Volume 8, 5 — The bloody Empress

Volume 8, Chapter 5: The bloody Empress

2V walked through an unknown passageway behind the palace.

It connected to the secret room she had once lived in.

No one knew of its existence anymore. It had been quite a long time since 2V had been there.

2V was alive.

“It was very cautious of you to use a doll resembling your real self even then,” said Zero.

Zero now had a L’Isle-Adam body. That body had an inhumanly beautiful face from which all humanity had been eliminated.

“Didn’t I tell you I was prepared? And it is true that I am willing to have my life come to an end here. I will live as a recluse now, so you can do as you wish. That demon king managed to interfere with your power, but you intend to oppose him, don’t you? I will watch as you do.”

Akuto seemed to have the ability to oppose Zero’s seal on the Gods’ power. That may have been why they were both known as a demon king.

Once their conversation was complete, Zero continued further into the palace.

2V headed in the opposite direction, but someone stood in her path.

“Aren’t you forgetting about someone?”

2V looked up in surprise.

A girl wearing a stylish hat stood there.

“Lily Shiraishi, right?” said 2V lightly.

“That’s right. I figured there was an escape route no one knew about, so I made a thorough search of the palace. That’s what I’ve been doing since this attack began. After all, I knew you would never let anyone capture you.” Lily grabbed the brim of her hat and reversed it. “I can finally use magic again, so I’m gonna go all out from the beginning!”

Lily immediately charged forward.

“Tch!”

2V created several mana spheres around herself and moved her hands to control them. This was the magic of the imperial family that Kazuko had used.

“You have multiple mana attacks that can cause physical blows, but I just have to throw enough punches to outnumber them!”

Lily threw countless punches forward. 2V guided the mana spheres, but Lily’s extended fists struck each and every one. The special mana spheres dealt physical blows even while stationary, so this was a comparison of strength.

“Ohhhhhh!”

Lily’s fists were deflected by the mana spheres, but she still managed to send in a great number of blows. For each sphere, she sent in ten blows. It was a tremendous number.

And 2V began to be pushed back.

“Kh…!”

2V’s magic power lost to Lily. The mana spheres vanished and the countless fists slammed into her slender body.

“Doraaaah!”

Lily swung her fists and slammed 2V into a wall.

2V groaned while pinned to the wall.

“Gh…!”

“Hah. I won’t kill you, so don’t worry. If I don’t have proof of your identity, I can’t bring back the previous system. Despite my grudge, it would be better if I left you alive. Killing you would essentially accomplish your goal.”

Lily extended an arm with magic power and lifted 2V up by the collar. From 2V’s expression, one would have thought Lily had said she would kill her.

“Stop. Please stop.”

“You’ve vaguely realized it, haven’t you? People aren’t as stupid as you think they are. If I reveal the truth, they’ll be able to make an intelligent decision. I won’t let you escape into death to avoid seeing something you’d rather not.”

Lily gave a cruel smile.

And at that moment, a dull noise rang from 2V’s body. Lily felt the impact through her hand.

“Wha…?”

Lily’s eyes opened wide.

A glowing sword was stabbed through 2V’s body.

“Ghah!” groaned 2V as she coughed up blood.

“What…?”

The glowing sword had flown in from the side.

And after it pierced 2V’s body, it disappeared as if turning to dust. It had been formed from mana. Not many magicians could maintain that much power while sending mana long distance in a non spherical form.

Lily was shocked when she turned toward where the sword had come from.

Kazuko walked elegantly toward her.

“Kazuko-sama…”

“Don’t you feel sorry for her? She was asking for death herself. She has been hiding in the darkness without directly speaking with anyone for so long, so we need to at least give her a nice dream in the very end.”

Kazuko walked over to 2V.

2V was still breathing.

“Damn you…” groaned 2V.

Kazuko kissed her twin sister.

The mouth and cheek of Kazuko’s beautiful face were stained with blood.

But Kazuko continued smiling and looked on 2V with a kind expression.

“You poor thing. You wanted to be like me, didn’t you? Did you gain your wish in the end? If so, I will kill you before that nice dream comes to an end.”

Kazuko fired a mana sword into 2V from close range.

2V convulsed.

“Are you sure you should do this?” asked Lily.

Kazuko’s entire body was stained with blood and she jabbed her right hand inside the wound her mana sword had left in 2V’s stomach. She moved her hand around a bit, found the heart, and pulled it from 2V’s body.

“Kazuko…sama…”

Lily was left speechless.

Kazuko tilted her head slightly as if to say she was doing nothing out of the ordinary. She then held the heart in both hands and began to eat it with perfect etiquette.

“Oh, it is quite like a large dried plum.”

“Wh-why?”

Kazuko smiled gently as Lily backed away.

“I have taken in her mana wavelength. The power that was meant for me ended up with her. It is called Yata no Kagami and it allows one to transfer their consciousness into L’Isle-Adams and dolls.”

“And eating that means…”

Sweat flowed down Lily’s brow.

“Yes. By taking that power, I plan to take responsibility for what she has done. Zero is working in the name of the empress. For the first time in thousands of years, it is time to bring back the rule of an emperor,” announced Kazuko.

“What…?”

Lily did not know what to say.

“With Zero and the demon king working for the empress, magic has been unified. Everyone can live in a happy society ruled by the empress,” said Kazuko.

But another voice cut in.

“No! I don’t know the details, but that’s wrong!”

Keena stood there.

“He will not allow you to bring an end to all thought like that. He thinks that the future lies in continuing to think. In other words, you are wrong.”

Fujiko was there too.

They had been transferred to the palace along with Akuto.

Despite the protests, Kazuko’s smile remained.

But as she smiled, the bloody empress announced an execution.

“In that case, you will have to die along with the demon king.”

The confusion outside the temple reached its peak.

Akuto had disappeared from the sky, but the people were fleeing in fear. Some were using their resurrected flight magic or the flying cars that could be used once more.

Among them, Yoshie, Junko, and Keisu headed for the palace. With her magic back, Junko leaped from wall to wall while holding Yoshie. Keisu followed behind.

Yuuko had stayed with Hiroshi once he descended. His energy supply had apparently returned, so he could fly away with her.

“So what was that?” asked Yoshie.

She referred to Akuto’s actions. Yoshie had not known him for long, so she could not figure out why he had done what he did.

“He intentionally made everyone hate him. That is the kind of guy he is,” explained Junko.

“Why would he do that? Is there any advantage to it?”

“That is just who he is. He is trying to save everyone by carrying all the negative legacy himself. I could tell from the way he tried to act evil. He plans to bring an end to these wars over the demon king once and for all.”

Junko’s words were passionate and her usual liveliness had returned to her eyes.

“So he’s going to defeat Zero and oppose the empress? Fwoh! I had guessed some of it, but this is getting interesting!”

Yoshie smiled and looked up at Junko’s face as she carried her.

“What is it?” asked Junko when she noticed.

Yoshie grinned.

“I just realized how much you’ve fallen for Akuto-kun. It’s gonna be tough being interested in someone like that, y’know?”

“I-idiot! This is not the time for that!”

“Fine, fine. Now, let’s go throw away our lives for an interesting guy.”

Yoshie laughed.

“So 2V has finally died.”

On a road with a good distance from the center of the capital, Kento smoked a pipe while resting his elbows on the roof of a parked ground car. He sighed as he sensed a disturbance in the mana he was tracing.

“The limiter the Gods placed on magic has been removed. The age has come where people can use magic with no thought to morality. Now, which side should I join?”

Kento climbed inside the car with the pipe still in his mouth.

“Bouichirou had to have considered this as a possibility. He left behind Zero’s body and that suit, but I need to search for something else that he left behind.”

Kento went by the codename USD and he was the man who had once been called the strongest magician.