Aldrich was delighted.
He felt that "Saint of the Abyss" was no longer enough to describe his greatness. He had floated to the surface partly because he feared the raging flames, but also because this was the place closest to the Deep, where he could communicate with it better.
This was probably a form of self-consolation.
For some reason, communication was especially effective today.
If the Deep were compared to the moon, then today's Deep was a full moon hanging high in the sky, so close to the ground that even its outer edge seemed rimmed with a faint red glow.
Why was that?
Aldrich felt certain it had something to do with him.
After all, he was the Saint of the Abyss. No one understood the Deep better than he did.
A dark radiance enveloped him, and his charred body gradually recovered. His extreme confidence in his own intellect began to affect his body. He took it as proof that he had drawn one step closer to the Deep. He had been somewhat uneasy just moments ago, but now he could no longer care about anything else.
Now he was getting carried away.
Very carried away.
People always liked to forcibly connect their own efforts to things that happened objectively. In truth, this glance from the Deep had nothing whatsoever to do with Aldrich. It was purely out of curiosity.
Even that curiosity had nothing to do with him.
The Stigma on Hoshino's chest glowed. She drifted across the sea like a nimble butterfly, scythe in hand.
She no longer needed to follow the smell of burning flesh.
Ever since discovering that Seele could resonate with the Deep, she had become like something connected to the world's network. She could see everyone from the Church of the Deep, as