Talks Broke Down? Then Fight

Back at Lumina Square, Griseo and Meflor's conversation continued.

"Meflor, are you waiting for a god to descend and save this city? For The Stars?" Griseo tilted her head. Her violet eyes were unnaturally calm, showing no reaction to the deaths of Morel and his daughter.

Even Meflor had felt human pity and anger when he learned how their story ended.

But Griseo seemed to feel neither. She went on, her voice level.

"Do you humans understand? No god has ever been the one who could save this city. Only you can do that."

Meflor froze for a moment, then asked cautiously, "Your Highness, are you... your second personality right now?"

Griseo had spoken with this detached indifference before. Normally, though, she behaved like a timid, innocent little girl.

"Hahaha! Meflor, you really are clever! No wonder you're the mayor of New Eridu!"

The glow of the Infinity Signet on Griseo's body flared openly. A cold, serpentine pressure bore down on him.

"I knew it!"

Meflor's face darkened. Just as he had suspected, things were not so simple.

"Meflor, as you can see, the Authority of The Stars is like Griseo's paintbrush. I can sense human emotions—the 'colors' your existence gives off.

"Warm yellow, blue, red—you call those good.

"Cold gray and black—you call those evil.

"Guess which colors New Eridu has more of now?"

"..." Obviously...

How could he possibly say the answer aloud?

The Municipal Government, TOPS, the Defense Force... Which of their research projects had not crossed an ethical line? Yet which had not helped save New Eridu? Desperate times called for desperate measures. This was not cruelty; it was necessary for survival.

He could understand it from a human perspective. But from Her Highness's perspective... Meflor hesitated.

"Griseo" seemed to see through him. "I was never