a waste of your time, fanatic. I'm too late, ain't I?! Jackasses like you always go by the same damn playbook!" "Wait, hold on, 'too late'? You mean Izabella is...?" Kaito's face went pale. The next moment, Izabella's smiling face flashed vividly across his mind. White light had been exploding at her back, and she'd been smiling. Even with the cruel scars etched across her face, she'd still been beautiful. Izabella is... A chuckle slipped unbidden from the Grave Keeper's mouth. Kaito reflexively made to grab at her vestment's collar. Skreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Before he could, though, a shrill noise filled the room. As it did, the leather flap at the camp's entrance violently flapped inward. Everyone turned to look. Heaving a stately sigh, the Grave Keeper rose to her feet. Her crimson cloak trailed behind her as she silently walked to the entranceway and unfastened its leather knot. When she rolled it up, an orb flew inside, along with a mysterious, cutting wind. The orb was one of the Church's communication devices. The wings on its sides softly fell out as it alighted on the Grave Keeper's palm. Runes ran across its surface, ones far more intricate than those Kaito was familiar with. It looked like the message the Grave Keeper had just received had been encrypted. After she read it, her eyes narrowed. "Good work out there. Now convey this to the lookout: 'It's Yah Llodl all over again.'" The Grave Keeper gently tossed up the communication device. A fresh pair of wings sprouted from its sides. Then they flapped, and the orb took off. After watching it get swallowed up by the snowscape, the Grave Keeper returned the entrance to the way she'd found it. Turning back around, she placed a hand atop her chest. Her scarlet cloak fluttered as she gave a deep bow to those assembled. "I'm afraid I must take my leave. It's quite unfortunate, but there are some rather troubling matters I find myself needing to attend to. While it was perhaps too short to glean much importance from, I believe that our little rendezvous was a meaningful one. Pagan hunts and inquisitions are so ineffective, and they leave such poor legacies, after all. Not even I wish to turn all the world's creatures against me. Instead, I simply pray that you all will find it in yourselves to have a change of heart, even if it's but a small one." The Grave Keeper's words were chosen carefully. The scariest thing, though, was the fact that the sheer compassion dripping from her voice seemed entirely heartfelt. She placed her small palms together and closed her eyes, as though she was praying. "'You are free to act as you will. But pray that God shall be your salvation. For the beginning, the middle, and the end all lie in the palm of His hand.' The blessings of God and the Saint on you all." Then the Grave Keeper raised her head and offered them a sweet smile. Not a single person returned it. Seemingly unhurt by that fact, though, she began walking. The beastfolk stared daggers at her as she rolled up the leather door once more. However, she stopped for a moment before heading out into the snowscape. "But worry not. We'll be enemies from here on out, just as you wish." With that quiet murmur, she began walking again. The entrance flapped back to a rest. And with that, she was gone. It feels like a typhoon just passed through. Kaito surveyed the room in a daze. It looked no different than it had before, but it felt as though it had been draped in a thick film. That was just how badly the entity known as the Grave Keeper had thrown the mood into disarray. As he tried to shake off a numbing sense of fatigue, Kaito turned his thoughts to Izabella's well-being. So...what happened to her? The Grave Keeper's twisted smile flashed through his mind. He recognized that sadistic smile; he'd seen it time and time again back when he was alive. He opened his mouth to speak. But before he could put his tenacious sense of unease into words, Elisabeth stood up. "We're leaving, Kaito. A clear target has presented itself to us." "A target? You mean we're gonna tail the Grave Keeper or something?" If they did that, they'd probably be able to find out where the Church had made their camp. But they also ran the risk of running into the Church's main force. Kaito chose to leave those concerns implicit. However, Elisabeth shook her head as she replied. "She knows me not, and as such, she was negligent. Ever since Godd Deos's time, I've been carefully stealing secret records from the Church and breaking their cipher. As such, I was able to read that last message." "Wait, seriously?" "Heh, seeing a code would make any mage wish to crack it. And I had my suspicions that the day such knowledge would become useful would arrive. And now it has. Rather impressive of me, if I do say so myself." As she sang her own praises, Elisabeth chugged down the rest of the tea that she'd been continuing to hold the whole time. Once she was finished, Hina, who was waiting on standby, took the empty bowl. "Good work, Hina. 'Twas splendid as always. Your talents never disappoint." "You're too kind, Lady Elisabeth. Your words fill me with such joy. But, um, if I may ask, what were the contents of the transmission?" Hina asked this question in a nervous tone. Their next actions as a group hinged on the answer. Everyone swallowed as they waited for Elisabeth's reply. Its contents, however, were unexpected. "'The cage in headquarters was opened. The lookouts were unconscious, struck in the back of the head.' In other words..." The scene he'd seen back at Elisabeth's castle spontaneously flashed before Kaito's eyes. The Butcher had been able to unlock even the Torture Princess's own Gibbet. There was no way any man-made cage could contain him. And what would he do after he escaped the cage? Elisabeth went on, her voice echoing Kaito's thoughts exactly. "At present, the Butcher's whereabouts are unknown. It would seem that he's fled somewhere." 6 Searching for Answers Now that they knew that the Butcher had escaped, they had to act fast. Leaving the warm, comfortable campsite behind them, Kaito and the others plunged once more into the world of ice and snow. The air shimmered and sparkled as it had before. The snowflakes were unchanged, too, still piled high atop the vast plain of ice. The scenery before them was radiant and beautiful, as though they'd stepped inside a snow globe. The vast, endless snowscape seemed just the same as ever. Kaito's group, on the other hand, had expanded. At the end of their procession stood Lute, clad in thick winter gear due to his inability to use magic. As the copper wolf stared straight ahead, Kaito called out to him. "Are you sure you wanna come with us? There's no telling what's gonna happen after we catch up with the Butcher, you know." "Whatever are you talking about? Sitting idly by after being insulted so would be a disgrace to my name as a warrior. And you say that this escapee of yours is not only the Apostle who summoned us to the World's End but may even know the Saint's whereabouts?! Why, how could I not pursue him?!" Lute's ears perked up as he gave his determined reply. However, he had ordered his subordinates to wait on standby at the camp. He'd claimed that too large a group would be too conspicuous, but that was likely just a pretense. He probably intended to personally take full responsibility if things went south with the Church. Kaito had been concerned about the extent of Lute's resolve, but he hadn't stopped him. Everyone's got pride, something they refuse to back down from. Right now, it's probably for the best if I just don't say anything. With Lute having joined their ranks, Kaito had decided to leave Vlad sealed in his jewel. The jewel in question was shaking at regular intervals as though trying to express its displeasure. Kaito, however, staunchly ignored it. With Lute added and Vlad subtracted, the five of them advanced, spearheaded by Gargantua. In the end, they'd decided to head for the Church's encampment. They were aware of the risk that they'd run into the Church's main force, but the amount of information they had on the Butcher's whereabouts was fundamentally deficient. In order to get a sense of which way he'd fled, they'd decided to covertly track the Church's movements. In order to avoid getting into a fight, all Deus Ex Machinas besides Gargantua were hard at work searching for their foes. It appeared that the Grave Keeper had left on foot. Her footprints were so faint, they hardly seemed to be there at all, but Gargantua followed them unhesitatingly. At present, it was equipped with extra parts specifically for that purpose. After borrowing Jabberwocky's warped glass, it had fashioned what appeared to be a pair of eyes. They were enlarged, as though they were looking through glasses, and they swiveled and turned as Gargantua made its pointy way across the icy ground. The plan had been for Gargantua to switch off with Pantagruel once the Grave Keeper's footprints faded so it could track her by her mana. However, it didn't look like that would be necessary. Kaito and the others continued following Gargantua in silence. No matter how far they went, the scenery never changed. That, in and of itself, was unsettling. If all of it is beautiful, then it kinda feels like everything in it is dead. A chill ran down Kaito's spine, one completely unrelated to the cold. The notion that they were merely going around in circles began captivating him. Right as it did, though, Gargantua came to a sudden stop. Thrusting one leg into the ice to use as a fulcrum, the automaton spun around. It turned to face Jeanne and rattled its head up and down. It was clearly conveying something to her, as Jeanne quietly nodded back. "Ah, I understand now. C'mon, ya lumps! Keep up!" Jeanne and Gargantua changed course. Turning to the side, they set out perpendicularly from where they had stopped. Kaito found it rather difficult to believe that the Grave Keeper had traveled in such a bizarre manner. It would appear that the two of them had stopped following the Grave Keeper's tracks altogether. But then where are they going? Right as doubts started crossing through Kaito's mind, though, Gargantua stopped and began walking parallel to their original route. Kaito and the others followed after it. As they did, the scenery around them began gradually changing. The ground began sloping up at a much more noticeable angle than the hill they'd visited earlier. Kaito found himself on the verge of slipping a number of times. Each time, though, Hina successfully managed to support him. Constantly thanking her, Kaito laboriously made his way up the silvery hill. Especially large snowflakes began crunching under his feet, and he called ahead to Jeanne. "So why'd we stop following the footprints and come this way instead?" "The number of sets of prints increased. Do you know why that is, mister?" "...The Grave Keeper must have met up with her subordinates. We must be near their camp." "Precisely. A keen hypothesis, coming from The Fool. Furthermore, the Deus Ex Machinas share information among themselves. According to Pantagruel, this cliff is the optimal location from which to observe their camp. Also, do make sure you avoid walking in front of Gargantua. Falling to your death before we meet our first foe would be a hell of a bad joke!" Kaito cocked his head, confused by Jeanne's warning. It sounded like there was a cliff in front of them, sure, but not