Fresia, who had survived the back alleys, had never formally learned magic.
Her only education had come from idly flipping through magical books in the academy's library after recently accepting a teaching position there. If Fresia had any magical mentor, it was the twinkling stars in the night sky.
Thus, Fresia followed no known magical system; she simply wished. Her talent allowed her to manifest magic solely by wishing upon the stars.
No mage who witnessed her magic would dare try to imitate it—not because they couldn't, but because they wouldn't. Her magic defied structure, with no spells, circles, or discernible mana patterns.
Fresia merely wished.
Yet, to her, there was order in the seeming chaos of her magic. There were rules.
If you wanted to understand her order, you'd have to match her talent.
Could you possibly catch up to her?
Despite Valikan staggering to his feet, Fresia merely observed him in silent, dignified composure.
For Valikan, her silence was a greater insult than any words could have been.
"This brat..."
As someone who bore the title of Pride, Valikan reveled in looking down on others. The fact that this mere girl—who hadn't lived more than a decade or so—was looking down on him was intolerable.
But Valikan, for all his pride, was not a fool. He recognized that the girl before him had made a move he hadn't anticipated.
He analyzed the damage to his body, assessed whether the fight could continue, and evaluated the angle from which the attack had struck. Meanwhile, he checked the demonic erosion barrier he had cast over the area, ensuring it remained intact.
Throughout all of this, Valikan never considered fleeing. That was why he was known as the Demon of Pride.
While Valikan was being cautious, Fresia simply reached out her hand.
In that moment, Valikan doubted his eyes.
It seemed as though the small star that had been hovering behind the mage was now resting in her hand.
And it wasn't a trick of the eye. One of the countless stars in the sky had truly come to rest in the girl's hand.
Whether or not this was realistic didn't matter. What mattered was that Fresia wished for it.
She clasped the star between her hands.
Flash!
A brilliant light exploded outward before vanishing just as quickly.
As the light touched Fresia, the gashes on her forehead and the broken bones from tumbling across the ground began to heal.
The light then moved to envelop Elysia. Her shallow breaths deepened, and her pale complexion began to regain color.
Unlike the temporary first aid Fresia had used earlier, Elysia was now fully healed. However, she remained unconscious, having exhausted all her strength.
Fresia hadn't healed her in hopes of Elysia rejoining the battle. The demon before her was something she could handle alone. She just wanted to ease Elysia's pain as quickly as possible.
Even Valikan, prideful as he was, now realized something was amiss after witnessing Fresia's magic a second time.
A dilemma arose in his mind—should he maintain his pride and stay, or retreat now and plan for another day?
Fresia, however, decided to save him the trouble.
"Shall we end this now?"
With her words, the stars in the night sky began to take shape.
Each one formed an arrow of light. Their brightness varied, as did their size, but all the stars in the sky were now arrows aimed at Valikan.
The first arrow was released.
Valikan, as he had done before, swung his hand to deflect the arrow. But this arrow of light was different.
Thunk.
The arrow fulfilled its purpose, leaving a neat hole in Valican's hand, no larger or smaller than a regular arrow's would be.
Ordinarily, this level of damage would have been trivial for him. But—
Whiz-whiz-whiz-whiz...
The countless arrows of light shot toward Valikan. There was no grand explosion, only the soft sound of wind and the faint thudding of holes being punched into his body.
"You're still alive."
Valikan's state after being pierced by dozens—no, hundreds—of arrows was utterly wretched.
He now looked like a hedgehog, riddled with arrows, as Fresia slowly approached.
But Valikan could do nothing but writhe on the ground like an insect. There was no counterattack, not even a reaction.
"I have to take Elysia back soon, so I'll finish this now."
Fresia's tone was almost merciful, but the power surging at her fingertips was immense, wild, and merciless.
The magic in her hands called forth the brightest star in the night sky.
"Divine Retribution"
A punishment from the heavens.
Boom!
The brightest star in the sky, a colossal meteor, descended upon the unmoving Valikan.
And with that, The Demon of Pride was no more.
* * * *
"This way! You report up top! The rest, follow me!"
From the outskirts of the city, near the slums, soldiers swarmed toward the source of the explosion. Whether they had been standing guard at the main gate, patrolling nearby, or taking a short break, the overwhelming sound had drawn them all toward the slums.
Most of the guards couldn't use magic, so they didn't know exactly what had happened, but the enormous noise made it clear that something serious had occurred.
As they advanced in formation into the slums, they spotted two girls: one unconscious and the other holding her. The smaller girl was carrying the taller one in her arms, an odd scene reminiscent of a "princess carry" that seemed both fitting and strange at the same time.
"Stop right there!"
One of the guards at the front pointed his spear at Fresia, issuing a warning.
But Fresia didn't even acknowledge the guard's command. Her attention was solely on Elysia.
Even though she had already healed all of Elysia's wounds and knew she was no longer in danger, Fresia handled her as delicately as if she were still a patient in critical condition.
"Hey, put the spear down! That's the one who's been restoring the barrier these past few days!"
Luckily, a few of the guards recognized Fresia, and the spear was lowered.
The senior guard cautiously approached Fresia and spoke.
"Magician, can you tell us what happened here?"
It was only when someone spoke right next to her that Fresia reacted. But while she acknowledged him, she had no intention of answering.
"Come to the academy later."
She moved past the guards, past the reinforcements gathering behind them, without looking back. She had no interest in taking a detour.
Step by step.
She ascended into the air, as if climbing invisible stairs.
With Elysia in her arms, Fresia walked through the night sky, over the city walls, and back to the academy.
* * * *
Naturally, chaos erupted among the academy's upper elites and around the city.
There were several reasons for this. The first and foremost was that an academy student had been injured. The second was that a demon had breached the barrier and infiltrated through a gap. The fourth was the overwhelming residual magic left in the crater in the slums.
Each reason, regardless of its severity, was enough to give the leadership a headache.
Elysia was immediately admitted to the academy's infirmary. Thanks to Fresia's magic, she had no remaining injuries, but since she hadn't regained consciousness, she was kept there to recover. She would remain hospitalized, at least until she regained her strength.
The breach in the barrier was inspected by the academy's senior professors, who had been roused from their beds in the middle of the night. Although no suspicious traces could be found, they decided to punish the previous barrier restorer, just to put the matter to rest, though an uneasy feeling lingered.
As for the mid-level demon, Valikan, and Fresia, who had vanquished him...
According to Fresia's testimony, Valikan was a mid-level demon known as "The Demon of Pride." Unlike the more chaotic and reckless lower demons, mid-level demons followed an organized structure under the Demon Lord's command. The fact that a mid-level demon had targeted the city signified that the Demon Lord's forces were beginning to move in earnest. This was no simple matter.
The professors were also shocked by Fresia's ability to defeat such a demon. Until now, they hadn't known the extent of her power. They had merely known she bore the title of nobility granted by the emperor.
Her magic was certainly unusual, but that was all they had thought. It was only natural for them to assume that Fresia, being so young, had potential but wasn't fully realized, that her title was given with future promise in mind, not her current capabilities. But the emperor's recognition was not so light.
The fact that she had defeated a mid-level demon without leaving a corpse, and the residual magic in the slums, was enough to make them realize how wrong they had been.
Meanwhile, while the high-ranking officials were dealing with various matters, Elysia, now resting peacefully in the academy's infirmary, awoke and found herself in a difficult situation for entirely different reasons.