11: Malicious Sloth
"Is... is it over?"
"If it's not over after this, then we'll probably have to think about contacting Lady Reinhild," said Brian, shrugging as he responded to Subaru, who was nervously approaching the burning pit.
He came to stand next to Subaru, whose legs were trembling, gave a dismissive snort, and then unhesitatingly began examining the corpse.
"Well, it's as expected. Fully roasted. And see here, the symptoms of poisoning.
Without a divine blessing of detoxification, he should be completely done for. As far as I know, there's no surviving that."
"I see..."
Subaru stared at the unrecognizable corpse.
The fact that the Sin Archbishop was dealt with so easily made it feel surreal, but seeing the fire pit remain still and quiet, he finally collapsed to the ground in relief.
—What remained was dealing with Petelgeuse's subordinates in the forest.
"Looks like that part went smoothly too."
Otto emerged from the trees, holding his head in pain.
"Ugh... side effects from activating all the divine protections. Let's regroup quickly."
He wiped the blood dripping from his nose as he spoke.
Subaru turned back to look at the burning pit, and Brian, who was confirming that the flesh chunks weren't turning into rats or insects to reassemble.
It was the expected result based on their plan, but the ease with which they had taken down a major Sin Archbishop made Subaru feel out of place.
—Petelgeuse hadn't even had time to use his trump cards.
Maybe he hadn't even realized what was happening until the very end.
A mistake.
[Return by Death] was a power that let Subaru act with a foresight-like advantage.
—Just once. By using Petelgeuse's trust to gain information, Subaru was able to shut him down completely and secure total victory.
"No, but... it shouldn't have gone this well... this is me we're talking about. No matter how hard I try, things usually backfire. For it to go this smoothly... something has to be off."
"What're you muttering about?! Let's go! We've still got things to do!"
"Ah... yeah, you're right... right."
Seeing Subaru unable to accept the outcome, Otto responded with exasperation.
Subaru nodded and reluctantly left the clearing.
—Was there ever really such a thing as a perfectly smooth victory? A Sin Archbishop should be the kind of enemy you'd have to kill five or six times to truly defeat.
"What if he revives while we're looking away?!"
Subaru struck a dramatic pose, pointing into the air.
"Hm, doesn't look like he had any valuable items. You probably feel it was easy because it was a surprise attack."
"Don't you feel disappointed?"
Subaru asked instinctively.
"Unluckily for you, I have no interest in dealing with invisible attacks.
And besides, compared to dying in some chivalrous duel, I prefer this kind of 'cowardice' that keeps everyone alive."
"Yeah, that's true. Why would I feel disappointed? Wait... have I awakened some weird masochist side?"
They waited at the rendezvous point for a while.
Then Subaru caught the scent of blood.
One by one, blood-soaked land dragons and mercenaries returned — barely half their original number.
He noticed the furious stares directed at him.
But more than fear or anger, Subaru's dominant emotion was a grim sense of confirmation.
"What the hell were you thinking...?"
There was no need to probe.
The spear-wielding squad captain, Alva, who had lost an arm, was already speaking — not directly to Subaru, but loudly enough to force an explanation from him.
"Sloth didn't fall for it? Or did he? Then why did we encounter the 'Sloth' he mentioned? Both the Unseen Hands and the mental attacks were there..."
The strike team had encountered Sloth — or at least a bald man with Sloth's abilities.
Let's call him Camulugius for convenience.
Under the assault of his mental attacks, nearly half of the mercenaries died.
But some, unaffected, managed to hold off the cultists.
Among them, Emilia, also unaffected, took advantage of the terrain and managed to defeat the man solo.
The mood was crushingly grim.
Subaru could feel the situation spiraling toward disaster.
Suddenly, black smoke rose in the distance — coming from Arlam Village.
Chaos erupted in the group. Some believed it was a trap and urged caution, others demanded immediate rescue, and still others argued for defending from a more advantageous position.
The debate ended quicker than expected — silver hair fluttered at the front.
Emilia had left the group.
Perhaps unwilling to let a woman, a half-elf, a noble, outdo them in courage, the men turned their arguing into shouting and hurriedly followed after her.
Their land dragons stopped after a high-speed dash, breathing heavily.
Everyone stared at the horrific scene before them in silence.
The mountain of corpses had been deliberately posed facing the road, seemingly to mock them.
Subaru, lacking the mental fortitude, vomited as soon as he saw the burning mound and the terrified faces among it.
Even while vomiting, Subaru noticed a shadow wriggling on the ground in the distance.
It swelled, then stretched skyward — like threads unraveling — into black magical hands that struck at the group.
"Cough... cough... cough...!"
The sound of bloody rain falling mixed with Subaru's choking coughs.
Perhaps having assessed their fighting power, the attack targeted the strongest among them.
But as they had been distracted by the scene of horror, only Brian, who had a divine protection that gave him danger premonition, managed to barely survive.
The shadows surged back like a tide, gathering at the feet of one figure.
A woman with deep reddish-brown hair and sharp eyes.
"So this... is how it is."
Subaru whispered to himself, wiping the sweat that poured from his brow due to shock and fear.
"Ah~~ My brain, it's trembling!"
He heard the crazed voice of the woman before him.
He saw her raise a finger to her mouth and bite it off.
Blood splattered wildly, and she smiled in a manic, ecstatic expression.
Her lips were painted crimson with blood — the decoration of her deranged laughter.
"I am the Witch Cult's Sin Archbishop..."
"The one in charge of Sloth."
Her mocking laughter echoed through the battlefield.
"Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti!!"
The name of the man who had supposedly been killed was shouted once again — this time by the woman.
It was a familiar gesture, a familiar scene, a familiar Authority.
Subaru confirmed: this person in front of him was Petelgeuse.
"The trial has failed. Slothful, slothful... then let's sacrifice them — all the beasts, all the villagers... offer them to her..."
"Petelgeuse... do you possess people? Or are you some kind of revenant?"
Surrounded by cultists, Subaru looked at the crazed woman in front of him and smiled coldly, brimming with murderous intent.
"Why do you have so many hands?"
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