Chapter 62: The Power of a Demon

The rising shadow quickly enveloped my face.

And at the same time, my vision was filled with black darkness.

“…!”

I couldn’t even breathe properly.

I flailed my arms and legs, but it was all meaningless, like struggling underwater.

Fear washed over me.

A sense of helplessness and emptiness I had never experienced before.

Just as I was slowly nearing death in the darkness, I was saved by.

“Louis!!”

Lisa’s voice.

Lisa tore through the darkness I was trapped in and reached out to me.

I looked into her star-filled eyes and took her hand.

“Gasp…!”

Light struck my face again.

I gasped for air, my lungs filling rapidly.

“Cough, cough…!”

“Are you okay?”

“Cough…! I-I’m okay.”

“Thank goodness….”

Lisa, still holding my hand, quickly checked on me.

After confirming that I was just choking and not injured, she breathed a sigh of relief.

“…What are you?”

Clarice glared at Lisa with a frown.

Despite her fading emotions, she seemed somewhat anxious.

“How can you use that power…!”

“Huh? Wh-What?”

Had something happened while I was trapped in the darkness?

Clarice continued to press Lisa, who was bewildered by her words.

“Don’t play dumb! Wasn’t that the same demonic power as mine just now?!”

“I-I-I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

Lisa kept glancing at me, avoiding Clarice’s gaze.

Catching my breath, I observed the situation and tried to understand what was happening.

The darkness that trapped me was Clarice’s ability.

And judging from the circumstances, it was clearly a power granted by a devil.

Lisa said she used the same power as Clarice. Then there was only one answer I could think of.

Lisa could also use demonic power. And it seemed to be deeply connected to her Magic Eyes.

Seeing Lisa constantly glancing at me, it seemed she wanted to hide the fact that she could use demonic power.

But.

‘I already had a hunch….’

Several hypotheses I’d formulated after learning about her Magic Eyes included something similar.

The reason she was needed to create Chimeras.

I thought there might be an unknown power I wasn’t aware of behind it.

Of course, I didn’t know if it was exactly the same power as Clarice and the man with the Red Wolf tattoo.

“Answer me! Where did you get that power?!”

“I-I don’t know…!!”

Lisa shouted at Clarice, who kept pestering her, with an irritated voice.

Clarice’s persistence seemed to bother Lisa, who wanted to hide her demonic power.

“Are you going to keep avoiding the question? Then I’ll make you talk.”

“Oh, you’re so annoying…!”

But Clarice didn’t give up and showed relentless determination.

Seeing her raise her sword, threatening to force Lisa to talk, I quickly took a stance.

I was caught off guard and defeated earlier because I was careless.

But now I had a rough idea of Clarice’s ability.

Shadows.

When she stole the mana from the student who attacked her, and when she pushed me into that strange darkness, a black energy emanated from her shadow.

Then.

“Everyone, aim for Clarice’s shadow!”

“Got it!”

I told Elena, who had run over, to aim for Clarice’s shadow.

We all scattered and attacked Clarice from all sides.

“No way…!”

But Clarice, seemingly cornered, created multiple arm-like shapes using her shadow and started fighting back.

My Aura-clad sword struck the shadow arms.

But the shadow easily blocked my attack.

My sword was caught, and I was stuck.

I immediately changed the form of the Orb of Dreams and created gauntlets.

“Lightning Shock!”

Crackle

Bang!

My electrified fist struck Clarice’s face directly.

But.

“That won’t hurt me.”

My attack didn’t inflict any damage, as Clarice used her shadow to shield her face.

Seeing Clarice’s hand flying towards my neck, I imbued both our bodies with magnetic force.

A strong repulsive force pushed me back.

“…What was that just now?”

Clarice looked bewildered by the unfamiliar experience of being pushed back by an invisible force.

I got up, rubbing my sore back from rolling on the ground, and assessed the situation again.

Elena and Lisa were continuously attacking Clarice.

But they couldn’t inflict any significant damage.

At this rate, our mana would be depleted first….

“Just once. Create an opening just once. I’ll take care of the rest.”

Lisa whispered as she passed by me, still attacking Clarice.

It seemed she had come up with a good idea during the fight.

I nodded and charged towards Clarice again.

“Elena!! Fall back!”

“Got it!”

After warning Elena, I quickly channeled my mana.

“Lightning Fall!”

Boom!

A huge lightning bolt struck from the sky.

I didn’t stop there and continued to summon Lightning Fall.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A barrage of lightning strikes.

Clarice was busy gathering her shadows to protect her head.

Lisa, who had been quietly gathering mana behind us, finally stepped forward.

“Take this!!”

A tremendous amount of mana erupted, and the ground beneath us started to shake.

And.

Rumble

What was this….

A giant black thorn shot up from the ground where Clarice was standing.

“Gah…!”

Clarice, distracted by blocking the lightning strikes, was impaled by the giant thorn and lifted into the air.

Pierced through the chest.

Boom!!

Clarice fell to the ground with a tremendous crash.

I cautiously approached, waiting for the dust to settle, not letting my guard down.

Clarice was staring blankly at the sky, a large hole in her chest.

“Cough…!”

She coughed up blood and turned her empty eyes towards me.

She was still alive?

How tenacious.

As I marveled at her still being alive despite the hole in her chest, Clarice’s voice reached me.

“Did…I lose…?”

She was still breathing, but she didn’t seem to be able to continue fighting.

“You lost. We won.”

“I see….”

Only after hearing my answer did Clarice look back at the sky.

“Let me ask you one thing. Who gave you that power?”

The question that had been on my mind.

Who gave her this so-called demonic power?

“I don’t know the details. But he told me to call him ‘Doctor’.”

Doctor….

But after that, Clarice closed her mouth tightly, as if unwilling to speak further.

I would force her to talk later anyway.

I looked up at the sky.

The transparent barrier in the sky was slowly disappearing.

Just then, I heard voices from afar.

“Quickly, save the students!!”

Too late….

Seeing the professors running towards us.

I collapsed on the spot.

A dark room.

Several candles flickered, illuminating the room.

Then, a sudden gust of wind extinguished one of the candles.

“Hmm…. Is it already over?”

An elderly man stared blankly at the candles in the middle of the room.

He stroked his long beard, looking at the extinguished candle.

“Sooner than expected.”

He knew that one of the most powerful transcendents in this world, a dragon, was there.

But the old man let out a hollow laugh at the anticlimactic ending.

“I put quite a bit of effort into this piece….”

Remembering the burning gaze of the red-haired girl who craved power more than anyone, the old man snapped his fingers, lost in thought.

He had hoped for more chaos.

But the talentless girl was even more incompetent than he expected.

It couldn’t be helped. It wasn’t a complete failure.

He had achieved the most important objective of his plan.

So it wasn’t a loss, even if it was disappointing.

Turning away from the two extinguished candles.

The old man shifted his gaze to the faintly flickering candles.

“Now, for the next piece….”

With calm eyes, the old man scanned the pictures hanging on the wall.

Then, he smiled quietly, looking at someone’s picture.

“You’ll do nicely.”

Where the old man’s gaze stopped.

There hung a picture of Viola, Louis’ fiancée.