Faced with such an agonizing reality, Jeanne mulled over her options, struggling to find any words that could comfort the poor soul who had just been forced to confront a truth so unbearable.
The best she could offer was a quiet moment of space, watching in silence as the woman processed the gravity of the revelation.
"I believe the one on my end is dealt with. Mind giving me a hand?" Ulpianus called over, seeking assistance from Jeanne and Fafnir to incinerate the remaining Seaborn corpse.
Though he felt confident the beast was thoroughly dead, incinerating the remains offered an extra layer of certainty—if the creature were somehow feigning death, the flames would expose it instantly.
"What came up on Skadi's end?" Ulpianus inquired in a hushed tone once Jeanne stepped over to help.
The sheer din of pounding his opponent into scrap earlier had drowned out the quiet conversation between Skadi and Jeanne.
"She learned from the Seaborn that the tragedy of her family wasn't their doing after all," Jeanne explained briefly.
Ulpianus instantly grasped the unspoken weight behind her words. His grip on his heavy weapon tightened, his knuckles whitening, though he offered no immediate comment. He stood in stony silence for a long while before letting out a quiet, heavy sigh.
By the time Jeanne reduced the final Seaborn remains to ash, the High Inquisition officials who had been maintaining the outer cordon rushed into the subterranean complex. Surveying the ash-strewn ruins, the inquisitors stood frozen, rendered speechless by the sight.
While they had intended to rely on the group's formidable strength to purge the facility, witnessing the aftermath with their own eyes was still difficult to process.
Could a shadowy cult really have constructed a stronghold of this scale right beneath their feet? How long had these lunatics operated in the shadows of Aegir to establish such an extensive subterranean lair?
"You have our deepest gratitude for your assistance," the High Inquisitor said, looking over the wreckage before offering sincere thanks to the group. "Without your intervention, we would have remained completely blind to what was unfolding beneath our streets."
His gratitude was entirely genuine. The thought of such a terrifying nest of The Deep Sea Church operating undetected within his jurisdiction was harrowing; had these fanatics launched a coordinated strike upon the surface, the city above would have been reduced to a bloodbath.
"We simply took what we came for," Ulpianus replied coolly, continuing to inspect the surrounding structures for anything of practical value.
As for the laboratory research and experimental records, those containing useless or dangerous knowledge would be purged, while choice documents might be leveraged to trap any surviving members of The Deep Sea Church still lurking in the shadows.
"Even so, your Inquisition must heighten its vigilance," Ulpianus warned. "These fanatics are orchestrating something on a catastrophic scale. Should they succeed, Iberia will be the first nation to reap the fallout."
He was referring, of course, to the broader Great Silence the cult intended to unleash upon the world. Yet he refrained from spelling out the details, harboring little trust toward the current Iberian system.
It was plain to see that Iberia and The Deep Sea Church had fallen into a parasitic symbiosis. The cult leveraged twisted doctrines to subvert the populace, while the Inquisition's overly brutal methods often drove desperate citizens straight into the cult's embrace, plunging the nation into a vicious cycle of internal strife.
The core issue facing the Inquisition was their complete inability to gauge how many citizens adhered to the teachings of Laterano versus those secretly seduced by The Deep Sea Church. They couldn't even estimate the cult's numbers with reasonable accuracy.
The cult grew larger by the day, acting like a parasite feeding deep within the body of Iberia. The only way to measure its true extent was to cut the host open and yank the growth out by its roots.
"We are painfully aware of our situation," the elderly High Inquisitor conceded, offering a weary, self-deprecating smile without a hint of offense. "Yet rest assured—whatever comes, the Iberian Inquisition stands firmly on the frontlines against the Seaborn. In that endeavor, we share a common cause!"
"I half-expected you to fly into a rage and attempt to arrest an Aegirian like me on the spot," Ulpianus remarked in a level voice, leaving Jeanne uncertain whether he was stating a fact or attempting a rare bit of dry humor.
"Had this occurred a few months ago, you would indeed have been dragged to the Inquisition halls for interrogation the moment you showed your face, before being cast out of the city entirely," the old man admitted, shaking his head with a touch of melancholy.
"Yet a foreign traveler who lost his life near these lands a few months back altered my perspective," the old inquisitor continued. "It sounds almost laughable now... when that Sankta arrived with his followers, everyone viewed him with deep suspicion. Had he not been a Sankta, he likely would have ended up in a cell immediately."
Hearing Andoin brought up, Jeanne's interest piqued. She hadn't expected to hear the legacy of that fallen Sankta echoed here, nor that his actions had managed to shift the rigid perspectives of the Iberian authorities.
"Yet we refused to place our trust in him until he personally escorted entire villages of displaced refugees back to safety. It is truly a pity..." The High Inquisitor trailed off, a look of profound regret settling over his weathered face.
"I heard about that as well," Ulpianus interjected, finishing the old man's thought. "Word was that the Sankta stayed behind on the battlefield to hold off a Seaborn horde alone so the villagers could escape, never to return."
"So the news reached your ears as well," the old man remarked, remembering that such an event was hardly a secret to anyone with decent sources. "In a nation like ours, such an act was no small tremor. That event forced many inquisitors to reexamine their beliefs. Perhaps we must learn to trust outsiders. Blind isolationism may prevent us from being exploited, but it also strips us of true allies."
The old man looked at the group, his intent clear enough without being spelled out. Jeanne and the others simply nodded, acknowledging the unspoken gesture of goodwill.
"Well, an old man like me shouldn't keep wasting your time. You all look as though you have urgent matters to attend to. Should you ever require assistance within my jurisdiction, do not hesitate to seek me out."
With those parting words, the High Inquisitor turned to direct his men into a thorough sweep of the lair, leaving Jeanne and her companions to their own devices.
"In that case... it is time I took my leave of this city," Ulpianus muttered to himself as he watched the inquisitors bustle about.
He had secured the answers he sought, along with a few unexpected revelations. Now, he needed time to process the information and plan his next moves.
"Captain, you're leaving already?" Skadi asked, stepping forward with concern in her eyes after having remained quiet for so long. "Where do you plan to go next? Is there anywhere specific you're heading? If so—"
"Skadi," Ulpianus interrupted, his authoritative tone cutting her off instantly. Hearing him address her formally, Skadi fell silent, holding her tongue.
"Regarding your family's tragedy... I do not possess the answers either. However, I will keep an eye out for any leads during my travels. Until then, you must maintain your composure. Do not make contact with any factions linked to Aegir!"
Ulpianus offered the stern warning with grave sincerity. Deep down, he harbored a lingering regret over allowing Skadi to deliver the killing blow to that ancient sea deity. Had he the choice to do it over, he would have taken that burden upon himself without hesitation.
"Very well... I'll return to Rhodes Island then," Skadi acquiesced, recognizing the finality in her captain's tone. She abandoned her thoughts of investigating the matter alone, as well as her plan to remain in Iberia. "The shark from Squad Two is still recovering there, and I need to keep an eye on her."
"The Specter from Squad Two? She survived as well?" Ulpianus raised an eyebrow, genuinely caught off guard by the news that another member of their kind had endured.
"Then see to her well-being," Ulpianus instructed, adjusting his massive anchor. "And remember—unless I initiate contact with you directly, stay as far away from this region as possible, no matter what transpires!"
With those final words, Ulpianus turned and vanished into the shadowed passageways, leaving the subterranean ruins behind.
Watching his departure, Jeanne turned to Skadi. The sheer volume of revelations uncovered over the past few hours was staggering, and Jeanne felt she needed time to gather her thoughts before deciding their next course of action.