“Don’t come any closer.”
Flames bloomed from Claire’s fingertips.
Their speed and size were incomparable to before she had come to the academy.
The fire lit up the surroundings.
Its light shone on the startled faces of Ravena and Roland, and even on Hoppen’s expression, which was steeped in interest.
“Claire...? What’s wrong? It’s Assistant Professor Hoppen.”
“Stupid Claire. Are you trying to get expelled?”
Despite Ravena and Roland’s attempts to stop her, Claire drew out even fiercer flames.
Her gaze never left Hoppen.
“No. That isn’t Assistant Professor Hoppen.”
It was something completely different wearing Hoppen’s skin.
If she had to guess the name—
“Airaitz.”
At Claire’s words, Hoppen’s eyes widened in surprise.
“You know me?”
Just as expected.
No, just as Silbert had expected, this person was Airaitz.
Of course, that was all Claire knew.
And Airaitz, too, easily guessed that fact.
“Silbert must have told you. Well, I figured I’d be found out soon enough anyway, and even if you did notice, what could you possibly do...?”
Airaitz shrugged as if it hardly mattered.
Because to her, it truly did not matter.
Silbert had discovered that she was controlling Hoppen’s body.
Even so, what could he do?
As long as he did not know the location of her true body, there was practically nothing he could do.
“So, are you trying to scare me with those terrifying flames? They do look hot, but I’m not the one who’ll be hurt, you know?”
After all, the one who would be injured was Hoppen’s body, not Airaitz.
That was the frightening nature of her ability.
“So do as you please?”
Airaitz spread Hoppen’s arms wide.
Claire glared at her, then finally extinguished the flames.
Just as she had said, attacking Airaitz while she occupied Hoppen’s body would mean nothing.
“Claire. What is going on?”
Ravena asked the moment Claire’s flames went out.
And then...
“You, you met Professor Silbert alone again? When you’re just some stone that rolled in from nowhere...!”
Roland was still spouting idiocy.
“Be quiet. Stupid Roland.”
Roland tried to flare up again, but Airaitz was not the sort to sit there and listen to such nonsense.
“Judging by the looks of it, those two children behind you don’t know anything... How about it, Claire? Aren’t you curious?”
Airaitz approached, her crimson eyes gleaming as though in temptation.
“About what kind of person the Supreme Heavenly Demon... no, Hio Pavlenko is. About why everyone is searching for him so desperately.”
At those low, whispered words, Claire’s heart shook violently.
“Aren’t you curious about Hio’s purpose? About what he is facing?”
How could she not be?
She had resolved to make Hio her goal, and yet she knew nothing about him.
She knew something serious was happening, but beyond that, she could not find out anything at all.
Because she felt stifled, she had simply tried to become stronger.
Thinking that if she became strong, she would naturally learn the truth.
But...
Could it really be achieved just by becoming stronger? Was she truly meant to stand side by side with Hio?
When it seemed he did not care about her at all.
Having thought that far, Claire squeezed her eyes shut.
“...Don’t try anything stupid.”
Airaitz, who had already come right up close, withdrew her pink-tinged gaze and laughed behind her hand.
She had naturally tried to interfere with Claire’s mind and failed.
“You have quite the mental fortitude. What a shame.”
As expected, it did not work well on another woman.
On top of that, she was borrowing another person’s body rather than using her true body, so the power was drastically reduced.
Even taking that into account, it was quite impressive mental strength.
She did not seem to have any particular mental-type defensive ability, yet she had blocked it with her own pure will.
“Just tell us why you came to find us.”
Claire opened her eyes again, and they no longer wavered.
She looked straight into Hoppen’s eyes, and at Airaitz within them.
Airaitz answered without wiping away her smile.
“My first goal was to confirm it, and thanks to your reaction, I’m certain now...”
Certain that Hio Pavlenko was the Supreme Heavenly Demon.
That was what she had needed, and Claire’s reaction had given her certainty.
Then what was her second purpose?
“I came to help you?”
Claire and Ravena, and while she was at it, Roland as well.
She had come to help them.
At the completely unexpected answer, Claire could not help but look puzzled.
“Help us? Why?”
“If you ask me why... hmm...”
Airaitz pondered seriously for a moment, then, as if she had thought of an answer, spoke to Claire with a bright expression.
“Because I don’t want Hio Pavlenko to hate me? No, maybe because I want to earn a few points in advance?”
After saying that, Airaitz laughed softly.
No matter how one looked at her, she was not normal.
So Claire stretched out her hand and pointed behind Airaitz.
“We don’t need your help, so stop laughing creepily and hurry up and leave.”
“Hmm. Are you sure?”
At that, Airaitz also stretched out her hand and pointed behind Claire.
“You’re all going to die soon.”
In that instant—
Jingle—
A clear bell rang out.
Jingle— jingle—
Claire’s head slowly turned behind her. Ravena and Roland also looked in the same direction.
What entered their eyes was black mist surging high into the sky.
“Imenia will collapse soon.”
A vast curtain of black mist spread wide, as if to swallow the entire academy.
And then came a sweet whisper.
“How about it? Shall I save you?”
* * *
Paulron was an aspiring knight in the Knight Faculty.
The knight he respected most was the Sword Saint.
The place he wished to enter was the Imperial Knights.
A standard, ordinary aspiring knight.
Of course, the mere fact that he was enrolled in Imenia Academy already placed him far from ordinary, but if the scope was limited to within the academy, he was ordinary itself.
So today, as always, he had eaten an ordinary meal and was returning in an ordinary manner.
On his way back, he came across a familiar face.
“Raolet!”
Raolet, a fellow classmate in the Knight Faculty.
He had no title, but he said his family was wealthy, which was how he had been able to enter. Contrary to his appearance, he was diligent and taciturn.
Paulron waved brightly and trotted toward Raolet, but...
“...Raolet?”
Raolet’s condition seemed strange somehow.
His pupils were unfocused, his mouth hung open, and his steps staggered without purpose.
“Raolet! What’s wrong!”
Paulron went to his side, grabbed his shoulders, and shook him. Only then did Raolet’s gaze turn toward Paulron.
His eyes unfocused.
His mouth hanging slack.
Looking at Paulron, he said,
“Open the passage.”
At the same time, Raolet’s mouth gaped wide.
His eyes were dyed completely black, and from his eyes and nose, from his mouth and ears—black mist began to pour out from everywhere.
The black mist shot up into the heights of the sky in an instant.
And that phenomenon did not happen only before Paulron.
Black smoke rose from all over the academy.
In the blink of an eye, it seized the sky and spread wide, a black mist through which nothing beyond could be seen.
It began to envelop the entirety of the vast academy.
Jingle—
As if it had been waiting, a bell rang.
Jingle— jingle—
The clear sound of bells echoed throughout the academy.
At that bell, the black mist grew even thicker.
The mist that had been surrounding the outside began to seep inward as well.
Paulron stared up at it, dazed.
Raolet, whom he had been supporting with both hands, had already left behind only his clothes, his entire body having become black mist itself.
“What in the world is...”
And through that mist, shapes began to appear little by little.
People in black clothing began to emerge one by one, walking like ghosts.
Only then did Paulron recall a rather old story.
Black mist.
The sound of bells that followed.
When those bells rang, the worst group would surely appear. A symbol of terror that had once stained the continent with blood.
“...Black Fang.”
It was the return of the black mist that had held its breath for a long time.
* * *
“We have to go to the professor!”
For the first time, Claire, Ravena, and Roland’s opinions aligned.
The professor currently evaluated as the strongest person in the academy, excluding the Knight Faculty.
Silbert van Ernheim. They had to go to him.
“Hm... I don’t recommend that, though?”
They ignored Airaitz’s words from behind.
How could they possibly trust someone so suspicious it was beyond description and act together with her?
Right now, moving as quickly as possible and joining up with Silbert seemed like the best course of action.
“The professor is...”
“He’ll be in the faculty building! Let’s go!”
Black mist had already settled thickly in every direction.
To Claire, it was somewhat familiar.
The sensation she had experienced in Delphir Village.
No, it was that sensation multiplied dozens, hundreds of times over.
Back then, merely facing one executive of Black Fang had felt like standing before a wall she could never overcome, and now it felt as though those things had come in a swarm.
They took their bearings within the gloomy mist and dashed toward the faculty building.
“Think about it. Black Fang isn’t stupid, so do you think they don’t know about Silbert? Beings worthy of his power are probably already swarming toward him, you know? In other words, by his side is even more dangerous.”
Airaitz’s voice continued to come from behind them.
Claire was running while ignoring those words, but... a part of her dimly felt that they were right.
Even so, she could not stop running.
In this sudden chaos, a powerful ally they could trust and who could lead them was essential.
She believed that Silbert would be able to fulfill that role perfectly, and so she ran.
But their steps were blocked before long.
By none other than a single child.
A single child stood all alone in the middle of the path they were taking.
Because of the black mist, they could not see clearly, but they could tell it was a small-framed child.
“It hurts...”
On top of that, the child was clutching their head in pain.
“It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts so much.”
Claire and Ravena hurried toward the child.
No—they tried to.
“It’s a demon.”
They stopped not because of Airaitz’s calm words.
“I recommend you don’t bother going near it and just kill it quickly.”
Because even before those words reached them, the thing that had looked like a child had begun to swell, gradually taking on a grotesque form.
“W-what is that!”
In the blink of an eye, its body had expanded to several meters tall.
At the same time—
“Kyaaah!”
“Uwaaah! R-run!”
Screams rang out from every direction.
Through the black mist, shapes similar to the monster before them could be seen here and there.
Kwaaang—!
A fist swung down, and the ground shattered.
Stones flew.
There came a horrifying sound like a watermelon bursting, and bright red liquid splattered with a patter.
“C-Claire...”
Ravena retreated unsteadily, and before her stood the huge black monster.
Its gaze turned toward Claire’s group.
“Get back!”
A crimson fireball abruptly formed above Claire’s head.
“Kikikik... You can barely handle one demon, and you think you can break through this hellscape and reach Silbert?”
Ignoring Airaitz’s words from behind, Claire launched seven fireballs the size of a head all at once.
Kwaaaang—!
Because its body was so massive, none of them missed, and all of them drove into it and exploded.
She felt slightly relieved by that.
—Guuuuuh.
A huge fist broke through the smoke of the explosion and slammed down right in front of Claire.
Claire’s skill, counted among the most powerful even within the academy, did not work.
No, it had worked, but it was a little short of enough to bring down that monster.
“Oh dear... Give up. If you keep going like this and run into even one executive of Black Fang, you’ll be annihilated. Know your place and think.”
Airaitz’s voice sounded as though she were admonishing Claire as she staggered back to her feet.
Roland and Ravena, pouring their skills into the monster as if in desperation, let out sounds that were impossible to tell as battle cries or screams.
The black mist made the dark night sky even darker. Because of it, their field of vision narrowed.
“Hmm? Think carefully, Claire. Let’s say you deal with that monster. What then? And after that?”
In that situation, Airaitz’s gentle voice settled softly by her ear.
“Black Fang has already opened the passage fully prepared. Even if you somehow endure, will your friends be able to?”
Airaitz, who had come right up beside Claire, gently stroked Claire’s chin.
Her crimson eyes rippled once more.
“Don’t you know one person who can overturn this hopeless situation in an instant?”
At the words whispered quietly into her ear—
“Hio Pavlenko.”
Claire’s gaze gradually grew hazy.
“Tell me where he is.”