I had a feeling, somehow, that things would turn out this way.
I think, in a way, I'd sensed it early on. His ideology, and the distortion that came with it—those things he'd been unconsciously turning a blind eye to.
Because I was the very first person to hear that idea: "Even magic born from evil intentions can be used for good."
I've always had good instincts. I'd had a vague sense that if that contradiction were to strike him in the worst possible way—that boy who seemed to carry such a solid front, yet had those unnaturally fragile spots—he might end up spiraling somewhere dangerous.
...Well. I hadn't expected things to go this far, though.
But,
that's why.
If it ever came to that, I knew I'd have to do something about it.
Because no matter how idealistic, how riddled with contradictions, or even flat-out wrong—
—I was certain I was the one who'd been saved by it the most.
◆
"Consider this a recruitment. Come join us, Ermes."
Laplace's voice rang out before the dazed Ermes.
"A r-recruit...ment...?"
"Yeah. Just so we're clear—you don't get a choice. Refuse, and I'll just kill you. And besides—"
Having casually pronounced the matter settled, Laplace crouched down.
"You've got the talent for it. After all—"
He said with a smile.
"——You were able to use it, right?"
"——My magic."
"Magic born of malice, magic that can only be wielded through malice — I wielded it with flawless precision and devastating force."
"!"
"Hey — how did it feel? Gazing into the very bottom of this country, then unleashing that magic. Rejecting and denying every repulsive thing before your eyes, thoroughly eradicating it all — the feeling in that instant...
——
Utterly
,
felt amazing, didn't it
?"
He begins tearing it all apart.
His contradictions — everything he had kept averting his eyes from.
Relentlessly prying them open, thrusting them right before his eyes. Setting out to demolish every last shred of his worldview.
"I take it you simply 'don't know.'
……But you must have seen it all along, even if you kept looking away. If you're involved with this country, in one way or another, you must have witnessed the kingdom's hopeless side countless times."
He remembers.
The prince — arrogant, his every line of thinking in tatters. The fools who blindly propped him up, idolizing nothing but his magic and his station.
People in weak positions, people with weak magic. The adults at the academy who felt not the slightest discomfort in treating them as subhuman.
People who had grown entirely comfortable in their weakness. People who used their strength to excuse everything, whose arrogance had reached its zenith.
The powerless, forced to crawl in the dirt. The powerful, chasing nothing but empty vanity.
……The entire structure of this country.
"Come on, admit it. You can create magic from negative emotions, and magic born from such feelings should be wielded while embracing those very emotions.
And that feeling — wanting to destroy it all — you have it too. You're on our side. If anything... your true feelings lean even more that way. Because—
And then, a brief pause.
"—you were at your strongest when you used that magic just now.
That's what it all means. ...If you truly intend to treat magic as something sacred, you can't just ignore that one point, can you?"
"—!"
Round and round.
His brain spun. He scrambled to gather the mangled pieces of his thoughts, trying to construct a counterargument, but nothing came together.
Because... the man in front of him was right. After everything he'd been through, he now understood that what this man was saying was, without exception, true.
"So come. If you can't understand it, if you can't empathize with it — I'll teach you malice until you can.
You've probably got the makings of a villain. You're the type who can cut away everything you don't need without much hesitation, right? Then you belong on our side."
His very nature, pinned down with surgical precision. As Ermes felt himself suffocating even further... Laplace delivered the finishing blow.
"And on top of that — if you're worried about your companions right now... let me offer you the finest excuse you'll ever need."
With the widest smile he'd shown yet, he declared:
"—
If you come with me,
,
everyone but you
I won't kill
I'll let go
Fine.
"
"—!"
"I'm not lying. I'm pretty sure you understand that I don't lie to people I've acknowledged.
And besides... honestly, the moment I lured you over here, the Third Princess's faction was already finished. You've fallen so far there's no need to even kill you here.
So, look—if your friends matter to you, then take it."
...An extraordinary excuse, to be sure.
If Katia and the others were precious to him. If he didn't want to die here.
Ermes had no choice but to nod and go to Laplace and the others.
He shouldn't entertain naive fantasies about just nodding on the surface and being let go...
If Ermes agreed here, Laplace would do as he declared. He would show Ermes this country's corruption again and again—corruption so vile that even one glimpse had filled him with uncontrollable revulsion—and try to change his mind.
And—
He would probably
,
become
tainted
by it.
Having had his emotions destroyed once as a child, then attempted to rebuild them from scratch—in other words, someone whose emotional development had only reached the level of a five-year-old at best—he would likely be all too susceptible to being tainted by such ideologies.
Having gone through this experience in the hidden sanctuary, he had come to understand this about himself.
(...But)
But even so, what was he supposed to do?
The gap in military strength between them was overwhelming—there were no means of resistance left, and Ermes was left with only two options: accept the proposal, or be slaughtered on the spot.
...Above all else.
It was also true that there was a part of himself that couldn't outright say he rejected Laplace's proposal.
(...Then, already)
It couldn't be helped.
If there was no other path, then it couldn't be helped.
It was for the sake of saving his companions, so it couldn't be helped.
And—because he himself was helplessly drawn to that path, it couldn't be helped.
He took one step toward Laplace and the others.
"El—!"
"Ermes...!"
Katya and Sarah cry out in anguish, but there was nothing they could do.
Katya had been taken down by Yurugen, and Sarah by Chrono—neither could so much as move.
Besides... even if they could move, as long as Ermes himself wished to go over there, there was no way to stop him. After all, stopping the current Ermes by force would have been impossible even for Lucius.
Even if he tried, Ermes would have brushed that hand away. ...For no other reason than to protect them.
And so, not a single person could stop Ermes.
Finally, the moment Ermes was about to take that fatal step to reach the other side—
"—Yah"
Right up until the last moment, having erased their presence.
Two girls who had vanished from the scene before anyone noticed. One of them—a girl who had only made it seem like she was gone, hiding in wait all along.
Nina von Frodoit appeared suddenly before Ermes.
"—Eh?"
"You can't do that, El-kun."
The completely unexpected arrival caught everyone off guard.
Nina was as nonchalant as ever—yet there was something resolute in her eyes.
"You can't go over there. Your feelings... no, your feelings don't matter. Your ideals, your thoughts, the current situation—none of it matters."
She murmured quietly, then closed the distance with a graceful movement.
"—It's just that... I don't want you to become that. So I'll be selfish, forceful, and do whatever I please. With no ideology, no principles—just as a girl who's in love with you."
Seizing the instant Ermes was caught off guard, she slipped inside his guard, threw her arms around him, and laced both hands behind his neck—then, just like that—
"...I'm going to stop you by force."
—She pressed her own lips against Ermes's.
'……'
Time stood still.
Nearly everyone's minds went blank, unable to grasp what had just happened.
Only Nina and... Ermes understood what it meant.
"
Don't move, okay.
"
Nina whispered from point-blank range, her lips having just pulled away from his.
"Wait, you actually can't move? ...It's properly bound. Thank goodness."
On a certain day, inside a certain classroom — those same words she once whispered, he repeated them as though tracing their shape.
And Ermes's condition, too. The same as that day... no, worse than that day.
Perfectly, completely, utterly — he had been enthralled by her.
"'Even magic born from wicked thoughts can be used for good.' ...No matter what you think right now, I was saved by those words, and by your actions in believing them."
Even if someone tried to forcibly stop Ermes now, he himself would resist — to protect them.
"So this time, it's my turn to show you."
So... she sealed even his resistance along with it. By using the one method she had never before employed — unleashing her complete enchantment upon Ermes.
Only she — Ermes's "natural enemy" — could stop him now.
"See? Even a terrible spell like my—
Fairy Dream Palace—
—can be put to wonderful use. Like stopping you when you've strayed off the path.
...So believe me. The feelings you believed in — they weren't wrong."
Those whispered words found their way somewhere deep into the tangled wreck of Ermes's heart.
And there, the enchantment fully encircled Ermes. Unable to resist in the slightest, he was pulled into Nina's embrace.
And then.
"Can't exactly look the other way now."
Simultaneously — impact. Kicked flying by Laplace, he was blown away from the spot along with Nina.
"We're to blame for missing it, sure, but you really shouldn't have done that, Frödheit's little sister. If you'd gotten him to betray them on his own, there was actually a real chance we could've turned him, but since it's come to this, there's nothing left to do but crush them all... but anyway."
With a look of bored annoyance on his face, Laplace spoke — standing before Nina, who was shielding Ermes with her body.
"I'll give you credit for keeping your cards close to your chest, but seriously, what the hell are you thinking? You could've at least survived if you just let it slide, but to actually stop them... Are you suicidal? Or what — do you have some kind of play here?"
A fair point. Hearing that, Nina—
"Well, yeah, honestly I was only thinking about stopping El, and beyond that I've got zero plan. My whole strategy was just to do whatever it takes to at least get El out of here, y'know~"
She broke into a cold sweat — but flashed a fearless grin.
"I figured as much... until just now."
"!"
A shift in presence. Sensing the sudden change in atmosphere, Laplace furrowed his brows—
"Mr. Laplace. You probably don't know this, but I—"
Nina held Ermes close, as if shielding him. Drawing on every ounce of bravado she could muster, and... one certainty, she wove her words.
"—when it comes to magic power sensing alone, I'm better than El."
The instant those words left her lips—
From far, far away — the bearer of a tremendous amount of magic power, which only Nina had barely been able to sense until just moments ago — was hurtling toward them at tremendous speed.
A deafening roar engulfed the Dungeon.
Next time, finally. Stay tuned!