episode_0061

Ariel froze at the sight of the person in front of her greeting her.

White hair and purple eyes. It had torn wings, and a faint trace of brilliance could be seen above its head, but it was clearly its own image.

They weren’t just similar people. Those empty eyes and facial expressions were exactly the same as what I saw every morning.

No matter how many times I close my eyes and open my eyes at the unbelievable sight, or how many times I tap my head, I see myself doing the same thing as myself, like in a mirror.

As he walks towards her, she also walks towards him. Same steps, same look.

However, if there was anything different, it would only be that extremely empty and dejected expression.

“Who are you…?”

Ariel asks herself a question on the other side of the mirror. Ariel in the mirror looks at her indifferently, then opens her mouth.

“Who am I…? You know that best.”

“….What?”

“I am you. You are me.”

“What is that…!”

“You and I are the same Ariel. But, it’s a little different.”

Taaaak-!

When Ariel snaps her fingers in the mirror, her appearance slowly begins to change.

Instead of a faint brilliance, horns sprouted from the bedside, and instead of pure white wings that had been torn, black wings had a peculiar energy.

Ariel, whose entire body was drenched in blood, was looking at herself.

Ariel unconsciously lifted her hand and placed it on her cheek. Ariel on the other side of the mirror imitates the same actions.

Even if you blink or lower your hand, the exact same action is repeated.

“….me?”

“Yes, devil. That’s who you are.”

“……..!”

Suddenly, I heard a sound from the side and turned my head to see the angel with an empty expression still looking at me.

The angel frowns as if he doesn’t like something and continues his story with his arms crossed.

“You look like you don’t understand.”

“What kind of situation is this? Are you… me? And what does this look like…”

“……Ha. It wasn’t at this point yet. Then of course you don’t know.”

“….What?”

Ariel asked back at the angel who was talking something completely incomprehensible, but the angel snorted and ignored her.

“Okay. For now… this is the best way.”

Taaaak-!

When the angel sighs and snaps his fingers, the stopped world begins to move again. At the same time, as the world breaks apart, the background of Snowpil Village changes into Sunset Academy.

“This is… an academy.”

“Okay. And it’s the starting point of everything.”

“What is that…”

“If you don’t know, just keep quiet and watch.”

Then at that moment. Venice appeared before the eyes of the two Ariels. Venice, who was chatting with Ariel in the distance, moves from her seat and heads to the garden outside the academy.

“Mmm~ Mmmmm.”

In a beautiful and elaborately organized garden, Venice smiles as she touches and smells the fresh leaves of grass.

-Wow… look at that boy. Very handsome..

-Do you have a girlfriend? Just ask me..!

-no! You ask…!

Venice seemed to have heard the voices of the female cadets who were watching her, and she smiled. Then, the female cadets started to quickly run away from their seats while blushing profusely.

Crackling-

“….I don’t like it.”

The angel looks at the female cadets running in the distance and looks uncomfortable. However, he soon shows a sad expression and sighs, not knowing if he is resigned or blaming himself.

Plop… plop..!

“Huh? What does this mean?”

Then Venice hears a sound and walks towards the source of the sound. Ariel, looking at that scene, could see the exact source of the sound.

“Look around… you bastard…!”

“What an insignificant bastard…!”

“Ugh…Ugh..!”

It looked like two cadets whose names and faces I had never heard of were gang-beating one cadet.

It was a beating that felt serious even to Ariel, who usually doesn’t care much about what people do or say.

“The academy is doing this…?”

It was a sight he had never seen before. Wasn’t the academy a fair and safe space for everyone?

However, Ariel stopped thinking. This is because I felt an unknown black energy coming from the cadet who continued the assault.

Then Venice appeared in front of them. The gangsters attack Venice, but of course they fall to the floor without any help.

It’s only natural. Because Venice survives in a battle where life is at stake every day. It was just not at a level that the gangsters could overcome.

Venice’s close combat skills were so amazingly superior that even Ariel was surprised several times.

Venice, who was dealing with the gangsters and helping the beaten cadet up, picked up the wallet that the gangster had dropped and made a serious expression.

“…Why is black magic…”

Venice’s mutterings were something Ariel also agreed with. Why on earth can one feel dark magic in the academy?

When I look at the angel with that expression, the angel shakes his head again and snaps his fingers.

The background changes from the academy’s garden to the interior of the dormitory. Inside the dorm room, Venice looked determined and muttered something softly.

Then, Venice’s body changed as if it had become translucent. When he went out the door and walked in front of the crowd, no one noticed Venice.

“That…. in Snowpil Village..”

Venice heads to the men’s dormitory without being noticed by anyone. As Venice waits for a moment in front of the dorm room door with number 118 written on it, the gangsters she saw earlier enter the room, swearing.

Of course they didn’t see Venice, and Venice quietly follows them into the room.

Ariel looks at them with an incomprehensible expression.

The gangsters started swearing and then started wearing the black magician’s robes and masks that they had hidden deep in the closet.

Venice’s eyes also waver when she sees that figure behind the mask. Who would imagine that there would be a warlock in the empire’s highest academy?

bully. No, the warlocks quietly leave the room and head somewhere. Since it was past curfew, the only ones walking around were the guards, but even though the guards were of the same group and noticed the appearance of a warlock, they lowered their heads for a moment and then went back to guard.

“Where on earth did the Academy become so rotten..?”

Cadets who were warlocks. Even the corruption of the guards whose duty it is to protect the cadets. I couldn’t feel it anymore.

The warlocks and Venice, who follow them, head to the basement of the academy. Ariel had a puzzled look on her face because she had heard that there was nothing in the basement other than a warehouse, and she went there to check.

Rumbling…

When the shelf in the storage room is pushed aside, a secret passageway is revealed.

Without any surprise, they walk down the long passage. Venice, who has not been discovered yet, follows quietly.

There was a huge cavity at the end of the long passage. And there is a huge door that seems to overlook the entire cavity. The amount of black magic flowing out through the crack in the door was enough to make even Ariel shiver.

The warlocks started talking about something, took out an object that felt black magic, and the door began to open. Venice is viewed from the bend of the passage.

The door opens, and an overwhelming amount of black magic leaks out. If hit by that energy, an ordinary person would get sick and die in an instant.

And in the dark space inside the door, there was a huge nightstand and chairs. And several people are visible. Among them, an old man who appeared to be very old was leaking out an enormous amount of black magic that was incomparable to that of the others.

“……!”

At that time. The old man glances at the passageway where Venice is hidden. Venice’s translucent body blinks, and Venice is startled and hides behind the wall.

Venice, who was breathing heavily, glared at the warlocks behind the door that was beginning to close, then made a determined expression and left the place.

“…What kind of situation is this? Why on earth is there a warlock in the academy?”

“I told you. It’s the beginning of everything. And it is also the starting point of ‘our’ suffering.”

The angel, who was making another incomprehensible sound, snapped his fingers and was back in the dormitory.

Venice, who disappeared again, storms into the room of the warlock she saw earlier, defeats them at once, and begins heading underground alone.

Although he encountered a guard on the way, he was not suspected because Venice was wearing a mask stolen from a warlock. So Venice heads underground, opens a secret door, and walks down a long passage.

After talking about something with the warlock who was standing guard, the warlock smiles loudly and opens the door.

Although he made a laughing sound, Venice behind the mask was glaring at the warlock with an extremely cold and hateful expression.

That expression was one that Ariel had never faced before. It was such hatred that it made Ariel’s heart ache as she looked at it.

Venice sat down at the nightstand pretending to be a warlock, and after a while, the ‘warlock meeting’ began. By pointing out the old man who appears to be the most powerful, the warlocks begin to report their actions in detail.

Murder, kidnapping, cannibalism, torture, drug testing.

Although they were all disgusting crimes, they talked about them as if they were proud of them.

Venice trembles under the nightstand, where no one is looking, with her hands clenched. The expression behind the mask also did not hide anger and hatred.

“…………”

Ariel, who was looking at that scene, felt that something was seriously wrong, but she was so anxious and guilty that she could not speak.

When the angel sees the eyes shaking as if there was an earthquake, he laughs and talks.

“…Have you finally realized it? It hasn’t even started yet. Just look at it properly.”

The old man spreads his arms and begins to talk about his plan.

Starting with small towns in the north, they focus attention by damaging the academy. And at the end, taking advantage of the chaos, the Sunrise Empire collapses.

And there is even a story that the starting point will be Snowpil Village.

“……!”

The space where everything is ruined. And, although it was short, it was a space where Ariel had good memories.

After the warlock meeting is over, Venice quietly returns to her room. I bit my lip so hard that a lot of blood is flowing out.

Venice, who looked like she was in agony, begins to quietly call out names.

Children in orphanages. Snowpil Village. Academy, Kayle and Fria, Frost Estate.

“…Miss Ariel.”

And even your own name. Venice’s expression changed to determination, and she muttered one word.

“…even if I risk everything. I have to protect them. Even if it burns me.”

The moment those short words hit her ears, the disbelief in Ariel’s heart was completely shattered.

Venice’s determined eyes and expression, and her expression that did not hide her hatred and disgust as she looked at the warlocks, were enough to break Ariel’s disbelief.

“Ah…..no…. I…”

Ariel held her head and tried to deny the truth she was facing, but she began to break down when she saw Venice’s determined expression and the angel’s face looking at her with a sad expression.

My heart feels like it has already burst, a terrible pain comes, and tears flow from my eyes.

What have I… done?

Looking at Ariel, who was beginning to break down, the angel also shed tears and placed his hand on Ariel’s shoulder. And then talk.

“….It shouldn’t collapse yet. There’s still… a lot left. So…”

Face it properly. Your faults and sins.

Taaaak-!

Kwajangchang.. Wajangchang-!

The world begins to break down and reassemble again. At the same time, no matter how hard you try to ignore it, the inevitable truth begins to creep in.