Orphen watched Maria lower her head deeper as Pluto spoke. He felt his fists shaking at the same time at the sensation that remained in his arms—he could still feel the weight of Irgitte as she lay dying in his hands. Her burned body had been incredibly light.
If he could, he wanted to linger on the memory for a moment longer, but Pluto was already speaking again.
“Did we have time to gather more fighting strength? The answer is clearly no. We may already be too late. We took too much time suppressing the Imminent Domain. For the same reason, there was no time to establish a chain of command that would work with those not associated with us. It wasn’t that we didn’t contact the Tower at all. Maria Huwon had finally gotten the agreement of the leaders of the Tower of Fangs, but they also didn’t have sufficient firepower that they could freely wield. The infighting at the Tower is an open secret we’re all aware of.”
When he finally arrived at the next question, even Pluto was out of breath. “In regards to our formation not being effective against Red Dragons... It’s true that we used the most foolish strategy against the most dangerous opponent. They are natural-born assassins. Against assassins, it would have been more effective to have individual sorcerers with equal skill go up against them one-on-one rather than try to defend with a group formation. As that man did.” Pluto suddenly indicated Orphen.
“If we had more than six sorcerers who could take on a Red Dragon one-on-one, then that is what I would have instructed you to do. We had no choice but to implement the inferior strategy. As for your last question...”
When the Demon acknowledged him, the sorcerer who’d asked the question trembled. Pluto ignored his reaction and simply said, “No. That is all I have to say.”
Orphen was surprised that the Demon had been listening to all of the questions they had pelted him with, and he was also surprised that there was no anger on his face as he answered them.
“...Is there anything else you’d like to ask me?”
“Want me to tell you how to beat the sanctuary?” Orphen asked, seeing no one else making a move to speak.
Everyone else ignored him, at least for a few seconds, but eventually, Pluto said, “If it’s not a bluff like earlier today, then sure.”
“It’s simple. All you need to do is change your goal slightly. Instead of fighting the sanctuary, make peace with them—if you can even call this idiocy war, that is.”
“If we could do that, then—”
“We have Leki. That’s the name of that Deep Dragon. Just swear that you won’t fight against anyone from the sanctuary. If you do that, I bet Leki’ll bring you there. Without letting anyone else die.”
Pluto seemed to consider Orphen’s suggestion for a time, then the Demon smiled cynically and said, “And? We sneak into the sanctuary, take them by surprise, and take control from the inside?”
“Sure, you do that, and I think Leki’ll be the one who kills you. Of course, I’m not Leki, and there’s no way I can understand how he thinks. These are all just guesses on my part.”
“It’s out of the question, then.” Pluto waved his hand, dismissing Orphen. “We cannot coexist with the sanctuary or Doppel X. Not as long as they still intend to carry out their own plans.”
“The sanctuary—” Orphen started to shout before suddenly going quiet. He grimaced and asked, “The sanctuary...and Doppel X? What does that mean? Why do you think of them as two different things?”
“Maria Huwon.” Pluto called out to the sorcerer at his side, though his eyes remained on Orphen. He seemed uninterested, like Orphen’s utter lack of understanding was throwing the whole conversation off. “Explain to him what he needs to know. Apparently, it’s the most complex aspect of things that he’s ignorant about.”
“All right.” Maria Huwon stood up and plodded over to Orphen. She seemed tired, no doubt exhausted by the events of the day.
“Miss Maria—” Orphen started.
She shook her head and took his arm, whispering to him, “Let’s talk somewhere else.”
Orphen let Maria lead him out of the light. The darkness of the sky hadn’t changed at all, but the air seemed to have a weight to it, and the silence around them deepened. They had gone from a circle of people to a thick quiet between just the two of them.
Her voice somehow seemed quieter than one person’s voice, if that was even possible. “I wanted to talk to you about this sooner... I’m sorry. It was hard to get away from everything.”
“It’s fine. Who knows if I would have even been in the mood to hear it.” Orphen looked at Maria’s face and changed the subject. “You seem to know already, but Irgitte’s dead. I watched it happen.”
“I see... Then I have no choice but to fall to ruin, the same as Pluto. Not that I believe that hell really exists.”
“I’d like for you to work with me so that that doesn’t happen. I don’t want anyone else to die like Irgitte. Otherwise I won’t be able to make it up to her. Please persuade Pluto.”
“He’s already been persuaded.”
Orphen gaped at her, not understanding.
Maria smiled wryly and explained, “There’s a lot about him that’s insufferable, but he’s not that stupid. He always knew taking the sanctuary by force would be impossible. But that was all we could do. He knows your plan is rational too, but...when presented with conditions he can’t accept, he has no choice but to refuse. He’s spent twenty years playing the role of the Demon of the Capital with no complaints. Just like that, he’s playing a role that’s necessary right now and suppressing his emotions.”
“But that’ll just lead to his demise.”
“He can’t do that either. That’s why he’s trying so hard to find a way to avoid that demise. Krylancelo, there’s something I have to tell you. It’s not just the goddess who’s going to destroy our world.”
Under the stars, Maria Huwon looked like a goddess of the night sky in her black robes as she said, “The sanctuary is going to abandon the continent. In the next ten days...before the goddess breaks through the barrier.”
✦ ✦ ✦
