episode_0130

Several weeks ago, the eastern part of the Ubiet Empire.

Moriarty’s base, .

Persona felt a little puzzled.

Darius always summoned her to his mansion’s study to deliver his orders, but today, they were heading to the Fortress instead.

“What are you going to talk about, all the way out here…?”

“Ah, yes. This is your first time coming this far inside, isn’t it? My apologies if that made you nervous.”

Thud- thud-

The path to the center was quite long.

At first glance, complex and elaborate mechanisms filled the surroundings, their principles of operation completely incomprehensible.

Persona only rolled her eyes as she followed Darius’s back.

“Well… let me lay out the introduction to make the trip less boring.”

She was momentarily distracted by her surroundings and flinched, but then nodded.

“Judgment Day is the Nailfranz Academy final exam finals. That’s when everything we need will be gathered in one place: data, necessary items, talented individuals, of course, the problematic princess… and civilians who are easy targets for smoke screens or hostages.”

As soon as the word ‘princess’ came out of his mouth, Persona’s eyes widened.

“Wait… you’re not planning to leave her to me, are you?”

“Slowly, slowly. I’ll explain from the beginning, so listen first.”

“…”

Lately she had been training non-stop, only dreaming of the day she could kill the princess.

It wasn’t easy to remain patient.

However, Darius’s plans were always the best choice, and as long as she simply carried them out, the result would naturally lead to success.

Persona remained silent without further objection.

“I’ll give the details at the general meeting, but the general outline is as follows. First, on the day of the event, we’ll deploy soldiers throughout the academy. It would be better if you made use of your abilities.”

How much help would magic-obsessed lunatics be in battle?

Normally, they were all expendable, and that was a thought she agreed with to some extent.

However.

Even an overwhelming numbers tactic, ineffective against strong individuals above a certain level, might be quite effective if civilians are included, using a hostage situation with [Magic Explosion].

Furthermore, as long as those strings are not cut off,she could control them all through magic, allowing for their unified movements making it possible to disable the academy’s internal communication network.

“First, we’ll paralyze their ‘eyes’, and then—bang—we’ll pull the princess into the open. That’s why I planted this card…”

“What card… Ah—”

Even Persona, who only knows battles against strong opponents, figures out his intentions after seeing him face-to-face for so many years.

There weren’t many things that Darius, a madman who was no different from her, resented and considered an expense, but one of them was his daughter.

Sending her to the kingdom under the pretext of protection, and then relentlessly carrying out undercover investigations… it’s no different from the devil he serves.

“Once you lure her out, I’ll leave her to you. Just in case, I’ll induce some magic poisoning—”

“I don’t need that—!!”

“Don’t be stubborn. According to my reports, even if she can currently fight back to some extend… She might not have revealed all her cards yet.”

Certainly…

The skill displayed by the princess in the dungeon was strong enough to fight back.

She still appeared to show no signs of fatigue.

However, Persona didn’t look afraid.

“Right… It’s best not to be too greedy. Let’s use every card we have.”

“Let’s do that. Even if the conclusion doesn’t come fast, drawing on additional troops from the kingdom is enough. Meanwhile, other will retrieve the data and items.”

After talking for about 30 minutes, the two had reached the deepest part of the Fortress.

“And if, a truly dangerous moment comes… it’s best to use this.”

A cavernous, large space.Unlike the mechanisms seen on the way, magical items such as torches and braziers were placed everywhere.

A large goblet in the center drew their attention, overshadowing everything else.

“This is…”

Persona moved forward, mesmerized.

Darius, who was the first to stand before the goblet, reached out and slowly gathered its contents.

Crimson blood bubbled up, soon taking on the form of small beads.

“His blood. Take it when you’re ready.”

“Kugh—”

An overwhelmingly intense magic.It was a dangerous item that would make one lose consciousness from even brief exposure.

Persona’s eyes were about to bulge.

“Yes… Yes—!!! With this, I’ll finally kill that pig—!!”

Having obtained the ultimate weapon, she laughed uncontrollably, filled with ecstasy.

And watching her, Darius couldn’t help but laugh as well.

. . .

Back to the present.

After sufficient training to handle the devil’s blood and obtain a powerful body. She lost miserably in the melee.

“Kuaaak—”

“What can you do, with your limbs all chopped off?”

Persona, unable to stand up properly even though she was like a tumbler, struggled. She was about to deliver a final blow, when…

“Save— save me—”

Thwack—!

As her skull was smashed with a kick, her head, along with her severed arms and legs, disappeared into a dark shadow.

“—I almost said it♡”

Nari quickly recalled something. Considering what she showed in the form of Reef, this level of deception had been expected.

“So, all physical attacks are nullified, right?”

“And you can only use physical attacks…!!”

The shadows surrounding them were not just one.

It was a garden with plenty of shade from trees, where Persona’s clones began to appear.

With this, it is impossible to defeat her with common sense.

Nari instinctively felt it. To catch the main body that surely exists somewhere, she needed another sense.

And she closed her eyes.

“What? Begging to be killed?”

Inhale—exhale—

Although her body was numb and her senses dulled, it was not a problem now. Returning to basics without magic after a long time, her sense as a martial artist began to return.

Closing her eyes and holding her breath made it even clearer.

Persona’s clones rushing towards her, all radiating intense magic capable of numbing her senses. But they’ll reveal themselves eventually.

Killing intent.

Flash—

Nari immediately opened her eyes and plunged her sword into the abdomen of the Persona clone rushing towards her back.

Puuk—!

“And the answer is?”

“Uh—Kuh—How—”

Having attacked the main body, the clones stopped moving, as if their control had been disrupted. She immediately drew her sword and beheaded them all.

“Kurhut—Kek—”

Thinking she’d certainly caught the main body, Nari slowly brought her sword to the bleeding neck of Persona.

“This is the end.”

She raised it high, and as she was about to bring it down…

Puuk—

A burning sensation in her stomach, and her whole body froze.

“The real attack doesn’t hide its killing intent—?”

“Kuhp—Kuhut—”

The one she’d just thought was the real one dissipated again into shadows. She didn’t even have time to react to that, as her strength started to drain away because of the sword in her abdomen.

Whoosh—

Nari quickly put distance between them.

“Now… recover quickly—! Come at me again—!!”

“Why… didn’t you finish it…?”

“Because—it’s fun!!!”

Giggle-giggle-

Persona laughed, clutching her stomach.

Sometimes her expression resembled a crazed jester; sometimes, a very young girl laughing cheerfully.

Pure evil.

Suppressing her injuries with remaining ether, Nari rose again.

“Fine… I’ll kill you until you die.”

“That won’t happen, dear.”

Persona wiped away tears, took a black bead from her bosom and was about to swallow it.

“—!!!”

Nari naturally lunged to stop her.

Whoosh—

A punch aimed at her face missed, landing harmlessly in thin air.

“Another clone…!!”

Realizing, she turned around…

“Incorrect answer~”

Persona, having swallowed the ‘red bead’, laughed unpleasantly once more.

Unlike before when she was suppressing her magic as an assassin, her magic was overflowing. As if a devil itself had possessed her.

“Let’s begin the final game…”

Persona spread her arms.

Then the overflowing magic became a dense shadow.The already somewhat dark garden was submerged in pitch-black darkness, obscuring everything in front of her.

It was like a dark fog containing Nix’s [Mental Domination] spell.

Snap—!

A hand emerging from the ground seized Nari’s ankle.

“Kugh—”

“Now… let’s go…!!”

She was slowly dragged into the deep shadow. Her strength faded, and her mind grew hazy.

[Shadow World].Persona’s awakened unique magic filled the academy’s backyard garden.

It lasted but a moment.

Successfully luring her prey, it returned to normal as if nothing had happened.