Monia looked at the group that had appeared before her eyes.
Some were familiar faces; others were ones she had only passed by a few times.
But that alone was enough for her to realize…. these were students from the Cradle, brought here by Johan.
“You look tired.”
As Monia scanned their faces, Johan’s voice snapped her back to her senses.
Tired. Of course she was.
She hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep while on the run, and just when she had finally managed to close her eyes for a moment, Shax returned to gnaw away at her mind.
The exhaustion was so overwhelming that even the slightest lapse in focus made her feel like she might pass out.
And her deteriorating physical condition was only dragging her spirit into an even darker place.
“If you’re tired, get a little rest.”
“…What?”
What a ridiculous thing to say.
If she lost consciousness now, wouldn’t Shax take over her body for sure?
She had overheard Johan and Mephistopheles talking.
If she closed her eyes now… she’d never wake up again.
“Isn’t that what you wanted? Why cling so desperately to reality, Monia?”
Even now, the demon was persistently whispering temptations into her ear.
Though she was barely clinging to consciousness, on the verge of collapsing at any moment, the demon continued to whisper to her again and again, urging her to sink into a sweet dream.
In a gentle, soothing voice that made her drowsy just by hearing it.
“If I fall asleep… you’ll die.”
That was the nature of their contract.
She knew full well that Shax hardly cared about the terms of their deal, but even he had no reason to completely ignore it.
If Monia lost consciousness, Shax would seize control of her body.
And when that happened, Johan would die.
The contract between Monia and Shax had only one limitation: to exclude anything that would cause her pain.
In other words, it allowed for Johan’s death.
“I don’t care. Get a little sleep. Just don’t give up; just rest a bit.”
“……”
“I’m weaker than you, and I’m telling you. Nothing will happen.”
What nonsense.
It was nothing more than groundless confidence.
And yet, as Monia looked at Johan’s composed expression, she found herself wondering:
Where does that certainty come from?
How could someone so weak be so sure of himself?
Maybe… that was exactly why.
That baseless confidence…
“…Okay.”
Was strangely reassuring. And so, Monia quietly closed her eyes.
***
Monia, who had been stumbling and dozing off, slowly shut her eyes.
Splash!
At that moment, deep blue feathers burst forth into wings from her back.
When Monia opened her eyes again, they were blood-red like freshly spilled blood. But the exhaustion that had weighed her down just moments before had completely vanished.
“Whoa, what kind of spell is that?”
Sasha, the ever-clueless classmate, asked with a curious sparkle in her eyes.
“She’s been possessed by a demon.”
“You son of a bitch.”
Sasha who had been smiling innocently at the word demon instantly twisted her face into something vicious, grinding her teeth.
Yeah. This was the Cradle.
The violence buried within their hearts was every bit as brutal as that of any terrorist.
“But are we sure this is okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Got it. So we just have to subdue her without hurting her, right?”
“Exactly.”
Mephistopheles had warned that Shax would take control of Monia’s body.
But there had to be a reason he hadn’t done so already.
It was likely a matter of mental resistance.
That’s why Shax had been relentlessly assaulting Monia’s mind. Only when it finally broke down would he be able to fully seize her body.
For now, he was probably only using it temporarily, while Monia was asleep.
And now that Monia had finally managed to rest after enduring for so long, her mental strength would likely be somewhat recovered by the time she woke up.
Still, there was no time to explain all that in detail.
The others seemed to understand that too. Instead of asking questions, they simply readied themselves for battle.
“How foolish.”
It was right at the moment when everyone began charging at Shax, who had taken over Monia’s body.
“Huh?”
Thud.
Roughly twenty students from Class 2-D who had gathered around me collapsed all at once.
“Hmph. So the Archmage’s magic is still lingering, is it? But it seems her power still doesn’t apply to you.”
“Ah…”
“Really, it’s laughable. The very idea that mere students thought they could stand before me.”
Shax’s power. An ability that disoriented the senses.
Apparently, he was capable of unleashing it on a wide scale all at once.
This bastard was more capable than I’d expected. The complete opposite of Mephistopheles.
Maybe that’s what it meant to be one of the 72 demons.
Perhaps I had underestimated him far too much.
But then…
“Aha, so this is it?”
Seems he had been doing the underestimating too. Did Shax not hear?
“Ah, ah, this is hilarious. It feels like the muscles in my face are twisting out of shape.”
“Feels gross, if you ask me.”
“……”
“Wow, that one can’t even talk. I guess it affects people differently.”
“What the hell are those guys?”
The students of the Cradle. Each one was practically a walking tank.
It wasn’t just about raw power.
What made them truly terrifying was the overwhelming experience they had amassed.
Power that distorts the senses?
As if the terror attacks that plagued the Cradle over the past year hadn’t included things like that.
Even if it wasn’t illusion magic but a power that directly disrupted the nervous system… it didn’t matter.
Even if they couldn’t see or hear, they’d been through worse.
Finding themselves in extreme, debilitating situations was nothing new to them.
One by one, though staggering slightly, the students of the Cradle got back on their feet.
In their hands, swords radiated not just with full-blown aura. But with a refined compressed aura. It was the mark of mastery.
“Looks like I don’t need to step in.”
A demon that parasitizes someone else’s body?
The kids could take care of that in five minutes flat.
***
Correction.
“Got him!”
It took three minutes.
Three minutes to subdue Monia and neatly wrap her up like a package.
Shax who was screaming like a goose being throttled collapsed to the ground.
My calculations had been wrong.
Shax was even more pathetic than I’d thought.
“You’re better than him, Mephisto.”
“But of course. I’m obviously superior to a mere 1/72 fragment of a spirit.”
Silently giving Mephistopheles some well-earned credit, I checked Monia’s condition.
Honestly, Shax’s power was threatening.
But his output was lacking.
Compared to the power he’d used against me earlier, this was a far cry.
And of course, there was a reason for that.
It’s not like the demon had fully taken over Monia’s body, nor had the contract been resolved.
What could a demon who couldn’t even properly influence the world hope to do?
At best, it could fight using Monia’s stolen body…
But even that was meaningless in front of our kids, especially with Monia’s body already worn out and drained.
“Oh, her Power’s gone.”
“I was going crazy not being able to talk.”
“You should train more regularly.”
The students chatted cheerfully, as if nothing major had happened—
Despite having just subdued a demon.
“Well then, Johan. Carry her.”
“…What?”
“We can’t just leave her here, right? We did come to rescue her in the first place.”
“I mean, yeah, but… me? Carry her?”
What if she wakes up later and stabs me in the back or strangles me?
“You guys carry her. I’d rather not get too close to her.”
“But Johan, you’re the weakest one here.”
“What does that have to do with anything right now?”
“If something does happen, and one of us is tied up carrying her, that’s not ideal, is it?”
“Hmm…”
I can’t exactly say I’m as weak as I used to be,
But compared to these guys… yeah, I’m still a step behind.
It’s really just a small gap—
But that one step makes all the difference…
In the end, I carried Monia on my back.
My back already felt cold.
“Alright, let’s go. We just need to take her to the Cradle now, right?”
“At the very least, it should be the safest place outside the Imperial Capital.”
And so, I set off with the 2nd-year Class D expedition team on our journey to the Cradle.
It’d be nice if nothing went wrong… but I’m not sure things will go that smoothly.
Either way, this mission is an all-out effort.
I really hope Lobelia pulls through this time.
***
Tillis who was dressed in a lavish gown she wouldn’t normally wear strolled freely through the streets.
Naturally, the gazes of passersby were drawn to her, and she returned their stares with a flowery smile as she walked.
“Oh, if it isn’t the Saintess? I almost didn’t recognize you in that outfit.”
“Huh? Princess Lobelia?”
Tillis tilted her head slightly at the sight of Lobelia standing in her path.
“Is something the matter?”
Since Tillis hadn’t made any moves yet, she wasn’t fazed by Lobelia’s sudden appearance.
That’s why she greeted her with the same warm smile as always, while subtly probing for her intentions.
“I was just walking through the street and happened to see you, so I thought I’d say hello.”
Lobelia waved her hand as if it were no big deal.
But…
“Judging by how heavily armed you are… something must’ve happened, hasn’t it?”
“It hasn’t happened yet. We’re trying to prevent it before it does.”
“I see. Best of luck.”
“Thank you.”
Despite the exchange, neither of them moved from where they stood.
No matter how oblivious Tillis might seem, even she couldn’t miss such an obvious signal.
“Still, are you sure you’ll be alright?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean… can you handle it alone?”
“Ah, so you were worried about me. If that’s the case, no need.”
Shweeeee—!
In that instant, a beam of light shot toward Tillis.
Boooom!!
The moment it reached her, the beam exploded with a deafening blast and a massive burst of flame and smoke.
Lobelia casually waved away the acrid smoke with her hand and muttered,
“I’m not alone, you know.”
“Ah, I see.”
As the smoke cleared, Tillis stood tall in the same spot, completely unscathed.
The only thing that had changed was the cluster of wings that had risen behind her, gently wrapping around her like a protective cloak.
Tillis, who had effortlessly blocked Stan Robinhood’s shot, scratched her cheek.
“The road’s a bit busy, so… would you mind stepping aside?”
“I’m sorry, but this area is restricted. You can’t go through.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
“Will you be turning back, then?”
“No? I’ll just break through.”
At that moment, the demon Mastema buried within the cluster of wings unfurled them.
As the eye hidden behind dozens of overlapping wings was revealed, Tillis’s aura shifted completely.
Hair dyed red. A dress soaked in red. Amid the scent of fresh blood.
“Just like always.”
The Judge gripped her sword.
“I’ll have to drown everything that stands in my way in a pool of blood, won’t I?”
***
Johan had said it.
That there was no way Lobelia could defeat Tillis as she was now.
The moment she heard that, Lobelia couldn’t deny that her pride was wounded.
Had she ever even cared about such things? Over the past year, she could count on one hand the number of opponents weaker than her.
She had charged head-on through every trial that had threatened her life.
So this time would be no different.
Lobelia had no intention of backing down against Tillis.
There was no hesitation in her actions.
At least, that should have been the case…
“What an unpleasant ability.”
“Is that so?”
Even though the opportunity had presented itself, Lobelia couldn’t bring herself to attack Tillis.
To be precise, she had aimed at Tillis’s opening and launched her strike, but just before it could land, Lobelia twisted the attack away on her own.
Tillis smirked as if she had expected that all along. Looking back, it seemed she had known this would happen from the start.
What seemed like an opening had only been a trap. Tillis had exposed it on purpose to test her own ability.
“I quite like this power of mine that makes everyone love me.”
Tillis’s ability was charm.
It was a demonic power that left a favorable impression deep in a person’s subconscious.
Now dressed in a beautiful gown instead of her usual concealing robe, Tillis had pushed that ability to an unprecedented level.
A power that touched even the subconscious of enemies who knew her identity and her nature and held absolute hostility toward her.
“Well then, shall we continue?”
It was a power far trickier to deal with than expected.
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