The Big Picture

“…Damn, I don’t like any of this.”

“What now?”

“We’re trampling on the powerless. This isn’t why I rose to this position.”

Some of the people brought by the Prince clicked their tongues in disapproval.

They’d been told it was important business, but crushing a Princess who’d already been pushed to the fringes of the succession? Was the Emperor’s seat really something worth killing one’s own flesh and blood for?

No matter how long they’d served the Imperial Family, they couldn’t comprehend such sensibilities.

“What can we do? Orders are orders.”

“…Tch. Can’t argue with that.”

But some things had to be done even if you didn’t understand them.

If this unpleasant task was unavoidable, he’d at least make it painless. Having resolved himself, he asked a comrade for confirmation.

“It’s just ahead from here, right?”

“Yeah. We’re picking up the signal nearby.”

“Good. Let’s wrap this up quickly.”

Normally, they shouldn’t know their target’s location.

This duel was taking place in the academy’s largest grounds, where combatants started unaware of each other’s positions for strategic reasons.

But thanks to the Prince’s scheming, the Princess’s location was already exposed.

They’d apparently planted a small transmitter on her during their conversation earlier.

Who could have imagined they’d resort to such dirty tricks in a simple duel where defeat came when all allies were incapacitated?

Though distasteful, there was no choice.

“…I can’t help what happens to Her Highness, but leave the others barely breathing. I can’t watch entire families get wiped out over this.”

“How merciful of you.”

“Wha-?! Combat prepa-Ghk!”

A momentary lapse.

The advantage of knowing their position. Numerical superiority. And the perfectly natural assumption that students would be weaker than them.

These factors created an opening that a black hand didn’t hesitate to exploit, brutally striking down a comrade before they could properly fight.

Seeing their companion fall, the remaining operatives hurriedly regrouped.

“Don’t worry. I didn’t kill him. My kid hates that.”

“Ueeek… Hitting people feels bad… Doing bad things feels bad…”

“See? This brat’s a demon who hates doing evil now. So don’t worry too much.”

“That arm…! Demon Possessor! Be careful!”

Though maintaining composed expressions, the operatives realized something was terribly wrong.

The Princess should be here-so why was there a Demon Possessor instead?

“Hey! What’s going on?! The Princess should be here-!”

“Ah, if you came tracking this signal, you’ve got the wrong place.”

“?!”

“Desperate to win, huh? Your boss is truly hilarious, isn’t he?”

A small device was playfully tossed between fingers. The operatives realized it was the miniature transmitter planted on the Princess.

Somehow discovered, it was now being used against them. Recognizing this, the operatives quickly changed tactics.

“…Change of plans. Eliminate the enemy before us, then remove the Princess.”

“Ah, sorry. Can’t allow that.”

*Snap*

The Demon Possessor clenched her fist, and a operative’s equipment died instantly. Tossing the useless machine aside, she addressed them:

“My role right now is… what was it? A Knight? Something like that.”

“A knight? You think a Demon Possessor can be a knight?”

“Not that kind of knight-… Ah, whatever. My job’s to wreak havoc in your ranks.”

“Think we’ll let you go?”

“No? But whether you let me or not doesn’t matter.”

Before they could react, she vanished into the trees with inhuman speed.

“You couldn’t catch me anyway. Go have fun with the Church nun instead.”

“…!”

They’d dismissed the first casualty as a fluke from the ambush. But the speed at which the girl disappeared proved their arrogance.

Pursuit through dense forest was near impossible. Attempting it would only invite another ambush in the limited visibility.

“Dammit. She got away.”

“Kids these days are terrifying. How can she move that fast? Our only option is to regroup and overwhelm with numbers.”

Under different circumstances, they might have tried recruiting her to the Imperial Family despite being a Demon Possessor-a complete reversal from their earlier discriminatory remarks.

Abandoning pursuit, they decided early regrouping was better than wasting time. Such opponents quickly tired when facing multiple foes.

“This is Special Unit. Do you copy? Plan failed. Transmitter discovered, ambushed instead. Pursuit unlikely. Returning.”

“…keez… …et… …at…”

“…What? Why the static? Malfunction?”

“It was working fine an hour ago. Something must be jamming the signal.”

“What?”

Signal jamming? In these empty mountains?

The veteran operative felt ominous dread. This situation felt familiar.

What had that student said before escaping? Something about enjoying time with a Church nun.

Unwanted memories surfaced-the era of constant clashes between Church and Crown. Back when he was a common soldier, such things happened daily.

“…Fuck, move!”

“Y-yes?!”

“No questions! Just obey! We’re leaving, now!”

“But why-“

“An attack’s coming! A big one!”

Though unexplained, veterans of the Church wars knew one truth:

Sacred Power blocks radio waves.

Trace amounts in the air were harmless, but concentrated Sacred Power could instantly disable all electronics. Equipment failure meant a Sacred Power attack was imminent.

And there was a Watcher present-a being with Sacred Power dwarfing ordinary priests. Even at range, her power could reach here.

“Details later! It’s the Watcher’s attack!”

“…!”

“So fucking move! Take only essentials, abandon everything els-“

In that moment.

The operative spotted a glowing spear streaking toward them and realized:

Too late.

As others noticed the approaching light, he shut his eyes tight. Could anyone survive that?

They should have warned them about facing such monsters. He bitterly resented his superiors.

***

“Magnificent.”

“Whoa, a pillar of light… Wouldn’t that kill someone?”

“Maybe?”

“‘Maybe’? Seriously?”

“She’s a Watcher. She’ll avoid unnecessary killing… Probably.”

Stella smiled at the luminous pillar-proof their opening move succeeded perfectly.

She’d suffered countless defeats from her brother’s underhanded tactics. From chess to political struggles, he always won with dirty, unpredictable moves.

But long tails get stepped on. If Stella missed something, others would notice.

“As expected of Teacher Ophelia. It was wise to request your help.”

“You flatter me.”

“…That bastard. I thought he was just taunting me, but he planted that thing during our talk.”

Stella gritted her teeth, nearly falling for his scheme again. But it didn’t matter-others compensated where she lacked.

Anya handled long-range attacks Stella couldn’t manage. Orca executed the ambushes and disruptions Stella disliked.

Now she needed to step up.

“Well then… Time for me to step in.”

“Yawn… Already?”

“…Were you sleeping?”

“Haven’t slept well lately… So drowsy…”

“Carefree brat.”

The old her would have cursed such nonchalance during a crisis. But thanks to Teacher Ophelia’s praise homework, she now found this boldness impressive.

“Leo, Eileen. Take care of Teacher Ophelia.”

“Don’t worry.”

“Relax. Even if I mess up, you’ll fix it, right?”

“…You’re too carefree.”

Though they’d eliminated the Special Unit detachment sent to ambush them, her brother would have noticed by now. He’d surely prepare his next move.

Stella needed to end this before he could play another card. As she left, she envisioned the grand scheme.

She’d take a great risk-and paint the final stroke herself.