Chapter 113
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 113
Chapter Title: Request for Cooperation
The members of the Goddess's Sword unit, confined in a separate building, brightened up the moment they saw Celine and welcomed her with open arms.
"Captain!"
"Captain, you're alive! We were so worried..."
"T-Terrorist Alvis!? Captain, why are you with a scum like him..."
The unit members were relieved to see Celine alive and greeted her joyfully, but they were also flustered and on guard at the sight of me and my comrades appearing alongside her.
"I'll explain everything once we're out. For now, everyone gather in the central plaza of the base. I'll have you all released."
Celine unlocked the prison doors holding her unit members alongside us. The soldiers, tasting freedom after just over a month, wore expressions of disbelief as they savored it.
Hundreds of Goddess's Sword unit members gathered in the plaza, murmuring noisily and demanding explanations from Celine.
"Captain! What the hell happened? Why are you with the enemy...?"
"Everyone, let me tell you about what I've been through. I know you all have a ton of questions, but please just listen until I've finished my story."
And so Celine recounted her experiences.
She told them how she'd been captured by us after the battle, how she'd escaped and suffered through the rainy season to return to Brayden, and what she'd seen there—what kind of treatment she'd received.
The listening Goddess's Sword members gasped in shock, sighed in dismay, and at times struggled to believe her words.
Once she finished, Celine looked around at her comrades and spoke.
"I've decided to leave Brayden's side. And I've realized that Alvis here and his comrades aren't the heinous terrorists the world makes them out to be. From now on, I'm joining them to take down the true villains who manipulate this world from the shadows to serve their own ends."
"Brayden was just a pawn in their game. Even if you go back to him, you'll just be used up as another piece on the board."
Celine extended her hand forward.
"I'll oppose Brayden, that filthy hypocrite who cares only about satisfying his vile desires rather than wielding righteous influence in this world. I'll bear the stigma of joining a terrorist, and above all, I may have to cross blades with Brayden and my former comrades in the Goddess's Sword. But I won't bend. Now that I know his true nature, anywhere he is can no longer be the Goddess's Sword I dreamed of."
Celine's voice grew stronger than before.
"That's why I have a proposal for you all. Those who share my will, who believe Brayden is clearly a problem and that neither the Goddess's Sword he leads nor the Lunia Church propping him up can represent the Goddess's intentions anymore—stay here with me. Those who can't bring themselves to face the church, your comrades in the Goddess's Sword, or Brayden with a blade, you're free to go. I won't stop you."
The Goddess's Sword members exchanged uneasy glances, unsure of what to do.
The Goddess's Sword revolved around the Holy Warrior, but Celine's standing within the unit was far from low—and as Brayden's well-known lover, her declaration of breaking with him carried immense weight.
Just think about it: joining up with my group, labeled as terrorists, and turning blades on their existing comrades and the central figure of the Goddess's Sword, Brayden. It wasn't an easy decision.
So I decided to give the Goddess's Sword members a little nudge.
"Those who want to go back can, just as Celine said... but we can't take responsibility for what happens after that, got it?"
All eyes in the Goddess's Sword unit turned to me at once.
"What the hell is that terrorist saying now...?"
"Us even being here is unprecedented! And he's talking about taking responsibility...?"
As expected from fellow Goddess's Sword members, their reactions echoed Celine's.
I smiled and addressed them.
"It's been over a month since you were all captured and brought here. We knew exactly where your unit had deployed, yet no follow-up force arrived in all that time. What do you think that means?"
"Th-That's... We can't just move large forces recklessly—"
"They sent Celine herself—the unit captain hailed as the strongest in the Goddess's Sword—along with five hundred elite soldiers on your very first mission. If a unit like that gets wiped out by a mere band of terrorists and fails to return, wouldn't they normally mobilize their entire force to eradicate us?"
"......"
As the Goddess's Sword members fell silent, I pressed on, stirring them up.
No, not stirring—just laying out the truth.
"Sure, I get it if some of you can't stomach riding with a terrorist like me and choose to return. But do you really think a hero's welcome awaits you as survivors?"
"What do you...?"
Celine, grasping my point immediately, chimed in from the side.
"Brayden abandoned even me—his lover—to protect all the benefits and women coming his way. He was happy I returned, but said I had to remain officially dead: lifetime ban on all outside activity, no contact with anyone, only moving in heavily monitored, extremely restricted areas at limited times."
Recalling the memory soured her mood, her expression darkening.
"That's the Lunia Church now, desperate to keep me as a martyr sacrificed to terrorists. That's the Brayden we saw as our focal point. It keeps the donations flowing! It brings supplies from relief villages and women throwing themselves at him!"
Her voice sharpened as her anger built.
"He admitted it himself—that bastard spat out that he'd treat the living me as dead forever because he couldn't let it go! He declared he'd strip away a person's dignity and use them however he pleased!"
Celine thrust her hand out, pointing at all the Goddess's Sword members.
"But you've seen me alive now. You know I'm not dead. And if we release you without any negotiations or conditions, do you think the church or Brayden won't get suspicious? They'll interrogate you and pry to see if you know I'm alive. If they find out you do, will they let you off easy? People who disguise living people as dead just to hold onto their gains?"
The Goddess's Sword members' eyes widened as they understood Celine's words.
Celine, suddenly turning against Brayden and the church to defend me, a terrorist.
She wasn't the type to lie, and she commanded immense respect in the unit.
She'd never betray for her own skin, so every word she said carried heavy weight for them.
If her story was true, what awaited them upon return, knowing she lived?
If they could turn a living lover into a corpse, would they spare them?
Wouldn't they try permanent confinement, like with her?
Or worse...
"They might silence you by forcing suicide."
The Goddess's Sword members erupted in clamor.
I seized the moment to drive the point home once more.
"If I were the psychopathic murderer terrorist you all heard about, I'd have killed you all for fun the day we captured you. So why keep you alive, fed, and sheltered for a whole month? Were we scared of negotiating with the church or Goddess's Sword?"
"Uh..."
"Believe me or not, I'm no pleasure-killer or psycho who gets off on death. I don't kill people who haven't done wrong."
"And in fact, while I was imprisoned, Alvis only tried to persuade me to join him, claiming he wasn't behind it all. He never tortured or threatened me."
Well done, Celine.
"We're releasing you now. Those heading back to HQ can go. But I guarantee you—with a high chance they suspect Celine's alive—you'll face endless interrogation the moment you return. If anything goes wrong, best case: permanent confinement. Worst: murder disguised as suicide."
"Your unit under Celine vanished in that battle against me anyway—no loose ends if they kill you off. So if you can't trust a terrorist like me or think Celine's lying, go ahead and leave. I won't stop you. Otherwise..."
I scanned the crowd, pausing for effect.
"Help Celine and lend us your strength."
"What?!"
"What scheme are they cooking up now...!"
"Take a look at these newspapers."
I distributed papers about Brayden's relief efforts, followed by ones from weeks later reporting mysterious epidemics or mass disappearances in those exact locations.
Once enough had read them, I continued.
"You'd agree it's impossible for us—who fed you here every day—to trek to the distant northern front and pull this off, right? This is the work of those who've been pinning all their crimes on me from the start. Their conspiracy is nearing its end, and if we let it, everyone at the Auster Shelter will be dead by tomorrow—the very next day."
A few members screamed.
"A-Auster Shelter?! No! My mother's there!"
"M-My girlfriend evacuated to Auster Shelter! Damn it...!"
"I'm heading to Auster Shelter now to stop those scum from sacrificing innocents. But we're only seven strong. We can't evacuate everyone alone. I need your help. With your relief experience, you can manage the civilians smoothly. Save those innocent lives with your own hands."
Celine stepped forward, backing me up.
"If you value your life above all, if you cling to the belief Brayden and the church would never do this, if you absolutely can't trust a word from terrorist Alvis—go. But if you want to save the citizens! If you have family or lovers there! If you think Alvis might be framed—join us. This isn't an order from your captain. It's a plea from one person to others."
The members debated among themselves for a long while, agonizing over their choices.
And when everyone had decided, not a single one chose to leave.
Celine gazed at them all with a moved expression and bowed deeply.
"Thank you... for believing in me."
"Then we should rearm you now."
I helped distribute their weapons and armor back to them alongside everyone else.
Once all were geared for battle, Celine took command with her usual skill, and I unveiled my powers before the group.
As the Light Saber gleamed and translucent golden wings unfurled from my back, Celine and the entire Goddess's Sword unit recoiled in shock, stumbling back several steps.
"A-Alvis...? What is this... It feels just like..."
"Th-The Goddess's power...! I sense the Goddess's divine authority...!"
"Ooh, oooooh! Unbelievable... I've never seen it, but I know instinctively! It's the true power of the Goddess! How...!"
The priests among them, most sensitive to holy power, recognized it first and dropped to their knees, tears streaming down their faces.
I extended my hand, summoning a massive rainbow bridge rising from the ground, and said,
"Thank you for your decision. Whether I'm truly a terrorist or not, you'll see with your own eyes from here on. We're heading to Auster Shelter now. If I show any sign of the villainy from the rumors, feel free to stab me in the back anytime."