“…”
Argen Isis broke into a cold sweat as she read the documents in front of her.
She thought the answer would lie within the amethyst extracted from that demon.
Thus, she had secretly requested an interpretation team in the Empire’s Magical Engineering Department.
The results had finally arrived.
Though she had sensed something unusual,
– The large amethyst was presumed to be the heart of a supreme demon.
“Was it indeed the heart…”
Having anticipated this to some extent when she saw what protruded from the chest, Argen scratched her forehead with a troubled expression.
The fact that it contained the heart of a supreme demon was very strange.
– A barrier magic circle presumed to be at least of a grand sorcerer’s level, and a supreme magic, 《Explosion》, that could be cast at the cost of the user’s magic power was memorized…
“At least a grand sorcerer…”
The magic circle was incomprehensible.
It exhibited the form of a barrier, but given that the energy source was magic power and the fact that it was attributed to a grand sorcerer, it ended in the statement that interpretation was difficult.
‘Indeed…’
There is an insider.
There’s no other way to explain the current situation without acknowledging the existence of an insider.
‘They didn’t just breach the barrier I set.’
The barrier spread across the Academy was no ordinary barrier.
It was close to an absolute domain created using her unique magic, “Unravel.”
To oppose such a realm, one would need to reach the level of a grand sorcerer who could counter the world’s laws just like her.
Even if they somehow managed to oppose it, it was obvious that they would realize it the moment they did.
In other words, this was more like a circumvention.
This way was even more dangerous.
How the circumvention was achieved was not important.
The real problem was that the insider was powerful enough to bypass the barrier and bring a demon inside.
‘A cautious one.’
The demon’s memories and knowledge have all been extracted, and now the demon king has been resurrected, confirming the existence of an insider.
Moreover, she learned that the demon’s plan was to open the portal to the Demon World at the Academy.
However, that insider didn’t reveal their identity to the demon in preparation for such an outcome.
Considering the opponent was estimated to be at least a grand sorcerer, even for her, discovering their identity would not be an easy task.
‘If I rush to find them, I might completely miss them…’
I must chase the traces without letting them know that I’m searching and capture them in a way that prevents any reactions.
A grand sorcerer,
Perhaps the opponent was a supreme demon, or even greater.
‘If that skull-headed creature has moved, it’s dangerous.’
If so, she too had to move cautiously.
One wrong move could lead to her demise.
Argen broke into a cold sweat from anxiety and crushed a piece of candy before swallowing it.
That was when it happened.
A magic circle appeared in the air, and a pure white figure emerged from it.
Argen, who had been looking down at the documents, scrunched her face and sighed.
“You’re late, Asclyna.”
“I came pretty quickly…”
Asclyna Sunlight.
A blonde woman with silver horns glowing softly on her head replied, looking somewhat troubled.
“Well, you’ve gotten used to acting like the Pope, haven’t you?”
“Hm~ Argen, you speak to the other kids like a grandmother, though?”
“… Given my age, it can’t be helped. If the Dean of the Academy acted like she was their age, it would be ignored.”
Argen turned her head, feeling it was petty to be teased about such matters.
Asclyna, gazing at her with an affectionate look, sat on the sofa placed in the office with familiar steps.
“So, why did you come all this way?”
“Oh, you already know?”
“It must be because of the Saint.”
Argen replied with a scrunched face.
Here I am trying not to reveal anything, even going so far as to bury the incident, yet this guardian dragon somehow figured it out and came.
Argen, looking at Asclyna in disbelief, sighed the moment she saw her expression and shook her head.
“Erith is dead, Asclyna.”
“It’s a bit… complicated.”
“She worked hard; she’s probably living happily with the gods. Don’t project past people onto the present generation.”
Argen stated that now wasn’t the time for such discussions and urged her to quickly get to the point while unwrapping another piece of candy from her pocket to put in her mouth.
With still a sad expression, Asclyna opened her mouth.
“You know there’s an insider, right?”
“I haven’t figured it out yet; it’s just speculation at this point.”
“So you already realized it.”
The slightly embarrassed Asclyna seemed to prepare for the main topic.
Argen unknowingly tensed up, her shoulders twitching slightly.
“Actually, I originally came to ask what happened.”
“Well… that makes sense.”
No matter how much of a guardian dragon she was, she couldn’t know everything.
Argen was well aware of that fact.
And she also understood why she, who usually never came to visit unless something happened, had come this time.
It was clear that she cherished the current Saint immensely, so if she didn’t know, it would be even stranger.
However…
Asclyna’s voice changed strangely.
“But I found something odd.”
With the words indicating a discovery, Argen stopped looking down at the documents and looked at Asclyna with a questioning expression.
“What do you mean by odd?”
“Is it odd? Should I even say it’s fortunate… I happened to see it on my way here.”
She had never imagined it.
She thought the artifact had been lost, but it was held by her Saint.
Asclyna spoke, sweating profusely.
“The relic of the sun god Solios… ‘The Radiant Gem of Purification’ was with Aria.”
“What…?”
At Asclyna’s words, Argen dropped the candy she had been holding.
She looked surprised, as if she never expected the word ‘relic’ to come up.
God’s relics elevate the power of those who use divine power to the utmost.
To be precise, it nearly maximized the talent for the divine power one possesses. The Radiant Gem of Purification was a relic that amplified purifying divine power, allowing the user to exhibit the maximum purifying divine power within a level they could manage.
Such a relic was in Aria’s hands.
“Why is the sun god’s relic with that Saint…”
“The relic of Solios had been lost in the Demon World. It seems Aria found it.”
Then it becomes strange.
If it were another relic, one might understand, but the very relic belonging to the sun god, responsible for purification, was in Aria’s possession, yet she was unable to confront the supreme demon and had been beaten?
“That’s odd… until I got there, that Saint was being violated by a demon…”
“…”
No reply came back from Asclyna.
She too didn’t know.
The Aria she knew was a kind girl who endlessly sacrificed herself to help others. She went to the Demon World entirely because she heard the people there were dying in droves on the front lines while defending the last bastion.
Though Asclyna had tried to stop her, she couldn’t break Aria’s will and ended up sending her to the Demon World.
‘What could have happened there…’
When she sent her there, she didn’t bestow any protection.
What had happened was a matter only Aria and the people there knew.
One thing that was clear was that she had saved countless lives while equally sacrificing herself countless times.
What happened in the Demon World, how she found the relic.
And…
“Why didn’t you use the relic?”
Asclyna wanted to know why she hadn’t used the relic.
Purifying a supreme demon was a huge achievement in itself.
Capturing it alive would be even better.
But it was hard to believe that she threw herself into danger for the sake of capture.
Of course, it might be said that the situation somehow worked out, the hero appeared on the scene, and by chance, Argen, who happened to return to the Academy recognizing the abnormal phenomenon, successfully captured the supreme demon by following the traces of that girl.
However, it raised questions because this was too many coincidences stacked on top of each other to say it was all intentional.
Such a thing was impossible unless one knew the future.
‘Aria…’
What on earth was that girl thinking?
Why was she so exhausting her body and mind?
As Asclyna, not as the Pope, she hoped that the girl would be happy…
Asclyna looked up at the sky with a pitiful expression, recalling the tragic fate of the Saint born in the turbulent era when blood stained the entire world hundreds of years ago.
