Bringer's goal had been clear from the start. His collaboration with Sarah Floren had always been meant to spark chaos across New Eridu — he would come here, detonate the small Hollow floating on the sea, and use it to spread Ether and Filth throughout all of New Eridu.
That was why he'd planned to start from the Throne Quarter, the undisputed heart of New Eridu.
But after Hugo severed his connection to the moon, what should have been effortless had turned difficult.
"Bringer, oh Bringer. What am I supposed to say to you?" ... "Blessed with such a rare gift from the Progenitor, and still you end up like this. It's almost too laughable for words."
Sarah's tone dripped with scorn — and she meant every word of it.
One of the conditions for becoming a bishop of the Exaltists was having received the Progenitor's blessing.
Bringer's blessing was the power to commune with Skymoon.
In this world, even the moon held a Hollow of its own — one far larger than any Hollow found on Earth.
"Even with power like that, you still failed? Bringer, you've disappointed me terribly."
As she spoke, Sarah walked slowly toward Bringer. Amid his look of terror, she slowly raised the Tailless in her hand.
"Wait! What are you doing? No! You can't do this! We're equals in rank!"
Bringer stared at Sarah in terror, trying to invoke his own status to stop her — but it was a hopeless effort.
"Since you can't meet my expectations, I'll simply find someone else."
Squelch!
The blade fell, and Bringer's severed head rolled aside, his face still frozen in disbelief, as though he couldn't understand why Sarah had struck without hesitation.
But to Sarah, whether Bringer lived or died had never mattered.
Even back when he'd been captured and imprisoned, she hadn't cared.
From beginning to end, there had only ever been one thing she wanted: Bringer's ability to commune with the moon.
"Lord Progenitor granted you a blessing beyond measure, and yet you disappointed him again and again. Since that's how it is, I'll take control of this power myself."
With that, Sarah looked at Bringer's body — still standing despite the loss of its head — and let out a quiet, sneering laugh.
Then she flipped the Tailless around and drove it into the headless corpse's neck.
As she moved, ghostly cold flames flared up along the Tailless, and inevitably, the hand gripping its hilt began to burn.
No — burn wasn't quite right. It was more like frostbite.
Sarah's Sacrifice arm had nearly frozen solid, and she was steadily losing all feeling in it. Even so, a satisfied smile stayed fixed on her face, as though the arm being lost wasn't even her own.
Finally, with a crisp crack, Sarah's right arm snapped off at the root, then crumbled to dust beneath the Tailless's frost flame.
At the same time, what had once been Bringer's body slowly rose to its feet. That it could still move despite having no head was a sight uncanny enough to chill the blood.
Right after, the phantom silhouette that Hugo had once shattered reappeared behind the giant. It was dimmer now, but it could still reach the moon overhead, and vast amounts of Ether energy began gathering onto the giant bit by bit, reshaping its form.
"Calamity Beast, sealed away for so long — reveal your true form!"
Sarah watched the monster before her with a face full of excitement. This was exactly the outcome she wanted — a power that was strong, chaotic, and absolutely under her own control!
The human form faded away, replaced by something wild and beastlike. Where the blade had once been, a beast's head began to take shape, while the giant's limbs bent low, transforming into sharp claws and powerful legs.
The phantom silhouette connecting to the moon dissipated once more. Bringer's power had been utterly spent with his death, but it had been enough to bring the Calamity Beast into being.
A sharp gleam shone in Sarah's eyes, and at the same moment, a light flickered to life in the Calamity Beast's eyes as well.
This was the blessing Sarah had received — through it, she could bend the will of others. But the power came with heavy limits, much like how Bringer, though able to draw on the moon, could only draw so much.
Sarah's control only worked on targets with weak willpower or clouded minds — the same method she'd always used to command the Sacrifice soldiers.
"Go! Unleash your fury! Burn this hypocritical city to ash!!"
Amid Sarah's cheers, the Calamity Beast slowly turned and began walking toward the far side of the sea.
With every step it took across the water, ice floes formed beneath its feet to give it footing.
But the direction it walked wasn't toward the Throne Quarter, as Sarah had expected.
"What? Wait, where are you going?! That's the wrong way!"
Under Sarah's startled gaze, the Calamity Beast didn't head for the Throne Quarter at all. Instead it moved the other way, steady and slow, toward the small Hollow floating in the sea.
It needed to feed.
"Damn it!"
Seeing that the Calamity Beast wasn't obeying her commands, Sarah realized things had slipped beyond her control.
She'd meant to try controlling it again, but then she heard commotion coming from the harbor.
"It's right up ahead! Hurry!"
Realizing people were closing in, Sarah didn't hesitate — she turned and dashed toward the harbor's watchtower to hide.
In her current state, fighting was out of the question — even escaping was uncertain. All she could do was hide for now.
Soon, several more figures appeared in the open space of the harbor — Geno and members of Victoria Housekeeping.
"It's right up ahead — this is where Bringer is."
Geno jogged ahead, leading the others behind him toward Bringer's location.
On his way to get Hugo and Lycaon medical treatment, he'd run into members of Victoria Housekeeping and Anti-Air Section Six who had also caught up. After handing Lycaon over to Victoria Housekeeping, Geno had led the Anti-Air Section Six members straight to the harbor.
But the moment they entered the harbor, everyone noticed it — the monster striding across the surface of the sea.
"What is that thing?! It's huge!"
Soukaku stared at the enormous creature, eyes wide as saucers, disbelief written all over her face.
Something that big — if you could roast it up, how long would it take to eat it all...
By contrast, Yanagi Tsukishiro and Asaba Harumasa wore expressions of both alarm and disbelief.
"This power... why does it feel so much like the Section Chief's?"
"It's not just similar — this is the power of the Section Chief's Tailless."
As a colleague and close friend, Yanagi knew Hoshimi Miyabi's power far too well. Even twisted into monstrous form, she could still recognize it.
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