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“Eh…?”

Again…?

That was all that went through my mind.

How many people would cause such a scene? Following Luke around, I’d seen enough demons and demonkind to become quite accustomed to it.

In a pitch-black space where nothing could be seen.

There I stood alone.

Looking around, of course, there was no one there.

“Mr. Luke? Ms. Luna?”

Naturally, calling out wouldn’t bring a response.

Yui had been trapped in a room that let in not a single ray of light until she stepped outside, so she didn’t feel even a hint of fear in this darkness.

But, if anything were to happen, it should’ve been Luke leading the charge instead…

This time, he hadn’t said anything in particular, so what was going on?

W-What if I die here?!

It was fate that I was supposed to have died originally.

I hadn’t thought much about it until now, but according to the information Luke provided, it wouldn’t be strange for me to die at any moment.

“Eek! Mr. Luke! Ms. Luna! Save meee…!”

[Heh heh. We finally meet.]

“Hyek…!”

[W-wait a moment…!]

I heard a noise from behind, but frightened Yui clapped her hands over her ears and bolted away.

Without hearing anything, she ran blindly, but there was no way to escape.

Instead, it felt like she was stuck in the same spot, with nothing but infinite darkness surrounding her.

Even amidst it all, a voice continued to echo from behind.

[Stop! Just stop for a moment…!!]

The sound of someone shouting barely reached Yui’s ears.

Only after hearing that did Yui finally halt her steps.

And just as she was turning around, calling out in desperation—

[Hoo… I wonder who you take after to be such a coward.]

There stood a figure resembling herself… but with red eyes, just like the version of herself that had feasted on blood.

And judging by that tone, this person was the other personality Luke had mentioned.

It was undoubtedly the fool called “Queen.”

“Ah!! You!!”

[W-What suddenly?!!]

Snickering, Yui expressed her anger with her whole body as she headed toward the Queen.

Then—

-Sqwaack!

[W-What are you doing?! Can’t you let go of this already?!]

She grabbed the Queen’s hair with both hands and shook it wildly.

“Because of you!!”

[What does that even mean?! Let go of this quickly!]

“If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been trapped in that room, or faced death! It’s all your fault!!”

The reasons behind her decades of being trapped in a corner without seeing the light, being forced to drink human blood she didn’t want, and having to face a fate of dying despite doing nothing at all—

“Everything is your fault!!”

Yui swung her arms around recklessly.

With each motion, her long hair flew chaotically.

As much as she was flustered, the Queen wasn’t the type to stay quiet either.

[Ugh…! Why is it my fault?! Do you have any idea how thirsty I’ve been because you refuse to drink?!]

“I don’t know! There’s so much delicious food; why would you eat that?!”

-Thud thunk!

The two let go of each other’s hair and began swinging their arms at one another.

The fight resembled that of elementary school kids swinging their arms around aimlessly.

“It’s all your fault!”

[Why is it my fault?!]

The childish bickering continued.

Naturally, the one to tire first was Yui, whose stamina couldn’t possibly match that of the Queen.

“Hah… Hah…”

[Hah! I win!]

“Eeeek…! Not yet! The one who wins two out of three rounds is the ultimate winner!”

[Sure! Anytime you want! So, what will the next contest be?]

Yui, with a confident expression, extended her arm.

At her fingertips was a tiny fist.

“Let’s decide with rock-paper-scissors!”

*

A mansion so grand that no one could merely walk in.

In front of the mansion’s grand door stood a girl with long hair of two colors.

“…”

For her, despite being an infinitely familiar mansion, she couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

The reason was none other than the mansion standing before her.

It was the very mansion she wanted to forget, a reminder of her innocent and pure past, before anything had ever happened.

The reason she disliked this mansion wasn’t that it was the present but because it was a reminder of her past.

After her mother passed away, her father had rebuilt the mansion.

In short, the mansion she saw now was the one that existed before her mother’s death.

“It’s evil…”

After the Team Battle concluded, she had been resting in the waiting room for no reason at all.

But, at some point, it was as if she awoke from a sleep, and there the situation unfolded right before her eyes.

While she didn’t know the details, due to recent incidents at the academy, there was only one being with such an evil ability.

‘What should I do?’

Is it better to endure until the situation resolves itself, or should she go inside and try something?

Just as she was in distress.

-Creeeak…

“…!”

The mansion’s main door creaked open by itself.

As if it was luring her inside.

Though she didn’t know who was inside, the fact that the door had opened meant they were aware of her presence.

Left with no choice, Riche headed towards the mansion’s front door.

Upon entering, she noticed a flowerbed that stretched along the walls of the mansion.

In the flowerbed, flowers of various colors peered out, and upon seeing them, Riche was lost in her memories.

In the past, when her mother was alive, they would always visit this flowerbed together.

Joy, sadness, pain, and anger.

All those emotions were just like the times spent with her mother.

She unconsciously reached out to touch the flowers due to the fragments of memories resurfacing.

Without a thought about any traps, but fortunately, there were no traps present.

Unaware of where she was, she was immersed in her memories.

-Creeeak…

This time, the door to the mansion swung open.

Through the open door, she could see a hall covered in red carpet and the stairs she used to run around.

It was as if spellbound, Riche stepped into the mansion.

Though the inside was familiar, the question that echoed in her mind was, as always, the absence of any signs of life.

The hall that was usually bustling with servants had no shadows of people in sight.

“Isn’t it amazing?”

It was at that moment.

A man wearing a white uniform stood at the top of the stairs, arms crossed behind his back, looking curious.

He had yellow hair styled in an updo and wore a white laughing mask.

“Though I’m also a demon like you, I always find it fascinating to see the skills of other demons.”

“…Hex.”

-Sqwaack!

Upon recognizing the owner of that voice, she clenched her fist.

The delicate veins in her hand bulged as if they might burst from the strength she exerted.

“Indeed! Your very own clown, Hex! Hahaha!”

He spread his arms and laughed.

Crossing his legs and lifting one arm over his belly, he bowed politely as if putting on a show for the audience.

The demon she had desperately sought out, someone she felt deserved to be torn apart, stood right in front of her.

The barrier Riche was trapped in was a duel against another version of herself, commonly referred to as her inner self.

It was supposed to be someone identical to Riche, but instead, it had been Hex, sealed within her, who appeared using the abilities of another demon.

With the appearance of a clown meant to amuse, he was far more specialized in mocking and aggravating than in making anyone laugh.

As evidence, he had forcibly dragged out memories and places that Riche wished to forget.

‘Conversation isn’t necessary.’

He wasn’t someone worth talking to. She wasn’t here to ask questions; she hunted him down to kill him.

Unlike before, she had become much stronger due to training with Luke.

This was worth a try. Concluding this, Riche immediately launched an attack.

-Kaboom!!

In the past, she would have just shot fire as is, but following Luke’s words about being unimaginative, she added a slight twist.

Fragments of shattered marble scattered all around.

Once the smoke cleared, Hex was no longer present.

‘Did I take him down…?’

“I didn’t think you’d become so hot-headed since I last saw you,” came his voice from right behind her.

Startled, Riche swung her arm back, but he danced aside with fluid movements, seamlessly avoiding it.

“Your late mother might look down from heaven and feel sad about this.”

“Shut up…!”

“You wound me. It’s been a while since our meeting; can’t we at least exchange words?”

“Shut up!!”

Enemies facing each other.

What conversation would be necessary?

She knew it was merely meant to mock her, yet she couldn’t seem to silence him.

All she could do was continue blasting fire at him.

She had always known how to use fire, but her techniques had become much stronger after training.

Initially, she only focused on avoiding it.

However, Hex, who continued to dodge easily, countered her magic with strikes of his fists.

Beneath his clownish demeanor was a proficiency in close combat that was exceptional.

“It seems like quite a long time has passed since I was sealed, and yet you haven’t grown an inch.”

Riche understood this wouldn’t work.

That was why she’d been training.

She conjured a small flame in her hand.

This time, the flame was a stark white, completely different from before.

“That might hurt a little…”

“Exactly what I was aiming for.”

Seeing him react for the first time brought her satisfaction.

Riche hurled the small white sphere.

When she had first created it, it had been slow and ponderous—who would ever hit such a thing?

But she had improved it to be faster.

The now-accelerated Flame Sphere flew toward Hex.

Yet, Hex, with that comical maneuver he’d just performed, dodged the Flame Sphere effortlessly.

He mocked her with a sneer.

“It’s fast, but it’s not like I’m blind. There are countless attacks faster than that; who would get hit by something like that?”

To be honest, she realized her technique had glaring flaws.

Creating a large number of Flame Spheres to block the path would still not allow for a sneak attack, nor would it come close to being invisible.

Thus, she considered a way to block the path and attack simultaneously with just one Flame Sphere.

“…”

“Why the silence? Have you run out of tricks? Oh come on—Gyaaah!!”

Hex’s arm flew off.

The Flame Sphere she had thought missed corrected its course and struck Hex’s arm clean off.

Riche had practiced shaping a single Flame Sphere freely.

“Hahaha… Looks like you just got hit hard!”

Despite sustaining a rather serious injury, he spoke nonchalantly.

But immediately after, there came a sickening sound, followed by a squelching noise as a new arm sprouted from the severed stump.

The gruesome sight that no human could ever achieve made Riche scowl as she shot another Flame Sphere, but this time Hex didn’t let his guard down.

Swiftly dodging the Flame Sphere, he moved behind Riche.

“Whose hand is it that shoots fire at another person?”

Then he seized Riche’s outstretched arm and twisted it behind her back.

“Ugh… Aahhh…!”

A creepy sound echoed from her arm, but it was still only painful and not broken yet.

If he truly put his mind to it and exerted his strength, he could easily shatter her bones.

Despite her efforts, she still couldn’t overcome him, as Luke had said she wouldn’t.

Despite having used all her stubbornness, asking for help—

Now confronted with the reality, she found herself powerless.

“Grr… One day, I will kill you.”

“How frightening~ But did you really think you could make it out of here alive?”

With a flick of his fingers, Riche’s arm snapped inappropriately backward with a sickening crack.

“Gyaaaah!!”

“Ah! Would you like to know an interesting fact? Your main body is still sealed within you; thus, even if you kill me here, I won’t die,” he mocked her.

He was doing it just like he used to.

And even without anything resembling provocation, still, she felt utterly powerless.

Was there no way out of this? Just as she was contemplating that—

“Hey, wouldn’t bending your broken arm back the other way make you feel normal again?”

[Oh. Are you a genius?]

“…?”

“…?”

The owner of that voice wasn’t the Hex right in front of her.

Nor was it her own reflection facing Hex.

Both Riche and Hex were taken aback by this absurd turn of events.

Even Hex, who had been wearing that same grin just moments ago, showed signs of confusion behind his mask.

Turning to the direction of the voice, Riche and Hex found a black-haired man with red eyes squatting at the top of the stairs.

It was Luke.

When Riche and Hex’s gazes fell upon him, Luke plucked some snacks from his hand and spoke nonchalantly.

How he managed to enter was a mystery.

But then…

Why were there two of him…?

 

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