XI

XI

Somewhere far away, a bell was ringing. "Ugh." Caterina pushed herself up, coughing   lightly. Holding her aching head, she gazed at the debris scattered around her.

"This is ...!"'

The cardinal jumped up. What happened to that terrorist? And Rome?

"Abel!" Caterina shouted to the tall shadow standing next to a demolished gravestone. "Abel, are you okay? That man—what happened to the man from the Order?"

There was no answer. The priest's gaze was fixed upon the floor; he didn't blink.

Caterina gasped. "Abel, you . . . ?"

Abel didn't answer. His body was frozen in the act of swinging down his scythe.

The Wizard was lying at Abel's feet.

"My condolences, Cardinal Sforza," Kampfer said in a tranquil voice. "This is the end of Rome. Silent Noise has begun to operate. He couldn't decide." Wizard stood up. A thin scar ran along his cheek. Abel's blade was buried in the floor. "It's a shame, Father. Rome is finished. You stole a half million lives. Your promise has destroyed Rome."

"I?" Awed, Abel took one step backward. Staring at Wizard's face, he cried as if his heart had been crushed. "I killed everybody?"

"Yes, you've killed them." Wizard placed his mouth next to Abel's ear. He whispered clearly, as if carving his words into the priest's soul, "If you'd killed me, you would have saved everybody. You hesitated to get your own hands dirty, though. Because of your promise, you couldn't kill me. Yes, your promise killed a large number of innocent people."

"Ah."

The huge scythe slipped from Abel's fingers, and the monster staggered farther backward. He covered his face with his hands.

One more step. With joy in his heart, Wizard said, "Why don't you acknowledge that you destroyed the people of Rome and killed your friends? You are the killer. Killing is your true nature. Yes, you."

"Hey, hey, don't go killing off all those people so easily, you long-haired jerk." Such a random, casual statement seemed very incongruous. "Is this bungling priest just going to sit there, listening to you? Sheesh. Then, I suppose I'll have to take care of you."

Caterina caught sight of the huge shadow standing in the door. Leon carried both the charred remains of some delicate machine and the severed head of the Gnome, which dripped golden liquid.

Father Leon Garcia de Asturias gave Caterina a thumbs-up, clumsily winking with one swollen eyelid. "I'm here now. Sorry to keep you waiting, Abel."

"Leon!" Abel beamed. If Leon is here, then Silent Noise . . . "A last-minute player on the scene?" For the first time that morning, the smile disappeared from Kampfer's face. He ground his teeth as he looked down at the broken machine in Leon's arm.

A faint tinge of irritation shone in his eyes. "I intended to give my toy to this poor actor over here. It seems I underestimated you a little."

"You long-haired jerk—you underestimated me considerably."

Kampfer lightly clucked his tongue as he watched Dandelion twirl the chakram on his fingers.

"The game has gone one step too far." Kampfer didn't have enough power left to use complicated sorcery. He'd also failed to destroy Rome. "Indeed, I can't go back to Thurm empty-handed. Therefore, before I bid you farewell, I'll give you one souvenir."

Wizard muttered an incantation, and the pentagrams on his hands sparkled.

A Sylphide appeared. The translucent, artificial ghost whipped its tentacles at the two agents.

"What is this evil-looking thing?" Leon cried.

"Be careful! It's no use cutting the tentacles! The body—C-Caterina!" Abel's face froze in horror.

Wizard's form was sinking into his own shadow. He looked at Caterina, who stood in the doorway, watching the fight.

"I'm very sorry, Your Eminence. If I return empty-handed, my client won't be very understanding." Kampfer laughed, reaching out to Caterina, who didn't seem to notice what was happening. "I failed to get Rome; at least I'll return with Your Eminence's head."

Wizard's arms encircled the beautiful woman's neck. Suddenly, he was snapped backward and sent flying across the room.

A burst of fire blew off Kampfer's shoulders. Dark bullet holes drilled into his whole body, tearing off his arms. Eighteen large-caliber shells were fired from somewhere beyond the wall. The bullets pummeled into his body.

Only one person could perform such a stunt.

"Gunslinger!" Abel cried.

"Affirmative." Tres broke through the wall and then stood next to Caterina. "Damage report, Duchess of Milan." His clothes were torn, and his artificial skin was lacerated everywhere, but his handsome face was still devoid of emotion.

"Now it's three against one, but I'm in the best position to get him!" Sneering, Leon elegantly flung his chakram directly toward Wizard's neck.

The sound of bodily fluids gushing forth overlapped the noise of flesh ripping apart.

"What?" The giant priest stared, wide-eyed.

A small black shadow stood between Leon and Kampfer. The chakram had bitten deeply into the shadow's arms. Apparently, Kampfer had summoned a Künstliche Swerg, or artificial dwarf, known as a shadow demon.

Leon groaned in disappointment. "Hey, what kind of joke is this?"

Inside the graveyard, many shadows wavered, lurching back and forth. One had lost its head and one had been cut in two, but the rest of the artificial dwarves had begun to stand up together.

"Wizard, are you still alive?"

Kampfer watched the shadow corpses rise. He heard the whisper in his ear, and he answered, "Puppeteer? Are you pulling these demons' strings?"

"You can't hold out long with three agents for opponents. If you're going to escape, please go quickly." The snickering voice grew distant.

Bullets and chakram rings struck out, loudly protesting the idea of Kampfer s escape. The shadow zombies were being pulverized with overwhelmingly destructive force.

Kampfer cast a curious glance at the tall priest.

Abel's eyes, which already had returned to the color of a winter lake, were staring fixedly at Kampfer's face. Kampfer saw relief and regret, resolution and doubt. Various conflicting emotions whirled in Abel's eyes.

"'Nichts abgeschmackters find' ich auf der welt, ah einen teufel der verzweifelt—There is nothing in this world so insipid as the devil in despair'—Goethe. Well, so be it. I'll have many other chances. Many, many, many," Wizard muttered, melting into the floor.

"All clear. Mission complete," Gunslinger said, executing the last shadow demon. The three priests and one cardinal were left standing among the corpses of the shadow demons; some sluggishly squirmed or twitched; all had long since lost their ability to fight.

"Crap. We let such a crucial prisoner escape? And I took the pains to come down here and fight," Leon complained.

"It's unavoidable. Reinforcement of the enemy's battle strength at the final stage was outside our conjecture. We were able to guarantee the Duchess of Milan's safety. We can be mostly satisfied with that result."

The priests' clothes were in tatters. They looked like veterans returning from a war.

"So, Rome is all right, Father Tres?"

"Beginning with His Holiness down to the high-ranking church workers ... casualties and structural damage within the city is zero. The objective is one hundred percent achieved."

"Good. Thank you very much, all three of you." Caterina sighed in relief, looking at the three priests with a rare fondness. Her gaze rested on Abel. "What's the matter, Abel?"

"Nothing ... I ..." Flustered, Abel shook his head.

Caterina, Tres, and Leon had been wounded all over their bodies, yet they still stood on their feet. Abel narrowed his eyes, dazzled by their courage. He ended up saying something unexpected. "I ... it's, um . . . I'm very happy."

"Happy? About what?" Caterina asked.

"Your meaning is unclear, Father Nightroad. Request re-input."

"Hey, what's the matter? Did you get hit on the head?" Leon wondered.

Abel both laughed and cried at the three people frowning at him.

"Don't do so much, Abel. Everybody's with you, including me. "

Abel ruminated over Noelle's words.

He opened his mouth again. "I can't say it very eloquently — after all is said and done, though, I'm glad I'm here."

His three companions were silent for a long while, abashed. After considerable time had passed, footsteps echoed outside the graveyard.

"Ah, oh no! When I came down here, I knocked out two or three palace guards!" Leon confessed.

"Affirmative. Me too."

Caterina sighed. "Dealing with all this is going to be complicated. For now, when we go outside, we have to make contact with Kate and demand that the Holy See of Cologne ensures Archbishop d'Este's safety."

They left the tomb more quickly than absolutely necessary.

"By the way, Father Leon ... I'll leave the explanation of the circumstances concerning the palace guards up to you. I will continue to scout the area," Tres said.

Leon pouted. "Wait a minute. That's somewhat unfair. Why do you always leave these things to me?""

As she followed her two subordinates out of the tomb, Caterina turned around. Abel was standing there, looking lost and alone.

"What's wrong, Abel? Come with me."

Abel looked up and replied, "Yes. I'll go with you."

 

***

 

After a long time had passed, Wizard returned to Thurm. When he spoke, his voice sounded somewhat cheerful: "Comrades, friends, lovers, it doesn't matter what you call them. Do you know what the most bitter thing for a person who depends on others is?"

"Of course." A young man sat on the sofa across from Kampfer. Moonlight shone through the curtains, illuminating the mischievous smile that played on his handsome face. "A romantic who depends on other people hates to lose his friends."

"You're wrong. It's when his friends change, Dietrich." The tip of Wizard’s cigarillo burned with red light. Puffing out tobacco smoke, he smiled in satisfaction. "From this incident, I've seen his limits. I can manipulate his greatest strength into his greatest weakness."

"Indeed. I said I understood. You protected Archbishop d'Este, right, Isaac?"

"Yes, unlike Count Zagreb, I still can use Archbishop d'Este. If you like, in a little while, I can offer you an appointment in the new Vatican."

After the failure of Operation Silent Noise, the Vatican reached out to Cologne. AX's investigation had been severe, but it hadn't exceeded the predicted level of inconvenience. Actually, they had let Alfonso escape, despite the fact that he was the ringleader.

Pressing his cigarillo into an ashtray, Kampfer laughed. He calmly gazed at the shadow of the other person who stood by the window, unmoving.

"Well, I'm glad you're watching, Puppeteer. That priest believes in his own strength. But the time will come when they will point swords at themselves. Then, he'll be on our side. How about that, mein herr?"

The shadowed figure by the window didn't reply. Still silent, his golden, shining head simply turned to look at the two men. His handsome face stretched into a thin smile.