"DAMNED HALF-WITCH AND SPIRIT! I'LL BURN YOU!" Sirius shrieked as she let her flames run wild, growing in size and heat.
Subaru looked confused at Sirius' outburst, since she had been only manipulative in the past loops. He probably didn't get why her anger was like that, but I understood it completely. She probably mistook Emilia for Satella, who Betelgeuse 'loved', and Beatrice being another one of Betelgeuse's supposed lovers according to herself because she was a spirit.
I didn't want to explain this to Subaru, since the logic will probably be messed up partway through, so I told him the simplified version.
"In case you're wondering, Subaru, Sirius lost her composure because she loves Betelgeuse."
"She LOVES Betelgeuse?" Subaru asked, bewildered.
"Did you really think they are family members?"
"Well..."
"Anyways, since Betelgeuse keeps on rambling on about Satella, Sirius now views her as a love rival."
"Uh..." Subaru looked at Sirius and thought about what I said, and cringed. "That's... kinda messed up."
"Ya, I know. It's like their whole thing."
While we talked, Sirius was busy throwing insults at Emilia. And god was a verbal battle between two women intense. Even when one of them is not sane.
It went a little something like this:
"If you feel angry at me, I'll hear you out. After all, the sudden provocation came from us, so of course you'd be angry. However, this has nothing to do with the other people here. Please liberate them." Emilia said calmly, which only made Sirius angrier.
"That's the wrong attitude! If you want to let everyone go, do it right! Of course I'll be angry? Then show me the right attitude! Apologize, repent, cry and beg for forgiveness, then let me shoot flames into your ass and scorch your internal organs away!"
Emilia said something about how her organs being burned would be bad, and the two clashed. Sirius' chains were a pain, but Emilia managed to fend them off by manifesting ice swords and parrying them off to a certain extent.
And then, more insults from Sirius.
"Disgusting! Half-witch! Maggot! Fly! Insect! Loathsome bug!"
I might even give Sirius a medal for attempting to come up with such variety of curse words while being mentally insane.
Anyways, I have work to do. The crowd that is being mind controlled is advancing towards us, and they looked quite angry, almost like a mob of zombies.
"Subaru, Beatrice! Hold some of them off while I attempt to save them!" I yelled as I gathered energy within my palm, and they nodded as I rushed off towards the crowd.
They were sharing Sirius' Wrath, which means that they are connected via magic.
A year ago, I realized that Crusch retained some memories of myself due to a certain skill of mine known as Scindo. That ability allowed me to split my Witch Factor into tiny, tiny little pieces, which allowed other people to have some of my abilities, namely the Partial Authority Immunity.
A/N: I just realized Partial Authority Immunity's abbreviation is 'PAI'. this is completely unintentional.
Anyways, if I could touch them, which should be easy, I can snap them out of the trance by using Scindo. I can get my Witch Factor pieces back as soon as they finish their purpose, as Cahya said. What's even better is that I only need a thousandth percent per person, so I don't have to worry about running out.
"SCINDO!" I yelled as I shoved the piece into the first person I could see, which was Rachins, who was spearheading the group at the moment. As soon as the piece of tesseract touched him, he stopped moving as the effects began taking place.
"Great!" Just as I was about to celebrate my discovery, the Beastman who was previously hostile against Sirius charged out from the group, and swung his broadsword at me with me having no time to react. Thankfully, a barrier blocked me.
"Hey, did you forget about us, Y/N?"
"It's very rude for you to not rely on your spirits, Y/N!"
"Honestly, even after spending the longest time with you, you still get yourself into unnecessary trouble, don't you?"
Cahya, Bayanga, and Alchemis said as they blocked the broadsword with magic, and pushed the beastman back.
"I knew I could count on you guys! Don't injure the guy too badly, by the way!" I said to my spirits as they gave me a thumbs up and engaged with the enemy. Meanwhile, Subaru and Beatrice fought against the blindfolded female adventurer, leaving me free to complete my mission.
"I promise to not let you guys down." I vowed as I charged towards the mob, pieces of my Witch Factor in hand, ready to solve this crisis.
Timeskippu*
As I managed to purge the last civilian in sight with Scindo, I saw Subaru and Beatrice defending themselves against the blindfolded adventurer, who kicked Subaru in the stomach as he bended and skidded across the floor.
I was about to go help them when the beast man with the broadsword threw his sword at me, blocking my path. However, before he could retrieve his sword, I spun around and punched his stomach with an Akra enhanced fist, sending him back before I sent my left palm into his chest, which applied Scindo as he stopped moving.
Meanwhile, Subaru and Beatrice fought the woman off, and I touched her with Scindo before she could get back up again.
The troubles were far from over, of course. Sirius just got even angrier as her flames' intensity and amount doubled, roaring ever so brightly.
The flames rushed towards Emilia as they devoured everything in sight with no mercy, and Subaru couldn't move due to his mana deficiency.
I wanted to go forward to help as well, but apparently, Scindo has drained most of my stamina, and if I tried to save her from danger right now, Regulus will kill us too.
Wait, speaking of Regulus...
"It seems I caught up." A voice sounded as the flames crashed into Emilia, and Subaru gasped in despair.
When the fire dispersed, the white-haired man stood there, Emilia in his arms without harm. His smile gave off an eerie feeling as Subaru looked at the situation with confusion before the young man announced his name.
"I am the Witch Cult's Sin Archbishop of Greed, Regulus Corneas."
"And as promised, I'm here to take her as my 79th wife."
"Archbishop of... Greed?" Subaru said in horror as he looked towards me for confirmation. This indeed was the person who made me lose for the first time in the world, despite me having fate-altering powers.
However, over the past year, I've already come up with a solution to injure him. I can only throw one hit that'll make him bleed. Hopefully.
And here he goes.
"Although it's gratifying and satisfying to see nothing wrong, it seems regrettable that I can't reveal my heroism to my bride today. I think that a heroic rescue in the midst of a dead end crisis brings two people people's hearts to a very important place, as many places in time have suggested this. Well, after all, the combination of the two is already an established fact and the only question is of the timing. Isn't it great?" Regulus prattled on, completely ignoring everyone else's thoughts. Which is quite ironic, considering that he gets mad when someone ignores him. Gotta use that against him later. But first, let's observe this situation.
"Hey, you..." Subaru spoke up. "What have you been saying?"
"Hm?"
Regulus finally noticed Subaru, who looked at him with an angry glare. The Archbishop sighed as he began his long-winded talk once again.
"You over there, don't you understand the most fundamental and basic concepts like politeness? The first thing I did was give a self-introduction at the beginning, and to ask why would anyone even do that, it's because it's the most important thing when people start relationships which each other. It doesn't matter what kind of relationship we are going to have, be it allies or enemies, it's very important that we should at least know each other first. And since I hold no animosity towards strangers I don't know, as they don't hold any against me, I try to be as friendly as possible when I meet other people. I'm not giving the impression that I didn't predict that the other party could be shy when meeting new people. Even when people want to be well-connected, there would always be that gate that people sometimes that just have on them when they connect with others, especially those that they don't know. Considering that there's absolutely nothing wrong with keeping up your guard against someone when you don't know of them nor their identity, therefore I try to create a environment that could be as comfortable as I could make it by introducing myself to someone else when I meet them. Of course, I don't expect this grace to be immediately obvious. However, I do have hopes that after some time, they will be able to detect the meaning of an introductions. Or, rather, that they will become aware of it. Or is it natural to talk to someone you meet for the first time without introducing yourself? If that's the case, then there's a slight difference between my common sense and culture. In that case, although both parties feel a sense of obligation, it becomes necessary to refuse the other side in advance so as to prevent a misunderstanding. Looking back at it now, doesn't that seem different from what I've said before? Taking people's politeness towards yourself for granted? That sounds quite impolite, if I do say so myself. That seems to be a loss of etiquette, and an imbalance in the attitude towards each other, where I, already introduced myself and is friendly towards the person in question, you, so shouldn't you treat me the same to prevent me to be left at a lesser value? A false assessment of each other's value imposes on others. This is a violation of the rights of others. From any rational perspective, this is an infringement of my rights."
"E-eh? Ok, sorry about that... my name is Natsuki Subaru."
Subaru was obviously trembling, first, at the amount of power Regulus demonstrated, and the fact that nobody was questioning him during his speech, which just seemed to be repeating points over and over again.
"...Yes, that's fine. Because giving respect invites respect. I have done that, so it is only expected for you to do so as well. Although the conditions for achieving a world that creates both is taken for granted, you don't have to seek the happiness of others. As long as you pursue your happiness, others will also correspondingly find happiness. Don't get caught up in your desires, just accept your truths and feel satisfied with your everyday needs. That is the peaceful way of life."
"After all, is it really so hard to find the proper mood to converse in? Why is it impossible to do this as a matter of course for mankind? Why is it impossible to consciously, unconsciously, indifferently, continue to cause subtle harm to others in the days when such things are done? Subtle injuries hurt, don't they? On top of that, if anything serious works its way in, it might grow into a life-threatening disease. The body and the soul are one. I hate those who misunderstand life to the extent that they unconsciously threaten others. Don't their minds seem warped? Obviously, they're flawed as a human beings, and it isn't okay for that behaviour to remain unconscious. It is, of course, wrong to impose a burden on those who are discriminated against. Most people have common sense, but why can't they consciously realize that the world is slowly turning on? Even without realizing that they're trampling upon the hidden hearts of others, if they don't become conscious of their twisted, flawed mistakes, then don't their feet just keep trampling and trampling?"
"All that said... don't you know..." Subaru began to speak after being given a chance at the end of Regulus' long speech, but Sirius' flames roared once more.
"Thanks for the lesson. —BURN, SCORCH AND DISAPPEAR!" A cascade of fire poured down from behind Regulus. Sirius yelled with anger as she let the barrage rain down, but Regulus stepped out from the flames unharmed once again.
"Really... I know you're messed up in the head, so I will allow a few actions slide. However, when you decided to burn this innocent girl, my bride, along with me! That is truly unacceptable to many degrees!"
After that encounter happened, Sirius and Regulus started an argument, and I was too lazy to listen in to what just happened, and so I just decided to call for backup while they're at it.
Moshi moshi? This is Y/N to Chid-chan, over?
Message received. Liberator, to where do you require assistance to be landed? Over.
Town square, clock tower where the flames are. Bring Specter. Over.
Got it. Hehe. Witch to Liberator, Out.
I love doing this. Although I haven't made a radio yet, but this is good practice. During our trips over the past seven to eight months, it seems that Echidna has taken her sweet time to learn history, technology, and the majority of science of my world. She seemed extremely interested in the World Wars for some reasons (don't know if I should be concerned about that) and that's how we eventually spoke to each other like this when we're serious.
Also, codenames.
Just another future precaution, we developed codenames for us to go undercover in case if we needed to. 'Hunter' for Elsa, 'Swarm' for Meili, 'Specter' for Sphinx, 'Kitsune' for Yae, 'Beastie' for Colette, 'Mage' for Palmyra, 'Witch' for Omega, and 'Liberator' for myself.
While I waited for Omega and Sphinx to show up, I saw that Subaru make his move. As he ran towards Regulus, he activated one of his original spells with Beatrice: EMM. It removed him from this plane of space-time, although that rendered him unable to move. Seeing that this could come in handy one day, I asked my spirits (specifically Bayanga) to analyze the structure of the spell so that I could potentially copy it later.
After his demonstration of magic, Regulus appeared to be shocked as his attack that should've tore Subaru apart did no damage at all. Subaru then punched him, and punched him once again as he used Invisible Providence, which sent Regulus reeling back, although not doing any significant injuries towards the invincible Archbishop.
As I watched this, I felt hands cover my eyes.
"Hello, Y/N."
"Uh... who's this?"
"HEH?! Are you saying you don't know who this is? I'm not very happy with you, Y/N."
"I really can't tell. Sphinx and Omega's hands feel the same since you two are both in bodies of a Ryuzu clone, so how am I supposed to tell."
"Y/N IM GIVING YOU 5 SECONDS BEFORE I GOUGE YOUR EYES OUT"
"AAAAAAAHHHHHH! It's Sphinx! It's Sphinx! Isn't it..."
"Yes! You guessed correctly!" Sphinx said as she hugged me tightly, while Omega held her laughter back.
"I didn't expect you to join in to troll your contractor as well, Chid-chan."
"I honestly don't know why either, but maybe because Ryuzu clones think alike?"
"That's a horrible answer..."
I turned my eyes back towards Regulus and Sirius, who both seemed to be immersed in reading their Gospel. At this moment, Omega squatted down beside me. "Is that the copy of my Book of Wisdom that you were talking about?"
"Yes, and it seems all Witch Cult members follow it with utmost care and respect, including the archbishops."
"Wait, Y/N, what is the white man doing?" Sphinx suddenly pointed towards Regulus, who was raising his foot after standing still for a long time.
Shit! He's going to mutilate Subaru!
I immediately activated Ul Akra and shot towards the Archbishop, who kicked up the dirt that he stomped up, and activated the spell with Alchemis' help.
"ABSOLUTE ZERO!" I gathered mana as I froze the space in front of Subaru, hoping to stop the impact. Unfortunately, my aim was a bit off, and the dust shaved off a portion off of Subaru's foot.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Subaru let out a painful screech, looking down at his severed foot in fear. Maintaining the wall of frozen space, I quickly reattached Subaru's severed foot as I reconnected the tendons and bones as I poured in phosphorus, calcium, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and more elements. It will not numb the pain, but at least Beatrice doesn't have to waste mana to heal him any more.
"Was that really necessary, Archbishop of Greed? Removing one's right to bear a foot just because he annoyed you? Did he violate the same right that you had-"
"Hey! Who are you, showing up unannounced and not introducing yourself. Just like that annoying person over there, you people continue to violate my rights-"
"I could say the same to you. First, you cut me off while I was speaking. According to you, that is a violation of my right to speak. Also, to not recognize another when somebody has already introduced themselves to you? Another insult and reason for me to exact vengeance upon you."
Regulus looked shocked that his logic failed him, which seemed to be working perfectly fine without contradictions until now. Truth is, all humans are bound by logic and emotion, and a conversation with only logic will fail sooner or later without any hint of emotion, since it will betray you.
"Since I am a nice person, I'll say it again."
"My name is Y/N L/N. I am the leader of the Liberator's Battalion, contractor of the Witch of Greed, and knight of Lugnica. Also known as the Warlock of Deceit, from the Witches' Sanctum. Now, shall we begin the counterargument?"