Prologue
Adlet had been running across the dry, craggy earth, with rocks spread all over it.
In fact, he was devoting all of his energy into the run as he trampled over the
wilting weeds that were sparsely sticking out of the ground.
He was on the peninsula jutting out of the western edge of the continent called
The Wailing Demon Territory. It was where The Majin and the Kyoma resided.
And at the moment Adlet was in the eastern section, in a land called The Valley of
the Bleeding Lung.
Though it was night, Adlet continued under the moonlight. The only thing he had
to illuminate the way was the light given off by the jewel mounted into his
armor's chest plate.
"Hurry!" Adlet shouted as he ran.
There were three lights behind him, belonging to Fremy, Chamo, and Goldof, who
were all following him. He was out of breath, his heart was throbbing violently, his
lips were trembling, and he wasn't able to control his legs properly. But putting all
his energy into the run wasn’t the cause. It was the fact that they were on the
verge of confronting a nightmare.
"Hans! Rolonia! Where are you?!" Adlet called out, but no response came back
from the deep darkness.
2
Prologue
"Are you dead?! Hans! Rolonia! Answer me!" As Adlet shouted he jumped onto a
cliff in front of him. Both his hands and feet found their way into the indentations
of the cliff and in the blink of an eye he started to scale up the rock.
As he climbed, he unintentionally looked at the back of his hand. On it laid the
proof he was one of the heroes fated to save the world, the crest of the Six
Flowers, which always gave off a faint light.
However, one of the petals was missing on the crest. And that meant one of the
heroes had lost their life.
"Hans!"
Adlet kicked up the cliff side and leaped through the air. As he flew he drew his
sword, then landed atop the cliff and assumed a battle stance. But the sight he
saw the instant his jewel's light illuminated the cliff top put him at a loss for
words.
Hans Humpty. The unusual assassin who fought while imitating a cat. A man
possessing the crest of the Six Flowers was on the ground, his face looking up to
the sky. One of the arteries in his neck had been ripped open and his blood was
spilled all over the parched earth creating a repulsive sight. And as for his face, all
the blood had completely drained from it.
"...Hans." Adlet dropped his sword. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He
had placed absolute trust in Hans' overwhelming strength and quick wit.
3
Prologue
"...You were too late Adlet," a woman standing slightly apart from Hans said
quietly. She was standing with her back facing Adlet; the woman went by the
name of Mora Chester.
"Hans, it can't be…."
Fremy followed Adlet up the cliff, with Goldof appearing after. Upon seeing the
situation, they immediately pointed their weapons towards Mora.
"This situation probably doesn't even need an explanation. I just killed Hans,"
Mora confessed as she turned around.
Her face, chest, and both of her unarmored hands were all covered in blood. Even
her armor was broken all over. It seemed like an ordinary person would have died
a long time ago from the same injuries.
"Mora, it was you..."
"That's right...I'm the seventh." Her voice was dispirited, as if she were
exhausted. She then raised her hands, quietly kneeled down, and hung her head
powerlessly.
No one could make a sound after that. There was only silence.
4
Prologue
#
Adlet stared at the kneeling Mora, completely at a loss for words. It was a state
shared by Fremy, Chamo, and Goldof behind him. But there was another person
there bearing the crest of the Six Flowers, and she was sitting at Hans’ side.
"...Rolonia," Adlet called out.
Her name was Rolonia Manchetta. With the ability to manipulate blood, she was
the Saint of Fresh Blood. And she was also the eighth person to appear with the
crest of the Six Flowers.
She had a round face, glasses, and often wore a timid expression. On top of that
she was short and small and in no way could she be seen as an excellent warrior.
In fact, if she wasn't clad in heavy armor, or didn't have a long whip attached to
her hip, she would look just like a village girl.
At the moment her hands were touching Hans’ chest and throat, her palms
glowing slightly.
"How did Hans lose?" Adlet asked her, but Rolonia didn't answer. She just stared
at Hans’ body.
"Rolonia answer! Why is Hans dead?! What happened?!"
5
Prologue
Adlet then noticed that Rolonia was muttering something. He drew close to her
face and listened to both her breathing and the words spilling out from her
mouth.
"Please don't die...please don't die...I will definitely help...you..."
Rolonia was the Saint of Fresh Blood so she could control a person's blood to heal
wounds. So, not wanting to disturb her, Adlet touched Hans' wrist. He had no
pulse and he was cold.
It’s impossible, Rolonia, Adlet thought. There was almost no blood left in Hans’
body, plus his heart had stopped. Hans was already dead.
"What’s the meaning of this? Why is Hans dead, but you're unharmed?" Adlet
asked.
He wanted to know why Rolonia didn’t fight the seventh, Mora. And what’s more,
he wondered why Mora didn’t attack the defenseless girl.
However, Rolonia was focusing solely on trying to help Hans. It was as if she
completely couldn't see what was happening around her.
"Rolonia, you must have been traveling together with Hans. What in the world
happened?" Fremy asked her. Yet even her words didn't seem to reach Rolonia's
ears.
6
Prologue
"I will help...I'll help, you’ll see. If I can't..."
Chamo then strolled towards Mora while wearing her usual carefree smile. It was
as if she weren't paying any attention to the fact that Hans had died.
"Ah...Cat‐san died? That's too bad." Chamo looked down at the kneeling Mora.
"Chamo quite liked Cat‐san. He was cute, strong, and he talked amusingly. Though
at first Chamo hated him after he hit Chamo very hard, over time traveling with
him became a little fun."
Chamo made a fist and struck Mora in the face. Her fist was small though so
Mora's face only moved slightly.
"I will never forgive you. I will kill you. I won’t let you have a normal death!"
Mora averted her gaze from the angry girl in front of her. "I don't care if you kill
me. I’m ready."
"Really? Obachan’s prepared to die? Well, Chamo’s extremely disappointed.”
Chamo raised her fist again, but Fremy grabbed it and stopped her.
“Before that, give us some time to hear her out," Fremy said to Chamo, then
turned to Mora. Her eye was full of silent anger. "Talk Mora and make it as brief
as possible. When you're finished, we'll kill you."
7
Prologue
Looking down to the ground, Mora spoke. "I didn't hope for this to happen. I
didn't want to kill him. I didn't want to kill Hans or anyone."
"What are you talking about?"
"But I couldn't think of what to do other than kill him. All paths other than killing
Hans had been closed." A single tear fell from Mora's eye. "I wanted to protect
the world. I wanted to defeat the Kyoma alongside all of you and prevent The
Majin's revival."
"Chamo doesn't believe you," Chamo said, but Adlet disagreed. Mora wasn't lying,
she was speaking from her true feelings.
"And only until yesterday, no, only until an hour ago, I had intended to do just
that.