12

The world was dark as Leo felt himself coming too, his body still exhausted making him initially unwilling to even attempt to wake himself until his memories finally began to catch up with him. 'Wait, did I die then?' He couldn't help but wonder to himself.

If it was the case, then a simple black abyss wasn't what he was imagining the afterlife to be, but he quickly knew otherwise as he managed to pick up on the faint sound of people talking near him.

"He'll be fine nyow, he just needs some rest." Someone said beside him before hearing a small group of people sigh in relief before hearing some of their footsteps drawing closer before presumably kneeling down beside him.

"Thank you very much for saving him." A familiar voice replied.

"Nya, I didn't have to do much. It was a combination of things like stress, exhaustion, mana depletion, and getting knocked out. Luckily, he managed to avoid any real injuries." The medic cheerily responded. "Nyow I'll start seeing to the other injured."

"Yes, and we thank you again for your aid." Another voice which was incredibly similar to the other one said as the sound of footsteps grew more distant in turn.

It was only when Leo began to feel people holding onto his form however did he finally begin to feel energized enough to begin to open his eyes to take in his situation and surroundings.

Doing so slowly at first to prevent the blinding light of day from harming him, his eyes eventually flicked open to reveal a bright blue sky above him and three faces peering over him in concern.

"Master!" "Sir Leo!" Cecily, Flam, and Grassis exclaimed the moment they noticed his opening eyes, the three of them wasting little time clinging to him in joy.

"I knew that I shouldn't have left you! They said to trust you when they wanted help setting up the trap but!" Cecily said until she felt Leo gently hold onto her, halting her words.

"But they were right, weren't they? I mean, it didn't exactly go as expected but they still weren't wrong. There's nothing wrong with me, right? It doesn't feel like it at least." Leo said as the spirit momentarily froze up before nodding in agreement, quickly hugging her contractor to hide her small relieved smile.

"Master can take on two white whales huh? It's another reason why you're the best." She said with a muffled voice, not having taken the time to pull away before she spoke until she suddenly jolted as she suddenly pulled off. "And you used Al Jiwald on your own! Everyone saw it, it was amazing!" She happily cheered.

"I did think it was big, but… did everyone really see it? What about the fog?" Leo questioned, unable to believe that the spirit wasn't exaggerating his accomplishments like a personal hype-man.

"The fog was mostly removed from the fall of Flugel's Tree, truly nearly everyone saw and even felt a little bit of the magic you cast," Flam interjected with a cheerful smile of her own.

"However, apparently it wasn't without consequence…" Grassis then said, bringing a faint somber tone to the conversation, stopping her words until probed on by Leo's questioning glance. "Whilst you were able to cast Al Jiwald on your own, you still lacked the skill necessary to do so. The first thing the Blue reported when he first began to heal you was that your gate has been damaged."

"My gate? As in what my mana passes through? The same thing as Subaru?" Leo enquired whilst the maids nodded in response.

"The Blue made sure to heal you, but he mentioned that you should rest your gate for a week or two to make sure that it fully recovers, or else you risk doing more damage and having it collapse," Flam explained.

"Does that mean no more magic at all?"

"A collapsed gate is worse than that, Sir Leo, it means that you become unable to release mana at all on your own, and being unable to use it will subject you to mana poisoning which will kill you."

"But you have me!" Cecily cheerfully butted in, dispelling the mood almost instantly. "You can still use the spiritual arts just fine, even with a collapsed gate, and contracted spirits could still take mana from you saving you from suffering from mana poisoning!"

"I still think I would like to avoid that…" Leo replied before pushing himself off the ground to a sitting position with the girls. "But what happened after I was knocked out? You said that the tree was taken down… was the trap?"

"Yes, Subaru had made arrangements to take down the tree once he lured it into position. Once he had the unified efforts of multiple mages and Lady Cecily in using fire magic to bring it crashing down on the whale." Flam explained whilst gesturing to the gigantic tree trunk that lay on the ground, stretching long into the distance but most notably was sitting on top of the corpse of the white whale.

"The whale had survived the impact but remained pinned, it didn't take it long to finish it off causing the other two whales to vanish as a result." Grassis tagged on, "And when everyone was relaxing and regrouping it was Mimi and Hetero that brought you back, having caught you before you hit the ground."

"Mimi and Hetaro? I didn't catch people with those names…" Leo replied as he began looking around for his saviors.

"Hey, hey, that's me!" An energetic voice cheered before the figure of a small girl suddenly crashed into him, nearly pushing him back to the ground.

"Hey, sis, you shouldn't jump on people like that, he's still recovering!" A softer and tired voice said as another person almost stumbled their way towards him.

It was easy to identify the two as siblings from their numerous similarities including cat ears and tails of white and orange fur, and it was just as easy to identify them as members of the iron fang from the similarly colored robes they wore.

"So you're Mimi then? And Hetaro?" Leo asked, looking at the two as he addressed them, "I wouldn't have thought kids as young as you would be in a mercenary group through…"

"Hey, despite my super cute looks I'm older than you think I am! I'm fourteen ya know! And I'm not just a member, I'm a leader!" Mimi cheered in response, almost jumping on Leo to his exasperation at the energy that exceeded both Cecily's and Felts's.

"You think fourteen is an age that makes it any better? Although it does make your positioning more impressive…" Leo quipped back, allowing Mimi to bask in a sense of pride on his lap before Hetaro attempted to lift her up and off.

"Come on sis, we should know better than anyone he still needs a break." Hetero said as he continued to pull on Mimi, "I'm sorry about my sister, she's always been like this since we were born."

"I find that making her a leader of the group as she is something alarming instead," Kou said in Leo's mind. "And it's good to see you recovered, although your od depletion was less than comfortable."

"Kou! I'm glad to hear it but, I'm already aware that I didn't control my mana well…"

"It was more than that, I understand the situation you were in but you panicked and went with an Al spell."

"I… have no further excuse…"

"How are you feeling? I imagine you should be feeling some consequences from having performed that feat."

"Utterly exhausted? With no willpower to do anything about the girl on top of me?"

"It can also be attributed to the low amount of mana you have considering how little time you have had to recover, but it's likely exasperated by your drained od. I suggest that you try to find the time to recover yourself when you can."

"Noted, and thanks for the concern," Leo replied until he was brought to realize the situation that had finished unfolding on his lap, with Mimi having been finally lifted off of him by her brother, Flam, and Grassis whilst Cecily looked almost ready to take her place.

"Lady Cecily, I know that you care for Sir Leo greatly as his contracted spirit but I do hope you understand the space he still might need." Grassis pleaded to her, with no one being willing to peel a great spirit off of her contractor against their will.

"That's how you cast it?" Cecily quietly asked as she leaned in with a concerned expression, having chosen to ignore the twins.

"I almost forgot you can hear those conversations…" Leo replied with an awkward expression, being more than enough of an answer for Cecily who tightly held onto him.

"Please don't do it any more than necessary, it must have used up so much…" Cecily said, making sure to utilize their telepathic-like speech.

"I know… I just didn't have any other options, aside from being potentially able to use a lesser spell instead…" Leo replied, taking the time to weakly return the spirit's embrace as the four spectators watched them with a faint sense of confusion from the sudden amount of emotion that Cecily displayed.

"Thanks for the save though, Mimi, Hertaro." Leo eventually said, glancing back at the twins who happily smiled in response.

"You're welcome, but there's something else that we came to tell you as well," Hetaro said, catching everyone's interest as they looked towards him curiously. "Miss Crusch has decided that you'll be a part of the people to return to the capital with me."

"Yup, she after listening to Felix that you were too spent to do any more like Hetaro so you're going home!" Mimi said with a pointed finger as if he was under accusation of something. "But you were amazing! You actually took on two of those things by yourself!"

"And I don't want to have to do that again…" Leo sighed in response as he remained able to vividly recall the experiences that he had been through, remaining positively certain that they would be memories that would never leave him for the rest of his life.

"Hey, are you sure that you haven't been on the battleground before?" Mimi then asked with a tilt of her head.

"Completely, although it wasn't the first time I've nearly died though. It was however the most… intense way it almost happened though…"

"Yeah, the fog made it hard to see the whole thing but from the glimpses that some people saw of you it seemed like you could have met your end at any moment," Hetaro said with a worried look.

"But then you went 'Bam!' with all that bright light and everything ended shortly after!" Mimi cheered with renewed excitement again.

"Are you feeling alright now, after all of that?" Hetero asked.

"It's mainly exhaustion at this point, but thanks for the concern, not that I can rest just yet…" Leo answered as he managed to start getting to his feet with some effort.

"Ah, do you feel recovered enough to start walking around, Sir Leo? We would think that you would still need some time to recuperate enough to be comfortable walking around. If there is something that you need to are willing to assist." Flam said as each of the twins moved on either side of Leo, seemingly ready to begin supporting if he showed signs of needing it.

"I'll be fine if it's kept to walking, besides…" Leo replied before pausing with an awkward expression until he decided to lean in towards the girls so that Hetero and Mimi were likely unable to hear him. "What I'm doing is in the name of recovering, if you catch my drift?"

"You mean?" Flam said with a faint sense of shock.

"Are you sure that you would do that whilst there are so many people around? On the plains, there isn't much to keep you hidden, or even make use of in general…" Grassis pointed out.

"The tree will do both right? They don't die the instant they're cut down." Leo said, with the maids gently nodding in response as they accepted his decision.

"What are you talking about? Is it secret talk?" Mimi then asked, trying to force her way into the conversation until Hetero pulled back.

"You can't butt in like that, sis!" he said as he managed to successfully pull her away despite the little strength that still remained in him. "We still have to see the leader,"

"Are you really going to keep causing problems for your brother when he's like that? In fact, how have you managed to keep all your energy, don't tell me you've been lumping stuff on him?" Leo questioned.

"Boo, Hetero's just a weakling!" Mimi replied with a pout, yet it was clear that the girl didn't mean what she said as Hetero merely frowned in response.

"It's because of our divine protection, the divine protection of trisection. One of the things it allows us to do is share the strain and exhaustion between me and my sister and brother." Hetero answered him with a small smile.

"It looks less like you shared and more took on the whole burden… no wonder why you're drained," Leo replied with an apologetic look. "I know how siblingship can be but don't you think you owe him some thanks?"

"Mmm, maybe," Mimi said as she looked the other way again.

"Please don't worry about it, we all get along happily despite how we might appear at times," Hetero said.

"You're the sibling, I'll take your word on it."

"Yes, goodbye for now, I'll see you again when we start heading back to the capital."

"See ya!" Mimi said, energetically waving as they turned around to leave, making their way past various soldiers that were either laying down needing treatment or grouped together, excitedly talking about their recent triumphant victory.

"Come on, if we make it to the other side of the tree then that should be enough cover," Leo said as he turned toward his goal, taking note of the numerous people that were working together in cutting off the head of the white whale, likely to bring home as proof and a trophy.

Cecily, Grassis, and Flam didn't object as they quickly followed after him through the crowds of people. As they walked there were people who helped make way from them as they noticed Leo's exhausted look or simply out of respect as plenty of the soldiers made sure to congratulate him with joyous smiles on their faces.

'I never thought I would ever be in a situation like this…' Leo thought to himself as he walked along, feeling further mental fatigue from his own stiffness from the out-of-his-comfort zone environment. 'But considering what the whale was to them, I guess it makes sense that they would all be acting like this with everyone involved.'

It was only upon finally escaping the majority of the crowds of people that they walked under the uplifted part of the Flugel Tree that rested on the white whale.

"No one should come here, but please hurry Sir Leo," Grassis said with a worried expression that Leo couldn't refute.

Simply nodding in response, Leo made sure to lean again the tree whilst placing his hand against his, covering it and the shadows that enveloped it from view as he drew upon whatever vitality remained in the chopped tree.

What felt like a few minutes passed by for the group as Leo continued to recover himself, yet despite his efforts the tree continued to show little sign of dying off. Only small bits of the tree began to turn rotten whilst leaves began dropping off of the distance branches one by one before fluttering through the air, yet seemingly no one noticed the subtle changes.

"Don't you think you're being a bit risky, doing that in the open?" Someone suddenly said, getting the whole group to jolt as they looked in the direction of the voice only to spot Subaru. "Whoa! I get why you're so on edge but it's only me!"

"It really is only you… what are you doing here exactly? And where's Rem?" Leo said as he settled back down.

"Rem's being looked at by Ferris, the battle really took it out of her, I don't think she'll be able to help in the witch cult attack…" Subaru said as he looked down at the ground before looking back up with a determined expression. "I saw what happened to you, but because of this you're back in fighting shape again right?"

"Basically, although I still need time to calm down from dealing with an experience like that… I'm really questioning how you're doing just fine though…"

"Hey, I was feeling on the edge the whole time and had a few close encounter's myself!" Subaru shouted back in defense before calming back down. "But this means that you at least can help us with the witch cult then! Man, that's good, fighting the whale took more out of us than I thought it would…"

"How many can be spared to fight the cult, I'm aware that there were many injured and fallen," Flam asked.

"Crusch was kind enough to lend me Ferris's help and 20 of the uninjured but I'm wondering about how to make it work… apparently there's going to be reinforcements though and paired with you we should be able to pull it off!" Subaru said with renewed energy.

"I'm sorry to rain on your parade, but I don't think that is the case." Someone else said as a small group approached, quickly making Leo halt the use of his authority as he stood straight again. "But from what Ferris has told me, Leo isn't in the condition to continue fighting."

"Nya, that's right! Did someone not tell you about it yet?" Ferris said as he stood beside his lady whilst Wilhelm was at Crusch's other side, remaining steadfast but his eyes locked on Subaru and Leo.

"Yeah, I heard from Mimi and Hetero, and it's not something that I'm arguing against…" Leo replied with an awkward smile before flashing Subaru a warning look, hoping that he would hastily understand that only between them was he doing fine.

"I see, well that's a shame!" Subaru said as he scratched the back of his head. "Well, don't worry! We'll still figure something out!"

"And I trust that you will, you already have managed to make the hunt of the white whale a success and so I have faith that you live up to those words," Crusch said as she flashed a confident smile towards Subaru. "But what brought the group of you out here? I would imagine that you would have wanted to remain resting with the other soldiers." She then asked, her question directed towards Leo.

Whilst no one noticed it, Subaru alone had tensed up upon hearing Crusch ask Leo the question. "It's overwhelming, isn't it?!" Subaru suddenly interrupted with a loud voice as everyone looked at him strangely. "Being amongst everyone can be overwhelming so you wanted to step aside to better relax, right?"

"Is that the case?" Crusch asked as she turned back to Leo again.

"Well, he's not wrong, having space to myself is nice," Leo answered as Crusch nodded in response.

"I see, I understand that the contribution that you made was of no small value so I understand and hope that you are recovering better like this." Crusch said, seemingly happily accepting the answer much to Subaru's relief as all his features began to relax again in response. "It won't be much longer before those returning to the capital will start climbing aboard dragon carriages and leaving, and the reinforcement will arrive shortly after our departure. I hope you will be ready for that, and I would be happy for you to ride with me."

"Thanks, we'll be ready when it's time," Leo replied.

"I'm glad to hear it, then I shall be seeing you again shortly," Crusch said before taking her to leave, heading towards where the white whale's head was being cut off.

"Nya did pretty well in the fight against the whale even if nya didn't come out unscathed," Ferris said with a cheerful smile. "You might have been told this before but don't try using your own magic for a while, while I did treat it you still damaged your gate and it needs to rest for a bit. The spiritual arts are still ok though!"

"Noted, thanks for the help," Leo said.

"Be seeing you then! And make sure to take care of Lady Crusch for me whilst I'm helping Subaru!" The demi-human replied as his final remark before hurrying over to catch up with Crusch, leaving just Wilhelm behind from the three.

"Leon Aries," Wilhelm said, completely taking the moment as Leo gave his full attention to whatever the old man wanted. "I feel that I owe you some of the thanks for granting me the chance to avenge my wife, and I deeply thank you for it." He said whilst bowing in Leo's direction, managing to frazzle the young man who have never expected such behavior from the old man.

"Please don't worry about it, Subaru managed to get me to tag along and help, I just played the role that I was told and what was asked of me," Leo said as he did his best to remain calm to think about whatever response he could give.

"But I feel that I must, especially when there is still something that I have to ask of you," Wilhelm replied as he rose back onto his feet, meeting Leo's confused eyes with an intense glare of his own of masked emotion.

"You want something from me?" Leo repeated, unsure if he had heard him correctly. 'We only met one another today, what could he want from me?'

"Yes, there is something that I wish to ask of you, something that I might be able to ask of you alone," Wilhelm asked with an unflinching stare that made Leo feel even more taken back, a feeling which was shared by all of Flam, Grassis, Cecily, and Subaru, all of whom hadn't expected such an outcome from the butler.

"I'll be willing to hear you out at least, but I can't make any promises about accepting whatever it is until I hear it." Leo finally responded.

"Yes, that is most natural but I hope that you will be willing to accept my request afterward," Wilhelm replied before making a slight gesture to follow him away from the group as they all watched on in their curiosity from a distance.

"Now for what I wish to discuss," Wilhelm said as he came to a stop after a short walk, satisfied with the distance that they had put between them and their onlookers. "You likely remember when we talked whilst on our way to confront the white whale, do you not?"

"You asked about my training and my reason for wielding Zeam, didn't you? You also talked about your reason for doing so stemming from your wife and that you were Reinhard's gramps, is it something about one of those things?" Leo replied, only needing a brief moment to recall the short conversation he had previously shared with Wilhelm upon first becoming acquainted with him.

"That is correct, more accurately pertaining to the matter of being Reinhard's grandfather," Wilhelm said to the further interest and concern of Leo at the further unexpected direction of the conversation. "Whilst it is true that I am his grandfather, it would be wrong to say that I have acted as such…" Wilhelm said with a sense of shame as he lowered his head.

Leo didn't have any response as he remained quiet, not feeling any room to interject on what was easily going to be a heavy and sensitive topic.

"It would be more accurate to say that I have completely neglected my family, my son Heinkel alongside Reinhard, upon the death of my wife Theresia. When she died, avenging her became the only thing that I thought of, and in my pain… I blamed my grandson for her death…"

"Because he took the title of sword saint?" Leo guessed as Wilhelm weakly nodded in response.

"Not long after Theresia had left to battle the whale, Reinhard gained the divine blessing of the sword saint from her… and then she died."

"Um, sorry if this sounds tactless but… how do you know Reinhard gained the blessing before she died?" Leo hesitantly asked as Wilhelm silently questioned what he was getting at with his eyes alone, making Leo more hesitant as he knew that he had to continue explaining himself. "I mean… I don't know the situation at all but… maybe… maybe Reinhard gained the blessing because… she had already died at that point had it only then moved on?"

There was a moment of silence between the two as Leo internally worried if he had in fact pushed the line as he watched Wilhelm slowly lower his face with an unreadable expression.

"I call him a monster…" Wilhelm eventually said, his voice sounding like it was teetering on the edge of breaking as he refused to look up. "The day Theresia died, I blamed him… I called him a monster… In all these years, I never once stopped to consider the possibility…"

"Well… you were a grieving man, you lost the woman you loved so dearly, it makes a little more sense if you think of it like that…" Leo awkwardly attempted to comfort the elder man but it was to no avail.

"It doesn't change the dishonorable actions that I have taken, and the wrongs that I have committed. I no longer know what he thinks of me, and I doubt that I could earn his forgiveness either…"

"And I'm going to have to argue on that one, upon hearing that you really don't know him that well do you?" Leo immediately replied, completely casting aside his previous attitude and lack of confidence in a complete turnaround. "He likely blames himself for everything, and not you for even a moment and would likely forgive you in a heartbeat for better or for worse. He's like that you know and I would be stunned otherwise."

"So he has indeed been affected by me?" Wilhelm asked as he glanced up.

"More like the world and everyone's expectations instead of just you, the guy's impressive and doesn't show a sign of a breaking point but… I don't think it's healthy the way he is…"

"A potential form of development after his treatment from childhood…" Wilhelm solemnly mentioned.

"There's no point being soft here so I'll say the truth, maybe," Leo replied with a hard expression, carefully watching how the man before him reacted to his words. "The man acts like a tool or a living weapon, he doesn't seem to embrace being a person all that much and says duty is his existence."

"But if you don't like all of that… then isn't that all the more reason to reconnect with him? To sit down and properly talk, set things right, and honestly help wake him up to a couple of things?"

"Perhaps you are correct," Wilhelm said as he managed to stand back up to full height, pushing past previous emotion as he looked at Leo with determination in his eyes. "It was my initial request, to ask for your assistance to potentially help reintroduce me to both my son and grandson as one living at the Astrea house as his pupil. But now, would it be too much for this old man to ask of you to help him right his wrongs in the past?"

"I'll try my best to help, although… Heinkel kinda hates me…" Leo replied before quickly going awkward as he remembered the drunkard's current opinion of him, an opinion that he was willing to share. "I haven't seen him much so that began to slip my mind… I might not want to be present for that meeting…"

"I see… I know he has changed of late but it is unfortunate to hear, but I will be glad nonetheless for your assistance with Reinhard." Wilhelm replied. "When everything has passed I will make sure to deliver you a letter, requesting you to come to the Karsten Manor when everything has settled down."

"Right, I'll keep an eye out for it. Currently, Reinhard's out doing something at the request of the wise men so I'd advise sending it sometime the next week to be safe,"

"I see, then please be expecting the message then. I thank you for this favor but for now, I must take my leave in the name of preparation for our next battle." Wilhelm said whilst taking another bow to Leo.

"Right, until then," Leo replied with the elder butler then taking his leave as he began walking in a similar direction to where Crusch and Felix had long vanished.

Seeing that their talk had come to an end, it didn't take long for Cecily to come rushing over to him whilst being shortly followed by Flam, Grassis, and Subaru who all seemed rather puzzled and curious about what they had finished watching.

"So what was that about?" Subaru asked.

"Uh, family matters I suppose," Leo replied, quickly thinking to keep the details to himself with respect to Wilhelm. "It's between him and Reinhard mainly."

"Oh, we properly shouldn't be asking about those kinds of things huh?" Subaru replied, "Alright, forget about what I asked! It's a shame that you can't help, but you already have done a lot. I'll just have to see to the rest myself!"

"I know there is a lot at stake but… don't go too crazy now," Leo replied with a strained smile. "But I suppose that you've survived this without any means of self-defense so who knows, teach everyone those survival skills and you might see zero casualties."

"I didn't do anything special but I hope that's the case," Subaru said with a brief quiet moment.

"Sir Leo, I believe that we will be leaving soon," Flam said as she gestured into the distance where there was the sight of another portion of the Iron Fang riding toward the main body of resting soldiers.

"I suppose we should head back and find Crusch then," Leo said.

"Is there something wrong with him?" Cecily then asked as she glanced towards Subaru, having noticed his scowling expression.

"What is he doing here?" Subaru practically growled as his eyes remained fixed on the leading figure of the mercenary band. It didn't take long for the rest of the group to follow his line of sight to see who had caught his eye so intently, with them quickly noticing the lone individual who stood out amongst them.

"Well, he is Anastasia's knight, it's only natural that she might dispatch him on a serious mission…" Leo said as he and Cecily instantly understood Leo's behavior in contrast to the twin maids.

"Is there a particular reason why Subaru dislikes Sir Julius?" Grassis asked in a hushed voice, "Was it because of what happened within the throne room?"

"That and the fact he beat him unconscious…" Leo told the girls with an equally hushed voice, getting them to look at Subaru with troubled expressions, almost seemingly pitying him.

"He continues to make it difficult to tell how I feel about him." Flam eventually said as they finally decided to look away from him.

"Glad I'm not the only one," Leo said with a heavy sigh. "Well, good luck Subaru, hope that luck of yours continues to hold up. We're heading home…"

Subaru didn't even respond as he continued to glare at Julius whilst the group slowly walked away, making their way straight for the multitude of caravans they were being loaded up with people and weapons.

The crowd of old elder knights and mercenaries were all waving their farewells as the caravans began to pull away all whilst the mostly injured and exhausted soldiers limply looked back at them with faint smiles as they continued to grow smaller in the distance.

"I must admit, I greatly underestimated the white whale but it makes me greatly pleased that we managed to succeed nonetheless," Crusch said with pride as they travel along the dirt path back to the capital. "I truly owe a great deal to Subaru and yourself."

"Please think nothing of Rem's actions, she would always happily follow Subaru's lead and is glad her hero is able to save so many others," Rem replied from her position, sitting down just beside Crusch as she rested against the edge of the caravan.

"He managed to lead the defeat of the white whale and has gone on to battle the witch's cult, I for one wouldn't reject such a man being viewed as a hero by the rest of Lagunica," Crusch said with a warm smile.

"When we get back to the capital, everyone can rest up and recover within my manor, I plan on holding a victory banquet once the rest return in celebration of this achievement. It would honor me if you and Subaru were to attend as guests of honor." Crusch continued as she looked towards the maid with a smile.

"Rem would be honored to attend, and Rem's sure that Subaru would be too, however… due to how he and Miss Emilia last spoke I'm sure that they may have something to settle once the witch cult has been dealt with…" Rem worriedly replied, completely unable to prevent her head from dropping and looking and the wood boards she sat on.

"I'm sure that there will be nothing to worry about," Crusch said with a confident smile. "From what I know of Emilia, she is an incredibly kind woman. After everything that Subaru has done for her, I'm sure that she will be understanding, in fact, I find her to be an incredibly lucky person in that regard. Enough so that I start feeling a little envious."

Rem didn't give a verbal response to what she had just heard from the duchess, but instead, her expression quickly formed into a pout from her disgruntlement, Crusch only found it humoring instead.

"Please don't worry, I have no intention of trying to take him away from either of you. It's merely a feeling I have towards your position in that boy's heart." Crusch said, yet despite what should have been comforting words it failed to fully relieve the feelings that had quickly taken root in Rem's troubled heart.

"The same offer also falls to you as well; I don't wish to ignore the contributions that you made in the battle as well." Crusch then said, turning her attention to the back of the carriage where Leo was sitting.

"I'm honored, although I wonder how Felt will take it if I don't show up to dinner with her then, even if she can come, she would be iffy about attending an event like that…" Leo said with a sigh whilst Crusch faintly chuckled in response.

"It seems that you too are fairly popular yourself it seems, although perhaps in a different aspect." She said with a warm smile that Rem also beamed at him.

"I have no idea how it came to this…" As he reviewed his situation laying on him were Cecily, Grassis, Flam, and Hetero. Whilst the twin maids were tiredly resting on his left, Cecily was left clinging to his right arm as Hetero had long collapsed onto his lap, having fallen fast asleep. "I know that they all fought hard and stayed up during the night to achieve everything so needing some rest is understandable but… why me?"

"Do you feel that it is an issue? I think that it makes for quite a nice scene." Crusch said with a warm smile whilst Rem nodded in agreement.

"Yes, Rem must agree. Rem can only hope that someday she will be able to bond with children like you and Subaru do." Rem added on, increasing the amount of awkwardness that Leo was feeling making him more and more continuous of the children resting on him.

"Hey, I'm not a child!" Cecily suddenly exclaimed in a pout that gave her a contradictive look. "You were including me the whole time, weren't you!"

"You only just realized?" Leo asked with a faint sense of shock.

"I thought that there was no way I could be included!"

"That confident huh?" Leo said with a faint smile, to the increased frustration of the spirit that began to lightly pound against him with her small fists.

It was a sight that left the women conflicted between the idea of apologizing to the great spirit whilst at the same time they merely wished to keep quiet and continue to watch the small scene playing out before them.

However, neither possibilities were the case as there was a loud rumble before the sound of splitting and shattering wood filled the air much to everyone's alarm, making Flam, Grassis, and Hetero spring awake whilst the adults spun around to look at the space ahead of them.

Previously their sight was blocked by the backs of multiple carriages that were ahead of them, but they were no longer there. Instead was the sight of the outstretched dirt road they had been following, whilst the area around them was littered with the broken ruins of the carriages that has previously been fine.

Shreds of cloth and countless splinters blew through the area whilst the occasionally broken plank fell down to the ground, clanking against the ground whilst the onlookers stared on in horror at the sudden occurrence. Their minds were reeling in confusion as they couldn't comprehend the abrupt change, unable to come up with answers for the impossible phenomenon.

Instead, all they had was the sight of a lone man dressed in white standing directly in their path with all the confidence in the world despite his circumstances. Yet despite the whole situation, the words which left Crusch's lips completely shocked Leo.

"Run him over!" Crusch shouted out with hostility beginning to enter her voice.

"Are you nuts?! What if he was the one who caused this!" Leo shouted out in response as the caravan continued along at top speed, yet despite how close the land dragon was getting to him, the man dressed in white still merely had a confident, sly smile on his face.

"Jump!" Rem cried out mere moments later as she dove towards Crusch before leaping high into the air with her whilst the rest promptly followed. Instantly activating Akra via the spiritual arts, Leo gripped hold of Cecily before jumping whilst Flam and Grassis grabbed hold of Hetero before jumping up themselves.

With them managing to escape the carriage in the nick of time, the group could only look down beneath them to see the carriage they had just been riding along with several others behind them instantly disintegrate as they were reduced to tiny, scattered pieces of rubble.

Leo didn't know whether or not to be horrified as he couldn't make out even a trace of blood despite the numerous people that must have died in the attack, not having known it was possible to so truly eradicate a person so.

Even when they landed on the ground, the lone person's demeanor didn't change in the slightest, having it quickly become a hostile stare-down as all the carriages behind them came to a halt.

"I wish you wouldn't do that. Ordering them to run me over when I'm not doing anything? That's not something any decent human being would do." The man in white casually said with a shrug of his shoulders.

'He's crazy to think he has any right to talk about things like that after what he just did!' Leo thought to himself in stunned disbelief.

"How dare you do such a brutal thing to my retainer." Crusch calmly replied despite the heatedness that rightfully made its way into her voice as she bravely took a step forwards. "Just who are you?"

"I see, I see. I don't know who I am. But I know who you are. You're a candidate to be the next to rule this nation." The man replied, his confidence never wavering in the slightest.

"You talk too much, answer my question!" Crusch shouted in response, already reaching for and unsheathing her blade, pointing it straight at the man before them. "Next time I will kill you!"

"We likely stand little to no chance against this man. She is acting on emotion and not thinking about his strength on what he has already displayed." Kou resounded in Leo's mind as he slowly nodded in agreement.

"Figured that one out pretty quickly, just great that even a native and spirit of this word agrees…"

The man before them, however, remained completely nonchalant, still not taking Crusch seriously at all. "Now that's just mean. But I suppose one could never hope to rule a country without some degree of arrogance. I can't comprehend that sensibility myself, but…" he continued to say with a sly smile until Crusch's actions quickly removed it.

"I told you there would be no second chances!" Crusch shouted out as she rose her blade up before swinging it down resolutely. Whilst Leo was unable to behold whatever meaning her action carried, he could still feel and hear the movement of the wind, merely guessing that she had unleashed some kind of invisible attack.

Yet despite the auditable clang that filled the air signaling the attack's successful landing. Yet, the whole group was stunned into silence at the sight of the man, despite not moving an inch, remaining completely untouched. The only sign that something had indeed occurred was the rapid appearance of irritation on the white man's expression.

"Now look here! Who taught you that it was acceptable to swing a sword at someone when they are happily talking?! I do believe that's a violation of my right to speak!" The man shouted back in anger, yet before anyone could do anything there was a burst of blood as Crusch's sword hand went flying off her arm into the air to everyone's horror.

"Miss Crusch!" Rem exclaimed as she immediately hurried to the pained woman's side, desperately doing her best to support her with healing magic.

"He didn't even do anything, did he?!" Leo instantly asked his spirits in alarm despite already feeling just how they both felt through their bonds.

"No, that shouldn't have been possible, it wasn't even any kind of magic since we couldn't feel any mana at all!" Cecily was the first to reply as she quickly gripped Leo's hand tightly.

"The guy's like might just be the ultimate Karen… given some absurd power for added power tripping!" Leo responded, to the faint confusion of Kou and Cecily at the strange expression that he was making but they didn't ask as everyone heard something that only brought more dread to the already horrible situation.

"Ah… I keep eating and eating, but it's never enough!" Another voice spoke from behind the group as everyone quickly faced backward to address the new arrival, with little hesitation from Leo to circle in front of Grassis, Flam, and Hetero defensively.

"I eat, I devour, I chew, I bite, I gorge, I gnaw, I munch, I crunch…" A seeing young boy said towards him, his long, messy hair and clothes filled with dirt and blood whilst his arms remained limp at his side with bloodied blades attached to them. "Ah, thank you for this feast!" he said, finally coming to a stop a little away from the group.

"You two are…" Rem cautiously asked with a scowl, as Leo guessed that she already had an idea of who they were dealing with, meanwhile, the two attackers seemed pleased that she had asked.

"Sin archbishop of the witch's cult, representing gluttony… Lye Batenkaitos." The creepy body said with an equally creepily, excited, toothy grin.

"And the Sin Archbishop of the witch's cult, representing greed, Regulus Corneas." The confident man calmly added on, his irritation now having passed.

"Witch cultists here… was Subaru wrong?" Leo quietly mumbled to himself in response to the reveal, his mind already rapidly working away at any possibility of surviving the situation. "Or… there's just a lot more going on than we thought…"

'Either way… Beatrice said that sin archbishops were included in the types of people that wield authorities, meaning that must be what Regulus's power was… but then what does gluttony have?' he continued to ponder.

It wasn't like there was any clear pattern to Leo either. It wasn't like he knew how witch factors of sin worked, nor authorities, but there was nothing obvious that allowed any correlation of their capabilities aside from doing the impossible.

"I expected them to be a good, ripe bunch, considering they managed to kill a beast that had been rampaging unchecked for 400 years…" Lye said with overflowing amounts of confidence in his voice. "But this is beyond my expectations!"

It was obvious what the boy was talking about as well as attention naturally drifted to what lay behind him. Back to where the surviving carriages had been, they were now littered with dead bodies that reinforced their state of dread and building rage.

"Nice! Good! Great! Excellent! Fine! Perfect! Fantastic! Stupendous!" Gluttony continued to rant off, whilst Rem continued to set gently set down a now unconscious Crusch before rising to pull a ball and chain from seemingly nowhere. "How long it has been since our hunger was so thoroughly sated!" Gluttony finished off before finally noticing Rem.

"You can relax. I'm nothing like that guy there. I hate fighting and stuff." Regulus said whilst tapping his foot against the group with a feeling of tiredness toward the crazy boy. "All that 'hunger' and 'thirst' nonsense? Such petty self-indulgences are beneath me."

With a sudden gush of cold air, Rem wordlessly began to make use of her magic with a darkened expression, forming multiple floating icicles that she aimed toward both of the archbishops, much to Regulus's confusion.

"Were you even listening? Did I not just say I hate fighting?"

"Is that all you wish to say, witch cultist?" Rem coldly asked whilst Leo found himself silently staring at her, having to keep captured in the tense moment before breaking free of it and putting his mind back to work.

"Flam, Grassis," Leo said as he spun around to the maid twins that looked up at him with an anxious yet determined expression, ready to carry out whatever he asked of them. "Judging on Regulus alone… we're not going to win… I need you to run off and see if you can find a single living land dragon and prepare an escape. Rem, Cecily, and I will hold them off. And take Crusch and Hetero with you. And if you can't find anything… just run, and don't look back. With Akra, we'll catch up and make our own escape before things get too rough, alright?"

"But Sir Leo…" The twins began to plead before Leo quickly placed his fingers on their lips to prevent them from talking.

"I think this might be the first time I've actually given you an order, but it's because I really need it done. You are going to make an escape, ok? People need to know, and we'll manage to catch up."

"Yes… Sir Leo…" Flam and Grassis eventually replied with solum expressions before one moved to grab hold of Hetero's body and the other struggled to get Crusch on her back without further upsetting her wounds.

"Did you hear that, Rem?" Leo asked as he took back up to full high, standing back-to-back with Rem with Cecily at his side, Gluttony being the foe that he was facing.

"Yes, Sir Leo, I wish to gain revenge on these cultists but… your decision is the correct one," Rem replied, tightening her grip on her ball and chain.

"I'm ready." Cecily calmly said, tightening her grip on Leo's hand that he returned.

"Soon enough, a hero will appear and rid us of all of you." Rem proclaimed aloud to the cultists as Leo drew Zeam with his spare hand. "The one and only hero… whom I love."

"Oh? A hero? I look forward to that. And who are you three?" Lye asked as he started walking forwards again.

"The head maid of the mansion of Margrave Roswaal L Mathers… and currently, the caretaker of my one and only love, my beloved Natsuki Subaru, who will one day be that hero… Rem!"

"You've really got all the faith in the world in him huh?" Leo chimed back with a grin, but it was clear to the girls that he was merely trying to hide from his own feeling. "This feels faintly ridiculous but… The sword saint's apprentice, great spirit's partner… and potential warlock in the making… Leo!" he said with resolve.

"And a great spirit of yang, Master's first spirit and partner, Cecily!" The light spirit joined in, her declaration making clear her determination to make their stand again the threats whilst the archbishops looked on with newfound interest.

"Warlock? You mean you're Pride? Do you really want to oppose us like that?" Regulus said in confusion. "You didn't even appear in the book that she says to bring around with us, are you sure that's the case?"

Despite his questioning, however, none of the three answered, or even let his mysterious words bother him as a sparking pink horn emerged from Rem's head whilst Leo glowed with golden magic power, finalizing their preparations. "You'd better be ready, Sin Archbishop! I promise you… my hero will soon be here to bring you to justice!"

And just like that, Rem unleashed her icicles upon their foes, inspiring greatly contrasting reactions from the two. Whilst Regulus calmly stood there, letting the icicles attempt to hit him only to shatter without affecting him in the slightest, Lye had instantly begun to sprint, managing to avoid every blast in the process.

"El Jiwald!" Cecily shouted out as she raised her hand to the sky, filling the space around them with several different golden lights that then fired a multitude of lasers on her signal.

Yet Lye continued to dodge them all with seeming ease with his creepy smile never leaving his face as he continued to weave back and forth, slowly getting closer and closer to the pair.

Behind them, Rem has wasted little effort in immediately swinging her ball and chain at Regulus yet he merely stood there, accepting the attacks that failed to even disrupt his clothes. Whilst Rem was grunting and growing with effort and hatred, Regulus merely smiled at her mockingly, seemingly fully confident that there was nothing that Rem could possibly do to him. Yet despite this fact, the burning fighting spirit in Rem never faltered in intensity.

"This is great! Excellent! Amazing! I'm already drooling!" Lye exclaimed with his crazed excitement, soon finding the chance to leap in towards the group as he raised one of his blades into the air, signaling for Leo to suddenly shoot forward and intercept.

There was a clang of steel and a faint ringing sound as Leo blocked the blow with Zeam before managing to force the boy away from him, but it was a mere moment before they dashed closer, colliding once more.

Whilst the psychotic boy swung with his blades in an almost wild fashion, and yet there was a clear method to his madness as despite Leo's best attempts with his own one-handed style he had been trained in by the sword saint himself, he could tell he was losing the edge.

"Al Akra!" Cecily then chanted, doubling the brightness of the golden veil of light that covered Leo as his speed and power drastically increased in response.

It was enough that it allowed Lye to be caught off-guard at the sudden increase in his opponent's fighting ability, but it only excited him in turn as his movements became wilder and wilder, managing to inspire more and more hesitation from the inexperienced Leo.

It wasn't long before the tides of the fight began to settle as the two settled into definitive roles, with Lye pressing the offense that Leo held off, trying his best to keep his cool with his defensive play.

Allowing for a brief lapse in focus, Leo found himself almost shocked by the position that he found himself in. It had only been a little over a month's worth of training and yet he was already engaging in to-the-death fights at levels of skills that were clearly not possible for a newly trained individual, even when adrenaline coursed through him.

'I'd like to come back with a victory to show for Reinhard's teaching but… I think survival is going to be enough of a reward.' Leo thought to himself as he struggled to fend off attack after attack that came at him unrelentingly, not even the faintest amount of fatigue beginning to show on the kid whilst Cecily's magic was what kept Leo running.

"Jiwald!" Leo suddenly shouted out, firing a blast from his free hand in the hopes of catching Lye off-guard only for it to get repelled with little effort.

"Al Goa!" Leo then shouted, quickly forming a giant fireball that he unleashed at point-blank range, resulting in a massive explosion that he had narrowly avoided himself by leaping back as he cast the spell.

But he wasn't the only one as Lye soon burst through the smoke cloud and remaining flames that were left behind with only some light burns on his body, with Leo barely able to block his attack in time before attempting to push him back.

However, instead of receiving the pushing force, Lye was already shifting himself to move over Leo and behind him, whilst Leo quickly darted forward to then turn around to face the archbishop again.

With Lye jumping high into the air to descend down towards Leo, he thrust Zeam towards him only for his attack to be almost casually passed off by Lye who bounced off of the attack to land close to Leo's side.

"Thanks for the feast!" Lye said as he opened his mouth almost impossibly wide, revealing his set of razor-sharp teeth.

"Master!" Cecily desperately cried out at the sight of her contractor unable to move out of the way of the seeming bite attack, whilst being unable to use any spells herself from already focusing on Al Akra.

Despite reflexively attempting to move out of the way, Leo couldn't help but close his eyes whilst expecting the worst from the archbishop… until nothing came…

Instead, a strong disgusted sound was heard alongside the faint thudding of something falling on the grassy ground has prompted Leo to open his eyes to behold something shocking. Instead of having his head bitten off, or something remotely negative happening to him, it had instead occurred the creepy boy that was on all fours on the grass, seeming about to throw up on the spot.

"You… you lied… about your name?!" Lye said with an exhausted breath as he attempted to stand up again.

"Well, I didn't lie, you're just loony for thinking I'd give up my full identity to a genocide freak… not that I know what my name has to do with this…" Leo briefly replied before tightly gripping Zeam and rushing in again, willing to seize the unexpected opportunity and end the battle before he could recover, however, he was swiftly denied.

It wasn't Lye that had stopped him, but rather a sudden force that cleanly blasted through his side.

Both Cecily and Rem were in stunned shock as they both witnessed the sight of a large portion of Leo's torso suddenly vanishing with only a faint spray of blood.

Immediately, Leo dropped to the ground screaming out in agonizing pain whilst he feel a burning pain that went incomparable to anything else in his life whilst simultaneously feeling all warmth leave his body as blood instead pooled out onto the ground around him.

"Master!" "Sir Leo!" Cecily and Rem cried out in horror but were unable to do something as they were sent flying across the ground by an invisible force to be left lying in a heap with tattered clothes.

"That was a bother… I don't see why they would try, what did they think they were going to accomplish?" Regulus said as he tapped his foot against the ground in irritation. "And will you keep quiet already?! Don't you know it's rude to shout when someone's talking, you should be quiet and listen instead, it's a violation of rights!" he then shouted out towards the screaming Leo, who both wanted to clutch his gaping chest would whilst simultaneously not wanting anything else to happen upon it, leaving him confused whilst dying.

"Didn't he say he was pride? Mmm? He smells so delicious but he hasn't shown anything." Lye said, now managing to stand back up again as he stood over Leo's suffering form.

"Leave… him… alone…" Cecily grunted as she began to pick herself up with tears in her eyes, Rem assisting her having already stood up.

"I can't get a good meal out of him, but there is always you instead!" Lye then said as he looked toward his new prey with the look of a wild, hungry beast in his eyes.

Yet, attempting to jump over Leo's dying form quickly resulted in him nearly tripping as Leo grabbed hold of his ankle, shadows swirling from his hand.

"So that's what your authority is!" Lye said in glee, yet despite his nonchalant attitude, he wasted little time in kicking Leo off of him, sending him close to the two panicked girls that quickly tried to give him some care.

"Please hold on just a little bit, Sir Leo! I'm sure that between my healing magic and your authority, you'll be able to survive!" Rem said as she frantically began pouring her everything into healing the wound whilst a frustrated and panicking Cecily watched over them.

"Survive? You must be pretty dim-witted to think he's coming back from something like that… I'm yet to fully comprehend what little power he possesses from his authority but I doubt it will do any good to save him, despite it being his only chance." Regulus commented with an amused look, seemingly enjoying the sight of the frantic efforts that were being put into saving the young man.

Despite the raging emotion in her heart, Cecily knew that acting out in the slightest would only kill off what a precious chance they were seemingly giving them, making her hold her words to herself.

"Leo, are you?" She eventually asked as everyone witnessed the sight of shadows and miasma beginning to emit off of the whole of Leo's body as his struggle slowly decreased.

"Run." Was all he said, much to the girl's confusion.

"What do you mean Sir Leo?!" Rem exclaimed in shock as Leo quickly batted her hands away, briefly filling her with a cold, empty feeling that passed as quickly as it came.

"I didn't think the instruction 'run' was so complicated…"

"I'm not leaving you!" Cecily declared in a heartbeat, tears spilling from her eyes with a bubbling sense of infuriation.

"Cecily… if you don't run now… it won't be the cultists that kill you… I think… it'll be me…" Leo said as he grunted with effort, his body beginning to shake as if he was desperately struggling against something.

"What do you mean?"

"My authority… apparently it doesn't like the idea of me dying… I can… feel it… This whole place…" Leo continued to mumble whilst the shadows increased in intensity, crawling along the ground causing all the grass to immediately wither and die yet still not stopping in its reach. "Rem, take Cecily… and Kou… and don't look back."

"…I understand." Rem eventually replied in a hushed, sorrowful voice, "I hope that you will manage something, Sir Leo."

"What are you talking about? We need to!" Cecily tried to speak until she was suddenly scooped off of her feet by the oni maid whilst Kou had quickly floated away from Leo's form and instead towards Rem's. "We can't leave him! I won't!" Cecily frantically cried out, but her thrashing underneath Rem's arm was for naught as Rem immediately carried out what she was told, immediately doing her best to run into the distance as quickly as she possibly could.

"What do you think you're managing to achieve? It's not like this guy is going to just let them get away, I didn't think I hit you there but it might as well seem that I could have delivered some brain damage to you as well. At the same time you have been bleeding a lot, it's a miracle that you haven't died already, in that sense maybe we shouldn't be that hard on you." Regulus replied with a smug smile that didn't last as it quickly turned to confusion and then shock, as both he and Lye watched the darkness covering Leo rapidly, begin to intensify.

"Amazing! Incredible! Outstanding! If you had this much fight in you then we really should have had a proper fight! I wish you hadn't lied about your name because you're just so irresistibly delicious! Ah, I wonder how someone like you might have filled me up!" Gluttony said, walking forwards with brandished blades, letting his excitement cloud his awareness of Leo's current state of health.

Despite having begun to walk closer to the body of the ground, both archbishops had failed to notice the strength completely leaving Leo's dying body, and both disregarded the seeming mere visual show of shadows as well.

And by the time Leo drew his last breath, it was too late…

As life finally faded from Leo's eyes, the shadows completely erupted outwards as there was finally zero resistance holding them back.

In no time the shadows engulfed the two archbishops and continued to spread out over the planes. Even though Rem never looked back, nor experienced the cold touch of Leo's authority, she could still feel its approach as she continued to run away with everything she could muster, only hoping that it would remain unable to catch up with her…

It was a sight that was hard to ignore, as even the recently mobilized army entering the Mather's domain noticed the rampaging shadows in the background, a sight that made Subaru's heart rapidly tighten in response…

"What… happened?" Leo mumbled to himself as he slowly opened his eyes, taking the chance to blink a few times to adjust to the light before his memory came back to him.

With zero hesitation he immediately moved his blood-covered hands to where the hole in his torso used to be, yet to his shock, there was no wound in the slightest. His clothes remain torn and blood-soaked and where his wound had been remained exposed to the elements, however, he looked like the pristine image of health, something he completely contrasted with moments ago.

"Didn't I… no I must have… died…" Leo whispered to himself in disbelief. The pain he had previously felt was all too real, and there was plenty of evidence around him that everything he remembered had indeed occurred, but it only made him shake.

Between his recollection of the pain that still lingered on, even if only in a haunting scene, and the experience of his brief death he was left feeling sick to the stomach, unable to handle all the major events in such a little timespan. But was never given time to digest…

"Just what did you do?!" Regulus shouted out, still as unphased as he was after every other thing he had experienced already.

It was the sheer dread, infuriation, and budding hatred for the man that allowed Leo to quickly ignore the horrible feelings that stirred within him as he shakily got to his feet. "If that… if that attack of mine is what I think it is… then how the hell did you survive?!" Leo shouted back, full-on scowling at the man.

"Who do you think you are to shout at me, you're the one that just decided to blow up in our faces! How rude can a person get, how much arrogance can you have?" Regulus spat back in fury and disgust of his own. "You might be able to cheat death, but I won't think yourself so high and mighty over it!" he continued before with a flick of his wrist, Leo's arm completely blew off his body.

Immediately, Leo was back to shouting out in agonizing pain as he frantically, instinctively held onto what little space remained before the bleeding wound.

"If you're someone who…" Regulus started to mouth off until another voice suddenly interrupted him, a voice that gave him no chance to react…

"The two archbishops were never here; they were never interested in the defeat of the white whale." An angelic voice cut through the sound of the infuriated man-child, the sound of it almost being enough for Leo to briefly forget his pain as he heard it.

And yet, when whoever it was had finished speaking, the sound of Regulus had all but completely vanished in the very same instant. There was no trace of the white-dressed man, and whilst Leo hadn't managed to spot what had become of Lye before the occurrence, he couldn't find any trace of him either.

But the most shocking part was his arm.

Despite having been blown clean off his body mere moments before, he had somehow regained it, as if the event had never occurred at all. For a few brief moments, both his mind and body were completely confused at the sudden occurrence resulting in him continuing to shout out in pain, albeit slowly quieting over time as he steadily came to the realization.

"What just… my arm…" Leo eventually said as his voice finally calmed down to a casual volume, taking the chance to fully inspect himself in bewilderment.

There was no trace of pain remaining, not even the echoes of the past for what had been the case with his torso. But it was more than his arm, but his clothes as well.

Everything he wore had been fixed and cleaned. No part of him was soaked in his own blood, not only his sleeve but even where his chest had been blown through was fixed as if it had never been and he felt his strength return alongside his heart calming down.

"It seems that I was a little bit late… or perhaps right on time?" A voice said, prompting Leo to finally look in its direction to see the very same girl that had given him his witch factor and brought him into the world.

"Sooner… having that happen sooner would have been nice…" Leo replied, still taking a few deep breaths to calm himself. "But what happened to them? Are they dead?"

"No, I merely sent them away, and, cleaned you up." The girl replied with her usual dainty smile.

"Thanks… but why are you here?"

"I was just passing through, not to mention that there had been rumors that today is the day the white whale falls. I couldn't help but be curious when I heard that." The girl replied, "As well as slightly worried when I heard you were involved."

"I have a mysterious woman whom I merely know exists worrying over me? I'm touched. But… was that authority of your own?" Leo eventually asked as he carefully watched the strange, mysterious girl that stood with him in a massive space of dead grass.

"Mm, it was."

'Is she not going to say anymore?' Leo couldn't help but ponder as she remained silent. 'No explanation? Does she think that it's self-explanatory or does she just like being mysterious?'

"If you're willing to talk, could you at least tell me two things?"

"What do you wish to ask?"

"For starters, what's your name?"

"That's right, neither of us knows what to call the other." The girl replied with a faint look of realization, "You may call me Pandora, but what would your name be?"

"Leo," Came the curt reply, "And can I ask why you brought me here and gave me an authority? You mentioned something about helping you then next time we met, does that mean you're going tell me what's going on now?"

"Does that not technically count as two questions?" Pandora said with a smile. "But I gave you an authority in hopes that you might better survive this world. I believe that you have now experienced an adequate amount of it to understand what I am talking about."

"So is that what you wanted? To start knocking out threats like the white whale?"

"Please don't take it the wrong way, but it isn't" Pandora replied, getting Leo to shift slightly as he tried to re-evaluate everything about the woman. "I didn't intend on meeting with you this early, I still don't think it's time to tell you what I hope you will be willing to help me with."

"But if I were to have something to say, I'm glad to see how your own authority has grown. It seems there will be little need to worry about one who can cheat death itself." She said with a smile that struggled to reflect any kind of warmth in it.

"It might surprise you but, dying's horrible…" Leo bluntly responded almost immediately, "Frankly, I have no idea why I'm so calm right now, I thought that I would be in a state of shock because of the pain still…"

"That would be because of me," Pandora answered as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "I said it, didn't I? The archbishops were never here."

"If you're implying you made the world the way it would be if those two never showed up, then can you explain our surroundings?" Leo quipped back with a disgruntled expression.

For a few moments, Pandora remained quiet as she steadily looked at the space around them which was still littered with splintered wood, broken carriages, and numerous corpses of the slain soldiers.

"Even I have my limits, there's only so much that I can change. It's just that you were more important than they were so you became the focus of my efforts." She calmly replied leaving Leo gritting his teeth in frustration whilst Pandora merely watched him.

"Everyone has their limits, and this is mine. I'm sorry that I can't help you further." Pandora continued to elaborate, yet despite her words, there was an almost frighteningly little amount of compassion, sorrow, or any fitting emotion in her eyes.

"That's true… infuriatingly enough." Leo agreed, releasing a heavy sigh that he hadn't realized he had been holding in. "But, thank you… if you had done nothing then I might still be getting tortured by that guy."

"You're welcome."

"But you said that I cheated death… what exactly is my authority at this point? I thought that it was just taking and bestowing life by merely touching someone, now I'm coming back from death in… a boom-like fashion…"

"Authorities can manifest multiple abilities," Pandora replied. "Some are only capable of one thing, some whilst only capable of one thing are highly flexible if used correctly like mine. And then there are authorities like your own, where there are multiple manifested abilities that all share something in common or at least share some form of connection."

"And my common feature is they have something to do with life?" Leo questioned.

"Likely something of that nature from what you have told me, but I wouldn't imagine that you have many more abilities after those two. But who knows, I doubt that your witch factor has fully settled in yet so you might just have another trick up your sleeve sometime in the future."

"Trick up my sleeve?" Leo repeated with a questioning look at the beauty of an oddity that was Pandora. "I haven't heard anyone from this world talk like that before, everyone gets confused when I said things like it."

"Truly?" Pandora said. "There was someone I knew in the past who kept saying phrases like that… I suppose that there is a chance I picked up a few."

"Care to say who that was?"

"Mm, I think I'll keep it for a tale for another time," Pandora replied as her smile grew faintly. "Besides, it seems that some people have returned for you." She then said as she looked past Leo, prompting him to do the same to notice Rem running back to him with Cecily still in her arms allowing Pandora to carefully rest her hand against his back.

"There's no need to mention that I was here, my assistance was only minimal," Pandora said once more with her enchanting voice that managed to effortlessly cloud over Leo's thoughts as she gently removed her hand from his back, stepping away with a faint smile as he remained in his daze…

"Master!" "Sir Leo!" Cecily and Rem then desperately called out to him whilst hurrying over at incredible speed, snapping him back to reality, as if only just noticing the approaching presences once more.

"You won!" Cecily cheered as she managed to leap from Rem to Leo, wrapping her arms around him as she hugged with all the strength that she could muster while at the same time, a small blue light likewise floated over to him. "Master is the greatest!"

"You never cease to amaze me, Leo," Kou said as he continued to circle around Leo before settling down on his shoulder.

"Rem thought for sure that…" Rem said until she noticed Leo's off-put expression that told that his attention wasn't completely with them. "Sir Leo, is there anything wrong?"

"No…" Leo mumbled as he took the chance to look behind him only to fail to spot anything as there was no longer any trace of Pandora to his confusion. 'And I was going to say something… wasn't I? Pandora… didn't she show up out of concern but, was it just that?' He thought to himself yet to no avail as his previous thoughts had completely escaped him, much like the platinum-haired beauty whose disappearance had left him bewildered. "No, everything's fine, it all worked out…" Leo eventually answered the maid to her relief.

"I am glad to hear that, but I can't believe that your authority managed to do all of this…" Rem replied as she looked at the enormous space of dead grass and flora that surrounded them with discomfort, her mind already filling with images of what could have been if they stuck around. "What became of the witch cultists? Did they also fall to your authority?"

"I… don't think so…" Leo mumbled to himself in uncertainty. 'I died… and when I woke up everything around us was dead but the archbishop, he was toying with me again but then what happened after that?'

Yet no matter how much he tried to think about it, his mind continued to fail to recall or work out whatever had happened mere minutes ago. 'This isn't normal… but why am I drawing nothing but blanks?' he thought whilst resisting the urge to scratch his head before finally giving up on working anything out.

"I think I'm still feeling a little off from the experience because I'm drawing blanks currently… I know that one of them is still alive, however, but I suppose he gave up on me…"

"Huh? How did that happen? It's because he was scared off right? Even if he managed to survive, he was scared right?" Cecily asked in confusion.

"I think it would be better to call it a stalemate, we couldn't do anything to each other in the end, you saw what he was like, and it help up against my authority," Leo replied as a new wave of concern washed over the girls.

"A cultist that is even impervious to the powers of other authorities… just what kind of power does that monster have?" Rem scowled in response, gritting her teeth in frustration at the thought of such a being still roaming the world as the spoke.

"I don't know but I don't think it's time for this, he's still about and we don't know how Flam and Grassis are holding up." Leo pointed out.

"They have the general lady and the sleepy guy too!" Cecily said as Leo and Rem gave a determined nod in response as they understood what had to be done.

"We must find them as quickly as possible, and might you be able to heal Miss Crusch, Sir Leo?" Rem asked.

"Yeah, I should be capable of that now, let's just hurry!" Leo answered before the group wasted no more time in hurrying in the direction that they had initially sent the smaller twin maids ahead of them, hoping that they hadn't run into any more complications along the way…