Purple and crimson light intersected, sparks flying as the energies eroded one another. Aristia’s magic power was overwhelming; in pure output, she far surpassed Verdict.
Eventually, the stalemate broke.
Once the balance tipped, the end came swiftly.
In the blink of an eye, the purple flames shattered the crimson light, incinerating the very space where Verdict had stood.
"—Ngh, hah!"
Having exhausted her strength, Aristia was overcome by a wave of lethargy. She gasped for breath, her shoulders heaving. Nothing remained in the void where Verdict had been.
I won—
The moment that thought crossed her mind, a shadow loomed beside her.
"It is because you let your guard down at the final moment that you are a half-hearted one."
"—!?"
Having closed the distance before she could even register his movement, Verdict swung his Blood Sword in a horizontal sweep. Upon impact, the blade detonated, the explosion searing through Aristia’s body.
"Aaaaaah!?"
Hurled back by the shockwave, Aristia’s small frame tumbled across the frozen ground.
She no longer had the strength to move. Her consciousness wavered, and she felt herself sinking into an abyss of darkness.
(I lost... didn’t I...?)
As she drifted, Verdict’s voice cold and mocking, drifted down to her.
"I knew you would relax your guard at the end. It is the nature of a half-hearted one. That is why I engaged in a contest of magic despite knowing I would be overwhelmed. I acted on the premise that, just before losing, I would slip aside and close the distance in a single breath. The depth of our strategies is simply on different levels."
Verdict reached the end of his taunt, but then his right hand trembled, and he dropped his sword.
"...Tch. It seems the aftereffects of your magic power dealt me significant damage regardless. What a waste. It was a match you could have won—had you been a proper warrior, that is."
He continued, his voice dripping with disdain.
"Despite being blessed with such talent, you lose to the current me because you have allowed yourself to fall into depravity. you lack training, half-hearted one. Did you underestimate me? Did you think victory was assured? Do not mock me. Unlike you, who has failed to fulfill your role, I am a success who has already achieved the World's Collapse."
Even as he provoked her, Aristia’s essence remained unchanged.
To the very end, her will to fight was thin. If she had loved battle, she might have been stronger. If she had sought out conflict, she might have even defeated Verdict.
But that was not Aristia.
Aristia loved magic research; she wanted friends, she wanted to eat delicious food, and if possible, she wanted to live in peace. She was that kind of unmotivated Demon King.
But the genius of the laboratory could not defeat the beast of the battlefield.
"Farewell, Demon King Aristia. We shall make effective use of your vessel and your will."
As her consciousness faded, a different scene flickered in Aristia’s mind’s eye.
A snowball fight. Everyone had been laughing amidst the white drifts. She had used the Demon King's magic power to create a massive snowball, dragging everyone into the chaos until she was buried herself. Then Luna had pulled her out.
It had been fun.
It had been truly, truly fun.
And then—
The way home. Walking side-by-side with Albert as the snow fell.
Waving her hand at the fork in the road.
"See you later, Albert-kun. See you tomorrow."
Her awareness drifted further away.
(I said... see you tomorrow... though...)
She couldn't keep her promise. There was no tomorrow for Aristia. That warm time spent with her friends—
It would never come again.
(I'm sorry, everyone.)
Aristia’s consciousness sank into the darkness.
—Everything was over.
Verdict carelessly grabbed the unconscious Aristia by the arm and hoisted her up before turning his gaze toward the battered Galvan.
"Are you satisfied now?"
"Yes... as expected of you, Blood Star King."
"If you have the breath to flatter me, open the door quickly."
"...Understood."
As Galvan held up a trembling hand, a crack tore through the air.
It was the entrance to the Different Space Shifted by 0.1 Dimensions. It was a door to an isolated realm that overlapped with the physical world but remained entirely separate, beyond the reach of any interference.
Verdict slung Aristia’s small body over his shoulder and stepped through the threshold. Galvan followed.
The moment the door shut, it vanished.
Simultaneously, Galvan’s barrier deactivated.
Instantly, sound returned to the world. The distant laughter of students, the soft thud of snow falling from branches, and the whisper of the wind through the trees.
There were no traces of battle left. Not the scorched earth, nor the shattered trees, nor the spilled blood—everything that had occurred within the barrier had vanished along with it.
Only a tiny, lingering incongruity remained.
In the place where Aristia should have been walking, a trail of small footprints marked the snow. They were the prints of a girl who had been trudging wearily toward the dormitory wing.
The trail cut off abruptly in the middle of the path.
As if she had simply ceased to exist right there.
The space Verdict and Galvan had entered was a rectangular room that felt like being inside a box. It was a hollow, empty void.
"Please, leave the rest to me."
Following Galvan’s instructions, Verdict placed Aristia in the center of the room. Leaning his back against the wall, Verdict watched as the wounded Galvan drew a magic circle on the floor with his magic power.
Eventually, Galvan stood up.
"The preparations for the ritual are complete. The time has finally come, Lady Aristia. From this moment, you shall become the True Demon King."
He stroked Aristia’s forehead with a strangely gentle touch.
"The Separation of Heart and Vessel—I shall strip the will from the Vessel of the Demon King and release the pure power of the Demon King alone."
"And what do you intend to do with the heart once it is separated?" Verdict asked.
"It will be extracted as a spiritual body. I shall seal it within a crystal and preserve it for eternity—as a mark of my loyalty to Lady Aristia."
(...Hmph. Loyalty, he says.)
Verdict laughed inwardly. To forcibly reconstruct one’s master and call it loyalty was a pathetic joke.
"Do as you wish. I am interested to see the outcome. Get on with it."
"—Understood."
Galvan wrung out the last of his magic power and activated the ritual. The magic circle glowed with the color of deep darkness, enveloping Aristia’s body.
In the next instant, Aristia’s form became double.
From the distinct physical body lying on the floor, a semi-transparent spiritual body of a naked Aristia was peeled away. The spiritual body showed no sign of resistance, simply allowing itself to be extracted.
A crystal appeared, manifesting to envelop the completely separated spirit. Swallowing the unconscious, naked Aristia, a massive crystal pillar resembling a gravestone rose at the back of the room.
All that remained was the Aristia who had lost her heart.
Aristia stood up, her face entirely devoid of expression.
In that heartbeat, a terrifying explosion of magic power erupted.
(Ho, interesting.)
Verdict narrowed his eyes. He took the brunt of the Demon King's Ambition with his whole body. Now that her weak will had been discarded, the pressure was immense.
It was staggering. It was incomparable to the power she had displayed during their fight.
With her will gone, every internal restraint that had suppressed her magic power had vanished. A torrent of pure power filled the isolated space.
A change came over Aristia’s face.
The vast amount of magic power was likely triggering a physical metamorphosis.
Upon her porcelain-white skin, mask-like markings surfaced. The purple-black markings spread from her forehead to her cheeks until they covered her entire face. Simultaneously, magic power condensed around her body, taking the shape of a grand, sweeping robe. The garment, a swirling mixture of purple and black, enveloped her form.
This was the True Demon King Aristia—
The natural enemy of humanity, and the destroyer of the world.
"Oooooh... The true form of the Demon King...!"
Galvan let out an ecstatic cry. He fell to his knees, spreading his arms as if worshiping a god.
"Wonderful...! It is magnificent, Lady Aristia...! This is the way a Demon King should be! This is exactly what I desired...!"
Tears actually welled in Galvan’s eyes. His warped loyalty had finally borne fruit.
"Now, Lady Aristia. Please return to the Academy. Destroy everything, and bring victory to the Demon Race—"
Enveloped by Galvan’s transfer magic, the form of the True Demon King Aristia vanished.
She was sent to Arcana Academy.
In the silence of the room where only the two of them remained—
"Good work, lowlife."
Verdict’s red sword suddenly thrust forward, piercing through Galvan’s stomach.
"Wha... What are you...?"
"You lowlifes are as intellectually deficient as ever. Did you really think I would help you out of the goodness of my heart?"
As Verdict twisted the blade, Galvan vomited blood and screamed.
"My goal from the beginning was Aristia’s heart. With the spirit of the Demon King in my grasp, I may be able to create not just a second, but a third Ancient Magic."
"You...! From the very start—!?"
"You have no grounds for complaint. Your wish has been granted, hasn't it? Your life and Aristia’s will are my reward—a truly cheap price."
Galvan’s body went limp. After erasing the corpse with magic, Verdict began preparing for a new ritual.
It was his own ritual—one designed to extract the Secret Mysteries of Ancient Magic from Aristia’s spirit.
In the real world, the mindless Vessel of the Demon King would be descending upon the Academy.
The World's Collapse was beginning.