Who hid My Corpse!

"Father!?"

Ina hadn't expected Gerard to suddenly appear here, considering this was the headquarters of the Skeleton Corps. Just now, those two Bone Knights were trying to get information about Gerard from her—yet now Gerard had directly shown up?

But Gerard's words, "The New God plans to arrive ahead of schedule," promptly choked back the question that was nearly on Ina's lips, turning her surprise into even greater astonishment.

"What does that mean?"

Gerard glanced behind Ina to make sure no one was paying attention to them, then he slightly lowered his hat brim and whispered, "It means exactly what it says. Come with me; this isn't a good place to talk."

After that, Gerard turned and walked away, and Ina took a deep breath before quickly following him.

"Bishop Oliver suddenly came back," Ina asked. "Is what you just mentioned related to him?"

"Of course," Gerard said. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have come here to find you."

"You knew I was here?"

"I could guess roughly," Gerard turned his head to glance at Ina and then decided not to voice his thought, "Actually, my eyes can see quite far." Instead, he said, "After all, I used to work here and am quite familiar with the procedures."

...Quite familiar with the procedures?

Ina couldn't help but think about what those two Bone Knights had said to her earlier.

"Last night, he just used you as our bait."

This made her feel somewhat dazed, and then she nearly bumped into Gerard's back.

"You seem to be distracted, Ina," Gerard's voice rose again.

"Sorry... Father." Ina realized this was not the time to be confused, so she immediately cleared her mind and focused, "It's just that what you said earlier was so shocking. Have you grasped any new information now?"

Ina thought that Gerard would present some solid evidence or that he had obtained new information, but to her surprise, after asking this question, she saw a hint of hesitation flash across Gerard's face.

"I don't have any information," Gerard shook his head and said. "If anything, it's just an intuition."

"Intuition?"

In her memory, her father rarely relied on intuition because in the Polluted Land, nebulous intuition could get someone killed.

Gerard suddenly stopped and grabbed Ina's hand, pressing both of their bodies against the wall.

At first, Ina didn't understand what he was doing, but she soon saw a Bone Knight hurrying past in front of them, from his viewpoint, they went unnoticed.

This level of alertness surprised Ina.

Had Gerard managed to walk in like this all along?

No wonder no one had noticed him.

But how had he managed it?

Ina felt that there were more and more things about Gerard that she couldn't see through.

"I don't know how to explain this to you." Gerard looked into Ina's eyes and said, "But I just have this feeling that the New God can't wait any longer. When I came over, I saw Oliver delivering a speech in the Sky Tower. He said that the future would arrive in two days."

"Could it be that the future arriving in two days is..."

"The New God." Gerard said softly, "He is the future in the eyes of the New Chaser Association."

Ina's pupils shrank slightly.

The New God would arrive in two days?

This was... too soon.

For Ina, she had just learned from Gerard yesterday about the existence of the New God and the crisis facing Lyra, and today she was being told that the New God was arriving in two days?!

She hadn't made any preparations, or even knew what she should and could do to prepare.

A pile of questions surged in her mind, but Ina reminded herself not to rush, to take one step at a time.

"Why in two days?" Ina asked. "Is this a key date? According to what you said before, the New God was supposed to arrive in a fortnight. Why has it been moved up so much?"

"That's the key to the problem, Ina," Gerard said gravely. "He said a hero would bring a new hope. Who do you think he's referring to?"

Ina instinctively wanted to say "Night Star."

After all, it was almost ingrained in her bones, but she realized it was not right as the last member of Night Star was right in front of her.

"Could it be... us?"

By "us," Ina naturally meant Devil's Army.

"Yes," Gerard said, "Devil's Army must have found something in the Polluted Land, and they are bringing it back. And the time they are likely to bring it back is..."

"Two days from now." Ina understood instantly and murmured, "The New God wants to use what Devil's Army is bringing back—the Corpse Blocks—to arrive ahead of schedule?!"

Gerard nodded.

Ina's expression immediately turned grim.

After all, she was now a member of Devil's Army, and her sense of belonging to Devil's Army was not much less than Gerard's to Night Star initially.

So, learning that her team was transporting something that could destroy Lyra and becoming an accomplice in destroying Lyra was something she found hard to accept.

"How can it be... like this." Ina muttered, "So the very thing we have always been searching for... is meant to destroy Lyra? Could it be that the one controlling and leading Devil's, not the Lyra God, but... the New God?"