The wolf-fiend addressed Tgurneu, who was waiting in a corner of the ruins. “<Cómmander Tgurneu, it seems Fremy won’t sürrender. In fact, I believe she’s bécome even more détermined to kill us. Is this all right?>”
Tgurneu wondered what on earth this creature was talking about.
Then it realized. Oh yes, it hadn’t told the wolf-fiend its strategy. Tgurneu had simply ordered it to call for her surrender. “<If you’re concerned about victory, it’s already achieved.>” Tgurneu couldn’t see the face of the wolf-fiend but imagined its mouth had to be hanging open. “<Our battle with the Braves of the Six Flowers is already over. I didn’t even have to mobilize number thirteen. The Braves will all be dead before dawn, and we can finish off Dozzu and Nashetania, too. All that’s left now is to pluck the fruit of victory.>”
“<B-but…>”
“<Listen, wolf-fiend. Love is sure to bring about a miracle. And the miracles of love are always on my side,>” Tgurneu said, then cut off the conversation. It was in such a pleasant mood, for once, and didn’t want to be interrupted with tedious drivel. Tgurneu quietly continued awaiting reports of its victory.
✦ ✦ ✦
Now done with his preparations for their plan, Adlet ran through the forest with Fremy and Dozzu. They were waiting for Nashetania and Rolonia to finish their task with the dead leaves. In his heart, Adlet lamented I’m sorry, Fremy .
He was going to put her in danger. He was going to make her suffer.
I know I swore I would protect you with my life and make you happy, but I’m going to end up hurting you anyway.
Strongest man in the world—ha. How foolish he’d been, babbling on about how he’d give his life to keep her safe. He felt so worthless, he was on the verge of tears.
But he held them back. He firmed his resolve to make it through the battle that was about to begin.
He had to protect Tgurneu.
And he had to kill all the Braves but Fremy.
✦ ✦ ✦
Ever since Tgurneu had first hit on the idea of acquiring the power to control love, it had continued evolving with that goal in mind. In a mere hundred years, Tgurneu had become capable of completely controling the love of one human, which was impossibly fast by the standards of fiend common sense.
Tgurneu was not interested in controlling the love of fiends. That couldn’t cause miracles. In fact, the fiends had already lost to the Braves of the Six Flowers twice despite their deep love for the Evil God. Tgurneu had concluded that the love of fiends lacked a necessary ingredient for miracles.
Tgurneu was certain its ability to control love was invincible. This very power had enabled Tgurneu to realize a number of impossible goals. It had put the Saint of the Single Flower under its control and enabled it to learn strictly hidden secrets, such as the true nature of the Evil God and the Saint of the Single Flower. It had stolen the seventh crest and absorbed the Saint of the Single Flower’s remaining powers. No one had ever imagined that the Saint of the Single Flower, who had saved the world and continued to protect it, would surrender to a mere fiend—not humans, not fiends, and not even the Saint of the Single Flower herself.
But Tgurneu had made some miscalculations, too. At first, it had thought that once it had the Saint of the Single Flower in its grasp, the game would be over—that it could undo the seal on the Evil God at its leisure. Tgurneu had believed that with control over the Saint of the Single Flower, the Braves’ source of power, the Braves wouldn’t even be an issue.
But the Saint of the Single Flower had designed all her hieroforms to operate automatically with no connection to her own will. Even if the Saint desired it, she couldn’t undo the seal on the Evil God. She couldn’t prevent the appearance of the Braves of the Six Flowers; neither did she decide who was chosen. She wouldn’t even know who would be chosen. And the Saint of the Single Flower had exhausted her powers, ending up an empty shell, meaning Tgurneu was unable to make her kill the Braves, either.
Even after acquiring the power of the Saint of the Single Flower, in the end, Tgurneu was still forced to fight the Six Braves.
Even so, Tgurneu had acquired a fearsome weapon—the power he had wrung from the the Saint of the Single Flower’s husk and the seventh crest, which she herself had created in secret. Tgurneu had also acquired the right to decide who would receive the seventh crest—and when to activate its hidden ability.
On its own, the seventh crest had no powers that could kill the Braves. The power in the crest was completely useless to Tgurneu, but there was still a way to use the crest itself. Tgurneu just had to give it to someone who would be its pawn and then slip that person in among the Braves.
What’s more, with the power Tgurneu had stolen from the Saint of the Single Flower, it had created the Black Barrenbloom. But the amount of power acquired was very slight, and the completed Black Barrenbloom would be insufficient to kill the Braves with perfect certainty.
So Tgurneu had to rack its brain. If it was to use the Black Barrenbloom effectively, to keep it safe, it needed someone strong to protect it, no matter what. Someone stronger than anyone, more trustworthy than anyone, and also someone Tgurneu could control as it pleased—that was the puppet Tgurneu needed.