"Duke, how are you feeling now?" Sigewinne asked.
Wriothesley nodded in response. "I've almost fully recovered. The Head Nurse's dicine worked wonders."
"Next ti, please don't take such risks," Sigewinne cautioned. "If anything were to happen to you, Neuvillette would never forgive ."
Recalling the earlier events, Wriothesley added, "Actually, I don't think I would have been in any danger even if you hadn't intervened."
Sigewinne smiled. "Because Miss Emily clearly had the situation under control, yet she refrained from taking any drastic action against the Duke, didn't she?"
"As for what you have been experiencing recently, could you reflect on whether you might have provoked the other party's anger sowhere?" Sigewinne suggested.
Hearing her words, Wriothesley couldn't help but recall recent events. It seed she was right.
Initially, he had believed he had the situation completely under control, even resorting to verbal threats and provocations against the young woman. From that mont onward, his peaceful tea ti was never peaceful again. And today's incident was initiated by him summoning the Gardeks to ambush her.
But the situation couldn't be viewed so simply. He refused to believe the murder today had nothing to do with her. After all, a single glance at the scene was enough to identify the murderer.
Moreover, Neuvillette still hadn't arrived at the Fortress of ropide. This was likely also connected to her.
Without understanding the young woman's true motives, if he failed to act decisively, the situation would inevitably spiral into disaster.
"Perhaps..." Wriothesley replied, then suddenly rembered sothing and spoke again.
"Wait a minute, I specifically instructed everyone not to tell you about these matters. How did the Head Nurse beco so well-inford?"
"Could it be... that ti soone brought tea with an excessive amount of milk, was that you, Head Nurse?"
"I know absolutely nothing!" Sigewinne said innocently, her gaze drifting elsewhere.
Wriothesley rubbed his forehead. Good grief, Sigewinne is the biggest mole of them all!
"Direct contact with her is far too dangerous," Wriothesley said, a hint of lingering fear in his voice. It was clear the girl had t with Sigewinne before. If anything were to happen to Sigewinne, he wouldn't be able to explain it to Neuvillette.
Neuvillette had entrusted Sigewinne to him with such unwavering trust. Even if it ant sacrificing his own life, Wriothesley wouldn't let a single hair on her head be hard.
Hearing Wriothesley's words, Sigewinne shook her head.
"I don't think so."
"Duke, you rember, don't you? We lusine have a special kind of vision that allows us to see the true nature of things more clearly."
"Although I can't quite understand Miss Emily, most of the mbers of the Mutual Aid Network are good children."
"And the Miss Emily they admire, I believe she wouldn't do anything truly terrible."
"But she killed soone today," Wriothesley emphasized, stating the stark fact.
"I don't know the full story, but I imagine Miss Emily had her reasons."
"Just like you, Duke, using force doesn't necessarily an she intends harm."
"Let's wait a little longer and see what Miss Emily is planning?"
Wriothesley shook his head.
"I need to go back. I can't trust these people with that place."
"And the remaining Gardek need to be destroyed. We can't let such dangerous machines fall into their hands."
Wriothesley cracked his knuckles, producing a dull thump.
"Though it grates on , I suppose I'm out of the ga for now. Once I've destroyed all those Gardeks, I'll see what she's up to."
"Still, this fight was the most exhilarating I've ever had. Dealing with those unchained Gardeks last ti was just a warm-up."
"If the Duke gets captured again this ti, there's nothing I can do."
"Hah! I was tricked last ti, but I won't give them another chance."
Just as Wriothesley was preparing to settle the score, an alarm blared from his wrist device.
His face darkened instantly. He pulled out the device, his expression incredulous, and checked the alert.
The device was linked to the massive valve. When the valve's indicator reached the red zone, the alarm would sound.
Just monts ago, the valve's indicator had barely passed the halfway mark. For it to surge into the red zone so quickly, Wriothesley refused to believe no one was ddling inside.
"Damn it! Their target is the Forbidden Zone's valve!"
Wriothesley surged toward the Forbidden Zone, his body a blur of motion. Sigewinne, her face etched with anxiety, hurried after him.
"Duke, is there sothing terrifying beneath those water valves?" she asked.
"Primordial Sea Water," Wriothesley replied tersely, his voice tight with urgency as he moved swiftly. "They aim to release the suppressed Primordial Sea Water, to force the Prophecy to unfold prematurely!"
The gravity of the situation erased any trace of levity from their faces. Sigewinne strained to keep up, while Wriothesley deliberately slowed his pace, fearing she might encounter unforeseen dangers.
Wriothesley's heart clenched as he thought of the Ark, still unfinished despite the frantic overti efforts of his construction teams.
Though more efficient modular construction thods had recently been proposed, ti was running out.
If only I had a little more ti... Was this also part of their plan?
anwhile, Tartaglia had been searching the vicinity of the room for quite so ti, but he couldn't find any of his subordinates. Just as he was hesitating whether to look elsewhere, he suddenly felt the pull calling to him growing stronger.
At that mont, the Vision on Tartaglia's body began to flash with a deep blue light. He felt the Hydro Elent within him threatening to erupt once again.
Tartaglia imdiately removed the Vision, wrapped it in cloth, and stashed it in another pocket.
To Tartaglia, the Vision was rely a convenient tool for combat. When a tool beca cumberso, discarding it wasn't a difficult decision.
Of course, his imdiate priority was to understand the source of this persistent call.
"It seems to be... this way."
Tartaglia had taken only a few steps when he suddenly rembered sothing. He returned to the table, left a note instructing his subordinates to carry on as usual and await his further orders, then swiftly moved in the direction he sensed the pull originating from...
-
Back at the Judgnt, Furina's words took everyone by surprise, even the young woman herself seed montarily stunned.
Regaining her composure, the young woman shook her head, a hint of helplessness in her voice.
"Lady Furina, you're truly kind."
"Why won't you voice the answer you already know?"
"In the Fortress of ropide, only four individuals possess the capability to create a cri scene like this."
"Monsieur Tartaglia is unconscious in the infirmary, imdiately ruling him out."
"The Duke remained in his office all morning, never leaving."
"And you know perfectly well this has nothing to do with you."
"Even without these superficial pieces of evidence, you should have been able to deduce the true culprit."
"That's right. I am the one who did this."
The mont the words left her lips, disbelief swept through the crowd. Charlotte's grip faltered, nearly sending her cara crashing to the ground.
"No, this can't be true! You couldn't possibly be that person!"
"Emily, you're joking, right?"
Furina pleaded with the young woman, her voice laced with desperation. Even after Emily confessed to her cris, Furina refused to believe it.
But Emily ignored Furina's words and began speaking on her own.
"Lady Furina, it was I who brought you to this place. I found them gathered here and then wiped them out."
"I fabricated the evidence, directing all the incriminating clues toward you."
"Then, as you defended yourself, you personally accused of murder. This was the script I wrote for you."
"I wonder if you enjoyed it, Lady Furina?"
"No, that's not how it happened!"
"Emily, we've known each other for so long! You could never do such a thing!"
Furina shook her head frantically, unable to accept the reality before her. Her vision blurred, and crystalline tears stread down her cheeks.
"No, Lady Furina."
The girl gave Furina an incredibly captivating smile.
"Everything you've seen before was rely a facade."
"You thought I wouldn't do such a thing because you don't truly understand us."
"Then let reintroduce myself, Lady Furina."
"I am No. 8. Please take care of ."
Her words sent the crowd scrambling backward. This declaration unmistakably revealed her true identity: she belonged to the sa organization as No. 6, who had stirred up bloody chaos in Fontaine.
Furina felt her head was about to explode. She could never have imagined that the girl was a numbered mber of that mysterious faction.
In that mont, Furina seed to lose all strength, her body swaying as if about to collapse.
"Lady Furina, get away from Emily now!"
Charlotte snapped to her senses, shouting loudly as she charged toward Furina.
But to Charlotte's utter shock, the spectators beside her coldly reached out to block her path.
Not only that, but even those preparing to leave the scene were stopped by others in the crowd.
Charlotte imdiately realized these were the young woman's people, but the situation was far worse than she imagined. She saw two of them each pull a Vision—one Pyro, the other Electro—from their pockets and attach them to their bodies.
Charlotte was imdiately repelled by the pair. Unlike the other ordinary spectators, when the man who had made the accusation heard the young woman's words, his face first showed shock, then he took two steps forward, his emotions surging violently.
"Why? Why would you do this? Why did you kill my brothers?!"
"If you're No. 8, then you have even less reason to do sothing like this!"
"Because your thods and thoughts are too primitive, too glaringly inadequate," the young woman replied calmly. She then turned her gaze to Furina, who had been utterly devastated and was now completely dazed.
At this mont, Furina's eyes had lost their light, and she kept muttering, "Impossible... this isn't real..."
"Lady Furina, the story isn't over yet."
"The climax of the script I prepared for you is still to co."
"Please... kill ."
The girl's words sent a violent tremor through Furina's body.
"Why?"
"Doesn't Lady Furina understand even now? Everything I've done has been to die by your hand."
"If I rely wanted to fra you, I wouldn't have left so many clues."
"As for the reason... I've grown weary of this tedious world."
"But I wanted Lady Furina to personally orchestrate this grand finale for ."
Hearing this reason, Furina's face once again wore an expression of utter disbelief.
"That's why I've been orchestrating this for so long, Lady Furina."
The girl smiled at Furina, then spoke with a hint of anticipation in her voice.
"So hurry and do it, Lady Furina. I've been waiting for this mont for so long."
"I... can't do it..."
Furina shook her head, completely taken aback by the girl's final request.
Yet, at the sa ti, a glimr of hope surged within her.
If I can rekindle the girl's will to live, will the Emily I once knew return to my side?
But the girl's next words shattered Furina's beautiful fantasy.
"Of course, Lady Furina, I know that." The girl nodded with a faint smile. "That's why I've prepared a reason for you to act."
"Within the Fortress of ropide, I've already deployed enough Primordial Sea Water to completely subrge this place."
"It should be about ti now."
As soon as the girl finished speaking, a piercing alarm blared throughout the Fortress of ropide.
"Ergency situation!"
"Everyone inside the fortress, imdiately drop what you're doing and evacuate in an orderly manner!"
"This is not a drill! Repeat, this is not a drill!"
Hearing the piercing alarm sirens, everyone imdiately realized the girl hadn't been lying. Panic erupted as they began to surge against the encirclent.
"Get out of our way! Let us through!"
"You suicidal fools! I'm not dying with you!"
anwhile, Furina was reeling from a devastating blow. No matter how desperately she wanted to deny it, the undeniable evidence staring her in the face forced her to accept it.
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