As Goldof pondered, he heard lightning strikes far away. The sounds were coming from the pit where Chamo was. “…Dozzu, I guess.” He recalled that Tgurneu had ordered Dozzu to keep Hans busy. Dozzu must have wanted to rescue Nashetania, but Goldof couldn’t rely on its help if it couldn’t oppose Tgurneu.
“…”
Again Goldof reflected on the whole fight from the beginning, Nashetania’s information, and Dozzu’s. So Tgurneu’s been watching Dozzu, and Dozzu’s to do what Tgurneu says. But has Dozzu done nothing at all to help Her Highness?
No, that couldn’t be. Dozzu must have done something to ensure that Goldof could help Nashetania. It must have given him a clue indirectly to escape Tgurneu’s notice. That was what Goldof would have done if he were in Dozzu’s position.
Again Goldof examined each and every thing Dozzu had done, one by one. Out of every action it had taken, Goldof remembered just one thing it had said that seemed off. It had been right as the fake Nashetania was fighting the Braves, immediately before she activated the blade gem inside Chamo’s stomach.
“Goldof, how many times have you fought her now?”
The sudden question had confused Goldof. When Goldof had replied that it was the second time, for some reason Dozzu had given him an uneasy look. Next it had asked if Nashetania had ever escaped him.
Why had Dozzu inquired about that? Nashetania was captive. The previous times he’d fought her shouldn’t be important. And furthermore, what did her escaping him before have to do with it?
Goldof thought further. Had Dozzu done anything else unnatural? Goldof didn’t only consider what Dozzu had said—he even called to mind its slight changes of expression and eye movements. He recalled that for some reason the look on Dozzu’s face had changed a few times. That had been before Goldof fought Adlet to save the fake Nashetania.
“Dozzu…that stealth power…she has… If you focus on looking…and hurt yourself…you can see through it…right?”
When Goldof had said that, Dozzu’s expression had changed. It had given Goldof a brief, pensive look and eventually replied, “That’s exactly right. You do know. That’s good; it saves me the trouble of explaining.”
“…It couldn’t be…”
What Dozzu had been trying to confirm was that Goldof knew about the stealth ability. Upon finding out that Goldof knew how to see through it, its expression had changed to one of relief. The fiend’s attitude had been superficially curt, but it had clearly been glad.
That power of concealment. Was that how the captor was hiding?
When he realized that, it hit him. Fremy had said before that when a fiend used the stealth ability, a sweet scent would hang in the air around it. Goldof now understood why Tgurneu had chosen this hot spot as their battlefield. The smell of sulfur hung over the whole area. A few minutes there and your nose went numb. Tgurneu had elected to carry out his scheme here in order to disguise the smell of the stealth ability.
“…I’ve got it,” muttered Goldof, seeing a faint light in the darkness. He had figured out the true nature of the enemy’s powers.
Goldof sprinted around the outer circumference of the area of effect, keeping out of sight. He was in danger of being discovered by the other Braves, but he couldn’t afford to worry about that anymore.
Fremy’s bombs had drastically transformed the landscape. Even from outside the area of effect, Goldof could get a glimpse of the situation within.
“…Hmm…” Goldof found Adlet about five hundred meters away, squatting down, head lowered in thought. It was unlikely that he’d notice Goldof, but it would still be dangerous to get too close. Goldof stopped and backtracked.
He was certain now that there was a fiend with a stealth talent somewhere within the gem’s area of effect, and inside its stomach was Nashetania. Adlet had said that the ability was a kind of hypnosis. Fremy also explained that a fiend would scatter a special chemical while emitting a sound that human ears couldn’t detect. And Goldof knew the way to see through it. He could weaken the effect of the hypnosis by causing severe pain to himself. Then, if he concentrated his mind and focused his eyes, he’d be able to see the fiend.
How was the fiend staying hidden when this power generally only lasted for just over ten seconds? Goldof didn’t have an answer. But if Nashetania’s captor was using the same technique, he should be able to defeat it the same way.
“Ngh!” Running, Goldof stuck a finger under one of his nails and pried it hard until it split. The pain should weaken the hypnosis’s hold over him. He braved the discomfort and focused his eyes. But in the expanse of the lava field, nothing became visible. Not here, then? Goldof thought. He tried another location and tore off the broken nail. He peered hard once again, but still, he didn’t find anything. “…Damn it!”
The sounds of Fremy’s bombs had already halted. She’d probably given up searching underground and was on the lookout for some other clue.
He had to find Nashetania before the others did. But even after he combed through the entire circle and broke every nail on his hands, he couldn’t find anything. Had his deductions been wrong? Was pain not enough to see through the stealth ability? Maybe there something else he needed in order to find Nashetania? He had less than thirty minutes left. Panic was clouding his thoughts, and irritation weakened his concentration.
Visibility in the
