“W-wait, please!” Rolonia stuttered. In a flash, Hans was gone.
“Let’s go, Adlet,” Goldof said, and Adlet came to his senses. He set out to the southwest, as per Mora’s instructions.
The four lights split into two groups, one heading southwest and the other running up toward the Bud of Eternity. Now the most difficult part is done, thought Mora. Splitting Adlet’s party into two separate pairs had been the biggest hurdle. If all four of them were acting in accord, or if they had split into a group of three and one person alone, then the plan would have failed utterly.
“Fiends, Adlet and Goldof are headed straight for your location.” Through her echoes, Mora transmitted orders to the remaining accomplices Tgurneu had sent her. “Hold them in position as long as you live. Once that is done—all of you, die.”
The fiends stood. Adlet and Goldof didn’t notice anything as they raced along.
“It’s time to go.” Mora hastened down the mountain at full speed toward Rolonia.
She had made one miscalculation. The one with Rolonia was Hans.
The original plan was to kill Adlet. He was weaker than her—one-on-one, she could beat him easily. And the young Brave was the trusting type. If she could catch him off guard, she could probably kill him. Even if she were forced to fight Goldof, she’d have a chance of winning. He was stronger than Adlet, but he still had his weaknesses. But her opponent was Hans. He was cautious and alert, so she probably wouldn’t be able to get him by surprise. Plus, there was no question that he was superior to Mora in terms of combat abilities.
Oddly enough, Mora wasn’t afraid. Now that she had thrown away everything, she had nothing more to fear. She had only two options: to save Shenira and die, or to fail to save her and die.
Fists clenched, she raced down the slope. She didn’t have to use her clairvoyance anymore—she could see both of their lights. This contest will be decided the moment we meet, thought Mora. I have to kill him before he draws his swords.
“Lady Mora?” she heard Rolonia say.
But right when Mora clenched her fists, about to swing at Hans, he hurled his light gem at her. The tiny lantern flared in her sight for an instant, burning her eyes. “Ungh!”
The concentrated light was especially bright to her eyes, accustomed to the darkness. She pressed a hand to her face and stumbled backward.
“Hans! What are you doing?” Rolonia cried, and in that instant, Mora rolled to the side. She heard the tips of her hair being sliced off, informing her that death had missed her by mere centimeters.
“Meow-hee-hee. I bungled that one.”
Mora managed to just crack her eyes open to a squint. Hans was spinning his blades in his hands.
“Hans! What on earth are you doing?! And Lady Mora, your wounds—” Rolonia pulled out her whip and readied it. When she saw Mora covered in blood, she lost her voice. The suddenness of the situation made her legs tremble, her eyes dart about. She hadn’t grasped what was going on.
“Adlet woulda been fooled, meow. He’s a dyed-in-the-wool sucker. Agh, dealin’ with such a hardcore bleedin’ heart is a trial, I tell ya.”
As Mora fought back the pain in her eyes, she raised her fists. “I’ve finally succeeded in luring you out. Give yourself up. Your true identity has already come to light.” This was all to deceive Rolonia. If she could get her protégé on her side, she could turn this battle into a two-on-one.
“Mya-meow? For the spur of the moment, that’s a pretty good lie. I thought you’d been raised like a lady, but you ain’t half-bad.” Hans was not ruffled.
“Just what are you talking about? What is going on?!” Rolonia demanded, sounding like she was about to cry.
“The seventh is Mora, and she’s gonna try to kill me.”
“The seventh is Hans! He was planning to kill you!”
Hans and Mora exclaimed at the same time.
Rolonia just looked back and forth between the two of them, unable to move. She must have understood that there was something wrong with the situation, too, and she may even have noticed that Mora had been lying. But she had only met Hans just that morning, and she had spent the past two and a half years together with Mora. Even if she suspected her mentor, Rolonia wouldn’t be able to fight her.
“Meow. You just sit tight and watch, Rolonia. If you get in the way, I’ll end up cuttin’ ya both up.” Hans slowly went into action. He approached, shifting in an enigmatic manner that included a lot of seemingly pointless dancing. Rolonia retreated a step, and Mora judged that she would not be able to win her over.
“Rolonia, don’t interfere,” Mora said, eyes locked on the girl. “Believe in me.”
Hans immediately dove toward her with blinding speed. Mora blocked the slice aimed at her feet with the iron plate of her boot. The single strike numbed her leg up to the thigh.
“Hrmya-mya-mya-mya-meow!” Unrelenting, Hans slashed at Mora. He moved like a cat chasing a toy on a string and smiled like a frolicking kitten.
“Did you hear that, Goldof?” As they ran, Adlet glanced back behind them. He could just faintly hear the sound of something like an argument, far away. Human voices traveled a long way on the quiet mountain.
Goldof was looking in the same direction. He’d noticed something was off, too. They hadn’t heard Mora’s echo for a while now, and no matter how Adlet called for Fremy, they didn’t get a single reply back. They hadn’t seen any trace of Tgurneu or other fiends, either.
Jogging along, they came upon the body of a leopard-fiend, Fremy’s bullet lodged in its head. When Adlet touched the body, he found it was cold.
“This really is weird. What Mora’s been
