The other shards stood in shock, they assumed that me and Sloth were destroyed.
"How? You get destroyed if you are force absorbed."
"You are right. We would be destroyed if we are absorbed by force."
My smirk caused them to realize my meaning. Envy was furious.
"You little *****. How could you come up with a plan like this? Innocence is supposed to be the dumb naïve one. There's no way!!!"
Sloth smiled.
"Fools, utter fools. Innocence evolved."
Their eyes widened as they realized I had surpassed my mental limitations. Innocence, the naïve one who wanted to befriend everyone was no more. I was Rose, the arcane dragon.
I stood up.
"Now, you don't know how to get out of here, but we do, so I'll tell you what."
They looked at me expectantly.
"I'll tell you what to do to get out if you all promise to withdraw and flee."
This caused Wrath's eyes to narrow.
"So, you are saying that if we run, you will let us out?"
"Yep. Only after you promise."
Wrath was furious, she knew that she wouldn't be able to get out without our help, but she also knew that she would damage her chances of being core if she conceded.
Envy was also angry, but she realized the effect of the area.
"We can't merge here, can we?"
"Correct. Unless you give up and leave, we will simply sit here, trapped for eternity."
"Unless we find a way out."
"Wrath darling, why do you think me and Sloth got caught too. You can't leave unless all of us do the required action."
Her eyes widened as she realized the full extent of my plan.
"Such underhanded methods... I can't say I'm not impressed, but I will still be the core, but for at least now, I promise to withdraw."
The other shards promised to do the same after a bit more prodding. Even Envy.
"I have no army, so it would be useless to withdraw my army, but I will leave."
"Very well, to leave, all of us need to condense our evil to the point that it isn't noticeable to anyone. Even each other."
Me and Sloth demonstrated, and the others followed suit. Then the door unlocked, and we left.
_
We were back in the world, after standing, Wrath gave me a harsh glare before shouting.
"Men! We withdraw for now!"
The evil army started a march heading away from the capital, and Gluttony called for her troops to also move out.
Peace smiled and looked at me.
"Thank you for solving it. Men we withdraw as well!"
"Hai!"
Peace and Benevolence left as well, then Envy stood alone, glaring at me.
"You are getting smart. I won't make the foolish mistake of underestimating you again. Watch your back, Rose."
Then Envy was gone, a teleport.
"Well, that was tiring, Rose, I'm going to take a long nap."
"You take it, you deserve it."
I reached out my hand to Sloth, who took it and merged into me.
"Rose?"
"Yes, Jalad?"
"What happened?"
I smiled my smug grin.
"We won."
He sighed but he had a smile.
"So, your contingency worked out."
"Yep, if not for Envy's surprise attack, we may have actually lost."
"Rose."
"Yeah?"
"Please stop risking your life like that. We thought you were dead twice this battle."
"Sorry, I needed to trick the opponents, they were far stronger than me..."
"Rose?"
The world started spinning. I guess that there was a lot of energy spent in that battle.
"I think I'm going to take a nap..."
"Rose!!!"
I fell back as the world blacked out.
_
I woke up in the infirmary. The first thing I noticed was the pain, the second thing I noticed was the bandages wrapped around me like I was a birthday present.
Royce came in.
"Rose, you're awake."
'I am?'
"Woah, telepathy."
'I can't move my mouth.'
"I understand, you took a lot of damage, I checked, and you were at 1 hp."
'Jeez, I nearly died.'
"Yeah, Rose, please never risk your life like that again."
'I won't if our enemies leave us alone.'
"In general, I just want you to live peacefully, when you collapsed, my heart dropped, I thought you were actually dead that time."
'I'm fine now.'
"You'll recover, but you aren't fine. People have been asking about Sloth."
'What did you tell them?'
"That you two made a deal in Callel's dungeon and she uses your body as a safe place while leaving you intact."
'Accurate.'
"Yeah."
'I'm guessing Mammon wasn't happy with not knowing that.'
"He wasn't."
We laughed a bit, then he grew a bit sad.
"Despite your fast recovery, you won't be able to move for a month."
'I understand, I pretty much died three separate times.'
"Yeah, you need to stop that."
'I'll try.'
"Yeah, please get better quickly."
He put his hand over mine and smiled.
"Please stop worrying me like this."
'I will... thank you for worrying, despite everything, Royce.'
"Of course. Thank you for fighting for us."
Then Royce left to attend to his duties. I couldn't move, no matter how much I tried to.
'Sloth, do you know why I'm this hurt?'
'Because your body wasn't strong enough to handle the amount of power Envy was sending out of it.'
'I thought my body would be able to handle it.'
'Your body is that of a dragon's remember? A god is far stronger.'
'How do I get to the point where I can handle that power?'
'I'll handle it, while you are in bedrest.'
'Will you be okay?'
'Of course. I'll just have to sleep for a few months after evolving your body, but it will transmit your body into being a spiritual formation. It will be far stronger than before.'
'How strong?'
'You will be as strong as Wrath and the other shards.'
'Nice.'
'There is a side effect though.'
'What is it?'
'You will always exude a sense of evil.'
'Okay?'
'Meaning everything with a ward will block you.'
'Oh, can we explain that off with you?'
'Unfortunately, not; it is known that evil possesses to get through wards, so if you are blocked, people will realize that you are simply an evil entity.'
'So, will I still be conscious?'
'Yes, in fact you will be healing far faster than if I didn't.'
'Why?'
'Well, because I am completely rebuilding your body.'
'Oh.'
'I will get started immediately.'
'Thank you.'
"Rose, are you awake still?"
Mammon came in with Dallel and Jalad.
"You are awake, good. We were worried."
'Thanks for worrying.'
"Woah, what was that?"
'I can't move my mouth, so I have to speak through telepathy.'
"Ah, well it's good to hear your voice, though Rose."
'Yes?'
"Why didn't you tell me that you befriended the shard, Sloth."
'It was none of your business.'
"Fair..."
'I am sorry I can't do much.'
"Oh, don't be sorry, if it weren't for you, we'd all be dead. I'm not entirely sure what you did, but you managed to get each shard to flee."
Jalad asked a question.
"Also, Rose. What was that device?"
'It seizes and cages evil. Also separating it from whatever host.'
"Then why were you pulled in?"
'Because at that point, my body was Envy's.'
"I see. That answers that question."
'By the way, what happened to Zath?'
Mammon shook his head.
"He was bummed out by the way the battle ended and is now sadly serving drinks."
'Ha, he really was hoping for a merge.'
"Yes, he is an odd one alright, though now I understand the interest he has in you."
'He sees me as a proper catalyst. He wants me to rebuild the evil god.'
"Vile nut he is. I wish I could control him better, but lately he's been bugging me about eliminating the contract so that he can serve you."
'That is weird.'
"I know. Well, I'll get going. I'm sure the guard duo wants to talk with you."
'Have a good day, Mammon.'
"You as well, get better, please."
'I will.'
Mammon left and Jalad looked at me with a lightly suspicious expression.
"There is something you two aren't telling me. I'm not going to pry, but I hope that you will trust me in the future."
"Maybe, but Jalad, technically, I only know because I was there when it happened. If I wasn't I'm sure I'd also not know."
"Okay, well I've already talked to Rose. Did before she fainted. I'll let you talk to her, Dallel."
"Thank you."
Jalad left and Dallel cast a silence bubble.
"How did you do it?"
'We could only leave the device when all of us conceal our evil. Me and Sloth willingly jumped the contingency upon realizing that we would lose. Envy's surprise attack helped with that.'
"Huh, Rose, please never do something like that again, we genuinely thought we lost you."
'I'm sorry, I needed your surprise to be genuine, otherwise they would've realized something was wrong and killed Jalad before he got there.'
"I understand, but I think we should tell Jalad."
'How would he react though?'
"I can only tell you how I did. The moment Elren told us your nature, I was scared, not of you, but for you. I know Jalad also cares for you. I think he would react much like me and Royce did."
'I guess, I'd still rather not tell him. I was uncomfortable enough with people finding out I was a dragon, but I think that I would be killed if I revealed myself.'
"They were fine with the other shards."
'Oh please, they were terrified. They listened mostly out of fear, and you know they were about to kill Mammon at one point.'
"When he picked you up?"
'Yep. They actually thought he was my servant.'
"HAHAHA!!! Really? That's golden."
'Yeah, but anyways, Sloth is building my body to the point where I will be able to handle a full power barrage like Envy was using.'
"Any side effects?"
'I'll have an evil aura, and she'll be asleep for a few months.'
"Hmm... any benefits?"
'I'll be on par with Wrath, and I'll recover way faster.'
"Well, that's good. I should get back to my duties, get well quickly."
He left, and I realized that I should probably sleep a bit more.
As my eyes closed, I felt something odd.
Happiness, a way I've never felt it before. I was alone before, scared that I'd be thrown out if I ever told anyone I was a dragon, now I had people who loved me despite being a shard.
'What did I do to deserve this heaven? Whoever is out there... thank... you...'
As my consciousness faded, I heard a strangely familiar male voice,
'You are welcome, Sister.'