Chapter 106 : Chapter 106
Volume 2
Chapter 30 : The Truth
High above the heavens, the blue moon was a grotesque thing.
The girl stood in midair.
Her pink nightdress fluttered in the breeze, and her white hair streamed out in every direction, tinged with a faint blue glow.
Before that enormous blue moon, which nearly occupied half the sky, the girl looked so small, like a speck of dust too insignificant to matter.
And yet, the instant she appeared, the deathly ghost-shadows madly eroding the academy below her feet suddenly froze.
It was as if time itself had been sealed away.
Those shadows that had given Professor Prang such a headache, those things without even physical bodies, turned one by one into twisted statues fit only to make people laugh.
A terrifying gaze descended from the infinitely distant heavens. Within that vast will of deathly stillness and madness, there was a trace of... wariness.
“It really has been a long time.”
The girl tilted her head back, and in her crimson eyes was reflected the blue moon.
The moon said nothing, but the savage shadows formed by its craters and moon-seas grew heavier still.
“It seems you still dislike me as much as ever.”
The girl shook her head helplessly, then looked toward the grotesque ball of flesh nearby.
“And you too. Why is it that every time I see you, you are just as disgusting as ever, Love God?”
The flesh ball, with only a single eye, began to writhe. Soon, that eye twisted into a warped mouthpart and gave off a hideous grinding sound, like iron scraping against iron.
“...You... are still alive?”
The girl smiled.
“Does my being alive really surprise you that much? But there is a saying, is there not? Girls who love sleeping always age more slowly. For an eighteen-year-old maiden in the bloom of youth like me, who sleeps for decades at a time, living a few extra years is perfectly normal.”
“But, Love God, while I was asleep, you seem to have shown my academy a very special amount of care.”
The girl raised a hand toward the grotesque ball of flesh and then slowly clenched it.
In an instant, the flesh ball let out a shrill scream and exploded with a bang, scattering into countless bits of minced flesh.
“Trying to run?”
An icy chill appeared on the cute, slightly babyish face of the girl.
“Since you came to pay me a visit, you should at least leave behind a gift, should you not?”
The girl lightly waved the pink star wand in her hand.
A tremendous roar erupted.
From atop the twelve black towers, Mana, far more vast than when Professor Prang had controlled them, surged forth, turning them an overloaded crimson.
At the girl’s command, the first layer of the grand ritual activated.
A new structure rose from the academy’s deepest level, and beneath the girl’s feet it became a sea of silver.
Like endlessly flowing mercury.
In the next instant, that boundless sea of silver froze solid.
Smooth as a mirror.
Within that mirror was reflected the enormous blue moon, as well as the scattered bits of fleeing flesh.
But as those pieces fled, they suddenly lost their sense of direction.
Outside the mirror, the Love God’s remnants had already vanished.
It was as though those reflections within the mirror had, without anyone noticing, become reality.
Realizing it had been trapped, the flesh ball turned toward the white-haired girl outside the mirror and let out an enraged howl.
“Do not scream.”
The girl reached lightly into the mirror and scooped.
In that instant, the flesh ball lost all signs of life, and then it was as though she had grasped something in her hand.
It was a twisted, intangible substance.
She weighed it in her hand, and a regretful look appeared on her face.
“No wonder you became so weak after losing that Crowned One body. So it was only such a tiny fragment of will that was projected over? As expected of you, Love God. They do not call you the disgrace of evil gods for nothing. What a coward.”
Having lost interest, the girl casually tossed that twisted, intangible substance back into the mirror.
Then she raised her head once more and looked toward the blue moon.
The moonlight was deathly still and cold, spilling down like a waterfall.
But moonlight, which should have crossed space with immeasurable speed, seemed to have encountered some obstacle.
Reflected by the silver mirror, it diffused into pale blue mists.
Those mists drifted above the academy, as if stirred by the wind, refusing to descend for a long while.
“Next, it is your turn, Moon.”
The girl’s leisurely voice drifted upward like a song, carrying itself all the way to the moon.
Like a blasphemer reciting her irreverence toward a god beneath the heavens.
And so—
The Silent Moon flew into a rage!
Endless shadows poured forth from behind those craters and from the dark moon-seas, like thick drops of ink spreading across that blue moon.
The spreading shadows formed two inverted crescent arcs and one great upright crescent.
The shadows of moon upon moon seemed to outline the face of a grinning clown.
And within that profound darkness, one blood-red eye after another snapped open, glaring furiously at that tiny irreverent being!
BOOM!
The vault of heaven trembled!
The pitch-black sky, empty for ten thousand miles, rippled visibly like water struck by an iron sphere.
Even the barrier between worlds seemed as though it would be shattered by some incomprehensible force.
Moonlight spread, and every shadow in the world seemed to stir.
Even the silver mirror beneath the girl’s feet began to shake.
And within that mirror, the endless ghost-shadows that had emerged from the land of deathly stillness suddenly broke free from the shackles of time.
They warped into unrecognizable black limbs and slammed themselves, howling, against the academy’s deepest structure.
In that moment, the Silent Moon completely gave up its blockade of this realm and turned to an all-out, reckless assault instead.
Thus, in every corner of the world, countless powerful beings jolted awake from their sleep and cast horrified gazes toward the sky.
“Oh? Have you flown into a rage from humiliation?”
The girl sighed softly.
“But law is law. That world-barrier is not so easily broken. No matter how recklessly you struggle, what can you do except waste your strength for nothing?
“So...”
The girl stared fearlessly at the grotesque moon, which no longer retained even a trace of beauty, her expression solemn.
“Get back, Moon. This is my territory, not a place you may lay hands on!”
Her cold voice fell.
Then a majestic bell rang out.
The academy’s tallest building, the great clock tower, cast a clear shadow upon the silver mirror.
Like the hand of a clock.
And the twelve black towers standing at the academy’s edges were like hour marks.
The hand tilted, pointing between five and six.
Then it tilted farther.
In only a few breaths, it crossed the final distance between five and six.
An invisible law spread outward.
And so, on this dawn unnoticed by all save a very few supreme powers, half an hour seemed to be cut away from the time of the entire world.
Six o’clock sharp.
At the far edge of the black sky, a glimmer of light appeared.
That was the dawn.
The bell rang once more.
The girl, who now seemed a little smaller than before, stretched out her hand as if to seize that grotesque blue moon in her palm.
“Look, Silent Moon.”
Gazing coldly at the night that was gradually fading, the girl declared:
“Day has broken.”
...
...
“It is over.”
Watching the sky gradually brighten, and the blue moon grow dimmer and dimmer, the girl finally let out a sigh of relief.
After all, it was an evil god that had nearly succeeded in descending in its true body. Even for her, dealing with it had been rather taxing.
“Fortunately, the price I paid is still barely within a range I can accept.”
Still, when she tugged at her now somewhat loose nightdress, a trace of displeasure surfaced in her crimson eyes.
She absolutely could not afford to get any smaller.
“Now then, let me see why you suddenly came to my academy, Moon.”
As those cool words fell, the dim blue moon vanished from the girl’s eyes, replaced instead by countless stars.
The stars flickered and shifted, tracing one profound mark after another through the endless void.
The girl watched those marks and pushed the course of Fate forward.
“You were... afraid?”
The very first result she deduced made the girl pause in surprise.
The stars continued to flicker.
“Because of the King of Withering?”
Her gaze lowered slightly as she thought of the boy who had just received the King of Withering’s favor.
But the fragment of Fate she had deduced only made her more confused.
The Silent Moon and the King of Withering were evil gods of the same station.
Their authorities were complete opposites, yet they also generated and restrained one another.
They were natural enemies, and yet the two most alike among such beings.
By all logic, even if the two of them truly fought, neither should have been able to do anything to the other.
So why was the Silent Moon afraid of the King of Withering now?
And according to her deduction, the King of Withering was indeed moving toward the Silent Moon with desperate urgency.
In as little as two months, or at most half a year, the two would fully encounter one another, and then a divine war would erupt.
As for the reason, it could not be calculated.
When multiple gods were involved, reaching even this step in the deduction was already the limit.
Any farther ahead was only a fog, as though still more things were entangled within it.
So the girl gave up deducing and began reasoning instead.
Sometimes, one did not need to see the full trajectory of Fate to know the truth.
For supreme beings like gods, there were not many reasons that could change their behavior.
So all one needed was a little knowledge that transcended this era, and the truth was not difficult to guess.
And by happy coincidence, the girl did not lack knowledge.
Thus, she quickly arrived at the most likely answer.
“Perhaps... the King of Withering learned your weakness from somewhere.
“And so it is charging toward you without hesitation, because it wants to devour your authority.
“And that is why you are afraid, because the King of Withering, once it knows your weakness, really can do exactly that.”
“That is also why, in pursuit of new power, and in order not to be devoured by the King of Withering, you invaded the academy and tried to obtain the thing beneath it.”
“So that is how it is. I think I understand now. It is just...”
She gazed at the blue moon that was about to disappear and let out a wistful sigh.
“As far as I know, in this world, there are only one and a half beings who know the weaknesses of the gods.”
“No, that is not right. One and a half years have long since died.”
“In other words...”
A flicker passed through the girl’s eyes, and ripples rose at last in a heart that had always been calm as a mirror.
“That thing... still exists in this world?”
...
...
“Professor Gran.”
“Do not talk to me!”
Amid the sea of flowers, Professor Gran, who had been dismantled into pieces by the girl just like Muen, snapped angrily, “We are not that close!”
“Professor, could you stop being so childish?” Muen twitched at the corner of his mouth.
“Childish? You got me dragged into this, and I am not allowed to be angry?” Professor Gran glared at him.
“Was it not Professor Gran who set me up first?”
Muen gave a cold laugh.
“Do not tell me that candy was actually meant for me.”
“...”
Professor Gran guiltily averted his eyes.
“All right. I only wanted to ask you one question.”
Muen let out a soft sigh and asked, “That thing you mentioned before, about the Silent Moon invading the academy... what exactly was going on?”
“Hm? Why is a student asking so much?” Professor Gran asked doubtfully.
“Curiosity.”
With a blank face, Muen made up nonsense.
“If an ordinary person went through something like that, would he not be curious? To be honest, Professor, my curiosity is practically exploding right now. It has nearly reached the point where I feel I will die if I do not learn what happened.”
“Yes, that is true.”
Professor Gran nodded as though it made perfect sense. “A normal person would indeed be curious.
“But unfortunately, I do not know the details very clearly either. Once something involves evil gods, anyone in the know usually signs a silence pact.”
A silence pact...
Muen frowned. “Then... what about some unimportant information...”
“What information would I know?”
Professor Gran, whose shoulder lay several meters away, gave a shrug.
“I only seem to recall hearing that old fossil Prang sigh once that this matter also involved a third evil god. Other than that, I know nothing.”
“A third evil god?”
Muen fell into thought, and then faintly grasped a thread of the truth.
His eyes immediately lit up.
“Thank you, Professor Gran. I am going to sleep now.”
“Huh? Sleep?”
Professor Gran looked at Muen in shock. “How are you able to sleep at a time like this?”
Ignoring Professor Gran, Muen closed his eyes.
His consciousness sank into the space of the black book.
The black book, which had hidden itself who knew where before that formidable white-haired girl just now, was now quietly floating before Muen.
As if it had long expected this, and had been waiting here for his arrival.
“So you already know what I am here for, black book.”
A faint gleam flashed in Muen’s eyes as he asked, “Then I will not waste words. The third evil god Professor Gran mentioned was the King of Withering, was it not? After all, aside from the Love God, the only one that has had any contact with me is it.”
【...】
“Then the reason the Silent Moon’s behavior changed so drastically must also have been because of the King of Withering. The only thing that can completely alter the actions of one evil god is another evil god.”
【...】
“And the reason the King of Withering’s behavior changed in some way I do not understand was most likely also because of its earlier contact with me. But I am only a mere mortal. I could not possibly influence the King of Withering. Which means...”
Muen paused for a moment.
“The source that caused this whole chain reaction... was actually you.”
【...】
“So, black book, when you exchanged for that power on my behalf, what exactly was written on the page you handed to the King of Withering? I do not believe for a second that it was really just an IOU!”
【Sigh...】
Faced with Muen’s relentless questioning, a faint sigh suddenly echoed through the space.
The black book flipped open to a blank page.
Then, on that blank page, neat writing slowly appeared.
【Information】.
“Information?”
Muen did not understand. “What information?”
The words changed.
【The Silent Moon’s weakness.】
“Huh?”
Muen froze, and then shock flooded his face.
“Its weakness? The Silent Moon’s? Wait, wait, wait. You actually know something like that? No, this is not the time to focus on that. If you told the King of Withering the Silent Moon’s weakness, then that means...”
The authorities held by those two gods were complete opposites, yet they ultimately led to the same destination.
They were each other’s natural enemies, and yet also the closest of existences.
So after learning that information, the King of Withering would not go running over to trade vulgar jokes with the Silent Moon.
It would be desperate to tear the Silent Moon apart, flay it, crush its bones, suck out its marrow, and then utterly devour its authority.
That was why the Silent Moon had suddenly invaded the academy.
Muen vaguely remembered that the original text had once mentioned that something hidden beneath the academy was coveted even by gods.
The Silent Moon wanted that thing so it could obtain new power and resist the King of Withering, which was charging at it with a knife and fork in hand!
“No wonder that white-haired little powerhouse said that what I carry is not some simple power bestowed by the King of Withering, but a divine favor.”
“A divine favor that can be used without limit, the manifestation of a portion of a god’s authority made real...”
If the information traded away was something that precious, how could the King of Withering possibly be stingy?
“But...”
Muen looked at the black book, still unable to understand.
“Why would you do something like that? At the time, it only needed to serve as an emergency measure. Would it not have been better to trade something else, something less important?”
【In order to.】
【Save you.】
The black book turned another page.
In the next moment, Muen felt dazed.
A vision appeared before his eyes.
Beneath a pitch-black sky, pure white wings spread wide.
The Saintess of Purification, a radiant crown above her head and compassion upon her face, stood before him with the Holy Sword in hand.
Ariel, badly wounded, stood not far away, bracing herself with her sword, her face deathly pale.
Farther away, Professor Prang was rushing over with fury on his face.
And when Muen lowered his head, he could dimly see, through the chest that had been pierced by the Holy Sword and drained of blood, a heart that no longer beat.
“This is...”
【If the Silent Moon had not joined in,】
【the Love God would not have set its sights on that thing.】
New words rapidly appeared upon the black book.
【Everything would have followed the original plot.】
【The Love God’s invasion would have come one year later.】
【The only difference is that its target would no longer have been Ariel, but—you.】
“It was me...”
Muen’s pupils contracted sharply.
In an instant, he understood the meaning of the suddenly appearing scene.
In the original plot, when Ariel faced the Crowned saintess controlled by the Love God, she could rely on her protagonist halo and all kinds of cheats to hold out until Professor Prang arrived.
But what about Muen Campbell?
No.
He would not have lasted that long.
Because Muen Campbell was not the protagonist.
He had no protagonist halo, nor any cheats.
He was only a blond villain hated by Fate.
So—
If events had unfolded according to the original plot,
Muen Campbell
would have died without question.
...
【This was... the original prophetic dream.】
【A future that, unless some powerful external force interfered, was certain to come to pass.】