Chapter 261 – Sacrifice

Fire.

Flames.

Everything’s engulfed in fire and smoke.

Everything is red.

Is this… hell?

The next moment I opened my eyes, I was instantly taken aback.

From the surroundings I could make out, this seemed to be inside the Cielle royal castle, judging by its distinctive architectural features.

Only… everything was engulfed in fire.

“This… they really wrote this off as a small fire incident? How?”

That was the first thought that crossed my mind.

Then, logic kicked in.

“Now that I think about it, there’s one building inside the castle that was recently renovated. Could this be that building?” I muttered.

A fire in just one building of the castle could still be categorized as a small fire, I suppose.

After all, the castle complex housed many buildings.

“But this… can a mere accident cause something like this?” I asked Fenrir as I took a closer look around.

Other than flames, there seemed to be victims here and there, whose injuries didn’t seem like they were caused by fire alone. Rather, it seemed as though they had been attacked.

Fenrir simply nodded.

Then…

“Princess!! Princess!!” 

A distorted voice echoed before a figure emerged—more prominent and eye-catching than the others—running through the inferno.

Not fleeing from it, but charging against the flow.

While the other figures scrambled toward the exits, this one moved resolutely in the opposite direction.

Though I couldn’t see her clearly or hear her voice distinctly, just as I could only perceive silhouettes and warped outlines for everyone else…. I somehow knew this was the one whose mind I had entered.

I couldn’t explain how I knew.

It wasn’t her appearance or voice. Everyone here was nothing more than a swaying, distorted silhouette.

If I had to describe it, it felt like a pull… an unshakable certainty deep in my chest, as if her fear and desperation were resonating directly within me.

Is it because I’m inside her mind that I can sense what she’s feeling?

“Is that… Maiara-san? Why can’t I see anyone clearly, including her? They look distorted, like… figures from a nightmare,” I decided to ask Fenrir for a confirmation.

I remembered being inside others’ minds and could see other figures clearly. But this time, I was relying on my feelings to pinpoint which one Maiara was. 

Heck, even the fire and the surroundings seemed like they were swaying!

As if I was in some sort of a distorted world.

“Listen carefully, Lyra,” Fenrir said. “There are many reasons a subconscious world can appear like this.”

“…!” Lesson time? So it’s not that out-of-ordinary for things to look like this?

“First, different races possess different levels of mental protection. Elves, in particular, have stronger mental defense than humans or mixed races. Since we are intruding into her mind, an elf with high affinity for Light magic can instinctively ‘encrypt’ their memories like this.”

I nodded.

“Second, personal disposition matters. Some people naturally guard their minds more fiercely. This often correlates with memories they wish to conceal.”

That fits Maiara-san well…

“Third, the clarity of memory itself may be compromised, be it due to trauma, the mind’s coping mechanisms, curses, injuries, disabilities… many factors.”

I absorbed his explanation quietly.

Let see… in Maiara-san’s case…

First, she’s an elf, alright.

Second, she seems to be a wary person, so it’s not easy.

Third, there’s her curse, maybe her memories of the event were unclear due to trauma or her inhaling too much smoke or having injuries, and… disability? 

I remembered Maiara-san’s thin grey-colored pupils that seemed like the color’s fading away in an unnatural way. I had thought that she was partially blind… but the question was whether this was due to her curse or she’s had it all her life?

“Princess!! Where are you?! Answer me!!” 

Her voice grew more desperate, stabbing painfully at my heart.

Princess?

Is she looking for Oriel?

My heart began to race.

Could I finally find the answer I had been searching for?

The figure that we identified as Maiara frantically looked around, checking every door to see what was inside. 

Searching for someone in this chaos must have been unbearable…

At last, she opened one door and froze. Her body seemed to jolt a bit in surprise, before she rushed inside.

We were dragged along with her movement, confirming beyond doubt that this was Maiara.

Inside, there seemed to be two standing figures and one figure who was lying flat on the ground, helpless.

Maiara’s attention locked onto the fallen figure right away, ignoring the others, and a crushing pain surged through my chest.

“Princ–”

She stopped herself mid-word, holding her breath as one of the standing figures moved closer to the unconscious person.

For a fleeting moment, relief washed through her.

Perhaps she recognized that figure.

“Pilvi…” 

Her voice was barely audible. 

Then, it was as if her heart was being shred to pieces.

When I looked back at the scene, I was clear of one thing: the approaching figure wasn’t casting a protective or healing magic, they were casting an offensive magic!!

“What are you doing?!” Maiara cried, throwing herself between the attacker and the unconscious figure.

“…!!” The person seemed to not expect Maiara to be there, for the magic that she was casting got instantly cancelled, her surprise clearly apparent. 

“R-Ria? Why are you here?” the figure stammered. “Relax, I was trying to help her–”

“No!” Maiara shouted. “I saw it clearly! You were trying to harm her! Why?! Why, Pilvi?!”

Her voice trembled violently.

She was crying.

“I know you’ll hate me for this,” Pilvi replied, “but I had no other choice.”

“No… Forget it,” Maiara muttered, clutching her head as emotion surged violently.

“There is no explanation. Nothing justifies harming her.”

“You were blinded,” Pilvi said softly. “I was only trying to help you, just as always.”

“What? What do you mean? I don’t understand, Pilvi… You were always… in front of me… What do you mean, you were trying to help me? She is my princess!!! Harming her is the same as harming me!!” Maiara screamed in agony.

“Listen, I have no excuse for that and I understand if you will hate me, but I have no other choice. I just want people to understand how foolish the idea that you and your princess are pushing…”

“What?! You never told me that you disagreed with the idea! You even agreed! It doesn’t make any sense! Stop making excuses that don’t make sense… I trusted you the most and even disregarded my right-hand partner’s warning as a misunderstanding… you… you told me that my right-hand partner wasn’t someone to be trusted, yet I see now that you’re more untrustworthy than her!!” 

“What?! How dare you, when you yourself have failed me so much? You didn’t attend my inauguration… it was such an important occasion for me!”

“…!! You also know how I was struggling a lot during that time… and yet…? You want to make comparisons now? How can you compare my absence to your occasion with your attempt in harming my princess, the one that I treasure more than my own life?!” 

The Maiara that was ever so calm, was now shouting like a mad woman… it was clear how emotional she was at this moment.

“Just… just… uncover your facade already. Pilvi. You… you’ve been deceiving me, haven’t you? So… so what those people told me about you… they’re true. I thought they were trying to slander you… I am the one who blindly trusted you and… and this… happened… Wait… don’t tell me that this was all your…?!”

I couldn’t tell what Maiara looked like, but I evidently could feel the wringing pain in my chest, as if it’s my own. Sadness, anger, feeling betrayed, disbelief, and guilt… 

The figure addressed as ‘Pilvi’ then let out a maniacal laugh.

“Now that the cat’s out of the bag, I no longer need to pretend anymore. Yes… yes, I hate you! With all my heart. And I’ll do anything to rob you of happiness! Oh, my poor girl… I wish I could have kept this longer, so I can watch your despair closer than anyone else. You were so gullible… and trusted me, adored me like a sister. If only you didn’t come here, you would still be my most ‘beloved’ gullible little sister, right?” 

“…kh!” Maiara seemed frustrated, as if it was true that she wouldn’t suspect anything if only she hadn’t seen it herself.

“So, today’s gathering… for this fire to happen, and my… did you… did you plan everything? Answer me…,” Maiara’s voice was trembling.

“Yeah. It’s so easy to plan everything when you have a trusted confider, don’t you think? Knowing the inside information faster than the others, and more detailed than others make it easier to plan things. You brought this upon yourself, Ria.”

“Stop! Don’t call me with that pet name! You don’t deserve to call me by that name!” Maiara shouted in anger.

Pilvi laughed again before saying, “Oh well. Let’s not prolong this. Time to end this. For you, Ria, I shall reward you with the most agonizing death, where your cells are crushed!” 

The figure addressed as Pilvi seemed to have gestured something to a mysterious hooded figure who was silently observing everything from behind them.

In that moment, the figure next to her glowed a very ominous glow, the ground around them shook.

“Die!” The moment Pilvi shouted, the figure next to her unleashed the ominous energy straight at Maiara’s direction. 

“Nooo!!” 

At that moment, Maiara’s reflex wasn’t to run away from the attack, but she ran towards the figure lying behind her, shielding the figure in a very protective manner, using her body. She closed her eyes, braving for the painful attack that would come.

She knew that not running away would mean that the attack would go straight at her. Yet, if she were to move, she would survive, but the attack would inevitably hit the unconscious person just right behind her.

In that moment, she chose to sacrifice herself than to let the person behind her be harmed any further. 

“Aaaarghhh!!”

The attack hit Maiara’s body, but she didn’t move from her position, as if forsaking everything to protect the figure behind her.

“NOO!!” 

It was at that moment, another figure bolted and embraced Maiara, shielding her from the rest of the curse’s attack.

With the attack being absorbed by two figures, it seemed like the damage wasn’t as severe as it was intended for one person.

“M-Mother?!” Maiara felt that the attack got lighter and opened her eyes to see the figure that was shielding her from the attack. And her surprise quickly got overridden by concern. 

“Don’t worry… Your mother’s strong,” Maiara’s mother said as she endured the attack.

“No, no! Why are there too many intruders?! I even changed the plan from taking the princess’ life to Ria’s, but… Hey! Can we power up the curse to kill the two of them?!” 

Pilvi gnashed her teeth in frustration since her plan B got thwarted, then she turned to look at the figure in the hood that was silently maintaining the curse.

“Sure, but the price you need to pay will be…,” The hooded person ruminated.

“I don’t care! I am willing to pay any price!! So, just do it!!” Pilvi shouted in her rage. 

“Got it,” The hooded person seemed to mumble something, and the curse seemed to have turned more ominous. 

“…Aaaarghhh!” Maiara’s mother screamed upon receiving the curse that was powered up.

Maiara also felt pain all over her body, as it forced her to lose her consciousness, yet she tried her best to hold on. 

“M-mother…”

“Don’t worry, child. Mother will protect you…”

Seeing the pitiful state of the mother and daughter pair in front of her, with the curse seeming to be manifesting stronger, Pilvi laughed in satisfaction.

But then…

She felt that her life force was leaking out!

“W-what’s going on?!” Pilvi asked, demanding an answer.

“You told me you’ll pay any price. I am merely doing that. A life for a curse strong enough to take two lives seemed like a good deal, no?” the caster said.

“Y-you never told me this!!” Pilvi regretfully shouted in protest, but it was too late. Her body grew limp, with ominous black energy leaking out from her body, powering up the curse even further.

“F-Fenrir, that’s…!” I gasped in surprise.

“…So, that’s how the ancient curse was cast. The caster sacrificed her. That’s the price of her request, it seemed. She’s also foolish, not clarifying what the price might be… That’s why, it’s not good to be blinded by hatred and greed,” Fenrir shook his head.

“Then, they are not?” I pointed at Pilvi and the hooded person.

“It seems to me that they are not really in allegiance with each other. Perhaps they’re only using each other for their own purposes,” Fenrir concluded.

“…Meol ontendan ðæt geondscînan dimscûam¯æst ferhð, yfel besêcan êower, dîlegian tôhwonuns¯æd toealdgeweorc â! yfel timbran mîn hwâ! wiglian lêohte!!”

(O light that illuminates darkness in the world, I beseech you, destroy this evil seed from the world! I offer my everything! Divine light!)

While bracing themselves against the malicious curse, the figure who protected Maiara suddenly chanted with a weak voice, yet her tone firm.

That’s… a very powerful light magic!!

I widened my eyes in surprise as I recognized what the spell was. 

It was very powerful, but it could possibly drain all mana from your body. One would either be unable to use magic anymore, or at worst, they would lose their life. 

“…Perhaps that figure knows. That they will die from the attack. So, they decided to unleash such powerful magic, knowing they can bring the enemy down with them,” Fenrir commented.

And sure enough, the powerful light magic hit the spellcaster, fatally injuring them.

Because the spellcaster was dead, the curse attack should have disappeared as well.

However, perhaps because they fueled it with a live sacrifice, an elf on top of that, so the curse attack still continued…

Maiara and the figure protecting her fell to the ground. 

Perhaps due to the impact, Maiara opened her eyes, amidst the curse progressing–with the inscription-like markings continuing to writhe all around her body.

“M-mother?!” Maiara gasped loudly, calling out to her mother.

But the figure protecting her was lifeless already…

“No, Mother, Mother… No…” Tears fell from her eyes, but she grew weaker and blackened out there.