“Muhuhuh! Tia has arrived… Huh?!”
Thud.
It took less than three seconds for the confident expression on Tia’s face, having jumped down from the carriage, to turn into one of bewilderment.
Right in front of her stood the insane psycho, no, Teacher Alexander.
Afraid of being pointed out for her inappropriate attire again, Tia hurriedly adjusted her clothing and checked to ensure her buttons were fastened properly.
“Phew!”
Fortunately, everything seemed fine.
Wiping her forehead, Tia boldly stepped forward.
Unbeknownst to her, one side of her skirt was slightly lifted.
“Hmm?”
Tia quickly noticed that Alexander’s demeanor was strange.
He appeared to be lost in thought, staring blankly at the sky above the city.
Tia tilted her head and pulled on Alexander’s sleeve.
“Teacher! What is it? What’s going on? Is there something fun happening?”
“No… it’s nothing.”
“Is there something over there? Let Tia ride the hobby horse! I want to see too!”
“It’s nothing important, just go back to class…”
Alexander’s attitude was odd.
Even while answering, he only focused on one spot, not casting a glance in Tia’s direction.
Tia, feeling puzzled, stepped inside the main gate.
At that age, getting lost in a cloud-watching daze was ridiculous.
I graduated from that kind of thing a month ago.
With that thought in mind, Tia dashed toward the classroom.
Since Alexander wasn’t watching, he wouldn’t scold her for running.
‘What in the world is happening?’
As Tia scampered away, the corners of Alexander’s eyes twisted, still gazing into the distant sky.
Something unusual was happening.
It was clear just by looking at the thick, dark smoke rising from the center of the institution.
However, it seemed that only Alexander noticed it, as everyone else appeared completely unconcerned.
Alexander immediately sensed the identity of that smoke.
‘It’s the energy of evil.’
Though not like a hero or a holy maiden, he possessed the talent to observe the energy of evil.
If even the teachers from the academy’s magic division didn’t notice it, there was nothing but evil energy present.
‘The intensity of it isn’t normal.’
Such events weren’t unprecedented.
Clerics who fell for the temptations of evil spirits.
Archmages who made contracts with evil gods.
Whenever they sprayed forth the energy of evil and caused mayhem, Alexander was regularly dispatched to behead them.
In fact, it was more familiar to Alexander.
But if there was something unfamiliar to him, it was the sheer amount of that energy.
Something must have happened, and with that level of intensity, declaring a state of emergency wouldn’t be out of the question.
Gripping the dagger hidden in his sleeve, Alexander stepped forward firmly.
“Security… close the main gate.”
“Yes?”
“I will seal off the school. I will persuade the principal to issue a lockdown order right away, so start the sealing process in advance.”
“Yes? No, Teacher? If you suddenly say this without giving a reason…”
Alexander turned around and headed straight for the principal’s office.
As much as he wanted to rush to the scene, that was impossible right now.
Even temporarily, he held the responsibility of a teacher at St. Sophia, accountable for the safety of his students.
‘First, I need to secure the school and contact the Papal Office to request the dispatch of a Heretic Examiner.’
He would do everything he could do right away.
This was all Alexander could do at the moment.
He glanced back again and shuddered at the intensifying energy of evil.
To have such a great evil arising in the center of the institution.
Was the time for the empire’s destruction finally upon them?
*
‘I was careless…!’
Flap.
A gust of wind rushed through the skies of the institution, and a massive dragon leaped into the air.
The Duke regretted his complacency as he dashed towards the institution as fast as he could.
‘After coming out of the basement, I thought everything was fine. Damn it.’
It was sheer negligence.
There was no other way to explain it.
Given the original owner of the villa, he should never have let his guard down.
‘Ivan Makarov.’
The most prominent figure among the radical elements of the empire, Ivan Makarov.
The mansion purchased by the duke originally belonged to him.
Of course, calling him a prominent figure was a tale from the past, as he had become a recluse after falling ill and retiring from politics.
Nevertheless, it was an undeniable fact that he had a significant influence over the empire’s pacification policies towards demonkind.
While he was well-known for many reasons, Makarov held a particularly noteworthy significance for the duke.
‘What on earth did he create…’
The biological father of the holy maiden, Aerial.
He dedicated his life to saving his cursed daughter, who was unable to die, and ultimately met his end through assassination.
When the duke examined the mansion he’d purchased, he immediately realized.
The results of Makarov’s lifelong research must be located in the basement.
However, the problem was that the basement was protected by a powerful barrier, making it impossible to open.
Though it wasn’t impossible to destroy the barrier, one couldn’t just create a massive crater in the middle of the institution, so he chose to leave it be.
But for some reason, Julia had gone into that basement and emerged strangely altered.
‘What did you see in that basement, Julia…?’
The duke hurried even more toward the institution.
Julia was in danger.
A creeping sense of anxiety washed over him, as he feared he might lose her forever if he were even a little late.
…
“Why are you so stiff, Leo? Aren’t you happy to see me again?”
“…”
Leopard stood frozen in place, unable to move long after the words were spoken.
The intonation, mannerisms, attitude, and the very atmosphere.
Not a single aspect matched the Aerial he remembered.
But that only reinforced his certainty that the being before him was indeed Aerial.
After everything she had endured, it was only natural she would change like this.
The always radiant holy maiden, who used to spread her gentle and warm smiles, now exuded a faint anger through her delicate smile.
“I thought you were dead. I saw your soul extinguished.”
“Well, I was dead. Biologically, that is.”
“Then what is this? Is it a ghost?”
“You could see it that way. I have awakened the memories that were dormant. Right now, I’m a bit of a mix between Aerial and Julia—so calling me alive wouldn’t be entirely wrong.”
“…”
Aerial, who could never truly die, had no need to worry about death.
What she ought to fear, above all, was sealing.
Thus, Ivan Makarov dedicated his life to researching how no one could seal his daughter.
The result was the magic formula etched in the basement.
The ultimate magic that could unseal any binding.
Though Aerial’s soul had been destroyed not by sealing but by possession, the effect that manifested the moment Julia entered the basement wasn’t far from their original expectations.
The magic formula resurrected Aerial from her seal, while bringing back all the memories of Aerial that resided somewhere in Julia’s mind.
“It’s me, Leo. It’s really me.”
“…”
The clash of two personalities—one with fifty years’ worth of memories and another not yet reaching twenty—was brutal.
Aerial’s personality trampled and smashed the essence of the young man from another world, drowning it into the recesses of consciousness in an instant.
Though Aerial should have completely perished and faded away, she succeeded in ‘reviving’ with her full memories intact.
Along with the pure evil she harbored.
“Aerial.”
“Yes, Leo. You finally called me by that name.”
“…”
The strangely buoyant tone tingled in Leopard’s ears.
It was unbearable.
The woman he loved more than anyone was standing before him.
Her entire being beautifully painted with the massive energy of evil.
“Did you make a pact with the evil god?”
“Well, think what you like. I’ve learned that neither this god nor that god has the slightest concern for humans. There’s really no difference between the evil and the benevolent gods.”
“…”
Leopard instinctively realized.
The woman before him was a prime danger to humanity.
As a hero, Leopard had to eliminate Aerial right away. Before that black energy enveloped the entire institution.
But understanding the reasons for her fall and accepting them made it all the more maddening.
Aerial had every right to be so furious.
‘It’s my fault.’
He should never have brought Aerial into the Demon Realm.
Leopard squeezed his eyes tightly shut, feeling the acute pangs of regret.
During their arduous journey, he had often regretted bringing Aerial along while witnessing her deteriorating state each day.
However, those adversities paled in comparison to what awaited them at the Demon King’s Castle.
The moment they finally arrived, defeating the demon king in a bloody battle.
As the demon king collapsed and shifted slightly, a magic circle hidden beneath the ground activated.
Aerial, completely drained of her strength, pushed Leopard aside and bore the full force of that magic with her body.
The magic initially designed by the demon king for his own use placed two curses upon Aerial.
One was the curse of eternal life, ensuring she could never die, while the other was the curse of knowledge, granting her understanding of the world’s truths, whether she wanted it or not.
After the war ended, instead of returning home, Aerial isolated herself in a strange rural village.
She refused to meet anyone, not even her family or Leopard, with whom she had shared countless experiences.
At first, Leopard was puzzled, but soon after returning home, he began to understand Aerial, if only a little.
Politicians were thoroughly corrupt, and the church was rotten to the core.
Even the minor truths Leopard uncovered were so disgusting that Aerial must have felt profound disillusionment upon learning everything.
It was no wonder she sealed herself off from the civilized world.
“Let’s stop, Aerial. Right now, you can still turn back. You know well what the fate of those who accept the power of the evil god is.”
“I’m not turning back. Not until I sever the heads of the demons in the Papal Office.”
“I know the church is corrupt. But still, with effort, we can reform it without shedding blood…”
“You’re still so naïve, Leo. Do you know what those humans did in the past? They killed newborns under the pretext of baptism, searching for babies who proportionately possessed more divine power and slaughtering them all. This way, the chances of exceptionally divine children being born later increased. We are those children, Leo. Countless infants were murdered to create us. And this is just a fraction of the evils they have committed.”
“Aerial…”
“Some things won’t change unless blood is shed. For a better world, sometimes it’s necessary to dig out the festering wounds.”
“…”
Leopard’s teeth ground in frustration.
As a hero, he had the duty to slay the immense evil looming before him.
But as Leo, he couldn’t bring himself to attack the revived Aerial.
He was already being swayed by her words.
Every word she spoke was true.
Logically thinking, as Aerial said, it might be better for world peace to behead all the higher-ups in the Papal Office.
In his heart, he ached to join Aerial and storm into the Papal Office together.
But one thing kept nagging at his mind.
“What about Julia?”
“Julia? Are you talking about the uninvited guest who’s possessed my body? If it’s her, she has completely merged with me. However, my ego is far stronger…”
“Does that mean I’ll never be able to see her again? Is that how it is?”
“That’s right. Why are you acting like this, Leo? Instead, you should be more honestly happy that I revived.”
“I’m happy… I’m incredibly happy…”
Leopard was trembling all over.
Even though Aerial’s revival was what he had longed for, he never wanted to bring about her return at the cost of someone else’s life.
“I’m happy, but… I’m starting to get angry. Make a choice, Leo. Is it me or Julia?”
“It’s you, Aerial. If I had to choose, it would obviously be you.”
Aerial and Julia.
If Leopard had to choose one, he would choose Aerial without hesitation.
Blinded by emotions and bias, he would ultimately make an illogical decision.
“So I can’t choose.”
“What?”
Leopard turned away, tears welling in his eyes.
For the right choice, he desperately needed the help of someone whose eyes were not clouded.
Had he known that Leopard would turn away, Aerial’s eyes would fill with a mixture of confusion.
“So, Schwarz, please finish this.”
“Wait a moment…!”
Screech.
Before Aerial’s words could conclude, a dark figure descended from the sky, creating a tremendous noise.
