“…Mm.”
As her consciousness turned hazy, Elfiné opened her eyes. Everything was covered in impenetrable darkness, however.
…Is this the Astral Garden?
So she initially thought, before she realized her body’s sense of presence made it clear this was the real world, rather than a virtual space.
Her arms hurt. She was bound and restrained on some kind of table.
…Talk about bad taste Elfiné whispered to herself, and held the image of her Holy Sword in her mind.
“Eye of the Witch—Activate.”
But the moment she spoke the words to activate her Holy Sword—
“…!”
Pain rocked her body like an electrical current.
…Not surprising, but still.
The table she was strapped to was a device for restraining Holy Swordsmen. It used direct pain, rather than jamming, to prevent the activation of a Holy Sword. A primitive but effective method.
My thinking’s weaker, too…
Some drug was likely injected into her while she was unconscious. She bit her lip, trying to rouse her sense of pain, which jogged her memory.
Right. Phillet private militiamen kidnapped me at the station…
She knew where the Phillet Foundation facilities were by heart, but there were six sites just in the capital. She squinted, trying to focus her sight and pick up on some clue. And there, in the darkness, some three meltes away, was something even blacker than the darkness hanging over the place. A triangular structure.
…A pyramid?
It seemed out of place in a laboratory. Was it some kind of experimental equipment? But as she tried to get a better look at it…
“It’s an altar.”
A presence suddenly appeared in the room.
She heard the dry scraping of shoes against the floor, and then a small mana light flickered to life.
“…?!”
Elfiné’s eyes widened in shock. It’s been years since she heard his voice and saw his face, but she never forgot them.
It was the man who killed her mother.
“Deinfraude Phillet…” Elfiné spoke his name, her voice shaking.
But he didn’t seem to acknowledge the way she glared at him. He simply held the light up to the pyramid.
“This is an altar made to allow one to hear the voice of the goddess. Twenty-eight years ago, a Phillet expedition party ran into it while investigating ruins in the old Veriad continent, and brought it to us.”
“…”
What was this man talking about…?
“The goddess’s oracle granted us knowledge that was essential in developing Artificial Elementals and technology that was key for the Assault Garden project. It was this that allowed House Phillet to thrive.”
“…Have you gone insane, Father?” Elfiné said with all the cynicism she could muster.
For all she knew, he really may have gone insane. But one thing he said did linger in her mind.
Goddess…
This was a word she encountered as she investigated the D Project. Those corrupted by the power of the Demon Sword all testified to hearing a goddess’s voice. She was convinced this “goddess” was some kind of subconscious mental suggestion planted in their minds by Seraphim, an Artificial Elemental developed for training Holy Swordsmen.
But what this man just said made it sound like the goddess was something else altogether.
“This is where everything started,” the old man said, turning his eyes to Elfiné. “It has been three…no, four years since you absconded, my daughter.”
“…You have no right to call yourself my father.”
“You’re free to think whatever you’d like, but you are still a potential successor to the Phillet name, and nothing will change that. Even now, the power and authority to become my successor is granted to you.”
“True. I will kill you and rise to the top of the Phillet Foundation.”
But she didn’t want to do it to grow House Phillet or the Phillet Foundation, but rather, to expose their darkness and put an end to it all…
“You really are more promising than Finzel ever was.” Deinfraude whispered, and the mana lamp approached her.
“…What is this about? Why abduct me like this, against my will…?”
How she wished she could kill this man where he stood with her glare.
“You are my tool. I simply recalled you back to my side now that I need you.”
“…!”
Had it not been for the restraints holding her in place, she’d have slapped him across the face. She bit her lip to regain her cool—she couldn’t afford to play to this man’s tune.
“So you spearheaded the D Project, Deinfraude.” She revealed her trump card. “I have the evidence. During the Hyperion incident, the terrorists used a Phillet Artificial Elemental to take over the ship. And there was the case where Voids were shipped into the Seventh Assault Garden’s pier…”
“You really are brilliant.”
“So you admit it?”
“Yes. I was involved in all of it.”
Was he just acting defiant? But why would he, when he already had her bound in place? In which case…
“If I don’t make it back, a report on the D Project will be released to the public.”
This wasn’t a bluff. She had configured Cait Sith, her Artificial Elemental, to do that.
But I was going to wait until I had more proof, to make it more decisive and put it to more effective use.
There were many unknown factors when it came to the D Project. Originally, it was a military project to reinforce the power of Holy Swords. But at one point, the project was suspended indefinitely, before it was picked up again by House Phillet.
“What is the D Project?” Elfiné asked, not expecting an answer.
However—
“A ritual to offer up Demon Swords as sacrifices to the goddess,” Deinfraude replied.
“…Goddess? Sacrifices?”
“Tainting Holy Swords granted by the planet to turn them into Demon Swords, and then using them as a catalyst to beckon the Goddess of Emptiness from the Void world on the other side of the tear.”
“What are you talking ab—” Elfiné started, only to pause when she saw it.
A malevolent, mad light glinting in the old man’s sunken eyes. His eyes glowed with fanatical faith.
“Finzel was involved in the D Project too, wasn’t he…?”
“Indeed. Foolish though he was, his research was splendid,” the man said with a voice bereft of emotion.
“So you only saw him as a tool, too…”
Elfiné felt some modicum of pity for her older brother. If he hadn’t been this man’s son, perhaps he wouldn’t have turned out broken like he did…
“Finzel…”
Maybe confessing that Finzel died by her hand would shake this man. But before she could put that thought in the action—
“—I devoured Finzel.”
The words that left the man’s mouth made Elfiné freeze up. “Wh-what…?”
“I used him for sustenance before he fully became a Void.”
“…”
This time, she was truly and completely aghast. Shivers she couldn’t explain ran through every inch and fiber of body.
…What did he just say? Don’t tell me he’s…
Also a Void, just like Finzel was?
“He was a foolish son. A failure. But you, you’re different.”
“…Hearing that from you doesn’t make me happy in the slightest.”
“No, you ought to rejoice.” Deinfraude shook his head. “You were created to become the goddess’s vessel, after all.”
“…Eh?” Confusion overtook Elfiné’s features.
Created?
The word made her draw pause.
“The goddess’s oracle granted us the technology of the homunculus.”
“…Homunculus?”
“We wished to implement the technology for military use, but the plan failed. Homunculi were not granted the power of a Holy Sword by the planet…”
“…”
“The plan was placed on hold. But I saw the potential the technology held, and continued the research into it. By crossing the genes of powerful Holy Swordsmen into homunculi, I created hundreds of failed experiments until, at long last…”
He touched Elfiné’s cheek.
“I created the sole homunculus capable of using the power of a Holy Sword.”
“…Y-you don’t…mean…” Elfiné’s expression froze over.
“And as powerful a Holy Sword as I’d wished—no, even more than I expected.”
“…You’re lying, that… That can’t be…”
Elfiné shook her head atop the restraint table, but the old man continued.
“You are Phillet’s greatest masterpiece, made in a research facility. Whether the Holy Sword you would manifest would truly be strong was a gamble, but it turned out to be a stunning success.”
Deinfraude took something out of his pocket. A black, triangular fragment that didn’t reflect the light.
“…What… What are you thinking…?”
“I shall fill this soulless vessel with the soul of the goddess.”
The black fragment melted into Elfiné’s heart.
“Good. With this—my ambition is fulfilled.”
“…Kuh, nngh…!”
As blackness washed over her thoughts…
Selia… Regina… Saku…ya…
She called her friends’ names.
Le…o…