Chapter 252: Qualification Part 11

A week had passed since Yuna and Johan left on their trip.

During that time, Lobelia had been feeling restless in many ways.

Truly pathetic.

She hated this powerless situation.

And she hated the small, growing confusion that had recently taken root in her heart.

I don’t know anymore.

To calm her unsettled mind, Lobelia went out for a walk.

Although, calling it a walk was a bit much. It was just wandering around the garden of the Ether Duchy’s mansion.

She still couldn’t let anyone know she had arrived in the capital, after all.

“Hmm?”

Despite her efforts to be cautious in her own way…

How…?

Natural disasters didn’t care about circumstances.

“Hello, Lobelia. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“…I don’t know what business you have here, Big Sister.”

The person who appeared before Lobelia was the First Princess, Lapis.

She was strolling casually through the garden.

“Oh my, don’t glare at me like that, Lobelia. I came to help you, you know?”

“Help me? Weren’t you the one who said you wouldn’t get involved in the succession dispute?”

“Aw, don’t say that. I was the one who told you about special abilities before, wasn’t I? So this much should be fine, right?”

“Special abilities, huh…”

Lobelia clenched her fist.

The fact that Lapis had appeared here and now was suspicious in itself.

No, if you weren’t a fool, it wouldn’t be hard to guess why she was here.

“You found out something’s wrong with my ability.”

“Mhmm!”

“How did you know?”

“Hmm? Johan told me.”

“…That bastard.”

Grinding her teeth, Lobelia pictured that gray-haired man in her mind.

She didn’t think Johan had sold her out.

No…actually, knowing him, he probably would sell her out if he were in danger.

But more than that, what came to Lobelia’s mind was Johan’s irresponsibility.

His mouth is way too loose.

Right after she had asked him to keep a secret, hadn’t he run straight to Yuna and tattled within five minutes?

This was probably no different.

Not because he’d been threatened…but because, without a second thought, he must’ve just told Lapis everything.

And this was the result.

Lapis had come to confront her.

No… even I didn’t see this coming, so Johan probably had no idea either.

Lapis wasn’t someone to worry about.

She had no power base, and she had always stayed far away from any kind of conflict.

Even Lobelia, who had grown up watching her closely, had thought that way.

So it was only natural Johan had thought the same.

“Shall we change locations first?”

Crunch!

With a radiant smile as bright as a blooming flower, Lapis stepped forward.

A sound rang out like withered leaves being crushed underfoot.

From where her foot touched the ground, a crimson energy began to ripple outward.

The world was dyed red, the ground cracked dry, and heat shimmered like mirages began to rise in waves.

“What… is this?”

The once-beautiful flowers wilted away, and the green plants were replaced by blades.

It was as if hell itself had been summoned to the mortal world.

“…Ha.”

Lobelia let out a sigh.

In the past, Lapis had said her ability was Thought Splitting.

Lobelia had believed that completely, thinking Lapis had gone mad because of it.

But just look at what was unfolding before her eyes now.

This wasn’t magic.

“So this was your real ability all along?”

No one had known.

No one had even cared enough to find out.

She had always remained far from the spotlight.

That’s why no one had doubted her.

No one had stopped to consider the obvious:

That the imperial bloodline’s abilities were fundamentally imbued with the power of destruction.

Which meant that an ability like Thought Splitting couldn’t possibly exist.

“An ability? Ah, I suppose it could look that way. But it’s something different.”

“Different?”

“Rather, you could say it’s the opposite. This is what things look like with the curtain lifted.”

“…I don’t know what nonsense you’re spouting. But one thing’s clear…you’re my enemy now. So that’s what you meant when you said we should change locations.”

Lobelia glanced around with a sidelong look.

This wasn’t just a change in scenery caused by Lapis’s ability.

It truly felt like she had been dropped into a completely different space.

It was an ability Lobelia couldn’t begin to comprehend.

“Let me introduce it. This place is Kalasutra. A facet of hell.”

Shing!

The moment Lapis took a step forward, blades shot up from the ground, aiming straight at Lobelia.

“Tch!”

Lobelia rolled her body to dodge the attack.

Her body felt heavy.

The environment was brutal.

And worse, it was actively trying to kill her.

It felt like fighting against an entire world.

Faced with that overwhelming pressure, cold sweat broke out on Lobelia’s skin.

“To think she had this kind of power all along…”

“Eii!”

Lapis ignored Lobelia’s frustrated remark and let out a cute shout as she waved her hand.

That alone was enough to shake the very world.

Blades burst from the ground, aiming for Lobelia’s neck, while flames swirling in the air came rushing at her like a storm.

All Lobelia could do was flee.

She didn’t even have the room to think about counterattacking.

Even if her ability hadn’t been sealed…

Would she really have had a chance of victory against Lapis?

Thunk!

“Guh?!”

A blade pierced through her thigh.

Lobelia twisted her body in agony, as if scorched by fire.

“This is crazy.”

She had let her guard down just because she was inside the Ether Duchy.

Who would have believed someone could overlay an entire space just to ambush her?

Even now, Lobelia couldn’t figure out Lapis’s true intentions.

Why?

Why now, why her?

Why do this all of a sudden?

“Haa… haa…”

Even breathing was painful.

It felt like she was standing inside the heart of a flame.

Lobelia glared at Lapis, who was walking toward her with light, graceful steps.

It was maddening.

And humiliating.

The fact that someone this powerful had been hiding all this time was terrifying.

I’m going to die.

That woman, strolling through the middle of hell with such light footsteps…Lobelia feared her.

No, was that even a human anymore?

“This might sting a little.”

Lapis beamed brightly, like she was trying to reassure a child, and spread her arms toward Lobelia, who was now on her knees. Almost like she was about to give her a hug.

Seeing that, Lobelia’s eyes gleamed.

An opening.

Until now, she’d been too busy dodging Lapis’s attacks to do anything.

But what about now?

Lapis had assumed she was already neutralized and had approached on her own.

It was the perfect chance.

A one-time opportunity.

Whoosh!

Lobelia threw a punch.

She, who had clawed her way through death countless times, wasn’t the kind to give up now.

And Lapis? Those light steps of hers looked like someone who had never even fought before.

There was no way Lobelia could lose to someone like that.

“Hup!”

Her ability still hadn’t returned. But even without it, Lobelia’s punch alone was a deadly weapon.

She aimed straight for the heart, fully intending to pierce through it in one blow.

Crash!

And just as she had hoped—

Lobelia’s punch, thrown with everything she had, pierced through Lapis’s heart.

“Well done. Truly impressive.”

But Lapis…

Even as her heart was pierced, she hugged Lobelia as if her body meant nothing at all.

“……”

The moment she was pulled into that cold embrace, Lobelia felt like her breath stopped.

An indescribable sensation.

Can a human body… really be this cold?

The chill from Lapis’s body held no trace of life.

That freezing sensation seeped into Lobelia, like it was consuming her from the inside.

A vivid sense of death.

“Guh!”

Lobelia pushed Lapis away and rolled across the ground.

Even though she’d thrown herself into the flames, the cold still clung to her.

“Oh dear, are you alright, Lobelia?”

The goosebumps on her arm wouldn’t go away.

The being standing before her no longer looked human.

Death, given form, was drawing near once again to embrace her.

“……”

A vivid sense of death.

A life flashing before her eyes.

Crack!

Her survival instinct was blaring louder than ever before.

Lobelia’s body searched desperately for a way to escape the overwhelming fear.

Crackle!

Flames sparked. Red lightning raced across her skin.

A violent force beyond her control tried to tear through her body and break free.

Ssshhk!

Each time the lightning surged over her flesh, her skin split open and drops of blood scattered.

“I didn’t come all this way, struggling, just to die here……”

She overcame her fear.

She stared death in the face.

It’s what she’s always done. Only now, the shadow of death loomed clearer than ever.

She had never run away.

Not even before the Emperor.

She had always shattered adversity head-on, and this time was no different.

Crack!

Once again, lightning burst forth.

It rose from her body over and over, as if trying to break the chains holding it back.

Rumble!

And now, that lightning had already left her body and surged into the world.

Lightning struck from the sky.

“Oh my.”

Lapis who had remained calm all this time looked up.

The crimson lightning Lobelia had released was merely an ability that originated from her own body.

But the lightning that struck just now….it hadn’t come from her.

It had come from the sky.

Rumble!

Was it just a coincidence?

No, it wasn’t anything like a coincidence.

The place where the lightning struck had been destroyed.

Not in the physical sense—

The space itself had been torn apart.

Lobelia’s ability had finally touched the space known as hell itself.

Not just as power from her body—

But like a law, a principle, that had melted into the fabric of the world.

“Haha…”

Lapis understood.

Lobelia was worthy.

Fzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt!!

At last, with an ear-splitting roar, Hell collapsed.

***

A forest managed by the Misfits.

A girl sitting on one of the branches of the World Tree muttered with a sullen expression.

“It’s been a week. Why hasn’t he come back yet?”

She had told him to come find the fruit in a week. But now it was well into the afternoon, and Johan still hadn’t shown up.

The World Tree, currently in the borrowed form of Tillis, kicked her feet in frustration and grumbled,

“Well, humans have their own circumstances. Sometimes it’s better to give them a little space like this.”

Then a girl sitting on another branch, Mephistopheles, spoke.

The World Tree sighed at the intruder’s casual tone and replied,

“You weren’t kicked out?”

“Not at all. I’m a clever and perceptive demon who knows the right time to step aside.”

“A demon, huh…”

The World Tree glanced suspiciously at Mephistopheles, then looked up. Sitting on Mephistopheles’s head was a bluebird.

A demon?

What kind of demon tames a spirit?

On top of that, even with the World Tree right in front of her, she didn’t show the slightest hint of greed.

To someone burdened by a lack of soul, each leaf of the World Tree should look like a divine treasure trove.

And yet, the being in front of her paid no attention to the leaves scattered all around and was instead completely absorbed in her cookies.

“You really don’t need any of my leaves? I’d even consider trading one for a cookie right now.”

“Not a chance.”

“…You’re a really strange demon.”

The World Tree pouted and let out a sigh.

From earlier, Mephistopheles had been sitting on her branch eating cookies, looking completely delighted.

No, more than anything. She just wanted one of those cookies.

“Are you really a demon?”

“Not just a demon. I’m what they call a great demon.”

“Ah, one of those ‘backstory’ types?”

“……”

The World Tree stared intently at Mephistopheles.

No matter how she looked at her, it was odd.

A demon? That’s supposed to be a demon?

She just couldn’t make sense of it.

“Don’t you want to fill the void in your soul?”

“Even if you plucked every single leaf from a newly born World Tree, it still wouldn’t be enough to fill the void in my soul.”

“If the emptiness is that vast, then why are you so hung up on a single human?”

“Because it’s more fun that way.”

“Another one of those ‘backstory’ types?”

“…Are you picking a fight?”

“Of course not.”

The more she looked, the stranger it all seemed.

To the World Tree, the being in front of her didn’t look like a demon at all.

No….she was a demon. She did possess enough power to be called a great demon.

But… was that really it? That was all?

“That’s a well-made avatar.”

“Right?”

The World Tree tried to see through Mephistopheles’s essence.

A cute beastkin-shaped avatar.

The great demon hidden beneath it.

But…

There’s something more behind that.

A double-layered avatar.

An anomaly, even going so far as to restrict her own memories and abilities.

Something near-omnipotent lies beyond it.

“…But if cookies are out of the question, can I at least have some candy?”

“No.”

“Aww…”

The World Tree tried once more to negotiate like it didn’t really matter either way.