The audience who heard the singing went berserk. They started biting, tearing, and clawing at their accompanying family, friends, and lovers.
Kail was no exception. After burning away the mysterious energy rising to his head with his Aura, he glared at Ariah.
“What the heck is this?”
The ability to control people. It wasn’t magic. It never was, and right now, he couldn’t sense even a hint of magical power from Ariah.
It wasn’t Aura or holy power either. Those abilities couldn’t control masses of people.
In other words, this was Force. An innate superpower. A power Kail had only seen once before in his life.
“Ka, Kail…”
“Yuri, are you alri─.”
Kail stiffened as he checked on Yuri, who had come with him to watch the performance. Unable to fully control an Expert Level sorceress like her, her veins bulged out and began popping one by one.
Fighting desperately to avoid being controlled, she cautiously spoke when she saw Kail’s face.
“If my main body falls…”
“─Hold on just a bit longer.”
Hearing her words, Kail immediately charged towards Ariah, who was singing on stage. Seeing herself flying towards him, Ariah smirked.
Sorry, Ariah, but this is crossing the line. Just as Kail’s figure was about to reach Ariah, chains flew in from somewhere and bound his limbs.
“Ugh!?”
The chains stuck to his arms and legs froze instantly, perfectly fusing with his body. Confused, Kail turned his head and spotted Yuri chanting while holding a staff at the spot he had just leapt from.
“Ț̴̡̛̳̫͕̦̥̭͍̭̺͙͚̍̈́̔̇̍̉́͝ͅͅh̶̢̠̣͖͔̰̻͛͜͜m̸̨͍͈̤̜̙̗̼̙̜͎͆̒͆͜ͅa̷̛͉͉̩͓̠̯͔̐̑͌͂̏̅̍̂̍͒̃̐̕͜h̸̢̰̩̰̖̮͙̘̪̩͗̑̂͊̽́o̷̡̰̠̝͙̒̂̾” “̸͎̱̻̣̫̜̪̥͉̔̿̑̈́͜Ĩ̵̙̞̣ç̴̭̻̤̘͙̩̹͉̥̲͇̓̄̈̈́͛͌͑͊̚̚͠ļ̷̰̮̞̰̜͈̤͚̻͓̫͐̑̅̾͝͠͠e̷͓̯͚͖̓̊c̵̨̘̟͇̤̰̰͙͙̘͙̼͛̅̓̇͝͝͝ư̷̡̧̝͖̬̼̣̦̤͋̇̌̈̑̈̽̀̉̓̄͜l̷̥̝̋̓̓̀̔̈̇̽͊̃̈́̒͘͝”
Double casting.
That was the affinity left behind by an unnamed great sorcerer, and it was a special technique that could even make a 4-star magician very annoying.
Indeed, Yuri, who instantly bound Kail’s limbs, succeeded in throwing him out of the venue.
As Kail was flung away by her, he carefully glanced at Ariah. Ariah continued to sing without minding his gaze.
Her song spread throughout the Academy.
Aria’s Aria covers the world.
***
Blown away by Yuri’s magic, Kail immediately sought Sera. She wasn’t inside the venue, so he assumed she hadn’t heard Ariah’s song yet.
True enough, Sera was outside the venue, licking strawberry candy as she walked.
Kicking off from the sky, Kail landed right in front of her, slinging her over his shoulder and quickly leaving the area.
“Kyaaaaaa!?”
“Shut up! You might bite your tongue!”
Right now, the important thing was to get as far away from the venue as possible. Though he didn’t know the extent of Ariah’s ability, he knew that those outside the venue who hadn’t heard the song were fine.
Having moved to a position where he could observe the entire academy situation at a glance while staying as far away from the venue as possible, Kail slowly set down Sera from his shoulder.
“Uwaaa… What the heck do you think you’re doing all of a sudden!?”
“Sera, it’s important.”
“Wh-what? Suddenly what… Ah, now that I think about it, there’s nobody here. You’re not thinking of… No, right? That’s not it, right?”
“I need you.”
Hearing Kail’s words and seeing him approach, Sera tightly shut her eyes. Preparing for the impending shock, she waited and waited, but nothing happened. Feeling puzzled, she slowly opened her eyes.
In front of her stood Kail, looking at her with a look that said she was hopeless.
“What, what is this!?”
“—Didn’t you say nothing would happen during the Cultural Festival?”
“Well… Yeah, I did.”
“Then what’s that?”
Kail pointed to the academy and the venue as he spoke. Following his finger, Sera turned her head and looked far off at the academy.
There were zombie-like things attacking people.
“…What is that?”
“That’s what I want to know.”
“No, no, no, seriously, what is it?”
Sera stared at Kail as if unable to comprehend. Kail began explaining everything he had witnessed without exaggeration.
Ariah revealed her true identity, suddenly went berserk, and people started going crazy. Yuri got controlled and attacked him, and so on…
Hearing all this, Sera began to show a shocked expression as if she couldn’t believe it.
“What? She already went berserk? Why?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Ariah Vesta going berserk is supposed to happen in our third year…”
“…You knew she would go berserk?”
“Of course! I told you I know everything. According to the original storyline, Ariah goes berserk two years from now!”
According to the game’s original story, two years later, in their third year, Ariah uses her powers to dominate the entire academy and becomes a witch capable of overthrowing the Empire.
Players spend those two years building up their abilities and affinities to either stop Ariah or befriend her to prevent her from going berserk in advance.
Of course, the former is incredibly difficult, and even if successful, causes massive damage, so most players choose the latter.
“There was no pattern of her going berserk in the first year, so I planned to solve other issues first and then become friends with her…”
“So why is she acting like that now?”
“How should I know!? Anyway, we need to block the faculty room right now!”
“The faculty room? Why?”
“Why? Well—”
Chik, chijik-.
Hundreds of magical speakers installed within the academy began to tremble.
Beyond the speakers, Ariah, having taken control of the academy’s central area, began her cheerful greeting.
[Ah, everyone. Are you enjoying the Academy Cultural Festival~?]
“…Hey, that.”
“—Cover your ears, right now!”
[Let’s burn a little more, shall we? Here I go! —If morning comes to you.]
Ariah’s singing began to cover the entire academy.
***
“Hmm hum~.”
Finishing her song, Ariah hummed a tune while starting to select the next song to sing. What would be good? Dozens, hundreds of songs she had learned began passing through her mind.
Honestly, it didn’t matter what she sang. Her singing was excellent enough to captivate everyone.
“Hmm, well, onto the next song—”
“That’s enough.”
“…Eh?”
Ariah, about to start her next song, turned around upon noticing the broken magical device. Standing there was the academy’s headmaster, his white beard scruffy.
A five-star sorcerer. One of the two Master-level powerhouses in this academy.
Seeing the headmaster move unscathed, Ariah realized her current abilities still couldn’t control anyone above the Master level.
“Headmaster! Long time no see. I think this is the first time since the entrance ceremony.”
“You seem to be in high spirits.”
“Hahaha, they say laughter brings good fortune. How about you smile too, Headmaster? Honestly, your face looks a bit scary right now.”
“Are you enjoying this situation?”
Hearing the headmaster’s question, Ariah tilted her head without losing her smile. Enjoying it? Of course, she was.
“It’s great. Very enjoyable.”
“—I see.”
Deeming no further need to listen, the headmaster raised his staff and began chanting a spell. Sharp winds prepared to fly towards her.
Even in a situation where a mere gesture could kill her, Ariah smiled nonchalantly.
“You’re going to kill me?”
“I suggest you stop using your abilities immediately.”
“Oh, I don’t think I can do that. These people are my hostages.”
“…Hostages?”
“Yes. If you try to harm or kill me, I’ve already given them orders to commit suicide.”
Hearing Ariah’s words, the headmaster looked at her with a shocked expression, as if asking if she was serious. Ordering them to commit suicide if harmed? Did she tie her life together with everyone in the academy?
Hundreds of cadets exist in the academy. Most of them are children of prestigious noble families. Moreover, among them are members of the imperial family.
If all of them were to die or get injured? At the very least, he wouldn’t be able to preserve his own life.
Not to mention, it was currently the grand cultural festival. The academy was open to the public. Numerous nobles and distinguished guests had come to watch the performances of the academy cadets.
In other words, by revealing her cards, Ariah made sure the headmaster had no choice but to protect her.
“So, will you fix this quickly? I have to sing.”
“…I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
“Eh? If you don’t listen, someone will die?”
“I didn’t mean I refuse. I don’t know how to fix magical devices. That’s the job of the Magical Engineering Department.”
“Magical Engineering Department… Hmm, what was the professor’s name again?”
Hearing this, Ariah sent a telepathic command to summon the Magic Department and Magical Engineering professor under her control. The professor, controlled by Ariah, trudged over, fixed the broken magical device the headmaster had damaged, and disappeared once again.
Ultimately, the headmaster had no choice but to watch as Ariah sang and controlled the people in front of him.
He logically understood that taking a loss now and killing her would minimize casualties, but he lacked the courage to execute it.
However, there was something he could do.
‘Silence.’
Secretly hacking into the magical device without Ariah noticing, the headmaster altered it so the sound wouldn’t escape outside. But knowing she’d notice if the sound stopped, he manipulated it to play her exact voice outside the windows.
It was an incredibly complex piece of magic, causing cold sweat to run down his back, but somehow he managed to pull it off, proving that he hadn’t won the position of academy headmaster by luck.
This was the best the headmaster could do.
‘Someone, please find a way to resolve this situation.’
He needed someone who could think of a solution he couldn’t.
