“Cough... cough cough......”

  She gritted her teeth against the searing pain, trembling hands struggling to push herself up.

  Clap! Clap! Clap......

  Applause echoed from behind her.

  “Bravo! Simply bravo~! Truly one of the finest students our Manacos has ever produced.”

  A flash of rage crossed Alicia’s eyes.

  She forced herself to stand, teeth clenched, and fled forward once more.

  “That won’t do~!”

  Boom——!

  Another water column came hurtling toward her.

  Alicia was sent flying again.

  Splash!

  The burning fire wall was suddenly extinguished by a surging wave of water.

  Professor Raelingrim strolled toward her unhurriedly from behind.

  He raised his right hand—

  not even bothering to use a wand.

  Whoosh——!

  A thin stream of water sliced past Alicia, gashing her arm.

  “Miss Alicia, as an elite student of Manacos, recognizing reality is a basic skill~.”

  Like a cat toying with a mouse, Raelingrim advanced slowly, unleashing non-lethal magical attacks again and again.

  Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh......

  “Yet you’ve made such a foolish mistake~.”

  “Miss Alicia——”

  “You really ought to learn your lesson~.”

  The water magic attacks left Alicia’s body covered in wounds,

  her robes quickly soaked in blood.

  Hidden by the black fabric, the color was invisible—but the liquid dripping from the hem stained the ground red.

  Alicia endured the assaults in silence, jaw tight.

  “You... you......”

  “Hm?”

  Raelingrim paused his attacks.

  “Do you have something to say, Miss Alicia~?”

  “Shut... SHUT UP!!!”

  Alicia lifted her head, glaring furiously at Raelingrim.

  “You betrayed the academy! Betrayed everyone who trusted you! Betrayed your own race!”

  “People like you... monsters like you......”

  “You have no right to call yourself part of this academy——!!!”

  “......”

  All expression vanished from Raelingrim’s face.

  He stared coldly at Alicia.

  “......Is that so?”

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  ...

  Boom——!

  A figure went flying,

  crashing heavily to the ground.

  “What’s happening now?”

  “Another attack?”

  “......”

  The Gulos agents stared in alarm, raising their weapons on instinct.

  Boom——!

  A water column shot out, slamming into the fallen figure and sending her flying once more.

  “......How could you possibly understand me?!”

  Professor Raelingrim stepped into view.

  “Betrayal?”

  Boom——!

  Alicia was hurled away again.

  “I have never betrayed my convictions!!!”

  Boom......

  “What in the world is going on......”

  The Gulos agents, who had been ready to intervene, exchanged confused glances.

  “Who cares? Looks like we don’t need to get involved anyway.”

  “Right. Let’s just watch the show.”

  “Makes sense......”

  On the other side,

  Alicia lay battered and bruised on the ground.

  Raelingrim halted his attacks and knelt beside her.

  “You know nothing, yet you scream and shout like a fool.”

  “......You speak of......”

  Alicia propped herself up on one hand, lifting her upper body slowly,

  her gaze sharp as she stared at Raelingrim.

  “......convictions?”

  “Heh——”

  A bitter laugh escaped her lips.

  “Don’t make me laugh!”

  “What kind of conviction could make you abandon everything?! Everything!!”

  “......”

  Raelingrim locked eyes with Alicia, seeing no trace of surrender in her gaze.

  He sighed softly.

  “Alas, people like you could never understand......”

  He lifted his head, staring at the sky.

  “......Once, long ago, I was like you—full of passion and resolve......”

  “But all that changed when I truly grasped the meaning of loss. I realized how fragile and powerless humanity’s fleeting existence is.”

  “Why must humans live such short lives?”

  “I pondered this for years. As I thought, time slipped away, shrinking my already limited life even further.”

  “Then—”

  “It hit me. If life is short, why not make it longer?”

  “So——”

  “I resolved to uncover the secret of immortality!”

  “I knew it would consume even more of my precious time, yet I devoted most of my life to the study of life itself—all to find a path to eternal existence!”

  “Unfortunately...... such research is fraught with endless difficulty.”

  “Do you know that in the distant past, during what was called the Chaos Era, the world was home to beings known as Primordial Celestials?”

  “They were born of heaven and earth, eternal by nature. They possessed immortality without lifting a finger—how enviable......”

  “Yet in this age, those ancient beings are nowhere to be seen. They reside only in Tiramshuin, the realm beyond the sky.”

  “To study the secret of eternity, one must have access to eternal beings. With the Primordial Celestials out of reach, only one nearly immortal race remains in this world......”

  “You——”

  Alicia stared at him in shock.

  “It can’t be...... the Demons?!”

  “You... you’re willing to abandon your humanity entirely?!”

  “Why not?”

  Raelingrim spoke as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

  “A conviction means sacrificing everything else without hesitation!”

  “If my goal is immortality, does it matter whether I remain human in the end?”

  “......”

  Alicia fell silent, utterly stunned.

  She stood up, facing Raelingrim—all anger and confusion vanished from her face.

  Their core beliefs were irreconcilably different.

  There was no point in talking,

  no reason to waste any more emotion on him.

  “I suppose——”

  she said in a calm, cold voice,

  “I really will never understand people like you.”

  “Fire Lance——!!!”

  As the words left her lips, Alicia unleashed her attack on Raelingrim without hesitation.

  Boom!

  The strike was blocked by a sudden Water Barrier.

  “Foolish resistance.”

  Raelingrim said indifferently,

  unleashing his own counterattack.

  Boom! Boom! Boom......

  A series of explosions rang out once more.

  Bang!

  Alicia was knocked to the ground yet again.

  She would have died long ago if not for his decision to spare her life.

  Boom——!

  At last, Alicia was sent crashing near an empty clearing.

  The sound of something slicing through the air echoed nearby.

  Unable to rise in time, she rolled desperately to the side.

  The water column attack flew past her—

  Boom!

  Instead of continuing on, it suddenly collided with an invisible barrier in the center of the clearing and was stopped cold.

  A small part of whatever had been hidden there was revealed for a split second,

  before a flash of light repaired the gap instantly.

  “That’s——”

  Though it lasted only a moment,

  Alicia had seen it clearly.

  “Finally...... I’ve found it......”