Sonia's Scheme

Facing their startled, uncertain gazes, Sonia readily admitted it.

For certain reasons, she had not originally intended to tell them, but since they had already seen through her, there was no point in denying it any further.

Sonia shook her head helplessly and said in admiration, "Mr. Yuri, you're truly impressive. You managed to deduce so much from just a few words I said."

"Just a wild guess." Yuri shrugged, his face smug as he spoke modestly.

His manner left both girls speechless.

"Ahem!" Sonia cleared her throat and brought the conversation back on track. "I imagine you've both already guessed that I wanted to kill my father because the Devil Power had corrupted him beyond saving."

Speaking of the priest, Sonia pressed her lips tightly together. After a long pause, she sighed and said, "After Father awakened his magic, he managed to keep his body from undergoing Devil Trigger, but his thoughts and will grew ever closer to a demon's. I was powerless to change his mind."

"And with Qliphoth threatening us, Father's thinking grew more extreme by the day, until things came to this." Sonia lowered her head, too ashamed to look either of them in the eye.

Although Qliphoth had forcibly broken free seven years ago, it had not completely escaped the seal's effects. It was precisely because it had been weakened by its recent escape that it had been frightened off at the time.

But as time passed, its power continued to recover. The only way to fight it was to strengthen the Devil Power Cain had granted them.

Without talent, however, growing stronger was no easy task. An ordinary person might train for decades and still fall short of a genius's single flash of inspiration.

Under such circumstances, the only price they could pay for power was their human sanity.

"That still doesn't add up." Erza spotted a flaw. "Since you could put out a request to the outside world, why didn't you hire powerful mages to defeat Qliphoth from the start?"

A hint of embarrassment appeared on Sonia's face. "Well, I'm ashamed to say that Caro Town's economy has declined a great deal since the disaster. We simply couldn't afford that much."

"You've already done something like this, and you're still worried about money?" Yuri said with amusement. He found the explanation somewhat far-fetched.

Sonia's hands clenched involuntarily as she added, "It was because Father was afraid people would find out about the town's faith and our bloodline, so..."

Caro Town's faith and the Devil Power within the priest and Sonia were indeed not matters that could be brushed aside with a few casual words.

If they were discovered, a single mishandled step could bring disaster upon them. That was why Sonia had been unwilling to speak of them earlier.

It was also why different versions of the town's history and legends had sprung up, and why, after the disaster, the priest had strictly forbidden anyone from passing information to the outside world.

What he had not expected, however, was that his own daughter would be more decisive and determined than he was.

Perhaps his greatest mistake had been underestimating Sonia.

After seven long years of biding her time, Sonia had finally found an opportunity to send a request to the outside world.

Unfortunately, because of the same concerns and her fear of being discovered by the priest, Sonia had not dared to place the request through an official guild. Instead, she had chosen to offer it to independent mages outside the guilds.

The advantage was that it was discreet enough; the disadvantage was that it was fraught with uncertainty...

"Did you never think of moving away?" Erza suggested, asking the very question Yuri had wanted to ask.

Although he had heard that the people here had once sworn to guard this place for generation after generation, he did not believe everyone in town could hold such steadfast faith in the face of death.

"Of course we thought of it." Sonia shook her head. "But Qliphoth surrounded this place with its roots. Anyone without the protection of a blessing simply can't get out."

Although they had managed to bluff Qliphoth with Devil Power seven years ago, that was all they had done. It had not given up on revenge in the slightest.

So it had spread its roots all around, turning Caro Town into a birdcage people could enter but never leave.

That was also why the priest had always been responsible for posting requests. Apart from him, Sonia was the only one who could send messages to the outside world.

"So that means outsiders like us can't leave either, right?"

After listening to Sonia's explanation, Yuri's lips curled into a dangerous smile. "Then can I take it that your request only appeared to be about stopping the priest, when it was really a cover for another plot?"

As he spoke, Yuri suddenly drew his revolver and pressed it between her eyebrows. An icy aura spread around him, just as it had when he killed the priest.

Faced with Yuri's accusation, Sonia did not deny it.

When Yuri had guessed the truth about their bloodline, she had known that her little scheme would never escape him.

"I'm sorry, but this was the only way I could think of to save Caro Town..."

She had asked Yuri to kill the priest not only because he had completely fallen into becoming a demon, but also because she knew full well that the priest's approach was nothing more than a slow death.

To truly save Caro Town, they had to deal with the problem at its source.

So, risking the discovery of the whole truth, she had secretly hired mages, hoping only that this would defeat Qliphoth, end the need to keep hurting innocent people, and save everyone in town.

Even if it meant exposing the demonic identity she had always hidden in the darkness to the "sunlight"...

Looking at the dark muzzle and cold barrel of the gun before her, Sonia's gaze never wavered. With a calm expression, she stated her ultimate goal:

"I hope the two of you can help me defeat Qliphoth."