At Anomalies Bureau headquarters, a colonel was reporting intelligence from the Royal Palace to Cyrabelle.
Cyrabelle frowned slightly. She had still held out a sliver of hope, but now it was gone.
"So there really are large numbers of troops hidden in the Royal Palace, and they're wearing Holy Crusader uniforms!" Cyrabelle's voice was cold. She had already guessed the broad outline of what had happened. She had opposed the royal family's cooperation with the Holy Light Church to create the Holy Crusaders from the start. Not only had it wasted royal resources, it had effectively trained an elite force for the Church of Light. But Prady XIV had made the decision. She was merely a grand duke's illegitimate daughter, far away in the Void World, with too little influence to change it.
Cyrabelle had even gone to Grand Duke Mora about it. Unfortunately, he had not cared. He had cheerfully lectured her to take a broader view: a capable commander should not get hung up on details.
Now that rash decision had finally borne bitter fruit. Worse, Cyrabelle was the one expected to swallow it. It was intolerable.
"What about the Little King? What happened to him?" Cyrabelle suppressed her anger and calmly assessed the situation.
The Holy Crusaders' arrival meant the Holy Light Church, which had deliberately avoided intervening in the Number Twelve Void World, had openly entered the fray. It had gone from spectator to player.
She now had another enemy to face. That enemy had come through the Space-Time Gate and appeared directly inside the Royal Palace, so Marquis Belon had to be working with them. What part the Little King had played was still unclear.
The colonel had clearly come prepared. "My lady, according to reliable intelligence, the Little King has been captured by the