Chaos at the Entrance Ceremony (3)
For the Hero, there exists such a thing as destiny.
To put it precisely, a being endowed with the mission of saving the world naturally shoulders an unavoidable duty. Chosen by a sentient, demon-slaying Holy Sword, he must grow step by step until he ultimately fells the Demon King. It is both destiny and obligation. In that sense, perhaps what unfolded was entirely inevitable.
Evan had merely intended to stop a fellow student who had bolted from the hall. Stella was the freshman representative, yet right when she was supposed to take the oath, she had suddenly shouted that she needed the restroom and dashed outside. Worried by her ashen, terror-stricken face and frantic demeanor, Evan had excused himself to the teaching assistant and hurried after her. From the assistant's perspective, having the freshman representative scream about needing the bathroom and sprint out at the crucial moment of the oath was a disaster, leaving them helpless. Entrusting the boy who appeared to be her friend to bring her back quickly had seemed like the only viable option.
Emerging from the building, Evan ran after Stella, who was already levitating on wings of mana in the distance.
What is going on?
A nagging suspicion gripped him. Something was wrong—terribly wrong. The assistant had clearly said she had to use the restroom, but the direction she was flying was the exact opposite of where the lavatories were. Nor was that all. No matter how urgent the call of nature might be, it wouldn't explain why she was expending mana so recklessly, leaving a blazing trail of magical traces in her wake. The anomalies piled up one after another. In that moment, Evan realized with absolute certainty that she had never intended to visit the restroom. Something dire had happened—something urgent enough to drain every drop of color from her face.
Following her trail for some time, he finally arrived at his destination.
The training grounds?
It was the very facility he had visited just yesterday to practice. And...
Where I met Aria...
The memory surfaced of the girl who had introduced herself as a Saint, eyes gently closed, a benevolent smile gracing her lips. Thanks to her, he had avoided suspension and was able to attend the entrance ceremony, even after picking an unsanctioned fight with the man who had insulted his master's sword.
Why did she come here?
Why would she rush to this place of all places?
Realizing that standing around wondering would solve nothing, Evan began stepping toward Stella, who stood frozen in the center of the training grounds.
—Evan, you'd better be careful.
A girl's voice resonated from the Holy Sword.
Evan stopped in his tracks, confusion coloring his thoughts. Is something wrong, Estel?
—I sense demonic energy.
Demonic energy.
The wellspring of a demon's power.
Though he had journeyed the world with his master, he had only ever heard of it in passing. Even as the chosen Hero, he had never laid eyes on it directly. The moment the words registered, Evan froze stiff.
Are you sure...?
—If they were concealing it, that would be one thing, but with demonic energy this thick, there's no mistaking it.
...
Thick demonic energy? Just yesterday, while they were at these very grounds, Estel hadn't said a single word about sensing anything of the sort.
Could it be...?
Cold sweat beading on his skin, Evan turned his gaze toward Stella.
—No, it's not that girl. If anything, this is...
At that exact moment, mana spilled from Stella's hands as a magic circle unfolded in midair.
A sound like shattering glass echoed across the training grounds.
Estel gasped.
—A barrier! There's an immense surge of demonic energy beyond the barrier!
Drawn by an almost hypnotic pull, Evan approached the barrier.
This presence...
There was no way he could fail to recognize this warmth. It was the exact same power that had blocked his blade only yesterday. A voice in his head screamed that this demon was beyond him, that he needed to flee immediately, but Evan shut it out. If he turned and ran now, he knew he would regret it for the rest of his life.
Demonic energy roiled beyond the barrier, clashing violently against something familiar.
Before he knew it, Evan was standing right beside Stella.
Both of them stood paralyzed, staring at the scene unfolding through the breach in the shattered barrier.
"Looks like some uninvited guests have crashed the party."
The terrifying aura prickling against his skin made Evan choke on his breath. Instinctively, he recognized that the black-skinned humanoid figure standing in the distance was a demon.
"Watch out!"
The moment someone shouted, Evan raised his sword.
BOOM!
A colossal impact slammed into Evan. Barely clinging to his nearly shattered consciousness, he peered through his blurred vision at what was right in front of him. A hand wreathed in pitch-black energy was pressed hard against the golden radiance of the Holy Sword.
"Oho... To think you could react to that."
"Kh... Gaaagh...!"
Heavy...!
Just an ordinary swing of a hand possessed this much power?!
His face filled with undisguised shock, Evan channeled the Holy Sword's mana with everything he had, desperate to throw off the demon before him.
"So this is the Holy Sword..."
The demon seemed intrigued for a fraction of a second, but then, deciding it was merely an annoyance, released an explosive burst of force to fling him away.
"Gah...?!"
A violent shockwave battered his body.
And then—
"Hmm. More useful than you look for a mage."
"Thanks for the compliment, empty as it is...!"
Catching the hurtling Evan with a burst of magic, Stella deployed another magic circle, gliding backward as she unleashed her spell. Thick wooden vines erupted from the earth, coiling tightly around the demon to pin it in place.
"Ha! You think a puny trick like this can hold—"
"I know it can't."
Stella was well aware that a mid-tier bind spell of this caliber couldn't hope to restrain a High Demon. That was precisely why she was already reading several moves ahead. Every motion she made was calculated around how it would react.
"What—?!"
A naturally lazy genius always seeks to achieve the maximum result with the minimum effort. Put another way, she would exploit every advantage available. In that brief exchange—observing how it reacted when her spell was dispelled, reading its demeanor and arrogant speech—she had already analyzed the demon's nature and mapped out a strategy.
⟨ Rising Spear ⟩
The pre-cast advanced lightning magic roared to life. A massive spear of thunder materialized in the empty air, piercing clean through the demon's torso. The intermediate vine bind couldn't hold it for even a second on its own, but by luring out the demon's arrogance and catching it off guard, it had performed its role to perfection.
"Gaaaoooh...!!"
No matter how formidable a High Demon might be, it could not simply shrug off the raw destructive force of an advanced spell skewering its flesh while holding its true power back. To keep its body from being incinerated by the ferocious heat of the lightning, it had no choice but to unleash its dormant might.
ROOOAAAR!!
"I will tear you to pieces, you wretched wench...!"
Drawing upon the demonic energy that had been maintaining the barrier and anchoring the portal to the Demon Realm, it cloaked its entire frame in dark power. The lightning spear impaling it dissolved into cinders in an instant. With crimson light flaring in its eyes and its body swelling to twice its original size, the demon surged straight toward Stella.
"Ah..."
No...
To guarantee the ambush's success, she had deployed No-Chant Casting on Rising Spear—a spell that normally could never be cast without an incantation. The price was an astronomical drain on her mana. Casting a high-tier spell that required effortless mastery in the blink of an eye resulted in an exorbitant amount of wasted magical energy. Because Stella possessed an obscene amount of innate talent, the sudden, overwhelming depletion only resulted in a nosebleed and momentary weakness rather than total mana exhaustion. Under normal circumstances, that would have been negligible, but right now, even a fleeting hesitation was fatal. A momentary stumble, a fraction of a second's opening, was more than enough to claim a life.
Watching the demon's hand, cloaked in demonic energy, lunging straight for her like a missile, Stella saw her life flash before her eyes.
Why, of all moments, did the Saint who had showered her with such affection come to mind?
The one who had cleaned her room, cooked delicious meals for her, and smiled so warmly...
The image of the platinum-blonde girl, eyes serenely closed with that ever-present benevolent smile, drifted across her fading consciousness.
If I knew this would happen...
I should have at least said thank you...
With an overwhelming pang of regret, Stella closed her eyes.
Then—
Squelch!
The sickening sound of tearing flesh tore through the air.
What was this?
Something was wrong. She had seen the demon's claws hurtling toward her and had completely surrendered her life. By all rights, she should be dead.
Yet something felt strange. Deeply, unmistakably strange.
If that strike had killed her...
How am I still thinking?
How could her thoughts continue so lucidly? And if she was somehow still alive, why didn't she feel any pain?
Consumed by the questions crowding her mind, Stella cautiously opened her eyes.
And what met her gaze froze the breath in her lungs.
"Ah..."
Drip. Drip.
With trembling eyes, Stella looked down.
A torrent of crimson soaked the ground beneath her feet. As if that still weren't enough, more and more blood poured down in violent, heavy splashes.
"Ah... Aaaah..."
"Cough... G-gahk... *cough, cough*..."
The blood spewing from the girl's mouth splattered across Stella's face.
This was a nightmare.
All strength fled from Stella's legs, and she collapsed to her knees. The moment she realized who was standing before her—who this girl shielding her was—something violent surged up from the pit of her stomach.
Please let this be a nightmare.
Someone, please, tell me this is just a dream.
Muttering silently in despair, Stella heaved and vomited, praying with every shred of her soul that she would wake up from this horror.