Kapitel 21: Chapter 20: Uneasiness
Phew, that was close!
Layla had been on the verge of getting hit, so I'd decided to step in. I'd managed to destroy the headmaster's sword just in the nick of time.
I'd already freaked out when I saw Aina about to hurt herself, and now Layla'd almost lost her head!
I'm really not into gore! Pretty girls should stay alive and well, thank you very much. And Scotterbrain, who told you to stop fighting? Pull yourself together!
"Lady...Ellize... I-Is what he said...?" Layla asked.
"It's all true," I answered, tensing up a little. "After the saint kills the witch, she'll take her place. In turn, another saint will be born. This endless cycle will not be broken as long as the saints continue fighting."
"Endless cycle." I'm using pretty cool words, aren't I? I'm a fake, so I'm not actually involved in the whole cycle thing, though. If I do kill the witch, I'll break the loop.
"Ellize... I understand why people call you the greatest in history. To think anyone could cut through my blade so easily... I see your reputation has not been exaggerated."
Why, thanks! It's an honor to receive praise from an expert such as yourself! I'll still beat the shit out of you, though. How dare you bully my little Scotterbrain, huh? Wanna die, huh?! You and your pretentious old-timey-gentleman mustache!
"Tell me, Ellize, why do you fight if you know the sad truth? Nothing but tragedy awaits you at the end of your path."
Huh? What? Is he trying to deal psychological damage to me now that he's done with Layla? If we're going for a battle of wit, I'm happy to partake. Bring it on, old man! I'll have you know I've won my fair share of Tw*tter arguments! I'll make you regret picking on my dear Scotterbrain!
"I'm fighting because you want me to."
"What?"
Ignore the actual point of the argument and go straight for an ad hominem attack! That's how you do it! It's all your fault, bro!
While I was at it, I figured I might as well ask him about some stuff that had puzzled me when I'd played the game.
"Let me ask you something—why did you continue working here? You say you want to protect the witch, but you've helped nurture dozens of knights. It's bound to make her situation more difficult. You haven't done anything to lower the quality of the education the young men and women receive in this school. Instead, you've helped talented individuals, such as Layla, come into their own."
I'd always wanted to ask the writers of the game about that. It made absolutely no sense to me. As a supporter of the witch, why not do everything in your power to sabotage the school from the inside? There had to be hundreds of ways to lower the quality of the classes and slow the progress of promising students.
And yet, Dias hadn't done any of that. Powerful knights continued to graduate every year to join the fight against the witch.
He's a dumbass, isn't he? It's like he's literally asking to lose.
"You want to protect the witch, that much is true," I continued. "But at the same time, you hate to watch Lady Alexia lose herself to the darkness. You hate it all the more because you truly love her. Am I wrong, headmaster Dias?"
Would you look at that? Cat got your tongue? Did I get it right? Is that it? C'mon, say something, old geezer!
"You may be right... Lady Alexia...isn't herself anymore. I may have wanted someone to stop us, because she wouldn't have wished for all this. Deep inside, I always knew it."
Right on the money! Maybe I should've become a detective. I'm pretty good at this, ain't I? Always determining the one truth with the body of a saint and the mind of a piece of shit. Her name is— No, wait, that's a terrible catchphrase... Huh. Guess I'm not cut out to be a detective.
"I hadn't realized it, but I suppose that—in some corner of my heart—I must have always believed it'd be better for her if the next saint stopped her... I never wanted to see her like this, terrorizing and killing mindlessly..." Dias continued.
He's become quite honest. I suppose that settles things here, though. We want to stop the witch, and you want us to stop her so that she'll be liberated from the curse. We've got the same goal here! There's no need to fight anymore!
"Then—" I started.
"However!" he cut me off immediately.
Hey, don't start yelling all of a sudden! You startled me!
"I cannot allow you to kill her. I know that being defeated by another saint might be the best outcome for Lady Alexia, but...it cannot be you!"
So other people can do whatever they want, but I can't? That's kinda mean, you know?! Actually, it's discrimination, mister. Why am I being excluded? Discrimination isn't okay!
"I know I've betrayed humanity once, but I still think of myself as a knight," he started explaining. "I cannot knowingly send humanity to its downfall. Ellize... You're known as the greatest saint in history. In my heart, that spot will always belong to Lady Alexia, but I can understand why people would praise you so. You are indeed...powerful," he said, looking down at what was left of his sword.
He used lightning to recreate the missing part of his sword, turning it into a complete weapon once more.
Man, that was COOL!!!
I immediately thought of a few taunts—I mean, in what world was he going to be able to touch me, even with that—but I had to admit, he was pretty damn cool.
"But that's exactly why you cannot be allowed to kill Lady Alexia. If you do, you'll become the next witch...and no one will be able to stop you. You'll murder the next saint, and the one after her... Never again will anyone strong enough to face you appear in this world. Humanity will be doomed. Even if you don't believe you could ever do evil, you will! When you become the witch, your mind will be tainted! You cannot be allowed to turn into a witch!"
All riiiight. I see where you're coming from now.
He didn't know the truth about me, so it made sense for him to reach that conclusion.
He tried to attack me, but I stopped his lightning blade with my bare hand. I pressed my other hand on his chest.
And...BOOM!
I unleashed my magic, and he was sent flying back until he hit the wall.
"Ar...gh... You're...too strong. You'll lead the world...to its end..." he muttered, struggling to speak as he leaned against the wall.
There was no coming back from this attack; he wouldn't stand up again. He'd be sent to a holding cell soon until he could be judged. For some reason, though, that thought made me a little sad.
Meh. He's going to be sent to jail anyway, so what's the harm in putting his mind at ease?
I had no interest in hugging old men, though, so I had no intention to show him kindness in the same way I had for Aina.
"Don't worry. I won't lead this world to doom. I won't turn into a witch."
"Foolish girl... Fate doesn't care about your wishes. No matter how badly...you want to do good, saints always turn into witches. When you become the witch, you'll eventually succumb to the curse...no matter how hard you try to fight it. Just like...Lady Alexia..."
He was gasping for air after every few words, but he stubbornly clung on, refusing to lose consciousness.
At the end of the day, the old man was still an outstanding knight. Even though he knew there was no way he could defeat me, he was still desperate to protect this world.
I walked up to him and whispered as quietly as I could, making sure that only he could hear, "The real saint is that girl over there, Eterna. I was mistaken for her at birth. I'm nothing but a fake. You'll keep my secret, right?"
"What?!" Dias exclaimed, staring at me in disbelief. "How is this possible?! No... I can't believe it! How could the greatest saint in history be..."
It looked like he didn't quite believe me, so I showed him my palm—the one I'd used to catch his lightning sword a few minutes before. I'd used magic to protect myself, but the old man was pretty damn strong. Granted, I hadn't used my barrier—I wanted to avoid killing him on the spot and all. Still, he'd burned my hand a little.
The saint couldn't be hurt by anyone but herself or the witch. Dias knew that full well, so I trusted he'd understand.
"I've already found a way to defeat the witch even without the powers of the saint," I whispered, showing him my best saintly smile. "Even if I kill Lady Alexia, I won't become a witch. I'm a fake, after all."
Dias stared at me absentmindedly for a while before bursting out laughing.
"HA HA! HA HA HA HA! I can't believe this! You're incredible, Ellize. Truly, you're quite something! Perhaps you'll finally bring about the change we desperately need and break this hateful cycle..."
I'd never heard someone laugh so joyfully before.
Eventually, he collapsed, out of strength.
Hey! Don't collapse now! I didn't get close enough to whisper in your ear so you'd fall on me! What am I supposed to do with your head on my lap, huh?! Urgh. I'm not your pillow. Get out of the way, old geezer!
"May I...make a request?" he asked.
"What is it?"
I'll do whatever you want, so for goodness' sake, get off me!
"If... If it's at all possible...please save Lady Alexia. I know I'm asking for the impossible, but...I can't help but feel like you might be able to pull it off," he pleaded.
With that, he passed out, his damn head still on my lap.
You're heavy! Move!
I couldn't believe he had the guts to conk out on me after making such a ridiculous request.
You're overestimating me, old man! Why do I have to save the witch?! It's not even doable in the first place! Unless... Oh, it might not be completely impossible.
◇
The headmaster's supporters were all seized and taken in by the knights that had hurried to the training room to help the saint.
Aina and the other students and teachers who'd been misled by the headmaster had been taken in for good measure too, but they were quickly released after giving their testimony.
While everything had gone according to plan, Verner and his friends were gloomy as they dragged themselves back to their dorm. They couldn't stop thinking about the terrible secret they'd uncovered today.
Witches were all former saints. A saint would turn into the next witch after defeating the current one.
Verner and his friends were already quite shocked, but the adults—Layla and Supple—had an even harder time coping with the news.
Layla had been born twenty years ago, during the hard-won window of peace earned by Lady Alexia. A mere three years after her birth, seventeen years ago, the new witch had been born—or rather, Lady Alexia had fully become the witch. The fleeting peace had come to an end immediately, but Layla still remembered her early childhood fondly. Those years had helped her grow into the person she was today.
As for Supple, he'd been born during a difficult period twenty-five years ago. Lady Alexia had yet to defeat the previous witch back then, and the world was a living hell—as it had been for over forty years, ever since Alexia's predecessor had fallen to the witch without accomplishing her duty.
Living through those terrible times—although they had only lasted five short years—had given birth to that feeling of adoration he had for the saint. While he was now a devout supporter of Ellize, it was Lady Alexia—the one who'd brought back peace at that time—who had first sparked his pious feelings.
Learning that the saint they'd both admired so much had become the current witch wasn't easy to take in.
Seven years ago, Ellize—who'd been barely ten at the time—had started her work as the saint. She'd managed to create a world so peaceful that it almost seemed like there was no witch at all.
None of the previous saints had succeeded in giving humanity more than five years of peace. Now that they thought about it, it meant that no saint had succeeded in keeping the witch's curse at bay for any longer than five years. However, Ellize had already maintained the peace for seven years. And unlike the other saints, she'd done so while she was alive and well.
That fact alone was more than enough for anyone to see why she was called the greatest in history.
As Dias had suggested, though, being the world's greatest salvation also meant that she had the potential to become the world's greatest threat.
Saints turned into witches. If Ellize were to become the witch, no one would ever manage to defeat her—she was just too powerful. Even if new saints continued to be born, they'd fall to her one after the other, powerless to stop her. The world would fall into ruin, and people would die off until no one was left.
Verner understood all of this, but it left him feeling even more puzzled. Dias had done everything in his power to stop Ellize from going after Alexia for that very reason, so why had he laughed at the end?
Ellize had said something to him—something that had made him change his mind. He'd said she might break the cycle before passing out on her lap.
Supple had been fairly vocal about how jealous he was—and sure, Verner had felt the same—but that wasn't the point. He was too busy pondering about important things to dwell on his petty emotions.
Just what in the world could she have told Dias? What had she shown him? What had changed?
Verner didn't know.
He'd asked Ellize about it, but she'd simply dodged the question by saying it was a secret between the two of them. She must have had a very convincing argument for Dias to have changed his tune so quickly. And she'd shown him something too...something she'd had on her. What was it?
Only one thing was certain—with the headmaster and his minions out of the way, the witch had lost her eyes in the academy.
She was still lurking somewhere within the school grounds, but it was only a matter of time before they found her.
Supple had full control over the Stil's birds. He'd pretend to be the headmaster and continue to communicate with her so he could feed Ellize information about the witch instead. Then, they'd be able to attack her.
Ellize would definitely come out on top if they were to fight head-on, but then what?
If Ellize won...it would be the beginning of another tragedy—the greatest of them all.
Was this truly the path they ought to follow?
Perhaps the best option would be to stop Ellize from facing the witch altogether. After all, wouldn't it be better if she continued to keep the peace just like she had been up until now?
Although none of them could bring themselves to voice such questions out loud, they endlessly turned it over and over again in their heads.
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Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
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