Hearing footsteps on the wooden stairs, Vanessa closed the book in her hands and looked toward the staircase leading up to the second floor.

Judging by the sound, there was only one person.

Anyone permitted to enter the Sacred Treasure Repository without an escort had to be an important Church official who already possessed authorization.

“Your Eminence Vanessa, I apologize for disturbing you. Her Eminence Kaleni asked me to bring you to her.”

Sure enough, the person who came upstairs was Rina, commander of the Radiant Cross Knights.

Vanessa set down her book.

She knew Kaleni would not send someone for her unless something particularly important had happened.

Kaleni had previously told her not to concern herself with anything else and to devote herself entirely to studying inside the repository. She was to finish as much of the Facilis Family’s inherited knowledge as possible while also learning magic and techniques suited to her.

Unless something serious happened, Kaleni would never disturb her before the scholars found a solution.

“I understand.”

Vanessa picked up the thin white veil lying beside the sofa and put it on.

“Please lead the way, Lady Rina.”

“You’re too kind. This way, please.”

Rina saluted Vanessa.

It was the formal salute used when meeting a Saintess. Kaleni had personally ordered it, declaring that meeting Vanessa was to be treated no differently from meeting her.

Rina had no objection.

In a certain sense, Vanessa was Kaleni from another parallel world. Their worldlines had simply diverged at some point, resulting in the many differences between them.

The two descended from the second floor and arrived on the ground floor of the circular tower.

After verifying their identities, Rina took out a golden feather and used it to open the repository’s doors. The two of them then stepped outside.

Through her white veil, Vanessa watched the paladins moving through the corridors of the Temple of the Dawn.

From time to time, one of them would cast a curious glance her way, only to quickly look away again.

Vanessa had spent nearly every day since arriving at the Temple of the Dawn inside the treasure repository. She had barely seen anything of the temple’s interior.

But now was hardly the time to concern herself with that.

Rina led Vanessa to the main residence of the Dawn Saintess and took her upstairs.

Kaleni was seated inside a pavilion on the second-floor balcony, elegantly holding a cup of tea as she gazed into the distance beyond the temple.

“Your Eminence Kaleni.”

Rina brought Vanessa into the pavilion, informing Kaleni of her arrival.

“Mm. Thank you, Rina.”

Kaleni had heard their footsteps long ago. She turned toward them and smiled warmly at Vanessa.

“Come, little Vanessa. Sit down~”

“Mm.”

Vanessa sat beside Kaleni.

“You should sit too, Rina,” Kaleni said.

“No, Your Eminence. I’ll remain standing.”

Rina shook her head.

“All right, all right. You’re as serious as ever.” Kaleni sighed helplessly. “Fine. Stand if that’s what you prefer.”

She poured Vanessa a cup of tea.

“Here, little Vanessa~ This is Jade-Silver Tea, a specialty of Saint Fanona City. Try it.”

“Thank you, Big Sister Kaleni.”

Vanessa nodded and accepted the cup.

The tea was still warm but no longer hot. This variety seemed to require boiling water at the highest possible temperature to brew properly, which meant Kaleni had probably been sitting here for quite some time.

“How does it taste~?”

“Mellow and rustic, with a faint floral fragrance. It’s very good,” Vanessa assessed.

She then set down the cup.

“Why did you ask me to come, Big Sister Kaleni?”

Kaleni did not answer.

Only after a long silence did she sigh.

“The heavens haven’t been kind to us.”

“It must be a very difficult problem.”

Vanessa immediately understood the meaning behind her words.

“Difficult?” Kaleni stirred her tea with a spoon. “Mm. It is indeed extremely difficult.”

“Did something happen somewhere far away?” Vanessa asked. “You keep looking into the distance.”

“Yes.”

Kaleni shook her head.

She had not wanted Vanessa to learn about this and become distracted, but circumstances had left her with no choice.

“Little Vanessa, according to observations from the church at Laroze Port, the land there has recently begun to fracture.”

“The land is fracturing??”

“Yes. According to the report, the fractures are still spreading. At this rate, it won’t be long before the entirety of Laroze Port is swallowed up.”

“What?”

Vanessa fell silent.

She knew where Laroze Port was. It was a major harbor situated at the edge of the Tyrelis Continent.

“According to the latest reports, the land is still collapsing. The local church tried every conceivable method, but nothing worked. With no other options, they reported the matter to the Church.”

Kaleni stared deeply into the distance.

“The Church dispatched specialists to investigate, but they were equally helpless. The report continued up the chain until it finally reached me.”

“And it isn’t only Laroze Port. Many ports and coastal towns along the edge of the Tyrelis Continent have experienced similar collapses. The resulting tsunamis have almost completely destroyed several towns.”

“The local churches are already organizing rescue operations. I have also dispatched many priests and nuns to treat the wounded,” Kaleni said.

“I think our first priority should be determining what caused it,” Vanessa said.

“We have already made some progress on that question. We have a general hypothesis.”

Kaleni fell silent for a moment before continuing.

“You have?”

Vanessa considered the situation.

Kaleni had specifically summoned her here. Once Vanessa took that into account, she quickly arrived at a likely answer.

“So that’s what ‘Divine power is conserved. Once balance is lost, all falls’ means.”

Vanessa’s expression grew solemn.

“These disasters were most likely caused by Nahidagon’s Original Sin Mirror transporting me into this parallel world, weren’t they?”

Kaleni said nothing.

She merely released a long sigh.

“I’m sorry, Big Sister Kaleni. It seems I’ve caused all of you an enormous amount of trouble.”

Vanessa’s voice was filled with guilt.

“No. This isn’t your fault, little Vanessa.”

Kaleni’s brows drew together slightly.

“No one could have anticipated this. You were framed by a Demon Pillar, caught in the Original Sin Mirror, and forcibly transported here. The Demon Pillar is the true culprit.”

“Demon Pillars do whatever they please. They don’t care what becomes of this world.”

“Big Sister Kaleni, you said the land is still collapsing without showing the slightest sign of stopping.”

“Not only has it not stopped, it’s growing worse.”

Kaleni used her spoon to cut a vertical slice from the cake before her.

“The land is breaking away just like this.”

“We still don’t know what force is causing the land to collapse and separate from the continent, nor do we know when it will stop.”

“Perhaps it will stop when only half the continent remains. Perhaps when only a tenth remains.”

“Or perhaps it won’t stop until the entire continent has disappeared.”

“Did my arrival disrupt the number of [Saint Sage] descendants between parallel worlds, creating an imbalance in divine power?” Vanessa speculated.

“That may be the closest hypothesis we have to the truth.”

Kaleni appeared deep in thought.

“My mother wrote in her notes that Nahidagon’s Original Sin Mirror must never be used on a descendant of the [Saint Sage]. Perhaps this is why.”

“The blood of gods flows within the descendants of the [Saint Sage]. Their lines of fate are fundamentally different from those of ordinary people.”

“They may be naturally eliminated by their own world, but they must never be transported into another parallel world. Otherwise, the parallel worlds will fall out of balance.”

“Every world capable of existing in a complete state has achieved a miraculous equilibrium through countless complicated factors.”

“Now that one additional thread has been introduced, the situation is completely different.”

As Vanessa listened, she could not help comparing it to installing mods in a game back on Blue Star.

Several mods might run perfectly well together, only for someone to add one tiny new mod. Somehow, something would conflict somewhere, causing the entire game to crash before it could even launch.

The underlying principles were different, but the result seemed surprisingly similar.

“Then I need to return to my original world as soon as possible,” Vanessa said.

“Otherwise, it won’t only be your world that faces catastrophe. My world will also be in serious danger.”

“Yes.”

The entire situation was giving Kaleni a headache.

As a Saintess, she never showed anxiety before her subordinates or in public, but even she had moments of unease in private.

“And that is precisely the problem.”

“We have been searching for a way to return you to your original world, little Vanessa. I wouldn’t say we have made no progress at all, but we still haven’t found a genuinely useful solution.”

Vanessa calmly considered the situation.

Kaleni was not the only one feeling desperate.

The danger facing this world was only one part of it. Vanessa had no idea what was happening in the world she knew so well.

What was original Vinny doing now?

Had he begun causing trouble?

Was he preparing some enormous conspiracy?

Had anyone been injured because of him—or even killed??

And if this world had begun to tilt because of an imbalance in divine power, what about Vanessa’s original world?

Would it truly remain unharmed?

What if her world collapsed before blackened Vinny even had the chance to act??

She still did not know whether time flowed at the same rate in both worlds.

No matter how terrible the situation became, she knew she had to remain calm.

Kaleni was doing the same.

As silence settled over the pavilion, Rina suddenly received a message from one of the guards.

She went downstairs to inquire about it in detail. When she returned to the pavilion, there was a trace of urgency in her footsteps.

“What is it, Rina?”

Kaleni could immediately tell that Rina had something to report.

“Your Eminence Kaleni, Your Eminence Vanessa, we have just received an emergency report from the Astronomical Observatory.”

Rina’s expression was grave.

“The sky appears to be showing precursor signs of the double-moon phenomenon!”

“What??”

Kaleni’s beautiful eyes widened, and Vanessa immediately turned around.

“Is that true?”

“Yes.”

“Has a miracle occurred?”

Kaleni looked up at the sky and murmured softly.

“Have them continue observing it. Confirm whether these truly are signs of the double-moon phenomenon.”

“As you command.”

After accepting the order, Rina left the pavilion.

Vanessa was equally astonished by the news.

Nothing about the current sky looked as though the double-moon phenomenon was about to occur.

Could the Goddess have intervened??

“This is wonderful, little Vanessa. If that’s true, then we have a way to solve every problem.”

Kaleni still did not allow herself to relax completely.

Even she found it far too coincidental for the double-moon phenomenon to appear at precisely this moment. Moreover, they had yet to confirm it with absolute certainty.

“I can’t help feeling that if these really are signs of the double-moon phenomenon, then its arrival may not be a coincidence,” Vanessa said thoughtfully.

“You mean...?”

“The double-moon phenomenon may be closely connected to the problems this world is currently facing.”

Vanessa frowned.

“Perhaps. We have gathered every shard of Nahidagon’s Original Sin Mirror, and the double-moon phenomenon is about to occur.”

“If nothing goes wrong, we should be able to send you safely back to your original world.”

“But the greatest problem still hasn’t been resolved.”

Vanessa’s expression did not relax.

“Mm? The greatest problem?”

“Big Sister Kaleni, do you remember how I described the way I arrived in this world?”

“You mean...?”

*****

“Heh heh heh... Hahahahaha!”

“Hey, hey, Boss. What exactly are you laughing at?”

Inside a dark cellar covered in living blood vessels and flesh, a crimson demonic sword floated in the air, radiating a dark-red glow.

In all its existence, the sword had never been so utterly confused.

The black-robed figure before it had been bursting into laughter at random intervals for nearly half an hour.

There was nothing it could do about it. Its curiosity was simply too intense.

So every five minutes, it asked the black-robed figure what he was laughing about.

Unfortunately, the black-robed figure clearly had no idea how torturous his behavior was to an inquisitive evil Divine Armament.

He refused to explain anything and continued laughing.

“I’m warning you, boss man. If you keep this up, I’m going to get angry,” the crimson demonic sword complained.

“You know perfectly well that I’m the most curious sword in existence. Something this entertaining happens, and you keep it all to yourself instead of sharing it with me?”

“Is that how you treat your best and only partner?”

“Even if I told you, you wouldn’t be able to imagine it. You can’t see what I’m seeing.”

The black-robed figure glanced at the crimson demonic sword, his voice devoid of warmth.

“Oh, I understand now. You’re looking through the memories of that meat bun you swallowed earlier, aren’t you?”

The crimson demonic sword immediately realized what was happening.

“That’s a truly vile hobby.”

“You killed him, absorbed his body and power, devoured his soul, stole his memories, and now you’re peeking through them and laughing at him.”

“I don’t understand. What could possibly be so funny about that meat bun’s memories?”

“Nothing in particular.”

The black-robed figure’s tone turned mocking.

“I merely saw his memories of the ‘me’ in this world.”

“I never expected the version of me in this world to have that kind of image.”

“Hey, hey! Now that’s one hell of a hook!”

The crimson demonic sword flashed several times in midair.

“You can’t dangle something that tempting in front of me and then stop there! I’d trade my next meal and the one after that just to hear the rest.”

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