"It shall be done."
Chloe answered Lowell in a low, calm voice, yet one filled with a conviction firmer than anything in the world.
Leaving that voice behind him, Lowell began to sprint forward without hesitation.
At that moment, the massive body of Cassian, who had been guarding the entrance to the Hall, moved.
Purple mana imbued with the grudge of specters surged along the blade of his greatsword, bursting forth and falling heavily over Lowell and Silver’s heads.
It was no simple attack.
An overwhelming pressure, as if a massive boulder were crashing down upon his head whole, crushed Lowell’s entire body.
It was a force mighty enough that even Silver, a spiritual creature, felt threatened instinctively, bristling his fur and faltering.
The deathly trajectory of a legendary knight’s swing.
Had it been an ordinary person without even a shred of mana, it would not have been strange for their heart to stop under the weight of that momentum.
But not the slightest tremor could be found in Lowell’s eyes.
Rather, he pushed his body even more ruthlessly toward the center of destruction where Cassian’s blade was descending.
It was not because he lacked fear.
It was because he knew better than anyone who the knight protecting him from directly behind was, and he knew her skill better than anyone else.
Kwah-ah-ahng—!
With a sharp metallic sound loud enough to deafen the ears, the marble floor screamed and split apart.
Cassian’s greatsword, which had been falling close enough to brush the tips of Lowell’s hair, was suddenly intercepted by a silvery blade that cut in, stopping dead in mid-air.
There stood Chloe Jellin.
A monstrously powerful figure, the only one in the Academy who could stand toe-to-toe with Celestia.
The bone-chilling energy she emanated met Cassian’s heavy attack head-on, sending sparks flying in all directions.
Without even a moment to overcome the recoil, Chloe immediately lowered her stance and kicked off the ground.
"Your opponent is me."
Chloe’s voice, heard from beyond her helmet, was as cold and hard as ice.
Not a trace remained of her usual playful demeanor.
In this moment alone, she was the most reliable shield in the world, opening a path solely for her lord.
In an instant, Chloe dug into Cassian’s guard and swung her sword.
Cassian withdrew the gaze that had been chasing Lowell and instinctively raised his shield, forced to block her attack.
Chaeng! Chae-chaeng—!
The two mighty warriors clashed at a speed difficult to follow with the eyes, and the entire corridor shook.
Cassian corrected his posture as he was pushed back, glaring at Chloe.
He intuited it.
That this knight had resolved to stake her life on defending her master’s path.
That unless he felled her first, he would never be able to pursue that man.
"……Your devotion to your master is no ordinary thing."
Cassian’s voice was buried beneath Chloe’s fierce attacks, fading behind Lowell’s back.
Lowell never looked back, not even once.
Because he knew how precious this brief opportunity Chloe had staked her life to create was, he sprinted with Silver toward the interior of the Hall, where purple madness raged like a storm.
In that breathless sprint, Lowell shouted loudly toward the retreating figure behind him.
"Chloe! I’m counting on you!"
With that final shout, Lowell and Silver vanished completely into the darkness at the end of the corridor.
Chaeng! Chae-chaeng—!
Once again, blades clashed violently.
But in that brief exchange, both Chloe and Cassian already sensed it.
Before Cassian’s overwhelming pressure, Chloe’s defeat was already a foregone conclusion.
No matter how genius her talent, she alone was insufficient to defeat a legendary knight who had transcended death.
Cassian watched as Chloe, despite being pushed back by him, struck out with her sword without retreating a single inch, and asked in puzzlement.
"Defeat is right before your eyes. Why do you not stop?"
To that question, Chloe replied with a faint smile at her lips, as though answering Lowell’s cry from moments ago.
"My lord believes in me and advances. Why would I be unable to believe in myself?"
In that answer, there was neither fear of defeat nor hesitation toward death.
There existed only a resolute faith toward the lord who had acknowledged her as a knight.
Cassian saw the unwavering light in her eyes beyond the helmet, and finally acknowledged her as a warrior of equal standing.
"Noble knight. It is an honor to cross blades with one such as you."
Along with Cassian’s weighty acknowledgment, the corridor of the Hall was once again filled with the fierce auras emitted by the two knights.
Meanwhile, the steps of the true protagonist, seeking to set right a twisted fate, finally crossed the threshold of the sanctuary.
The center of the Hall.
The sanctum that should have been steeped in the repose of generations of knights was already eroded by purple demonic energy.
There, in the very center, stood Celestia, harboring a fragment of the evil god.
Her purple hair was scattered in the darkness, intertwined with bizarrely writhing demonic energy, and her uniform, always clean and neat, had lost its light and was buried in darkness.
But more than anything, it was her face that captured Lowell’s gaze.
Within her unfocused pupils, a bizarre purple radiance overflowed in place of human reason.
That ghastly light flickered like blazing flames, flowing down her cheeks like purple tears, or perhaps like blood.
The desperate pain and sorrow of having her soul whittled away by the evil god seemed to dwell in those purple tears.
The thick purple demonic energy rising behind her writhed bizarrely, like enormous wings or like the shadow of a demon seeking to devour her, pressing heavily upon the air of the Hall.
Celestia said nothing, merely gazing down at Lowell and Silver with eyes flashing purple light.
Lowell swallowed dryly.
Having played the game countless times, he had grown sick of seeing Celestia’s corrupted form, but the scene before his eyes now was on another dimension entirely.
The energy emanating from the evil god’s fragment was threatening beyond compare to what he had seen through a monitor, and the demonic energy that seemed to slice at his skin made his whole body shudder.
Silver, standing beside him, likewise bristled his fur at this threatening killing intent, growling lowly, his body trembling faintly.
Even a high spirit felt instinctive fear; the current Celestia was a calamity incarnate.
It was Silver who broke the silence first. His voice was far heavier and graver than usual.
"……Lowell von Adrian. I will speak calmly. Our master in that state has already surpassed the level we can handle. If we clash like this, neither of us will be able to escape death."
Silver looked at his master, grinding his teeth in agony.
And he added words he could barely bring himself to utter, as though squeezing them out.
"I do not wish to say this, but…… in the current situation, granting our master peace may be the only way to end this destruction."
It was a cruel yet rational judgment made as a high spirit.
But upon hearing those words, Lowell stared fixedly at Celestia’s purple tears and quietly asked back.
"So is that really what you want to do?"
"……What?"
"I’m not talking about rational judgment. I’m asking your true heart."
At Lowell’s question, Silver faltered.
A moment later, desperation dwelled in the grotesquely distorted pupils of the spirit.
He answered with a sincerity hotter than the blazing heat of the Hall.
"……Even if my soul is reduced to ashes, if I can pull my master out of this hell, I will do anything."
Hearing Silver’s answer, Lowell nodded.
Not once had there ever existed a story where Celestia was saved.
But in the short time he had known her, the Celestia he had seen was by no means a wicked being incapable of salvation.
A girl with a warm heart, always kind to everyone and caring for others, should not meet a tragic end.
"Yeah, that’s enough. Then let’s save her."
With Lowell’s voice, free of hesitation, the heavy air pressing down on the Hall began to stir.
The two shadows stepped forward simultaneously toward Celestia, who stood shedding purple tears, to create a miracle that seemed impossible.
###
She pushed open her eyelids at the warm breeze tickling her cheeks.
The first thing she saw was the dazzling sunlight filtering down in scattered fragments through the leaves.
Young Celestia lay beneath the shade of a large tree in the garden, blankly staring at the sky for a long while.
It was such a peaceful afternoon that she could not remember what dream she had been having just moments before.
"……Sleepy."
As she stretched out lightly, the scent of swaying grass brushed the tip of her nose.
The soft sensation of the lawn spread across her back, and nameless wildflowers blooming nearby swayed in the wind, releasing a light fragrance.
It was a time when she had no worries, nor any destiny to shoulder.
They were pure days when she simply found the fluttering of a butterfly before her eyes wondrous, and her heart fluttered even at a single white petal falling onto her palm.
In the young girl’s purple pupils, instead of omens of destruction, there was only the scenery of a clear spring day.
The child sat up and hugged her knees.
The sound of a fountain and the chirping of birds in the distance were as sweet as a lullaby.
The world was so peaceful that she even had the illusion that this moment might last forever.
The sun-warmed air gently wrapped around her cheeks.
The child closed her eyes once more and savored that warmth.
In this moment, there was only one thing she wished for: that this warm spring day would continue tomorrow, and the day after.
Without even dreaming that the shadow of tragedy had crept all the way to her feet, young Celestia simply smiled happily and drifted back into sleep.