We left Ziss and headed south for a few days........
　We got to Pagos without any problems.
　We did encounter some demons along the way, but with A-ranked Axe and Cell in there, they weren't our enemies.

　We were able to reach Pagos in roughly the shortest time imaginable.

''It's.......terrible.''

　I frowned as I stepped into the village.
　Everyone else is in the same boat.

　Half of the houses have been burned to charcoal, the remains of which have been reduced to charcoal.
　The other half had been crushed to smithereens, as if a giant had shaken his fist down in mischief.

　There were other small craters in the ground, deep cracks running through the earth...
　How much more would you have to do to make it look like this?

　I can't even imagine...
　There is no doubt that a storm of destruction has been brewing here that defies common sense.

'It's as if we've been caught in one hell of a storm.

　Tania let out that impression.
　Sora and Luna agree with her.

''Well I thought it was terrible after hearing about it from Rain and the others, but I didn't expect it to go this far. It's more than I imagined.
Hmm. I didn't expect it to go this far either. It's not surprising that half of the villagers survived being exposed to all this power..... I'm not going to say that it's a bad thing that we survived.
It's a little inappropriate, but I've had the same thought.
'Well...'

　I agree with Luna and Tania.

　The fact that the villagers survived, albeit half of them, is something to rejoice in as a blessing in disguise.
　However, when you are shown such a trail of destruction, it makes you wonder how they were able to survive.

　I don't know what was going on, but....
　If there was a force being wielded that could make a village like this, they would normally be involved and would immediately lose their lives.
　The fact that it wasn't........

　

　It just occurred to me.

　Just a mere hunch with no basis in fact.
　Even though I want any little clue in the situation right now, I can't just speculate about it.
　It would only confuse everyone even more.
　Most importantly, I don't know what made me think that myself.
　I just decided to put it in the back of my mind...
　For now, let's keep quiet.



　Kanade uttered that as he looked around the village.

'I suppose there's a good chance,'
What are you...?

　Nina tilted her head slightly, as if she didn't know why she refused.

''If you want to do something like this, you'll need a large army to move in. Or a powerful one, like the most powerful species. Do you understand that?
Hmm.
If the army is going to move, it's going to leave a reasonable footprint.
There are footprints, okay?

　Nina pointed to the footprints she could see there.
　But they were shallow.
　If someone in armor stepped in, there would be deeper footprints.
　I'll explain something like that.

'I see...'
'Well, it's possible that they were moving in light gear. Still, even if people had gone on a rampage, it wouldn't have been like this. ...It wouldn't have been this bad.
Hmm....
'And I've heard from the survivors that they did it all by themselves. It's hard to imagine anyone but the strongest species being able to do this on their own.
Oh, okay.
Neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

　Kanade murmured in frustration.
　Then he looked at me, looking a bit frightened.

''.......................Rain has become afraid of the strongest species?''
Yeah?
Did all this ... make you afraid of us?

　Kanade seems to be comparing himself to the killer.

'That's not true,'
Meow.

　Pfft, I patted her head.
　Kanade's eyes narrowed in a pleasant way.

'Kanade ... and everyone else ... is not like the person who did this.
Rain.....
There's no reason to be afraid. A canade is a canade.
Yes, thank you.

　Gladly, Kanade's tail twitched.

''........''

　Kanade seemed vaguely concerned about it, but...
　I don't necessarily think other people don't think the same way.
　This time around, the strongest species might end up being persecuted because of what happened.

　I've got to do everything I can to prevent that from happening.
　I have to catch the culprit at all costs.
　I need information on how to do that.

　I'll continue to explore Pagos.

It's all very strange, though.

　A voice came from the kettle that Kanade was holding on top of his head.
　It's Tina's.
　 So that's why.

　
　How did he acquire that exquisite sense of balance?

What's the weirdest thing you've ever said to me?
I'm talking about the strongest species that ever did this.
Yeah.
And the strongest species is called the Devil. We've been alive for a reasonably long time...　Is he alive?　That's a weird expression, because they're long dead and... well, that's okay. Anyway, there's been around for a long time, but I've never heard of such a powerful species. Do you know about Kanade?
'Well it's a girl, and she's wearing a black dress, and she has wings, right?　But still, demon I don't know.

　That's the thing, isn't it, the problem.
　From what I've heard from survivors, the killer is most likely the strongest species.
　Seeing the scene in this way makes me strongly believe that the idea is correct.
　Only a very small number of people have the power to cause such a tragedy.

　So I don't think the idea that the killer is the strongest species is wrong...
　I can't think of the strongest species that applies.

The most distinctive feature is probably wings. But we don't know of any strongest species with wings. Have you ever heard of Kanade or Rain's husband?
No, I don't think I know that.
I'm going to...

　I was about to say I didn't know, and I felt faintly uncomfortable.

　Do I really not know?
　There's something stuck in the corner of my memory...
　What was it?
　What's it about...something that's bothering you...?

Oi!

　I came to myself when he called out to me.
　When I turned around, I saw Axe and Cel.

　The two of them had gone their separate ways.
　We explored the village.
　And Ax and Cell had been asked to go check out the shrine where the demon was sealed.

'How's it going there?　What have you found?

　Axe asked me that.
　He shook his head in response.

'Nope. I'm not sure what to make of it. If I had to say............................the culprit is a monster.
Yeah, I agree with you about that. I don't take the village lightly, but I don't know that there are people in the world who can do this.
Axe, we're getting off track.

　Cell said, as if to chastise Axe.

'Oops, sorry,'
How'd it go with Axe and the others?
I found this little shrine.

　...or something like that?
　I remembered something that stuck with me about Axe's phrasing.

'Better to get them to see it in person than to talk about it. I wonder if there's still a lot left to investigate in the village.'
No....

　I look at everyone's faces.
　They all shook their heads.

'Not so far.'
Then you'll come with me?
Okay.

　Once, we left the village.
　Then we climbed the mountain with Ax and Cell guiding us.
　On the way, we had to walk along the beast path and other paths, but with Ax and Cell's guidance, we didn't get lost.

　And about 30 minutes into the mountain.......we arrived at our destination.

''That's the shrine.''
This is....

　Because of the uncertainty of the existence of a demon, I was skeptical that the shrine was real, but...
　The shrine was in existence.

　.... but it had been destroyed by someone.