The Sin Archbishop of [Greed] and the Sin Archbishop of [Gluttony].
In the original plot, these were existences that would only appear and ambush the group on their return journey to the Royal Capital after the subjugation of the White Whale was completed.
It was also because of the [Gluttony] Archbishop among them that Crusch, originally the victor of the White Whale subjugation, lost her memories, and Rem fell into a slumber from which she never woke.
It must be said that this section of the plot was a source of regret for many.
But for Suke, the [Gluttony] Archbishop was manageable.
That nonchalant [Greed] Archbishop, who looked just like an ordinary person similar to himself, was the greatest formidable enemy for their group.
"The Sin Archbishop of [Greed]?!"
Upon hearing the white-robed man's self-introduction, Crusch's expression turned stern, abruptly recalling the history of the Empire's fortress city falling that she had read before setting out.
"Everyone, be careful! That man is extremely dangerous!"
"All forces, hear my order! Form ranks!"
"Yes!"
Without immersing herself in the slightest joy over the White Whale—the Demon Beast that had plagued the world for four hundred years—having just been subjugated, Crusch decisively gave the order.
"What is this? So many fresh prey; does this not make us feel utterly excited?!"
"Let us see which one is the most delicious prey... Hmm?"
[Gluttony] Archbishop Lye looked toward the crowd, but suddenly noticed a rather incongruous figure of a man in farmer's attire floating in mid-air.
"What is that guy? That fashion sense is terrible; it's simply on par with ours!"
"But for some reason, you give us an intuition that you will definitely be extremely delicious. Let's start with you!"
The corners of the [Gluttony] Archbishop's mouth split open, revealing his terrifying sharp teeth.
But before he could even utilize his Witch Factor to activate his Authority, a raging fire with temperatures hot enough to melt gold and iron abruptly enveloped his body!
"Gaaahhhhh—!"
A scream rang out in the very next instant, exceeding everyone's expectations.
There was no trace of magical fluctuations, nor was there any precursor of spellcasting.
[Gluttony] Archbishop Lye had suddenly spontaneously combusted without wind!
If Lye hadn't timely used the Gluttony Authority to manifest magic stolen in the past to extinguish the flames burning him, he—who already had an arm and a leg melted—would have exited the stage half-crippled.
"Damn it, ugh... it hurts!"
"Who is it? Mere food, how dare you!"
"Wait, who..."
Lye was incomparably furious, but a moment later he was startled to realize: why hadn't he even figured out who the target of his magic activation was?
The mana in the air was completely motionless.
"You... You are..."
Just like that male Farmer who had vanished from the air at some unknown point and then appeared right before his eyes, this bizarre scene left this knowledgeable [Gluttony] Archbishop stunned.
But unfortunately, it was already too late.
Squelch—!
"I..."
"Why is my vision upside down...?"
"Ugh...!"
Thud!
A headless body collapsed heavily onto the ground. One of the [Gluttony] Archbishops had perished just like that.
Lye, whose head had flown into the air under the flash of that starlight sword at some unknown moment, didn't even realize he had entered combat until the moment before his death.
No, perhaps this couldn't be called combat.
It was merely a unilateral slaughter.
Suke raised an eyebrow as he felt some distinctive Witch Factors fly from Lye's corpse and land on him.
If he guessed correctly, this should be Louis, who existed within the Hall of Memories of the [Gluttony] Archbishops Lye and Roy.
As the youngest sister among the three Gluttony siblings, Louis had no physical body, but that didn't mean she hadn't committed many evil deeds.
Sharing in a family's blessings implies one must also suffer for a family's sins.
Though her hands were similarly stained with evil karma, everything she did was fundamentally different from Tsukishiro Yuki.
Perhaps the Louis who lost her memories in the original plot was indeed pitiable, but what was pitiable was the personality reconstructed after the memory loss, not the current her.
Suke allowed these Witch Factors to taint him.
The opponent seemed to want to use this method to lurk beside Suke, thereby gaining his information through his perspective and waiting for an opportunity to devour him with her Authority.
Only, it was a pity...
[No, what is this? Do not want—!]
[Louis doesn't want to—ahhhhhhh—!!!]
His digitized body objectively insulated Suke from any negative status effects; the parasitism of the Gluttony Factor naturally counted as such.
Suke only heard an extremely miserable and pitiful scream of a loli ringing in his ears, and immediately after, only silence remained.
Who said he was a loli-con? Now he could be considered to have 'killed a sister to prove his Dao'.
However, if it were the Louis from the original plot whose personality had later been wiped blank, he might truly not have been able to bring himself to do it. But this one? Just a convenient effortless task.
"It seems you are the anomaly that woman Pandora spoke of, who dares to infringe upon my right to a peaceful life."
Seeing Suke annihilate two [Gluttony] Archbishops in the blink of an eye, the expression of [Greed] Archbishop Regulus did not change.
He merely straightened his clothes and looked at Suke's attire with a hint of disdain.
"Clearly just a rustic country bumpkin, yet you obtained powerful strength from who knows where. It truly makes one unpleasant."
"How about this? Turn around and kill all those people you brought behind you, and I will reluctantly agree to let you be a subordinate who runs errands for me."
"Sir Suke, please leave this Sin Archbishop to us to handle!"
Unlike Suke, who was confronting Regulus, the subjugation team that had followed him all the way but achieved little merit was now mentally active.
Their group hadn't had time to contribute much during the subjugation of the Demon Beast White Whale just now.
Now encountering the Sin Archbishops, one was solved by Suke in the blink of an eye.
Seeing that Sir Suke didn't seem to struggle much in solving the Sin Archbishop, with him holding the line, why not let them handle this last remaining enemy?
It was also a perfect chance to let Sir Suke witness the strength of the Kingdom's Subjugation Team!
This was the thought of the majority of the Royal Selection candidates.
This wasn't them intentionally underestimating the [Greed] Archbishop; perhaps they just felt that victory in the subjugation battle was already determined, and it was time to distinguish high and low among themselves.
"Let this mistress demonstrate her strength to Your Excellency first."
The Bloodstained Bride, Priscilla, had arrived near Regulus at some unknown point. Drawing that divine sword from the void, which was like the blazing light of the fierce sun, she resembled a goddess descending to the world.
[Yang Sword Vollachia]
A divine sword with such a massive mana consumption rate that it could usually only be stored in the void to charge. It could cut and burn everything according to the user's will.
Combined with the [Divine Protection of the Sun] possessed by Priscilla, this divine sword added even more radiance!
"Minion of the Witch Cult, hope you don't make this mistress feel too disappointed!"
The divine sword in Priscilla's hand held high, the brilliance erupting from the blade was like a sun falling upon the earth!
Carrying matchless might, she slashed toward Regulus without hesitation!
"A somewhat interesting woman."
Facing this attack, which was enough to split the sturdy walls of a fortress city in two, Regulus didn't even move.
Boom—!
When the Yang Sword made contact with the air around his body, a massive shockwave exploded outwards!
Just the aftershocks caused the slightly weaker members of the subjugation team to be blown backward!
But when the aftershocks and smoke dissipated together, and everyone looked again toward where [Greed] Archbishop Regulus was—
"?!"
"How is that possible!"
"Come be my bride, woman."
"I can tell you are still a virgin. I like the arrogant you."
[Greed] Archbishop Regulus dusted off non-existent dust from his clothes, smiling in acknowledgment at Priscilla, whose expression had turned solemn under the shocked gazes of the crowd.
But his smile did not last for a moment before it changed.
'Dodge, Regulus.'
"Hmm?"
A crisp female voice rang out in the void. As if blessed with sudden insight, hearing some sound of breaking wind, Regulus subconsciously turned his body sideways to look.
"Ugh—?!"
"Impossible!!"
A thrown purple starlight blade had pierced through his shoulder at some unknown moment. If not for his sideways turn just now, the blade would have pierced his neck!
Wait, that didn't hit?
Suke felt it was a bit strange. Although this [Greed] Archbishop's Authority was powerful enough to be called a cheat, when it came to other aspects like mental state and fighting will, he could only be described as a giant baby inferior to even a triangular corn chip.
At least Bill Cipher could quickly adjust his mindset after being triggered, while Regulus would only scream and run away after being triggered.
This guy could dodge it?
"It hurts, ahhhhh, it hurts ahhhhh—!!!"
"You bastard, you dirty, rustic, lowly maggot, how dare you ahhhhh—!!"
Clutching his shoulder, even though the injury couldn't be called serious, Regulus knelt on the ground with a twisted expression, wailing loudly.
He didn't even pay attention to Suke, who retrieved the Galaxy Sword that had pierced his shoulder from afar, but simply wailed in pain while clutching his wound on the ground like a wriggling maggot.
Count yourself lucky.
Unlike the time he defeated Gilgamesh, [Greed] Archbishop Regulus's Authority, [Stillness of an Object's Time], was indeed extraordinarily powerful.
He could attach the concept of 'unchangeable' to any matter. Whether it was air or his physical body, matter attached with 'unchangeable' was virtually indestructible.
For instance, if Regulus casually grabbed a handful of sand and threw it forward, under the concept of 'unchangeable', this handful of sand would become 'absolute rigid bodies' with constant initial velocity, shattering everything they touched!
You know the 'droplets' in The Three-Body Problem that could smash through planets? It was the same concept as those things!
Even the Galaxy Sword, which cut through defensive Noble Phantasms like tofu, took considerable effort to cut through the matter attached with his Authority.
So much so that it lost the momentum for an automatic slash afterward.
If Regulus had the daring to use the opportunity of luckily dodging a fatal blow to catch Suke's recovery lag from losing the sword and counterattack with his rogue Authority—which even Rei-ao-tian (Reinhard) found helpless against—Suke would basically be forced to bring out the Statue of Yoba.
But unfortunately, if he had the courage to do that, he wouldn't be that [Greed] Archbishop Regulus.
Missed once? That doesn't matter.
Come, slash again!
"Thank you for stalling him for a moment, Miss Priscilla!"
"Back away now; he isn't an opponent you all can handle!"
"Understood!"
Holding the Galaxy Sword with the intent to throw again, Suke affirmed Priscilla's action of temporarily distracting Regulus for him just now.
Seeing Priscilla, who looked somewhat satisfied for some reason, leap away to retreat, Suke buffed himself with [Monstrous Strength], intending to throw the Galaxy Sword a second time to pierce Regulus's skull!
'Regulus, you shouldn't be here. You should be in your mansion accompanying your wives.'
But just then, an indistinct, ethereal girl's voice echoed out.
"?!"
The [Greed] Archbishop Regulus, who was curled up on the ground, suddenly vanished, causing Suke to tightly grip the Galaxy Sword he hadn't yet had time to throw.
'Lye, Louis, you didn't die. You just happened to faint just now.'
'White Whale, stop sleeping. Wake up; you still have a feast you haven't had time to enjoy.'
'And... after accompanying your wives, you should return to the battlefield, Regulus.'
The girl's voice came incessantly, and beams of white light flashed.
[Gluttony] Archbishop Lye, who had been beheaded by Suke, and even the corpse of the White Whale that had been killed by the crowd in the distance, vanished.
Immediately in the next second, they reappeared before everyone's eyes in a fully resurrected, peak state!
Including [Greed] Archbishop Regulus, whose injuries were gone but whose face remained twisted in anger!
"Woooo—!"
The White Whale, swimming in the sky, roared shrilly. Soundwaves mixed with mist instantly eroded the minds of the weak!
In just a blink of an eye, many members of the subjugation team clutched their heads and fell to the ground!
"Damn guy, where did you take my little sister?!"
And the resurrected [Gluttony] Archbishop Lye was roaring angrily at Suke and the others at this moment.
"Sister... our sister is gone!!!"
"Ahhh!!! Damn it, you all deserve to die!!"
He constantly beat his own head, letting out wails as if he had found nothing.
"How can this be?!"
"Weren't they all defeated just now? Why have they all resurrected?!"
Such an incomprehensible and grand formation caused turmoil even within the subjugation team.
Emotion named fear began to spread through the crowd.
Even Natsuki Subaru had a solemn expression; he was even prepared for a 'Return by Death'.
But he had to first figure out what exactly revived these guys!
[Witch of Vainglory] Pandora.
Staring at the scene of demons dancing wildly before him, Suke naturally knew the truth that the current Natsuki Subaru was desperate to explore.
The Statue of Yoba was already gripped in his hand. As long as Suke was willing, he could turn the tide of battle at any time.
But the problem was...
Suke looked around. Just like a premonition of an ending where he would undoubtedly die if he revealed himself, the Witch of Vainglory, Pandora, remained unseen from start to finish.
He had originally wanted to show weakness to the enemy first, thereby luring Pandora out to deal a fatal blow to her.
Unfortunately, the situation was not as desired.
She had gone dark.
Looking at the subjugation team behind him—although supported by the Life Elixir he provided, casualties would likely appear before long—Suke decided not to delay any longer.
"Lowly maggot, go to hell for me!"
[Greed] Archbishop Regulus grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it toward Suke!
That dirt carried an eternal initial velocity and eternal properties, destroying everything in its path into nothingness!
However, just as this bad dirt was about to assault Suke's face, a pitch-black gate instantly opened in the void.
Clack, clack, clack...
The gate sent the dirt to some unknown place—perhaps the dark universe, or perhaps the distant deep space.
"It looks like Abi arrived just in time, Big Brother~"
Inside another gate that opened in the void, the figure of a white-haired girl wearing a pointed Witch Hat had already appeared.
Wearing a strange yet mischievous smile, the moment she walked out of the gate, she affectionately threw herself into Suke's arms.
"...I say, Abi, you actually arrived a long time ago, didn't you?"
"Did you deliberately dawdle and watch from the side for a long time?"
"No way~ How could Abi be that kind of bad child who wants to see Big Brother struggle~?"
The white-haired girl gave a sweet smile, seemingly embodying the very word 'Witch'.
The giant Silver Key in her hand propped against the void.
All attacks coming toward the Kingdom's subjugation team suspended in mid-air, and were immediately dissolved by the profound darkness surging out from the void.
"It's just that Abi wanted Big Brother to rely on Abi a little more, just like Big Sister Tsukishiro Yuki..."
"Can't I, Big Brother~?"
_____
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