"When I woke up, I was in the sage's home" - Rea said with a look darkened by her hair - "I let out a sigh of relief when I saw that my clothes were in perfect condition and I felt no pain other than the pain in my head..."
Elisabeth was silent as she bit her lip.
"When I asked about my friend..." - Rhea continued as she broke down in tears - "The sage apologized... He could do nothing to save her... She... was raped to death by that... monster..."
Rhea continued to cry as she clenched her teeth to the point that Elisabeth felt that at any moment they would break.
"I see the expression of fear and despair on her corpse, every time I think of that son of a bitch" - Rea said as she clenched her fists tightly - "As if it was a curse for not protecting her."
"You are not guilty of this" - said Elisabeth as she hugged the girl.
"No, I am" - replied Rhea as she continued to cry - "If I had been more attentive to my surroundings, if I hadn't said to come down so early, it's possible that none of this would have happened... My friend died in the worst possible way because I made the worst choice..."
A sad smile settled on the girl's lips as tears continued to run uncontrollably down her cheeks.
"That's why I only wish for one thing..." - Rhea said as her expression of sadness changed to one of uncontrolled rage - "When the time is right, I want to have the pleasure of torturing that son of a bitch! I want to cut off the thing he used to torture my friend! I want him to suffer in the slowest and most painful way possible! I want him to be raped by a horde of monsters under the effects of an aphrodisiac, and suffer the same fate as my friend!"
Elisabeth let out a sigh because it was obvious that this girl had already made her decision - "I understand, I'll try to help you as much as I can."
"Thank you..." - Rhea murmured as she let out a sigh, though her tears were still flowing out of her eyes as if they were an endless fountain of water - "Thank you so much..."
"No, this is the least I can do as a woman, and as a person from the same world" - Elisabeth said while shaking her head - "I have a question though... Did the sage give you his ring?"
"Yes" - answered Rhea as she showed the ring to the curly-haired woman.
Elisabeth looked closely at the ring, only to see a detailed description appear before her eyes, one of the many benefits of being a human from another world.
- - - - - - - - - - -
[Ring of the Sage (Unique Item)]
Relic inherited by the ancient twilight wizards, an order charged with sealing the demon god for the first time. This ring has a hidden power, waiting for the heir of the sages to be unleashed.
Effect: ???
Restriction: ???
- - - - - - - - - - -
"Yes, this is it" - nodded Elisabeth as a huge smile appeared on her face - "How did you accomplish getting the old man to part with his most precious possession?"
"In the most terrible way possible" - replied Rhea as she gritted her teeth - "I used Mika to make the old man feel guilty, along with the promise that I would tell him about the heir."
"You revealed Ren's identity?" - Elisabeth asked in surprise, though she quickly frowned.
"It's the only way I had to gain his trust" - replied Rhea neutrally - "He gave me the ring when I revealed the information about the [Tower of Babel]"
"You're an idiot, the sage is an allied NPC, but we don't know what kind of changes will happen now that the twilight order knows about Ren's presence" - Elisabeth said with a frown - "More when there are infiltrators..."
Exactly, that was part of the plot of the game.
When the player meets the old sage for the first time and tells him about his adventures, he gains a huge interest in the player, that's why after a few trials, the old sage gives him the ring along with the mission to find the heir. Depending on the route and the player's decisions, the ring may end up in the heir of the sages, or in the hands of the cult of the fallen god.
Back to the point, during the course of the story, more information is revealed about the secret order of the twilight, and when the climax comes, the presence of the traitor is revealed, the thing is that it is never mentioned who he is. Even at the moment when the game ends and the final boss is defeated, this spy remains unknown, and even in the sequels is not mentioned, in other words, the cult spy is not only smart, but also elusive, that's why the players created a list of possible traitors.
The first was Benjamin Bleak, the incandescent wizard, and former minister of a fallen kingdom. Of all the members of the twilight order, he was the most hostile against Ren for being one of the princes of Bahamut, the kingdom that destroyed his home, which is why people theorized that he was a candidate, so that the clash between the two would make sense.
The second possible culprit was Artemis, the immortal witch, who had made a pact with an unknown god to stay young forever. She was one of the secondary heroines of the game, possibly to satisfy the [Milfs Hunter]. Artemis was a woman with an appearance of 30 years old, seductive body, even superior to that of Erika, who was considered the most beautiful woman in the game, and although Artemis' beauty was not on Erika's level, she made up for it with an innate aura of seduction. As for why players thought she was the traitor, it was because of her backstory with so many mysteries, as well as some dialogues she tells the player or Ren depending on the decisions.
The third possible traitor, was none other than Merlin, the great sage of the twilight order, this because the old wizard is the only one who knew about the many moves of the player in which he faced against the cult of the fallen god. All these coincidences caused players to think about the possibility that the traitor might be none other than the person who helped them the most, which could cause a huge plot twist.
"Who do you think could be the culprit?" - Elisabeth asked with a frown.
"Altia" - replied Rhea seriously.
"Altia? You mean Merlin's granddaughter?" - Elisabeth asked in surprise, only to frown - "That doesn't make sense, she's one of the extra heroines, and possibly the one with the most difficulty in recruitment... Why do you think this?"
"First, because Merlin always talked about the player and what he did with her, second, she possesses the ability of clairvoyance, third, she never showed her power until the end, and only when there was no other choice, fifth... her parting words when she dies at the end" - Rea answered while listing the reasons.
"Wait... How did you kill Altia?" - Elisabeth asked with a frown - "She has an armor created by the king of the dwarves, made with mithril and the scales of Bergh, the immortal dragon, in other words, her defensive parameters are extremely high."
"I managed to take advantage of some glitches to recruit her earlier, then I put her to fight the final boss of the dungeon [Cave to Hell]" - Rhea replied as she shrugged her shoulders.
"Oh... OH! I see, you took advantage of the attack he uses when he gets killed, and you didn't protect her!" - exclaimed Elisabeth as she nodded.
"Exactly, remember that [Hyper Nova] ignores additional defense and resistances" - replied Rhea proudly - "Back on topic, when she dies, she says, and I quote... [I will wait for you in the shadows, my beloved... soon we will be together forever...]"
Elisabeth was silent for a few seconds, though she quickly realized something, and that was that this girl had recovered much faster than she thought - "Your mental fortitude is stronger than I thought..."
"My desire for revenge is what makes me resist the sadness that consumes me" - Rea replied neutrally - "Leaving that aside, I want to tell you something else I discovered, and that I've been keeping to myself."
"What?" - Elisabeth asked curiously because she was discovering things she didn't know, and that she had finished the game at 100%.
"My uncle knows about computers, so I asked him to look through the game files in search of some clues about some possible hidden plots, and we managed to discover a strange Altia file called [Ascension of the Fallen], the strange thing is that it only activates on Ren's route as a demon lord"
"Now I'm starting to think that she really is the traitor..." - Elisabeth said while looking at Rhea with a frown - "And she was my favorite character..."