Pleiades P.O.V
The first sound that reached my ears was the sound of flesh being torn apart, though that didn't last song as something akin to a giant explosion could be heard from far away.
I couldn't exactly see what happened, but I already knew what had happened, I didn't need to see it to know exactly what occured.
I have oblitarated the cultists that were standing beside Petelgeuse, I'm not sure if he himself is still alive after that, but I hadn't hit him directly unlike his lackeys who were most likely nothing more than red paint on the ground of the capital.
As the smoke cleared, a figure emerged, he had been blown back quite a bit due to the force of the attack, but he was certainly still alive.
Once the smoke had fully cleared I could see him looking down at the ground as he started to bite hit fingers to the point that blood started to leak out of his fingers.
Petelgeuse: Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? WHY?! To betray the Witch...How dare you?! My precious fingers have been killed because of your backwards actions!!
He was yelling like the maniac he was, utterly shameless.
Fingers? Killed? What was he reffering to? Obviously not his own fingers as killing something like an actual finger isn't possible since that is a mere part of the body, not an actual living sentient being.
Perhaps that's what the other cultists were called? No...Most likely not...Maybe...
Maybe that's some kind of special group in the Witchcult? But if so, what makes them special? It would be difficult to figure out now, but-
No, it doesn't matter anyway. Finger or not, if they're dead than they don't pose a threat to me.
Pleiades: Not to interrupt your little...rant? But I need to put out that large fire behind me, so do me a favor and drop dead, okay?
I doubt he'll actually listen to my words, which was unfortunate, but expected.
Hari: W-W-What just happened?!
I turn to look at him.
Pleiades: Don't you think a royal guard needs to have some composure? You're quite lacking in that department right now.
I didn't wait for a response as I turned back to my current enemy, Petelgeuse.
Petelgeuse: That's it! I'll tear to shreds for lying about being able to free Satella! I'll make sure you feel your own slothfulness! Your utter unimportance to her!
He raised his arms and yelled out.
Petelgeuse: Authority of Sloth! Unseen Hand!
.....Uh, I mean, he yelled out and attack name, I think? Nothing is happening though, is something supposed to happen or what?
I didn't let my guard down though as I heard that the Archbishops use unknown powers that no one knows of, but if it was anything like my own power than it would have been something more flashy....
Pleiades:...So, uh-
As I was about to ask about where his supposed attack was, my eyes suddenly turned purple as my body forced me to use the Eyes of Envy, why? Well, because right infront of me, less than an inch away from my face was a purple hand about to grab me by the head.
My body moved on it's own as I dodged to the side with incredible speed, honestly, normally I wouldn't be able to go that fast, but I guess the Eyes of Envy really don't allow for me to be hit.
The madman froze in shock for a moment before he pointed his hand at me and started yelling again.
Petelgeuse: You can see my Unseen Hand?!
Ah, so that's how it is. I'm almost disappointed in myself for not being able to figure it out the moment I heard the name of that attack. It's a simple name, really. "Unseen Hand" so a hand that is invisible or a hand that can't be seen. At first it doesn't seem like much of a dangerous power, but I should assume that the reason the older guard died was because of the Unseen Hand.
But it would appear that I could see it, only with the Eyes of Envy though. I suppose that it does make sense to a certain extend as I could see a black aura around that Mabeast back in the village. And now that I look at Petelgeuse with these eyes, I can see that he has a similar aura to that Mabeast, but unlike that damn dog, his was much larger.
It might be a bit too early to say this, but perhaps I could use this to my advantage in the future for finding cultists, although I don't want to assume too quickly that only cultists have this aura as capturing a innocent person that just so happens to have the same aura as Petelgeuse would be a disaster for my goal to become king.
I look back Hari and spoke to him quickly.
Pleiades: Get out of here, he has invisible attacks, so you'll be of no use here. Go help against the cult's underlings.
The knight hesitated for a moment before nodding his head and running off in the direction of where the original fire was at.
I look back at Petelgeuse and saw that he was almost tearing his fingers off at this point due to how much he was biting down on them.
Pleiades: I had my back turned to you.
Petelgeuse: HUH?!!
I smirked as he continued to glare at me.
Pleiades: Don't you think it's slothful to not attack me while my guard is down?
His entire body, eyes, hands, arms, legs, torso started to twitch as he tried to calm himself down by biting his fingers again.
So I was right then, the word slothful is a weakness if it is applied to him. Now that I think about it, he doesn't seem all that lazy for me, atleast for someone that's called the Archbishop of Sloth.
I guess I should save these thoughts for later, I was in the middle of battle, after all.
Unseen Hands started to appeaer out of Petelgeuse's back, they merely hung above him for a moment before they lunged at me with quick speed.
I easily dodged to the side as I could not only see them, but he had also aimed them all at a single spot, not using the advantage to spread them out to try and cut off any attempts at dodging.
In a sense, his power could have made him arrogant as he most likely hasn't faced an enemy that could see his Unseen Hands, so worrying about thinks like your opponent dodging wouldn't have been even a thought in the Archbishop's mind.
While I had wanted to use this chance to rush at Petelgeuse and kill him before any Unseen Hands reached me, I wasn't certain that those were all of his Unseen Hands and if he was hiding more or not, so for now I wanted to test something out.
I pointed my hand at the Unseen Hands that had just attempted to take my life and aimed a blast at them with Absolute Annihilation. It wasn't anywhere near full power, I had trained with it and I regulated it to enough power to tear through a stone wall, but not much else.
Luckly, the test was worth it as all of the Unseen Hands were torn apart. So they don't have great durability. Well, not that they would need it as usually they should be invisible to everyone.
Petelgeuse: Damn you! Damn you! Damn you! Damn you! Damn you! Damn you! Damn you! Damn you! Damn you! Damn you! Damn you! Damn you! Damn you! Damn you! Damn you!
Somehow, he seemed to be going off the deep end....Even more than he had been already, how shocking....
I then quickly realized that he was shaking a lot while biting his fingers, but what was important was...
He wasn't paying any attention to me while he was biting his fingers. I would say that he was having a mental breakdown, but there probably wasn't much to breakdown anyway.
Without another thought I rushed towards him, once I got close enough I aimed my palm at him as a black sphere formed in my hand.
Pleiades: Absolute Annihilation!
I couldn't use it at full power, not at this angle where it was facing several buildings, even if most of the people here had most likely run away, I couldn't be certain of that so I blasted Petelgeuse with half of the power that I could muster.
Right before the impact I could see Petelgeuse covering himself with several Unseen Hands, but that didn't change a thing as even at half power, a point-blank blast with Absolute Annihilation would tear apart almost anyone.
I couldn't tell whether he died or not as his body flew across the street. I ran after him to make sure that he was dead and wasn't about to come back to try and kill me again.
After a short run, I saw that there were still people here trying to get away. But it is in human nature to be curious, even in the worst situation so they all turned to look at Petelgeuse who was on the ground, half-dead.
Petegeuse: T-This can't be! The Witch loves me! She loves me! Me! Me! Me! Me! Me! Me! Me! I will fullfill my duty no matter what!!!
I sigh and glance around, the civilians here weren't leaving....I know that this situation is awful and all...
But why not take advantage of it? A nice PR stunt never hurt anybody, now did it?
Pleiades: So, Archbishop of Sloth. Any last words before I end you for your crimes?
I could tell, the people around me tensed as they heard what I had called Petelgeuse.
Petelgeuse: Last words?! You think this is the end of it?! I will never die! Never! Never! Never! I will continue being the Witch's dutiful servent for the rest of time!
I walked up closer to him until I stood right over him. Staring down at him...That's right. I am above him while he is below me, as it should be...
I pointed my palm at him as a black sphere formed....
Pleiades: Awful choice of last words. Go to hell.
Once again, I couldn't use the full power of Absolute Annihilation as aiming it at the ground would most likely be a disaster. But I didn't need to blast him with full power, so I only used part of it and...
His upper body exploded into nothing more than blood and gore as the ground cracked around him.
I did my best to hold any urges of vomit, vomiting wouldn't be great for this PR stunt, now would it.
A silence washed over the area, only the sound of fire in the distance filling in for the noise. That was until...
They started cheering, finally, for the first time since coming to this world I could hear cheers for my effort.
I couldn't help but smile, although I made sure that that smile wouldn't be too wide, otherwise it might seem a bit too creepy.
Reinhard: Pleiades-sama!
I was brought out of my little comfort zone by a very familiar voice. I turned around and saw Reinhard already kneeling before me.
Reinhard: Forgive me for not coming to your aide sooner, but the Witch cult is attacking the city and-
Pleiades: Yea, I know. There was also an Archbishop here.
He looked surprised for a moment at my words.
Reinhard: Where is the Archbishop, my lord? Forgive me, but if there is an Archbishop around then we should-
Pleiades: Reinhard.
He stopped talking as he waited for me to speak. I just pointed at the ground under me, where Petelgeuse's body was. The lower half, atleast.
Pleiades: That's the Archbishop. Sloth, actually.
He looked a bit lost after hearing that piece of information, but quickly accepted it and nodded.
Pleiades: Anyway, do me a favor and find the demon girls for me. I want to make sure that they're save.
Reinhard: But what about-
Pleiades: I can handle myself, Reinhard. If you're not willing to listen normally, then I order you to find the demon girls.
Reinhard stood up and nodded reluctantly, he said something about coming back quickly, though I didn't pay it any mind as I ran off towards the burning Astrea Mansion. The maids were apparantly still in the basement after all and I would rather not have them burn to death or die due to a lack of oxyge-
Slothful.
Huh?
What was that? That single word felt so...Random? Why did I even think that?
No matter, I was approaching the mansion and-
How truly slothful of you~
A sudden sharp headache struck my head as I lost balance while running and fell to the ground roughly.
Pleiades: Fuck! What the fuck was tha-
I couldn't even finish that sentance as my headache only got worse. I don't get it, what's going on with me?! A sudden drawback on my abilities?! Or maybe-
Pleiades: Finally~ a body that suits me perfectly.
What...? I didn't say that...Why did those words come out of my mouth?
In the middle of my confusion, I realized it. The voice in my head, which at first I thought was my own sounded similar to the dead Archbishop.
I'm not sure how, but somehow the Archbishop's soul or conciousness has managed to enter my body...
Fuck.
About 2300 words.