57) The Sin Archbishop of Lust?

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{3rd Pov}

"Mommy is hereee!" screeched the Sin Archbishop of Lust as she tore through the sky, breaking the sound barrier with a thunderous boom. Her grotesque wings flared open behind her, creating a monstrous silhouette as she flew like a missile straight toward him.

But Subaru didn't so much as blink.

He stood his ground, completely calm, and just as her monstrous fists reached him, his hands shot up with flawless timing. He caught both of her blows effortlessly, the force rippling through the air but failing to move him even an inch.

"Haha! Truly delightful—!" Capella cackled, her voice laced with madness. But before she could even finish her sentence, Subaru's fist smashed into her abdomen with devastating force. Her breath caught, eyes bulging as she was hurled backward like a broken doll, crashing through the trees as her form twisted through the air.

"Get away from us!" Subaru barked looking at the second person who had just been intercepted by the trio of his spirits, another figure streaking toward the battlefield.

"Jiwald!" Gloria shouted, unleashing a beam of brilliant Yang magic. A spear of pure light ripped across the air, aimed directly at the new opponent—a cursed woman clad in black.

"Tsk. How rude to welcome your guest like that," Elsa Granhiert said with a dark chuckle, nimbly twisting her body out of the way as the beam scorched past her.

'She's fast and nimble as always,'Subaru noted, narrowing his eyes. But before he could act, a familiar voice whispered in his mind.

'Subaru… why don't you test your Authority of Greed upon them?' Echidna's voice was sultry, tinged with a playful edge that hinted at something darker.

A cold, cruel grin began to form on Subaru's lips. 'With pleasure.'

Without delay, he activated his Authority of Greed, channeling its power toward Elsa. In an instant, his senses were overwhelmed by a rush of unfamiliar information. A euphoric wave of insight crashed into him—techniques, movements, instincts. The feel of a dagger's hilt. The rhythm of silent footsteps. The art of killing refined over years of bloodshed.

'The memories of wielding daggers… the reflexes, the experience—it's all mine now,' Subaru realized.

Within moments, he had fully absorbed Elsa's Dagger Mastery. His fingers twitched, his stance shifted slightly, and in that moment he knew—he could fight like her.

'I got her Dagger Mastery… This Authority doesn't steal—it lets me absorb their experience, their skills, their essence…' he thought with growing fascination.

Meanwhile, the air trembled again as Capella shrieked, her flesh bubbling and twisting grotesquely. In the blink of an eye, her body expanded and warped into the terrifying form of a massive dragon.

Subaru's eyes gleamed with intrigue. A dangerous idea formed in his mind.

'Say, Echidna… what if I copy her Authority of Lust?' he asked, barely able to contain the wicked anticipation.

Echidna's voice responded with a delighted laugh. 'Ahaha! We really are made for each other, aren't we?'

Subaru did just that, and soon he felt something awakening within him. Unlike the usual sensation he experienced when acquiring a Witch Factor—where it felt like something foreign was latching onto him and stirring something deep inside—this time, it was different. It felt more like a new power was naturally unfolding from within.

A strange heat surged through his body, and suddenly, his arms began to transform. His fingers lengthened into claws, rough fur forming over his skin, his very blood vibrating with power.

'I've observed two key things,' Echidna said analytically. 'First, your transformation speed is half of hers. Second, both Capella and Elsa have retained their abilities. That confirms it—your Authority copies, but it doesn't steal.'

The Witch of Greed was an exceptionally intelligent woman—renowned as the world's former strongest magician for a reason.

It took her only a few seconds to deduce and explain Subaru's newfound ability.

'It's just like the Pride King, Lucifer… My Authority of Greed mimics other powers and grants me their experience or transformation... This thing is damn near broken.'

Capella meanwhile didn't wait as he marveled his new ability. She opened her massive dragon maw, charging up a fire breath with malicious glee.

Subaru regaining his focus quickly summoned the Yin Sword—a long, black blade emerging from his shadow itself. Without a word, he stepped forward and swung the blade in a clean arc.

A flash of dark light streaked through the air.

Then silence.

Capella's dragon form shuddered, and a second later, her towering body split cleanly in half from crown to tail, collapsing in two grotesque slabs of flesh.

"What?! Mama got sliced in half?!" Elsa screamed in disbelief, witnessing the terrifying display of power.

"Don't ignore us, bitch!" shouted Aqua, her hands glowing as she activated a powerful water spell. A barrier of swirling water entrapped Elsa, locking her inside.

"El Jiwald!" Gloria yelled again, sending another barrage of concentrated laser beams at Elsa. The strikes were direct, but they fizzled upon impact.

Her Anti-Magic robe shimmered slightly—completely intact.

Elsa smirked. "Tch," she hissed, tearing through the watery prison with raw strength and dashing toward Beatrice.

But Aqua was ready. She raised her hand and blasted Elsa mid-air with a direct hit, sending her crashing into ground.

Meanwhile, Subaru stood over Capella's severed form. Her body had already begun to dissolve into black slime, slowly reconstructing itself.

'She can regenerate endlessly. Even if her brain is destroyed, she'll just grow another one,' Echidna observed, her voice thoughtful. Then, her tone shifted, lips curling in a mischievous grin.

'Try absorbing the leftover dragon blood… You might get a surprise.'

Subaru's eyes narrowed. He extended his transformed claw and activated Capella's Authority that he had copied. The leftover dragon blood began to surge toward him, fusing with his body.

Then, something extraordinary happened.

His mana surged.

No—exploded.

A primal scream tore from his throat, not of pain, but sheer ecstasy. His body radiated with power as his mana reserves multiplied—tenfold.

A goddamn ten times.

"I get it now… this is what it means to be a freaking dragon." Subaru whispered, grinning from ear to ear as the energy danced along his skin.

Capella, fully regenerated, glared at him with burning hatred.

"Who do you think you are, you petty meat bag?!" she roared, her body beginning to twist and bulge again, returning to her dragon form.

But Subaru only chuckled darkly.

'What an idiot. But then again, this gives me the perfect opportunity to test out my new abilities,' Subaru thought with a snicker, amused by her decision to try and kill him by transforming into a dragon for the second time.

'Time for round two... and this time, I'm the one with dragon blood in my veins.' Subaru though with a grin.

Subaru willed his body to transform, and in response, a cascade of changes swept across him like a violent storm. His skin thickened and darkened as obsidian-black scales erupted along his limbs and torso, gleaming with an almost divine luster.

A deep cracking sound echoed through the air as large wings burst from his back—powerful, scaly, and imposing. His eyes narrowed, the pupils morphing into thin, slitted lines as a golden hue overtook them, burning with primal intensity.

His forearms expanded with dense muscle, now wide and heavily scaled, ending in clawed hands that looked capable of rending steel like paper. A tail lashed out from his lower back, whipping through the air as if testing its newfound strength.

His bones shifted, his spine extended, and with a series of guttural, inhuman growls, Subaru began to grow—larger, broader, more monstrous.

Capella, frozen in place, could do nothing but stare in sheer horror.

She had transformed into her dragon form countless times. Her towering size and terrifying appearance had brought countless foes to their knees. But now, standing before her, was something far stronger and menacing than anything she had faced—a force of nature made flesh.

Subaru didn't stop at matching her. His body continued to expand, growing even larger, broader, and more intimidating with every passing second. The air quivered around him from the pressure of his transformation. By the time the growth ceased, he stood at nearly three times Capella's size.

Her draconic eyes widened in pure disbelief.

Where she had become a massive, blackish-purple dragon crowned with twin trident-like horns, Subaru had evolved into a colossus—a Raven Black Dragon with scales that shimmered beneath the sunlight like polished onyx.

His wings spread like thunderclouds, and his tail coiled around his hind legs like a whip of destruction. His golden eyes gleamed with intelligence and merciless confidence.

His presence alone seemed to bend the world around him.

Capella's shock twisted into anger. Narrowing her eyes, she bellowed in fury and unleashed her signature attack—jet-black dragon flames, the same cursed inferno that could reduce entire cities to ash and could not be extinguished by any conventional means. The hellfire surged toward Subaru like a tidal wave of death.

But Subaru simply lowered his massive head and cloaked himself in a dense, rippling Aura—amplified tenfold from what it had once been. The very air around him shimmered and warped as the flames collided with his Aura-shielded body… and fizzled out.

Not a single scale was scorched.

Not even the wind shifted behind him.

Capella snarled in frustration and roared once more, this time doubling the intensity of her black flames, pouring more and more mana into her attack.

Yet still—Subaru remained unharmed, standing unmoving, like an unbreakable mountain before a breeze.

"I-Impossible…" Capella choked out, her voice trembling, her pride crumbling into dust. Her wings trembled. Her claws scraped against the ground. The cursed flames she had always relied upon… had done absolutely nothing.

Those flames—so vile they could incinerate even enchanted armor—had not even left a scratch.

Subaru chuckled, his deep dragonic voice resonating through the sky like thunder.

"What a coincidence," he said, raising his head. "You're the fourth Sin Archbishop to look me in the eye and scream 'Impossible'."

Then, with a proud tone, he continued:

"But remember these words before you die: For me, 'Impossible'… is just another way of saying 'I am Possible.'"

Without any further hesitation, Subaru opened his jaws and unleashed his own dragon breath—an inferno of unimaginable power. But his flames were different.

A brilliant, scorching purple blaze erupted from his throat, a radiant beam of destruction that twisted the scenary with it's sheer heat. The very air screamed as the heat tore through it, ripping reality apart in its wake. Capella didn't even have time to scream. Her body was instantly engulfed, burned away into pure cinders.

The raven-purple flames obliterated everything in their path—nothing could withstand their wrath. Subaru lifted his head as he exhaled, and the beam cut upward into the heavens, splitting the very sky itself.

Where once there had been blue skies and clouds, now there was a gaping black line, as though atomosphere itself had been sliced open. Stars—distant, cold, and eternal—shone faintly within that line, like the void of space had been laid bare.

But even as he admired the catastrophic power of his new form, a familiar voice echoed in his mind with dry amusement.

'Haha, quite the dramatic method of annihilation,' Echidna said, sounding half impressed, half amused. 'However, you should remember—Capella can regenerate her entire body… even her soul. Burning her flesh is impressive, yes, but not enough to finish her forever.'

Subaru was stupefied hearing her words.

And then, before him, amidst the ash and smoke, the impossible happened.

Small, untouched remnants—cells, fragments of cursed flesh—began to knit together with unnatural speed. Within moments, Capella reformed entirely, as if she had never died at all.

But something had changed.

Gone was the defiant, twisted smirk.

Gone was the arrogance that once oozed from every word she spoke.

Now, in her draconic eyes, there was something far more primal—Fear.

Pure, unfiltered terror.

Without wasting another second, Capella created not two, but four wings on her back in a desperate bid for speed. With a thunderous sonic boom, she shot into the sky, flying away at breakneck speed.

But Subaru wasn't about to let her go so easily.

"Not so fast," he growled.

He allowed his body to shift once more, transforming into a sleeker hybrid form—his birdman state—more streamlined and agile for aerial pursuit. His wings beat once, and with a burst of wind and light, he took off like a missile.

Utilizing a combination of Chi and Magic to amplify his physical capabilities, and cloaking himself in refined Aura to cut through the wind, Subaru rapidly closed the distance between them.

"Leave me alone!" Capella screeched, panic dripping from every word. In a frantic attempt to stall him, she released a barrage of grotesque tentacles from her back—dozens of them, writhing and wriggling in the air.

But Subaru's Aura burst outward with a pulse of raw power, vaporizing every single tentacle before they could even touch him. The air hummed with raw energy as he surged forward, reaching her in an instant.

His clawed hand lashed out and seized her by the throat, squeezing hard enough to crush the wind from her lungs. She writhed, trying to transform again, but Subaru covered her entire body in his Aura, sealing her transformations completely.

"Any last words?" he asked coldly, his eyes glowing like golden stars.

Capella gasped, desperation leaking from her every breath. "I—I'll be your sex toy!" she cried out wildly. "Don't you want me?! I'm the most beautiful of them all! You must love me!"

Her voice cracked with hysteria, begging for a twisted salvation she thought she deserved.

Subaru stared at her with disgust, unamused and unmoved. He summoned the Life Sword—a blade capable of destroying soul itself.

"Not interested," he said flatly.

Then, without mercy, he drove the blade straight into her chest.

Capella's eyes widened. Her body seized for a moment. Then her expression froze in shock—pure, final, eternal.

No second chances.

No monologues.

No escape.

Capella Emerada Lugunica—Sin Archbishop of Lust—died in that moment, her soul obliterated, her body collapsing like a puppet with its strings cut.

Subaru let her fall.

The war against Lust was over.

And he was the last one standing.

To be continued...

(A/N: I miss Proofreader-kun, Now I have to proofread it myself and it takes time...

Anyway I hope you like the chap! For the bonus chaps donate your powerstones!

I didn't upload this for a week and most of the readers abandoned it?

Truly no patience and no elegance!)