"This is the place."
"...What in the world is this place...?"
"As a [Spirit Summoner], you should know well enough. This room is a small barrier created for the sake of physical sealing."
While Hinata and Granbell faced each other in the papal palace above ground, deep below in the dark underground...
Adelio and the others stepped into a small chamber at the very heart of [Night Garden], directly beside Luminous's bedroom.
"..."
'...It's spotless.'
The room was as immaculate as ever.
Pure white, cold, and perfectly orderly.
This place hardly looked like a room that belonged in the residence of a vampire. It was one of the very few places Luminous had personally imbued with [Holy Magic], a sacred space so holy it would not have been an exaggeration to call it a living sanctuary.
"A barrier built with top-tier [Holy Magic], and even the power of a Holy Spirit... In that case, this really is..."
"Hmph. Just what I'd expect from a race obsessed with magic. You're quick to catch on."
Still apparently displeased that the clash of wills from a few minutes ago had been interrupted by Adelio before it could reach a conclusion, Luminous glared at Ria with her coldly gleaming odd eyes and continued in a curt voice.
"This room is a place where [Holy Magic] is maintained semi-permanently by using the Holy Spirit's power possessed by a [Hero]. And the source of that power is... the body inside there."
At the end of the direction indicated by Luminous's fingertip was Chronoa's body, trapped inside a massive crystal, wearing an expression as though she had fallen into an endless sleep.
"...I knew it..."
"...Teacher Chronoa..."
Ria and Shizue had already considered the possibility that Chronoa, who had suddenly vanished without explanation, might be in something close to a sealed state. So even at the sight of the sacred vessel sealing her, they were not completely shocked. But the weight of accepting that reality still struck them hard.
"...Why is she... sealed away in a place like this...?"
Like the seasoned Hero she was, Shizue pulled herself together as quickly as possible, tore her gaze away from Chronoa, and asked Luminous the question.
The Chronoa she remembered had certainly been an unusual person, but not someone who deserved to be sealed away in the depths of the underground and forgotten by the world.
A resolve began to frost over in her eyes: until she heard the reason here and now, she would never back down.
And Luminous, who had been quietly watching Shizue in silence, lowered her brows.
"Because she herself wished for it."
Luminous said it with a blank expression. Then she turned her head and stared for a moment at Adelio, who had merely been watching her, before letting out a long sigh and speaking again.
"Hmph... You should consider it an honor. The tale I am about to tell is a precious epic that, by rights, no one beyond us should ever have known."
And then...
The secret epic entwining two [Hero]es and one [Demon Lord] flowed into the world for the first time through her lips.
**
At the center of the continent, near the border between [Ruberios] and Falmuth, stood a massive trading company.
That company, said to be tied to the underworld organization known as Cerberus, was wrapped in an emotionless silence, as though it were a ghost merchant house.
"...Heh."
That silence lasted only until a man in military uniform swallowed a meaningful chuckle and spoke.
"Well now, I never expected someone like you to contact me directly."
A plain military uniform that revealed nothing of his affiliation, thick gloves meant to hide the traces of his training, and overwhelming control that let not a shred of the magic power of a [saint] leak outside.
Hidden behind the false name of "merchant," while agonizing over the contradictory identity that had ensnared him, the man bowed his head toward the old man reflected in the crystal orb.
"It truly has been a long time, Sunday Priest Gran."
"...Indeed... it has been a long time."
The old man, Gran, accepted the greeting with a harmless-looking smile from the man before him, but his brow twitched faintly as though the words displeased him.
Because he understood.
The reason the man beyond the crystal orb had deliberately called it "a long time" and even bowed his head was because he meant to completely sever any trace of their old "connection" in the East.
"...I thought you were merely wearing the mask of a merchant, but now you've become a complete merchant."
"I can't say I know what you mean, but I'll take it as a compliment for now."
"...Very well. Do as you like."
Gran, who could proudly claim to know the man's past better than almost anyone else in the world, found his current manner bitterly mismatched with the man he had once been. And yet, at the same time, it reassured him.
Because what he was about to ask of this man absolutely could not be allowed to reach the outside world, no matter what happened.
"I would have liked to indulge in a little idle conversation, but your current position does not seem to permit such wasted time... so I'll get straight to the point. The reason I contacted you personally today is because there are matters I wish to entrust only to you, the head of Cerberus."
"Oh? Someone with absolute influence in the West wishes to speak directly to a mere merchant like me?"
On the surface, it sounded like praise for Gran's status. Underneath, it was a mocking jab, asking whether he couldn't even handle a single task on his own.
Thinking that the man truly did speak like a merchant now, Gran frowned again, then twisted his mouth harshly as he answered.
"...Heh. As you suspect, if it were any ordinary matter, I would have dealt with it myself... Unfortunately, this target is a monster with influence and force greater than my own."
"..."
He did not like it, but Gran had judged that this target could never be hunted through direct means. With eyes gone cold as ice, he met the gaze of the man beyond the crystal orb.
"It seems only a [saint] can subdue another [saint]... don't you agree, Damurada?"
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