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{3rd Pov}
Subaru stepped into the familiar, eerie atmosphere of the trial chambers once more. He glanced at Echidna's soul floating near him and said, 'Before I bring you back to life, there's something I must do first—I want to meet all the Witches again.'
Echidna's lips curled into a sly, amused smile. A soft giggle escaped her. 'How greedy of you, Subaru. Are you trying to gather with the Witches again just to see if you can mimic the abilities of dead women?'
She admired his Greed—the sheer intensity of it reflected her own so closely that it was almost uncanny. It was this shared hunger, this boundless desire for more, that made her believe Subaru was a perfect match for her in every possible way.
Without hesitation, she complied with his request. Taking his hand, she guided him back to the Castle of Dreams, the ethereal realm where the laws of the living no longer applied. There, with a wave of her will, she summoned the presence of all the Witches once more.
In moments, the chamber filled with unique, powerful presences.
"Why have you summoned us again?!" Minerva barked impatiently, stomping her foot onto the ground with enough force to cause a tremor. Her golden hair swayed with her fury.
"Subarun, you've awakened me once more… Ugh, I'm hungry," Daphne moaned, her tiny frame bound to the fourth Great Mabeast, her expression half-lidded and starved.
"Baru! You're back again so soon!" Typhon chirped happily, waving her hand energetically, her eyes twinkling with mischief and affection.
"Oh boy… What is it this time?" Sekhmet muttered with a bored sigh, lying lazily on the ground, her languid body motionless except for her fluttering lashes.
Carmilla, ever shy and reserved, blushed furiously at Subaru's presence and chose to remain silent, hiding half her face behind her delicate scarf, her eyes trembling with bashful awe.
Echidna clapped her hands, a sharp sound that drew all their attention like a schoolteacher calling a rowdy class to order. Her voice carried a trace of triumph, wrapped in sugar and steel.
"There has been a new development, dear Witches," she announced with a smirk, her tone practically singing with pride.
"Our Subaru has defeated the Great Rabbit."
Gasps and murmurs filled the air. The Witches, however, found Echidna's gushing praise more amusing than the actual feat. Her tone carried an almost childlike admiration, and they couldn't help but find it slightly ridiculous.
The Witch of Greed was now flattering someone—having essentially sold herself because of her own insatiable greed.
"It seems Subarun really did eat all of them," Daphne commented with a dreamy tone, her body swaying.
"That... is really... quite an accomplishment," Sekhmet added between yawns, though her tone remained indifferent.
Minerva, folding her arms, arched an eyebrow. "So, is that why you dragged us all here again?"
Echidna's grin widened, her amusement now dripping with smug satisfaction.
"Of course not. I've brought you here to show off just how marvelous my husband is," she said, her voice practically dripping with affection and possessive pride. "You all should witness what our Subaru is capable of now. Do you even know what his Authority of Greed and Authority of Lust are capable of?"
At this, even Sekhmet and Minerva straightened slightly, sensing there was more to the statement than Echidna's usual theatrics.
"It must be something impressive," Sekhmet muttered, her eyes narrowing slightly, studying Echidna's unusually genuine expression.
"Indeed. Prepare to be amazed," Echidna declared. "His Authority of Greed allows him to replicate any ability he desires—even the unique Authorities possessed by us Witches and those held by the Sin Archbishops themselves!"
"What?!" Minerva shouted, her eyes wide with shock and disbelief. Her jaw fell open at the magnitude of such a power.
"T-That's... that's quite... impressive," Carmilla whispered shyly, barely peeking out from behind her scarf, her cheeks glowing red.
"So... you're here to... acquire our Authorities?" Sekhmet asked slowly, her tone unreadable as she half-lidded her gaze at Subaru.
Subaru stepped forward and nodded with a composed, confident look on his face. "That's correct. I believe your Authorities, each unique and powerful in its own way, can be of immense use in my future battles. If you are willing to share them, I'd be grateful."
"Hey! You can already stand against Satella! Just how much stronger do you want to become?!" Minerva asked, baffled.
"As expected," Sekhmet murmured, rubbing her temple. "Birds of a feather flock together… You and Echidna, you're both bottomless pits of ambition."
Echidna and Subaru both possessed insatiable greed.
Then Typhon, ever enthusiastic, bounded toward Subaru, her small figure full of energy and excitement. She puffed out her non-existent chest proudly and declared, "Baru! Take my Authority! I want you to have it!"
Subaru chuckled warmly and patted her head, causing the Witch of Pride to giggle with delight and close her eyes in bliss.
"Thank you, Typhon," he said genuinely.
And so, Subaru successfully copied her Authority—the Authority of Dichotomy and Guilt.
It was a powerful Authority that he could use to judge sinners. It determined what was considered a sin in the user's eyes, and if the target had indeed sinned, they would experience pain proportional to the severity of their sin.
If the target felt guilt for their sin, their body would shatter like glass, often resulting in horrific gore.
And the best part? No one was immune to its effects!
His eyes shifted toward Sekhmet, who rolled her eyes in exasperation.
"Very well… boy, copy my Authority as well," the Witch of Sloth said lazily, and suddenly, massive palms materialized in the air before them.
Unlike the Authorities of Petelgeuse and Subaru, which manifested from their backs or fronts, these enormous hands simply appeared suspended in midair, seemingly detached from any physical body.
Without hesitation, Subaru copied her Authority. Then, turning to the other Witches, he said firmly, "I don't think I'll copy any more of your Authorities."
"A wise choice," Sekhmet nodded in agreement. "Daphne's Authority… leads to overwhelming hunger. And Carmilla's Authority… is somewhat uncontrollable."
Subaru then fixed his gaze on Echidna. "However, how about I copy your Authority?"
The Greedy Witch's smile faltered for the briefest moment, a flicker of hesitation crossing her features.
Well, it doesn't matter, Echidna thought to herself. It's not like I'm the only one who can peer into the memories of the world. Then she said aloud, "Very well. Copy it."
With that, Subaru acquired yet another new Authority.
Suddenly, Minerva interrupted him, her voice sharp with surprise. "Wait a minute! I understand why you won't take Daphne and Carmilla's Authorities, but what about mine?!"
Subaru looked at her as she stomped her foot on the ground, causing a minor tremor. "I mean, doesn't your Authority cause trouble as well?"
"It isn't that bad! Besides, you'd be able to save people with it!" Minerva argued passionately.
Subaru rolled his eyes in exasperation. He had no intention of going from an SSS-Rank Fighter to an A-Rank healer who couldn't even kill a fly.
"Who are you fooling?!" Echidna stepped in with a knowing smile, revealing the true nature of Minerva's ability. "Your Authority literally makes it impossible for your attacks to kill anyone."
Minerva puffed her cheeks in frustration and looked away as tears welled up and escaped her eyes.
"Bad guy! I'm not going to talk to you anymore!" she declared, crossing her arms stubbornly.
Subaru didn't care and was about to leave when Echidna dropped another bombshell.
"By the way, Subaru's Authority of Lust grants him power over life and death. So, he is about to resurrect me," Echidna announced calmly.
Every Witch in the room paused. They blinked in disbelief, their eyes darting from Echidna to Subaru and back again.
"W-Wait, how does that even make sense?!" Minerva exclaimed, pointing at him in shock.
"W-Wait a minute… does that mean Baru can revive us?" Typhon asked quietly, and the room fell into a stunned silence.
"Perhaps I can," Subaru admitted, "but resurrecting even one Witch is already crazy by Laguna's standards. Sorry, but I won't be resurrecting any of you… at least, not for now."
"Subarun, it's better if you don't revive me… I feel too hungry," Daphne murmured weakly.
"Yeah, boy… resurrecting Witches would only spread chaos across the world," Sekhmet added with a weary sigh.
"Are we seriously going to ignore the fact that he can literally bring people back to life?!" Minerva said, baffled.
Was Subaru secretly Od Laguna's bastard child or something?
(A/N: Nah, it's Reinhardt XD. I sometimes imagine Heinkel's wife was actually impregnated by Od Laguna and that Heinkel's memories were manipulated—it's the same scenario as in my Unique Skill Great Sage fic.)
With the conversation with the Witches concluded, Subaru left the Castle of Dreams and went to revive the Witch of Greed upon finding her lifeless body.
'I'm curious,' Subaru thought as he looked at her. 'You said the current you and your past self are different people. So, who do you think will be revived?'
'Hmmm, I am both Echidna and the past Echidna at the same time,' she replied honestly. 'However, there was an error in preserving my soul, so you could say a portion of me dissipated. Because of that, I'm not entirely sure.'
'Then let's find out,' Subaru smirked confidently.
He used his Authority on Echidna's dead body, encased in a glass coffin. Her soul began to glow brightly, growing older by the moment.
Yes, she was regaining the lost portion of her soul, returning to her mature self once more. Soon, her soul began merging seamlessly with her body.
The revived Echidna gasped softly. Her eyelids fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes.
Subaru broke the glass coffin, freeing her, and she gradually stood up.
"I-I am back," she whispered, her voice filled with wonder and a hint of relief.
The Witch of Greed was back, not that of Castle of Dreams, but the one that loved Flugel dearly.
To be continued...
(A/N: I hope you liked the chapter.
Do you know that one sect of Hinduism believes that everything originates from Shakti? Shakti is the female expression of power, thus all of them believe her to be Supreme Deity and the Trimurti to be born from her womb.
One might argue that this might be the first religion where woman was considered the Ultimate being, the God.
This version of story is adapted by Marvel, where they butchered the Shakti to Greek Goddess Gaea, who reproduced the Trimurti asexually or the sexual partner being unknown.
It is like reducing your mother to a common whore, man they totally don't respect any religion. I mean they don't even respect their own religion so that was expected.
Thankfully or unfortunately they never visited India, and people here don't know about it.
Otherwise I can totally see their bodies pierced by Goddess' Trident by her fanatic believers while screaming "Jai Shero wali!"
Anyway, our True Witch of Greed is back!
She is the real waifu material, and it only makes it better knowing that this is the Witch that Roswaal fell in love with it.
Poor guy, the woman ignored him for Flugel whom she genuinely fell in love with later on, and now Subaru.
Who wants some Roswaal being cucked?
Of course it would be after Reina, only the best girl deserves the best cock first)