The Judgment That No One Sees Coming
The choice Pelican offered was almost insultingly simple. And yet the moment those words reached her, Dia's entire body began to shake.
"It's simple. Either you get beaten down by yourself... or you beat yourself down. See? Easy, right?"
"......What... are you talking about?"
"Hmm? You need it spelled out even simpler than that? Well... fine. I'll say it properly this time."
Pelican stepped in close, leveling her gaze with Dia's, and spoke as if she were sharing a private joke.
"Take that sword of yours..."
She pointed slowly at the blade in Dia's hand, then at the other Dia standing motionless ahead of them.
"...and cut that girl down."
"..."
"What? It's not like it's impossible. You've got the superior body... and you're already a Sword Saint with a mountain of experience, aren't you? A greenhorn prodigy like that..."
"..."
"...you could put her down without breaking a sweat. So? What's the problem?"
What's the problem? As if that weren't already painfully obvious. Fury cracked through Dia's voice as she shouted back.
"What's the problem? The entire premise is wrong! With this body still carrying Dullahan's power—"
"You can't attack? That's strange. All that happens is it hurts... it's not like you're physically incapable of attacking, is it?"
"If I'd only taken damage I could actually endure... Dullahan would have already—"
"......It's Lord Dullahan. Even I am only permitted to speak that name with the deepest respect. A wretch like you has no right to say it so casually."
Dia, who had been about to argue, wilted under the sudden, murderous atmosphere the Demon God exuded. She corrected herself in a small, uncertain voice.
"......Lord Dullahan would have already put me down. So how am I supposed to use a power like that—"
"......You still don't seem to understand what this is."
Dia's protest — that she could never defeat the girl in front of her while trapped in Dullahan's body — was cut short.
"I dragged you here to punish you... so what the hell have you been rambling about this whole time?"
"Ah..."
"From the start, every choice I gave you was a choice that makes you suffer. Obviously. This is a Judgment meant for you and you alone."
"..."
"So pick one. Otherwise... I'll leave you stranded in this world forever. Sound good?"
Dia's mind was a storm.
What... what am I supposed to choose...?
If she let herself be beaten down by her own attacks, that would mean facing — head-on — every sin she had committed against Dullahan.
Why...... why......
Why are you attacking me......?
No... I can't. There's no way I can face that.
To experience, alongside her past self's bottomless rage, every ounce of the agony and desperation Dullahan had felt back then... her weak self could never endure something like that.
The second choice was to take Dullahan's body and cut herself down. That option, too, filled her with nothing but endless dread.
Just how much pain was it... that even after I hit him that many times... he never used it?
She still remembered the moment, twenty years ago, when she had first started attacking Dullahan. The instant he realized he was being hit, he had simply... dropped his sword.
Of course, given that she was the noble daughter of a distinguished ducal house, he had probably never imagined she would actually attack him.
Regardless... could she endure a pain so terrible that even Dullahan — who had possessed that ability since childhood — couldn't bear it?
"Haaah...... maybe I really should just leave you here."
While Dia wrestled violently with the two choices, Pelican's voice cut in, thick with irritation, her expression gone ice-cold.
Hurry... I have to choose. Now.
Judging by Pelican's words and the atmosphere... whether she had been dragged here physically or through some kind of magic, escaping without Pelican's help was impossible. Which meant that even if the choice was cruel, she had to pick one of them if she ever wanted to leave.
How many times did I hit Dullahan... if a wooden sword broke from it... no. There's no way I could endure being hit like that.
Right now, all she wanted was to run as far as she could from the sins her past self had committed against Dullahan. If she had to face those sins all over again... would she even be able to hold onto her sanity?
......I'll endure it. As much as I can.
Having completely erased one option from consideration, only one path remained: she would have to cut herself down.
One strike... I'll drop her in a single blow.
Dullahan's own note had said it — if his power so much as touched someone, anyone would fall. He had used that same power to bring down the Demon God herself. A force capable of felling even a Demon God... there was no chance her past self, a mere greenhorn, could withstand it.
"I'll... I'll take her down. That's what you want, right...?"
"Mmm~~ so that's the one you're picking? Well, fine."
Pelican just nodded, as if she couldn't have cared less. Something about that reaction set Dia on edge.
......What? Why isn't she reacting at all... did she already know I'd choose this...?
Even as the Demon God's indifference left her uneasy, Dia's eyes locked back onto her past self.
"Then hurry up and drop her. Haaah...... I haven't used this much power in ages...... I'm exhausted. I just want to see Master already."
Pelican flicked her fingers. The other Dia, who had been standing perfectly still, began to move — walking toward her.
......Once is enough. I can endure it...!
Knowing her own attack patterns better than anyone, Dia snatched up her sword and surged forward to shatter them.
"Ngh... what is this......?"
The moment the two wooden swords crossed, the Dia in front of her began to tremble from head to toe, a groan tearing from her throat.
"You...... what did you... do...?"
Just from the blades touching... this much of an effect... well. That's how she brought down even the Demon God.
For reasons Dia still didn't understand, that same Demon God now served the Dullahan who had defeated her as her master... but that wasn't what mattered right now. What mattered was that Dullahan's power was catastrophically destructive.
Which meant that she — armed with overwhelming experience and a physique her past self couldn't match — had zero chance of losing. Dullahan's power had already completely shattered the other girl's balance. Dia was not about to waste that opening.
She poured everything into a single strike that slammed into the other Dia's side. A raw, tearing scream ripped from the girl's throat as she collapsed where she stood.
"Gah...... AAAAGH!!"
And in the same instant, the Dia occupying Dullahan's body was hit by a sudden, savage pain — and she screamed just as violently.
"This...... what the hell is this......?"
"Never felt pain like that before, have you? That raving, full-body agony, like every inch of you is about to burst... radiating without end...... well, don't worry. You won't die."
Pelican's face lit up with a bright, cheerful smile as she added,
"Your body... I can heal it, at least. I'll patch you up just enough that you don't kick it~~ I mean, you're still better off than that girl who just took a killing blow, right?"
"Ngh... AAAAH......!"
Dia had never felt anything like it. For the first time, she understood what people meant when they said something hurt enough to kill you. Every inch of her body was drowning in a pain so wrong, so excessive, that her mind began to buckle under the sheer weight of receiving it.
"Ghhhhaaaa...... help... me...!"
Super Regeneration
"Putting on a show over something this small...... the title of Sword Saint is wasted on you."
Whenever her organs ruptured completely and death's shadow reached for her, Pelican would, with almost supernatural timing, weave a healing spell and yank her back. Again and again Dia's body was smashed apart and packed back together. Only her mind went untouched — and she could feel something inside it beginning, slowly, to come apart.
"It hurts...... it hurts...... stop...!"
"That's why I asked... why would you pick the painful option first and make it harder on yourself? Well, that was your choice...... so I suppose I should be understanding."
"W-wait...... just now, you said 'first'...... didn't you?"
Even as the pain threatened to tear her mind apart, something in Pelican's words snagged. Dia forced the words out through the agony.
"Hmm? Oh, you caught that."
Pelican replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
What...... does that mean?
Dia looked at Pelican through a face twisted with pain — and found the Demon God beaming at her, a wide, delighted smile.
"......Tell me it's over."
Looking at that expression, Dia pushed through the pain still wracking her body and spoke in a voice more desperate than she had ever used.
"......Over, she says. To think those words would come out of your mouth."
What met her was a gaze filled with the same bottomless hatred her past self had once directed at Dullahan — except now it was Pelican, looking at her.
"If that's what you wanted... you people should have finished it in your previous life. Then we never would have ended up here..."
Pelican's gaze drifted slowly elsewhere. She flicked her fingers.
And the world around them began to change.
"..."
......What?
What Dia found herself facing was the other Dia — the one she had just cut down — standing with a practice sword in hand, speaking to her.
"Well then. Shall we begin? I'll even... grant you the first move."
"...?"
Those were the exact words her past self had spoken at the start of their sparring match, mere moments ago. Dia's face went pale. She turned slowly to look at Pelican beside her.
And the Demon God looking back at her wore the brightest, most delighted smile Dia had ever seen.
"When did I ever say I'd let you off after just once?"
"What the hell are you talking about!!"
Only then did the reality of it crash down on her. Dia's face crumpled as she shouted back — and Pelican burst into laughter.
"So you thought the Judgment for your sins would end after a single round? That a little pain you can't even die from would be enough?"
"You fucking bitch!!"
Dia, finally rejecting reality, dragged her still-screaming body into a charge at Pelican — and was immediately stopped cold by the Demon God's magic.
"I'll kill you... I'll fucking kill you...... you devil...!"
Genuinely delighted by Dia's complete transformation, Pelican gestured at the girl crumpled on the floor.
"Well then, shall we try the first option this time? Who knows...... maybe I'll let you go if I get bored?"
"......Stop."
"Starting from the beginning would be a waste of time, so let's skip ahead to the part where you can't take it anymore and go down, shall we?"
"I said stop......!!"
"Hmm, but if I do that... it might be a little short on desperation...... ah well, we'll figure it out!!"
"......Please. I'm begging you. Stop."
Pelican was completely ignoring her, standing there alone deciding what fresh torment to inflict. Dia begged her in a voice stripped raw.
"I was wrong...... I'm the one who deserves to die...... I never should have laid a hand on Lord Dullahan while he was just trying to live a normal life at the Academy...... that's why this happened......"
"...Hah?"
"I'll do anything...... please forgive me...... no — I'll spend the rest of my life serving Lord Dullahan and no one else...... just this once, please forgive me......"
"Anything? Do you mean that?"
Dia pleaded with a desperation she had never known. Pelican stepped closer, slowly, to confirm.
"...Yes."
"Alright then...... I'll let you go after this next one."
"After... this one?"
"Mm-hmm. Don't like it? Originally I was going to run it ten times. You're not going to complain, are you?"
"No...... I'll do it. I'll do it, so...... you'll let me go after this, right?!"
"Of course!"
Having finally extracted a promise from a creature worse than any devil, Dia turned her tense, exhausted gaze back toward her past self.
"Well then...... shall I rewind time again?"
"...Yes."
Once more the Demon God twisted the world around them. Watching it happen, Dia closed her eyes and thought,
Just once more...... I just have to endure one more time...... I can do this.
She steeled herself and looked at her own past self, her face still twisted in pain. And on Pelican's face, as she watched Dia, a smile was blooming once again.
Since it's only once...... I should make this Judgment a little more special, shouldn't I?
A diligent, devoted slave of her Master was obligated to return to them twice what her Master had suffered.
And so Pelican simply smiled, already savoring everything that was about to befall Dia.