"Sin... Archbishop of Wrath?"

The words were uttered out of Subaru's mouth, who looked up at the figure in shock.

"Huh?"

"What did that person just say?"

"No way... the Witch Cult... here?" The crowd also uttered words of disbelief, unable to comprehend the situation in front of them.

"HEY! Y/N-san, and you over there! What did that person just say?"

Rachins yelled towards me and Subaru, but I suddenly realized something. The opponent we're facing right now is an archbishop. And Subaru... seemed to stare at her as he formed a train of thoughts.

He probably thought that it was weird for another cultist to share the same last name as the delusional Sloth, but in reality, it was all part of Wrath's delusions, too. They were never related.

Sloth. Wrath. Greed. The three archbishops whose authority seemed to give them immense longevity, since they have been supposedly operating over a century.

And now two of them are in the same city?

Also, if I remember correctly, the Water Gate City of Priestella was going to be attacked by-

I suddenly saw Subaru begin to move, and immediately stopped him. "Don't. That person up there... is able to cause our death at this instant."

"But, Y/N, if we can capture him, he could potentially lead a path to find Gluttony!"

"Okay, first, Subaru, Sirius is a 'she', not a he-"

"She's a woman, then?" Subaru looked up towards the Archbishop, and confirmed his suspicion.

However, before our conversation can continue, Sirius began speaking again.

"Alright, it took 28 seconds for everyone to quiet down. I'm very happy, now in addition to that..."

While Sirius' verbal irony took a second for me to realize, she pointed at four people, amazingly, not including myself, and began to speak again.

"You. You. And you two people there. I'm sorry, but please don't be so angry. I'm very sorry to take up everyone's precious time. Sorry, and thank you."

Subaru gasped as I looked towards the people who were pointed out. A demi-human with a giant longsword, and also a woman with a mask. The last two being Subaru and Rachins. She said... they were angry.

After that long year, I have begun to forget some details in the plot. But I remember now. The Authority of Wrath... that despicable power is actually...

It was a sign to the four, that their plans had already been exploited, and further retaliation is futile. Subaru and Rachins could only stare at the figure in horror while wondering how she knew.

The other thing is Rachins' ability to summon Reinhard. Rachins had been told by Reinhard to summon him with the Goa spell whenever there was serious trouble, but looking at the situation now, summoning him would lead to many casualties before Reinhard could arrive, which is why Rachins did not make a move.

"Okay, thank you. It looks like we've all calmed down a little bit. I understand your restlessness. Hearing the name 'Witch Cult' didn't evoke a good impression, did it? So, I didn't plan to do anything too special. The reason I took everyone's precious time today is because I wanted to confirm a matter." Sirius raised her hand again.

"To confirm what matter?" Subaru muttered under his breath.

Although Sirius seemed to be intimate and quite rational during the speech towards the people, it still gave many people a sense of disgust due to her outfit and some kind of tone that just irritated them.

Subaru spoke up, since nobody did. "With all due respect, can I ask you a question?"

"Hm? You were someone who got angry just now, weren't you? So what did you want to know?"

Instead of the angry manner people expected, Sirius was not mad at all at Subaru's attempt to question her.

"Although I don't know what's going on here, I'm keeping some girls waiting. Four of them, actually. So it'd be nice if you could let us go as soon as possible." Subaru said, and Sirius continued her farce.

"Oh, my! That's truly terrible, I'm sorry. But I didn't expect that from you. Is it a man's dream to have four girls to serve? That's really bad. Isn't it sad to leave some of them crying? We have to put an end to this unallowable disloyalty that absolutely can't happen that must be completely banned."

"E-Eh?" Subaru said, taken aback by her response.

Sirius' voice suddenly diminished by a little before she noticed Subaru's tiny whisper. "No, no, I just got a little emotional. Sorry. Although I try so hard to remain level headed, I always become unwittingly excited. Thank you for worrying about me. Well... you asked when I'd let everyone go?"

"Yes, that's right. we would appreciate it if you could." Subaru said to Sirius, who nodded but shook her head at the same time.

"I'm sorry bother you, I'm really very sorry. But it's okay. Even though I'm in the Witch Cult, I honestly hate troubling anyone. My compatriots often give people trouble, and I feel very sorry about that."

Sirius continued to prolong the conversation a for a while, adding some... rather unnecessary sentences which only made everyone else a bit more angry.

At last, she finally announced her true purpose. "Okay! Well, I'll say it. The matter I want to affirm is very simple. To put it bluntly, there's something I want to affirm about Love. Wow, that was embarrassing."

Although the bandages would definitely block any sense of blushing on her face, Sirius put a hand up onto her face, which surprised most people, and the crowd bursted into laughter.

"Although I expected that I'd be laughed at, it still makes me feel troubled. Thank you for listening to me. Thank you, and I also have a request."

"I think, if everyone can stay with me for a while, I can affirm that Love. I'm sorry, I can really say some unruly things."

Now that they knew the intentions behind the once-terrifying figure, the people agreed immediately as they thought, 'what, is that all?'

Faced with that response, Sirius began to clap her hands immediately as she lit up. "Really? Thank you, thank you! I'm sorry. The world is really very gentle. Full of love and tenderness. Whenever I understand this, I cannot help but to want to express my gratitude. People are able to understand each other and care for each other. Maybe I always speak with 'thank you' and 'I'm sorry' so that I can confirm that."

"Okay, we get it, Sirius! So get on with it!" The blindfolded female adventurer who was hostile to the figure a moment ago, was now cheering her on as if they were old classmates.

By this point, Sirius took a weird turn as if she remembered her original purpose, and motioned towards the window next to her. She then grabbed a boy who was bound by chains after a while, and lifted him up with one hand as she brought him over for the crowd to see.

She then went on a rant about the boy, whose name was Lusbel, and his life story. In short, it was a touching tale, and Sirius began to urge the crowd again to cheer on the boy.

"Alright, that's enough, everybody! It's true that this child is a little clumsy, but he's in fact very brave. Isn't that right, Lusbel-kun?" Sirius said again, and the crowd immediately followed suit.

"Lusbel, don't cry! You're the best!"

Subaru shouted loudly, praising the courage of the young boy's tears.

Knowing the true courage buried under those tears, how could he laugh at that shame? Larkins, who stood next to Subaru, joined in the encouragement.

"Yeah, don't cry anymore! You're a man, right!? If so, show us your handsome side, kid!"

"Yeah, listen well, Lusbel! You're Pristella's pride!" "Lusbel—! Amazing—! You'll be a great man!"

The audience cheered up, and everyone present began clapping. I, however, seemed to be immune to the Authority of Wrath, and stood a little further away from the crowd to avoid being crushed within the madness.

It seems that even my hostility cannot be detected by Sirius, which seemed handy to an extent. Then again, would it truly be beneficial?

If Sirius' authority has to do with connected emotions, then I suppose I could freeze everyone's senses by using Shamak. However, if the spell isn't strong enough, it would only end in a even worse situation.

I suddenly noticed the Archbishop moving, and immediately took a closer look as my eyes widened in horror.

"I want to commend your courage, your love, Lusbel-kun! Please look below. Everyone, so many people are affirming your feelings! Ah, thank you! I'm sorry, Lusbel-kun. Although you were a last resort, I just want to affirm this scene. Ahh, ahh, the world is so gentle!"

Sirius held Lusbel tightly in her arms.

In the face of this beauty, thunderous applause began. Subaru put his hand to his mouth and whistled. The recipient of that warm applause, Lusbel, stared in surprise.

That was a man who had struggled his hardest. Even if he had no strength left to even cry, not a person laughed at him.

"Sure enough, there it is. We have Love. It existed, here. Everyone's heart is one, and in a scene of joy as well. We do not need tragedy. We are tired of a world which would have us cry. No one wants such a world. If our hearts want to connect, then they should do so through sharing joy and happiness. Whether it be tragedy! Or Wrath! We don't need any of it!"

"That's right! Tragedies or whatever, we don't want any of it!"

"Ah, that forbidden Wrath that causes hearts to tremble so! Rage, that passion! If that passionate sin is rooted in our hearts, if we are unable to unroot that retribution, then we should fill it with joy! At this moment, everyone's heart is connected as one!"

Sirius cried loudly, and once again lifted Lusbel into the air.

However, the movement did not stop there. Sirius, bathing in everyone's admiration, tossed Lusbel into the air.

NO!

I have to reach Lusbel. If he dies, everyone will die in this square. I activated El Akra and shot towards the child, but my hand seems to be too far.

"Help me! Imperceptible Extensions!" I yelled as the power bursted out from my shoulder, and the Unseen Hand travelled towards the boy at immense speed, but-

Splat.

A sound of eggshells cracking was heard through the square as suddenly, the heads of those who stood there turned red with blood almost as if they exploded. I leapt away from the scene with fear, and saw my Extensions inches from the boy.

No...

I failed them.

I turned towards the Archbishop of Wrath, and shot myself towards her as I activated my Authority of Sloth, brimming with anger as I shot the fists towards her.

As they connected, she was caught by surprise as she noticed me, who was supposed to be dead due to her emotion link. Then the force of the shadow fist blasted her away.

"No way! You actually came back!" Sirius yelped in delight as she got up immediately, as she is the strongest physically out of all the archbishops. "My Dear Betelgeuse-"

Then, as if a movie scene was cut, I fell into a void of nothingness and disappeared as Subaru's body died.

BLACKOUT

"Hmm? Subaru?" I looked towards the boy who was with me and Rachins, and he was trembling as I felt confused at what he was doing.

"Are you okay? You're breathing quite fast. Anyways, why did you run here in a hurry?"

"Y/N. Do you not remember?"

"Remember what?" I suddenly felt dread in my heart as I realized what he was saying.

"I returned by death." Subaru said in a quiet voice so that Rachins couldn't hear. "Also, the Sin Archbishop of Wrath is in the city."