Rokka no Yuusha - Volume 3 - Chapter 6

Chapter 6 
All for His Liege 

While Goldof squared off with Tgurneu, Mora was still in the pit of corpses. Blood poured nonstop from Chamo’s mouth as Mora’s hand rested on her back, sending energy into her body. Hans was scrambling all around the pit, killing every enemy that came in after Chamo. 
“Auntie…it hurts. Still…?” Chamo gasped, dribbling blood. 
“Don’t worry. Adlet and the others will catch Nashetania soon. Those three will have no trouble subduing someone like her.” 
“Ah-ha…yeah. I…hope so,” Chamo replied with a laugh. 
Mora didn’t know anything. She had no idea of Adlet’s predicament or the threat Goldof faced. 
Meanwhile, Adlet was a kilometer and a half away, battling fiends with Fremy and Rolonia. They hadn’t resolved their questions, either. They hadn’t discerned any of the new information—not that the Nashetania they’d been chasing was a fake or who the real mastermind behind this fight was. 
And at the same time, Nashetania was trapped inside a fiend’s stomach. She was constricted, suffocating, sweltering. The heat pitilessly choked sweat from her body, while slimy, hot mucus clung all over her. Her wounds were severe. Her left arm had been torn off at the shoulder, and the wound was tied off casually with a rope to stop the bleeding. A tentacle wrapped around her throat had crushed her windpipe and her vocal cords. Her back was gouged open, and a great maggot-fiend had buried its face in the wound. 
She tried to scream. But all that came out was a wheeze. 
Inside the fiend’s stomach, Nashetania desperately waited for Goldof to come save her, to figure out Tgurneu’s plot, and to find her. If Goldof didn’t make it in time, then her chances of survival were zero. 
“The truth is quite simple,” Tgurneu began calmly. “Dozzu and I are fighting each other. Nashetania is Dozzu’s pawn, while the other seventh is mine. Until your battle in the Phantasmal Barrier, I didn’t know about Dozzu’s plan, and neither did Dozzu know about my seventh. This is all true. It’s also factual that we forged a contract two hundred years ago.” 
Tgurneu continued its story. After losing in the Phantasmal Barrier fight, Nashetania dove into the sea and swam for a whole day to go meet up with Dozzu on the shore of the Cut-Finger Forest. Meanwhile, Dozzu had been in negotiations with Cargikk. It had offered a ceasefire to Cargikk—this was in case Nashetania failed to kill three of the Braves of the Six Flowers. But Cargikk rejected the proposal and sent its elite fiends out to kill Dozzu instead. 
“Dozzu, Nashetania, and their fiends were running around in the Cut-Finger Forest. Their subordinates were killed, Nashetania was injured, and Dozzu had nowhere to run. He was backed into a corner. So then this morning, they came asking for my help.” 
That morning, Dozzu had come to tell Tgurneu that they had put a blade gem into Chamo’s stomach. They offered to use its power to kill Chamo and give Tgurneu the point for it, too. In exchange, Dozzu wanted Tgurneu’s protection. Tgurneu had accepted their proposal. It was still struggling with Chamo, so if a point was offered on the table, too, there was no reason to refuse. 
So Tgurneu had killed all of Cargikk’s followers. The bodies in Chamo’s pit were from the fight between Cargikk and Tgurneu. Once Tgurneu had dealt with that little bit of interference, it had swiftly come up with a plan to kill Chamo and begun preparations. 
“However…” Dozzu interrupted, pushing itself up from the ground and dragging its legs over to interject. “Tgurneu never intended to protect us. His plan was to finish us off once he was done with us and Chamo was dead.” Tgurneu didn’t deny it. It just smirked. 
If Dozzu knew that, then why didn’t it run? Goldof was skeptical. That was when, finally, he figured it out. He despaired, realizing what a fool he’d been. Nashetania had been taken hostage, forcing Dozzu to do whatever Tgurneu wanted. Dozzu’s ploy and attempt to kill him had all been on Tgurneu’s orders. What a complicated, bizarre situation. Fiends deceiving, killing, and using each other. 
Tgurneu continued explaining. First, it had restrained Nashetania and threatened Dozzu to make the other fiend submit. It had sealed away Nashetania’s special abilities with one of its specialists, number thirty-one, the Saint-sealing maggot. 
Next, it created a fake Nashetania to trick the Braves, using a team of two fiends. The first was a transforming type disguised as the princess. The other was a snake with the power to control blades. The snake had been underground, hurling up blades to fake the Saint’s power. Pretending to be the Saint of Blades, however, was not possible for a lesser power. So Tgurneu had made the snake-fiend eat its fig body in order to strengthen its abilities. The shape-shifter had been hiding in the royal palace in Piena until just days ago, which was how it knew Nashetania’s habits and manner of speech. The fiend knew her so well, it could deceive Adlet and even Goldof. 
The real issue had been Rolonia. She’d be able to pick out a fake just by licking its blood. To handle that problem, Tgurneu extracted some of Nashetania’s blood and tore off her left arm. He then attached the arm to the transforming fiend, poured her blood into it, and ensured that Rolonia would taste the real Nashetania’s blood from it. That was why even Rolonia hadn’t realized that it was an impostor. 
“Her arm… You…you sick…” Goldof trembled with rage. 
Tgurneu paid him no mind and continued. Luring in the Six Braves had been simple enough. It had just used the Helm of Allegiance to alert Goldof to Nashetania’s predicament, and the young knight had come running just as planned. The other Braves had followed him into the region. 
Then the mastermind had instructed Dozzu to trick Goldof into separating from the group, persuade him to fight the other Braves, and then finally, to have him killed. Tgurneu had put a fiend into Dozzu’s body that sent information back to it, so it knew about everything Dozzu had told Goldof. With Nashetania as hostage, her comrade had no choice but to follow orders. 
“How was that? Even a fool like you can understand when I break it down so thoroughly, I’m sure?” 
“Where…is she? Tgurneu…tell me!” 
The fiend scoffed at him. “The real Nashetania is somewhere here in the lava zone. One of my pawns is particularly adept at keeping things hidden.” It leaned in toward Goldof. “‘Where is she? What sort of power does this fiend have?’ Why would I tell you any of that? I intend to keep her hidden until Chamo dies—which, I estimate, is two hours from now at most.” 
“Give her…back.” 
“No. I’ve told Nashetania that if she tries to run, I’ll kill her, and if she cancels the blade gem without permission, I’ll kill her then, too. If Dozzu tries to help her escape, I’ll kill her. If he attacks me, I’ll kill her. Just one easy little signal from me, and she’ll be dead.” 
“You…shouldn’t be able…to kill her.” 
“That was a lie. Of course that was a lie. What are you talking about?” 
“Give…her…back.” 
“No, I said. And while I’m at it, I’ll tell you something else: Once Chamo is dead, I’m going to kill Nashetania on the spot. You don’t mind, do you? Since she’s the enemy of the Braves, anyway.” Smiling broadly, Tgurneu watched Goldof shudder with fury. “The truth is, I thought you would be the greatest obstacle to this plot. I imagined the information she sent you through the Helm of Allegiance combined with Adlet and Hans’s brains might lead you to find her. That was why I separated you from the other Braves and arranged it so that you wouldn’t be able to share information with them. Well, you ended up breaking off from the group on your own, so it turned out I didn’t need to bother.” 
Goldof ground his teeth. 
“You were such a good fool. I was listening in on your conversation with Dozzu. Frankly, I had a hard time restraining my laughter. I was the one who ordered Dozzu to incite you to fight the other Braves, but I didn’t think you would actually take it so seriously for me!” 
Tgurneu drew back, and then a blade sprouted from its body and impaled the other commander. 
“I know what you and Nashetania were after, Dozzu. You planned to have Goldof save Nashetania for you, didn’t you?” 
Goldof was taken aback. Dozzu gave a small nod. 
“Of course you would,” said Tgurneu. “That was clearly the option that could have kept both of you alive. But it’s just as you see: Goldof, you are incompetent. There’s no way you can save Nashetania. Chamo will die. The rest of you will also die here. And then it will be over.” 
Dozzu glared at Tgurneu, but it was not bothered at all. “Hey, do you know why I’m babbling on and telling you everything?” This time, the fiend faced Goldof. 
“What?” said Goldof. 
“It’s because your knowing won’t hinder my plans at all. If you pass on what I’ve told you to the other Braves, I’ll kill Nashetania.” 
“!” 
“It’s true that would mean I couldn’t kill Chamo. But I know you’d never abandon Nashetania. And besides, I had a different plan for killing Chamo, anyway. If this stratagem fails, it won’t bother me one bit. If you tell the others, the seventh will let me know—and just so you know, I’m not bluffing. If you talk, I will end her life.” 
“…The princess… You’d…you’d kill…” 
“You want to save her? Then I think you should hurry up. The other Braves as searching for her. They may be able to find her, too.” 
“If…Adlet…finds her…” Goldof trailed off. 
“Heh-heh-heh. I’m sure they’d kill her, of course.” Smiling, Tgurneu got close to him. “Hey, Goldof. Give me a good look at your face.” 
“…What?” 
“I like looking at humans’ faces,” Tgurneu said, examining Goldof’s. “They reveal many things to me: anger, panic, sadness, despair, and the last threads of faintest hope. I like seeing all of those feelings.” 
“…” 
“I love human emotion. By greeting someone, you create a connection. Through speaking, you can understand one another. You look at someone’s face, and you can pick up on what they’re thinking. I relish drinking in the feelings of humans I’ve defeated. That is what I fight for, and what I live for.” Tgurneu flicked its tongue out and licked Goldof’s cheek again. “I could kill you right now, but that wouldn’t be fun at all. I want to see your anguish, your confusion, and your regret. I want to give you the hope of possibly saving Nashetania so I can savor your despair when you fail.” 
Goldof was looking for his chance to kill Tgurneu, but it didn’t seem to be the least wary of him. 
“That’s a nice look on you. You—no, all of the Braves of the Six Flowers—are truly a wonderful spectacle.” 
Dozzu said, “You can’t kill Tgurneu, Goldof. He would execute Nashetania at the same time.” 
Hearing that, Goldof was unable to do anything but keep silent and bear it. 
“Hey, Goldof,” said Tgurneu. “Do you think you can save Nashetania? You can’t unravel any of my plots, and you’re a mess after fighting Dozzu, to boot. I doubt you can fight anymore.” 
“…You monster…” 
“And what’s more, you’re fighting solo. You attacked the other Braves. If they see you, they’re sure to immediately come after you with deadly purpose. You’ve been terribly foolish.” 
“…Goldof…” Dozzu said sadly. 
“Yes, a good look on you. You’re truly incompetent. I love seeing your powerlessness.” 
Tgurneu pulled away from Goldof, and then a fiend with the head of a crow and the body of a yeti approached it. The yeti-fiend stuck its hand down Tgurneu’s throat, withdrawing a fig from deep within and biting into it. 
The yeti was now Tgurneu. It crushed the head of the snake-fiend it had been using as its body. Apparently, it was done with that one. 
“Now, then, I suppose we’ll get going,” it said. “You should run, too, Goldof. Adlet and his friends will be coming soon.” 
Goldof glanced beyond the hill. Tgurneu was right. Adlet would be after him and Dozzu, and if he stayed here, it would only be a matter of time before they found him. 
“Dozzu,” Tgurneu continued, “you fry everything around here with your lightning bolts, and once you’re finished, rest for a while to heal. I know you can recover quickly. You should be able to fight again within an hour, I’m sure. After that, go kill the three in the crater. You can’t refuse.” 
“Understood… Not that I have a choice,” said Dozzu. 
“Indeed. See you, Goldof,” Tgurneu said, departing. 
Left behind, Goldof remained in a daze. He had come here to save Nashetania. He’d meant to crush whoever it took in order to do that. But what was the reality? All along he’d been dancing in the palm of Tgurneu’s hand. The word incompetent echoed in his head. He couldn’t deny it. 
“Goldof.” That was when Dozzu spoke to him. 
“Dozzu…is what…Tgurneu said…true?” Goldof asked. 
“It was all true—aside from just one thing.” 
“Just…one thing?” 
Dozzu looked Goldof straight in the eye and said emphatically, “You are not incompetent. You’re the most capable knight in the whole world. It’s not impossible for you to save Nashetania.” 
“But…” 
“Right now I cannot save her. You’re the only one who can.” 
“I…” 
“I swear to you: If you save her, we’ll immediately release Chamo. I swear this is no lie.” 
“…Really…?” 
“Now, please run. At this rate, Adlet and his companions will kill you. You’re our only hope. You’re her only chance,” said Dozzu. 
Goldof trudged away, heading out of the gem’s area of effect. He hurt all over. Even moving was hard. The spear dangling from his grasp felt like dead weight. 
Save…her. 
Those were the only words racing through his head. 
Running was impossible for Goldof now. The fake Nashetania’s blades had pierced his arms and legs. He’d endured Rolonia’s whip and Fremy’s bullets and burns from Dozzu’s lightning strikes. And the exhaustion seeped into his bones. 
He forced himself onward through the barren land. About three kilometers from where he knew Chamo was, he stopped. The burns had left his throat parched. The pain and thirst alone made him feel like he would die. 
“…The princess…” 
He found a geyser and approached it. He figured for now he’d quench his thirst. But the moment he put his lips to the water to take a sip, agony shot through his tongue and nose. Moaning, he spat out the boiling water. 
His knees hit the ground. He couldn’t move anymore. 
He had to drink something. At this rate, he wouldn’t even manage to live through the next few moments. Plus, he had to treat the wounds from his fight with Dozzu. He wasn’t carrying much in the way of medicine, but still, something was better than nothing. 
Goldof looked back. He had to return to the lava zone right away to rescue Nashetania—before Chamo died and before the others found him. He had a mountain of things to do. But he still couldn’t move. 
He sensed a presence behind him. Ten fiends were licking their chops, watching him. 
“Givén up yet, Goldof?” 
“I’ll protect…her.” Goldof raised his spear and stood up. His body heavy like lead, he fended them off. With every breath, his throat stung. With every movement, his body ached. The pain, thirst, and exhaustion leeched his willpower. His hope of delivering Nashetania was draining away. 
“We’ve caught hím!” A giant earthworm wrapped itself around him. Goldof hacked its head off with his spear, but the fiend continued squeezing him tight, even in death. 
A dog-fiend lunged for his neck to bite him, but Goldof dodged and smacked it away with a fist. “I will…protect…her…” he muttered to encourage himself. But despair was gradually creeping up, starting at his feet. Could he really find Nashetania? Tgurneu had said a certain fiend’s power kept her hidden. It had sounded quite confident that Goldof would never find her. 
Could he figure out Tgurneu’s scheme? He wasn’t smart like Adlet and Hans. He didn’t have Fremy’s knowledge of fiends, either. What could someone like him do? 
“Dïe!” 
Goldof shook off the worm-fiend, but the dog bit into his leg next. He stabbed it in the torso with his spear, but its jaws stayed clamped on his armor. 
The other fiends seized the opportunity to rush him. Goldof fled, dragging the corpse of the fiend biting him. He tried to rip it off as he ran, but his fingers felt weak. “Damn it!” 
The other Braves saw him as their enemy. If he encountered them, they’d immediately try to kill him. He couldn’t expect them to go easy on him like they had before. Now he didn’t even have the strength to survive another fight against them. If he got close to the gem’s area of effect, he’d meet a quick end. Forget finding Nashetania—he couldn’t even get near her. 
“He’s rünning!” 
“After him! We can finish him off now!” 
He couldn’t count on Dozzu’s help, and neither could he hear Nashetania’s voice. He had no clues as to how he could keep her alive. 
Goldof fled the fiends. When one nearly caught him, he killed it and then kept running. Another loomed close, and he slaughtered that one too without stopping. He repeated the same thing over and over—there was nothing else he could do. 
How much time had passed? Goldof could only think of one way out of the situation. 
And that was to abandon Nashetania. 
Tgurneu had informed Goldof that if he shared the truth with the other Braves, it would immediately kill her. His liege’s death meant that Chamo would live. What Goldof should do was kill these fiends, head back to Adlet, tell them the truth, and beg forgiveness. Adlet wouldn’t kill him without hearing him out. Goldof would fight Tgurneu and its minions, destroy the Evil God, and then just disappear somewhere. He should forget all the time he had spent with Nashetania, like how a dream evaporates upon waking. That would solve everything. 
Goldof killed the last of the gang of enemies, a leopard-fiend. Then he looked to the south, where he knew Adlet and the others were. 
“…Princess…” Emotion swelled in his chest. The shock of their first meeting. His elation when he’d headed out to save her with nothing but a hammer in hand. How moved he’d been when she had listened to his request afterward. His confusion upon finding out what an outrageous tomboy she was. Anger at being the target of her mischief. Attraction, as day by day she became a woman. Bewilderment when she’d first declared she would become a Saint. Worry when he’d found out she was throwing herself into severe training with no care for her own life. Joy at watching her grow into her power as the Saint of Blades. Then regret for how he’d gone easy on her in the Tournament Before the Divine, when he’d handed victory to her. 
Unease when she had been chosen as a Brave of the Six Flowers, and then determination to fight when he made up his mind to see her back safely from the Howling Vilelands. His slight jealousy of Adlet. And finally, the relief of knowing she was alive in his heart. 
“If I could…forget it…like a dream…” A single tear welled in his eye. “It would be…so much easier.” Goldof took the corpse of the leopard-fiend lying at his feet, lifted it up, and bit into its neck. He noisily sucked down what remained of the fiend’s blood. The moment had to be a first for humanity—a man eating a fiend. The blood quenched his thirst. 
Removing his armor, Goldof daubed what medicine he had left on his wounds and then quaffed the secret tonic passed down through Piena’s royal family. This medicine was so powerful it was practically poison. Agony rippled down his throat and into his stomach. He hunched over, resisting the urge to vomit. 
“…” 
Then he rose to his feet. He clenched his fists and gave his spear a few swings. He could move. I can still fight, he thought, and he calmly began striding away. He’d made a decision—no matter what difficulties stood in his way, he would protect Nashetania. 
About eighteen hours earlier, Nashetania and Dozzu had been in the Cut-Finger Forest. Hiding in the undergrowth, they leaned in close as they convened. 
Their comrades weren’t with them. Every single one had died after their fight with Cargikk’s fiends. Dozzu was bleeding all over, and Nashetania’s wounds were even more severe. A fiend’s horn had impaled her, and the puncture wound reached all the way to her back. There was a deep cut in her leg, too, and the tendon was severed. Nashetania was fused with a fiend, so her capacity for recovery was far greater than a normal human’s, but these injuries were grave, even for her. 
Cargikk’s forces had surrounded them with wave upon wave of fiends. How many more hours would they be able to keep running around? It was uncertain if they would even live to see the sun rise. 
“Nashetania,” said Dozzu. “I’ll cut a path for you. Flee, please.” 
“Dozzu…” 
“If you die, it’s all over. As long as you’re alive, we’ll still have hope. Please, you must survive this.” 
“I can’t! I can’t do anything by myself. Both of us must survive this, or our ambitions will fall apart.” 
Dozzu was about to say, We have no other choice. 
But then Nashetania suggested something unbelievable. “Let’s ask Tgurneu for help.” 
“…Are you out of your mind?!” 
“I’m not crazy. It’s our only option. We’ll use the blade gem in Chamo’s stomach as leverage to negotiate. We’ll have Tgurneu defeat Cargikk’s fiends for us, and we’ll kill Chamo in exchange,” said Nashetania, looking toward the western side of the forest. She estimated Tgurneu’s position based on the movements of the fiends. “I think Tgurneu will agree, since he’s been having trouble with Chamo, too. We’ll be protected until we kill her.” 
It could work, possibly. But Dozzu just couldn’t agree to it. It knew better than anyone just how formidable Tgurneu was. There was no way it would actually end up helping their situation. 
“If we can make it through this,” said Nashetania, “then things will get better. We have to survive, no matter what it takes. We don’t have any other options now.” 
Dozzu knew that, but it still couldn’t agree. “Nashetania, after we kill Miss Chamo, Tgurneu will be done with us. I can’t imagine he’d let us live.” 
“We’ll only be working with him temporarily. Once he’s eliminated Cargikk’s minions, we’ll escape—before we kill Chamo.” 
“You’re underestimating Tgurneu. He would never allow it,” Dozzu said. 
Nashetania replied, “If Tgurneu captures me, then Goldof’s Helm of Allegiance will activate. He’ll come to rescue me.” 
“…But he…” 
“The Helm of Allegiance only activates if I’m held captive, so I can’t call for him right now. But it Tgurneu catches me, it’s another story. The helmet will let him know I’m in danger.” 
“You’re saying he’ll come save you? Really?” 
“I trust that he’ll come.” 
Dozzu closed its eyes and thought about Goldof. During its time pretending to be Nashetania’s pet, it had observed the knight. It knew quite well that Goldof’s loyalty to her was absolute. In Dozzu’s whole life—which had by no means been a short one—it had never seen such a loyal boy. He was so faithful, Dozzu found it tragic. 
That loyalty had been the reason they had decided not to bring him into the fold. Goldof would not fight to achieve his ambitions—he would only fight to protect Nashetania. Dozzu’s goal was bound to endanger her life many times over. Goldof might have tried to interfere for the sake of her safety. 
“You betrayed him,” said Dozzu. “I don’t doubt his devotion, but your evaluation of him is plainly naive.” 
“You don’t understand him, Dozzu. He can’t live without me.” 
“…Nashetania…” 
“He’s been like that ever since we first met, and he’s still the same.” There was a rustling sound behind Dozzu. Cargikk’s fiends were already close. “Goldof will come,” she insisted. “He will come to save me. Please, Dozzu. Believe, as I do.” 
“Could he do it? Could he save you if Tgurneu captured you?” 
“He could,” Nashetania said, smiling. “The strongest person in the world is not Chamo—and it’s certainly not a dunderhead like Adlet. I believe that when Goldof is defending me, he’s the strongest man in the world.” 
Dozzu closed its eyes and nodded. 
On the outskirts of the lava zone, Dozzu heard Goldof roar. Its hearing was far more sensitive than that of a human. When Dozzu heard the cry, it knew Goldof had not yet given up on Nashetania. 
Everything was unfolding just as she had known it would. Tgurneu had readily agreed to their proposal and killed all of Cargikk’s forces for them, and then it had taken Nashetania captive to force Dozzu to do its bidding. 
It was clear that Tgurneu did not care to let them live. Dozzu knew that once Tgurneu was done with them, it would kill Nashetania. She had predicted everything beforehand. Dozzu and Nashetania had lured the Braves of the Six Flowers into their trap, and also just as Nashetania had anticipated, Goldof came to the lava zone to save her. 
The problem was what happened next. If Chamo died, Tgurneu would kill Nashetania. It would be about another hour and a half until then. Nashetania couldn’t escape on her own, and Dozzu couldn’t rescue her, either. The only way for her to survive was for Goldof to save her. What’s more, if Adlet discovered Nashetania first, he would be sure to dispose of her. Her chances of survival were incredibly low. Would Goldof be able to fulfill his role? 
Dozzu knew how Tgurneu kept Nashetania hidden, but it couldn’t tell Goldof. If it did, Tgurneu would immediately end her life. 
Tgurneu had cultivated a specialist with formidable abilities. Dozzu doubted the boy would be able to figure out its powers—though, granted, his chances weren’t zero. Still, Dozzu had no choice but to trust him. All it could do was pray that Goldof would save Nashetania. 
Would Tgurneu’s scheme succeed or would Nashetania’s? Everything depended on Goldof. 
The knight returned to the outer fringes of the gem’s area of effect. Hunkering down in the shadow of a rock hill, he quietly poked out his head to check on the situation. 
Clouds of dust billowed over the lava zone. From far away, he could hear the sound of explosions and see stone hills falling one after another. He didn’t know what was going on, so he ventured toward the explosions. 
Within the haze of debris, Rolonia and Fremy were examining the ground, hunting for something. They appeared to be searching underground. Goldof figured they had to be looking for Nashetania. They must not have realized that the one they had been chasing was a fake. To them, she’d suddenly disappeared. They thought she was underground. 
“Where…did it hide her?” Goldof muttered, concealing himself in the shadow of a rock hill. She was within a kilometer of Chamo’s location—Mora had told him as much with her mountain echo. Goldof was positive that was true. And Nashetania herself had told him she was inside a fiend’s stomach. 
Then where was it? The area had a radius of just one kilometer. There was no way it could stay hidden without using some special ability. 
So what was that ability? That was where Goldof’s train of thought ran into a brick wall. He couldn’t even guess as to what kind of powers it was using to hide her. He wasn’t educated about fiends like Adlet and Fremy were, and he didn’t even know where his target was, either. He was stuck. 
Don’t give up, he told himself. But self-encouragement would not compensate for his lack of knowledge. As Goldof listened to Fremy blast the earth, he kept pondering. 
“Hmm. Shallow thinking, Fremy.” 
Meanwhile, Tgurneu was flying far above. This time it occupied the body of what was now just a crow-fiend head. After the Braves had attacked it and driven it away, the commander had been observing the situation in the lava zone from the air. With the crow-fiend’s sight, it could discern quite clearly what Adlet and the others were up to. 
Fremy and Rolonia were blowing up the terrain to search underground. The very idea made Tgurneu laugh in derision. It would never hide Nashetania via such simplistic methods. Adlet was barking up the wrong tree, too. Tgurneu had tricked him into believing in a hieroform that didn’t exist. 
I’ve won this one. How long would it take for them to realize their mistake? By then it would be too late. “…Hmm.” Then Tgurneu found Goldof outside the gem’s area of effect. He was hunched low, searching for something. So he still hasn’t given up, it noted with surprise. 
Goldof’s presence was convenient indeed. The boy had lured the Braves into the trap, and his foolish behavior had confused the others, too, distracting them from what was really going on. Even now Goldof was trying to save Nashetania all by himself, withholding his valuable information from Adlet. There was no way in hell Goldof would manage to save her. The other Braves would soon kill him. 
Just in case, Tgurneu had instructed its pawns to finish him off, but that would probably not even be necessary. Reassured, it continued surveying the scene below, eagerly anticipating the look on Goldof’s face when all his hopes were dashed. 
Still hidden behind the rock hill, Goldof kept thinking. There was only one fiend power for hiding he knew about, and that was Nashetania’s stealth power. But Fremy had said that even that ability could only be used to hide a person for ten seconds at most. There was no way a fiend could hide for hours on end. 
Or maybe Fremy was the seventh, and some stealth-fiends actually could hide for long periods of time. But Goldof was forced to reject that possibility, too. Adlet had said it was impossible to maintain that hypnosis for hours on end. If Fremy was the seventh, that meant Adlet was a real Brave, so if both of them said something was true, Goldof had to believe it was. 
So then, what other way could there be? 
Maybe there was a fiend that could put Nashetania in its stomach and then shrink itself. If so, then it would make sense that Adlet and Fremy couldn’t find Nashetania no matter how much they searched for her. Or maybe some fiend could expand the blade gem’s area of effect, meaning she was even further away. Various ideas popped up in his mind, but without any clues to go on, he couldn’t sort any of his ideas out. He realized that he was just wasting his time with wild speculations. He had no evidence, and no clues to guide him. 
“…” 
Once more, Goldof looked over toward Fremy and Rolonia as they kept blasting every section of earth. Maybe they were right and Nashetania was hiding underground. A burrowing fiend—that was a simple sort of ability, and certainly plausible. Some of Chamo’s slave-fiends had similar skills. He could just keep waiting for Fremy and Rolonia to find Nashetania. The moment they did, he’d attack them and take her to safety. That was the only idea he could come up with. 
But would that be enough? Was the fiend that had swallowed Nashetania actually underground? 
“…” 
No. Goldof was sure that if it were, Tgurneu would have done something to stop Fremy. Since it would want to avoid Nashetania’s discovery, it would have been forced to act. 
So she wasn’t be buried anywhere. At the very least, they weren’t going to find her using Fremy’s methods. There was some other kind of power keeping her hidden, and he had to find out what it was. 
The wheels in his mind kept turning. 
In the lava zone was a fiend. Looking up at the sky, gazing at the sun, it wondered, How much longer now until Chamo Rosso is dead? No matter how long this dragged on, at this point Chamo couldn’t last longer than an hour and a half. If the fiend could stay hidden until then, its mission would be complete. It would have helped to kill Chamo, the strongest of the Braves of the Six Flowers. It was eagerly awaiting that glorious moment. The death of a Brave was a fiend’s greatest joy. 
The creature was a large lizard-fiend with stone skin. It stood stock-still, about eight hundred meters from Chamo’s location. It had been there for two hours with Nashetania inside its stomach. Its tongue was wrapped around her throat to keep her still, and Tgurneu had instructed it to immediately strangle her and crush her windpipe if she tried to say anything. Right now it seemed she was unconscious. 
The fiend had no name. If it had to give one, it might say “specialist number twenty-six.” It was one of the fiends with unique abilities that Tgurneu had cultivated. About a century ago, its superior officer had ordered it to refine its talent for concealment, and it had spent the past century remaking its own body. This had made it fragile and markedly decreased its capacity for combat, but its stealth abilities had been honed until they were peerless. 
About four hours earlier, the fiend had tucked Nashetania into its stomach. Then, when Nashetania had called out to Goldof for help, it had crushed her throat so she couldn’t talk anymore. 
About two hours earlier, the Braves of the Six Flowers had arrived in the lava zone. As ordered by Tgurneu’s fake Nashetania, the lizard-fiend had fought with the Six Braves. Anticipating when Chamo would attack, it had then sent a signal to Nashetania, inside its stomach, to activate the blade gem. If she had refused to obey, the plan was to kill her immediately. 
After the girl complied, the lizard-fiend fled the Braves and came to its current hiding place. Checking that there were no enemies around, it had activated its ability to conceal itself. After that, it had remained in place the whole time. 
The Braves of the Six Flowers had passed right by its nose. The fiend had caught sight of Goldof, too. It had even stood beside him, only a few meters away. But not one of them had picked up on its presence. No one, be they human or fiend, would ever be able to find it unless they understood its powers. 
Half an hour ago, a messenger had come from Tgurneu with new instructions: to do whatever it took to prevent Goldof from saving Nashetania. And if it couldn’t, it was allowed to kill her. 
But the fiend wasn’t concerned about a thing. Nobody would be able to find it. 
Figuring he should go somewhere else—he had to look for clues—Goldof began creeping away so as not to be noticed by Fremy and Rolonia. But when he stood up, he sensed danger and flattened himself again. A bullet zipped right above his head. 
“He was there!” he heard Rolonia yell. Unawares, Goldof had been noticed. He stood up and sprinted away. 
This time was different from the last time he’d fought them. Their attacks were merciless attempts to kill him instantly. If he fought them now, he’d have no chance. 
Fremy was aiming for the gaps in his armor. If he ran in a straight line, he’d be shot. Goldof darted in a zigzag pattern, using the complex terrain to shield himself from the bullets. 
“We can catch him, Rolonia!” 
“Yeah!” 
He could hear the pair’s voices behind him. Rolonia’s footsteps were coming closer. His body aching, Goldof kept up the pace. 
Fremy launched a bomb at him. The blast struck him in the back, making him stagger. An instant later, Rolonia was in range, screeching. “FuckingdietraitorIwon’twon’twon’tletyoukillChamoshowmeyourguts!” 
His armor couldn’t block it all. He slapped aside Rolonia’s whip strikes with his spear. Her weapon was whirling in from all directions, and he was blocking on instinct alone. But he couldn’t afford to stop and exchange blows, either. Fremy was right behind her and getting closer. If she scored a hit with her bombs or bullets, it was over. 
Blocking the whip with his spear, Goldof charged straight at Rolonia, taking advantage of a split-second opening to kick her in the chest. His powerful leg struck out hard enough to knock her back ten meters, armor and all. 
“Rolonia!” Fremy fired a shot at his face. His helmet stopped the bullet from entering his forehead, but it flung him back violently, and for a moment he was close to blacking out. 
Goldof turned away from the two of them and sprinted off again. Rolonia’s whip was thirty meters long. He absolutely could not let her within range. Desperately, he dodged. 

“ReleaseChamoifyoudon’tI’llkillyouI’llkillyouI’llkillyouI’llkillyouGoldof!” He could hear her screaming. 
I only wish I could, thought Goldof. But Tgurneu had Nashetania captive and was forcing her to kill Chamo. If she refused, Tgurneu would simply murder her. As Goldof escaped, he thought, maybe it would be better to tell someone the truth, everything he had learned. There was no way he could find Nashetania all on his own. Tgurneu had said that if Goldof talked, the seventh would let it know. So maybe Goldof could tell someone trustworthy, in secret, so the seventh wouldn’t find out. 
“…Ngh.” Running, Goldof glanced back. He couldn’t tell the two behind him the truth. There was no guarantee either of them weren’t the seventh. The others who were most likely real Braves were Mora and Chamo. But Hans was with them, and Goldof couldn’t say for sure that he was trustworthy. Then what about Adlet? Goldof considered. 
“Hurry up, Rolonia!” 
“Rottenbrutejustwon’tgiveupI’llsuckoutyourbloodandspititout!” 
But that was a no-go, too. Goldof still couldn’t say for sure that Adlet was a real Brave. He just couldn’t be certain Adlet wasn’t the seventh. The others trusted him because Nashetania had nearly killed him. But Goldof knew that the other seventh wasn’t on the same side as Nashetania, so Adlet still could be the seventh. 
When it came down to it, he couldn’t tell anyone the truth. He was on his own, and there was no avoiding that. 
“Rolonia! Don’t chase him too far!” Fremy yelled after some minutes of running. Rolonia stopped, and Goldof escaped. “Adlet is all on his own! Tgurneu or Nashetania might go after him!” 
“Y-you’re right! Let’s head back now!” 
I’m saved, Goldof thought, leaning back on a boulder as he panted. He had to look for clues to save Nashetania, but he couldn’t even get near her. 
As he gazed up at the sky, his mind turned to Adlet. Back in the Phantasmal Barrier, he had been all on his own, too, and he’d solved all the mysteries and won. But Goldof couldn’t fight like him. Adlet had smarts, along with the mysterious ability to win people’s trust. Goldof had neither of those. Now that he was in the same situation Adlet had been in, he understood just how amazing the other boy was. 
I can’t compare to Adlet—but that doesn’t mean I can give up, he thought, but his mind just kept spinning around in circles. 
Meanwhile, Nashetania was inside the fiend’s stomach, waiting for salvation. The remains of her left arm hurt. It was so suffocating inside her prison, she couldn’t think straight. She felt on the verge of passing out. But she bit her lip and clung to consciousness. 
She had fused with multiple fiends in order to make their powers her own. Now she desperately tried to use those fiends’ powers to heal her crushed throat. She had to tell Goldof where she was. But with her throat in such a condition, she’d only be able to say a few words to him. 
“…Your Highness…are you safe? Where…are you?” 
Occasionally, she could hear him speak in her head. He was still searching, still trying to save her. Hope was not yet dead. 
What she knew was that she was inside a fiend’s stomach, and it was holding her somewhere within the gem’s radius. She knew it was staying perfectly still and not moving at all. That was it. Nashetania didn’t know how it was staying hidden. 
In the darkness, she heard sounds. Fiends’ footsteps as they thudded along in a pack. Adlet, Fremy, and the rest fighting the fiends. She heard bomb after bomb detonating all around her. From these noises, Nashetania could guess that she was aboveground, not underground, and that Braves had passed right by her multiple times. As for why none of them could find the fiend that had swallowed her—it was so baffling she could hardly take it. 
“…” 
Nashetania tried to keep every muscle still, pretending she was unconscious so as to make the fiend that had swallowed her lower its guard. She also listened intently for anything that could help her understand what was going on outside and where she was so that she could tell Goldof. She wondered what she could tell him that would be helpful. What would lead him to her? 
She remembered what Goldof had said to her six years before. He had told her his wish was to save her one more time. She had yet to grant that request. 
Hiding outside the circle, Goldof continued pondering. He contemplated everything that had happened since he’d first heard Nashetania’s cry for help—what she had said, what Dozzu had said, what Tgurneu had said, and what Adlet and Mora had said—wondering if maybe a clue lay somewhere in all of that. 
But nothing came to mind. Mora had only told him the situation with Chamo. Adlet hadn’t found any clues. Tgurneu had chosen its words carefully to ensure Goldof wouldn’t find Nashetania. And Dozzu was under surveillance, so it couldn’t tell him anything. 
One more time, Goldof reviewed everything from the beginning. One by one he diligently scrutinized each thing he had seen and heard in all the fights so far. Nashetania had told him that she was south of the forest, inside a fiend’s stomach, in the lava zone. As asked, he’d come. 
That was when a question floated up in Goldof’s mind. One of the most fundamental elements of this situation didn’t make sense to him: Why the lava zone? If the goal was to lure out the Braves of the Six Flowers in order to activate Chamo’s blade gem, it shouldn’t matter if they were in the forest or anywhere else. But Tgurneu had clearly chosen the magma hotspot as their battlefield. 
There had to be a reason—a reason the scheme had to be set here. 
“!” 
Staring into empty space atop the hill, deep in thought, Goldof had been distracted by his questions and ignored his surroundings. Adlet was two hundred meters away, and Goldof was within his field of view. Panicking, the knight slowly lowered himself down and out of sight. 
“…” 
If Adlet had spotted him, he would have called for Fremy and Rolonia, and they’d have come to surround Goldof and kill him. Should he move out from this spot and defeat Adlet before he called for help? But he couldn’t manage that, either. Don’t notice me, Goldof prayed, waiting for the redhead to pass him. 
After some time, Goldof poked his head out. Adlet was moving farther away. Goldof immediately ducked down and left the vicinity. 
It appeared Adlet was searching for something, and his eyes were emitting a strange light. He didn’t seem to be wandering aimlessly. Had he found some kind of clue? What was he looking for? What had he noticed? 
“I don’t…have time,” Goldof muttered, and he continued his analysis. 
Inside the fiend’s stomach, Nashetania had her ears open. She could hear explosions going off nonstop all around her. That was probably Fremy. Nashetania couldn’t see anything, so she didn’t know what was happening outside. 
It wasn’t just Goldof who was looking for her—the others would be on the hunt, too. If Fremy found Nashetania first, she would kill her. Stifling her terror, Nashetania focused on the sounds outside. 
“…It’s no use, Fremy. There’s nothing.” 
“Looks like it.” 
The voices were very close. The first was Fremy. Nashetania didn’t know the other, but it was safe to assume it was Rolonia. 
“She’s not underground? Then…where the…” said Fremy. 
“Maybe she’s gone even deeper down? There could be a fiend with powers like that.” 
“But still, that would leave traces. There’s no way we’d tear up the whole surface and find nothing.” 
The two of them hadn’t noticed the fiend carrying Nashetania in its stomach. But they were close by, so close that Nashetania could overhear them clearly. Nashetania’s captor didn’t move a muscle. Was it trying as hard as it could to disappear and avoid discovery? Or did it simply not believe it would ever be found? 
“There are still places we haven’t searched yet,” said Fremy. “The pit where Chamo is…and the hills around there. Let’s search over there.” 
“And what if she isn’t there?” 
Their voices departed, and eventually Nashetania couldn’t hear them anymore. They must have left. They’d given her no ideas as to her location, and neither had she been able to gain any information worth telling Goldof. So she kept her ears open for any other clues. 
“There has to be…something.” Having escaped Adlet, Goldof was now examining ground zero of Fremy’s blasts. He’d made sure that Adlet, Fremy, and Rolonia were nowhere near, but he couldn’t yet set foot within the area of effect. He’d decided that if he did enter, it would be after he had found answers. 
Why this region? Goldof was convinced that if he could answer that question, he would find Nashetania—though he had no basis for that belief. 
There was something in the volcanic area that was absent elsewhere. Heat. The warmth permeated up from the ground—could it be used to hide? Goldof considered the idea carefully, but nothing came to mind. He picked up a rock at his feet. Did the stone hold some kind of secret? He stared at it hard enough to bore holes into it but found no answers. He had no ideas, but thinking was all he could do. There was a key in this zone; that was the only clue Goldof had uncovered. 
As Goldof pondered, he heard lightning strikes far away. The sounds were coming from the pit where Chamo was. “…Dozzu, I guess.” He recalled that Tgurneu had ordered Dozzu to keep Hans busy. Dozzu must have wanted to rescue Nashetania, but Goldof couldn’t rely on its help if it couldn’t oppose Tgurneu. 
“…” 
Again Goldof reflected on the whole fight from the beginning, Nashetania’s information, and Dozzu’s. So Tgurneu’s been watching Dozzu, and Dozzu’s to do what Tgurneu says. But has Dozzu done nothing at all to help Her Highness? 
No, that couldn’t be. Dozzu must have done something to ensure that Goldof could help Nashetania. It must have given him a clue indirectly to escape Tgurneu’s notice. That was what Goldof would have done if he were in Dozzu’s position. 
Again Goldof examined each and every thing Dozzu had done, one by one. Out of every action it had taken, Goldof remembered just one thing it had said that seemed off. It had been right as the fake Nashetania was fighting the Braves, immediately before she activated the blade gem inside Chamo’s stomach. 
“Goldof, how many times have you fought her now?” 
The sudden question had confused Goldof. When Goldof had replied that it was the second time, for some reason Dozzu had given him an uneasy look. Next it had asked if Nashetania had ever escaped him. 
Why had Dozzu inquired about that? Nashetania was captive. The previous times he’d fought her shouldn’t be important. And furthermore, what did her escaping him before have to do with it? 
Goldof thought further. Had Dozzu done anything else unnatural? Goldof didn’t only consider what Dozzu had said—he even called to mind its slight changes of expression and eye movements. He recalled that for some reason the look on Dozzu’s face had changed a few times. That had been before Goldof fought Adlet to save the fake Nashetania. 
“Dozzu…that stealth power…she has… If you focus on looking…and hurt yourself…you can see through it…right?” 
When Goldof had said that, Dozzu’s expression had changed. It had given Goldof a brief, pensive look and eventually replied, “That’s exactly right. You do know. That’s good; it saves me the trouble of explaining.” 
“…It couldn’t be…” 
What Dozzu had been trying to confirm was that Goldof knew about the stealth ability. Upon finding out that Goldof knew how to see through it, its expression had changed to one of relief. The fiend’s attitude had been superficially curt, but it had clearly been glad. 
That power of concealment. Was that how the captor was hiding? 
When he realized that, it hit him. Fremy had said before that when a fiend used the stealth ability, a sweet scent would hang in the air around it. Goldof now understood why Tgurneu had chosen this hot spot as their battlefield. The smell of sulfur hung over the whole area. A few minutes there and your nose went numb. Tgurneu had elected to carry out his scheme here in order to disguise the smell of the stealth ability. 
“…I’ve got it,” muttered Goldof, seeing a faint light in the darkness. He had figured out the true nature of the enemy’s powers. 
Goldof sprinted around the outer circumference of the area of effect, keeping out of sight. He was in danger of being discovered by the other Braves, but he couldn’t afford to worry about that anymore. 
Fremy’s bombs had drastically transformed the landscape. Even from outside the area of effect, Goldof could get a glimpse of the situation within. 
“…Hmm…” Goldof found Adlet about five hundred meters away, squatting down, head lowered in thought. It was unlikely that he’d notice Goldof, but it would still be dangerous to get too close. Goldof stopped and backtracked. 
He was certain now that there was a fiend with a stealth talent somewhere within the gem’s area of effect, and inside its stomach was Nashetania. Adlet had said that the ability was a kind of hypnosis. Fremy also explained that a fiend would scatter a special chemical while emitting a sound that human ears couldn’t detect. And Goldof knew the way to see through it. He could weaken the effect of the hypnosis by causing severe pain to himself. Then, if he concentrated his mind and focused his eyes, he’d be able to see the fiend. 
How was the fiend staying hidden when this power generally only lasted for just over ten seconds? Goldof didn’t have an answer. But if Nashetania’s captor was using the same technique, he should be able to defeat it the same way. 
“Ngh!” Running, Goldof stuck a finger under one of his nails and pried it hard until it split. The pain should weaken the hypnosis’s hold over him. He braved the discomfort and focused his eyes. But in the expanse of the lava field, nothing became visible. Not here, then? Goldof thought. He tried another location and tore off the broken nail. He peered hard once again, but still, he didn’t find anything. “…Damn it!” 
The sounds of Fremy’s bombs had already halted. She’d probably given up searching underground and was on the lookout for some other clue. 
He had to find Nashetania before the others did. But even after he combed through the entire circle and broke every nail on his hands, he couldn’t find anything. Had his deductions been wrong? Was pain not enough to see through the stealth ability? Maybe there something else he needed in order to find Nashetania? He had less than thirty minutes left. Panic was clouding his thoughts, and irritation weakened his concentration. 
Visibility in the rocky area was much better now. And there, specialist number twenty-six continued its observation of the Braves of the Six Flowers. Inside its stomach was Nashetania. 
About twenty meters away, Adlet, Fremy, and Rolonia were having a discussion. The fiend was certain they wouldn’t figure out its true nature. There was also no indication that Hans and Mora would come out of that pit, so no problems on that front, either. The only issue was Goldof. He was running the circumference of the area of effect in search of something. He might have deduced the fiend’s ability to cloak itself. 
Two hundred years ago, Tgurneu had told the fiend that its ability was weak. It could vanish for just over ten seconds. It was intensely exhausting, and once it had used the skill, it would be unable to do so again for a while. What’s more, it couldn’t even vanish perfectly, and once its opponents found out how to overcome the hypnosis, it was useless. 
At most, it would only serve catch the Braves of the Six Flowers by surprise. And Tgurneu had said that even if it startled them, it probably wouldn’t be able to defeat a warrior strong enough to be chosen as a Brave. 
But Tgurneu had also said that this power had potential. Even simple concealment might lead to the death of all the Six Braves, depending on how it was used. The fiend joined the group known as the specialists, and the number given to it was twenty-six. 
It could only make the stealth effects last for a few scant moments. No matter how much it evolved, it couldn’t change that. So then it had an idea. If the effect held for only a dozen-odd seconds, it should just trigger it multiple times in succession—just use it continuously tens, hundreds, thousands of times. But after triggering its illusion, there was a cooldown of a few minutes, and no matter how much it developed the talent, it couldn’t improve this, either. 
So then it thought it should just make more of itself. It should split itself into thousands, tens of thousands of bodies. It remade its form and mutated itself to create a new organ inside itself: an ovary. By splitting its core, it acquired the ability to spawn eggs. The children it bore were about one centimeter long and one millimeter in diameter. They had no organs for eating, and neither could they drink water. Once the children were born, they would die in about a day. 
Like their parent, the offspring could use the same drug and sound wave. The offspring would hypnotize nearby humans, hiding themselves and their parent by altering their perception. The fiend had dispersed about fifty thousand children across approximately three kilometers throughout the rocky plain. When one offspring’s hypnosis wore off, another would immediately pick up the slack. When the second round ended, another offspring would instantly trigger its ability, and it was by repeating that over and over that the fiend remained hidden. Fremy’s bombs had killed many of the offspring. The fiend itself had also been wounded by the blasts. But still, enough remained to maintain the illusion. 
Goldof must have already realized that the fiend was using this stealth ability. But its hypnosis was far from weak. He would not be able to reveal his foe easily, even if he injured himself to do it. He’d never be able to break through the hallucination unless he focused on one spot and stared continuously at it. It wasn’t possible to find the fiend in a mobile search, like he was doing now. 
Thirty minutes left. The fiend’s powers would hold until then. 
“…Goldof. He has the key. I can’t think of anything else,” said Adlet. 
Adlet, Fremy, and Rolonia, who had been conversing nearby, seemed to have come to a conclusion. Foolish. They were trying to go look for clues, totally unaware that their target was right beside them. 
But right as Adlet and the others ran off, suddenly two explosions occurred in succession. Boiling water burst from the earth. All Fremy’s blasting had disturbed the magma and water vein underground. It was startling, but no serious cause for concern, or so the fiend thought. 
Nashetania was biding her time inside her prison for an opportunity to communicate her position to Goldof, hoping for a hint as to her position. Pretending she was unconscious, she waited to hear something. 
Her throat had already recovered somewhat, and speaking was entirely possible for her. But once she’d spoken, she would immediately be strangled again. She could only give Goldof a brief message. 
“…Goldof. He has the key. I can’t think of anything else.” 
She heard Adlet and the others talking. They were close by. She thought about telling Goldof that—but that wouldn’t be enough. Was there no information that would help him pin down her location? 
That was when Nashetania heard the double explosions. For a moment she didn’t understand what they were. Then she realized the sound belonged to hot water spraying up from the ground. She made up her mind. If she was going to relay something to Goldof, this was it. 
“Goldof. Just now, close by, two geysers went off,” she said quietly, and the moment the words left her mouth, the tentacle around her neck constricted, sending her mind careening into instant darkness. 
Goldof was still on the prowl for the stealth-fiend when he heard a voice. After many hours, Nashetania had fed him information again. 
“Goldof. Just now, close by, two geysers went off.” Her voice was so hoarse, he almost couldn’t believe it was her. 
He immediately dashed off. Fortunately, there was no sign of Adlet’s trio within the gem’s area of effect. It seemed they were looking for something beyond the boundary. Goldof would probably be discovered within ten minutes. He had no choice but to find Nashetania and save her before his time was up. 
He hurtled across the ground. He found one geyser, but not another spray of steam nearby. He ran farther and found another. Not this one, either. Forgetting the pain of his fingers and his other injuries, Goldof ran and ran. 
Specialist number twenty-six felt its blood freeze. Nashetania, whom it had thought unconscious, had told Goldof where she was. 
The boy would come immediately. The fiend desperately began to move, but it was slow, no faster than a human’s walking speed. It had expended all its strength on camouflage, and Fremy’s bombs had wounded it. It couldn’t move quickly. 
Tgurneu had said that under no conditions should it allow itself to be found by Goldof, in particular, and that if he seemed close to rescuing Nashetania, to kill her. Goldof would reach the fiend eventually. So what should it do? The creature desperately racked its brains. It had to carry out Tgurneu’s orders no matter what. To a fiend, failure to follow its master’s orders was an agony more terrifying than death. 
“…Oh? Has something happened?” Tgurneu muttered, far, far away. It was still aloft, observing the situation down below. Goldof had suddenly dashed into the gem’s area of effect, while specialist number twenty-six began lumbering off. The child couldn’t have figured out where Nashetania was, could he? From afar, Tgurneu couldn’t tell what was going on. 
“Hmm. What’s to be done here? Well, this time, I suppose I’ll trust in my pawn. Let’s leave it to number twenty-six.” Tgurneu understood that its subordinate was in danger, but it couldn’t come up with any ideas as to how to assist. If Tgurneu charged in, it could be exposed to danger itself. Just a little while ago, it had had a close call, and it wasn’t keen on experiencing that again. 
“All right, number twenty-six. I’ve decided to cheer you on from up here. You can do it. You can do it. Don’t give up,” Tgurneu urged gleefully as it continued to observe the spectacle. 
“Is that…it?” Goldof found two adjacent holes spurting steam. Already, five minutes had passed since he’d received that message from Nashetania. 
Goldof bit his broken fingertip. The bone grated, shooting a spike of pain through his appendage. Amid the aching, he focused his eyes. It seemed a part of his field of vision shimmered just a bit. He concentrated on that spot and bit his finger harder. The mirage-like fluctuation grew, and when he continued to stare, a fiend came into view. It was turned away from him, trying to escape. The moment Goldof started after it, he heard a voice. 
“Stöp, Goldof.” When the fiend spoke, it appeared clearly—a lizard-fiend with rock skin. When it turned toward him, he stopped automatically. 
“…Monster…” 
The fiend’s mouth was very slightly agape, and inside he could see Nashetania’s face. The sharp teeth pierced her skin. That alone told him immediately what it was about to do. If Goldof took one step forward, it would kill her. 
The fiend was about thirty meters away from him—too far for even Goldof to cross in an instant. He knew it wasn’t bluffing. Tgurneu would want to avoid her rescue at all costs. It would surely rather kill her than let him save her, even if that meant the plan to deal with Chamo would fail. 
“…Not a sïngle step.” The fiend spoke skillfully, even with its mouth blocked. It wasn’t going to hand over the girl. It would never let him save her. A glance was enough for Goldof to apprehend its determination. 
“I’m…almost there…” The Helm of Allegiance was still telling him that his master was in danger. How much longer until Chamo died? Depending on her strength, she could fade at any minute. If she died, Nashetania would immediately follow. 
“I will…save her.” Goldof took a slow step forward. The sharp teeth bit into Nashetania’s face. Blood dripped from her forehead onto her cheeks. He could even hear her bones grating, or so he though. “Your Highness… Please…open…your eyes…” Goldof called out to her. But her limp body didn’t so much as twitch. And even if she did wake, there was nothing she could do, anyway. Tgurneu had said that the power of one of these specialists prevented her from controlling blades. 
Goldof shifted forward very slightly, less than a full step. But the fiend didn’t miss the movement. It clamped her face even harder. He couldn’t get near it. 
Can’t I create an opening? he thought. But the fiend was eyeing his every action. He couldn’t approach. Then I should throw my spear, he thought, but the fiend had already anticipated that. The instant he moved his arm to ready his spear, the fiend’s mouth tensed. 
What’s more, Goldof realized that if he failed to kill the fiend in one strike, the next thing it would do was crush Nashetania’s face. If he aimed for its head, he’d kill her, too. He couldn’t aim for its heart because he didn’t know where that was. 
“…I’ll nevér give her to you.” 
Sweat beaded on Goldof’s face, left tracks down his jaw, and dripped on the ground. He kept perfectly still as he and the fiend stared each other down. 
He racked his brain, trying to think of a way to kill the fiend in one strike, a way to guarantee it would die instantly, without time to bite Nashetania’s head. And the more he thought about it, the clearer it became that such a method didn’t exist. There was no way for him to succeed with his own power and weapons. 
He couldn’t back off for now to find a way to save her, either—he couldn’t afford to. There was no time. If he left, the fiend would go into hiding again. Right here, right now, was his only opportunity to save her. 
That moment, the fiend’s eyes crinkled. Goldof could tell it was smiling. 
“…” 
The boy didn’t take his eyes off the fiend—but he knew what was happening. He had sensed the presence of someone to the right, as well as a bloodthirsty aura sharp enough to pierce his flesh. 
Fremy was thirty meters away, gun trained on. “Adlet and Rolonia will be here soon, Goldof,” she said. She couldn’t see what he was looking at. “Just so you know, if you release Chamo, we’ll let you live. What will you do?” 
Goldof didn’t reply. His gaze never left the fiend. He could tell Fremy was a little irritated at being ignored. What kind of nonsense are you talking about? he thought. He wanted to free Chamo, too. 
Fremy didn’t fire. She wasn’t looking to see if this was a trap. She was waiting for Adlet and Rolonia. Before long, the two of them arrived as well. 
Goldof knew what the fiend was after. It was waiting for the other Braves to kill him. “You came…Adlet,” he said. 
“What’re you looking at?” Adlet asked him. Goldof didn’t reply. “What’s over there?” Adlet asked again. 
That was when Goldof understood—Adlet hadn’t found a thing. He hadn’t even figured out that there was a fiend with stealth powers here. Still, Goldof asked him anyway, “Have you…found Her Highness?” 
“Yeah, we’re close,” said Adlet. “You’ve been giving us a rough time, but…that ends now.” 
“…Have you figured out…what’s really going on?” 
“Who do you think you’re talking to? I’m the strongest man in the world.” 
Goldof could tell immediately that was a bluff. Adlet was a surprisingly bad liar. 
“Tell me about your helmet. What’s that hieroform, really?” 
“…Hieroform?” How did he know about the Helm of Allegiance? And why was he asking about something so trivial right now? Goldof didn’t know, and it didn’t matter. 
The fiend was watching Goldof, eyes narrowed. Now it just had to wait for the three of them to kill Goldof. That had to be what it was thinking. And the fiend’s assessment of the situation was entirely accurate. Goldof doubted he could win the other Braves over this late in the game. Whatever Goldof said, they’d try to kill him, regardless. He could tell that clearly, from the vicious looks they directed at him. He didn’t imagine he had a chance, not against the three of them. If he could hold on for even a minute, he’d accept that as a good fight. 
Then, in that single minute, he’d win. 
Goldof focused every nerve in his body, steadied his breathing, felt his blood pound in his veins, tensed every muscle. And then he trusted that he would be able to save Nashetania. 
“I’m going to kill you now,” said Fremy. “But before that, let me ask you this: Is it your hieroform that’s keeping Nashetania hidden?” 
“That question…is pointless. For you…and for me.” What a stupid question, thought Goldof. They really didn’t know anything. They hadn’t even managed to puzzle out a sliver of the truth. Fremy and Rolonia aside, Goldof had thought that Adlet, at least, might be able to figure out something. Unconsciously, the gaze Goldof had leveled at them grew contemptuous. “I’m disappointed…Adlet.” 
“About what?” 
“I thought…maybe…you’d figure it out.” Goldof raised his spear, and while the others were raising their weapons, Goldof observed the red-haired Brave—and the variety of tools at his waist—closely. Adlet inched forward, while Rolonia began to whisper invective under her breath. 
Finally, to show them his determination, as well as to shock them, Goldof announced, “I will…protect Her Highness.” He crouched low and readied himself to charge. “And…I’ll save Chamo…too.” 
That seemed to startle them. That instant, Goldof launched himself at Adlet. Their confrontation lasted only an instant, and the fight reached its conclusion in mere seconds. 
“StinkingGoldofI’llscatteryourinnardseverywhereyoudemonI’llspillyourbloodandwringyououtandcrushyoutrashworm!” Rolonia’s lash danced as she tried to intercept Goldof’s charge toward Adlet. Fremy leveled her gun while Adlet, too fast for the eye to follow, whipped out a chain with a metal fitting on one end. 
Goldof knew the longer this battle went on, the more disadvantageous it would be for him. So he used his strongest move first, spinning as he advanced, using the centrifugal force to fling his spear. He’d unchained it from his wrist beforehand. The heavy weapon spun toward Rolonia. 
He was aiming for Adlet—or that was what they’d think. They’d assume Goldof wouldn’t let go of his spear since he had to beat all three of them. That was why the shaft of the spear landed a hit on Rolonia’s chest. Thanks to her armor, it probably didn’t hurt her much. But it did jostle her whip away from Adlet’s defense. Adlet seemed a bit worried, but he quickly prioritized killing Goldof. If he’d been distracted by Rolonia, even just a bit, it would have made things easier, though. 
“Haa!” Adlet jumped to the side as he flung the cuff and chain. This was the same tool he’d once used to restrain Tgurneu. Goldof tried to avoid it, but he wasn’t fast enough. The binding caught his now weaponless right arm. 
Meanwhile, Fremy was firing at a gap between his armor plates around his stomach. She had probably chosen that rather than his head so it would be harder to avoid. Goldof didn’t block her shot and let the bullet pierce his body. If it went right through without hitting bone, it wouldn’t stop him. Feeling the hot slug pierce his stomach, he kept racing forward. Adlet strafed sideways, yanking the chain in perfect time with the moment when both Goldof’s feet left the ground. Goldof’s upper body jerked forward. 
“!” If he landed on his stomach, Fremy would immediately shoot him in the face. If he caught his fall with his hands, he wouldn’t be able to use them for what came next. So he deliberately drove his forehead toward the ground. As he descended, he used his left hand to rip off his right bracer. His face scraped the ground, but a moment later, his arm was free. Fremy shot at his head, but he blocked it with an armored shoulder. As his body rotated from the impact, he grabbed the chain he’d just removed and yanked with all his strength. The unsuspecting Adlet stumbled toward him. 
Discarding the chain, Goldof reached out for the boy’s throat. Adlet drew his sword and swept it horizontally in an attempt to slice the hand away. But the attack at his throat was just a feint. Goldof immediately snatched his hand back and crouched to grab Adlet around the waist. 
That was when Rolonia recovered from the earlier blow and cracked her whip at Goldof. Fremy charged toward him, too, reloading in preparation for a near-contact shot. As Adlet toppled backward, he landed with practiced technique and tossed a poison needle at Goldof. 
The very next moment decided the fight. Goldof dodged the needle, released Adlet, and rocketed backward. In his hand, he now held a twenty-centimeter-long spike. 
“Yaaaagh!” he screamed as he threw the weapon he’d stolen from Adlet at the stealth-fiend right beside them—which had been dispassionately observing them. 
That missile was called the Saint’s Spike—one of a set of four, the most powerful weapons Atreau Spiker had ever made, entrusted to Adlet. 
Only one weapon could kill the stealth-fiend, which had its fangs sunk into Nashetania’s head, with a single instant, infallible attack—and that was Adlet’s Saint’s Spike. Goldof had not been stuck frozen and passive. He had been waiting. Biding his time for Adlet, the one with the weapon that could save Nashetania. 
“Guh…gurgle-ugh…gyahh…gahhh!” The Saint’s Spike piercing its flesh, the fiend writhed and spasmed. As Rolonia’s whip skimmed his body and Fremy’s bullets thudded into his armor, Goldof sprinted toward the fiend with zero hesitation. 
“!” His behavior confused Fremy and Rolonia. Then they turned in the direction of the screech. To them it must have looked like Goldof had suddenly flung the spike at nothing, and then that nothing screamed. 
“What was that?!” said Fremy, firing at him. Goldof turned aside to avoid the bullet, but it grazed his cheek, taking a strip of flesh with it. 
“WaityoutraitorrottenGoldofyou’renotwatchingmespillyourblood!” Rolonia’s whip cut through the air. 
“Your Highness!” Goldof yelled, and then he plunged his hand into the fiend’s mouth to grab Nashetania’s shoulder. Feeling her presence filled his heart with joy. He’d done it. Tasting the feeling of accomplishment, he dragged her out of the maw. “Your Highness!” he cried again, and then, with Nashetania in his arms, sprang sideways. Rolonia’s whip, Fremy’s bullet, and Adlet’s poison needle all landed where Goldof had just been. 
It was too early to relax. He had to stop the three of them and make them understand that the battle was over. “Your Highness! Release Chamo! Hurry!” he kept yelling at the unconscious Nashetania. She just barely opened her eyes, gazing into his face. Then she smiled. 
Meanwhile, back in the pit, Hans and Dozzu’s fight had reached its climax. 
The residual sparks from the lightning had burned off Hans’s clothes, leaving him naked from the waist up. He was red all over and flecked with burn marks. There was a deep gash in Dozzu’s right foreleg and a large wound on its face. The situation was about even, as were the skills of both parties. However, Hans was at a disadvantage. He had to kill Dozzu as quickly as possible so he could head out to look for Nashetania—even if there wasn’t much time left. 
Mora watched over their fight with the feebly panting girl in her arms. She mustered all her strength to pour energy into Chamo. If there was even the slightest break in the stream of energy, Chamo would die. 
“Cat…boy.” 
Chamo spoke, which startled Mora. She should have already been too drained to speak. 
“Catboy…” She was smiling. The strength had returned to her eyes. 
“Chamo? It couldn’t be…” 
“Chamo’ll help you out!” The girl opened her mouth wide and shoved a finger down her throat. Up came buckets of blood, along with a black fluid, and before their eyes, the fluid took the form of her slave-fiends. 
The moment the youngest Saint shouted, Dozzu turned away from Hans to dash away. Hans didn’t follow it, running up to Chamo instead. “Chamo!” he said. “They saved ya?!” 
“Catboy! You can’t relax yet! We’ll kill them all—Goldof, and that little animal, too!” From her attitude, one wouldn’t think she’d been dying just moments ago. No, she must have still been in pain. But even after coming back from death’s door, she was as belligerent as ever. 
“CHAMO HAS BEEN SAVED! ADLET! CHAMO HAS BEEN SAVED!” Mora’s enhanced voice thundered. 
As Dozzu escaped, it glanced back at them. To Mora, it seemed to be smiling. 
What had happened? Utterly confused, Adlet stood facing Goldof. A fiend had suddenly appeared, and then Goldof had immediately pulled Nashetania out of its mouth. Adlet didn’t understand, so he decided to ignore all that and just attack. That was when Mora’s mountain echo reached them. All three of them, right about to descend upon Goldof, froze at the same time. 
“It’s over? Why?” Rolonia murmured. 
Fremy’s eyes were wide. Did this mean Nashetania had surrendered? What was that creature that Goldof had killed with the Saint’s Spike? 
Adlet was half joyful and half confused. He couldn’t understand what was going on here. He eyed the girl in Goldof’s arms. She wore no armor, carried no sword, and her clothing was in tatters. She was wounded all over, and most noticeably, her left arm was missing from the shoulder. It looked painful for her to even breathe. Cradling her, Goldof glared at the trio as if to warn them that if they took so much as one step forward, they were dead. 
“It sounds like…Chamo’s been saved.” Fremy lowered her gun. She must have been unable to judge whether or not she should fight Goldof and Nashetania. 
“What a relief! We did it! We did it, didn’t we?” Rolonia cheered, now back to normal and sounding elated. 
Fremy asked her frostily, “Did what? What did we do?” 
Rolonia couldn’t give her an answer. 
“Thank you…for stopping,” said Goldof. “Don’t…kill her. She can’t…hurt you anymore. We don’t…intend to…fight anymore.” 
Adlet considered his next course of action. Nashetania was their enemy—as was Goldof. Though he didn’t have a full handle of the situation, that much was still true. Should they kill the pair here and now? 
No, we shouldn’t, he thought. “Fremy, Rolonia, put away your weapons. Leave them be.” 
“…Adlet…I…” Goldof began. 
“I know,” said Adlet. “You don’t want to fight anymore, right? First, tell us what happened.” 
“I’ll tell you…everything.” 
Fremy and Rolonia put their weapons away, but Goldof still didn’t let go of the young woman in his arms. Nashetania, breathing weakly, looked to be faintly smiling in victory. 
“You’re okay with this, Adlet? We’re not going to kill Nashetania?” asked Fremy. 
“…” He couldn’t reply to her. He had stopped the fight because he’d wanted to hear what Goldof had to say—and because he thought that if they tried to kill Nashetania, they’d have no guarantee of winning. Even now that Goldof was disarmed, wounded, and exhausted, Adlet didn’t feel like they could beat him. Goldof would make it through any trial for the sake of protecting Nashetania, or so it seemed. 
“I want to ask you one thing, Goldof. What was your goal?” Adlet asked. 
Goldof replied, “…I wanted to see her.” 
“That was it?” 
“Yes. Nothing more…than that. I couldn’t think…about anything…else.” His expression was different now. No longer the monstrous warrior who had barred their way so many times, he was now just a boy. Adlet noticed the distinct youthfulness of his face. Tears overflowed from Goldof’s eyes. 
“…Gol…dof…” Nashetania whispered in his arms. Her voice was hoarse because of her crushed throat. “…Now, I’ve…granted it. Your request…six years ago.” She smiled. 
Goldof bowed his head to the woman in his arms and said, “Your Highness…thank you…so much.” 
From what Adlet could see in this situation, Goldof had been the one to save her. So why was he thanking her? But the meaning behind that was surely meant for just the two of them, something he would never be privy to.