1. Initial Interrogation Report (Part One)

Grand Inquisitor: Alpharius?

Prisoner: Omegon.

Grand Inquisitor (slightly surprised): I didn't expect that. (After a long pause, his expression became somewhat strange.) So, he really was dead?

Prisoner: Yes. But that was precisely what he wanted.

Grand Inquisitor: Very well.

Prisoner (smiling slyly): So, shall we proceed with the formalities? Or are you going to summon Konrad Curze? Let him judge me?

Grand Inquisitor: Interesting.

Prisoner (smiling again): I know many things, but this one is purely speculation. Where should I begin? Shall I start from the beginning?

Grand Inquisitor (shaking his head): No. Start with Fabius Bile.

Prisoner (lowering his head in thought for a while): Bile. He was not a good partner. His mental state was appalling, and the Withering Disease had been tormenting him all along. If his biotechnology had not truly been so formidable, I think he would have rotted away millions of times over by now. I imagine you have already verified this—those Night Lords on Sotha (the prisoner deliberately stressed these words) must have caused you considerable displeasure. I would like to apologize for that.

Grand Inquisitor: I do not accept it. Now tell me how you took him away. He should have been aboard the Vengeful Spirit at the time.

Prisoner: The answer is simple—deceit. (A long pause.) Besides, I believe the two of us can reach a consensus.

Grand Inquisitor: What consensus?

Prisoner: From the moment the Warmaster was carried into the temple on Davin, led by that fool Abaddon, he had already died. Whatever emerged afterward, no matter how healthy it appeared, was merely a puppet—manipulated by others, possessing not the slightest will of its own. At least, that was the case then. Therefore, deceiving him was not difficult. I told him that, like him, I had received revelations from the