Y/N POV
I once again descended into this dark realm, which was similar to the abyss one went through when they died. I've had many near death experiences, yet, it's at moments like these, where I feel weakest.
Is it because no magic or Authorities can be used, in this plane?
Then does that also mean, without my magical powers, my physical prowess is null?
That isn't exactly true. I've been practicing a lot since I got here, and training a ton as well to the point where I can see a little of my abs. Then why was I afraid?
I didn't have the time to answer that question, since I opened my eyes in a brand new place.
It was like the first time I saw the ball of tendrils, only this time, the ground is covered in black goo.
"What... are you?"
The Deceit Witch Factor, along with the Sloth Witch Factor, rested in the middle of an altar in the centre of the black goo. I didn't even try to approach the latter, due to the dangerous substance spread out on the ground. However, I mustered my courage to move forwards, knowing that if I don't, nothing will happen.
As soon as I stepped into the goo, two voices surrounded my head.
"...My brain, my brain! It trembles!"
"Huh? What was that? Stop ignoring me when I'm talking, when it's obviously a clear violation of my right to speech!"
Betelgeuse and... Regulus?
What are those two doing here?
Against the two incredibly powerful enemies, I readied a fighting stance and strengthened my arms. Using the principal of Ryuuhou, I allowed the blood and adrenaline to circulate my body faster than before, forming a natural armour of sorts.
Seeing that the two did not talk again, I rushed towards them, and sent out a double punch. The fists hit their image, and dispersed them. While I tried to figure out what was going on, the black goo beneath my feet started to return towards the altar, eventually forming a single, condensed pool of the substance, and shoved itself into my Deceit Witch Factor.
Synthesizing Complete.
Developing...
Oh, so that's what you were. The Witch Factor of Greed.
As my authority began to manifest, a line from the past reminded me of something.
'I see. That is your true desire.' Echidna has once said that to Subaru, knowing his own Greed. However, what is my Greed, in a sense?
I thought of my purpose in this world. What I hoped to accomplish. Then I realized that the answer I've been searching for, has been there since the very beginning.
"I want to protect them."
This world, the lost souls, the environment, the culture, the people. All of them.
"So, give me the power to protect them all."
Coincidentally, unbeknownst even to myself, my own authority and Subaru's Cor Leonis, manifested at the same time.
3rd Person POV
Baitenkaitos, who should have had abraded away Felt's name and commenced with his Meal, vomited. Moaning in agony, spitting out his gastric juices, Gluttony's attitude held no dishonesty. So, though he did not put something with a real form in his mouth, he still squeezed his stomach when vomiting. It was a mysterious spectacle, which gave rise to that impression, which had no absurdity in itself.
"Shit, that hurt... Playing around with me..." Caressing her scoured chest, Felt stood up in a grazed shape. Infuriation and displeasure comprised her expression, but she did not seem to have taken any lethal damage. The ones she could see from the corner of her eyes, Beatrice and the others, too, had not forgotten about Felt.
Gluttony's meal had failed. "Gha ~hk, ghehough ~hk, oghe~e~ ~tsu!" Lye crumbled onto the floor, still damaged from the aftereffects.
Dynas, who saw this as an opportunity to attack, struck forth with his katanas. Beatrice, following suit, launched Minya towards Lye.
"Huma!" Copying Rem's former magic, Lye formed a sphere barrier of water around himself, temporarily shielding himself from the attacks. "Wa~h ~tsu! Dangerous dangerous... but we pulled through ~tsu!"
"What. Just like you, I'm also feeling angry, you bastard." Felt muttered, annoyed.
"Nothing like anger at all ~tsu, instead i~t's impressive. We're so~rry, to have thought of you not being so capable of intelligence, by just looks."
"Hu~h? What are you say..."
"We never thought, that you'd have the cleverness to use only an alias against us. We got completely deceived. We had intended to avoid devouring greedily until the Name got disclosed but... to~ thi~n~k, this unexpected twist would be harvested."
Alias, hearing Baitenkaitos say that, Felt went silent. The reaction of Felt, furrowing her eyebrows, was one which suggested how much had she not expected to hear what she had heard. It could be understood at a glance, that she had no idea what Baitenkaitos' words meant.
Whereas Beatrice, after hearing this conversation, understood the reason behind the earlier failure of Baitenkaitos' Meal. Lye held the Authority of being able to eat the Name of a person, whose name he already knew or had gained its knowledge, by touching themーー however, it needs to be the person's real name. Aliases, or nicknames, they do not suffice for its usage. As just Felt's name did not fulfill the conditions for the Meal, Baitenkaitos, who had tasted it, suffered. With that being said...
"The onii-san over there and Felt-chan ... there are two whose names are unknown, and both were determined to be eaten, how troublesome."
Otto, whose name was purely unknown, and Felt, who seemed to be utilizing an alias.
Dynas, whose name had immediately come to light, and Beatrice, who was known through Rem's memories no longer had any impediments, is what the conduct of Gluttony suggested, which was infuriating but, naming himself Gourmet and being fixated over eating Names, had its own disadvantageous gaps.
"Hey! I've had enough of listening to you, now shut up and listen, the hell are you saying?"
Beatrice, who was in her own thoughts, and Baitenkaitos, who was continuing his torment. While Otto and Dynas were observing the situation, raising a loud and rough voice was Felt.
She had been irritated by the repeated conclusions passed regarding her, and aimed for Baitenkaitos with the Meteor, trying to strike him.
"An alias or whatever, don't kid with me. I've already lived, for fifteen years, with the name Felt given to me by Grandpa Rom. Saying that's a lie is no joke."
"The type who is unaware of their own alias hu~h. That, means the parents that raised you up did a pretty good job, isn't it ~tsu. For us, it's a boundless nuisance but... In other words, a name before that one had been pro~perly given, to you."
"The name given by those shit parents who abandoned me in the back alley? Then I must be a "burden" or a "wasteful meal" or "garbage". With that being said, do you still want to stick out your tongue and eat and see it?"
"Don't contradict Gourmet's consciousness by calling it guesswork or something. ーーA~h, that's it."
Showing his protruding teeth, Baitenkaitos raised his hand towards Felt, who expressed an enraged smile.
"After eating the rest beside you, we'll take careful custody of you. And, how about we go to meet the one who gave you a fake name, Grandpa Rom? Grandpa Rom might know your true name. We are good at making people spell out what they know. You ca~n leave it to us."
"...Taking your time out for even that. Do you not have the choice to give up?"
Otto thoughtlessly pronounced, at 『Gluttony』, who spoke of an offensive schedule. Hearing that, Baitenkaitos put his hands on his mouth, and ringed his throat, as if enjoying,
"If the number of lives in the world is finite, then the number of worthy gourmet delicacies is a~lso finite. Then, we won't miss any chance of meeting these limited gourmet delicacies ~tsu. Gluttonous drinking ~tsu! Gluttony ~tsu! Licking it chewing it slurping it, we will lick and taste unti~l the sauce on the plate lasts. Oops, of course onii-san is no exception either so why don't you ju~st relax?"
Baitenkaitos' glare made it clear, that he had no intention of missing the four present. Gluttony's fixation over meals, was out of understanding for Beatrice and the others, who had been evaluated worthy of Gourmet. However, his look for vindictive impediments had no meaning more to it. And, that blasphemer's desire for eating continued to increase, and it brought Felt's pique to itself.
"Is that so. I'll have to do something here, otherwise you'll ta~ke me to Grandpa Rom, huh."
Saying that in a quiet voice, Felt swung her feet. The shoes that she was wearing came off completely, and Felt was just like the other party now. Stepping ahead on the cobblestone with both her feet barefoot, and she drew her dagger, along with another one that Y/N had given her before the fight.
"RAAAAA!" Felt shot forwards, and along with Omega's El Akra boost earlier, shot forwards at the same speed as Y/N, who was able to match up with Gluttony's own speed perfectly. The Divine Protection of Wind Movement activated as Felt's daggers clashed into the spare pair of Lye's, and a flurry of blade clashes were unleashed before both were pushed back.
"Both of you, please get away!" Otto yelled.
While being left out of the event, they had been composing an attack, taking all the time they required. The operation, which would normally be unnecessary, lengthened their work schedule because of its requirement of meticulous caution, thanks to the attachment of an extra filter.
The result of that labour, was finally going to take form. Hearing what Otto had shouted, Felt and Dynas got away from Baitenkaitos' position. Gluttony instantly reached for Felt, but even after touching her, he was not prepared to be able to eat Felt's Name.
"Let, go!" Fiercely swinging her ankle, which had been gripped onto violently, and using a single foot, Felt flew backwards to a great distance. Dynas too, as if rolling, left the place, leaving only Gluttony in Beatrice's line of sight. Aiming there, Beatrice invoked a magic which required the power of a "thousand", and completed it while respecting the power of a "thousand".
"This time it's not a joke, really... Ul Minya!"
Subsequent to the chant, a torrent of violet radiance glowed, and the light drew a circle with Lye at its core. Lye raised his face, to see what was coming up, but that reaction was late. Not preparing, but escaping regardless of its form was the correct answer.
"ーー~tsu!"
In a single breath, the light converged, and shut Lye down by forming a ring around Lye's torso and arms. The ring of light acted like a chain and continued to further lock Gluttony, whose movements of the upper body were in a bind. At the same pace, if the entire body got encased by ring of light, he would no longer be able to escape Ul Minya's might.
The crystallizing violet light continued to tighten its grip on Lye's upper body. At the same pace, the ring's control reached out to even his lower body, and 『Gluttony』, who had been rendered immobile, collapsed on the spot. And, the atmosphere made a noise, as if creaking, as humongous bluish purple radiance emerged overhead of the collapsed blasphemer, with its sharp tips pointing towards Baitenkaitos.
Ul Minya's might, to bind, and lash upon. The attack Beatrice possessed slapped down in urgency, and the materialized destruction rained incessantly upon Baitenkaitos.
A roar could be heard, but in front of the destructive violet light, it had been muted.
The overwhelming light's might tore away the cobblestone, the wind produced by the blast engulfed the plaza in light and smoke, with the skirt of Beatrice's dress waving immensely.
"Did it do it!?"
"Did it manage to do it!?"
"Did it really do it!?"
In the face of the explosion, the three, lying down, raised their voices at the same time.
Lye, at the very core of the hypocenter, had no ways of evasion. If he had truly taken the attack right now, then his body's traces will all disappear, not even leaving behind a fragment of his bonesー.
"It isn't over yet, I suppose!" With a loud voice, Beatrice warned them to be cautious, and the colour of the faces of the delighted three changed. Beatrice noticing the fault that had occurred, before the other three, was nothing difficult to conceive. She could sense it. "ーーFour, left."
The large Magic Stone, which had been stocked over a long period of time, was unable to withstand the current Ul Minya, and shattered right before Lye could be crushed.
Although it had provided for the invocation, it had been incapable of its fullest utilization. The radiance had been unable to erode away Lye, and the body of Gluttony wasーー.
"The one right now has probably made us a bit impatient ~tsu!" Piercing through the plume, Batenkaitos flew towards Beatrice from a low angle. It must be the result of him judging who should be taken care of the first, based on the might of the magic just now. Beatrice had exceptional ability as a magic user, but her physical abilitiesーー just as how it appeared, they were nothing beyond those of a young girl. She did not have the skills, only for fighting at a close range with Batenkaitos, whose abilities were those of geniuses. Henceforth, against his charge, Beatrice instantly utilized her third magic stone.
"ーーMurak!"
"Another trickーー"
Beatrice's chant barely preceded Batenkaitos' hands, who were on the verge of reaching her.
His upraised fingers only had one intention, to not let Beatrice escape, now that all obstacles were clear. However, it got missed yet again. The instant he thought he had reached Beatrice's dress, Beatrice's body flew backwards, like a leaf floating in the breeze.
"Why, you little-" Lye snarled but realized there was a more suitable target on the ground. Omega, who had not moved since the beginning of the battle, stood her ground with her meteor staff.
He had heard her name when he been roaming the city before he met the one's with unknown names. Her, and another girl that had similar looks, were resurrecting people. Lye, who desired all powers, obviously wanted to take her as his meal. When he lashed out, Beatrice let out a warning yowl.
"Mother!"
Omega didn't even flinch as Lye's hand touched her, and he looked at Omega with great satisfaction. "Omega-chan, let's...eat." His licked his palm and proceeded to devour the name of the girl, who he knew for sure had her real name.
Miraculously, nothing happened.
"Huh? No way... another nameless?" Lye said in despair. "That isn't possible. However, we did get your memories from this... what? It's... blank?"
"Fufu... I always wanted to see what it would be like if I gave myself a new name. It seems that the body still depends on the name I give, yet not the actual name." Omega gave Lye a smug smile.
Meanwhile, Felt and Otto watched in confusion as to why Omega didn't get devoured.
"Mother exists due to her soul existing. So her body is but a vessel for her soul, in fact. Even if the Name and Memories of the body gets devoured, her original ones remain intact, which are the true ones stored inside her soul, I suppose." Beatrice summarized the situation to the best of her knowledge, while Lye looked more confused at why this is happening.
"Why would I be afraid of my existence being erased? To be honest, my new time in this world has not even been that long, and the one person that I do indeed want to remember myself cannot forget, no matter what. So in conclusion, your power is useless, successor of Gluttony." Omega stated, and she looked at him with mock disappointment.
"Well, it doesn't matter. Because nameless Onii-san here is still ours to take!" Lye yelled as he dashed as fast as he could towards Y/N, who was far from everyone else after Lye drove them away. The dagger raised, and the lethal shot ready as Gluttony plunged towards his target-
"You will not get nii-chan on my watch!" Felt snarled as she activated her Divine Protection, and zoomed in front of Y/N just before Lye could reach him. Then, unsuspecting even to Gluttony, Felt waved her hands upwards, as if creating a slash. Then, a blade of wind lodged itself into Lye's shoulder, making him wince a little in pain before using his movement's momentum to turn and shake it off.
"You are already using that ability?" Lye asked, surprised. It was only natural for him to be, since no one ever stole something from a Gluttony, nor do they know when the power will merge along with the person who had it.
"Y/N nii-chan called this the Samurai's Wind Blade... and if I copy what you can do, then I can beat you!" Felt yelled as she jumped up on the invisible wind platforms that she willed to create, making a staircase to fight Lye in the sky. The daggers crossed again, and more clashing sounds vibrated throughout the air as Felt put in all her efforts, all her training, all her love and strength into the fight to help the one who helped her rise in the very beginning.
However, that strength was not able to completely counter Lye's stacked skills due to his name and memory consummation. Eventually, Felt was knocked back onto the floor.
"You will never... touch nii-chan." Felt said as she struggled to get up, but Lye was already on the move. He thrust forward his dagger, aiming at Felt's neck, but it broke completely when it touched an invisible space, a few inches before her face.
"It's quite nice yet worrying at the same time, to see you protecting me like this." Y/N said, finally standing up from his synthesizing.
"I'm back."
Y/N POV
"I'm back." I said to Felt, who immediately rushed over and hugged me.
"Don't do that again! We thought you were in serious trouble!" Felt scolded me as I suddenly saw everyone else give Felt a weird look.
"What, do you guys have any objections?" Felt snarled, unhappy about their apparent reaction.
"Well, to be honest, I never thought Y/N-san was in danger. He is quite strong in many senses after all." Otto explained.
"If Y/N can't even take that much of a hit, Betty will not even consider him as someone worthy to be a friend of Subaru."
"Well, Y/N and I did discuss a plan beforehand, so I was expecting this situation. In the end, blondie, you were the only one truly worried."
While Felt felt embarrassed from those words, I felt as if they just shot arrows at my heart. I fainted, and this is the reaction you give? I personally am relieved and happy that you guys have such confidence in my abilities, but this is just...
"We've been waiting too long, you know? Nameless onii-chan, it's not nice to keep Gourmet waiting."
"Shall we commence our final attack, then?" I smiled, and Omega nodded at my command. "El Akra." She said once again, and we all launched our respective attacks.
"El Vita." Beatrice invoked the Yin Magic spell as Lye's movements severely slowed, and Dynas and I struck him with our swords. He blocked them, however, and leapt back. Unbeknownst to him, Gaston was waiting as he sent Lye flying towards Felt, who slashed at him with her daggers. Trying a last attempt at attacking, Lye sent a Palm of the Fist King at me.
"Authority of Greed, First Shift."
"Prudence's Barrier- Wall."
The impact slammed into particles with their time stilled, and the momentum diminished over the duration of the barrier. After the short 5 seconds, however, the barrier disappeared by itself and dispersed. Using the time that Lye was surprised at my new ability, I kicked him across the air, with him finally landing in the concrete. A Water Dragon, heeding the call of Otto's divine protection, emerged from the canal and started trying to bite Lye.
"Chid-chan, do it."
"Okay. Meteor Staff launching in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..."
"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" I gave the order, and the bright beam of light soared towards Baitenkaitos. Light distended at Meteor's tip, and the corona was fired towards Lye. Lye, who had escaped instantaneously from the restraint of the Water Dragon summoned by Otto, somehow rolled away from its path with his injured leg. At the same pace, the light missed its aim, and collided with the Water Dragonーー at that instant, its trajectory warped. The light drew a complex trajectory, and approached Lye.
"Whaーー ~tsu!?" With himself escaping from the chasing light bullet, Baitenkaitos raised his voice. At the same pace, with carriage and jumping of his sharp body, he got out of the trajectory of the light bullet progressively getting closer. However, it was futile. Even if Baitenkaitos escaped away, rolled away, leapt away, the light bullet drew arcs, drew circles, inched closer, and aimed for a direct hit.
That was the greatest power of the Meteor Staff, created by Echidna herself. Once it had set its aim, it functioned so that it kept track of it. The weapon created by Echidna to pester the Divine Dragon Volcanica. If Echidna was truly serious regarding it, and wanted to engineer a device solely for the purpose of pestering, it is obvious she would not allow for any compromises in it.
Henceforth, that magic tool was, incapable of missing its aim, did not let its aim escape, and became a weapon whose hit always landed.
"Nuu, ~tsugh... Then, how about this!?"
No matter how much he ran, the unbound light bullet continued its pursuit, and with some observations cooking up, Lye launched his counterattack. An upsurge of magical power , and Baitenkaitos' environs froze. Various levitating icicles formed, with their pointed tips facing the light bullet, and the stormy barrage rained upon the coronaーー however, that opposition was a mistake.
The moment the icicles came in contact with the corona, they got reduced to mana starting from their tips, and before the could land a hit, they interspersed into smaller fragments and got swallowed up by the light bullet. Furthermore, the light bullet absorbed all of the magical interceptors that drew close, and as that power enlarged its own scale, it continued to approach the enemy. "Shit, no way... no way ~tsu!"
Rolling, somehow getting out of its path, Lye let out the curse. However, the injury on his left leg was deep, and it did not allow for him to jump completely.
Otherwise, if could be agile enough, it may be possible for him to direct the light bullet towards Beatrice and the rest, or have it aim at Felt herself, but he did not have that much energy left.
The pursuing light bullet traced its path around the rolling Batenkaitos, and disabling the areas through which he could escape, it gradually enveloped the body of Gluttony in its destructive might. "No way, by something that looks so stupid, we will we willーー!"
"Shut your mumbling. Right away, Solar Eclipse should be started."
At the instant of the strike, Lye raised a wretched voice, which got painted away by, again, a terribly cold voice. And, the light exploded.
The dazzling corona distended at the core of the open plaza, and gave rise to the largest crater till now. The expanded light blotted the world in white, and the parts which got blotted vanished, as if losing colour. The open plaza had been hollowed out spherically, and the water flowing in the waterway streamed into it.
"Whew, geez. Having an unskilled brother really causes troubles."
Next to the destructive cataclysm, was a shadow peeping at the waterway. Having lengthened brown hair, it was someone with a body covered in scars. Needlessly to say, the physical traits, were none other than the ones of Lye Baitenkaitos.
"What does, this mean, I suppose."
Beatrice's words, did not stem from the confound of the attack not striking. First of all, the attack failing to strike was not the problem. As the light bullet was supposed to strike Lye, and nothing or nobody aside from Lye. That is why, it was obvious that it would not strike the muscular and brawny giant man, who had his back turned towards them. The problem was from just where had that man appeared from.
"Is that... Gluttony?" Otto said, raising his agonized face and glancing at the same.
The one there was the giant man, with a grim countenance, which resembled yet did not match well with Baitenkaitos. With an appearance that suggested he was close to his forties, there were no parts of him that even slightly overlapped with that blasphemer. In front of Beatrice, who narrowed her eyes, that giant man put his hand on his chin. I suddenly realized what Lye did. Right before the transformation, he said-
"There is no need to make such a puzzled face. We just, did this."
And, saying with feminine words, contradicting his appearance, the man relaxedly sliced away his long hair with his sword. As the chopped off strands of hair fell to the ground, Beatrice and I understood how the light bullet had been evaded. The Meteor's tracking functioned till it has established contact with its target. That was its power. Even if it came in contact with a single portion of the body, its might would be sufficient to amass the whole body. That point had been used in inverse. Omega looked at the result in surprise, and immediately took note to fix the meteor on that.
The manー perhaps Lye had, chopped off his hair, and made it seem to the light bullet that it had "come in contact with the body". And, fleeing from the attack's span with all of his strength, he had managed to evade the detriment. On the other hand, the plan also had the potential to not be successful, but this time alone the result had been a perfect one.
Otto and the other men could no longer fight, and Felt too, who ran out of stamina. My newly manifested Authority of Greed, which had a time limit of 5 seconds and a cooldown of 1 minute, cannot be used to continuously defend them. Seeing that Beatrice is also worried, I turned my gaze on the man who stood there.
Returning my gaze, Baitenkaitos rounded his eyes. He then put one hand on his hip, and covered his face with his other palm. "Nice, how nice, isn't it nice, certainly it is nice, perhaps it is nice, possibly it nice, because it is probably nice... we too, we too, see the value of eating you."
Before we could say anything, however, Lye's body started to change. His bones distorted, creating a particular sound, with blood gushing out that was painful to even look at, the body of the giant man wilted. Shedding blood from the newly created wounds, regaining the form of a young boy, was Lye, breathing hoarsely. His whole body was wounded, however, he continued to express his insane smile. Gluttony, looking towards this side while ringing his lowered throat, spread his two arms, in seemingly happiness.
"Our name is, the Witch Cult's Sin Archbishop of Gluttony, Louis Arneb."