Magic isn’t something only humans can use.

 

While monsters don’t possess mana like humans, they have magical energy as a substitute.

 

Intelligent demon races can freely use magic like humans, but ordinary monsters, lacking the necessary intelligence, generally can’t.

 

Monsters are not incapable of using magic; they simply lack the mental capacity to perform such complex techniques.

 

However, not all monsters are the same. They vary in intelligence, with some standing far above the rest.

 

For example, dire wolves are a type of monster known for being more intelligent than others.

 

This particular monster, already intelligent, had its intelligence further enhanced after swallowing a Seed.

 

How much more? Enough to use magic independently.

 

When the purple horn on its forehead glows, magic is unleashed.

 

What kind of magic?

 

No one knows. 

 

How could they possibly understand the mind of a monster?

 

-Crackle! Crackle!!

 

After the black fog dissipated, bolts of black lightning rained down from the sky once again.

 

The sheer power of the magic, driven by an immense pool of magical energy, far exceeded human imagination.
Without significant resistance, even a glancing blow would be fatal.
When the purple horn glows, you run.

 

Ariel and Sera, both caught in the aftermath of the black fog, braced themselves as they were pushed back.

 

The fog itself was a lingering effect of concentrated magical energy.

 

Ariel could purify the lingering energy with the starlight coursing through his body. But Sera couldn’t.

 

Blood streamed from both of Sera’s eyes.

 

She coughed up more black blood, a clear sign that her condition was critical.

 

“Are you alright?” Ariel asked, his voice tight with concern.

 

“I’m fine…” she replied.

 

But it was obvious she was in pain.

 

The magical energy invading her body was tearing it apart, causing extreme agony. Yet Sera refused to show it.

 

Her brow furrowed slightly, but she never stopped casting her spell.

 

Ariel’s expression darkened further as he watched her struggle.

 

“That’s enough. Step back, Sera.”

 

He gently pushed her to the rear and adjusted the grip on his sword.

 

Then, he steadied his breathing.

 

Ariel still wasn’t fully accustomed to wielding starlight. He hadn’t even properly awakened to its true potential yet.

 

There was no one around to teach him.

 

Starlight was a power reserved for those of the hero’s bloodline.

 

No one could teach him how to command the stars.

 

So, he had to learn on his own.

 

“……”

 

Ariel recalled a recent past event.

 

Though it wasn’t intentional, more like an accident, he had once managed to release starlight in its second stage.

 

It had happened when he sparred with Iria on the sword training ground.

 

Ariel closed his eyes, trying to recall the sensation he felt then, the sudden explosion of starlight within him when he sensed danger.

 

If only he could control it now.

 

“I’ll go.”

 

Ariel gripped his sword, focusing on that fleeting feeling. 

 

With his eyes still closed, he walked toward the monster, one step at a time.

 

His body is covered in platinum light. It’s the afterimage of starlight.

 

But it wasn’t enough.

 

To raise the output higher, Ariel needed to remember that sensation from the past.

 

As he concentrated, the wolf monster gathered a fireball in its mouth, preparing to engulf him in flames again.

 

Even with the impending flames, Ariel felt no fear.

 

If he failed to awaken this time, he would die anyway.

 

There’s no way to escape in front of that huge wolf.

 

If he can’t defeat it, he would simply die.

 

So Ariel boldly puts his life on the scales.

 

Failure means death, and success means growth.

 

It was just before the monster breathed fire, and Ariel swung his sword.

 

But at that last moment, Ariel’s center was twisted.

 

There was a woman who pulled his body from behind.

 

It was the same situation as before.

 

Sera smiles at Ariel before the flames engulf them both.

 

“Sorry, Ariel. But you have to live more than me.”

 

“…Sera?”

 

“You’re the hero. I can’t let you die here.”

 

Sera, who had raised her injured body, rushed forward.

 

Her body was already in no condition to stand on two legs, but she endured with willpower.

 

-Whoosh!

 

Flames erupted before them, fierce and all-consuming.

 

“Ughhhh…!”

 

“Sera!!”

 

Sera received the flames the monster poured out with her whole body, then compressed and gathered them into a single point.

 

Ariel’s voice echoed through the chaos, but Sera couldn’t hear it.

 

Like before, she absorbed all the flames with her body and then reversed their direction.

 

This time, she poured every last bit of her mana into one final, desperate strike.

 

“Take this!!”

 

This was the strongest flame she could produce.

 

-Whoosh!!

 

A colossal blaze engulfed the wolf monster.

 

-Kyaaak!!!

 

The monster’s agonized howl cut through the air, threatening to split eardrums as the flames tore into its body.

 

The once beautiful garden had been reduced to scorched earth and smoldering ruin.

 

Sera coughed up blood in the fiery pit where everything had burned.

 

It was much worse than before.

 

“Gueeek! Keh! Kehek…!”

 

The once strong Sera was now crawling on the ground, writhing in agony. 

 

She had pushed her body far beyond its limits, unleashing flames she wasn’t capable of controlling.

 

Her entire body twisted in pain as she vomited everything inside.

 

The blood she threw up was black. It was a sign of the magical energy corroding her insides. She had been enduring the effects for so long, it was a wonder she had lasted this far.

 

Sera was now in such a state that death seemed imminent.

 

All of this is because of Ariel.

 

Because Sera took the attack in his place.

 

“……”

 

Something snapped inside Ariel as he watched the scene unfold.

 

At that moment, starlight surged, flooding the garden.

 

***

 

Starlight flooded the garden, uncontrollable and overwhelming.

 

A crazy amount burst out, covering the surrounding area.

 

Second-stage release of starlight.

 

Unlike the first stage, which only enhanced his physical abilities, this level allowed the starlight to take shape, materializing into physical form.

 

The radiant starlight expanded, taking the form of a giant sword.

 

Ariel discarded his dulled weapon, grasping the shimmering sword forged from pure starlight.

 

His blue eyes shone amidst the starlight.

 

Ariel, typically gentle by nature, was now filled with cold resolve.

 

“Starlight Ignition.”

 

There was no room for mercy.

 

Burning through a massive amount of starlight, Ariel launched himself forward.

 

Borrowing the power of the stars, he entered the realm of superhuman speed.

 

Time slowed down. 

 

To him, everything but himself appeared to move in slow motion.

 

Even falling raindrops seem slow in his vision.

 

Ariel, who had entered the ranks of superhumans, accelerated and then accelerated again, pushing his starlight to its limit.

 

-Crackle, crackle!!

 

Black lightning rained down from the sky, but it was far too slow to catch him.

 

Ariel dodged every bolt with ease, leaping high into the air.

 

His target: 

 

The monster’s head.

 

As he was in the air, the wolf prepared to unleash a fiery breath, a massive fireball forming in its mouth.

 

Did it think Ariel would be unable to respond if it attacked at a close range?

 

No matter how intelligent it is, it’s still a monster in the end.

 

With a clean slicing sound, Ariel severed the fireball in mid-air.

 

But it wasn’t just the fireball he cut.

 

Standing atop the monster, Ariel, wielding the sword of starlight, carved into the beast’s body and tore it apart in a dazzling display of power.

 

-Kyaaaak!!!!

 

The monster screamed more violently than when it was scorched by Sera’s flames.

 

It writhes in pain. The hero’s starlight is that painful.

 

It writhed in agony. The hero’s starlight inflicted a deeper pain.

 

But

 

‘Not yet.’

 

It wasn’t enough to end its life.

 

Ariel knew it wasn’t over.

 

He accelerated once more, his speed beyond what the wolf monster could comprehend.

 

Changing the direction of his sword atop the monster’s body, Ariel decided against a flurry of strikes. Instead, he aimed for one decisive blow.

 

Landing back on the ground, Ariel swung his sword four times, severing each of the monster’s legs with precision.

 

Now, standing before the crippled beast, Ariel gathered all the starlight within him. He engraved every last bit of it onto his sword.

 

-Whoosh!!

 

His star-engraved blade cleaved through the air with a single massive stroke, leaving a dense platinum afterimage in its wake.

 

That single strike cut off the purple horn that symbolized the monster’s power.

 

As it was cleanly cut off with one sword strike, the monster’s life also stopped.

 

One life was extinguished in the garden covered in flames and starlight.

 

***

 

After subduing the last remaining Seed of the Demon King, Ariel staggered towards where Sera was.

 

She was still on the ground, too weak to stand after the toll the battle had taken on her.

 

Receiving the flames twice had exacted a far greater toll than expected.

 

Surprisingly, Sera’s life was not in danger.

 

This was thanks to her special constitution; her mana-infused blood.

 

Besides being able to convert blood to mana, she could also temporarily self-repair body wounds using it.

 

However, that was just temporary first aid in the end.

 

Having expelled all the black blood from her body, Sera painfully lifted her upper body and leaned against a nearby tree.

 

Ariel, equally drained, collapsed beside her, his body heavy with exhaustion. 

 

After confirming Sera’s safety, a sense of relief washed over him, and all strength left his body.

 

There was no conversation between the two who had contributed most to defeating the Seed of the Demon King.

 

Their breathing was heavy. Just exhaling was overwhelming.

 

Seeing them sitting side by side amidst the flames and fading starlight looked like a scene pulled straight from a painting.

 

It was a perfectly fitting scene, like an illustration in a novel.

 

But there was one who had been watching this from the beginning.

 

The girl with fluttering silver hair looks at the leads on the stage.

 

‘So this is how it ends up.’

 

This must be the development in the original work.

 

Otherwise, the scene of those two sitting side by side wouldn’t have felt so familiar.

 

Somehow she ended up intervening in the main episode to some extent, but it seems things didn’t get as derailed as she thought.

 

Iria couldn’t take her eyes off the two for a while.

 

It was the development she had expected. Ariel overcoming the wall and defeating the monster, that is.

 

And yet.

 

“……”

 

Watching those who had truly become the protagonists of this world, she felt a bit strange.

 

Somehow, it felt like she had been abandoned by the world.

 

It was a situation in which a monster, unable to become the protagonist of the world, could only watch in envy as the true heroes took the stage.

 

She didn’t know why but…

 

At that moment, Iria couldn’t understand her own feelings.

 

She thought she should collect the Demon King’s fragments since the academy attack incident was over.