Having defeated the two contestants who had advanced in the Advent Festival, I quietly exhaled.
『Stop dancing.』
No, well... hear me out.
I hadn't been able to do my daily routine of blasting myself with Gate spells yesterday.
I had been itching for it, and then out of nowhere an Earth Gate came flying straight at me... so I got all excited and ended up dancing.
『We made a huge scene....Let's finish this.』
Right. That Gate caused way too much of a commotion. If we dawdled any longer, the Holy Knights might come running.
Approaching the two unconscious men, I activated Full Drain.
Zest's black blade swallowed up the two seeds.
I felt a little bad about handling them so roughly... but if things had been left as they were, an even nastier fate probably awaited them, so hopefully they'd forgive me.
『What should we do with the seeds we absorbed?』
What indeed...
Doesn't seem like there's any need to pass them off to Reiji this time. Can't you just spit them out? Like, ptooey.
『Do not speak of me as if I were a cat or dog....This is a peculiar power, after all. Rather than regurgitating it carelessly, it may be wiser to keep it in storage.』
Let's do that, then.
Maybe a use for them will present itself eventually.
Still, a use...
A use, huh...
『Does something trouble you?』
Yeah.
Hey, what do you think the Order is actually trying to accomplish?
Using Master Eye, I was able to verify that a massive swarm of Angel Apostles would erupt during the festival's finals.
But what's their goal?
『...Now that you mention it, it is perplexing. It hardly seems like a petty fit of spite like Logen's, so indiscriminate destruction seems unlikely.』
For mere venting of frustration, the groundwork was far too elaborate.
On the other hand, if their sole aim was simply to create more Apostles, there would be no reason to sprout the seeds all at once....Or rather, they wouldn't choose the Advent Festival venue in the first place.
『Indeed. After all, they would be setting Apostles loose in a venue deliberately packed with skilled combatants. The risk of being suppressed is at its highest.』
If they wanted to expand their ranks, they'd do it far more covertly...
Wait... or could getting suppressed be the entire point?
『...I see. A diversion.』
Perhaps because of how often we conversed in our heads, Zest caught on to my train of thought instantly.
The timing of the Apostles blooming en masse was the finals of the Advent Festival... in other words, the exact moment the stadium would be packed with the dense crowd.
If there was any advantage to letting Apostles run amok there, it was purely that they could drag a massive number of people into the chaos. Could that alone be the objective? It wouldn't even matter if they got suppressed. If we looked at it as a stalling tactic meant to pin down a vast multitude in that single location...
『The logic holds. Though that may not be the whole story.』
Hmm... a deeper conspiracy seemed to be swirling beneath the surface than I'd anticipated.
If that was merely a diversion, just how terrifying was the Order's true objective?
I didn't really want to think about it.
...At times like this, it sure would be nice to have some kind of collaborator who could act as an informant.
Preferably someone nestled in the heart of this country's government.
Was it a mistake to put Yuri and Lumia on guard against me? No, but that had been unavoidable...
『Wait. Someone is coming.』
Multiple sets of footsteps approached from deep down the alley.
I could hear the clanking of armor. That was... Holy Knights on patrol.
"You there! Identify yourself!"
I recognized those Holy Knights.
They were the rookies I had knocked out shortly after arriving in this city.
...Sorry about this, boys.
I was in disguise anyway, so there was no need to hold back.
Letting jet-black magic power erupt from my entire body, I slammed it into the Holy Knights.
"Guh...?!"
"A-ah...!"
Before they could even draw their swords, the Holy Knights collapsed to the ground one after another.
Overwhelming the enemy with sheer magical pressure alone instantly rendered them helpless.
I liked this trick.
Against small fry, it settled things in a flash.
When I first confronted the Chimera and Luxion, an indescribably foul sensation had clung to my entire body. I had been wondering if I could recreate that intentionally and blast an opponent with it.
『Come to think of it, Reiji did something similar right as his match began.』
Right. I saw it from the stands too.
For someone as softhearted as Reiji to intimidate an opponent like that... I didn't think it was a tactic he'd normally care for.
『When one repeatedly brushes with death, such techniques naturally take root.』
Hmm.
It'd be nice if that "brush with death" happened to be me, though.
『I believe it was.』
Wait, really?
『Few could withstand your murderous intent when you are truly serious. Like a blade forged from concentrated terror and sinister malice... Hm. If I were to name it, the Surge of Murderous Intent... no, the Blade of Murderous Intent...』
Zest...
I knew it... The shape and color of that sword definitely took after you, didn't it...?
『Hm? This magic power...』
Someone had triggered the small-scale detection field Zest had kept active just in case.
Through the Holy Sword, the magical presence of the approaching figures transmitted directly into my mind.
This is...
Gah?!
It's Celestia and Eileen!!
『Shall we flee?』
Of course we are!!
Just remember what I did to those two!!
One is the woman whose engagement I unilaterally broke off, and the other is the woman I locked up in a basement by force!!
They'll kill me...
They're gonna kill meeeeeeeee!!
Quickly deploying Dark Arma, I bolted from the scene at full speed.