3

Thine art greater!

"Ah, believer in love, Is that you?" The crazed Sloth looked to the forest, the wrestling bushes accompanying a change in atmosphere came to reveal a boy, a boy in odd clothing, one with nasty hazel eyes and unkempt black hair, a boy who was… smiling.

With a grin on his face, the nasty-eyed youth made his way to the archbishop, "Hmph, mine-self cannot say thy is not disappointed of you" He looked to the side and then directly to the archbishop of Sloths eyes, "Thee who possess Sloth does not recognize mine-self as Pride?"

Petelgeuse's jaw fell, the crazed man with a neat bowl cut raised his arms to his hair and crouched over, "Stride, is that you?!"

Natsuki Subaru smiled

"Ah but how do you live! MY BRAIN TRMBLESSSSS, just how, just how?!" Sloth moved close in, too close for comfort, the boy with jet-black hair could smell the archbishop's breath.

"Through the witches love of course!" The nasty-eyed boy raised the finger of his left hand upwards, "Mine-self has been given a second chance in the divine witches' all so loving mercy; her love knowing no bounds, even for I who mistakes commonly!"

Sloth's head exploded, moving back and forward, as if inspecting Pride, he leaned in once again, "Ah but how delightful, HOW BRILLIANT, Satella in all her gracious, caring, forgiveness has given you a vassal to host? Truly how diligent, you must work to repay such love! DES!"

Subaru kept his smirk up, his confidence shining, "Why of course, for this is why I came here, in preparation for the ordeal?" The 'archbishop of Pride' looked to his counter part with slightly squinted eyes while shifting his black-hared head ever so slightly.

Petelgeuse gasped in glee, "But why of course! SUCH DILLIGENCE, TRULY STRIDE YOU SEEK TO CHANGE YOUR WAYS! As you have come to accept the witch! Truly, truly, truly Diligent" Reaching backwards, Sloth brought his right hand up and in its direction three figures in dark purple and black robes appeared, seemingly coming from the ground, the three bowed.

"You may begin the preparation for the ordeal at once! Make sure to bring the half-elf here immediately!"

"Wait!" Pride called out

Sloth then turned over to Pride, "Why? Do you seek to personally oversee the ordeal yourself?"

"Perhaps! but I have but one request before thou can begin!" Pointing his left finger high once again, the boy gave a confident look

"Hmmm but of course, your actions have been TRULY diligent thus far, allow for me to know!" Petelgeuse smirked

"Allow for me to see thous fingers"

"Hm, but why?"

"For I have a suspicion, among even your most loyal, the witch has… notified me" Stride looked to the side and then past the archbishop of Sloth, his confidence overwhelming

"Ah I see, you have reason to doubt my fingers; and words from the witch, may I ask just how you've been able to acquire this knowledge? A gospel I assume?" The greasy green-haired man moved forward to Strides side, the remaining seven fingers appearing beside the previous three.

"But of course," The boy stated as he continuously moved forward, now in distance from the first finger, "I have inquired such knowledge from mines source being the gospel"

"SPLENDID, may I see such love?" Petelgeuse asked casually, moving forward to grasp Prides shoulder

"Thou may not" The boy with jet-black hair responded displeased.

Sloth seemed slightly infuriated, "But why? Do you not want to prove such love?! Truly my brain trembles at such an incompressible process!"

"I have reasons for now, but thou may not worry, mine-self intends to reveal such love firsthand in just a few moments from as of now"

Sloth smirked once more, "Ah I see, in that case, continue on diligently"

Stride moved along each finger, for reasons Sloth could not understand, then Pride in his new body was contacting each of Sloth's fingers, tapping them on their heads or sleeves, and eventually after tapping each one, Pride made his way to Sloth himself and reached out his hand… poking the archbishop's forehead who responded by starring blankly in confusion while keeping a smile.

"Ah, so it was as I thought…" Pride sighed and then looked to Petelgeuse, his eyes now filled with determination, Sloth felt that something was off, that Pride had somehow changed.

"What have you thought Pride?" Petelgeuse turned his head in confusion to his correspondent's statement.

"Petelgeuse Romanee-Conti, by your sins against this world, you have been judged; your punishment, death!" The boy yelled, changing tone, instantly the ground shook, and as if on point, all the archbishops' fingers were shattered into a million pieces, Petelgeuse on the other hand didn't feel a thing, in fact he was enraged, his witch factor seemingly coming all together at once.

"WHAT IS THIS, THIS SLOTH, THIS RAGE! TO BE BETRAYED LIKE THIS, SLOTH, SLOTH, SLOTH. To forget who you were! My brain trembles, DIE, [Unseen Hands]!" Sloth summoned his finest purple laced ligaments and fifteen instantly moved towards the raven-haired youth who instantly moved away, "WHAT?! YOU CAN SEE MY [Unseen Hand]?!"

"You're supposed to be dead with the rest?! Why didn't that work-" The boy with nasty eyes was grabbed by the leg and flung into the nearby fauna.

"I don't even know where to begin…" Natsuki Subaru trailed off in thought, mumbling to himself as his ground dragon ran along the great Lugunican highway

"Thine should prepare?" Stride replied, his voice echoing through the raven youth's head

"Prepare? How so, it's a one on forty match, how do I prepare for something as uneven as that?" Subaru replied in a defeated tone, looking off to the distance as the three, including the ground dragon Patrasche, made their way to the Matters domain.

Pride chuckled, "Thine are doubting himself! Thou shall be surprised to learn the situation will not be as one-sided as thy thought!" The contracted spoke, a cocky tone in his voice.

"Sure sure, let's see how long that confidence lasts once we actually get there!" The nasty-eyed boy scoffed

The former Archbishop sighed in a fatigued resonance, "Thou will"

The remaining trip lasted the trio of misfits up until the break of dawn, the Japanese teen placed the hour to be anywhere between five to six, at least to his worlds time. Subaru astonished couldn't feel fatigued, the boy felt eager. Where anxious emotions mixed with dread and depressing thoughts had been, the emotions were now replaced with an unknown confidence, of course, the hazel-eyed boy from another world had been attempting to hide these feelings, aspiring to make the Sin Archbishop the raven-haired youth allied doubt himself, or better yet: to doubt Subaru, with his low toned, unmotivated line of speech, Natsuki Subaru ended up provoking Stride's wit even more.

Stride with his cocky and somewhat sadistic personality, had been pushing the boy with unkempt hair, bragging a few times about how great of a choice Subaru had made, or just how many opportunities the boy would be stricken with along this path, Subaru couldn't decide if he wanted to end the contract immediately after Sloths eventual death, or kill Pride himself.

He sighed, "You're really full of yourself Stride, ya know that?"

"Thou can not see it, but mine self is practically jovial!" The archaic man announced in glee

"Jovial? Who says that- and hey wait, what's with all the old man grammar? Can you be normal for once!" the hazel-eyed boy acknowledged The sickly mans speaking pattern and then huffed loudly, folding his arms.

Pride laughed once more, it was like the former archbishop was having the time of his life, "Thine are jealous is all, just because mine self breaks the societal normality's does not mean that thyself is 'weird'"

Subaru now scoffing, "as far as I'm considered, all you witch cultists are wired…"

"Former" the royal man reminded

"Whatever" The boy in a tracksuit flung his hand in a dismissive manner

Now approaching the opening to the forest, Subaru gulped, going against his previous confidence, the mood had changed, and Subaru now bore an anxious feeling, he sweat ever so slightly, and his eyes darted all around, looking for any signs of the accursed cult of the witch.

Patrasche road in and the countless leaves of the abundant trees covered the morning sun. The temperature dropped ever so slightly, and the ruffling sound of a gentle breeze disappeared, seemingly replaced with the gawking of the birds who inhabited the forest of the Matthers domain.

"Talk about a change in scenery" The nasty-eyed boy murmured

"Why? Is thou nervous?" Stride asked blankly

"No" Subaru dismissed before pausing, "Actually" he paused once more, "Maybe…"

"Thine should not worry, as fate would have mine self on your side"

"Never thought you'd be the type to believe in fate" Subaru looked to the side, the trees passing at record speed

"But of course, there are things that are, and are not in the control mine venerable self, at least this is how mine self would consider fate, anything outside of my choices really" Pride noted in an upbeat tone

The raven boy sighed and then starred to his hands, "am I.. really going to do this?"

But as if on que, Patrasche met a rough stop, Subaru could suddenly note the black scaled dragon's unease, as both their fight or flight senses kicked in, and before Subaru stood, three witch cultists.

"Ms Kasrsten!" A blue haired Oni girl ran up to the duchess, sporting a maid's uniform aided by a concerned look in her eyes, Crusch instantly noted this to be the head maid of the Matthers domain, and the guardian of a certain nasty-eyed boy, Rem.

"Hm, what is it?" The duchess asked in a curious tone

"Have you seen Subaru?" The maid asked in a frenzy, concern written all over the Onis face

"I can't say I have" now raising her thumb to cusp the tip of her chin, "Has he gone missing?"

"Yes that is exactly it! Rem has looked all over the capital, but she can't find his nasty scent anywhere! And even more, it seems like he didn't even bother to sleep the night!"

The duchess's eyes widened, the knowledge of the whale was true, and today would be the day her camp alongside Hoshins would attempt to subjugate the great mabeast, and if the beast were to arrive tonight, then that would give the boy an entire day to… reach the matthers domain. That led the duchess to wonder, would Nastuki Subaru, who was so weak and frail, really attempt to challenge the witch cult by himself? Surely, he could contact the rest of his camp, but then why not bring the Oni with him? who of course was a much more capable fighter then the nasty eyed boy?

"It's possible the boy seeks to fight by himself?" The head of house Karsten gave her honest opinion, communicating in a confident tone

"But that wouldn't make sense to Rem, why would her Subaru fight by himself?" The Oni inquired, seeking answers from the duchess

"Who knows, maybe it's his Pride, maybe a sense of ambition, a need to do something after he embarrassed himself?" The duchess continued

"But-" Rem grew a frown on her face, looking down, "Rem doesn't know what to do, should she chase him? He wouldn't like it, but Rem couldn't stand to see her hero get hurt anymore…"

Crusch put her hand on the Onis shoulder, aided by a confident smile, "Don't fret, I'm sure the boy is fine right now, in fact he's a day ahead of the whale, at least by his knowledge"

"That's right" The maids eyes grew, and her head lifted, "Rem will get back to the manor in time!"

"Hold on-" The duchess changed the atmosphere, "I fear that it may not be wise to go right now"

"But why?" Rem's face grew an eager expression

"The whale is scheduled to show up at Flugel's tree, it could be now, it could be tonight, regardless, you shouldn't be going alone"

"Then just what are you suggesting to Rem?"

"Wait" The green hared madam paused for effect, "At least until the subjugation forces get through"'

The Oni opened her mouth as if to say something but then paused, looking downwards Rem bit her lip and then cursed under her breath, in which Crusch could not make out said curse. The maid looked up to meet the duchess's eyes and spoke once more, "Rem will assist you if that's alright, please note it's a very important matter too her"

"Of course" The duchess smiled warmly, to which the maid bowed. Acquiring capable allies for her cause was always good right? Either way, the duchess was hell bent on her own success, the defeat of the whale was another big step towards her goals, for Wilhelm, for Fourier, for Lugunica.

They bowed as Subaru got off the dragon, all bending straight down, Subaru began to walk forward. The cultists had an unnatural calm to themselves, Subaru blamed this to be his scent, it was the only reason they'd treat the raven youth in this way.

Subarus eyes darted around, looking to the three, he could always rush in and kill each one individually, but there was an urge in Subaru, to get close, to make physical contact with each cultist, almost as if he wanted to get to know them, to understand the cult. It was… weird, insane even.

(What is this) Subaru spoke shakily in his head, taking every step ever so closer, he shook slightly, and his right arm rose to grab out.

(Touch them… judge them) Stride called out from the back of the nasty-eyed boys od.

(Touch them… but why- I-) but as his arm reached the hood of one of the first cultist on the left, everything changed.

He saw it all, the birth of the man, his history, the home he grew up in, the choices he made, the ones he loved and cared for, and then, his breaking point. When he joined the cult, why he joined the cult, the actions that took him forward and the consequences in pursuit, all Subaru could describe the man as was…

Evil

And then, the man shattered, into a million different pieces, the cultist shattered, and the remnants glittered like the stars. Dust, that was all that remained of Sloths follower.

"What was-" Subaru couldn't even grasp the concept as he was instantly attacked by the two remaining purple robed men. Narrowly avoiding the knife, the raven youth took a step back and began to run away- he was stabbed, it wasn't a clean cut like the bowel hunters, but one that would kill him instantly none the less. Subaru sighed as he lay on the ground, coughing blood, his vision going blurry. The hazel eyed boy knew he'd return, to the Karsten manor, to the capital, to before he met Stride. All the banter, the slight perk of hope, it was all useless, what a damned fool he was.

Opening his eyes, it was not the streets of the capital, nor was it merchants distract, but instead a grassy field, at the helm of night. Subaru looked around shocked and then down to his hands, the lingering feeling of confidence, the satisfied crackle of an archbishop, Natsuki Subaru had [Returned By Death] but not to the point he had expected.

Now starting to Flugel's tree the boy with unkempt hair fell to his knees in disbelief.

"Mineself cannot say that it was expected for Prides original form to take place within thee, but perhaps that is a good thing!" Subaru could practically hear Stride chuckling, a joyous tone in his voice, the Japanese teen was divided on either if he should be mad towards the former archbishop or remain shocked

"Why is the mouth of thine quite?" The royal man inquired, "Does thou not take notice of his new Pride?"

"I-" The black haired boy still in shock, " I still don't know how I should react to that- I saw him- I saw everything- I-"

"And it's more than that, thou were able to judge him" Stride took in a breath, one full of glee and eagerness, "thou has more than just one Pride, so much more, Mine venerable self is impressed in fact!"

"Impressed… I still can't understand why, why I could see all of that, what good does it do me?"

"As mine venerable self has stated, thy still has more potential, for thou have only activated half of thy's [Authority of Pride], thy should know he can beat Sloth now"

"I could yeah…" The boy with nasty eyes glared to the ground with hope

"So, does thou know of Pride's second ability?"

"No, I never got the chance I guess" Subaru shook his head

"Hmmm" Stride, if he could, would place his forefinger to his chin and look upwards, "Mineself believes it to be a buildup?" The former archbishop stated unsurely in a semi resigned tone.

"A build-up?" The boy from another world perked up slightly to his question

"That's right, a buildup, and if mine self's suspicion is correct…" Stride's archaic voice trailed off before grounding with a confirmative tone, "Thy should be able to judge others, and use that sin to power himself"

"Power myself" Subaru replied still confused, he began to think about Strides words, a buildup, store up sin- WAIT SO WHEN I JUDGE OTHERS, I GET MORE POWERFULL?!" Subaru came to the revelation, feeling confident in his conclusion

"Right" Stride replied, "At least, mineself thinks so" Stride's voice continued warily, a 'not so sure' tone, as if the former archbishop was the one pushing for answers.

"Ugh" The raven youth shook his head once more, "Whatever, I'm sure that's how the ability could work right? Has anyone been able to use… (what was it again) oh yeah- uh- the Witch Factor?"

Stride sighed, "I know of none before me excluding maybe the Witch of Pride herself, and her power was the same as thine's, to judge others"

"Witch of Pride-" The nasty eyed boy gulped, a witch? Like the witch of Envy, the one who cursed Subaru with [Return by Death] the same women who Subaru theorized to have brought him to this world? The revelation that there could be more then one person with that type of power terrifie- wait- Subaru recalled the stories, the Witch of Envy consumed the other witches, obviously, Pride must have been no match? "You mean like, as in, the same type of person as the Witch Of Envy?" He trailed off slightly to the side.

Stride would nod his head, if he could, "While thou shouldn't think of Pride as being as terrifying as Envy, mineself must admit, even mine venerable self does not know of the full details"

"That's just great!" Subaru sighed in defeat, "I guess she's dead though… Maybe I could ask Beako with that big library of hers for more details?"

"It would be a good idea for thou to ask the spirit"

"right"

The two ended the topic and moved to discuss how they would continue forward. The sickly man would come to explain to Subaru, how he could use his current possession of Pride to vanquish Sloth, in which way to do it and how to do it. The two came to form a plan; Subaru would pretend to be Stride, he would put on an act until he could reach Petelgeuse directly, there he would demand the crazed man to summon his fingers and beat them in one blow, a risky but efficient idea. Furthermore, Subaru would have to learn Strides speech pattern slightly, as well put on an act, an issue that shouldn't be too great for the nasty-eyed boy from another world.

"Now then…" Subaru placed his right fist to his palm, "What do I call these 'authorities'"

Stride would raise an eye if he had been physically present

"Come on, it's a good idea, considering I already have a name for [Return By Death]"

"Hmm" Pride thought to himself, "Mine venerable self can understand it, thou should be able to summon his witch factor by the mere thought, but if thine wants to add affect I see no problem"

"Yep" Subaru clasped his palms together and began to think, he thought for what felt like a lengthened twelve seconds and then sighed in satisfaction, "That's it, the first ability, to judge others, and since you gave the ability to me, I think I'll call it, eye of Stride, or maybe [Strides Eye].

Stride would smile if he could, "Oh how thy has honored mines elf!" The archbishop would falsely weep tears of joy if he could.

"Oh- Shut up!" The raven boy continuously swatted his right hand, "I only named it that cause it sounded cool, nothing else!"

"Ah but of course, mine venerable self is 'cool' after all" Stride continued with his banter, much to the Japanese teens torment. The banter between the two would continue for a while, Stride teasing in an obnoxious tone, Subaru shaking his head continuously in a mix of false disappointment and regret.

Now sighing through his nostrils, his chest pumped, and his arms folded, the boy with unkempt hair would name his next ability, "[Breakpoint]"

"Hm?" Stride would lift an eye, if he could.

"That's what I called it, [Breakpoint], Whenever I judge a person I meet a certain point in their life, their breaking point, and that's when my first Authority of Pride activates, so when I absorb their sin and become more powerful it only makes sense to call it that, as it's the breaking point of others" Subaru announced in pride, raising his right hand in a fist to his heart, a large smile present on the tracksuit wearing boys face.

To say Stride was impressed was an understatement, the boy finally found his confidence, a great start for the archbishop who would shape this boys future, "Mineself is impressed!" was all the Vollachian man had to say

"You should, damn it!" The hazel-eyed boy teased waving around his hands

"Then shall we go?"

"Let's go judge some cultists!"

He died, again, this time to his own arrogance

Subaru sighed in anger, "I was this close", the raven teen pinched his thumb by his pointer finger and looked through the hole his hands made

Stride would shake his head if he had a physically body, "At least we were able to confirm this [Breakpoint] of thous"

"Yeah yeah" sighing once more, the boy with nasty eyes got up from his crouched legged position and began to recall the events that had transpired in his previous loop.

Just as before he had approached the three violet robbed cultists, however this time as he shattered the first with [Strides Eye], he was able to make a hastily retreat, a time long enough to feel the power surge through his fists. However, lunching the second attack did not go as well as the first, the cultists now moved in offense, but made sure to avoid his hands. No biggie, Subaru with his newfound [Breakpoint], was just in time. The Japanese teen speed up and with an increase in strength, Natsuki Subaru for once was the Isekai fantasy hero he'd always wanted to be. To say he took care of the cultists was an understatement, he swiftly turned one into a bloody mesh, a gapping hole through the purple robbed follower of the witch. For the second, Subaru used [Strides Eye] to power up once more, an action by judgement, followed by the shattering of the cultist.

"Im getting the hang of this thing!" Subaru announced as he rolled his fists, steam coming off the right as he held the ligament near his chest.

"Quite the violent one, aren't thou?" Stride mummer from the back of Subaru's conscious

"You've probably done worse, 'Former Archbishop Of Pride" Subaru replied cockily, a large smile as he began to run through the forest, the number of rocks increased, and before the raven hared boy knew, he was face to face with Sloth, the cliff where Subaru had died loops ago.

"Pride?"

Sloth was punched in the face, thrown backwards, the greasy man hit the hillside, a large crack aided the shattering of the archbishops back, a few rocks fell from above landing towards Sin of Sloth. But said rocks were caught, caught by Petelgeuse's [Unseen Hand] and to the boy with unkempt hair's disarray, thrown at him.

"Didn't know it was going to be this easy!" Subaru smiled a prideful grin and headed towards the archbishop at record speeds

(I feel like one punch man) Subaru noted as he hit the archbishop of Sloth square in the face, not even giving the disgusting man time to react properly.

And he was dead, Sloth died to the hands of Natsuki Subaru.

Subaru laughed, no tears, but one of a shallow victory, "Finally!" he called out to the sky, "I beat you! I beat you Petelgeuse Romanne-Conti, in all your Sloth you really lost to me!" He laughed, the raven youth pointing his finger towards the corpse of the witch obsessed man, "Thank you Stride! I feel like a million bucks right now!-"

He was impaled, with that of a purple hand, Subaru looked behind slightly, coughing blood he looked to see a woman, orange hair, a crazed daze.

"SLOTH, SLOTH, SLOTH, SLOTH, SLOOOOTH! My BRAIN TEMBLES!" The women bent her back backwards and ripped out her hair, "DIE PRIDE, DIE, DIE, DIE!"

And so he did, Natuski Subaru was dead to the hands of Petelgeuse Romanee-Conti, a death filled with irony

"At least I know I'm capable of killing the guy" Subaru responded as his black scaled dragon road towards the forest of the Matthers domain

"Thine opened his mouth too early and got himself killed…" The sickly man noted with a disappointed voice, almost as if scolding a child.

"I know that, but there's no need to be frustrated right? I got this!" Subaru said with confidence, his heart racing somewhat as the stars shun in his eyes, he was so much more powerful now, the previous loop confirming the fact. Signing a contract with Stride must have been the best thing to happen to the otherworldly boy since his transportation to Lugnica.

"Follow the plan, that's mine self's only advice at this point" Stride replied happily, slightly tired of the raven youths' shenanigans, but engaged, nonetheless.

"Will do, just leave it to me!" Subaru announced placing his thumb to his heart, leaning backwards, the boy began to loose balance, he fell to back losing all control over Patrasche and was left dangling by a strap, starring to the road behind him as his ground dragon road at eighty plus kilometer speeds, "Woahhh ahh-" The ground dragon at a loss made a hard stop, Subaru was instantly flung forward, at a complete loss, the strap was ripped and he was in the air.

Air bound, Airbaru was his name now, a failure as he managed to fuck up things up once again, but when he predicted a hard crash against the dirt road he was delighted to meet the jolt of pain that sprung through his feet, and when the Japanese teen found himself standing upright, face to face with three cultists, his shock was further realized, a dumbfound expression locked on his nasty eyes.

Stride snickered, Subaru froze, and the cultists… clapped. "Must have been a pretty damn impressive view.." The boy spoke

The cultists only nodded in conformation

"well uhh" Subaru placed his right hand to the back of his head, "You must be with witch cult, I guess part of Sloth right?"

The cultists only nodded in unison

"Well mineself is… Stride, representing Pride I guess.."

The cultists now aimed their heads towards Subaru, the hazel-eyed boy from another world could almost hear the three mummer in glee, "Well uh, hurry along now or something, thine or whatever have a meeting with Sloth"

(Thy should be more convincing with his mouth!) Stride scolded from Subaru's head; the raven boy only snorted.

He flung his hand forward and the three disappeared into their shadows. No matter how many times Subaru had died and come back to witness the view, the nasty-eyed boy would never get use to the cult disappearing like that.

"Now" The nasty-eyed boy from Japan clasped his hands together in a loud clap, the wind running through his unkempt jet black hair, a look of ambition in his nasty hazel eyes, "It's show time"

The sage council were in awe

"You mean to tell me it's that boy the tablet speaks of?" Bordeaux roared from across the great hall, his voice full of disbelief

"It is quite the bold predicament" Miklotov noted as he caressed his long white beard, looking to the seven other sage members.

Miklotov McMahon, the 'brains' of Lugunica, the one running the show, was an elder man in his twilight years, he had a long white beard, his white hair meeting the sage councilmen's beard. His eyes had a glimmer in them that reminded most of the sharpness of a blade, to put it bluntly, the man was a genius.

"This can't be right? Surely the dragon jests with us!" Bordeaux sternly put out; his eyes darted on Miklotov

Bordeaux Zellgef, the founder of Six Tongues, and the rashest of the sage council, was an old man like Milkotov, but his years hadn't been as evident. He had large blue bushy eyebrows and bore a purple coat. The man was considered honest and frank, not afraid to voice his opinion, and because of this honesty the man tended to become disliked even amongst his fellow sage councilmen.

"It would appear not, for the dragon works in mysterious ways?" Miklotov continued as he placed his hands on the tablet once more, reciting the previous prophecies beforehand.

"And it's that same boy, right?" Bordeaux voiced out his question in sheer awe, not understanding the thought behind Volcanica

"It would appear so" Miklotov replied nonchalantly

"The same nasty eyed boy, right? The one who embarrassed himself?" Bordeaux Zellgef once again inquiring for conformation

"Oh for the od's sake, just speak the scripture!" another sage councilman called out

Miklotov sighed and then moved his hand to reveal the wording of the dragon tablet, its scripture vast and ancient looking, the golden outline beaming even without lighting. Miklotov cleared his throat and spoke the dragons wording with authority.

{In Three Years' Time Natsuki Subaru Will Become King Of Lugunica]

"It's outrageous!" Boudreaux roared out, three other councilmen in agreement

"What qualities does that boy hold?!"

"The man will run this nation to the ground!"

"Why has the Dragon forsaken us?!"

"ENOUGH" Miklotov denied any further chaos, moving swiftly, he placed his hand on his snow like beard and creased his facial hair once more, "May I remind you, there is still more to be said?"

The room was silent, each sage not daring to move as they waited eagerly. Miklotov could note Bordeaux's nasty glare but dismissed it, the man in his twilight years continued,

{It Shall Come As a Surprise, Without Notice, The People Of This Nation Shall Learn Of Their King Before The Night He Changes This world}

"Changes this world?" The bushy eyed councilmen Boudreaux raised an eye

"Allow me to continue" Miklotov shook his head slightly

Bordeaux sighed and moved his right hand in a continuous gesture

{And By Engaging The Elected Dragon Priestess, Natsuki Subaru And His Bride Will Form A Contract With Myself Volcanica And Rule Over This Nation}

"Is that all?" Another elderly councilman called out

"No" Miklotov sighed

"Then proceed Miklotov" Bordeaux called out

{Only Will Natsuki Subaru Know Of His Fate To Rule Once He Vanquishes The Witch From This World}

And with that note, Lugnica's heads of state would erupt into chaos.

"ugh" Natsuki Subaru was not in pain, but he was sore, after all, for all the raw strength, endurance, and agility [Breakpoint] could provide, the boy was thrown into a tree at rapid speed after all. He enraged Sloth in two ways, killing the archbishop's legion of followers all at once, and then mocking the crazed bastard. Not to mention mimicking someone who Sloth already hated, and then having the nerve to insult the women that was the 'be-all' and 'end-all' of the obsessed man, Subaru could understand his anger, even if the guy was insane.

Getting up from his slumped position on the ground to that of one that was bent over, Subaru placed his hands on his knees and looked to Sloth but, "arrrgh!" He was grabaded by an 'Unseen' hand, not even the chance to speak, irony once again on his side.

"MY BRAIN TRMBLESS, YOU ARE PRIDE BUT NOT STRIDE, YOU MOCK HER LOVE!" And Subaru was flung across the air, meeting a face full of pebbles as he met the cliffside rock wall.

"hmmphm" were the unlaudable mumbles of Subaru as he faced rock after rock, and then he was thrown into a boulder.

"Die USUPER DIE!" Petelgeuse announced

To Subaru's surprise, he was completely fine, or almost, at the very worst had had a few scratches, nothing that would even be considered remotely serious, "Talk about being overpowered!" At least to the raven-haired youth who had suffered so much, this power certainly was potent.

But a few unseen hands made their way to Subaru, The nasty-eyed boy couldn't bother to engage himself in another free pitch by the witch cult's Sin Archbishop of Sloth. Dodging quickly, Subaru moved at inhumane speeds that of which were similar to the bowl hunters and reached Sloth, a meter in distance apart, the boy reached out to grab Sloth, once more attempting to use [Strides Eye], but to Subaru's displeasure the authority wouldn't trigger, and in that time Petelgeuse was able to repel the boy and push him flying backward with his unseen hands.

Subaru able to stick his landing sighed through his nose, quickly and violently, "Just give up already, you know I'm going to win, and if I can't I'll just try again till I eventual do!"

Sloth enraged, "YOU'RE DILIGENCE IS NOTHING IN COMPARISON TO MINE, I WILL COMPLETE THE ORDEAL, DES!"

Unseen hand after unseen hand, Subaru couldn't even get close to the Sin Archbishop who stood roughly thirty-five meters away. Sloth took note of Subaru being a short distanced fighter, and was able to continuously repel the boy, his authority being a perfect fit for a situation just as this. The conflict proceeded this way, Subaru on the constant offense, Petelgeuse on constant defense for roughly three minutes.

(Damnit this guys not budging at all, maybe if I jumped high that'd confuse em, but then there's no guarantee that he wouldn't be able to just catch me with his authority and rip me to shreds, damnit I just need an opening) and to the nasty-eyed boy's hope, an opening came.

"El-Fura" cast an anonymous voice, multiple blades of wind appeared, and Sloth's back was wide open, left susceptible the archbishop was hit with a barrage of slashes from the wind, and with it, an opening.

Taking the situation to his advantage, Subaru rushed in towards the archbishop, transferring all his might into one punch, (Holy Shit, I'm Saitama!), and Petelgeuse Romanee-Conti was cracked wide open, a hole appeared, and as if in slow motion, said hole proceeded to rapidly advance covering almost all of Sloths body with the exception of his legs.

The ground shook with a crack, birds flew, the forest cried, and the wind froze momentarily, Natsuki Subaru for a just a moment in time had mustered a fist with enough power capable of damaging even the Sword Saint of his time.

Falling to his knees with a smile, Subaru proceeded weakly, "Guess you were the Slothful one here, des…"

"Barasu-" no, whoever he was, was incredible, Ram was in a state of awe and shock, was that boy who she could see from the hills top really Subaru?

The weak, antic filled boy hired under her Lord Roswall, the same who came to the Matthers domain just a month ago, the same boy who was fed on by mabeast, the same boy who embarrassed himself in the capital in his heartful attempt to defend Lady Emilia, was this the same boy who looked at the world with wonder and innocence?

Rushing down the hill, warily mind you, Ram proceeded to move towards the boy with nasty eyes, her eyes widned as her suspicion was confirmed, it was indeed Natsuki Subaru.

"Barasu!" Ram yelled out

"Oh- hey Ram, didn't see you there, didcha come here to congratulate me on a job well done?" The boy responded with his same idiotic grin, moving his thumb to his heart

"Wh- no- why- no- what-" Ram continuously paused not making any sense of the current reality presenting itself to her.

"ah, haha" Barasu laughed and moved his right hand to rub the back of his head, "You must be wondering how I did this huh?" the boy looked around as if making sure none other were present and then slowly began to walk up to Ram, "Lets just say I've had an epiphany, and now I've got a real good insight on how things work" laughing an idiotic laugh, the boy shook his head and look to the side

"Barasu, have you always-" But Ram was caught off by an eager Subaru

"Nope, never, only recently, I just got really lucky is all" The nasty-eyed boy now with a new layer of mystery cut off the Oni and shook his head

"Then that just now was?" Ram persisted

"The type of thing that comes from a contract" Subaru replied blankly while raising his left pointer finger

"A contract?" The pink haired maid's eyes opened wide, her posture changing to a more open stance as she bore witness to this new Subaru

"That's right, a contract" He left finger raised fully to point at the Onis face, his grin now widening into a cocky smile

On his knees, Subaru made note of an approaching female figure, Subaru could see the bright pink of the girl's hair, and the black maid's dress they were wearing, Ram.

Finishing his statement about Petelgeuse's Sloth, Subaru looked towards the Sin Archbishops previous place before the love obsessed man's annihilation and in it, a black goo, oozing with purple lining, it was roughly the size of Subaru's palm. The goo moved in an unnatural form, left right, forwards, back, up with a spike forming from the goo, and down as if splattering, and then in a quick flash the goo pounced forward and moved to Subaru. The Japanese teen had barely anytime to react before the goo was nestling itself into the nasty-eyed boys left hand.

(What is this-) Subaru called from his conscious, but his body didn't move, and the black entity made its way into Subaru, seemingly absorbed. What followed were a variety of emotions, Determination, Perseverance, and of course, Diligence.

(I- What-) but Stride would call out to the hazel-eyed boy with jet black hair

(Relax, for this is another witch factor, which mineself will settle as for thy contract)

Subaru gulped, (But another witch factor, that would mean that it's-)

(Thou art correct, this is the Witch Factor Of Sloth) Stride interrupted Subaru

(Then I- I don't want it- if it belonged to Petelgeuse, I-)

Stride would role his eyes, if he could, (Thou should not worry, for mine venerable self will purify the factor for thou, of course to use, think of it as a 'level up')

Subaru shook his head wearily, the nasty eyed boy didn't want to accept a power like Petelgeuse's [Unseen Hands], one that had caused the other worldly boy an abundance of pain and suffering. But Stride had different intentions, he wanted to use the authority to make Subaru more powerful, to make him more overpowered then he already was, how could the nasty-eyed boy refuse an offer such as that?

The hazel-eyed boy thought for a few more seconds before shaking his head once again, this time with affirmation, (Alright do it, but make sure it's nothing like that monsters)

Pride sighed, (As thy wishes)

And with that, Natsuki Subaru had obtained the Authority Of Sloth

"Barasu-" Subaru was now face to face with his fellow servant of the Matthers, Ram.

"Can't tell you how or with whom but I'll tell you why" Subaru snapped his fingers and moved past Ram, who quickly followed, finding the boys words irritating but intriguing at the same time.

"Then just why did you get like this Barasu?" She stopped, Subaru who also stopped was met with a big lizard of the sorts, a black scaled ground dragon, who seemingly came from the forest, it was as if the earthly creature was waiting for the nasty-eyed boy.

The hazel-eyed boy smirked, "To change the world of course!" Subaru made his statement and proceeded to saddle himself on the earth dragon who obliged and shifted down slightly, giving the boy who supposedly formed a contract an easier time getting on.

"Change the world-" Ram paused at the statement but moved quickly with the lunacy behind the wording, "But what do you mean by that Barasu?!"

"Its simple Ram" Subaru inhaled as he reached for the lead to the dragon he was on and then closed his eyes, a moment in thought, he gazed away to stare off to the forest "I'm tired of it all, the way people treat each other, those who go off of things merely based off of speculation, and then of course, why people treat others the way they do? Out of jealousy, greed, laziness? Honestly it sickens me a bit. Make no mistake Ram, I've always been at the bottom, I'm weak, greedy, arrogant, I said things about a situation I had no clue on, I ended up pushing away the one I cared the most about. Then, when I went for help, when I needed it, I was denied, told I was childish, even when I was trying to save others, even when my goals were beyond myself"

"Barasu…" Rem blurted allowed

then piercing Ram with his nasty eyes, Natsuki Subaru continued, "I hit a low, I really did, no matter how many times I tried, I just couldn't do anything by myself, I was alone, and because of that I was useless, I thought I was useless and I hated myself for it, but then- Then I met a man, a man who told me to love myself furthermost, before everyone else. I should love and validate myself, as I'm worthy of living just as anyone else is. Then I-, I looked at things, at the way people acted, the way I acted, and then I realized, I could change it all, from the way people act, talk, move, speak, the way this world works, I could really change it if I put my head to it, I was told to change the world, and I think- no, I know I can change it, if I could change myself, then what's to say I couldn't change others? So that's why Ram-" The boy brought his left thumb to his heart and his right pointer finger to face Ram, "I'm going to change this world, Starting From Zero!"