Y/N POV
"We are, the Witch Cult's Sin Archbishop of Gluttony, Louis Arneb." The newly transformed Lye, with his new long hair fluttering down onto the floor, introduced their other identity.
"Louis? Wasn't his name Lye Baitenkaitos?" Otto voiced Beatrice's confusion, staring at Lye, perplexed.
"You..." I scrutinized Lye's new feature, and the gears suddenly clicked. "You are Satiation, aren't you?"
"Ah, so the nameless onii-san does indeed know our occupation. We are very, very delighted about that." Louis replied. "After all, even Lye of Gourmet and Roy of Bizarre Eating know nothing. A meal isn't exactly what it contains, but rather, who you are consuming the goods alongside. Simply put, it's not 'what' you ate, it's 'who' you eat with. Unfortunately, that's all for today. As both Ley and Roy are too exhausted. Any further will cause hindrances in giving birth."
Louis gave a slight bow before going off into the opposite direction, ready to depart. Beatrice, however, wasn't so keen on letting her go.
"Do you think, you will escape, I suppose!"
Hearing that, Louis shot back a devious smile towards Beatrice. "Please stop acting strong, cute young miss. Though Eclipse cannot be handled decently in this body, it can still at least completely annihilate. The reason that won't be done, is because the dinner table isn't prepared."
"You-!" Beatrice tried to retaliate despite Louis' warning, but I held out a hand to stop her. "Don't, Beatrice. She wasn't bluffing. Lye was continuously using Lunar Eclipse back there to fight, and he only didn't use Solar because they disliked it. If they did utilized that skill, we would not be able to ensure our own safety."
"Onii-san there has good judgment. Now then, it's time to leave. Young miss, next time, bring the person you hold dear you to come and meet us." Louis said, and once again began to walk away. However, for the last time, she looked back.
"Oh, and Nameless onii-san? You may already know this, but... I will wait for you in the Corridor of Memories. Don't disappoint me."
"What- how-" I gasped, but Louis already vanished, dashing away on the rooftops.
Beatrice watched Gluttony leave with disappointment and anger. "It seems, that we can't even ask Subaru happily for a hug, I suppose."
"Not necessarily." I turned towards the Great Spirit. "The uncaring Louis has left us an important clue to where we could find and defeat her."
"You mean... that place she called the Corridor of Memories?"
"I think so... I've never been to place myself, but I've heard that it's a special domain that has been created due to 'the ones linked to Od Laguna's souls, where only spiritual beings exist. I personally don't even know how to access it, and I bet Omega has no idea either."
"Speaking of Omega... are you all right?" I hurried over to my contractor, who sat on the floor, exhausted.
"Well, it's a simple matter of mana exhaustion, Y/N. I poured mana enough for two shots of the meteor staff into one single attack. In terms of percentages, I have around 5% of my max capacity right now. That's why I'm a little bit... tired." Omega said as she suddenly fell asleep, and I chuckled slightly at her sleeping expression.
"To think that even the great Witch of Greed needs to rest like this... truly a rare sight. Beatrice, take care of her, okay?"
"Betty would definitely make sure Mother's okay, in fact. Go do what you're supposed to do, I suppose." Beatrice reassured me, and I prepared for my leave.
"Otto, take care of Felt while I'm gone, okay?" I said to the merchant, who nodded with a little bit of hesitancy. "By the way, I have to speak with you about something after all this is over."
"Hey! Do I need to look like I'll need to be taken care of?" Felt stomped over angrily to me, inching her head all the way up to my face.
"No, no... I was just worried about you. I know you're more than capable of defending yourself, but the dangers in this city are not over yet. Three of the five archbishops might've fallen, but we still have to stay on alert. Just make sure... you stay alive, okay?"
"Hmph! Nii-chan, you need to put a little trust into me! By the way, where are you going, anyway?"
"We may have let Gluttony escape, but I will not let another archbishop get away from this city. Therefore, I have to head to the final battlefield, where I will subdue Lust."
"Ora? Why are you still on the other side, when you personally ensured the doom of this city? At least partially, that is." Capella glanced at Al with interest as she said those words.
"Don't know what you're talking about, but I do not plan on betraying anyone's secrets." Al said as he unsheathed his Blue Dragon Sword, and dashed towards Capella.
In an instant while Capella looked at Al's form in the sky, her head was freshly severed as the blood poured out, forcing Al to avoid it. Still transformed as Priscilla, Capella's transfigured head rolled across the floor.
Al did not stop there. Amplifying his sword with his own abilities, Capella's body exploded into pieces, and splatted all across the floor. To this, Al finally seemed to relax for a while.
"... How's, that! Hah, hah, at this point it's..."
Shoulders heaving as he caught his breath, Al spoke to Capella who had become pieces of meat. This, anything like this, a creature able to survive after being destroyed to this point simply could not exist. Toward Al's declaration of victory, an existence that could respond did not exist, or at least that should have been.
"Ah~ ho~w exce~ssive — ah. No matter what, ordinarily things wouldn't go so~ far."
"Damn it."
The voice came not from flesh, but from the direction of the head that had been initially severed — in other words, it came from the place where Capella's head had landed. Capella's head from where it had rolled, remained on the ground as it joyously witnessed Al's reaction. "Sending your head flying, destroying your heart isn't enough. Isn't that breaking too many rules here..."
"Head flying and heart destroyed, would pose no problem to this lovely lady... Suddenly becoming so without a trace of tolerance i~s rare indeed. This lovely lady, right now, should be tempting you with you~r favourite face, could it have been a slip of the eye? Or could it be that you're the type who expresses love by inflicting pain?" Before the Al revealing feelings of helplessness, Capella's head righted itself. The severed head moved sluggishly, black flesh that couldn't possibly have been present gushing out. Forming a head as a pedestal, quivering flesh became limbs, black surfaces hidden from sight by white skin, turning back to — no, completely transforming into a golden haired maiden.
"... And the pieces of meat scattered here?"
"Since they're unnecessary, they can dissolve."
Al looked on with amazement, as the scattered pieces of flesh that had formed Capella's body started dissolving with a noise. The organs and limbs became a substance like black mud, bubbling as they disappeared. Even their method of disappearing inspired disgust to the point of aesthetic fatigue.
"Anyway, without hesitation you severed my head i~ndeed. The one from above... se~ems to have been a fake. Wa~sn't there one whose comrade couldn't fight anymore, after taking this lovely lady's blood? Soaking in it like that, wa~sn't it sca~ry?"
"It wasn't some kind of bluff. Though I didn't know what conditions needed to be filled, knowing that being dripped on wouldn't be the end is something I've already tested. Dodged like mad and it was a waste."
"—? But you haven't shown even a trace of an attempt to avoid it."
"It's something you couldn't know about. Head, heart, if both don't work, next time that severed head will be crushed. No matter how many tries it takes."
Al's extraordinarily tired sigh, was even more pained than it had been before this battle had begun. This should have been due to the effect of Capella's tricks. Extraneous burden that had been placed upon his shoulders after their meeting. In any case, not a trace of damage was left on Capella's freshly regenerated body. In addition to variation and transformation, a regenerative ability to the point of refusing death – with even the typically most fatal attacks on head and heart rendered ineffective, this was truly a genuine monster. However, it doesn't equate to undefeatable.
"There are also methods like freezing the entire body to seal it, or some method like tossing it into the Great Cascade."
"I~sn't despairing after failing to kill an opponent nice, are~n't you tru~ly an incorrigible trash meat. But, having motivation is well and good, can you actually do it? Se~ems like you're good at petty tricks like dodging and escaping, are~n't you lacking a way to actually kill this lovely lady."
"Indeed even if I died a hundred times, I wouldn't be able to kill you. In fact, I've already gone half of the way... But, aren't you forgetting something?"
Al placed the Blue Dragon Sword over his shoulder and gave a knock, his helmet making a clunking noise, he pointed his sword and Capella's head which had turned at this line swiveled. He was pointing at the City Hall – somewhere outside of it.
"You originally intended to disrupt our home base. We can also imagine that your control tower is completely deserted. Meaning, that the ones who went to attack [Lust] will rush back shortly. As long as I keep up these time-buying tactics, naturally soon you'll be done with. For your information, my abilities are okay for buying time, no? I'll try every means to Keep you down, to trap you in here. So, if you'd like to run your chance is now."
Al locked in battle against Capella in solitude, used the imminent arrival of reinforcements to try to coerce his opponent into retreating. Upon hearing those words Capella raised her eyebrow as if surprised, and toward her questioning attitude Al also responded with a "hmm?". "What's that, your reaction. Even if you have some complaint about my suggestion from just now then..."
"Do you truly believe that this lovely lady who came alone into enemy territory, wo~uldn't have prepared measures against the troops you~ sent out? Muscle daruma and swordswoman, were placed along the way. Even amongst our puppets, those two are quite something... Can your reinforcements really get away so easily?"
The unforeseen development drew a sound from Al, who looked at the large hole overhead. As if seeing through his helmet to see his expression, Capella continued. "By the way, the Conversation Mirror you had on you is sealed you know? So even if you hurriedly tried to establish contact with anyone else, you wouldn't be able to reach anyone."
"How did you do something like that!?"
"That magic device, the creator se~ems to have been a Witch. Rumors about such legends have long been passed down in the Witch Cult. Including things like disrupting the wavelength of the Conversation Mirror."
Due to the nature of this unorthodox annoyance, the goal that Al had spoken fell empty. Although Al had no way of ascertaining the truth of Capella's words, in truth, the two who had been sent from the City Hall to take on Lust — Wilhelm and Garfiel will sooner or later clash with her minions. The possibility of returning from a battle between monster and man could only be said to be extremely low.
"Lacking a means to fight back at a time like this, isn't this about the end?"
"... Not having anything, well I wouldn't go so far as to say that."
At Al's vague answer, Capella revealed a faint trace of a small smile. And in the moment after, the faint smile melted. Once again, the form of the young girl became an amorphous piece of meat, and like this Capella's mass grew exponentially. With a gurgling sound, Capella's form broke the limits of a human form, growing huge. Delicate maiden, seductive woman, stern young man, serious warriors – her flesh grew enormous with a momentum yet unseen, the underground space echoing with laughter. And then appearing after a moment was, a dragon of black whose body blended into the shadow.
"... I see, you could even turn into a dragon."
Hearing Al's low voice, the dragon narrowed its golden eyes, and Capella opened her mouth as if to respond to Al. From that mouth, came a merciless scorching breath. The breath of flame seemed to ignite the very air of the underground, as a white light forced its way close to Al.
An incantation completely overpowered by the roaring sound, created a wall of earth in the scope of that breath. However, faced with the overwhelming temperature the wall failed to mount even a momentary defense before crumbling under the heat — however, Al's purpose did not lie there. The jaw of the black dragon which had released the breath, was hit by a suddenly rising wall of earth. The mouth that generated the breath was forced shut, and instead the black dragon scorched its own throat with its flame. Even so, the flame that the black dragon had spat out before its interruption continued to burn. On his back which tried to escape the range of the heat, the green flame approached—
"Damn it! Dona! Geh!?"
Incanting alongside the stench of burning, a wall of earth suddenly slammed into Al's side. Using this momentum Al with a backside full of flame was launched into a nearby waterway. Then the instant that his back brushed bottom surface of the waterway, another incantation brought a wall of earth, sending him flying out of the water.
The completely soaked Al flew from the waterway. In an instant, the razor claws of the black dragon had swept across the waterway's bottom. Tossing up foam, the wall which carried Al out of the water burst into pieces. Although an evasive manoeuvre, the ferocious attack on Al continued, as he endlessly avoided, avoided, avoided.
Using miraculous movements to evade in such an extremely small space, withstanding attacks from behind that should have been unforeseen, his body's lack of ability was supplemented by his own magic, as he continually avoided fatal injuries.
"Do, Do, Donaaa!"
Faced with this battering wind that drew an arc, Al used multiple incantations to create five earthen walls toward his front — after reducing the threat of this attack as much as possible, used his Blue Dragon Sword to fend against injuries, swept up and hitting the ground to roll several times before staying down. The dramatic rolling movements lessened the on his body, and Al stood with the Blue Dragon Sword as a crutch. However, the damage had not been completely offset.
"Ku, kuu... damn it, on the victim's side this time... really outta luck here...!"
"Do~esn't seem that way though. Considering your abilities, there's a kind of incomprehensible stupidity in staunchly standing with allies..."
Toward Al who sighed over his current situation, the black dragon Capella gave a rather uncomprehending praise. Even from her perspective, Al's desperate defensive battle held an inexplicable sense of bothersome violation. Attacks that should not have been seen through, pursuits that should not have been imagined, Al had all along been using his own ability to survive as long as possible. – As if he'd long known all those choices.
"... Isn't this rather, a bit too much?"
The reason why Capella who raised her head would say so, were the faint vibrations transmitted from the surface of the ground — and then were, fatal sounds coming from the City Hall that had continually suffered damage. The result was, the gradual widening of the hole that had been the trap to send Capella down, and the cracks spread through not only on the floor but even through the entire building.
"Stop kidding around! If this territory comes undone I'll actually die!"
Seeing part of the floor fall away from above, Al stood through the pain, with laboured steps like this leapt into the flowing waterway. Along with the sound of water, his body grew distant with the underground waterways. And then Capella seeing him off maintained the form of the black dragon as she gazed upon the gradually collapsing ceiling.
"Ye~p, interest is wilting. Tired from playing, so forget it."
With murmured words that seemed listless, the black dragon yawned. Like this the rarest sight in the world went unseen by anyone, buried under the rubble from the collapsing architecture.
As he coughed, Felix spat out vast quantities of soil and blood.
Was it sand or blood that remain in the gap between his tongue and teeth. No matter which, it didn't matter at all to Felix. Right now he just wanted to rinse his mouth.
"Didn't expect the City Hall to collapse. Isn't this, another death for nothing...! Something like that is... that's right, Anastasia-sama!" Cat ears pointing upward, Ferris shouted that name as he looked about him. If like me, she'd been directly crushed to death..."
Looking around, starting the search among the nearby rubble. In the moment that the building had begun to topple, Anastasia and Felix had been in the same room. A sudden collapse from beneath their feet, if she'd been caught up in it without any preparation she'd end up the same way. At least if she hadn't died instantaneously, as long as she could be subject to Ferris's healing magic she'd be safe and sound.
"Ah, Ferris, you too are safe and sound."
The sound of footsteps that kicked away rubble approached, Ferris who jumped as if startled turned to see a solitary figure. Tugging on the hair that had been dyed green, smiling slightly was the Anastasia he had been searching for all along. Hem of her clothing which seemed difficult to move in swaying, she approached Ferris with careful steps.
"Anastasia-sama, are you unhurt?"
"It's as ya can see. In fact, we here should be saying that. You, Ferris, thank goodness you emerged unhurt from that collapse."
Although strictly speaking he hadn't been unhurt, Ferris suppressed his instinctive reply. There was no obligation to reply, any it would not merit a pleasant topic. Closing his mouth without reply, Ferris across from Anastasia surveyed the rubble and scene of collapse of the City Hall.
"Telling everyone to leave for the shelters in advance, truly was too correct of a decision. This was, quite the grand happenin'."
"A grand happening..." Anastasia calling this a grand happening, was this a circumstance to be able to say so with peace of mind. Although calling it a grand happening wasn't incorrect, it felt as if missing a touch of seriousness.
"Seems to me, that the cause would be the underground battle between Al and Lust..."
"Being completely buried, digging them out like this would be a bit difficult. If they successfully enter the waterways underground, seems to me there would be a possibility of escaping alive..."
Of course, in that case the possibility of Capella's survival also needed to be considered. As Ferris had observed, Capella's capacity for regeneration surpassed human imagination. Having half her face destroyed by Anastasia's magic, and not giving any regard to it was truly beyond strange. Just as Ferris's life continued after fleeing, it shouldn't have been the result of some unnatural constitution.
"Speaking of which, where did Anastasia-sama learn such magic?"
"... that, got anythin' to do with this?"
"Since I had heard you couldn't fight, a little bit of surprise can't be helped."
During the discussion on how to distribute the combat forces, she herself had been the one who'd said she had no combat ability. Whether Anastasia herself or the artificial spirit accompanying her, had been the case. However, if that had been the case, what was that magic that had ruined Capella's face.
"—This topic, I'd also like to hear a bit about it."
Anastasia kept silent in response to Ferris's question, and just at that moment the voice of a third person chimed in. Before the two who turned their heads, was the soaked Al kicking at rubble. Twisting his head so that water poured poured from the opening in his helmet, he approached.
"Seeing ya safe and sound is nice. A successful leap into the waterway?"
"Though about three times I felt like I was dying. Eh, not like it mattered in the end. More importantly, we've got something to talk about."
Anastasia faced forward to welcome the laborer's meritorious return, but Al unsheathed his Blue Dragon Sword as he spoke. Pointing the tip of the blade as well, she too frowned.
Al and Anastasia stood facing each other, and Ferris was caught in between the two. The places where the three stood formed an exact triangle.
"For this, what exactly do you intend? If this is a joke then I ain't laughin'."
"Not like I'm in a kidding mood. Setting aside that cat-eared bro for now, I really can't rest easy at your survival from this destruction. In addition..."
"It's merely that there were backup plans. Hiding those was indeed my fault, but as for that I can't exactly explain it forthrightly..."
"Indeed that could be said to be. The problem here is your attitude. Barely managing to escape from the collapsed building, then chatting idly with a familiar face atop the ruins... From your attitude it feels like your expressions and feelings are completely out of place. Do you know what we call people who can chat like that. Those kinds'a people, we refer to them as [Witches]."
"... really now, isn't that turn of phrasing a little excessive."
An incredibly philosophical tone of response, gave an impression of quite the sense of exhaustion of feeling. Sly smile falling away, what emerged afterward was an empty smile that was only in appearance. As if that movement of skin was direct not toward another, but toward one's self in a self-deprecating manner.
"In my experience, 'Witch' is by no means a term used in good conscience."
"Could it be that you're under the impression that I'm lightheartedly dropping a greeting? Your first impression is right, Witch."
"What is it?" Felix asked, confused at what the two was talking about, and their unexplained animosity towards each other. However, before they could continue any further, a swishing sound was heard from behind them.
The thousand pieces of nothingness merged together into some monstrosity, before disassembling itself and then reforming once again. Without question, the group recognized this as Capella reforming herself: first as countless red lights, then as hundreds of field mice, before finally taking her original form back.
"Well, that was certainly expected yet also unexpected." Capella spoke, and made a motion to brush off the nonexistent dust on her shoulders. "It seems that today's little playtime has come to an end. Be grateful, you meats who are about to experience death, that this lovely lady is lenient today and has decided to leave."
"Did perhaps, your Gospel told you to do tha'?" Eridna said, analyzing Capella's sudden act with curiosity.
"Hah? You mean this stack of paper?" Capella said as she pulled out her Gospel from her arm, opening it and closing it without wounds. "This thing, in the end, is only for judgment on my decisions. In the end, it's always this lovely lady who decides."
"Anyways, I've decided to leave. So have fun dealing with the rest of the monsters, you meatbags!" Capella laughed as she spread her wings, and three demi-beasts jumped out towards Al, Felix, and Eridna.
Al managed to unleash a giant strike with the Blue Dragon Sword to annihilate one demi-beast, but the other two are still advancing. Although Eridna's Jiwalds managed to pierce through another one's leg, it still approached ferociously.
"That's, enough."
A voice sounded throughout the sky, and even Capella, who was retreating, stopped out of sheer curiosity. An Al Jiwald came down from the sky, vaporizing the two demi-beasts that blocked the three survivors' escape route.
"Huh?" Capella looked to the sky in confusion, only to realize that no one's there. While she scrambled around to find the source of voice, a bright white light shot towards her and grabbed her by the throat.
"You're not leaving today, Capella."
The Liberator shot down into the square along with his enemy still gripped within his hand, and slammed her into the brick roads. A large explosion followed suit, and he leapt out of the smoke while looking at the flames in contempt.
"Oh! You... just the person I'm looking for. I was thinking of abducting you, but it seems like you came straight to me! That makes my job a looooot easier, you know?" Capella emerged from the flames, completely unhurt as she stalked towards the boy.
"I'm not letting you leave until I win." Y/N declared. With that, he unsheathed Inen and Ryokyo, which he held in his respective right and left hands. His Extension, unseen to all, carefully unsheathed Zeam and he gripped the handle with his teeth.
"Didn't this lady tell you that you could never win against an immortal being like myself?! Hahahahaha... but you're welcome to try, smart piece of meat!"
"This is my rematch with you. And let me tell you something... isekai'd people always, ALWAYS win on a rematch if there is one." Unleashing his aura, the Liberator charged forth, and met the Sin Archbishop of Lust to begin their final battle.