Luna and Noah von Trinity.
Two mythical beings testing their mettle. Suddenly, a massive burst of magical power erupted from within the cavity where the battle took place.
The next thing you know, you hear a wild animal cry.
It was enough to make anyone realize that this was a dangerous situation.
With a loud bang, the ice wall that Duff had been melting shattered under the force of physics.
Dozens of layers of magic surrounded it, but none of it mattered to the being that had emerged from within.
The Grand Duke, Paimon, had finally awakened.
One of the continent's worst psychopathic demons, responsible for the Night of Slaughter and reducing countless others to ashes.
His resurrection was enough to send Luna into a rage.
Luna gritted her teeth and said.
"In the end, you screwed up, ...Noah. You allowed the Archduke to be resurrected. You don't care about the salvation of mankind, do you? …Of course, that's why you're on the side of the stupid Emperor."
Luna raised her sword.
A sword that was transparent in the moonlight. But it would be too weak to reach the enemy.
There was no guarantee of victory in this fight, Luna thought to herself. Demon Paimon and a night of bloodshed. The countless people who had been killed on that full moon.
-Luna, promise this Master one thing: You must never… fight the Great Devouring Demons. Do you understand?
-Why?
Luna recalled the conversation she'd had with her deceased mentor as a child. The words raced through her mind.
The power of the demon before her eyes, the cruel visions it conjured, seemed to eat away at her nerves. This is not good.
She tried to shake off the memories, but it wasn't easy.
-Don't you see why my arm is like this? Besides… I'm going to die soon because of the Archduke's curse. So you should avoid it from the start, for there will come a time when you will realize that giving up is also courageous.
'I'm sorry.'
Luna realized she couldn't do as she was told.
If she walked away from this now?
Countless others would die again.
A night of slaughter.
The number of people killed that day had reached tens of thousands.
The memories of that night lay folded up in a drawer somewhere in Luna's childhood.
However, she tried not to bring it up again.
To her, the memory was like a sin, and one full moon offered redemption. At the same time, the light of another full moon brought disaster.
But when it comes down to it, he doesn't hesitate.
It must be killed. Archduke Paimon.
The [Moonlight Sword] glows.
The first and second eclipses sliced through the air, creating a small ripple.
It bathed in a white light, then exploded, spreading out and converging into a single point. It was like watching a dragonfly drawn to the light.
Noah smiled a bloodthirsty smile.
'I see you didn't mean it when you fought me, little one.'
Luna had known she was weakened from the start and had adjusted her strength. She'd had a hunch, but she hadn't realized it.
Her master had shaped her into a monster beyond her wildest dreams.
Of course, there's no denying that her talent played a role in this.
…Of course, not many people know about Luna's secret.
But Noah had no choice but to do this.
It's not about siding with the Emperor.
That energy stone was bound to run amok sooner or later.
'I've tried many times to break that piece of junk.'
But the Great Supply of Demon Spirit Stones is not something that can be easily broken. It was a crystal of sin, oozing with nothing but a thick layer of malice.
There was only one way to break it.
To kill the demon when it manifests.
To this end, Noah has been reserving her strength and waiting for the Devil to resurrect. She didn't expect it to happen so quickly, but there's nothing you can do about it.
If you're already in this situation, you need to think of a solution.
'Luna… Now that I've seen what this kid can do, I'll have to play my hand.'
The Frost Witch began to emit a blast of magic that matched my tinnitus.
Luna cowered back, seemingly shocked by the concentration of her power.
Luna used a sword technique that amplified the power of her body and her sword, the first of the [Moonlight Sword] she unleashed.
The second manifestation was [Full Moon]. It was most effective when the full moon was approaching.
It was an alien sword technique that tore apart space itself and attacked the enemy.
Boom…!
(kwadeudeudeudeug…!!)
Noah was pouring in herer magic power just in time for her sword to fly out. A burst of ice magic protected Luna, who was unable to defend herself from the backlash of the attack.
Not only that, but it blocked the enemy's movements.
It was the best support she could offer.
Because of this, Luna's second sword strike flew in one fluid trajectory. It tore through space, fangs bared, ready to devour the dark night and everything under it.
Any other demon or fiend would have been killed in a single blow from the two of them. Indeed, they thought they would.
But then.
[I'm not the only one… who hasn't recovered his body... but my case is different from yours, Noah].
Bang!
With a sickening sneer, Archduke Paimon used his power to forcefully deflect it away. An unconventional sword technique that distorted space, it bounced off and hit the wall.
Luna and Noah's expressions thinned at the same time.
Of all of them, Luna was the one who was shocked.
She had never faced a monster before. The power of Paimon was once again proven.
Noah… I can't read her thoughts, but even though she's weakened, the sword was fired with the help of one of the Four Sages. It's even possible for it to deflect my sword under the full moon…?
Of course, since it was an attack from two mythical beings, it was impossible to deflect all of it. Paimon also thought that one arm was a small price to pay for facing them.
[Well, I should be able to recover from this wound in no time. By the way, Celsus… I don't see any sign of that bug guy, nor Theo, the madman.... Just a disempowered witch and a little girl…. Is that all you have?]
Paimon quirked a brow.
[If so, you will regret…. standing before me. You will die here].
As if to prove his point, he stomped his foot in one massive motion.
Then, the entire museum shattered, and the building crumbled.
Noah and Luna barely managed to clear the debris, but Duff was crushed under it.
Luna yelled.
"Duff!"
"It's okay.... First… We need to kill the Archduke...."
Duff said.
Luna gritted her teeth. She might not be as badly hurt as the tough Duff, but this situation was not good to say the least.
Of course, fighting alongside Noah would help a great deal. It's doubtful that a better hand exists.
But is it enough to defeat the Archduke in front of them?
I don't know.
You'd have to shake your head.
Paimon is number nine.
He was among the top of Solomon's 72 demons.
At best, herself, who had just risen to the position of the Sword Master, and Noah, who had already lost her strength. He was an overly demanding foe for the two of them to deal with.
'But I have no choice but to do it.'
Luna sheathed her sword and stared straight ahead.
"Noah, you'll hear about this later."
"Whoa. You could get hurt, kid, and now's not the time to be distracted."
Noah said cheerfully.
With a snap, she pulled her magic back up.
But Luna knew.
She didn't have that much power anymore.
She'd focused almost all of it on that first shot, and she'd only drawn on it twice. That was as far as her magic would go.
She's not sure how long she'll last.
Moreover, the most dangerous thing is.
[You're weak].
Paimon already knew all of this.
Even on the Night of the Slaughter, he was a demon who gauged his opponents' magic, toying with humans, and tearing them apart.
Unrivaled in his handling of magic.
He is Paimon.
[It's fun to play with you, but I've thought of something more fun….].
With that, Paimon floated into the air and looked down at his surroundings. Flames were already rising among the shattered museum.
The life-draining flames characteristic of demons.
Paimon looked from Sidious Hall to Faburth Hall and back again, then smirked.
[There are a lot of people over there, are they your disciples?]
"…They've gotten pretty rough in my absence. Dirty."
Noah said. Luna quickly scanned the area.
But there were no answers.
What if the Archduke's attack came directly at the dormitories, in this vast open space?
Even if all the professors came out, they wouldn't be able to stop it.
Even the swordsmen and sages themselves couldn't stop him on their own, could they?
The professors are not enough.
At least, not unless other swordsmen and sages intervene. There is virtually no way out of this situation.
With that, Paimon gestured lightly, spreading sparks in all directions.
[Watch, then, and see how weak the humans are, how they cannot stand against us].
Hiss!
Straight, long waves of flame shot from Paimon, curling around him. The flames shot in a straight line toward the dormitory.
"No… no…!"
Luna screamed, but it was no use.
Before she could react and block, Paimon had already closed in on the two of them, swinging his fist wildly.
"keueub!"
Distracted, Luna barely managed to keep her sword upright to block, and Noah used her ice to deflect the attack.
But one thing was certain.
That straight line of flame would burn everyone in the dormitory to nothingness.
It was a scene that was all too familiar to Noah, who had seen the night of the killings firsthand. To Noah, the scene seemed to move very slowly and reminded him of a past life.
Perhaps everyone watching had such a memory.
A scourge of the past. It was only a few years old at most, and each and every one who remembered it knew the fear of the devil.
Noah's heart began to pound frantically.
'I couldn't protect them even then.'
Noah recalled.
The faces of those who had fallen victim to the flames of the past.
Then, she lost her family and friends.
Her personality began to twist, and that's why she chased strength.
She needed to be strong so she wouldn't lose what she had.
But now.
She didn't have anything left to protect.
There was nothing left to protect, only a false strength that would only lead her to hell once more. And the strength she'd been chasing after, in the end, hadn't been enough, hadn't even reached the demon.
Just like now.
"Too late. It's already...."
That was the moment she spoke, as if to declare.
Kwaaaaaaang-! Kwah-!
With two harsh explosions, Luna and Noah's gazes fell away from Paimon. Their eyes then turned to where the sound came from.
Panic flashes across their four pupils.
An impossibly fast sword strike from somewhere, and an arrow from the other direction, both of them straight at Paimon's flames.
It only slightly altered its trajectory, but that was no small feat. It had saved both dormitories from Paimon's attack.
"What the hell happened...."
"Dean. Are you going to give up here again?"
The next voice he heard was that of her student.
The one who had promised an exceptional future. Unusually white hair and lavender eyes. A child with a calm voice who always made himself interesting.
Nox von Reinhafer.
Black sword, looking straight at them. He set Stormbringer back on his feet.
"If you lose your apprentice the way you lost your family, you will truly have nothing left."
Nox didn't even give her a chance to speak.
"I, Nox von Reinhafer, swear by the time-honored traditions of the Black Sword."
Noah's pupils fluttered. She remembered.
The oath to the black sword of House Reinhafer. That it must be kept, that its honor must never be tarnished.
That all who failed to honor it died.
"I am," Nox said, his voice thick, but with a calm fire in it.
"I…"
He spat out the last word as if it were chewed.
"I will kill Paimon on this spot, and you, Dean, may join me."
For some reason, in that moment, Noah felt one thing so clearly for her student, who had been weaker than her for so long. Nox, he would keep his word.
And that she would be saved from her past.
Meanwhile, in that moment. Luna knew.
The arrow that had stopped an enemy attack from a direction other than Nox's a moment ago.
Who had shot it.