"Time really flies!"
Even though it was a day off, Amagiri Ayato had long since developed the good habit of morning exercise.
Every morning, he woke up early and went out to run a few laps around Seidoukan Academy.
But today was a little different. Since it was his day off, he planned to go farther and use the opportunity to learn more about this floating city. He had even invited Julis, whom he had only recently met, to come along.
Thinking back on everything that had happened over the past few days, Ayato couldn't help feeling somewhat emotional.
"Who would've thought I'd accidentally run into Her Highness and then get challenged to a duel..."
"Good thing Claudia arrived in time. Otherwise, I don't even want to imagine what would've happened afterward."
That's right. As though fate were playing a joke, Ayato had once again encountered Julis.
In the original story, Ayato had barged straight into Julis' dormitory because he wasn't familiar with the surroundings, which was why she came after him.
But this time, while on his way to school, he accidentally took a nasty fall and ended up pinning the princess beneath him...
Even now, he still remembered the way Her Highness' face had turned red. Immediately afterward, she had challenged him to a duel...
For a woman, being suddenly touched by an unfamiliar man was already terribly rude, and Julis was a princess on top of that.
So right there on the way to school, she directly declared war on Ayato.
Naturally, the commotion attracted countless students who stopped to watch. Even Claudia, the student council president, rushed over at full speed once she heard about it.
There wasn't much worth saying about the fight itself. Since Ayato knew he had been at fault first, he simply treated it as a chance for Julis to vent and had no intention of attacking her at all.
But Julis refused to let it go. She kept demanding that he atone with his life, preferably with some cumin sprinkled on him while he burned...
How could Ayato agree to that?
After all, no one would just sit there obediently and wait to die.
While the two were locked in a stalemate, a disturbance from the side suddenly caught both their attention.
It was an arrow of light formed from energy!
If Ayato hadn't seen incorrectly, then the arrow's target was definitely Julis' head!
Was someone actually trying to kill her?
Ayato might have been easygoing, but he was still a normal sixteen-year-old boy, and his absurdly kind personality certainly wouldn't allow him to watch someone die right in front of him.
So without the slightest hesitation, Ayato charged forward and tackled Her Highness to the ground once again.
After saving the princess' life, he also successfully gained some of her goodwill.
After that, things developed more or less like they had in the original story.
Claudia arrived and stopped the fight between them. Then, over the following days, she gave Ayato the opportunity to test an Orga Lux, allowing him to obtain the Ser-Veresta.
During that time, Ayato also reunited with his childhood friend at the academy—Sasamiya Saya, the petite rich girl who was already sixteen yet still had a completely flat chest.
Everything seemed to be developing in a positive direction...
"Why isn't Julis here yet?"
On a normal date between a man and a woman, the man was supposed to arrive at least half an hour early. Ayato had indeed done exactly that.
But now, more than ten minutes had already passed since their agreed meeting time, and he still hadn't seen Julis.
"Could something have happened?"
With that thought in mind, Ayato began walking toward the dormitories, but after only a few steps, he witnessed something extremely unexpected.
Julis actually wasn't far away. She was inside a nearby pavilion.
But aside from Julis, there was another girl there...
She looked incomparably pure, with white hair and red eyes that seemed almost tailor-made to strike directly at the hearts of Chinese otaku, and she carried an ethereal aura around her.
Having only recently arrived in Asterisk, Ayato had no idea who the girl was, nor did he know what her relationship with Julis might be, so he chose to hide nearby and see what happened next.
Of course, if Julis were in danger, he would charge in without hesitation.
...
"Orphelia, why are you staying by that woman's side?"
"You should know perfectly well that she's definitely not a good person, right?"
Julis gritted her teeth, her expression extremely ugly as she stared at the girl opposite her.
"Julis!"
Facing her former friend, Orphelia showed no restraint whatsoever. Her tone carried intense hostility.
"You can say whatever you want about me, but don't insult Lady Saintess!"
Julis was so startled that she actually took half a step back. In Orphelia's eyes, she saw something utterly unbelievable.
Something the old Orphelia would never have possessed...
Anger, and... hatred?
She actually hated Julis because of that woman?
For a moment, Julis didn't even know what to say.
Ignoring Julis' shock, Orphelia simply stood where she was and began speaking about everything she had experienced.
"Once, I nearly believed my life was already over, and that no one could possibly save me."
"But Lady Saintess shattered fate itself and pulled me out of the abyss."
"I made my decision a long time ago, Julis."
"I want to remain with the Church, by Lady Saintess' side!"
As she spoke, life energy began shining around Orphelia, casting green light over Julis' upper body until she looked as though she were covered in a lush meadow.
"Even if you were once my friend, I absolutely won't hold back against you, Julis!"
After hearing Orphelia's words, Julis was completely stunned, her eyes filled with confusion.
"Why did things become like this?"
She had finally found her old friend, and Orphelia had escaped Rewolf Black Institute... Those should have been two happy things.
So why had it turned into this?
Then, at that moment, Julis remembered the photograph she had seen some time ago.
There had only been two people in the picture. One was her friend Orphelia, and the other was that woman she had always hated...
Elise Holiness!
The root of everything was that woman!
She was definitely no Saintess!
I have to...
Save Orphelia from her!
"If that's what you've decided, then Orphelia..."
"I'll defeat you right here!"
With a light flick of her right hand, a pink rapier appeared in Julis' grasp, its point aimed directly at Orphelia.
"I'll definitely bring you back, Orphelia!"
As a tiny flame appeared, raging fire quickly wrapped around the Glühen Rose.
Julis had clearly prepared herself for battle!
"You can't do it, Julis..."
"I'm no longer who I used to be."
As Orphelia stirred the Prana within her body, the green light grew increasingly dazzling. Even Julis' flames changed color beneath that overwhelming green radiance.
"Since you still refuse to give up, I'll help you understand..."
"With this new power Lady Saintess gave me!"
"Come on, Orphelia!"
"Bloom, Nine-Petaled Dancing Flame!"
Using her sword like a brush, Julis merely made a few light movements. Combined with the image in her mind, she effortlessly formed nine fireballs.
At her command, all nine fireballs simultaneously shot toward Orphelia, completely sealing off any possibility of dodging.
Even so, Julis didn't lower her guard.
She knew this friend's abilities all too well and had challenged her several times before.
Although Julis had lost every single time, those defeats had also given her an increasingly thorough understanding of Orphelia's abilities.
Toxic miasma!
Why had Orphelia been called the Venom Strega?
Wasn't it because of the horrifying poison surrounding her entire body?
If an ordinary person touched it, there was an extremely high chance they would die. Even a member of the Starpulse Generation like Julis would suffer unimaginable corrosion!
Not only Julis, but most members of the Starpulse Generation who had fought Orphelia in the past had ended up in the hospital.
That alone showed just how terrifying her Strega ability had been!
But just as Julis prepared herself to face that horrifying power again, something unexpected happened.
The light surrounding Orphelia was no longer the purple that had once symbolized poison. Instead, it had become the green radiance of life.
Just as the nine fireballs were about to hit, a burst of green energy erupted from the ground in an instant, blocking every attack aimed at Orphelia.
"How is that possible?"
Looking at the scene before her, Julis could hardly believe it.
Because the things blocking her flames were actually...
Trees. A large number of trees burst violently from beneath the ground, rising between Julis and Orphelia and blocking every fireball.
But how could that make sense?
Julis' ability was fire!
It definitely wasn't some tiny flame on the level of a match or lighter!
Even in open air, Julis' flames could continue burning because they consumed oxygen. Even without wood or another combustible material, they could persist for a long time.
If those were ordinary trees, the immense heat from the instant of impact should have burned them apart immediately.
Yet these trees in front of her could withstand the flames directly. They wouldn't even catch fire?
"What is this?"
Seeing something so bizarre for the first time, Julis was startled into taking half a step backward.
But she quickly understood the situation. If those trees could withstand flames created through Prana, then they could only be the product of someone else's ability!
"Don't tell me that woman is nearby?"
Julis immediately looked around nervously, trying to find that golden figure.
That's right. The first person who came to mind was Elise!
Several years ago, the Church's young Saintess had appeared on a battlefield and, with an utterly incomprehensible power, transformed land devastated by war into a lush oasis filled with vegetation.
That power had been so unbelievable that people still regarded it as a miracle to this day.
If it were Elise, then using an ability normally countered by fire to block flames wouldn't be so difficult to understand.
Unfortunately, Julis couldn't find anything at all, because Elise wasn't here in the first place.
"There's no need to look, Julis."
At that tense moment, Orphelia's voice suddenly appeared right beside Julis' ear, making her shudder violently.
"Although this truly is Lady Saintess' power, she has already bestowed it upon me!"
Orphelia spread both arms toward the sky, looking as though she were preparing to embrace something.
"What an extraordinary honor!"
"For someone as insignificant as me to receive that lady's favor..."
"That is why I absolutely must fulfill her wishes!"
As Orphelia's words fell, it wasn't only the trees in front of her. Even the trees throughout the surrounding garden area seemed to be granted life, beginning to grow wildly.
"I'm surrounded?"
Seeing that there was no longer any path of retreat, Julis could only advance instead of retreating and launch a powerful attack first to suppress Orphelia's movements.
"Burn, Blazing Sunburst!"
An enormous flaming wheel appeared above Julis' head. Even from a glance, its power was obviously extraordinary.
It was even continuing to expand!
"Go!"
With a fierce shout, Julis immediately hurled the massive flaming wheel above her head toward Orphelia.
The distance between them wasn't particularly large, but this move was one of Julis' large-scale spells. It would definitely engulf Julis herself as well.
But there was no time to think about that now...
Even if she injured herself, or even Orphelia, Julis still had to do it, because she couldn't bear to watch Orphelia continue suffering beside that woman!
"Why won't you understand?"
Watching the red light steadily approach, Orphelia closed her eyes.
Of course, she hadn't admitted defeat. She simply found the light too dazzling.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Under those circumstances, the enormous flaming wheel slammed directly into the trees in front of Orphelia.
The expected explosion never came. Julis, who had already braced herself for the impact, opened her eyes.
But immediately afterward, her pupils contracted violently.
The reason the flaming wheel hadn't exploded was because... it had been absorbed!
That was exactly what appeared before Julis.
The originally blazing flaming wheel touched Orphelia's trees and was actually swallowed directly, like a doughnut being eaten away?
Wait... what kind of tree could even do that?
From the earlier exchange, Julis had already discovered that Orphelia was no longer using poison and had instead switched to the power of trees.
Aside from extremely versatile abilities, a Strega couldn't possibly possess two separate powers!
And poison and trees were two abilities that had absolutely nothing to do with each other!
"She did something to you, didn't she, Orphelia?"
Julis once again became certain of her own theory.
Back then, Orphelia had originally been an ordinary person. It was only after a certain experiment that she acquired the power of toxic miasma.
But now, everything had changed completely!
That could only mean Orphelia had once again undergone that kind of inhuman experimentation!
"Yes. Lady Saintess took away the filth inside my body and bestowed new power upon me in its place!"
"This is the power of life!"
Orphelia opened her palm. A small, pure white flower gradually emerged from her hand, followed closely by beautiful blossoms of many different species and colors.
"I'm no longer the Venom Strega I used to be, Julis!"
Orphelia swept her left hand outward, and the petals of the flowers in her hand immediately scattered into the air. Carried by a gentle breeze, they covered the ground beneath both girls.
Then Julis dropped directly to her knees...
Because the scattered petals took less than a single second to become complete, beautiful flowers.
The two of them were now standing in the middle of a vibrant flower garden, just like they had once before...
"Now, I am the Life Strega!"