Chapter 184: The True Aim
{TL: By Creed}
{For those who haven't read c183, can read it by clicking this}
"Oh, wow, wow. It's getting absolutely chaotic, huh?"
In the center of Blue Island stood a church.
At its very peak sat Lena.
She perched skillfully on the roof’s highest point, gazing down at the entire town.
Screams rang out from various parts of the city.
Upon closer inspection, the very knights who were supposed to protect the town were rampaging.
Their eyes were bloodshot, their sanity lost, as they relentlessly attacked anything in sight.
The cause of their madness was the cursed swords.
Though they contained a certain amount of power, they were flawed copies—within a week, they would drive their wielder insane.
And it was Lena who had scattered those swords all across the town.
She sold them to the knights.
She sold them to adventurers.
She even sold them to civilians, claiming they were for self-defense.
As a result, many people in Blue Island came into possession of the cursed swords...
One by one, their minds broke, and they began their rampages.
Knights, who should have upheld order, turned on the people.
Parents attacked their children.
Strangers fought as if they were lifelong enemies.
Blue Island had become a living purgatory.
"Hmm, this turned out even better than I expected."
Faced with such a horrifying sight, Lena, however, looked satisfied.
And of course she did.
After all, it was she who had orchestrated this disaster from the shadows.
"Ahh, I worked so hard for this! I spent days sneaking around, handing out those cursed swords just to bring down Blue Island’s order. Ugh, it was such a tedious and boring job, but... looks like it paid off, huh?"
As she took in the nightmarish scene before her, Lena smiled.
A smile full of satisfaction.
It was a beautiful, angelic smile...
Yet, deep within it, a dark and sinister flame burned.
"…Everything seems to be going according to plan."
"Oh, Riken! Hey there!"
She turned to see a man—a fellow conspirator, Riken, an older gentleman.
Though he had appeared without a sound, Lena didn’t seem concerned.
She wasn’t surprised.
For him, such feats were second nature.
"I was a little worried, but it looks like you've done well."
"Of course! Wait, were you doubting me? That’s kinda rude, you know? I always get things done when it matters."
"I know that. But you do tend to mix a bit of playfulness into your plans. Like in Leafland."
"If you're talking about Fate, that wasn’t playing around. I was serious."
"Good grief..."
Riken sighed but decided to change the subject.
Ideally, he would have liked to set Lena straight regarding Fate.
He would have preferred for her to discard such strange emotions and simply eliminate the target.
However, he had known her long enough to realize—she was serious about this.
And if he carelessly dismissed her feelings, he might be the one getting cut down instead.
"Everything seems to be going smoothly, but is the plan in its final stages?"
"Pretty much. As you can see, Blue Island’s order is in ruins. The negative emotions are building up, more and more and more... Yeah, it's getting quite intense."
Lena smiled as she looked down at the chaos.
"With things like this, I should be able to break the seal, right?"
"Collapse the city’s order, gather the negative energy, and use it as a weapon to shatter the seal... Hmm. When I first heard the plan, I thought it was a reckless gamble. But now... I must say, I'm impressed. It’s working better than expected."
"Heh heh! I told you, didn’t I? When I do something, I do it right!"
Lena puffed out her chest, proudly beaming.
She had thrown an entire city into chaos.
Countless people had been wounded.
Yet, as she beheld the destruction, she smiled—proud and pleased.
Because that was the kind of girl Lena was.
"Well then... I guess it's about time to wrap things up?"
"Where are you going?"
"Like I said, to wrap things up. If we leave things as they are, the seal will probably collapse on its own... But, you see, I'm not very good at waiting."
"Are you going to destroy the seal?"
"Exactly. In this situation, I think I can take action now. If I remember correctly… the seal is divided across four churches, right?"
"That's right."
"Ugh, four of them, huh? What a hassle. I mean, I'm strong, but I still only have one body. Ugh, such a pain."
"…Sigh."
Riken let out an exasperated sigh.
"I’ll help."
"Really!? For real?"
"You were expecting me to say that, don’t act so surprised."
"Hehe, sorry, sorry. But I really do appreciate it. Like I said before, I only have one body. Running around to four different locations is a pain, and they might come up with countermeasures in the meantime."
"There won’t be any countermeasures. The people of this city… humans are foolish. They don’t remember the past. No one even knows about the church’s seals anymore."
"That’d be nice, but..."
Lena gazed down at the city.
Then, she smirked.
"But, there is an enemy."
"What do you mean?"
"There's a Sword Saint. They'll probably try to interfere."
"…You should’ve mentioned something that important earlier."
"Surprise?"
"That’s not the kind of surprise I want."
Once again, Riken let out a heavy sigh.
TL Note: I want to jump to Sofia-Fate Ship now.....
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