At Tgurneu’s side, number eleven was listening to its commander’s conversation with Adlet. It was shocked by what it heard. What point was there in telling all this to Adlet now? Shouldn’t learning about the Braves’ gambit be the priority?
Number eleven recalled a conversation with the three-winged fiend about a month ago.
The three-winged fiend hadn’t been given a specialist number, but it was Tgurneu’s confidant, privy to all the commander’s schemes. It was also one of the few fiends allowed to advise Tgurneu directly.
“I bëlieve I’ll die soon. So I’ve décided to leave my final wörds to you, since you’ll be closest to the Cómmander on the day of the ínevitable final bättle ,” the three-winged fiend had confided. “Cómmander Tgurneu’s specialty is pläns that use enemies’ émotions, and the Cómmander enjoys crüshing their hearts, too. But though it may be rüde to say this, sometimes tormenting enëmies dístracts Cómmander Tgurneu, and he makes irrational décisions. When that häppens, screw up your courage and tell the Cómmander plainly to get a grip.”
Number eleven looked at Tgurneu’s face. This was one of those times, wasn’t it?
Tgurneu suddenly turned away from Adlet to address number eleven. “What are you thinking about, number eleven? Am doing something strange in your view?” Tgurneu inquired before number eleven could even speak. Number eleven figured there was no cause for concern. Commander Tgurneu was calm. This conversation wasn’t as pointless as it seemed.
✦ ✦ ✦
“…What’re they talkin’ about?” Hans muttered as he dodged the fiends’ attacks. He could just barely hear the conversation.
Hans had assumed Adlet would leak the plan immediately and that stopping him would be impossible. Tgurneu was dragging this pointless conversation on and on, though, telling Adlet about its ability.
“Hrmeow …Tgurneu’s getting’ careless.” Hans smiled. All his ploys had fallen apart, and he’d failed to use Adlet to get rid of Tgurneu. It had become practically impossible to summon Chamo to their location. All his escape routes were blocked. The situation seemed hopeless.
But if Tgurneu was getting careless, Hans had a chance at winning. He just had to kill Adlet before he spilled his guts.
Adlet had said the others had already set up a scheme to orchestrate Tgurneu’s demise, and Tgurneu wasn’t aware what it was. Hans would silence Adlet to plug the leak; then, once the other Braves carried out their plan, they’d be free to kill Tgurneu.
“Meowr!” Hans cut down one of the fiends surrounding him and attempted use the disturbance in their coordination to break through Tgurneu’s defensive line. The line was too solid for the loss of a single fiend to disrupt it, but Hans still managed to break through, taking hits as he charged for Adlet.
“Stop him,” Tgurneu calmly ordered. The spider-fiend beside the commander spewed thread from its mouth, walling off the corner of the square where Adlet and Tgurneu stood.
“Meow!” Hans stopped, tangled in the webbing. Fiends rushed him from the rear, and he only barely escaped, wounding his back along the way.
“Damn it…what do I do?” Hans muttered.
✦ ✦ ✦
Tgurneu was conferring with the goat-fiend. Hans had tried to kill Adlet, but the web wall had prevented that. Adlet watched the events out of the corner of his eyes, but now was not the time for any of it. Tgurneu’s words were still making his head spin.
It had the power to control love. Adlet didn’t understand what those words meant. His mind refused to…
…because when he’d first met Fremy, something had stirred heart-pounding affection within him—her tragic expression, the sadness in her eyes. That’s why Fremy felt so dear to him. And as they’d fought together and protected each other, those feelings had grown even stronger.
When they found out what the Black Barrenbloom really was and Fremy had been on the verge of killing herself, Adlet had hurt as if his own body were being ripped apart. He’d decided to keep her safe at the cost of everything else.
His desire to protect her hadn’t come from an order. It came from within.
“Not so, Adlet,” Tgurneu insisted. “I was manipulating you. I compelled you to fall in love with Fremy the moment you met.”
That’s a lie , thought Adlet. Fremy was so important to him. She was more valuable to him than anything in the world; he knew it.
“You value her more than the whole world—but that’s because I made you feel that way. She’s not worth the world. You’re the only one out there who believes that.” Tgurneu’s lips curled in a bloodcurdling smile. “If I hadn’t been controlling you, you would have thought nothing of her. You would have suspected her immediately. You would have taken her for an uncanny cross between human and fiend—judged her selfish and self-centered to have survived despite all the blood on her hands. That’s how you would have seen her. A creature beyond redemption.
“But you loved her. You betrayed the entire world for her sake—because I induced you to do so.”
I refuse to believe this , thought Adlet. That was the one thing that was absolutely impossible. He loved her of his own free will. His betrayal had been his decision.
“If you won’t believe it, then I’ll help,” Tgurneu said, trailing its fingers gently across Adlet’s forehead. A split second later, a shock ran through him. He felt as if he’d been punched in the head.
Instantly, Adlet remembered—how once, he’d made up his mind to abandon everything for the sake of revenge. How he’d sworn to fight for Rainer, for Schetra, and for the villagers who’d been taken from him. How much it had hurt when he’d heard that all the villagers had died, just an afternoon earlier. Rainer died in front of him that evening; his feelings for his friend had been so unbearable, he’d wept aloud.
All the old emotions that had vanished from his mind were revived inside him.
“I…”
He’d failed to trust Rolonia—and Mora, Goldof, Chamo, and Hans. Just moments ago, he’d been trying to kill them, without any hesitation or doubt. They were all weirdos, constantly making things harder for him. But that was exactly why he’d valued them as allies.
Adlet remembered the people of the world. Seeing them on the roads, living their quiet lives, and peacefully spending their days in their villages… He’d vowed that he would never let those places end up like his home.
Adlet’s knees collapsed. His sword fell to the ground. He understood now just what a frightening thing he had been about to do. He couldn’t stop trembling. He couldn’t breathe. He just barely managed to keep himself from bawling and crying out his sister’s name.
“I’ll give you a chance,” said Tgurneu. “a reward for keeping Fremy safe until now and fighting through this. I’ll give you the opportunity to kill the creature you hate so much.”
Adlet quickly picked up his fallen sword again. He tried pointing it at Tgurneu, but his hand wouldn’t stop trembling, and the blade’s tip wavered in the air.
He was being controlled. He could no longer deny it. Thinking back on his earlier behavior, it was beyond doubt. But he still didn’t want to believe it. His desire to protect the person he loved was more important than anything. He didn’t want to believe those emotions were fake.
“What’s wrong, Adlet? You’re not going to?” Tgurneu kindly spread its hands.
Seeing that, Adlet tightened his grip around the hilt of his sword and stilled his trembling, remembering what he had to do. “You’re an idiot. You’re basically committing suicide. Why would you put me back in my right mind when you went to all that trouble to control me?”
Tgurneu was just three feet away from the tip of Adlet’s sword. One push forward, and Adlet’s blade would pierce its body. The fiends trembled, but Tgurneu restrained them with a hand. Adlet thrust his sword at Tgurneu.
But right before Adlet’s blade reached the creature’s flesh, it stopped. “…This…can’t be.” The words slipped from Adlet’s mouth. He knew his feelings for Fremy were just lies that had been implanted there by Tgurneu. But he still couldn’t take Tgurneu’s life.
If he did, Fremy would die, too. That fact held him in check.
“Suicide? I would never do such a thing. I know you can’t kill me,” Tgurneu said, bursting into laughter full of pleasure and joy. Gently, Tgurneu touched its hand to Adlet’s face. “I love to see human faces. I love to see them suffering from love.” Tgurneu continued stroking Adlet’s cheek as the boy stood, still as a statue. “Watching you go mad with love is not at all interesting to me. What I want to see on your face is the agony it brings you.
“I haven’t undone the ability I used on you. I’ve just weakened my control over your love—a little bit. Fremy is dear to you, isn’t she? You want to protect her, don’t you? Even though you know I’m the one who planted those feelings.”
“Tgurneu…you…”
“That’s a wonderful expression, Adlet. Worth all the effort I put into it,” Tgurneu continued, and Adlet just stood there, unable to swipe away the hand caressing his face.