27 Overlord of a High School (20)

As both Katase and him walked the streets of Kuoh, with Katase leading the way to the church, Momonga looked at the girl with some confusion. 'What's wrong? Why is she acting so strangely?'

After classes were over, Momonga found Katase waiting for him, luckily not with an ambush. As it turned out, he hadn't stepped into the trap of an unknown opponent meeting the girl, as Pandora's Actor had informed him, Katase and Murayama together were both mere humans… Either that or they were the most perfect and powerful adversaries, perfectly prepared to infiltrate human society in a way that Momonga had no way of determining, which didn't help his paranoia settle.

Still, Momonga had to discard this possibility, because entertaining it he would have to start suspecting every stone by the wayside as a source of immense danger. In which case, all he would achieve was to cower on all corners and endlessly ponder the potential enemy's plans, knowing that this enemy was so perfect that Momonga had no chance of defeating him. That way lies madness, and if he was human, a nice padded white cell.

Sure, when Momonga planned a battle or just contingencies he always prepared at least several strategies and plans, all depending on how the enemy would act or which situation he could've found himself in. It was a time spent methodically preparing his equipment or a specific battle tactic, but there was a limit by which Momonga would stop in his planning, say, after ten or twenty backup plans.

So most likely Katase and Murayama were just plain ordinary people, and Momonga himself could relax, at least on that point.

True, Momonga's meeting with Katase, were almost perfectly created to elicit the most suspicion in a situation as it could. All the times Momonga talked, when Momonga just tried to have a normal meaningless chatter to waste time and break the silence, Katase would immediately begin to pale, blush and look at unknown things in random directions. Actions which only caused Momonga more confusion.

'Maybe she just doesn't like me and is uncomfortable with me?' Momonga was not that surprised by such a possibility, he lacks social skills to say the least, and the both of them have very little things in common, so it's to be expected.

'Umu, after all, though she was the one who made me an offer of a favor, I did take advantage of it and now Katase has to walk me to church… Hmm, it's a little unpleasant that Katase is reacting this way to me taking advantage of her offer, but then again, it's not important, she is just acting as a guide for the moment. If she's really this uncomfortable with me, there's no need to interact with her further in the future.'

"Are you… Do you like music?" Katase asked a completely random and contextless question, something which made Momonga think for a moment about why exactly Katase wanted to know that, before shrugging his shoulders and answering honestly. There's really no tactical advantage or disadvantage in knowing his choice in music.

"Not particularly. I mean, I don't really listen to a lot of music, more often than not, it just distracts me from what I'm doing…"

Momonga remembered the BGM from YGGDRASIL and involuntarily cringed at the memory. 'Sure, just give those shitty devs a chance to prank the Players… Those damn devs, they put BGM in the game, and it wasn't even bad, but they put it in such a way that it distracted from what was going on! I was lucky, I was usually in the middle or behind the main party, but the scouts in YGGDRASIL, like Nishikienrai, who had to listen to it constantly, the music drowning out the steps of a potential enemy… No, sometimes the music did complement the scenery, like when looking at some soaring castle or at a royal meeting, but there is a time and place for everything!'

"I see…" Katase answered a little vaguely, and then she asked something again. "So you've never gone to concerts?"

"No, I never had enough money for that." Momonga answered easily, even the virtual concerts' tickets were quite expensive, and considering that he spent almost all his spare money on YGGDRASIL, and wasn't a big music fan, he never attended those. Not to mention the live performances? He probably has to fork over a half year's pay for that. First, Momonga had to go to the arcology where the concert is held, and that trip alone would cost as much as his monthly expenses for YGGDRASIL. Never mind getting the permission to visit the arcology in the first place, and then there's the cost of the ticket.

Although, in this world, perhaps he could attend a concert? At least to see what they looked like live once… If he ever had the extra money for that, of course, his monetary situation wasn't all that different to the one he had in the future, if not worse since he didn't have a source of income yet. Still, the first thing he should do when he gets some money, is to provide Miki with a decent life and try to somehow find Gorou and compensate him for all the trouble that Momonga had caused…

And to pay for his schooling, that was probably even the most important thing…

Noticing how Katase averted her gaze a little uncomfortably, Momonga decided to try to start a dialogue again. "And you, how about you, do you have any music you like?"

"Well, yes, quite a lot actually!" Katase answered enthusiastically before going silent, a little embarrassed, but from the looks of things her embarrassment was not enough to prevent her from answering.

"For some reason, stars of all kinds come to our little town, so there are a lot of live concerts and signing events in town… Actually, to tell you the truth, it's kind of weird."

"Yes, that is strange indeed," Momonga agreed, thinking for a moment for the reason before shrugging his shoulders, not really that interested in the answer. Besides, if in doubt, blame the local demons. "I guess the rich have their own quirks."

"Um, yes, I guess so," Katase seemed to lose her enthusiasm at that last sentence, the conversation dying out. Before, suddenly, almost making Momonga wary of some kind of ambush again, she then tried to speak in a cheerful voice again.

"Almost there!"

Momonga turned his gaze to where Katase was pointing, and saw a church standing some distance away from him, barely visible on the horizon. The building stood quite starkly against the small, sparse forest behind it… Though this far away, it was rather difficult for Momonga to tell if it was a church or any other building, at least without casting some spells. His passives don't really compliment his already non-existent scouting ability.

"Thank you." Momonga expressed his gratitude, before nodding, satisfied that he had arrived at his target. "In that case, I think I can say goodbye here…"

Katase didn't seem to react to these words, allowing Momonga to take a step forward before suddenly feeling someone tugging on his sleeve. Momonga paused for a moment as he turned his head around, trying to see if he'd managed to get his sleeve caught on something. Knowing rationally that he was in the middle of the road at the moment, there's nothing for him to get caught on… Before he could cast some AoE spells centered on him to answer for the ambush, a voice answered his unasked question.

"You don't need to do that…"

"What?" Momonga stopped, turning to Katase. 'Was I wrong after all and Katase really…'

"The underground fights." Katase finally let go of Momonga's sleeve and looked up at him, full of a kind of frightened determination, as if she herself wasn't aware that this emotion existed in her. "I wondered why you had to go to the abandoned church, and started asking around about it – I found out about the underground fights going on there…"

"Huh?" Momonga blinked before straining his memory. 'Umu, I think that Pandora's Actor said something on the subject? But I was relieved that Katase and Murayama were human and did not pay attention to what he's saying after, it's not like something like that was a rarity in my time… Huh, yes, Raynare did say something about holding underground fights, and did I say to her that I was used to fighting… I just need to add the impression that I'm poor and… Yeah, I could see where she could get the impression that Satoru, the poor orphaned boy, was an underground fighter, earning money through literal blood sweat and maybe tears. 'The puzzle is complete…'

"You don't have to do this." Katase looked at him with a kind of determination and pity that made Momonga even feel some sympathy inside. "If you need money, my father can get you a job, he owns a small café in town, and he always needs waiters, and he pays well for it too…"

"Um, thank you," Momonga answered with a sigh, he was even somewhat moved by Katase's concern for an essentially speaking, stranger. She had even shared with him information about a job vacancy, which was a great fortune and rare find in Momonga's past world, making him decide inwardly to be a little nicer to the girl. "I would li…"

Momonga was about to accept before he froze, realizing something important.

'But I didn't come here to participate in underground fights, but to raise money as a patron of their organizer?' Momonga urgently tried to gather the answer in his head on how to reject the very kind offer, and finding that the truth, as always, really didn't fit.

'No, definitely not! How about, in fact, this church is the abode of fallen angels…? Nope, that's a pass as well. I never learned the reason the paranormal inhabitants of this world do not reveal their nature to ordinary people, if I knew that, I would act more confident. But without knowing the reason, I also do not know whether there is any possibility of breaking a taboo of sorts… I do not know what to say!'

The panic inside Momonga was instantly quelled, but his silence had already managed to answer, reflecting on Katase's expression, causing her to lower her gaze. "Why?"

"Because…" Momonga tried to mentally compose an answer for Katase before he sighed and answered trivially, but at least in a way, he surely wouldn't have made it worse with his answers. "It'll be fine. Don't worry about it."

After his answer, Katase looked up at him and Momonga could discern the way the rays of the sun slowly moving toward sunset were beginning to reflect off her eyes, and something glittering on her eyes.

'What is that?' Momonga looked slightly confused in Katase's eyes. 'Tears? Why? I'm just a stranger to her, she's been doing nothing but jumping from topic to topic the whole walk and clearly feeling uncomfortable, and now she's crying… Umu, women are strange creatures indeed.'

"Promise me that you'll be alright," Katase looked into Momonga's eyes seriously with tears running down it, making him think.

It wasn't that he couldn't break any promise he made, that was the truth of life, it wasn't like there's a contract or anything. Momonga was instead willing to break a hundred promises if he judged that the benefits gained from breaking it outweighed the problems that would arise from it…

Except for an oath in the name of Ainz Ooal Gown – Momonga would never allow himself to defame his guild by breaking this oath.

But when it came to a simple promise on his own behalf? It was all relative, every situation could theoretically tip the scales with the value of his promise… And yet, this did not mean that his word was worthless. Momonga would rather not break his promise without a really good reason, evaluating the value of his word from the same position from which he evaluated the value of many things. And like any value, Momonga did not want to give his word for nothing.

Consternation began to war within Momonga as the silence stretched on, and Katase continued to cry, each moment her expression beginning to grow more wretched.

On the one hand, there's actually no problem promising her that he'll be 'alright', there was no danger after all, and there's no risk of the promise being broken. After all, he would simply be visiting his new subordinate and picking up some money – sure he would need to extend his protections, but that didn't mean he would be putting himself in danger.

On the other hand, certainly the risk of danger always existed, but Momonga was very sure there was none here. Furthermore, by making a promise that he could easily keep, it would also raise that value of his 'word' so to speak,

So, after a few seconds of reflection, during which Momonga continued to stare into Katase's eyes, finding no reason to budge, he nodded. "I promise."

"Okay… That's good." Katase replied quietly, after which Momonga suddenly felt someone press against his body with his own.

Momonga felt something pressing against his lips a moment later, it wasn't even a kiss, but a strange attempt to peck him with her lips. Unlike the sensual kiss with Albedo, where Momonga felt the urge, after a few moments, to move his hands to the girl's shoulders, then to her waist, and after, even lower, this time Momonga felt only extreme awkwardness.

Even to the inexperienced Momonga, he could tell that the 'kiss' was awkward and inept to Momonga, consisting, instead of passion and sensuality, half in fear and half in awkwardness. Instantly, as if struck by electricity, Katase pulled away from Momonga, looking at him as if shocked by her own action, half pale with fear, half red with embarrassment, Momonga was sure that he looked the same way.

Then as the moment passed, she shouted loudly and completely out of place, her voice tearing from one letter to another. "Good luck!"

After a moment more, and one last glance at his lips, Katase scurried away, making Momonga wonder if she even had any special powers for a second.

Before turning her gaze to the church and sighing. "Umu, I just got kissed by a High-school student… Hmm, somehow I can feel Perroroncino somewhere giving me a thumb and a sly wink."

Momonga's confusion and bewilderment was quelled a moment later, allowing him to finally move forward, approaching the abandoned church and not letting him stray from his plan of action. "Umu, I have no idea why that happened… Though I did help her with the perverted trio – umu, maybe she thought I made a move on her? Besides, if I were to put our situation in another way… We walked around town together, chatting, getting to know each other better, and I was the one to ask her, and then we were here, under the rays of the setting sun, looking into each other's eyes… It was like I asked her out!"

Momonga took another step before another thought struck him like a lightning bolt. For a moment, causing him to panic, before the panic receded, leaving Momonga with only the bare fact and damning realization.

"Umu, the situation with Albedo has become even more complicated than I thought..."

***

Mittelt could tell she'd been living… In interesting times.

In the sense of the Chinese curse, that is. The same 'interesting' times in which great accomplishments, terrifying cataclysms, and incredible discoveries took place.

Mittelt had only been a fallen angel for six years – a decent amount of time for humans, barely a paragraph out of the angels' life. Six years for a human infant is time to form the first vestiges of one's personality, learn to walk, speak, quite possibly read, write, and count. For an adult it was enough time to experience several crashes of hope, disappointments, and life-turning discoveries – but for Mittelt it was barely even a single paragraph of text.

The most Mittelt could think of on the subject was 'and then she did small jobs until she joined Raynare's service'. That small sentence described the six years of Mittelt's life – small errands, a couple of assassinations, a little stealing, and lo and behold, she ended up under Raynare.

Mittelt didn't even think it would last. Raynare had offered Mittelt a small job, for a month at most, to finish off some guy and then to wave her wings a little to inspire Raynare's assembled followers of exorcists and commoners. Then lastly, to help ferry a heretic nun expelled from the church to her, and, in the end, call it a day. Raynare would be one [Sacred Gear] richer, Mittelt would be a couple of thousand dollars richer overall, and they'd both be a little happier.

Mittelt was aware of how high heaven was, not the Heaven from which she had fallen, but the metaphorical one, and realized quickly that she was not the strongest, smartest, or even luckiest of the angels. If she had been lucky, no one would have known that she was covering the smuggling of alcohol and cigarettes into a couple of small abbeys, and she wouldn't have fallen at all. Or maybe she would have just curbed her impulse to feel a little buzzed and stayed out of the whole thing.

She didn't really want the money, what was Mittelt going to spend it on, anyway?! She just wanted to feel the buzz, she had worked as an accountant for hundreds of years, she deserved some rest for body and soul!

As it turned out, the inspecting angels didn't appreciate her perspective on the situation, and Mittelt fell to Earth, with a one-way ticket and a black mark on her record. Black, like her new wings.

Will the former accountant angel live much longer, finding herself in a new unfamiliar world, now as a traitor to her species, a traitor to her Father, penniless and without a plan for the occasion? Well, for six years she was doing pretty well.

Until she wasn't.

A small job, bearable pay, and room and board included, Mittelt should probably have felt something wrong the moment Raynare suddenly announced that she was going to go kill Issei Hyoudou herself – why would she even do that? If it was really just a guy who had crossed someone's path through ignorance, she could have sent some other Fallen, or the rogue exorcist or even some bum homeless with a shiv.

There was no need to even hire professional assassins, just some of Raynare's rabid fanatics who saw her as almost a goddess would do and that was it, problem solved…

No one had told Mittelt that the job entailed living in a town controlled by two Satans families, and that the commission to kill the boy came from Azazel himself!

If she had known even an inkling of it, she never would have stuck her neck out. The reason Mittelt had lived for six years as a Fallen Angel with nothing really to show was only because she had stayed out of all this shit-stinking business. Business that has a chance of crossing the wrong guy and being next on the elimination list!

But the die was cast, it was done, and off she went. First she learned of the political balance of power in the city, then she met the Leviathan, almost pissing herself, and then the dead Raynare returned to them accompanied by a Devil. One who announced that the Father, that God, was back, stronger and more active than before.

By the way, that legendary super dragon, Ddraig? Dead. And that even more legendary and even more super dragon, Great Red? Also, dead. At that moment, Mitelt had to make sure that she hadn't gone in the deep end and tried some more extreme drugs.

Speaking of which, Mittelt, how would you feel about starting the Apocalypse? Don't worry, guiding you to redemption and new white wings will be this super-strong Devil's here doing, the Demiurge. Speaking of which, have you read about Gnosticism?

On the one hand, of course, Mittelt was fine, better than fine even, suddenly all her old problems were completely resolved, all those things about the Leviathan, Lucifer, and her fall from Heaven? All that seemed petty compared to the situation she found herself in right now.

On the other hand, the situation she now found herself in was so beyond Mittelt's very understanding of 'absurdity' that she wasn't sure if she was still perceiving the world with her senses right now or if she had been drooling, packed in a straitjacket in some lunatic asylum for some time.

'Though admittedly, my soul hurts a little, but my head hurts a lot more,' Mittelt sighed, then set the piece of stone on the ground with a practiced motion, as she looked around her. "Well, there, almost clean."

The returning Father was changing so much in the picture of Mittelt's life that she wasn't even sure what was still true – was she still a Fallen Angel? Maybe she had already been enlisted back into the angelic ranks? Or did she need to change in some incredible way…

Raynare had definitely changed. Fuck, right now Mittelt wasn't beating money out of debtors, she was cleaning up the church!

Considering that Father was supposed to appear in this abandoned church today, it was, perhaps, even expected that they would be cleaning it. When the Demiurge arrived in the church and saw the state of it, the mutilated icons, stained-glass and statues, the Fallen Angels were saved only by the fact that they arrived after Raynare and her subordinates had already destroyed it. They were not the ones to break the crucifixes and destroy all the statues, the remains of which Mittelt was now dismantling and carrying away.

Raynare was saved by the fact that apparently Father had forgiven her directly, so she fell to her knees and begged for mercy with the Demiurge, looking as if he would drag her directly to hell.

But Raynare's subordinates were not saved.

Some of those who had participated in the looting and desecration of the church were gathered together in the dungeon, thereupon Lord Demiurge announced that, according to the principles of Christian forgiveness, he would easily forgive them for such wrongs. That is, if they only compensated for what they had destroyed, the very first and most valuable of those, the crucifixes they had desecrated. That is by their own body.

So right now the church was filled with the silent groans of repentant sinners, the crucifix they were replacing with the real thing. In the statues, too, Lord Demiurge had ordered the cement to be prepared and the remaining men to be buried in it, displaying them in the manner of the destroyed statues. It was more difficult with the frescoes, none of Raynare's subordinates knew how to paint, so for now, Lord Demiurge did not accept any of those prepared for replacement.

Given that each of the sinners had been instructed to paint with their own blood, on a canvas of their own skin stripped and framed with their own bones, with no man capable of disobeying Lord Demiurge's orders? Mittelt somehow felt that at this very moment, stepping on the path of atonement before God, she was closest to Hell…

On the other hand, now this church was much more like the one where the Apocalypse would begin.

Mittelt almost hummed hysterically, her life was going downhill at the speed of light, and there was nothing she could do about it! Just pretend everything going on around her was normal and hope that one day it would be normal… Though that's probably not a good thing.

Why the fuck did she even stuck her neck and decided to smuggle fucking contraband?!

Sure, as a Fallen Angel she has seen some shit, not to the extent that she's seeing right now – but to encounter such a thing among Father's followers when he decided to return to this world? It raised questions.

The first being, is this the same Father as before?

Returning inside the church, Mittelt paused near the entrance, slowly swallowing her saliva, trying to calm herself and prepare herself for the sight that would reveal itself a moment later when she opened the door. Even among the craziest of Fallen Angels, such an action would cause rejection, but if only Mittelt could, she would have run away from this place by now…

Even Raynare's face turned pale when Lord Demiurge began issuing instructions in his calm tone to the people blaspheming earlier, but Raynare, unlike the other Fallen, for some reason managed to keep her mind under control. While the other Fallen, including Mittelt, started contemplating an escape route… Concluding that, sandwiched between the Leviathan and Demiurge, and worst of all, Father, all they could hope for was that their deaths would not be as mocking as those of the men who desecrated the church.

Gathering the rest of her will into a fist and breathing in and out several times, Mittelt closed her eyes and opened the doors abruptly. She was planning to slip under Lord Demiurge's gaze as quickly as possible and get back to whatever business she needed to get to, at least, she didn't need to be around suffering sinners…

Only to instantly fly into a barrier that she couldn't see through her shut eyes, causing her to crash into the floor with her head hitting the stone floor.

"Ow, out of the way, fu-" Mittelt almost cursed automatically before biting her tongue a moment later, Mittelt had absolutely no interest in finding out what punishment Lord Demiurge had prepared for profanity. "I mean, um, who are you?"

Mittelt's words made the barrier, a rather tall guy who seemed to be in his early twenties turn around, allowing Mittelt to look at his neatly coiffed hair, brown eyes, and proper, though not memorable face. Along with an expression of peaceful calm and kindly politeness on his face that did not change when he saw Mittelt, holding out his hand to her, leaning down slightly, Mittelt began wondering if he was some sort of salesman. "Umu, good afternoon…"

"Mittelt," Mittelt introduced herself, answering the unasked question, taking the guy's hand, rising from the ground momentarily before her gaze, almost against her wishes, shifted to the side, behind the back of the guy who had extended his hand to her. Nope, she hasn't slipped into some kind of alternate reality, the macabre display shocking her system once again.

The man crucified on the cross was completely naked, his arms and legs were nailed to the cross, and his head was hanging off to the side, allowing saliva and sparse blood to drip onto the altar below him. Freed Sellzen was the strongest and most blasphemous of all the exorcists in Raynare's care, and he had the temerity to declare at once before Lord Demiurge that he had no respect for God, had broken the crucifix, and had a general contempt for religion.

Lord Demiurge then used his powers to make him bite off his own tongue, chew and swallow it until he vomited, and then return all that was expelled from his stomach back into it. And then ordering him to nail himself to the cross – the screams would haunt Mittelt's nightmare for some time.

Mittlet wasn't the emphatic type, Fallen Angel or not, and she didn't like Freed at all, so if he'd just died on a mission, she wouldn't have been upset in the least… But a quick death on a mission was one thing. This kind of mocking torture, where Freed would live for more than one more day, even if no one would feed him given his excellent training as a former exorcist, caused Mittelt to feel sympathy for even such a person.

Mittelt could only shrug it off, forcing herself to tear her eyes crucified on the cross, before realizing that such a blasphemous picture was not only watched by her, and that she was not alone. She instantly recoiled away from him, and for an intimidating effect, revealing two black raven wings behind his back. "Who are you?!"

"Satoru Suzuki, it's nice to meet you." The unknown churchgoer answered calmly, not even surprised by the wings behind Mittelt's back, not even changing his behavior, before, after a moment of pensive hesitation, added something that almost made Mittelt faint.

"But to Raynare, I am better known as Father."

Mittelt blinked. "Father?"

Satoru, Father, only glanced back at her in answer, waiting a few seconds before letting Mittelt bring her self-consciousness back to normal, shaken by meeting Father again, hundreds of years after the past, before nodding. "Yes… You are in Raynare's group, I assume?"

"Yeah…" Mittelt nodded slowly, before a loud crunch made goosebumps run through her bones, looking away, knowing where such a sound came from. Several exorcists condemned to torment for their deeds earlier were still trying to paint the frescoes, Mittelt didn't even need to see them, the mere idea of their current state made nausea roll up her throat.

The canvas for the 'redemptive icons', as Lord Demiurge had characterized them, was stripped from the bodies of the scribes themselves, but for the paints, the former exorcists needed to slit their own veins, if they needed red paint. If they required white? Lord Demiurge made a suggestion to them that made Mittelt's mind woozy when she heard it.

'Gentlemen, if you have already proven so selfless as to break your arms and strip your fingers to gain access to your bones, why not try grinding your teeth for white dust?'

Mittelt, hearing the sound of grinding teeth, felt nausea rolling up her throat one more time, before she forced herself to swallow it down. She doesn't want to find out what 'penance' she would need to take if she vomited.

"Mittelt, are you all right?" Father looked at her seemingly with gentleness, forcing Mittelt to look into Father's eyes again.

All as polite and calm and kind, completely out of tune with what was going on in this church at His behest and in His name.

Mittelt forcibly swallowed another lump before she looked into Father's eyes. "Father… What happened? Why did you…"

Father, upon hearing her question, only looked at Mittelt carefully, then sighed slowly, covering his eyes for a moment. Mittelt was aware that what was happening was not normal, perhaps some insane cult could afford such acts in the name of an all-forgiving God, but what was being done on His orders here and now… It was not normal, in the sense that no one would ever suggest that God would patronize such acts.

"This…" Father seemed distracted for a moment before he shook his head, as if he were hardly uncomfortable in front of Mittelt. "Umu, it is in fact perfectly normal, perhaps your perception of me might be different, but, umu… I have quite a normal interest in such things, just in terms of my nature… I mean, it's not that I'm specifically trying to achieve this result, but I can't say that I don't like it or that I regret what happened. It's quite normal, quite normal… To be honest, it's not even the first time."

Mittelt blinked, shocked to her core. 'What, do you mean it's not the first time?! You mean… The apocalypse has happened before?!'

"Father!" before Mitelt could voice her question, Raynare's shouting distracted Mittelt from her thoughts, with Father looking away, "Ah, Raynare."

"Father!" Raynare instantly fell to her knees and bowed her head, a gesture Lord Demiurge had taught them all… And which Mittelt did not perform… Mittelt froze like a pillar of salt, quite possibly, she would actually become one soon. At least, rolling blasphemers in concrete at Lord Demiurge's behest was already a well-practiced event, so it wouldn't be too painful… She hoped.

"Umu, you can get up now," Father answered a moment later, then glanced at the hanging figure of Freed, whose arms and legs had long since stopped bleeding. "Umu, I wanted to talk to you about money and… Umu, would you mind telling me exactly what you're doing in this church?"

Step by step, Father began to walk, making Mittelt just stare after them with unblinking eyes.

'Father doesn't mind what's going on… No, he said he's even interested in something like this… And the Apocalypse has already happened.' Mittelt felt her mind begin to slowly sag under the weight of the revelations.

'What has happened to me, to my whole life, to this world?!'

"Elementary, my dear." Lord Demiurge's voice made Mittelt shudder and freeze, dread running down her spine with each slow, and measured footsteps, before the figure of a gentleman in an expensive business suit appeared before her frozen gaze.

"These people are mired in their false understanding, in the concept of God, only capable of perceiving the Supreme Being only with your own small mind. You people are unable to fully perceive in your limitation the greatness of the Supreme Being… And there is no shame in it. No one, except the Supreme Beings, is given the opportunity to realize the depth of their mind and the strangeness of their nature."

Mittelt slowly shifted her gaze to the measured sound of the pages turning, watching as Lord Demiurge continued to slowly turn the pages of the Bible, reading it with some interest. And judging by his appearance, while not feeling any discomfort while reading the Bible, something that's supposed to be anathema to the Devils. 'Huh, that's a Devil who can hold a Bible with no problem… Huh, if I needed confirmation that Father really approved of that Devils and his actions – there it is.'

"What's disgraceful is your desire to try, even by your ignorance, to try to lower the greatness of the Supreme Beings to your own flawed understanding. Unforgivable." Lord Demiurge's aura seemed to explode, anger wafting off of his body, with anyone caught in his gaze freezing like a deer caught in headlights.

"I did not punish that heretic for his blasphemy, just for their impudence. All of you are blasphemous in equal measure, but if the Son of Lord Momonga has asked forgiveness for the world, I am willing to grant them forgiveness for that blasphemy, to give them a chance at redemption."

Mittelt froze, staring at the crucified exorcist, before her gaze was fixed on the slow-walking figure appearing from one of the doors to the side.

It had once been a girl, probably only hours ago, now her gender could only be discerned by the two bleeding lumps of meat just above her rib cage. The missing arm indicated how many times she had tried to create an icon worthy of the Lord Demiurge's gaze, and the slow pace warned that the exorcist's training had limits.

Clutched in one hand was the product of her hours of labor, an attempt at her redemption…

Looking at this figure, Mittelt felt that, against all her will, she continued as if mesmerized to watch her slow forward movements, probably the exorcist's last death knell.

"You are trying to learn the unknowable, to replace faith with instructions, believe with books, to limit universal understanding to a clear set of rules, and then proceed to find a way around those rules. Instead of faith, religion, instead of unbreakable commandments, bendable rules, instead of awareness, conjecture. And with this all, therefore you are unable to accommodate Lord Momonga's great love for you, and my actions, as if they were not part of the big picture." Lord Demiurge sighed with frustration, as if genuinely worried about people's stupidity and incomprehension, even a kind of pitying sympathy for them.

Then, like thunder, he slammed the Bible shut in his hands. "One day you will understand that this what redemption is all about. Raynare has already set out on this path, and as a prophet of His word, I need to let as many people as possible see His light. But, before you can understand, I need to use a simple metaphor so that you can realize His love for humanity, and His words that He is 'not sorry for what happened…'

Lord Demiurge turned to Mittelt, causing her to look up at him again, against her will, and to see the slight, almost encouraging smile on his lips. "Who said to you that in the Time of Sorrow, the Antichrist, and God would not work different ways, yet for the single goal of His Kingdom Come?"