After Seir’s death, the barrier covering the academy buildings disappeared.

 

Students who had been in despair at being trapped began to rush out one after another.

 

However, it wasn’t safe outside either.

 

Seeds of the Demon King were abundant outside the building, and monsters existed as well.

 

But it was safer than inside the building.

 

The open exterior was a bit better than the enclosed space.

 

Of course, there were no places to hide, but it was possible to receive protection from the professors outside.

 

“Injured! This way!”

 

Outside the academy, several professors were gathered to protect the fleeing students.

 

Rena was among the protected students.

 

She had fallen from the third floor and broken both legs, but was rescued by a passing professor.

 

She didn’t blame Iria for throwing her.

 

It was the best option.

 

Rather, it was a quick decision in a situation where they could have died.

 

Though her broken legs did hurt a lot.

 

“Ah, my friend is still trapped inside…”

 

Rena was thinking of Iria while receiving treatment from the holy magic users.

 

She hadn’t come out yet.

 

Among the students who had escaped, Iria wasn’t one of them.

 

Rena knew what kind of being Iria had faced.

 

That monster was stronger than a Seed of the Demon King.

 

That’s why she was so anxious.

 

Thinking that something might have gone wrong while protecting her, she felt something squeezing her insides.

 

“… I’m sorry, but we can’t rescue her given the situation. We can only hope your friend escapes safely and comes here.”

 

“But…”

 

Rena looked towards the building with a worried face.

 

The image of Iria declaring confidently to her -I’ll win- flashed through her mind.

 

It was evident that Rena could do nothing more than decide to believe in Iria.

 

She had no doubt that, as always, Iria would return spectacularly, showing something amazing.

 

After all, that was who Iria was.

 

***

 

Iria walked the academy corridors for a while, surrounded by a horrific scene.

 

The reason for this horror was simple: the number of monster corpses far outnumbered the human ones.

 

Even so, Iria felt uneasy at the sight of the fallen monsters.

 

Every time she saw them, she could feel her insides twisting.

 

“……”

 

She felt slightly dazed.

 

Like Seir, Iria had to pay a price for using the Demon King’s power.

 

In truth, the cost wasn’t too severe; just a fragment of the previous Demon King’s personality had imprinted itself on her.

 

Even fragmented, the Demon King’s influence remained immense.

 

With just a small amount of power, it tried to seize control of Iria’s body.

 

It wasn’t strong enough to overwhelm her physically, so it began its assault on her mind instead, whispering temptations.

 

Hearing a voice in her head was far from pleasant.

 

‘Let’s burn the world together. You and I could easily do it. If we cooperate, everything in this world will bow beneath us.’

 

She didn’t particularly pay attention to it though.

 

Her breathing was heavy, and she felt like her whole body was floating.

 

It felt like she was in a dream.

 

Even though she was just walking forward, she felt something strange.

 

It was a sense of alienation from feeling like she was the only different being in the world.

 

There’s nothing in this world that resembles Iria.

 

Maybe because she’s a being that fell from another world.

 

Only she knows that this world is fake.

 

This is not real; it’s just a world inside a novel.

 

If it’s just a fake world anyway, maybe it wouldn’t be bad to burn it all down as the Demon King says.

 

The end of this world might be the key to returning to the original world.

 

“F**k.”

 

Iria frowned.

 

This is why she didn’t want to borrow their power.

 

Her thoughts run to extremes if she lets her mind wander even for a moment.

 

She had no intention of falling for the temptation.

 

That was the Demon King’s ideal, not what Iria wanted.

 

Even though she knew it was a novel, she didn’t want to dismiss everything she had built up in this world as fake.

 

She would be satisfied if she could quietly return to where she was originally or if she could close her eyes.

 

This world is a novel, just a set stage.

 

Iria plays the role of the villain, opposite the protagonist.

 

She didn’t become this because she wanted to.

 

She just moved to survive, and somehow ended up like this.

 

Moreover, now she can’t go back.

 

Iria hoped someone would stop her.

 

Before she ran to a worse place.

 

And that would be the role of the protagonist.

 

In the not-too-distant future, Ariel will point his sword at Iria at the end of the world.

 

His goal was to remove all Seeds and completely end the war.

 

Iria, currently the strongest Seed, was also a target for disposal.

 

She was the final wall the protagonist had to overcome.

 

It was obvious what would happen if Ariel confronted Iria now.

 

So she decided to wait for him a little.

 

As the villain in this novel.

 

***

 

Inside the academy building, professors were still subduing the Seeds of the Demon King.

 

They formed a line and slowly chipped away at the bones and flesh of the giant monster.

 

They were struggling due to its excellent defense and regeneration speed.

 

The giant monster probably couldn’t regenerate its wounds forever, but it looked like the professors’ stamina would run out first.

 

Aramis, the swordsmanship professor at the front, wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead and calculated.

 

He wondered if he could subdue the monster if he used all his remaining mana to pierce its heart.

 

Thinking about it coldly, it wasn’t enough.

 

It would be insufficient even if he put his life into a single strike.

 

With his skill, he could only hold the Seed back.

 

He was feeling his powerlessness at that point.

 

However.

 

“Ugh?!”

 

“What’s this?!”

 

In an instant, they felt the surrounding air change.

 

It felt like something’s influence was weighing down on their bodies.

 

It wasn’t from the Seed.

 

An existence incomparably larger than that was walking behind them.

 

With such a leisurely pace.

 

As something took a step forward, the surrounding terrain changed.

 

Red magical energy rippled, binding the feet of all living things above it.

 

The same went for the Seed of the Demon King.

 

The scene unfolded where that huge being was unable to move, its feet bound by mere red stains.

 

“Huk……”

 

Even the professors with abundant practical experience had never seen such a thing before.

 

Just watching it made their breath catch in their throats.

 

Even breathing is difficult.

 

The professors, who instantly lost their will to fight, dropped their weapons one by one.

 

The red magical energy enveloped the surroundings, pushing away all the surrounding mana.

 

“……Get out of the way.”

 

The woman with flowing red hair glanced at the professors blocking her way and spoke.

 

Academy uniform, a student perhaps?

 

But an unfamiliar face.

 

Is it even possible for a student to have this much power in the first place?

 

Numerous thoughts dominated Aramis’ mind.

 

Meanwhile, the red girl didn’t stop walking.

 

She stopped before him, who couldn’t move, and looked up at him.

 

Why is she looking?

 

To kill him, a human?

 

No, it didn’t seem like that.

 

She was a being who could take the lives of everyone here at any time if she wanted.

 

And before Aramis’ thoughts could continue, the red girl’s mouth opened.

 

“I said, get out of the way.”

 

“……Ah.”

 

So that’s it.

 

Looking now, Aramis was standing in the middle of the corridor, blocking her path.

 

When he moved a little to the side to make way, she just walked straight ahead.

 

The red girl seemed uninterested in the humans here.

 

And beyond that, the Seed of the Demon King was blocking the way.

 

She didn’t touch these humans because they could communicate, but what about the giant monster?

 

Aramis held his breath and watched.

 

The red magical energy rippled and manifested in the form of a sword.

 

It didn’t take long for it to be grasped in the girl’s hand.

 

As she swung the sword once, the giant monster that was the Seed of the Demon King was torn to pieces.

 

She cut down the opponent that five academy professors had struggled with in a single strike.

 

As the monster scattered, the golden fragment inside its body fell.

 

Iria only picked that up and continued walking.

 

The fact that there was no hesitation in the sword aimed at the monster was because her mind wasn’t in a normal state right now.

 

Black stains were on Iria’s clothes and face.

 

It was the blood and flesh of what she had thought were her kind.

 

But she moved on regardless.

 

Because she had somewhere to go right now.

 

‘What is Ariel doing now?’

 

Iria had intervened more than necessary in this incident.

 

Originally, a greater catastrophe should have occurred, but she prevented it.

 

Perhaps her actions had changed the course of events.

 

She was curious about what the protagonist would be doing at this point.

 

So Iria decided to go meet him first.