Even without our knowledge, evil was leaving behind its sticky footprints.
The rumors heard from every direction testified to it. Disturbances such as riots and arson had become commonplace, and reports of a sharp rise in Magical Beast appearances were arriving from across the continent.
There was even talk of an ‘epidemic.’
From a certain day onward, people supposedly began hearing an unknown ‘voice.’ Those on the front lines had tried to dismiss it as simple mental illness, but far too many people offered the same testimony.
As though a plague were spreading.
Some of those complaining of auditory hallucinations had even begun to disappear. According to rumor, they were later sighted in secluded forests or caves, bearing forms that combined humans and beasts.
It was a situation we had predicted.
Had the ‘Archwitch’ not warned me recently? Delphirem was a terrifying being capable of influencing humanity’s unconscious mind, and all manner of abnormal phenomena would inevitably follow as a result.
Such as the emergence of ‘Magical Beasts’ and ‘Demonic Humans.’
There was little time left. In that respect, discovering several of the Order’s hideouts was a considerable achievement—enough for the ‘Saint’ to yield to me the opportunity to employ force that he himself had desired so intensely.
In other words,…