“Leviathan Zebbert...!”

Blood burst from the second’s mouth.

It seemed her body could no longer withstand it after the Mage King poured his magic into it like a madman.

That ominous magic surged upward. A prickling chill ran up the back of my neck.

Something kicked off the ground, followed by a tremendous crash and a shriek sharp enough to stab through the ears.

BOOOOOOM!

With the sound of power exploding outward, dry leaves spiraled up into the air.

My mother curled her body around mine to shield me.

At last, the strength drained from my clenched hands.

The magic that had been stabbing at my skin had already vanished without a trace.

*****

BOOOOOOM!

At the deafening crash, Khalid snapped his head up. His body moved on its own.

“Khalid!”

Licht, who had been guarding the area with the Imperial Palace knights, stepped in front of him.

“Move.”

“Calm down! There are still magical beasts here. Where do you think you’re going right now?”

He still could not reach Rubian.

He had been running frantically all over the Academy when he saw the magical beasts burst upward.

From the direction of the library.

The children who had been treasure hunting fled in total panic, and as Khalid shoved his way through them, he ran into Licht and the Imperial Palace knights.

“Move!”

Just as he reached for the bracelet he had been clutching anxiously, trying to remove it—

KRAAAAGH!

A magical beast appeared overhead and swung its claws down.

“Aaaaah!”

The children nearby, still trying to escape, screamed.

“Your Highness, get back!”

The knights threw themselves in front of him, but somehow it already felt too late.

At that moment, the pale purple barrier stone hanging from Khalid’s scabbard floated up into the air.

“It’s not quite a magic tool, but it’s an activated magic stone, so it should help like a shield in an emergency!”

“...Damn it...”

Khalid ground his teeth.

With the feeling that he was coughing up blood, he was just about to rip off the barrier-stone ornament and throw it toward the terrified children nearby—

A heavy greatsword suddenly came flying in from somewhere.

THOOOM. The greatsword sliced one of the magical beast’s arms clean off and slammed into the ground. The monster rolled across the earth with a shriek that sounded as if it would tear itself apart.

“Khaaaalid!”

“Balrok...”

“What in blazes are you doing in a place this dangerous? And even the prince is here?”

Balrok came running up out of breath and immediately started barking at the knights.

“You idiots! Are your heads too heavy? Want me to cut them off for you? Get the children out of here right now!”

At the crack of that voice, the air itself seemed to split, and the knights flinched back.

“Y-yes, sir!”

“Khalid, come here!”

At the old man’s rough shout, Khalid hesitated, stepping back, and shook his head.

“Rubian is over there, and I just heard that crash. I need to go check—”

He had tried moving the squirrel, but with the magical beasts out, even that had become useless.

Truthfully, even more than the magical beasts’ magic, it was this nauseating magic that felt as if it were crushing his entire body that bothered him.

He had never met the Mage King in person, but instinctively, he knew.

This was the Mage King’s magic.

Or the magic of a mage with power equivalent to his.

So then... don’t tell me Rubian...

A terrible possibility rose in him.

Did she shut the circuit to keep my existence from being exposed? So I couldn’t even force it open?

Khalid clenched his teeth hard.

“Please move—”

“You foolish brat, will you get a grip already!”

Thunk.

At that moment, a thick hand came down on top of his head.

“Leviathan went to Ruby! I’m here too, and there are plenty of perfectly good knights around, so what exactly is the problem?”

“But—”

“Bah! Then act like a child and go curl up in a corner and cry your eyes out! And—”

Creeeak. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

At that instant, the magical beast that had been rolling on the ground spread its wings and rose into the air. Behind Balrok, Khalid saw the beast’s jaws split wide open. Khalid gripped his sword again and shouted urgently.

“Balrok!”

“I told you—”

BOOM. Balrok’s greatsword tore through the air, and the magical beast’s body flipped over.

A beat later, dark red blood came pouring down like rain.

“Call me Grandpa!”

The old man, drenched in blood, roared with a terrifying face.

“You insolent little brat!”

“......”

He looked like a magical beast himself.

*****

“Ghk!”

A fountain of blood burst from the Mage King’s mouth.

“Father!”

The Mage King’s “children” ran to him.

“My magic...”

His lips were horribly split. In an instant, his face had grown old and drained, like dead wood.

“My magic...”

The Mage King raised a trembling hand.

He had poured far too much magic into the second’s body.

And yet that body should have been overwhelmingly powerful because of it.

But against Leviathan Zebbert’s sword, it had been a single blow.

The second died pointlessly, pierced through the mark. His own power had vanished even more pointlessly than that.

“Leviathan...!”

His magic had been laid bare.

The loss was catastrophic—enough to damage his magic core.

“Aaaagh!”

“At this rate, you’re in danger. Quickly, you must recover your strength first—!”

His bloodshot eyes, every vein burst, darted around the room.

At some point, he was back in the palace.

“The magic circle...! Where is my magic circle?!”

“The Babilon forces raided the ruins. We were forced to use the portal and flee back to the Kingdom.”

“The Babilon forces... raided?”

“It seems the Emperor of Babilon was moving in secret. For now, please recover first...! We’ll infiltrate the ruins little by little and restore them again ourselves!”

How long would that take?

“Ah... ahh... damn it...”

He had not obtained a single thing.

Instead, everything had been taken from him.

The man coughed up mouthful after mouthful of blood and collapsed.

As attendants struggled to support the Mage King, the first straightened and issued orders to those around them.

“Attend to Father and summon the elders.”

“Yes.”

“Activate every barrier in the Kingdom... and seal all entry and exit points. Prepare for invasion.”

With the Mage King in no condition to recover his senses, this was the best they could do.

They decided to retreat into seclusion for an indefinite period.

Or to wait for whatever chance at retaliation might someday come.

“What should we do about the second and the seventh?”

“Father has been reduced to this. The second is surely dead. As for the seventh...”

The first turned away with an expressionless face.

The attendants were dragging the limp body of the Mage King into a deep inner chamber, black as a pit without end.

“There is nothing we can do for now. Father’s recovery comes first.”

Boom. The doors of Arcadia closed.

*****

“Hm.”

The Emperor was slowly surveying the half-destroyed Academy.

“Can I quit...?”

“Yes? Quit what?”

“Your Majesty...?”

“Yeeees?”

“Ha ha. I’m joking.”

“...This is the moment when you’re supposed to tell us it’s a joke.”

“Oops.”

A deep furrow formed between the Emperor’s brows.

Headmaster Odelly and the professors were running all over the place, and the knights were no less frantic, trying to get the situation under control.

Magical beasts had rampaged through the Academy.

Fires had broken out all over the grounds.

It was an unprecedented disaster.

Despite those around him trying to stop him, he had hurried here at once.

“I heard Licht is safe?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Please do not worry. He is on his way here now.”

The Emperor let out a short sigh and turned his gaze. In the distance, from the direction of the library, he saw a familiar head of black hair.

“That father and daughter cause an uproar everywhere they go...”

Leviathan was walking toward them with Rubian in his arms.

The moment the old Duke of Zebbert spotted him, the knights surged around him like a cloud.

“And now we need to figure out exactly what happened...”

Where should they even begin?

And how?

It was a headache.

“Father!”

At that moment, the prince came running up.

The Emperor quickly crouched and checked him over.

“Licht, are you hurt anywhere?”

“No. I’m fine. More importantly—”

Licht spoke without hesitation.

“It was the Magic Kingdom.”

“...What?”

“The Mage King controlled one of his underlings and attacked the Academy.”

He held out something charred black.

It was the remains of the explosive magic tool the second had detonated and the remains of the magical beast sealing stone.

The moment Licht instinctively realized the suspicious infiltrator was a mage, he had immediately sent knights to search for traces like these first.

If it was a magic tool made by the Magic Kingdom, there would surely be evidence left behind.

And indeed, among the debris, some fragments still bore the crest of Arcadia.

“Ha, what in the world...”

“Arcadia attacked Babilon, Father.”

The Emperor clearly saw the strange light that passed through the young prince’s transparent eyes.

It was an artful, intelligent phrasing.

A single sentence that instantly organized an extremely tangled situation.

“The Magic Kingdom... attacked our Empire?”

“The Kingdom broke the alliance? Why would they do that?!”

Licht’s voice had been clear enough that the people nearby heard. The words spread at once like a wave.

Did they know I had already sent troops to the Delcan Ruins?

That he had been keeping the Magic Kingdom in check?

He’s growing frighteningly fast...

The Emperor straightened and closed his eyes for a long moment before opening them again. Licht’s steady gaze remained fixed on him.

Sooner or later, perhaps it had always been destined to come to this.

“Yes. In that case, there’s no reason to hesitate any longer.”

With a snap of his cape, he turned, cold and decisive.

“Send message birds to every allied nation.”

“Yes?”

“The Magic Kingdom has been secretly researching dark magic on the continent. Then our scouts discovered them, and in revenge, they attacked Babilon. Have you got that down?”

“Yes, yes, of course.”

The Emperor suddenly remembered the silver head nestled in Duke Zebbert’s arms.

Come to think of it, the princess... has gotten tangled up with mages again.

But that was nothing more than an unnecessary side note, so he did not say it aloud.

More importantly—

“Hah. Your words ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ came true, Duke.”

The princess’s camp closing ceremony.

It really had become a day that would be remembered in history.

Whether for good or for bad.

“Listen.”

At the heavy weight of the Emperor’s command, the prince and the surrounding knights all dropped low.

“From this moment on, the Magic Kingdom is declared an enemy of our Empire.”

“......!”

“Our target is the Mage King’s head. That alone.”

It was the moment the tip of the sword was fixed in its direction.