“Maybe Chamo?” Adlet speculated. She’d wandered into the temple on her own. No one could prove what she’d been doing or where she’d been before that.
But even if she had no alibi, that didn’t change the fact that it would have been impossible for Chamo to enter the temple. Either way, Adlet wouldn’t be able to resolve anything without finding a way someone could have broken into the temple.
“By the way,” said Hans, “we were all in a rush, so I didn’t get the chance to ask ya somethin’…”
“What?”
“How d’ya turn on this barrier? I didn’t stop by the fort, so I don’t really know.”
“So Mora didn’t tell you? The barrier…,” Adlet began, and then he stopped. Lights flickered on in his head. What Hans had said was important.
“What is it?” asked Hans.
Adlet racked his brain to recall everything from the time he’d entered the fort until the present, including every single word each of them had exchanged. And he was convinced that his flash of insight was on the mark. “Chamo.”
“She’s the seventh?”
“No. There’s something I want to ask her,” said Adlet. “Where is she now?”
“Chamo should be playin’ around here somewhere. I’m too much of a scaredy-cat to call her, though.”
“It wouldn’t be good for me to be seen here, I’m sure. You go. Just ask her one thing.”
“Ask her what?”
“Well…” Adlet was about to tell him what the question was when he caught sight of a big earthworm right in front of them. It was gliding over the ground with unbelievable speed, heading into the forest. A moment passed, and then a voice called out from the direction that the creature had gone.
“Chamo’s right here.” The young Saint came over to them, her foxtail swaying in her right hand. “Wasn’t this guy the fake, catboy? Why’re you guys just chatting casually?”
Hans panicked and stood in front of Adlet. “Meow. Don’t attack him, Chamo. I’ve found out he’s not the enemy.”
“That sounds weird. Why not?”
“Well—”
“If it’s gonna be a long story, don’t bother.” Chamo cut him off. “Chamo doesn’t really care, anyway.”
Hans was confused. Adlet didn’t know what Chamo was thinking, either. Did she even want to find the seventh?
“Being stuck here sucks,” said Chamo. “It’s boring being alone, and there’s nothing to play with. Chamo wants to get out now and go kill fiends.”
“I get it,” said Adlet. “Me too. So there’s something I want to ask you. This is really important so we can find out who’s the seventh.”
But Chamo just gave him a bored pout. “Chamo’s sick of that stuff about who’s the fake and who’s real or whatever.” She raised her foxtail and smiled faintly. As she did, goose bumps raised on Adlet’s skin. “It’s probably you, Adlet. Then if it’s not you, Fremy. Then if it’s not her, catboy. If it’s not him, then obviously it’s the princess and the big guy. Auntie Mora couldn’t be the seventh, so Chamo won’t kill her.”
“Wait, Chamo! What are you talking about?!” Adlet yelled, and as he did, he reflexively drew his sword. Hans, too, arched his back in a catlike fighting stance.
“If you all die, there’s no enemy. Just Chamo alone is enough to beat one lame Evil God.” Chamo’s foxtail moved. She put the tip into her mouth and pushed it to the back of her throat. She made a retching noise and gagged dramatically. Soon Chamo was vomiting loudly, spewing black and brown mixed with dirty green onto the ground. The amount was unnatural—ten times more than the volume of her small frame.
“Meow—m-meow!” Hans cried out in fear.
The vomit was taking shape into a gigantic snake, a leech, a frog, and a lizard—the forms of fiends that lived in the water.
“Time to explain. There’s a swamp in Chamo’s stomach. All the creatures Chamo’s ever eaten live together in harmony in a swamp inside,” she explained as she wiped the drool off with her sleeve. The fiends rushed Adlet and Hans all at once.
“Run!” cried Hans.
“I’m with you there!” agreed Adlet.
The two of them turned without a moment’s hesitation. But there were even more fiends waiting for them in the forest. Adlet and Hans ran back the other way, passing through the pillars of salt. But the fiends Chamo had spat up disregarded the barrier, rushing in to attack Adlet and Hans. There were nearly fifty of the regurgitated creatures surrounding the temple.
“We’ve got no choice!” Adlet yelled. Now they could do nothing but fight. Adlet pulled a bomb from one of his pouches and tossed it into the mouth of a snake-fiend. Hans whirled through the air to cut off the head of an attacking lizard, but in moments, the fiends revived as if the assault had been nothing at all. The two men cooperated to bring down a water spider that sprang at them, but when Adlet and Hans tore off its eight legs, they grew back again instantly.
“What in the heck is this?” groaned Hans. “How can we fight meownsters like these?” Adlet finally understood why Fremy was so terrified of Chamo.
The fiends from Chamo’s stomach lined up in a row and then curved into a circle. Now there was nowhere for the pair to run.
“Stop screwing around, Chamo!” yelled Adlet. “Why’re you attacking Hans, too?!”
“Why not?” she said. “You can’t prove he’s not a fake, too.”
“You idiot! What are you thinking?!” Adlet was enraged.
But the look on Chamo’s face told him she didn’t even get why he was so mad. “Here’s an idea. Chamo kills you, and then if the barrier goes away, catboy doesn’t need to die.”
Adlet looked at Hans. Hans smiled wryly and said, “Don’t worry. That ain’t gonna happen.” Hans pointed his sword at Chamo.
“Hans,” said Adlet. “If there’s no getting out of this, you should escape, at least.”
“Screw that. Don’t you start tryin’ to act the heroic
