“What a state you’re in, Devil! The humans you wanted to protect have bound and imprisoned you, but I have to say, you look most adorable like this!”
The Saint was brightly smiling and seemed to enjoy Meitzer’s discomfort from the bottom of her heart.
“Oh, really? I’m glad to hear you say that. We’ve known each other a long time, but you’ve always viewed me so harshly.”
“Of course! I haven’t forgotten for one day that you sealed me behind a Door one thousand years ago.”
There was an old legend in Europea about the Saint and the Devil. A great empire had ruled the world but suddenly fell to ruin. The Saint was said to have descended into a world ruled by chaos, where she led the people and restored civilization. The Devil had opposed the Saint and eventually she sealed him away.
Even now, the continent of Europea celebrated the Saint during the Holy Festival at the end of the year. Now the being called the Saint stood before him.
“I suppose there’s no use telling you that you should stop this mischief. If you tamper with human development and throw the world into havoc, it will only lead to irrevocable destruction.”
There was one fatal error in the legend. It wasn’t the Devil who had been sealed away. It was the Saint. Furthermore, the Devil was Meitzer.
“You’ve been doing this for a millennium. So I sealed you away, but...”
“Yes, you did. You got the better of me. May I ask you something? I thought I killed you that time. Why are you still alive?”
“You don’t need to ask what you already know.”
“I see... It was that person’s will.”
Meitzer did not reply. His silence answered more clearly than any words would have.
“Ah... it appears that person is still watching me. How wonderful!” The Saint’s face was ecstatic, her eyes glistening like a dreamy maiden’s.
“You shouldn’t expect too much. He’s growing exasperated with your methods.”
“Silence!” Her smile disappeared.
At that moment, Meitzer was sliced in two.
“Ungh!!”
Wielding some kind of power which left not a scratch on the bars of his cell, she severed his body within.
“Hmf! What do you know about me and that person? You are a fake... Just looking at you makes me angry!”
“You’re as merciless as usual.”
Even with his body cut in half, Meitzer was still alive.
“Hyah!!” The Saint had already factored that into her course of action. She released a second blow and then a third.
“Unnngh?!”
She cut off Meitzer’s arms and legs, literally dismembering him, so Meitzer had to crawl like a caterpillar. Watching him, the Saint laughed loudly.
“I know that you’re invulnerable, but without your limbs, you won’t move for a while. And by the time you do, I will have completed my work.”
“Don’t... do... this...”
“Shut up.” The Saint moved as if to release a deathblow, but then she stopped. “I’ll spare you because of your face. Aside from your face and voice, I truly detest you.” The Saint spoke with venom, then turned and left.
“If she’s here... the situation is bad. Oh, I understand...” Meitzer’s thoughts spun as he writhed in the dark. “If that’s how things stand, this is very dangerous. I hope someone can stop her in time.”
The Saint had come alone. That was not unusual. At crucial moments, she always acted alone. She was inherently unable to trust anyone. More accurately, she couldn’t trust any humans. She hated the human race.
We can take advantage of that...
Sven’s face appeared in the back of his mind. She was his daughter—or rather, the daughter of his true self. Sven wasn’t human, but she had fallen in love with a human, so only she had the power to defy the Saint. However...
“Sven must not meet her.” Meitzer declared this to himself. He did not believe in God. He believed in God’s existence. But he did not trust God. Nonetheless, today he was grateful for the vicissitudes of fate.
He was at the Penmunde Test Site, far from Berun, and even further from Organbaelz. It was impossible for Sven to come across the Saint. He was very relieved about that. If the two met, the result would be astounding.
Lud and Sven raced through the castle looking for Meitzer. The walls changed from concrete to stone. They were deep inside the castle, now used as a headquarters.
“We’re almost there, Master.”
There was little resistance from enemy soldiers now. They seemed to have disappeared. Most had headed out to confront Blitzdonner and Rebecca. They weren’t skilled soldiers and in the confusion, they all rushed off.
“It looks like things are looking up,” Lud said.
As long as they rescued Meitzer, the rest would proceed smoothly. They could leave the rest to Sophia and the others in the Wiltian special combat unit soon to arrive. Lud sensed the situation had taken a favorable turn. However, he should have known better than anyone that the soldier who voiced relief on the battlefield was the first to die.
“Hm?”
“Huh?”
She suddenly appeared in front of them. As Lud and Sven were rounding a corner, they ran into the Saint. Just one moment earlier, she was underground, slicing Meitzer into pieces. Encountering her was an accident. However, it was very unfortunate.
“You...”
Sven stiffened when she saw the Saint. She didn’t know who this woman was. It was their first meeting. There was no way she could know of her existence, much less what she looked like.
“Yikes!”
Nonetheless, Sven understood with her intuition rather than reason. She did not know her, but Sven feared her.
“Oh my... You’re... Oh! I see...”
The Saint didn’t know Sven either. Until just now, she was barely aware of Sven’s existence. She had known there were such things as humanoid Hunter Units. However, she believed they were just toys created by the boy Daian using Europea’s technology. For that reason, she had neither cared nor had any reason to pay attention to them.
“What in the world...? Oh, I see.”
Yet the Saint understood. At a glance, she understood everything: who Sven was, how she was born, the intention behind her creation... everything. And...
“Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!”
The Saint broke into laughter. It was too ridiculous. Too irresponsible. She couldn’t help but laugh at how absurd reality was.
“Oh, right! That’s it? That man... This is how... Mm-hmm... Ah ha ha ha!! How utterly, utterly foolish!!”
“W-What the...?”
With no grasp of the situation, Lud was confused. Why was a girl like this in a military facility? She didn’t appear to be a servant. Was she a commanding officer’s mistress? No, that wasn’t it. But something wasn’t right.
“I see... You must be the Shepherd!” The Saint turned her head and gave Lud a very creepy smile.
“?!” He couldn’t make a sound.