When Aurora emerged from the magical space and opened her eyes, she was greeted by a classroom reduced to ruins.
Unquenchable karmic flames burned on the wooden floor, textbooks from the desks and chairs scattered across the ground.
The white walls had already collapsed, and the entire school building looked on the verge of crumbling.
“Where is this…?”
“Aurora!”
Just as she was confused, a voice called out, pulling Aurora’s attention away.
She looked toward the source of the voice and saw a beautiful black-haired witch sitting on a broom, suspended above.
Her body was covered in blood, and the black, wide witch’s robe was so tattered it was barely holding together.
On the exposed skin, terrifying wounds were still bleeding nonstop.
When she saw Aurora, a look of relief seemed to appear on her face.
“Come to me, Aurora.”
She reached out a hand toward Aurora, and in her gaze was a strong possessiveness.
Aurora took a fearful step back. She clearly didn’t know this person, but why was there such obvious possession in that look directed at her?
“Who… are you?”
Beatrice’s expression suddenly froze for a moment, her pupils constricted, and the hand she had stretched out was withdrawn in the next instant.
“What did you just… say?”
In her ink-black pupils, a nameless fire seemed to slowly ignite.
As if she couldn’t believe it, she reached out to Aurora again, but this time, her gesture was incomparably pale and powerless compared to before.
“Big sister.”
A familiar voice suddenly sounded from behind.
Aurora turned her head and saw Lora Belle, clad in silver armor and also covered in blood.
“Sister!”
Aurora hurriedly ran to her side, reaching out to gently wipe away the blood on Lora Belle’s cheek, tears streaming down all at once.
“Where are you hurt? Let me see.”
She checked Lora Belle from head to toe, but couldn’t find a single wound on her fair skin.
“Sister, I’m fine.”
Lora Belle held her hand, gently rubbing it against her own cheek.
Feeling the warmth from her palm, a faint smile appeared on Lora Belle’s face.
‘Whoosh!’
Just as the two were lost in their affection, a fireball shot toward them.
“Watch out!”
Lora Belle instantly pulled Aurora into her arms, turning slightly to take the blow on her shoulder.
Boom!’
A hole was blasted into the silver armor instantly, and the fair skin beneath was left with a terrifying wound from the attack just now.
“Sister! Damn it…”
Aurora angrily shielded Lora Belle, staring at the black-haired woman’s ink-black pupils and demanding, “Who are you, really? Why are you trying to hurt us?!”
The black-haired woman lowered her head, her long, dark hair covering part of her face, making it impossible for Aurora to see her expression.
“Kill you… kill you…”
She muttered as if possessed, and after a long time, suddenly spoke: “Familiar Red Chain… I can’t sense it anymore. It was you, wasn’t it, Holy Knight?”
She lifted her head slightly. Under her dark hair, her pupils had grown so cloudy it was hard to tell what she was feeling.
Lora Belle didn’t respond. Seeing the wound on her shoulder had already healed, she pulled Aurora behind her once again.
Her longsword gleamed as she pointed it at the black-haired witch ahead.
“Witch, after all the unspeakable things you’ve done to my sister, even if I can’t kill you today, I’ll lock you away forever! When the contract can be broken, I’ll wipe you out completely!”
With that, she pressed her sword to the ground, golden magical patterns gradually appearing all around.
“Why… do all these troublesome things keep coming for me?!”
“I just wanted an ordinary life, was about to start a new journey—why?!”
Beatrice screamed hysterically, completely losing control, as a red magic circle gradually formed beneath her feet.
“I won’t let you trap me! Even if I have to take you down with me!”
As soon as she finished, the red magic circle beneath her feet instantly expanded thousands of times, covering the entire academy.
“If this world is destined to keep me from having her, then I’ll drag her to the underworld with me!”
“Lunatic.”
Lora Belle cursed under her breath. The magic she was preparing hadn’t even reached halfway, but the person before her had already completed charging the spell for the End Step in an instant.
Such rapid charging could only be done at the cost of burning one’s own life. She hadn’t thought this witch would go so far.
Beatrice’s magic had already enveloped the entire academy. If released, not only would they die, but every other student in the academy would perish as well.
“Damn it!”
Lora Belle stopped gathering magic, picked up her sword, and prepared to attack the caster directly to break the spell.
But no matter how fast she was, she couldn’t beat the speed of a snapping finger.
‘Snap.’
A crisp snap echoed.
By the time Lora Belle realized what was happening, it seemed already too late.
She instinctively pulled Aurora into her arms, ready to shield her from the spell with her own body.
The lines of the red magic circle began to spin rapidly, the intense red light threatening to dye the whole sky and sun crimson.
Boom!’
A pillar of red light, like divine punishment, fell from the magic circle in the sky. Just as it was about to strike the academy, a dazzling blue light suddenly burst from within the school.
A mirror-like circular barrier appeared in the air, wrapping around the entire academy.
When the red beam struck the mirror, it vanished without a trace.
Through the mirrored surface, it looked as if seawater was swirling inside.
“This is… a massive teleportation array, connecting the Boundary of the World and the Illusory Sea.”
The red beam entered the mirror, swallowed by the sea, not even causing a ripple.
“Damn it, Albert!!”
Lora Belle, who had been stunned for a moment, suddenly snapped back to her senses.
She resumed charging the magic she hadn’t finished before, golden light stretching from beneath her feet to Beatrice’s position.
In an instant, golden chains shot out from the magic circle, tightly binding Beatrice.
“Bastard, I’ll kill you!”
Beatrice struggled desperately, but at this point her strength was completely exhausted, leaving only her mouth to keep shouting.
Her body was gradually dragged into the magic circle, and even at the last moment, her hand kept struggling.
When her entire form disappeared, the golden magic circle shrank suddenly to a single point of golden light, flying into the golden gem on the sword’s hilt.
“…It’s over.”
Aurora collapsed to the ground, the scene she’d just witnessed something she’d never experienced before. The terrifying pressure still made her heart pound wildly.
Lora Belle let out a long breath and said, “Let me take you home, sister.”
She reached out to Aurora, who was sitting on the ground. Just as their hands were about to touch, a sudden rush of wind sounded in the air.
A blue figure dropped from the sky, kicking up a cloud of dust as it landed.
“After causing such a mess in my academy, do you really think you can just leave?”
As the dust cleared, Albert’s furious eyes stared unblinkingly at Lora Belle.