After the fight between Y/N and Capella...
? POV
"Phew, I thought I couldn't get away..."
The boy said as he ran from the city hall square, unknown to all except his creator. This was one of Y/N'a clones created through Infinite Multiplication, having half the strength of a regular Y/N.
"Glad that the original allowed me to borrow the swords of power, or else the mission will prove to be quite difficult indeed."
The clone, or dubbed as Y/N Prime, huffed as he finally reached the street his original sent him to. During the battle against the Sin Archbishop of Lust, he had been sent away under the cover of dust, which was his means for escaping the deadly battlefield.
And now, his task is to prevent the complete death of Theresia van Astrea, or so the original said.
HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THAT?
Oya, struggling now, are we?
I heard a voice in my head, and recognized it as my original's contractor, Echidna.
Hello, clone-san. Do you perhaps require my assistance in the task you are informed to do?
Eh, sure. I personally don't know what the original is asking about either way, so what do you suggest?
Heh. When you sense that their soul is going to leave their body, tell me, and I'll bring them to a pocket dimension like my Castle of Dreams. That way, they don't disappear into Od Laguna and get 'recycled', in a sense.
I see. I will do just that, then.
I ran towards the scene, and realized that Reinhard had already arrived. A beautiful clash between blades appeared before my eyes, and I couldn't help but look with my mouth agape at the wonderful sight.
Although it's supposed to be a brutal battle, the clashes between Reinhard and Theresia looked... dazzling, somehow. It was as if grandmother and grandson acknowledged each other's strength, and they were having a great time of sorts. However, I knew that wasn't the case as at this moment, Reinhard deemed the reanimated body of Theresia nothing more than an abomination. Which is why I need to stop him before he causes his family to fall apart.
Having that thought in mind, I unsheathed Inen and Ryokyo, ans jumped between them as the two swords clashed with my own.
"Y/N! What are you doing?" Reinhard yelled at me, confused at my interference in his duel.
"Sorry, Reinhard. But I have to make sure that your family doesn't break."
According to Echidna, I could use Zeam suck Theresia's soul out, then use Suitoru to transfer it to the pendant which Echidna gave to me as a medium to transfer it to her newly built pocket dimension before Zeam could use it as fuel.
I faced Theresia, and I noticed her sword swung down faster than ever, so I decided to take the hit. Wincing in pain, I summoned my Extensions before my swords fell, and they caught Inen and Ryokyo as I unsheathed Zeam. Inen and Ryokyo clashes with the Dragon Sword Reid, while Zeam blocked Theresia's next attack.
Taking this chance, I bound Theresia's body with diamond, rendering her immobile. Since she cannot swing her rapier anymore, I took Zeam and touched her gently with it.
Seeing that the effect is taking place, I take Zeam just a little away from her just to make sure Zeam doesn't devour her soul, only aiding me in the process of sucking it out.
"Y/N, I'm sorry, but I cannot allow you to save that abomination. As a knight of the kingdom, I have to strike her down. Dead people..." Reinhard's voice cracked at his next line, guilt filling his heart. "...should stay dead."
"And I'm helping you to fulfill that in a very peaceful way, Reinhard! At least you don't have to be guilty of the one who struck your own family down!"
"I'm sorry, Y/N, but..." Reinhard said as he suddenly cut through my Extensions, and my two swords of power clattered to the floor as he advanced with the Dragon Sword Reid.
"I'm the one who should say sorry, Rein." I smirked as Reinhard lifted the Dragon Sword, and struck down only to be completed reflected backwards, his attack landing on a familiar sensation as he realized what the problem is.
"Y/N, you-!"
"Prudence Barrier First Shift- Wall."
The Dragon Sword Reid soared out of Reinhard's hands, it's movement impeded by Newton's third law of motion while my Authority of Greed protected me as the ritual finished, and Theresia's soul entered the pocket dimension. With this completed, I let go of Theresia's body, and Reinhard, who now had his sword fly out of his hands, looked at me with shock as I laid Theresia's body on the floor.
"Y/N-dono..." Wilhelm, who was watching the whole ordeal with his former wound opening, unable to move until now. "What did you do... to my wife, may I ask?"
"I found a safe place for her soul to rest. Also, this way, her body can be preserved, at least. She would've disintegrated into ashes if she was forcibly killed. Now that I think about it, do you want to hold a conversation with her, one last time? I believe that I can at least do that for you."
"I...graciously accept your offer, Y/N-dono. Please let me see her once again."
"Alright then."
Encasing Wilhelm, myself, and Theresia in a diamond dome, I called out to Echidna to help me transport Wilhelm and my consciousness into the realm, and she happily obliged as I suddenly sat on a similar grass field to to the Castle of Dreams, with only a more grayish hint to the colouring.
I looked around to see Wilhelm, who slowly stood up and took out his sword for safety measures. "Y/N-dono, what is this place?"
"A realm for the deceased to live in, created by someone I know. Hey, look, she's appearing." I said as I pointed to the sudden shift in the air, and Theresia van Astrea, still as bright as she was in her younger days, materialized into existence.
"Where... am I?" Theresia asked as she looked around, but there was nothing but gray grass in the area. Then, she noticed Wilhelm and I. Taking one look at her former husband, she started to form tears in her eyes. "Wilhelm... is that you, my love?"
"Yes, Theresia. I... am so glad that I could see you again, and talk to you like this." Wilhelm and Theresia continued to stare at each other for a while before the happiness sinked in, and they hugged each other for the first time in decades.
"Theresia, I missed you, so, so much."
I sat on a chair created by myself, silently watching the old couple's reunion. Is this, perhaps, what you wanted, original?
"Hey." The couple now turned to me, with Theresia looking at me with interest. "You are the one who freed me, right? What's your name?"
"Oh, uh, my name is Y/N L/N, leader of the Liberator's Battalion. Nice to meet you, previous Sword Saint."
"Y/N-dono greatly aided us in our recent successful subjugation against the White Whale, and was also able to play a part in the downfall of the Great Rabbit, so I'm very grateful to him and his friend." Wilhelm added.
"So you did what we all couldn't do, hm?" Theresia said, a mysterious hidden message beneath those words. "By the way, this time during the subjugation... did you by any chance see a platinum haired girl with barely any clothes?"
The moment Theresia mentioned that description, I stiffened in shock. "You don't mean... the one who calls herself the Witch of Vainglory, Pandora?"
"I never knew her name. Perhaps I was too quick to draw my sword before I could get any information out of her, so I barely paid any attention to her words. All I knew was that a little girl in the mist of the White Whale definitely was not any normal adversary."
"I see. Well, that is most unfortunate. Pandora usually reveals information to her opponents during an encounter, whether she intended to or not. But don't fret, as she will be dealt with in the future."
"I'm sorry, Y/N-dono, but who exactly is Pandora?" Wilhelm asked.
"I can't say for sure, but I think she's the current leader of the Witch Cult, since even the strongest Sin Archbishop of Greed even takes orders from her. However, she was not the creator of the Witch Cult. From my knowledge, the cult was founded by the late Sin Archbishop of Sloth and another individual."
"I see. Do you happen to know what her powers are, then?"
"I think I can help a little on that." Theresia chimed in. "It was... a rather weird power. I definitely killed her once, but the next second she stood behind me as if nothing had happened. The weirdest thing is, I don't see any signs of regeneration itself, or perhaps was it too fast? There was also this time when she said something among the lines of forest, and I was immediately in a forest, despite there not being a single one on the Lifaus Plains."
"If I remember correctly, Pandora's authority allows her to change reality itself, which might be what you experienced, Theresia. However, I do recall that it only activates under certain conditions, although I don't know what they are."
This kinda left us on an awkward point, so I decided to leave this topic for now by promising to deal with it later, and then I allowed the two to have some alone time. Watching the couple caress each other and conversing happily, I wished that it could continue like this forever.
After their conversation was over, our consciousnesses returned to the living world, and I was greeted by the face of Reinhard, who sat near us and Theresia's body.
"So, Y/N... I'm going to guess, you laid grandmother to peace...?"
"Yes, Reinhard. I had to do it. If I hadn't, I'm afraid that the Astrea family would be broken. I can't exactly let my sister's helper go broken now, can I?"
"I..." Reinhard was at a loss for words as he watched Wilhelm woke up. "I just wanted to let grandfather forget the past so that it wouldn't burden him so much, so that he would stop feeling ashamed for himself, even if it means pinning all the blame on me."
"Well, I guess we both know that that is not the way, Rein."
Leaving Reinhard to deal with Wilhelm while he carried Theresia's body, I turned to face the last man present on the scene: Heinkel.
"What... what did you do to mother?" Heinkel asked, a slight hint of fear in his cowardly eyes.
"I sent her to a nice place to rest, dumbass. If I hadn't stepped in, her soul and body would've completely disappeared."
"Is that so? How do I know if you're lying or not? I'll definitely report you to the Kingdom that you personally assured the death of the last Sword Saint-"
"Don't be foolish, Heinkel. Your mother already died once, and even I can't reverse death. If you want to trust me, then... you know what, I'll do one favour for you to make you trust me, how about that, Vice-Captain?"
"What could you possibly do-"
"I'll cure Louanna Astrea for you."
"What?" Heinkel seemed taken aback, shocked at my proposal. "Don't lie, not even the best healer could help her, so what makes you think you can?"
"She's affected by the 'Sleeping Beauty' disease, is she not? Let me tell you, that is the work of the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony. I promise to eliminate him within the year, and she'll slowly wake up. Don't try going to Priscilla to go ask for the Dragon's Blood for two reasons: one, I can wake her up way faster, and two, Dragon's blood cannot even cure her condition. So, do you accept my offer."
"If you can save Louanna, then... I guess it's worth a shot. If you're lying, kid, I won't ever forgive you."
"It's not like you can do much to me in the first place..." I muttered, but realized I had one more business with him. I unsheathed Zeam and in one swift motion, I swung it to right beside his neck.
"Also, if you dare, ever dare to put Felt's life in danger again, I'll personally see to it that you will be erased from this world. Got it?"
"I... got it."
Then, leaving the Astrea family behind, I walked back into an alley, before I felt my body disintegrating.
"Okay, original, I've fulfilled my mission. I'll see you next time."
Then, the existence called Y/N Prime disappeared back into Y/N's own body, only to awaken again when it's needed to.