"...oh, fuck…"
Zane suddenly froze up and muttered as his face turned ghastly pale.
"Rose, contact the others right now! Tell them to immediately return to base. We must completely change the approach with Deep-Dusk Dullahan!"
Before the message spell connecting him to a certain gold-haired girl ended, the monstrous man ignored the row of angered and annoyed Cardinals and called out to the albino human standing right by him.
"Huh? Oh, umm… Okay. Understood."
Rose gasped awkwardly, glancing between Zane and the Cardinals before picking a side and begging to rummage through his storage bag while stepping to the side.
"Champion Zane, are you actually acting like this in front of the Conclave you asked to gather only to try and push an unreasonable demand onto the Church of the goddess Perseverance?"
One of the cardinals spoke up, irked by the behavior of the monstrous man.
"Cardinal Ber'voltia, it seems that when it rains, it pours. We now have a problem beyond the appearance of the Demon General Scientia est Potentia on our hands. As you already overheard me telling Rose, things changed about our recent mission. I have just been informed that the secret condition has been triggered, and Deep-Dusk Dullahan might as well turn into a catastrophe beyond the Church's capability. That is if it already isn't like that."
Zane straightened his back, towering over everyone within the high-ceiling room despite the fact that all Cardinals were seated on a platform elevated at least ten feet from the floor level.
"Is this your way of threatening us that you'll leave if we don't accept your demands about Melinda Fenrioette…?"
Another Cardinal frowned and scoffed, furious that he had to strain his neck to look the white-haired monstrous man in the face.
"While what you said isn't wrong, Cardinal Kern'sha, it doesn't apply to what I just said. What I meant was that it is possible that Frenzied Deep-Dusk Dullahan holds the possibility and might as well already be impossible for us, that is, the Church forces, including my group and myself, to slay."
"!!!"
Zane breathed out and explained, and although the initial part did seem to anger most Cardinals, once said out loud, the latter part ended up causing a stir.
"...In… Inquisition forces included…?"
"Champion Zane, is this the reason why you requested us to issue a complete ban on engaging the Deep-Dusk Glacier Head monster in a fight?"
Another two Cardinals joined in the conversation, one more fearful than the other.
"Cardinal Orne'lei. If the remaining members of Seven Authorities are willing to aid us, then we should have more time to deal with the Deep-Dusk Dullahan, but the time period of that chance isn't indefinite. Cardinal En'vegio. You are partially correct. Even if Deep-Dusk Dullahan fused with only Glacier Head, its strength would increase, but it would also reach a certain ceiling, limiting its further growth. With all heads gone, a secret condition has been triggered, and although initially slower, the possible growth of Deep-Dusk Dullahan has lost that ceiling."
The monstrous man nodded toward both Cardinals, answering their questions with a stern expression.
"Why are you telling us this only now!? I've read reports about the unusual behavior of the Deep-Dusk Dullahan! Couldn't you figure out that this whole secret condition has been triggered and deal with the beast while it was still weak!?"
Yet another Cardinal spoke up, this one seemingly completely losing his composure and standing up, slamming his hands against the podium and roaring out an accusation.
"While unusual for the Deep-Dusk Dullahan while all Heads were sealed, the pattern of beheading other beings matched how the Deep-Dusk Dullahan would act if the Heads were unsealed but taking too long to reach it and fuse with it, making it impatient and began the so-called headhunt."
"Why didn't you deal with it earlier, though…?"
Zane answered that, too, only to be stumped by a follow-up question from Cardinal En'vegio.
The honest answer was rather difficult to say out loud, considering the request he made at the beginning of the gathering. Revealing that he didn't promptly eliminate the threat that the Deep-Dusk Dullahan could become was, in fact, because its existence allowed him to be away and sneak his way back to the Jade Academy to be with Melinda would definitely be met with disdain. Not to mention that it would most likely prompt a great amount of ill will towards the gold-haired girl, making things far more difficult than necessary.
"All I can say is that I have enough humanity left in me to still make mistakes. As the chosen champion of the goddess, my mistakes end up far more grave than those of a common man. I have been too conceited with my own strength and wanted to leave slaying the Deep-Dusk Dullahan to my companions as a sort of test of strength that would prove their worth beyond simply being glorified bystanders and an audience to my achievements."
"..."
…and so, he deactivated his ability, returning to his baseline highlight and waved the truth with lies convincingly enough to at least make the Cardinals hesitant about prematurely casting their judgment on him as they could at least acknowledge the validity of the point he was making…
"Maybe… hopefully, we aren't in the worst-case scenario just yet. Your earlier request has been acknowledged and will be addressed after this more concerning matter is resolved."
Cardinal En'vegio took a deep breath and then breathed out before straightening his back and announcing.
"...sorry to interrupt, but… I cannot contact either Alenas, Virian, or Stein…"
"...!"
Everyone seemed to come to an understanding and calmed down, only to get stirred up by rather unpleasant news from the albino human who returned to his spot by Zane's side.
"And I used both message scrolls and my own communication devices. Nothing connects. But I do have a reading on their life signatures. They are… odd, but it would appear they are alive…"
Rose added, trying to remain calm while staring straight at Zane without blinking once.
"Hold on. Are you claiming that your party link remains unbroken even at this distance…?"
"Not at all. I simply created devices that would monitor the life signature of all of us no matter the distance with my ability, Tinkerer. It's those earrings, although it was a clip-on for Steiner and Zane since they didn't like the idea of piercing their ears."
Cardinal Orne'lei raised his hand and gasped, but Rose shook his head and pointed out at his ear, or rather at a small silver earring with a tiny pink gem in the very center of it.
"It's not a party link, but it is enough to know whether we're alive or not."
"...ah…!"
The albino human added, unexpectedly prompting the monstrous man to his side to let out an embarrassed gasp and hurriedly rummage through his clothes before taking out a small clip-on earring with a golden gem and putting it in his ear.
"Champion Zane. Rose. We are giving you a dozen Holy Guards. Find the rest of your teammates and bring them back safely. We will arrange for aid from the remaining members of Seven Authorities."
"Understood."
"It shall be done."
Cardinal En'vegio declared, and both Zane and Rose bowed their heads in acknowledgment.
It didn't take longer than ten minutes for the two of them, accompanied by the Holy Guards assigned to them, to use Rose's device and travel back to the inn where Zane's party was together for the last time.