Flames that could burn all things to ash turned into a great wave and swallowed everything, yet harmed no metal and no human. As for that blurred humanoid creature, it spread its arms wide and welcomed its death.
Mephisto could even hear it murmuring in a low voice, "Yes, come. I have already fulfilled my mission."
Without the slightest hesitation, the flames coiled upward and turned it completely to ash in an instant. There was no smell, no hissing sound of fat burning—only a clean, decisive dispersal into specks of white light. And yet the flames forged from anger showed no sign of stopping. They stubbornly wrapped around every white light spot and began to burn fiercely with incomparable hatred.
"Now you've seen it, Mephisto. You've heard it too..."
The Mage whispered in his mind, asking, sounding as if he were seeking his opinion. But Mephisto knew he simply wanted someone to talk to. Talking to himself would have seemed too sorrowful.
Even so, the Blood Angels did not feel there was anything shameful about it.
"Yes, my lord," he answered obediently. "I have seen the reason for your anger."
"What do you think?"
"Its death is not enough to repay the debt it owes humanity."
Mephisto answered after a silence. "I do not know where those people came from, nor can I understand what place the Endless Star Sea in its words truly is. But I know that it committed an indelible crime against the human race. It, and all of them, deserve to die."
"You are very pure," Mephisto heard the Mage say. "I envy that. Farewell, Mephisto."
Then his consciousness sank into darkness.
If they had not seen it with their own eyes, who would believe that the scene before them had been caused merely by