Adlet frantically tried to sort out the situation. He himself was the seventh. He couldn’t doubt that. He’d understood immediately that the voice’s message was true.
So Hans was a real Brave, and that meant the transfer ability had never existed. At the temple, Adlet had assumed Hans was the seventh and set him up, guessing based on his behavior that a transfer ability existed. That was what he’d told the Braves of the Six Flowers through the white lizard-fiend and Nashetania. But this meant all his assumptions had been fundamentally mistaken. There was no such thing as the transfer ability. The Black Barrenbloom would stop if they killed Fremy.
If it was revealed that Adlet was the seventh, then his lie about the transfer ability would be exposed, too, and the Braves wouldn’t hesitate to kill Fremy. Fremy herself would choose death, too. So he had to protect this secret.
But still, what was Tgurneu thinking? Why had it chosen Adlet as the seventh? If his role was to protect Fremy, then how had Tgurneu known he would fulfill it?
Calm down , Adlet thought, pulling himself together. It didn’t matter who the seventh was. It wasn’t important what Tgurneu was thinking, either. The primary thing that should be on his mind was how to keep Fremy safe.
Adlet decided he had no choice but to cancel the plan for now. Putting his hand on Fremy’s shoulder, he said, “We’re meeting up with Rolonia…and with Mora. We have to treat your chest.” He had to undo the chain death waiting for her. Killing Tgurneu would come after that was done. Until then, Tgurneu had to live, no matter what.
But Fremy shook off his hand, saying, “What? Don’t be ridiculous!”
Adlet almost blurted out At this rate, if we kill Tgurneu, you’re going to die . Yet, the words wouldn’t come out. “But I made up my mind I’d keep you safe!”
Fremy smacked his hand away. “Stop. We should continue with the plan. It doesn’t look like I’m going to die right away. We just have to kill Tgurneu before I do. We can heal me afterward.”
No, Fremy. We can’t.
“Either way, we must kill Tgurneu, or we’ll all die. Now, we have no choice but to focus on Tgurneu’s defeat,” said Dozzu.
Dozzu and Fremy dashed off. They were going to go through with it. What should I do? Adlet asked himself over and over in his mind. It didn’t matter anymore that he was the seventh. Whether he was a real Brave or the seventh, as long as Fremy was safe, he was fine. How would he protect her? The question occupied every corner of his mind.
If Adlet could just undo the threat on Fremy’s chest, everything would be resolved, but he couldn’t even guess as to how to accomplish that. Adlet had only ever seen what the ability did. He’d never researched how it might be undone. He couldn’t even speculate at that.
Mora? Or Rolonia? Adlet immediately dropped that thought. Even for them, it would be difficult. They both specialized in healing injuries. He doubted either would know a way to undo a fiend ability once activated on someone.
Dozzu or Nashetania. They might help him out somehow , he thought, but then he immediately rejected the idea. First of all, there were too many fiends lurking everywhere. They would be watching the party’s actions. If they attempted to undo the chain-death ability, they were sure to be found. There was no way Tgurneu would just stand by and let that happen. It might actually punish them for it. It obviously wouldn’t kill itself, but there was also no guarantee that the ability was its only means of killing Fremy. Adlet couldn’t risk it.
So he could neither rely on Mora’s or Rolonia’s abilities, nor could he consult with Dozzu or Nashetania.
Fremy was nearly finished laying the groundwork for their plan. There had been no contact from Nashetania and Rolonia, which meant preparations were going well on their end, too. At this rate, they would end up killing Tgurneu.
Adlet considered deliberately discarding the light gem in his belt pouch to throw a wrench in things for the time being—to force them to retreat and buy time. But he realized that was pointless, too. It wouldn’t resolve anything. His allies would come up a new scheme to take Tgurneu’s life and carry it out.
Should he obstruct the Braves and prevent the success of the current plot? He couldn’t do that, either. Dozzu, Nashetania, and Goldof would suspect him. If Hans and Chamo found out, they would take the opportunity to expose him as the seventh.
The reason Fremy wasn’t dead now was because Adlet had insisted killing her was pointless, and they all believed the Black Barrenbloom had a hidden transfer power. If his lie came to light, Fremy would die. He couldn’t allow even the slightest possibility that the truth might be revealed.
Adlet’s mind whirled around desperately. Was there no way to kill Tgurneu and keep Fremy safe? Hell, was there no way to keep Fremy alive, period?
Fremy extended her hand to him then. “Hand me that light gem, Adlet. I can’t leave it to you right now.” She’d noticed Adlet was distressed and seemed concerned.
Adlet shook his head to tell her he was okay. His thoughts still a mess, he kept running with the others toward the fake command center.
Adlet understood there was only one way he could protect Fremy—to kill all the Braves of the Six Flowers, just as Tgurneu had ordered.
He also understood how simple that would be right now.
But even if he did kill all the Braves as Tgurneu had instructed, what would happen to Fremy? She’d sworn she’d keep fighting until her death. She would obviously face Tgurneu alone and die. So was it all over? Was there no way to keep her safe? That couldn’t be. He was the strongest man in the world, so he should have been able to find a way.
No sooner had the thought occurred to him than he heard the voice of a fiend coming from somewhere. It was crying out in search of Adlet, Fremy, and Dozzu. “Cöme back to us, Fremy! We wön’t give up trying to cónvince you!” Adlet saw the pain on Fremy’s face the moment she heard it.
That was when Adlet made up his mind.
Fremy hated Tgurneu. That much was clear. But Fremy didn’t hate all fiends. Somewhere in her heart, she wanted them to accept her. She had once loved fiends, and that love had yet to entirely disappear.
So Adlet would kill all the Braves aside from Fremy.
And he would send her back to the fiends.
Fremy would try to protect her allies. She would keep fighting to kill Tgurneu, but Adlet would stop her. He would make sure to convince her, even if it cost him his own life. He would convince her she would be happiest if she returned to where she had originally belonged.
It would be painful. He knew this would hurt more than anything he’d ever overcome, more than any battle he’d ever fought. Fremy saw Rolonia as a friend. She didn’t think badly of Mora, either. She would mourn their deaths. Plus, Fremy believed in him. When she found out who the seventh really was, it was going to hit her hard. She might hate him. He was going to wound her despite his promise to make her happy. That was the most painful thing of all.
But he still had to do this. He had to protect her. He had to endure the pain. And he could—because he was the strongest man in the world.