It’s Tot again.

Dia trembled as Holy Daughter Clarissa laid out the facts. The spectre of Licencia. The being who struck down Zulan Patra off-handedly. And now…the person who had split the sky into two.

Unlike the others, who were waiting around and waiting for the signal to use Skyward Eye, Dia had chosen to do some practice outside. There was nothing much for her to do anyway, and reading or having fun when under threat didn’t exactly tickle her fancy.

Therefore, she had seen it for herself. That moment, when the sky itself parted, torn into two by an impossibly huge amount of mana. That moment, when the Thief of Time’s true power was unleashed. With that much mana at Tot’s disposal, Dia could see for herself just how immense the gap between her and her target was.

At the point where the sky split into two halves, she had already, if subconsciously, understood the source of such might.

Taking a deep breath, she looked up, and immediately felt better at the fact that the others were completely gobsmacked by the Holy Daughter’s revelation. Schwarz was regulating his breathing like a professional bartender, Lily was struck dumb, Farah was frowning, and Risti was, well, bored.

Risti, who was the best-informed of everyone present, was probably already aware of the truth.

As for Claud, he was trembling in his boots. The poor guy, who placed safety first, was definitely overcome by the fact that someone this destructive lived in the same city as him. She couldn’t help but pity the poor guy, whose innate desire to stay safe was probably nibbling away at him right now.

Before she could delve deeper into her newfound pity, Holy Daughter Clarissa got up from her seat. Her stainless white dress rustled as she closed in on the man bound by a thick white thread and withdrew two skillstrips.

With a slow, languid motion, she tore the skillstrip into two, and then pointed at the unconscious, bound person. Without waiting, she tore the other one, and a faint sheen of light gathered around her.

The results were instantaneous, and with a faint moan, the man let out a groan.

At the same time, the Holy Daughter’s guard subtly shifted his stance. To the untrained eye, no one would notice anything special, but Dia could tell that the guard was ready to protect his mistress at a moment’s motive. With a simple move, he could easily move into position and bear the brunt of any attack.

Unfortunately, it would seem that no one else here understood the guard’s firm resolve to sacrifice himself.

“Urgh.” The man let out another groan, and then looked around slowly. “What’s going on here? Why am I captured?”

“It would seem that his status is accurate, then,” Caroline noted, before getting up too. “Holy Son of the Black God, I am the stand-in ruler of Licencia, Caroline Lostfon. You are currently under our custody.”

“Licencia?” The man blinked. “Where’s that? And what did I do?”

Dia felt a bubbling urge to laugh. There was some absolute sincerity in that man’s words; she could somehow tell that his confusion was genuine. The way Caroline and Clarissa exchanged glances just intensified her desire to giggle, and she had to calm herself down.

Surprise sank in a moment later, but Dia was too shaken by the unbelievable outsurge of mana she had witnessed earlier to actually care that much. The same couldn’t be said for the rest, however, and Dia decided to enjoy the dumbfounded expressions of Schwarz and the others.

“How troubling,” Clarissa murmured. “I recall that the Church of the Black God is based in Nihal.”

“Nihal?” Caroline asked.

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“Yes.” The Holy Daughter chuckled, and then snapped her fingers. The white cord that bound the man fell apart, and she squatted down. “First, allow me to verify some facts. You are the Holy Son of the Black God, no? Or did you pick up that insignia from somewhere?”

“I am Holy Son Nero, yes.” He glanced at the thumb ring on his right hand, and then cast a quizzical glance at Caroline, who emulated his actions by tugging at her own thumb ring, which lit up faintly with a white light.

For some reason, it didn’t budge, but Holy Son Nero seemed to find that acceptable. He took a deep breath, and then said, “You are…the Holy Daughter of the White Church, then.”

“Precisely so.” She smiled, and an odd, uncharacteristic motherly air swirled around.

Holy Son Nero twitched at those words, and an awful shade of green crawled up his face. “As I recall, the White Church is based in Grandis.”

Those two words echoed in Dia’s mind over and over again, and the implication of what his words actually meant began to sink in.

“Yes. This is my territory,” Clarissa replied. “You, Holy Son Nero, are currently in Grandis. Do you still recall what you were last doing?”

“Me?” The Holy Son scrunched up his face. “I was chasing after a criminal…right, where’s that murderer?”

“Answer the question,” the Holy Daughter replied. “What happened afterwards?”

Holy Son Nero got up into a sitting position, and then scratched his head. “Uh. Nothing. I can’t quite remember what came afterwards, for some reason. I only remember chasing someone through a forest, and then my memory cuts out there.”

“There you have it,” said Caroline. “It’s obvious what came next, right? He was ambushed by the Third’s helpers, and then turned into a thrall. Just to check, though, what year is it?”

“What year is it?” The bemused Holy Son blinked. “It’s 6019, right?”

Dia winced, along with everyone else. He had been unconscious for two years, and a tingle ran down her spine at that thought. So many things could happen in a year, and for the poor Nero, he had lost two years of his life without knowing.

“It’s 6021 now,” Caroline gently replied.

“Six…” Holy Son Nero took a deep breath. “Alright. It seems that I was schemed against. Let’s forget about that bit first. Why am I under your custody?”

“Know you the Cord of Cause?”

“That’s the God of Karma’s specialty,” Nero replied. Something struck him a moment later, and he looked at the white cord that bound him. “Wait. What did I do?”

“You killed a Blessed of the White God,” Caroline replied. “While under the control of the Third Bearer of Destiny. The Third Bearer of Destiny was killed just hours ago, right before we ambushed you, rendering you unconscious.”

“That crazy bastard.” The Holy Son looked up at the White God’s Holy Daughter, and sighed. “Alright. Take me in. I’ll cooperate or whatever.”

Clarissa laughed, and for some reason, Dia could sense a trace of nervousness inside. “That’s alright. You aren’t at fault. A knife cannot be blamed for murders. And you’re also a victim.”

“Yeah, I’m a victim alright.” He looked around the place, and Dia felt a faint oppression as his gaze swept through everyone present. “Still, the Third Bearer of Destiny? What skill did he have?”

“Absolute Domination,” Clarissa replied. “It was with that skill that the Third was able to control a tetra-folder like you.”

“Well, that explains how he got someone to try to assassinate…never mind.” Holy Son Nero cleared his throat. “But he’s dead, yeah?”

“Yes. I could bring you to the site of his death,” Clarissa replied. “It’s apparently a bottomless pit or something. His killer had one Moon of a grudge against the Third.”

“So, I was working as the pawn of the Third, huh? Well…that’s pathetic. Also, aren’t you the Holy Daughter of the White God? How can you use that word?”

“Oh, please. It’s not my fault that the fundamentalists are the ones in-charge of your life. Anyway, you can rest assured that we won’t be prosecuting you for our Blessed’s death, although we’ll need your cooperation on future investigations. We will brief you on the relevant details later.”

As the Holy Son of the Black God and the Holy Daughter of the White God continued to exchange words, Dia couldn’t help but note that the latter seemed more human than usual. It was as if she was actually talking to real people, unlike the ‘salvation-for-all’ vibe she gave out whenever she interacted with the Moon Lords and even Caroline herself.

“Ahem.” Caroline cleared her throat. “Holy Daughter Clarissa, how do you intend to solve this issue?”

A faint frostiness settled on Clarissa’s face and words. “That is indeed a problem. The Third Bearer of Destiny is dead, his body completely annihilated. While it is an acceptable result, we had further plans. And we have Holy Son Nero to deal with too, but we cannot quite deal with him.”

She paused. “The Moon Lords will host him while we contact the Black Church. Is that acceptable to you, Holy Son Nero?”

Nero chuckled awkwardly. “Considering that I’m penniless right now, anything goes.”

Dia, however, couldn’t help but note that the Holy Daughter hadn’t even bothered asking for their opinion, even as a courtesy. The others didn’t show any emotion, but she knew that they had to be displeased.

“Well then, I will take my leave first. More instructions regarding how to deal with the Thief of Time will come down in a few days.”

As Schwarz escorted Clarissa and her guard out of Moon Mansion, the Holy Son of the Black God turned to look at them.

“So, erm…hi?”

Dia, as well as everyone else, had to hide their smile.