Chapter 1725 Just Another Puppet
?Kayara took a deep breath and looked outside the window. She felt the cold nightly breeze churning in her lungs as she continued.
"Things were returning to normal. I continued my duties as a silent witch while being employed by the enemy. I had years of a head start compared to my sisters, and I used that advantage well.
I did an excellent job staying under the radar if I do say so myself. Even Archpriest Jivem couldn't see through me." Kayara expressed pride in her deeds.
"I… I get it now," Eren spoke seriously. Some form of understanding dawned on him.
"The tricks the den dwellers used to divert you from their activities were just an excuse for you to not take action against them. You instructed your contact to proceed organically. You stayed out of the loop and allowed the demonic entities to act on their own.
You fell for their traps willingly– repeatedly. It could also be possible that you didn't know what they were planning inside the region to bring out the authenticity in your act.
You only used Rivena as your internal contact and stayed hidden from the rest of the den dwellers so they don't know that you are one of their original backers. Meanwhile, you carried out the missions given to you by the Ishgaar's temple along with Akel and me so that your cover doesn't get blown."
Clap! Clap! Clap!
Kayara began applauding.
"I must say, Eren, you catch on quickly to these matters. I had intended to remain dormant within the ranks of Ishgaar's Templars until the Helenbora coven completed their demonic ritual.
But that day will never come because you've already killed them, haven't you?" Kayara asked Eren, her voice dripping with hatred, her eyes reflecting a hint of her killer instinct.
"Hmm. When did you find out?" Eren inquired plainly, his face neutral. He was confident that Kayara couldn't have visited his kill site. Even if she did, there was nothing for her to know what had actually transpired there. The world of Labh Salem simply didn't have Historians.
"When you killed the den dwellers all by yourself," Kayara replied honestly.
"You don't even realize what kind of stunt you pulled off, do you? Maybe Archpriest Jivem didn't realize it, but I do.
Not any Grand Knight could clear that den by themselves. I'd go ahead and say that it was downright impossible even if I and Akel were to join you and fight with you as if our lives were on the line.
Zargoth, the leader of those useful idiots, alone would have posed a mortal threat to all three of us with his expertise in the body cultivation Path alone. At least that's how it was supposed to be.
But then… How did you pull it off all by yourself?
Rivena managed to contact me a few moments before her death. She couldn't use her senses to contact me because they had been robbed from her due to your absurd Skills. But she managed to send me her thoughts.
She… she told me you could use Greater Skills from Beelzebub's Skill Tree," Kayara looked at Eren as if to confirm if what she had said was true or not. However, Eren maintained a stoic face, subtly forcing Kayara to continue on her own.
"Nobody from the divine faction could do that. And there was not a single person in the demonic faction who could use Beelzebub's Skill Tree to cast Greater Skills and Unique Skills as if they were nothing.
You were a huge anomaly, holding access to types of Skills that are beyond your status as a Grand Knight. Only someone like you could eradicate all of the Helenbora coven landed on this continent the way you did.
It didn't take long for me to figure out what might have happened. I contacted the headquarters of the Helenbora Coven and asked them for guidance.
You… you know what they told me?" Kayara asked Eren hatefully as if it was his mistake that she had to contact the higher-ups of her coven.
Of course, he knew that the question was rhetorical. So he didn't disturb the auburn-haired witch and allowed her to continue on her own.
"Those fucking old hags… they told me they wanted to bring you under their fold. Can you believe it? Even after you killed so many of my sisters?
They… said that someone like you who has access to such powerful demonic Skills is a potential asset to the Helenbora coven, even if you did end up killing some of our members. They see you as someone who could shake the foundations of the Onianum continent in the future. As such, they… they want to invest in you.
So I was tasked with this job. They didn't even allow me to kill you. They just wanted me to get you under my control so that they could control you through me," Kayara said, frustration evident in her voice.
The auburn-haired witch pounded her fists on the bed as she continued.
"I hate it. I fucking hate it. I hate the fact that I and my sisters were nothing but pawns in the eyes of those old hags. That they all died in vain without achieving anything. Those hags didn't even allow me to take revenge for the deaths of my sisters. It's fucking absurd.
The divine side is messed up, but the demonic side is no better. It's all just a fucking game to the higher-ups of both factions," Kayara finished, clenching her fists in silent agony.
Eren could see that her eyes were a bit numb. He could see that she wasn't allowing herself to cry in front of her target.
'Well… that explains her anger towards me,' Eren thought to himself and sighed.
'She is angry at me because she can't kill me– someone who has killed her sisters. She is also angry at the fact that she ended up becoming a puppet in the hands of her higher-ups.
The frustration is eating away at her heart. It's like a bone has been thrown right in front of a hound who can't chew it because of its leash.
She harbors greed towards me. Or rather, the secrets I possess that allowed me to use those demonic Skills. She also envies me because I had more value in the eyes of her higher-ups than her or her dead sisters.'