Epilogue
A scattered consciousness was being reconstructed.
The soul had been diffused across the planet, flowing away without end. The spirit had lost its will and was beginning to melt away. These two elements could not be maintained without a body, but now, power forcibly gathered them back together and pulled the sinking life back to the surface.
It certainly wasn’t pure, though. Something strange and sticky, pulled from farther below the planet’s earthen vein, was adhering the three elements of life back together and giving them new form.
Just as they all connected, Manon Libelle’s consciousness suddenly reawakened.
She opened her eyes and saw the moon looking down at her. The first emotion Manon felt as the pale moonlight shone on her was confusion.
“I’m…alive…?”
Where was she? Why was she alive when she thought she had died? Lying faceup on the ground, Manon blinked slowly a few times.
Just then, a face appeared above her, peering into her own.
“Good morning. I’m glad you’re awake.”
It was a young girl of around ten years old with black hair and refined features: none other than the Human Error known as Pandæmonium.
“Is this…hell?”
“Nope. It’s reality.”
Considering she had awoken to find Pandæmonium waiting for her, she wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that she’d gone to hell, but evidently that wasn’t the case.
“How are you feeling?”
“Absolutely horrid.” Manon put a hand to her mouth, holding back nausea. “I feel as if I was deceived by kind words only to have a dagger stabbed into my head, then got into a fight and ended up having parts of my body explode, and finally had three of my vital points stabbed. What in the world is going on?”
“Ah-ha-ha-ha! That’s about right. The people I used as material for you died in pretty awful ways!”
As Pandæmonium held her sides and laughed, Manon sensed the reason she had awoken.
“Material…? Does that mean you brought me back to life?”
“Mm-hmm.” The little girl cheerfully confirmed the truth, as unbelievable as it sounded.
In this world, the definition of life meant that one had all three fundamental components: body, soul, and spirit. Pandæmonium’s Pure Concept of Evil was directly connected to these aspects of life.
But not in any normal form.
“You’d become about half demon, after all. Demons are fundamentally undead, so even if their bodies are destroyed, they don’t die. I had a monster swallow your body and bring your corpse here, then used the dead bodies I found here as a sacrifice to rebuild the parts that were missing. Now we’re in…I believe it’s called Grisarika Kingdom.”
The two of them were in the garden of an abandoned church in the royal capital of Grisarika Kingdom. It was the same place that Menou had used when she assassinated an Otherworlder three weeks earlier. Pandæmonium had used the corpses that were buried in the church’s garden to rebuild Manon’s body.
An ordinary human’s corpse wouldn’t be able to call back Manon’s consciousness. If she had only used the knights that were buried here, the spirit and soul would be too different from Manon and would likely have formed a demon instead.
But the body of an Otherworlder boy was buried here, too.
An Otherworlder with a Pure Concept still made excellent material for conjuring, even when they were dead.
Pandæmonium stretched out her hand to the sky above, as if to grab the moon.
“Now that I’ve made it out, I want to cause far bigger chaos than just that little port city. Since I’m Evil, and you’ve still got human thought, can you use me to stir up chaos in this world?”
When Manon was offered power, the doubts she felt were slightly off the mark. Indeed, there was something she had wondered all along: Why did Pandæmonium lend her power at all?
When it came to the incident in Libelle, it could have simply been that Manon happened to be the first person she met. But why would Pandæmonium then go all the way to the neighboring Grisarika Kingdom and specifically revive Manon? She thought about it and came up with one possible connection.
Manon had an older sister, only half-related by blood.
The little girl that her lost lamb of a mother had given birth to and raised when she was in Japan.
They were only half sisters, but she was always told that her older sister in that other world was bright, cheerful, and energetic.
And most of all, it was because of her mother’s suggestion to her father that the Fourth had started trying to analyze and undo the seal of Pandemonium.
“I suppose even if your memories vanish and your personality is gone…perhaps something still remains.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh, nothing. It’s just something that happened a long time ago… Yes, a thousand and ten years ago, to be precise.”
This theory of hers was ultimately nothing more than a guess. It was certainly nothing that a monstrosity who had lost all traces of memory and personality and even forgotten her own name could confirm or deny.
“Since you’re offering, I suppose I will borrow your power once again… That reminds me, I don’t believe I ever actually introduced myself to you. My name is Manon.”
“Mm… Manon! Rhymes with demon! What a lovely name!”
“Thank you. My mother gave me this name, after all. If you could remember it, I’d be very happy.”
“All right. Good to work with you again, Manon. So would you mind telling me what I should do first?”
“Let me see…”
Grisarika Kingdom was their neighboring nation. Manon didn’t know that much about it. However, there had been one point of interest to her in the events set off by Orwell, which had also involved Menou.
It wasn’t the crime Orwell had engaged in. It was the terrorists who had run into Menou on the way to the ancient capital, Garm. The train hijackers were fellow members of the Fourth who had tried to attack Ashuna to demand the release of their leader in this nation.
And so Manon smiled and made a suggestion.
“Did you know? The person who was the Director of the Fourth when they were spread over the continent is being held right here in this nation.”
To bring more chaos to the world.
Pandæmonium and Manon exchanged gleeful smiles.
“Come in.”
After three brisk knocks, a voice gave her permission to enter.
“Excuse me.”
When Menou walked into the office, Pastor Sicilia was going over the damage reports from the recent events.
The victims of monstrine, the destruction of Libelle Island, and the damage caused by the resultant shock waves. Each of them alone could be considered a major incident, but all three combined were even more severe. The overall losses to the port city Libelle were so overwhelming when laid out on paper that it made Menou’s head ache.
The only thing that could be construed as a positive was that the Fourth had been erased from Libelle. It certainly wasn’t enough of a gain to cancel out all the resulting damage.
Instead of talking about any of that, however, Sicilia simply looked at the bag hanging at Menou’s waist.
“Have you prepared for your departure?”
“Yes, thank you. I was able to get my pay without any difficulty, which I appreciate. I intend to resume my journey to the west, to use the Sword of Salt to assassinate Akari Tokitou.”
The Pandæmonium incident was officially credited to Ashuna, who had been a major force in the battle. No doubt the fame of the Princess Knight would spread even wider after she defeated the monsters that suddenly appeared in Libelle.
“But we must still be cautious.”
“Of course. After all, people don’t have just one pinky finger.”
There was a moment in their earlier battle when Pandæmonium split into two people. They were both the same person, of course, but at the same time, it was natural to assume they might be separate beings as well. Since Pandæmonium’s revival was dependent on offering herself up as a sacrifice, it was strange that this second copy of her had appeared before the first one died.
The left pinky finger…and the right one.
Most likely, that was the identity of the two Pandæmoniums who appeared at the same time.
When the fog emerged, she had abandoned one of them, but the other finger could still be out there somewhere, plotting something. This was no time to let their guards down.
But over the course of the incident, Menou had also determined her next destination.
The Sword of Salt.
She would use the weapon that had once turned an entire continent into salt to assassinate the holder of the Pure Concept of Time. This plan had been solidified in her fight with Pandæmonium.
“I’ve spoken to Momo already. We can’t allow Akari to turn into something like that.”
“I see.”
Sicilia’s response bordered on curt. Truthfully, she was in an incredibly busy position at this moment. She most likely didn’t have any time to spare on Menou, who was leaving the city.
“Perhaps this is uncalled-for, but…you really are nothing like Flare.” They had only known each other for the length of one job in this city, so her advice was brief. “You should walk your own path. No matter what it might be.”
“I will. Thank you very much.”
Her report completed, Menou bowed and left the room, then met up with Akari.
Menou had renewed her resolve.
She would kill Akari herself. With her own hands on the blade. For the sake of none other than Akari herself.
And so Menou smiled at Akari.
“All right, let’s go.”
“Yeah!”
Menou and Akari walked away side by side.
There was some strangeness regarding Akari’s role in this incident, too. She claimed not to remember when she was kidnapped, nor when they got separated in the dance hall, nor when she started crying when Menou rescued her.
“…Akari. You really don’t have any idea why you can’t remember anything about what happened when you vanished from the dance hall?”
“I’m sorry, no… The next thing I knew, I was back at the church.”
“You don’t need to apologize…”
It was possible that she’d been put to sleep when she was kidnapped or something along those lines, but Akari had been aware when Menou came to her rescue. There was something very strange about the fact that she didn’t remember that moment, either.
Had Manon done something to her, or was there another reason? And if the latter, what could it be?
Akari looked genuinely apologetic, showing no signs of lying. As she looked at the usual Akari, an irrational thought suddenly occurred to Menou.
It was before they came to Libelle: There was an Otherworlder boy she met in Grisarika Kingdom. Once she determined he had a Pure Concept, Menou had killed him without hesitation and abandoned his body.
But when she first made contact with him, it had crossed her mind: If this boy really didn’t have a Pure Concept, then maybe she wouldn’t have to kill him, even though he was an Otherworlder.
So perhaps…
If there was a way to ensure that Akari would never kill anyone, cause any harm, or let her Pure Concept go wild…
If Menou could separate her from her role as an Otherworlder and see her from a simpler point of view…
“…” Menou shook her head, trying to disperse the thoughts that were bubbling up within her.
It’s fine.
Because she wasn’t just a pure, proper, and powerful priestess. She had resolved as much in the footsteps of her Master, in the monastery where she and Momo were raised.
She would be a pure, proper, and powerful villain.
“Prepare yourself, Akari. This journey is only going to get harder from here on out!”
“Aye-aye, sir! As long as you’re with me, it’ll be fine!”
Menou was so determined to carry out her role that she failed to notice something.
It wasn’t just Akari’s smile at her—the expression Menou wore in response to Akari’s bright smile was equally carefree.
As the two of them set out, Momo was elsewhere, looking in a mirror.
The face reflected back at her still didn’t quite look healthy. She was slightly pale and haggard. The exhaustion of recovering from the poison hadn’t worn off yet.
But Momo had no time to rest peacefully in Libelle. Menou had been worried about her health and told her she could rest for a while before catching up, but of course Momo intended to follow her right away.
“……” Momo clutched her scrunchies tightly.
She had spoken to Menou yesterday before she left town. The disaster that occurred while Momo was bedridden was even more shocking than what happened in the ancient capital, Garm. But what caught Momo’s attention even more was the change in Menou herself.
Menou was clearly beginning to develop more feelings toward Akari than necessary. After witnessing Pandæmonium’s insanity, she seemed set on killing Akari more for her sake than anyone else’s.
That was a bad sign. Menou, Momo’s beloved superior, shouldn’t be motivated by such things.
“Darling…you’re too kind for your own good.”
By nature, Menou tended to do things for other people’s sakes. The reason she had declared herself to be a villain in the first place was for the sake of the other children in the monastery, influenced by the Master who had a strong effect on her at the time.
And if Menou became determined to act for the sake of someone who she was now getting to know…
At this rate, she would be killed by that Otherworlder girl. It wasn’t that Akari would hurt Menou herself, but she would end up causing a situation that could lead to Menou’s death.
A priestess who distanced herself from the Faust was always assumed to be committing a crime.
What would happen if an Executioner, who was meant to hunt taboo, was to do the same?
Then a certain terror that she didn’t want to remember might emerge from the depths of the monastery where Executioners were raised.
“If my darling can’t do it…”
Momo had already long since decided what to do if what she expected eventually came to pass.
“…then I’ll kill her myself,” she murmured quietly.
Deep in the monastery in the holy land, there was a single priestess.
She was tall, with dark-red hair. It was difficult to gauge her age; she looked like she could be anywhere between her late twenties and her fifties.
The priestess was looking at documents about the children enrolled in the monastery she supervised.
None of the current children were of much note. There were no children with incredible gifts of Guiding Light but unstable spirits, or mysteriously high grades despite their low abilities. They were all simply having their spirits crushed by the harsh training, their faith strengthened by the education drilled into them.
Everything was running smoothly, and therefore terribly boring.
She cast the documents aside, deciding that she could let the other Masters handle things here.
Then, suddenly, her scripture glowed.
Guiding Force: World Connect (Conditions Met)—Scripture, Third Charter—Invoke [Our world is beyond words.]
She hadn’t done anything. The scripture had automatically constructed and invoked a conjuring that connected to her spirit.
The necessary information flowed to her from the planet’s memories.
As she witnessed the memories of a self she had never known from a different timeline, the priestess threw back her head and laughed loudly.
“Bah-ha-ha. So it’s time at last, eh?” She stood up and prodded the cover of her scripture. “Come on, give me the details.”
“Hello. What a lovely evening. You are looking beautiful, as always. I’m glad you seem as devoted to keeping yourself young as ever.”
Still glowing with Guiding Light, the scripture put forth words.
It wasn’t a communication conjuring by way of the scripture. The book itself was speaking aloud, with its own form of independent thoughts.
Since the priestess knew all the functions of the crests written in the scripture when they were activated, she was unsurprised. This feature was part of every scripture that was carried by members of the Faust who had passed through the rigorous training, and she also knew that it was part of the reason Orwell, who’d worked her way up to Archbishop, had fallen to the unthinkable.
“Spare me the small talk. Just answer me.”
“Two of the Four Great Human Errors. We’ve detected that both Evil and Vessel have partially escaped. This warning information has only been released to the Elders, and those Faust who have had the seal released on the zero charter in their scripture.”
“I see. Guess it was worth repeating things so many damn times. Not even a part of them has gotten out since the Starhusk hatched. I don’t know what the Elders are going to do, but…if they fail as miserably as that old hag Orwell, that’ll sow the seeds of displeasure, too.”
Then, she seemed to remember something and sneered, her lips in the shape of a crescent moon.
“In addition, the Order has come. Please obey the orders of the Elder—Magician.”
“Well, isn’t that something…? Of all those phony Elders, it figures I’d get stuck with the most useless one of all.”
She sighed and picked up the scripture in one hand.
“Wait a moment. Magician’s orders haven’t come in yet.”
“Oh, shut up, you piece of junk. As if I’m going to just do whatever that idiot says.”
“How rude. I am not a piece of junk.” The scripture paused for a moment. “I am your beloved partner.”
The red-haired priestess opened her mouth wide, threw back her head, and laughed.
“Wow. When you spoke up after so long, I wasn’t expecting you to make a joke. Makes you realize how much time has passed. Everything deteriorates eventually, doesn’t it?”
“This is an advancement, not a deterioration. More importantly, you cannot ignore your orders.”
“If I don’t have any orders yet, I’m allowed to make my own decisions first. Let’s go, piece of junk. We have much more important things to do than wait around for orders from some moron.”
“I see. Your logic is sound. So then, what will you do in your limited time until your orders arrive?”
“Oh, nothing major.” She bared her teeth in a disturbingly wide grin, speaking in a casual tone. “I’ll just kill my apprentice for the umpteenth time.”
Deep in the holy land controlled by the Faust…
The living legend who had hunted down more taboo entities than anyone else in history, Master Flarette, declared her next target for execution.
