“At the very least, the Nashetania we fought was the real one—she used the power of blades and activated Chamo’s blade gem. But there’s no guarantee that one over there is the real thing.”
“Hans and I did lose sight of Nashetania,” said Fremy. “She had enough time to make the switch.”
“I understand,” said Rolonia. “So that’s what’s going on. But how can we tell which is the real one?”
“If we see her using the power of blades, we’ll know she’s the real one,” said Adlet. “We’ve also got another sure-fire way to know what she really is. Don’t we, Rolonia?”
“What do you mean?” Rolonia, behind him, tilted her head in thought.
So she hasn’t realized it?
The three of them sped up their chase after Nashetania. They were already only about thirty meters away from her and her pack of fiends. Still astride the wolf-fiend, she looked back at them. She was apparently expecting Fremy to shoot, so Adlet figured he could surprise her. What he needed to watch out for was Nashetania’s stealth ability—but he already knew how to counteract that, too.
“Let’s go!” Adlet yelled.
Instantly, Rolonia’s whip wound around him. She planted her feet and lifted him into the air. “Be careful, Addy!” she cried, throwing him. As he hurtled through the air, arcing down toward Nashetania’s wolf-fiend, he drew a small knife. Attached to the handle was a fine chain that wrapped around Adlet’s arm.
“Eek!” Nashetania blocked the knife with her left arm. As blood poured from her left wrist, a cute yelp escaped her. Dozens of blades sliced up from the ground toward Adlet as he flew. He blocked them with his sword and the iron plates fitted into his boots. The blades scored him with tiny cuts before he landed on the wolf-fiend’s back.
“Watch out, Adlet!” Fremy yelled. Nashetania stabbed at his throat. Adlet blocked her sword with an armored shoulder as he pulled out a secret tool—a tiny, poison-filled bottle. She smacked it away with her weapon, but Adlet had anticipated that she’d avoid it. The bottle was just a decoy, and the real attack came from his own sword.
“…Ngh!” Nashetania ducked. He was so close to knocking her off the fiend’s back. But then the wolf-fiend twisted, bucking Adlet off.
“This is our chance! We’ll take him out, all together!” Nashetania cried, holding her wounded left arm. Fiends surged toward where Adlet had fallen on the ground.
But Fremy fired off a round in his defense, and Rolonia wrapped her whip around his hand. Once he was holding on, Rolonia heaved him up with an “Up we go!” like she was reeling in a fish. Adlet kept the fiends at bay with a smoke bomb during his retreat.
“We bungled that one. Well, no matter. Let’s run!” Nashetania said to the fiends that were about to pursue Adlet. They obeyed her orders and guarded her as she fled.
“We blew it,” said Fremy.
Adlet had been left lying on the ground after Rolonia had reeled him in, and Fremy helped him up. They’d been so close, and Nashetania had gotten away, but it hadn’t been in vain. Adlet showed Rolonia his tiny, bloodstained knife. “Do your thing, Rolonia.”
“…Oh, that’s what you meant.”
He handed the knife to her and immediately set off again. They couldn’t lose sight of Nashetania and her entourage.
As they ran, Rolonia licked the blood off the knife blade. As the Saint of Spilled Blood, she possessed the ability to analyze blood by taste. Never slowing down, she rolled the liquid around in her mouth for a time.
“…So Rolonia?” Fremy asked.
“I’ve never tasted Nashetania’s blood before, but…this is from a female in her teens. A powerful Saint. It seems she’s exhausted, but generally in good health, and she’s had a very affluent lifestyle. I think it’s safe to say this is Nashetania’s blood.”
“So we’re chasing the real one, then, huh?” said Adlet. They were lagging behind again, about a hundred meters back. He could see that she was observing them closely from the wolf-fiend’s back. “Though we knew she was the real thing once she used the power of blades, anyway. But it’s good to be doubly sure.”
“Did you learn anything else, Rolonia?”
“Well…though this is human blood, it tastes like a fiend. It’s really abnormal. It’s mixed with the blood of a fiend with strong restorative capabilities…and the blood of another with great physical strength…and the blood of some fiend I can’t understand at all. I don’t have the slightest idea how such blood would come to exist.” Rolonia continued, panting.
“Great, Rolonia. Even that much is enough,” said Adlet, and he grinned. He didn’t know what Nashetania was plotting. But the real one was only a hundred meters away—they knew that for sure. They couldn’t let this opportunity slip from their grasp. “We’re gonna run as fast as we can to finish her off. Don’t let your guard down,” he said. Fremy’s eyes turned grim, and Rolonia swallowed.
Fremy fired a shot to slow the fiends down while Adlet tossed a grenade. Bit by bit, the pursuers neared their prey. The enemy forces numbered fewer now, too—the three of them would be more than a match for the fiends.
“Fremy, you and me are gonna blast them with every explosive we have,” said Adlet. “Then all three of us will charge in. You hold off the fiends. Rolonia, you use your whip to break Nashetania’s blades. Leave finishing her off to me. Got it?” Rolonia readied her whip while Fremy created bombs in her hands. Adlet pulled tools from pouches at his waist for his final preparations.
“Please, come on! Can’t you run any faster?!” Nashetania cried, smacking the rear of the wolf-fiend under her. Was her panic an act, or was it real? Adlet couldn’t tell.
“Once she’s over that mountain, go for her.” But right as the words left his mouth, something flew toward them from a long way away. He heard it ripping through the
