After waiting for Serina to return, he explained for her to create illusions of the dead recruits. Since most of the soldiers inside the city were circle six and their perception percentages were lower, it would be easy to go unnoticed by them.
Assuming the elf's form, he entered with them into the secret base. As Enrico had revealed to her that he possessed a unique ability, it wasn't a problem to use it in front of her. Serina dressed as part of the cult and wore a hood, also taking on the appearance of one of the recruits. Walking through the base, they entered the city through a door that only those trusted by Elithia could pass. They passed easily because Enrico spoke the secret words.
"Dead sister."
"I really don't like the current queen, commander."
Not liking was even a mild word compared to the hatred she felt for the current queen. Because she took the throne, Serina's mother—who was a human living there due to being the wife of a circle nine—ended up being killed by a corrupted elf. After infiltrating the city, everything was simple. He asked to notify certain guards he had seen helping in the story. With that, the plan was set. Secretly joining some other recruits, he told Serina to give the order to attack and cause confusion at the exact same time the silent attack on the towers would begin. He did all of that for only one reason.
'Kill Kaedryn and obtain the score to use and end this war as quickly as possible.'
That elf was extremely troublesome to face in terms of planning outside of battle. If given time, he could create an excellent strategy now that he had the strength of the Cult of Sairao behind him. That was why Enrico needed to gain his trust by saving him whenever possible—even from his own traps.
'Destroying my own traps is sad.'
The only thing that surprised him was having to fight Victoria in that form. Because of that, he lost the ego weapon he wanted to create with deep-sea water magic. He had planned to craft a trident by copying a unique weapon from someone in the future. Moreover, he couldn't use the cold aspect of his magic in Kael's form as he had planned, because now he had created a new character. That wasn't ideal. Since he lost the chance to create his ego weapon by focusing all development on the staff, he now had to create a new path from scratch for this other identity.
'Creating something new and different from ego weapons… I think it will be impossible, but I'll try.'
Returning to the present moment, the two elves who had survived were now dead on the ground. Since he had no mana left after fighting Victoria and protecting Kaedryn, he had to use his pact of not using mana in exchange for having the body of a peak circle seven.
"Now let's see you."
Enrico approached the ice box and opened it, seeing the elf. She was sweating despite all that ice—perhaps due to her resistance and nervousness. Removing her bindings, he observed her retreat to the back with cautious eyes as he approached. Squatting down, he looked at her with irritation clearly written on his face. Of course, he wasn't blaming her—he was simply annoyed at having fought in a way that made such a strong impression on Victoria.
"I didn't even ask your name, since if you didn't provide good information, I was planning to kill you afterward."
"Planning?"
That meant he intended to use her for more than just information. To be honest, she was different from the other dark elves who allied with Sairao or were controlled by him. It was very possible that, like the other recruits, she had been born after the betrayal that occurred decades ago in the dungeon. Because of that, she had a greater chance of betraying them—especially compared to the other recruits he had seen. Unlike them, who were proud to follow that cursed god, she seemed uncomfortable with the interaction between them.
"First, I want information. Are you listening carefully?"
"Yes, I'll tell you anything. Just don't kill me, sir."
"That will depend on how you act from now on."
She nodded slowly. Without a doubt, she feared dying—something curious for someone from that cult of lunatics.
"First, what is your name?"
"Secret, sir. Just Secret."
"From now on, you are Secret Ocirne Ferrolcen. Understood?"
"A full name… for me?"
He had created that name at the moment he assumed her form. He simply used his own name reversed for the first name and mixed something for the second. The newly named Ocirne repeated the name in her mind several times. Even afraid, she seemed to like it.
"Any problem with the name?"
"No, sir. I like it very much."
Satisfied with the answer, he dissolved the ice box around her. She was now free—but he was certain she wouldn't run. Especially with such a strong survival instinct… in a way, that reminded him why he trained so hard to survive in the future.
"Good. Second question—has Sairao descended into this world in a body?"
"Yes, sir. Lord Sairao— I mean, Sairao—is currently in a new body created through the sacrifices of some dark elves and those given by Queen Elithia."
'Wait, how does he know that God Sairao can descend into the world?'
Enrico appeared thoughtful for a few moments. Observing that human, perhaps it really was better to betray the one her parents called God and stand on the other side. The reason she wanted to switch sides was simple: all those recruits who had been killed would be sacrificed to increase Sairao's power after the war ended. That was why she felt uncomfortable among them—they seemed so calm about being sacrifices for a god who had corrupted them painfully with the rotten part of the World Tree.
"When will he be at the castle?"
"Tomorrow night. From what I was told, they're going to hold a meeting."
"What is the level of his current body?"
"Circle seven."
A small smile appeared on Enrico's face. This was perfect. That girl had more information than he originally thought. Well, that was because she was classified as an important sacrifice—they shared details with her about how their god would descend into the world and how incredible his evolution would be. And this was the perfect opportunity to eliminate one of the future evil gods—a chance he wouldn't miss.
"I'll want to know more later. For now, it's time to begin your training."
"Training?"
"You could say that, thanks to something I did, from now on you will be the rival of Victoria—the aberration of this generation of humans."
Sweat poured down Ocirne's face. She knew very well who that aberration was—and he wanted her to become the rival of that monster? It would have been better if he had simply killed her.