“You rarely seek me out on your own initiative, Senior.”
Beneath a dark, cloudy night sky, a massive full moon hung like a slowly opening eye. Moonlight shone down on Tina's long, pale thighs as she sat upright on the sofa, wrapped in a robe.
The girl sitting across from her was Velrose.
“Mhm...”
“Did you call for me because you wanted to say something?”
“I want to know how Sathya is doing.”
“Sathya is very happy. She even said she had a wonderful day, and she hasn't stopped muttering your name.” Velrose grinned, looking as though she knew something.
“However, the wound on your hand looks extremely bad.”
“...You noticed?”
A few days ago, Sathya had given her some basic treatment again. Of course, it was completely useless against the curse, which had left Sathya very distressed and constantly trying to think of a solution for her.
“Indeed. After all, besides you, no one could have escaped Lady Sathya's full-force attack.”
Velrose smiled faintly.
“And she will definitely hunt you down, you know. She is certain that you harmed Tina, yet she has no idea that you are Tina.”
“Stop using honorifics. I'm not used to it. As a magical beast, you should keep your distance from me, a human.”
Whenever they touched upon similar topics, Velrose would respond with her signature smile, but Tina couldn't tell what she was scheming.
“Senior, magical beasts are a bunch of sick patients. They are filled with hatred for humans, and even more so for their obsessions.”
“...I don't know what you're talking about.”
“I'm just giving you a hint.”
“I have another request. If you encounter a specific magical beast, notify me immediately.”
“Oh? Have you found a new magical beast, Senior?”
“Yes.”
Tina knit her brows slightly. Whenever she recalled the destruction that creature had wrought upon the world, a lingering fear gripped her heart.
“Let's cooperate.”
“Could it be about the magic competition?”
Tina nodded. “The ruins in the White Dusk Forest are extremely dangerous.”
After the magical beast crisis broke out, the Church sent a Cardinal.
He led an army of three hundred thousand to march into the White Dusk Ruins, which was hailed as the “starting point of the magical beast outbreak.”
At that time, the Tower of Stars had also sent scholars, and some students from the Holy Academy participated in the subjugation campaign.
The final outcome was the death of that Cardinal. Only halfway through conquering the ruins, the paladins began to flee in panic.
Relying on her sheer strength, Sathya carved out a blood-soaked path for all the students, successfully escaping under the pursuit and interception of the magical beasts.
And yet, such a terrifying place had actually become the venue for the Holy Academy's competition!
Not only was there no civilization in that area, but ordinary creatures could not even step foot into the forest. Most people might very well die on the way there.
Tina told Velrose exactly how dangerous it was, leaving out no details.
She stroked her chin, quickly becoming excited. “There is a new companion there. I can't wait to have her join us~”
“Let me warn you first, many high-ranking officials of the Church and even the main forces of the military will be there. Don't you dare die.”
“Senior, I would prefer it if all humans died in a place like that, paying for their sins~”
As Velrose spoke, a green flame flickered at her fingertips, and black shadows that could be retracted at any moment appeared on her skin, making her look bewitching. Her appearance was human, but that was all.
“I don't quite understand.”
Conversing with an abyssal magical beast was always this difficult; their logic was fundamentally different from humans. Thus, Tina simply dropped the subject. She felt that if they kept talking, even she would be influenced.
“At the center of the ruins is a door. No one knows where it leads, but I am certain that inside is something Sathya needs.”
“Hm, can you tell me more about it?”
“I set foot on that land a long time ago. I was the only human to ever stand before that door. I tried to touch it, but the evil spirits inside would not allow me to open it.”
“So that's why you found a magical beast to help you.”
“Yes.”
Tina rested her hands on her knees, gazing at the looming bright moon.
...
With a sharp crack, the complex gear mechanism of the library's elevator was completely destroyed. The gears fractured, and the broken parts went into a free fall down the towering shaft.
A man stepped out of the slowly opening metal doors and walked straight toward the hall on the top floor of the library. With a sweep of his cane, the doors in front of him were instantly severed, shattering into pieces and scattering across the floor.
“Ulrich, I don't recall inviting you.”
The Astral Sage, Miranda, was currently floating in midair as if reclining on an invisible bed. She turned her head and looked down at the uninvited guest.
“What a beautiful night. You are as beautiful as the starry sky, Miss Miranda.”
“I don't recall giving you permission to address me by my name.”
“For old friends who have known each other for five or six years, I thought it wouldn't matter.”
“What on earth do you want with me?” The Astral Sage was beginning to lose her patience.
However, Ulrich's silence gave her an ominous feeling.
He was a rational man who never wasted even a single minute.
Suddenly, she seemed to realize something. Just as she was about to crash through the library's glass wall and make a swift exit, a golden barrier coated the ceiling.
The barrier had eight sides, forming a regular octahedron. Golden patterns flowed across it, making it look like a bubble, but it actually possessed a hardness exceeding ordinary armor and an extremely strong magic-blocking capability.
But this kind of magic was nothing to the Astral Sage. She snapped her fingers, and the barrier shattered.
At that exact moment, a spatial spell was successfully activated. Countless golden pillars of light rose around her, and over a dozen inquisitors surrounded her.
“Ulrich, speak plainly. There's no need for these tricks. You know they are useless against me.”
Ulrich, however, strolled leisurely over to the Astral Sage, his calm tone sending a chill down one's spine.
“It is precisely because there is nothing to talk about.”
Ulrich gripped one end of his cane and pulled it out gently. The sheath fell away, revealing a blade engraved with a cross. “In this world, one doesn't need a reason to kill someone, right?”
“You suspect that I am the traitor who killed Chris?”
“Killing doesn't require any logic, does it?”
The battle between the two was on the verge of breaking out.
But this was no “knightly duel” between her and Ulrich. It was a one-sided siege by dozens of powerful inquisitors and a man hailed as a Sword Saint.
Although these inquisitors did not possess power as formidable as the Astral Sage's, each of them deployed shields to disrupt her magic.
Yet, amidst the flashing blades of her direct clash with Ulrich, the Astral Sage quickly fell into a disadvantage.
As the Principal, Ulrich looked like a frail, gentle scholar, but he was actually a man once known as the “Sword Saint.” Miranda was naturally aware of this.
His fierce sword techniques were precise enough to cleave magic. Honestly, if she were to fight the Principal with everything she had, Miranda knew that she, who was not particularly skilled in combat, would inevitably be defeated.
However, that was what would have happened had she not been fully prepared beforehand.
Not long ago, Tina had personally sought her out and told her that Ulrich had put her on the target list for the Sacred Mutiny.
Otherwise, she would have been dead already.
Suddenly, the inquisitors brandished their weapons. Whips of light lashed out from all directions, binding Miranda's body.
Ulrich smiled triumphantly. “This time, you won't escape.”
“Damn it...”
To his surprise, at the very instant Ulrich moved to thrust his sword into her heart, a mithril throwing knife streaked through the air, cleanly slicing Ulrich's sword in two.
A masked maid, who had been hanging upside down from the ceiling at some unknown point, lightly leaped down.
By now, the Astral Sage's restraints had also been undone.
“You're a bit late.”
Rate on N.U.
