Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume11 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 2===

After that, the Elemental Lord's judgment swept through various lands in the continent on several occasions.

Every time, Rubia would beg for mercy and prayed to appease his anger. But on each occasion, by the time her prayers finally went through, people had already lost all their possessions.

"I was powerless at the time. I could do nothing but lament my powerlessness...!"

Erupting from her throat were cries of sorrow.

The flames of hate burned intensely in her eyes of ruby.

"One day, the first time I voiced the doubt hidden in my heart was at the supreme council. I questioned the elemental lord's unreasonable instances of judgment. Next, I requested for a chance to have a direct audience with the elemental lord."

"An audience with the elemental lord!?"

Fianna cried out in surprise.

For her who was once a princess maiden at the Divine Ritual Institute, these words carried special significance.

Even for the Queen who was chosen from among hundreds of princess maidens, wanting to meet the True Sanctuary's Elemental Lords was absolutely taboo.

Throughout the entirety of history, there did exist Queens who were admitted to a direct audience with the elemental lords, but they all died unnatural deaths without exception.

"Of course, I did not receive permission for a direct audience with the elemental lord. The supreme council imprisoned me for the crime of irreverence and that ended up causing more displeasure to the elemental lord."

Repeated tragedies. Prayers that absolutely failed to get through.

Carrying these doubts, lamenting her own powerlessness, even so, she continued to plead for mercy.

During those days, filled with despair&mdash;

The decisive event occurred, prompting her betrayal to become the Calamity Queen.

"The elemental lord demanded ''a certain offering'' from me as the price to appease his anger."

"Offering..."

It was quite common for high-ranking spirits to demand offerings from humans.

The Divine Ritual Institute's princess maidens made offerings of the dance performances they had learned. Elementalists offered their divine power to contracted spirits.

However, what exactly did the Fire Elemental Lord seek from Rubia&mdash;

"The elemental lord demanded from me..."

As though squeezing her voice out from the depths of her throat, Rubia spoke:

"&mdash;''Elstein's True Flame''."

"...!?"

Everyone's face froze.

Elstein's True Flame.

These words meant&mdash;

"&mdash;Is it possible that it meant ''using Claire as an offering''?"

"..."

Rubia's silence gave the answer.

Elstein's True Flame. These words meant the House of Elstein's bloodline.

Carried by the two sisters, the heretical flames that transcended the world's laws and principles.

"...No... way..."

Claire murmured in shock.

"The Elemental Lord wanted my life?"

"This is impossible to believe, Rubia-sama."

Fianna instantly rejected it.

(...Indeed, it was inconceivable for an Elemental Lord to demand a living person's life as a sacrifice.)

Spirits who demanded live sacrifices were rare indeed. This was fact.

However, those spirits that ruled over people through fear were successively defeated by human heroes over the generations.

It was possible for an evil spirit of the earth, but it was completely inconceivable for an Elemental Lord to demand this kind of offering as one of Astral Zero's exalted rulers.

Nevertheless&mdash;

"Whether you believe it or not, that is the truth."

Dim flames in her eyes, Rubia spoke.

"At first, I could not believe it either. I thought it was a test of loyalty for me, the one who had doubted the Elemental Lord's judgment. I regretted my suspicions and pleaded for absolution. I kept offering kagura dancing and prayers so that the demand for sacrifice would be withdrawn. Every night, until I fell unconscious to the ground, I kept at it nonstop, nonstop, nonstop..."

However, those prayers were completely in vain.

"I pleaded to use my own life as a sacrifice. My body also carried Elstein's True Flame. I hoped my younger sister's life could be spared in exchange for mine."

"Nee-sama..."

The answer was no.

What the elemental lord sought was not Rubia's flame but the flame of her sister, Claire.

Next, the elemental lord's flames of wrath were stoked by the Queen's persistent pleas for mercy.

The flames of his wrath were directed towards the people of Ordesia. The elemental lord issued a decree that threatened to rain down destruction upon the imperial capital equivalent to Dylus' plight if the sacrifice was not offered.

"How... could..."

"Even for an Elemental Lord, such an atrocity cannot possibly be accepted!"

Fianna objected sharply.

"What did the Divine Ritual Institute's supreme council say?"

"The elders completely ignored my appeals. Despite their doubts about the disastrous decree, they simply kept repeating that the Elemental Lord's will is absolute."

Rubia gritted her teeth hard and shook her head.

"I despaired. Towards the Divine Ritual Institute, the elemental lord, as well as myself, powerless to resist&mdash;"

Then the night before the imperial capital was about to turn into a burning inferno...

She made her decision.