The Flag of Ruin
"An interesting dark magic you're using."
The world around them was already melting into Merida's No-Self Dream, everything dissolving into a realm of toys — but the Volcano Castle Lord wandered through it, admiring the scenery as if it were someone else's show. Then, slowly, she spread her palm open.
Slosh-shlosh—!
Lava rose up over her palm and stretched itself into the shape of a long shaft. A moment later she mimed clenching her hand and opening it again, and the lava reformed into an arrowhead.
"I've practiced it a few times, but it remains difficult."
As the Volcano Castle Lord, Jean had sealed away her own dark magic and Jet-Black. For the duration of this exam, the only power she was permitted was that of the Castle Lord itself. And it did not come easily to her.
Ku-gu-gu-gu—!
Perhaps Merida knew that too, because she pressed the assault from the very first exchange. The ceiling split open like a toy window, and the arm of a giant teddy bear descended through the gap.
The Volcano Castle Lord moved with fluid grace, nocking the arrow she had just conjured and sending it flying overhead.
Pwaaa-aaaaaang!
A scarlet streak shot skyward, and the bear's arm burst apart from fingertip to shoulder in an eruption of purple fluff.
"Still, I'm getting the feel of it."
"Haah!"
Merida refused to be outdone, dragging every last drop of power from her No-Self Dream. More windows yawned open across the toy-box world, and doll arms of every different shape came swarming in to seize the Volcano Castle Lord.
She answered in kind, moving again.
Pwaaa-aaaaaaaaang!
Pwaaaaang!
Her shooting hand was a blur — too fast to see. It looked as though arrows were erupting outward from her stationary figure like shotgun spray, scattering in every direction. The toy arms were all cleaved apart and burned to nothing.
As her proficiency grew, she began conjuring the arrows directly onto her bowstring and loosing them on the spot.
Kirrrk! Krrk!
Deng! Deng!
Merida showed no sign of tiring, churning out an endless stream of dream-world toys. A doll banging cymbals, a wind-up tin toy, a stuffed animal with its eye dangling out, a princess doll smeared with mud — every one of them came running with arms spread wide.
"A bother, this is."
The Volcano Castle Lord formed a sword of lava and gripped it in one hand, then fixed a blade of molten rock to the tip of her bow as well. And then she leapt, plunging straight into close-quarters combat.
'Whoa…!'
Simon, watching from the rear as he prepared his dark magic, felt a chill run down his spine. Wading into a sea of countless dolls and cutting them down in a trance-like flow, she looked like the God of War reborn.
This had nothing to do with her being a Legion Commander or the Grand Duke of the North. This was the raw, human strength of Jean Arscalt herself.
It was impossible to tell who was pressing whom. The Volcano Castle Lord touched down lightly on the ground while half-burnt shreds of cotton drifted down around her like ash.
'Still, a war of attrition like this is never a loss for Merida.'
Simon steadied himself. The Volcano Castle Lord seemed to have belatedly realized something was off as well, and came to a halt where she stood.
"Drowsiness washes over me. The curse of sleep, is it."
Murmuring so, she rapped her fingertips against her armor with a tink-tink.
"So long as I wear this armor, crafting a cleansing spell to break the curse is impossible. Yes — there is no other way."
At the sight that followed, Simon's jaw dropped.
Pwooooosh!
The Volcano Castle Lord conjured a spear of searing lava, gripped it — and drove it straight into her own thigh.
'What the—!'
Pwoooosh!
She drew a second spear and rammed it into her side, then calmly resumed drawing her bow.
"If pain keeps the mind awake, I may use it as much as I please."
The iron mindset of a soldier who would do anything, endure anything, to complete the mission. Facing an opponent who couldn't use dark magic was no advantage at all — because the opponent was, in herself, an overwhelmingly powerful foe.
It seemed it was Simon's turn to be tested next; the Volcano Castle Lord's bow swiveled toward him, and dozens of lava arrows rained down like machine-gun fire.
Tap.
Simon broke into a calm, controlled sprint. Arrows thudded into the ground behind him in swarming clusters, chasing his every turn.
'Three spells. That's what I've prepared — and of the three…'
Simon unleashed the first of them, the one he had completed earliest. He pressed a 'crown' down onto his head.
⟨ Simon Original — Royal Guard ⟩
Skeletons with horns sprouting from their skulls burst out of subspace, and the Royal Guard effect layered over them at once.
"Go!"
The Kolothan skeletons hurled themselves forward with assault pikes raised, firing off like bullets — a new specialized undead built entirely around the Royal Guard's signature speed and crushing momentum.
Even the Volcano Castle Lord, mid-deluge of arrows at Simon, evidently couldn't ignore them. She threw herself aside.
Kwoong!
Kukwoong!
Three Kolothan skeletons came hurtling in from either side and crossed their pikes against each other at the spot where she'd been standing. She twisted through a somersault and slipped free into the sky.
The offensive didn't let up. Royal Guards brandishing massive pikes trailed emerald tails as they dove like meteors.
The Volcano Castle Lord kept retreating while handling it all with consummate skill — picking off Royal Guards with pinpoint shots, deflecting pikes with her bow.
Pakang!
The instant she drove an arrow through one Royal Guard's torso, a boy came spinning out of the air like a top, emerald blade in hand, and swung.
Kaaa-aaaang!
Sword met bow with a thunderous crash. A taut tug-of-war of strength stretched between them, and Simon's eyes locked with the Volcano Castle Lord's across their crossed weapons. The moment she shifted to fire an arrow into him at point-blank range, Royal Guards came diving in from every direction with pikes raised.
"An annoyance, this is."
In that instant, the Volcano Castle Lord's armor flushed blood-red as if it were about to detonate. Startled, Simon kicked off her bow, vaulting backward —
KWAAAA-AAAAAAAAANG—!
A volcanic eruption burst from her very body, sweeping away the onrushing Royal Guards in a single blast.
"Kghhh…!"
He had clearly dodged the attack itself, yet Simon clutched at his own body, wracked with extreme pain, and rolled roughly across the ground. From within the black smoke of the explosion, she trained her bow on him.
"You pretend otherwise, but the damage shared between you and your summons is plain to see."
He had never shown her the Royal Guard before — and yet his weakness had been laid bare all the same.
The Volcano Castle Lord sent a lava arrow streaking toward the helpless Simon — and just before it could reach him, blankets unfolded in front of him like a shield.
Kagaga-ga-gang!
With a screech of metal, the arrow ricocheted off. The Volcano Castle Lord clicked her tongue.
"Simon, are you all right?"
"…Yeah. Still standing."
It felt like being plunged into boiling lava and crawling back out. Simon forced himself upright on trembling legs.
Hundreds of students' fates hung on this. Out there beyond the exam, everyone was surely waiting with their hearts in their throats. He could not back down.
"Merida."
"Mm."
"Even for just one moment — pin the Volcano Castle Lord in place."
Simon rested a hand on his waist. His second dark magic was complete.
"I'll handle what comes after, one way or another."
"Got it."
Simon swept his hand from his waist in a powerful arc. Purple spears rose into the air, tracing brilliant trajectories.
⟨ CHAOS STINGER ⟩
The violet lightning that had been embroidering the air in dizzying patterns began to pour down toward the ground.
"Randomizing the trajectories changes nothing."
She lowered her body into an evasive stance —
Kurrrr—
Suddenly, the floor began to move.
At some point the ground had transformed into building blocks. A floor spinning like a carousel, a floor sliding forward like a conveyor belt, blocks that bounced intruders backward — all jumbled together at random.
Standing atop the whirling floor, the Volcano Castle Lord watched the chaotic assault raining from the sky, and a delighted smile crossed her face.
"Very well. Let us play."
Kurururururung!
Kwakwakwakwang!
Outside the exam grounds, hundreds of eliminated students on Camp Island stared anxiously at the mana screens.
The screens showed several scenes at once, but of course every eye was fixed on one place: the Volcano Castle. The battle of Merida and Simon against the Volcano Castle Lord.
"Keep pushing! Keep hammering her!"
"That's it! Come on, come on!"
The students clenched sweat-soaked fists, trembling all over.
"Uaaaah…"
"I-I can't watch, I'm shaking too hard."
Some covered their faces with both palms; some crouched down entirely, burying their faces in their knees. Others held each other close, comforting one another as they watched — and one student had chewed through the fabric of his uniform so badly from gnawing on it that it had torn.
A battle that decided whether their very expulsion from Kizen stood. There was no watching it with a clear head.
"Hang in there, Simon! Get up!"
"MERIDAAA!"
"Nine— twenty minutes left! Please, please, please, please, PLEASE!"
Just as everyone was roaring their support in a fever of heat, the light of a magic circle flared and someone stepped onto Camp Island.
Aseraz Mikel has been eliminated.
It was Aseraz.
In the end, she had lost her ferocious duel against Hector. A few students glanced at her, but they quickly lost interest and turned their gazes back to the screens.
She had expected to be condemned, maybe even grabbed by the collar — but the reaction was far more indifferent than she'd imagined.
'It's over.'
Aseraz squeezed her eyes shut and bowed her head.
Hector had thrown himself at her with desperate, mutual-destruction ferocity and brought her down. Her mental state had shattered to pieces, and she simply couldn't withstand his brutal offense anymore.
'It was my own lack of skill. Nothing to be done…'
"How does it feel, you loser?"
She turned her head. Cindy Vivace stood there, her expression hard.
"You proposed cheating, got outplayed instead, and now you're stuck waiting around to see if the very Simon you tried to drag down wins. How's that feel?"
"Simon's victory?"
Aseraz sneered.
"Still haven't given up hope, I see. What could one or two students possibly do against Jean Arscalt?"
Ha. Hahaha.
She laughed a half-mad laugh and jabbed a finger at Cindy.
"You people just failed because you weren't good enough, and dressed it up as a noble sacrifice for someone else's victory! You simply can't bring yourselves to admit it!"
Cindy's expression changed as she heard those words. It was not an expression of rage. Not one stung by the jab, or shamed by it. Not one of disgust, either.
"You really are—"
It was pity.
"Pathetic."
"…What?"
"Do you honestly believe the whole world has to run exactly according to your calculations, and anything that doesn't is simply wrong? Keep those delusions in your diary where they belong. Forcing that thinking on other people, then acting all high and mighty when they don't get it — calling them stupid, acting like you're the only one awake — it's genuinely ugly."
Aseraz's face flushed red.
"What would you know, talking to someone in the top ten—?!"
"Shut it. Opening your mouth just makes you uglier. And anyway — they haven't given up."
Simon and Merida were fighting for their lives.
Shaking uncontrollably, retching, enduring pain that would have made most people choose death over continuing — and still throwing every ounce of their dying strength against the Volcano Castle Lord.
"Why…?"
Aseraz bit her lip.
"Why go that far for something that's none of your business? If you just backed off now, the expulsion…!"
Cindy smirked.
"Simon has this obsession with wanting to protect everyone. And if Simon ends up saving you — in exactly the way you've spent all this time denying was even possible—"
She pointed a fingertip at Aseraz's eyes.
"I really wonder whether you could live with yourself, y'know."
"…"
"Let's watch and find out, shall we?"
Cindy turned away with a cold expression, and moments later was hopping up and down like the rest of the students, completely absorbed in the exam, cheering at the top of her lungs.
Aseraz slumped down where she stood, and stared at the mana screen.
Kurururung!
Kwarararang!
Violet lightning filled the air in every direction, and through the cracks in the storm, Simon could be seen on his hands and knees, gasping for breath.
'The confusion magic seems to have caught the Grand Duke, but…'
She was completely unharmed. Even Merida's Sleep hadn't taken proper hold of her. The only effective hits so far were the two wounds she had inflicted on herself to shake off the drowsiness.
But now, everything was different.
'The last one. My third spell is complete.'
Simon drove Elysia's final capsule injection into his own shoulder, then reached into subspace and drew out that 'flag' — the one at the center of it all.
"This ends it, my lord Grand Duke."
Kwoong!
Simon slammed the flag down into the ground with all his strength.
As a sinister wave of Jet-Black came surging out of the banner, a flicker of tension passed through the Grand Duke's eyes.
"What is that."