Chapter 5
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“Eight…möre mïnutes…” Specialist number thirteen didn’t know anything—not what was happening to the Braves or what Tgurneu was doing. It had no interest and didn’t think about it.
“Sëven…möre mïnutes…” Would its own attack succeed? Would all the Braves die in the end? Number thirteen wasn’t even considering it. It would do what it had been told, precisely as Tgurneu had ordered. It was a tool for that purpose.
“…Sïx mïnutes,” it muttered quietly underground.
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It was so satisfying. Adlet’s face left Tgurneu perfectly content.
It was an expression that could only ever be seen once in all of history: the face of the boy who would destroy the world in order to protect one girl. And what’s more, he had done it knowing his love for her was a lie. But even so, he’d been unable to rid himself of his emotions. Tgurneu had supped its fill of that love-born suffering.
Tgurneu would have liked to go somewhere calm and sip tea while basking in the afterglow, but unfortunately, that wasn’t possible. The Braves of the Six Flowers were still alive. Through number twenty-four, Tgurneu instructed the wolf-fiend not to allow the leopard messenger to ever come near Tgurneu.
Tgurneu also used Adlet’s information about the Braves’ route of retreat to instruct its fiends to lie in wait and prevent their escape. Now not only would the Braves fail to defeat Tgurneu, they would also be unable to flee.
Tgurneu was impressed, though. It had believed nothing could have enabled the Braves to discover it. It hadn’t even considered they would turn their attention toward the leopard. Their bit with the fire had also been unexpected. It had believed it impossible to ignite the whole of the woods with Atreau’s chemical.
Had they been able to carry out their plan, the foolish wolf-fiend would have dispatched the leopard-fiend, just as they’d expected. And since they’d have been approaching Tgurneu with a clear goal, number eleven’s powers would have been unable to keep Tgurneu hidden. Tgurneu had just barely escaped death.
Tgurneu complimented Adlet’s valiant fight. “You were close. So very close, Adlet.” Tgurneu began addressing the boy on the ground in front of him.
Adlet was silent on his knees before Tgurneu. He’d already stopped crying. His eyes were open, but there was nothing in them. His spirit was now completely shattered. The sight of him made laughter bubble up once more from Tgurneu’s belly.
“…You there. Imprison Adlet in your stomach,” Tgurneu ordered the hippo-fiend standing to its side. They couldn’t kill him yet. He still had an important role to play. “You must not injure him, and absolutely do not let him escape. Also, keep his ears plugged so he’s unaware of what’s going on outside. You got that?”
The hippo-fiend opened its large mouth, and a tentacle slithered out from within to grab Adlet’s body, dragging him into the fiend’s stomach. Adlet didn’t resist, not even slightly.
“Relax and rest, Adlet. I’ll make Fremy happy.”
Adlet didn’t even react.
Tgurneu left the hippo-fiend. “Now then, I do feel satisfied, but…there’s still more fun to be had,” it muttered. It had enjoyed Adlet’s torment, but there was still Fremy. This battle wasn’t over until Tgurneu had seen her love-born suffering.
Tgurneu hadn’t relinquished its control of Adlet’s love. It had decided it would do that before Fremy’s eyes. I will show you, Fremy, that Adlet never actually loved you. I’ll show you that it was all just a part of my plan.
What sort of face would she make?
“I don’t believe it! It’s a lie. You must be lying!” Tgurneu imagined she would yell. It tried saying the words aloud. It couldn’t resist a little smile. It was so looking forward to the moment Fremy accepted reality. She was sure to kill herself. She would despair of it all and end her own life. Tgurneu was unbearably excited for it.
“…That’s it!” Tgurneu was hit with a flash of inspiration. It would be nice watching her face as she killed herself, but there was another look that would be more appealing.
Tgurneu would make Adlet kill her.
When Fremy attempted to kill herself, Tgurneu would revive her using the healing fiend’s powers, and then Tgurneu would tell Adlet, If you kill Fremy with your own hands, I’ll give you one more chance to fight me.
Once Tgurneu had canceled Adlet’s love for Fremy, he would no longer hesitate to kill her. He would loathe her from the bottom of his heart for being the cause of the world’s destruction. The very man whose love she’d believed in would single-mindedly thirst for her blood. What expression would she make then?
“All right, I’ve made up my mind. I’ll be sure to have Adlet kill Fremy,” Tgurneu murmured. There was no time for rest now. The next joy awaited.
Number thirteen would soon be ready. The Braves of the Six Flowers would all die, as would Nashetania. Dozzu and Cargikk would surrender to Tgurneu, and all obstructions would be gone. Now Tgurneu just had to wait for all the Six Braves to die.
“…Heh-heh.” Tgurneu chuckled in its throat. The Braves, believing their plan had yet to be exposed, were lingering in these ruins. They trusted Adlet, unaware that he was the traitor and that it was all already over. Tgurneu would enjoy seeing their struggle as a prelude to Fremy’s despair.
“Now then…wolf-fiend. What are the Braves doing?” Tgurneu addressed the wolf-fiend through number twenty-four. The fiend commander was already certain of its victory. The rest was just cleanup.