"What is going on?"
Even though he had been so angry after arguing with his mother that he'd looked ready to leave and never look back, the moment this sudden change happened right in front of him, Adrian immediately became unsettled.
It was obvious that Madam Heidilun was practically a different person now—her voice and expression were completely unlike her usual self. If the last time she accidentally slipped into a "communion" state could be brushed off as an accident, then this time could no longer be called a coincidence.
From the looks of it, Adrian's mother seemed to be possessed by some mysterious entity—her whole body under someone else's control.
And as far as I knew, there were several kinds of magic that could control humans, directly or indirectly. We still didn't know which method the other party was using—or whether it really was Yehehua of the True Church—but considering that the day I first "lost" might very well have involved a similar kind of control, I didn't dare slack off. I drew my Water Abyss Sword, fixed my gaze on her, and demanded warily:
"Who are you? What do you want?"
"You may address me as 'Kuntavi.' I belong to the Origin World Dimensional Observation Committee, and I am a member responsible for routine monitoring of this world's development."
I hadn't expected the other party to actually answer!
The same unnaturally low, slow tone came out of Adrian's mother's mouth—so wrong, so mismatched, it was downright jarring.
After we processed what he said, both Adrian and I fell into a stunned daze.
"Origin World… Dimensional Observation Committee…?"
I was absolutely certain I had never heard those terms before. And yet the way Kuntavi spoke—the cadence, the manner—somehow felt strangely familiar.
"I don't care about any of that!" Adrian stepped forward without fear, pointing at her and shouting. "You're occupying my mother's body—get the hell out of my mother right now!"
"...I offer my sincere apologies… Although I have attempted multiple times to communicate through dialogue, your mother's mental level has been unable to properly receive information from the space where I reside. Given the urgency of the situation, I had no choice but to descend personally in order to issue a warning."
From his tone, Kuntavi seemed to have reasons for doing this. And regardless of what that "warning" was supposed to be, because he was speaking through another person's body, his voice carried no emotion at all—it was impossible to tell whether he was sincere or not.
"Wait," I cut in, seizing on key words. "You just said another space… and descending?"
I stared at Adrian's mother, barely believing what I was about to ask. "Don't tell me you're actually—"
"Yes. I am exactly what you would call a 'Saint.'"
Kuntavi admitted it immediately, without the slightest attempt to hide it. After a brief pause, he hurried straight into the warning he had come to deliver:
"Feliciana, there is something I must inform you of. Your world will soon face a major threat. Someone is secretly planning an ascension to godhood somewhere on this continent. At present, only your power has any chance of countering that threat. If it is not stopped in time, then even we may be unable to intervene and restrain it."
"Hold on!" Adrian blurted out, overwhelmed. "You just said you're a 'Saint'—the 'Saint' who resurrected Raydwin out of thin air on Earth? But why would a 'Saint' appear in this world? Aren't you supposed to exist on Earth's side?"
Adrian had never witnessed it firsthand before. Faced with the sheer amount of information, he clearly couldn't digest it all at once—his mind was still stuck on the shock of Kuntavi's identity.
But honestly, I wasn't doing much better.
Kuntavi had descended specifically to warn us about someone trying to become a god… yet the problem was that I didn't even have a clear concept of what "becoming a god" actually meant. Was it truly that terrifying? Why did I have to be the one to stop it? The Eldoria Continent was full of powerful experts—why would it come down to me?
"I have already said it: only you possess the ability to defuse this crisis," Kuntavi replied. "And at your side, only Madam Heidilun—whom I am currently using—has sufficient faith-energy to serve as a channel for communication. This method is merely a temporary expedient. I will depart shortly. Rest assured: your mother will not suffer any harm as a result."
That last part was clearly aimed at Adrian.
Just like what I'd experienced before, once Kuntavi "descended" into our world, he likely possessed the ability to read thoughts directly. He didn't even need us to finish speaking—he was already answering what we were thinking.
"If you're that powerful," Adrian demanded, "and you're supposedly not that far from actual gods, then why not solve this problem yourselves? Is it like what the True Church preaches all the time—some kind of 'test'?"
Now that he'd personally felt how strong a "Saint's" mind-reading was, Adrian finally eased a bit after Kuntavi's guarantee. But even if thought-exchange was possible, he still chose to use the straightforward questioning style he was used to.
I'd already guessed part of the answer, since I'd had some understanding of Saints before. Still, hearing it from Kuntavi's mouth surprised me.
"Non-interference with the normal development of lower-dimensional worlds is one of the most fundamental principles governing our collective conduct," Kuntavi said. "In essence, the warning I am issuing right now already violates that principle completely."
"No one else is aware of this at present. This action is primarily driven by my personal will. As such, this unauthorized descent carries the risk of being discovered at any moment. I have taken the risk as far as my limits allow. As for how this world develops from here, only you—those directly involved—can determine the outcome."
I'd never imagined that even a "Saint" would have a day when they broke their own non-interference rules.
It seemed that even within a higher-dimensional race powerful enough to resemble gods, things weren't monolithic. There were opinions, disputes—fractures.
"But even a warning like this isn't very useful," Adrian pressed, quickly regaining his footing. "We basically know nothing about what's happening. Since you've already broken the rules, you might as well give us more concrete details—like who the enemy is and where they are. Or at least tell us what we should do next, how to gain an advantage. You don't want us to fail in the end, do you?"
"...I cannot violate the rules too excessively..."
Good grief—after Adrian laid out the pros and cons, Kuntavi actually seemed persuaded.
He lowered his head, hesitated for a long time, then suddenly raised it as if he'd made up his mind.
"There is someone who may be able to provide you with assistance. She is beneath a city in your world known as the 'Holy City'—Jethrobaines…"
But before he could finish, someone—or something—interrupted him.
A translucent white shadow suddenly rose from above Adrian's mother's head, ghostly and unreal, as though it were being forcibly dragged out. It shot upward to a point not far above her head—and then vanished completely.
"Oh no!"
In the next instant, Madam Heidilun's body went limp as if it had lost all support, collapsing straight toward the ground. Thankfully Adrian reacted fast—he lunged forward and caught her in time, preventing any unnecessary injury.
"That white glow just now…" I murmured, feeling a sharp pang of regret. "So he was discovered after all?"
Kuntavi had descended privately, in secret, to warn us. Now, with Adrian's mother unconscious, it was clear he had left her body.
And only another individual of the same level—a different "Saint"—should have been capable of forcing him out like that.
"She should be fine," Adrian said after quickly checking his mother's condition. "It looks like she just passed out from exhaustion and fell asleep. But to be safe, it'd be best to have someone with medical knowledge take a look."
That immediately made me think of Cyrae. She was nearly a century old, experienced in all kinds of skills—including medical knowledge she'd learned back on Earth. In a remote town like this, it wasn't like we could find a decent doctor in the middle of the night. It would be faster to go to her.
But to my surprise, Cyrae didn't seem to have returned to her room at all. Her room was not far away, and the door was still standing wide open.
We carried Adrian's mother through the mayor's vast mansion, and at last found Cyrae already asleep in a corner of the backyard garden.
In fact, it wasn't just Cyrae.
During that time, nearly every living creature in the mayor's house—aside from Adrian and me—seemed to have been put under some kind of spell and forced into unnatural sleep right where they stood. Human bodies were scattered everywhere, slumped and sprawled. Yet it was just ordinary sleep; after some stimulation, they quickly woke up, with no aftereffects.
Whatever could affect ordinary humans aside…
Cyrae was a high-tier angel with six wings. In theory, no known magic should have been able to make her "fall for it" so easily.
There was no need to doubt who was behind it.
It could only be the "Saint"—someone wielding methods far beyond our level.