Reversal (1)

In fact, there was no other appropriate expression to describe Alevian’s current thoughts except for “unexpected.”

Ceres wasn’t particularly superior to Alevian in terms of power, but nonetheless, Yona had subdued Ceres without much damage and even casually cut her limb tendons before imprisoning her like this.

Although she had fought together with Alec, Alevian hadn’t expected Ceres to be dealt with so easily. That’s why Alevian had requested to meet Ceres alone before Yona started her formal interrogation, and he was able to get Yona’s permission.

After winding down the long, spiraling staircase and standing in front of the iron door, four imperial guards were guarding it. These guards probably didn’t know who was imprisoned inside, and they likely wouldn’t care either. That was the role of the guards, and that’s how it should be.

When Alevian said he had Yona’s permission, the guards opened the iron door with expressionless faces. As the door opened, Alevian involuntarily frowned at the thick smell of blood flowing out. With such a strong smell of blood remaining, it made him wonder if Ceres might already be dead.

• Splash, splash…

  The stone-paved room wasn’t large. Still, during the three or four steps it took to enter, Alevian’s footsteps echoed, and Ceres, who had been hanging her head low, let out a deep groan and slowly raised her head.

“Here, open your mouth.”

Alevian tilted the pot he had brought in and poured water into a cup. Ceres, looking haggard and gaunt with dried lips, was in poor condition, and thinking that water would be fine, Alevian held up the cup of water to Ceres.

“Ha… re…ally… what a… state…”

“Seems you still have some strength left, Ceres. I’ll give you water, so just open your mouth.”

As Ceres opened her mouth, Alevian put the cup to her lips and poured the water in. With gulping sounds, Ceres desperately drank two cups of water in succession.

“You look quite amusing now, Ceres.”

“…Heh, heheh. Yes… I look amusing…”

Someone like Ceres should have enough power to subdue at least a mid-level Grand Duke.

Like Alevian, Ceres couldn’t be considered weak either.

But unlike Ceres, Alevian already knew.

Yona, who had directly subdued Catsy.

Yona, who had subdued even Damian, albeit with the help of others.

Perhaps if she could somehow overcome the disadvantage of size, Yona might even be able to subdue Berbaria now.

“…You knew too little about Yona. That was your downfall.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Alevian… Just because I’m like this now, you think it’s amusing…?”

“Yes. It’s amusing.”

“You—!!”

Ceres burst out in anger and tried to move her body.

But with her strength, she couldn’t stand up from the chair with restraints, and instead, she involuntarily let out a groan from the intense pain in her limbs.

“Don’t overexert yourself, Ceres. Your plan, Yo— no, the Saintess already knows about it.”

Not just knows about it, the False Celestial Deity is already residing in her body.

But Yona had earnestly requested not to tell Ceres about that.

Perhaps the fact that she allowed Alevian to meet Ceres alone with just that much of a request means that Alevian is now quite trusted by Yona.

“Knows about what?”

“Seems you haven’t heard.”

Well, it’s understandable.

Alevian chose his words carefully as he looked at Ceres’s condition.

The tendons in her limbs were cut, and cloth pieces were inserted between the cut tendons to prevent recovery.

Not only that, the restraints on her arms and legs were tightly pulled and wouldn’t come loose easily, so Ceres probably had no way to escape from here directly.

“Your plan to turn the Saintess into the False Celestial Deity. Your plan to change the Saintess’s body into the False Celestial Deity’s body. The Saintess knows all about it.”

“…How, how could she know that. The only one who knew about that plan was you— Don’t tell me, Alevian. You…?”

“Yes, I told her. I told you, didn’t I? That I would change my stance from yours. I think the Saintess should remain as she is. The False Celestial Deity should be resurrected as they are. The False Celestial Deity is also a god. There’s no way they would be pleased to resurrect by stealing an innocent human’s body.”

Alevian calmly explained one by one as he watched Ceres’s face contort.

Ceres’s plan was undoubtedly one that could progress quickly.

Moreover, the plan had actually shown some results, and thanks to that, the consciousness of the False Celestial Deity had awakened and resided in Yona’s body.

But in that process, Yona would disappear.

Alevian, while observing Yona as a human over those few years, had somehow become quite influenced by her.

Yona, who was honest with her emotions.

Yona, who, despite claiming she was a man or that she came from another world, and being treated as a strange healer, was not hated.

Yona, who had more friends than enemies, and who was generally liked rather than disliked by most.

Yona, who became known to everyone in the Evian Adventurers’ Guild just three years after starting her adventurer life.

“…I can’t let the Saintess disappear. I will definitely achieve the resurrection of the False Celestial Deity, but I won’t let Yona die or disappear in the process.”

“Alevian… you’ve gone mad. Do you know how long it would take to do it that way…!”

It was then.

With a creaking sound, the iron door opened, and someone’s shadow stretched long into the room.

“Alevian, your private meeting is taking quite long?”

“…I apologize, Saintess.”

Alevian bowed slightly and stepped back.

Yona, who entered the room without hesitation, approached Ceres with the slowly closing iron door behind her.

“Well, well. Who would have thought Regent Ceres Alkamine would be in such a state here? And defeated so thoroughly by a lowly former adventurer at that.”

“……”

Ceres glared at Yona with gritted teeth.

Yona, who had pretended to be surprised with somewhat exaggerated gestures, held out her hand to Alevian, and Alevian immediately understood her intention and poured a cup of water to hand to Yona.

“To think that the great Regent Ceres Alkamine, also an elder of the Celestine Church, would be in such a state, my goodness. My heart aches so much, I should at least offer you a cup of water, shouldn’t I?”

Yona approached Ceres again with exaggerated gestures. Ceres was glaring at Yona’s actions with her mouth tightly shut, and Yona raised the cup of water over Ceres’s head and unhesitatingly slowly turned it upside down.

The stream of water poured down over Ceres’s head. Her long silver hair had long been a mess, tangled and covered in blood, and as the water flowed down over it, sand, dust, and all sorts of debris washed down with the water over Ceres’s face.

“Say something, Ceres. Like how you used to chatter to me while hiding your dark intentions, try speaking politely once.”

“……”

“I said, say something?”

Yona firmly stepped on Ceres’s instep. Not only were her tendons cut, but she was also injured and bruised in various places, so even that much caused intense pain, making Ceres grit her teeth and tremble.

“You can’t even speak at this much? And yet, you tried to completely erase someone else’s existence? I’m truly dumbfounded.”

Yona’s face was consistently smiling.

“What… do you want… from me.”

Ceres barely opened her mouth, suppressing the pain that was very slowly subsiding.

There must be something she wanted.

Yona probably still had more that she didn’t know than what she knew, and it’s true that Ceres could be more useful than Alevian in some ways.

Moreover, she was a former adventurer.

She would be familiar not only with killing things but also with using things.

“What I want?”

“Yes… what you want.”

“Your life.”

“…What?”

Ceres widened her eyes again.

In other words, Yona was saying she would kill Ceres now.

“You’ve done nothing but lie every time you opened your mouth. You, even when you came here, you lied so well. You said you came at Bigrand’s request? You crazy bitch.”

Ceres bit her lip at Yona’s rebuke.

It had always been Yona who was frustrated and despairing, and Ceres who felt elation looking down on that. But now, with their positions clearly reversed, that fact was stabbing Ceres with an indescribable emotion.

“Bigrand has been traveling with me for quite a while now. Not just Bigrand, that idiot halfwit Hero too. And yet you say you came at Bigrand’s request? If you’re going to lie, you should at least do some research. Well, I suppose your very existence is a lie, so what does it matter.”

Yona continued to rebuke Ceres while looking down at her.

The mocking words flowed out so smoothly that it seemed ridiculous that she had worried about what to say.

“Thanks to that, I was able to catch you easily. You called me a lowly and base adventurer, didn’t you? But how does it feel to be beaten like a dog by a Saintess who came from such a lowly and base adventurer background? No, actually, it was Alec who beat you… So how does it feel to have all the tendons in your hands and feet cut?”

It was Yona who had cut the tendons in Ceres’s hands and feet with a short hunting knife while bursting into laughter.

It was Yona who hadn’t lost her smile even while complaining slightly about how hard it was to cut.

In that respect, Ceres could be said to be unlucky that this was her last memory.

“Your life is in my hands. I want to kill you right here and now, but well. I think I’ll watch a bit more. They say revenge is a dish best served cold, after all.”

Yona glared at Ceres with a mocking gaze.

It was as if she could still clearly hear the voice of ‘her’ who had whispered in her mind.

“I knew about your plan too. You tried to use me as a vessel for the False Celestial Deity? It’s not even funny, really. Even if you resurrect the False Celestial Deity like that, what would change?”

The fall of the demon realm was happening gradually.

The Celestial Deity, who belatedly noticed this, had been supporting the demon realm, and still was.

Then Yona appeared and absorbed the Grand Dukes, providing some support for the demon realm, but even so, the demon realm needed the False Celestial Deity. For the demon realm that was shaking from its foundations, the resurrection of the False Celestial Deity was essential.

But what if the False Celestial Deity, who should play that role, has no interest in the collapse of the demon realm?

What if they say it’s not their concern even if that demon realm collapses and ultimately leads to the collapse of the human realm as well—

Yona knew.

At least the False Celestial Deity residing in her body had no intention of supporting the demon realm.