I'm not here: ......

　The Marquess's castle, which had been destroyed to the utmost extent, looked like the remains of a giant dragon after the battle. The castle was torn down as if it were being picked over, and the ribs were exposed to the elements.
　Crumbling walls and gouged ground. What appears to be the remnants of a cattle shed swept away by the water are drifting along the walls.

　In the muddy ground, the remains of a giant's rampage, there is no sign of Gislain's huge body.
　There are only a few bloody, dumpling-like pieces of white flesh left to shoulder the damage.

Maybe he turned into a man and hid somewhere.
　It's not fair, once I'm undead, I can't go back to my human body.
"Are you there?
Yeah. There are just pieces of flesh lying around.

　You're not hiding in a piece of meat, are you?
　Incidentally, the piece of meat was supposed to be collected after the attack, just in case. We don't know if we'll have another chance to fight a similar holy beast, so we should send it to the analysis team (which is currently staffed by only one person).

Alastor, did you see any signs of escape?
I've checked with the captains of the units surrounding the castle, and they have not reported seeing anyone who looks like them.
　I'm not sure if he was using magic or magic items to hide himself.
"...... I'll have Bloodsucker look for tracks in a bit. I'll have Bloodsucker look for footprints. Gislain disappeared right after he crushed my body, right?
"Yes.

　It seems that if you turn into a person, you can hide your holy spirit and huge body, but it is not easy to remove the footprints.
　Fortunately, the area was muddy, so there might be some traces left behind.

　The Bloodsuckers, led by Rene, were heading towards the wall that had been cracked by Gislain's fist.
　Their eyes widened like saucers as they scanned the area to make sure that their footprints would not cover any traces.
　The undead are good at simple tasks and maneuvering.

If Gislain was just a holy beast, I could have used the power of Emotional Intelligence to find him. If Gislain was just a holy beast, I could have found him with the power of emotion detection.
"Let's search with all available forces in the city.
Please. And continue with the extermination of the holy beast.

　Rene sighs as he stops the caller.

　Initially, Rene came to kill Gislain as a political enemy. But now, Gislain seems to have lost his mind. Who would have thought that he would eat the Marquis of Edfelt, René's other target?

　I know who made Gislain this way. It's that old woman Morgana who has the Great God's will in her. For some reason, she was captured by the Noa Curio army and sent to Wesara to be repatriated.
　She is a maker of holy beasts, and can project the Great God in her own mind, and perhaps even engrave stigmas on others.
　But I still can't figure out why she did this ...... or why she let him do it.

　What is certain is that Gislain is not a mere holy beast, but is running on a degraded copy of God's thought process. If that's the case, we must slaughter them at all costs.

　--...... I can't stop thinking about it. I have to find Gislain too.

　Rene also began to look around, searching for signs of his surroundings.

　I don't know.

　The sounds of battle in the chapel had ceased.
　The loophole is a narrow path. You can only enter if the one before you advances. Those who still remained in the chapel, unable to escape, listened intently in stifled silence. They were preparing for what would or would not happen next.

　Then they heard some footsteps in the muck, and a few figures appeared in front of the large hole where the door to the outside was.
　A silver knight's armor, stained with mud. Injured or fatigued, they came rolling in with a staggering gait.
　You can tell who they are by the crest painted on the chest of their armor.

"Oh, my lady!
Gentlemen!

　Katherine stepped forward to greet them.
　They were the knights of Oswald's army.
　The knights knelt before her as if they were about to fall.

You're safe, aren't you?
I'm not sure if it's a good idea, but it's a good idea.

　I'm not sure if you've heard of it, but I'm sure you have.

I'm not sure what to say.
　What happened to your father?　What happened to him?　What happened to your brother?　Where is your sister?

　The knight finally managed to squeeze out a few words as Catherine shook him by the shoulders of his armor.

I'm sure you'll be able to understand that I'm not the only one who has a problem with this.
"Such .......

　I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not. It's a good thing you didn't fall down.

　It's a good thing she didn't fall over, I should say. Or is it that she hasn't fully accepted the situation yet?
　Katherine had sent her family into a desperate battle and lost them all at once. I can only imagine how shocking that must have been.

　But the words of the knights that followed were even more shocking.

But then something strange ...... happened, something horrible .......
　A mysterious holy beast suddenly appeared and ...... ah!
"The Count!　The Count's head!


"What ......?

　Catherine didn't look surprised or not surprised, she looked like she didn't know what she was talking about.
　She said that the Holy Beast had eaten Oswald.

　Bertil, who was listening in, was of course surprised and sympathetic, and regretted the loss of the man. At the same time, he was calmly thinking about the implications of this situation.

　--The holy beast that came out of nowhere and tried to eat us. The holy beast that had attacked and killed the survivors in the city. And ......
　　　Maybe they're not here to kill us. Either way, it's a pretty f*cked up story.

　At first, Bertil thought that the Holy Beast had gone crazy or out of control and started running amok.
　However, it seemed more correct to think that they were all moving together for some other purpose.
　What that purpose was, he didn't know yet, but it would be something more important to the Holy Beasts than the lives of the citizens.

The sounds of battle have suddenly ceased, what is going on outside?

　The knight managed to answer Bertil's question in a trembling voice.
　They, too, have lost their Lord before their eyes. They are filled with the heavy weariness of having somehow escaped from a desperate battle in such a situation, and the expression "crawling body" is appropriate.

...... A mysterious holy beast was fighting the Rose Princess of Hell.
　This is the first time I've ever seen such a thing in my life," he said.
You mean both disappeared. ...... When you say disappeared, how did you mean?
I don't know. ...... We were also fighting desperately against an army of undead trying to invade. I'm not sure what to make of it.

　The knight speaks haltingly while looking at the floor.

　You'll be able to see that Rene was probably not defeated.
　It's a natural guess, since we already know that he has the power to change bodies.

　Holy beasts are sensitive to evil spirits.
　If Rene had gotten a body somewhere in the city, he could have gone after it.
　It's possible, but I don't understand why he hid himself.

　Is he using magic to hide himself, or is he hiding in human form?
　Is she trying to catch us by surprise? If Rene has the power to sense emotions, I don't think he can be taken by surprise, and holy beasts seem to have a tendency to fight head-on. ......

The walls are of no use to us now. If the fight had gone on a little longer, we would all have been killed.
Therefore, in shame at not being able to fulfill my ...... duties and protect the Lord Count, I have returned to ...... protect the Master.

　The knights, weeping tears of regret, strained their voices.

　--We can't afford to be looking for the Holy Beast.

　For some reason, the battle has lulled, but Bertil knows that things are not getting any better. We're still in danger here.
　So there are more survivors, but that doesn't change what we need to do. We just run.

　He would have liked to know what the holy beast was doing, but there was probably no time for that. What was more important for Bertil was to analyze what had happened in the chapel.
　At Rene's order, he had planted a "wedge of separation" in this chapel as well. In other words, Rene was planning to use this chapel as a nursery for more Blood Suckers.
　However, for some reason, this did not happen. I don't know what the cause was, or if Rene simply changed his mind. If there is a key to opposing Rene, we need to find it.
　To do so, we need to gather and connect the testimonies of survivors. The more survivors we have, the better.

　--The only thing left to do is to pray that nothing happens until the ...... evacuation is complete or ......

　But. But on the battlefield, prayers are often betrayed in the worst possible way.

　Suddenly, Bertil felt as if the air had come over him.
　The chapel, which was supposed to be filled with pure holy air, was now filled with a sense of evil.
　The holy air, which had been diluted by the making of holy water, had been overpowered by the evil air and drowned out.

　The mere presence of it was enough to make the knightly Bertil shudder.
　This feeling was familiar to me.
　The day King's Landing fell, Bertil had met her.

　--Oh, come on, ......, please. I can't die yet.

　The fallen silver moon stood at the entrance of the chapel.

　Long beautiful silver hair and dull silver eyes with a hard and noble glow.
　Her face is pretty and innocent, but bloodless, and the cut in her thin neck and the blood flowing from it show that she is no ordinary being.
　In her hand is a sword that looks like it was cut from a crimson gem.
　In her hand is a sword that looks like it was carved out of a crimson jewel. She is wearing a common dress that is white and brown in color. On the skirt of the dress was an intense red rose with fresh blood.

　Rene "Rosy" Luvia Ciel-Teira.
　...... "The Rose of Hell".