Things have gotten quite complicated!
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”
Seeing Karla’s Flame Javelin pierce Crown Prince Elvan, those around them screamed. The screams caused those who understood what had happened to fall into confusion, and just as it was about to escalate into further commotion, someone stopped it.
“Everyone, calm down!”
Amidst the confusion and uproar, that voice reached their ears with uncanny clarity. Everyone who turned to look at the speaker cried out.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince!”
The one who stopped them was Elvan, who was thought to be dead. Flame Javelin is a Level 3 fire magic; if unleashed by a skilled user, it has the power to instantly char a human being. But Elvan merely pressed a hand to his scorched chest, and though his face was contorted in pain, he remained conscious and extended a trembling hand towards Karla.
“Why would you do such a thing, Karla…? Are we not engaged?”
In response to those words, Karla’s smile deepened. The moment she reached out to Elvan’s outstretched hand, Temple Knights within the mansion, sensing Karla’s magical power and Intimidation, burst into the hall.
“What happened!”
“What is this!?”
The Temple Knights rushed to Elvan’s side, used Greater Heal, and stood before him protectively.
“Karla-sama has gone mad!”
When the Daughter of House Sandora cried out, the Temple Knights were convinced by that alone and, without hesitation, pointed their spears at Karla.
“So, it was true after all!”
For several weeks, the Temple Knights had been having “Dreams” they believed to be divine revelations. A White Woman who appeared in these dreams told them that a girl possessed by a demon would target the royal family. At first, they were skeptical, but through their interactions with the Saint, they questioned her about the meaning and, by believing in the Saint, gradually came to believe that this “revelation” was the voice of God.
It was the same for the young people present, including the Daughter of House Sandora. They had spoken countless times with the “wise and magnanimous Crown Prince Elvan,” who had even deigned to speak to those like them at the academy, and they had come to trust him more than anyone.
They revered him so much that they even saw him in their “Dreams,” and just like their families who were followers of the Holy Church, they never doubted his words or actions.
Their admired figure appeared in his admired “form,” they believed it by seeing it in a “Dream,” and with the Saint’s affirmation, it became “truth” for them.
“Karla… It’s regrettable. To think you were possessed by a demon.”
Elvan, already healed without a single wound, drew the Demon Sword hanging at his waist.
The Temple Knights momentarily gasped at the ominousness of the Demon Sword, which seemed to be made of bone, but convinced that whatever “he” did must be right, they stepped forward to become Elvan’s shield.
“Everyone, capture Karla! Do not let your guard down!”
“””Yes, sir!”””
The mansion was already surrounded by Priest Knights who believed the “revelation,” and some of the knights who realized something had happened inside charged into the mansion. They too recognized Karla, at whom Elvan pointed his sword, as the enemy from the “revelation” and surrounded her.
“Attack!!”
At Elvan’s command, the Temple Knights brandished their spears at Karla.
The Temple Knights’ mission is to destroy beings that are enemies of God. Even if the person possessed by a demon, as foretold in the dream, was the Crown Prince’s fiancée, they showed no leniency.
These Temple Knights were not brainwashed; they were ordinary people with their own will.
The girl they were suddenly told to protect as the “Saint” one day—even the temple staff had initially viewed her with suspicion. But upon seeing her once, their doubts vanished, and now they believed her to be the true Saint.
Crown Prince Elvan too. Compared to Her Highness the Princess, they hadn’t heard many good rumors about him, but when they actually met him, he was the kind of wise prince the populace “idealized.”
The “charm” of the Saint, the “ideal” of royalty, and the “Dream” revelation—by these, they had come to believe of their own volition.
Therefore, being decent human beings, they should have hesitated to kill an underage girl, even if she was possessed by a demon. At the very least, they should have grimaced.
However, the moment they saw Karla, the moment they saw Elvan’s form and heard his voice, a sense of euphoria, as if everything was affirmed, surged within them. And towards Karla, a girl not yet an adult, they brandished their spears in earnest, as if killing her was a matter of course.
If their opponent had been an ordinary person, it would have ended there. The Temple Knights thought so too.
Whether noble or Commoner, anyone living in this country knew there was no point in defying the framework of the state. Resistance would only lead to ruin. Even if possessed by a demon, as long as one was human, unless they were a madman who would antagonize the entire nation, they wouldn’t offer futile resistance—so they thought, conventionally.
“—Acid Cloud—”
“…Guaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
In that instant, a mist swirled around Karla. Several knights who charged into it had their entire bodies burned by acid, collapsing while emitting a strange odor.
“Gyaah!?”
Karla crushed the throat of a still-breathing knight with her heel. Tilting her head with a dazed expression, as if she couldn’t believe she had just killed someone, she murmured softly,
“…Thought guidance, perhaps?”
Those surrounding Karla gasped as she calmly analyzed the situation.
“How could you!”
“So you finally show your true colors, witch!”
The Daughter of House Sandora and the others also showed their disgust for Karla and began chanting attack magic.
To the end, they were acting of their own free will.
However, various factors up to this point had seeped into the depths of their hearts like poison, and even the noble students, who had never killed anyone before, were moved by emotions so strong they wanted to kill Karla.
Fear of Karla seemed to vanish from everyone surrounding her as if paralyzed, and only killing intent filled the place.
“Karla… stop resisting now. Do you no longer love me?”
Finally, Elvan spoke to Karla with a sorrowful “countenance.”
His anguished voice and appearance made those around him perceive his sadness. Hearing that voice would pluck away even the will to resist, and one would be tormented by guilt for opposing him.
And Karla too—
“I do love El-sama.”
Amidst this murderous intent, Karla replied to Elvan with a faint smile.
Had Karla had a change of heart? As a noblewoman, as the Crown Prince’s fiancée, her words were, in a sense, what everyone had idealized.
But Karla’s cheerful—yet chilling—smile made the air freeze.
“I love my brother-sama and my father-sama too. That’s why I killed brother-sama first.”
For a moment, amidst a silence as if time had stopped, Karla, giggling, spread her arms and twirled on the spot as if dancing.
“Father-sama, who used me, a three-year-old, for his magic experiments and then abandoned me… Brother-sama, who tried to use me, abandoned at five, as a target for his magic… Brother-sama, acting all conceited with such pathetic magic, was just too pitiful, too adorable, so I just had to kill him.”
As if recalling that time, Karla pressed a hand to her cheek, her expression melting.
“When I first met El-sama, he was so adorable… A child like one from a flower garden being the Crown Prince, so pitiful, so adorable…”
Karla slowly looked around at the petrified people, her gaze finally settling on Elvan.
“I thought I’d love you down to your very entrails, and defile you.”
At the sheer darkness in her eyes, someone, as if to shake off their fear, screamed.
“—Kill heeeeeeeeeeeer!!”
As if shaking off their fear, the Temple Knights thrust their spears, aiming for her heart. Simultaneously, the nobles unleashed fire and wind magic.
“—Lightning—”
Karla’s Lightning struck the knight at the forefront, and the immense magical power that pierced through him repelled the low-level magic as it assailed the young noble boys and girls.
BZZZT!!
“…Your Highness!”
But it was Elvan, Demon Sword at the ready, who stopped it. As the nobles and Temple Knights cried out at the sight of their idealized Crown Prince, he turned to Karla with a serious expression, sword pointed.
“I won’t let you harm my people. Karla… I am your opponent!”
“Fufu.”
Karla’s lips twisted into a mocking smile as she gathered magical power in both hands.
“—Fireball—”
The unleashed fireball shot straight towards Elvan.
“Haaaaaaah!!”
Reacting to it, Elvan charged in with his Demon Sword, and the fireball, slashed in two, blasted apart the walls on both sides.
Screams echoed as a young noble boy caught in the blast was engulfed in flames. Amidst this, Elvan, deflecting the fiery aftershock with his Demon Sword, slashed with blinding speed. Karla then floated lightly and leaped out into the garden through the broken wall.
“Pursue her!!”
As Elvan shouted, the Temple Knights who had administered self-healing headed outside. However, the young noble boys and girls, witnessing Karla’s terror anew, looked at each other as if remembering their fear.
“It’s alright! I will protect you all!”
“…Y-Yes!”
Hearing Elvan’s voice, the nobles looked momentarily dazed, as if they were seeing a Dream. Then, in the next instant, as if their fear was forgotten, they followed the knights outside.
Outside, the battle between Karla and the Temple Knights who had surrounded the mansion had begun. As Karla launched a fireball at them, Elvan leaped in.
“I won’t let you!!”
The Demon Sword deflected the fireball. Karla, floating in mid-air, smiled sweetly and, as if by magic, produced numerous fireballs in both hands.
“How about this?”
Saying so, Karla didn’t launch the fireballs but scattered them. The power of each individual one was likely less than a singly cast one, but a direct hit would still incinerate a person, armor and all.
“Haah!!”
However, Elvan, moving again with blinding speed, deflected them with his Demon Sword. Some of the deflected fireballs blasted the mansion’s outer wall, engulfing several knights, and amidst this, Elvan’s slash finally grazed Karla.
Karla healed the wound on her white leg, visible through her torn skirt, with magic, then licked the blood from her fingertip.
“You do some rather inhuman things, don’t you?”
As far as Karla knew, only that girl could do such things. That girl was also human, so it wouldn’t be impossible for Elvan, who was also human, to do the same.
However, for him to acquire in mere months the power that girl had gained through life-or-death struggles against formidable foes could only be described as truly “inhuman.”
While this was happening, people from the surrounding noble houses, noticing the sounds of battle and the blazing fire, began to appear. Elvan, noticing them, raised his voice.
“Everyone! I am Elvan! I will subjugate the Daughter of House Lester, a servant of demons! Those with justice, take up your swords!”
Perhaps his name carried weight, as within seconds, private soldiers from the surrounding mansions rushed out.
There were various reasons: those who joined out of a sense of righteousness at the Crown Prince’s call; those who reluctantly sent out soldiers due to the presence of other houses; those who acted out of calculation to curry favor with the Crown Prince. But as a result, nearly fifty soldiers and Magicians who believed his words embarked on Karla’s subjugation.
As a noble living in the kingdom, Karla should have wanted to avoid becoming a criminal targeted for subjugation. If she possessed Madness but lacked calculation, Karla would no longer be in this world.
However, the only thing on Karla’s face was the same scornful, cold smile she’d worn from the beginning.
“Quite the audience (・・) has gathered, hasn’t it?”
Countless arrows and offensive magic spells were unleashed towards Karla, who floated in mid-air. Against this downpour of attacks, Karla used Level 4 Wind Magic, 【Storm】, to evade them.
However, in that state, Karla couldn’t move. At that moment, Elvan, gathering even more magical power into his Demon Sword, leaped into the air and, simultaneously releasing all his magic, swung down.
“Begone!!”
With Elvan’s war cry, a brilliant crimson light erupted from his sword.
That appearance, despite differences in the light’s color or the sword itself, bore a striking resemblance to the maximally enhanced Elvan seen only in the replay playthroughs of the Otome Game.
“Uoooooooooooooooooooooh!!”
The sword of light unleashed by Elvan clashed with Karla’s 【Storm】, scattering fierce sparks of magical power. All the while, offensive magic from the surroundings was launched at Karla, chipping away at 【Storm】’s magic, until finally the balance was broken. Karla was blown back towards the mansion, and a single strike from the light sword pulverized the mansion itself.
When the violent sounds of destruction and the raging aftermath of magical power subsided, cheers erupted from the surroundings at the sight of Elvan standing atop the rubble, raising his Demon Sword.
“As expected of His Highness the Crown Prince!”
The Daughter of House Sandora, from among the nobles who had rushed over first, called out to him. Elvan slightly lowered his eyes and bowed his head to her.
“Even though it was to defeat her, I ended up destroying your mansion.”
“What are you saying! If Father were to witness Your Highness’s heroic figure, he would surely laugh and forgive you!”
At her words, Elvan also smiled sweetly and thrust the bone Demon Sword, now nearly devoid of magical power, into the rubble. Seeing this, the young noble boys and girls also climbed onto the pile of rubble and, with strange glints in their eyes as if still not awakened from a Dream, kicked at the debris.
“Serves you right, witch!”
“God was indeed watching over us!”
“It seems she was no match for His Highness’s grown power!”
“Indeed, the next king will be the Hero Elvan-sama!”
Saying such things, they kicked the rubble under which Karla was buried and praised Elvan as a Hero. Just as they were elated by the scene before their eyes, and that fervor was about to spread to the surroundings—
『—If El-sama had truly grown, I would have doted on him—』
“————!?”
DOOOM!!
An earth-shattering tremor rumbled like an earthquake, and a colossal bolt of lightning rose from the rubble towards the heavens, striking Elvan. Then, countless black thorns pierced Elvan, who cracked as if he were an artificial construct.
Caught in the aftershock, the student nobles present were seared from their very cells and annihilated.
“—Hk!”
As the Daughter of House Sandora faded into oblivion amidst the pain, her last thought was:
What was that? What was that “grotesque demon” that had revealed itself as its outer skin peeled away from the thing they had believed to be the Crown Prince?
Hearing the mocking “voice” of the black-haired girl, wreathed in black thorns, who emerged from the rubble piercing that demon with thorns, she realized she had been wrong from the very beginning.
“The real El-sama would never smile at me like that.”
Next time, the demon battle concludes… I hope.
Promotion
Pre-orders for Volume 2 have begun! A story about Karla’s childhood, when she became Karla, is included as a bonus.
The comic adaptation by Wakasa Kobato-sensei will also start on August 30th!
For details, please see the ‘Activity Report’ or ‘Twitter’.
The cover for Volume 2 and art from the comic adaptation have been released.
Thank you for your impressions, typo reports, and bookmarks.