The battle between Klana and Sera dragged on forever!
Woosh! Boom!
Intense flames and dazzling golden lights intertwined in the middle, yet neither had a single wound on their bodies.
Sera was growing weary of casting spells. She wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and caught her breath.
Huff…
Klana’s defense was top-notch in the Empire.
Just standing in the dueling arena was rock solid enough, but when she unleashed her divine power to create a barrier, she became even sturdier.
The sacred barrier that spread around Klana was like an impenetrable shield of invincibility.
Sera briefly thought of Amelia, the third-year student, upon seeing that, but quickly wiped the image from her mind.
The opponent before her was on a completely different level compared to Amelia. She had the power to make a top student of the third year look like child’s play.
Hmm…
Of course, that also meant her offensive abilities were terrible.
Klana’s divine power didn’t even attack Sera; it actually healed her.
The fatigue that had drained Sera just moments ago began to replenish.
That was also the reason why the duel was dragging on unnecessarily. The audience watching fell silent witnessing the spectacle.
It had been the first time since Iria that Sera saw someone struggle like this, and it was the first time the duel lasted this long.
If there was any progress, that’d be one thing, but with neither side having a wound, there was no sign of an end in sight. It was a mystery when it would conclude.
As time passed, it turned into a flashy but boring duel.
One by one, the spectators started to leave.
Sera, now fresh and healthy, looked at the saint in front of her.
Despite firing so many flames, Klana stood there without a single scratch, looking fine and dandy.
Was this a fight of spear versus shield?
On the other side held the strongest shield, while Sera was confident in her firepower.
She had proven herself by garnering as much merit as Ariel during the recent Demon King’s Seed eradication, so it could be said her spear was verified to some extent.
But the Sera now couldn’t muster that kind of firepower.
Not yet; she hadn’t shed enough blood like back then. She couldn’t yet control the power that came from her very being. Therefore, if she didn’t bleed, she couldn’t unleash explosive firepower like she did before.
To end this long struggle, was she going to have to use that?
Sera pressed a button on the ring she wore and pulled out a small needle.
It was the same one she had shown to Iria before. She aimed the needle at her own arm.
Shiiiiiing!
Sera didn’t hesitate. She scratched her arm with the needle without a second thought.
Red blood burst forth, and her eyes gleamed for a moment. She was about to convert the spilling blood into mana.
Huh…?
However, the amount of mana she could grasp was less than she expected.
Sera, looking flustered, turned her gaze to her scratched arm.
And there it was. Her arm, which had been marked, was now enveloped by golden divine power.
The pain subsided, and the wound healed in an instant. Naturally, no blood flowed.
No blood meant no firepower. Sera gritted her teeth in frustration.
Hey! What are you doing right now?!
Huh?
How can you heal me? This is a duel, not a joke! Why haven’t you attacked since earlier?
I don’t know how!
Sigh, you serious…
Sera cradled her head in her hands, exhaling deeply.
Maybe Klana was the perfect counter to her.
No return attack from Klana, even when she struck, left Sera feeling no thrill. It felt like shooting magic at an immovable giant wall.
And if Sera inflicted a wound, it would be healed immediately, sealing her last resort.
I’m done.
Sera lost interest in this duel.
Telling the referee that was pretty much like declaring her surrender, and thus, she was defeated by Klana.
*
To purify evil and heal the hurt.
That was the teaching Klana had received from the Church since childhood. The divine power she held truly had that capability.
To purify magic and grant salvation.
Klana must have been born into this world for that very reason.
Without her own personal will, Klana had lived carrying words and actions implanted by others as her own.
Everyone around had said so, so she must be such a being.
I am a being that purifies evil. And, I save the wounded.
When she met Iria, who had tormented her at first, she thought Iria was the evil being that the Church had spoken of.
The eyes of the blessed saint could perceive that Iria was subtly different from other humans.
She was the first villain Klana encountered outside the Church, and she thought divine purification was necessary.
Sera stood beside such Iria. They appeared quite close, so maybe she, too, was not the evil they’ve spoken of in the church.
That was one reason she accepted the duel. Purifying evil was Klana’s reason for existence. She thought she was simply fulfilling that purpose.
But…
That person wasn’t purified.
Klana’s divine power did not affect Sera.
The divine power didn’t harm humans. Since Sera was also human, it didn’t touch her. Instead, it inscribed blessings on her body.
At that point, Klana’s mind grew complicated.
Perhaps Sera was not an evil being.
Maybe what she learned at the church was wrong.
While battling, such thoughts crossed Klana’s mind, making her feel that she no longer wanted to fight Sera.
Even though it was Sera who declared surrender first. If this form of duel continued, Klana might have chosen to forfeit as well.
Having stepped outside the church, she had seen and learned plenty.
Though Klana might still be ignorant and foolish in many things, she undeniably learned one thing from this experience.
Unlike the safely sealed corners of the church, the world was broader and more diverse than expected.
She learned that distinguishing humans as either good or evil at a glance was difficult.
Humans are three-dimensional.
In the end, good and evil could be relative concepts. They can change based on perspective.
There might be actions that appeared innocent but could be seen as evil by someone else.
Then, was the saint Klana an evil being?
…
I don’t know.
That wasn’t something others could teach me.
Thus, I had to think for myself.
Even after a long time pondering, the conclusion didn’t come, but the fact that I’d thought for myself held meaning.
Slowly but surely, Klana was growing aware of the world.
Despite various commotions, Sera and Klana ultimately reconciled.
Though even calling it reconciliation feels odd, the two didn’t harbor any emotional grudge. The previous battle was just a formal duel.
When I visited them long after everything ended, they appeared to have formed quite the bond.
Klana’s craziness seemed to have slightly subsided.
So, why did you heal my wound during our last duel?
I learned never to ignore a patient, no matter the situation!
From the Church?
Yes!
Hah… even so, that’s a bit much, don’t you think? Who heals the enemy?
But Sera isn’t my enemy!
Uh, ah? Well, um, cough, cough… well, I guess that’s true.
I stood back, watching the scene unfold from a distance.
Once gloomy Sera had broken free from her slump, while utterly naive Klana was steadily learning the ways of the world.
Ariel, well, he’s probably still training that famously stoic demeanor of his.
Isn’t this enough?
I pieced together the reshaped future. Perhaps this was destined to happen, even without my involvement.
Ariel, the protagonist of this world, stood tall with the two leading roles, Sera and Klana, flanking him.
Their figures before me, as an audience of this world, sparkled brightly.
It was a perspective of a monster who could not fit into the leading roles on stage.
A dimly lit outer seat of a stage that wouldn’t even shine a light on me, surrounded by thick darkness.
A harsh place where I could only gaze at them atop the stage.
…No, this is alright.
Everyone seemed to smile, appearing happy. Everyone but me found a good resolution.
As the villain of this tale, all I could do was step back.
A deep emptiness.
Emotions still unfelt.
Seeing the brightness brought forth a lurking jealousy from within.
…
I gaze at my reflection in the mirror.
The figure reflected in the mirror was quite different from when I first fell into this world.
I had hidden in the academy pretending to be an ordinary student, but in reality, I was just a brutal killer with blood on my hands.
I’ve killed knights, professors, and even recently took the life of the most important figure in the Empire, Headmistress Sertia, on my way here.
Why don’t I just kill them?
In the mirror, another being that wasn’t me was also reflected.
It resembled me but was distinctly different.
Could it be that I’m finally losing my mind? I’m even starting to see hallucinations now.
This must also be some kind of illusion projected by the Fragment of the Demon King.
I turned my back, refusing to meet its gaze. I decided to ignore it as much as possible.
You really want to kill them too, don’t you?
You know what? When you killed that girl last time, you were smiling.
You’d better think long and hard about what you truly want.
How long can you endure without killing?
I was crumbling again.
