“Fremy has betrayed the Braves. She’s surrendered to us.”
“Wh…?” Adlet was shocked. His sword, ready to thrust forward, came to a halt. Hesitation blossomed again in his heart. Once more, he could picture Fremy and her happy life among the fiends.
“So…what?” he muttered, couching his sword again. Hadn’t he been determined to kill Tgurneu, even if it meant sacrificing his beloved?
“Fremy said you were the only one she wants spared.”
“…Huh?” When Adlet heard that, his sword slipped from his hands. He listened to Tgurneu repeat what Fremy had said. Tgurneu told him every word, verbatim, no omissions, and Adlet understood—she really had said that.
He couldn’t believe it. He’d believed Fremy disliked him. Before, she had clearly said as much. While they had been chasing Hans, right before they had parted ways, she had been angry with him. “What…? She still…didn’t hate me?” Adlet’s heart filled with joy. What could be more gladdening than discovering someone you care about returns your feelings?
For a moment, he even forgot he was under the influence of a false love.
“Ha…ha-ha…” He laughed weakly.
As Adlet’s heart swelled with delight, his determination to resist the pain of her loss vanished from his heart—as did his pride in the belief that he was the strongest man in the world. His resolution to save the world, his desire to resist being Tgurneu’s toy all evaporated.
“Ha…ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” Adlet burst into peals of hollow laughter.
He no longer had the willpower to withstand this love. He wanted Fremy to live. He wanted her to be happy. Even if the world came to an end, that didn’t matter to him, as long as she was safe. He understood the feelings were a false love implanted by Tgurneu, but even knowing that, he still loved her.
Rainer’s face, his sister’s, and those of the villagers floated through his head. Atreau and the other apprentices he’d met on that mountain, the many people he’d met since leaving Atreau’s mountain, and his allies, the Braves—all their faces rose in his mind, then disappeared.
Only one remained: hers.
In his mind, Adlet vowed I’m going to destroy the world now for a single woman. For a false love that was implanted in me. For a woman I don’t actually love.
It all seemed so ridiculous to him, he couldn’t stop laughing.
That was when Adlet saw Tgurneu suddenly move a little to the side, and one of the fiends beside it moved to stand directly in front of Adlet. It was a fiend with a human body and the face of a bird. It was looking closely at him.
“…It’s the leopard-fiend. The leopard-fiend in that fake commander wolf-fiend’s unit,” Adlet said weakly. “We figured it would lead us to you. They plan to follow it when it’s sent to you as a messenger.”
Adlet told Tgurneu everything—about the fire they’d set up in the forest, the light gem they’d stuck to the leopard-fiend, and even their escape route in case the plot failed and their signals for starting the plan and for retreat. He spilled it all.
Now the Braves would never be able to find Tgurneu. Escape or survival would be impossible. Tgurneu just listened to Adlet without a word.
“You fïnally got it out of hïm…” Adlet heard the goat-fiend beside Tgurneu mutter.
“Now that’s everything, Tgurneu. I’ve told you everything,” Adlet said, and the laughter welled up from the pit of his stomach again. The loud cackling poured out for some time after that, and when it finally died down, he covered his face and screamed so hard that his throat bled. He screamed, wailed, and flailed in agony, and then, finally, began to bawl.
The sight of him brought Tgurneu to bellowing hysterics, holding its stomach, face turned skyward as it writhed in mirth. “Thank you, Adlet. I’m grateful for the miracle of our meeting. You’ve been the very best toy.”
The moment Adlet heard that, he stopped crying. He looked at the ground, devoid of laughter or tears.
There was no expression on his face at all.