“You won’t get away!”
Mora ran, ignoring the small bomb nearing her while Adlet dodged her fist bearing down on him. Her fist then thrust into the ground, creating a hole as if something like a meteorite had crashed to the ground. Even she was an exceptional opponent.
“Hun!” Mora grunted as she grabbed the base of a tree and pulled. Each root of the tree was lifted out of the ground one by one and then once the tree was fully uprooted she used it as a giant club to attack Adlet.
“Watch out!” Fremy shouted as her bullets hit the trunk of the tree.
However, Mora ignored Fremy and focused solely on Adlet. Her attacks were persistent, and each strike had the power to kill him instantly.
Still, Fremy managed to force her way in front of Mora and speak to Adlet. “I will hold her. You run Adlet.”
“No way. You have to run too. Mora is dangerous.”
The chance that Mora was the seventh wasn’t low and so it was dangerous to pit Mora and Fremy against one another.
“You’re interfering, Fremy!”
Fremy intercepted Mora’s charge and with Mora stopped Adlet thought about a way the two of them could escape. However, at that moment Adlet sensed something dangerous approaching from his side.
“Fremy-san, get out of the way!”
Fremy jumped to one side and Adlet rolled to the other just as countless white blades sprung up from the ground where they had been.
“You’re late, Princess,” Mora muttered.
Nashetania was standing deep in the forest with her rapier prepared and a smile on her face. She certainly does smile a lot, Adlet thought as he looked at her. However, there was something different about her.
“Do you get it, Adlet?” Fremy asked. She was aiming her gun at Mora and her bomb at Nashetania. Indeed he did understand what she was trying to say. Nashetania was no longer his ally.
For some reason Nashetania didn’t move after her initial attack. She just stood completely still with a smile that looked like it had been attached to her face.
Adlet then noticed that Goldof was behind Nashetania. He was watching Adlet while also searching for an opportunity to strike.
“It was fun, Adlet-san. The ten days I traveled with you,” Nashetania began to speak, as if she had forgotten that they were at a battleground. “It seemed like I knew a lot of things, but I really didn’t know anything. I didn’t know the joy of traveling without a coachman[1] or maid. This was the first time I knew the fear of actual combat, and the first time I knew of the reliability and trustworthiness that could be found in the people at my side as they encouraged me.”
It had been a long time since Adlet had seen her look so calm. She had been bewildered, frightened, and troubled ever since she’d found out that the seventh existed. Yet now she looked cheery.
“I am grateful. Thank you.”
A chill ran down Adlet’s spine.
“But now that I’m finished expressing my gratitude, I will kill you.”
“…Run. When you get the chance, run with all your energy. Nashetania is out of her mind,” Fremy whispered. Adlet agreed. He was just as frightened of Nashetania at that moment as Fremy was.
“Listen Nashetania. Hans is safe and Adlet is not the enemy. Mora is lying,” Fremy said.
“No Princess. Adlet is the enemy. Hans is seriously injured. And Fremy is just being deceived,” Mora retorted. But there was no composure in her voice.
“Calm down Nashetania. We still don’t know who the seventh is. But it’s not Adlet.”
“Don’t fall for it. Adlet is skilled at deception.”
Both Fremy and Mora tried several times to persuade Nashetania. But Adlet remained silent and just stared at her.
He did not want to fight. He was injured and exhausted. The wound he’d received from Hans was beginning to ache again. Plus, he was hurting from the burns that came from his fight with Fremy. He had no strength left to fight Nashetania.
“Goldof, you’re listening right? Don’t make a move yet,” Fremy said to Goldof. But the response was in a sense more undesirable.
“Be careful,” Nashetania said to Goldof. “I don’t know what Fremy-san will do.”
She’d ignored her. Nashetania had ignored everything Fremy had said.
Then Mora chuckled and Fremy gave up trying to convince Nashetania. Even Adlet prepared himself yet again for another fight.
However, though Adlet thought the attack would come at any time, Nashetania just smiled and stared at him. Her lack of movement also seemed to confuse Mora.
Fremy turned around and asked, “Adlet, what should we do?”
Adlet couldn’t return an answer. If Nashetania met up with Hans and understood that he was safe then her mind would change. But Adlet began to wonder if he really were safe. In addition, he was wondering if Mora were the seventh, if Chamo were the seventh, or if the seventh had another trap ready for them.
“Can’t think of anything?”
“Head to the temple. If Hans is safe we’ll meet up there.”
“And if he’s not safe….?”
“We have no time to think about that.”
There was another option, which was for Adlet to prove his innocence there and now. If he exposed all of the seventh’s plan then the battle would end.
But at the moment no method to cause fog to form was coming to mind.
Think, Adlet told himself. There’s just one left. If I can establish proof of the method, or even if I can’t, but I’m able to make a convincing claim at least, then we can get through this without having to fight.
“…I’m thinking too. However… I haven’t come up with anything,” Fremy said regrettably. But Adlet couldn’t blame her. He couldn’t think of anything either.
“Adlet-san. I’m waiting…,” Nashetania suddenly said. Her voice was bright and cheerful, which felt completely out of place.
“Waiting for what?”
“Your confession,” she said as she aimed her rapier at Adlet. “I know that if I capture the person who did bad things they will confess before they die. Is that right? I’m sure my maid told me that a long time ago.”
Shocked, Mora said, “…Princess. You are a little bit ignorant of the ways of the world. Confession is not something people do, no matter who they may be.”
“Is that so?” Nashetania gave a single forceful nod. Then she leaned her head to the side and thought.
“Well in that case, it’s alright if I kill him.”
The next moment a blade sprung up where Adlet was.
He wasn’t able to dodge it and his shoulder was split open. The blade had been so sharp that he didn’t even feel any pain. The attack that should have spelled certain death had come his way without hesitation, when it had just looked like Nashetania was waiting motionlessly. He completely couldn’t read Nashetania’s movements; he was unprepared and had no way to tell whether an attack was coming his way or not.
“There!” Fremy screamed and fired a bullet into the forest. But Goldof, wielding his spear, charged over and intercepted the attack. The bullet hit his armor and blew his body back. However, he resumed his charge the next moment after he landed.
“What is that armor made of?” Fremy was shocked. Not only was the armor special, but Goldof was even more special. Still, at the very least Fremy’s gun should have inflicted some kind of damage, even if it was just to his armor.
Goldof lunged forward and Adlet and Fremy jumped apart. Then taking advantage of that situation, Mora grabbed Fremy and Nashetania’s rapier aimed for Adlet’s heart.
“I’ll hold Fremy! Princess, Goldof, you finish him off!” Mora shouted.
But Fremy didn’t allow Mora to win, as she scattered some small bombs under her cloak. The force from the explosions stopped Mora in her tracks and the smoke blocked Goldof’s vision.
“Why is Fremy interfering?” Goldof muttered.
However, without having to search deeply, Goldof soon narrowed his sights onto Adlet. But in an instant Fremy had loaded another bullet and shot Goldof’s foot. The bullet didn’t penetrate his armor, but it did destroy his balance and cause him to fall down.
“I’ll show you that I can hold these two. Adlet, run!”
Adlet was worried about Fremy, but just as he was about to say he would protect her, he wondered if he should just leave her alone and run. He was exhausted and didn’t have many weapons left. So his chances of winning in a one on one encounter were very slim.
“Fremy. I will absolutely hold on. I am the World’s Strongest Man!” Adlet shouted as he ran away.
And as he was shouting and fleeing, Fremy smiled just a little.
#
Adlet ran though the foggy forest, heading towards the temple where Hans was.
“You won’t get away!”
Nashetania was approaching from behind and he was dodging the successive attacks being unleashed upon him from the ground and the tree trunks.
He could see the temple just ahead of him in the distance. And though at the moment Nashetania was thinking Adlet had left Hans half dead, if he could resolve that misunderstanding then he should be able to avoid a fight.
He tossed a smoke bomb behind him, clouding Nashetania’s vision. Then he threw pain-inducing poison darts which stopped her pursuit. Though his intention was to use up all the rest of his few remaining secret weapons, he just hoped he could reach the temple. The battle would end when they met up with Hans.
“Goldof! Mora-san! What are you doing!?” Nashetania shouted behind her. However, there was no response.
As Fremy had declared, she was holding off the two of them. And with that being true, Adlet believed he could successfully get away.
The sun was already starting to set which meant it had been about a whole day since they’d been trapped in the forest. And the entire time had been a long battle. He’d kidnapped Fremy and was pursued by the others. He’d fought with Hans and then quarreled with Chamo. Then things had gotten to the point where Fremy even tried to kill him. Each time he had been injured and now his body was already nearing its limit.
However, this would be the last fight.If he could successfully get away and meet up