A monster appeared.
Upon hearing the report, the attendees rushed outside the venue.
It was found almost immediately. In a corner of the venue's garden, amid a swath of toppled trees, a massive hawk-type monster was rampaging.
Its total length was nearly three times the height of a man. Its head was visible even from within the forest.
"It's a Wyvern…! That's a quasi-dragon species, isn't it? Why would a monster of that caliber be here…!?"
"What on earth were the guards doing!?"
The answer to the first question was unclear, but the answer to the second was obvious.
"Ugh…"
"W-Why…"
The Wyvern soared about, spewing wind breath and wreaking havoc. At its feet, countless guards lay collapsed on the ground.
They had probably been unable to respond in time to the sudden, unforeseen appearance of the monster.
Faced with this unexpected devastation, the nobles split into those who panicked and those who tried to protect themselves.
But if you were a noble, there was one thing you should do above all else.
"El!"
"Yes."
Subjugation of the monster.
Katia and Ermes moved to rush out past the other nobles, but someone was even faster.
"Do not fear, noble ones!!"
Second Prince Aster, with the quickest timing of all—
as if he had already understood this development—
at exactly that moment—
leapt toward the monster.
Without hesitation, Aster first called out to the young girl running beside him.
"Sara, first use your magic on the guards!"
"…Yes!"
Sara responded and headed straight for the rows of fallen guards. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and began her chant.
"[Angel's hands
correct the heavens;
upon the blessing of man, a crown of flowers;
that which fills the earth is deep compassion]
Bloodline Magic…'
Star Corolla
'!"
Instantly, a deep blue light flooded the surroundings.
The moment each mote of light was absorbed into the guards' bodies—
"This… my wounds…"
"I-I can move! It's healing light!"
The soldiers who had been lying on the ground rose one after another, startled by their sudden full recovery.
"P-Please… evacuate…"
"Next! Go stop that thing!"
"Y-Yes…"
Sara called for the soldiers to retreat, while Aster shouted orders from the opposite direction.
However, from what had just been witnessed, her Bloodline Magic was clearly healing. So what did he mean by "stop it"—
That question was answered in the very next instant.
"——[The wish at the end reaches the divine firmament; the fervent thought falls upon the shadow of all creation;
what is built is a world of purity]"
Everyone who heard it without knowing her was stunned, and even Ermes's eyes widened ever so slightly.
What Sara chanted was unmistakably a different incantation from before. What that meant—
"Bloodline Magic…'
Spirit Veil
'…!"
A second Bloodline Magic.
Before the Wyvern, which had been circling and about to pounce on Aster, a lattice of light appeared.
Like a cage, it blocked the creature's path. The Wyvern irritatedly rammed into it, but it didn't budge an inch.
"Gyiiiaaaa!!"
In a rage, the Wyvern roared and spewed its wind breath. But even that was effortlessly scattered by the cage of light without any effect.
That level of defensive power—it was undoubtedly Bloodline Magic.
There was no sign she was using any special-effect magic like Ermes did. If so, there was only one conclusion.
"…Impressive.'Dual Aptitude', is it?"
Dual Aptitude meant, quite literally, a person who possessed aptitude for two different Bloodline Magics.
Bloodline Magic was, in principle, limited to one per person. Even in families with multiple hereditary magics, only one was chosen as one's own Bloodline Magic at birth.
The exception to that principle was Dual Aptitude. The polar opposite of Ermes, who had Incompatibility—a prodigy appearing perhaps once every several generations.
Indeed, she certainly possessed unparalleled magical talent. That much was beyond doubt.
And—
"Well done, Sara. Leave the rest to me."
Aster said with satisfaction, then took a breath before the Wyvern, which was desperately trying to break through the'Spirit Veil'.
"Oh, we get to see His Highness Aster's magic!"
"What a magnificent day! I must etch this into my memory!"
The nobles burst into excited chatter. As if responding to them, Aster began his chant in a flowing voice.
"[Radiant Judgment Heaven, Final Star Judgment; my ring of flame draws the boundary of good and evil;
with seven lights, summon the celestial sphere]
Bloodline Magic——'
Fire Heaven Judgment
'!"
The incarnation of the sun manifested.
The heat was so intense that merely looking at it felt like being burned. A divine inferno that seemed to melt even the surrounding air into shimmering haze.
At its center stood a man of striking beauty, his entire body blazing in the same crimson hue as his eyes, radiating with a brilliant, terrifying light.
"Foolish monster—know that your luck has run out appearing before me."
The other day, when Ermes had defeated the Tortoise-shell Dragon, he had used a technique that compressed flame into a palm-sized inferno, a magic known as'
Apocryphal: Breath of the Flame Dragon
'—noted for its devastating power through compression.
The heat enveloping Aster's entire body surpassed even that. That alone should convey just how terrifying it was.
Sensing the clear danger, the Wyvern immediately gave up destroying the magic and tried to flee.
"Too slow."
Aster did not permit it. With a casual gesture, he released a portion of the flame enveloping his body.
The divine fire tore through the'Spirit Veil'that the Wyvern had struggled against so, and continued on with its momentum straight toward the creature.
"Gyiiiaaaaaaaa!!"
With a death scream, the Wyvern was slammed into the ground.
That scene expressed the conclusion with utter eloquence, and the surrounding nobles erupted in ecstasy.
"Amazing! A Wyvern-class monster taken down in a single blow!"
"That is His Highness's'Fire Heaven Judgment'! Undeniably the greatest magic of the current age!"
"As expected—His Highness Aster is the true hero! He is the one fit to lead this nation!"
As if answering their fervor, Aster pulled Sara into his embrace and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"You saw it, didn't you! As long as I exist, monsters will never be allowed to run rampant in this kingdom! And as the future wife who will support my reign—together with Lady Sara von Hartmann, who possesses extraordinary magical talent and two Bloodline Magics—I hereby announce our engagement!!"
"Indeed, a mage with Dual Aptitude would be a fitting match for His Highness Aster!"
"Absolutely—both magics were truly magnificent! Like a saint from the fairy tales, with this the kingdom is surely safe!"
"Long live the hero, His Highness Aster! Long live Saint Sara!"
……Everything was riddled with wrongs.
He was altering facts to suit his own convenience. What he spoke sounded like a terribly written heroic epic, with anything inconvenient to Aster at the center being erased, interpretations twisted, and that distorted version screamed aloud as truth.
That Katia had bullied Sara, that her powers were fake—anyone who observed her past actions would know these claims to be virtually impossible.
Moreover, the monster's appearance was almost certainly orchestrated. The timing was far too perfect. She had heard there existed a Bloodline Magic that could control monsters—so that was surely what had been used.
Just off the top of one's head, the suspicious points were already countless.
And yet—
it all
somehow passed.
Aster harbored not the slightest doubt about himself.
Worse still, the surrounding nobles praised this version of Aster without reservation.
They even looked at Aster as though he were a savior who had awoken them from their own delusions.
Because Aster possessed powerful magic.
In this country, magic was everything. One's fate was determined by the Bloodline Magic one was born with.
Therefore, the words of Aster—
who possessed powerful Bloodline Magic—
became truth.
This was the Kingdom of Yustia—a country where everything was decided by magic.
And the very embodiment of that contradiction was none other than Second Prince Aster, the same man who had once decided Ermes's exile.
How utterly…
laughable.
"Well then, you understand now, don't you, Katia! No matter how much you struggle—!?"
Flushed with the cheers of the crowd, Aster turned around with a smug grin, ready to unleash his words upon Katia—but they stopped in his throat.
Nothing had been done to him. Nothing had been said.
The moment he looked at Katia, he naturally saw the figure standing beside her.
Ermes—who pierced Aster with a gaze of absolute zero, radiating a cold pressure so intense it could freeze the soul of anyone who met it.
The boy called Ermes considered himself largely indifferent to matters beyond magic.
But… no—perhaps it was precisely because of that.
For this prince—for the first time in his life, he felt genuine, heartfelt loathing and disgust.
"W-What business do you have, you servant, daring to look at me with those eyes—do you have any idea what you're provoking!?"
Ermes's overwhelming aura silenced Aster's tongue and made him step back—a clearly fearful reaction that he tried to mask by speaking down with forced bravado.
Ermes continued to glare at the blustering prince with the same cold, unyielding gaze.