*PRAAAANNNGGGG*

  *!!!*

  The sound of a mirror breaking apart was reverberating across the stadium, and it sounded like it came from high above the sky.

  Everyone collectively raises their heads up towards the green fire dome above.

  There’s yet another someone breaking through the ceilings of the gigantic green fire dome, and this time, the hole was a bit bigger. After that, someone falls through, and the hole closes in on itself.

  *THUMP*

  Someone generates an invisible barrier 2cm exactly away from the surface and lands on it. Then he discards the invisible wall and lands safely on the ground.

  “Phew! Darling, you’re way too fast! I almost missed you.”

  “HONEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYY!!!”

  Leonna immediately jumps forward at the person in such a high spirit. Her chests land on the person’s face, and she hugs him tightly.

  “Darling, let’s not do this type of thing before we’re married, okay?”

  *!*

  Leonna immediately lets go of her hug.

  “I-I apologize, Honey! I was just too excited to see you. . .”

  “Nah, it’s okay! I know how you are! That’s why I have no anger in my tone at all.”

  “Yay, thank you, Honey!!”

  Leonna hugs the person once again tightly.

  “As I was saying. . .”

  The person is Veint Lucius, Leonna’s Support.

  Everyone except the two of them was very confused. They just witnessed yet another someone who is able to enter and break through the Green Reaper’s gigantic fire dome when everyone else inside couldn’t even scratch it.

  “There’s someone else who can break in through that green fire of hers. . .” said Ardina.

  “Gahahahahaha!! This world really is a big place!” Laughs Jeremiah.

  “Hmmm, to think that there are more people like that woman with the golden pair of wings. . .” said Yuichi.

  “And here I thought all of us, BWC fighters, were already a group of people standing up below the best of the best, the Ten Commandments of God.” said Kenichi.

  “Ahahahaha! This kinda makes you feel bad, doesn’t it? We’ve fought each other like our lives are on the line, and now, there are a bunch of other Believers who can even thwart all of our efforts with relative ease.” said Erika.

  “And I don’t think they have any ranks in the Brawliever app at all. . .” said Sylvianna.

  “Hohohoho! But that also means we all still have a lot of room for improvement, don’t we?” said Phil.

  “Excellent mindset, Phil-san! As expected of a gentleman of your stature.” said Gabrielle.

  “So, what’s up?? Who are these people? And why are we here?” asks Veint.

  “Oh, right! I did leave you in a hurry! As soon as I saw the gigantic fire dome, I blitzed here right away. So basically---”

  And Leonna explains everything that happened inside the stadium, along with the event that is currently going on, and the 6th Judge’s schemes.

  “Eeeeehhhhh?? Seriouslyyyyyyyyy??”

  “Yup! Yup! Seriously!”

  “*Sigh* First, our leader had a fight with the Seventh, then the 2nd also had a fight with the 4th, and now this. . .”

  “Don’t be too harsh, Honey! People deal with traumas very differently! We can’t judge them based on how we deal with our own.”

  “Yeah, okay! You’re right!”

  Veint walks to the 6th Judge and her Support and offers his hand.

  “Nice to meet you, guys! My name is Veint Lucius! I am the 5th Judge’s Support as well as her boyfriend!”

  Eissen stands up and takes up Veint’s hand.

  “N-Nice to meet you! I’m Eissen Divalo! I am the 6th Judge’s Support!”

  “Oh! You’re not dating, nor are you a family member of hers?”

  “N-No! Or at least for now! Anyway, what was that thing you said about the other Judges?”

  “Hm? The fact that they all fought each other?”

  “Y-yeah! What’s up with that?”

  “*Sigh* It’s all too complicated to explain!”

  “What are you people?”

  *?*

  Suddenly, from behind, Lukia asks all the Judges about their existence.

  “Heh! Basically, we are people chosen by Lord Jesus for a specific purpose!” said Leonna, pointing her thumb at herself.”

  “And what is that purpose?”

  “To combat the Sins of the world!”

  “Does she take people hostage after infiltrating a global-scale tournament like this, part of that purpose?”

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  *!*

  “N-NO! Of course not!”

  “I’m saying this because I also serve that same God, Lord Jesus Christ! And I have never seen or read anything regarding Him telling His followers to take this many people as hostages!”

  There is a hint of anger in Lukia’s tone.

  “I-I-I. . .”

  Mari suddenly stands up. She summons her giant scythe and points its blade towards Lukia.

  “Aqua brat! Do you wanna go again?”

  Mari speaks in anger. Lukia creates a whirling water on her right wrist, spinning at 20,000km/h.

  “Fine by me, you sensitive brat!”

  Eissen quickly grabs onto Mari’s left hand while Sierra grabs onto Lukia’s right hand.

  “M-Mari-chan! Let’s not! Okay?”

  “Lu-chan, please don’t. . .”

  Mari looks at Eissen’s eyes and sees a gaze of concern from his eyes. Same with Sierra’s towards Lukia.

  “. . .I understand, Ei-chan.”

  “Okay, Si-chan. . .”

  Both of them withdrew their Faith power. They also sit back down on the ground.

  “*Sigh* So what now?” asks Veint.

  “We’re waiting for Leader-kun and his girlfriend! They’re on their way here!”

  “Eh? Really? How long until then?”

  “Beats me! But it shouldn’t be taking long considering the Queen of Time’s Faith power.”

  “Right. . .”

  *!!!*

  But then, Veint, Leonna, Eissen, and Mari felt that something was off in the world.

  “Uuhh, what’s happening?” asks Eissen.

  “Eh? You feel it too, Ei-chan?”

  “Ah, don’t worry! I know this feeling!” said Veint.

  “Yeah! It’s the Queen of Time’s time stop! The flow of time is currently being put to a halt.” explains Leonna.

  “The Queen of Time?” asks Eissen.

  “The most famous name in the underworld?” asks Mari.

  “Eh? You know about her, too, Mari-chan?” asks Eissen.

  “Yeah! I heard it from someone in the past.”

  “Well, then! Now all we have to do is just wait for them to come!” said Veint.

  “Hmm, how long will it take?” asks Eissen.

  “Well, I don’t know! Time is stopped, soooo. . .” said Leonna.

  “Oh, you’re right.”

  .

  .

  .

  About 15 minutes later, if time keeps moving forward. . .

  *THUD THUD*

  Light and Lily have arrived at the stadium and have landed on the ground inside. Light touched the gigantic fire dome with his blackened feet, and the entirety of the fire dome disintegrated, as well as his transformation. He and Lily fell inside as his transformation on his legs was canceled, but thankfully, they landed safely below.

  “Phew! That was close. . . I was panicking when I lost control of the air on my feet. . .” said Light with a big relief.

  “Your reflex is crazy good, Light-kun! Must’ve been from all the fighting you’ve been doing since you became a Believer.” said Lily.

  *STEP STEP STEP STEP*

  Someone came running towards Light.

  “LEADER-KUUUUUNNN!!!”

  Leonna ran and jumped forward at Light with her arms wide open, lunging herself at him to hug her.

  *BAAAM*

  “UEEKHHH!!”

  But then Lily erected a giant clock-shield in front of Light, and she crashed into it in midair. She slowly falls to the ground afterward.

  “Ouch! Ouch!”

  Lily crouches towards Leonna and closes her face into hers.

  “HEY! YOU CAN’T HUG MY BOYFRIEND, YOU HEAR ME? THAT’S MY DEAR LIGHT-KUN!! HE BELONGS TO ME AND ONLY ME!! YOU GOT IT?!” said Lily with a murderous glare, directly at Leonna’s eyes.

  “Y-Yeah, yeah! Okay, understood, Lily-san! Chill with the murderous glare, okay?” said Leonna with a hint of fear in her voice but with an innocent, smiling face.

  “Yo, Light-san!”

  “Yo, Veint-kun!”

  *SLAP*

  Light and Veint high-fived each other.

  “. . .”

  Light looks to his right and left.

  “Wow, I’ve never actually been inside this stadium. It’s pretty gigantic.”

  “Is this place special or famous or something?” asks Veint.

  “Kinda! It appeared occasionally in history lessons back when I was in school. If. . . I am not mistaken.”

  “Eh?”

  “So—”

  Light walks towards Mari and Eissen.

  “Are you guys the 6th Judge pair?”

  “Yes, we are.” answers Eissen.

  “Which one is the Judge and which one is the Support?”

  “She is the Judge, and I am her Support!”

  Light offers his hand to Eissen.

  “My name’s Light Lunehart! The First Judge, the Judge of Lust. I am the leader of the Seven Layers of Judgment! Pleased to meet you!”

  Eissen takes Light’s hand.

  “P-pleased to meet you two! The name’s Eissen Divalo! She is the 6th Judge, the Judge of Greed! Her name’s Kobayashi Mari!”

  “So. . . why on earth is a Judge taking these people hostage?” said Light, directly speaking to Mari.

  “. . . .”

  “Mari-chan. . .” said Eissen.

  “These people were never in harm's way. I just used them to bait her out of her hiding.” said Mari, pointing to Sierra, who’s currently frozen in time.

  “That doesn’t make it okay. . .”

  “. . .”

  Light crouches down to Mari’s level.

  “Are you following your heart or are you following God?”

  *!*

  That question stings Mari to the core more than she initially thought it would.

  “. . .”

  “I’m not gonna say and act like I’m holier than thou, but I did something similar to this in the past. And I assure you, what I did was definitely go against the Will of God.”

  Mari was struck deeply by Light’s words, and her face was frozen for a few seconds.

  “. . .”

  “However, this doesn’t mean that He is condemning you, nor is He abandoning you. If you turn to Him, He’ll forgive you! Just like how He forgave me and changed me instead!”

  “. . .”

  “Kobayashi-san, you’re the same as the rest of us, right? He saved us when we were at our lowest.”

  Once again, Mari was surprised at Light’s words. Everything he said struck a nerve as if he experienced what she experienced.

  “I. . . I don’t know what to do. . .”

  “About what? If I may ask?”

  Mari points to Sierra.

  “Her. . .”

  “What’s up with her?”

  “I hate her. . .”

  “. . .Do you wanna talk to her?”

  “There’s nothing to talk about. She killed all of our best friends in cold blood. She said she did it for money.”

  “. . .Our?”

  Lily approaches Light and Mari.

  “Light-kun, I think it’s best if we let them talk.” whispers Lily.

  “You’re right. We’ll watch over everything just in case she wanted to kill her again, as Leonna told us.” Light whispers back.

  Lily points her hand towards Sierra, and her body glows blue.

  *!!!*

  “Who are you two? When did you arrive?”

  “Long story short, we’re just people on her side trying to help resolve this whole issue.” said Light as he pointed to Mari.

  “Then you guys shouldn’t have interfered.”

  “Huh? What do you mean?”

  “Because everything would be over quickly, the moment she kills me. Everything I did would have come to a close.” said Sierra with her eyes closed.

  “What is the relationship between you two, by the way?” asked Light to both Mari and Sierra.

  “She. . .” said both of them.

  “. . .is my best friend.” said Sierra.

  “. . .was my best friend.” said Mari.

  *!!!*

  “Hold on a second. . .”

  Mari slowly stands up, and her timid expression quickly changes into anger.

  “What did you just say to me?”

  “. . .”

  Mari summons her giant scythe once again.

  *!!*

  “ARE YOU KIDDING ME? YOU CALLED ME YOUR BEST FRIEND AFTER YOU KILLED EVERYONE I EVER LOVED IN THIS WORLD? HOW DARE YOU!! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE??”

  Mari was so angry, she shouted so loudly, and yet her tears were rolling down her face.

  “MARI-CHAN!!”

  Eissen quickly runs to her and grabs her from behind.

  “Mari-chan, please don’t! How many times are you gonna keep doing this? Until the day you die?”

  “. . .”

  Light and Lily are in front of Sierra to cover her.

  “Please don’t act out of impulses. I know that feeling all too well, Kobayashi-san. . . “ said Light.

  “. . .”

  Mari unsummons her giant scythe. Eissen lets go of his hold over her.

  Leonna and Veint join with everyone.

  “So, what should we do now, Leader-kun?”

  “I think it’s pretty obvious.”

  Light summons the Sword of Purification in his hand.

  “First, we need to know what actually happened between them!”

  “For the sake of a neutral viewpoint! I agree!” said Veint.

  “Are you okay if we take a look at your memory?” Lily asked Sierra.

  “. . .Do as you wish.”

  “How about you, Kobayashi-san?” asks Light.

  “. . .Fine by me.”

  Lily, Eissen-san, Veint-kun! You three form a big circle around all of us! We’re using Memory Link to share their memory with all of us!”

  “YES!” said all the Support at the same time.

  Leonna also summons the Sword of Purification in her hand.

  “I’ll take the 6th Judge’s memories, you handle Sierra-san’s Leader-kun!”

  “Affirmative! Everyone, let’s do this!”

  “All right!” everyone responds in harmony.

  And so, with the help of the three Support, to perform Memory Link, Light, Lily, Veint, and Leonna all finally got to take a look at what happened between Mari and Sierra in the past.