Here comes Carla’s turn.
“What do you think you’re doing?! We were invited into this country by you. Don’t you harbor a grudge against this nation? Why would you betray us?!” Gostola roared at Carla’s seemingly oblivious words, having lost his comrades.
“Fufu… ‘Betrayal’? That’s a rather amusing way to put it. I… no, we were merely using each other, weren’t we? Or am I wrong, Gostola?”
Carla had invited them, the Evil Race, into this country before she even turned ten.
After the experiment to grant her All-Attribute, Carla lost her value as a noble’s daughter, and her father, the Chief Court Magician, lost interest, leaving her with only money.
At that time, Carla had nothing but a “madness” that surpassed hatred for her father, who had stolen her life, and for the country that condoned it.
Carla used her father’s money and merchants with bad reputations to give the Evil Race a foothold in this country, and the Evil Race believed not in Carla’s words, but in her “madness,” and accepted it.
“Are you saying your hatred has disappeared?!”
“Of course not. It’s just that even if I no longer need it, I don’t like it when someone uses my discarded toys without permission.”
“Toy… you say?” Gostola, his Dark Elf features twisted like a beast, bared his fangs, and even as the hatred of the surrounding Vampires stained the flames a dark black, Carla’s smile remained unchanged.
“Who else has contacted you? A traitor from the Shadow Unit? Or perhaps a naive young lady? Well, it doesn’t really matter.”
Carla nonchalantly ran a hand through her rich black hair, and in that instant, a tall, slender Evil Race member attacked her like the wind from behind.
“—【Stone Lance】—”
“Gugyaaaaaahhhhh!!”
A spear of rock, like an icicle, shot up from the earth and pierced the Evil Race member’s chest. As the Evil Race member, impaled in mid-air like a shrike’s prey, struggled and died, Carla, who had cast the Magic without chanting, wore a dark, mad smile and licked her lips.
“Honestly, did you really think you were still needed?”
“…Kill her.”
The moment Gostola muttered those words, the Vampires, wary of Carla and the flames, and hundreds of failed experiments, attacked Carla all at once.
“—【Soulthorn】—”
Black thorns, like tattoos, wrapped around Carla’s pale skin, writhing as if devouring her life.
The powerful ‘words’ unleashed their power. The vast Mana emanating from Carla’s entire body pushed back the wave of failed experiments like a tsunami, lifting Carla’s body into the air.
【Carla Leicester】【Race: Human♀】【Rank 4+2】
【Mana Capacity: ∞/550】【HP: 33/53】
【Overall Combat Strength: 1069 (Special Combat Strength: 3069)】
【Divine Protection (Gift): Soulthorn Exchange/Life Time】
“Alright! 【Fireball】—”
As Carla swung her arm, five level 5 Fire Magic, 【Fireball】s, were created in the air.
The reason Magicians can only use Magic up to their level is that using Magic beyond that level requires several to dozens of times more Mana. Carla’s Magic is at most level 4, but the vast Mana generated by Soulthorn allowed her to use Magic up to two levels higher.
The five Fireballs exploded in the center of the failed experiments, who had been pushed back and solidified by the wave of Mana.
The explosion, which could stop even a rank 6 Monster, shattered over a hundred failed experiments with just five blasts. The failed experiments that were merely blown away by the blast stood up again, and the Vampires, with their higher base stats, jumped out of the flames and attacked Carla once more.
Carla’s HP was only that of a child, and even an attack from a failed experiment, let alone a Vampire, could instantly kill her. But—
“Gah!?”
A Vampire who had jumped at Carla in mid-air had his attack dodged, and was knocked down by Carla’s knee to the face. Still, Carla parried the attacks of the leaping Vampires with her arms, gouged out their eyes with a hand chop, and toyed with them using her Martial Arts.
It wasn’t that Carla’s physical abilities were superior. Her 【Martial Arts】 Skill was only level 2, and even if she forcibly manipulated it with Mana Control, Thought Acceleration was limited to level 3. With Carla’s original stats, she shouldn’t have been able to parry the Vampire’s attacks with Martial Arts, let alone Thought Acceleration.
However, the black thorns that appeared on her skin due to Soulthorn were not merely wrapped around Carla, but could control her body as if she were a puppet, according to her will.
“—【Stone Shot】—!”
“—【Splash】—!”
“—【Fire Arrow】—!”
Several attack Magic were unleashed by the Vampires who could use Magic. At the same time, the surviving failed experiments rushed at Carla again.
If they couldn’t win with Magic skill and power, they would attack with numbers. It was a simple war of attrition, but it should have been effective considering Carla’s HP.
“—【Typhoon】—”
But at that moment, the level 5 Wind Magic 【Typhoon】 raged, blowing away the approaching attack Magic and the failed experiments.
The Wind Magic 【Typhoon】 is a Magic that blows away the target with a momentary, explosive storm, but Carla used her vast Mana to maintain the 【Typhoon】 with her right hand while thrusting her left hand towards the immobilized failed experiments.
“—【Dragon Breath】—”
Carla’s specialty, the level 4 Fire Magic 【Dragon Breath】, swept across them like a lick of flame, and the failed experiments crumbled into charcoal without even being able to utter a death cry.
“Uoooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!”
At that moment, Gostola attacked with his sword from above Carla, who was floating in the air, from the ceiling of the Underground Tomb (Catacombs) five meters high.
“—【Ice Lance】—”
Carla immediately unleashed a counterattack Magic. But at that moment, black blood spurted from Gostola’s back, turning into grotesque black wings that danced in the air and dodged the Ice Lance.
The black wings were not a Vampire ability, but Dark Magic passed down through the Vampire Clan, using one’s own blood as a medium. Gostola, who had dodged Carla’s attack with that power, slammed the Mana Sword given to him by his new collaborator into Carla.
Bakin!!
However, that all-out blow was deflected by Carla’s Knife, reinforced with black thorns. Even so, Carla, who had no Dagger Skill, could only deflect the blow, and the blade of the Knife was shattered.
“This is the end!!”
At that greatest opportunity, Gostola took a Combat Art stance to unleash his greatest attack.
Amidst the Thought Acceleration, where fragments of the shattered steel blade danced, Gostola, who saw that he could surely kill her at this distance, noticed that she was wearing a distorted smile.
“—【Fire Arrow】—”
Carla chanted the level 1 Fire Magic 【Fire Arrow】. But no matter how much fire was the Vampire’s weakness, a low-level Magic like that couldn’t stop Gostola now.
“…What?”
With that single incantation, over a hundred 【Fire Arrow】s were created, as if to fill the entire area.
“Damn you!!”
Over a hundred Fire Arrows were fired simultaneously, and when Gostola deflected one that he couldn’t dodge with his arm, the mere level 1 Magic charred his right arm halfway.
“Guooooooooh!!”
“Gostola-sama!!”
A female Vampire of the Evil Race, who had probably charged in the moment she saw the Fire Arrows, changed positions as if to replace Gostola, and was scorched by a dozen Fire Arrows and turned to ash.
At that moment, all the lower-ranking Vampires who had received the Evil Race’s orders used themselves as shields to block the Fire Arrows, as if to cut off the line of fire. But—
“—Where do you think you’re going?”
The Vampires, who had been concentrating on dodging the Fire Arrows, did not notice Carla’s approach, and Carla grabbed Gostola’s regenerating right arm and tore it off with the reinforcement of the black thorns.
“Damn you, damn youuuuuuu!!”
As Gostola retreated, protected by the surviving Evil Race members, Carla also landed on the ground and toyed with the blood-soaked black arm.
The hundreds of failed experiments were already reduced to ashes in the flames, and only four Evil Race members, including Gostola, remained.
“Is it about time…”
“What?”
Gostola, who had his arm pinned by Carla, who muttered in a low voice, questioned her. But Carla, without answering, looked around the Underground Tomb engulfed in flames and said something unbelievable to them.
“This place won’t hold for much longer. You guys can leave now.”
“What do you mean…?”
Carla was telling the Evil Race to escape from here. Gostola, not understanding her true intentions, questioned her again, and Carla smiled and waved her hand lightly.
“You don’t need to know. From the beginning, I’ve never held a grudge against you Evil Race. If you don’t hurry, you’ll be buried alive here, you know?”
“…………Remember this.”
At Carla’s words, Gostola spat out a curse and disappeared into the darkness with his subordinates.
“…………”
Carla silently watched them leave, and once she knew their presence was completely gone, the cheerful smile she had been wearing twisted into a mad, deranged grin.
“Ah, Aria… I want to see you covered in blood soon.”
Carla accompanied Aria not to deal with the Evil Race that had slipped from her grasp. Her true purpose was to throw the Evil Race at Aria and lure her into an endless battlefield.
The Evil Race was just one of the many schemes Carla was plotting. Whether they escaped from Carla’s grasp or perished on their own, Carla had never cared about them from the beginning.
Her hatred for this country had not disappeared. But after meeting ‘her,’ all her hatred, anger, and schemes were prioritized below her.
From the moment they first met, her existence was shocking.
A girl of the same age who faced Carla head-on, while even adults were afraid and watched her every move.
She was the only one. In the pitch-black darkness, Carla was living a life walking barefoot on the Blade called ‘madness,’ and she was the only one standing in the same place.
Her eyes were always looking far away. But Carla’s existence was probably not in that direction.
Carla hurt her in order to reflect herself in her eyes even for a moment. To do so, she hurt herself, and wanted to make her bloodstained by the amount of her own wounds.
Blood suits her well. Whether it’s her own blood or someone else’s…
Aria, covered in blood and killing her, was beautiful even in Carla’s imagination.
Pressing her cheeks with her fingers stained with black blood, preventing her smile from collapsing, Carla wore an ecstatic expression in the flames.
Those exhausted Evil Race would surely rely on new collaborators. And Aria should definitely be at the end of that path. There was no way she could be killed by anyone other than herself. And there was no way anyone other than Aria could kill her.
If she started by destroying this country that had driven her mad, starting with the massacre of the nobles gathered in the castle, Aria would fight Carla.
A bloodstained kingdom was needed as the stage to decorate that end.
But if Aria was weak, their two-person killing match would surely be interrupted.
Aria would suck the blood of the Evil Race and surely become even stronger. And on a glamorous stage where many nobles gather, Aria and Carla would kill each other amidst the nobles collapsing in a sea of blood.
“Aria… become stronger soon. And… kill me.”
Her love is heavy…
Even in the actual Otome Game, Carla was quite fond of how the heroine was. However, she was weak, so her obsession wasn’t as strong as it is now.
Next time, the stage returns to Aria.