The Blue Flame Ignites
Ice created from flame magic exploded in every direction. It was truly a strike aimed at the heart. If even this was blocked, then there would be no answer left. Whether because of the smoke from the explosion, the surroundings were impossible to see clearly.
"....Did it work?"
At least the attack had definitely landed. Blocking something like that at such close range was practically impossible. Even I, who had protected my body with magic power, couldn't defend against it perfectly.
As the smoke slowly cleared, the demon woman's figure began to appear.
"Oh dear, I took a hit?"
Not a single scratch marred the woman's body as she spoke. Something black covered the demon woman's form. She must have defended with that.
'So shadows can be used for defense too...'
No matter how rushed the casting had been in that urgent situation, to think it couldn't even leave a mark...
'Ah, that's not quite right.'
When I looked up at the woman's face, blood was trickling down her cheek. Just a tiny amount. Even so, the situation remained utterly hopeless.
"Well, it was a decent attempt. Thanks to that attack just now, I ended up consuming a bit of my shadow."
"Not only is your face pretty, but your skills are quite impressive too. You managed to protect your body with magic power in that short time? What a shame. Such a shame. If only you weren't human, we could have been good friends," the woman muttered.
"Haa... ha... What exactly are you planning to do after taking my shadow? No, after taking my magic power?"
-Crunch
"Kyaaaaaaa!!"
A sharply honed shadow pierced through her right shoulder.
"Sorry, but I can't tell you that."
-Crunch
This time it pierced her left thigh.
"...!!!!"
Even though she didn't want to scream, an indescribable pain forced the sound from her throat.
"It's noisy, so could you be quiet? Really, if you'd just obediently handed over your shadow, this wouldn't have happened. Why do you have to make things so troublesome for me and bring this suffering on yourself?"
It was nothing short of overwhelming violence.
"Ugh..."
Even in this moment of desperately enduring the pain, she couldn't stop her thoughts. She had to use her head. Hadn't she said that if her shadow was taken, she wouldn't be able to use magic power either? She suspected the person who stole the shadow could probably use that magic power instead.
Judging by the woman's size, her own total magic power reserves probably weren't that high. If her magic power was stolen like this, there was no telling what might happen to her. So, if only she could find an opportunity...
"I can hear all your scheming. Just stay still. Unless you want to get hurt more."
"...."
It was mortifying. Unfair. And terrifying. The helplessness of being unable to do anything against an overwhelmingly powerful enemy made her even more afraid.
"You've gone quiet. Good. Then I'll be taking your shadow now. Stay still. After all, you're the last one. I won't kill you."
"Don't make me laugh, cough. You think I'd trust you Requiem bastards?"
"Oh, you noticed~? How did you know I was with Requiem? Yeah, I get the chills whenever I see humans. Well, as a final gift, I'll make it hurt less for you."
When the demon woman placed her hand on her body, strength began draining from her limbs. She was having her magic power stolen by this damned woman.
Only then did she realize it. The shadow had merely been a medium for stealing magic power. Black magic truly was a terrifying power. She finally understood why every nation had banned it.
Anyway, now she couldn't even muster strength in her body. It was completely over. What good was being the top student? Even if those around her praised her talent, she couldn't even protect herself. She hadn't been able to protect the people precious to her.
When he was grieving and living in lonely isolation, she had turned away from him. If power couldn't protect the ones you held dear, then what on earth was that power for?
Yes, this was punishment. Heaven's punishment upon her. Strength was leaving her body. Her eyelids were slowly drooping.
In her fading consciousness, one person came to mind.
'Vern Flame.'
Even in a situation like this, she was thinking of that man...
'I'm really such a fool...'
That blunt man with his perpetually stiff expression and black hair.
'.....'
Usually, just thinking about him made her angry and left her feeling frustrated, but...
'Just once more. Just once.'
Even if it was only once, that would be enough.
'I want to see Vern's face.'
She was barely holding onto her consciousness that seemed on the verge of snapping, but it was no use now. Her vision was narrowing, and even the ringing in her ears from the earlier impact had faded away.
Just as her consciousness was about to completely cut off, something flashed behind the demon woman. Something glowing blue.
'That is... flame...?'
When she had thought it was truly the end.
A flame of hope appeared before her eyes. A flame burning so fiercely it seemed to devour everything. Yes, a flame. It was a blue flame.
In this academy, there was only one person she knew who could wield the blue flame.
"Ignition."
She didn't need to hear the voice or see the figure to know. The person she had wanted to see. The person she had wanted to meet again. The man who wielded flames that burned quietly yet fiercely, like beautifully blooming blue flowers.
It could only be Vern Flame.
....It had been dangerous. On my way back to the dormitory, I heard a loud noise and came to check. I ended up witnessing someone being attacked by Shady. I couldn't just pass by, so I stepped in. At least I'd succeeded in drawing her attention with the first attack.
"Ha, seriously. It's you again? You're really starting to piss me off."
I ignored Shady's words and looked at the person collapsed in front of her. The sight made me freeze in shock.
The silver hair that should have shone brilliantly and the sea-blue eyes. Elisha, who had always glowed more beautifully than anyone, was in a truly wretched state.
"Why?"
At my question, Shady, who had been kneeling, stood up and spoke.
"Ah, it's that girl from before? Perfect. I was so disappointed I couldn't steal her shadow last time."
"Answer me. I asked why you did this to her."
"Vern...."
Terrible wounds gaped on Elisha's shoulder and thigh, with far too much blood flowing from them. There wasn't a single spot that looked unharmed. Her pure white clothes were stained crimson with blood, and hot blood flowed down her cheek like tears.
"I'm asking why. Answer me."
"I got angry because I couldn't steal that half-vampire bitch's shadow last time. My superior chewed me out too. So I went a bit overboard~?"
"You did something like this... for a reason like that?"
"Ah, I tried to keep her alive as much as possible~. But my boss said to eliminate all witnesses because of tomorrow's plan. What was I supposed to do?"
"Oops, my bad. Pretend you didn't hear that," Shady said.
Shady. The boss of Act 1 who wielded black magic. To explain her: During the great war between humans and demons in the past, she was a war orphan who lost her entire family. Perhaps because of that, she wandered in search of the human knight who had burned her village and slaughtered her family, eventually joining Requiem. She fell for their promise to help her kill the knight who had massacred her family and neighbors, and ended up doing all sorts of dirty work.
After building up her strength under Requiem for several years, she crossed over here to obtain a certain item from the academy. That person was Shady. Her mission was simply to acquire that item from the academy. However, she, who hated humans, ended up taking impulsive actions beyond the original plan.
She stole the shadows of various people out of personal grudge, got caught by the protagonist, and received a proper education. After being defeated by the protagonist, she was cut loose by Requiem and immediately imprisoned in the academy's underground dungeon. While imprisoned there with her magic power sealed, she was nearly killed by an assassin sent by Requiem, only to learn a shocking truth.
The knight she had been searching for to kill had already died of illness several years ago. She had been living her life trying to kill someone who didn't even exist. With that, she lost her purpose in life. The anger and hatred that had nowhere to go turned toward Requiem, who had deceived her. The protagonist's party, upon hearing her story, secretly released her.
After being freed, she left this place to crush Requiem and returned to the mainland. She only reappears around the final chapter. When it comes time to defeat the final boss, she shows up again, saying she'll help the protagonist who had freed her. That was Shady's brief story.
That's why I had left her alone, thinking she was someone who could somehow be reformed. But that choice had led to Elisha getting hurt. It had caused Elisha pain beyond words. Why had she done this to Elisha? Just why? For what reason? She could have just stolen the shadow and left. There was no need to inflict this much pain.
I was angry. So angry I felt like I was going crazy, but first, I needed to calm down. Cool my head and look at the situation again.
Looking around Shady, the shadows in the area were extremely dense. The black magic she used involved stealing and manipulating shadows. But if she stole too many, her mind couldn't endure it and her sanity would snap.
Looking at her again, the current Shady was in a highly excited state. Her tone and manner of speech were far more agitated than usual. The pair of horns and red eyes revealed on her. She had stolen too many shadows and fallen into an abnormal status.
Originally, she would have stolen the shadow and disappeared, but in her excited state, she must have done terrible things to Elisha.
When I played the game, I tried to understand the villains to some extent. They all had their own stories, twisted by painful pasts. Of course, there were plenty who weren't like that. But Shady had lived her entire life as a vengeful spirit, used and then abandoned.
So I had tried to understand her as much as possible. Revenge? That was understandable. Hating the humans who massacred her family? That made sense. But this crossed the line. It crossed it by a long shot.
Even if she had done it while not in her right mind, the actions of her rampaging self were ultimately what she had wanted to do. Therefore, in the end, the excited Shady, the one who had followed her emotions, had inflicted immense pain on Elisha.
I had been complacent. It was my fault for living so carefree, thinking, 'The protagonist will take care of everything. He'll overcome it somehow.'
Fuck. I hadn't even considered variables and had just lived carelessly. In this world's version of events, Shady's hatred for humans must have run even deeper, causing her to absorb too many shadows and lose her mind.
Because of my complacency, Elisha had gotten hurt. It must have been painful. It must have been agonizing. That's why I was even angrier. I was furious with myself to the point of madness.
If only, back then. If only I had caught Shady instead of running away. I should have caught her no matter what. If I had, if I had... Elisha wouldn't have had to suffer like this.
I had decided not to care about the original story, yet why had I done something so foolish... I was truly, insanely angry.
As I burned with hostility toward Shady, consumed by rage, Elisha called out to me in a frail voice.
"Vern...."
"Elisha. You don't need to speak. Don't push yourself. Now that I'm here, everything..."
"Vern..."
There was no strength in her voice. Her throat must have been hoarse, as her voice barely came out. Yet she looked at me and forced a smile.
"Vern, you don't have to make that face... I'm fine... so..."
"...."
Her cheeks were wet as she spoke. Meanwhile, Shady cracked her fingers and loosened her hands as she said,
"Ha, some shitty memory just came back to me? Hey, black-haired guy, you'll have to be my stress relief now."
"Shut your mouth."
"Oh my, how scary."
I had to suppress my anger and calm down. Right now, saving Elisha came first. I needed to think calmly. The most important thing was Elisha's life. First, I had to take Elisha and escape.
A small voice reached me then.
"Vern... I'm okay."
It was Elisha. Even after being injured like that, she was worrying about me. She said, 'I'm fine.'
..What? What on earth was fine? After suffering that much, just what...
"...."
No, this wouldn't do. If I ran away again here, I'd just be repeating the same mistake. So I wouldn't run. I would move forward so I wouldn't regret my choices anymore.
Therefore...
"First, you need to take a beating."
If she couldn't come to her senses, I'd beat her until she did. The pain Elisha had endured. The fear Elisha had felt. I'd make her feel it to the bone.