Chapter Text
Subaru's POV
I was nervous. Terribly so.
That title just gave me a really horrible feeling. I was hoping against all hope that this did NOT show the rabbits. I don't think the audience here is ready for that yet.
"So, as the titles have shown you, the first one we'll see is from the Return world!" the Everlasting said, much to the chagrin of the people in the theater.
"Well, I guess we should prepare ourselves." Lugh remarked, composing himself. The same could be said for everyone else.
"Oh, and you better get those notes ready, guys. This is from the future. Actually, all three of these are from the future."
The moment he said that, everyone straightened up, especially those from our world. Meanwhile, I heaved a noticeable sigh of relief, because that meant that this would not be about the rabbits.
What if it was a worse death than the rabbits, though?
I shuddered at the thought, because what else is a worse death than being eaten alive?
"Then we need to get ready to take notes." Crusch-san said.
"Can you tell us when this is taking place?" Reinhard asked.
"6 months from when you were summoned." the Everlasting said.
"If this is something bad, then we can be suitably prepared for it." Julius commented.
"Let me give you a hint. I have good news and bad news about this one. Good news, you won't be seeing Subaru die here."
"Thank goodness!" Rem said.
"Bad news, this episode will piss you all off anyway." they said with a smirk.
Piss us off, huh? Whatever it is, I sincerely hope that this will give us useful information.
"Let's begin!"
In the central plaza of the City of Priestella, surrounded by canals of waterways on all sides, tension was quicky rising. A figure of immense evil was standing in the middle of it, poised to unleash his malice on his enemies.
"Priestella?" - Anastasia
"The Water Gate City of Priestella? What are we doing here?" - Crusch
"Where is that?"
"This is one of the Five Great Cities of Lugunica, located near the border of Kararagi. It's a city built upon water, rumored to have been created by Hoshin of the Wastelands. We currently have our headquarters there." - Anastasia
"I see."
The other simply kept quiet, content to just watch what is about to unfold. I also watched intently, the bad feeling I had in the beginning somehow increasing.
Then, I saw who was standing there, and my blood boiled.
This is Lye Batenkaitos, the Witch Cult's Archbishop of Gluttony.
We froze. All of us did. Well, all of us in our world, at least. The people from the other worlds just looked confused.
However, it didn't take long for me to react.
"THIS BASTARD!"
I clenched my fists and glared heatedly at the screen.
"The Witch Cult!" - Rem
"Why the hell are they here?!" - Ricardo
"This is bad...!" - Julius
Both Felix and Wilhelm were silent, but their expressions of anger was enough to understand what they are feeling.
"So, uh, can someone please explain?" - Touya
"The Witch Cult is a terrorist organization responsible for committing countless atrocities across our world. They are led by these people known as the Archbishops of Sin. This Lye Batenkaitos is one such Archbishop." - Reinhard
"This one in particular I have a severe grudge with."
I gritted my teeth at seeing this piece of shit.
Otto Suwen cursed his misfortune at having encountered the Archbishop himself. He also remarked that he could already hear Subaru and Ram complaining about not facing him themselves.
"Wait, why am I there?!" - Otto
"Brotto!" - Garfiel
"Let's calm down for now. We have to analyze all of this information carefully." - Julius
"That's right. It makes sense." - Felix
"First, we know that 6 months from now, the Witch Cult will be attacking Priestella, presumably led by the Archbishop of Gluttony. Since you are here, Otto-kun, that means that you're either on a mission for the Emilia Camp, or the Emilia Camp is here in the city. Of course, we still have incomplete information, but that's all that we have for now." - Anastasia
He also recalled that the Archbishop of Gluttony went by a different name, Roy Alphard. However, he can also tell that this person was an Archbishop, which led to him deducing that there are two Archbishops of Gluttony, or at least two Archbishops of Gluttony.
"Two Archbishops of Gluttony, or at least two of them?! One is already bad enough!" - Otto
"How can there be two Archbishops? Are they sharing an authority?" - Julius
"One is named Lye Batenkaitos, and one is named Roy Alphard." - Julius
"Rem, do you know who ate your memory and name?" (whispering)
"It's this one, Subaru-kun." - Rem
"I see..."
This was a miscalculation to the plan that they couldn't foresee. Their plan to take back the four control towers in the city was based on the assumption that there was only one Archbishop per location. The fact that there was one roaming the city was beyond their calculations.
"That's not good..." - Lugh
"So you realized it, huh? Yeah, that's not good." - Rimuru
"What did you guys realize?" - Touya
"If we make inferences based on what is said here, then they had a plan to take back these control towers. They assumed that each control tower is occupied by an Archbishop. If that's the case, then..." - Ainz
"...there are four Archbishops that are going to attack the city, plus this guy..."
"Both Pride and Sloth are dead, and we don't know if there's an Archbishop of Envy..." - Wilhelm
"That means that... all of the current surviving Archbishops are attacking the city." - Crusch
All of us paled as we realized the severity of the situation.
"Shit...!"
"We need to pay more attention here, since the information we will get would be crucial." - Reinhard
It's kinda odd that the Seven Deadly Sins are a concept there too. As someone with a Gluttony skill, I don't know how to feel about this... - Rimuru
This wasn't the most unexpected development though. That would be the presence of Felt, one of the five royal candidates, beside him. She said that it took everything that she could to shake Reinhard off, which was currently somewhere else in the city accompanying Subaru.
"Felt-sama!" - Reinhard
I could tell that Rein was not happy that she was there.
"Well, at least we're there too, Rein. We now have a chance against those bastards." - Felt
"Indeed, but..." - Reinhard
"Jeez! Stop worrying about me too much, Rein! I'll be fine!" - Felt
"I see, since Natsuki-kun and Reinhard-kun are both there, then that means that there are at least 3 camps in Priestella, ready to defend the city." - Anastasia
"I wonder who they're going to fight if they had to go together..." - Crusch
Please, don't die there, Subaru. - Emilia
They were not the only ones there, as the private soldiers of Mr. Kiritaka, the White Dragon Scale, was there as well, led by a man named Dynas.
"Kiritaka is one of the people governing the city of Priestella. I hope he's safe." - Anastasia
Otto could only internally groan at having dealt such a pitiful hand against an Archbishop of the Witch Cult.
"It is quite unfortunate." - Rio
"Yeah, they have very low chances of success here." - Felix
"Please don't say that..." - Otto
The merchant then decided to engage in a conversation with the Archbishop, hoping to glean any sort of information from him. The enemy was talking weirdly, though, talking about meeting their glorious hero so that they can be judged by them or something like that.
When asked about it, the Archbishop said that they were looking for the one who made the citywide broadcast.
Otto was a little unsettled by the fact that this Archbishop knew Subaru already.
"Okay, let's slow down."
The viewing paused as I processed this information.
"So, first of all, I haven't met this guy before. I sure hope I have so I could have had a chance to kill him, but I haven't met him yet. Second, a citywide broadcast? Why the hell would I do something like that?"
"It's possible that we had to increase the morale of the city. Considering your achievements, you're the perfect person for the job." - Anastasia
"I guess you're not wrong..."
The conversation was halted when Lye realized that Otto was a merchant, and became angry. A fight was close to breaking out, much to Otto's chagrin
Fortunately, Otto had a plan.
"In negotiations with a merchant, you should always listen to the very end— because they're bound to have a card up their sleeve!"
He audibly clicked his heels, and Otto began his attack against the Archbishop by unleashing a bunch of water dragons at him, threatening to consume him whole.
"Woah!" - Rudeus
"Oh! Good job, Otto!"
"I guess you can be a little useful sometimes, merchant." - Ram
"I didn't think I'd be praised by you of all people!" - Otto
"Don't get used to it." - Ram
Felt praised him for this action, something that Otto was deeply embarrassed by. He attributed his success to the fact that Wrath's Authority was affecting the emotions of the Water Dragons, who were usually too wild to be convinced by his Divine Protection. Subaru took advantage of this earlier by amplifying the hopes of the citizens, and now it is used here as well.
"Another new thing to note. Wrath's Authority." - Reinhard
"It looks like it amplifies and shares emotions around individuals. It's powerful enough to even affect the emotions of creatures like the water dragons." - Otto
"I see, and it's said to be the reason why Natsuki-kun did the broadcast." - Anastasia
"Hmph! I'm angry my Authority is being used this way!" - Minerva
People couldn't really say anything about her right now, but they did look her way uncomfortably. Meanwhile, I simply nodded in understanding, since I knew she would be mad given her own Authority of Wrath.
Otto then asked about Heinkel, to which Felt replied that he left someone named Camberley to watch him.
"Heinkel?"
"Rein's old man, and a piece of shit." - Felt
"Ah."
She said that she was hoping to retrieve an item that they left at the inn, something that Otto internally remarked must have been important if they're trying to retrieve it at a time like this, just like how he's currently trying to retrieve the remnants of the Tome of Wisdom.
(A/N: Does Subaru know about Otto trying to restore the Tome of Wisdom? It's not really made clear to me. Since I don't know if he knows, I'm just going to make it so that he knows in the fic.)
"I still don't know why you're trying to do that, Otto."
"We can gain clues from it!" - Otto
"Oh my, it seems that I'm hearing something very interesting just now." - Echidna
"Of course it would be interesting to you..."
Felt said that it was a powerful metia given by a powerful sorcerer, and she was going to retrieve it with one of her subordinates, Gaston.
Unfortunately, things go bad for them as Lye was able to tear the water dragons apart. Otto asked about the power of the metia and Felt answered that even Reinhard wouldn't be able to take a hit from it unscathed. They then formed their plan, Otto, the White Dragon Scale, and Gaston will hold off the Archbishop while she retrieves the metia. They all agreed to it.
"So we're just going to stall... Yeah, we can do that... Stall against an Archbishop." - Otto
"I know you can do it, Otto!"
"Don't put this on me, Natsuki-san!" - Otto
"The question is: would they be able to stall for long enough?" - Rudeus
"Let us hope that they can." - Sylphie
Lye tried to prevent Felt from escaping, but he was intercepted by Gaston blocking his blow. She managed to successfully escape, but Lye was unbothered and started looking around the people surrounding him, then uttered something.
"With that girl gone, there's... what? Three that Louis would like?"
"Louis?" - Felix
"Probably another Archbishop. Let's take not of that." - Julius
Without much of a choice, the group engaged the Archbishop in battle.
In short, the fight was not going well for them. Lye was surprisingly skilled, dodging their attacks with relative ease. Otto fretted that the lack of a decisive blow was hurting their chances of winning, but fortunately, all they needed to do was stall until Felt returned there. Dynas asked whether he has more water dragons that he can use, but Otto said that he doesn't, though he can ask more of them if he wanted, but that would mean leaving, and Dynas said that Otto leaving will hurt their chances of winning even more.
Otto internally lamented that his life had been a mess lately, and that he was going to complain to Subaru about this once everything is over.
"Why me?! It's not like I want these Archbishops to constantly attack us!"
"I just want someone to complain to, okay!"
"If you want to complain to anyone, complain to those bastards instead."
Why can I relate to him, somehow? - Rimuru
As they continued to fight, the fighters noticed how incredibly skilled the Archbishop was, like he had been trained in many different fighting skills for a long time even though he looked just like a kid. It was definitely strange to them, until Otto remembered his title
"The Archbishop of Gluttony."
Suddenly, Otto shuddered as he repeated Batenkaitos's title.
According to Subaru, Gluttony was a being who consumed the name and memories of others. What's more, Otto also knew of the girl who had everything taken from her and no longer remained in anyone's memories.
"Names and memories?" - Dia
"The Archbishop of Gluttony can eat someone's name and memories. When they eat someone's memories, they'll lose their memories and forget everything. When they eat someone's name, however, they end up forgotten by the world." - Wilhelm
"Forgotten by the world? Don't tell me...!" - Touya
"Yes, no one will remember them. All of their achievements, legacy, and any trace of their existence will be erased from the world." - Wilhelm
Looks of horror dawned on many people's faces.
"That's horrible..." - Miharu
"What a disgusting ability." - Luminous
Oh come on! Why do they have to smear the reputation of Gluttony like that, man?! - Rimuru
"That's sickening!" - Hilde
"What a terrible ability." - Orsted
But Otto had never given much thought to what became of whatever was eaten. It hadn't felt real to him, so he had simply accepted the concept at face value without imagining what it might imply.
Lye decided to change his fighting style once more, this time using ice magic to rain down shards of ice at his opponents. This dealt immense amounts of damage to the people fighting the Archbishop, causing them to be stunned enough that Lye approached one of them, touched them, said their name, and licked his palm. The soldier from the White Dragon Scale collapsed into unconsiousness.
Otto didn't notice the effect of what had just happened at first, but a terrible feeling overtook him. He then asked Dynas who it was that was lying on his feet. Dynas stated that he didn't know, only that it had to be a member of their group. Furious, he asked the Archbishop what he did, but Lye said that it hurt that he didn't know him, considering how long they've spent time together.
"Is that...?"
"I'm sure it is." - Reinhard
Dynas became even more furious at that, slashing at the boy with heightened sharpness, but Lye continued to evade effortlessly, as if he knew his fighting style by heart.
At that point, Otto had no choice but to acknowledge it. There was no more room for doubt.
"This is the Authority of Gluttony, which consumes people's names!"
"And I have to lead a fight against this guy?!" - Otto
"This poor guy..." - Touya
"At least we can do better once we get to our world again."
"I hope I don't have to do this..." - Otto
"Depending on how you do here, that's still a maybe!"
"Screw you, Natsuki-san!" - Otto
The inexplicable impression Gaston had of Batenkaitos was accurate.
The techniques born of a lifetime of training and experience that Batenkaitos had acquired had come from eating the memories of others, all to increase the contents of his repertoire.
And that was not the end of the damage caused by Gluttony's Authority.
"That man's name was eaten just now, right before our very eyes... And yet we can't remember it no matter how hard we try."
He recalled the girl Rem, who had disappeared from everyone's memories save Subaru's. That same phenomenon was playing out here. It was almost certain that the collapsed person on the ground was a victim of Batenkaitos.
"Wait, is that why you were crying about that girl earlier?" - Rimuru
"Y-Yeah, Rem is, or I guess was, a victim of Gluttony until the Everlasting returned her memories and name to her."
"I see. I'm glad you managed to have your memories and name returned to you, Rem-san!" - Rimuru
"Thank you, Demon Lord Rimuru Tempest." - Rem
"Actually, now I'm wondering, how do you still remember the victims of Gluttony, Natsuki-san?" - Otto
"I honestly don't know. I don't know if it's because of my Return By Death or something else."
"We could probably get our answers in the theater, so let us continue to watch." - Julius
That was why any memories of him had disappeared from Otto's brain. He couldn't remember when that man had shown up or who he was-or even if he had been a close friend.
"Well, he hadn't been, but the implication is honestly terrifying." - Otto
Otto felt a creeping terror as he began to grasp the sheer evil standing before him for the first time.
If Otto and the others were devoured by the Archbishop of Gluttony, Lye Batenkaitos, there would be no traces of this battle or of the lives they had lived. There would be no proof of their struggles of that they had ever existed.
"What a terrifying enemy to face." - Leen
"Since he can also absorb the skills of the memories he eats, we can't engage him in a battle of attrition. We have to defeat him as soon as possible." - Crusch
The battle then continued, and as they continued to fight, Otto noticed something important.
Gluttony can't devour someone's name if they didn't know their name. And so, Otto told everyone else not to say his name out loud. Fortunately, or unfortunately for him, the men didn't know or bother to remember his name anyway.
"I don't know if I should feel happy or sad about that." - Otto
"At least you have some sort of advantage." - Frederica
"I don't want this kind of advantage!" - Otto
"So if you're fighting with a group, telepathy will be useful in dealing with him..." - Ainz
"Using fake names is also ideal." - Souma
Gluttony felt incredibly annoyed, considering that he didn't want to just settle for Dynas and Gaston, stating that Louis would never let him hear the end of it. It terrified them that there's someone even this person was terrified of, but they put it in the back if their mind for now and moved on.
"We really need to find out more about this Louis. It could definitely be useful in the future to know more about this other Archbishop." - Anastasia
"True, we'll have to hope the viewing shows us more information about them." - Crusch
Otto then told the fighters not to get touched by Gluttony, since if they get touched by him, it's over. With this in mind, they began their attacks once more. They hoped to overwhelm him, but of course, it wasn't very effective. Fortunately, they managed to create an opening which Otto took advantage of by charging at him and sticking an explosive crystal at his waist, blowing him up.
Unfortunately for them, the attack did almost nothing, only destroying the clothes Lye had. They did notice a lot of scars all over his body, and not all of them were the result of battle. Otto almost felt pity for him, but then-
"Spare yourself such boring fantasies. It often leads to pointless regrets."
Suddenly, a new voice echoed on Canal Street.
"That's...!" - Emilia
"Beako!"
I glanced at my spirit, who smiled smugly at her appearance.
"Wait, since you're here, then does that mean I came with Rein alone?"
"That is for the best, I suppose. I would never be able to fight around him." - Beatrice
"Ah, I guess there's that problem."
Looking up reflexively, Otto saw a shadow descend from the building above. It was an adorable girl whose dress hem fluttered and whose long hair swayed in the air.
She sighed with an untroubled face as she looked at Otto.
"Subaru is quite sufficient. We do not need yet another person with determination but terrible follow-through. Ordinarily, Subaru would be the only one who Betty helps... but this time can be a special exception, I suppose."
"Of course. Apologies for the trouble. And thank you very much."
Otto felt such relief at hearing her scolding that he almost wanted to collapse on the spot.
He had been so sure he would never be lucky enough to have a friend come rushing to the rescue.
"Now, it's time to finish off this whelp nice and quick. Then Subaru can carry me again."
With a bored look on her face, the girl, or rather, the Great Spirit Beatrice joined the fray.
"We have a better chance now!" - Otto
"Hmph, I wish we can finish this quick. I don't want to be away from Subaru for so long." - Beatrice
Beatrice lamented the lineup that was going against an Archbishop, while Otto simply thanked her for being there. He tried not saying her name, but it had been pointless, since Lye already knew her name from the beginning.
At first, he was confused, but then Beatrice showed immense anger at this display, and he began to understand. He began to realize why he was looking for Subaru, and why he knew him as someone with such fragile strength and weak courage. It was evil in the truest sense, mocking them in a way only he could.
"No, no, no, he wouldn't fucking dare..."
I had a bad premonition. A really bad premonition.
Is this guy going to...!?
"A servant of Marquis Roswaal L. Mathers-" Otto's eyes widened as Batenkaitos spoke with a gentle, composed tone of voice. An atrocious grin on his face, the Archbishop performed an elegant curtsy with the tattered robe he had donned again. And then he looked up with frighteningly perfect poise. "Rem, at present, the helper of our one and only Subaru Natsuki, our most beloved who will someday become a hero. Wasn't that it?"
The theater became quiet, but soon, my anger overtook me, and I stood up from my seat.
"I'll rip that little bastard to pieces!"
My shout seemed to shake the audience away from their silence, and began to speak as well.
"Don't you dare say that, you monster!" - Rem
Her anger was also overwhelming, and I'm sure that the Everlasting was the reason why her horn wasn't appearing.
"That's messed up." - Souma
"These guys are actually sick in the head!" Teacher
"For the first time in my life, I agree with you, Barusu. This scum needs to pay!" - Ram
Now that I remember you, Rem, I will make sure that I avenge you personally. Once we get to this time and we go to Priestella, I will be coming with them so I can send this bastard to the grave. - Ram
"What sick individuals!" - Roxy
"This is so fucked up...!" - Touya
"I'm going to stomp that motherfucker's head until there's nothing but bloody pulp left! I'm going to make him experience a worse hell than what I experienced!"
(A/N: Don't worry, my dear, you will.)
"How truly disgusting." - Ainz
The man laughed scornfully as he begged them let him meet Subaru and to judge him.
Gluttony's attitude, his tone, his scornful laugh-they were all deriding that girl's feelings. He was using her as an object of scorn and ridicule without knowing a thing about the people who wanted so desperately for her to return safely. It was unforgivable.
This made Beatrice actually thankful that Subaru wasn't here, as what Lye did just now would have damaged him greatly. The group was then resolved to finish off Lye Batenkaitos.
"Don't worry, Beako, I'll be fine since Rem is here, but I am fucking angry!"
"Betty is glad, then." - Beatrice
"Please, finish him off, please." - Otto
The battle then began once more, with Beatrice immediately opening with El Minya, one of the few offensive dark spells that exist. The purple crystal arrows bombarded Lye, but it was ineffective as the Archbishop charged at them. Beatrice simply used Murak to fly up into the air to avoid this attack.
Otto felt hope that they finally have a chance, but then Beatrice dropped a bombshell.
Beatrice only has five moves left to defeat the Archbishop, due to the limited number of magic crystals she had to fuel her mana.
"Oh come on! Why can't things be easy for us just once?!" - Otto
"Considering that Subaru's not there, I don't have my usual source of mana."
"Can you not regenerate mana normally, Lady Beatrice?" - Julius
"Since Betty is an artificial spirit, she cannot regenerate mana normally. I have to get some from Subaru, my contractor." - Beatrice
"I see." - Julius
That sounds... quite inconvenient. - Rio
This annoyed Otto, stating that she had been influenced by Subaru too much, to which Beatrice said that she takes that as a compliment.
She then thought about Subaru, who was doing everything he could for Emilia right now, and knew that she wasn't needed for his battle at this moment. This meant that she just had to wait until the battle was over before they were reunited.
Why do I have a bad feeling about that statement? - Subaru
The fight intensified, with the group doing the best they could to defeat the Archbishop. Unfortunately, they were still not in a great spot, with Lye eating even more names from their comrades, something that Otto had to remind Beatrice of.
Fortunately for them, their stalling wouldn't be in vain, as a voice rang out from above them. It was Felt, carrying a strange staff, joining in the battle. She then tried to hit Lye with the staff, hoping that it would do damage given what it was supposed to be capable of.
"Yes, finally!" - Felt
"Their stalling worked!" - Rudeus
"It's time to put that powerful metia to good use!" - Felt
Unfortunately, it did no damage to the Archbishop.
"What?!" - Felt
"How can we be so unlucky?!" - Otto
"That staff should be powerful enough to deal some damage to Reinhard!" - Felt
"You're using it wrong." - Echidna
Everyone turned to her in bewilderment. She still had that annoyingly calm smile on her face.
"How do you know that, you witch?!" - Felt
"Of course I know, I'm the one who created it, after all. It's interesting how that ended up on your hands." - Echidna
The people in my world were shocked by this revelation, including me.
So Echidna casually created something that can deal damage to even Reinhard?! What the hell?!
A slight fear overtook me as I was reminded of what this witch was capable of.
Lye then took this opportunity to try and eat Felt's name, overjoyed at having to feast on the one he wanted to eat the most.
"Oh no!" - Otto
"Felt-chan!" - Emilia
"No!" - Reinhard
It was the first time I saw Rein so panicked, but I couldn't blame him.
"Don't worry, R-Rein. Big bro will still remember me, and once we go back, we can fix this." - Felt
Despite her reassurance, she looked pale, and she was definitely shivering. Despite knowing that we will be able to fix things, it probably scared her to see what it would look like for the world to forget her.
As his banquet almost finished though, something strange happened. Lye shuddered and his expression twisted, as if he had just swallowed a bitter medicine. He had no need to act in that situation, something else happened to him.
"It didn't work?" - Reinhard
"Wait, how?"
Thank goodness, Felt-sama would be safe! - Reinhard
Without wasting any time, Beatrice approached Felt and grasped the staff with her hands. She knew this staff, she had seen it before, so she knew how it worked.
"You should be thankful that I'm there, I suppose, or you wouldn't know how that metia worked!" - Beatrice
"Yeah, we're really grateful!" - Felt
While people were curious about how she knew how it worked, they decided to let it go for now as they knew that they would probably find that out later.
Breaking two mana crystals, she filled the staff with as much mana as she could. Lye tried to avoid the oncoming blast, but was caught in the leg by Gaston. And so, Lye Batenkaitos was unable to avoid the white light of death approaching him.
"Finally!"
"Let's hope that worked..." - Otto
"This scum had finally been defeated." - Ram
As the dust settled, Beatrice beheld the staff on her hands, remembering the one who created it. Felt was astonished by the destruction the metia could wreak, and asked what it was.
Beatrice explained that this staff was created to bully a certain dragon. Felt simply grinned at the thought of it.
"Bully a certain dragon?"
"Who else...? Volcanica... of course..." - Sekhmet
The Lugunicans' eyes widened at this.
"Wait, wait, wait, so Echidna created this really powerful metia just to bully the dragon?!"
"Why the hell would she do something like that?!" - Teacher
"She's crazy..." - Touya
"It was a funny little invention, I must say. Volcanica was brought to tears by it." - Echidna
These guys really are incomprehensible.
"Truly a witch..." - Rem
Meanwhile, Otto came in and told them to celebrate their victory for that is the true thrill of battle, only for the man to have a crisis, asking himself when he became the kind of person to enjoy a fight.
"You're becoming like me, Brotto!" - Garfiel
"Shut up, Garfiel!" - Otto
As they did, they deliberated on what to do with Lye, as Dynas approached to tie him up.
Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling? - Lugh
I don't think it's over just yet. - Rimuru
Unfortunately, things took a turn for a worse.
Both Dynas and Otto were severely struck by an attack out of nowhere. In the place of Lye, a muscular man appeared, who lamented at the cleverness of their plan to have Felt use a fake name.
"What now?!"
My frustration was shared by everyone, but no one said a word.
The man then morphed, turning into the figure of a little girl, and introduced herself as the Archbishop of Gluttony, Louis Arneb.
"That was who he was talking about!" - Julius
"Shit, this is not good." - Rimuru
"The other Archbishop of Gluttony..." - Crusch
Felt was surprised by her claim and said that her name was not fake. Louis denied this, saying that Felt was not the name given to her by birth.
"Wait, what?!"
We were all shocked once again, like a number of time we've had in this first viewing.
"Not... my real name...!" - Felt
"M-Maybe she's lying, being a Witch Cultist and all?" - Otto
"I don't think they'll lie about something like that, considering that the Archbishop reacted that way earlier, it is the most likely answer." - Anastasia
"Using fake names really are crucial here." - Rimuru
"Indeed." - Ainz
"What the fuck!" - Felt
Angered at this revelation, Felt pointed the metia at Louis, but the Archbishop knew that they couldn't use it anymore. Since Lye was defeated, however, Louis decided to leave the place, laughing scornfully in the process.
"DAMN IT! THEY FUCKING RAN AWAY!"
I shouted my frustrations as the Archbishops left. Emilia, Rem, and Beatrice all tried calming me down, and thankfully, I did.
"After that long fight, huh? That's not great at all." - Rimuru
"This is a defeat for us. I hope that the other do better in their fights." - Crusch
"True. Let's make sure this doesn't happen in our timeline." - Anastasia
As Felt cursed in frustration, Beatrice was upset by the fact that they let the Archbishop leave, and that this was all that they could do after a long fight.
This was a total defeat for them.
"Shit!" I shouted in frustration as the screen turned off.
"Well, that sucked." Rimuru said. "At least we didn't see Subaru die though."
"That would have made the outcome of this battle more abysmal than it already is." Ainz said.
"At least, we have information about what the Witch Cult would be doing next." Julius remarked.
"Yeah, and we're going to make damn sure that this little shit doesn't escape this time. He will die." I declared from the bottom of my heart.
"Well, after that horrible episode, it's time that we step into the "Slime" world! Next episode, "Behind The Curtain"!" the Everlasting said.
=end of chapter=