episode_0071

It’s cold.

That was the feeling Perzena felt the moment she met Erto’s gaze.

Erto’s eyes staring at him,

His two eyes, which must have clearly had a yellow tint,

For some reason, it creates the illusion that it is dyed black.

A deep, dark abyss felt within his pupils.

The countless negative thoughts contained within instantly grabbed Perjena’s heart.

Shock, confusion, betrayal, resentment, and hatred.

All emotions mixed together and turned into a horrible monster poured out towards her.

“Ah… ”

She let out a short groan as she sensed the irreversible future that was about to unfold for her.

With endless despair written all over his face, the boy slowly opened his mouth.

“Perjena… Senior… ”

His voice was laced with hatred that ran as sticky as tar.

“, er… ”

Perzena felt a chill run down her spine and tried to call his name,

“You’ve been fooling me all this time… ?”

Ignoring her words, Erto asked a question.

Kneeling on the street, with both arms hanging limply like a corpse.

The moment Perzena let go of his grip on her shoulder, she looked as if she would collapse like a rag.

He confirmed to the person concerned the truth he had just witnessed.

“Really… Senior… Did you make Tirisia like that…? Tirisia and me… lied to each other…?”

“Erto… No… That, that’s… !”

“I’m asking right now―!”

“Hic… !”

Erto suddenly let out a scream that sounded like his lungs were being torn apart, and Perzena, startled, pulled her hands away from him, stood up, and stepped back.

The boy looked at the girl who was slightly away from him with pitiful eyes, as if asking her to deny it instead.

“Answer…you told me. What I just saw…is it really the real you, senior… ”

“Ugh… Ugh… ”

Perjena covered her mouth with both hands, agonizing over what answer to give to his question.

Should I deny it?

Should I insist that it’s all an illusion created by Kelg Durakal?

If I do that, will I be able to escape this situation and capture Erto’s heart again?

“That, that’s… ”

I don’t know if there’s even a slim chance that he’ll believe my sophistry, but isn’t it at least worth a try, whether it works or not?

If we continue like this, we’ll end up losing everything anyway.

“I didn’t do that… ”

Perjena said those words with the determination that he would win if he lost.

“… ”

“No… So… ”

She couldn’t finish her words as she looked at the boy’s eyes intently.

Anger and hatred burning in his eyes.

Even in that, the last remaining ray of faith,

There was a glimmer of hope that she would not remain a traitor until the very end.

Because I was saying that I would not tolerate any more lies.

And in the first place, there is no magic in this world that shows an illusion to the viewer that makes them mistake it for reality.

Even if he was a genius wizard from the Brood family, even if he was a Durakal who had absorbed all of her powers and the talents of other outstanding people,

You can’t create another reality within reality.

It is impossible to exercise such god-like omnipotence.

So, I can confidently say that making excuses in front of Erto now will not help or give us any hope of resolving this matter.

It would be nothing more than a shameful act, like that of a sinner who has already fallen into an abyss with no bottom, flailing his limbs in the air.

“I… am… ”

Realizing that fact, Perzena stood in front of Erto and slowly lowered her head.

“… Yeah.”

And she meekly admitted that she had done everything of her own free will.

“It’s all true. I helped that man put a curse on Tirisia.”

“Ah… ”

At that confession, Erto, who had been glaring at her with an expression that seemed ready to explode, took on a hardened expression as if he had reached the end of his shock.

In his head, all the puzzle pieces start to fall into place anew.

From the very earliest moment I met a human named Perzena,

The pieces that were already complete began to twist one by one, sequentially―

“Ahhhh… ”

Everything falls apart without leaving a single piece behind, and is reassembled in the wrong direction.

That memory, which had not even a single bit of its original form left from beginning to end, was in fact no different from a complete collapse.

Disillusionment, resentment, and hatred, like a plague,

Erto goes through all the years he remembers Perzena in one breath.

“AAAHH …

The boy screamed at the ground, clutching his head with both hands.

The great mental shock caused a physical reaction in his body, a headache.

“Erto… !”

Perzena took a step towards Erto, who was crouching and shouting as if he was having a seizure, with a pale face.

but,

“Don’t come near me―!”

Erto let out a scream of refusal, his yellow eyes flashing between the fingers that were clutching his face.

“Wow… !”

Perjena stopped walking at the ominous murderous intent and only extended her trembling hand towards him.

“Ji, calm down, Erto…! I’ll explain everything…!”

“Description… ?”

At Perzena’s feeble plea, Erto let out a labored breath and got up from his seat.

Fiery,

No, his eyes, which seemed to have already been completely burned and turned into ashes, blindly glared at the girl in front of him.

“What more explanation do you need…?”

“Ahh… That, that’s… ”

As Perzena was at a loss for words, Kelg Durakal, who had been watching the whole scene from afar, let out a low sneer.

“Heh heh… I’ll leave it at this point. My job today was to help poor Erto-kun not be fooled any longer. Now, I hope the parties involved will work it out. Thank you for your hard work―.”

Suuu

Kelg, who had walked into the shadow of the building, soon completely disappeared from sight.

It was a shameless escape by the person who had actively caused the situation, but for the two people who were left behind, what was most important was not Kelg or anyone else.

Just each other, facing each other in the darkness, was the only thing that needed to be focused on more than anything else at this moment.

“How could you do something like that… Senior?”

After Kelg had completely disappeared into the darkness, Erto asked the question he had been longing for on the road that had become even more silent.

“How on earth could you have fooled me and Tirisia so shamelessly for so long?”

“Erto… ”

Perjena now felt that what mattered most was not explanation or excuse.

“I’m sorry… ”

She bowed her head deeply before Erto, clenching her fists and trying to fight against the sin that was weighing her down.

What more needs to be said?

apologize.

An apology was all he could do for Erto now.

“I thought that if I did that… if I didn’t get caught… I could become closer to you… ”

I tried my best to suppress the emotions welling up inside me,

“I’m truly… sorry… ”

Perzena, clearing her trembling throat, managed to convey those words to Erto.

But the boy’s reaction was,

“This traitor.”

He was speaking in a seething voice, as if he had not heard such words at all.

“What if I don’t get caught? Then, if I hadn’t gotten caught, were you planning to cover up the betrayal until the end? By my side? For the rest of your life?”

“… ”

“If I had accepted my senior’s confession without knowing anything and had become the relationship he wanted so badly with me, would I have lied to him forever even after becoming a loving couple?”

“… Yeah. That must have been it.”

“How could you do that to me, Senior? What kind of person was you, Senior Perjena, to me? How could someone who knows how much I respected and followed you, hit me in the back of the head in such a horrible way?”

“… I’m sorry. Really.”

Perzena simply lowered her head and told Erto the same thing.

Other than that, she had nothing left to say or do.

Now there is no justice, logic, or belief to put forward.

The spilled water and even the bowl containing it fell and shattered into pieces.

There is nothing left that can be undone.

So, all that remained was to beg for Erto’s mercy.

May he be a broad-minded person who can accept all these sins and still accept his own apology.

So that the affection I have built up over the years and the years of idolizing myself will not be in vain,

Please, he, his precious disciple, Ertoga,

I hope you can understand me.

With such a fervent wish, Perjena repeated only those words.

“I was wrong. Please, just this once… forgive me.”

Yet Erto, without any change whatsoever, continued to pour out his vicious hostility towards her without ceasing.

“Senior was hospitalized last year due to a burst magic circuit… I thought it was just a simple accident, but it was a rampage that he caused to defeat Tirisia and put a curse on her? Then you’re saying he’s been deceiving me since then? For over a year?”

“Yeah… You’re right. Really… I have nothing to say. Erto.”

“How could you live wearing such a shameless mask? What on earth were you thinking when you did such a disgusting act, senior?”

“I’m sorry… ”

Perzena nodded like a parrot to Erto’s words, and simply muttered an apology without any hesitation.

Erto, who was calculating the length of time he had been deceived until now, spoke to her in an even sharper voice.

“I’ve been really wrong about you so far… Don’t you think so?”

“Erto… I… ”

“I thought my senior was stubborn, but a righteous person. I thought he was a great person who could not be broken even in the face of strong evil and who had the strength to stick to his beliefs.”

“I’m not… that kind of person.”

Erto nodded his head in agreement to Perzena’s self-deprecating muttering.

“Yes, that’s right. He really wasn’t that kind of person. Now that I look at it, my senior was a selfish person who joined hands with villains, committed unjust acts, betrayed loved ones, lied, and deceived and deceived anyone around him for his own greed.”

“… Okay, I get what you said.”

“Do you know? What do you know? If you knew, you wouldn’t have done it. Now that you’ve been caught, aren’t you admitting it too easily? If you hadn’t been caught, you would never have changed that dirty attitude. Don’t you think so?”

“… I’m sorry.”

“What was it that you always said so confidently? You said you didn’t care what bad guys said, that you wouldn’t be bound by anyone, that the reason you wanted to be strong was to be freer than anyone else. It was all, it was all, it was all a lie.”

“… Sorry.”

“Does your senior really have any beliefs? How dare someone who commits such dirty and lowly betrayals talk about such a sloppy justice in front of the person he hit on the back of the head?”

“mi… ”

“You were your senior’s disciple, junior, and closest friend, but you made me suffer like this. Do you think there is anything precious to you? You said you loved me. Is stabbing someone in the back the way you love? Isn’t that just an act of self-pity where you only care about your own happiness?”

“… ”

“Of course, Tirisia did her own thing, but if her senior hadn’t betrayed her in the first place, she wouldn’t have ended up in such a terrible situation. No one knows what will happen in the future, but at least I think that if Tirisia hadn’t fallen into this trap, she would have lived a normal, happy life. Even if I wasn’t there. I believe that.”

“Yeah… you’re right.”

“But, you ruined it all. Tirisia’s life, my life. Even your own life. The worst thing is Durakal, but you made the worst future that human could have brought about even faster and more clearly. To satisfy your dirty desires, you swung your sword at all of us with your own hands and cut out our hearts.”

“I’m sorry… I really committed a mortal sin… ”

“Senior deceived and played with me from beginning to end. Everything he said was a lie, and I foolishly believed it all. The person next to me was a dirty traitor who took away and destroyed what was most precious to me.”

“Just once… Me… ”

“Do you really think I could forgive you? Seriously? Someone like you?”

“… Erto.”

There was a sad and pleading note in Perjena’s voice.

It was a voice that contained the meaning that he already fully understood what kind of ugly thing he had done, so he asked her to please stop saying those words that felt like they were stabbing his heart with an awl.

It wasn’t that I was angry or resentful of Erto’s accusations.

The verbal abuse he spewed out was the victim’s natural right in the current situation. It was anger and hatred that should have been expressed.

However, it was too much of a hassle for Perjena to listen to him.

When the person you love hates you fiercely right in front of your eyes,

Because the sight of him sincerely resenting her with eyes that looked like he was looking at a bug was what was making her suffer more than anything else.

Perzena needed nothing but Erto.

Even if the whole world rejects me, it doesn’t matter as long as I can be loved by him alone.

Conversely, if the whole world loves him but he hates me, everything else becomes meaningless.

The reality that was unfolding before Perzena’s eyes was the latter, something she absolutely did not want to experience.

I don’t want to be hated by Erto alone.

That one wind was blowing exactly upside down, as if it had fallen into the devil’s trick.

The person who hates her the most in the world right now is the boy she loves so much, Erto.

But the real despair was that this was not a trick of the devil or anything, but the result of a choice made purely by one’s own will.

No one is to blame.

Who betrayed Erto? It was himself.

Who stabbed Erto deep into his chest with a knife? It was him.

This desperate reality was a hell of his own making.

So now I wanted to say, please, stop this hell―

“I’m really disgusted, senior. Were you happy all this time? You were secretly happy that you were able to fulfill your love next to me, who was ruined beyond repair after ending up with Tirisia? Did you enjoy the brief moment of masturbation? You lived in a castle built on lies and deception, and you really did a good job of being a princess, really.”

“Ahh… ”

All the years I had spent with him turned into blades of betrayal, and before that explosive rage poured out until every moment I had ever remembered was swept away.

Perjena felt dizzy and her heart sank.

And then she realized that forgiveness didn’t change anything, and she started saying different things.

It is clearly a line that must not be crossed.

It was clearly a horrible act that amounted to nothing more than throwing filth and mocking the boy in front of him whom he had thrown into the abyss.

The shock of being rejected by her lover paralyzed Perzena’s thinking.

So she finally ended up saying the words she shouldn’t have said.

“Oh… Isn’t it better?”

“… What did you say?”

At that moment, Erto did not understand what he had heard, but Perzena raised her head and asked with a faint smile.

“T, I knew that Tirisia was a bad girl who would do such wicked things when she fell for another man… I got to know her true nature through this opportunity… Huh? That’s right.”

“Senior… ”

As Erto’s momentum seemed to evaporate, Perzena became even more convinced that she was right.

“You’re the girl who betrayed and tormented Erto so cruelly just because someone she loved a little more came along…! Even if we had continued dating, wouldn’t you have gotten tired of that nature and broken up someday? T-T, even if that wasn’t the case! Thanks to me, you found out how selfishly that guy can act in such extreme situations…! You were able to see the hidden evil side of Tirisia that you hadn’t seen before?!”

“Senior, really… ”

Erto’s voice sinks infinitely coldly.

The simmering anger that had been building up until now suddenly subsided as if water had been poured over it.

Resentment and hatred evaporate and disappear, and in their place, emotions rise like smoke.

that,

“Ah, in a way, this is like a vaccination! I’m not saying I did well, but! But Erto, you also gained something in your own way, so can’t you forgive me this once?! Huh?”

I chose the worst, from which there is no more salvation.

“I took off the mask of Tirisia, who had hidden her true face from you for so long, so oh, maybe you should be grateful to me―”

“Senior, shut up.”

It was an endless disappointment to see the endless fall of an idol that was once so revered.

“Are you really crazy?”

“Ah… ”

At the frozen tone of the boy, Perjena suddenly came to her senses and regained her shaken focus.

And then, as he thought back on the words he had just uttered, he dropped his arms and chewed on the deep despair.

“What, what am I saying… No… Damn… Fucking… ”

A chill runs through her head and heart.

The emotions that come to those who temporarily cross the line and then return are unbelievably great regret and self-loathing.

Even if he had buried his head in the ground and apologized, it would not have been enough, and now he was in a situation where he had poured boiling lava in front of Erto.

“Fuck… What the fuck… ”

“… ”

Erto couldn’t say much to Perzena, who was standing there dumbfounded, clutching her head and losing the will to scream.

“Senior.”

“… ?”

When the boy called her, Perjena stared at him with soulless eyes.

“Do you remember the story we told at the playground yesterday?”

“Huh… ?”

Erto now had a calm, composed expression on his face and began to speak softly to the girl.

“My senior said. He said he wasn’t that righteous and great of a person.”

“… ”

“And I said, it doesn’t matter who you are, even if you’re completely different from the idol I thought you were… I’ll still cherish you because I’ve gained so much by following in your footsteps.”

“That, that’s… ”

Perzena’s complexion brightened, as if she had found a ray of hope.

if,

By any chance, by any chance,

Is Erto trying to keep his word now?

Even if the idol he believed in and followed was in fact an ugly filthy worm, the path he lived while chasing that illusion would never have been in vain.

Even if you were betrayed, there will be countless memories of those who believed in you and built up their faith for a long time.

Perhaps, if we offer the weight of those years as a sacrifice.

Could it be that his sins can be offset?

Even if things can’t go back to how they were before, can’t we at least hope for some forgiveness?

With that faint, faint hope in her heart, Perzena took a step towards Erto.

“Erto… Please… Forgive me… ”

But the boy shook his head with a compassionate smile.

“I will take back all of that. It wasn’t that I didn’t care who you were, senpai. Now that I know your true nature… everything inside me has completely changed. I hate you now.”

“AAAHH …

At his rejection that completely betrayed her expectations, Perjena screamed, clutching her head with both arms.

“I regret all the years I looked up to you as my idol, and followed you as my teacher. From the day I first met you at the playground until now. I will erase you from my life, from my memories. You were not my idol… You were just a disaster.”

“Ahh… Ahh… ”

Erto looked at Perzena with pity as she groaned as if something was broken.

“I won’t ask you to give back all the time and emotions I’ve poured out for you. Because I don’t want to receive anything from you anymore. I’ll just spend the rest of my life hating you, resenting you, and regretting my foolish choices, slowly erasing everything and ending it all… Now, please disappear from my sight, senpai. This is my last act of kindness.”

At his cold greeting that announced his end,

“Ahhhh… Ahhh!”

thud!

Perjena screamed and fell to her knees.

“I hate it… I hate it… ! Erto… !”

As the end drew near, an emotion that had not been clearly conscious of until now began to clearly reveal its presence in Perjena’s heart.

That was another reason she had been deliberately ignoring.

This is a big part of the reason why Perzena tried to ostracize Tirisia Brewery.

“You… You didn’t look at me!”

It’s – jealousy.

From the beginning, he had taken for granted a position that he could never surpass.

An ugly inferiority complex towards a great opponent who can never be defeated.

Likewise, Lucica Lapisle, who had been watching over Tirisia for a long time, was like that.

The deep helplessness and despair of a girl who fell in love with a boy whose fate was already decided.

A place surrounded by such perfect love that no one can interfere.

Lucica Rapisle chose the path of resignation as she faced the boy who did not allow her to be next to her.

A sacrifice and concession to step down from the role of a supporting actor and cheer and applaud a friend’s love from the audience.

Lucica Rapisle had reached a conclusion that could be called resignation, to put it bluntly.

But Perjena was different.

In the same despair of not being chosen by Erto and not having any future opportunities,

Unlike the timid Lucica, Perjena had the courage to take a reckless step forward.

Even though she knew it was a twisted thorny path, she took steps to fulfill her desire.

If there was even one chance to be by Erto’s side, Perzena had no reason to hesitate.

If it means getting the love you desire, you can even hold the devil’s hand―

That was the fundamental reason that, unlike Lucica, who ended up with a minor misunderstanding, fell into a realm of no return for Perjena.

“You… Erto you, because you only looked at that bitch Tirisia! You didn’t see me as a woman at all, even though I loved you so much…! Then there’s nothing I can do…! If this is how I can make Erto you look at me, then I have no choice!”

“Senior, stop it.”

“Me too… I wanted to be loved by you too! I wanted to be close to you like Tirisia…! Erto, because I loved you, loved you, loved you! I couldn’t stand it―!”

“… ”

“Ahhh… Ugh! Ughhhh! Huhhh!”

Sitting on the ground, curled up in a heap, Perjena began to cry out loud.

It was the first time Erto had seen Perzena’s tears.

The weak and desperate appearance of a senior who has always shown only a strong and solid appearance.

But to Erto’s eyes, the sight was now nothing more than an unpleasant image.

Why is the perpetrator crying in front of the victim?

How dare you, with what face―

Only such cold thoughts filled his head.

“I’m done talking. This is the end for us, senpai. I will never see you again. Remember this fact clearly.”

“Ugh… ! Ugh, ugh… !”

“Then… I’ll go first. Take care.”

“Ugh… Eww! Eww… Ah… ! No!”

The moment Erto turned his back and started to walk away from her,

Sreung!

Perzena, who had raised her body with all her might, picked up her sword in an instant, blocked Erto’s path, and aimed the blade at his neck.

Her face, a mess of tears and snot, shouts at the boy with boundless desperation.

“Don’t… go, Erto! I can’t let you go like this!”

“Haa… ”

Erto let out a deep sigh, then looked down at the sword resting under his chin and muttered.

“If you can’t send me, will you kill me? Or will you cut off my limbs and kidnap me?”

“Huh… Huh, that, that could be possible… !”

Perjena swallowed her sobs and nodded her head in front of him.

Now, the only thought in her head was that she couldn’t part ways with Erto like this.

“If you do that, it will only solidify the fact that you are a hypocrite and a traitor. If you don’t mind, then go ahead and do it.”

“Haa… Haa… Sob!”

Perjena let out a ragged breath and gripped the claymore handle with both hands.

But that was all.

Her hand wouldn’t move an inch forward.

“… That can’t be possible, senior.”

Erto, who spat out the words in an annoyed tone, ignored the sword aimed at his neck and walked forward, passing Perzena.

“… Liar.”

“Ahh… ”

Chaenggang!

Finally, swallowing the words he had spilled, Perzena finally dropped her sword again.

Her body gradually collapses downwards as she watches the boy’s back as he walks away.

dump-

The girl, who had fallen to the floor helplessly, wished that this moment was a dream, poured out all her emotions and cried endlessly.

“Euhk… ! Huh… ! Ahhh… ! Aaaah!”

The boy never looked back at her as she was left in the darkness.

*

After returning home and leaving Senior Perjena abandoned on the street, I washed myself in hot water and lay down on the bed to recover my tired body and mind.

My mind, tattered from shock, refused to fall asleep, but there was nothing to be gained by thinking about Senior Perjena any more.

Today, I learned the truth about how Tyrisia was cursed with fascination through the past shown to me by Durakal.

The betrayal of Senior Perzena, whom I had trusted and followed for a long time.

That was where it all started.

But even if I learned the truth, my feelings towards Tirisia did not change.

No matter how it started, in the end, Tirissia had her own will in all her actions.

So in the end, all that was left for me was the great pain of losing a precious person like Senior Perjena.

It’s hard to bear the pain.

Blood flows from the wound, wetting the entire area.

But still, I had to think about the future.

The precious people I have left now.

Lucica, Heidiera, and Celdianne.

I couldn’t lose my mind, even if it was just to protect them from Duracal’s clutches.

I was really sick of losing the person who was by my side.

I must continue to become stronger in the future.

Even if we lose Senior Perjena, nothing will change.

With that determination engraved in my heart once again, I forced my eyelids shut.

and

―

――

dripping.

How much time has passed?

Late in the morning, still dark.

I woke up from a short sleep to a knock on the front door.

-Erto, are you inside?-

“Haa… ”

I heard a familiar voice outside the front door, and I sat up, clutching my forehead.

-I’m really sorry about earlier. Did I say too many crazy things?-

Senior Perjena, who was standing in front of the door, was still not giving up and was handing me an apple.

“… ”

I got out of bed quietly without making a sound, walked down the hallway, and stood in front of the front door.

Even if I eliminate all signs of my presence, they can still detect my presence in the house due to the magical response.

But he doesn’t open the door. He doesn’t respond.

That was my answer.

If you’ve decided to end it, then you have to end it.

I just stayed silent and listened to what she had to say.

-I didn’t come here to nag you. I just wanted to… clear my mind.-

“… ”

-I came here to sincerely apologize to you for the last time. Just listen.-

“… ”

-I’m truly sorry for betraying you, Erto, who truly cared for me, and for making Tirisia like that.-

“… ”

-I wasn’t the kind of idol you could look up to. I’m really sorry about that.-

“… ”

-Forget all the bad things I said to you. You don’t have to forgive me. I just want you to be happy and not worry about those things. I mean it.-

“… ”

-And… I don’t know what this apology means to you now… but I must atone in my own way.-

“… ”

-I came to say goodbye. I might not see you again… –

“… ?”

The senior greeted me from beyond the door in a voice that sounded somewhat carefree.

-At the last moment… I will try to make a righteous choice, like the idol you respected, Erto.-

“… ?”

-Goodbye, Erto. I really loved you, and I’m really sorry.-

hook-

And so, Senior Perjena’s presence disappeared from beyond the door.

“Senior… ?”

What on earth is she thinking?

Her tone of speech, which had become noticeably lighter, made me feel like she was making up her mind about something.

As I was thinking about what that intention was,

“No, what does that have to do with me now?”

Shaking off my distracting thoughts, I went back to bed and tried to sleep.

As my senior said, no amount of atonement would mean anything to me.

*

Deep dawn.

It was a time when ordinary city people were fast asleep.

At a time when the whole world was ruled by darkness, there were those who were awake and active in groups.

Inside a deep cave at the foot of the mountain behind the academy.

Kelg Durakal’s hideout, built like a luxurious palace on the inside.

The twenty noble students gathered in the hall there were wearing pitch-black robes and were listening to the small talk of Kelg Durakal, who had summoned them.

“Hahahaha! It’s so funny how they look at each other with their trust broken.”

Kelg is sitting on a luxurious chair in front of the students, laughing out loud.

He was preaching to his noble students who followed him about the evil deeds he had committed as if they were tales of heroism.

The noble students were a little taken aback by the situation in which they were dragged out during their sleeping hours, but they happily listened to his story since it was an order from Kelg, whom they absolutely supported and followed.

“So I… Huh?”

Kelg’s eyebrows, which had been talking excitedly with both arms outstretched, suddenly shot up.

His magic detection sensed an abnormal phenomenon occurring in the hideout.

“What? The door… the barrier is broken? No, it’s cut… ?”

Kelg, who had let out a few questions, instinctively looked towards the entrance,

“Why are you like that…?”

The twenty noble students also turned around and checked for signs of approaching from the entrance.

Thump-

Thump-

The intruder, who had been walking slowly with his sneakers clacking, greeted the people gathered there by stepping on his haunches as he arrived at the front of the hall.

“Open up—you little rascals. You look so pretty together.”

A girl in a tracksuit with blue two-tone short hair and a claymore that glows with silver magic slung over her shoulder.

Perzena, who came here as an iron-blooded swordsman, scanned the faces of his enemies with his two angry eyes.

“Hahaha… Hey, hey, did you finish talking with Erto-kun?”

Kelg, sitting on a chair with his legs crossed and his chin resting on his hand, asked her.

Perjena nodded at him with a snicker.

“Ah, yes. Thanks to you, I am now living in hell.”

“Heh heh… So what are you doing here?”

“Are you asking because you don’t know?”

Kiing―――!

The moment Perjena smiled, magical power was released from her body, and thousands of zigzag branches stretched out, filling the entire area along the walls and floor.

Kelg felt that something there was different from what he had expected.

A barrier of incomparable size to anything before, large enough to cover one’s entire hideout.

Now, the mountain behind the academy was completely swallowed up by the iron-blooded territory that Perzena had spread out.

“… !”

Kelg, whose smile had disappeared, rose from his chair and glared at her,

“I’m actually the type of person who gets lonely a lot.”

Perzena, who had cleared her throat, declared with a sinister smile.

“Today, here, you all are going to hell with me.”

Kookung!

A silvery aura of unusual pressure radiates from her body.

Her magical circuits, which had once broken down and become half-broken,

Now, once again, it has crossed the line and started to run wild.

Gooo …

In the midst of the silvery torrent of magic swirling within the cave, Perzena bared her fangs and raised her middle finger at the enemies before her.

“You understand? You motherfuckers.”

――

―

*

And the next day.

What I heard when I arrived at the academy was,

The story of twenty noble students being seriously injured,

There was news that Senior Perzena, who had fallen into a coma, was admitted to the intensive care unit.