With the death god’s annihilation, for the next twenty-four hours——until Distil achieves its next resurrection——there is no one to impede resurrection magic.
“Ro, I’ll heal you properly this time. ——<Sacred Soul: Recurrence>.”
The moment the spell is woven, holy light overflows from both of Luna’s palms.
The wound that had pierced Ro’s chest closes before their eyes, and the soul that had been on the verge of departing the body settles back into its vessel.
Luna presses her ear to Ro’s chest——and hears a strong, steady heartbeat.
The shock of death and resurrection is enormous, so consciousness has yet to return——but she will wake before much longer.
“Hahhh, thank goodness……”
Luna sits down with a plop and lets out a breath of relief.
Her face is, in every conceivable way, that of a girl her age——the absolute pressure of an overwhelming power from moments ago has cleanly vanished.
In any case——having repelled the highest-tier demon Mudra, dispatched the death god Distil, and successfully resurrected Ro, the Saint glances out the window and grimaces with displeasure.
(Oh no……there are so many of them……)
Demons, demons, demons——an enormous mass of demons is floating in the sky, clustering like moths to a lantern flame.
Those summoned by the summoning magic circles——having been caught by Luna’s <Time Stop>——are not moving so much as a twitch.
“Any more trouble than this sounds exhausting……I’ll just clean it all up quickly.”
She activates <Conversion> as a precaution, dons Silver’s plate armor——and goes demon hunting.
“Right then.”
Fortunately, none of the individual demons possess <Time Stop Resistance>, so she is able to dispatch them one after another in an assembly-line fashion without incident.
Approximately ten seconds later——having disposed of one hundred demons, Luna turns her attention to the crimson magic circles spreading across the entire grounds of the Holy Nation’s Saint Academy.
“Now then……I should probably erase these strange magic circles too.”
Luna lands at the center of the magic circle, and brings her right fist down with just enough force to avoid blowing up the main building.
“There.”
A tremendous shattering sound reverberates, and a huge crater opens in the schoolyard.
The magic circles should no longer be functioning properly after this.
And as Luna, having finished the work at hand, pats the dirt from her hands, a corner of the world begins to creak and warp.
“Oh, already that time……”
A prolonged <Time Stop> is a taboo contrary to the ‘providence of time.’
To correct the warping of the world, the god of time is attempting to manifest.
(I need to release <Time Stop> before this becomes a nuisance……)
If she kills too many gods in a short span of time, the world will cease to function properly.
Having learned this from past lessons——past mistakes——Luna is conscientious about observing providence in moderation.
(……But what should I do……)
Looking around, she surveys the scene: the heavily damaged great lecture hall, the enormous crater opened in the schoolyard, demon remains scattered here and there——quite a state of affairs.
(If I release <Time Stop> right now, everyone is going to be startled……)
From the perspective of humans who don’t possess <Time Stop Resistance>——everyone except Luna——what will appear to have happened is: demons suddenly attacked, and in the very next instant they are all annihilated, leaving only the aftermath of a fierce battle.
If something so inexplicable were to occur, it would be not just a startled surprise but an outright panic.
(Hmm……is there some kind of good idea that would make this all make sense……)
After spinning the Saint brain at full speed for a time, a certain thought floats up.
(——That’s it, this will do!)
She uses <Float> to rise high into the air and extends her right hand toward the schoolyard below.
“——<Silver Bloom>.”
She fires a white flash at the schoolyard, tracing out a certain message.
“Yes, I think I did a rather nice job of that, if I do say so.”
The letters carved large across the schoolyard read: ‘SILVER WAS HERE.’
It rather undercuts the gravitas——but this is not as poor a plan as it looks.
The people of this era harbor grand illusions about the Saint and her companions.
If Silver’s name is written there, they will simply interpret it as ‘the Saint’s representative slew the demons for us’ and satisfy themselves without further investigation.
And just as Luna, having wrapped up the aftermath, is about to release <Time Stop>——she opens her mouth with a sharp “Oh!”
(That was close, that was close. I nearly forgot something.)
The matter is not yet concluded.
She needs to strike at the true culprit behind this incident.
(Well……nine times out of ten, it’s Kerkis-san.)
She clearly remembers that when she infiltrated the Grand Temple before, the demon Mudra and Cardinal Kerkis were talking in a familiar manner.
Those words she caught then: ‘kill the Saint.’
There is no doubt that it was Kerkis who ordered Mudra to kill Ro.
(In my experience, when a small-time villain like that makes a big move, they hide in ‘the safest place available’……. Probably over there.)
Having a rough idea of where to look, Luna releases <Time Stop> and simultaneously opens <Otherworld Gate>——flying to the Grand Temple.
Ten minutes before the moment Luna destroyed the death god Distil.
Deep beneath the Grand Temple——in the solemn, hushed air of the ‘Chamber of Judgment’——a villainess is cornering a cardinal.
“——Kerkis-sensei……no, Cardinal Kerkis Odmuir! Put your hands up and get on your knees right there!”
Sofia thrusts her right hand charged with magical energy forward and fixes him with a sharp glare.
(This loop has been strange from start to finish……. This is probably the last chance the Saint gave me. An opportunity like this will never come again……!)
She has attacked Kerkis again and again across past loops, and been killed each time.
Not by Kerkis’s hand——but by the cursed blade of the highest-tier demon Mudra Harlen lurking in his shadow, she has met an ugly death over and over.
But at this moment, at this very instant, Kerkis is completely unguarded. Mudra is nowhere to be seen.
Seizing this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Sofia has launched into a do-or-die gambit.
“My, my, that won’t do, Sofia. This is a restricted area, isn’t it? And……one mustn’t point a combat-type spell at a person. Didn’t we cover that in class?”
“Stop playing teacher! I know everything——that you are connected to the Albas Empire’s Emperor, that you have a secret pact with the Demon King, that you keep an evil demon at your side!”
“……Oh my……”
Kerkis’s eyes narrow to a dangerous point, and a dangerous fire kindles deep within his pupils.
“You’ve done your research rather thoroughly. ……Where is your source?”
He sheds the mask of the teacher and wears the face of an ambition-driven beast, closing the distance one step, then another.
“D-don’t come any closer! One more step toward me and I will fire without mercy! This is not a threat!”
“Sofia, this is not a classroom——this is ‘real combat.’ There is no need to issue warnings to an enemy, you know.”
“Kgh——<Icicle Lance>!”
A sharply pointed lance of ice is released at tremendous speed.
The Snowhaive family is a distinguished house of ice magic, and Sofia, their eldest daughter, is a skilled mage beloved by ice.
Against Sofia’s mid-tier ice magic——
“——<Purgatory Mirror>.”
——Kerkis counters with upper-tier fire magic and deflects it with ease.
“What!?”
Kerkis is a cardinal, however fallen——one of the highest-tier mages in the Holy Nation.
However talented Sofia may be, she is still a girl in her teens——the gap in power between them is vast.
“You can’t even read the difference in our abilities……I’m disappointed. I thought you were a smarter student than this……hmm?”
Kerkis’s lecture stops abruptly.
(……What……is this……?)
What fills the surroundings is a freezing chill.
The Holy Nation’s summer nights are cold, but this is clearly abnormal.
“——’Against an opponent with a power advantage, trap them with an indirect approach’——wasn’t that what you taught us, Kerkis-sensei?”
The instant Sofia smiles, a huge magic circle rises into being and extreme cold begins overflowing.
“Th-this is……ritual magic!? When did you——!?”
“I told you just now, didn’t I. ‘I know everything.'”
On the final day of the retreat, Kerkis would shut himself in the safest location——the Chamber of Judgment——and deploy summoning magic circles across the Holy Nation’s Saint Academy to slaughter every student——every ‘Saint in the making.’
Knowing this, Sofia had secretly slipped into the Chamber of Judgment and made her preparations, ready for the decisive confrontation.
“W-wait……! Let us talk! My plan has a deep reason behind it——”
“——There is nothing to discuss! Take this——<Silver Frost Seal>!”
A furious blizzard of silver-white sweeps in and encases Kerkis’s body in thick ice, layer upon layer.
“Ngh, kugh, ugh, nnnng……you little BRAT——!”
A horrifying scream mixing rage and resentment rings out——and he is sealed inside a massive ice crystal.
As beautiful snow crystals scatter through the air, Sofia squeezes her fist tight.
“……I did it——I finally did it. This frees me. The hellish loop is finally over……!”
The warmth that spreads through her eyes in the next instant is extinguished when a jet-black whirlwind erupts.
“——Now now, what exactly is ‘over’?”
The unharmed Kerkis, having shattered the massive ice crystal, asks the question.
“That’s……impossible……how……!”
“Kukuku……this is the answer.”
Against the dumbstruck Sofia, Kerkis shows off his ‘new body.’
His skin has turned deep violet, twisted double horns have grown from his head, and sinister wings spread from his back.
“That appearance……can it be……!”
“Yes——I have been granted power by the Demon King——reborn as a demon! I have transcended the petty confines of humanity, evolved into the chosen superior race!”
With a triumphant shout, a tremendous surge of magical power is released.
“Kukuku, I see, I see……! So this is what it means to ‘transcend’……not bad at all!”
Kerkis, now possessed of absolute power, shakes his shoulders with satisfaction——and extends his deep violet right arm smoothly.
“Now then, time for a test run——<Flame>!”
“Kgh——<Ice Crystal Wall>!”
She deploys an ice shield against the incoming black flames——but the gap in power between them is plain.
The mass of flame Kerkis releases scorches through Sofia’s ice shield in an instant——
“Kyaah!?”
——and searing fire bites into her shoulder.
“Fuha ha, magnificent! What power, from nothing but a low-tier spell! This is a demon! This is the superior race! This is my……new strength!”
Having savored his own rebirth to the fullest, Kerkis moves toward Sofia, who is grimacing in pain——and seizes her slender throat in a rough grip.
“Nngh, ugh……!”
She resists desperately——but the violet arm of iron does not budge.
“Now then. Answer me. How did you research my secrets? Where does the information come from?”
“As if……I would ever……tell you……!”
“Oh? Still talking back in that state. ……Well, I don’t dislike a woman with spirit.”
Kerkis wears a vulgar grin and kindles jet-black flames on Sofia’s body.
“Aaaaaaaahhhhh——!?”
Her anguished scream rings out, and just as her consciousness begins to slip——the black flames vanish.
“Hahh, hahh……!”
“I’ll ask again. How did you learn my secrets? I’ll warn you, silence won’t serve you well. I’ll turn the heat up considerably next time.”
“Kgh……!”
Cornered in absolute desperation, Sofia draws the short dagger concealed at her thigh——and moves to plunge it into her own heart.
This is her last resort.
By taking her own life, she activates <Bad End Escape> and uses it as an emergency exit to flee into the past.
However——
“Oops.”
——the demon’s (Kerkis’s) extraordinary reflexes snatch Sofia’s dagger right out of her hand.
“What!?”
“What were you about to do……ah. I see (now I understand). ——A gift, isn’t it? You have a special power triggered by self-harm?”
“……!”
“Kukuku, that expression……hit the mark, did it. ——A gift activated by death as a trigger. It is a very rare power, but……there have been a few confirmed cases in history. It is most likely an ability classified as ‘death-return.'”
Kerkis, being a cardinal, has extensive knowledge of gifts as well.
“I see, things are becoming clearer……. Sofia has been using her gift to redo the same span of time over and over. In the course of those redos, she came to learn my secrets——am I wrong?”
“……!”
Sofia averts her gaze with a look of frustration.
At this point, that was about all she could do.
“The death-return is a troublesome ability, but……once the trick is known, it amounts to nothing. All I need to do is keep her alive but not let her die, and question her slowly.”
What awaits Sofia from here on is, in the most literal sense, ‘a living hell.’
This situation is the worst possible development, by any calculation.
(N-no……someone……help……Father, Mother……!)
Her eyes fill with fear and despair, and Kerkis shivers with a shudder of pleasure.
“Yes! Yes! Now that is quite a fine expression! Kukuku——needless to say, no help is coming, is it? After all, this is the deepest part of the Grand Temple——the Chamber of Judgment! You will taste hell’s own suffering at the bottom of this dark earth——”
His evil eyes, wet with sadism, study Sofia’s figure at their leisure——and then——
“——Found you.”
An <Otherworld Gate> appears out of nowhere, and an armored fist reaches through, closing around the back of Kerkis’s head.
“Kgh, who is that, what are you doing……!?”
“So you’re Cardinal Kerkis Odmuir……? (Hmm? His skin is violet……and he has horns and wings……did he get a makeover?)”
As Luna looks on in puzzlement, a massive surge of jet-black magical power explodes from Kerkis’s body.
“How dare you, you insolent——who do you think you’re grabbing!?”
He brings the full strength of a demon’s brute force to bear, desperately trying to shake free——but the gauntleted hand doesn’t so much as twitch.
“Stop squirming.”
The instant Luna tightens her grip, Kerkis’s skull registers a complaint.
“Aaah, kugh, gaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh……!?”
Against the middle-aged man foaming at the mouth and howling in agony, Luna lets out a small sigh.
“Hahhh……stop thrashing like that, I can’t even talk to you.”
She tosses him into the air like garbage and lets go——and Kerkis lands on his backside ungracefully.
“Kgh, who on earth……!?”
His face flushed red with humiliation and fury, he scrambles to his feet——and learns his opponent’s identity for the first time.
“S-Silver……!?”
“Indeed——I am Silver Glorious=El=Bloodfallenheart. I have come to dispense justice upon you, by order of the Saint.”
Having introduced herself by full name for the first time in a while, Luna’s heart feels a little satisfied.
“Damn it, why are you here……! The assassination of the Saint, Mudra, what on earth did he——”
“——He’s dead.”
“……What……?”
“That demon died just a moment ago.”
“……!”
A simple report, carrying not a single shade of feeling: ‘he’s dead.’
That demon——a highest-tier demon——had been slain, and yet Silver does not even take pride in it.
Nothing but a plain statement of the fact of death.
For her, the achievement of taking down Mudra is nothing more than a trivial occurrence——something not even worth mentioning.
That unyielding fact, that transcendent composure, instilled in Kerkis a sense of dread.
“Now, allow me to confirm something. ——You are the one who ordered Mudra to assassinate the Saint?”
“Wh-what of it……!”
“I see……you have been a little too naughty. I think it’s time I gave you a taste of what you’ve earned.”
The moment she cracks her knuckles, Kerkis bursts into unhinged laughter.
“Kuh, ha ha……kuhahahahaha……! I see, I see——indeed, extraordinary! That physical strength surpassing mine, that nerve in taking on the Holy Nation single-handed, that ability to strike down Mudra——all of it excels! As expected of the Saint’s representative, the title ‘Hero of the Shadows’——the hidden hero of history——seems to bear no false claim!”
“Indeed. (Hero of the Shadows……what’s that, it sounds so cool……!)”
“But——you are human in the end! Nothing but dust and ash, struggling within the bounds of providence!”
He says this and produces a certain magic stone from his breast pocket.
“I will now summon my master, the great ‘Absolute God’!”
What Kerkis presents with supreme confidence is a ‘summoning magic stone’ radiating an eerie light.
And its color is red——indicating the highest grade.
(……Hmm……)
The best move in this position is to strike Kerkis before the summoning magic stone is used.
But——that would be a third-rate thing to do.
Crush every last one of the enemy’s schemes, and then seize complete victory.
That is the first-rate conduct——the correct answer as ‘moves befitting the Saint’s representative.’
(I don’t know what he’s planning to summon, but……let me finish this with a special move, stylishly!)
She pulls her arm back lightly, loosely closes her fist, and completes the launch preparations for the Saint Punch——and Kerkis, convinced of victory, raises the summoning magic stone toward the sky.
“Answer my summons and manifest! ——’Death God Distil’!”
Crimson light spills from the magic stone, and the death god Distil comes into this world——does not appear.
“C-come forth! Distil! Death God, Distil! Distiiiiiiiil!!!”
Gripping the magic stone, now dull and drained of color, and calling out the death god’s name over and over and over——the figure he cuts is beyond pathetic.
“[Everyone]: ……”
In the silence that says nothing and everything, Luna gives a small cough.
“Ah, well……you see. The death god Distil——I just dispatched it a little while ago. It will take quite some time before it revives.”
“You dispatched……the death god……? D-don’t be ridiculous! As if something so absurd could——”
“If you find it unbelievable, have a look at this.”
Luna takes a certain object from <Dimensional Storage> and tosses it casually through the air.
It clatters and rolls across the floor——the skull of the death god Distil.
Taken as a commemoration of ‘the tenth Distil subjugation.’
“Di……Distil……-sama……?”
He picks up the skull of his transformed master——the death god’s skull.
A faint trace of Distil’s magical energy still lingers in it.
(……I can’t win. There’s no way I can win. What is this——should something this ‘irregular’ even be allowed to exist!?)
The plate armor before him is a genuine monster——one that sweeps away highest-tier demons and dispatches gods.
(……What on earth was I thinking……)
His earlier self, the self that had grown arrogant over nothing more than becoming a demon, seems painfully wretched to him now.
With his will to fight broken, Luna gets to the point.
“Kerkis. I have a few things I want to ask you.”
“……What.”
Kerkis, having lost all confidence, answers with dead eyes.
“Why did you try to kill the Saint?”
“……I was asked to……”
“Oh? By whom?”
“B-by, I, by the……the Empi, the Empe, the emp emp emp——”
Suddenly Kerkis begins to convulse, and his head swells grotesquely larger.
“H-hey, what’s wrong——!?”
“Aaah, kugh, gaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh……!”
In the next instant, his head bursts apart spectacularly, and he ceases to move entirely.
“This is……a ‘curse.’ (That reaction——it looks like a sophisticated one that activates automatically when he tries to say certain words……)”
She checks the remains, and finds that not only the body, but even the soul has been burned away.
Resurrection magic will not work here.
(……Kerkis-san was a disposable piece. Behind this whole affair there is a ‘true mastermind’……)
Luna rests a hand under her chin and thinks seriously.
(In any case, this is now confirmed. In this world, there is someone who does not wish the Saint well. Someone with enough power to control a cardinal like a hand puppet……)
She has correctly gauged the level of threat the enemy poses.
The information obtained from this incident is of considerable value.
And as Luna is absorbed in thought——
“U-um……Silver-sama!”
Sofia speaks up with a tense expression.
“What is it?”
“I am a Saint-in-training attending the Holy Nation’s Saint Academy——Sofia Snowhaive. If I may ask you one thing, with all due respect……?”
“Of course. What is it?”
“Um……Silver-sama, you know the Saint, don’t you?”
“Well……yes, I suppose so.”
She can hardly say ‘I am the Saint’ outright.
“I have wanted to be like the Saint since I was very small, and I’ve always worked hard toward that. But I’ve always had a weak constitution, and my magical capacity is insufficient……I understand perfectly well that I am not the Saint’s reincarnation. Even so, I have desperately wanted to come closer to her……! What does one have to do to become as strong and wonderful a woman as the Saint!?”
Sofia’s dream was to become the Saint.
She knows she is not the right vessel. She knows she is not the Saint’s reincarnation.
Even so, she has stretched her hands out desperately, immersed herself in grueling training, and kept up every effort within her power.
And so she had to ask.
She wanted to be told by the Saint’s representative——the one who must know the Saint better than anyone——what the Saint truly is.
But Luna shakes her head.
“There is no need to imitate the Saint——no, you must not imitate her.”
Three hundred years ago, she had failed.
She had carried too many things, and broken under the weight.
(……That way of living is wrong……)
She did not want Sofia to break, chasing an illusion of the Saint that does not truly exist.
“Wh-what do you mean!?”
“The Saint is a state of heart——an expression of the compassion that wants to help someone. There is no need to imitate it from someone else.”
Luna speaks as gently as she can to Sofia, who catches her breath.
“It’s all right——no need to worry. Sofia-san’s heart is pure and beautiful. So much so that one might mistake it for the Saint’s own. You are fine as you are——no, you are best as you are. A false mask doesn’t suit you. Playing the villain doesn’t suit you. (The villainess is mine——mine alone! This I will never, ever give up!)”
Those words——a coating of self-interest dressed up to look beautiful on the outside——were, by some miracle, exactly what Sofia had been longing for from the bottom of her heart.
(The Saint is a state of heart——an expression of the compassion that wants to help someone. The villain doesn’t suit me. I am fine as I am……!)
The killing blow is driven into her thawing heart.
“If you ever find yourself in danger again, blow this whistle and call for me. I promise I will come to help you, even if I am on the other side of the world. (I will never let her use unique gift 【Bad End Escape】 again. I will not let Sofia-san do villainess moves……!)”
“Th-thank you……so much……!”
Sofia’s voice trembles as she receives the magic whistle.
Luna’s small and shallow heart, and Sofia’s pure and unclouded heart.
The two gears mesh together by a miracle——and——
(S-Silver-sama……what a wonderful person……!)
Sofia falls in love.
True to the saying that has held since time immemorial——’a maiden in love is blind’——to her eyes, Silver appears as a silver-white prince.
“Well, then——I’ll excuse myself here.”
“Oh, please wait……!”
Sofia’s protest goes unheeded, and Luna disappears into the reaches of subspace.
And in the Chamber of Judgment, now empty of everyone——
“……Will I ever see Silver-sama again somewhere……”
——the pure maiden of ice lets the flower of love bloom.
Several hours after Silver’s covert work is done——Luna, having safely returned to her dormitory room at the Kingdom’s Saint Academy, drops onto her bed in her uniform with a thump, rolls onto her back, and stares up at the ceiling.
“Phewww……I’m exhausted……”
She exhales a long breath and stretches out with a great mmph.
(For the time being……I gave Ro a ‘special protective charm,’ so barring something truly extraordinary, she should be fine.)
She has built a defensive spell into it far stronger than the Sacred Relic necklace Leonard had possessed, so there is no risk of being accidentally assassinated like this time.
Ro herself has absolutely no way of knowing——but she has now become, in this world, the second most defensively protected being after the Saint herself.
“Still though, to think there are people out there trying to kill the Saint……. I mean, why is my life being targeted in the first place? Does everyone just……not like the Saint?”
All that ‘Saint-sama! Saint-sama!’, and when you lift the lid, it comes to this——Luna’s distrust of humanity deepens further still.
“Hahhh……every era is hard to live in……”
Having heaved a long, deep sigh, she sets her outstanding Saint brain turning and thinks through the outline of the current situation.
(Kerkis-san was hired by ‘Mastermind A’ to assassinate the Saint. Since they could move a cardinal, Mastermind A is almost certainly a considerable powerhouse……. And——they’re a hopeless scatterbrain who can’t even tell the Saint and Ro apart.)
Mastermind A——Emperor Adrinus Odo Albas——has been branded a scatterbrain by the Saint (the scatterbrain).
“……If I keep reacting and playing catch-up, things are going to go badly……”
Luna knows better than anyone.
The foolishness of human beings. Their cruelty. The bottomless depth of their malice.
(This incident has clearly crossed a line……)
If she leaves things as they are with no countermeasures, a terrible incident will occur in the not-too-distant future——and it will become a replay of three hundred years ago.
To prevent that, she needs to become stronger.
But simply being strong alone is not enough.
No matter how strong Luna individually is, that alone is not sufficient to protect what matters.
What is needed now is not ‘individual’ strength——but the ‘collective strength’ of an ‘organization.’
(……Could it be that Zel foresaw this kind of situation and was trying to found a nation……?)
Crossing her mind is the image of her companion, who had just recently made an abrupt founding declaration out of nowhere.
[——From this day, from this very moment! The Spedio domain declares independence from the four great powers, and proclaims the founding of the ‘Holy Kingdom,’ with the Saint at its apex!]
Zel is a loyal retainer going back three hundred years, and one of the few people Luna places her complete trust in.
He is smarter than she is, hates pointless things, and his actions always carry clear meaning.
“……The Holy Kingdom——maybe I should think about it seriously.”
And so the Saint sets out on the path of ‘founding the Holy Kingdom,’ to walk a road different from the one she walked three hundred years ago.