Clyde collapsed, all of his power spent.
Ermes looked down at him, then glanced at his own right hand.
"............"
Still writhing there was the bat monster he had torn away from Clyde moments ago.
Having replicated Clyde's magic, Ermes could now faintly perceive what lay in his heart — albeit hazily.
What the bat monster transmitted was neither resentment nor anything of the sort — only unwavering loyalty to Clyde and genuine, heartfelt concern.
"...I'm sorry."
Having fully understood that, Ermes released his right hand and immediately incinerated the bat monster with Enhanced universal magic. His apology accompanied the flames, and he made sure to use his maximum firepower so that it would at least not suffer.
It had been implanted, and though it was the very thing that had tormented Ermes and his companions the most, its actions had been an unmistakable outpouring of loyalty.
Having understood the nature of its heart, Ermes felt he ought to pay it a certain measure of respect.
...As always, it was deeply ironic that he invariably ended up feeling more goodwill toward a monster he should have been fighting than toward any human.
With those thoughts, Ermes turned back toward Clyde.
Clyde still wore the same vacant expression, but his consciousness must have been gradually returning. The light slowly came back to his eyes, his vision began to focus —
And then, he saw it.
—The accusatory gazes of every student in the academy, aimed straight at him.
"Hk—!"
Ermes had exhausted his stock of monsters, and the few that remained had already been annihilated by Katia and the others. At the same time, in perfect synchronization, the black wall that had engulfed the academy vanished as well, and every visible threat was gone.
With that, it was only natural that the students' fury would turn toward Clyde — the clear target of their terror standing right before them. Their reactions still carried a great deal of fear toward Clyde, who had become an incomprehensible monster... but even so, no small amount of ill will directed at him pierced him straight through.
For him, who had craved the admiration of others more than anyone else, it was unbearable.
"W-What... What is this, stop, stop it, don't look at me like that...!"
He covered his face with his hands as if trying to block the stares, still sitting on the ground where he had fallen, and scrambled backward.
Naturally, his resistance accomplished nothing — if anything, it only intensified the severity of the gazes fixed upon him.
As if realizing this, Clyde raised his face once more — his expression desperate as he opened his mouth.
"I-I couldn't help it! It wasn't just me — I was deceived by that man! Right, the bats' rebellion must have been his doing too! I was just a victim who got caught up in it all! I never intended for things to go this far, I was just...!"
But even Clyde had done something so terrible that even he couldn't maintain his self-defense halfway through. The stares around him intensified further. Streaming sweat like a waterfall, Clyde desperately let his gaze wander — and then his eyes locked onto one girl.
"S-Sara!"
He called her name, clinging to that last hope, and without giving any consideration to how she might react, he rambled on.
"You understand, don't you, Sara? I'm the victim here! Come on — you're kind-hearted, surely you'll forgive poor, pitiful me, who was used by that evil man!"
...That, too, was almost a perfect recreation of the moment just before Aster's ruin, when he had desperately clung to her one final time.
But she was different from the unchanged Aster — and different from Clyde.
Back then, she had been frightened. She had relied on Katia.
—Not anymore. Her gaze was steady and direct, and she approached Clyde under her own strength, firmly and unwaveringly.
She spoke.
"...Yes. —If you had properly fulfilled your duty."
Her first words of affirmation made his eyes light up with hope, but what followed cast a shadow over his face.
Sara said to him:
"What you have done cannot be forgiven."
"!"
"You tried to trample over something precious to me... something precious to everyone here. That cannot be forgiven. ...If I were to forgive you, then something far greater would overflow and be lost from this place that matters to me. Right now, this is all I can do."
Calmly, unyieldingly... after driving home the reason she could not forgive, she—
"...But I... I truly want to give you forgiveness. Salvation."
She continued, drawing the line between ideal and reality as it stood for her now.
"So I want you to atone."
"!"
"No—atone"
"please."
"...It may be arrogant of me, but if you want my forgiveness, this is absolute. You will do it in the proper form, in a way that everyone can accept, through official and legitimate means—perform your penance. Whatever the cost, however long it takes."
"Ah... aah..."
Sarah smiled beautifully one last time, facing Clyde as he let out a groan of despair.
"...Once that is done, I will forgive you. And more than that, I promise that within the limits of my ability, I will protect you from anyone who would degrade you.
—So please, atone."
It was a Curse in the name of mercy.
As long as they sought her out... no—even without being sought, she would hurl any sinner within reach into purgatory. She would allow no escape, no evading responsibility. And for those she wished to save above all else, she would impose hardship and suffering if necessary.
Under normal circumstances, anyone who had committed such wrongs would be written off. Abandoned, discarded.
But she would not do that. She could not.
It was then that Clyde truly tasted the full weight of that terror—the terror of being unable to be abandoned.
The hell about to begin, the one called "atonement"—she was the one who would most eagerly champion it, all for the sake of salvation.
"N-no, I don't want to...!"
"It's all right. If you get hurt along the way while atoning..."
I'll Heal You
If you want to run away,
I'll hold
you
in place.
...Fortunately, my magic is perfectly suited for that."
"No! Noooooo!"
He wanted to escape from his sins. He wanted to ignore everything inconvenient. And on top of that, he wanted to selfishly claim only the sweetest outcomes for himself alone.
Only for Clyde, who had thought that way—she must have seemed like an envoy of hell right now.
"Ahhhhhh!"
Clyde wept and screamed, trying to flee.
But of course, that was not to be allowed. He was effortlessly trapped within the barrier Sara had deployed. The sound of pounding against the barrier, his screams—all were cut off. Nothing could be heard anymore.
And so.
The sinner who had brought the academy to ruin was—rightly judged by the hands of the saint.
◆
"...Ah, that didn't work, huh."
One man watched over the academy's proceedings from a faraway place, using scrying magic.
He was the same man who had been deploying the black barrier until just moments ago. To ensure he wouldn't be tracked even in the worst case, he had retreated to the farthest distance at which the barrier could still be maintained, then dispelled it, and using an application of "his magic," he had perfectly erased even the traces of magic power before relocating to a place where he couldn't be found.
From that safe vantage point, he had witnessed the academy's entire outcome.
"Honestly, I thought his magic would have worked out fine. The monster business was a fortunate miscalculation too, but..."
Star Corolla
"'Aster,' was it? That was unexpected. Even if it was just a fragment, I suppose that's what you'd expect from the second magic."
So saying, he deactivated the far-seeing magic.
…There was no need to deal with Clyde. The man hadn't provided any significant information, and he'd gone to great lengths using his magic to ensure his identity couldn't be discerned. The other side probably couldn't even remember his face by now.
This wasn't mercy. — Deep down, he simply didn't care.
The magical tool had originally been loaned out with the intention of it being disposable. Going out of his way to retrieve it would only increase the risk. Therefore, he had no intention of returning to that location.
"The boss really makes unreasonable demands. 'All by myself, and"
"as much as possible,"
"without using"
"magic,"
"'give the academy a devastating blow,' he says. At least there happened to be someone easy to work with, but if there hadn't been, I'd have needed even more magical tools. …Seriously, our resources aren't infinite, you know."
Even as he grumbled, there was no malice toward his target in his voice. If anything, his tone carried a hint of fondness as he continued what was probably just a habitual monologue.
…In any case, the objective had been achieved. Zero casualties was certainly unexpected, but the facilities were another matter entirely. Combined with the sheer threat of the incident itself, the academy would likely be unable to function as an educational institution for quite some time.
With that realization, the man turned his gaze toward the academy once more.
…And then, he remembered. The reason for attacking this academy. The content of the "change" that, according to the report, had been coming over the academy.
"'…By staging an uprising, the oppressed class would drive home the realization that not everything is decided by one's magic at birth. And then, by introducing new values, the entire academy would be revitalized.' Haha, I see — "
Having thoroughly confirmed both the effects and the usefulness of this approach,
the man — smiled, and spoke.
"'— Are you stupid or what?'"
His voice was immeasurably heavier and darker than before — unmistakably, the color of his true feelings.
"They'd never change, those people. Well—
If they did change,
that would be
a real problem.
They're idiots — utterly hopeless — but their power has to keep growing bloated and useless."
Trying to fix them would be less promising than teaching apes to speak. There was no way to describe it but as the most futile effort imaginable.
Yes — people like Clyde were truly the highest form of "nobility" in his eyes. He valued that wholeheartedly, and it was the very crux of his plan.
"Don't change. Remain stagnant. Stay stupid. Keep raising your noble banner, gazing up at its illusory radiance like the fools you are, wearing those disgusting expressions."
The man continued. Peeling back the layers of his nonchalant demeanor to reveal a sliver of the true feelings beneath, he spoke.
"Otherwise—
you won't
properly
be destroyed
for me,
will you?"
The heaviest words he had spoken yet. Seeming to recognize the exhilaration in his own voice, the man took a deep breath and returned to his usual tone.
"...Well, I've confirmed what I came to see. No point lingering any longer."
He lifted his gaze, his voice returning to normal, and spoke as though driving a point home.
"Especially — that silver-haired boy. Terrifying. He's probably the center of the academy's fall, and I'd heard his abilities were absurd, but they were about three times more absurd than I'd imagined. Even I'd have a hard time in a fight... well, I could probably just barely win, I suppose."
Something the boss needs to hear about too," he murmured, turning on his heel.
"Mission's done. Time to withdraw. Fighting that kid would be a pain—"
"That's quite the compliment."
— He froze.
"......Seriously?"
He'd gone to elaborate lengths to make sure he wouldn't be tracked, and had been observing from a location that should have been impossible to detect.
Yet somehow, he was there. The silver-haired boy who had unquestionably been at the academy just moments ago—Aster—was standing behind him in a full combat-ready stance.
...It looked like finishing his mission in one piece was going to require one more bit of work.
The man broke into a cold sweat as his mind raced, scrambling to figure out his next move.
Next time—the story of the mastermind. It won't be a long arc.
I hope you'll enjoy the remaining two chapters and the bridge into arc three!