Melia didn’t have a single scratch on her, either, having perfectly evaded every one of Cain’s spells. There was a trick to that, though. She’d made sure to recognize any movement on his part that suggested he was casting a spell. As a result, by the time the spell materialized, she was already moving to evade it. Her years of service to the holy knight had allowed her to observe in action every form of light magic. She only needed to catch a glimpse of its beginnings to tell what spell was coming her way.
“Flash like serpent’s fangs — Lighto Whip .”
A whip of light appeared in Cain’s right hand. With a crack, its glowing tendril lashed out at Melia, who quickly ducked under the strike and, keeping her posture low, rushed in to close the distance. Undaunted by her approach, he twisted his wrist, causing the end of his weapon to abruptly change course and come whipping back toward her. Despite its sudden reversal in motion, she read its trajectory perfectly and, knowing it was going to strike her from behind, brushed it away with the dagger in her right hand.
“Sprites of crystalline veil, roam the endless mist — Londo Mysteria! ”
Mist erupted from her again, hiding her form. She stayed wary of any motion from his direction as she began her next spell.
“Swirling vicissitudes of mist, converge into a phantom of destruction ...”
The mist around her began to gather into a vortex around her right arm.
“Deafen the smoldering battlefield with your roar — Mist Wyrm !”
The dense cyclone of mist erupted from her arm with all the force of a siege cannon. It sent violent gusts swirling through the arena and carved deep fissures into the ground as it closed in on Cain.
“Great torrent of light, blind the land with an argent sea — Velle Vright .”
A vast tide of light swallowed the misty blast.
“Ugh!”
Two titanic forces collided, unleashing a shockwave that sent Melia tumbling. When she got back up, the Mist Wyrm was no more, and Cain remained where he’d been before the blast, standing like a statue.
“Not even close,” he said disdainfully as he fixed her with the gaze of a lion. “No matter how nimbly you dance around my spells, it does not change the fact that mine are fundamentally stronger. You can run from my magic... but you can never stop it.”
“...Somehow, every time you say something, I like you a little less.”
She had no intention of telling him this, but Mist Wyrm was her strongest attack. Anything stronger would require access to her powers as the holy knight’s attendant. In other words, she’d just played her trump card, and he’d shaken it off without batting an eye. That got her sweating.
“I’d love to know what kind of epic life you’ve had to live to get that strong.”
Her question seemed to rouse him.
“...What kind of life? You should know that better than anyone, seeing as yours was identical to mine.”
“...What do you mean by that?”
“You and I,” he said in a voice firm as stone, “we both had our families taken from us by Chaos.”
Melia’s eyes went wide. Her shock was twofold; Cain sharing the same trauma as her was surprising enough, but she couldn’t fathom how he knew about her past.
“Just so you know,” he added, “I didn’t dig up your life story. There was no need. Knowing that you’re a fivekind who became an attendant of the holy knight, I simply inferred the rest.”
“...You’re saying you just bluffed me?”
“It’s not so much a bluff as a statement of inferred fact, albeit one I was completely confident in.” He looked her straight in the eyes. “I know you. You hold within you the same unbearable hatred as I. I can see it in your eyes.”
It was then that Melia saw herself in his eyes as well. It was her, but younger, with a look she knew all too well — a look she saw in a pond’s reflection after Chaos had robbed her of her family, and a look she saw in the mirror day after day when Sain had just taken her in.
She swallowed. All of a sudden, she felt like she understood; she knew the source of Cain’s overwhelming strength.
“But,” he continued, disdain entering his voice, “what we share in experience, we differ in make. We were forged in the same fire, but we’re hardly the same blade.”
His form blurred. She quickly swung her arm backward and barely managed to block a strike from behind her with her dagger.
“Ugh!”
“If Chaos were to attack us now,” he said as he laid into her with a barrage of glowing bullets, “could you protect all those around you? Do you have what it takes to keep everyone safe from their vicious maws?”
She blocked the first volley, but their sheer number overwhelmed her defense, slamming into her and sending her flying.
“Of course you don’t. You’re weak. You’ll fail them. And you’ll have little choice but to watch as they die in front of your eyes.”
She pushed herself up from a roll and thrust her palm out at him.
“Londo Mysteria! ”
“Vright. ”
Only a few tendrils of mist managed to form before a massive orb of light plowed through them and crashed into her.
“Augh?!”
Every fiber of her body flared with pain, and she crumpled to the ground.
“This, you see, is the end of your road — the ultimate consequence of relying on the holy knight. It is the difference between me, who has lived solely for revenge, and you, who have forgotten your vengeance and indulged in the false promise of peace.” He towered over the flattened form of Melia as she struggled to get up, and spoke down to her. “Seeing you is like seeing a soft and complacent form of myself, and it disgusts me to no end.”
That was the last thing Melia heard before feeling herself crushed by a sphere of light.
The seventh match of the third round ended in Cain Theresia’s victory. His opponent, Melia, fell unconscious after suffering damage that exceeded the absorption capacity of her substitute pendant and had to be immediately carted off to the infirmary.
“...Good thing she’s not too badly hurt,” said Alicia as she sat down beside the bed where Melia slept.
She hadn’t suffered any grave injuries, and her unconscious state seemed to be related to the location of impact rather than degree of damage. According to the person who treated her, she should wake up before long.
“Excuse me.”
They heard a female voice behind them before the infirmary door opened and Emilia stepped in. She approached them.
“Sain... The president would like to see you.”
“Cain wants to see me?”
She nodded. He had no idea what business Cain could possibly have with him at the moment, but he rose and followed her out of the infirmary, leaving Alicia and Marni to look after Melia. They arrived at the student council office and Emilia knocked on the door.
“Here at last,” said a voice in the room.
She opened the door, and as they walked through, Cain fixed Sain with a narrow-eyed gaze. The president leaned forward on his chair and said, “Emilia, could you step out for a minute?”
“...Okay.”
She lowered her head and retreated from the room, leaving the two boys alone in the office. A few seconds of silence ensued, after which Sain was the first to speak.
“That match just now... It was already done. You didn’t need to hurt her like that. Why did you do it?”
“Because she needed to know her folly.”
Sain held back a snarl.
“What are you talking about? What folly?”
“She lost sight of reality. I simply had her feel its weight again,” he said, the statement no less cryptic than the one before. “And as for why I’ve brought you here today... It is to give you a reminder. Or, perhaps a warning. To stop meddling in my business.”
“...Meddling in your business?”
“Yes. Go do your holy knighting elsewhere. Stop getting in my way.”
Sain feigned confusion with a frown, but Cain was unmoved.
“...That’s quite the claim you’re making.”
“Not a claim. A fact. Please, let us drop this ridiculous pretense.”
Sain slowly exhaled. His cover had been blown. He didn’t know how exactly it had happened, but his actions during the field exercises last month certainly gave Cain plenty of reasons to be suspicious. The uncomfortable amount of attention he’d been receiving from Cain since then was proof of that.
“Holy knight. You’re aware, I assume, that this academy is protected by an enormous barrier?”
“...Yeah. It’s using a gigantic staff as a focus.”
Cain nodded before continuing.
“As you probably know, that instrument is called the titan’s staff. It was created by people of ancient times to assist the gods, and it’s infused with an enormous amount of power.”
Sain nodded back. This was consistent with what he’d heard from the headmaster.
“However, the enormous power it holds also makes it a target, and the Clan of Chaos is currently trying to get their hands on it.”
“What?”
“It’s been three months since you came to this school. By now, you should have noticed how frequently Chaos shows up around here. Doesn’t that strike you as odd? The reason is presumably the titan’s staff. They want it for themselves. Not for supporting the gods, of course, but opposing them. They intend to use the staff to weaken the gods and expand their influence.”
The two gods, Vicitaelia and Shartegallia, had been pouring power into the seal that kept Chaos suppressed for a long time. Weakening their power would allow more Chaos into the world.
“They can’t be allowed to do that...”
“Correct. That is why I am here. To protect the staff. You,” he said with a tone of finality, “should go mind your own business.”
Sain furrowed his brows. The whole picture had finally become clear to him. It just didn’t make any sense.
“Hold on a minute. If what you told me is true, then it seems to me that we’re on the same side. If we’re both fighting against Chaos, then it would only make sense for us to join hands.”
“I will not join hands with you,” he snarled. “I don’t trust the holy knight.”