Emilia had passed all three trials, a feat she never would have thought possible, not until someone showed complete faith in her and gave her the push she needed to discover her own strength. Thanks to that, the half-elf was determined to keep growing.
After breaking the barrier's spell, Emilia emerged from the tomb and found herself in a landscape radically different from the one she knew. A white blanket covered everything visible, and a perpetual blizzard lashed the region. Emilia quickly noticed the absence of the crowd that had accompanied her throughout each break between trials.
It took Emilia a while to notice the rocky dome located in front of the cemetery entrance. Clearly, that enormous stone formation hadn't been there before. Although the snow had covered any footprints and the blizzard made it difficult to see or hear, Emilia sensed that the dome wasn't empty and walked toward it.
"Lady Emilia!"
Indeed, there were people there. The villagers of Arlam and the residents of the Sanctuary called out to the half-elf upon seeing her. They all wore expressions of dismay.
"Everyone, what happened? This snow..."
"We don't know." Milde explained. "It started snowing a while ago, but it's already accumulated quite a bit. Young Garfiel built this dome so we could take shelter. It seems he knew there would be a storm..."
"How strange... And the others?"
"Everyone who isn't here left with young Garfiel. They looked very serious, as if something serious was about to happen."
Emilia looked in the direction of the settlement. A distant noise reached her ears through the strong wind. It sounded like a series of thunderclaps. Moreover, the surrounding mana was unusually restless, as if a great deal of magic were being used nearby.
"I see." She said, glancing back at the villagers and residents. "I've finished the trials. The barrier is gone, but we can't leave the Sanctuary right now, not in this snow."
She pointed to the stone temple.
"You must take refuge in the tomb." She said, then turned to the demi-human who stood at the head of his group. "Can you protect everyone in the meantime?"
The man jumped at the half-elf's unexpected request, but a second later he responded firmly, like a soldier obeying a superior's order.
"Yes!"
"What will you do, Miss Emilia?" Milde asked.
"I'll go check on everyone else." She said, glancing at the crowd with a reassuring look. "Will you be waiting for me safe and sound?"
Everyone nodded enthusiastically.
"You stay safe too."
Without another word, Emilia set off for the settlement. As she approached, the sounds grew clearer, and the disturbance of the mana became more noticeable. Finally, she reached the source of the noises and magical activity.
The half-elf was perplexed when she saw Garfiel, Rem, Ram, and several Ryuzu fighting Roswaal. Spells and physical attacks flew back and forth, but even outnumbered, it was the kingdom's most powerful sorcerer who held the reins of battle, constantly pushing back his adversaries with his great skill.
"Stop this, Master Roswaal!" Rem tried to reason with him, but the only response she got was a fireball that she barely dodged.
"You fucking clown! I'm going to kick your ass!" Garfiel tried to close the distance to hit the wizard, but was repelled by a series of spells.
Meanwhile, Ram and the Ryuzu sought to wear down Roswaal's reserves, constantly casting spells to force him to block them.
The entire plan went awry from the start, as Roswaal was never affected by the blizzard spell. Whether Leandro gave incorrect instructions or misinterpreted information from the original story, the fact remains that Roswaal received the group of conspirators in perfect condition.
This naturally led to the start of a violent conflict, in which neither side was willing to surrender or negotiate, and although Roswaal seemed to have the balance tipped in his favor, it was also true that the conspirators' side did not need to win to achieve their goal.
No, they only had to destroy the Gospel. This was much simpler and only required exhausting or distracting the magician long enough to take the book from him.
Returning to Emilia, she finally came to her senses and decided it wasn't the time to ask questions. She knew Roswaal had been acting suspiciously and had even witnessed his tense exchange with Leandro, during which the dark-haired man nearly accused him. Therefore, Emilia didn't hesitate and joined the conspiracy.
Roswaal had sensed Emilia's presence, but he hadn't expected her to act so quickly and so drastically. Suddenly, a shower of icicles rained down on him, catching him almost completely off guard and injuring him.
"Lady Emilia?!" Rem and Ram shouted in unison, looking at the half-elf in surprise.
"I have no idea what's going on, but I want to help, so count me in!" She exclaimed with determination, eliciting a smile from the elderly Ryuzu, a look of respect from Rem and Ram, and an admiring 'fuck yeah' from Garfiel.
"Wow, who would have thought..."
The magician didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The fragile and naive doll, always so dependent and easily manipulated, had become a capable pawn: another danger to be reckoned with.
"After all, it seems I was still underestimating your ability to influence them, Leandro." He muttered bitterly. "However, this is as far as the little rebellion you've orchestrated can go. Your avaricious mindset is a big flaw, and I'll do whatever it takes to convince you of that. Even if I have to bring this world to its end..."
Despite his declaration, Roswaal was slowly but surely cornered due to the balance shift caused by Emilia's reinforcement for the enemy side; another consequence in that domino effect was that the sorcerer's magical reserves were depleted much sooner than anticipated, making him truly vulnerable for the first time.
This was not lost on the conspirators, who had already prepared several tactics for this moment. With a coordinated effort, they synchronized their actions to force Roswaal to defend himself against a barrage of spells that came from the front, while Rem (with her horn activated) and Garfiel launched themselves at him from different flanks.
Roswaal tried to shield himself with a double barrier of ice and earth while neutralizing the incoming spells, but Rem and Garfiel's strength was enough to break through his defenses. Roswaal dodged them at the last moment by leaping into the air with wind magic, but he hadn't counted on Ram waiting for him. She came up behind him and delivered a kick that sent him crashing to the ground.
The pink-haired woman had to use all her latent demonic power to execute the move effectively, so she collapsed to the ground, exhausted, almost at the same time as Roswaal. The sorcerer rolled across the snow and got up a few seconds later: the attack only stunned him for a moment, which didn't surprise him, since his faithful Ram would never try to seriously harm him, even under those circumstances.
But then, Roswaal discovered that something was missing.
"The Gospel..."
The book of wisdom, the precious gift from her teacher, was no longer there.
Roswaal hadn't planned to move on with his life, at least not with that version of it. But even though he had resolved to leave everything in the hands of his next self, he couldn't help but feel empty and alienated when the only thing he cared about in the world was taken from him.
"Give it back..."
The wizard advanced toward Ram, who was clutching the book to his chest as he lay on the ground. Unfortunately, his path was blocked by Emilia.
"Give up, Roswaal. This isn't right. Whatever you're trying to do has only made everyone worry and hurt because of you."
"Ah, Lady Emilia... I really don't want to hear life advice coming from you."
With a tone dripping with contempt, Roswaal unleashed his magic on the half-elf. She managed to block all his attacks for several minutes, during which both expended a significant amount of their mana reserves, which in Roswaal's case were completely depleted.
"Have you calmed down now?" Emilia remained unfazed the whole time. "Stop being so stubborn and..."
"Gulp."
Suddenly, Roswaal's aura erupted with an incredible amount of mana. Anticipating that something might go wrong, the sorcerer prepared a Bokko fruit to eat should he become too exhausted to continue fighting. At such a crucial moment, a move of this magnitude had the power to decide the outcome of the battle.
Demonstrating this point, Roswaal unleashed a torrent of spells that overwhelmed everyone, knocking most of them unconscious. Only Emilia remained standing, facing the mage with more anger than fear.
"Why are you going so far? What is it you want?"
"I've wanted the same thing for the last four hundred years, Lady Emilia... Unfortunately, I'm not able to fulfill my dream on my own, but don't worry: Leandro will help me with that, even if I have to crush his heart again and again to make him see reason."
With that said, Roswaal silently conjured a long, pointed fragment of rock. Emilia didn't notice it at all, so when the fragment flew off like a projectile, she was completely defenseless.
However, the attack was not directed at her.
***
I couldn't find anyone under the rubble. The destruction had been so extensive that it erased any recognizable detail of what had once been the mansion. My mind was a mess: was it worth continuing to fight if everyone was dead? Definitely not, but I still hadn't found any bodies, so it wasn't safe to assume my allies were gone either.
But if they weren't here, where were they? I would have loved to find the answer to that question; however, I had certain matters that couldn't wait.
The Doppelganger was wounded, worn down, and missing an arm, but he was still a damn problem. His sword strikes inflicted mortal wounds on me several more times, causing excessive consumption of the curse's magic that kept me alive.
If things continued like this, it wouldn't be long before I lost my pseudo-immortality and the loop would be ruined. The last thing I wanted was to lose the wonderful moment I had with Rem, but more importantly, I was now closer than ever to defeating the swordsman.
After losing to him more than six hundred times, his movements were etched into my subconscious. I had to concentrate and stay focused: only then could I beat him.
I took a deep breath, closed my eyes for a moment and thought about everything that motivated me: my lovely Rem, my sweet Emilia, my handsome Reinhard, my adorable Patrasche, my stupid Otto... I also imagined a chocolate cake, for added pleasure.
Then everything became slower and more harmonious, like a choreographed dance. Every movement of the swordsman now found an immediate response from me: I began to evade or block his attacks instinctively and so naturally that fighting was now almost fun.
I remember reading somewhere that no matter how bad you are at something, if you practice enough, you'll eventually git gu- I mean get good at it. I wouldn't take that as an absolute truth, but I do think it applies in many cases. For example, when I played a certain video game, my first playthrough felt incredibly difficult at several points. In the end, after overcoming every challenge in the game, its difficulty didn't seem so bad anymore.
I was finally getting used to the challenge. Suddenly, the swordsman no longer seemed terrifying and untouchable. It wasn't that he'd ceased to be dangerous, but now I could face him.
"You're very strong. I never would have thought I could become so good with a sword, even if it was in another life."
He tried to cut off my head again, but I stopped his attack by grabbing his wrist.
"Thank you... for showing me that my limit is far beyond what I thought."
I stopped being defensive and went on the offensive, hitting the Doppelganger with precise punches and kicks, evading all his attempts at traps and counterattacks. If he had had a curse like Cursed Doll and we had fought on equal terms, I'm not sure who would have dominated the fight then, but this time it was me.
His physique was inferior to mine in every way, so his defeat was only a matter of time. He was quite tenacious, because he resisted until the very end, but when his strength was waning and he could no longer defend himself, I ripped the dagger from his shoulder and used it to slash his throat from side to side. The cut caused him to bleed out quickly, and his body fell slowly to the ground.
"I won... I won, damn it!" I exclaimed joyfully. "Finally!"
I bent down and picked up the sword, which had fallen beside its owner and lay in a pool of blood. Up close, the sword wasn't truly black, but a rather dark, ashy gray. The instant I held it, I could feel the weapon's latent power reacting to my touch.
"Yin Sword." I whispered, certain that was its name.
The sword's magic stirred when it heard me call it, as if it were answering me. It probably recognized me as its owner, considering that Doppelgangers are clones or alternate versions of me.
With a sword like that and the swordsman's skill, my power was going to grow immensely. That made me wonder just how damn strong the next Doppelgangers I'd face would be. I was sure Pandora wouldn't make things easy for me.
"Damn, the girls...!"
And Otto, don't forget good old Otto.
With my authority restored, I cleared away the rubble and confirmed my suspicion that my allies weren't in the mansion when it was destroyed, so I took to the air to search for them. They shouldn't be far away.
After a few seconds, I spotted a dark shape in the distance: it seemed to be made up of several figures. I flew quickly toward them and then I could breathe a sigh of relief, because they were the people I was looking for.
Otto was with Patrasche, who was playing with Petra and Meili, while Frederica and Elsa stood together, looking at each other in a rather unfriendly way. Frederica was surely keeping an eye on her.
Only Betty was missing.
I landed loud enough for everyone to notice my arrival. I was quickly surrounded and bombarded with questions (mainly from Petra and Otto).
"Wait a second. Where's Betty?"
There was a brief silence after my question. I couldn't tell if it was uncertainty or sadness that had silenced everyone, but Frederica cleared up my doubt.
"Miss Beatrice stayed at the mansion. She brought us here with her power."
My heart sank a little at that answer.
"If she stayed, that means..."
She either remained in the forbidden library and disappeared with it, or she died in the swordsman's attack.
"Shit, no...! Damn it! I'd already done the hardest part! It can't be fucked up now!"
Frustration overwhelmed me, and I lost my temper, slamming my fist on the ground so hard that the earth around me gave way. Obviously, this pointless display only served to frighten Petra, who hid behind Frederica with a distressed expression.
This brought me back to my senses, making me feel ashamed of my own behavior.
"I'm sorry about that... I... I don't know what to do. I need Betty to save everyone."
At that precise moment, the Yin sword vibrated. I turned my head to get a better look, thinking I'd imagined it, and noticed that there really was something strange about the weapon. It seemed to want to move on its own, pointing in a certain direction.
I knew the sword would take me wherever I wanted to go, but creating portals was one thing: this now felt as if it itself wanted to guide me somewhere.
Since I had no ideas and was desperate, I decided to blindly trust the sword and started flying in the indicated direction without giving explanations to the others.
It didn't surprise me much to discover that the sword was leading me back to the mansion, more specifically to a place where traces of Betty's magic remained. At that point, the sword began to whir intensely.
"What...? Oh, wait, I think I understand."
I moved the blade over the space where the residual magic was, absorbing it. The buzzing intensified, and I finally understood what the sword was trying to do.
I smiled with fascination at the power and intelligence of this weapon, which seemed to have a life of its own.
"Perhaps it's not too late."
With a smooth, fluid motion, I swung the sword through the air, creating a dimensional rift and stepping into it.