Dia Grilite — [Reenactment]
Dia had lost consciousness the moment she met Pelican. When she opened her eyes again, she murmured as she slowly took in her surroundings.
"Where… am I…?"
The night sky that had hung dark over the banquet hall was gone. A bright sun rode high overhead as if it had always been there, and students in academy uniforms chattered all around her.
"Why was I… lying in the academy garden…? Huh?"
She pushed herself upright, then lifted the hand that had been braced against the ground to clutch at her head—and froze. Something felt wrong. She stared at her hand.
"What… why is my hand so big…? Ah?!"
Only then did she realize her body was wrong. She ran her hands over herself, and the shock on her face deepened as she whispered,
"This… isn't my body."
Somehow—Dia was inside what was unmistakably a man's body. And she understood at once that Pelican had done this.
"Why turn me into a man…? For what possible reason?"
She was still trying to grasp the Demon God's intent when she felt someone approaching. She turned slowly toward the sound.
"Hey, Dullahan!! What are you doing just sitting there? You said you'd show me around our department. I'm already swamped as it is… hurry up and come on!!"
"……Karl? What are you… Dullahan…?"
"Huh? Dullahan, did you eat something weird? Not that I can talk—the food in this world doesn't sit right with me either. Anyway… I burned half the day looking for you. I'm heading to see the professor, so… go look around on your own!!"
"W-wait!! Karl!! What do you mean I'm Dullahan… what is this… ah."
Before she could catch him, Karl was already racing away as if the world were on fire. Watching him go, she whispered in a trembling voice,
"I've… possessed Dullahan's body? What… is even happening."
At last she understood: she was inside Dullahan Franz. She replayed Karl's words and forced herself to think about what she had to do next.
He said he was going to look around the swordsmanship department, right? For now… I should move the way Dullahan would have. I can't risk anything strange happening…
With that, she set off toward the swordsmanship department's training grounds—a place she knew all too well.
Leaving the garden, she crossed the great athletic field, reached the academy's main building, and soon stood before the training yard of the swordsmanship department.
"……That's—"
What filled her vision was herself—swinging a wooden practice sword, shouting with every strike.
"What… if I'm over there… then what on earth is going on?"
She barely had time to wonder why another version of herself was standing there before that other self's sudden shout made her freeze in place.
"……You there. Hold it!!"
"Uh… uh?"
Hearing that cry, Dia felt a chill crawl over her so deep she had no words for it. And then, unbidden, the Demon God's words rose in her mind.
"From this moment on… you will experience, exactly as he did, every torment our Master suffered at your hands."
"……No."
She could almost see what the Demon God had done to her—and she rejected it with everything she had.
"Don't come near me… stay away…!"
But Dullahan's body no longer answered her will. It was as if something else had stripped her of control over her own flesh…
"What's your name? Judging by the uniform… you're not a swordsmanship student."
Don't speak… you must not speak… please, don't let me say anything…
Past Dia stepped slowly toward Dullahan—no, toward the Dia trapped inside Dullahan's body—and asked the question. Present Dia clenched down with everything she had, desperate to keep her mouth shut.
"Uh… ah…?"
No… please don't… I was wrong, all of it was my fault…
Her resistance shattered the instant Pelican seized control of her body. Her mouth was forced open, and the words spilled out whether she wanted them or not.
"Dullahan… Franz. First-year… magic department…"
Dia watched her own face—past Dia's face—go cold enough to raise gooseflesh, and at last she sobbed in terror inside her mind.
Ah… aah… no… please don't… please don't do this… Demon God…
I'm sorry… I'm sorry, so please… stop… I'll give you everything I have… just stop this now…!!
But what answered her desperate prayers was not the salvation she so craved. Only despair, ready to grind her underfoot.
Hearing that wretched, humiliating plea, Pelican answered with ice in her voice—and began to reenact, one by one, the nightmares Dia had once inflicted on Dullahan.
"In that case… since fate brought you this far, how about a spar?"
On past Dia's face sat a rage only the present Dia could recognize—a reckless fury far too cruel for Dullahan to bear.
"F… fine."
Once again the Absolute forced the worst possible answer past her lips, against every shred of her will. The two Dias slowly took up wooden swords.
This body… feels so much lighter.
The moment she gripped the sword in Dullahan's flesh, she felt it: compared even to her own, his body was more thoroughly trained, his movements almost weightless.
And with that, Dia was certain—even without the side effects of his power, he had never lost to her because his skill was inferior.
"Well then, shall we begin? I'll… yield the first move."
Hearing her own past self, she looked slowly across at that face and sank into thought.
What… am I supposed to do?
Even with a trained body… even if she could slip past an enemy's attacks with ease…
In the first place… a swordsman who can't deal damage… has no way to win.
She was still wringing her mind for any answer when she found herself facing herself—charging in with a voice raw with rage.
"So you've… decided to look down on me. How little… must you think of me…!!"
"…!"
Past Dia's sudden rush came straight at her. Present Dia used Dullahan's natural speed to barely evade, then tried to counter.
"……Ah."
She saw the tiny opening in her past self's guard—and still could not strike.
She simply could not believe she would survive the backlash of Dullahan's Honeybee Clan power…
If it were only ordinary pain… there's no way Dullahan, after everything I did to him, wouldn't have used it…
And yet Dullahan had never once unleashed an attack charged with his power, no matter how much humiliation and harm she heaped on him.
It's too… unfair. This isn't a power… it's nothing but a curse!!
If they had fought on pure skill alone, without that ability… she would almost certainly have lost to him.
She was still cursing that curse-like power when a cold voice slid into her ear once more.
"…Ah."
The one who called Dullahan Master. The one who had forced Dia into past Dullahan's body. And the Demon God Pelican—who was supposed to have died alongside him.
She finally understood something of Pelican's devotion to Dullahan. But that hardly mattered now.
What mattered was only this: the sole way out of her present hell rested with her. In this moment, that was all Dia cared about.
Please… let me out. I understand everything now… please…!!
Pelican's voice was ice. Then came the snap of her fingers. At once, the body of past Dia mid-swing—and every person around them—froze in time.
"……Huh?"
"So… tell me exactly what you want. You don't want to suffer the violence your past self inflicted on Master, do you? You want to run from this?"
"But… there's no way I can run… You possessed me because you want me to suffer exactly what Dullahan suffered… isn't that right…?"
"You understand that much, at least. Well… originally, yes—I meant to pay back every last thing Master endured from you. But I've changed my mind."
"Changed… your mind…?"
Dia had been certain she was about to live through every horror she had once dealt Dullahan. At Pelican's words, a flicker of hope leapt up, and she answered.
"This bitch is already getting her hopes up again…? Good. That kind of shamelessness is exactly what makes crushing you so much fun."
Pelican smiled slowly at Dia and spoke in a voice almost pure as a child's.
"But… it would be inconvenient if you broke right away… so I'll give you a choice!"
"A… choice?"
"Mm-hm. I'm a merciful little god, after all. I can spare that much mercy. Well? Want to choose?"
She had no idea what choice a Demon God would offer—but anything had to be better than what Pelican had already described. Dia nodded so hard her neck ached.
And when she looked up, she found Pelican beaming at her with a smile so bright it raised the hair on her arms.
An ominous weight pressed in on her—and still Dia could only wait for the Demon God's mouth to open.
"All right. The first option I'll offer you… is exactly what I just described. You're free to pick that one, if you like."
"The second… what's the second?!"
She would never choose to live through what Pelican had promised. She rejected it at once and hung on every word, waiting for the second option to be revealed.
Anything… has to be better than suffering exactly what I did to him.
But the next words out of Pelican's mouth taught her how wrong she had been.
From the moment they had broken Dullahan—her Master—Pelican had never intended to show any of them the slightest mercy. That was the instant Dia finally understood.