The Battle for Priestella (プリステラ攻防戦) was a conflict that took place roughly one year and two months after Natsuki Subaru’s arrival into the world, and it was the primary conflict that took place in Arc 5. After Anastasia Hoshin invited the other Royal Candidates to Priestella in order to cultivate friendships and create alliances, the Witch Cult made its presence known in the city and held it hostage until their demands were met.
The Witch Cult’s Sin Archbishops took command of City Hall and the four control towers with the help of their corpse soldiers and numerous demi-beasts that Capella Emerada Lugunica created from the citizens of the city that they had killed. They demanded the remains of a Witch that rested somewhere within the city, an artificial spirit, the Book of Wisdom, and for Regulus Corneas, not to interrupt the wedding between him and his silver-haired bride. Not allowing them to do as they pleased, the Royal Selection candidates and their camps, including Priscilla Barielle and her camp who arrived uninvited, moved into action.
The fight ultimately resulted in a victory for the Royal Selection candidates, but the effects of this battle were the trigger for the events that followed over the next several months.
Background[]
Four hundred years ago, Priestella was made by Alec Hoshin over a lake, and rumor had it that its intended purpose was to act as a trap to capture and kill something. This rumor turned out to be true, as the Witch of Pride met her end here, drowning in a “flood”. Afterward, her remains were left beneath the catacombs of Priestella, acting as an integral piece of the city.
Approximately one century ago, the Sin Archbishop of Greed took part in the battle preceding the Permafrost of Elior Forest. His goal was simple: to find a suitable candidate to become his 79th wife. Though he found Fortuna to be suitable for this role, because of the actions of an associate of the Witch Cult, he was removed from the battle, and Fortuna was killed, leaving the “79th wife” role vacant.
Around fifteen years prior to the attack, the Great Conquest, led by Theresia van Astrea, took place in order to defeat the White Whale. However, having lost her Divine Protection of the Sword Saint, she was left severely weakened. Soon after, she witnessed the Witch of Vainglory. Though she decided that she was an enemy, Theresia met her end soon after raising her blade. More than a decade before Subaru's arrival, an item claimed to be made by a Witch was up for auction in Garkla in the Sacred Vollachia Empire. As a result, Regulus was sent to search for something, and he killed the country’s strongest warrior, Kurgan during the attack. Their bodies would be retrieved by the Witch Cult and turned into corpse soldiers.
For over ten years, the Sin Archbishop of Lust had been in search of a certain artificial spirit for reasons unknown. Said artificial spirit eventually found her way to Anastasia in her youth. With the two deciding to keep her existence a secret, Echidna remained with Anastasia for the next decade.
Two months after Subaru’s arrival, the Subjugation of the White Whale and the Subjugation of Sloth took place, resulting in the deaths of the White Whale and the Sin Archbishop of Sloth. However, there were numerous other issues to contend with as well: Theresia’s Divine Protection of the Death God reappeared on Wilhelm van Astrea’s shoulder despite Theresia’s death; the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony attacked the convoy returning to the Royal Capital, resulting in Rem being left in the Sleeping Beauty state and Crusch Karsten being left without her memories; and Subaru had taken the Witch Factor of Sloth for himself.
A few days later, the Emilia Camp went through their own struggles in the Sanctuary of Kremaldy, where they were forced to fight through numerous trials. Because of this event, Puck was left in a deep slumber, unable to form with the weak glintstone being used as his anchor, and the two Books of Wisdom belonging to Beatrice and Roswaal L. Mathers were burned, the former’s to ash alongside Roswaal Manor. However, Otto Suwen managed to find Roswaal’s burnt Book, and believing he’d be able to determine Roswaal’s plans, he decided that he would eventually take the book to be recovered in secret to Darts.
One year after the Royal Selection’s beginning, Anastasia invited the other camps, save for Priscilla’s, to Priestella in order to cultivate friendships and forge alliances, using the location of Gluttony and a special glintstone to lure in two of them. The day after they arrived, Priscilla had brought her camp into the city as well, causing conflict for her own amusement.
Battle[]
The Witch Cult Arrives[]
Joshua Juukulius made his way towards one of the control towers to receive a letter for Anastasia. However, along the way, he encountered Lye Batenkaitos. Shortly after, he had his name and memories devoured. Meanwhile, Otto Suwen, who had been on his way to meet with Darts, a restoration magic user, witnessed the other Sin Archbishop of Gluttony at the second district’s tower, and he watched as the boy slaughtered everyone there protecting it. With this knowledge, Otto left the area.
Sirius makes her appearance.
Meanwhile, Subaru, who was at first accompanied by Beatrice, Emilia, Priscilla, and Liliana Masquerade, encountered Sirius Romanée-Conti, who had gathered an audience, gave a speech about love, and used her Authority of Wrath to connect everyone together before tossing a boy off the roof of a time tower, resulting in the deaths of many, including Subaru. After his Authority triggered, he eventually went to confront her with both Beatrice and Emilia. Though they could have tried to summon Reinhard van Astrea through Rachins Hoffman, who happened to be in the vicinity they were heading, they could not make such a risk, else Beatrice would be left helpless, and people could still end up hurt or dead, as Subaru had once experienced.
The battle began with Emilia firing an ice pillar at Sirius, which garnered her rage. As Emilia brandished her newfound Ice Brand Arts against Sirius’s chains and flames, Subaru and Beatrice attempted to sever Wrath’s Authority from the people. This failed, however, when Beatrice learned how fundamentally different it was from her preconceived conjecture. Deciding to put severing the connection on hold, the two fended off the nearby enraged citizens until they could reach and save Lusbel in the time tower. And though they succeeded in this regard and had him run away, Emilia was defeated after Sirius summoned a hostage to catch her off guard.
Soon after arrived Regulus, who saved and protected Emilia from Sirius. However, since Regulus's goal was to take her as his bride, Subaru attempted to fight him. Outmatched, Subaru tried to use his Invisible Providence, which had a different effect than intended: Sirius’s attention and love was directed at him, as she confused him for the late Sin Archbishop of Sloth. This distraction ultimately saved Subaru’s and the citizens’ lives as it wasted the Sin Archbishops’ time and forced them to retreat. However, as the two left with the unconscious Emilia, Regulus kicked a tile straight through Subaru’s thigh, nearly severing it. This resulted in the injury reflecting onto the nearby citizens who were connected to him, and a desperate Beatrice used what magic she could to save all of their lives. Soon after, Lusbel returned with Al, and they were able to bring the injured to a shelter.
Meanwhile, Garfiel Tinzel and Mimi Pearlbaton, who had just left the company of Reala Thompson, heard the voice of Capella over a city-wide broadcast, who stated that the Witch Cult had taken over the city, mocked everyone, demanded to be handed the remains of a Witch that resided somewhere in the city, and that nobody should fight back. Not willing to take this lying down, Garfiel and Mimi went to confront the Witch Cult, leading them into a fight with the corpse soldiers of the War God and previous Sword Saint. Unfortunately, the two were outmatched and forced to retreat. That said, Mimi took a nearly lethal blow from Theresia, and Garfiel rushed in the direction of Subaru’s scent as fast as he could.
Having heard the same announcement, Heinkel Astrea held Felt hostage in order to force his son to remain where he was and protect him, forcing Reinhard to sit out of the majority of the battle.
Recovery of City Hall[]
When Subaru woke up, he found himself in the Muse Company, which Kiritaka Muse had decided to make a temporary headquarters for the resistance, and he saw Al and Ferris nearby. Al had managed to have people brought somewhere safe to be healed, and Ferris had been busy using his skills to heal others. Fortunately, thanks to the efforts of Subaru and the now unconscious Beatrice, the lives of the people in the square were saved. Despite being worried about Beatrice, Subaru went upstairs with the other two to speak with the other camps’ members.
Garfiel arrives with the injured Mimi.
In the meeting room, Subaru noticed the various members of the Anastasia Camp and Crusch Camp, but besides them, other camps’ members were scattered across the city. With the meeting started, Subaru was caught up to speed, and he then informed the others that the Sin Archbishops of Greed and Wrath had infiltrated the city. Meanwhile, the others had also mentioned the presence of the Sin Archbishop of Lust in the city, with her having made a broadcast demanding a Witch’s remains, which Al seemed to recognize quickly. After this, Lust began another broadcast, the group was contacted by Hetaro Pearlbaton and Tivey Pearlbaton to warn them that their sister was hurt, and Garfiel entered the room with a heavily injured Mimi.
With Ferris taking Mimi, whose wound would not close, downstairs, the others continued to listen to the broadcast, during which Capella gave three more demands in recompense for fighting back against the Witch Cult: an artificial spirit, the Book of Wisdom, and to not interrupt Greed’s wedding. Once everyone noticed the strange sound of buzzing in the background, Capella mocked them for only just noticing and cut off the broadcast. Ferris soon returned to the room, having stalled the wound’s progression with surgery and the help of Mimi’s brothers utilizing their Divine Protection. Deciding they needed to recover the City Hall as quickly as possible, a team composed of Subaru, who had his leg’s sense of pain nullified by Ferris, Julius Juukulius, Crusch, Wilhelm, Ricardo Welkin, and Garfiel was made to complete the task. After Al warned them not to speak their names in front of Gluttony, who may also make an appearance, they soon took their leave. Meanwhile, Al also took his leave, deciding to take on a separate task elsewhere in the city.
As the team marched on towards City Hall, they realized the bodies of those who died in front of the building were all completely missing. Instead, they came across the Witch Cultists that Garfiel and Mimi had fought before. After the battle began, the melee fighters distracted them while the ranged fighters tried to attack their blind spots. However, Lust, who was transformed into a dragon, made her appearance. Despite her mocking, Subaru decided to distract her by mocking her back, buying enough time for Julius to attack her with a full powered Al Clauzeria to the face, though she quickly healed. After Crusch jumped to move Subaru out of the way from her black dragon breath, which Ricardo managed to counter, Capella hid away inside the building.
Wilhelm, Garfiel, and Ricardo decided to hold off the Cultists while allowing the other three to raid the building. Taking them up on the offer, they charged forth. After Julius used Spiritual Arts to make everyone lighter, Subaru picked up Crusch, and he and Julius jumped to the top of the building, where they encountered Roy Alphard. After a short fight with him, Julius, whom Roy seemed to recognize, decided to hold him off alone so that Subaru and Crusch could go on ahead. After that, Subaru picked up Crusch again, and after using his whip to latch onto the building, they busted through a window and entered.
Capella defeats Crusch.
When they entered the broadcasting room, they encountered the dragon with its foot atop a girl. As Subaru got the girl out of harm’s way, Crusch quickly attacked the dragon, knocking it out of the building and forcing it to fall to the ground. As Crusch kept an eye on the dragon, Subaru found the other building staff all transformed into giant flies. Then, as they were both distracted, the girl revealed herself to be the real Sin Archbishop of Lust, knocked out Crusch, and confronted Subaru. She assaulted him while using her Authority of Lust, spouting out her beliefs about what love is, and eventually severed his leg from his body.
With Subaru defeated, Capella decided to use her cursed Dragon’s blood on Subaru and Crusch. After this, however, the dragon appeared and grabbed Crusch and Subaru and attempted to fly away. Capella tried to prevent this, but instead, the nearby water gate was opened briefly, allowing for a large amount of water to flood the streets, distracting her long enough to force her to let go of the dragon. As the people below were washed away, the unconscious Subaru fell into the water.
Attack on the Muse Company[]
After the assault team left, Anastasia hung back with Kiritaka and the members of the White Dragon's Scales that were there. Anastasia decided to have the injured patients moved to nearby shelters in case they were attacked, and having believed the same, Kiritaka had already ordered for them to be moved beforehand. Soon after, Sirius burst through the door, using her chains to attack everyone in the room. Fortunately, everyone managed to dodge the attack, and soon, Hetaro and Tivey jumped into the fray. Though injured, they resolved to fend off Sirius alongside the White Dragon's Scales and Kiritaka to buy time for Anastasia to escape. Angry at being forced to retreat, she ultimately escaped and headed towards the direction of City Hall.
Preparing for a Counterattack[]
After Subaru woke up, he realized he had been saved by Priscilla and Liliana, who had been traveling together and noticed him floating in the water. Similarly, he also noticed that his leg had healed, though now it was black, and thanks to Priscilla’s test, he realized his leg had the ability to heal. As they spoke, they were attacked by a new type of monster created by Lust, which Priscilla had dubbed a demi-beast, as it was neither dead nor alive, and neither human nor beast, killing it with her Yang Sword. The group then walked to a nearby shelter together, where Subaru realized the people, including himself, were under the effects of the Authority of Wrath, and thanks to Liliana’s song, its effects were reduced. Priscilla, in her search for her butler Schult, had been going from shelter to shelter with Liliana and having her do the same for them as she had done for this shelter. The two split up immediately after this.
Meanwhile, Emilia had woken up and spoken with Regulus, who had decided to take her as his bride as a replacement for Number 79. At first, Emilia tried to talk things out with him and glean answers from him, but after seeing a bout of his rage nearly kill one of his wives, who she jumped at to push out of the way, she realized he could not be reasoned with. Instead, she decided to sneak around the chapel while Regulus wasn’t looking to gather information, where she overheard his conversation with Lust over a contact mirror. After he left, she grabbed ahold of it and tried to use it, successfully managing to contact Al and giving him the location of both Regulus and Capella to pass on to Subaru. With her mission complete, she returned to the room she was made to use to prepare for the fight to come.
Around this time, Otto had managed to discover the situation surrounding Felt, and by distracting Heinkel, Felt and Reinhard managed to defeat him and tie him up. After leaving him in a nearby shelter, Reinhard left with Otto for City Hall. Felt, who was asked to stay behind and watch Heinkel, soon left, deciding to also fight back.
As Subaru was trying to make his way back to the Muse Company, he ended up surrounded by demi-beasts, though Julius managed to find and save him. Afterwards, he led Subaru not to the Muse Company but to City Hall, which had been abandoned by the Witch Cult after the flash flood. There, he recognized that everyone was also affected by the Authority of Wrath and acting far more emotional. He also learned that Crusch was cursed and was asked not to look at her for the time being, as what he’d see would greatly upset him. Having learned of Subaru’s arrival, Anastasia spoke to Subaru in private, where he informed her of the current situation around the city and that Beatrice was an artificial spirit and likely the target of the Witch Cult, even going as far as to say that keeping secrets would just help the enemy. Anastasia also informed him of the attack on the Muse Company, and she relayed that Kiritaka and the others had gone missing, not to mention that the other members of the Council of Ten were dead.
Subaru speaks to the citizens of Priestella.
The two resolved themselves to take back the city from the Witch Cult, and then they made for the broadcasting room, intending to use it to take advantage of Sirius’s Authority and boost the morale of the citizens to keep them from tearing out each other’s throats. When Julius happened upon them, Anastasia attempted to snap Julius out of his stupor, saying that Subaru was willing to do what it takes to win. After Subaru learned that the broadcasting meteor was still working, however, he corrected her by saying they would not sacrifice the citizens for a victory, as that would make them just as bad as the Witch Cult. Then, Garfiel and Al also appeared, and Al passed along Emilia’s message. Afterward, they decided that someone needed to speak to the citizens, though when it was decided that Subaru should be the one to speak, as he had already fought and defeated the Witch Cult once before, as well as two of the Three Great Demon Beasts, he was unsure of what to do. This led to an argument by Al in a way to keep Subaru from taking on the burden of being a hero, but this resulted in Subaru deciding to give the speech, which boosted everyone’s morale to a much higher degree than expected and even reached the ears of Emilia, who was encouraged by her knight.
After the speech, Otto and Reinhard, as well as Priscilla and Schult appeared. Though frustrated by Reinhard’s absence, thanks to Subaru, they accepted that he was there and gave them pieces of their mind. Meanwhile, he spoke with Otto about the Book of Wisdom, which he had brought with him to be prepared for whatever Roswaal might have planned, having lost any semblance of trust in the man after the events at the Sanctuary. After this, Wilhelm was requested by Crusch to bring Subaru to her. On the way, they discussed the presence of his wife as a corpse soldier and the connection to a certain Witch that appeared during the Demi-Human War. After Wilhelm asked Subaru not to tell Reinhard, Subaru met with Crusch, who he saw had the same curse as himself, which left her bedridden, and Ferris, who was emotionally unstable, was unable to heal her. Having heard Crusch’s worry for him, he attempted to hold her hand, which resulted in the discovery that he could transfer her curse to himself. However, she requested that he not do so yet, as they wouldn’t know what would happen if he did so, and the people needed him more than herself anyway. Crusch then requested he reassure her like he did for the city, and when he obliged, she passed out, and Subaru had Ferris prepare himself to heal more of the injured.
When Subaru returned upstairs, discussions of a counterattack continued. Having learned of the locations of Lust and Greed from Emilia and Gluttony from Otto, they deduced Wrath’s location, and Subaru decided the teams. Priscilla and Liliana, who was discovered to have a Divine Protection, would face off against Wrath; Reinhard and Subaru would go to confront Greed; Wilhelm and Garfiel would confront Lust and the corpse soldiers; Julius and Ricardo would confront Gluttony; Otto would retrieve the Book of Wisdom by himself; and Anastasia and Al would remain behind as home defense.
The Crusade Against Greed[]
At the chapel, Emilia and Regulus began the marriage ceremony, attended by all of Regulus’s wives, including Number 184. When Regulus began making his demands for after they were wed, Emilia rejected them while claiming she would not be happy, as well as saying that she already knew who she would love. Subaru and Reinhard soon arrived, with the latter kicking the door off its hinges into the newly enraged Regulus. This triggered Emilia to try and freeze Regulus, but he casually broke out of the ice and held her by the throat. Regulus then recognized Subaru and spoke with Reinhard, mocking him while holding his wives hostage. Stating that he would let them go if Reinhard withstood one of his attacks, Reinhard accepted and was killed by Regulus. Despite this, Reinhard revived, and when Emilia created a weapon and tossed it to him, Reinhard struck Regulus down.
This was short-lived, however, as Regulus survived the attack completely untouched. Reinhard went to confront him with another ice sword that Emilia made. With Emilia and Subaru unable to convince the wives to run away, they also went to fight. Though Regulus was clearly unskilled in martial arts, he took no damage at all from the Sword Saint, and everything he threw left devastating damage to the surroundings, even grasping a massive amount of water and practically creating a tsunami against him. Eventually, he even stopped reacting to the attacks completely. With Subaru’s various strategies failing, which also included Regulus’s own attacks against him, Regulus, who was endlessly enraged by Reinhard, who had monstrous strength yet was unable to draw his sword against his “unworthy” foe, eventually managed destroy Reinhard’s leg and send him flying away at tremendous speed.
Subaru and Emilia ran away from the man, freezing the river that he was walking on and Emilia, who realized her hatred for the man, threw numerous other attacks at him, though they all failed. Eventually, Reinhard returned and confronted Regulus again, completely healed. As the unstoppable force and immovable object clashed, Subaru asked Emilia for anything she noticed about Regulus, and with the information he was given, he pieced together that Greed’s name and power correlated. After Reinhard checked for Greed’s heartbeat, Subaru’s suspicions were confirmed, and Regulus, in his frustration, threw Reinhard upward while applying his power to him. With the Sword Saint gone, Subaru told Emilia about Regulus’s power and told her where his weakness was, and he had her leave to handle it, though she left him with a spirit to help him.
As Subaru taunted Regulus, he began running around the city, doing his best to lead his enemy in directions away from the shelters. Realizing how simple of a man Regulus was, Subaru managed to easily escape damage, as while he was fast, he was linear, and he was very weak to simple traps like pitfalls. As he led the Sin Archbishop around by the nose, Emilia confronted the wives again, and after getting through to them and Number 184, who introduced herself as Sylphy, they realized that Regulus’s heart was literally within them. In order to prevent them from killing themselves while also ridding them of his heart, Emilia froze everyone in the chapel, and then she found her way to Subaru and Regulus.
Regulus defeated.
With Regulus enraged yet not weakened, Subaru realized his heart was within Emilia, and he used Invisible Providence to crush it. With Regulus being susceptible to damage again, Emilia pummeled him with all of her strength and her ice, severely damaging him. As a way to try and survive and kill them, Regulus challenged Subaru, a knight, to a duel. However, Reinhard, who kicked himself off of the moon and returned to the ground, accepted the duel in his stead. As Regulus tried to back out of it, Reinhard promptly beat him into the sky and into the ground. Unable to use his power properly, Regulus took endless damage from the fall and the water that came to drown him. With the victory against Greed, Emilia unfroze the wives, and Reinhard left to fight on another battlefield. Meanwhile, the Sin Archbishop’s Witch Factor found its way to Subaru, confirming his death.
The Sun Princess and the Songstress versus Wrath[]
Heading to the second district was Priscilla and Liliana, where they encountered Sirius and an army of bewitched people, which included the missing Kiritaka. Sirius started spouting her beliefs to Priscilla, yet she did not care for Sirius’s views, showing off her immense pride and clearly remaining unaffected by her enemy’s power. However, with Liliana freaking out while also being affected by the Authority of Wrath, Priscilla kissed her to snap her out of it, and then she stepped forward. Drawing her Yang Sword, Priscilla challenged Wrath, leading her to draw out her chains and flames. Priscilla was easily able to handle the flames, and she showed clear mastery of her sword while clashing with her enemy. However, Sirius was able to find an opening and strike back at the Sun Princess.
Having taken a serious hit, one of Priscilla’s beloved articles shattered from the damage transfer. Priscilla and Sirius continued their clash. However, with the people still underneath the effects of Wrath’s Authority, Priscilla demanded the bard to play her songs and shatter their illusions. This led to Liliana proceeding up the nearby control tower, which Sirius set ablaze. Reaching the top, Liliana was able to play her music, and her song managed to free the masses. Soon the tower collapsed, and Liliana landed somewhere beneath the rubble.
Angry with Liliana’s and Priscilla’s interference, she summoned a massive flaming snake to try and fend off Priscilla, but this failed. She then resorted to using her previous hostage when Priscilla moved in to attack. However, this also failed, as Priscilla was able to use her blade to pass through Tina and slash at Sirius. Then, Priscilla landed one last attack on the Sin Archbishop, sending her flying unconscious into the waterways. Defeated, Sirius was then captured and tied in her own chains.
The Finest and the Hound versus Bizarre Eating[]
Julius and Ricardo encounter Roy.
Having been directed towards the second district, Julius and Ricardo dashed as quickly as they could to confront the Sin Archbishop who commanded it. However, Ricardo noticed Julius’s confused expression and asked him what he was thinking, to which Julius states his unease about the words of Roy, who spoke to Julius as if he knew him beforehand. Soon, they encountered Roy, who expressed joy at meeting Julius and Ricardo. Understanding what Julius said, he prepared to fight. After Roy began speaking of fond memories and feelings with Julius, he pounced at his opponents.
It didn’t take long for Roy to outmatch Ricardo and Julius, using his refined skills in martial arts, magic, and weapons mastery to get the jump on them. Neither of them could land a hit on Roy, and soon, the Sin Archbishop attacked them one more time. Guarding Julius, Ricardo lost his arm, and soon after, Julius had his name devoured.
The Battle Against Gourmet[]
As Otto snuck around the city on his way to retrieve the Book of Wisdom, he came across Felt, Gaston, Dynas, and members of the White Dragon's Scales, who were confronting an unexpected opponent: one of the Sin Archbishops of Gluttony, Lye Batenkaitos. Having been noticed, Lye turned his attention to Otto, and he asked to be led to Subaru, who he was claiming to be his hero who was meant to bring an end to him. Remembering that he was with the Sword Saint, Otto attempted negotiations, to the confusion of the others nearby, in order to lead Lye to Subaru and Reinhard. However, negotiations broke down when Lye saw pity in Otto’s eyes, and as he prepared to attack, Otto summoned water dragons to attack the Sin Archbishop.
This attack bought enough time for the group to regain their bearings to fight against Lye, who had promptly slaughtered the water dragons. Realizing that a certain weapon would be effective against Lye, Felt left the area to retrieve it. Afterward, Dynas led his men to attack Lye. Gaston even managed to break one of Lye’s blades with his body via the Flow Method. After playing around with them, Lye devoured the names of those he knew, placing them in the Sleeping Beauty state and erasing their existences. Realizing what was happening, Otto warned them not to mention his name, and soon after, he attempted to tackle Lye, using the fire magic stones sewn into his clothing to damage him. Unfortunately, Lye escaped the blast practically unscathed.
Soon, Beatrice arrived and attacked Lye, using the power of certain magic stones that were lent to her from the Muse Company. Though Otto was grateful to Beatrice for arriving despite her wanting to have gone to Subaru’s side, Lye expressed genuine shock that she left the Forbidden Library, even calling her name as if he knew her. Beatrice quickly recognized that he had many souls amassed in his body, and when Lye introduced himself as Rem, both Otto and Beatrice were enraged, deciding that Subaru should not be allowed to meet with Lye.
Beatrice used several powerful magics against Lye, including Ul Minya, while the people nearby continued to assault him. Unfortunately, Lye managed to continuously evade their attacks, and he managed to defeat several of them including Gaston. Soon, Felt arrived while holding onto the meteor staff that belonged to the Witch of Greed, Echidna. Since she didn’t know how to properly use it, Felt was left wide open for Lye to try to devour her name. However, this failed, causing severe backlash against him, and when Gaston grabbed his foot, this allowed Beatrice to use the meteor staff with Felt to defeat Lye.
Their victory was short lived, however, when Lye vanished, and in his place a strange man appeared, gouging out the fronts of Otto’s legs. After some teasing, the man turned into a young girl who introduced herself as the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony, Rui Arneb, and she revealed to Felt that her name was not the one she was born with. With everyone unable to fight, Rui decided to take her leave with her brother in tow.
The Ambush at City Hall[]
Al confronts Capella.
After everyone left for battle, Anastasia had everyone that was injured moved to one of the nearby shelters. Afterward, she decided to pose as the cursed Crusch with Ferris by her side, expecting someone to attack them. This foresight proved accurate as Capella had made her way into the building. Believing that Anastasia was Crusch, she teased and mocked Ferris who was holding a sword against her, even transforming into Crusch’s image in an effort to mentally damage Ferris by making him stab her. After enough teasing, she pinned Ferris to the wall, though this was a mistake as Ferris used his magic to make her arm wither, and Anastasia used hers to strike Capella and make her fall through the floor, where Al was waiting to confront the Sin Archbishop of Lust.
As Ferris and Anastasia escaped City Hall, Capella expressed her intrigue of Al, teasing him in a similar manner to Ferris by slowly transforming into Priscilla. However, the two still clashed, with Al managing to avoid everything she threw at him and even recognizing that her blood was not the same cursed poison she used before. Eventually, realizing he wouldn’t be able to defeat her as they were terribly incompatible, he triggered the explosion of the pillars beneath City Hall, causing it to collapse on Lust while her escaped the catacombs.
When Al resurfaced outside the destroyed City Hall, he met with Ferris and Anastasia, who were talking about their trump cards. This, however, led to Al suspecting that “Anastasia” was not Anastasia, as she couldn’t use magic, and he held his sword at her throat. Ferris was forced to calm him down, and immediately after, Lust appeared, completely unharmed. Deciding to retreat after bringing out her Gospel, she set her demi-beasts on the group, forcing them to run away as she cackled and retreated.
Bout Between Tiger and God[]
Soon after arriving at the first district’s tower, Garfiel and Wilhelm encountered numerous monstrosities that seemed to be large blobs of meat. Despite being caught off guard, the two were quickly drawn into battle against their respective opponents: Garfiel to Kurgan and Wilhelm to Theresia. After Wilhelm knocked the hood off of Theresia’s head, Garfiel was ambushed by the meat blobs and was dragged away from the area, with Kurgan following after him.
Their fight dragged out across the district, with Garfiel combining his partial beastification, shields, and Divine Protection to defend against Kurgan’s eight arms. Unlike last time, Kurgan even drew out all of his Demon Cleavers, believing Garfiel to be a worthy opponent. That said, Garfiel remained mostly on the losing side, having taken severe beatings repeatedly from the War God and using his Divine Protection to heal himself. Eventually, their fight was dragged into the water, where Garfiel was at a severe disadvantage. Not allowing his opponent to die of drowning, Kurgan punched a hole into a nearby building, allowing the two of them to fight on the ground again.
The building they found themselves in was one of the shelters, filled with numerous citizens. Despite the audience, Kurgan prepared himself to fight Garfiel again. With his family and all the nearby bystanders cheering him on, Garfiel utilized his beastification and clashed with Kurgan again. Though Garfiel still took damage, he successfully managed to shatter one of the Demon Cleavers, and after withstanding a pounding, he managed to bite out Kurgan’s throat. Calling the fight magnificent, Kurgan faded into dust, and Garfiel was left lying on the ground. With the fight over, his younger brother and sister came over and helped him speak into his conversation mirror.
Sword Dance of the Demon and Saint[]
Reinhard appears to defeat Theresia.
Separated from Garfiel, Wilhelm continued to fight Theresia, in a dance reminiscent to the one they had in their youth. Naturally, the Sword Demon struggled against his wife, the Sword Saint. He was eventually able to take the upper hand against her, and he nearly brought her down. However, when Heinkel appeared and recognized his mother, she slashed her distracted husband, and she ran to attack her son. Her attack was able to be prevented by the arrival of her grandson, the current Sword Saint. Then, with a swing of the Dragon Sword Reid, he cut her down.
With her defeat, Theresia and Wilhelm shared their final moments together, and she turned to ash in Wilhelm’s arms. Unfortunately, this death wreaked havoc on the relationships of the three Astrea men, and they all decided to leave the area.
Aftermath[]
With the fight over, Subaru, Emilia, Sylphy, and the wives made their way to City Hall, only to find rubble. However, thanks to Liliana playing her music for the crowd that had gathered, she was able to soothe everyone who had been afflicted with Sirius’s Authority. Anastasia soon made her appearance and led Subaru and Emilia to the shelter that they were using. There, they discovered that Mimi and Garfiel, who were previously heavily injured, managed to recover to proper form. Though they’d need more time to rest. Otto’s legs were also damaged during the fight.
After meeting with the other members of their camp, Subaru, Emilia, and Beatrice went to visit Sirius, who was guarded by Al. There, they learned that the Witch Cult is not completely aligned in its goals, and in fact, the Sin Archbishops did not care whether the Witch of Envy was revived, nor did they care about whether their comrades survived or not. As Subaru decided to leave, Sirius realized that he was not Petelgeuse, though she did say for him to keep his body intact for the day that his spirit resurges within him, warning him to make sure to kill the Sin Archbishops of Gluttony.
Julius was forgotten.
Shortly after, Subaru happened upon Wilhelm, who received few injuries, and he carried the remains of his wife, wishing to give her a proper burial. Subaru asked to come see her grave when it was ready, which Wilhelm agreed to. However, Subaru soon noticed Julius hanging around outside the shelter, and he chased after him. Here, it was revealed that Julius’s name was devoured, and Subaru was the only one who could remember him.
In the meeting that followed, it was revealed that the people who were transformed by Capella could not be returned to normal through healing. Similarly, there were many people who had lost their names and memories, such as Julius’s brother Joshua, who was among the forgotten. Meanwhile, Crusch also remained cursed, though because Subaru knew he could do something about it if there was no other solution, she wasn’t as bad off. With Emilia deciding to put Lust’s victims into cryostasis until they could be reverted back, Felt and Reinhard took responsibility for escorting Sirius to the Royal Capital’s Prison Tower, and Anastasia made the offer to travel to the Pleiades Watchtower, where they could meet the Sage known as Shaula and potentially learn of a way to fix Lust and Gluttony’s victims.
Shortly after, Subaru confronted “Anastasia” while Reinhard waited outside the door. Realizing that the girl in front of him was someone else, he questioned her, and she revealed herself to be Echidna, an artificial spirit, the one the Witch Cult was most likely targeting. Her name and attitude set him off, but she was able to calm him down while explaining her reason for suggesting going to the watchtower. Having switched places with Anastasia before the fight’s conclusion, she was unable to return it to its original owner, and the Sage was her best chance of finding a way to give it back. Because of this, she and Julius would be tagging along with the Emilia Camp on their expedition to the Watchtower. With Subaru deciding to take his leave, he thanked Reinhard and asked him to keep what he heard a secret. Reinhard told him to be careful on this expedition, as even he could not make it to the tower.