Chapter 34

“Let me tell you the truth. Both the Carillian Academy and the ‘thing’ hidden within it will face utter destruction tonight.” The fanatic spoke in a calm and certain tone, as if merely stating a fact.

“And my master, the true god who controls the world’s truth, will be crowned as the supreme deity at this very moment!” The fanatic fervently raised his hands in praise.

“So, you keep saying ‘that thing, that thing’. What exactly is that thing??” Winnie frowned as he looked at Aesphyra.

“These demon god followers are just like you, always speaking in riddles that no one can understand!”

“Exposing all the hidden spies within Carillian Academy, do you think we would do this without being absolutely certain of achieving our goal? Or do you think I’m foolish enough to spend so much effort just to play a trivial joke on you??” The fanatic coldly mocked.

“You have already lost the last chance to convert to my Lord. Or rather, remnants like you left on this continent will not be granted a place to survive by the supreme god who is about to arrive!”

“You talk as if you’re about to conquer Carillian Academy. Get past the Order Spire first.”

“The Order Spire? That turtle shell that has allowed you to cling to life can no longer protect you cowards.” The fanatic let out a few bleak laughs. “You think only us fanatics are lurking within Carillian Academy??”

“Then who else?” Winnie asked.

The Sacrifices are the most concealed among all of Erunes’ believers. Before fully transforming into Fanatics, they can disguise themselves from birth until death if they wish, never exposing themselves, living their entire lives no different from normal people.

They are also the only type of Erunes’ followers that could possibly infiltrate Carillian Academy undetected. Other followers could not have sneaked into the academy and lurked for so long without being discovered.

“Ignorant humans, the insurmountable mountain you can never reach in your lifetime is but a minor trick of our gods. We have numerous colleagues lurking in your academy, enough to even manifest one of my master’s authorities here: [Sacrifice].”

“Numerous??” Winnie glanced at Aesphyra. “Meaning there are quite a few people who willingly degenerated into your believers or worked for you after being bribed??”

“No, you misunderstood me. Those you mentioned are merely manipulated pawns that can be discarded at any time. I’m talking about our colleagues.” The fanatic said proudly.

“We’ve been brewing this plan for a long time, it cannot fail. You stepped into our trap from the very beginning.”

“Your goal is to destroy the Order Spire?” Before Winnie could figure out what was going on, Aesphyra suddenly spoke up.

“Correct, but not precise enough. To be accurate, we’re not going to destroy that broken tower. What we want to destroy is the ‘thing’ sealed inside that broken tower.” The fanatic sneered. “You probably have no idea what kind of dangerous thing that doesn’t belong to humans is sealed in that spire??”

“Funny, even an outsider like me knows that breaking through the Order Spire’s defenses is a fantasy. Even if you’ve raised a bunch of little devils in the academy, it’s useless. The Order Spire’s switch controllers are divided among several high-ranking academy officials. There’s no way you can destroy it.” Winnie mocked.

“Who told you we need your broken controllers??” The fanatic scoffed.

“Little friend, perhaps you don’t understand the structure of that broken tower? The barrier it releases that blocks external areas is indeed very stable, but the interior is its most vulnerable part. It’s like a one-sided city wall, impregnable from the front, but it will collapse at the slightest touch if attacked from within.”

“The so-called Order Anti-Demon Spire is merely anyone channeling a portion of the power from the entity sealed within the Order Spire. But you can’t fully control that dangerous force, if you could, there would’ve been no need to seal it away in the first place.”

“What Carillian Academy can control is merely a tiny fraction of that thing’s power that has seeped out, not even worth mentioning. A demon god-level creation was never meant for you humans, nor should it exist in this world.”

“The outer layer is the strongest part of the [Order Spire], perhaps even a demon god-level attack cannot break through. But what if we launch a demon god-level attack from the vulnerable central part, right within your academy, targeting that spire??”

“That millennium-old shackle should collapse too.” The fanatic said word by word. “The era that belongs to it should have ended long ago.”

“…….Demon god-level attack??” Winnie sensed something was wrong. “How are you going to launch a demon god-level attack? What, are you going to summon Erunes??”

“Hehe…….” The fanatic neither confirmed nor denied. “You mustn’t forget that among the authorities my master Erunes controls, there is the [Sacrifice] authority.”

“The so-called [Sacrifice] is to release extraordinary power at the cost of living beings with intelligence. The more sacrifices, the greater the extraordinary power that can be manifested.”

“And to summon my master’s extraordinary power, we need to sacrifice enough Erunes’ followers.”

“…..Is it really okay for you to blurt all this out like this??” Winnie said with a strange expression.

“You’re strong, and I respect the strong. Although you’re just a human, I’ll let you die knowing the truth. Ultimately, whether I say it or not, you cannot stop us anymore.” This sentence was clearly directed at Aesphyra.

“……Where did you raise so many little devils?”

“Don’t bother guessing, you won’t know who they are. In fact, even those of my kind lurking among you don’t know they are about to serve the truth.” The fanatic said meaningfully.

“？？？What do you mean by that?” Winnie was confused.

“Hasn’t your academy recently been hit by a flu? But since not many people got it, you just thought it was due to seasonal changes, right?”

“…..You’re not going to say that flu was created by your moles, are you?” Winnie asked.

“Unfortunately, yes.” The fanatic gave an affirmative answer.

At this point, Aesphyra looked at Winnie.

In the original work, it was unknown who released the flu virus on the Holy Bell Tower.

Aesphyra only knew that in Winnie’s previous life, he was most likely in cahoots with [Bronze Blood], with long-term cooperation between the two sides.

They might have provided Winnie with alchemical potions to hide evil magic soul armament in exchange for Winnie’s assistance to them.

But in this life, it was clearly not Winnie who did it.

“No, if that’s the case, why are there still many people who weren’t infected??” Winnie wondered.

“Because what they dropped on the Holy Bell Tower wasn’t poison that would directly turn humans into Erunes’ followers. Or rather, according to alchemical principles, airborne poison couldn’t possibly achieve such a powerful effect. Moreover, if the effect were too strong and too many people were infected, it would alert the academy.” Before the fanatic could answer, Aesphyra gave the explanation first.

“The poison you dropped only causes flu symptoms in people with weak water element affinity, and makes them unable to distinguish the color of liquids.”

“Afterwards, these ‘flu’ patients would definitely go to the academy’s clinic for treatment. Your moles would give them the real potion that turns humans into Erunes’ followers. Since they can’t tell the color of the water, your moles can deceive them, telling them ‘this is medicine for the flu, a new product recently, it’s normal for it to taste a bit strange’. Did I get the process right? Is there anything to add?” Aesphyra’s mouth curved in a sarcastic smile.

This time, it was the fanatic’s turn to fall silent.

Although this silver-haired girl before him was young, she exuded an extraordinary aura all over. That she could fight evenly with a fanatic at such a young age already spoke volumes.

The fanatic did not dare to look down on her. Moreover, the other party was actually able to recount every detail of their plan without missing anything, proving that she had long been well aware of their plan.

And must have made countermeasures too.

“Wow, impressive.” Winnie was half a beat slower, but he also realized this. Seeing the fanatic suddenly fall silent, he knew Aesphyra had hit the nail on the head.

When Aesphyra revealed the plan of Erunes’ followers earlier, he suddenly thought of his card-playing friends, including Fred, who had all caught the flu and were anxious. Seeing Aesphyra so calm and composed, Winnie felt as if he had taken a reassurance pill.

Great! As expected of the destined protagonist, he knew he could count on her!

“Unfortunately, if this is all of your plan, then it can now be declared a failure.” Aesphyra crossed her arms, a relaxed smile on her lips.

“…..What did you say??” The fanatic’s heart tightened.

“I’ve long known there are your people in the clinic and the Holy Church, so I added an extra ingredient to the vats you use to store those follower potions~” Aesphyra blinked her amethyst eyes that resembled a cat’s eye stone.

“It’s my latest invention.”

“You??” Seeing Aesphyra’s demeanor that didn’t seem fake, the fanatic was momentarily stunned. “What, what did you add??”

“A kind of medicine that deactivates the main ingredients of those follower potions.” Aesphyra explained nonchalantly.

“Actually, your follower potion is both complex and simple. You just need to change the way you think about it, and it becomes a rather unpalatable glass of water.”

“That way, those who drink it will only find it hard to drink, with no abnormal reactions in their bodies. Oh, and of course, it won’t cure the flu either.” Aesphyra blinked her agate-like apricot eyes, like a mischievous white cat.

“Good! Aesphyra! Well done, well done!”

“Not bad, not bad, this move is too cool! I never realized you could be so charming and cute, I love you!” If not for considering Aesphyra’s sexual orientation and that doing so might get his head split open by Aesphyra’s sword, Winnie might have rushed over to hug Aesphyra already.

He was so worried just now thinking about Fred and the bunch of card players, but turns out Aesphyra had already solved all the problems from the shadows.

As expected of the protagonist! That’s why they deserve to be the protagonist, so capable!

“……Oh?” Seeing their reactions, the fanatic pondered for a moment, then suddenly laughed mockingly. “So our potion has failed, huh?”

“Really? This silver-haired lady, are you sure about that?”

“But the message I got was different. Just now, my colleague informed me that our sacrifice plan is proceeding smoothly, and the lambs of our master have all gathered outside the spire, about to begin the sacrifice ceremony.”

“What did you say??” Winnie was stunned, looking at Aesphyra, then at the fanatic.

Is this psychological warfare? But this reaction is too calm??

Or is the fanatic telling the truth??

But if Winnie had to choose between the fanatic and Aesphyra on who to believe, of course it would be Aesphyra??

So Winnie also felt that the fanatic’s words were pure bragging, trying to bluff with a swollen face.

“Silver-haired lady, you’re still too young. The potion you concocted lacks refinement, doesn’t it? Both the efficacy and potency seem insufficient??” The fanatic mocked.

Aesphyra’s potion lacking potency? What a joke, impossible.

Winnie was the first one to disagree. He was the first one to criticize Aesphyra’s promiscuity, but he would also be the first one to disagree if anyone criticized Aesphyra’s ability and the strength of the heroine.

“Think I’m joking?” The fanatic smiled, looking into the distance.

Winnie and Aesphyra followed his gaze, and suddenly saw a blood-red outline resembling an altar appearing in the distant sky, with six scarlet pillars floating ethereally, the many chains wrapped around them seemingly binding countless souls.

“What the hell is that??” Winnie was dumbfounded.

At the same time, Aesphyra’s eyes showed a hint of seriousness.

“Hey, uh, Aesphyra, this, this is also within your calculations, right??” Winnie pointed at the huge blood-red altar that appeared above the academy in the distance, watching Aesphyra’s reaction as he swallowed.

At this moment, he wished the least for Aesphyra to be at a disadvantage.

However, Aesphyra’s increasingly grave gaze made him feel more and more uneasy.

No, no.

Her medicine could not possibly have failed.

But why is it still……..

Aesphyra gazed pensively at all this.

The changes in the worldline were greater than she had imagined.

The plan went smoothly, [Bronze Blood] didn’t notice anything, but why is the result like this??