"We're all Holy Light Clerics. I understand what you're thinking. Protecting the weak is our duty, but how can we let perpetrators remain ignorant of their own wrongdoing? We've already sent people to protect those young children as best they can. They may lose their mothers or fathers, but with our guidance in the future, I believe they'll all grow into good children."
"Yes, Regiment Commander!" The reluctance vanished from the Holy Light Clerics' eyes. After all, what Shoma had said at the command center back then had made some sense. Children were innocent, and Cursed Children weren't the only children in this world. Other children might hate Cursed Children too, but those values had undoubtedly been instilled in them by adults. Under the Holy Church's guidance, these children who had gone astray would still have a chance to return to the right path.
The sun rose, its morning rays piercing the thick clouds and shining down on the ruined, burning streets of Tokyo. The city's former prosperity was gone. Collapsed buildings and severed limbs scattered everywhere bore witness to what Tokyo had endured the night before.
Children's sobs occasionally broke the silence. The survivors stared with lifeless eyes at the devastated city the monsters had left behind. That hellish night remained vivid in their minds.
Now they had paid for the consequences of their twisted prejudices with their loved ones' lives. Cries of grief and anguish echoed through the streets. No one felt fortunate, because they knew it wasn't over. As long as the Giant Stone Monolith remained unrepaired, last night's tragedy would happen again. Countless Tokyo citizens began converging on the city government hall. They wanted to find Tokyo's leader and ask her why.
Why had no one come to protect them when they faced the terror of