Rozen could more or less guess what the Spear Knight intended to say.
In fact, considering their stance, his Thought Acceleration and Thought Partitioning allowed him to simulate the entire conversation in an instant, making their arguments painfully predictable.
Yet, Rozen remained unfazed, his lips curling into an amused smirk.
"Benefit me?" He tilted his head, feigning curiosity. "Are you suggesting that exterminating all Demons would be a good thing for me?"
If the Cleanser's goal was truly the eradication of all Demons, then their reasoning became obvious.
"Think about it—how much suffering have you endured because of Demons?"
The Spear Knight spoke as if intimately familiar with Rozen's past.
"You were just an ordinary human, yet you were dragged into the Blazing Banquet, a ritual meant to revive the Fourth Primogenitor. You were caught in the crossfire of power-hungry Demons, forced to fight just to survive, just to protect your friends. And in the end, you had to sacrifice yourself, sealing the Fourth Primogenitor within your own body. Don't you feel even a shred of resentment?"
He spread his arms wide, as if delivering a grand revelation.
"You, who once stood against the Fourth Primogenitor, know better than anyone how absurd their powers are—how easily they can distort the world."
"They are beings born with extraordinary abilities, especially vampires. Given enough time or a strong enough bloodline, even a single one can raze an entire city. And the Primogenitors? If they so desired, they could annihilate a metropolis on a whim. Compared to them, we humans are fragile. Insignificant."
"You've experienced this firsthand. Not just in your battle against the Fourth Primogenitor—think of the Blazing Banquet. The memories sacrificed to fuel the ritual were forcibly taken from humans, most of whom were infected with vampirism against their will, stripped of their pasts without reason. Doesn't that prove how little Demons value human lives?"
His voice grew fervent, almost fanatical.
"They carve scars into this world without hesitation."
"They wield their power to oppress as they please."
"They act without regard for human will, forcing us to swallow the consequences of their whims."
"Is this not a twisted world? Should it not be corrected?"
His words weren't entirely without merit.
Take Vatler and Iblisveil Aziz—both beings close to the level of a Primogenitor. Their actions were reckless, their disdain for weaker humans palpable. If it suited their desires, they wouldn't hesitate to unleash their power, consequences be damned.
And they weren't alone. Many Demons looked down on humans, which was precisely why Demon Sanctuaries existed—to create a space where coexistence was possible.
But still—
"You preach about the sins of Demons, yet you worship their progenitor, a God of Sin, and act as terrorists. Isn't that contradictory?"
Rozen's expression didn't waver in the slightest.
The Spear Knight's face darkened, but he pressed on.
"We seek Cain, the God of Sin, but we do not revere him. On the contrary—our goal is to deny everything he created."
He spoke with conviction.
"Cain is the progenitor of Demons, the one who birthed them. Thus, his power is also the means to destroy them. The proof lies in the relics he brought from another world—their very essence rejects all supernatural forces, proving that Cain himself denied magic and abnormal powers."
Perhaps this was why The Cleansers followed Cain's legacy.
The power of another world, one that negated magic and supernatural abilities, was effectively a denial of Demons themselves.
The Spear Knight sought to declare that Demons were an aberration, something that should never have existed in this world.
"The dragon in Shinjin Lake is a guardian of Cain's legacy—a vessel storing his knowledge. It is neither Demon nor beast, merely part of a system designed to awaken when certain conditions are met."
His gaze bore into Rozen, heavy with implication.
"And that condition… is the awakening of the Fourth Primogenitor."
At those words, both Yukina and Yuiri stiffened.
"Then… Cain prepared something for the Fourth Primogenitor's revival and entrusted it to that dragon?" Yukina realized.
"S-So that's why it's been sleeping at the bottom of the lake all this time…?" Yuiri covered her mouth in shock.
Why had the Black Shell been absorbing knowledge?
Because it needed to determine whether the Fourth Primogenitor had awakened by sifting through the memories of those connected to the ritual.
And Nagisa and Avrora—both key figures in the Fourth Primogenitor's revival—had provided exactly that. The moment their memories were absorbed, the shell cracked, awakening the dragon that guarded Cain's legacy.
As for the Horned Serpent? It was merely a beast that coexisted with the dragon.
"The knowledge guarded by the dragon was meant for the Fourth Primogenitor. This proves Cain foresaw that, in the distant future, the one who slew him would awaken—and in an era where the three Primogenitors rule over their Nocturnal Empires, where humanity's survival is already threatened, the world would be overrun by Demons. We need the power to oppose them. We need his strength."
The Spear Knight's voice was grave.
"That is why we must claim the dragon. Only then can we obtain Cain's power—and journey to Itogami Island to awaken him properly."
Now, everything became clear.
Their true target wasn't just this country—it was Itogami Island.
No, more accurately, it was Kojou, and the God of Sin sealed within him.
To achieve that, they needed a force capable of opposing the Management Cooperative, a way to seize Kojou by any means necessary.
"Once we eradicate the Demons, the Fourth Primogenitor within you will vanish. The Sword Shamans of the Lion King Agency—raised as tools to fight Demons—will no longer be needed. Even your sister, the Witch of the Void, will be freed from her contract with demons, released from her role as the warden of the Prison Barrier. Don't you want that?"
The Spear Knight's voice rose in fervor.
"You shouldn't stand in our way! We—!"
Before he could finish, Rozen cut him off.
"Sorry to interrupt your grand speech, but there's something you should know."
His smirk turned downright mocking.
"The Fourth Primogenitor inside me? It's already gone."
For the first time, the Spear Knight's expression cracked.