"Sin Archbishop of Wrath?! Are you serious?!" I whispered to Subaru, and suddenly pretended to have a headache. "Hold up, Pure Truth is acting up..."
As I pretended to have my future ability act up, I established a mental link to Echidna, who was hanging out with the people in the hotel at the time, and she immediately responded.
Y/N... is something the matter?
Chid-chan, there was a blackout, right? Can you please fill me in on what happened?
Subaru returned by death? Well, that's new. What happened?
Apparently, the one you would dub as 'this generation's Wrath' showed up, but I don't know the exact specifics.
Okay, let me enter the Castle of Dreams to fill you in.
I stood as my soul left my body, and entered Echidna's portable domain. The other five witches were also there, and everyone seemed happy to see me.
"N/N!" Typhon yelped as she hugged me as I descended, smiling brightly as Echidna sighed.
"Typhon, let Y/N go for now, we have work to do." Echidna told her, and Typhon reluctantly let me go Sekhmet let out a languid sigh, diminishing the happiness in the atmosphere by a bit.
"How have you all been doing?" I said to Minerva, Sekhmet, Typhon, Carmilla, and Daphne, who all were seated on the grass in the tranquil domain's hill, and their personalities were reflected by their unusual responses.
"I'm fine. However, Echidna just showed me your last loop! That was too reckless! Do you not worry about yourself at all when you throw yourself into danger? Also, there are others who worry about you too, so you shouldn't make them sad either!"
I was going to say 'do you mean yourself', but that seemed like a hassle to add, so I just accepted her warning of sorts. "Okay, Minerva, I'll be sure to make sure that I'm not hurt when I go rescue people next time."
"Hmph! As long as you know!"
Typhon just went ahead and judged me by using her Authority of Pride on me, but since I had a partial immunity, I only felt a slight pain. Can't tell if that means I'm actually evil or not, since I will not break into pieces no matter how severe the evil is.
Typhon smiled as she thought I was a good guy again, and ran off to Sekhmet to tend to her desires, and the Witch of Sloth just gave me a look that meant my presence was recognized and that she was listening.
Daphne was quite easy to deal with. She just came over using her centipede coffin and gave my face a lick, and I understood what she meant as I gave her an ice cream to eat, on a stand that held it, of course, considering that she doesn't want to move.
Carmilla was quite shy once again, so I just went beside her and struck up a conversation that appealed to her, which is again, about loving people and oneself. She thanked me as she stuttered again, and I went towards Echidna.
"So, 5 Witches are not as easy to deal with as you thought, huh?" Echidna teased as I sighed.
"You're a hard nut to crack as well, you know that, Chid-chan?"
"Okay, okay, let's get on with what we're supposed to do." Echidna said as she materialized two chairs, and put her hand to my head as I recalled the events of Subaru's last loop.
"I see. So I didn't die after Lusbel hit the ground. At least that's fortunate. And my Imperceptible Extensions were immediately recognized by Sirius as the Unseen Hands. I wonder who would she recognize as the true Betelgeuse if both Subaru and myself used or Authorities?"
"That is indeed an interesting question, Y/N. In my opinion, the more 'hands' one possesses might be the deciding factor, but-"
"Argh! I hate her! I hate her I hate her! How could she harm people like this in this gruesome manner! Unacceptable!" Minerva shouted as she stomped the floor, and I turned towards Echidna with a confused look.
"Minerva is mad that this generation's Wrath is using her power to harm people, which kinda goes against her whole doctrine. And as a result- you get this."
"Well, I think I have to go. And Minerva, don't worry, I'll stop Sirius from harming more people in this loop."
I exited the Castle of Dreams, and waved goodbye to the Witches of Sin as I returned to the real world.
***********************************************
I woke up in the exact same spot that I started in, somehow still standing with Rachins and Subaru, who once again had a look of horror on his face.
"Y/N... I looped again."
"Heh? How did you loop again? Wasn't I just here before?"
"You... uh... you fainted in the last loop or something. Anyways, the point is, you fell unconscious and I tried again on my own. I went to the clocktower to try and save the kid, but apparently, he was so scared of Sirius that when she used her authority on me, my mind broke and I kinda just died."
"Sigh... I guess I didn't have time to tell you her full ability yet, did I?"
"So you know now?"
"In short, her Authority of Wrath allows her to connect people's emotions and feelings, which includes pain and other physical links as well. If one feels happy, everyone feels happy. If one feels angry, everyone feels angry. Likewise, if somebody gets beheaded, everyone gets beheaded."
"So we need to take care of the problem at its root. We should call Reinhard."
"Reinhard won't work. Sirius can also apply her Authority on herself, and if she dies, everyone dies as well."
"Ugh, dammit!" Subaru stomped the ground furiously. "Is there anything that might work on her?"
"How many minutes do we have left?" I asked Subaru with urgency as I thought of a way to decrease a loop.
"Around 10, why?"
"I'll go pick up Beatrice and Emilia. They should have an idea on what to do. Go to the square with Rachins for now. I'll be there soon."
As Subaru nodded in confirmation, I leapt off towards the park where Emilia and Beatrice should've been. I trust Subaru to relay the information to Rachins and fill him in on what happened so he could run away and get help.
Activating Ul Akra and the White Whale's seal, I flew into the park where the two girls I was looking for, and they were surprised by my appearance.
"Y/N!" Emilia yelped as I landed with a giant thud. "What's the matter? Is there an emergency?"
"Yup. You and Beatrice need to come immediately. Subaru's going to be in trouble because a Sin Archbishop is going to show up soon."
"A Sin Archbishop?" Emilia gasped. "The Witch Cult is going to attack here?"
"I don't know for sure, but Subaru needs us. Come on, let's go." Beatrice nodded in understanding as I used Murak on all three of us, and we leapt from building to building as we arrived at the square around 5 minutes later.
"Y/N! We still have around 3 minutes until she appears." Subaru said as he greeted me from this side of the square. "What do you think we should do?"
I described the Authority of Wrath to Beatrice and Emilia, and Beatrice suddenly seemed to have an idea after hearing my explanation.
"I might be wrong, but Y/N's description of Wrath's abilities sounds familiar... I'm thinking of a higher level magic called Nect that has a similar effect."
"Nect...!" Subaru gasped as he remembered the form of magic that he had experienced in the past. With Nect, magic users could share the awareness and feelings of others.
"So is there any counter for Nect?" Subaru asked, eager to find a solution.
Beatrice shook her head. "Usually, countering Nect is unnecessary, I suppose. It is intended to unite comrades and express feelings, in fact. Using Nect as a weapon seems strange, I suppose."
That's true. Subaru and Julius defeated Betelgeuse by using Subaru's ability to see the Unseen Hands, which means it's utilized for cooperation between allies.
"Normally, there is a condition for Nect that requires contact through mana circulation, in fact. The Archbishop's authority probably has the power to circumvent such a condition, I suppose." Beatrice conitnued, and Subaru seemed to get something.
Subaru: "So her authority can forcibly achieve it. More than that..."
Beatrice: "How to counter it, I suppose. — Shamak is the most obvious answer, in fact."
Subaru: "Shamak-san has arrived! That's magnificent!"
Subaru perked up at Beatrice's proposal. He had always used Shamak to get out of dangerous situations, and according to my knowledge, he believed in that spell to inexplicable realms. I guess that's the way to go, then.
"Then, we should let Emilia attack the Archbishop while we distract the civilians." I added, and Subaru seemed to agree.
"That's right. We have to get the first blow in, or we actually might be screwed.
This should be good enough-"
I began, but I suddenly noticed that Sirius was approaching her stage.
"She's here!" Subaru whispered to us, and within seconds, we looked up and noticed the archbishop smiling eerily at the crowd below. And, the next thing that should happen is-
"AL HUMA!" Emilia yelled as a ten-meter-long spear of ice emerged from spin air, and descended upon the clock tower as it knocked out a chunk and slammed itself into the enemy before she can even begin her speech.
"E-Emilia-tan?" Subaru yelped in surprise at her instant attack, caught unawares.
Emilia: "Subaru said we needed to strike first, so I did... did I mess up?"
Subaru: "No, good job. I just didn't expect you to attack before her introduction.
Before we could continue talking, however, Emilia took out an ice sword and brandished it as I noticed the crowd acting strange. No, not just strange. They were hostile.
"Emilia-tan, that's not really necessary, right-"
"Subaru." I told my friend as I motioned my hands towards the crowd. "Look. They're not themselves anymore."
"Y/N's right." Beatrice confirmed. "Their sanity is completely gone now."
The mob was furious. So angry in a sense, that if you dared to breathe the air they breathed, they would lash out.
"Beako!" Subaru looked at his contracted. "What about Shamak?"
"Shamak failed, I suppose." Beatrice said as her eyes widened in fear. "This magic is nothing like Nect... no, it's evil, in fact. This is nothing like magic, I suppose. A curse... it is magic, in fact!"
"I expected this." I said as I looked towards the crowd with contempt. "Authorities can not even be overpowered by Divine Protections. So even if Reinhard tried his best against an Archbishop who's using their ability to their best extent, he would not win."
"You guys hold Sirius off." I motioned to my friends. "I'll hold off the incoming mob for now. I might have a way to save them."
"Hold up, how would you ever have a way to save them when even Divine Protections can't counter it?" Beatrice asked.
"Authorities can only be countered by two things. And one of them is another Authority. Although Sloth isn't going to be helpful now, I still have Deceit up my sleeve."
"Deceit?!" Beatrice gasped. "You don't mean..."
"Yes. I never told you, Beatrice, but I'm Frakinedottir's successor. Chid-chan would explain later." I said as I rushed off towards the crowd, but ominous footsteps started to sound as i looked towards the direction of the tower, and I saw Sirius advancing.
Emilia's icicle really did a number on her, because she's bleeding through her bandages. Her chains waved around as a flame sparked, and I suddenly widened my eyes as I saw fire engulf her surroundings.
"Disgusting, the stench of that woman, filthy and detestable, the stench of the one who stole my husband from me, the stench of maggots, endless filth. Hate, I hate it so much, burning it to cinders isn't enough." Sirius cursed as she walked closer.
"And that other woman, she's obviously not that person, but she has such a similar stench, how shameless, the stench of rotting insects, ah, ah, AAAAAAH! How hateful! How rancid! How vile!" Sirius yelled with wrath as she waved her arms in the sky, and more flames poured out of her. "My! Are you testing the love for my husband, spirit?! Were you not satisfied with taking my husband from me, YOU HALF HALF-WITCH BITCH!!?"
Subaru and Emilia looked equally confused at her weird exclamation, but I got the gist of what's going on. Basically, Sirius recognized Satella's scent on Subaru, and she seems to be very mad about it.
Betelgeuse loved the witch, but Sirius loved Betelgeuse, hence why she viewed Satella as a disgusting love rival of sorts, although that is just part of her delusion. This is why she harboured a deep hatred to the Witch of Envy, including anyone who has the scent and Emilia, as well.
"I! Am the Witch Cult's Sin Archbishop of Wrath!" Sirius yelled as she proclaimed her identity. Within the frenziness of the situation, more flames bursted out as they burned the crowd around her.
"—Sirius Romanee-Conti!! Damn half-elf and spirit, I'll scorch your corpses and scatter your ashes at my husband's tomb!!" With that, the battle begun.