The wind howled, like the first cry of a newborn baby.
The sound was clamorous and deafening, as though it would melt everything.
The stars, the trees, even the ground around the church seemed about to melt.
This was no longer merely a shift in the situation. It was more fitting to say that the force of it made the world itself seem to be changing.
Shadows repeatedly chanting spine-chilling words poured from the gaps between earth and sky, a black sandstorm covering everything in sight.
-Everything in the world was enveloped in the presence of "death."
That was the only thought Altrouge Brunestud had as she watched the scene unfolding before her.
As the King of the Moon's heir and the princess of the Dead Apostles, the girl had always taken pride in her status. Even when facing a Living Saint who could easily subdue Primate Murder, she had been able to negotiate without either servility or arrogance.
But now, nothing remained in her heart except profound unease.
To most life in the world, she was a monster through and through. Yet when she encountered a more terrifying being that could deliberately strip away that aura with ease, she still displayed emotions akin to a human's.
Behind Roland, the pitch-black shadow had grown as tall as the surrounding trees. Although it was clearly trying to imitate a human shape as closely as possible, the final impression was still only that of a humanoid mass.
"Calamity..."
Altrouge Brunestud murmured to herself. None of her earlier steely resolve could be heard in her ethereal voice anymore, only coldness.
But that was only natural.
Despite being the princess of the Dead Apostles, the Black Princess was fundamentally a hybrid of a True Ancestor and a Dead Apostle. From the other half of