“——Ugh!”
Elena, who had been watching Aria fighting above the Temple in the distance from the destroyed grand window of the Royal Castle, instinctively ducked as a shockwave suddenly assaulted her from that direction.
“Are you alright!?”
The shockwave passed, and Elena raised her head at Sera’s voice, which she could barely hear amidst the ringing in her ears. The royals present were protected by the shields of the Royal Knights, and Elvan and Clara were embracing each other protectively, with no one injured.
The battlefield had moved from the Royal Castle to the Royal Capital, but the royals had not yet evacuated. Elena, helped to her feet by a handmaiden, widened her eyes at the sight visible from the window.
“The Royal Capital… is burning.”
“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!”
A black mist-like substance burst from Colette’s body as it was burned and crumbled by the Holy Flame, and a face floating within the mist screamed.
Although its power had weakened due to the consumption of most of its Mana, the Nightmare, which had been raging until now, tried to use a “curse” as its last struggle.
The devil’s “song” was not magic, but a curse. Carla, who had been bathed in the scream at close range, unleashed her still burning right arm towards the Nightmare—and the Royal Capital.
“————”
The Nightmare vanished along with the curse it had unleashed, unable even to scream—
“Carla!”
Before the flame could spread further, I jumped in front of it, deploying a 【Magic Shield (Shield)】 as if to shield myself. However, the flame split as if to avoid both me and my Magic Shield, scattering widely in six directions.
What was she planning? Carla wore her usual smile as she glared at me, and behind her—no, I saw pillars of flame rising from six directions in the Royal Capital.
“…What did you do?”
“Did you really think I’d leave burning the Royal Capital to someone else, Aria?”
Pillars of flame rose as if surrounding the Royal Capital… but judging from the color of the flames mixed with white light, those six flames were “Holy Flame.”
It was a composite magic of flame and light, highly effective against Undead creatures and devils, but unlike general fire magic, the damage from the flames spreading was low. If so, then those flames themselves were not intended as an attack, but as a stepping stone to destroying the Royal Capital.
Six pillars… a Hexagram? Hexagrams were used in magic circles for summoning devils and other things, as well as amplification techniques for Mana and Magic. Why would Carla, who could use infinite Mana, use such a technique…?
“…No way.”
Carla closed her eyes for a moment at my muttered words, and quietly narrowed them.
“Even for me, Level 8 Fire Magic is difficult without any assistance.”
Level 8—something that humans could no longer handle, belonging to the realm of legends and myths. If such a thing existed, the Royal Capital would certainly collapse.
“Carla!!”
“Come, Aria.”
Carla responded cheerfully to me as I leaped out as if kicking off the sky.
“—【Flame Javelin】—”
“—【Magic Shield (Shield)】—”
Crack—
The Magic Shield shattered with a phantom sound of breaking glass as it received Carla’s Flame Javelin. Using the remnants of the shattered Mana as a distraction, I jumped in and Carla used Martial Arts to evade my kick as if leaning back.
“—【Splash】—”
A mass of water suddenly appeared in front of me. I instantly slashed it with the Black Knife imbued with Mana, and through the scattering droplets of water, I saw Carla, who had regained her posture, pointing her fingertip at me.
“—【Ice Storm】—”
The water that had adhered to me instantly froze in the directional Ice Storm.
“Ha!”
I kicked up the ice clinging to the hem of my dress as if shattering it with my leg, and while escaping the range of the Ice Storm with the recoil, I threw the Knife I had pulled out from the slit in my skirt.
“—【Ice Whip】—”
The Ice Whip that Carla immediately produced struck down the flying Knife.
“—【Dark Gimlet】—”
At that moment, the Dark Gimlets I had released appeared around Carla, and multiple Dark Gimlets simultaneously attacked Carla.
“—【Lightning Strike (Digvolt)】—”
The Lightning Strike (Digvolt) that Carla unleashed as if wrapping herself in it blew away the Dark Gimlets.
In that instant, I jumped in and the hem of the dress I released fluttered, and the hem of the dress that Carla kicked up as if kicking back caught my leg as if wrapping around it.
“Haaaaaa!!”
I used Body Enhancement to force my way through.
“—Ugh”
Carla jumped back, unable to bear it. But seeing that her fingertip was pointed at me, trying to pursue me, I also pointed my fingertip at Carla.
“”—【Phantom Pain】—””
Phantom Pain burst forth along with Killing Intent, and the excruciating pain caused me and Carla to momentarily lose control of our Magic, blowing away the upper half of the still burning Temple and landing on it.
“”…………””
We stared at each other in silence amidst the sea of flames.
I had also reduced my Mana, but Carla, being a Magician, should have reduced it even more.
Why didn’t Carla use her 【Gift】? Perhaps Carla was close to her limit. I knew best that Carla was still in intense pain, having received Carla’s 【Phantom Pain】.
“What do you intend to do with the Royal Capital?”
When I spoke first, Carla smiled slightly.
“You know, don’t you? I wanted to engrave on those who had disrupted my fate. Their sins. Despair… that I had lived.”
Carla sought atonement from those who had made her body unable to live properly due to her father’s experiments, and from all those who had acknowledged it.
For Carla, who was destined to die, whether they knew or didn’t know, all the people who smiled happily on her corpse were targets.
“It was worth luring the battle with the devil all the way to the Royal Capital. I had to light the Hexagram in an instant, but even with infinite Mana, my ‘vessel’ still couldn’t ignite and activate it at the same time.”
“…………”
In order to amplify and execute the Magic at the same time, she used Miasma as a fuse soaked in oil, and activated it using Holy Flame?
Did Carla not move from the Royal Capital in order to summon a devil to scatter the Miasma that would become the fuse? I realized that the battle with the Faceless Devil, and the battles with Amor and the Nightmare in the Royal Capital, were all for this purpose.
“Is this what Carla wanted…?”
Did she want to clear her grudges that much? Carla closed her eyes slightly at my question.
“That’s right… but in reality, I don’t care anymore.”
Carla gently placed her hand on her chest as I narrowed my eyes as if glaring at those words.
“Aria… if I can fight you, I don’t care about this country or this world anymore.”
Carla slowly turned her gaze around and continued to speak.
“You gave ‘light’ to me, who had no choice but to die in despair. The fact that you said you would kill me was my only hope.”
“…I remember.”
The promise we made when we first met. And my vow I made in the Dungeon.
Carla smiled happily at my muttered words.
“I wanted to make it certain. That promise was the only thing I could cling to. So I assembled the Magic only from the descriptions I read in the forbidden books. I couldn’t completely reproduce it, and it was almost like a suicide magic, but it was just right.”
Carla lowered her eyebrows as if smiling wryly at that moment.
“From the moment I activated my Gift, the Hexagram will absorb my Mana and activate, using the flames surrounding this Royal Capital as a medium. With this…”
Carla stopped speaking for a moment there, looked straight at me, and gave a full smile.
“With this, you absolutely have to kill me, right?”
If I didn’t kill Carla, Level 8 Fire Magic would be activated.
“Carla…”
Carla must have noticed. That there was an atmosphere of getting used to me, who desired death and was supposed to grant it, without even realizing it herself…
Carla feared that she would accept that and die with nothing left.
Did she seek death that much…?
This was not just a killing for the sake of dying.
As if celebrating the birth of a person, as if mourning the death of a person, this was a “ritual” for Carla to engrave proof that she had lived in the world.
We would kill each other. On the “stage” of the Royal Capital wrapped in flames, where Carla would perform the ritual of engraving her life—
“…Let’s go.”
“Yes, come.”
We simultaneously increased our Mana and leaped out onto the fiery stage.
“—【Iron Rose】—”
“—【Soulthorn】—”
――Until death do they part――
Next time: “Clash”
What conclusion awaits these two destinies?
Aria and Carla’s final battle costumes (rough sketches)… apologies to those who may not prefer this.
I hope it helps to supplement your mental image.
The image is Aria as a female knight and Carla as a white rose.
The coloring is like the first Pretty C○re…