Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume19 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 3===

"...Waiting to meet me? You?"

This was the most shocking statement she had made so far.

Feeling intense thirst in his throat, Kamito gulped.

In Kamito and Greyworth's first encounter, they were respectively the assassin and assassination target.

That was actually all part of the plan?

"The Holy Lord predicted that the Darkness Elemental Lord's reincarnation would be born in this era, and therefore looked forward to his awakening."

"The Holy Lord wanted me to awaken? Why...?"

The Darkness Elemental Lord was supposed to be the Holy Lord's enemy.

Then why on earth did he want her to resurrect...?

"In response to the Darkness Elemental Lord's awakening, that which had sealed the Holy Lord's soul would be liberated&mdash;That was what the Holy Lord told me. Back then, I did not fully understand, but now I finally do. You must have realized too, lad."

"...! So that's what's going on?"

That which had sealed the Holy Lord's soul.

It was referred to the one who had turned into a spirit crystal due to Est's power, and was thus sealed underground in the Demon King's Tomb for a thousand years&mdash;

(&mdash;Areishia Idriss.)

...He had suspected this before.

Why had the Holy Lord not released the Sacred Maiden's seal for so long, the past thousand year?

The spirit Iris' barrier was not the sole reason.

Until the Demon King's successor awakened, the Sacred Maiden likewise could not wake up.

"Then in that case, you raised me as Ren Ashbell because&mdash;"

"Yes, indeed&mdash;"

Confronted with the question asked by Kamito's trembling voice, Greyworth answered.

"My mission was to hasten your awakening as the Demon King."

"...!"

He felt as though his vision turned pitch black.

In that case, those memories back then with her raising him&mdash;

Instruction at the witch's mansion, training in the Spirit Forest, inheriting Absolute Blade Arts, etc&mdash;

(All that was to complete her mission as the Holy Lord's right arm...?)

Presumably realizing Kamito's thoughts&mdash;

Greyworth showed sorrow on her face.

Seeing her expression, Kamito clenched his fist hard.

...The thought of condemning Greyworth did not cross his mind.

No matter what her motive, she had personally raised Kamito.

However, it was a feeling akin to loss and desolation that tightly gripped Kamito's heart.

"In the beginning, I took you in because of the mission. That is the truth."

Greyworth confessed everything.

"..."

"But while I was raising you, confusion appeared in my heart for the first time."

"Confusion..."

"Perhaps I developed feelings over time. If you were to awaken as the Demon King, you would become the enemy of the world, destined to walk a path of no return, bearing the brunt of hatred and resentment from numerous peoples. When I realized that, I&mdash;"

Suspicious of the Holy Lord's words for the first time, Greyoworth explained.

"It was then that I figured it out. The Holy Lord's true objective."

"True&mdash;" "Objective...?"

Kamito and Claire's voices overlapped.

"Soon after adopting the lad, I had a strange dream."

"...A dream?"

"Yes. What you saw at the Elemental Lords' altar, I saw in my dream."

"...The angels of another world?"

Greyworth nodded.

Repeating the same dream every night, she soon realized it was no ordinary dream.

It was a dream shared between a spirit and the princess maiden contracted to the spirit.

Just as how Kamito was able to catch glimpses of the Darkness Elemental Lord's memories&mdash;

Perhaps through the Otherworldly Darkness inside her, Greyworth had witnessed the Holy Lord's dream.

Or maybe, it was a sign that the Holy Lord was gradually recovering his original strength just as Kamito was starting to awaken as the Demon King.

"In the dream, an army of an astounding number of angels occupied the entire sky. A gigantic gate was open in the air. Countless angels descended from there."

"What...?"

An army of angels had come to this world through a gate?

It was what Kamito feared most after seeing what lay across the Otherworldly Darkness at the Elemental Lords' altar.

"But that was not the most shocking scene."

"...Huh?"

"Next, a giant of light swallowed the angels."

Saying that, even Greyworth had sweat on her forehead.

"Uh, a giant of light...?"

Claire asked in surprise.

"...The Holy Lord. As a contractor, I instinctively understood."

In front of the shocked Greyworth&mdash;

Having swallowed the angels, the giant of light began to employ that power.

Literally, the giant changed the world by hand.

All Greyworth could do inside the dream was watch in shock as the world she knew gradually disappeared.

"I could not tell whether the scene I witnessed in my dream was something that had actually happened in the past or a possible future in the Holy Lord's mind."

However, it was then that Greyworth finally understood the true meaning of the Holy Lord's words.

So-called creating a world without war meant opening a gate to the Otherworld to obtain the power of angels, then using that power to ''remake the world from zero''&mdash;

"That's..."

Mid-sentence, Kamito stopped.

He recalled what Lurie and Millennia had said.

Rebuild the world&mdash;That was what they had said.

Although it had limitations, the summoned angel definitely possessed the power to interfere with physical laws.

If the Holy Lord, leader of the Elemental Lords, obtained that power, then&mdash;

"As for the world the Holy Lord will create, I have no idea what it will be like."

Greyworth shook her head calmly.

"Perhaps it is the world without war that I once wished for. However, it is definitely not the world that my comrades-in-arms sacrificed themselves to protect."

"...I see. That's why you&mdash;"

For Lurie Lizaldia, the world was already filled with despair.

That was why she was willing to sacrifice herself for the ideal world the Holy Lord described.

However, Greyworth was different.

What she wanted to protect was the current world.

"Resolving to betray the Holy Lord, I ordered Vivian Melosa, who was my disciple back then, to transplant an illegal cursed armament seal onto my heart, sealing the covenant."

However, that was a miscalculation. When the cursed armament seal was transplanted to her heart, simultaneously, all memories about the Holy Lord were erased.

This was a trap laid by the Holy Lord when he granted power.

Forgetting she had entered into a covenant with the Holy Lord&mdash;

She unconsciously guided Kamito to awaken as the Demon King.

&mdash;Hence, the Strongest Blade Dancer, Ren Ashbell, was born.

"...That was what happened twenty-four years ago."

Greyworth said.

"While I was imprisoned at Guas Gibai, Millennia Sanctus destroyed the cursed armament seal and awakened the darkness lying dormant inside me. Lad, do you still remember the time when you inherited the ultimate technique during the Blade Dance?"

"Yeah..."

Last Strike.

Passing on the ultimate technique of the Absolute Blade Arts, Greyworth had lost her power as an elementalist.

"That time, it was Lurie Lizaldia who saved me at Ragna Ys. My guess is she analyzed the cursed armament seal on my heart while treating me."

"..."

"I am the stupid witch, leashed by the Holy Lord."

Greyworth laughed in self-mockery.

"...No."

Kamito said slowly.

"Hmm?"

"You put your heart into raising me. That's the unalterable truth."

Although he felt a bit shy saying this in front of the witch, these were Kamito's true feelings.

She was the one who had taught Kamito how to survive in this world.

She was the one who had created the opportunity for him to meet Claire and the rest of Team Scarlet at the Academy.

She had given Kamito back his human side after his assassin upbringing.

It was almost like&mdash;

"You're... my&mdash;mother."

"..."

Hearing these words of Kamito&mdash;

Greyworth showed a shocked expression for an instant, stunned.

Then&mdash;

"Fufu, I almost fell for you there, lad&mdash;"

Seeing the witch's innocent smile for the first time, Kamito felt his heart race.