“Meow. Is this problem that important, though?” asked Hans. Chamo also seemed unconvinced. The two didn’t fully understand how impossible it was for a Saint’s blood not to harm a fiend. “I don’t know everythin’ about it, but there’s a lot of different types of fiends, and they all have different powers, right? This just means Tgurneu’s strong against poison.”
“I guess you don’t understand. I’ll be a little more precise.” Adlet sighed. “Fiends can choose how they develop—it’s based on what they want. I think you’ve seen a lot of them in your life, but none of them looked exactly the same, right?”
“Meow.”
“If they want to grow fangs, they can grow fangs. If they want to get bigger, they can get bigger. It takes them decades or even centuries to evolve. And occasionally, the process fails. But fundamentally speaking, if fiends have the will, they can obtain whatever powers they want.”
“Huh. So then couldn’t Tgurneu just’ve evolved the power to nullify the poison in Saints’ blood?”
“There are exceptions to the rule,” said Adlet. “There are things they can’t do no matter how much they want it. They can’t evolve their own cores.”
“What’s that?”
Fremy explained. The core was like the fiend’s brain. They always had one somewhere in their body, and it was their weakest point. “The core is the main body of the fiend. You could even say all flesh aside from it is simply auxiliary. Fiends can change their auxiliary bodies, but not the core itself. A Saint’s blood is what destroys that core.”
Hans and Chamo still didn’t quite get it.
“The poison within Saints’ blood originates from the power of the Spirit,” she continued. “Its properties are completely different from those of other toxins. Once it enters the body, it reaches the core immediately. A fiend can’t mutate their body to prevent this. And once the poison has penetrated, there is no way they can counteract it.”
“In other words…”
“The poison works on all fiends without exception. That’s what a Saint’s blood does,” she finished.
“Meow? It’s that powerful?” Hans said, only now catching on.
“I have a technique I can use to get my blood into a fiend, too. Master Atreau told me this technique will always work on any fiend,” said Rolonia.
“Just who is Atreau Spiker, Adlet?” asked Mora. “How did he acquire such techniques?”
Adlet tilted his head. “Sorry, but I don’t know, either. He basically never talked about his past.”
“Who cares about that weird weapon? Chamo doesn’t care about that Atreau guy,” she said, sounding bored. “Yeah, this weapon is supposed to be amazing or whatever, but it didn’t work on Tgurneu, right? So we don’t need it anymore. Chamo’ll kill Tgurneu, slice it all into pieces and eat it up, and make it a toy for the pets in Chamo’s tummy.”
“Do you get what we’re saying, Chamo? An attack that was supposed to always work didn’t,” Adlet insisted.
“So what?”
“If your slave-fiends tear Tgurneu limb from limb, will it die? If Rolonia drains all its blood, will it die? If Goldof and Hans cut it up, or Mora pounds it to a pulp, or Fremy shoots it, will it die? We don’t know any of those things for sure.” Adlet hammered Chamo with questions.
“Who cares? Chamo just has to beat it up.”
“We need to be certain we can kill Tgurneu. In order to find a way to take it down for sure, we have to solve this mystery.”
This is not good, Mora fretted. Chamo’s mood was worsening. She might snap.
“…So what do we do, then?” Counter to the Elder’s expectations, Chamo reluctantly backed down.
“I’ll figure out the puzzle and find a way to kill that monster,” said Adlet. “You think about how you could kill it—and how to counteract that silver powder, in particular.”
“Okay. Chamo actually does have an idea to test out,” she said.
Mora was more than a little bit surprised at how cooperative Chamo was being. She was growing. Her progress was slow, but it was sure.
“We still haven’t solved anything, though,” said Fremy. “We haven’t solved the mystery of Tgurneu, and we still don’t know who the seventh is.”
“If we can corner Tgurneu, I think the traitor will reveal themselves,” Adlet answered.
“What do you mean?”
“The seventh is most likely connected to Tgurneu. At the very least, they’re our enemy, so we have no reason to doubt that they’re allied with the fiends. If we kill a commander, the seventh would consider that as a massive blow. So if Tgurneu is about to lose, the seventh will try to protect it. That’s what I think.”
“I see. So we don’t wait for the traitor to act—we create a situation in which they are forced to act,” said Mora.
“What happens if we have Tgurneu cornered but the seventh doesn’t do anything?” asked Fremy.
“Then we kill Tgurneu,” said Adlet. “That’s really the best option, since killing Tgurneu would be a far bigger victory than figuring out who the seventh is.”
“Meow. And if we can do both, all the better.” Hans nodded.
“I feel like this is too dangerous. We don’t even know what Tgurneu or the seventh might do,” Rolonia cautioned.
“My master taught me there’s nothing worse than a risk-free plan that only goes halfway. Sometimes, jumping right into danger is the safest thing to do. Right now, the best choice is to devote everything we’ve got to taking out Tgurneu.”
Rolonia looked even more anxious.
“Relax. I’m the strongest man in the world.”
“Oh, meow. There he goes again,” said Hans, looking exasperated.
“I understand. I’ll trust in you. You’re the strongest man in the world.” Rolonia nodded. They all seemed to agree to Adlet’s plan. They would focus all their resources on killing Tgurneu. For Mora, Adlet’s decision was a welcome one. Defeating it was the only way she could save her daughter.
No matter what, she had to kill Tgurneu. “I have one suggestion.” Mora raised her hand.
“What is it?” asked Adlet.
“I have a secret plan. A
