Brain had been following the thief's hand signals when he suddenly sensed a presence. Looking up, his line of sight followed the building— in that instant, Brain felt an impact that seemed to stop his heart.
On the edge of a roof of a nearby warehouse was — judging by her height and body type — a girl with long, blonde hair. She wore a dress made of pure white fabric that had been elaborately embroidered, and under the hem he could see that she wore a pair of high heels which sparkled like diamonds. Combined with her extravagant array of rings, jewelry and other necklaces, it made one think that she was some noble’s daughter, or a wealthy heiress of some sort.
Her beautiful figure, illuminated by the wall of fire, contrasted sharply with her bone-white mask, yet, her mystique was not diminished in the slightest. And in contrast to her striking appearance, her presence was far too subdued, as though she were nothing more than a wraith in an oversaturated world.
Her clothes and the color of her hair were completely different from that time. Back then, she might have been said to have been born of the night, but this time, she seemed to have descended from the moon. But even so, there was no doubt that they were the same person. The image Brain had seared into his soul from before layered itself over the person he was looking at now.
He was sure of it. Under the mask of the young girl above him was the face of that monster— Shalltear Bloodfallen. It seemed that she had not noticed them yet, but if it was truly that same monster standing before him, then no matter how far apart they were, they would be instantly killed if she discovered them. Was there a way they could flee without being detected?
There was none.
When Brain realised this, he felt as if he was putting a foot on cracked ice. He was suddenly aware of the oily, disgusting sweat oozing out of his pores.
Brain signaled to Climb and the thief, indicating he had something to say. Sensing that he had spotted something, the two of them halted and held their breaths.
What now? What can I do to get out of this? If we fight her, we'll be killed for sure. Even if we tried to run, we'd be chased down and killed anyway. Back then I used an escape tunnel, but there aren't any here now. But why is she here? Is she looking for me?
Brain smiled bitterly at that last thought.
If that were the case, then there was only one solution to this problem.
"Climb-kun, I'll go buy us some time. Use it to flee."
After that, Brain looked to the thief, and bowed his head.
"I'll leave him to you."
Without wasting any time on second thoughts, Brain immediately leapt up the building where Shalltear was, hoisting himself up in a single motion. Although he did not have the climbing skills of a thief, the building was only two stories high, and a warrior's arm strength could easily scale it. On the roof, Shalltear remained where he had first seen her.