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Bishop Andrei was scooping out the flesh of a doomsday cultist, his expression as cold as ever. No blood trickled from the cultist’s thinly sliced skin. He was cutting small chunks of skin with his dagger, then healing them with magic.

“What was that ritual, and what were you trying to summon?”

The worshipper lifted his face as the pain reached its limit. In the corner of the room, Arjen crossed his arms and glared at him. He choked back a laugh and began to speak in a hoarse voice.

“The summoning…no, the ritual is a way to call the remnants of the Gods. We loosen the reins holding the Disaster to make them act.”

They worshipped the remnants of the Evil Gods, the Disasters. Andrei’s face contorted in horror.

“It was a bit of a challenge to get the Fifth Disaster to move this time, as most of its power was used to move the Fourth Disaster, but it was slain before it did anything. I don’t know what the Hero is thinking by delaying the inevitable. He is truly foolish.”

The Evil God Worshipper snickered, then burst into laughter.

“The seals are breaking. The end cannot be stopped… Khhhhh. And the more conscious people become of His presence, the more afraid they become, and the closer they get to the truth of this world. They are the masters of death and chaos… No matter what you do, you cannot stop them.”

“For the world will only continue to spiral into chaos.”

“May God forgive your sins.”

The cultist’s head exploded like a bomb. Andrei frowned and wiped the thick blood from his face. Suicide.

“What happened.”

“It was a spell. He blew his head off before I could get real information from him. He’s just been blabbing and blabbing and blabbing and blabbing.”

Andrei turned his back on the decapitated body and headed for the stairs to the cellar. Arjen stared at the body and bit his lip hard.

***

The road out of Kairos and into the Holy Land was less rough than the road to Evernode. But monsters roamed the area.

“Over there, and it looks pretty strong.”

I was setting up camp. Daphne’s ears perked up, and she looked up.

“Pesky bastards.”

Georg raised his Morningstar and frowned. Marianne rose to her feet, clutching her Holy Spear. I held out my hand and cracked my knuckles.

“I’ll go.”

Behind me, I heard Georg booing me, but I ignored him and ran. This time, two giant scorpions appeared. They hissed as they pointed their stingers at me.

(They don’t look powerful. Do you have to be in such a hurry?)

“Because the sooner we do it, the better.”

The scorpion lunged. I swung Null straight at the stingers they tried to pierce me with. The blade ignored its hard exoskeleton and sliced through it like tofu. It only took a few swings to kill both of them. Their remaining legs twitched in their severed bodies. I stared at them, breathing heavily, and then turned away.

“…Let’s go back.”

I turned to see Georg and Marianne, who had followed me, squinting at me. As I casually walked beside them, Georg sighed heavily and tapped me on the shoulder with his Morningstar.

“What was so urgent that you ran out?”

“Sorry. I guess I got restless. I haven’t fought for a while.”

I said playfully, and Georg shook his head.

“You’ll be able to move as much as you want when you battle the Disaster anyway, so save your strength.”

“I’ll try to remember.”

Georg glanced at the dismembered scorpion, then strode off after me. Marianne stood there wordlessly, watching me.

“Come on, Marianne.”

I gestured to Marianne, and she nodded, slowly following in my footsteps. The winter solstice was getting closer and closer, and the day was slipping away faster than ever.

***

Long after dawn, I woke up to Georg snoring beside me. I walked out of the tent and sat down by the campfire. My nerves had been on edge lately, perhaps because I had to face my enemy without any information.

“Mist.”

I don’t know what the original Elroy did against the Mist; I only knew what Arjen did. Lately, I’ve been feeling more insecure about myself. I sighed and buried my face in my hands.

‘Get a grip. What am I doing? Distractions mean death against the Disasters.’

I could see the flames burning between my fingers and the outline of someone standing beyond the flames.

“…Marianne?”

Without a word, Marianne walked over and sat beside me, the blanket she had draped over her shoulders rustling. Rather than the warmth of the fire, I could feel Marianne’s body heat, closer and louder.

“Can’t sleep?”

Marianne asked in her normal voice.

“No, I just woke up and didn’t want to go back to sleep.”

I looked up. The sky was densely streaked with stars. It had been quite some time since I last saw them. As I stared at the sky, a shooting star flew across.

“How about you?”

Marianne shook her head.

“I…I just woke up, too, because I heard you.”

‘Oh no, I woke her up.’ She looked half-awake, rubbing her eyes weakly, and stared blankly into the campfire. I patted her on the shoulder and said.

“Go inside and sleep. We won’t arrive until tomorrow, so you should rest while you can.”

“…That’s the same for you, Hero.”

Mana can temporarily wash away sleepiness but can’t do anything about long-term fatigue. The only thing I can do is get a good night’s sleep. Well, I’m always on the receiving end of the Holy Sword’s physical restoration, so a good night’s sleep isn’t that necessary.

“I’m not that tired, but I think you should get some sleep.”

Marianne looked up at me in disbelief. For some reason, she seemed to be trying to force herself to stay awake. I smiled bitterly and turned my attention back to the campfire.

“Come to think of it, we met at night like this in Evernode.”

“…Yes. Though I was the one teaching you then.”

I pulled a knife from my waist and swung at a flying leaf.

The tip of the knife pierced the leaf’s veins with precision. The leaf was intact, uncut, nor pierced. It was impossible just a few months ago, but now it comes naturally.

“…No matter how often I see it, your growth is remarkable.”

Marianne plucked the leaf from my knife and held it in her hand.

“Even if you hadn’t become the Hero, you would have been a great swordsman with the right teacher.”

‘It’s only because I have the Holy Sword as my teacher.’ I smiled bitterly and slid my knife back into its sheath.

“Well. I guess I shouldn’t have tried so hard, then.”

As I spoke, I glanced over at Marianne, dozing off in the warmth of the campfire, but then she leaned her head against my shoulder. I could feel her faint breathing on my arm. I held her still so she wouldn’t wake up, then turned to the fire. I tried to find my reflection like a mirror in the flickering flames.

***

The Holy Land lies east of the Kairos Kingdom, two or three times the size of the Capital. Nestled in the middle of a continent, it has no mountains, oceans, lakes, or rivers. All they had was a vast man-made garden.

“Where is Bishop Andrei?”

In the carriage, I asked, looking at the priest who didn’t seem bold or cold. It’s scary how normal the inquisitors looked.

“He is following the trail of the doomsday cultists, looking for any signs…This time he came across a disturbing scene, and I was there to see it myself.”

“What was it?”

I scratched my head, and the priest sighed.

“It was a ritual made of human corpses. They used their blood to draw symbols and circles, and bodies were arranged according to those symbols.”

The priest’s voice darkened. I stiffened and listened to the priest’s story.

“We believe it was some sort of summoning ritual, though I don’t know if the Disasters can be summoned by performing a ritual.”

“Are you saying they’re trying to summon the Fifth Disaster?”

“Yes. I’m not sure what they’re trying to do, what they’re doing, or to what end, but…The problem is that it looks like the ritual might work.”

The carriage was slowing down. The carriage passed through the streets, which were paved with white blocks.

“Is there any reason why the doomsday worshippers didn’t do this long ago?”

“If they could control the Disaster with a mere ritual, they would have done so long ago, perhaps at a cost that would not have been negligible even to the Demigods.”

And the carriage came to a halt. The sky above the castle was dark despite the morning. It reminded me of the Giant staring down on Evernode from beyond the snow. I grimaced, feeling the uneasy atmosphere with every fiber of my being. The other party members had the same look on their faces.

“This feeling…It’s like when the Giant approached.”

Daphne asked, rubbing her arm.

“Uh, no. The Mist is a special case. It won’t have monsters like the Kraken or the Giant….”

I thought back to the original description of the Mist.

“Once you’re in it, you’ll never be able to get out again. You’ll be lost forever in a world of dreams and hallucinations. Until you die.”

Death was the only escape.

“…Elroy?”

Daphne called out, and I snapped back to reality. I needed to think of a plan.

“Let’s meet the Pope for now.”