I know you guys and girls have been waiting for this. The Battle between the Warlock of Envy and Wrath vs the Archbishop of Greed, so let's dive into it, shall we?Also, I would like to give very special thanks to The Scarlet Emperor, who did the dialog for Regulus. Wouldn't have been able to do it without him.As always, I don't own Re:Zero or its Characters, now let's watch 2 Immortals try to kill each other.
"Enough Talk! Time for assholes to die." Was all that said before a wave of black Flames was launched towards the Archbishop of Greed, engulfing him in the process.. The forest around began to catch on fire, as the black fires turned into normal orange after a few seconds.
With Regulus temporarily blinded, Subaru turned towards the Guese, Fortuna, and Emilia and chanted "Al Shamac!" Causing a rift in space to appear behind them.
"Go. I can't fight unrestrained with you three nearby, so I'm sending you back to the village." Subaru explained before turning his attention back to the Archbishop in the sea of black Flames. "I'll deal with Greed."
Guese understood the situation, and grabbed Fortuna's hand while she was holding Emilia and headed for the Portal. "Understood, I wish you the best of luck Subaru-sama."
"Subaru…" Fortuna got the attention of the Warlock, causing him to turn back to look at her. "... Make him pay." A small smirk made its way onto the Warlock of Envy and Wrath. "That's the idea."
"Mister Subaru…" Subaru's attention turned to the Half-Elf girl in her Aunt's arms. She had not known Subaru for very long, but he had gone out of his way to protect her family, and she knew that he was not a bad person.
"... Please come back safely…" Those words struck deep into the Warlock. He had heard those words before… A memory of one of his Greatest regrets began to surface.
"Please come back safely, in fact!" A certain Great Yin Spirit cried as she couldn't bear to see her Best Friend leave. While Subaru gave a reassuring smile to comfort her.
"Don't worry Beako, I promise I'll come back in one piece." Pulling the Spirit into a hug while she silently cried on him.
That day… he broke a promise. A promise that meant the world to a little girl. He swore that he would never make another promise he couldn't keep, and he intended to abide by that Oath.
"...Don't worry about me… I'll be fine." Was all the Warlock said before the three ran into the Portal, once they were through, the rift closed and Subaru now didn't have to worry about casualties.
Well, except for the guy who was about to get his ass kicked.
Subaru turned back to the fire as he saw a figure, which Subaru assumed was Regulus, walking through the flames, seemingly unharmed. Regulus exited the flaming grounds with an irritated expression. Subaru was surprised to see that not only was Regulus unharmed, but not even his clothes were singed in the slightest.
"Now listen here! Are you so moronic that you can't even respect someone's basic right on not being set on fire? I take such a careless affront personally! Did I ever try to incinerate you like you just attempted with me!? Obviously not! I find it repugnant that a scumbag like you was ever granted power in the first place! You're a complete buffoon who would throw his weight around as if his words held any significance in this wretched world, caring not whom he tramples on his eternal quest for validation. It's so abhorrent facing such a distasteful human being such as yourself!" Regulus waved his arm horizontally, and before Subaru knew it, his torso was cut clean in half. His arm severed at the elbows as well.
Subaru's sliced up body fell to the ground, but Regulus knew that after his first attack, the Warlock wasn't dead yet. Seconds later, Subaru's body began to pull itself back together via an invisible force, like Magnets attracting each other. With his arms reattached and torso in one piece again, Subaru stood up from the ground and decided on a new approach.
"My apologies. Allow me to rectify my mistake." Subaru now understood that Gates of Hell was useless against Regulus, but from what he saw during Regulus' fight with Guese, the Archbishop of Greed could be moved around.
Focusing solely on his Authority of Envy, the Warlock shot forth dozens of black tendrils at the Archbishop, intending to restrain and possibly crush him. Regulus responded by quickly picking up some dirt and throwing it. The dirt stayed still in the air for a mere moment, then shot forward like bullets and shredded the shadows.
"And yet still you defy me. And yet still you resist me. And yet still you deny your rightful punishment. Why do you exist? Why do people like you exist? Why can't you just lay down on the dirt, rot away for eternity and become food for the bugs? Only then might you have some worth in the natural order! But no! That's not ENOUGH for you, is it!? It's not enough to have life, to be able to breathe and walk normally, speak with fellow members of your species and live a life of peace and tranquility! You have to aim for more! You have to turn your ugly eyes upwards, daring to believe that your ambition could be sated if you continued climbing! Someone like you is not worth someone like me! Me! Me! Me! Me! Me! I go about my life as content as I can be, as satisfied as I may be, as complete as I am! I neither desire tragedy nor fortune! I neither desire sadness nor happiness! I do not desire anything! I am a simple man, with a simple property, living a simple existence! That is my perfection, the fact that even with so much power, I desire so little, that even with so much strength, I require so little, that even though I have the means to cross this world in an instant, I use it to only propagate my tranquility and peace. I don't want anything more, because I don't need anything more, I'm a satisfied existence. Nothing like a base-born mongrel such as yourself can comprehend, I'm sure. You, who's entire existence is myth and legend, in the pages of a children's fairy tale, destined to forever only be spoken about, vilified, romanticized, or imagined by others that have no regard for your true identity. I'd pity you but currently I can't even muster enough effort to actually care. That is how insignificant you are, and how little the world actually wants you. You're an overestimated idiot who can never exist properly in this world!" Regulus ranted about his perfection, with the spoken words only annoying the Warlock more with each passing second.
"Oh? You think I'm nothing but a fairytale meant to scare children into behaving? Well… the thing about Legends…. Is that sometimes they're true…" The Dark aura around Subaru increased in size, but not intensity. The shadows grow and stretch as the Warlock's Rage increases ever more.
"You wanna know why I hate you so much?... We're both Monsters with all the power in the world, invincible to anything that gets in our way… that's something we do have in common, but you turned out even worse than me, and that's saying something…" Subaru spoke in a soft tone, but his words radiated with Hatred.
"I believe that if I was given a power like yours when I arrived in this World, I could've ended up just like you: A Self-entitled brat that doesn't like being told 'No'." Regulus looked particularly enraged at the last statement.
"You'd so much as kill your own allies if they even slightly annoyed you, because you love yourself and no one else. However I was given friends and people that loved and cared for me, even when I have no love for myself, and they changed me, made me a better person. And even though most of them are gone, they all still hold a special place in my heart. That is why I Hate you, because even with all the Power in the world, you have no one that will help you when it matters." Subaru finished his statement, with Regulus looking very infuriated.
Hearing the ground Crack below him, Regulus looked down to see a small Crack in the ground. With only a second to observe it, a shadow tendril shot out and quickly wrapped itself around the Archbishop's leg and held on tight. Regulus was swept off his feet and flung into the air before crashing down to the Earth, and the process occurred again and again. Regulus was unable to slice at the tendril with his body being flung around and how eratic it was moving. After about 20 seconds, Regulus stopped crashing against the earth, but Shadow tendril started spinning him faster and faster until it finally let go.
Regulus flew into the air straight up with no sign of slowing down, until he was too small for the Warlock to see. The battle was nothing more than 2 Immortals that cannot kill the other. A stalemate. So Subaru just needed to get rid of his opponent from the battlefield.
However, Subaru did not relax and instantly began to think about what made the Archbishop of Greed tick; specifically his Ability. From what Subaru knew, Regulus' Authority of Greed appeared to grant him flawless invulnerability and seemingly let him slice through space itself, but Subaru knew that Authorities were never that simple. There was always a twist to them.
Echidna's Greed was for Knowledge, and was granted the Tomb of Wisdom which could tap into the World's Memory instead of giving her Omniscience.
Minerva's Wrath was at War, and was given the ability to reverse the effects of her strikes to heal rather than harm. It did not give her advanced healing magic.
Even Typhon's Pride was directed to her Father, an Executioner. Her power was to judge a person by breaking them into pieces and see if they feel pain. It didn't instantly give Typhon the knowledge of whether the person was evil or not.
Subaru's Authorities were also examples. His Envy was towards those who were stronger than him, so it amplified his Yin Magic to achieve things that were not possible, as well as making him Immortal. His Wrath was to Pandora, so it gave him a power to generate Black Flames meant to cause as much Pain as possible until their hearts give out from the shock.
So what was Regulus' Greed for? Well, he wants to be perfect, seems pretty Greedy. Then there was his name… Regulus. It was the same name as the brightest Star in the Leo Constellation. In Latin it meant "Prince" or "Small King"... that didn't seem to fit with the invulnerability, but it was something to think about later…
What else is there about his Ability? Well, on top of being Invulnerable, Subaru noticed that Regulus' clothes were also undamaged by his attacks in the slightest, and when he grabbed Regulus with his Shadows, his leg was neither hot nor cold, not to mention that Subaru felt a similar… resonance to himself…
'Wait…' Subaru stopped thinking as he realized something. There was a time when he could touch an object and it would neither be Hot nor Cold… or rather 'no time'.
'That birdshit son of a bitch… He stops his own time…' The more Subaru thought about it, the more it made sense. Why nothing could seem to touch him and how he was able to slice through space. However, it doesn't work like Subaru's own stopped time, but rather it cuts Regulus off from the flow of time. That's… terrifying. Not only did it make him Self-sustaining, but it meant that unless you could also do the same thing as Regulus, or if you're like Reid and can cut through anything, you can't even touch him.
However… Subaru did have one Attack that might work, and if it doesn't… then back to the Seal he goes.
Without warning or any indication of it, something crashed down directly in front of the Warlock of Envy. The ground shook and caved in from the impact, as a 20 meter wide crater was left in the aftermath from the crash, and out stepped a very livid Archbishop of Greed.
"I've had ENOUGH of you! How dare you!? How dare you!? How dare you!? How dare you!? How dare you even think of it, you INCOMPETENT worm! Here I am, trying to HELP you even though you DESERVE none of it, none of my generosity, none of my kindness, none of my charity! This is exactly why I don't get involved with others! Because they'll inevitably succumb to their disgusting Greed and try to take advantage of my standing! Well, no more! None of it will stand a second longer! I'm done with you! Filthy! Disgusting! Stomach-churning! You represent everything that is wrong with the world! You're a parasite leeching off the attention the people give you because you can't settle for anything else! And you've VIOLATED my very freedom, my actions, my thoughts, my personal space! You've infringed on my basic rights. And it's the last thing you'll ever be able to do again, you BRAT!" Regulus fury was at its limit as he had enough of the Warlock. Subaru knew that he only had one shot with his technique, but whether he could land it is the question… Well, it was now or never…
"I can see we've both had enough of the other, so I think it's time we end this, don't you agree? Your Royal Assness?" Subaru mockingly asked as raised his right hand and pointed out his middle and index fingers. Channeling his Mana, Subaru prepared his final attack, and he could only hope that it would work. Regulus was more than happy to be rid of the Warlock, and raised his hand to reduce Subaru to dust once again, but soon noticed sparks of Violet, electrical Yin energy emanating from Subaru's fingers.
"What is this supposed to do? Are you seriously still trying? How stubborn. Then again, I suppose a wretch like you can't comprehend the concept of 'defeat' since you must be so used to stepping on others to satisfy your incomplete self. You know that nothing you do will ever put me down. So why do you continue trying? Just drop dead and let existence progress in peace, but who the hell am I kidding? You're obviously too much of a leech to even consider anybody else's thoughts and feelings except your own. You force your own ideals, your own views on others because you can't stand the person they really are. You're so disgusting. Why can't you realize that you can't win? What are you trying to do?" Regulus couldn't help but question the Warlock's thinking. Was he really just trying to send him away again? He must know that wouldn't work, he could just return and finish the job, but instead Regulus saw a smirk making its way on Subaru's face.
"Well turns out, I think I just figured out how your ability works. You can cut yourself off from the flow of Time, which grants you your invincibility. I know because I have something similar. While you're in that state, it's like an impenetrable force field covering your entire body and putting you in suspended animation, all while leaving you conscious and able to move around freely. That's why your clothes are undamaged and why your body isn't hot or cold. Even if I'm wrong, this Attack should do the trick." Subaru explained his reasoning and suspensions, and while it was subtle, Subaru could see Regulus's eyes widening in shock, confirming the Warlock's suspicions.
Right as Subaru finished his explanation, His attack's charge-up time had finished. As if it was a dual, Both Warlock and Archbishop fired off their attacks.
"Omen of Disaster." Subaru spoke the name of the Technique as Yin Energy focused itself into his fingers, and fired at Light speed towards its target. While Regulus was slashing the air, he managed to react fast enough to avoid the beam from hitting his head, but…
The Yin beam managed to slice right through Regulus' left forearm, completely ignoring his Invulnerability. Regulus couldn't help but stare in absolute shock at what he just witnessed, and though he couldn't feel pain while his Time was stopped, the shock that he had actually been harmed in such a way was enough to shake the Archbishop to his very core.
Subaru on the other hand, felt very satisfied that he actually managed to literally disarm the Archbishop of Greed, but his victory was short lived as a dark rift began to form behind him, and started pulling him in. Subaru's Mana was completely depleted, and although He couldn't physically exert himself, his Magical prowess was a different story.
The Technique he used, Omen of Disaster, was created by him during his time with his Master, Flugel. He and Beatrice had developed a technique similar to Regulus' Temporal Invincibility called "SMM" or "Satella-Tan is seriously a Goddess", and Subaru came up with an Inverted version of it that was "Omen of Disaster". It worked similarly to how Reid attacked. The beam could slice through Space, Time, and even Concepts. It was powerful, but the long charge up time and massive Mana consumption made it a weapon of last resort.
"Oi, Greed!" Subaru got the attention of the Archbishop who looked at him with absolute fury and shock with Subaru flipping Regulus off. "See you in Hell…" Was the last thing Subaru said before he was pulled into the Rift and back to his seal in the Pleiades Watchtower, leaving the Archbishop of Greed to his own devices.
With the peace and quiet to process what just happened, Regulus did one thing to relieve his anger… He screamed.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CURSE YOUUUUUUUUU! CURSE YOU TO GODDAMN HELL, YOU ABSOLUTE SCUMBAG! COME BACK HERE! DO YOU HEAR ME!? COME BACK HERE AND TRY TO DO THAT AGAIN, I DARE YOU! YOU BETTER HAVE RETREATED TO A SPACE BEYOND THIS WORLD BECAUSE IF I FIND YOU AGAIN, I WILL PULVERIZE YOU IN A MANNER THAT WILL MAKE YOU WISH YOU'VE NEVER STARTED EXISTING AGAIN, YOU BASTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARD!" With his rage being vocally released, Regulus clutched his head with his hands as he-... wait…
Regulus looked down to see that his left hand had been restored, with no trace of it ever being cut off…. But that could only mean…
"Well done Bishop Corneas." Regulus looked to his right to see Pandora standing nearby with her usual sly and satisfied smile. It soon clicked for Regulus that Pandora had used her Authority to restore his hand. This managed to abate a good amount of his rage as he composed himself, even though annoyance was still etched on his face.
"You are one of only 5 beings who have dealt a victory against the Warlock of Envy. You should be proud of your accomplishment." Pandora congratulated her Archbishop over his victory against her greatest enemy, even though he was not dead, it was understandable.
"While I have no complaints about your praise towards me, I wish you wouldn't treat me like a child that just managed to do something extraordinary. I am the Sin Archbishop of Greed, and my power is second to none. It was only obvious that I would drive away that abominable dog for his crimes. Don't you realize that you've subconsciously classified me as 'inferior' this way? That's a violation of my very being, you know. Still, I'll let it slide for now since I have bigger concerns to consider. Yes, I have won, as I always have, but that is not enough, that ignorant fungus must suffer in blood and brimstone for his follies right here. I will find him eventually and when I do, I am going to contort that face into one of terror. I'll strip him of any chance at happiness. I'll make sure he learns that no matter how much power, nobody can interfere with me. I've made sure of that for years and I'll continue to preserve that everlasting perfection. I, am, and always will be the paragon of satisfaction, standing against the tyranny of time and all that would try to threaten that virtue." Regulus ranted, swearing that if he ever saw Subaru again, he would pay in blood for what he had done today.
"However, in the meantime, I would be pleased if you were to celebrate your victory with your Wives. You have achieved an incredible feat today, so I believe you have earned some relaxation. Meanwhile, I will convert Bishop Romanee-Conti to the Archbishop of Sloth, and have the key open the seal." Pandora suggested her thoughts to the Archbishop.
Regulus merely smirked and bowed to Pandora. "Very well then. A pleasant evening to you, Pandora-sama, may your efforts prove fruitful. If that is all, I will waste no more time in this forest." Regulus began to walk back to his Mansion to celebrate his victory.
Right when the Archbishop of Greed left, Pandora activated her Authority of Vainglory once more. "Bishop Romanee-Conti and his companions should be right in front of me, as if Natsuki Subaru had never sent them away." And as her words were turned into reality, Guese, Fortuna, and Emilia appeared in front of Pandora once again.
"Now, where were we?"