The army resumed its march before the sun had even begun its descent.
Despite the sudden, inexplicable attack, the campaign could not afford another delay.
The theater commanded by Greed and Gluttony had already advanced ahead of them. If they remained here any longer, the gap between the two forces would only continue to widen.
So the battered army marched.
Bandages replaced armor on many soldiers. Makeshift stretchers rolled beside supply wagons.
The scent of blood still lingered faintly in the air despite every effort to wash it away.
Yet no one complained.
...Perhaps because none of them had the strength left to.
The prolonged respite should have restored their spirits. Instead, the fleshly monstrosity hanging in the sky had accomplished the exact opposite.
It reminded every last one of them what they were truly marching toward: That no amount of rest would ever make this war easier.
"...Haah."
Ashen sighed.
His own mood was hardly any better.
Mostly because his other half was explaining exactly what they had encountered.
{I'll skip the part where I initially mistook her for Maria.}
Old Ashen sounded unusually serious.
{That thing was using Maria merely as a guise.}
Ashen remained silent.
{She called herself Love, but Humanity eventually gave her another name.}
A brief pause followed.
{The Outer God of Twisted Communion.}
Ashen's brows furrowed. 'Why does every title of theirs somehow always end up so paradoxical?'
{You've already witnessed two of her abilities.} Old Ashen kept explaining, {Flesh manipulation should have been obvious enough, with the second being Body possession.}
{Although possession isn't entirely accurate.}
Ashen listened quietly.
{I never fought her personally. Lola killed her long before I had the chance.}
{Twisted Communion was always one of Lust's primary targets.}
{Still... I learned enough about her.}
Old Ashen's tone became colder.
{She cannot simply seize any body she pleases. Her hosts must already possess values compatible with her own.}
{She searches for people whose perception of love already leans toward hers.}
{Then...}
{...she whispers.}
Ashen unconsciously tightened his grip around the spear resting over his shoulder.
{Little by little, she twists them… changes them… Making them believe they're becoming their true selves.}
{The closer their idea of love becomes to hers, the greater the power she grants them.}
Ashen's expression slowly darkened.
{flesh, regeneration, grafting, possession… Her blessings only deepen their devotion.}
{Eventually, they begin worshipping her. They'll be recruiting others, offering more victims and before long...}
{You have a cult.}
A chill crawled down Ashen's spine.
{A cult through which she can manifest almost anywhere. Kill one host… and she'll simply appear through another.}
{The host dies.}
{She doesn't.}
"I wonder where Maria started and where this twisted being began..." Ashen muttered under his breath.
{No.}
{from the start, Maria happened to satisfy her standards, so she should have been pretty fucked up in the head, even without manipulation.}
{Though...}
Old Ashen sighed.
{The cultists I remember were grotesque. They had twisted bodies, twisted minds. And they only knew how to talk about twisted love.}
{That's why Maria fooled me.}
{Twisted Communion had probably kept the blessing hidden until the very end.}
Ashen frowned, then the realization struck him.
"...An assassination."
Seraphine.
His gaze instinctively drifted toward the blonde-haired Saint walking several steps ahead.
{Perhaps. Perhaps not.}
Ashen blinked.
{Outer Gods share one characteristic: Absolute indifference.}
{Anything beneath a Sin Lord barely exists to them. Their attention naturally falls upon beings capable of opposing them.}
Old Ashen continued.
{Most likely… Seraphine wasn't the objective. She was bait.}
Ashen's pupils narrowed.
{Your Saintess would draw Lola out. By then, Twisted Communion could observe her abilities, her Path, her Concept, and her fighting style.}
{if Seraphine happened to die in the process and Lust suffered a mental blow...}
{Then all the better for this twisted creature.}
"I see..."
{And that may not be all…}
Old Ashen continued.
{It seems she did not lose such a precious cult member for nothing.}
Ashen glanced around, and only now did he realize just how much morale had been lost.
Everyone's faces were unnaturally pale.
Even Lucia and Alice were unusually quiet.
Lapis, who was always brimming with energy no matter what happened, seemed lost in her own thoughts instead.
But the worst of them was none other than Seraphine.
She rode by his side with a faint smile, but to Ashen who knew her expressions better than he knew his own, that slight smile was the one she wore whenever she wanted to bury everything underneath.
'And for her to go as far as to hide her feelings from me... damn it.'
{So you understand.}
'She managed to plant terror in everyone's hearts. Now, picking us off one by one and deepening that same terror would become much easier.'
"Haah..."
Another sigh escaped him before he even realized it.
"She can't be the only one around. Is there more?"
{Of course. It's just that most of those small fry were either killed by others or eliminated by the Custodian Order before they eventually invaded.}
'So they really did invade?'
{Yes. Five years from now. Do you remember Regina? She staggered into the Wrath Domain half-dead from the Inner Territories, muttering about how everyone had died... and about some self-created god falling...}
{Aside from constantly blaming herself for failing everyone, what I remember most was her saying they'd managed to kill two out of the eight.}
'So you only have vague information on the remaining six?'
{Yes.}
'It's better than nothing.'
{Since they already seem to be moving, I'd better fill you in.}
{First... the one you'll probably remember best. Self-Consumption.}
The more Ashen listened, the darker his expression became.
By the end of it, he was scowling.
'Son of a... Should we just retreat now?'
{Ordinarily, that would be the wisest course. But this time around, you have equally powerful allies, don't you?}
'Right...'
Ashen's expression finally eased.
{If they fought with everything they had, they'd surely come out victorious.}
"..."
'Why do I suddenly have the feeling they'll use all their strength to make sure they don't do exactly that?'
{Oh? Your instincts are developing well. Keep it up.}
'Today just keeps getting worse...'
{That's not all.}
'Why am I not surprised...?'
{Among them, there's a special Outer God. He possesses almost no offensive power, but if you encounter him, you must use everything you have to kill him, no matter the cost.}
A brief pause.
{...No, forget that. If I see him, I'm taking over.}
'That bad...?'
{He is the key to the arrival of the parasites from outer space.}
'Oh.'