faster. He tensed up, trying to find even the slightest loophole for justification. The camera pressed down on him with every passing second, and he felt fear and despair intertwine in his chest.
"The Archbishops of Gluttony called you Pride, and a Gospel was found during your search.
"Sacrifices? Gluttony? Archbishop Pride? The whip? The name? The Gospel?" All these thoughts raced through Subaru's mind as he tried to piece the puzzle together, but everything was so chaotic that he simply couldn't make sense of the information he had received. "Wait... Betelgeuse mentioned that Pride's seat is now vacant. Could the archbishops have set me up? But what would they gain from it?"
Interrupting his thoughts, he tried to explain his situation and find a solution.
"This is a misunderstanding! They decided to frame me! And the Gospel was most likely planted! If we start—!"
"Silence!" A harsh voice interrupted him again. "Don't you dare try to deceive us! The great spirit Yin, who fought you and your accomplice, confirmed the presence of miasma on your body, as well as the fact that during the battle you were looking for instructions in the Gospel!
"Beatrice? What happened? I remember her fighting Gluttony, but me?" Subaru began to ponder the information he had and came to the only conclusion, namely—
"Capella...!" That's right, the Archbishop of Lust took his form and caused a massacre, and also entered into battle with Beatrice and Otto.
"I hope they're okay," Subaru thought anxiously. "But now..."
"Bring a dozen knights. He may be weaker than his colleagues, but he's still an archbishop—who knows what powers he possesses?"
"Yes, sir!"
The knight, who was larger in stature, gave the order to his subordinate and apparently remained to watch over Subaru. As soon as the sound of footsteps faded, the man decided to answer the question in Subaru's eyes.
"Interrogation."
"...
Resigned to the fact that this was the only correct choice, Subaru decided to defend himself during the interrogation, while assessing the situation in the cell and trying to find weaknesses in his guards.
――――――――――――――――――――—――――――――――――――――――――—
A quarter of an hour later, six knights entered Subaru's cell, their faces clearly showing tension and fear. Their footsteps sounded uneven—some walked confidently, while others lagged noticeably, as if expecting a trap even from the silence.
Two of them, upon entering, stopped on either side of the door, while the other three stood in a semicircle around Subaru. The last knight took out a bunch of keys and began to carefully remove the shackles.
"And they don't even know that I can't seriously harm them, even if I wanted to, heh..." Subaru mused lazily.
"All done."
With these words, Subaru's hands and feet became noticeably lighter. But before he could rejoice, two knights grabbed his arms, and two others began to put on new shackles that were more comfortable for movement.
"Could you be gentler with me? You know, this is my first time!" Subaru tried to joke, but was met with angry glances. This made him lose his enthusiasm and shrink back.
As soon as Subaru stood up, the knights surrounded him on all sides: two behind him and one on each side. The two standing at the exit took a couple of steps to the side, giving him space and allowing him to pass.
Leaving the cell and looking to his right, he noticed that there was nothing there. A dead end. His cell was the last one in the corridor.
A rough push on his shoulder made him turn to his left, where he was met by six pairs of eyes that seemed to be guarding the passage.
The looks were different—some full of hatred, others of fear, but none of them showed any doubt.
"Walk straight ahead and don't even think about doing anything. Any sudden movement will be taken as an attack and will result in your death. Got it?"
The man speaking to him was the same person Subaru had first seen after waking up.
"Yes, I understand."
As soon as Subaru uttered these words, the six knights in front took the lead, forming a distance of about four meters between them. Meanwhile, the six who had led him out of the cell walked directly behind him, barely more than a meter away.
"Those in front won't get stabbed in the back, but they can stop any escape attempts," Subaru thought, cautiously looking back. "And those behind won't let me take any action. Smart."
As they walked, Subaru didn't notice a single window or bars in the walls.
"We're underground..."
As he walked on, he noticed a couple of iron doors that apparently led to other cells. The smell in the dungeon was unbearable: dampness, blood, stale air, and something else he couldn't quite make out.
Every breath was difficult, as if the prison itself was trying to get inside and suffocate him.
Reaching the end of the corridor, Subaru saw the door to the room where the interrogation was to take place. If the cell doors were impenetrable, this door was like a wall — both the door and the wall around it were covered with steel.
"It's easier to start breaking down the walls in the cell than to hope for this door..."
It was obvious: since security here was taken to the extreme, the level of threat posed by the prisoners was correspondingly high.
"Although it's unlikely to withstand the attacks of the archbishops," Subaru thought, recalling the image of Regulus, who could only be stopped by Reinhard.
Click!
With that sound, the door began to open, emitting a loud creak and the screech of metal against metal.
"Come in," said the knight accompanying him.
Nodding, Subaru walked inside, leaving the knights behind, and found himself in a room where the only furniture was a metal table and two chairs.
At the other end of the table sat a man with short green hair. He was about two meters tall, and his massive build made one think twice before deciding to escape.
He didn't move, but his mere presence weighed heavier than any chains.
"You should sit down," said Marcos Gildrak.
"If you don't mind," Subaru said cautiously, sitting down opposite him.
"Answer my questions truthfully and don't try to hide anything. Any suspicious behavior will result in an immediate response."
"I'm sorry, but you're overestimating me if you think I'm that strong. Hell, I'm more afraid of you than you are of me!"
"So, what is your name and role in the witch cult?" Marcos asked, squinting and ignoring Subaru's words.
"My name is Natsuki Subaru! The one and only!" he began enthusiastically. "But I'm not in the cult! I hate them! All I do is get rid of them!
"You claim that you are not a member of the witch cult," Marcos continued in an even, almost emotionless tone, "yet you were seen with the leaders of the cult, the archbishops.
"That's Capella!" Subaru replied sharply, leaning forward. "She can change her appearance, and she was the one causing trouble in the city!" He clenched his teeth. "Besides...!"
"That's...?" Marcos frowned slightly.
Rolling up his sleeve, Subaru exposed his right hand, cursed with dragon blood. Its color resembled the flesh of a rotting corpse, and the slow pulsations under the skin created the sensation that something alive was moving inside.
The air in the room seemed to grow heavier, and Marcos' gaze lingered on the hand longer than it should have.
"Dragon blood. I was cursed by Capella during the storming of City Hall."
"Let's assume that Archbishop Lust really did take your form and carried out the massacre," Marcos interlocked his fingers. "But the archbishops of sin never got along with each other. And the fact that Gluttony called you Pride, not Lust, confirms your involvement in the cult. Let's move on." The storming of City Hall?
"Ugh... And yet I deny my involvement in the cult!" Subaru exhaled nervously. "As for the storming of City Hall, I participated in it along with the other camps."
"Can these people confirm your participation?"
"Unfortunately... my name was eaten, and no one remembers me," Subaru said, biting his lip.
He looked away, as if he himself did not quite believe what he had just said.
"Quite a convenient excuse," Marcos frowned. "Considering the commotion with the 'sleeping beauty' disease and the forgotten people, don't you think so?"
"I know how it sounds..." Subaru clenched his fists. "But it's true."
"All right. Then let's not drag this out," Marcos straightened up. "Next question: what is the essence of your power?"
"What makes you think that I..."
"The Great Spirit Yin confirmed that you have authority based on the amount of miasma around you," Marcos interrupted him.
"Beatrice..." Subaru thought wistfully.
"I'm screwed. Taboo won't let me tell the truth... But if I don't say anything, I'll become even more suspicious! Think! Think! Think!"
"By not answering the question, you are only confirming that you have authority," Marcos continued. "I'm asking you one last time: what is the essence..."
"I've got it!"
"Well! Um... it's pretty simple!" Subaru began hastily. "My power is 'Invisible Providence'. I can summon an invisible hand equal in strength to my own. If I try hard, I can make it pass through matter, but the range is very limited — one to two meters at most.
Marcos was silent for a few seconds.
The silence hung between them like the calm before a storm.
"Hmm..." he finally said. "That's the same power that the previous archbishop, Leni, possessed, according to the demon sword's reports. It seems that his authority passed on to you after his death."
Subaru tensed involuntarily.
"But here's what interests me," Marcos continued. "Why are you trying to hide your main ability?"
"Huh...?"
"First, you named your secondary power, not your main one," his gaze grew colder. "Gluttony called you Pride. Therefore, you must possess the corresponding power.
"Shit. Shit. Shit."
"No! Stop! I didn't mean to hide anything, I just...!"
"Just?"
"I... I can't say it. Not because I don't want to... but because I can't. Really!" Subaru's voice trembled.
Marcos narrowed his eyes, studying his face, his breathing, his slightest movements.
It seemed as if he was looking not at Subaru, but through him, searching for the very essence of the lie.
"It seems you are telling the truth..."
"So?!" Subaru raised his head, hope flashing in his eyes.
"But that doesn't mean I trust you," Marcos replied calmly. "The cult may impose oaths on its followers in case of capture."
"No...!"
"Natsuki Subaru," Marcos said, rising from his chair, "you will be taken into custody as the alleged Archbishop of Pride and held in a special control cell until the Council of Elders reaches a decision."
His words fell heavily, like a sentence from which there was no escape.
And with them, his last hope of clearing his name crumbled to dust.
"No! Wait! I am Emilia's knight! Please, tell her!" Subaru desperately began to babble everything that came to mind. "Please!"
"...
"Hic! Hic..."
And then the dam burst. The one who stood with an unshakable face in the way of the monsters of this world was crying. Tears burned his eyes. It hurt. It hurt a lot. Intermittent sobs escaped from his throat. All the pain he had been holding back began to pour out, and he could no longer stop it. He no longer had the strength to do so.
"...
But what Subaru didn't notice was Marcos' unreadable gaze.
――――――――――――――――――――—――――――――――――――――――――—
The city of the water gate, Prisella. A special control prison cell.
"To everyone, I am the Archbishop of Pride."
Deep underground, on the cold stone floor, sat a young man with hair the color of a raven's wing. His back was hunched, his shoulders slumped, and his gaze was fixed on the cracks in the stone, as if he could find the answer there.
"And it's practically impossible to escape from here."
Several hours had passed since Subaru had burst into tears in front of the commander of the royal guard. Two or three, maybe more—Subaru didn't know. Here, deep in the dungeon, time dragged on viscously and implausibly slowly.
Coming to his senses, Subaru began to act immediately. First: what cards did he have in his hand?
"Impossible..." he thought, as if testing the strength of this idea. "If I use 'Return by Death', it's not so impossible. The only question is my determination."
With this thought, Subaru began to shake his head frantically.
"This is only a last resort! I made a promise to her. And I made it to myself..."
For Subaru, who was known for breaking promises, the promise he made to Satelle was absolute. Using this cursed power, treating his own life as expendable, was repulsive. Subaru involuntarily contorted his face into a grimace of disgust at the thought of even considering such a possibility, albeit in theory.
"If I start using my authority like that, how is it any different from the contract with Echidna...?"
"Phew... Okay! Let's continue!"
Exhaling slowly and slapping his cheeks with his palms, Subaru continued to reason.
"My name has been erased. But... that doesn't necessarily affect my contracts and vows."
The thought stuck and wouldn't let go. If Gluttony really only erases memories and not reality itself...
"Then... then there must be some proof."
He mechanically glanced at himself, as if checking the obvious.
"If it had gone beyond simple memory interference... I would be sitting here without my clothes on right now."
The realization did not come immediately. First came doubt, then quiet confidence.
" So Gluttony can steal names and memories... but it doesn't change physical reality."
The puzzle in his head slowly but surely came together.
"Beatrice...!" Subaru whispered, his eyes wide.
The charming and incredibly cute spirit with whom Subaru had made a contract.
"Beako! You're a miracle!" Subaru smiled involuntarily. Not the forced smile he usually used to say "everything's fine," but a truly lively and sincere one. "So, I need to send her an SOS signal... How do you even do that? Damn, I should have asked about this earlier!
"Wait... but then that bastard Roswaal must also—"
Click-click!
The sound of a key turning in the lock interrupted Subaru's thoughts and made him look up sharply at the cell door. His muscles tensed automatically, and his heart skipped a beat.
Scre-e-e!
Subaru instinctively covered his ears at the screech of metal on metal.
"Ooh! What a cute boy for an archbishop, nyah!
The high-pitched voice, too lively for this place, cut through the ears, not fitting in with the gloomy silence of the dungeon.
"Felix...?"
――――――――――――――――――――—――――――――――――――――――――—
The city of water gates, Pristella.
One of the most significant cities in Lugunika due to its large population. Its proximity to the city-states of Kararagi, combined with its picturesque views, makes it a wonderful place for tourists who want to see the local sights, as well as for those who are looking for a place to call home.
Pristella once lived at a measured pace, welcoming merchants, tourists, nobles, and those seeking a quiet life. But that peace was rudely interrupted, as if someone had simply torn pages out of a book, and those calm, peaceful days began to seem so distant.
Unfortunately, Prisella is now under martial law due to the invasion of the witch cult.
"So it can devour people's memories and names...?" whispered the man in horror, whose appearance was dominated by the color green and whose hair was ash-colored.
At that moment, the city of the water gate was occupied by four archbishops of sin, representing Greed, Anger, Lust, and Gluttony. The situation was so desperate that one could have panicked and torn their hair out, wailing to the whole neighborhood. Such were the archbishops of sin, inspiring terror.
The battle Otto Suven was drawn into was with the Archbishop of Gluttony, and while Felt's camp and the White Dragon Scale were stalling for time, Otto sought a solution that would be most effective in this situation, given his obvious lack of strength.
The ground beneath his feet was littered with cracks and craters, evidence of the battle that had taken place there, and water was already beginning to accumulate in the depressions between them after Otto's previous attack. But its color was far from crystal clear — dark red from the blood spilled in battle. Every clang of metal against metal sent a shiver through Otto's body, but there was no time for fear — he had to come up with a plan based on what he had.
"Wow! You can surprise me after all...!" said Lai Batenkaitos, licking his lips predatorily after his dagger dug into Gaston's abs without doing any damage. "But you're still not good enough to fight an archbishop!
And one serious blow to the head caused the heavy man to fall to the ground, motionless.
And with that...
"Aah...!!" Otto rushed at Archbishop Gluttony with a battle cry. "Gah!"
...only to receive a blow to the stomach with a painful groan and curl up on the ground.
"Well, well, brother, just because you're lacking in strength is no reason to rush at the enemy waving your arms," said Lai Batenkaitos, mocking the defeated Otto.
"And who... khah! ...said that I just hit blindly?" asked the green merchant, trying to cope with the pain.
"...!"
And with these words, red crystals flashed dangerously in the archbishop's rags, foreshadowing an inevitable explosion.
Boom!
"...Did we do it...?" Otto asked cautiously five seconds after the explosion, from which no movement could be seen through the smoke.
The thick smoke dissipated extremely slowly but steadily, spreading throughout the entire area. There was nothing in it—no silhouettes, no movement—only an uneasy silence.
"Sorry to disappoint!" said the childish figure, rushing towards the ash-haired merchant to grab his hand.
"Gah!" groaned the merchant.
"I've always wondered: what do the fingers of merchants who constantly deceive us taste like?!" exclaimed the archbishop, clearly recalling some grievance of his own, of which Otto knew nothing.
"Damn it! Not a single fighter left, and the enemy is right in front of me! What to do? What to do? What to do?
Think! Think! Think! Think!
Think! Think! Think! Think! Otto felt his thoughts racing in panic. He pushed his brain to the limit, searching for even the slightest way out.
"Minya!" a young voice rang out, interrupting both the merchant's thoughts and Gluttony's attack, breaking the chaos around them.
"Could it be the spirit we came here for...?" Gluttony asked, licking its lips predatorily and showing excitement.
"I hope your fingers are okay?" Beatrice asked quietly, creating a safe space between Otto and the archbishop.
"Although there are traces left..." Otto said with a crooked smile.
"Then... Muraku, I suppose!" Beatrice said, grabbing Otto's hand and jumping high above the rooftops.
"El-minya!" And with these words, forty pink crystals instantly appeared above Lay Batenkaito's head. They hung dangerously in the air, ready to smash him to smithereens.
"...!"
Without wasting a second, Lai began to dodge the crystals, abandoning the idea of parrying or blocking, listening to his instincts. He tried to avoid any injury, even a scratch, using the debris lying here and there to activate the crystals prematurely without touching him. Masterfully avoiding damage, his movements became almost a dance of survival.
"What have you forgotten outside your library, Lady Beatrice?" The archbishop's voice sounded unexpectedly soft, almost tender.
"What are you talking about...?" Beatrice asked suspiciously, frowning her delicate eyebrows and interrupting her barrage of questions due to a strange premonition.
"How cruel of you, Lady Beatrice, for I was a hard-working servant who worked and lived with you under the same roof..."
Lai continued his monologue, completely ignoring Otto and Beatrice.
"This... can't... be...!" Otto and Beatrice began to realize in silent horror the grotesque power that their enemy possessed.
"...The one standing next to my hero is Rem!" Lai exclaimed, making a demonstrative curtsy.
"I think... Subaru shouldn't see this..." Beatrice said with pain in her heart.
After all, seeing the person most dear to him being used in this way could cause him serious harm. And for Beatrice, who cared so much for him, that was unacceptable.
And then a cry rang out:
«GLUTTONY-Y-Y!!!»
This cry cut through the battlefield like a rusty blade. There was no tactic or calculation in it—only pure, undiluted rage capable of burning up the one who carried it.
That thunderous voice belonged to Natsuki Subaru, who was now unrecognizable due to the incredible amount of rage and anger visible on his face, in his eyes, and in his posture. There was no trace left of the cheerful guy who smiled at everyone, and if Priscilla were here, she would say that there was as much rage in him as, if not more than, Archbishop Wrath.
In an instant, Subaru's hand grabbed the leather whip that rested at his side to hurl a piece of the building at Lay Batenkaitos, intending to crush his head. But that was just a distraction from the real attack—the invisible providence that Subaru had summoned, intending to crush his opponent's heart or, at best, inflict serious damage to one of his limbs.
But even though Subaru was blinded by rage, he wasn't stupid enough to go after the Archbishop of Sin alone. While his attack was in effect, he was counting on Beatrice to get close to him, bringing Otto with her, and then their team...
"Subaru!"
"Natsuki-san!"
But the cries of his companions and their faces full of anxiety tried to warn him about...
"Natsuki Subaru! Bon appetit, tsu~!" said the man who appeared out of nowhere behind Subaru, licking the hand that had touched his face in a moment of vulnerability.
And at that moment, Subaru felt a void where there shouldn't have been one. As if he had lost something. Something important. Something that had been torn away from him — a piece of himself. And it was... his name. He didn't know how, but he felt it: there could be no mistake.
After these words and the realization of the hopelessness of his situation, he collapsed, losing consciousness both from the attempt to summon his authority to prevent the attack of the second Gluttony after it had been rudely interrupted, and from the loss of his name.
— ...
— ...
Meanwhile, Beatrice and Otto stood motionless. Not because they were indifferent to him. No. Quite the opposite.
For Beatrice, he was the man who dispelled her four hundred years of loneliness, and for Otto, he was the man who saved his life and became his first and true friend. And they were being deprived of their memories with him, one by one. Memories that had become an important part of these two.
And at that moment, while they were "stunned" on the battlefield, a third party burst in, leaving an impressive crater with its landing...
"Ta-da-da-daa! You were all waiting for me, weren't you? What were you fantasizing about when you remembered me? How indecent! Kya-ha-ha-ha! — Capella, Archbishop of Lust.
In an instant, at the very moment when the two were unable to comprehend what was happening in the outside world, the three archbishops carried out an extraordinarily coordinated effort based on the instructions of the Gospel.
The Archbishop of Lust began to take on the form of Natsuki Subaru, standing right in the crater she had created with her landing, without moving from her spot. And while the smoke had not yet cleared, Lai Batenkaitos, not wasting a moment, hid the Gospel in Natsuki Subaru, who was lying on the ground, and Louis Arne, who was in Roy Alfard's body, touched him and teleported...
One. Two. Three...
Already thirty meters.
"Tsu! What strange instructions! But let's see where this leads!" thought Louis, dragging Subaru behind her by the collar.
Four. Five. Six...
Sixty meters.
"Where could this place be...? ...Found it!"
Seven. Eight... Eighty meters.
Nine. Ten... One hundred meters.
"I think that's enough. Sleep peacefully and wait for your moment, hero, tsu~!" said Louis Arne, before disappearing from the city of water gates, leaving Natsuki Subaru lying flat next to the bodies of fallen knights and warriors.