Volume 2 - CH 23

Melody brought Lect to the Academy using her Side Entrance spell, and the two ran towards the school building. As they approached the entrance, Melody caught sight of Micah.

“Miss Micah!”

“Oh, Miss Melody! And Lord Lectias, too!”

Micah brought the two up to speed, but as Melody exhaled in relief upon learning Annemarie and the others joined to help, a mass of darkness bound in from around the side of the school building.

“Get back, you two!”

The thing came to a stop before them, leaking faint black mist. On closer inspection, they could make out the curled figure of a person.

And of course, that person was none other than…

“Is that, Buque Kischel?!”

As if in response, the black mist began to violently overflow from Buque’s body.

“Ah, ahh, aah, aaaaahhhhh!!”

Buque, fighting against the stifling mist of the Demon King, raged about uncontrollably; it was a wrestle for supremacy and control between the Demon King’s desire for revenge and Buque’s instinct to oppose control, and Buque’s body and mind suffering from the clash of wills.

“Ugaaaaahh!!”

“Tch!”

Buque’s wildly flailing arms surged forward, drawing dangerously close to Melody, but Lect stepped in to gracefully parry, pushing away the thrashing limbs. He quickly moved Melody behind him to shield her from danger as Buque’s wild assault continued.

It took all the skill he had to defend against the danger; Buque attacked without regard to his surroundings, exerting superhuman strength every which way as he screamed in agony. For a time, it seemed their fight was even.

Suddenly, Buque drew back his sword, raising his arm high into the air only to bring it down with thundering force. Lect dodge aside with minimal movement and countered with a quick riposte; Buque swung his broken sword around in a panic, awkwardly blocking the attack.

Buque’s untrained techniques were no match for the swordsmanship of a true knight; it seemed Lect was in complete control of the fight, but…

“His strength… is something else!”

There was a limit to how much force he could handle using only skill. The Demon King’s remnant, despite being a mere fragment of the whole, magically bolstered Buque’s strength to monstrous levels, and the parries and blocks Lect performed were beginning to take their toll. If the fight continued this way, Lect would very quickly reach his limits.

Behind him, the two maids looked on helplessly. Melody had trained in self-defense but could do nothing to help in this fight, and Micah, to say the least, knew nothing about fighting in the first place.

“Guooooooooh!!”

“Haaaaaa!!”

They had no idea for how long this would continue; the girls could only worry, wondering if there was something they could do, and it was in that moment that Micah recalled an important detail.

(Isn’t this what happened right before Buque’s route became available?)

It was a scene from later in the game; Buque, having partially usurped the Demon King’s control, had fallen into a berserk state and attacked the heroine and her allies in a frenzied rage.

It had become a fight in the game, but winning meant getting to see the illustration of Buque finally breaking free of the Demon King’s control. But in order to actually win…

“Lord Lectias! You have to get that sword out of his hands!”

Indeed, it was after Buque relinquished the sword that he would be able to break away from the Demon King. From there, it became possible for the Saint to purge all traces of the Demon King from his body.

“I would do it if I could, but I am a little… busy!”

Lect had ducked in with his superior speed and skill to attempt a disarm, but a superhuman vice-grip holding the sword and a hard magical shell kept him from doing so.

(We can’t keep going on like this. What can we do… What about a distraction, something to get his attention? But how would I… Ah!)

Micah turned to look at Melody; her silver magic should serve as the perfect bait to catch the Demon King’s attention.

“Miss Melody, I need you to use a spell to draw Buque’s attention! Something really big and flashy!”

“B-big and flashy? Um, so what sort of magic should I use..?”

“Anything is fine! Umm, how about you just gather some of your magical power into air and then shoot it into the sky? Using only a little bit is fine, as long as you get his attention!”

She was the Saint after all, so any amount would be enough! And so, at Micah’s urging, Melody pointed a hand skyward, and…

“Okay!”

…She had forgotten to hold back. A giant silver ball of pure magical power suddenly appeared over her hand. It was easily the size of two, maybe even three people.

The sudden manifestation of an overwhelming amount of magical power stopped Micah, Lect, and even Buque in place as they turned to stare at the fantastical sight.

Thankfully Melody had not imbued her command with intent; she had been in such a hurry that what she had in hand was purely magical power and lacked a spell to feed into.

Although magical power itself was neutral, it was only when powering a spell that it became colored to signify its purpose. Here, if Melody had intended to energize a spell with her magical power, it was likely the pressure of the empowered spell would cause the others around her to faint.

“Now all I have to do is shoot this into the sky, right? Then, here we go!”

With an explosive ‘BANG!’ the sphere rocketed into the air. Its upward velocity had been so great that the onlookers around her had not at first understood what had happened.

That was unsurprising; after all, the ball of magical power had flown off at close to the speed of light… It was so sudden, so fast, that besides the people around Melody now, nobody would believe such a thing happened.

Observations aside, Melody’s spell had done the job; the large sphere had caught Buque’s attention, giving them the opening they needed… if only Lect were not also as distracted.

“Sir Lect, the sword!”

“Huh? …Oh! Take this!”

Melody shouted at the absent-minded Lect, but that had also served to call Buque’s attention; even so, Lect had the advantage, reacting faster and aiming at the sword…

And the blade connected, batting away Buque’s broken sword into the dirt.

The sword rattled as it flew out of Buque’s hand and over his head, landing on a bush somewhere behind him. The black mist that had surrounded the boy suddenly dissipated, as though having lost its hold the moment Buque lost his grip on the sword.

And it seemed that had sapped the last of his strength, and so Buque fell over, like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

“Buque!”

Micah rushed over, catching him in her arms, but the boy was unmoving. But it seemed his condition was worsening: his face twisted in pain, and his free hand desperately clawed at his chest.

(He’s no longer holding the sword, so is it because he’s still connected to the Demon King somehow? Where did the sword go… Oh no, I don’t see it anywhere!)

But they could not afford to carefully search for the sword at the moment. Instead, what they needed to do now was…

“Miss Micah, how is he?”

“Miss Melody, please come here! Could you use your magic to expel the dark magic inside of him?!”

“Dark magic? I am not sure what you mean, but I shall do my best.”

Sensing the desperate impatience within Micah, Melody quickly assented and took hold of the boy’s hand. She began sending over her own magical power, similar to what she had done with Luciana, and she immediately sensed the issue: a dark mass of foreign magical power circulating around Buque’s body alongside his own.

Melody poured in more of her own magical power to neutralize the dark magic, and color began returning to Buque’s face. Micah exhaled in relief, but…

“…This will not be enough. I was able to take care of most of the dark magic you mentioned, Miss Micah, but I am unable to completely neutralize it.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“How do I explain this… The dark magic has spread to parts that my magic is unable to normally reach. I can force my magic through to do so, but it would be extremely harmful, possibly endangering the boy.”

Having been under the Demon King’s control for so long, it seemed the dark magic had sunk its roots deep into Buque’s soul, and even for Melody, powerful though she may be, that extensive contamination was no simple matter to purify.

“No, no way…”

So while Buque’s condition had improved, they could not yet solved the actual problem: eliminating the Demon King’s presence from within Buque’s innermost depths.

“Isn’t there anything we can do?!”

But Melody could not think of a solution. But was there even such a convenient answer to neatly solve this issue..?

(…I’ve got it! There was an easy way to solve the problem!)

It was not Melody, but Micah who had the answer, basing her idea on knowledge from the game.

“The sword’s pedestal!”

“What is it, Miss Micah?”

“Miss Melody, you have a spell that allows for instantaneous long-distance travel, right?”

“Yes, I do, but…”

“Okay, and do you have magic that lets you find a specific location? I need you to find a certain place in the Great Forest. There should be a silver pedestal in the area, that a sword can be put into. We need to go there! There might be something there that can help us!”

Back in the game, it had taken more to save Buque than simply defeating him in battle; the heroine had fought him in the depths of the Great Forest of Vanargand — that is, in the clearing where the pedestal holding the sword sealing the Demon King lay hidden.

It was after the heroine defeated Buque in combat that she resonated with the power of the previous Saint within the pedestal, amplifying her own powers to completely free Buque from the Demon King’s control.

(But if we can’t find the pedestal this way, we might not make it in time…)

“Did you say a silver pedestal in the forest? Hm… Oh, I believe I know the place.”

“You do?! How the heck do you know?!”

(Wait, that’s a little too convenient!)

It was extremely helpful that Melody knew the place, but then why did she know it? Could it be that she actually was a reincarnator that knew about the game?!

“I saw something like it in the forest near the capital. I go there every day to collect ingredients, so I am quite familiar with the area. If that is the pedestal you are referring to, then I know where it is.”

(Collecting ingredients? Every day? From the Great Forest of Vanargand?!)

“…Melody, you know, just now, did you say something completely absurd?”

“Did I?”

(Yikes, Miss Melody! I don’t think she knows that forest is actually an extremely dangerous area. Is she just completely invincible… Wait, now isn’t the time to be thinking about that!)

“Please take us there right now!”

“Of course, leave it to me. Side EntranceOvunqueporta!”

The usual simple door appeared, and beyond its threshold was none other than the Great Forest of Vanargand. Lect quickly took hold of Buque, and the three crossed over to stand before the aforementioned silver pedestal.

“So what should I do next, Miss Micah?”

“Let’s see. So if you use your power here, you should cause a resonance with the leftover magical power within this pedestal, and… huh?”

The moment Micah put a hand on it, a sharp ‘Snap!’ rang out, and a crack formed, running across the pedestal’s surface.

“Huh? Wha…”

More cracks formed across pedestal, quickly overtaking the structure, until it noisily crumbled to pieces.

“Whyyyyyyyyyy?!”

Micah cried to the heavens from the very depths of her soul. Was it her? Was she the one who caused it? She had only lightly touched it!

“You have got to be kidding me! We needed that leftover power in the pedestal! What am I supposed to do now…”

Micah has fallen into a panic; the pedestal had been her last hope, and she had never expected everything to simply fall into pieces.

And yet, hope still remained. Or rather, it was more accurate to say that a certain someone had unknowingly taken custody of that hope.

“Oh, you needed the power that was in the pedestal? I actually used that to create Selena.”

“You did what with it?! Created Miss Selena with it?! Why do you keep– no, Miss Melody, please bring Miss Selena over here immediately!”

This cheeky heroine… She was not satisfied with abandoning her role as the main character. No, she also had to completely derail the story for her own ends! There was so much more Micah wanted to complain about, but that had to wait. Right now, her primary concern should be on Buque.

Thankfully it was only a moment later that Selena arrived through the convenience of Melody’s Side Entrance.

“Um, I believe I was called over with great urgency. Is there something I can do?”

“Miss Selena, I need you to use your magical power to resonate with Miss Melody to amplify her magic. If you do that, we can expel the dark magic that has taken hold of this boy!”

“…I do not know who this person is, but is this is someone you wish to help, dear sister?”

Melody gave a confident nod in answer, and Selena smiled back before taking her hand.

“I understand. Then, shall we begin?”

With Buque between them, the two maids knelt together, clasping hands and entwining fingers together. They circulated their magical power between each other, creating a resonance effect and amplifying their own spell power.

In the game, the affinity between the Saints new and old was what empowered the resonance, resulting in the heroine’s explosive magical power in the moment. Micah had believed in that same possibility, and she had subconsciously clasped her own hands together as though in prayer… But little did she know, there was still more for Melody to derail.

“How amazing… I have never handled this much magic before, but I can do it now.”

Melody closed her eyes, concentrating hard on the task at hand; she began pouring the silver magic into Buque, directing it into his soul. Having magically resonated with Selena, Melody could feel how much more potent the magic had become, going by how brightly it shined.

And that silver light wrapped around Buque’s soul, draining away the dark magic. A similar light wrapped around Buque’s physical body, and it was as though the Saint’s power, a faintly silver haze, had completely supplanted the oppressive dark mist.

And just like that, the Demon King’s magical power vanished without a trace from Buque’s body and soul. Color rapidly returned to his face, his breathing visibily eased, and he no longer clutched at his chest in pain. Micah sighed with great relief.

“Thank goodness and thank you so much, Miss Melody, Miss Selena. It’s finally… huh?”

Micah suddenly realized a pale silver light still wrapped around Buque, and the two concentrating maids… were still concentrating with closed eyes, wholly unaware of this new development.

“Um, uh, Miss Melody? Miss Selena? Everything should be done now? Isn’t it time to finish up and… Ah?!”

Their magical power had completely filled the damage in Buque’s soul. Having understood this, the two unclasped their hands and sighed rather sensuously in relief. After opening their eyes, they smiled at one another as a strange sense of satisfaction settled over them.

“This is no time to just be smiling all happily! Look! There’s something strange going on with Buque!”

Rip, ripriprip.

“Huh?”

The sound of ripping cloth drew Melody’s attention, and she looked down at Buque.

She had not misheard: Buque’s clothes were ripping apart as his body rapidly grew. It was as though his body was naturally making up for lost time, and his body grew, aging itself to reflect his proper age of eighteen. Unfortunately, while his body grew, the clothes he wore did not, and the ripped clothing soon fell to the side, exposing his body piece by piece; it was his trousers that first gave out, unable to contain his rapidly growing waist.

And so too grew his hair and his height, and his chest gained bulk, tearing through his upper clothes and exposing a finely chiseled abdomen. In moments, the diminuitive boy had become a beautiful and muscular young man.

” ” ” “…” ” ” “

In the end, he had grown large enough that most of his old clothing had torn apart, exposing the girls to his robust and healthy… completely naked body.

Thankfully there was no one to hear the frantic screams of a certain trio of maids as they beheld this sight deep within the most dangerous Demonized Zone in the world, the Great Forest of Vanargand. No one but Lect, of course.