Hieronymus vanished, leaving the battlefield silent, dominated by stillness.
Such merciless violence, such cruel destruction… Maestro's meticulously crafted work reduced to rubble by mere muscle and an iron hammer, art turned to junk.
"Oh…" Maestro emerged, cradling Hieronymus's remains tenderly, as if holding a child. Devastated, he burned with rage toward Mash—
"I'm truly grateful, Sensei!" he exclaimed, not angry but elated. Crushing the remains, he spread his arms and shouted skyward.
"It's shameful to show an incomplete work, but I'll perfect it—my pride demands it! What a refreshing feeling! My creation, built over years… yet a greater art has emerged. I was foolish!"
Maestro had underestimated Mash, assuming a child's destruction of a replica was trivial. This was the result.
As an artist, as Gematria, he'd misjudged Mash's art, and that enraged him.
"As Kurofuku said… I rarely agree with him, but I'm grateful. Thanks to him, I met you, my ultimate muse. I thank this miracle."
Bowing gracefully, Maestro turned to vanish into the dark.
"Wait," Mash said, grabbing his shoulders.
"!"
"You pop up, say weird stuff, and expect to walk away? You're too suspicious."
"My apologies for the late introduction. I'm Maestro, of Gematria… an artist."
"I'm Mash… Gematria?"
"Yes, Kurofuku's acquaintance. He's oddly bulkier lately—your influence, perhaps."
"You made that monster?"
"My work, please. Yes, I created it… and replicated Justina's Apostles."
"Hmm."
"Like my works?" Maestro began proudly, but Mash spun him around, gripping his shoulders tightly.
"You're an artist, right?"
"Indeed."
"Then check out my work."
"What!? Your work… Heh, show me! The art your body creates!"
"It's called 'Cracked Puppet.'"
"What—?"
"Hmph!"
Mash headbutted Maestro's wooden head twice, cracking it deeply. Maestro collapsed.
"Gah!?"
"Read the room. Ruining that moment? Unacceptable."
"My head… this pain… it's new…"
"Those Apostles were once people, right? Copying their bodies—ethically, how's that justify?"
"You're not wrong… but it was Beatrice's—"
"No excuses."
"Fair… but this realism! Wonderful! New ideas are sparking!"
"Uh…" Mash blinked, confused.
"Thank you, Mash Burnedead. If you'd help me up, I can't stand after that."
"Fine."
Mash propped Maestro up, then turned to Arius Squad—gone, except for Azusa, clutching her stomach.
"Azusa-chan!"
"Sorry, Sensei… they got away," Azusa gasped.
"Even after they said they'd rely on me…"
"They saw light in you, Mash. That's why they couldn't forgive themselves," Maestro said, rubbing his cracked head.
"…"
"Those in darkness don't seek help from the light. Comparing themselves to it… they can't forgive their own actions."
"I don't care. If Saori-san and the others ask for help, I'll give it."
"Sensei… that's too naive," Maestro said.
"Naive?"
"Yes, far too naive."
Stepping into the dark, Maestro spoke not as Gematria but as an adult. "Asking forgiveness from someone you've harmed is impossibly hard. Even if you don't care, their guilt lingers, especially for the good-hearted."
"That's… normal?"
"Generally, yes. The world doesn't easily forgive sinners, Mash Burnedead. Don't forget that."
"…"
"Until we meet again, Sensei… you with the miraculous body."
Maestro vanished. Mash, drained from the poison spreading from his heart wound, lacked the energy to pursue.
"Sensei, about Saori and the others… 'I'll help them,'" Azusa said.
"If they want to atone for their mistakes, I'll give them every chance to reform," Mash vowed, clenching his fist, gazing at a faint light. "Let's head back… to where we belong."
He offered his hand.
"To our ordinary days."
Azusa smiled, took his hand, and they left the underground.
Trinity District Outskirts · Catacomb Tunnel
The Arius Squad halted in a deserted tunnel leading to the catacombs. Saori coughed violently.
"Leader, you okay?" Hiyori asked.
"Everyone, your devices?" Saori rasped.
"Smashed and sunk. They can't track us," Misaki confirmed.
"Where to? Not like we have anywhere…" Misaki muttered.
"We can't return to the district. She'll kill us," Saori said.
Carrying Saint Predator, Misaki spat the truth. The squad had no destination now.
"We can't rely on Sensei yet. We have to do what we must," Saori said.
"You really trust him?" Misaki asked.
"I saw light… not the kind we despised, but real," Saori replied.
"Even so, we can't ask for help after what we did… especially now," Hiyori said.
"We hide until things settle. Gehenna's outskirts slums—perfect for laying low," Saori suggested.
"Gehenna, huh? Trinity, Gehenna, doesn't matter anymore," Misaki shrugged.
"Can we reach it from the catacomb tunnels?" Hiyori asked.
"Trinity's too far. There's a route via the Great Bridge to Gehenna. With Trinity distracted, their defenses are thin," Saori planned.
"Let's move. No lingering," Saori ordered.
"Understood," Misaki nodded.
"Okay," Hiyori agreed.
Saori led, followed by Misaki supporting Hiyori. Atsuko, mask off, trailed behind, thinking of Mash and Azusa, praying.
"May you two find happiness…"
The Arius Squad vanished into the shadows.
Arius District · Basilica
Upstairs at the altar, in a room used by the district's master, Beatrice reclined on a chair of stacked Bibles, beside an artificial staff and a painting of a god granting a similar staff.
"This painting… knowledge, power—why not use it for the sublime?" she mused, rising to study the staff—divine yet modern, alien for a staff.
"I must find a way to that world… No, let's pause that thought."
She stowed the staff and issued cold orders to nearby Arius students. "Except for Atsuko Hime, kill them all. No mercy for deserters. Destroy their halos on sight. Saori has a halo-destroying bomb—take it and use it as you please."
The Arius Squad had failed. Their mission: steal the Eden Treaty, harness Justina's Apostles, conquer Trinity and Gehenna, and eliminate Mash Burnedead, the dangerous Schale Sensei. Success would've spared Atsuko, the Royal Blood, from being a sacrifice.
"Thanks to the sacrifice's blood, my power grows… a divine, magical force," Beatrice said, waving her staff. Fire, water, rock, wind—mystical or otherwise, it was undeniable.
"Come, Mash Burnedead… you forsaken, pitiful human."
Beatrice had grown into a formidable foe for Mash.
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