Slowly but surely, the Brides’ mana flowed back to Laplace. Now she possessed an amount that outstripped a hundred—no, a thousand—ordinary Mages.
As Tanya gazed up at her partner’s slender back, she thought to herself: Man, am I ever glad she’s on my side.
“Nn... nnn...”
“Oh! Your Highness! Are you alright?!”
Then Tanya noticed the color returning to Arianora’s cheeks. Now I get it. Thanks to Laplace, she’s starting to regain the mana Maxwell stole from her.
“Huh...? Lady... Lap...lace...?”
Her violet eyes settled on Laplace, who was currently mid-incantation. Her gaze was full of adoration, like a child looking at her mother, or perhaps her older sister.
“Amazing... She’s so... awesome...!”
✦ ✦ ✦
As for which spell Laplace was casting, this hadn’t eluded Tanya’s notice. Of all the spells Tanya herself had mastered during her years as an adventurer, it was the strongest in her arsenal. And while Laplace could achieve the same effect with a mere snap of her fingers, instead, she was purposely choosing to cast it the long way.
“From twilight I summon the ultimate destruction,” she began in her usual singsong voice. “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”
As it turned out, Laplace had invented this incantation herself 300 years ago. And 300 years later, thanks to a certain pink-haired Mage, it would become the very spell that set her free... so she recited every word with perfect clarity, as though carving it into stone.
Maxwell began to panic.
“S-Stop! You... You can’t use that spell on a human being! It’s meant for demolishing castles, or—or entire armies! I... All I ever wanted was for someone to acknowledge my talent! Do you understand what it’s like to be disrespected by your own wife?! By your own daughter?!”
Just then—someone grabbed Laplace’s hand.
“Laplace!”
“Oh... hello, Tanya.”
Tanya had just finished evacuating Arianora to a safe location. Laplace clasped her hand in return. With Tanya by my side, I can’t possibly back down.
Meanwhile, Maxwell screamed and wailed like he thought he was some sort of tragic hero.
“I just wanted someone to tell me I mattered! I’m the victim here...!”
“And so what if you were? That doesn’t give you the right to oppress other people,” Laplace declared coldly.
As it happened, she wasn’t the first person to do something as reckless as cast an Arcane-level spell on a fellow human. No, she took her inspiration from the woman who had taught her that she was allowed to get angry—allowed to summon up all her strength and fight back against perpetrators of injustice.
And that woman was the most heroic person Laplace had ever known.
“Laplace?”
See? Just listen to her strong voice, full of kindness.
“Yes?”
And when she resumed her casting, that strong voice joined hers in perfect synchronicity.
“Heed my call—AND UNLEASH YOUR MIGHT!”
Their words echoed across the night sky.
“Well, this is goodbye, Maxwell... you sad son of a bitch.”
With his mana drained, he was now merely a mortal man.
“Take this! EXPLOSION!!!”
The blinding white light consumed everything, drowning out all sound. It engulfed the man who had spent the past 300 years controlling Ode from the shadows—the man who was driven to evil by his inferiority complex regarding women—and burned him to ash.
✦ ✦ ✦
The blinding, sky-piercing flash lasted for what felt like an eternity. When Tanya finally opened her eyes... the first thing she saw was the starry sky above them. Light crept up from beyond the eastern horizon. Dawn was breaking.
“Wow... We blew away all the clouds!”
At the end of this final battle, 300 years in the making, the “clock” portion of the clock tower had been completely erased, and now all that remained—
“Yaaaay! We win! Were you watching, Tanya?”
—was a beautiful Sorceress.
“Yeah... I saw the whole thing.”
At last, Laplace had exacted her revenge.
The Magi-Knight raised her hand, the golden ring gleaming upon her finger. No further words were exchanged—just a high-five.
Meanwhile, in the shadows of the wreckage, a certain imperial princess had witnessed the whole thing. The chains that had bound her, her family, and her country were no more. She had endured horrible abuse, and now, finally, she no longer needed to keep up the charade. For the first time in her life, Arianora Aweigkorrt was free to stand on her own two feet. Free to dream of the day she’d grow up to be just like the women of Lilium.
“The sun is rising.”
Here stood a little girl who dreamed of adventure, looking up at the first rays of dawn.
“Hey, Tanya? It’s... It’s over now, right?” asked Laplace.
She stripped off her constricting shoes and stood on the ground, her bare feet covered in cuts and blisters.
“I feel fantastic right now... Like the two of us could run a marathon barefoot.”
Her voice was joyful and mournful at the same time.
“Laplace...”
But before Tanya could respond—
“Freeze! Step away from Princess Arianora!”
There was a metallic click.
“...Huh?”
Slowly, they turned to find themselves face to face with dozens of arrows and magic staves pointed in their direction. The castle guards and Court Mages had them surrounded.