Goldof was battling the fiends inside the barrier. Quite some time had passed since they’d been informed of Hans and Chamo’s approach.
That was when Mora said, “Dozzu has entered the range of my clairvoyance. It’s told me what’s happened.”
They cleaned up the enemies that had broken into the barrier, and during a short pause, Mora told Goldof what was going on.
“…It’s not…lying?” Goldof was shocked at how wrong he’d been.
“Dozzu tells us to wait just a little longer. Another push, Goldof.”
Whether they were to escape or carry out the plan, it seemed Goldof had no choice but to keep on fighting.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Where are you? Where are you, Hans?!” Hans could hear Chamo yelling as he leaped from branch to branch in flight.
Seems my thinkin’ was right , he mused.
Adlet wasn’t Tgurneu’s ally, after all. Tgurneu had simply manipulated his emotions to make him fall in love with Fremy. Hans could tell from Adlet’s expression as they talked—he was thinking about her and nothing else.
Still running, Hans glanced backward and saw Adlet and the others in pursuit. Just as he’d predicted.
The truth was that Hans had not taken Fremy hostage. Chamo hadn’t done anything to her. That was just a bluff. But Hans had figured it would be enough to trick Adlet. The first stage of his plan had succeeded—but the hard part was what came next.
“Found you!” he could hear Chamo shout. Her slave-fiends all stampeded to Hans’s position atop the branches, but Hans used them as stepping stones to leap even higher. If he ever dropped onto the ground, they would be on him in an instant.
“Chamo’s not gonna forgive you! How dare you trick Chamo?!” Chamo was crying and yelling. She didn’t know what Hans was really after. She believed he’d attacked her for real, since he hadn’t brought her up to speed beforehand. Chamo couldn’t act for beans, and any attempt to deceive Adlet with bad acting would fall flat. Hans had judged that Chamo would react how he needed her to, even if he didn’t bother telling her what was actually going on.
“There he ïs! It’s Häns!” The moment he escaped the slave-fiends, real fiends swooped in to attack him from the side.
“I’ve found him! I’m going to capture him!” And now Fremy’s bullet was flying at him from behind. Hans just barely managed to avoid the multipronged assaults.
Now he had no allies anywhere. The Braves and Tgurneu—everyone was an enemy. But Hans didn’t see this as a problem. In fact, the thrill of being completely alone was just what he’d been looking for.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Die, Hans, die!”
Before long, Adlet’s party found Hans and Chamo. Even though fiends and slave-fiends were all after Hans, he didn’t have so much as a scratch.
“Chamo! Wait, please! Killing him would be a bad idea!” Nashetania called out.
Chamo turned around with tears in her eyes and gave them a hair-raising glare. “What? Chamo can’t hear you. Chamo’s gonna kill Hans now, so could you not get in the way?”
“I’m telling you to calm down, please.”
“Do you want to die before him?”
Nashetania fell silent.
But Adlet knew it was a ploy—part of the duo’s conspiracy to take Fremy hostage and threaten Adlet. But her acting had a bloodcurdling edge to it. Adlet was surprised she was this good.
“Hans! Stop! We won’t kill you!’ Fremy called out as she fired her gun.
“What kinda idiot’s gonna stop ’cause ya told ’em to?” Using a ruined building as his shield, Hans nimbly evaded her bullets.
“Häns! Die, you üseless creature!” a fiend screeched from Hans’s side. Its attack failed to connect, too.
Nashetania’s blades and Fremy’s bullets blasted the fiends back, and the fiends were attacking the trio, too, as they pursued Hans. What a bizarre situation , Adlet thought. Braves, fiends, and two fake Braves, all with completely different motives but chasing one person.
While they were busy getting in one another’s way, Hans darted casually around the ruins.
“Hans! Listen to us!” Adlet yelled.
Hans stood on a tree branch and turned back. “Hrmeow. Do ya have some business with me?”
“Tell us everything. If you do, I won’t kill you. Tell us…your goal—and all you know. Everything, every little inkling. And…how to free Fremy!”
First, Adlet had to make sure whether or not Hans really knew a way to save Fremy from Tgurneu. Had he actually found a method to help them cancel the chain-death ability?
“Meow …tell ya, huh? I dunno.” Standing on a tree branch, Hans scratched the end of his nose. “Is Fremy that important to ya, Adlet? If so, I really can’t just tell ya that easy, neow.”
“Don’t you give me…that crap…”
As Adlet lashed out with his blade, Hans threw another knife at him. It thunked into the shoulder of Adlet’s leather armor. When Adlet pulled it out, he found something written on this one, too.
Reveal to everyone you’re the seventh. Or give me proof it’s you. Then, I’ll tell you how to save Fremy.
Adlet frantically wiped the message off the knife and hurled it far away.
So this was his goal, huh? To threaten Adlet into confessing and expose Tgurneu’s full plan to the light of day. That was the purpose of this whole scheme.
Adlet couldn’t do what Hans wanted. Even if he did confess, he didn’t know if Hans would actually save Fremy. Neither Hans nor Chamo would hesitate to sacrifice her life for the sake of victory.
So he couldn’t confess, but if he ignored Hans’s instructions, Chamo would kill Fremy. Desperately, Adlet tried to think of a plan.
“Nashetania, circle around to the left!” Fremy called out, and the two made to ensnare Hans. With enemies bearing down from either side, Hans changed directions, charging for Adlet instead.
“Tch!” Adlet struck back. The two crossed swords. Their blades clashed once, twice, and then Hans said softly, “If ya agree to my deal, then follow me. Alone, meow ,” jerking his chin in a southeastern direction. Adlet tried to kick Hans away, but he dodged backward to evade it. “Hrmeow!”
A fiend was waiting for Hans before he could land. Its attack grazed his leg, knocking him off-kilter and causing him to bungle his landing and fall to the ground. Another fiend was waiting to thrust its claws into Hans’s stomach, sending a spray of blood over the dark ruins.
“You did good, fiend!” Chamo said with a smile. Her slave-fiends, Fremy, and Nashetania took over from there, driving Hans staggering into a corner.
“This is our chance. He’s wounded pretty badly,” said Fremy. “We can capture him now.”
This is bad , thought Adlet. Chamo’s attempts to kill Hans were an act, but the fiends were seriously trying to get rid of him. Adlet didn’t know what Chamo might do if Hans died. He also wouldn’t be able to get whatever Hans might have to help Fremy.
“…Don’t let him go. We’re gonna keep after him,” said Adlet.
Adlet made up his mind. He would accept Hans’s proposal. He would, as instructed, separate from the other Braves, Nashetania, and the fiends and talk with Hans alone. Right now, Hans was injured, so Adlet wouldn’t be at a disadvantage one-on-one. Then, Adlet would find out if Hans actually knew how to cancel the chain-death ability.
If he did, Adlet would disengage it and kill Tgurneu. Once Fremy was safe, Adlet wouldn’t mind confessing he was the seventh, as Hans had demanded, but if Hans didn’t know, Adlet would devote everything he had to eliminating him and Chamo. At that point, he would pass a secret message to Tgurneu and slaughter the other Braves.
As for the details, he’d have no choice but to play it by ear. Whatever the case, it was certain to be a tough fight.
But he was the strongest man in the world. No matter what the crisis, he would make sure Fremy was safe. As long as she was all right, the world—and he—could go to hell for all he cared.