The conference room erupted into murmurs again, but Shiomi didn't try to hush them. He understood the unease in everyone's hearts.
If it were only the Bleaching, that would be one thing. Even if it were merely a "swap," that would still be one thing. But being swapped into a future a hundred years from now…
"So you're saying that even if the Bleaching never happened, human civilization… our world would still be gone in a hundred years?" Goredolf went pale, fear creeping into his expression.
"Possibly."
He'd grown used to life at Chaldea, but he still longed to resolve the crisis and return to the "present" of the original world.
"From what we can tell, yes," Shiomi said. "Do you all remember 2015, when Singularity F was discovered, and Chaldeas observed the Light of Humanity disappearing?"
The room gradually quieted.
In other words, the moment the Incineration of Humanity began, the fact that humanity had no future was already set in stone.
But it wasn't that the Incineration of Humanity caused humanity to have no future. Rather—
"Given what we know now, the Incineration of Humanity wasn't the kind of catastrophe it appeared to be, a disaster created purely to wipe out mankind. The first Beast, the Demon God King Goetia—who stole the name of the King of Magecraft and bore the principle of 'Mercy'—wasn't lying."
"The Incineration of Humanity was most likely meant to save human civilization."
Yet even Goetia, armed with the King of Magecraft's Clairvoyance, couldn't avoid that possibility. So he chose to start over from scratch.
Burn human history to ash, gather the heat, and recreate a brand-new human history—one that would never be destroyed.
In that sense, Goetia really did live up to being a Magecraft formula created by Solomon. Not human, yet still thinking in a way that was unmistakably Magus-like.
Romani didn't respond with any clear stance. He only looked… faintly relieved.
In the end, that guy had loved humanity, too.
The Evils of Humanity were, in essence, Human Love.
If that was the case…
"My husband," Morgan murmured beside Shiomi, "everyone's still waiting for you to continue."
Realizing he'd drifted off into thought again, Shiomi quickly set it aside.
"Sorry. I got sidetracked."
"As for how we define the Incineration of Humanity, and how it relates to humanity's destruction, we'll analyze that in more depth later. For now, let's return to Chaldeas, and to the part involving the Director."
Everyone had seen it: the "Alien God," like a twin to Olga Marie, had appeared—and had even used the name "Olga Marie."
What the "U" prefix meant was still unclear.
"We still don't know exactly how Chaldeas carried out the replacement, or why it chose to do so," Shiomi said. "But—"
"The so-called 'Alien God' is Chaldeas's control system," Kirschtaria said, rising to his feet. "And the fact that it appeared in Miss Olga Marie's form was no coincidence."
"Could you explain in more detail, Kirschtaria?" Romani asked.
Kirschtaria nodded. "When Chaldea in Antarctica was attacked, we Crypters received a single order: 'Secure Olga Marie as the vessel.' But what it referred to wasn't the body that had continued operating alongside Chaldea."
"It was the body damaged in the control room explosion, before the Singularity F expedition began."
A body engraved with the Animusphere inherited Magic Crest, and carrying the mysteries of Animusphere Magecraft.
"It was because we learned that Miss Olga Marie's soul and body had been separated that we prioritized securing the body, instead of chasing after the soul that had been placed into the doll body," Kirschtaria said, frowning. "It wasn't until I became a Crypter and spoke directly with the 'Alien God' that I understood: she wasn't merely my teacher's daughter. From before she was even born, she was already destined to become part of Chaldeas."
It was hard to say what Kirschtaria felt about that fact.
He was a Magus from birth, the future of the Magecraft world. He understood his own role, and he understood why a Magus Family existed in the first place.
If Marisbury had raised Olga Marie for the sake of Animusphere's path of Magecraft, that wouldn't have been strange to a Magus.
After all, even Kirschtaria's own father had hired an assassin to kill his own son—simply because Kirschtaria's grandfather intended to bypass the father and pass the Magic Crest directly to the grandson.
That was what Magi were like.
Human bonds, morality, and emotion—on the scales beside the path of Magecraft—didn't weigh even a fraction.
Though he, too, felt that Olga Marie was pitiable, Kirschtaria didn't say much about it.
"Wait a second." Meunière raised his hand and gestured animatedly. "Chaldeas was completed and activated under the former Director's leadership. And the current Director was raised for the sake of Chaldeas—she was even destined to become the vessel of the 'Alien God'…"
"And more than that," Shiomi added, "the 'Alien God' that appeared before us is a fully incarnated existence. It most likely used the Director's original body—the one that was damaged in the explosion and has remained frozen and sealed, never repaired. Both its personality and temperament are influenced by the residual information left within that body. That's why it feels both like her and not like her."
More importantly, even though Shiomi didn't spell it out, everyone had already arrived at the same conclusion.
The Bleaching of Humanity was deeply entangled with the late Marisbury. If they wanted answers, they would have to return to Antarctica and re-enter Chaldea.
Before that, however, they needed to eliminate the remaining Lostbelts—cut away every lingering threat and unstable factor.
After Shiomi finished his explanation, the meeting, brief as it was, came to an end.
Its original purpose had only been to clarify, as much as possible, the relationship between Olga Marie and the "Alien God."
Fortunately, everyone was still willing to trust Marie.
Shiomi quietly let out a breath.
One by one, the others left the conference room.
Only the Crypters, Shiomi, and Romani remained.
"There's something else I think you should know," Peperoncino said. "You probably don't know this, but on the day Marisbury killed himself in his room, he had an appointment scheduled with someone."
Romani blinked. "Who?"
"Daybit Zem Void," Kirschtaria answered. "When I gathered the others to prepare for battle against Chaldea, he told me this. I then passed it along to the rest."
Since he intended to remain in the South American Lostbelt, Daybit had likely assumed that Kirschtaria wouldn't be able to stop Chaldea. By revealing that information indirectly, he was trying to send Chaldea a message—
"It seems that if we want to know why Marisbury took his own life, we'll have to go to the South American Lostbelt in person."
Shiomi nodded in understanding.
He glanced toward Morgan, who was waiting by the door, and gave her a small nod to let her know she didn't have to wait for him.
Then he continued.
"I was hoping you might be able to persuade Daybit to surrender on my behalf. But it looks like there's no avoiding it. If we want answers, I'll have to face him myself—and defeat him."