That morning.

Official notices were posted throughout the capital. The order had been to make sure everyone saw them, so the proclamations were scattered almost frantically across the city. And the citizens who read them couldn’t hide their confusion.

Because the contents simply said—

"D-did Her Highness eat something strange this morning?”

"This lunatic…how dare he question Her Highness’ sanity…”

Abandon the capital.

Take only the bare minimum necessities and leave the capital within 24 hours by any means necessary. This applies to everyone. Nobles and commoners alike.

Citizens who had lived here for generations couldn’t easily accept it.

If this had been issued under any ordinary monarchy, it might have caused outright rebellion.

Had it not been Sharmia issuing the command, such an absurd decree would never have carried any weight.

"Well, there must be some reason.”

"It’s probably not like we’re abandoning the capital forever…maybe we just need to stay away for a day or two?”

"I’m telling you, there are probably enemy spies hidden in the city. They definitely want to clear those bastards out.”

Conspiracy theories, rumors, complaints. People voiced their dissatisfaction various ways, yet none truly hesitated. Because they all knew the brilliant accomplishments Sharmia had achieved until now.

Rumors even spread that anyone remaining in the capital would be executed, further accelerating the exodus. And so, crowds flooded outward like tidal waves from all four gates.

The nobles, however, were not nearly as obedient as the common citizens.

"What is the meaning of this? Abandon the capital…?”

"...Relocation?”

"How could such a thing happen? We poured unimaginable effort into fortifying this city..."

Their outrage was far fiercer.

Because unlike ordinary citizens, the nobles had watched Sharmia’s actions from close proximity. And they strongly suspected this was preparation for relocating the capital entirely.

And relocation meant—their land, wealth, and history… Everything accumulated within the capital would become worthless overnight. Naturally, those with the most to lose could not remain calm. Even some of Sharmia’s own supporters struggled to accept it.

Suppressing the unrest became the Knights’ responsibility.

"If nothing happens, Her Highness stated everyone will be allowed to return.”

"Hmm..."

Elisia also sat among the noble procession, quietly gazing at the capital from inside her carriage.

Unlike the others, she had no thoughts about the evacuation itself.

More accurately, she didn’t have the mental room to care about such trivial matters anymore.

'Something feels different.'

Recently, the world itself had begun appearing slightly strange to her.

If asked what exactly was strange, she couldn’t answer. The difference was that subtle.

Yet something was undeniably different.

And she had the feeling that if she figured out what that difference was, something fundamental would change.

Wondering what exactly this sensation meant, she absentmindedly stared toward the capital while telekinetically solving a puzzle in the air. Then, a maid caught sight of Elisia leaning partially out the carriage window and hurriedly approached.

"My Lady, are you alright?”

"Hm? Why?”

"Th-the stars..."

The maid carefully pulled a mirror from her robes.

Reflected within it, the stars unique to wizards drifted through Elisia’s eyes.

Much dimmer than before.

"...I guess I’m just not feeling well.”

Elisia casually lowered the floating puzzle pieces in her hand and shrugged.

"If I rest a little, I’ll be fine. It’s okay."

"Yes..."

Of course, she herself already understood what was happening to some extent.

When the stars dimmed, it meant one was drifting farther away from being a wizard.

Jern Aspandil had been an exception. Normally, when a wizard fell, they lost all their stars and became incapable of using magic.

And as for why she was gradually distancing herself from magic…

She knew the reason for that as well.

It was because of her own ability.

'This is dangerous.'

The more familiar she became with it, the stronger this power grew, the one that suppressed worlds and drove the Fallen insane; the dimmer her stars became.

—Falling.

The same existence as those criminals being dragged in cages at the very back of the procession. Elisia recognized some of those nobles. And she knew she herself stood on the very edge of joining them.

Should she stop? For a brief moment, she imagined Jern Aspandil returning and seeing that she, too, had become a Fallen.

"...No."

Her hesitation only lasted an instant. She had seen Fallen countless times. Most survived a year at best. Many barely half that. Eventually, their worlds devoured them.

And she had witnessed how agonizing their lives became.

Elisia bit her lip. Just yesterday, she had nearly succeeded in reducing a Fallen down to the level of an ordinary person using her power. Granted, they became somewhat dim-witted afterward, but it still proved that this ability could save Jern.

Strengthening her resolve, she reached toward the puzzle again, when—

"U-uwaarg…”

"Kyaaaah!!!”

Screams erupted outside.

Elisia reopened the carriage window and looked outside. A breathtaking sight unfolded before her. Countless people, nobles and commoners alike, were staring toward the same direction.

Toward the capital. She turned to look as well and frowned.

"...What is that?”

-Rumble, Ruuuuuumble...

Something was falling from the sky.

Soil and rocks, burning tree branches, the thick scent of sulfur.

White ash began pouring down like rain.

More and more, heavier and heavier.

"K-Knights! Fall back! Now!”

"Back to the capital! We have to put the fires out!”

As flaming branches struck the empty buildings inside the capital one after another, igniting them, several nobles, realizing their estates were burning, began to panic.

But their hysteria didn’t last long, because soon after the sky darkened. And it revealed itself.

"A-a mountain?”

"It looks…like a volcano.”

"No, that much is obvious. But why is it up there…?”

Something spread across the sky above the capital, darkening it as though night had fallen.

A volcano, rivers of lava flowing down its sides, protruding from the heavens. Its crater had been inverted, aiming directly at the imperial palace below.

A mountain appeared upside down in the sky. A miracle no form of magic could possibly reproduce.

But something that trivial was not enough to stop nobles whose entire fortunes were at stake.

"If none of you will return, then I certainly will!”

5 stars shimmered in one noble’s eyes. At the same time, lightning formed within the grasp of a man born a wizard, shining bright enough to blind.

"To cower before nothing more than a mountain…In my youth I shattered dozens of them!”

-Bzzzzt, crackle!

A colossal bolt of lightning slammed into the side of the mountain. A shower of dirt fell over the capital, and half the mountain vanished.

"..."

"..."

"......"

Despite the feat, everyone froze. Even the noble who had unleashed the lightning.

Because the mountain had not simply been floating there.

Something was holding it.

"Th-that…”

The flash of lightning had illuminated more than the volcano. For a brief instant, it revealed the thing grasping the mountain—a hand. Or rather, something so enormous it could only be described as one.

Yet no one could comprehend what it was made of. It was not flesh, nor bone, nor skin—not clouds, fog, stone, or glass either.

It simply looked as though a portion of the night sky itself had taken the shape of a hand and seized the volcano.

Before anyone could process this impossible sight, the hand moved.

It did nothing grand. It merely clenched.

But the volcano could not withstand even that. It crumbled apart instantly, spewing dirt, boulders, lava, and volcanic ash like scattered entrails.

Every fragment became a weapon. And every one of them struck the capital.

-Boooooooooom!!!

"Ah..."

The nobles could only groan helplessly as everything they had spent their lives building was obliterated before their eyes.

Having completed its task, the hand that crushed the volcano and shattered the capital disappeared as casually as though nothing had happened.

Profound silence fell upon them. Everyone stared mutely at the ruined capital. Then someone finally spoke up.

"Is that—our enemy?”

Their enemy.

In other words, they were expected to win against that.

It meant they had to fight it, wound it, and force it to acknowledge defeat.

Against something that could destroy a capital built over centuries with such effortless ease…

Impossible.

"......"

Just as despair bloomed in everyone’s hearts, one person alone clutched at her pounding chest, overcome with exhilaration.

"That’s it."

Elisia stared up at the sky where the hand had been, her eyes glittering brightly.

The moment she saw it, she understood. That was Jern Aspandil’s enemy.

His one and only enemy. At the same time, it was the reason he still had not returned.

He must have known from the very beginning. That this was the kind of enemy they were facing. That even someone like Jern still couldn’t find a way to defeat it and was struggling against it somewhere far away.

Why he had not shown himself even once during all that time.

And at the same time—

"...I can kill it.”

-Clench

Elisia clenched her fist tightly.

She had learned it while studying countless Fallen under the guise of treatment. Her power suppressed, erased, and annihilated their worlds.

And that thing was, quite literally, the world that created Fallen in the first place.

Which meant it could be erased.

She became certain that her ability could destroy that hand.

'Only I can do this.’

This ability.

The power that had tormented her since childhood, capable of erasing magic.

A power that could even erase the worlds of the Fallen. The flaw that had made her curse the heavens again and again, wondering why she alone had been born defective. Now she finally understood why that flaw existed.

Just as she was about to kick open the carriage door and rush out, Elisia paused with her hand on the handle.

Maybe she was acting too hastily.

Certainly, her power could kill this enemy, but what if she failed to even make contact? Then it would amount to nothing more than a meaningless death.

If Jern returned. If he came back safely, then they could talk and…

"No, no, no..."

Elisia gritted her teeth.

A year. The fact that he still had not appeared after all that time was wrong no matter how she thought about it.

Something had gone wrong. Terribly wrong.

Perhaps he was already—

"No…”

Gripping the handle tightly enough to draw blood, she organized her thoughts.

'That hand exists, and that’s why Jern can’t return.’

Because Jern was that kind of person.

If he refused to return before finding a way to defeat this enemy, then all she had to do was defeat it herself.

-Click.

The carriage handle turned after she steeled her resolve.

"...Elisia, are you alright?”

About half an hour later.

Aletus returned from the emergency council of nobles, exhaustion plain on his face, and came looking for Elisia.

"For now, we’ve decided to relocate to the new site Her Highness selected in advance. It will be a long journey, though.”

Opening the carriage door tiredly, he tilted his head upon finding it empty. Then he turned toward the coachman tending the horses nearby.

"Tell me, where is Elisia?”

"Hm? She said she was going to see you just a little while ago…”

Their confused gazes crossed.

And in the end, Elisia’s disappearance did not become much of an issue.

With the capital destroyed, the disappearance of a single noble girl, even if she was Aletus’ daughter, was nothing more than a trivial matter.

"...M-my…Lady, lower your sword!”

And 2 weeks later…

A new Fallen appeared.