After the conversation with Catherine, Ria made up her mind. Accompanied by Exwind, she would go to Pareto, in Brazil, to settle accounts with the Pope and rescue Kiseki.
They were both at an airport, ready to leave. As they sat in the waiting room, Exwind felt uncertain about the information the prisoner had given:
— Ria, are you sure that this Pope didn't change his place to carry out his evil plan?
— No, but that's why we're going there as soon as possible. By combining our powers, it is possible to travel all around the city in less than a day.
— That's not like you, Ria. You've never trusted a prisoner before.
— I researched everything she said right after she left. Obviously I'm not going to blindly trust someone like her.
— I said that in a good way. I'm glad you started to open your heart more.
Exwind smiled at Ria, as if he was watching his daughter mature. Without showing any reaction, she initially disagreed with that comment, but soon realized that her friend was right. Trying to avoid the subject, she replied:
— Anyway, the Pope mustn't know we're after him, so I don't think he'll be leaving town anytime soon.
— Let's hope he doesn't get on a commercial plane and wander around the region. I don't want to have to protect passengers while I beat up the guy who kidnapped someone as kind as Kiseki-chan.
— Wait, that reminds me of something. Isn't there a private plane that flies around Tokyo and never lands?
— Perhaps. I never noticed, but it might exist. Do you think there really is a villain traveling through the air to avoid being caught?
— It's just a hypothesis, but I think it's very suspicious that they use a private plane and it's always in the air. It's almost like they want to get caught.
An announcement sounded: "Dear passengers, please board your respective plane." Exwind ended the conversation:
— Speaking of planes, it looks like our turn has come. I hope it's a peaceful trip, because I'm tired of plane "accidents".
Fortunately for Exwind, the trip was the smoothest he'd had in a long time. With all that comfort, he even forgot what the purpose of the trip was.
When they disembarked, Exwind came back to reality and noticed something strange: they were not yet in Pareto. Confused, he asked:
— Ria, I know we're going to a city in the interior, but there's an airport there, isn't there?
— Yes, but no plane goes directly there. In recent years, there have been reports that some passengers who go there become completely different people. And I think we already know why.
— So this Pope, in addition to kidnapping a friend of ours, brainwashes innocent people?
Exwind, who until now had been relaxed from the trip, turned his tranquility into disgust and anger. Even Ria rarely saw that expression on the face of someone so calm and gentle. Exwind continued:
— Ria, I think we better hurry, because we don't know Kiseki-chan's situation.
— We are still a few dozen kilometers away from there. I'll use my power to speed us up and you'll take us flying, but that might end up tiring us out before the battle even begins.
— The battle has already begun. If they mess with a friend of ours, all we can do is make them pay with double the suffering.
As they were approaching Pareto, they soon noticed strange objects: floating islands in the sky. As there were several, Ria soon realized the meaning of that.
— It seems he doesn't care about hiding the city from the map. But he knows someone is after him if he tries to build all this just to make us search all the islands.
— The one in the center seems to be the main one. Should we look there first?
— That must be a trap. If he's so stupid as to make the hiding place stand out like that, it's because he wants to show off.
— Which one should we check first, then?
— That one is closer and seems to have people. We can verify if the brainwashing rumors were true.
Exwind landed on the island, which was the smallest of them. He placed Ria on the ground and they both walked towards a group of people who were surrounding some monument. It looked like a ritual, except all the worshipers were staring at random directions.
They both walked through the crowd, trying to pick the right person to interrogate. Suddenly, a seemingly poor man crawled up to the two and grabbed Exwind's foot. In less than a second, Ria was already pointing one of her revolvers at the guy's head.
As if seeing a deity, the man asked:
— Lord, is that you? Will I finally be saved? Will I be able to see my family?
Seeing that Ria was ready to shoot, Exwind motioned for her to lower the gun. Still confused, he crouched down to talk to the man:
— Unfortunately, I am not your Lord. But I promise I will get you out of here and take you to your family.
— But… salvation is necessary! I cannot return before the Lord accepts me into the divine realm!
— I'm sorry, but I'm not a Christian, so I don't know how you feel.
— You… are not a Christian? That's not possible, how did a heretic end up here? This is the Sanctuary, and it does not accept infidels!
Exwind didn't know how to respond. He was faced with a lost man who looked like he hadn't eaten in days. Feeling sorry for him and everyone else around, he stood up. He looked at everyone and exclaimed:
— I don't know anything about religion, but I promise one thing: we will get you out of this situation after we defeat the Pope.
Part of the crowd wasn't paying attention, and another was looking at the two. But when they heard the name Pope, everyone stared at Exwind. Some scared, others happy. A woman who was sitting got up and, crying, said:
— You can't defy the Pope! He is the supreme being, and today he will become a god!
— And that's why we're going to defeat him today. If he's that strong, it'll be doubly satisfying to smash his face in. I know he's forcing you all to live this hell, but that's about to change.
Everyone was silent. They were scared of it all, but a spark of hope was lit by that hero's speech. Some began to cry unconsciously. Another woman shouted:
— You can't go near that castle! If you do that, we won't reach heaven!
— So that's where the Pope is hiding? Relax, everything will be fine, I'm sure he's just a faker trying to gain the trust of the faithful. Thanks for everything, guys, now we have a job to do.
Everyone fell silent again, not knowing how to respond. Deep down, they wanted that duo to go to the castle, but they spoke in a tone of denial because they couldn't go against the Pope's wishes.
Now, they were both flying directly towards the central island, which was a few kilometers away. Ria, surprised by the speech, commented:
— I don't know how you can ask without questioning.
— It's not as difficult as it seems. You're too tough, Ria. If you speak with empathy, answers flow naturally.
— You didn't seem to be looking for answers.
— You noticed? I can't stand seeing people in this state, so I need to at least be a symbol of hope.
— So I am the symbol of fear.
— Of course not, Ria. You are also the hope of many people, including me.
— Idiot, don't say things like that.
Again, Ria didn't even show a visible reaction. Although she was saying a typical tsundere phrase, she was a kuudere. It was obvious that she loved her childhood friend, but she could never express that clearly.
When they landed on the central island, Exwind commented:
— Yeah, it looks like the Pope really wants to show off.
— I still think this is a trap. He's probably waiting for us inside with a special weapon ready to fire.
— You don't need to worry so much, Ria. You yourself say that powerful non-Japanese people don't usually go beyond level 6. We can handle it without any difficulty if we're together.
— I hope you're right...
— Of course I am. The problem is that this castle is too big, so we'll have to split up to find it as soon as possible.
— But didn't you just say that we would face him together?
— We will, but only after we've looked into it all better. Kiseki-chan needs protection, so one of us has to go after her.
— Okay… I can do that.
Ria took out her revolver and created several bullets with different strengths. She shot them all at herself and her partner to speed up the search and ensure that neither of them would have any difficulty if they faced a strong enemy.
Worried, Ria looked away and said:
— Tetsushi, be careful, and good luck.
— Thank you, Ria. I hope I don't need luck, because that would mean we're in trouble. And relax, you're too tense. After this is all over, you, me and Kiseki-chan are going to have a celebration party.
Ria laughed lightly, realizing that her friend was playing in the danger. She turned her back and said:
— Sure, idiot.
Exwind smiled and stood still for a few moments, watching his partner walk away. Then he started walking in another direction.
A few minutes after beginning the search accelerated by Ria, Exwind heard a strange sound. He approached a door that clearly had a bathroom on the other side. He heard screams:
— WHAT THE HELL, WHY DOESN'T THIS RITUAL WORK? I KEEP TELLING MY FOLLOWERS TO HAVE MORE FAITH, BUT THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS MISSION.
Exwind didn't understand a word of what he just heard. Noticing that the person on the other side was speaking another language, he thought:
Wait, does that mean those people from before were coincidentally Japanese?
A short time later, the bathroom door opened, and Exwind decided to discreetly follow the person to find out who they were. As Ria had shown him photos of the Pope, he quickly recognized that this was his target.
He was a middle-aged man and wore a white papal outfit, as his name said. Except for his clothing, his hunchbacked way of walking, and his incessant screams every time he opened his mouth, he had nothing that attracted attention.
He could be seen as a relatively normal person, except for the hero duo, who knew about his inner rot. Blinded by rage, Exwind began to follow him openly, unafraid of being discovered. As the Pope had hearing problems, he did not notice the tall brute walking behind him. Suddenly, he received a call. He was startled by the sound of the device, but soon answered the call:
— WHAT DO YOU WANT?
— "What do you want"? Did I really hear that?
— AH, I'M SORRY, ZENITH-SAMA, I DIDN'T KNOW I WAS TALKING TO YOUR MAJESTY.
— You're trying my patience, old man. You told me the ritual would be ready hours ago, and still nothing.
— OH, IT'S JUST…
As the Pope was nervous while talking to the heroine, he was unable to maintain his posture and instinctively looked around. To his surprise, he finally saw who was behind. The two stared at each other for a few seconds, until the Pope dropped his cell phone on the floor. Zenith continued:
— "It's just" what, asshole?! You're not going to tell me to wait another day. You promised me that I would become a goddess, so keep your word! Hey, can you hear me? Hello?!
Exwind finally spoke:
— Later, you will explain to me what your relationship with Zenith is. But first, you will tell me where Kiseki-chan is.
— WHO ARE YOU? AND WHY ARE YOU SPEAKING JAPANESE?
Realizing the language barrier, Exwind was disappointed. He scratched his forehead, thinking of a solution. He continued:
— Can you at least speak English?
— ENGLISH? OF COURSE I KNOW, MORE OR LESS.
— What I said is that you're going to have to answer some questions.
— I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING AND I'M NOT OBLIGED TO GIVE YOU ANSWERS!
— Ah, you will give me the answers I'm looking for, whether you want it or not.
— ONLY OVER MY DEAD BODY! MY FAITHFUL GUARDS, PROTECT ME IMMEDIATELY!
Realizing that reinforcements would be arriving, Exwind positioned himself to fight the strongest of the enemies. Waiting for the threat to arrive, he concentrated.
Two guard dogs came running and jumped at the hero, who remained motionless. That "threat" became the target of petting, and Exwind sat down to pet them, even though they were trying to bite him with all their might.
When he turned his attention to the Pope, he was no longer there. He quickly got up and ran in search of his target, but he couldn't find him. The dogs barked at one of the several doors in the long hallway. Exwind soon realized that the Pope was there.
He approached the door and petted the dogs once again, thanking them. He grabbed the handle and tried to open the door, but it was locked. Out of patience, he kicked it open.
The Pope was crouched behind a table, terrified and crying. The brute approached slowly, with a murderous aura. He looked him in the eye closely and said, with a forced smile:
— It's questionin' time.
— I DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING!
— You certainly don't know, considering you're the only human in decent living conditions in this entire floating archipelago. In fact, you have a castle all to yourself.
— I RENTED IT!
— Of course, I believe you.
Exwind transformed his smile into a serious expression, reinforcing that this was not a joke. He continued:
— What is your relationship with Zenith?
The Pope hesitated for a few more seconds, but soon gave in:
— SHE… WANTS TO BECOME A GODDESS.
— A goddess?
— I OFFERED MY HELP TO MAKE HER DREAM A REALITY, BUT IT SEEMS NOT TO HAVE WORKED.
— How?
— I READ IN THE BIBLE A RITUAL THAT ALLOWS A PERSON TO BECOME OMNIPOTENT, BY SACRIFICING THE SOUL OF THE PUREST PERSON IN THE WORLD.
— So you concluded that Kiseki-chan was the perfect angel?
— EXACTLY! I TRIED THIS RITUAL SEVERAL TIMES AFTER ZENITH BROUGHT ME THE GIRL, BUT UNTIL NOW NOTHING HAS WORKED.
— Look, I don't know anything about religion, but I don't think a ritual like that would be in the Bible. Where did you get this copy?
— IN A CAMELODROME.
— Seriously…?
Exwind turned away, disappointed at the Pope's stupidity. Wanting one last answer, he continued:
— And what did you do to the people here?
— I HAVE A POWER.
Surprised, Exwind looked at his target again. Curious, he asked:
— And what would it be?
— I CAN CONTROL PEOPLE WHO FOLLOW THE SAME RELIGION AS ME.
— Damn… But how do you explain the floating islands?
— I DID A RITUAL THAT I ALSO SAW IN THE BIBLE.
— Wait, the one you found on the camelodrome?
— YES.
— So they have techniques that work? You better not be lying to me.
— I'M NOT LYING! I AM A FANATIC ABOUT THE OCCULTISM.
— Occultism? What are you talking about?
— YOU WOULD NOT UNDERSTAND. SOMEONE WHO HAS ALWAYS USED POWERS AND TALENT TO MOVE UP IN LIFE DOESN'T KNOW HOW VAST THE WORLD IS.
— Okay, this conversation can wait for later, otherwise I won't be able to understand.
— SO AM I DISMISSED?
— No way, you're coming with me.
Exwind turned to the door and used his discreet headset to talk to Ria:
— Ria, I met the Pope and discovered a lot of useful information. Where can we meet?
— Tetsushi, get away from here as quickly as possible.
— Did something happen? Where are you?
— It doesn't matter, just go away.
Another voice came from Ria's microphone:
— So this is the famous strongest level 6 duo in the association? I never got the chance to meet you guys, but I'm surprised you're this weak.
— And who are you, bastard?
— Hey, hey, you're not going to say you don't recognize me. I am the strongest, most beautiful and perfect of the association: Zenith!
— You are underestimating us.
— Am I seriously underestimating you? That doesn't seem to be the case for me, as I defeated your little friend very easily.
— I'm going to destroy this entire island and take you to hell with it.
— Look, someone's pissed off! This is so fun, it's been a while since I felt so satisfied defeating someone.
— Ria, wait, I'll come get you.
— Oh, do you want to talk to her? Here, brat, answer your friend. Don't do that, Tetsushi, you don't stand a chance against her.
— That's what we'll see, Ria.