The morning sun was rising over the main building of the Academy, and students were just beginning to step out onto the streets. The presence of the inquisitors prevented anyone from relaxing, but the new students were eager to learn about their future place of study. Despite the fact that there were still several days left before classes began, the Academy was mostly filled with newcomers, and few paid attention to the girl with luxuriant golden hair sitting on the steps of the assembly hall.
As her melancholy grew, the girl sighed heavily and rolled a small ball of lightning back and forth on the ground.
"Are you going to keep sulking like this?" Another girl with fiery red hair approached the beauty.
"I'm just angry at myself for not being able to do anything," the girl clenched her fist, and the ball of lightning disintegrated into sparks with an annoying crackle.
Passing by, the new students who had just enrolled in the Academy would occasionally cast shy glances at the girls, although they couldn't know them by face, but they couldn't help but notice them.
"Well, yes, you promised to help Kurone, but your father didn't listen. And how can he believe them more than you?"
"I was never close to him; maybe he couldn't forget my mother, but at least I hoped he would forgive me over time. But I was wrong; over these years, I became nothing more than a disposable resource to him, not a daughter."
"Hey, don't talk like that!"
"Oh, come on, I no longer delude myself with the illusion that he will let me rule the country the way I see fit."
"What improper speeches! Is our princess going through a rebellious phase?" Seleria couldn't resist teasing her friend.
"Ugh," Katrina just grimaced.
"When I went against my father... I simply robbed the second most important person in the country, hehe."
"Yes, that sounds just like you."
"Hey! I don't rely on my thieving skills that often!"
"Only when you want to punish some scoundrel."
"Heh, you know me well." Seleria leaned back a little and dreamily looked up at the sky. "Over this year, we have gotten to know each other very well, and it wouldn't have been possible without her intervention."
"Yes, I even know things about you that you've never told me. Apparently, Kurone's power has some unexpected effects."
"Like, for example, that you couldn't fall asleep until Magda read you a new fairy tale?"
"Hmph, says the one who could only sleep cuddling with the tiny golem that her uncle made."
"Ha-ha," a slight smile crossed the fiery sorceress's face. "At first, it bothered me where I knew so much about you and everyone else. But now, at least everything fell into place."
"Don't you hold any grudges against them for not telling you?"
"Well, I was a bit angry at first that they didn't tell me anything, but if you think about it," Seleria leaned forward suddenly and hugged Katrina tightly, "if they had told me from the very beginning, I would have been even more suspicious of this self-absorbed, arrogant princess from the Midrealm. Besides, I would have blamed her for spoiling the Inquisition."
"Oh-ho, isn't this useless tramp being too audacious, with nothing but baubles on her mind and behaving so vulgarly," the sorceress didn't lose her composure and also hugged her friend.
"Well, now that we've discovered each other's darkest secrets, we can forgive them," the girls released their embrace and sat closer to each other, leaning on each other's shoulders.
"I hope everything works out for him."
"Well, we're talking about Krito, even if he has no plan, he won't disappear. Although it would have been much easier for him with the things he returned to me."
"What was it?"
"Just the cloak of the Assassin's Guild and their weapons. With that, he could easily slip through the gates of Belenor."
"But if someone noticed him, they could accuse you. After all, the assassins are subservient to the royal family of Leran."
"Then I would simply go underground, and let them try to prove that my father was in the know."
"Heh, I'm sure you would do just that..." Katrina paused for a moment. "And you know, it might not be such a bad idea."
"Hmm?"
"If everything works out for Krito, he won't be able to contact us without causing us trouble. But of course, if the Inquisition knows where to find us. If I can't convince my father anyway, it would be better to completely sever ties with him and act not entirely officially."
"Your idea is starting to grow on me."
While the girls were conversing, commotion broke out on the alley.
"Something is happening there."
At first, the Inquisitors quartered in tents near the training field rushed to the road leading to the central square. Then, first-year students, curious about the commotion, joined to see what was going on.
"I don't like any of this. Let's go and have a look," Seleria also rushed towards the entrance to the Academy's territory.
Along the path towards the main building, a solitary girl walked slowly. The rising sun illuminated her unattractive appearance: a dirty gray dress, bare feet worn from a long journey, and bruises on her hands from heavy shackles. The girl walked, tilting her head forward, her hair covering her face, but that didn't prevent her friends from recognizing her.
"Kurone!"
Katrina pushed aside the gawking crowd and rushed to the wounded girl.
"What have they done?" The princess turned to Seleria. "Quick, fetch healers."
Katrina quickly examined the wounds; they were quite serious and not received in combat. The girl had been tortured, but she didn't move, not even lifting her head when the sorceress tried to treat her wounds.
"Step away from her," Alfred emerged from the crowd accompanied by his faithful Inquisitors, "you better not touch her right now."
"Oh, really?" The princess unleashed a bolt of lightning before the group of temple knights. "Just come closer, and I'll fry you quickly. Is that how you keep your promises?"
"You don't understand, it's better not to approach her now. I received a message from Belenor; she's not here by accident." Alfred and his warriors held their weapons ready.
"What nonsense are you talking? Do you think I'll let you take her away? I'd rather kill you and all your lackeys than let you torment her again."
"Heh-heh, why are you keeping your distance, Inquisitor?"
Kurone paid no attention to Katrina; she smoothly passed by her and approached the group of Inquisitors.
"Are you afraid of me now? You used to be so brave," the girl threw her head back; her eyes were blood-red, "come on, try to capture the cursed witch again. That's what you bragged about to your daddy, right?"
"Cough."
"What is this?"
From the Inquisition's camp to the south of the alley came screams foreboding nothing good.
"What's happening over there?!" Alfred tried to see what was going on in the camp, but behind the tents, only shadows darting in the flames were visible.
"I'm afraid your henchmen have their own problems now," Kurone pointed to something black that flew from the direction of the camp and fell at the wounded sorceress's feet. She disdainfully kicked the strange object: "Am I right?"
The girl kicked what had flown from the camp, which turned out to be the charred head of one of the Inquisitors.
"Monster!" One of the temple knights quickly conjured a fire arrow and aimed it at the girl.
The spell shattered against an invisible barrier, never reaching its target.
"I'm just returning a little debt to you," Kurone snapped her fingers, and a magical circle appeared before the Inquisitors: "Kill them all."
The black blade pierced the mage who attacked the sorceress, and following it, huge black armor emerged from the circle. The armor stood slightly over two meters tall, and there were no signs of anyone controlling it from within.
"Golems, so that's how she escaped," Alfred waved his hand, and the Inquisitors stepped back, keeping their distance from the living armors. "For your information, I know how to deal with them."
The mage thrust his staff forward, gathering powerful flames at its tip. He initially directed a fiery whirlwind towards the armor, but the magic didn't reach its target. The flames weakened, dispersing around the armors, only heating them up but leaving them unharmed. Then, the Inquisitor quickly closed the distance and struck the iron breastplate with the tip of his staff. The flames reluctantly deformed the molten metal, bursting out from the other side of the armor.
"Hah, you thought you could scare me with this trifle," though the mage pretended to be brave, he was breathing heavily, indicating that he had expended a lot of energy on that attack.
"Bravo, bravo. Just as expected from those who created them... Then let's continue," the girl snapped her fingers again, and even more magical circles appeared around the alley. "The fun is just beginning, how long can you hold on?"
From each circle, more armors began to emerge. Some of them were more than four meters tall, some had blades instead of hands, but what stunned everyone was their sheer number. In a matter of minutes, the entire Academy grounds were filled with living armors, numbering no fewer than five hundred.
"How is this possible?" Alfred nervously stepped back. "Even handling a dozen of them is difficult... and you brought them all here."
"Oh yes, I just wanted to have a liiittle reunion with you," the girl smirked, and the first golems rushed into battle.
First, they attacked the Inquisitors and temple knights surrounding Alfred. They didn't touch the mage himself but ruthlessly tore apart his retinue. Some of the golems surrounded the alley, cutting off any retreat and leaving only the path to the Academy.
"Kurone, stop!" Katrina, who stood nearby, grabbed the dark sorceress. "Please, stop. I'll help you."
"You've already helped me," Kurone's voice was low, unlike before. "Now I'll take care of myself."
The girl pushed the princess with inhuman force, and Katrina flew several meters, crashing into the crowd of students who were retreating from the army of golems.
"I just want all of you to get what you deserve."