A streak of light had cut across the heavens for some minutes. Dante Hiakapo crossed the air faster than any airship, any train, or any footwork-type assassin. Yet at a certain point he had to stop ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) moving, for a single colossal object barred his way.
"......."
At this moment, transmissions were coming in nonstop from Shaman and Glory. Communications requesting support. But even without those transmissions, Dante Hiakapo was the one most pressed for time. Even so, there was no helping this halt.
Dante Hiakapo spoke in a low voice.
"......I didn’t think you’d have this kind, this degree of intelligence."
Beyond the rain-lashed sky, a skull the size of a twenty-story building floated in the darkness, its wings of human skin spread, each twice as large as its body.
It was the one-horned demon that had, after splitting a city of the Horanche Grand Duchy in half and then failing to sink the Holy Sword by destroying the Eternal, disappeared far away.
Bomiteka, in its final form.
"Show yourself."
And then. A man standing atop that enormous head leisurely rose to his feet.
"Yoho. I’ve been found, have I?"
"......I can understand you playing the brat, but you should know there’s a time and a place."
Quan, the Snooping Constellation, looked at Dante and smiled.
"Surprisingly, this is me choosing the time and place. It didn’t cost me just a penny or two to bring this thing right here to this spot."
"......."
"And it has to be now, at this very moment."
"What is your aim?"
"The aim is fun."
"While many people are dying, you enjoy hindering me?"
Quan snorted a laugh.
"My apologies."
Then he snapped his fingers up.
"But I’m on no one’s side. Neutral Constellations like me are not allowed to favor anyone. To the extent I helped you, I must hinder you. That is order."
"......Enough. I won’t listen to meaningless drivel."
"It’s not drivel. Shall I be frank? I’d rather you didn’t hate me too much. I am, by a single hair’s breadth, on your side. That’s also why I showed up now."
No reply came. Wind began to rise around Dante’s body; his bangs streamed, and along the flow, strands of light were born and started to climb.
Dante Hiakapo was drawing up the Stigma of Radiance⁺₊⋆.
"Woah."
Quan narrowed his eyes.
A force that made even the skin of a fellow Constellation tingle.
"......You’ve truly become someone terrifying."
Meanwhile, in this moment Dante Hiakapo thought this: that fighting and smashing that monster the world had named Ultra Bomiteka was not such a great feat.
Only that, at such urgency, being forced to waste that precious time was the one thing that made his heart race.
***
"......."
After Dante left, Rebecca sat blankly for a moment.
In the end he neither affirmed nor denied. She alone had clung like a fool, ugly, begging for affection.
In the royal family she lived as the proud daughter, to the world as the benevolent princess, in the Order as the proper cardinal candidate. After a life like that, she had, for the first time, bared her heart without reserve—yet the other did not answer. He only left.
"......."
At that fact,
for a moment, an impulse rose.
Rebecca turned her eyes, searching briefly for something sharp. Then she squeezed her eyes shut and sighed. At this rate, had she not taken a single step from when she was ten?
"...What’s going on?"
At last the true Rebecca asked Layme outside the door.
"......."
When Layme did not answer easily, Rebecca reached out for the [Crystal Orb] she had set on the table.
"Your Highness."
Only then did Layme open her mouth.
"Mm."
"It would be best if you rested today."
"Why?"
"There are few professions as sensitive to emotion as mages. Just for today, please rest and control your mood."
"......."
But Rebecca forced the [Crystal Orb] open and checked the multitude of messages from Glory and others. The contents were shocking.
And yet how could this be?
"......."
In that moment Rebecca realized something very strange.
"...Dame Layme. Listen."
"Yes?"
"...I think I might have truly turned into a rotten bitch."
"Why are you suddenly saying this. I told you not to look."
"...No. That’s not it."
Rebecca’s eyes went dazed, then she abruptly stood.
"...I have to go. To the Academy. Call a car."
"Your Highness!"
Layme scowled and blocked her path.
"Do not go."
"I must."
"Please just don’t go. If you go, you only raise the chances you’ll be hurt."
"No. I’m fine now. I feel much better. And I’m to the point I’m afraid I won’t be able to go. Do you know why?"
Then Rebecca smiled.
A very bright smile Layme had never seen.
Layme instead felt a chill.
"I won’t listen."
"No. I’ll say it."
"Your Highness!"
"I have to go to the Academy right now. Because if I save a lot of people there, or kill demons, Dante Hiakapo might find me pretty."
Even as she said it, Rebecca was smiling. Now Layme began to feel something like fear creeping up.
"So step aside."
The princess tried to push past with force. But she must not be let through like this. Layme had a very strong conviction.
Layme gripped her forearm tight and shoved her back into the room. Rebecca fell on her butt, taken by surprise.
"Why are you doing this, Dame Layme?"
"......."
It had been a shove bordering on violence, yet the princess asked without anger.
Truly.
These were words she hadn’t wanted to say.
She meant it.... Layme mashed and bit her lower lip, then opened her mouth with difficulty.
"Can you bear it."
"Bear what?"
"You must remember. What Your Highness did to that child. Then there’s no way that child doesn’t remember."
"......."
That single line.
Rebecca’s eyes went perfectly round.
"My apologies. I eavesdropped. I kept thinking I’d seen that sky-blue-haired girl somewhere before. Listening to your conversation, I realized it late."
"......."
"That girl... is it her? The sword genius from when Your Highness first came to the royal family.... And you—"
Layme remembered every detail of that incident.
There were two people there.
The daughter of a country baron, genius among geniuses.
And the princess, helpless to a pitiful degree.
"It’s fine."
But Rebecca shook her head and stood up.
"That girl can’t speak. She’s a mute bitch. And she won’t have any memories either."
"...Your Highness??"
"I know. I know! I know my words are fucked! But, but.... That’s the truth. She can’t speak. And she won’t remember. It’ll all be fine."
Rebecca let out a breath and closed her eyes.
"I can bear it."
No.
Layme knew at a glance. Rebecca could not bear it.
So Layme tied her to a chair with cord.
"Dame Layme. Dame Layme! What are you doing?!"
"My apologies, but I cannot let you go."
"Dame Layme! Hey!!"
Thud!
The closed door thudded. She must have crawled the chair over and kicked it.
— Dame Layme!! Let me go!!
She heard the shout from beyond the door but ignored it.
This was the best course.
Dante Hiakapo was far cleverer than expected. However much Rebecca hid it, it was only a matter of time before he found out.
And when all truth was exposed, Dante would break Princess Rebecca.
No.
Princess Rebecca would break because of Dante.
But a few minutes later.
A powerful magical vibration was felt from within the room.
Startled, Layme hurriedly opened the door. The princess was nowhere to be seen; only the cord that had bound her remained on the chair.
"This mana is—space distortion...... Your Highness!!"
Layme freaked and sprinted out of the house; there was no trace of Rebecca anywhere. Which meant the princess had, just now, completed and escaped with [Teleport], something she’d never once used in her life.
Most likely to Hiaka Academy!
Terror washed over the loyal retainer.
"......No...."
After that, Layme sat alone and fell into thought.
When, once upon a time, her husband had left her and their son, running off with another woman—
Layme had thought a sinner must receive karmic retribution forever.
And yet, paradoxically, now she wanted Rebecca to be happy.
So she was angry.
"......."
At the fact that it depended solely on Dante Hiakapo’s heart.
***
Hiaka Academy, Zone 2. In the rain, screams and explosions continued.
Glory Wonderland, who shared command of the war with Shaman, thought:
‘Not yet.’
With the Hero Party taking their positions, the pushed-back battle line had flipped. But nothing had actually improved yet.
— There is an enemy Surmaneken handles who is the most dangerous.
Glory recalled Dante’s special lecture to the Hero Party.
— Isn’t the most dangerous enemy Jinksythe?
At Balmung’s question—he had once personally seen that monster rampage—Dante had shaken his head.
— Of course, as a single entity, Jinksythe is the most dangerous. But in a war, it’s a different story.
The most dangerous is a one-horned demon of the [Illusion] line.
Dante had snapped his fingers.
Snap!
By [World Forgery], a human eyeball appeared in midair.
A flat eyeball, like a concave lens.
Grotesquely, it had horns.
— I haven’t seen the real thing, so I don’t know for sure, but roughly speaking it looks like this. Its name is [Ilushatacom]. It will probably be the last summon Surmaneken brings out.
Glory looked back over the field. The demon called Ilushatacom had not yet appeared. Which meant Surmaneken still had leeway.
— Glory.
Then, out of the blue, Dante’s voice, who had called him aside, rose in memory.
— You have to do it.
— Me, sir?
It was something he had repeated many times.
Naturally, he had his own work.
He was the leader of the Hero Party.
But Dante’s words seemed to be more than merely mentioning such a ‘role.’
— You have to do it.
— There will come a point where there is something only you must accomplish. Only you.
— Whatever it is, I want you to see it done.
I have to do it.
Glory bit his lower lip.
I have to do it......
What followed was doubt.
‘...Can I do it.’
Glory’s faith in himself was low. Long ago, he had become a man who could not believe in himself.
‘Someone like me....’
He did not fear disappointing others, but he feared believing in himself.
Even so, when the moment came, his body moved first. He had to do what he could.
< Good! At this rate we can sweep them even if Professor Dante doesn’t come! >
A hopeful voice from a chief professor of the Magic Department. Thanks to the Hero Party performing better than expected.
Glory hurriedly opened [Communication].
< It’s too early to cheer. >
< What? >
< Please pay attention to my words. I’ll brief the professors once again. >
KWA-KWA-KOOM!!
After dodging the boulder hurled from Bomiteka’s mouth, Glory continued.
< There are victory conditions in this two-horned demon engagement. >
The victory condition for their side was the [Holy Sword].
To take Surmaneken down without the [Holy Sword] is like facing a tiger with only a knife, without a gun. You can win, but it’s hard to guarantee it.
And in real time he saw Eve twisting her body up. She was suffering from internal injuries.
Shaaeeeeeek! Kang!!
Parrying the ice blade that shot from Soserche’s ribs, Glory went on.
< Now that the field is being pressed, we must save the usage time of the Holy Sword no matter what. >
Head-on, without firepower, the Holy Sword cannot reach Surmaneken.
At this point in Hiaka there is only one person who can make the Holy Sword reach Surmaneken.
For some reason, though he bears the Stigma of Radiance⁺₊⋆, he is late.
< It’s a stalemate line! >
Glory repeated himself.
< By any means, maintain the stalemate line until Professor Dante enters the fray! >
I have to do it.
< Confirmed! >
< Confirmed!! >
The battle began again.
Jinksythe scattered curses. A mage caught by the [Curse of Conflagration] burned. The [Curse of Freezing] pinned the feet of several assassins.
Bomiteka’s skull—having eaten little—snapped its jaw a bit more madly and barreled in from all sides.
"Hold them!!"
"Don’t get greedy—pay what needs paying!!"
But the professors’ counterattacks also steadily crushed the one-horned demons.
Buildings were half-shattered.
The line pushed back.
They inched toward Zone 0.
Even so,
the stalemate held.
It helped that Surmaneken recovered spent stamina through summonings.
In the midst of all that, something good happened: the sky split and Rebecca popped out.
"Princess Rebecca!"
"I’ll help."
For some reason, her reddened, raw eyelids. In pajamas without so much as a staff.
But she was the Hero Party’s doomsday weapon.
The one-horned demons’ eyeballs fixed on Rebecca the instant they perceived her existence. As if mountain, sky, and sea were all focusing on a single human.
The first to move among them was the sea. Trappycche, cowed somewhat by the mages’ strikes, swelled like a tsunami and poured toward Rebecca.
"Rebecca! Evade for now!"
"No."
She could not.
...She had to be found pretty by him.
Rebecca’s body [Floated] into the sky. Before the onrushing calamity, one human became a kind of god and began to rise. Within it, Rebecca focused her mind.
『 Localized Mind-Realm Realization 』
An area spread from Rebecca. A sphere of inverted color expanded.
『 Domain of Freezing, 氷 』
Across that entire space, chill mana close to absolute zero gathered. Vibrating particles swiftly lost their life.
And then—
『 Eternal Diamond of Ice, 氷 』
Trappycche’s body, about to slam down from as high as the heavens, began to freeze from the ground up, then the main body with its horned head froze whole.
After that, when Rebecca clenched her fist, the ice burst in an instant and scattered the flesh. At last even the small horned head.
Ka-ka-ka-ka-KANG!!!!!!
It was Trappycche’s complete death.