"Do you think we can help?" It was a question asked from a Saint to a Samurai, and while a war concluded at their backs.

One could be forgiven for not assuming the battle was just concluding. The greatest threats posed by the enemy were now concluding, with the body of the dragon now a slain monument in the background, the tendrils of the beast ridden by the mad man gone from this world. Not even the slime of its hide left after the light of the blade had taken it. A pity that the man who held back its wrath was also gone.

It still left the great Saint George and the famous Sasaki Kojiro, staring aside one another up at the castle. Though that was a generous term for the structure now. A castle had mighty walls, that arrows, blades, and hammers would break upon. This was a sleet of soldi stone that instead billowed with fire. If one were to look at it with squinted eyes, it could be convincing that it was actually a torch or sconce from a nearby building.

Instead the building was aflame, and so great that the skies above were indeed tainted by the smoke. The pair of them watched it, knowing that the men behind them were dealing with the little of the wyverns that remained, the beasts wise enough to know they were not able to be approached, but still falsely believing the men were weak enough for challenge. They did not know that they were given new resolve with the slaying of their masters.

They didn't know they were watching the Lord's light break.

"I don't believe that will be necessary. I heave heard too many great things about this Lord, and none of them begin with a man running to his side. From what I have heard, you are always there."

"That you are, but there are those up with him who are not him."

"They are near him, and our Master is devout to him. I'm sure a wise king will be able to swear some fealty to him, wouldn't he?"

"Solomon of Israel is already a devout follower of the Lord. In a name given to Judaism, but enough for the Lord to gift him ten rings and proclaim him a king."

"And those are a mixed bag of a gift. Though if I may think of them as the bow, they are a grand thing to possess when you are at the distance, and the circumstances have exposed your foe. But the frequent use makes you a clear obstacle, and those are the ones approached first."

"Men do enjoy challenges."

"Yes, men do. It is in their nature." The samurai balanced the blade on his shoulder and slumped to the ground. "A pity nature doesn't work as we wish, or else I may have found some fermented rice for me to enjoy."

"I may join you with wine." The Japanese warrior looked to see the armored man dismounting, nearly falling as he slumped next to the samurai. His armor clanked as he moved, contrasted heavily with the soft and quite robe of the lavender samurai. "With the land we are in, I am sure it would take little difficulty in finding a bottle uncorked."

"I enjoyed that drink when I came here. Shared some with Solomon." He grinned, even as the sky continued to keep its dark taint above them. "He was faster to jump into it. It was a fine drink, a rich taste, but it lacked the… ah, there should be a word for it. A sense of fullness you receive from a drink."

"Did you share this drink with the Lord?"

"Jesus, no. We hadn't yet met him." The samurai lowered his sword to his waist now, allowing him to lean back on the cracked Earth and rest on the palms of his hands. "The Master and Longinus found him in the church, or rather he found them. That is how it works, isn't it?"

"Usually."

"Usually," Sasaki repeated. "Good that he's consistent. I'd hate to have looked to a Lord who shifts between his followers."

"Looked to him." The Guardian Knight repeated now. "Hearing that, I know I don't need to ask my question now."

"What is that? Amuse me if you can."

"How you were able to slay a beast of Satan's creation." His gauntleted hand waved at the empty land. The nearby location where the vampiric Count was slain. "The bible may not tell of the monsters, but priests and fathers have been clear on the entities that make mockeries of the form of man, and how to deal with them. I see no stake representing purity on you, and you're complaining from a lack of alcohol, forcing me to suspect you have no water."

"Water would have helped against him?"

"If you were able to purify it." The long-haired man smiled. Sasaki returned it with a wry raising of his brow. Though a mouth could do far more in telling an emotion than the position of one's hairline, Sasaki made it more than clear he was confused. George could either be amused by the conversation, heard a humorous joke, or thought of a fond memory.

All that said, Sasaki was a Samurai of his own legend, ad he greatly suspected the first of all three.

"If I had some silver, I am sure the water could have been purified. Cleaned if nothing else."

"Silver would have worked, but once more I contend that there is no silver in your blade."

"There isn't." He held it up. "Folded over like only a master can, and to a length that promises that spears will be rivaled, but that is all." His smile came back, sharp as the weapon he showed. "Are you about to show me the craft of your blade? You called its name."

"I called to it as I did to God for slaying the dragon. The blade answered my call, as God saw the vile thing I was attempting to slay." Metal scratched metal as he ran over the flat of the weapon. "and now history repeats again."

"If this has happened to you before, then I must say your legend escapes me." Sasaki sighed as he gazed up. The fire still took the castle faster than any blade could. He doubted any Shogun would be hesitant to desire those flames. The blades they could make would be legendary.

And cursed.

"Then again, so did the man who I must now call a worthy Lord. I am pleased he was able to offer me some of his might."

"Only to those worthy does he grace, even if they are not aware." The heavy hand of the knight fell on Sasaki's shoulder. "I would be graced to have you in Heaven beside me. After having fought with you in these lands."

Sasaki laughed at the offer. Cheerful, gay, and happy to hear it.

"And I as well! If heaven is all that you have not enjoyed on Earth given to you, then I'd be thrilled to cross blades with those above." He looked at the man's sword. "You are among their number."

"Mine is a blade for the worst of men and most vicious of beasts. Which do you want to count among your number?"

"I'd say the beasts. Nature has been my better teacher." He let out a long sight. "If Mozart were here, I imagine he'd say something like… 'I'd hate to be a vicious man. I'd be furious every time I took a shit.'"

Beside him, George roared with laughter.

Ritsuka stumbled back, staring. The pit Kadoc had fallen into fell into itself, hot embers spraying up like an upturned faucet. They dissipated before they hit the ground, and it left the charred remains of the castle finally, at long last, begin to cool.

Beneath a sky a that had turned back to glorious blue, painting the field of battle with its light. He knew of in the distance the others were fighting, or finishing their fights. He knew that the dead land around them had finally, finally, reached a point that would start to settle. He was pleased to hear it all.

But his eyes could not leave the encroached hole in the ground, and what else may come from it.

"It's been sometime since I've seen that. Can't say that I missed it." Ritsuka looked up to see Solomon approaching. The Wise King rolling his shoulders, cracking his neck, and adjusting the rings on his hand. "Something like that… trying to control demons without any gifts, just promises. Here I thought Kadoc was the most learned out of all the members of Team A."

"What?" Ritsuka didn't understand.

"Demons, they are-"

"I know that," he interrupted, before swallowing. "Sorry, I… I know what demons are, and I know that whatever that was wasn't in God's image, but… but what do you mean about contracting with them in a bad way? You say that like… like there's a good way. And he made a deal for the grail and…" he shook his head. "I'm sorry just… just there is so much."

"Much happens at once in my father's plans. Never are they so neat as for all to be understood." Jesus walked up to him, standing beside the two. His hand reached for Ritsuka, and once more he had to admire the strength displayed by his Lord. "You have done more than just well to heed my calls and work in my image. Though I am pitied for the boy who gave away too much for too little."

"I'm not," Solomon spoke back. "I am, but I'm not. Feel bad what happened for him, but not after seeing everything else that happened. Kind the same way I felt for anyone I had to sentence to death in Israel. Had to be done, but didn't mean I enjoyed it." The king bent back, still stretching. "And I'm sorry for using more of my power like that Ritsuka. At least you kept your strength up this time."

"It… I'm glad you did. I don't think I would have survived if you didn't." He shook his head again. "But I'm alright. What about Kadoc? What happened?"

"He was dragged to hell. Wasn't that kind of obvious?"

Ritsuka, staring up at the golden eyes of the Founder of Israel, the former doctor of Chaldea, couldn't tell if he was being teased or honestly asked a question. So his eyes turned towards his Lord, who offered no smile, soft or hard. He only sighed with folded hands.

"Kadoc here is naught by a soul. Given form by the workings of Mystics." That was right. That was… what Olga had told him. Spiritrons and other things were used, but he wasn't actually here. He was still a body in Chaldea, in a coffin. "And so his soul was taken back, to be the cost of that which he desired."

"What he desired is what we still need to figure out. Nothing good, but I'm more concerned as to why he wanted something that at least involved the destruction of the Human Order."

"Isn't… that what he wanted."

"Not necessarily. It's probably closer to him wanting something that lined up with that." Solomon made a line in the air. "And what he actually wanted probably lines up with whomever he made his contract with. Contract." He made ruffling of his robe at the word. "I hate that someone from Chaldea has done it with demons."

"A-And about the demons. It's bad to make any kind of contract with them, right?" His eyes looked to the Lord. He nodded simply. "Then why… were you talking like he did it wrong. That means there's a right way."

"Only right way to do it is the way I was given." Solomon made a show of his rings. "And the fact I can't do it anymore." Then his empty hand was shown.

Ritsuka made a noise of understanding.

"Regardless of this all, I believe our work in this time is finally concluded." His tongue changed in a second, as the Wise King shifted towards the Lord of Hosts. "Jesus Christ, son of the Father, I thank you once more for assisting us in a time of great need. With your strength and absolution, we have been saved once more."

"What I offer is what I promised. Your thanks are heard and your praise as well." Jesus lifted his hand towards Solomon. Clap. He rested it on the king's shoulder. "And for you who has been wise and playful in a time of stress and strife, I thank you. You have been a rock to hold against for those who are sick and filled with worry. Continue as you are, and be exalted by my father as you will be."

Solomon bowed lowly towards Jesus at the words.

"In your name, it shall be done." Jesus nodded towards him.

Then, he vanished into light. Ritsuka almost jumped.

"Do not be afraid, Ritsuka," Jesus spoke before gazing upon him. "He has returned to your time, a time of Mystics, and looking to protect the Order of my father, and his Word." Ritsuka released a breath he wasn't aware he was holding.

"That's… that's good." He righted himself, still standing beneath the high of Jesus. "I'm… I am to guess that the others are going to disappear as well." He looked away from Jesus to the field of battle, or what was left of it.

Down upon the trails nothing else remained, but the shine of armor of men and the corpses of slain beasts. He looked upon it, seeing no creatures mar the sky. It was a pleasant sight, if only knowing that there was nothing to bring ruin from above. But as he stared on, he tried to find those who had traveled with. The Saint of dragon slaying, and the samurai who laughed with a musician. He could not see them.

"They have already gone," Jesus answered. "The call of my father has reached them, and so they depart. Such is true for you as well." He faced his Lord. "Ritsuka Fujimaru, it is time we part again."

He stood before his Lord and heard the finality in his statement. It was not something he loved to hear, rather honestly he greatly disliked it, but it was the decision of his Lord, and his Word was law. "You have done much for me here, and have continued to be a light to those who know not the truth of my Father."

"I'm thankful to hear it, my Lord." He spoke honestly and, despite the bloom of pain and fatigue that overtook him, the toll of the battle and final departure of Kadoc, he smiled broadly. "In your name, I'm happy to be able to help. I just…" the words fell out of his lips. Sucking on his teeth did nothing to pull them back.

"You wish you could have spoken more to me." The fires of hell had raged against them minutes ago, but it was the words of his Lord that brought true heat to Ritsuka's face. "Do not be regretful nor resentful. Regrets are not to be held in this life, but I will admit to looking forward to a time when we may speak further. You carry yourself as one of my Disciples, and not one among them did I wish to scorn."

None? Not even… Ritsuka nodded his head slowly.

"Though I wish to speak to you of my Ministry, and for my Father's kingdom, there is something else I must speak with you with."

The fires of hell had raged about them, but now, in a land caught between the land of Orleans and the present of Chaldea, Ritsuka felt a chill. It rooted him harder than heels on pavement, and swallowed on nothing. He resisted the urge to fall to his knees, but he focused on his Lord until his ears felt as if they would pop.

"My Lord, speak to me of what you need." His Lord smiled down upon him.

"Listen well, Ritsuka Fujimaru, for in the days to come, though I will be the Shepard for those in need, it will be you who will carry forth my name. And in doing so, you will prepare a road ahead."

The words, from any priest, saint, or scholar, would have sounded self-righteous and the anti-thesis to humility. It would have been a sin worthy of attending a session with a priest for, and not for a light penance of Hail Mary's.

But from the lips of his Lord, it had wetting his lips, unaware of what was to come next.

"Please, tell me, what do you need me to do?"

Clap. "Do as you have done." He nodded his head. "And do so knowing this." Staring up into the eyes of Jesus, the Chaldean Master blinked.

He blinked. It felt as if he were looking for the first time in months. Crust covered his gaze, and he raised his hands to wipe it away. It felt then like he had been frozen without a decease in temperature. Maybe tied down would be a better way to think of it. Tied down for years, and just recently released.

The blur of his gaze slowly focused, and he beheld the glass front of the coffin. He saw little beyond it but some fog, mist that was from the coolants. Da Vinci had told him about it before he went in, and he was forced to remember it now. The coffin itself faced away from the glass observation deck, leading him to stare at a wall. It left much to imagine going on around him.

In the confined space, he managed to lift his hand to his jaw, moving it, working it. Despite all the hell fire and heat he'd been consumed with just minutes before, he felt as if he was suffering more from an abundance of water now. His skin was pasty, slick even, but his soul thirsted for water. It was something he knew he didn't have to worry about the first time he came through the Rayshift, blessedly because he was unconscious. There was no such luck this time.

He felt more than heard the pounding of feet beyond his coffin, followed by the voices, raised and in a hurry, maybe even a panic. It was hard to tell through metal and slightly shaking glass what they were, or who was, saying. He put his knuckles to the glass, knocking on it.

As if it were a doorbell, Olga appeared in front of it a moment later, hand over his with a sheen of melted sand between them. She looked surprised, but far from the panic he had seen her before. That was cemented as she let out a long sigh beyond the glass pane. Ritsuka couldn't even hear it.

"He's fine." He saw her speak more than heard, again. It wasn't a problem he'd suffer for long, her hands playing with the console beside his coffin. A hiss filled the chamber a moment later, and he shut his eyes in pain of the high sound. The fires of hell were all that compared, even the loudest days in Tokyo lesser than this.

It was another discomfort that swiftly passed, unlike the fires, as the coffin lid rose and freed him to the open air. A chill from the air swept up him, making him shiver. It confused his soul more than ever, with it still wishing to shed clothes from the burning heat of flames.

He moved to talk a step forward, but the Director put a hand to his chest.

"Hold on, don't rush yourself," Olga instructed. "We weren't expecting you back so quickly. What happened?" Ritsuka looked at her, made a motion to speak, but found himself fighting a coughing fit instead. "Right, never mind. That was too fast." She grasped his hand as he leaned forward, taking the large step out of the coffin. His feet echoed on the metal. "Take your time with it. Your back safe and so is Solomon. At the very least, it means you're not in any danger."

Ritsuka looked around himself. He'd been in this room before, several times before. It was the first time he'd been in it like this.

No fires, not here at least, and not like before. Just a mist from the coolant, Solomon jumping out of one of the coffins with a show to Da Vinci, the inventor saying something that made the wise king laugh. The hum of the power around him was like sleeping near the generator of a building. Comforting, if a bit loud, but enough to remind him that there was activity. He looked over it all briefly.

It was the sight of the coffins, still shut, still showing bodies inside, that had him regaining his focus.

Enough that he raised and pointed at them. The seven containers with the seven other Masters. The ones that had been the best of the Chaldean facility.

And one of whom had not only nearly destroyed them, but had sword allegiance to the Prince of Lies.

"What, what is it?" Olga asked aside him. She reached up, taking his hand. "You're not seeing hallucinations are you? Sudden alignment of your Spiritrons, if done improperly, could have you seeing-"

"No. N-No." He coughed again, his throat dry and cracking of non-use. "The others. Kadoc." Olga made a sound of comprehension.

"Of course!" She sounded delighted. "You're back, so that must mean he-" She stopped again.

This time, because the coffin containing him burst into flames. She nearly pushed him away, having Ritsuka flail to catch himself. The Director righted herself, grabbed him, before she started to shout.

Before, or maybe at the same time as, water began to rain from the ceiling. Sprinklers, he realized after a moment. It shrouded the sound of the feet slamming across metal as workers poured into the room, directing water and drawing runes around the coffin. The fell across the coffin harshly, as harsh as fierce as the fire in Orleans did to everything else.

Just like the fire then, nothing seemed to quell it.

The water hissed into steam as it came close, and the white-garbed Chaldea workers were forced to back away. Even after coming back from the inferno himself, Ritsuka had to hold his arm up as the heat got too intense. It was only when he started to fall forward that he realized Olga had done the same. The heat fell of off them when he felt another pull at his core. Not as heavy, but unmistakable.

"You two!" Solomon screamed, hand still aglow from his craft. "BACK!" He pointed the command. "The rest of you. SAME! GO! NOW!" His shouts were louder and louder, roaring over the fire and water. The workers eventually gave in, throwing down hands and scurrying back. Solomon approached the fire, Da Vinci at his side.

Ritsuka gave a look to Olga, whose expression was caught between wonder and contemplative fury. Amber eyes looked at him, her lips moving to ask a question. The fire glowed off of her, even as the water drenched her. She didn't need to speak, Ritsuka knew what she wanted to say.

"Too much happened." He managed to force out. "I need to tell you. We need to tell you... about what's coming."

Maybe it was the seriousness he spoke to her. Maybe it was the example of the ball of fire consuming the coffin of Kadoc. Maybe it was the magic being woven in the air by the Wise King of Israel. Whichever reason, it was enough for her.

Now, he just had to figure out how to explain it all.

"Are you sure you are well? We can wait a bit longer before we speak." Olga was sitting close to him, hand over his on the table. Ritsuka leaned on the metal heavily, but kept his balance aside from it. His legs flexed and extended under them, getting strength back little by little.

"I'll be okay," he spoke honestly. "I'm just… not used to waking up from that."

"Last time you did, you were asleep for days." Solomon answered from across from them. "Not to mention Da Vinci was monitoring you like a hawk. Or maybe like a bat is more appropriate, seeing as she had to wait between the shifts our dear Director took." Olga flushed beside him, hand withdrawing from Ritsuka. It earned a laugh from the pair of Servants across from them.

"So true~." Da Vinci sang again. "Though I will admit, that is more your old job, Romani." The Wise King shirked as if a knife had been shown to him, a hair's width from his eyes. "But we aren't hear to make slights about who should have been doing what, be it looking out for the care of bodies after a Rayshift or not~." That… sounded like judgement. "We need to talk about what happened, after we spoke."

"If you don't mind, I can start," Solomon began. "I at least know the important details." Ritsuka wasn't sure what that meant. He knew everything he did.

Almost everything.

"Go ahead," the Director motioned. "But Da Vinci, make sure to catalogue anything for observation afterwards. Ill have available Chaldean workers do an analysis on anything important."

"Such as~?"

"The types of Servants that were summoned to Orleans, the nature of the plot, and most importantly, how we can use that to predict future scenarios. Because the Order of Mankind isn't corrected at all, it's fair to at least assume that each Scenario can individually end the Order. This means we have to start thinking ahead."

"Hmm~. How Wise~." The Renaissance Inventor sang. "You speak more and more like your father, but without a proper smile." She and Solomon chuckled. Ritsuka and her shared a confused glance. "But yes, I'll make sure that work is done. I may have a few ideas while we speak~."

"Very well, the Solomon, go on." The Wise King coughed into his hand.

Then he began to narrate everything. From the death or Marie and Mozart to the confrontation with Kadoc. He didn't miss any details that Ritsuka thought were important, and he included his own thoughts in matters. It was Wisdom that was given to him by God, and therefore, had to be from a place of Wisdom. Be it that all who were summoned by Kadoc were those who were wronged by God, or that those who came to assist were those either open or praising of him.

But more than all else, he talked about Kadoc. About how he had the same moody look as he did while in Chaldea, but aside from his broken body, carried a maliciousness he otherwise lacked before. He talked about how he was apparently eager to end the lives of those around him, bragging about the deals he had made, and the ploy he had cast in order to kill Jesus. Jesus was the target as well.

"And Jesus had to be the target, likely because he knew Ritsuka was not his Master." The end of his talk came with a long sigh. "It shows he was still of some analytical mind, as anyone else would have thought to attack Ritsuka and be done with it. Jesus, however, was a sign of hope and worship for the Saints. It's to our benefit none of them could even make him sweat. Not even while hellfire surrounded us."

"That is… quite a lot." Da Vinci finally responded without whims. "More so, its very disturbing that he would fall like that."

"Before you ask Olga, there was no spell cast on him." Solomon looked at Olga, golden eyes to amber. "I would have seen any machinations like that, and after every other Servant was killed or banished, he still tried to slay us. It was his doing, from contracting making to his end. All of it." He slumped into his chair. "And dammit if it wasn't painful to watch."

Olga didn't respond. She had her hands to her mouth, gripping it. Ritsuka realized after a moment it was the position of muted shock, as if to keep herself from screaming in denial. Her throat moved, but no words came out. He shut his eyes and thought solemnly of the situation.

"We weren't meant to save him… and we failed." The final judgement of the Wise King came.

"We did, but we may not be too late for the others." Da Vinci followed quickly. Her smile was back to glory. "One fell but the others may still be fighting on~. A single data point does not predict accurately the set." She winked with her words.

"Th-That's true!" Olga seized on it. "The others could be trapped a-and we can… get to them before this happens! Maybe we just have to take the time observed from their chambers and then work back a few weeks, maybe months. That would ensure we have enough time to get to them." Her gaze fell on him. "That would put strain on you, but to ensure the Order of Humanity, it would have to be done." He understood, he really did.

She wanted him to go back to save them, even if it meant putting him in a coffin for longer. It would be hard, as just a week or two made him feel like this. It was a fine thought, wanting to save others to save all. He would have agreed.

But he had spoken to Jesus.

"That won't work." She blinked at him. She wasn't the only one.

"What won't, saving the others?" He nodded. "Why not?"

"Because they are like Kadoc. I know it." He said it too simply.

"You can't know that. It's a bit too presumptuous." Da Vinci adjusted her large metallic hand like it was a wave. "You need to hope for the best. Don't you~." In any other time, for any other reason.

"I know it won't work." He repeated. "Because it's what… Jesus said to me."

The room quieted as he said it.

"What?" Olga breathlessly asked.

"After Solomon returned, Jesus spoke to me. He thanked me and I spoke to him about what was to come. He made it clear that what is going on… what happened in Orleans is not unique." He searched for the best way to say it. He found nothing suited the words more than that of his Lord. "Jesus said, 'What Kadoc has fallen to is what other like him suffer from. His is the weakness of men taken from my father, and I will need you to help guide others from their false light.' Like that."

"False light… and the others…" Solomon gripped his jaw. "If Jesus said that, to you like that, he would have had to of meant the rest of Team A."

"And taken from his father means they all would be in the same circumstances. Given their souls to demons." Da Vinci didn't lose her smile, but Ritsuka wasn't sure it could be seen as anything short of shocked fury. He almost hated saying what he had to next.

"Traitors. All of them… traitors." The title flowed out like a curse. It was one, one of the worst. "I… I honestly can't believe it. Team A was filled with the most trust-worthy and loyal members of Chaldean Masters. My father hand-picked them. Even if Kadoc was the least among their number he…" She clenched and unclenched her fist.

"Reason number one Ritsuka was smart enough to wait until we were all together and calmed down to talk about it. Saying something like that while looking at his burning coffin wouldn't have come off well." Solomon followed up, giving the Master in question a wink. Ritsuka had no idea what he was talking about. He just didn't say it then because there was a lot more to deal with. "Even if you do or don't believe it, it still lies that the other Masters are going to be in the same condition."

"You mean-"

"Contracted out to another firm~?" Da Vinci posed and Ritsuka stared. She laughed, and he continued to stare. "No, no, I know. But a bit of comedic relief feels appropriate now. Half of us here were scratching at chairs waiting for news, and the other half was dealing with those who think Satan is a fine deal-maker. I don't believe Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel with as much stress."

"He painted it with a great profit and was only upset that he wasn't allowed to pain the false gods of Jupiter and other mythologies," Ritsuka spoke up, earning a slow smiling blink from the woman. "I like the Sistine Chapel."

"Of course you do. And of course you like the pope." Olga sighed. "I only wish I could say 'of course' to Kadoc and likely the others being contracted to… to Satan!" She hissed the name. "I-Is that even possible? Can you? He was just a force with a different name counter to Ae or the Counter-Force!"

"A counter-Counter-Force?" Solomon laughed. "Then wouldn't that make us the Counter-Counter-Counter Force? I wonder if that would make the rest of Team A the Counter-Counter-Counter-"

"Don't say that!" Olga screamed at him.

"What? Following the meaning, it-"

"Not that! That the rest of Team A is… is like Kadoc." She swallowed, sitting down. Ritsuka missed her rise. "They're already in trouble. Don't say they are the ones causing it. I-I don't even know how to begin to deal with that, or even think on it."

"Have to learn to think fast then, Director. It is happening." The king took a tall posture. "I understand not wanting to give into the idea, but it is one we have to accept. It is truth."

"It is impossible!" Olga sounded off. "They… they were the favored of my father! They were meant to protect us when everything went wrong! I can believe one of them, Kadoc, may have fallen, but… b-but all of them." Her nails scratched at the table.

"There is… something else."

"What?" Olga responded quietly. "What else is there?"

"It's… who they contracted with. Well, Kadoc at least. Him I'm at least sure of." He looked to Solomon, who stared back at him. "It's not just demons." It took a short moment for his eyes to widen.

"What he said, how he said it." The Wise King iterated. "Jesus spoke of it as well."

"You heard him?"

"I heard what he said about lies," the Wise King began. "It was about making deal with one who has nothing and makes only lies. There are few demons mentioned by name in the bible, and only a few more described by what they can do. Only one is listed with lies. A lie, like an accusation, carried in a crowd." Ritsuka wasn't surprised he knew it.

"In a crowd of fear where truth is muddled, that is where Satan lies." It was a quote from one of the sisters. "How Jesus referred to him. The one Kadoc contracted with."

"Satan… the Prince of Lies." Da Vinci was finally breathless. "That's who was working with Kadoc?"

"They weren't working with him. They were used by him. Satan, who loathes man, would never work with anyone like us." He was resolute, as much as the fathers were who taught him of the greatest evil in all creation. "Lies are his greatest tool, because they can have us betray our loyalties, and leave the side of God. Even when we are sure of someone's strength, the temptation of Satan, his lies, can pull them apart." He looked to Olga. She stared back. "I don't know if any man but Jesus was able to push away from his direction temptation."

The Director fell back in her seat. Her amber eyes never left his, and her mouth hung open. If she was trying to make words, she didn't have the breath to speak them.

"That sucks."

Ritsuka wasn't sure if Solomon's short words were the right ones. All eyes were on him, as he took a position completely antithetical to the Wise King persona he just wore, leaning on one arm rest of his chair and flung back over the head rest.

"Satan's throwing out lines and he's caught the prime catch of the lake. Makes me think if I had a demon like him in my entourage I'd be able to have kept Israel strong a bit longer. Make a few lies to make others run from danger." Was he… being serious? "Better than over-throwing the world, right?" He laughed, and Ritsuka hoped desperately, he was not.

"We can't all be as aloof as you," the Director almost growled back. "How can you be, without your rooms of women to jump into." Ritsuka shut his eyes and thought hard on other subjects.

"Oh don't worry, I'm actually quite stressed. Terrified even." He smiled. "Worst I had to deal with while alive was a few foreign kings offering me gold and then getting the Pillars of the Demons to recognize the power I had been given by God. Trust me on this one. Satan, Lucifer, whomever, was not among them." He waved his hand in the air. "Great as God is, I doubt ten or ten thousand rings would work."

"The greatest of his Seraphim, betrayed when God chose to incarnate as man instead of angel." Ritsuka spoke on. "He among a third of heaven fell when they rebelled against the decision of God, sure that they were greater than us. And by nature… he is right."

"They're angels," Olga summarized simply. "Of course they're greater."

"But we are higher in grace."

"What?"

"We are higher in grace." He repeated what he learned as he received his first communion. "We are able to consume the Grace of God through the holy Eucharist, while Angels are unable to do as much. They may be able to witness God and worship him… but as Jesus incarnated as us, we can become one with him. Angels cannot. Lucifer… Satan, loathed that they could not."

"And he rebelled, scoring heaven." Da Vinci summarized. "For all his loathing of the Church, even Michelangelo knew the evil of the devil."

"That being is controlling the other Masters. At least… Jesus has said that he is. And because he said it… I believe it."

"I do, too." Ritsuka blinked at Olga. She seemed to notice. "What? You thought I would play ignorance to this? He has done so much for us with so little, and doing so with the humility that no Magus would dare to wear. If I were to doubt him now, when he is giving us information of what is to come, I'd be forsaking my duty as Director. I'm not happy…" she hissed the sentiment. "But I get it. I just… almost wished I didn't."

"Ignorance is bliss. Dare to say that's why so many happy kings came to me, and so many left so disgruntled."

"That was because you kept trying to seduce their wives~." Da Vinci noted in song.

"Yes, that… but they were also wiser." Ritsuka ignored that, even as the man looked to be ready to flip the table. "Satan… Lucifer. Good God in heaven and all his angels."

"We are daring to face a third of them, or a third loyal to Satan." Ritsuka spoke again. The looks given to him did not beget joy. "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry, you're right. Just the hard part of actually analyzing what is happening." Solomon let out a dry laugh. "I'm some here will get now why I wanted to give God back his rings. Ignorance is such total bliss that I could go on thinking we're dealing with some wayward Magi. Now we got… this."

"At least now we know." Da Vinci forced on. "Perhaps I can think of something to help those we come across. Oh~! Maybe I can make something to truly break the allure of demons. I'm sure my genius can handle that~."

"It's be genius if we could just turn the power to those damn coffins off." The Wise King waved his hand with his joke. "Just flip a switch. Beerrrrr. Off goes the life support and the Incineration of Mankind with it. Be a hell of an IT joke, fixing the entire world by 'turning it on and off again'."

"We are talking about the lives of Masters, not the electromagnetic sphere of the Earth," Da Vinci corrected. Ritsuka felt she was missing the point. The horrifying point that the king just danced around. "Not to mention that the power necessary to stop the rotation and then restart it would be akin to an act of God.

"We're fighting one with," he pushed back. "Or one great enough to challenge the big one. The capital G." He slumped back again. "Reeeeally wish I could just go down there and turn the power of. Just pull a plug maybe. Would you believe me if I said I tripped over it?"

"No, no, and of course not~." The inventor laughed, somehow, at his joke.

"W-Wait, you're just joking about that?" All eyes turned to him, but his were on Solomon's golden orbs. "They, they would die if you did that. And we'd be the ones to kill them." From the corner of his gaze, he could see Olga preparing to lecture him on something. Solomon beat her to it.

"Considering how they made pacts with the devil, Ritsuka, I don't think there's going to be a strong case of this being the murder of man." He raised a finger. "Because man can correct himself, but when he loses his soul, he loses his choice. Without the ability to correct themselves, gone as they are, there is nothing left for us to pray for mercy to."

"It wouldn't help regardless," Olga went on. "Disconnecting them would only mean forcing their Spiritrons to acclimate to the time they are in, and make it near impossible for us to track them. Really, I'm sure the only reason they haven't burst into flames like Kadoc is because they need the tie to Chaldea for their plans."

"Yes and no," Da Vinci added. "They will be lost to us, but still alive, in a sense, if we broke connection, but I highly doubt they need Chaldea's power. Rather, I think they would like to invite us to their times."

"They're that confident?"

"No, they just know how to create a trap," the Wise King corrected. "Leading men into mazes like mice, so that they can trip over the pulled cords and stumble against spiked walls. If we were to run through an open field, they would have no means to measure were we are. It's better to risk an enemy knowing where you are if you can know of him as well. Better that then to be ignorant of their actions, and only pray they are the same for you."

"So its… them keeping track of us?" The idea was absurd to Ritsuka. The agreement the three others had, however, had him stumbling for what he was missing. "But… they have Satan. Why would they want us to follow?"

"Why else? You said the reason why already." Olga folded her arms as she regarded him. "Because we are the only ones who can stop them now. So if they are able to trap us and stop us, then they will succeed."

"The last will of humanity, that's us~." Da Vinci laughed. "And now, we are truly facing against the fallen workers of Heaven for it. Oh what a wonder this will be. I am sure by the end of it, I'll be able to create a grand portrait of this encounter~."

"I think I'll be ready to try something harder to drink." Solomon stood as he spoke, the chair scrapping behind him as he made to leave.

"All done?"

"I'm feeling a certain kind of done," the Wise King let out, sighing. "Done enough that I'll let Olga wail on me for imbibing on a few liquor bottles."

"Those are for more than just drowning sorrows." The Director warned.

"Yeah, they're for losing memories, too." He let out a laugh. "Now if you excuse me, I have a few brain cells to drown." No one made to stop him, though Da Vinci chuckled mirthlessly as he did.

"I suppose I'll find myself some work in the shop then. There has to be much to plan for this. A few new Mystic Cods to craft, perhaps some fire resistance, so you're not so burned next time hell fire decides to show itself. Good for roasting, but I'd like you to feel cool when through the shadow of the valley of death, no~?" The famed inventor put a hand to her lips, hiding an obvious smile.

"Go on, Da Vinci. We'll… I'll let you know if we come up with anything new." Olga dismissed, earning a small laughter from the woman. Ritsuka wasn't sure why, but regardless, the eldest left, the doors hissing as it opened and shut behind her.

That left just him and the Director. Her amber eyes were on him quickly, and he was looking back at her. Before, maybe a month ago, if they had even known each other for so long, it would have been a look of animosity. Now… it appeared more calm. Not eased, not friendly, but… not unkind. He wasn't sure what it meant. It wasn't anything he was used to from the Church.

"Do you wish to speak more, Ritsuka? Or do you want to rest?" Olga continued to look at him with a measured gaze. He wasn't sure if she was judging him now, or the words he was about to say. "Whatever it is, you've deserved it."

He looked at her, and judged her, as he was sure she was him. He was the one who felt ready to sleep for days and find solace in the dreams, but she looked more tired than him. Her hair was unkempt, flattened on some spots, and dark rings under her gaze. There was some care to her makeup, but not nearly as much as he was used to her wearing before. She didn't look haggard, far from malnourished, but she still looked in need of a glass of water.

"I… I want to speak more." He let out. "I think… I think I'd want to. I'm still not sure about… everything."

"That's a shared sentiment." She gave a soft smile. "Before, I was sure I knew all of the enemies that could challenge us, and their history. But the literal Devil? I think you just went from being the least likely and unneeded Master, to the greatest of our possible number. Who else but someone who worshipped Jesus to fight him?" Ritsuka took the compliment, smiling at her in turn.

"I think there are plenty of men and women who would be good to have here. And you're among them." The words, oddly, brought a hot blush to the woman.

"W-What? Why me?"

"Jesus said himself that those who did not know him would come to be those who depended on him the most." They were words he said after his resurrection. "If we are going to be facing Masters who gave themselves to Satan… then I'm glad you're the one helping to lead me. You at least don't deny God, only doubt him."

"Far be it from me to speak against my own actions, but I was rather sure that was a heavy sin in the Church. Doubting." She pointed it clearly. "That can't be something recommended."

"It's called discernment. Priests, sisters, and monks all have a stage of it." Ritsuka could recall some of the sisters how assisted him talking about their periods. "You have doubts, worries, moments when you think can even explain everything else in the world. But in those moments… that usually when God makes himself known."

"By asking you to help a destroyed world?" Ritsuka snorted.

"No. By reminding you that no matter how close you come, you cannot know Truth until you know God."