Transfiguration Theory

Keir's first reaction upon seeing Yicha was to find somewhere to hide.

Yicha landed on the sturdy pale-red Disaster Stone path and looked around the courtyard.

The circular pool from the image that had appeared in his mind earlier stood empty, and the demons of the Fallen Angel Cult had scattered to who knew where.

Clear water shimmered with silvery ripples. A sliver of white robe peeked out from behind a deer-headed demon statue as tall as a small building.

"Come out, angel," Yicha said coolly.

Keir's muffled voice came from behind the statue. "Yicha? Is that you? I heard your voice. I saw an angel! They came to hunt me down! Did you see him?"

Yicha was left speechless.

Goodbye ran past his feet.

Rustling, struggling sounds came from behind the statue. Before long, the hellhound emerged from behind the base of the Disaster Stone statue, dragging a white humanoid figure.

Goodbye had its teeth firmly sunk into one of his sleeves. Keir covered his face with both hands and apologized repeatedly. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, sir. I was wrong. I'll go back. I'll go back right away."

"Wake up."

"I shouldn't have..." Keir froze. He lowered the hands covering his face and looked at Yicha. Then he looked again.

He rubbed his eyes hard. Yicha stared down at him expressionlessly.

"Uh... Yicha?" His voice rose sharply with disbelief. "...How did you..."

"Mm."

The hound released its bite. Keir clumsily climbed to his feet, then began circling Yicha, his eyes wide as if he wanted to swallow him whole.

"Turnip... You look so much like one..." he praised in bafflement.

"Turnip?"

"Oh. It's a method I just invented. Whenever I want to say impure words, I say 'turnip' instead," the angel explained.

That really was a turnip of a good idea, Yicha thought coldly.

"Besides that." Keir stopped to sniff Yicha's wings, then took a step back to examine him as a whole.

His expression suddenly grew solemn. "You've killed. Mr. Yicha, you carry the scent of sin."

"No such scent exists." Yicha was in no mood for jokes.

"All right, but you look like you just killed someone." Keir chuckled. He had merely been putting on an act.

Yicha stared at the angel, seized by a faint urge toward violence. Turnip. Big turnip.

"Don't you have anything to explain?" He pointed at his own face.

"Oh my." The angel folded his hands, a holy expression appearing on his face. "I think it's the power of faith. We discussed this before. In fact, I'd already felt a little something, but I didn't expect their faith to be so strong..."

They. The Fallen Angel Cult. They had prayed for the first fallen angel's prayer to be fulfilled upon him, with Keir taking the lead.

He now possessed the appearance and power of the first fallen angel, perhaps only part of it, since he could still hear the Hell Broadcast.

He already knew all that. What he wanted to know was what he did not know.

"Why am I the target of the prayer?"

Keir fell silent in panic. "Uh... It's a long story..."

"Don't tell it."

"Is there trouble?" Keir asked with complete sincerity.

Yicha silently watched his old friend. The fellow blinked his golden eyes, still wearing that same innocent expression he had had for six hundred years.

He let out a breath, very, very slowly.

He had already reached an agreement with Andras and the others. By now, he should have been chatting and laughing with Beelzebub at the Flesh-Forging Pool, preparing to pull off a covert operation.

Andras should not have had to die so miserably. At least, not today.

Now he could only face this reality:

The king of all demons who ruled hell was very likely preparing to turn around and destroy him and his little floating island before continuing on her path to destroy the world.

She did not even need to gather an army. The army had already been gathered.

"Where is Xiqisi?"

He thought of the second troublesome saintess and touched the talisman in his palm. Xiqisi was alive and well, but he could neither locate her nor call her back.

Strange.

"Uh. I thought she went looking for you. Is she wandering around?"

Yicha was not overly worried. Xiqisi did have half-demon blood, after all.

He had more urgent matters to handle. And his patience was limited.

"Tell me more about the details of faith power. We'll need it to work very soon," he said, pulling himself together.

Demons had no fixed faith. Angels were far more knowledgeable than he was in this regard.

"Oh, all right. No problem!" Keir brightened. "What part do you want to hear about?"

"The application of faith power in identity transformation."

"We call it Transfiguration."

"Whatever."

Keir ignored the sarcasm. Cheerfully, he walked to the circular pool and pointed at the water's surface with one finger.

Yicha lightly beckoned for Nese to follow and listen.

The rippling surface was pressed flat by an invisible force.

A glowing coordinate system rose from the water. Keir tapped the air twice, then drew a line.

Two silver dots, one high and one low, appeared on the coordinate system. An arrow pointed from the lower dot toward the other.

"Every existence can be represented in this form." Keir glanced at Nese and kindly explained. Yicha might know this already, but it could be somewhat difficult for a warlock to understand.

"Origin, representing the anchor point. Destination, representing the final destination." Yicha pointed at the two dots, then at the arrow. "Path. It represents the process. Where you came from, where you are going, and what you are doing. A trinity representing a living being's complete existence. All right, get to the point."

Keir nodded. "So, if one wants to undergo Transfiguration, the origin, destination, and path must all be changed in order to complete a full Transfiguration. And the three replacements must harmoniously form a whole."

"I don't do that," Yicha said.

"I know. I analyzed your horn chain. You forcibly redirect energy to alter the form of a domain, so you're limited to matter and energy. We're discussing my theory now."

Keir seemed like a different person, exceptionally wise.

Yicha merely grunted noncommittally.

Though his energy-redirection method of Transfiguration was convenient, it could not achieve every type of Transfiguration and was not complete enough. He had not yet had time to expand upon it.

Perhaps the angel's other theory could make up for the flaws in his method.

"Where was I? Right. All three have to be replaced. What I knew before was that the origin and destination—that is, the anchor point from which an existence is born, and the ultimate place to which it returns—could both be changed relatively easily. Many beings have concrete, known anchor points... As long as that specific existence is replaced, a new anchor can be established."

I don't have an anchor point, Yicha thought. His true name had been carved away atop Flame Cliff.

"Changing the destination—that is, the final resting place—requires changing that existence's [heart's desire]. It sounds simple, but it is often the hardest part."

Yicha said nothing. Nese nodded attentively.

"The most troublesome part is changing the path. I've never been able to figure out path alteration. Well, that's not quite it. Mainly—"

Keir scratched his hair. "It's too complicated. There may be many, many ways. For now, I can only discover them one by one. I haven't summarized the underlying rules yet."

"How many have you discovered? How many are usable?"

"One. And one." The angel wore that familiar, honest smile and pointed at him. "Your one."

Yicha paused for a moment, then said, "Faith power."

"That's right. And it must be faith power that begins from the altered anchor point and points toward the altered destination. Only then can the three fit together perfectly."

The angel waved his hand. The pattern over the still water vanished, and the water began to ripple again. Intelligence glimmered in his golden eyes.

"The faith power of the Fallen Angel Cult concentrated on you and altered your path. It has even changed your appearance and granted you part of your power. Then, you have no anchor point. So we only need to give you a new anchor point and establish it anew. That replaces your origin..."

"Then change the heart's desire and replace the destination. That completes a full Transfiguration," Yicha finished.