Rose narrows her eyes and waits for the light to die down.
A massive white door looms in its place.
"What is that…?" whispers Rose. "Is it opening...?"
It is. Slowly but surely, the door opens, glowing dimly as it does.
It makes for a rather strange sight.
"Impossible... Did the Sanctuary respond?" murmurs Nelson, audibly flabbergasted.
"What do you mean by that?" asks Rose
"As you're aware, today is the one day a year that the door to the Sanctuary opens."
"But l'd heard the door was located inside your church."
"True, there is one in the church. But it isn't the only one. Depending on who comes knocking, there are multiple doors the Sanctuary can send to receive them. The Unsolicited Door, the Beckoning Door, the Welcoming Door... And until we go in, there's no telling which one it is," replies Nelson. His gaze is fixed on the white portal. "Now that things have come to this, we cannot allow the Goddess's Trial to continue. Remove the spectators from the grounds."
Upon receiving Nelson's orders, the officials begin directing the audience outside. The special guests begin leaving as well.
All the while, the door continues to open.
"Don't let anyone near it!" barks Nelson. Once the door is open wide enough for a person to fit through, he calls out to Rose and the others. "Please evacuate the premises."
As he does, Rose draws her sword. Alexia does the same, and the two stand back-to-back as they ready their blades.
"What are you…?!" cries Nelson, flustered.
When he looks around, he discovers a group of people clad all in black have already surrounded them. Even Rose and Alexia only notice a moment before Nelson does.
A clear, sonorous voice rings out. "Sorry. I'm going to have to ask that you all remain there until the door fully closes." The speaker is a woman whose garb is noticeably different from the others'.
"You... Are you from the damn Shadow Garden?!"
In her dress-like robe, the woman steps forward from her comrades in black bodysuits and strides gracefully toward the door.
For a moment, her gaze lights upon Rose and Alexia.
Their shoulders shiver, and their spines freeze up, locking them together.
She's strong...!
Her gaze carries with it a terrifying intensity, and her presence is so overwhelming, it feels as if she commands the very night.
Rose and Alexia both consider Shadow to be pushing the limits of strength, but this woman has reached at least his footing. That much they know.
"Epsilon, I leave the rest to you. And as for the two princesses, be good."
"Understood, Alpha."
"Stop right there! I won't let you enter the Sanctuary!!"
Ignoring Nelson's shouts, the woman named Alpha slips through the door of light.
"Oh, that's Alpha..." Rose hears Alexia murmur. She barely holds herself back from crying, "You know her?!"
"And what do you intend to gain from all this?" asks Alexia.
"All we want from you is to stand down until the door disappears. Acting Archbishop Nelson will be coming with us," replies the curvy woman named Epsilon.
Hearing his name, Nelson begins panicking. "What are you people planning to do to the Sanctuary?"
"It's not a question of what we're planning on doing but what we expect to find. Do as we say, and nobody needs to get hurt." Epsilon holds Rose and Alexia at bay with her gaze alone. Her eyes are like still lakes, and they're focused vigilantly on the two of them.
She's strong, too. Not to the same extent as Alpha, but she has that intensity to her that only the powerful possess.
That said, if it came down to it...
"If you so much as move, what happens to her will be on your heads." Epsilon clearly senses their hostility. She's looking straight at Natsume, who's been captured by one of the women in black.
"I-I'm so sorry..." Natsume casts her gaze down apologetically.
"Miss Natsume...!!"
Seeing Natsume choking back tears, Rose feels her chest tighten.
Their ability to fight back has been neutralized... or so she thinks.
"We could just abandon her," suggests Alexia quietly enough that only Rose can hear.
"Absolutely not." Rose's veto is firm.
"Honestly, we'd be better off. I don't trust her."
"Absolutely not, I said."
As the two of them argue back and forth, the door to the Sanctuary stops opening. This time, it's swinging shut.
Slowly but surely, it closes.
The group in black enter the door one after another, dragging Natsume and Acting Archbishop Nelson along with them.
Rose and Alexia can do nothing but stand by and watch.
Their foes show no openings.
Not only are the members of the group in black all powerful on their own, they're also working together in perfect harmony. By moving in three-woman units, they're able to cover one another's backs. Even if Alexia and Rose found a chink in their armor, it's clear their adversaries would seal it immediately. The group's teamwork is polished to a sheen.
The door keeps closing.
"No! Please! Don't hurt me!" As she's being shoved through the door, Natsume lets out a pained cry.
"Miss Natsume!!"
"I-I'll be fine! Please don't worry about me!" Natsume bravely calls out, her voice trembling, as she's dragged through the portal.
Rose watches her go with tears in her eyes.
She hears someone mutter, "Fishy, fishy, fishy," but chooses to ignore it.
The last ones to move are Epsilon and Nelson, bound.
After glancing around to make sure everything looks normal, Epsilon makes for the door with her captive in tow.
But he resists, distracting Epsilon momentarily.
It happens in a flash.
A dark shadow swoops down and cleaves through Epsilon.
"Excellent work, Executioner Venom!!" Nelson booms with a laugh.
<<•>>
As Epsilon watches herself get cut, her concentration is at its peak.
Although she was taken completely by surprise, her skills are sharpened to the point where she's able to bend her torso backward to evade the blow. However, this movement gives birth to tragedy.
Epsilon's life flashes before her eyes.
She remembers being an elf of noble bearing, becoming a "possessed," and being cast aside and hunted by her people.
Then, she remembers the day her life began anew.
On that fateful day when Shadow rescued her, everything Epsilon thought she knew crumbled around her, and her life received new meaning.
From childhood, Epsilon was strong-willed. She never once doubted her exceptionality, and her personality was such that she couldn't help but show off her talents.
She came from a well-off family, and her beauty, brains, and martial arts talent were all the pinnacle of her generation.
Though she had an abundance of pride, she always had the skills to back it up.
Perhaps that was the reason.
The day she became one of the possessed, the moment she lost everything, she was stricken with profound grief.
She'd lost her reason to live, but she didn't have the courage to die, either.
On that day, as she dragged her rotting flesh along a mountain trail, Shadow appeared before her.
"Do you seek power...?"
His voice had been deep, as though it were echoing from a bottomless abyss.
Epsilon's mind was fuzzy, and she thought that perhaps she'd stumbled upon a demon.
But she desired power all the same.
With power, she could take revenge on all those who'd forsaken her.
She could torture them to death. Make them regret what they'd done to her.
"Then I shall grant it to you..."
And with that, she found herself enveloped in soft magic with a blue-violet hue.
Even now, she'd never once forgotten its light or its warmth.
The warm, healing light felt almost nostalgic, and before Epsilon noticed it, she'd started crying.
That day, Epsilon had been weak, ugly, and pathetic. Yet Shadow had saved her anyway.
"If you wish to descend into madness amid a world of lies, then do so. However, if you wish to see the world's true face...then follow me."
And Epsilon chased after him.
After losing everything, she'd been hideous. But once he saved that version of her, she felt as though he'd acknowledged her true self.
She didn't need class.
Neither did she need beauty nor pride in her talents.
There were other things that were more important.
After discovering the world's true nature and meeting her four predecessors, though, she amended that assessment.
It was true: She had no need for her heritage, but talent was essential.
And her prized combat skills had her ranked second from the bottom.
Furthermore, the slots above her were occupied by monsters and flawless superhumans she had no chance of surpassing.
The intellect she regarded so highly was second from the bottom as well.
The geniuses before her had shattered her confidence.
Even when it came to being well-rounded, she was beaten by perfect specimens and human machines who never made mistakes.
At this rate, there would be nowhere left for her to excel.
Except beauty.
For Epsilon, her looks were essential. Her beloved master was a man, after all.
When she evaluated her attractiveness objectively, she realized she was heading into an uphill battle.
If faces were the only relevant criteria, Epsilon didn't have anything to be worried about, but she had to consider the future. The fact of the matter was, the women from her family had categorically been cursed with small, flat chests.
Just as men lament their forefathers' hairlines, so, too, did Epsilon lament her chest lineage. She knew if things kept going as they were, the day would inevitably come when she suffered a crushing defeat.
And so, when Epsilon encountered a certain thing for the first time, she felt like she'd been struck by lightning.
The slime bodysuit.
It took but a glance for her to realize the possibilities contained within it, and her heart instantly belonged to the suit.
Although she normally hung on Shadow's every word, she didn't pay a lick of attention when he was explaining the slime bodysuit to her. She couldn't take her eyes off it.
She realized something.
She could push those puppies up.
It only took her three days before she could control the slime bodysuit as she pleased.
From that day forth, she wore the slime bodysuit everywhere under the pretext of practicing her control over it, and bit by bit, she added volume to her chest.
The progress went little by little, so as not to arouse suspicion, but a smidgen audaciously, because she was, after all, a growing girl.
Once they'd gotten reasonably large, though, she noticed something.
They felt wrong to the touch.
At the end of the day, slime was still slime. Her boobs felt different from the real thing, and the way they moved wasn't quite right, either.
From that day forward, Epsilon observed Beta as though performing reconnaissance on an enemy, and a few days later, she was able to perfectly control her slime to replicate the jiggle and feel of the real deal.
By this point, Epsilon's control over her magic had far surpassed even Alpha's.
Though the others acknowledged her superiority and dubbed her Epsilon the Faithful, she had long since stopped caring about that.
Instead, she observed Beta with a discerning eye, trembling all the while.
How did hers keep growing?!
This called for war: a battle without honor or humanity between the natural and the artificial.
In the end, Epsilon padded some more and eventually emerged victorious.
Mankind is a beast that consistently triumphs over the horrors of nature.
However, the price for that victory was steep.
On that day, as Epsilon saw her reflection in a mirror and lost the small shred of pride she'd regained, she realized something.
Her proportions were off.
Much to her dismay, her build was petite and dainty.
However, Epsilon set her mind to work and eventually came up with a solution.
All she needed to do to balance her figure was to make her butt bigger, too.
In the end, though, she didn't just stop at the butt, which she used slime to reshape. She tightened up and corseted her belly. She used slime insoles to lengthen her legs and attain the best proportions. She... It would take forever to list out all the little things.
In short, she used the slime bodysuit to obtain the perfect figure.
It had taken incalculable effort, being constantly on guard without anyone knowing, and in the process, she developed the presence of a detestably worthy rival.
More than anything, though, it had been a display of her feelings for her beloved master.
Epsilon's precision was nothing more than a byproduct of that labor. Her true power was the amazing physical protection her many layers of slime padding provided.
The flashback ends.
The swooping shadow brings down its blade.
When it does, the crystallization of all of Epsilon's hard work is lopped off.
The two softest lumps of the slime bodysuit fly into the air.
In that moment, Epsilon awakens.
This can't be happening here...
No...!
She refuses to be exposed for her shiiiiiiit!!
By manipulating the dregs of magic left in the two flying lumps, Epsilon forces them to retain their shape.
To the trained eye, her ability to manipulate magic once it's left her body is enough to take one's breath away.
At the same time, she yanks that magic back to her, instantly adhering the blobs back to their original position.
Maintaining that level of inch-perfect control in the blink of an eye — it's nothing short of superhuman.
As a final touch, she makes them jiggle just the way real breasts would. Such is the power of Epsilon the Faithful.
"Excellent work, Executioner Venom... Hmm?" Nelson takes another look at Epsilon.
She was supposed to have been in bloody pieces, yet she's standing there without a scratch on her.
In fact, quite the contrary.
"See anything...?!"
"Huh...?"
What's with that terrifying intensity of hers?!
Nelson's knees start to rattle.
"Did you...see anything?"
"Ahhh... N-no! Nothing...!"
"What about you two?" Epsilon's question is directed at Rose and Alexia. They both shake their heads.
"Good. Now come."
Epsilon grabs Nelson by the scruff of his neck and drags him off.
"Ahhh! What are you doing, Executioner Venom?! Hurry up and save me!!"
"If you want the Executioner..." Epsilon leans in and talks straight into Nelson's ear. "...l already killed him."
The Executioner's head thuds onto the ground.
"AAAAAAAH!!"
With Nelson in tow, Epsilon vanishes behind the door.
It's almost shut.
The moment before it can close, one more person rushes forward.
"Alexia?!"
Ignoring Rose's admonition, she slips inside the gap.
"Oh, heavens!"
Rose dashes after her and tumbles inside. Immediately afterward, the door clicks closed.
It then vanishes, leaving behind a faint afterglow.
<<•>>
"Ack?!"
Rose lands atop something strangely soft.
Shaking her head and sitting up, she discovers there are two women pinned beneath her.
"Oh, I'm so sorry."
"Rose, will you please get off me as soon as humanly possible?"
"Princess Alexia, I would ask you to avoid touching me."
The women in question are Alexia and Natsume, both of whom are glaring at each other despite their predicament.
The moment Rose stands, the two of them instantly separate and look away from each other.
Realizing the pair are on bad terms makes Rose feel worse.
"You really shouldn't fight... Oh." After calling out to them, Rose finally realizes that people are staring at her.
They're occupying a space that's dim and drafty, surrounded on all sides by women in black. Alpha, Epsilon, and the captured Nelson number among them.
"Um, well...you see.." Rose raises her arms, realizing that fighting will get her nowhere. She forces a smile in an attempt to demonstrate she's not hostile.
Beside her, Natsume is cowering pitiably. When Rose decides she needs to take action, Alexia steps forward.
"I'm so sorry. We tripped and fell. And when we did, why — there was a door right there. It really wasn't our fault."
It's in that moment Rose learns that having no shame can be persuasive in its own right.
Alexia is obviously lying, but nobody can bring themselves to expend the effort calling her out on it, especially since she's speaking with the haughty attitude of a demon lord who's conquered the world.
Whatever. Let's just let her have it, they all think as they look at her.
"If you agree to behave, you can do as you please. In fact, you probably have a right to know a few things," says Alpha, shooting a glance Alexia's way. Then, on her orders, the group in black fans out.
"Hooray!" says Alexia as she quietly pumps her fist.
The only ones left are Alpha, Nelson, Rose, Alexia, Natsume, and one other unidentified woman in black. She isn't Epsilon, though.
"What do you people intend to do here?" Still bound by the woman in black, Nelson glares at Alpha.
Beneath her mask, the elf smiles. "It's said the great hero Olivier once cut off the left arm of Diablos the demon and sealed it away here."
"And? What? Have you come looking for the arm?" Nelson laughs.
"That sounds fun, but...that isn't what we're here to find out. We want to learn more about the Cult of Diablos."
Alexia visibly flinches at the mention of the organization. Rose casts a sidelong glance at her and sees her gaze has gone steely.
"What are you talking about...?"
"I knew you wouldn't be able to tell us anything. That's why we had to come see for ourselves, why we had to come searching for the truth — concealed from the very beginning within the shadows of history." Alpha turns around, then begins walking toward a large stone statue. Her heels echo throughout the spacious chamber. "A statue of the great hero Olivier, I see."
Upon hearing Alpha, Rose cocks her head to the side. "Olivier...? Isn't he supposed to be a man?"
She's right — Alpha had referred to a statue of a woman holding a holy sword aloft. She is beautiful, with the fierce divinity of a Valkyrie.
"We have a general understanding of what happened. However, there is still some uncertainty: the historical truths, the real objective of the Cult, and" — Alpha reaches out toward the statue and gently strokes its face — "why Olivier's face is identical to mine."
Alpha turns around. The mask that was covering her face is gone.
"You're an elf…?" someone murmurs. It's unclear who.
However, as their breath is collectively taken away by her beauty, they all realize something. Alpha's face looks like the mirror reflection of Olivier's.
"Impossible! You're that elf who... But the possession should have killed you..."
"See? You know what l'm talking about after all."
"...!" Nelson quickly shuts up.
"We know the truth about the possessed, too. For a cult that wants to control society, that must be quite the thorn in your side, no?"
Nelson looks down, refusing to answer.
Rose can't make heads or tails of their conversation. However, it looks like Alexia is picking up on a bit, and the things Alpha is saying certainly don't sound like nonsense.
It's hard to believe these two powerful organizations are dabbling in archaeology just because. There must be some important reason. The Shadow Garden must have an agenda, and the Cult of Diablos must have one of their own.
The recent attack on her school immediately floats to the front of Rose's mind. There's no way that's unrelated to all this.
A war between two powerful organizations is unfolding in the shadows. Rose shivers at this realization.
If their conflict becomes more intense, Rose strongly doubts the uninformed government officials will be able to deal with it.
"We'd suspected the Cult's objective isn't as simple as just resurrecting a demon.
However, we aren't certain. That's why we came to see for ourselves." As she speaks, Alpha channels magic into the statue. As her magic surges, the very air starts vibrating.
"...You are one of the possessed. Your powers. Did you awaken on your own…?"
When Rose sees the exceptional quantity of magic at work, a chill runs down her spine. If that woman were to turn her power against the nation, it would take an inordinate amount of military resources to stop her.
"There was a great battle here in the past. The hero sealed away the demon, and many valorous lives were lost. Afterward, the demon's and the warriors' magic twisted together, trapping all the memories that had lost their destinations. This land is a resting place for those ancient memories and that demon's wrath. A graveyard."
The statue begins glowing, reacting to the magic. Ancient letters rise to its surface, and colors start spreading across it.
"Olivier, our great hero, I knew you would answer my call."
And there stands Olivier, the spitting image of Alpha.
"Impossible... This can't be..." Nelson's legs tremble.
Olivier turns her back to them and begins walking. Her destination fills with light, and before long, it illuminates the entire area.
"Now, then. Let's take a little journey to the world of fairy tales."
Alpha's voice is the last thing they hear before the world floods with light.
<<•>>
Upon defeating Violet, I sprinted away from my pursuers, fled Lindwurm entirely, and took refuge in the mountains. Just to be safe.
After deciding the coast is probably clear, I return to my normal getup and let out a sigh of relief.
Looks like I managed to pull it off somehow. Back at the stadium, the only thing anyone's talking about has to be Shadow the mysterious badass. That nobody from the Academy for Dark Knights must be long erased from the public imagination.
I pulled out all the stops today, so I think I'll just head back, take a dip in the hot springs, and go to bed. Just as I stand up to leave, though, a weird door suddenly appears right in front of me.
A dirty door is just floating out in the middle of the mountains. Huh. And it's covered in dark stains. Clearly dried blood.
"What's that?"
This is dodgy in the extreme. Even I know better than to mess with this.
I turn on my heel.
"Hey!"
I turn around again.
"No way."
I leap back.
"Are you for real?"
The door is following me...with a vengeance!
It doesn't matter how far I get from it. It doesn't matter which way I turn. It doesn't matter if I do a hundred backflips in a row. The door keeps appearing in front of me.
I guess that only leaves one choice.
"Time to slice 'n' dice."
As soon as that leaves my mouth, I draw my sword and cleave the door in twain.
But...the moment I bisect it, it's back to normal.
I put my katana away and think.
Obviously, I can't head back to town with this seedy-looking door in tow. It would stick out like a sore thumb.
And what even is this thing? I don't sense anyone else around, so I doubt it's some kind of weird prank. And there isn't anything behind it.
"Is it, like, their version of D — remon's Anyw— ere Door?"
This door is acting pretty desperate, so if I go in, I imagine this will all get resolved. I really just want to go soak in the hot spring and call it a day, though.
I give it thirty seconds of earnest thought, then come to a decision.
Fine. Whatever. Let's get this over with.
When I open the door up, l'm greeted by a dark abyss that makes me feel like I'm gonna get sucked in. Praying this isn't that trope where I die the moment I enter, I take the leap.
I find myself in a room built of stone.
It's pretty barren. There's just a door and a woman bound to the wall. Oh, hey, it's Violet.
'''Sup," I say to her. She looks at me, and her eyes go wide in surprise.
"...'Sup," she eventually mimics. "Short time no see."
"Uh-huh. Hey, are you the one who called me here?"
"'Called'...? I certainly didn't intend to do that. I did rather enjoy myself back there, though."
"Yeah. Me, too."
"My memories are incomplete, but I'm certain you're the strongest one in them. If only you'd been around back during my era..."
"I'm honored."
"So what are you doing here?" She looks at me quizzically.
"A door showed up out of nowhere, I went in, and here I am."
"I'm not sure I follow."
"Yeah, me neither. By the way, do you know any way out of here?"
"I'm not certain. I don't have any memories of ever leaving."
"You just came and fought me, though."
"I was there when I came to. It's the first time that's ever happened to me. As far as I can remember, that is."
"Oh, huh. Well, that's a bummer."
I rack my brain trying to figure out what to do.
There is a door, I suppose, but right as I decide to try going through it, Violet calls out to me with her lips pursed.
"There's a beautiful woman bound before your very eyes," she says.
I look at her and, seeing her limbs strung up to a crucifix, nod.
"Yup."
"Would you please help me down for starters?"
I tilt my head to the side a little, realizing I've been misinterpreting things.
"Oh, my bad. I figured you were training."
"Why?"
"That's how I used to train."
"...How novel."
I take out my school-issued sword and free Violet from her restraints. Using my slime sword isn't an option.
She stretches elatedly, a nostalgic smile crossing her face. "Thank you. It's been a thousand years or so since I felt this free."
"Really?"
"Basically. I don't recall exactly, but it's been at least that long."
After smoothing out her thin robe, Violet tucks her silky black hair behind her right ear. I guess that's how she likes to wear it.
"Now then, let's agree on our objectives," she starts, seemingly unruffled.
"Huh?"
"Mine is freedom, yours is escape. Am I correct?"
"Yup, sounds right to me."
"Shall we work together, then?"
"I'm down, but do you actually know a way out?"
"I don't. I do, however, know a way to get free. The Sanctuary is a prison for memories, and there's a magical core at its center. If we destroy it, l'll be freed."
"Just you?"
She looks at me from the corner of her eye, smiling coquettishly. "Everything. And you should be able to leave."
"Won't that destroy the Sanctuary?"
"Oh, I certainly hope so. Do you mind?"
I turn Violet's question over in my head. "Now that I think about it, I guess not. Sounds good."
"Then it's decided. I imagine you've noticed already, but we can't use magic here. We're close to the center of the Sanctuary. If we try to practice magic, it'll immediately be sucked into its core."
"Looks that way."
It's stronger than the doodad the terrorists used when they attacked. When I try to fire my magic up, it immediately vanishes. I'm testing a bunch of different options, but it might take me a while to find a loophole.
"Don't worry. I'm great at breaking stuff."
"Love that I can depend on you. Incidentally, without my magic, l'm nothing but a delicate maiden. I always wanted to be protected by a gallant knight."
This smile is just as impish as the last. For a self-proclaimed delicate maiden, she sure seems calm about all this.
She takes the lead, throwing the door open without hesitation.
"By the way, what'll happen to you once you're free?" I ask Violet from behind.
"I'll disappear. I'm nothing but a memory, after all." She doesn't turn to look back.
On the other side of the door is a sunlit forest. Light streams between gaps in the trees, and beads of morning dew glisten on the grass.
This place doesn't seem familiar, so I glance around, taking in my surroundings.
"We're inside a memory," Violet explains.
"One of yours?"
"I think I remember something like this."
And with that, she strides forward. I follow her so as not to get left behind.
After advancing through the quiet forest for a little while, we suddenly reach a clearing.
Within it, a small girl is sitting on the ground clutching her knees, lit by the morning sun.
The girl's hair is black.
"It looks like she's crying," I observe.
"So it does."
The two of us approach her.
When I crouch down and look at her face, I find tears streaming from her violet eyes.
"She looks just like you."
"A coincidence, I'm sure."
"Why is she crying?"
"Maybe she wet herself," offers Violet unhelpfully.
The girl silently continues weeping. Her body is covered in bruises.
"So what do we do?"
"If we want to keep going, we need to end the memory."
"What do you mean?"
Violet yanks the crying child up by the face.
"Crying won't do you any good," she snaps, slapping the girl across the cheek.
"That's awful."
"It's fine. It's me, after all."
"So you admit it."
The world rends apart. The sunlit forest shatters into tiny pieces like a fractured mirror, then vanishes into the abyss.
Empty darkness surrounds us.
I can faintly make Violet out in it.
"Let's continue."
"Got it."
We advance through the void in the direction our magic is being siphoned.
It's the only sensation we have to go on.
I can barely feel the ground beneath my feet, and I can't even tell which way is up anymore.
To test it out, I try walking upside down. It's kinda like a handstand: feet up, head down.
It works.
Violet casts a lazy glance at me.
"Don't go peeking under my skirt now."
"Worry not. I can't see a thing."
After proceeding a little farther, we're engulfed in vermilion light.
"Ow!"
I practically crack my skull, but I manage to break the fall at the last minute.
"This is what you get for goofing around."
Violet looks down at me sprawled on the ground, then extends her hand my way.
"Thanks." I grab her cold hand and haul myself back to my feet.
We're standing on a battlefield flush with the light of the evening sun, which is bloodred and shining just above the horizon line.
"They're all dead."
The land is covered with fallen soldiers and stained dark with their blood. The corpses continue all the way to the horizon.
"Let's be on our way."
Violet begins walking, almost as though she has a destination in mind.
There are bodies everywhere.
As we're forced to trample over them, dusk descends on the scene.
I dream about a chance to cut loose on a big battlefield like this one.
After walking a little while, we reach the center of the field and find a blood-drenched girl in tears. We stop in front of her.
She's kneeling atop the corpses and weeping.
Even without seeing her face, I can tell it's Violet.
"You're crying again."
"I was a crybaby. Lend me your sword."
"Here you go."
I hand it to Violet.
She stands before the girl, sword at the ready. Her face is expressionless, and it looks almost as though she's driving her emotions away.
Then, she brings down the blade.
At that moment, I lunge.
I grab Violet by the waist and drag her backward.
"Was that...a corpse?!"
Sounds like she noticed it, too.
One of the soldiers' corpses got up and tried to cut her down. If I hadn't acted fast, it would have had her.
"The Sanctuary is rejecting it, hmm…? How troublesome."
"You mean, like antivirus software going after malware?" I ask as I kick away the zombies.
"I'm afraid I don't follow."
"Yeah, sorry. I don't really know how they work, either. By the way, what happens to you if you die here?"
"I imagine I'll be back in chains in the room where you found me."
"That would be annoying. How good are you with a sword?"
"I can muddle through."
"Sounds like it'd be easier if I just took it."
Violet returns my sword, and I slash at a nearby soldier.
I cut him in half with a single strike, but more and more of them keep getting up and surrounding us. I quickly give up on eradicating them and instead choose to charge forward and break their ranks.
Violet stomps one of the downed zombies beneath her heel.
"Looks like you're struggling without magic,"I comment.
"I think I told you l'm just a dainty girl. You seem to be doing okay."
"Like I said: Don't worry."
I swing my sword in a wide sweep and slice apart an onrushing zombie.
"I've been able to use magic since I was a baby, so I restructured myself as I grew. My body is the optimal shape for combat. My muscles, my nerves, my bones... I used magic to manipulate them all into their best shapes."
I take out three in one swing, then, with a kick, blast away another attacking me from the side.
Individually, each zombie is slow. There's a bunch of them, but I can more or less mow them down.
"How unfair. You're like an adult beating up children."
"I'd rather you make me sound a little cooler than that."
"If they held a tournament where no one could use magic, I'm sure you'd emerge the victor."
"I'll take it," I say, but if I have to keep fighting like this, my body's gonna reach its limit at some point or another. The crowd of zombies stretches all the way to the horizon. Taking them out without magic is gonna be impossible.
Man, if only I could use magic and go hog wild.
I force my way into the throng, running the crying girl through.
"Sorry."
Blood pours from her mouth, and as Violet and I are swallowed up by the horde, the world splinters once more.
As the landscape shatters, the two of us find ourselves back in the darkness.
"You good?"
"Thanks to you," Violet responds as I sheathe my sword.
We start walking through the void again until we're eventually engulfed in light.
We've finally reached the center of the Sanctuary.
<<•>>
When Alexia comes to her senses, she finds herself standing in a white corridor. It seems to stretch on forever; at least, she can't make out where it ends. The walls are lined with rooms like prisons, covered up by iron bars.
There don't seem to be any lights, but the corridor is bright all the same. It all feels very real and yet disorienting, like a dream.
Olivier takes point and begins walking. Alpha follows right after her, and the rest hurry to not be left behind.
The hero starts off a beautiful adult elf but grows younger with each step she takes, and before long, she looks like a little girl. The young hero slips through the iron bars and crouches down within one of the cells.
"Children without relatives used to be rounded up." Alpha's voice echoes through the endless white corridor.
Then she walks on.
At some point, the cells became populated with young children. Boys and girls, humans, elves, and therianthropes — that is, hybrid beasts — are all caged up. They don't seem to share any commonalities besides their age.
"Here, they were subjected to an experiment." Alpha stops in front of one cell in particular.
Inside is a girl. She seems to have lost her sanity, raging within her cage as if she's in pain. She's banging her head, scratching at the walls, and rolling around on the floor.
Alpha keeps moving.
The girl in the next cell is covered in blood, but not all the damage appears to be self-inflicted. Her body seems to have undergone some bizarre change, causing her skin to tear and drench her body with blood.
Alexia recognizes that blackened, rotting flesh.
"She's one of the possessed...," someone murmurs.
"Most of the children died, unable to adjust to it."
Alpha resumes walking.
The next cell is unoccupied. The only things of note are the bloodstains coating the walls and floor and the handprints of someone plainly pleading for help.
Alpha just keeps going, unfazed.
The rest of the cells tell the same story: children suffering and dying.
"This is horrible..." Rose gasps, covering her mouth. Alexia silently agrees.
There is one pattern to their deaths. The girls' bodies are falling victim to the possession, but the boys' aren't.
"The only ones able to adapt were a handful of the girls."
Then Alpha stops.
The cell before her houses a slightly older Olivier. She bears no injuries and doesn't seem to be in pain. She's just sitting motionless, clutching her knees and staring at the opposite cell.
That cage, on the other hand, is covered in blood. The next moment, however, it's as clean as though it had just undergone a scene change, and there's a girl inside. She suffers, then dies. Another girl appears shortly thereafter.
The young Olivier just keeps watching.
"Why are they doing something so dreadful…?" asks Rose, her voice trembling.
"Care to answer, Acting Archbishop Nelson?" Alpha turns to the man in question.
After turning his head away and faltering for a moment, Nelson quietly speaks. "They needed the power to stand up to Diablos..."
"Or so the Cult claims. Regardless of the truth, though, it's fact that Olivier cut off Diablos's left arm. She was one of the few children who could adapt to it," says Alpha as she proceeds.
"What is this 'it' you keep mentioning?"
At Alexia's question, Alpha stops for a second to answer. "Diablos cells. That's what we call them, at least. In order to fight Diablos, they decided to try stealing his power."
[+]
"Steal his power…? That wasn't just a fairy tale?"
"We haven't seen it for ourselves. That's how history has recorded it. If you want to think of it as a fairy tale, that's your choice." Alpha starts walking again. "After all this time, there isn't much point debating the veracity of ancient history. We can't even know if these memories are all true. After all, they fade with time, reshaping themselves to fit their owner's narrative."
They pass by caged room after caged room.
As they trudge farther down the corridor, they find more empty cells. Olivier ages, eventually growing into a lovely young woman. Her face really does resemble Alpha's.
"After she grew older and obtained Diablos's power, Olivier was given a mission."
"Slaying Diablos...?" Rose tries to confirm.
Alpha shakes her head.
"That's how the history books tell it, but we suspect that's a lie. In all likelihood, Olivier was tasked with harvesting more Diablos cells."
"That's bullshit!" booms Nelson. He glares at Alpha, his face flushed. The woman in black hoists him up by the scruff of his neck, and he lets out a frog-like croak.
"Even after she grew powerful, Olivier still obeyed the Cult. It's unclear why, but we suspect it's because she truly believed that defeating Diablos would bring about peace. That's why she was cooperating with the Cult."
Olivier leaves her caged prison.
After putting on a suit of armor and strapping a sword to her back, she sets out on a journey. Seeing Olivier's face, Alexia finds herself agreeing with Alpha's assessment.
Olivier must truly have wanted the world to be at peace. Her expression is one of hope and resolve.
As she walks down the endless white corridor, her destination becomes flooded with a blinding light.
"But that wasn't what the Cult was after."
Then, the beam drowns out the world.
"The Cult wanted to take all the power for their own..."
The illuminated reality cracks like the surface of a mirror, then shatters into tiny fragments and reveals a new world in its place.
They are on a battlefield, but there are no soldiers.
The landscape is steeped in twilight and littered with corpses, and a group of men in white robes are crowded around a black lump.
Olivier is nowhere to be found.
Alexia and the others follow Alpha and draw nearer.
"What is that...?" Rose asks under her breath.
The lump in question is a massive arm. It's a monster's arm — black, thick, and horrifically engorged. Chunks of torn flesh hang off its massive nails.
"Diablos's left arm. Severed but still alive."
Just as Alpha said, the arm still lives.
One of the men in white robes accidentally steps too close and finds himself fatally run through by one of its nails. Even though it's pinned down by chains and stakes, the arm is still pumping out massive amounts of magic.
"Using a high-grade artifact, the Cult was successful in sealing the arm away.
However, their seal was imperfect, and its distortions eventually gave birth to the Sanctuary. But, well, that's a whole other story. The Cult was after the incredible life energy contained within Diablos cells."
A robed man draws blood and slices away skin from the sealed arm.
After a little while, the extracted blood and skin regenerate completely.
"Thanks to their research on Diablos's arm, the Cult was able to develop medicine that strengthened humans. It still had side effects, but unlike before, it was effective on men now as well."
Alpha draws a pill from between her breasts, then flicks it with her nail.
After arcing through the air, it lands on the ground and knocks against Nelson's shoe.
The pill is red, and Alexia recognizes it as a kind she's seen before.
"The Cult has used these to support their endeavors, but the source of their true strength lies elsewhere. After sealing
Diablos's flesh away and experimenting on it for ages, they were able to come up with another drug."
The scene changes.
Now they're in a white laboratory. Men in white robes are crowding around a desk, waiting anxiously.
Finally, a single drop of something falls into a small bowl.
"That shiny red liquid is said to be akin to Diablos's own blood."
The liquid does, in fact, resemble blood and emits a vibrant red glow.
The men celebrate and cheer, and their representative imbibes it.
"By consuming that liquid, one gains tremendous power...and an eternally youthful body. It seems our hypothesis was right on the mark."
Alpha's gaze shifts to Nelson. He silently looks down, trying to hide his face.
"Now then, does anyone here think the robed man over there" — she points to the man in white at the end of the group —"looks a little like our friend Nelson?"
"...That can't be!" cries Alexia. She looks at Nelson's face.
But Alpha is right. Nelson's face is a perfect match for that of the man robed in white.
They're more than similar — the two are undoubtedly one and the same.
"Would you please tell us the name of this marvelous drug of yours?"
"...Beads of Diablos," Nelson mutters.
"Why, thank you. However, these droplets were imperfect. They had two major flaws."
Alexia has already picked up on one of them. In the present, Nelson is bald. But the Nelson of the past...
"Acting Archbishop Nelson used to have hair. It looks like 'eternal youth' has some drawbacks." Alexia laughs.
"That's not it," Alpha rebuts her.
Nelson agrees. "Stress made my hair fall out."
"I'm sorry," apologizes Alexia.
"The first of the two major flaws is that the pills have to be taken at regular intervals or the effect wears off. Am I wrong?"
"Once a year, yes."
"I suspected as much. And the second is that only a tiny number of them can be produced at a time."
"That's right. Twelve a year."
"Twelve? That reminds me, aren't there twelve members in the Knights of Rounds?"
"Heh..." Still hanging his head, Nelson laughs.
"There are twelve knights in the Cult called the Knights of Rounds who have powers far beyond those of its other members. Everyone in the Cult hopes to join the Rounds, seeking the power and eternal life that accompany the title. Isn't that right?"
Nelson lets out a throaty laugh.
"The Cult devotes resources to perfecting these droplets. The key to doing so lies in the descendants who've inherited the blood that runs through Diablos's sealed body and the heroes. People like me. People who've inherited a strong concentration of Olivier's blood."
"Precisely. I am Nelson the Avaricious, the eleventh member of the Knights of Rounds."
When Nelson lifts his head, his eyes are glowing red.
Sensing a surge of magic, Alexia readies her guard.
That's when a jet-black blade runs through Nelson's heart. In the blink of an eye, the woman who'd been restraining him has mowed him down.
Nelson's body goes limp and collapses to the ground.
"Sorry, Alpha. Thought it'd be best if I hunted him." Her voice sounds somewhat listless.
"Delta..."
"I'm good at hunting. Back at the mountain with the boars, I — "
"Shut up."
Delta glances around, realizes she messed up, and covers her mouth.
"Now, take a better look at your prey."
Nelson's corpse is cracking apart. It crumbles from the ends, then vanishes into nothingness.
That's not how people are supposed to die.
It almost looked like a mirror shattering...
"He's coming," warns Alpha.
Delta's reaction is simultaneous.
The moment before the longsword can cleave her in two, Delta drops to the ground.
Then, as the blast wave reaches all the way to Alexia, Delta leaps up like a beast.
Her fangs and the sword cross paths.
"What are you, an animal...?"
"I'm good at hunting," Delta responds to Nelson's query with a bestial laugh.
Her large fangs drip with blood, and Nelson's cheek is torn. However, he seems unconcerned as he wipes the blood from his face. The wound has already healed.
Delta extends her ebony katana out as she drops into an animallike stoop.
She's immediately interrupted.
"Delta. Wait."
Hearing Alpha's voice, she twitches in surprise.
"Your ears are showing."
"Ah...!"
Delta's animal ears are sticking out from an opening in her bodysuit.
She frantically tries to hide them, but her pale buttocks end up exposed when she does, revealing her wagging tail.
"A therianthrope..." murmurs Rose.
"Hey, um, Alpha, I feel like my magic is being sucked away."
"That's because we're close to the Sanctuary's center."
The one who replies to Delta's question is Nelson.
"The Sanctuary is our territory. The closer you get to it, the more power you'll lose." His voice cracks. At some point, his body split into two, but before they know it, he's back to one again. "I'd hoped to get you all a little closer to the core, but...this will be plenty. Now, allow me to introduce myself again."
As he effortlessly balances a longsword as tall as he is on his shoulder, Nelson gives a small bow.
"I am Nelson the Avaricious, the eleventh member of the Knights of Rounds. You will regret baring your fangs against the Cult."
There are no vestiges of a clergyman in his expression. His face is that of a savage warrior.
<<•>>
The scene changes.
They're now in a space that's endlessly white. The sky, the ground, and even the area beyond the horizon line are all level and blank.
Alpha and Delta square off against Nelson.
Nelson's body flickers, then splits into two.
Still crouching, Delta inches forward and slowly closes the distance between them.
Alpha's arms, on the other hand, are crossed, and she isn't even holding her weapon. Instead, she's staring at the two Nelsons, almost as though she's observing them.
"...Hah!" As Delta exhales, she goes on the offensive.
From the way she's stooped over low, she looks like an animal dashing along the ground.
Then, barreling forward, she swings her ebony katana in a wide sweep.
The katana in question is far longer than a person is tall, and her attack has no technique or craft behind it. Just pure, unbridled violence.
Wind follows the force of the impact.
The destructive wave strikes Nelson and sends him flying.
He seems to have been able to block the blow, but astonishment is written all over his face.
"What kind of monster are you...?"
Delta laughs.
She's about to go for a follow-up attack, but at that second, Nelson lashes out to stop her. As she dashes forward, a longsword bears down on her from the side.
"One down."
"Wha...?"
As Nelson holds his longsword aloft, an ebony katana bursts through his face.
At some point, Alpha made her way behind him and cut into his body. She slices his neck.
There's no sound. No bloodlust. Just Nelson's head toppling through the air.
Blood gushes from the wound and stains the white ground.
The next moment, though, the corpse shatters like a broken mirror and vanishes into the ether.
"The body felt human — from the way it moved and smelled. Part of how the Sanctuary protects itself, perhaps?" murmurs Alpha as she gazes at her sword, from which the blood has completely vanished, too.
"Precisely." Hiding his astonishment, Nelson stands at the ready. His body splits into two, then again into four. "It seems I was a bit careless. Perhaps four will do the trick."
One of them hangs back, and the other three Nelsons charge.
Delta barrels into their midst.
She doesn't care about being outnumbered or that she's at risk of being surrounded. All she sees is prey.
"So you're just a simple brute...," Nelson chuckles.
Delta laughs, too.
Then, she smashes the frontmost Nelson to pieces, longsword and all.
However, the other two move to box her in, and they level attacks at her.
The two longswords slice through the air horizontally, bearing down on Delta like a pair of scissors closing around her.
With her avenue of retreat cut off, Delta blocks the longsword in front of her with her katana, then twists her neck to turn her head backward.
Then...she catches the blade coming up from behind her in her teeth.
When she brings down her canines, the longsword snaps with a dull ring.
"What...?" Nelson is dumbfounded.
While he's rubbing his eyes, Alpha kills the two of him remaining.
"That's impossible..."
Most of Alpha and Delta's magic is supposed to be restrained. With the power of the Sanctuary, they shouldn't have been able to control or manipulate it. It should have been impossible for them to put up a decent fight.
Yet even under these restrictive conditions, they downed several Nelsons.
It defies all common sense.
"Did the two of you really awaken on your own...? That technique was supposed to be long lost..."
Alpha replies with a smile.
Delta, on the other hand, seems to be having difficulty controlling her bodysuit. She grabs the slime with her hands, then manually stretches it over her breasts and lower body into a simple suit of bikini armor.
Her face and body are only minimally covered, but Delta nods regardless, clearly pleased with herself.
"W-well, this is totally what I expected from you..." Nelson's voice trembles a little. "Come, then — let me show you my true power."
His body multiplies.
This time, the number dwarfs his past displays. There are well over ten of him, probably close to a hundred.
"So much prey..." Delta grins ecstatically and, sure enough, charges into the fray.
"You don't even understand you're outnumbered, you stupid animal?!"
But as Delta and the Nelsons collide, his face twitches.
Several of the Nelsons go comically flying through the air.
"HRAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!" Delta howls, which echoes like cruel laughter.
The slaughter begins.
From a safe distance, Alexia gazes in shock as Delta spins her ebony katana like an electric fan.
Delta's sword work is unlike Shadow's, and it's different from Alpha's and Epsilon's.
She has no form or technique, simply unbridled violence. It diverges from what Alexia considers strength.
It makes her want to ask, Are you really okay with that?
However, the fact of the matter is that Delta is powerful. Preposterously so.
Alpha joins in as well, and in the blink of an eye, the Nelsons are exterminated.
"How? How could you do that so easily...?"
"You were a researcher, weren't you?" asks Alpha, sounding oddly sympathetic. "Even with infinite copies, there's still only one brain. And humans aren't smart enough to effectively control multiple bodies at once. By the time you get to a hundred, they're little more than scarecrows."
Delta slays the final copy. Her tail wags as she strides forward.
"One left..." she snarls.
A brutal smile is glued to her face. For all intents and purposes, she resembles a bloodthirsty beast.
"Aaah...!" Nelson cries, shrinking back.
"It looks like there's a limit to how many copies you can make," Alpha says dispassionately as she watches him.
She's right. Nelson doesn't have the strength to produce any more copies.
And that's why...
...he finds himself calling upon the Sanctuary's final guardian.
"Come to me! And quick...!"
In response to his pathetic plea, the air rips to shreds.
Light spills forth from the opening, then coalesces into the shape of a woman.
A woman who rather resembles Alpha...
"Olivier...," Alpha murmurs.
There stands the great hero. However, there's no strength in her eyes. They're hollow, like glass beads, and appear sad.
She steps in front of Delta, as though to protect Nelson.
Delta laughs.
Strangely, though, she doesn't charge or inch closer.
She merely surveys her prey through bloodshot eyes, as though making light of her.
"Olivier, the great hero... So you really are..."
Alpha bites down on her lip.
Delta licks her lips, wiping up her drool.
But then they're interrupted.
"Alpha, we're finished with the investigation!"
A voluptuous woman clad in black appears. For whatever reason, though, she's a good ways away.
"Epsilon... I suppose that means our preliminary survey is over." Alpha turns around and begins walking.
"A-are you trying to escape...?!" yelps Nelson, audibly relieved.
"We've no interest in taking the life of a weakling. Our objective was to cut off your power at its source. And now, we're better informed as to the Sanctuary's defenses. All that remains is to go pry it open."
"Y-you think I'll just let you get away?"
"Oh? Will you indulge us in a wild chase?"
"Eek!" Nelson takes refuge behind Olivier's back.
"Delta, we're leaving... Delta!"
When Alpha grabs Delta by the scruff of her neck, Delta shakes her off and bares her fangs.
"Grrr!!"
"Excuse me?"
With a start, Delta returns to her senses. "Grrr. I'm sorry.."
"We're going."
"Okay."
With her ears tucked down and her tail rolled up between her legs, Delta scampers after Alpha.
"Lady Alpha! Hurry! The exit is this way! Quickly!" Epsilon waves her hands and repeatedly urges them on. Her two mounds of slime jiggle.
After everyone has entered the slit of light, led by Epsilon, silence descends upon the Sanctuary once more.
Nelson sits down and breathes a sigh of relief.
"W-well, no matter. Now I know that Alpha woman's face. With her blood, we'll get even closer to completion. This is all according to plan," he grunts. "F-first, I should report to the bosses. I can say I lured them into the Sanctuary, sprung my trap, and discovered Alpha's true nature."
Describing it like that, he'll be able to cover his ass.
"Then, I'll... Hmm?"
Suddenly, Nelson notices something off about his surroundings.
"Strange... It seems a little mouse has slipped into the center of the Sanctuary."
He glances around, and a wicked smile curls at his lips.
"Heh, tormenting it will prove a welcome distraction. Come along, Olivier."
With that, Nelson and Olivier vanish from the scene.