Above the boundless sea in a dream.

"... Teacher."

The mermaid wept.

"I love you."

"..."

Giovanni felt the same. He loved these small, foolish mermaids.

He loved them too much to grant forgiveness. He knew these terrible, cruel mermaids well. Once again, they were sinning, slaughtering innocent lives.

Fools who truly believed that was taking “responsibility.”

"... Yes..."

The extraordinary nature he was born with had set him apart from every fate in the world, but however special I may be, could I compare to the time we nurtured together? Giovanni, ultimately only human, decided to reach out.

"... In the end, I will have to drag you to hell myself."

A mere priest smiled.

"How can you be so foolish?"

Then he wept.

He had no regrets, but that did not absolve him of his suffering. Though he had always done his utmost to love and give, Giovanni had been forced to die a horrific death.

And now he had to witness the sins committed by his cherished pupils.

"Surely I did not live so wrongly that I deserve to face such wickedness..."

* * *

"Father...!"

"Brother Cha Yi-sol!"

Kang Seodam spotted Cha Yi-sol trapped inside a barrier.

"I've wanted to ask this the entire way here, but why on earth are you here?!"

"I'm sorry! How do I write an incident report?!"

"You're still a prospective priest, Brother Cha Yi-sol! A written reflection will suffice!"

"I don't know how to write one, so please teach me when we get back...!!"

"I will!!"

It was enough to drive him mad.

"Can anyone analyze this barrier? We need to get Priest Cha Yi-sol out of here before another monster comes!"

"I have a skill for that. Please step aside!"

The Hunter swiftly analyzed the barrier's composition and structure. He turned toward the priests of the Sun, looking incredulous.

"This is the Sun's work?!"

"What? What do you mean?"

"It's the Sun. The composition, the structure, everything...!"

"If that were true, there's no way we wouldn't have recognized it...?!"

"B-but it really is...!"

Kang Seodam quickly accepted the reality.

"It's refusing to let us read it."

"The Sun rejecting the children of the Sun? That's impossible!"

"That impossible thing is happening right now! Stop wasting your breath on nonsense and face reality! Are you going to disgrace yourselves in front of a prospective priest?!!!"

"Eek..."

"Listen carefully. We dismantle the barrier before any monsters arrive!!"

The priests who had been about to argue shrank back at Kang Seodam's demonic expression. He was famous as a senior who drew a strict line between personal and professional matters, loathed stupid or incompetent priests, and refused to treat them as people.

"E-even so, if we can't read it, how are we supposed to...!"

"Shut up and get out of the way, you vermin! At least cover us instead of wasting time!!"

"Y-yes, sir!!!"

Watching the priests take up positions around the entrance in perfect coordination, the Hunters accompanying them were impressed.

"Scary."

"Yeah, terrifying..."

No, intimidated.

'I've heard plenty about how strict religious hierarchies are, but...'

'Thank goodness I didn't Awaken as a priest.'

'So that's what Priest Kang Seodam looks like angry. Incredible.'

After identifying those who would be no help dismantling the barrier, the Hunters took up positions among the priests. They had all studied how to cooperate with priests in situations like this.

Only after much hair-tearing frustration did Kang Seodam and the Hunters finally undo the barrier.

"Brother Cha Yi-sol, come here."

"Waaah, teacheeer...!"

"I'll hear what happened once we're somewhere safe. We can't take you back to dry land right now, so you'll follow us safely. Did you hear me? Safely. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir! I'm sorry...!"

"Your teachers bear considerable blame for failing to supervise a prospective priest, so... No. As I said, we'll discuss this later. Right now, we need to rejoin the other team and continue the raid."

Thoroughly worked up by the countless monsters they had encountered on the way, Kang Seodam took a deep breath. With his usual cool rationality restored, he asked Cha Yi-sol a question.

"Do you know where Hunter Seo Jio is? Or the mermaid Hunter named Iser...?"

"I know where Jio is!"

"That's good news. Exactly where is he, and what condition is he in?"

"He's tied up right in the middle of the pope's room, in seawater!"

"My God."

The other Hunters were horrified too.

"W-what? Why on earth...?!"

"More importantly, why the pope's room, of all places?!"

"Talk about special treatment..."

"Isn't that a little too gruesome to call special treatment?!"

"Th-that's what I mean. I'm just as baffled..."

Come to think of it, the mermaids had even used civilian hostages to kidnap Hunter Seo Jio. Seeing how they had “stored” Cha Yi-sol separately like this, perhaps they really did have some designs on Black Cloak's apostles.

'Well, they're too talented to simply kill.'

'Considering Black Cloak's frames used to appear inside the temple now and then, there really might have been some connection. This could be worth investigating.'

'Are the mermaids on bad terms with Black Cloak...?'

Amid the oddly unsettled atmosphere, Kang Seodam let out a deep sigh and brought everyone into line.

"Prospective Priest Cha Yi-sol says he knows the location of the room where Hunter Seo Jio is being held. We should head straight there. Stay alert. We don't know what might interfere with us along the way."

"Yes, leader."

"Understood."

On their way, the two Hunter teams met up again.

"What are you doing here?!"

"We've more or less figured out the story."

"Ah, then..."

"This was the only place left to check!"

They had encountered some truly absurd monsters and traps.

"Pig-people priests were trying to eat us...!"

"You too?"

"There was also something like a sweet fragrance reaching out from inside a pond."

"It must have had a charm skill. We lost three people there..."

"There were undead chasing us with farm tools, too."

"Oh, those were really disgusting."

"Some of them charged at us yelling that they were hungry..."

"Those were in the dungeon before."

"The new mobs are ridiculously hard. Seriously."

Yet despite all their searching, they had failed to find the “heart.”

"Worst case, the boss monster might be the dungeon's heart itself."

"But the boss monster has already assimilated with the sea to an enormous extent..."

"Damn it, what do we do in a case like this? Kill it by boiling it away with fire?"

"That would take forever."

"Besides, even if we evaporate it, it just rises into the sky as water vapor."

"This is why liquid monsters are such a pain."

"I'd rather it were a slime..."

"At least those have cores."

Most liquid monsters had a core inside their bodies and died when it was destroyed. But the sea? A mermaid assimilated with the sea? How on earth were they supposed to fight that?

"Let's first establish whether it has a core."

If there truly were no way to kill it, that would put it in the realm of divinity. But none of the priests sensed anything of that stature here. These were mere monsters. There had to be a way to kill them.

"We just need to work through this step by step."

"You're right, but I can't help feeling uneasy."

"Oh, come on. Can we stop with the gloomy talk?"

"We are in a difficult situation, aren't we?"

Then they reached the pope's room.

"..."

"... Is that...?"

Voices spoke at once.

"Isn't that Hunter Seo Jio?"

"Isn't that a mermaid...?"

At that, the mermaid leaning against his teacher's knees, Iser, opened his eyes.

"..."

They shimmered with bitter loathing.

"Uninvited guests."

"... What have you done to Hunter Seo Jio?"

"We're transplanting his roots to where he belongs."

"Where he belongs?"

"The sea."

HUM...

The water filling the room resonated.

"He's coming to the sea."

That was why Iser had been kneeling in supplication.

"This Earth is far too small a flowerpot for him."

"That is not for you, a mermaid, to decide."

"True. But since when have humans followed only the natural order?"

"There are lines that must not be crossed."

"Then what about my teacher?"

Why had my noble human teacher died like that?

"I hate you all."

"Ha. Did we kill your teacher?"

"I hate your short lives."

JINGLE!

A staff laden with golden ornaments appeared in the mermaid's hand.

"I hate... that you humans are among the children of the natural order."

They were proof of the natural order and traces of its deception. That was the most fundamental reason humans had become the targets of the mermaids' rage.

Yes, it was unreasonable.

'But that's all right.'

They had never intended to win. The mermaids had already agreed that this was how they would take “responsibility.” This was merely a performance to carry them toward the end.

Iser smiled.

"I went to great lengths to welcome you. I dressed the temple in greater beauty and extravagance, and brought out the pigs I'd so carefully saved for an audience curious about the story."

"He's talking about the monsters..."

"Were you satisfied? No, I know you weren't. Humans are greedy. You never know when to stop."

With a flutter, Iser's ears began changing from human ears into those of a mermaid.

Draping like wondrous silk, they blended indistinguishably into his clear, sky-blue hair. His teeth sharpened, and his pupils shone an even brighter pearl.

Only after a long tail resembling a water dragon's emerged did the staff begin to grow luxuriantly.

"Behold."

The golden staff burst outward, growing into the form of a tree.

"A sun has grown in the deep sea."

Emitting a light as rapturous as the sun, it began to envelop the entire temple.

"And so I, too..."

"... Ha."

"Shall welcome you with the sun."

SWISH...

Iser, too, was soon suffused with gold.

"Ah, of course..."

Two horns resembling tree branches grew from his forehead.

"That's right."

Having shed the cold hues of the deep sea in an instant, the mermaid asked a question.

"Is your Sun merciful?"

"More than you, at least."

"Then why don't you try praying?"

"To spare our lives?"

"No."

His smile deepened.

"For your Sun to stay alive."

The suns of countless dimensions that had sunk into the sea.

Just “who” had devoured them in the end?

* * *

Yu Seongun thought.

"..."

Was Giovanni human?

'Yes.'

He had “once” been human.

So had Seo Jio, the eccentric art teacher from South Korea, and the Demon King Arjio, who had survived a rainforest overgrown with poisonous plants. In human bodies, they had lived lives unlike those of humans, until eventually they ceased to be human.

Was it wrong to see someone like that as a work of art?

'I'm already treating him exactly the way he wants, aren't I?'

Jio liked the human named “Yu Seongun” who behaved that way.

'He does.'

That was possible because “Jio,” the portrait he cherished, was extraordinarily generous and well-disposed toward him. A mere Gardener was overwhelmed with emotion at even a fraction of the attention The Root's eye bestowed upon him.

Yu Seongun was doing well. He was a Gardener and a Curator. He was fulfilling his duties. Far from being angry about it, Jio enjoyed it.

Then his thoughts suddenly veered elsewhere.

"..."

Would Jio dislike being treated as human?

'... No, I suppose not, but...'

He knew he would not. Ju-hyeon was proof of that.

'But that doesn't mean I'm doing anything wrong, does it?'

This was the approach Yu Seongun wanted, an attitude Jio did not dislike. When everyone was satisfied, a Curator treating a work of art as a work of art could hardly be called a sin. Why wasn't it a sin?

Even as countless Hunters split and burst her body apart, the mermaid looked down at Yu Seongun. Seated upon a throne made of a towering wave, amid sculptures of ice, the princess pronounced judgment.

"Arrogant creature."

"I admit it."

"You're no different from your master."

"Of course we resemble our Guild Master..."

"Horribly selfish."

"That's how humans are."

It only fanned the mermaid's hatred, but that could not be helped.

"It's the truth."

Only after defining humans that way did he begin to waver a little.

"..."

On the battlefield, with his ears ringing and glaciers breaking, Yu Seongun's eyes widened.

"... Ah."