really a reason to tell people outside of this party, and everyone here already knew that Satella was sealed here.

However, Shaula's reaction was really interesting. By the way she was afraid that you could do something with the information, it made it seem like the shrine was easily accessible. 

You shrugged your shoulders. The only reason you'd want to even come close to Satella was to maybe get her to help you defeat Reid, but that was out of the picture.

"Don't worry," you assured her, "I won't tell anyon-."

"NO!"

Shaula interrupted you with a panicked yelp, and it was startling. She covered her mouth with her slender hands and began looking around the library with a crazed expression before setting her sights on the staircase.

With wide and teary eyes, she turned to Omega and hurriedly exclaimed, "Somebody broke a rule! Don't follow me!" 

Before you or Omega could do anything, Shaula sprinted down the staircase, and it only took a few seconds for her urgent footsteps to fade into the distance.

"What was that?" you wondered, having no idea what was going on. "We didn't break any rules just now, did we?"

Omega stroked her chin, thinking hard about this. "It is unlikely, and the maid could not have triggered this since I ordered her to rest. In addition, even if Meili were not afflicted with miasma, I do not believe she possesses the strength to break any rules other than disrespecting the library. This leaves either the clown or some external party."

You thought about her words for a few moments. "As much as I don't like him, I don't think Roswaal would do something like this, since he can't do anything to harm us and he actually wants to get to the last Trial. It doesn't add up to me."

"I agree," Omega said, "and this leaves our culprit as some unknown party. We can consider potential suspects as we descend to the trouble."

You nodded your head. Shaula told the two of you not to follow her, but what could be worse than sitting here and doing nothing? You proceeded to cast El Akra on yourself, and you picked Omega up.

She didn't protest since this was the most efficient way to get down the stairs, and you started leaping down several steps at a time, following the curve of the walls as they rushed past your body.

It took you a couple of minutes to reach the fourth floor, but as soon as you did, you were on high alert.

Everything was dead silent, and as Omega slowly climbed out of your arms, she scanned across the dimly-illuminated walls. Right now, the dining hall stood in the middle of the space so there was a large section of the fourth floor that hid behind it, where the Green Room was.

Carefully, she whispered to you, "It is feasible that the Witch Cult is responsible for this, but assuming so is concerning. To traverse the Augria Sand Dunes and break through Sand Time without our skills would require either Regulus Corneas or some other Archbishop whose Authority is considerably formidable. In the worst case scenario, there are multiple Sin Archbishops present, so we must not make a single error from here on out."

"If it's Regulus," you replied while keeping your eyes scanning the area around you, "I can handle him. If it's anybody else, we need to get everyone together so we can have an advantage."

There was a slight pause as Omega assessed the situation. "Let us check the Green Room first. If the clown is still there, his combat abilities will be quite comforting to have if our foe is not Corneas. Next, we must find Shaula."

Omega pressed her back to yours and the two of you slowly walked over to the Green Room. She kept her eyes focused on the approaching side of the dining hall, and you watched the farther side. In addition, you walked close to the wall so that an attack couldn't come from behind.

When the pair of you safely reached the Green Room, its door flew open, and a gust of wind magic was fired at your necks.

Omega countered it with ease and immediately asked, "Ram, what transpired here? Shaula claimed that a rule was broken, and given that you were ready to fight, you must have at least a basic grasp of the situation at hand."

You kept an eye outside of the Green Room, so unknown to you, Ram was crouched in front of Rem, ready to defend her sister.

"I do not know when, but Roswaal left, and then a boy came inside and attacked only a minute ago," the oni explained with gritted teeth. "He was fast, and could have killed Rem if he wanted to, but he took the little girl instead."

"He took Meili?! What did he look like?" you asked with urgency while still looking outside of the room. "Did he say anything?"

Ram clicked her tongue out of annoyance toward herself. "I was asleep when he intruded, and I cannot recall any of his words. The boy was cloaked, so I did not see his face, but he must not have been much taller than Meili. Please forgive me for my incompetence."

On the inside, you knew that things were getting much worse, but at least Ram's single piece of information was useful. "This might just be bias from me since I've been wanting to kill him for a while, but Lye Batenkaitos, the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony who attacked me, Rem, and Crusch, fits that height criteria," you noted gravely.

There was a heavy silence as Omega and Ram processed this information. 

You didn't see her reaction, but the fact that a harsh breeze was flaring up from behind told you everything you needed to know.

"I will find him," Ram announced vehemently. "(Y/N), protect Rem with your life."

"No," Omega commanded, as she held her hands out to the side, completely blocking the doorway, "you will remain here. The best way to protect your little sister is to fill this room to its maximum occupancy. I do not care who the attacker is; you will rest tonight so that we still have a way to exit this tower."

Ram gasped as she clenched her fists. "You dare deny me the opportunity to save my little sister?! If a rule has already been broken, then why must we fear further repercussions?! For all I know, we will suffer the same punishment if we attempt to leave this place after Gluttony has been slaughtered!"

"This is an order. Stay here, or your sister may die because you were not by her side, protecting her." Omega coldly stared at Ram and waited for the oni to stop talking back.

There was a sharp thud as Ram punched the grass that surrounded Rem's wheelchair. "Bring him here, alive. I will be the one to finish him!" 

"If it is indeed Lye Batenkaitos who has infiltrated the Pleiades Watchtower, then we will do our best to capture him," Omega promised. "After all, there is merit in interrogating him before he is executed."

You didn't see Ram's reaction, but Omega started to walk away from the Green Room, so you followed her. The stone door slid itself back into place, and once it stopped scraping against the ground, the fourth floor was once again devoid of sound.

At the moment, Meili's whereabouts concerned you the most. Without breaking concentration on your surroundings, you whispered, "I know you said we're going after Roswaal or Shaula, but I really feel like we should find Meili. If we find her, we can probably find whoever it is that took her."

Omega hummed as she considered this. "Something is not right. There was very little time between Shaula's reaction and the abduction of Meili. I can only imagine that a trap awaits us if we pursue her."

You grinned in response. "Well, it's not much of a trap if we know about it, right?"

Before Omega could say anything, a crashing noise came from inside the dining hall. Since you still had El Akra active, you immediately jumped toward the sound, trusting that Omega had your back.

The door was already wide open, so you dashed through it, preparing to be attacked. As you entered, there was a loud scream, and you instantly recognized it as Meili's voice. 

"Meili!"

The long tables had been thrown onto their sides, and several of the magic lanterns that lit the room were smashed and on the floor. In the middle of this mess was Patrasche, who stood over the terrified Mabeast User in a defensive stance.

"Meili and Patrasche are in here!" you yelled to Omega, who was just now entering the dining hall. There was only one entrance, so once she entered, she sealed it with an earthen wall, trapping everybody inside.

Omega proceeded to create a bright orb of light that illuminated every corner of the room, leaving minimal shadows for the assailant to hide inside.

As she did this, you carefully approached Patrasche. 

"You're safe now," you gently said to Meili as you crouched next to her, "so can you tell me what just happened?"

Meili nervously laughed, and when she snapped her head towards you, you could tell that she wasn't entirely sane at the moment.

"Hehehe... He's going to eat us," she muttered as she slowly entered a fetal position and began rocking in place. "He's still here. He wants to kill you. He's going to e-a-t you. Hehehehe..."

You bit your lip as you saw that the miasma was still affecting Meili, and whatever it was that just happened to her must have really scared her.

"He said he's going to eat us?" you asked Meili calmly so you didn't make her freak out any more than you had to.

"I ALREADY SAID THAT!" the young girl lashed out at you, and she tried to leap onto you with malice. 

Patrasche grabbed Meili by the back of her clothes and kept her in place.

"Thanks, Patrasche," you said as you patted the earth dragon on the head. "And thanks, Meili, for telling me all this."

Projecting your voice throughout the room, you declared, "Lye! If you're here, then come out and fight me! Come out and get a taste of me if that's what you want!"

Nothing happened, and Omega began using wind magic to shift the fallen tables around, revealing any hiding spots. After searching for a minute, Lye Batenkaitos was nowhere to be found, and you started to question if he was actually here.

Your next question was why you were suddenly on the ground.

For some reason, it felt impossible to move your body. Everything became cloudy, and although you could hear Omega's voice, it was incredibly muffled. It didn't help that there were suddenly explosions everywhere, and a puddle of what must have been your blood pooled up and obscured your vision.

As quickly as this happened, your senses returned to you, and you could feel your body again.

As you wiped the blood from your eyes, you felt that you were being dragged by the collar, probably by Patrasche. Meili was screaming in your ears, so the earth dragon was probably carrying the two of you to safety.

"What was that?" you weakly asked. 

Nobody answered your question, and you could tell that El Akra had deactivated after you got hit by the surprise attack. 

You cast Akra on yourself, and the moment you did, Patrasche squawked loudly before falling and dropping you onto the ground. Your body rolled a few times before you gained control and stood up.

Finally, your eyes were clear enough to see, and your heart fell as you quickly observed your surroundings.

The dining hall was completely destroyed, and there was a huge streak of blood behind Patrasche, whose legs had just been cut. Meili was lying on the ground, crying as she cackled with terrified laughter.

Omega was now flying toward you, so you yelled, "What was that?! There wasn't anyone in the room, and I thought I was immune to Authorities!"

When she reached you, Omega created a barrier of wind around the four of you who were now in the open. Panting, she answered, "I saw nothing of the attack. However, I must tell you that you were nearly decapitated. I healed your injury and proceeded to cause as much of a distraction as possible so that the earth dragon could retrieve your body."

Your eyes widened. "Decapitated?! Is Reid attacking us? I've fought Lye, and I can't imagine him almost killing me that easily, especially when I had El Akra active."

"No, I can say for certain that Reid is not responsible, for we would all be dead if it were him," Omega said firmly. "Additionally, I have discovered several blades of wind suspended in the air. Reid cannot do this, and I believe that this technique is what you nearly fell to. No, given our evidence, Gluttony is almost certainly here. You have fought one of the three Sin Archbishops of Gluttony, so you may have been attacked by one of the two you have not encountered, or there is a powerful partner accompanying him."  

You drowned out the whooshing of Omega's wind barrier as you tried to make sense of your racing thoughts. 

Where was Rowsaal? Where is Shaula? You were almost decapitated? What's going to happen to Meili? Who else was here? What were you going to do? Could you even win this time? Were there more wind blades in the air around the fourth floor? Did you almost permanently die just now?

Your breathing began to speed up, and it was getting much more difficult to think. The weight of everyone's lives began to crash down on your shoulders, and the thought of losing everyone was beginning to feel more and more realistic. If you didn't-

You looked down and Omega was embracing your chest. This quieted your mind immediately, and as soon as she felt your body calming down, she released the hug. Then, she looked up into your eyes. Tenderly, she affirmed to you, "I am here, so do not worry. We will do this together, and we will win."

"Thank you, I really needed that," you thanked her genuinely.

Omega proceeded to frown for some reason, and she pointed behind you. As you turned around and followed her finger, you saw that Meili was crawling toward the barrier of wind, which would tear her limbs apart if she touched it. "(Y/N), please pick her up and carry her to the Green Room. I will partially heal the earth dragon's wounds and allow the Green Room to finish the process."

You nodded your head. Without questioning anything, you picked Meili up, who squirmed in your grasp. 

"LET ME GO!" she protested and began flailing her arms and legs in hopes of hitting you. 

"I'm sorry Meili, but you'll have to be patient. Just think of Elsa for now and how she'd want you to behave."

"Elsa-nee...?" This seemed to work, because Meili stopped resisting for the moment. There were still twitches as her body wanted to thrash about, but it seemed like her willpower was stronger than the miasma at the moment.

With Meili in tow, you ran to the Green Room. When you reached the edge of the barrier, Omega parted the walls and formed another one that moved with you, creating two separate wind barriers.

You reached the Green Room right away, and Ram launched another attack as the door slid open. The wind barrier shattered either because of Ram's spell or because Omega released it. This didn't matter much to you, because you focused on putting Meili in a bed. 

The door shut behind you, and thankfully, Meili fell asleep as soon as you laid her down. To Ram, you concisely explained, "I'm not very sure who's out there, but they almost decapitated me. If it wasn't for Omega, I'd be dead right now."

Ram's jaw dropped after hearing this confession. "How careless must you be-"

The moment that her eyes were taken off of Rem, something threw both the comatose twin and her wheelchair out of the door, which was now open for some reason.

"WHAT?!" Ram shouted with confusion and rage.

Looking closely, you saw a flash of a cloak and a pair of brown, bare feet before the door closed again. 

Ram would have fired wind magic through the door, but she was afraid that she would hit Rem. Instead, she ran to the door so that it would open again. 

You did the same, and you shouted, "I'm sure now! Gluttony is out there, but be careful! He might not be alone, and there might be wind blade traps set in the air!"

When the door opened, both you and Ram froze in your tracks. There was a wind barrier that Omega created around Rem as soon as she was thrown outside, but she wasn't alone.

Next to Rem, in its own separate barrier... was also Rem.

To make things more complicated, one of the Rem's were crumpled on the floor inside the barrier, and there was a bloodstain forming on her delicate chest.

Reacting quickly, Ram yelled, "Omega! Revoke my orders that confine me in the Green Room to rest!"

Omega stopped healing Patrasche, who limped into the Green Room on her own. Even though she was against the idea of Ram wasting energy and mana, the thought of seeing what Ram had in mind was interesting enough for her to comply and release the elder maid from her orders.

"It is done. You may do as you wish," Omega informed her. "Unfortunately, I cannot determine which of these is your sister and which of these must be the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony, specifically Lye Batenkaitos. Unfortunately, I was far too concentrated on healing the earth dragon to react in time for my vision to be of use, and all calculations are useless if your sister's trajectory was altered by Gluttony in any way before or after she landed here."

Ram didn't listen to anything Omega said after she heard that she could leave the Green Room. She scowled and was unsure about what to do for a moment, but her expression was quickly replaced with a murderous grin. "I know it now. In front of me is the bastard who took my sister from me, and all I had to do was to wait for him to appear at my feet."

She took her wand out from a pocket and pointed it at the wind barrier containing the Rem who was bleeding. "Release this at once," the older twin confidently instructed.

Omega dispersed the barrier, letting the oni take full responsibility for what was about to happen. The moment she did, Ram chanted, "El Fura!" 

She fired a fierce blade of wind, one much stronger than the one that you were attacked with, at the bleeding Rem with absolute certainty that this was not her sister. This must have been due to some kind of sixth sense she had, but Ram just had a gut feeling that her sister wasn't actually harmed.

In the fleeting instant before El Fura could bisect her, the fake Rem disappeared, confirming her suspicion. 

When the copy vanished, you felt something coming from behind, so using your buffed speed, you turned around in time to see two blades aimed at your throat.

You successfully dodged the attack, and as you looked at the attacker, you could clearly see that this was Lye Batenkaitos standing behind you, and he looked ecstatic. 

Not allowing you to counter-attack, Lye disappeared again. 

"Amazing! We hate transforming, but strong food tastes e-ven better once they've been seasoned with such worthy actions ~tsu! This is what it means to eat only the finest meals! This is Gourmet!"

As he expressed his delight, Gluttony appeared behind Omega, licking his lips. This time, he didn't try to attack. Instead, he reached for her with his left hand.

In response, Omega created a wall of fire between her and the Archbishop, but it was too late. Cackling, Gluttony maneuvered away from the wall of fire, and he danced around as Ram shot wind blades at him.

While he dodged, Lye licked his left hand that had touched your partner and chanted, "Omega~"

In that instant, he suddenly fell down as he began retching. The momentum of his body carried him into a block of what used to be the dining hall wall, and you could see blood seep out of a wound on his chest, which must not have been faked. He threw up on impact, and specks of regurgitated flesh and blood