even he was dumb enough to just fall over its edge. A moment later, he took it all back. Gargantua had come to an abrupt stop. Before it lay nothingness. The ground in front of its silver legs had cleanly vanished. It was like someone had carved it off with a knife, then stuck a fork in it and carried it away. No normal cliff declined so sharply. Oh man, I would totally have fallen off there. Narrowly stopping as well, Kaito broke out in an internal cold sweat. He timidly peeked over the edge. He could make out the Church's camp way down below. A number of tents were lined up in orderly, systematic intervals. Each one bore at least two flags emblazoned with white lilies and images of the Saint. Fires were lit throughout the camp, illuminating it amid the snow. They were clearly having to put much more work into maintaining their heat than the beastfolk had. They'd probably even put their camp's back to a cliff in order to stave off some of the wind chill. The speck-like people in the camp were hustling and bustling, no doubt due to the Butcher's disappearance. After he mentally recovered from the sudden appearance of the cliff's edge, though, Kaito's eyes came to rest on something else entirely. "Hey, what's...? Oh, geez." There was something above the cliff. The figure had been frozen stiff with its arms spread out wide. It looked like a statue of some sort of pagan god or perhaps an inane scarecrow. It was a man dangling in the air. His body was supported by a thick stake, which pierced through his buttocks and exited his mouth. Frozen blood and feces dripped down between his legs. His eyes were open in an expression of intense agony. It looked like the stake had been driven in while he was still alive. With a second glance, Kaito confirmed the cruel truth: the man, clad in a luxurious vestment, had been impaled. Then his body had been put on public display atop the cliff. "Who is that?" "...Yah Llodl." "What?!" Upon hearing Elisabeth's answer, Kaito let out a surprised yelp. After Godd Deos's death, Yah Llodl had taken advantage of the Church's changing power dynamics to join its upper echelon. And even with just the small conversation he'd had with Yah Llodl over a communication device, the man's pride had been abundantly clear. Yet, now, this was the state he was in. His failure back at the underground tomb had probably been the cause. And as far as people who could have gotten away with purging him went, only one came to Kaito's mind. After all, when she'd heard about the Butcher's escape, this was what she'd said: "Good work out there. Now convey this to the lookout: 'It's Yah Llodl all over again.'" "...The Grave Keeper." There was no doubt in his mind that she was the one behind the grim spectacle before him. Kaito had long since gotten used to seeing torture. And loath as he was to admit it, looking at someone who'd been impaled almost had a sort of familiarity to it. Even so, seeing the corpse of someone whose arrogant laugh he'd just heard came as a blow. Elisabeth and Jeanne, on the other hand, seemed to regard Yah Llodl's death with complete disinterest. Taking their eyes off the body, they looked back toward the camp. "Hmph, I see." "Indeed. It's rather unambiguous." There was no reason for Lute to know who Yah Llodl was, but he still seemed to find the Torture Princesses' composure unsettling. However, he, too, realized that retreating would accomplish nothing. Because of that, he cautiously followed their lead. Kaito and Hina lined up beside them and did the same. Before long, Kaito found himself frowning. The Church's camp was even more chaotic than he'd expected. Cautious inspection made it clear that they were split into two large factions. One group of people was wearing silver armor with pelts draped over themselves to keep out the cold, and the other group was clad in scarlet, executioner-like outfits. Each one was gathered together and acting as a unit, like two herds of different beasts. "It falls well within my expectations, but it seems they aren't a monolith, are they?" "Indeed, that they are not. And it's a big ol' laugh, coming from chumps who're goin' on about reconstructing the world! You're all pilin' into the same damn grave, ain'tcha?! Shepherds and sheep refusing to get alongâ€”what a riot!" Elisabeth narrowed her crimson eyes, and Jeanne raised her voice in scorn. Kaito immediately deduced what the two of them were talking about. The paladins and executioner-looking guys aren't exactly enemies, but could it be that they're on bad terms? The paladins looked to be forming a search party all on their own. They headed south, but their spirits seemed low, and they could hardly be described as unified. Instead of rebuking them for their sloth, though, the executioner-like group merely headed north. Neither group seemed to have any intention of working with the other. In fact, the executioners seemed to be avoiding the paladins. "What's going on? They came all the way to the World's End, and now they aren't even gonna work together?" "The paladins have lost their commander. Though she was young, they put a great deal of trust and responsibility in Izabella. Trying to keep their morale up despite having her unjustly snatched away from them would be a fool's errand. And this is the World's End. Unlike the Capital, the Church can deploy their transfigured paladins freely. That scarlet bunch would likely have preferred to come here with themselves and their grotesque pawns alone." "However, while the reconstruction sect holds the reins of power within the Church, their control is not absolute." Jeanne took the explanation over from Elisabeth and dispassionately laid out the current state of affairs within the Church. "Refusing to take the normal paladins along would have earned the distrust of the royals and some of the notable aristocrats. Even with the attractive proposition of escaping the grand burden of having to rebuild the Capital, the reconstruction sect will fail to sway many of the less devout. And the powerful have a tendency to value gold higher than God, y'see. They both have a way of slippin' away when you really need 'em, though!" Taking Jeanne's mocking words into account, Kaito took another look at what the people down below were doing. The streams of silver and crimson had completely split apart, serving well to illustrate the discord present among their camp. "As a result, the normal paladins were taken along, but in name alone. The grotesque pawns are likely off searching, and the scarlet lot is no doubt going to join them and try to capture the Butcher. The paladins, on the other hand, seem to have been sent off in the opposite direction. With that in mind, it would appear that the north is far more promising. The Butcher fled quickly, though. I have my doubts as to whether they'll truly be able to catch him..." "Excuse me, Lady Elisabeth?" "Hmm? What is it, Hina? ...Oh-ho?" As Hina repeatedly tapped on her shoulder, Elisabeth turned around. After looking in the direction Hina was indicating, she blinked repeatedly. A silly expression crossed Kaito's face, as well. At some point, something had taken a seat atop Yah Llodl's corpse's shoulder. It was a small emerald-green mass, and it was gnawing on his frozen ear. Startled, Lute reeled backward. As he pointed at the mass, a cry slipped out of his mouth. "Y-you! You're the irreverent whelp who invaded Lady Vyade Ula Forstlast's bedchambers!" "Kyau!" The response he received sounded entirely innocent. The dragon whelp began turning lively somersaults in the air. Its splendid tail, which seemed a bit too large for its body, swayed behind it. It didn't look repentant in the slightest. How long had it been there? Just as that question crossed Kaito's mind, though, a more pressing concern weighed on him. The body was put on display up here. In other words, the Church was fully aware of how well the cliff overlooked their base. It was odd, then, that they hadn't stationed any guards there. As he carefully surveyed their surroundings, Kaito gasped. "Hey, wait, Elisabeth! Look where you're stepping!" "Hmm? Ah, I see. Little wonder, then, that standing here was so comfortable!" Elisabeth nodded. Beneath her high heels was a man buried in the snow. His scarlet hood peeked out from amid the white. He appeared to be unconscious. Worried that the man might freeze to death, Kaito frantically reached out his hand. When he touched the man's skin, though, it was strangely warm. Apparently, he'd stored magic stones on his extremities to preserve his body heat. A jewel designed for communications was installed on his chest as well. In all likelihood, he was the one who'd been in charge of guarding the cliff top. But why, then, was he unconscious? Kaito cast a sidelong glance at the whelp. Its emerald scales glittered as it spun around in the air. Each time it twirled, it lashed out with its tail. A blow from that looked to be about as powerful as one from a blackjack from Kaito's old world. "Kyoon!" the whelp cried as it puffed out its chest. Upon seeing the vigor with which the whelp was making its claim, Kaito nodded in conviction. "Looks like this guy's our culprit." "Aye, no doubt. Excellent work, you!" "Dunno if that's really something you should be complimenting it for." "Excuse me, Mr. Whelp, but why did you knock out the lookout and then stay here?" "Kyoon!" By means of answering Hina's question, the whelp let out a loud cry. Then, with a chomp, it tore off Yah Llodl's ear. After tossing it up in the air and catching it in its mouth, it gobbled the dead flesh down. Kaito and Lute openly grimaced. Apparently done trying to cheer them up, the whelp shot into the air like a bullet. Then, without a moment's hesitation, it began flying off into the silvery atmosphere. For a second, it turned back toward Kaito and the others. It seemed to want them to follow it. Kaito was reminded of the chunk of bone-in meat that had been left behind at the castle. It looked as though, just like back then, the Butcher had predicted their movements once more and had sent the whelp to guide them. He was clearly trying to send them somewhere. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing was still anyone's guess. Either way, our only real option is to follow it. Knowing that, Kaito steeled his resolve. Leaving the corpse and unconscious lookout behind them, they all took off at a run. Then, following the distant whelp, they began making their way down the pearly hill. The whelp looked like it was flying aimlessly. Its wings were comprised of thin bone and membrane, and it flapped them to fly high up into the milky-white, rainbow-tinged sky. Then it would glide for a while. It seemed to be rather enjoying its travels. However, for those trying to follow it, the wasteful movements in its flight path were the source of a great deal of stress. Kaito's displeasure was painted all across his face. "Hey, does that thing even really know where it's going?" "Hmm... It does belong to the Butcher, after all." "And Mr. Butcher is awfully fond of playing around. I suppose we can only hope." Elisabeth's shoulders slumped, and Hina smiled to try to placate her. Continuing forward through the unchanging snowscape was hard on the legs, but it was harder on the spirit. However, it quickly became clear that, despite the whelp's playful flight, their efforts hadn't been wasted. A living creature's corpse had appeared before them in the empty world. When Kaito first saw