"Come, you piece of meat! For none could beat my obviously glorious self, after all!" Capella sneered as she thrust her arm towards me, which has now turned into a giant lion head. I slashed upwards with Zeam, and it severed the head off clean, but Capella didn't seem to take damage.

What the... I thought reaped the souls of those it slashed... unless the lion head wasn't part of her main body?

"Damn you! Don't think you can get away with being such an egoistic sadist!" I said as I activated Al Akra, and appeared right in front of Capella before punching at her. However, to my surprise, she already appeared behind me and slashed at me with her giant dragon claw.

"Imperceptible Extensions!" I yelled as the Unseen Hands protruded out of my back. One blocked the claw while another sent an unpredictable punch at Capella's face, sending her backwards.

"You meat bastard! How dare you hit my mighty self!?" Capella snarled as she rubbed her face, pretending to be in pain.

"I believe in true gender equality. AND I WILL NOT HESITATE TO PUNCH AN ARROGANT GIRL WHO THINKS SHE'S ABOVE EVERYONE ELSE!"

"Heeeeh?!" Capella looked shocked for a moment, before doing something out of place. "Have a little heart, would you..."

"Don't try to pretend to be a kawaii girl after all that you just did, asshole!" I shouted at her, who apparently had no sense of shame.

"Well, this lovely lady here did see you waltzing off with two of my beloved children, you know? So I think it's quite needed for me to also experience and have a taste of that~"

"Eh... by this point I'm more creeped out than confused."

Y/N, are you in trouble?

Chid-chan! You finally came through. I thought you were not going to contact me...

Well, we were a bit preoccupied with doing certain resurrection spells, so we definitely were busy. Do you require assistance?

I suppose. Anyways, can you help me analyze what this stuff is? I held up a piece of the solid that Capella binded me with earlier.

Hmm. I don't even suppose I know what this substance is. Is this a creation of her Authority?

Yes.

Then, it would seem that we cannot currently define the nature of this substance. You already figured a way out of it, did you not?

Well yeah, but-

Then you will be fine, Y/N. Also, the Book of Wisdom's progress is already at 93%. If I could concentrate a bit more, we could potentially have it finished by this Arc's end.

I see. Well, bring the rest of the battalion soon, okay? I probably can't stall her for too long. This is unknown territory, after all.

I understand. Be careful, Y/N. That substance she created is not on a low level of creation. I doubt that even I cannot do it now, in my current state. If you let your guard down, this battle will not be in your favour.

Understood.

I cut of the connection, and swung Zeam up again to deflect her dragon claw.

"Nice sword you got there." Capella commented as she spread her wings and took to the sky. "But it'll only last you so long."

She plunged down towards me with great speed, and I responded by using my Imperceptible Extensions to counter her dragon claws. Another pair of arms appeared, but I simply punched forward with my actual ones. However, what I didn't expect was that she sent a snake at my stomach, and it bit me on my skin before I yelled in pain.

As I immediately stepped back, filtered out the poison and healed the injury with my Authority, Capella was already on the move. She swept all three of my sword out of my hands using some kind of grappling hook, and they clattered on the floor behind her. I tried to punch forward with my Extensions, but they somehow were cut as I saw them dissipate. My arms were severed.

As I regenerated my arms, Capella shot out the mysterious substance again, and immediately, my arms were chained up against the floor. Within seconds, my legs were also bound, and my Authority of Sloth stopped working due to its overuse.

"Gah!" I coughed out the black liquid that was the penalty for Sloth's overuse. Capella flew down from the air, and took the moment to calmly land on the floor.

As I saw Capella approaching, I activated Infinite Multiplication, and a clone appeared behind her. However, as soon as I did that, the clone was pierced by a spike, and it disappeared as I let out a gasp of surprise.

"You think this beautiful lady would fall for the same trick twice? Sorry, but even if you are a smart piece of meat, I'm not the type to shamelessly fall into a trap like this. Now..."

Capella said as she did a weird gesture of sorts, and sat down on my body, now bound by her mysterious substance. "You're mine~"

EH...?

What is she doing?

"Hahahahaha! Look at your face! It's so hilarious! Could it be... that you don't know what I'm talking about?"

I guess I know what she could possibly mean, but is she serious? I mean, she is an archbishop after all...

"After all, I will taste you~" Capella smirked as she stuck out her tongue in a weird playful manner and moved her head towards my face, and I suddenly felt like I was going to puke somehow.

Before her saliva could touch my face, a sound came through the hallway.

"Y/N! Are you there?" Yae's voice came through, and then I heard Sphinx's, along with Meili's and Omega's.

Oh shit. I'm so screwed here.

"Get off!" I said to Capella, but that only made her more interested to latching onto me. "Do this for both of our sakes! We'll not make it-"

"Y/N! There you...are..." Omega said as she saw me and dropped her staff in surprise.

"THIS IS NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE" is what I wanted to say, but unfortunately, my mouth has now been taped shut by Capella, who held me like some kind of body pillow.

"Hmph-mmmph!" I tried to yell through the thing, but it seems that the misunderstanding was not clearing up.

"Uh... Colette, Palmyra, Meili? Please uh... leave now?" Yae said as she attempted to shoo the kids away, but their surprise and curiosity was a bit hard to control, so Elsa just lifted them up and walked them out along with Yae.

"Y/N... what are you doing?" Sphinx said as she came through the doorway, staring at Capella in disgust and hate.

At this moment, I summoned a little knife of metal and cut through the bindings on my mouth, and yelled. "HELP! I am being sexually harassed and violated!"

Capella gave me a weird look of sorts as if I completely misunderstood her intentions, but my response was also intentional. You refused to share the wrath with me, so now you're gonna have to face it all alone. Ehe~

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO Y/N?" Sphinx yelled as she activated over 20 magic spells at once, and basically rammed herself into Capella while Omega managed to undo some of my bindings.

"So, uh, Y/N, I don't know much about your world and just love in general, but I do seem to be aware of a specific part of it by piecing different fragments of your memories together. Did it... feel good, in a sense?"

"CHID-CHAN! I did not, and I repeat, did not do anything with that violator over there!"

"If that's what you say..."

Oh god no. Welp, at least I'm saved, somewhat.

After Sphinx managed to stall Capella for some time, she escaped and Sphinx returned to us. We managed to carry Subaru and Crusch's bodies back to the camp, where they are currently being healed.

"Well, wasn't that a failure of sorts." I lamented as I sat beside Anastasia, who was hearing about the results of our battle.

"Don't say that, Y/N-san. Thanks to Subaru's last-minute activation of the Conversation Mirror, we were able to prevent more casualties and relocate the victims of Lust. If it hadn't been for your powers holding off the Archbishop, we would've never been able to reclaim the City Hall."

Julius and Ricardo were both back by this point, and Garfiel, who was fighting outside, seemed to have taken a heavy toll. After all, Kurgan was not an easy opponent, despite being already deceased.

"The 'uman who ha' been turned into the black dragon..." Garfiel suddenly spoke up. "Where is 'e now?"

"Hm? I told him to fly towards Flanders, in the south-east, along with a letter of mine. With luck, we might be able to get reinforcements within a day or so. Don't worry, not even the Witch Cult can't bring harm to him now."

"Flanders? Y/N-san, even Earth Dragons can't arrive that fast. Who do you expect the dragon to carry?" Anastasia asked, confused at what I meant.

"Well, I do have a few options in mind. I do have connections in that capital, after all." I smiled as I remembered my alliance with the underground, and since I removed the root of the problem by successfully resolving the conflict among the two sides, they were indebted to me afterwords.

"I know of your connection to Black Silver Coin. But, do you really expect them to help against such an enemy?"

"The Black Silver Coin cannot afford to lose me by this point since the Golden Beetles, who control their income and supports their operations, is 100% on my side. And the Balance even more so because of our promise. I even signed a binding contract for their request, so they cannot refuse my request now."

"I'm beginning to think that you're acting like a criminal at this point..."

"Ana, I'm not kind of person, okay?" I said, trying to clear up the misunderstanding. At this moment, Subaru walked in.

"Subaru, are you okay?" I asked him as he sighed.

"Well, better than before, I guess. Where's Beatrice, by the way?"

"I think she should be somewhere around here, since you didn't take her to the battle. Why didn't you, anyways?"

"I concluded that it was too dangerous." Subaru responded, and I suddenly noticed something different. Chid-chan, did we loop again?

No, Y/N. What made you think that?

I don't know. Subaru seemed more conscious and aware of danger than usual. I thought he looped and you forgot to tell me, since I have no way of knowing.

Hmm. Perhaps it was your influence on him, you know?

What do you mean...?

Well, you did accomplish many great feats across your time in this world, all without the power of Return by Death. He who has that power perhaps thought that he should be more careful and less rash in making decisions, seeing how you operated.

That... does make sense. So is this change good or bad for us...?

He still holds hostility towards me, since you could tell every time you bring up my name. Also... this place, it's quite interesting.

The Muse Company? Why? Is there a metia here?

No. It's just that... is it coincidence? That both me and all three of my children are gathered under the same roof, for the first time in history. I myself find that quite satisfying.

Your three children?

You'll find out soon. Anyways, go carry on with your objective. We might learn more about what happens.

"I see. Anyways, I need to talk to Felix. Crusch was injured in the battle, and I want to check up on her just in case."

"Gotcha, Y/N. I'll see you later, then." Subaru said as I stepped out of the door, and went towards the infirmary. It seems that he took the loss of Emilia quite hard.

Would I be the same, without them? I feel like at this point, it's hard to survive without my Battalion there to encourage me, or the casual talks with the Witches of Sin...

My memory of my world is slowly fading. I don't know why, but I'm constantly writing things down in notebooks, just to make sure I don't forget. All the chemical formulas, reactions, physics laws, astronomy, star patterns, human body parts, animal organs, computer programming, mathematics, calculus...

I just hope it won't be too late before I completely lose myself to this world.

I made a vow to save it, after all. And I won't stop until I accomplish that goal.

Unknown to myself, a buzz occurred deep inside my Witch Factor.

User Sonanicity: 97.19825%

BZZT

97.19273%

I entered Crusch's room, where Felix tended to her external wounds.

"Felix, how is she holding up?" I asked him, and he glanced at me with worry.

"Well, Y/N, she is becoming rather weak. I... even I cannot do anything. I feel like I failed Crusch-sama. To not be able to heal a simple disease that was caused her to be ill..."

"Hey, Felix. You shouldn't feel down." I tried to cheer him up, but an opposite reaction took place.

"AND WHAT?!" Felix suddenly shouted. "Even if this was a high grade spell that cursed her, I should be able to heal her! Or else... how do I... how could I say that I am Crusch-sama's knight? How do I represent myself as this kingdom's best healer, Blue?"

"Calm down, Felix." I said as I sat down beside him. "This isn't your fault. Nor is it any of ours. We need to find a solution to fix the problem, instead of blaming yourself or finding someone to blame."

Felix looked up at me with tears in his eyes. "Then, how do you suggest we fix Crusch-sama?"

"Well, lemme just say this. There's always a realm outside what you and I can handle. But fortunately, this is within my realm." I said as I took out my left hand and activated the Authority of Deceit.

"Suitoru Intrica & Periodic Manipulation." I muttered as I carefully sucked out the Dragon's Blood in Crusch veins while supplying her with fresh red blood cells. Although I couldn't manipulate the Dragon's Blood, I can absorb it using Suitoru.

As I finished the treatment, a sudden shock hit me as I coughed out blood and Felix looked at me in horror. "Y/N-san... your arm..."

As I wiped away the blood, I noticed that the black veins on Crusch's body have disappeared, and now I have a completely blackened arm.

"What...?"

Before I could analyze what happened further, I lost consciousness and fell to the floor.