Author's Note: Sorry for ghosting for several months. Had IRL problems. I might not be able to post as frequently as before, but I'm currently working on the next chapter, so watch out for it.
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The first trial took place within the floor known as Taygeta.
There was a large flight of stairs they had to climb— so much so that it took several minutes just to reach the next floor. When they finally reached it, there was no door to greet them. Instead, it was a large open hole embedded into the floor itself.
They stepped into what appeared to be a large white expanse. It seemed infinite in size. Surprisingly, this room extended far beyond what the eye could see, with no walls carving out the borders of the room. Subaru immediately hypothesized it to be a complex use of spatial magic. This room wasn't connected to the watchtower— at least through normal physical means. They were in a different dimension entirely.
"This stuff is pretty weird. I'd need to know how to do this one day," Subaru huffed, looking around the room with a sense of awe. The magic had deeply enthralled him. One day, the means to recreate it would be part of his repertoire.
He then looked forward. Just meters before them appeared to be a floating monolith. Subaru walked up to it, his fingers gracing it as he noted the inhumanely smooth texture.
That's when it happened.
—Find the brightest of the hero destroyed by Shaula.
Those words emanated deeply within his brain— words only meant for him. Subaru rubbed his head as the fuzzy feeling slowly dissipated.
The monolith in front of him then appeared to shift. Other monoliths appeared from behind it, shifting around the room. The number of them that spawned was countless, with some appearing so far in the distance that they appeared as tiny black dots.
Subaru thought of the words he heard. Obviously, the Shaula in the question was the same as the Shaula standing right next to him.
"Yo, Shaula, you've got any clue about this?"
"Eh, what?! No! This is the first time Shaula has walked into this room in ages!"
"Dammit! Just what were you doing here all this time then!?"
Shaula seemed to think about his words in a way that made Subaru frown. With how clueless Shaula was, he was surprised she didn't turn senile from years of isolation. He shook his head in frustration as he looked back at the monoliths.
In the background, Capella was sitting criss-cross on the ground, idly checking her nails.
Something in the back of his head told him he should use Sage Sovereignty, but Subaru felt like he should've known this. First of all, Shaula was obviously a star in astrology— a topic Subaru was well versed in. That wasn't the only coincidence. Everything in this tower was named after a star— with the Pleiades Watchtower obviously being named after the Seven Sisters of Pleiades.
Subaru floated into the air as he looked down on the monoliths. It helped him get a better idea.
"—Wait a minute."
Subaru looked at how the monoliths were arranged. At first, he thought of it to be random and haphazard, a way of tricking the individual, however, he realized that every monolith had been carefully positioned.
He looked at it more, before something clicked. He realized that these monoliths were arranged to form stars in the night sky. The only difference was that the monoliths were black and the backdrop was white.
—Find the Brightest of the hero destroyed by Shaula.
"—!"
Subaru finally solved it. Shaula was obviously a name derived from the Scorpius Constellation, named after a Greek Myth. In that myth, a Scorpion was sent to hunt Orion by Gaia, the Earth Goddess, after Orion boasted that he could kill any beast on Earth. Of course, he had been swiftly killed in that confrontation. So in truth, Shaula had destroyed Orion.
Subaru pinpointed the particular monolith's location— teleporting to it before placing his hand on it. Something seemed to shift within the room.
Shaula and Capella looked around with widened eyes as the room seemed to glow eerily bright. The monoliths quickly disappeared. Space itself seemed to warp as a grand transformation took place.
Then, the fresh scent of books hit their nostrils. They looked around, realizing that they were now in the middle of a sea of books, stretching far into the horizon. Some shelves extended several stories in the air, with others so long they disappeared further into the room.
It appeared to be a vast library. Its surreal structure could boggle the mind. Nothing like this could exist by any normal sort of architectural means.
Capella looked around in interest, taking in the many books. Shaula seemed to lose her interest pretty quickly— preferring to stay at Subaru's side.
"What is this place?" He asked himself. He looked at Shaula, but even she was just as confused. He didn't know if that was due to the fact that she had never been in this place, or if she had simply forgotten. It didn't matter much either way. So far, she had proved to be just as clueless as he were.
His hand ran over a book, taking in the glyphs running along its spine. Obviously, it was written in the language of this world— a language Subaru still had yet to fully learn. If one were to describe his reading level revolving this language, it was that of a first grader.
He quickly assigned himself an archetype— "Polyglot". His outfit shifted into scholarly black robes— his mind being beamed with information as he took on the archetypal peak.
Immediately, Subaru gained the ability to read, speak, and write in any language he came across. It pretty much made him omni-lingual. There was now no language or tongue he couldn't comprehend. He assigned himself this archetype so he could perfectly understand what he was about to read.
He grabbed a book, flipping it open. Strangely, what greeted him weren't words, but pages of white. He flipped through it further, but no matter how many pages he turned, he didn't come across any words.
"Eh? What the? Are these not books?"
He grabbed another book. The same pages of pure white greeted him. He spent several minutes searching through books in hopes of finding any sort of text, but he came up empty.
"Ah, I see, so these aren't normal books. But if not, then why are they here?"
He started to hypothesize if they were similar to gospels. What he noticed is that each book contained a name of an individual on its spine. These books were obviously assigned to people— names that he wasn't familiar with.
He then got an idea to search for his own name. It took him around half an hour of vigorous searching. He came across a peculiar book, one that read kanji on its spine. He read the words, finding it read "Natsuki Subaru".
An odd feeling ran down his spine. For some reason, he couldn't help but feel alert. He grabbed the book, before slowly opening it.
Suddenly, his eyes widened as a plethora of information was hammered into his brain.
"Why won't you tell me how to heal Crusch-sama!?"
"To think someone like you held the same title as me. I just… can't believe it."
"You're a part of the witch cult. That scent is a dead giveaway, in fact!"
"—No, Subaru. You are not my knight."
A pain, more mental than physical, shot through his head. Words of hatred— of betrayal. They all came from that book, however, it wasn't something unfamiliar to him. It was more as if memories from before came hurtling back. He remembered their faces of hatred— how they sneered at him. It tasted like lead at the back of his throat.
He remembered as he was dragged through the streets of Lugunica before being burned at the stake. He remembered each and every time it happened. It was vivid, as if he were living through it again.
He dropped the book as he gasped in surprise.
"W-What the hell?"
These books weren't ordinary books. In truth, they allowed someone to look into someone else's life— watching it play out like a video. If he were to assume, these books were of the deceased. There was no way he could access the memories of a past loop otherwise.
He looked further, his chest tightening as he realized there were other identical books with his name on it. If he were being led to believe, these books were his own, marking all of his instances of Return by Death.
"Master? Is something wrong?" Shaula, witnessing his sudden change of emotion, cocked her head at him. Even his spirits pulsed deeply within him in an act of worry.
Subaru rubbed his eyes, undoing his transformation as he looked at her.
"Nothing. Let's proceed to the next trial. This library gives me the creeps."
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They didn't waste any time. They ascended to the next floor, and they were once more greeted by a white expanse. However, floating in place of the monolith was what appeared to be a generic-looking sword— the type that was mass produced for large armies.
Subaru briskly walked up to the sword. While not particularly in a rush, there was no point in standing around and thinking of what awaited him in the next trial. He reached forward, grasping the hilt of the sword, and then,
"—Eh? Someone who ain't that coward of a bitch!"
Everyone's ears perked up in surprise. Subaru looked forward, coming into contact with what appeared to be a middle-aged man.
He was dressed in a kimono, with long messy red hair and an eyepatch over his left eye. He grinned at them with an air of casualness.
"Eh! Nooooo!" Suddenly, from behind him, Shaula let out a shrill cry completely unlike her usual self. She ran back to the stairs in a feat of speed that a normal human had no chance of possibly comprehending.
Capella giggled mischievously from the side, and Subaru looked at Shaula, briefly shocked, before turning back to the man in front of him.
"—Natsuki Subaru. And you are?"
"Oh? Looks like someone has some manners. Hope you aren't some pompous bastard!" He grinned, slicking a few strands of his hair back, "Reid Astrea. I'm the man who's gonna kill you."
Those words were said with such utter casualness, that it took Subaru a second to register the sudden surge in hostile intent directed at him. He swiftly jerked his head to the side, but he was nearly late.
A bead of blood trickled down his cheek, and Subaru's eyes widened as he looked to his side. Nearing his face were two plain-looking chopsticks, and those chopsticks were currently being held by—
"Quite a slowpoke, you? I'll make quick work of ya, bastard," Reid said tauntingly. He prepared another strike, but Subaru had already teleported several meters away, preparing his own attack.
Subaru consciously relayed a command to his fire spirit, Seraphina. The spirit obeyed, conjuring a large ball of fire, so large it could swallow dozens of people whole.
One wouldn't expect such a dangerous output from something such as a mere adolescent spirit, but Subaru recently used his Authority of Wrath to strengthen their souls and gates, not only giving them more access to mana, but allowing them to grow stronger at a much faster rate.
The large fireball surged forward, threatening to consume Reid, but the swordsman only grinned, cutting through it and reducing it to mana. Subaru, not one to expect the attack to keep him down, shot out several beams of Yang with the help of Estelle.
Reid closed in on him, dodging the hyper-sonic blasts of heat with monstrous dexterity and footwork. He appeared and reappeared in blurs, faster than the average human eye could perceive. No— perhaps not even a trained combatant would be able to keep up with him.
Subaru sweated. It was time to kick it up a notch.
Slowing down time to get himself enough time to dodge, he floated in the air. With several sweeping hand gestures, he tore through space itself, sending several arcs of cut space heading Reid's way.
"Agh! You fuckin' cheater!" Reid said angrily. In a motion that left Subaru flabbergasted, Reid made use of his chopsticks, casually halving the arcs of space.
He can cut through space?! What type of anime bullshit is this!?
On second thought, it might not have been completely impossible. Subaru's Mandate of Heaven was pretty much a drastically more overpowered version of Yin magic, which could manipulate space. If experienced swordsmen could cut through Yin magic, then it shouldn't have been too far-fetched for Reid to cut through an authority that manipulated that very concept.
However, it was an authority. There was nothing in this world that could trump an authority in power and potency, so how?
Subaru used Sage Sovereignty, dodging Reid's swings with the air of someone who had battled him millions of times. Reid might have been the strongest swordsman, but what could you do against someone who knew every single move you would ever do?
Subaru knew Reid was right. He really was a cheater.
However, there were no set rules for this trial. At least, that's what it seemed. Subaru realized that this trial required him to land even a single hit on Reid. The methods to do so were completely up to Subaru.
Subaru prepared to freeze time, but Reid seemed to have utilized a monstrous 6th sense to guess his next move—swinging his sword in the air to cut the force that would've frozen him.
Reid swung hundreds of times in under a second, sending a barrage of thin air pressure hurtling his way. There were several sonic booms that shook the white expanse. Truly, this was a fight between two monsters.
Reid seemed to realize some of Subaru's abilities just from a glance. He purposely swung in such a way to leave him little room. Even if Subaru was still capable of dodging, that left him with little pathways to traverse the battlefield.
There were only so many things Subaru could do, even with his new power. An ant would still lose to the sun, no matter how many times it tried.
So, Subaru decided to play by Reid's rules. He used his Authority of Lust, utilizing the peak archetypal prowess of a swordsman. His form and clothing didn't change much, but his mind did.
Subaru's eyes widened as the peak of sword mastery was injected into his brain, giving him the ability to utilize every sword technique known, and with Sage Sovereignty, every technique that ever will be known.
Subaru teleported the blade provided by the trial into his hands, gripping it with intense familiarity. He dashed forward, closing upon Reid in a single breath.
"Oh?" Reid replied, the first time he had ever uttered something in surprise. Subaru's blade closed in on his neck, but Reid masterfully blocked it with his chopsticks. He then looked at Subaru, grinning when he saw that strange glint in his eyes.
"So that's how you're doing it. You really are a cheating bastard, you!"
"…"
Subaru didn't reply, swinging at him in an arc that cut through the very air itself. Reid narrowly dodged and jumped back, the slightest bead of sweat forming on his forehead as a hint of nervousness and surprise overcame himself.
The two then stared each other down— two swordsmen at their peak.
"This has got to be the longest time it's taken me to kill someone."
Subaru sighed. He could've made use of Absolute Oblivion, but the person before him didn't really classify as a "living being". Reid was just a mere illusion—a copy of the real thing, so there were some things Subaru couldn't do to him that he otherwise should've. Plus, Subaru would've felt like an asshole for cutting the duel short in such an unflattering fashion.
He thought of using Augur, but that was unflattering as well. Subaru's authorities warped the very reality to give him what he desired, but in this case, his morals prevented him from doing anything overly invasive. The only reason he had done what he did to Capella was due to the fact that she was an archbishop, so his hatred for the witch cult made it easy to dehumanize her.
In Reid's case, he didn't seem like someone Subaru would get along with, but he wasn't an insane archbishop that deserved to die.
However—
I need to get it together. This is a matter of life and death. I can't keep arguing about if I should or shouldn't. Reid wouldn't hesitate to kill me.
Giving himself a small pep talk, he finally realized what he needed to do. He stood straight, before pointing the end of the blade directly at Reid.
"I've finally figured out what I need to do."
"Oh? You looked scared— like you were gonna shit yourself!" Reid barked.
Subaru didn't bother replying, he bent his knees, assuming a form that would allow him to burst forward. Reid didn't bother to prepare himself, only lazily raising his chopsticks.
Subaru looked back at Capella, who had been watching the fight with a look of awe.
"Go hang with Shaula. I'll return when this is over."
"Wh—" Capella didn't say more as she was instantly teleported to the floor underneath alongside Shaula, who was quivering on the ground with fear for Subaru.
With them out of the picture, Subaru could finally unleash his new technique.
He grinned, and for the first time since the battle began, Reid looked at him like one would another warrior. There was actual interest in his gaze. He was curious about what Subaru planned to do.
What Subaru planned to do was simple. It was an attack that Reid would be unable to dodge— an attack that was born from a future "him".
Using Sage Sovereignty, Subaru peered into the future of himself— greedily taking in knowledge of his exploits— taking in a singular ability that he needed to win this battle.
"Oi brat, even people like me will get a little weirded out when ya stare at 'em like that," Reid said, glaring Subaru down. Despite his joking tone, even he was slightly perturbed by Subaru's sudden change in demeanor.
Subaru's grip on the sword tightened, his teeth gritting as he prepared to blast forward. With a speed far eclipsing that of sound, Subaru lunged at Reid, his sword swinging down— earlier than anticipated. In fact, his sword was going to completely miss Reid.
"—Wait! You little—!" Reid, finally figuring out Subaru's plan, prepared to shift away and dodge the attack, but he was too late. Even if Reid managed to get away, he wouldn't be able to escape no matter what. That was because—
"It's… my win!" Subaru yelled, and as his sword swung down, there was an ear-splitting boom, followed by an all encompassing light as Subaru cut everything down to their very atoms.
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Capella and Shaula jumped in alarm, their senses going haywire as they not only noticed the sheer spike in energy, but the rumbling and noise that followed.
The entire tower shook, followed by the rest of the surrounding land. It was a tremor akin to an intense earthquake— so loud and overbearing that they had to physically stop themselves from falling over.
"What the hell!?"
"M-Master!"
The both of them yelled in panic and confusion. It had only been a moment or so since they had been teleported down a floor by Subaru, and not a minute after, there was that loud tremor.
Shaula, not wasting a single second, darted up the stairwell with a speed that was inhumane. Capella's eyes could barely track her as she ascended upward— clearly worried and wanting to check on her supposed "Master".
"That dumb piece of meat!" Capella remarked, still visibly shaken, "And just what the hell did he do now!?"
At first, Capella didn't care about the battle. She loved fighting, but that was usually when she was the one dealing the blows. With her Authority gone, and recently, her assigned archetype, she was nothing more than a regular girl.
While practically confined to Subaru, she could honestly care less about what he did. However, it was tough to admit that he did things that even shocked her.
She stood there in silence for a while, before the pain of intrigue was too much. She quickly made her way up the stairwell, trekking several minutes until she reached the floor of the 2nd trial.
The second she reached the floor, the distinctive smell of smoke hit her nostrils, and warmth enveloped her. Capella blinked as she looked forward, taking in the sight of Subaru and Shaula standing not so far away.
"Master, Master! You scared me! I'm so glad you're safe!" Shaula was visibly crying in relief, burying her head into Subaru's chest.
"No need to worry so much, Shaula. I had it handled."
Subaru patted her head as he consoled her. He was smiling lightly, looking no worse for wear. Capella blinked before looking around. No matter how long or far she looked, she could not spot the red-haired swordsman from earlier.
"Eh… what happened?" She asked nervously. Subaru, now registering her appearance, only smiled:
"Oh, nothing much. Let's just say Reid got a small demonstration on nuclear physics."
"…" She just stared at him.
"Don't worry about it," he finished.
Capella was entirely confused, a feeling that was intensified even more when Shaula seemed to speak of something like "radiation", to which Subaru explained that he used an application of his Sloth Authority to mitigate the impact of the blast and the fallout.
Even then, whatever attack Subaru landed on Reid was enough to shake a good portion of the Augria Sand Dunes. She shivered — she would not want to be on the receiving end of that, even if she had her authority.
"Anyways, we should wrap this up. If I'm correct, the next room should reveal the final trial."
Subaru began making his way towards the next staircase that had manifested itself on the other side of the room, with Shaula giddily following him from behind. Capella followed them soon after, the empty white space making her deeply uncomfortable.
Subaru and the other two continued their ascension up the staircase. His heart was pounding beneath his ribs. Subaru was getting closer and closer to succeeding at his goal. After defeating Reid, he felt invincible.
Is this truly what power feels like? Subaru thought to himself. The adrenaline— the dopamine surge every time he defeated a foe. It was intoxicating. Subaru wondered how Reinhard never abused his power.
Here Subaru was, becoming drastically stronger with every passing day and trial. How far would his strength surge? Where would he rest when this was all over.
He shook his head, letting out the tension as he readied himself. They stepped into the final floor, and Subaru gasped as he gazed at the sight before him.
Blue and black scales shimmered like gemstones around his scaly body. His limbs ended in elongated claws that could seat through flesh and stone with ease, and his neck made way for a terrifying, yet breathtaking visage— his draconic eyes gleaming with hidden power as they shifted to him.
What stood before Subaru was The Divine Dragon, Volcanica.
"Thou, who hath reached the top of the tower. Step forth through the first floor, mighty partitioner."
"Eh?" Subaru faltered, a bit caught off by his sudden reply. The fact that he was meeting the Divine Dragon— pretty much Lugunica's "god" hadn't registered to him fully yet.
Shaula and Capella stood closely behind him, resigning themselves to just look from behind his shoulder. Like him, both were in complete awe of the being before them.
"I am Volcanica. In accordance with the ancient covenant, I ask the will of thee who hath reached the summit," Volcanica said, completely ignoring their shock, if he were even capable of comprehending anything more than their presence.
Subaru breathed in, and then stepped forward, clapping his hands together as he finally realized what he needed to do.
Volcanica was clearly senile, obvious from his blank stare and inability to comprehend much of anything. Hundreds of years of sitting in a lone tower would probably do that to a person. Subaru wondered why Volcanica went senile but Shaula's mind remained intact, but that was a topic for another day.
He reached for his Authority — power surging as he activated it. It was Absolute Dominion, aimed directly at the divine dragon.
"—Restore Volcanica."
It was instant, a power capable of warping reality to his whim. Anything he wanted to happen, happened. No limits beyond the scope of what he could manipulate directly. He could erase someone from existence, change inanimate matter to living flesh, and bestow anything he wanted onto anything.
The will to enact change upon reality.
It was a broken ability, befitting that of Pride.
The air shifted, reality twisting in a way unnatural, and Volcanica seemed to change ever so subtly. His eyes, once glassy and with a faraway gaze, shifted into a focused look, and his body, unusually stiff, now surged with life.
He let out a deep steamy breath from his nostrils, and for the first time in 400 years, his scales gleamed with a newfound light. Draconic slits bulged as he looked down at Subaru with familiar warmth.
"Natsuki Subaru, or should I say, Flugel. It's been a long time, old friend."
"—Eh?"
Subaru stepped back, flummoxed as he stared back at Volcanica. While Shaula remained steady, Capella twitched, sweat rolling down her forehead.
"What the hell did he just say?" Capella huffed, "Him? The Great Sage of old!?" For the first time in forever, Capella's eyes didn't look at Subaru with fear of
or apprehension, and instead, some inner emotion she couldn't name.
Upon second consideration, Subaru was indeed the most powerful person she had ever met. Not only did he defeat her and the other archbishops in just a matter of days, he also wielded abilities outside of comprehension.
Slowly, the gears inside her head turned as the pieces were clicking into place. Her, Capella Emerada Lugunica, had been mercilessly killed and enslaved by none other than the Great Sage himself, Natsuki Subaru.
In an effort to maintain the last of her dignity, her denial kicked in:
"So you're telling me that this lovely lady was killed by the Sage? I-It can't be…! Impossible!"
"Yup!" Shaula said, finally acknowledging Capella's existence, "What did you think would happen? My master is really strong!" She finished matter-of-factly.
Capella sank to her knees, grabbing her head. She had never stood a chance in the first place. Her defeat had already been decided from the start.
However, while a deeper, older part of her refused to accept it, she was still alive, breathing. Her current accommodations weren't much to her liking, but her new master had no intent to make her suffer, and as long as she didn't betray him, she could live.
Slowly, silently, she started to accept that, perhaps, life as the Great Sage's servant wouldn't be so bad.
Meanwhile, Subaru had finished collecting himself as he continued his conversation with Volcanica:
"So it is true then," Subaru huffed, "I didn't want to believe it, but given all I experienced this past year, it makes sense." He finally exhaled the breath he had been holding, accepting the facts.
The circumstances of his summoning, of his relationship to the witch of envy, of his claiming of the witch factors— Subaru was a part of something, and it clearly preceded his arrival a year ago.
"It must have come as a great shock to you, my friend," Volcanica said, jaw twisting into something that could be called a smirk, "Your soul had successfully found a new vessel, and with that step completed, Satella could uphold her part of the plan."
"Wait, so you're saying all of this was planned?"
"Indeed. 400 years ago, with your life thinning, and with Envy's Calamity enshrouding the world, you worked alongside Echidna to make sure you could one day come back. Satella, her uncorrupted aspect, would summon you here when the time was right, and you could finish what you started."
"…What I started," Subaru repeated, eyes boring holes into the ground momentarily in deep thought. Volcanica didn't continue. Perhaps, what Subaru planned to do was already obvious.
The Witch of Envy, the living calamity that had wrought destruction upon this world, needed to be stopped once and for all. She lay dormant in her seal, but the threat of her wasn't entirely removed. The world would remain in constant fear of her escape. The seal meant to ward her off was nothing more than a bandaid solution.
Slowly, he nodded, and his expression took up that of conviction.
"Alright, I'll stop Satella, but I'll be doing things my way."
"Of course, I trust your judgement fully. You have claimed ownership of the witch factors. That is more than enough to access the witch's seal."
Subaru still lacked the entirety of the envy factor, but he still had access to it. That was more than enough. With that, there was nothing getting in his way between him and Satella.
"Now, I'm sure such trials you set up are utterly useless against the man himself. I've restored all administrative access to the Pleiades Watchtower— from myself, onto you."
Subaru nodded, indeed, if he had been the one to not only create this place and set up every trial, then that meant he knew this place from the inside out. There would be no challenge. It would be like cheating with the answer sheet of a test one had already created.
A thrum of power shifted deep inside, and that's when Subaru knew that he had gained full control of the Pleiades Watchtower. His awareness exploded. He could see and feel every inch of this entire tower, and everything within several miles of it.
"Woah… that's definitely something to get used to," Subaru breathed, blinking to adjust to the slightly unnatural feeling. It didn't feel as disorienting as one would imagine. It was more like his visual clarity had been upgraded considerably.
There were other things he could do, but that didn't matter at the moment.
He had a seal to visit, and a witch to slay. But first,
"Anyways, now that you're well… yourself again, there's a lot of responsibilities you have to tend to yourself, huh?"
"—The pact between Farsale Lugunica and I still holds. Unless the nation of Lugunica is at stake, it is not my time to intervene."
Volcanica raised his head, wings adjusting as he let out another gust of steam from his nostrils. Subaru nodded slowly, however, he expected that the Divine Dragon, one of the most important individuals in history, had more things to do than sit idly by, awaiting a future threat.
Volcanica had been residing in the Pleiades Watchtower, senile and unresponsive for over 400 years. With his rejuvenation under Subaru's hand, it should've been expected that he'd announce himself to the kingdom, but it seemed as though that wasn't Volcanica's intention.
I guess that makes sense. Outside of the pact, Volcanica has no relation to Lugunica or its inner affairs. If that weren't the case, he would have shown up during the demi-human war.
It was acceptable logic.
Volcanica readied himself, wings expanding over 20 feet as he propulsed himself into the air, a turret of air rattling their clothes as he did so. The Pleiades watchtower seemed to part like an open mouth, revealing the desert sun.
"We shall meet again, old friend."
"See ya, Volcanica."
Subaru gave him a departing wave, and Volcanica retreated into the skyline, his sights on the Great Waterfall. With one flap of his wings, a sonic boom echoed, and he was gone.
With all said and done, Subaru turned, facing Shaula and Capella. He clapped his hands together:
"Now that everything's settled. I have a witch to take care of."
With his claiming of every witch factor, and the passing of all of the Pleiades Watchtower's trials, he could finally proceed with his mission.
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