Polschk returned to the air with his head held high. If felt as though he was the one who was in charge now, commanding even the Son of Heaven's followers.
"This doesn't feel good," Elliot whispered.
"The first phase of the war had begun," Polschk announced. "With the amount of mana we gathered thorough the crowd, we opened the chamber where the keys to the Twilight Bless lie."
The old man raised his right hand, seemingly gesturing a signal, "Prepare the Arch Mage!"
Elliot's gaze found themselves looking at Alice's guild. His eyes widened after seeing them panick, talking amongst themselves while so were still in a state of shock.
"T-They know about Alice?" Elliot asked Elizabeth. The woman had a look of surprise for a split second before she hid it with a stoic expression and a nod.
"Co with ," Elizabeth whispered, walking up to the king. "Excuse , your majesty. Elliot and I have sothing to discuss privately."
King Leon curled his eyebrow but nodded. He returned his attention to Polschk who was now chanting unfamiliar words.
Elliot followed the woman who went to the exit of the balcony. When they arrived at the back of the bleachers where the main hallway was at, Elizabeth pulled Elliot by the collar and slamd him on the wall.
Elizabeth, though short for an average Adventurer was still a few inches taller than Elliot. She was lifting Elliot with brute force, the boy trying hard to reach his toes on the floor but kept on failing.
"How much do you know?" Elizabeth asked. "Why do you know about the Arch Mage?"
"C-Calm down," Elliot stuttered. The aura the woman was exuding was far greater than he expected.
Calling him her equal looked ridiculous now that he was facing her. Elizabeth wasn't showing her true powers when she was facing other people, but now that Elliot could see how powerful the woman's aura was, he could now tell why she was the top Adventurer.
"I-I'm on your side," Elliot managed to say. "Polschk is starting to sound and act suspicious, so I went digging for information on my own."
The mont he was finished, the grip on his collar was loosened. Elizabeth sighed and smiled, "I'm sorry about that."
"No, it's okay," Elliot held his knees, panting as he regained his energy and lowered his fatigue. "So, you're also on this side?"
"Let's better not talk here," Elizabeth whispered. "Co with ."
The woman led Elliot to a dark room. She placed her hand on the side and an ember lamp lit up. Elizabeth then closed the door and locked it, also covering the lock with a strap that had symbols on them.
"This room is safe for discussion," Elizabeth said. "Now tell , what made you think Polschk was suspicious?"
"First of, he kept on keeping secrets from us," Elliot confessed. "He didn't tell us the full details about our task. If Jason didn't tell anything, I would still be kept in the dark, blindly believing the old man."
"That is true," Elizabeth agreed. "Actually, everything was in his plans. The competition, you guys, Madam Locraine, Prince Jason. These are in his plan long before the arrival of this date. He has been planning all of this for years."
"Don't you think that's suspicious?" Elliot asked. "He didn't report anything to the king, just secretly plotting about this war that everyone was still so confused about."
"Yes," the woman groaned. "I just knew about this last week. And if he was really trying to help, he would've told us sooner so we could all help with the preparations. But he said that he kept it to himself because he didn't want Oracion Alma to know."
Elliot rembered that he still has the Twilight Cocoon in his Inventory. It still needed ten minutes to hatch after he gets it out of the frozen ti of his Inventory. With a gulp, Elliot placed his hand in the spatial magic right in front of him.
"I have a confession to make," Elliot spoke. Elizabeth was watching the boy's hand disappear right in front of him, a pale blue light separating his hand from this dinsion and with his Inventory's dinsion.
"W-What?" Elizabeth gasped. "So, you do have the seventh wing. Why didn't you tell us?"
"I want it for myself," Elliot said earnestly. And he was speaking honestly. He figured out that the best way to deal with these battle of lies was to be truthful. He needed to gain the trust of others, so he will use this information as a sacrifice for his own advantage. This way, Elizabeth will be in his side.
"I actually need your help," Elliot said. "Polschk said that the butterfly needs to be in a stable environnt so it could relax."
"B-But that's" Elizabeth trailed off, trying to find the words but can't seem to get it out. "Elliot, this is impossible. You know these butterflies had destroyed people before, just by attempting to absorb them. If we let you handle two, you'll"
"I won't," Elliot cut her off without letting her finish. "I will survive this and gain even more power."
'You are doing the wrong thing,' Irus finally spoke in Elliot's mind. The boy scoffed and rolled his eyes.
"Excuse , Elizabeth," Elliot said and turned around to talk to the mysterious voice. "Irus, where have you been?"
'The Manual sealed my mories, Elliot,' the voice spoke. His usual confidence in his tone seed to be lost in the mont. This made Elliot fear that there was sothing wrong.
Elliot turned to Elizabeth to see if she was listening, but she was preparing the cage for the Twilight Wing, "Irus, what do you an?"
'Stop everything,' the voice said. This ti, it sounded like there was an interference. Irus's voice started to beco static, the Manual had already decided for him to stop talking. 'Everything will perish'
Irus's final words placed a heavy ntal toll on Elliot's mind. He was looking at the wall, face contorted in confusion. "What the hell did he ant?"
"Elliot, it's ready."
His thoughts were interrupted by Elizabeth. She finished building the cage for the butterfly and even had a small altar for the cocoon to be placed on.
She shares the sa affinity as Polschk, so asking her for help was also a wise decision for Elliot's part. With him trading her information like this builds them a bond that he might need in the future.
"Just put the cocoon inside," Elizabeth instructed. "It was like this when Braun started to learn about the Twilight Wings."
Elliot had his hand inside the cage when he stopped. He looked at Elizabeth in the eyes, his hands slowly retracting back closer to his chest. "You know Braun?"
"We trained together under Polschk's care," Elizabeth said. "Well, Braun is much younger than I am. When Polschk saw him in the street, trying to grow a flower all alone, he instantly took fond of the boy and took him under his care."
"I didn't even know what went wrong with that boy," Elizabeth continued. "Polschk was starting to suspect him, that the boy was getting too close to so new people. When he attacked the butterfly garden and killed those many people, my heart was broken."
"Wait, what?" Elliot gasped. "But Braun"
"He turned to the dark side," Elizabeth finished for him. "He decided to side with Oracion Alma. I honestly don't know why he did it. Braun was going to be Polschk's successor."
"Braun never killed anyone," Elliot said with a blank expression. "I was there when it happened. He was caught by Connot and Hope even before he could summon anything."
"But Polschk said Braun massacred all the people inside the butterfly garden before the Adventurers could co," Elizabeth muttered, covering her mouth in shock. "Elliot, what does this an?"
"But we were at the scene before the attack happened," Elliot said. "We were the ones who defended the butterfly garden against the attack."
"That's not on the reports," Elizabeth scrunched her face in confusion. "Elliot, what could this an?"
"It only ans one thing" Elliot trailed off. "Polschk lied to us."
The two were about to get out of the room when the entire stadium shook. Polschk could be heard from outside as he scread the chant from another language.
When Elliot and Elizabeth got outside, they saw that the four pillars from the Oracion Alma was shooting beams into the stadium. There were symbols on the Zodiac Sphere that was focusing the beam into the center of the do, creating a large orb of pure energy.
"Polschk!" Elliot yelled. "What are you doing?!"
"I am doing this for humanity, Elliot!" the old man yelled back. "Watch as I save us all with my research. I will unleash the power that will give us the eternal bliss that we deserve! Bring the Arch Mage!"
As Elliot watched the Son of Heaven's followers drag a wagon behind them, his eyes widened at what the wagon was carrying.
Alice was standing on a stone platform, her hands were bound behind her with chaind that were connected to the platform. She was wearing a white dress that trailed to the ground, with her hair tied up to a bun.
"We will now let the Arch Mage open the Twilight Bless!" Polschk yelled. "With her life!"
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