It was highly unlikely that the "Child of God" Xenovia spoke of actually existed on this island. That identification method was just too stupid.
Mages in this world were generally fragile. Under the condition of taking no defensive measures at all, even if that supposed Child of God could nullify the Holy Light on Irina Shidou's weapon, the weapon's raw destructive power alone should still be enough to break through their defense. In other words, by that standard, the Child of God shouldn't exist.
Most likely, Irina Shidou and Xenovia had been taken for a ride. They simply placed too much hope in their god.
But just because the method of identification was wrong didn't mean there couldn't be a Child of God on this island.
If, and this was a big if, there just happened to be someone on this island who could nullify Holy Light, whose own durability could ignore the destructive power built into a Holy Sword, and who also possessed magic skill so profound that it at least looked unfathomable...
And if that person just so happened to appear in front of Irina Shidou and the others...
Then wouldn't that person be mistaken for the Child of God?
He could replace him!
The idea was absurd, but the more Cid thought about it, the more possible it seemed.
The identification method Irina Shidou described, being able to take a hit from her sword without injury, was admittedly ridiculous. But for Cid, that really wasn't much of a problem. If a light-attribute energy attack hit him, his body would probably just swallow and absorb it like dessert.
And in theory, even the powerful magic expected of the Child of God wasn't much of an issue either. When the time came, he just had to disguise the magic patterns and control the output.
As long as the Child of God truly didn't exist, then once he put on a mask, changed his voice, and added this impossibly luxurious set of abilities, who would dare say he wasn't the Child of God?
"Heh."
Glancing at Irina Shidou and Xenovia, who were fooling around together in front of him, Cid stood up and shot Asia a look, signaling her to come with him.
"?"
To his surprise, Asia just stood there blankly, completely unable to understand what he meant.
Seeing that, Cid could only press a hand to his face and let out a helpless sigh. Then he quickly stepped forward, grabbed Asia's small hand, and pulled her into the room.
Fortunately, the dumb duo's attention was entirely on each other, so they didn't notice Cid and Asia's little move at all.
"Creak…"
Cid closed the door, locked it casually, then turned around to look at Asia, whom he had brought into the room.
Her cheeks were flushed red, her eyes darting around in panic. She looked restless all over, lowering her head shyly.
Cid paid no attention to the fact that Asia was clearly thinking in a completely different direction. He switched his voice, leaned back against the door with his arms folded, and looked down at her with an utterly emotionless gaze.
"Asia, don't you think... those two are a little unnecessary?"
His cold voice filled the room, and the temperature itself seemed to drop several degrees, making Asia shiver.
"Cid-san, w-what do you mean?"
Startled by his sudden change in attitude, Asia spoke nervously.
"Sigh, I don't want to do this either..."
Cid glanced at Asia, then immediately looked away again, putting on the appearance of someone forced into a corner.
"I carry many secrets. If any one of them were exposed, the entire world would be plunged into disaster.
Even though I trust their intelligence, now that they're living here, it's hard to guarantee they won't accidentally notice something wrong.
So..."
At that point, a cold glint flashed through Cid's eyes.
"To protect those secrets, I'll have to deal with the problem they pose."
"N-no, please don't, Cid-san..."
Roughly understanding what he meant, Asia panicked. She hurriedly stood up and threw out her arms, trying to stop him.
"Please don't kill Xenovia and the others! They're all good people. I'm sure that if they knew about your situation, Cid-san, they'd definitely be willing to help you keep it secret."
"Huh?"
Looking slightly dumbfounded at Asia clinging to his leg, Cid felt the gap between her and his childhood friends for the first time.
Leaving Delta aside, even the less intelligent members of the Seven Shadows would at least know that what he meant just now was not actually killing anyone.
Among the sharper ones in the Seven Shadows, they would probably guess that he was having another one of his moments and was up to something again.
And the smartest among the Seven Shadows, or the ones who understood him best, might even be able to guess what he was really thinking right now.
"…You misunderstood me, Asia. When I said we'd deal with their problem, I didn't mean killing them. I meant helping them find the Child of God so they'll leave."
Hearing that, the confusion on Asia's face only deepened. She looked up at Cid with a blank, innocent expression.
"Cid-san, do you… know where the Child of God is?"
"I don't."
Cid shook his head lightly, answering in a relaxed tone.
"But we can create one."
His voice grew firmer as he tilted his head slightly. A pure Holy Light began to radiate from behind him.
"I am the Child of God."
At some point, his short black hair had turned into long, white-gold strands under the glow of the Holy Light. In the dim room, his golden eyes shone brilliantly as they met Asia's tear-filled gaze.
"Eh?!"
Seeing Cid's sudden transformation, Asia instinctively cried out in shock.
...
"Thud… thud… thud…"
A slender figure crawled through the ventilation duct, her body brushing against the metal walls and producing faint scraping sounds.
After moving forward for a while, Alexia stopped at a fork where the passage split left and right. She turned back and called softly,
"Natsume, hurry up."
A dragging sound came from behind, followed by a weak reply.
"Coming… coming, Your Highness."
Struggling forward, it took several minutes before a silver-haired, blue-eyed elf finally reached Alexia's position.
"Tch. You were so confident before we started, and now you're holding us back again."
Having waited there for so long, Alexia's irritation spilled out as she snapped at Beta.
"I sincerely apologize, Your Highness the Second Princess.
Unlike you, who is young and accomplished, already possessing your own 'little hill' at such a young age, achieving financial freedom, and moving forward without obstruction,
I, on the other hand, am burdened with two heavy loads. Being squeezed by these burdens, it's already difficult enough just to keep up with Your Highness."
With Beta's personality, there was no way she would stay quiet after Alexia picked a fight. She immediately fired back with a sarcastic tone.
"?!"
At first, Alexia didn't quite understand what Beta meant. But when she followed Beta's gaze to her chest, which wasn't exactly flat but, compared to Beta's, could only be described as having "potential," she immediately got it.
"I'll cut you down."
Her expression darkened instantly. A cold killing intent filled Alexia's voice, and her eyes glinted sharply.
"Eek! I'm terribly sorry, Your Highness. I don't know what I did wrong, but please, for the sake of all the information I've provided, don't kill me."
Frightened pale, Beta buried her face into the "slime" pressed beneath her. The "slime", squeezed from both sides, jiggled visibly in Alexia's line of sight.
"Are you trying to provoke me?"
A vein throbbed at the corner of Alexia's eye as her voice rose slightly, unable to hide her irritation.
"Your Highness, please don't wrong me. I know you've always found me unpleasant, but someone like me could be killed by you at any time if you wished. At least allow me to keep my innocence."
Lifting her head with tearful eyes, Beta looked both aggrieved and helpless, yet carried a stubborn resolve, as if she would rather die than yield.
"…Haa."
Watching her, Alexia's eye twitched repeatedly. In the end, she took a deep breath and turned her head away.
"Which way next?"
"Right."
"Got it."
As if nothing had happened, their quarrel ended. After confirming the correct path from Beta, the two continued crawling through the ventilation duct.
She's grown.
Crawling behind her and watching Alexia's back, that thought surfaced in Beta's mind.
Compared to when they first met, when she was reckless and arrogant, Alexia now knew how to read the situation and rein in her emotions when needed.
"By the way, how's the investigation on Pochi that I asked you about earlier?"
Amid the silence, Alexia suddenly spoke.
"..."
"Natsume?"
When no answer came, Alexia stopped and turned back toward Beta.
"Um, Alexia, could you please use people's proper names next time? I really dislike people being called by insulting nicknames like that."
Otherwise, I might not be able to stop myself from killing you to protect Shadow-sama's reputation.
With an awkward smile, Beta kept her hand behind her back, gripping the Slime Blade she had almost launched just moments ago.
"How's the investigation on Cid going?"
Noticing Beta's serious attitude, Alexia corrected herself.
"Phew… Your Highness, I've already gathered Cid-san's recent information. I can confirm that Cid-san has no connection with the Cult of Diablos."
That's a lie. I didn't investigate anything at all.
Letting out a breath, Beta spoke calmly, her face still carrying a gentle smile.
"That's good."
Her expression barely changed, but there was a clear sense of relief about her.
She was about to continue forward when Beta suddenly lunged and pulled Alexia into an embrace.
The next instant, the ventilation duct was sliced apart into several pieces. Alexia and Beta fell down along with the shattered debris.
They landed, separated, and immediately looked toward the source of the attack.
Standing there was a heroic-looking Therianthrope with golden fur. The strike had come from the golden ring weapon in her hand.
With just a glance, Alexia could feel the overwhelming pressure radiating from her.