well. In their place were a large number of white feathered creatures. A second later, realization hit Kaito. The man was using his rib cage as a birdcage. "La (fly)!" Spurred on by instinctual fear, Kaito snapped his fingers. A blade went soaring toward the man. At the same time, white light flared up in the man's chest, then burst out. The two collided head-on. While the blade was successfully blocking the light, it melted like candy in the process before evaporating. Kaito shot out his second attack. But to his disbelief, the man was faster. He shot out more light, this time even brighter than the first. The white entity swallowed up the blade, but this time, it didn't stop. Kaito's eyes widened in shock. The light bore down on him. An unpleasant blasting noise rang out. As it did, the light burned away the tomb's entrance. "Master Kaito, no!" "Whâ€”?" It all happened in a single moment. Right before the light made impact, something grabbed Kaito by the scruff and yanked him backward. His back toppled into Hina's chest. After embracing him, she leaped back over the melted pit in the stairwell, then crouched down. White light burst over their heads, accompanied by the sound of an explosion. Kaito looked up. When he did, he saw that the metal decorations at the tomb's entrance that had miraculously survived were glowing red and dripping. If Hina had been even a hair slower, he would have died on the spot. "Th-thanks, Hina... Geez, I seriously misjudged that guy's power." "Oh, Master Kaito... Thank goodness, thank goodness you're safe... I was so worried for you." Still sitting firmly on the ground, Hina squeezed Kaito tightly. As one might expect from the fact it had survived the demon invasion, everything from halfway up the stairs down was unmarred. The building material itself must have had a powerful anti-magic effect to it. But the bombardment showed no signs of letting up. They'd lost the ability to carelessly go outside. Jeanne blinked, her rosy eyes flashing. "...Well now. This falls outside my expectations." "Aye, it boggles the mind. What exactly is the meaning of this? Forgoing all the proper procedures to deploy a saint, then a summoned beast bombardment without so much as passing a verdict on us? Have they gone mad? No, wait... Ah!" Elisabeth clicked her tongue, looking as though she'd just realized something. When she spoke, her tone was filled with vexation. "The completed request, the one they submitted as part of the plan to defend the Capital immediately after La Mules's death! Blast, we overlooked it!" "I suspect your hypothesis is correct. We should assume they used the permit we obtained back then. Under the pretext of killing the Kaiser's contractor and putting an end to the battle against the demons, fast-tracking its transfer would certainly be possible. And as for that light..." The one who replied to Elisabeth was Izabella. Still cradled in Deus Ex Machina's arms, she thoughtfully observed the exploding white light. Kaito followed her lead. Now that he looked closely, he could see that the light was made up of tiny skylark-like creatures. Saints' power came from sacred beasts. The man's birds were clearly far weaker than the one La Mules had been able to deploy, but in exchange, he was able to shoot them out repeatedly. Jeanne shook her head in annoyance. "As far as the reconstruction sect is concerned, the end is nigh, after all. They're starting to move more brazenly. 'The sky is falling; the sky is falling! Let's all dance, guys, memento fuckin' mori!'" "Ugh, I feel like destroying that communication device didn't do us any favors." Kaito prefaced his comment with a groan as he thought back to the device Yah Llodl had been using to communicate. The orb that Elisabeth had mercilessly skewered had been needlessly extravagant and flashy. He didn't know where Yah Llodl ranked in the Church, but the man's pride was all too evident. Kaito had no doubt that Yah Llodl's anger was only worsening his animosity toward himself and the others. That said, figuring out what their foes were thinking wasn't going to help them much at this point. This is a problem... If we can't get outside, we can't activate the teleportation circle. Kaito furrowed his brow. The bombardment showed no signs of letting up. Elisabeth clicked her tongue in frustration. "Tch, the intervals are too short. What to do. Send out Deus Ex Machina, perhaps? 'Tis fast and sturdy. Even so, it would doubtless be whittled away in short order. And you have to temporarily disassemble to activate the teleportation circle, eh... On the off chance they have a second saint in reserve, that would prove troublesome indeed. I wouldn't mind activating the circle myself, but if they set off the shackles midway through, maintaining it would be no mean feat." "I concur. We seem to have quite the problem on our hands. If the Kaiser offered his help, it would make things a deal easier, but... The bad doggy's got a lot of pride, if nothing else!" "Hmm? Did the puny human say something? Seems to me like you fancy getting yourself bitten in two." "Quit fighting, all of you. I will go." A dignified voice rang out, remonstrating them. Everyone turned to look at the speaker: Izabella. Still sitting in Deus Ex Machina's grasp, her arm was raised and her face was earnest. Jeanne blinked her eyes rapidly a few times. A few seconds later, her head slumped sharply to the side. "Have you lost your mind, miss?" "I suppose I probably have. But I suspect my odds of success are better than you think. Now, let! Me! Down!" Izabella contorted her body, her cynical remarks accompanied by a smile. Somehow, she was able to slip out from Deus Ex Machina's arms. After gracefully hopping down onto the floor, she gave a long exhale. Then she turned her blue and purple eyes toward the incessant explosions of light going off above them. She narrowed her gaze. "I know the man who summons those beastsâ€”La Christoph, the Modest Birdkeeper. I've had the honor of visiting with him a number of times. He possesses a firm spirit. Even after formally becoming a saint, he still recognized me and offered me kind words of advice." "That's...impressive." Izabella's words filled Kaito with earnest admiration. After all, La Mules, a similar saint, had lost her reason and humanity and become little more than an animal. Maybe it had just been the case that La Christoph's connection to God was weaker than hers had been, but odds were that his force of will was astounding. At the same time, being reminded of how brazenly the Church retained their saints caused Kaito to realize just how perverse of an organization it was. The cracks were always thereâ€”the current situation just tore them wide open. The time had finally come. The Church's shell had cracked, and the terrible monstrosity within was now free. That was really all there was to it. While the twisted imagery was floating through Kaito's mind, Izabella continued laying out her plan. "Even after being recognized as a saint, La Christoph persisted in his deep love for the people. I strongly doubt he knows anything about the plan to reconstruct the world. I'll need someone to block two or three of his attacks for me, but if I call out to him, I believe there's a good chance he'll stop." Izabella was totally serious. But Elisabeth crossed her arms and shook her head. "You expect a saint to see sense while firing off a bombardment? The odds are lower than low." "If I die, then all it will mean is that my work up until now was unworthy of being remembered. In that event, I will accept my fate. And I apologize, but you'll need to come up with a new plan." Izabella's voice was calm, and the evenness of her tone served to illustrate just how composed she was. Kaito reflexively shuddered. The degree of certainty in her voice was alarming. "Izabella, no!" "Oh, Master Kaitoâ€”" Kaito hurriedly stood up, wrenching himself free from Hina's arms. Then he turned to face Izabella. He stared straight into her mismatched, gemstone-like eyes. "Izabella, you can't! Whether or not that saint guy will remember you isn't the problem! It's what'll happen to you afterward. If your plan works, you won't be able to go back to the Church. Hell, even trying to will be off the table. I'm not gonna let you go through with some plan that'll get you killed, whether it works or not!" Kaito's voice rose to a shout. When Izabella replied with silence, Kaito clenched his fists. The odds were low that Izabella's callout would stop the bombardment, but they weren't zero. But if they wanted to use that opportunity to activate a teleportation circle, it would mean leaving her behind. The moment Izabella showed signs of fleeing, the saint would no doubt recommence his attack on the spot. She was, of course, a member of the Church, and the commander of the Holy Knights to boot. But given the Church's current state, even someone of her standing wouldn't be able to return safely. The situation over there was anything but upstanding. That was just how deep the roots of evil had sunk into it. The entire organization had gone completely mad. "Even if it was just because Jeanne kidnapped you, you still ended up going into the underground tomb. You can pretend not to have seen anything, but there's no way they'll believe you. And I bet the Grave Keeper will be especially pissed." Kaito's thoughts turned to the perverse nursery down in the depths of the tomb. There had been a monster with a snowy owl's head and a huge mass of tentacles stationed in front of it as a guard. It had been made by taking a holy summoned beast, feeding it demon meat, and mixing in human parts. That torture room, its guardian... It takes more than run-of-the-mill fanaticism to make messed-up shit like that. The Grave Keeper must not have had a moral bone in their body. And back in Jeanne's hometown, Kaito had seen those hideously transfigured paladins, too. It was unclear whether they'd done so willingly, but all of them had eaten demon meat. Either way, even if they'd left them alive, there was no way to save people who'd undergone transformations like that. "If you go back, they're just gonna dispose of you. If you're lucky, all they'll do is kill you. You can't go back; it's over!" "I refuse to believe that! Or rather, I want to...but even I can see the truth." Izabella answered frankly. Her voice was calm. So calm, in fact, that it filled Kaito with ominous premonitions. Izabella wasn't even trying to deny the evil lurking within the Church anymore. But even so, her smile remained. "There would normally be no shortage of people who would defend me and ensure my sentence was just. But at this rate, I'm likely to be judged behind closed doors, without my allies knowing about it. Even so, there are things I still must do. You see, I want to go back to the Church." "That's crazy talk..." "I have to make sure as many of the Holy Knights know the truth as possible. If things continue as they are, they're liable to be taken advantage of." "But you can't seriously think you're gonna get a chance toâ€”" "Even if I don't. I can't just sit back and watch my subordinates die." Izabella's words were matter-of-fact. She'd clearly had her mind made up for some time now. It was at that moment that Kaito realized something. He and Elisabeth didn't have that many people they needed to protect. At the end of the day, both of them were criminals. But Izabella was different. Many people