his way to his destination, which was, of all places, directly above Diablo's cradle. Izabella quietly called out, trying to get him to stop. "Wait, stop, stop, that's dangerous. You shouldn't get any closer than that." "Good heavens, to think that the Holy Knights' commander would be such a coward. Timidity and virginity go hand in hand, I suppose, which lends your reaction a certain charm to it." "I'm gonna need you to dial it way back, man. That was a pretty blatant HR violation there." "What exactly might an 'ay-char' be, my dear successor? I'm afraid that we of this world aren't familiar with that word." Vlad calmly threw Kaito's cold rebuke aside. Then he turned back to the entity before himself and peered at it, an act that would have been enough to drive any normal human mad. As he placed his hand on the side of the cradle, he let out a seductive whisper. "Upon manifestation, higher-ranked demons use their summoners as references and obtain from them language and ego. And upon gaining ego, many, like our friendly Kaiser here, go against the wishes of their inexperienced masters. This thing's summoner, though, was first-rate. The Church built it this devious little room, but even with the pacification from the room's pain, it wouldn't awaken. The order it received was so effective, it borders on a curse, you see." Kaito responded to Vlad's words with shock. Then, still dumbfounded, he turned to survey the room. The people embedded in the walls were screaming in agony. But their vocal cords had been taken from them, and their howls were silent. The only things coming from their faces were tears and saliva. And the people hanging from the ceiling with rent stomachs were the same. The entire room was perpetually filled with the pain of the living, designed to pacify the demon within. But according to Vlad, all of it was meaningless. "Wait, the Church went out of their way to build this torture chamber...and it turns out they didn't even need to?" "That they didn't, my dear. Since time immemorial, it has been an occasional habit of the weak to fearfully give offerings to the strong despite neither party wishing it. It's a tragic tale, truly, and I'm sure the unfortunate victims around us find it more appalling than any." Vlad chuckled, and Kaito clenched his fists. As they did, Diablo continued peacefully breathing. It looked like a satisfied child, one who had never so much as experienced sorrow. Vlad drew his face close to the child's, which was repulsive in a difficult-to-quantify way. This time, his laugh was tinged with irony. "Heh, no matter how proficient its master's order, seeing an entity with power enough to destroy the world merely sleeping like this after manifesting is wholly unprecedented. And I say that as someone who lives in that very world." "Nay, you were burned through and through till you were well and truly dead. I made quite certain of that." "Ah, right you are. Burned to death by my own beloved daughter, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha. Wait, no, I suppose that isn't anything to laugh about. But, well, I exist in some capacity, in any case. And because of that, it would be rather bothersome if the world went and got itself destroyed. But at the same time, as a mage, leaving Diablo to its rest seems altogether a waste. At any rate, though, it won't wake unless it receives a new order from its contractor." As she heard Vlad's declaration, Hina narrowed her emerald eyes just a hair. As she stood beside Kaito, she laid her hands over the breast of her maid uniform and clasped them together tightly. "Its contractor..." Seeing her unease, Kaito drew himself closer to her. After exchanging a glance, the two of them nodded. Jeanne had already told them who the contractor was. The Suffering Saint revered by the Church. She's the one contracted to the first demon. The long-sung legend of the world's restructuring at the hand of the Saint had another, hidden side to it. Before becoming known as the Saint, she'd formed a contract with the most powerful demon. While it's unclear what her objective was, she was unable to maintain control and ended up destroying the world. In her regret, she summoned God, formed a contract with Him, and rebuilt the world. But she was unable to endure her two contracts, nor was she able to die, so instead, she fell into a deep slumberâ€”and ever since, the truth had been perverted, leaving the focus solely on the fact that she'd carried God within her body as the savior who rebuilt the world. And because of that, she'd become worshipped as the "Suffering Saint." Part of the reason that the order she gave to the First Demon was so effective was probably because she used God's power for it as well. As that thought crossed his mind, a small question arose with it. The Saint was supposed to be the only one capable of waking up the first demon. That meant that the people plotting to set the world's rebuilding in motion couldn't wake it up, either. But if that was the case, then where was the woman who possessed that power resting? An eternal slumber, huh? Death and sleep were very different. And unlike Diablo, it was conceivable that any human would be able to wake up the Saint. If the Church got their hands on her, they'd be able to implore her to bring about the miracle of restructuring. That was something he and the others definitely needed to prevent. But where in the world could she be? "Hey, do we have any idea where the Saint might be? She isn't dead, right? Because if she isn't, then we gotta find her before the Church does." "You've asked an uncharacteristically pertinent question, mister. Allow me to answer it. We the Church, and for that matter all of humanity, have no idea where the Saint currently rests. And the Church has spared no effort in trying to locate her. But after all their investigations and expeditions, the only things they were able to locate were relics. And they were hunks of trash, the lot of 'em! And the other mages and believers looking for her found no more success than they." "Well...I guess that's good news. That means that there's no way to bring about the world's restructuring. I mean, without the Saint, Diablo won't wake up. And they can't pray to God to start the rebuilding, either, right?" Kaito felt a deep sense of relief. When he did, though, Jeanne's eyes flashed as though she was looking at an incorrigible dunce. It was impressive, given that the rest of her face was as expressionless as always. Elisabeth heaved a heavy sigh. Kaito tilted his head to the side, unsure of what had been so stupid about what he'd said. Even after running it all back through his mind, he couldn't find any contradictions. Jeanne shrugged her bare shoulders derisively. "You really are The Fool, aren't you, mister? The Church desires the world's restructuring due to their blind faith in the Saint. Despite knowing of the first demon's existence, the reconstruction sect still believes the Saint to possess boundless mercy. Because of that, they believe that no matter how they go about destroying the world, the Saint will naturally appear amid the rubble and carry out the rebuilding. Diablo is but one method at their disposal. Of course, they would doubtless prefer to find her themselves and witness the miracle firsthand." "Wait, b-but are people even capable of such wide-scale destruction on their own?" "With ease. And especially now that the Church can produce as much of the Monarch's meat as they desire." Elisabeth responded matter-of-factly to Kaito's doubts. Without a shred of hesitation, she put forth a cruel supposition. "Let us say, as an example... All they'd have to do is cart a small army of transformed sinners to the border leading to the beastfolk and demi-human lands. War would break out, the forests would burn, and the earth would be shattered. And there's no shortage of other methods one could conceive of. Just think back to your past life. You should be well acquainted with mankind's capacity for tyranny, and the means of destruction at their disposal are legion." "The Church...the Church would never resort to such inhumane methods!" Suddenly, Izabella cried out. Kaito and the others all looked at her. Kaito's gaze was unconsciously tinged with pity. Her silver armor, what had once been proof of her status as a paladin, still shone. But she'd just defeated a monster created by a high priest called the Grave Keeper, and her armor now sported dark stains from its blood. Ironically, her own body served as a rebuttal to her outcry. Even so, she continued her emotional appeal. "I'll concede that ever since the demon subjugation, a group within the Church has been acting suspiciously. Within the paladins, as well. And I'm well aware of how unusual this place is, along with the fact that they worked to conceal it. But the vast majority of the high priests are good, respectable people. Why are you all so unable to trust in their dignity and virtue? My paladins wouldn't stand for the sorts of atrocities you speak of!" The more she spoke, the more she affirmed the perversion lurking within the Church. Her voice was full of desperation, as though she was clinging to something. But Jeanne merely looked at her the way one would at a willful child. "Would you mind being quiet, miss? It takes a thief to catch a thief, they say! Even if you and your friends get pissed off, it ain't gonna change shit! Organizations are like centipedes. The body follows the head, even if it doesn't quite know what it's doing. And people would sooner discard their dignity and virtue than be left behind. To put it kindly, it's proof of their loyalty. To put it less kindly, well, sometimes abandoning one's judgment ends up working toward the greater good. This time, however, the head is beyond salvation. Shit's rotten to the core." "B-but..." "Godd Deos's death was the turning point, no doubt. With nobody near the head to stop it from running wild, the situation can quickly turn for the worse, with little regard for the opinions of those involved." Izabella choked back her rebuttal. She was probably well aware of examples where organizations had undergone transformations without their members noticing. Still silent, she bit down on her lip. Jeanne, on the other hand, went on. Her tone was that of an instructor. "There exist shepherds who would gladly cast themselves into the fire just to catch a glimpse of a miracle. And most of their sheep will blindly follow after them. Only when the situation becomes irreparable will the people first cry out. How did things get to this point? they will say, one and all." Izabella offered no reply, instead choosing to remain completely silent. But she hadn't given upâ€”she was clearly thinking in earnest about something. Concerned about how deeply she seemed to be brooding, Kaito called out to her. "Hey, Izabellaâ€”" "Therefore, before the situation reaches the point of no return, we must locate and obtain the Saint." Jeanne, though, continued talking, paying no heed to Izabella's mental anguish. Kaito went quiet for the time being. At the moment, figuring out their next course of action was of utmost importance. "If the situation degraded into a race war, reverting it would be nigh impossible, after all. It'd be like charging straight into Hell! Ain't shit a group of our size could do about that!" "But you have no information on the Saint's whereabouts, either, aye? What do you intend to do about that?" "True. But that's not to say the information doesn't exist." Jeanne offered an unexpected answer to