Although the fighting between them had grown fierce, neither girl was injured.
Melody’s protection spell had kept Luciana from harm, stopping any harmful magic from coming through. Luna, on the other hand, kept Luciana at bay and stopped her from closing the distance by shooting countless black orbs to hinder her vision and hearing.
But more importantly, Luciana had no way to fight back.
She could come in close, but Luna would shoot off an orb that would block part of her vision. In that period of momentary blindness, Luna would then pull away, putting distance between them again.
This process had repeated itself a number of times, putting the girls’ fight in a stalemate.
“…This might not be going so well for me. But what can I do? Is there anything I can do to end this?”
Indeed, Luciana was still uninjured, but her stamina was not endless. And as they did battle in this strange, isolated space, Luciana was aware of her overwhelming disadvantage: Luna could just as easily flee, leaving her trapped here.
“Luciana, what kind of power do you even have?! Why are none of my spells working?!”
Luna shrieked in hysterics as she fired off yet another black sphere.
“Why do you get to do that?! It’s unfair! I’ll never forgive you!”
Luna’s emotions had grown unstable, likely due to her overuse of the strange dark magic, and she directed her extreme jealousy toward Luciana’s perceived invincibility. However, her words drew a sudden, angry retort.
“What are you even complaining about? Unfair this, unfair that, don’t talk like you’re the only one who has been hurt!”
Luna’s one-sided complaints had caused Luciana to flare up with indignation. However, her heightened emotions had caused something else, perhaps the key to breaking their deadlock, as Luciana suddenly felt a wave of power emitting from her chest; it was coming from the ring that hung from the chain around her neck. She withdrew the ring from beneath her clothes, and it emitted a brilliant silver light.
“Isn’t this…”
Indeed, it was the very same ring from when she first started her magic training sessions with Melody last month. Melody had circulated her magical power through Luciana as a way of training the noble girl to sense her own, but it was not until after their session was over that Luciana had noticed motes of silver had appeared within the ring’s indigo crystal.
She had not understood its significance at the time, but it was obvious to her now.
Luciana held in her hands…
“…a crystal full of Melody’s magic.”
She knew this now having attuned to Melody’s magical power flowing through her body. The silver light coming from the ring carried that same feeling, and now the power called out to her. What was it saying?
“Aaaaaah!!”
“Ah?!”
Luna shot another dark sphere, seizing the opening from Luciana’s distraction. While the ball would not hurt her, Luciana wanted to avoid taking the hit, but as she was about to dodge, the ring swung forward on its chain to intercept the attack.
“Oh no, the ring..!”
But though she panicked… the black ball suddenly burst like a balloon as it touched the ring.
“What is it this time?!”
It was Luna’s turn to yelp in surprise; the ring still floated in place, and Luciana stared on in amazement. If the ring could do that, then perhaps…
“Can I… fight Luna with this?”
The ring seemed to pulse brighter, as if to answer, but…
“I don’t want to hurt Luna. What am I supposed to do?”
She was afraid of doing to Luna what the ring had done to that black ball, and so Luciana was reluctant to act.
But it was as though the ring understood Luciana’s uncertainty, and it began to shine again. This time, it conveyed a different intention.
“I should… wear you on my finger?”
After dodging another of Luna’s attacks, Luciana pulled the ring free of its chain and slipped it on her right hand’s middle finger. The silver light grew even brighter and seemed to gather around her hands, taking on a new form.
And that form was a rather familiar shape…
“…A harisen?”
A shining folding fan of brilliant silver had emerged from the light.
This was a ‘torture device’ Luciana was very familiar with, one that left no injury: the harisen. Melody had taught her how to use it some time ago, and Luciana had grown accustomed to using it to keep her father’s overreactions in line. And now, this was the perfect weapon for Luciana to use now.
Luciana gripped the harisen tightly; elation flowed through her, and she gave a bold laugh.
“This is perfect. I don’t even have to worry about you dying, no matter how hard I swing, or how many times I hit you. That’s the kind of weapon this harisen is.”
“…Huh?!”
The violent gleam in Luciana’s eyes shook Luna to her core, and in that instant, Luciana bolted straight for her.
“Stay away!”
Luna fired off volley after volley, but Luciana paid the projectiles no heed. While it was troublesome to temporarily lose sight or sound, they did no damage and were ultimately not a threat. And above all, she need not worry about the sensory deprivation if all she needed was to move forward.
Seeing Luciana advance undeterred, Luna grew too agitated to adjust accordingly; she should have retreated, put distance between herself and the approaching danger, but such a plan did not come to mind.
And before she knew it, Luciana was before her very eyes.
“Luciana?!”
“Lunaaaaaaaa!!”
She raised her fan, high above her head, gripping with both hands, and she brought the fan down on Luna’s head.
“Enough alreadyyyyy!!”
A loud, satisfying ‘SMACK!’ punctuated Luciana’s shout, echoing across the empty space. At the same time, a faint stream of silver appeared to wash over Luna.
“Aaah, aah, aaaahhh!!”
It began to erase the dark magic that had taken root in Luna, enveloping her in a gentle silver glow. Before long, no trace of the Demon King’s dark magic remained.
Luciana looked down at her hands to discover the harisen had disappeared, and she noticed the silver within her ring was also gone; it was as though the single attack had used all of that stored power.
She let out a short giggle, smiling as she beheld the ring on her finger.
(I know I said you didn’t need to come, but from the very beginning, up until the very end, I was depending on you the entire time.)
Thinking back, Luciana recalled the devastated look on her beloved maid’s face after calling her unnecessary.
And so Luciana promised to apologize to her maid, but for now, it was the friend before her that needed attention.
Luna stood, still in a daze. Her head slowly turned down to look at her hand, and tears began streaming from her eyes.
She turned to face Luciana, her face wet with tears.
“I’m… so sorry, Luciana.”
Luna, having returned to her senses, dropped to the ground in a crumpled heap.
“Luna!”
Luciana caught Luna in her arms; the impact from the harisen seemed to have left the girl in shock, her consciousness faint, and her strength sapped. Luna leaned heavily on her friend.
“Are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere?”
“Why are you worried… about me? I said all those horrible things. I even tried to kill you. But you’re still…”
“That was because of that weird magic you were using, right? You don’t have to worry about that.”
“No, you’re wrong… I did go crazy with that power, but that… really was how I felt…”
The dark magic had affected her mental state, but it would not have worked if Luna had not truly harbored such feelings. It was true, after all, that Luna was deeply jealous that Luciana was smarter, more beautiful, and more beloved by the wonderful people around her.
How unsightly, how terribly hideous her heart was; it was so clear her inner ugliness now that the dark magic no longer clouded her thoughts.
(What a horrible person I am…)
Luna continued to shed tears.
“Enough already, Luna. Are you still being controlled? What are you even worrying about right now?”
“Wha..?”
“Isn’t it natural for us to be a little jealous of other people? Even for me, there are things you have that I’m jealous of. If you still don’t understand, I think you really need to reflect on it!”
Luciana’s reprimanding words left Luna dumbfounded. Luciana envied her? For what?
“…Your face says you still don’t get it. Fine. So listen up. I’ll tell you all about the wonderful things you have.”
Luciana paused to take a breath, and she began confidently listing the things she envied Luna for.
First was how dedicated and hard-working Luna was. Luciana was jealous that Luna had scored tenth highest on the midterms, without needing a certain spartan maid to drive her studies. If Luciana had studied on her own, she definitely would have slacked off.
Second was Luna’s unfaltering confidence when facing new things. On their first day at the dormitory, it was Luna that seized the initiative to first meet Luciana. Later, it was also Luna that eased Luciana’s tension when they met again in class. Luciana envied that courage of hers.
“And the third thing is your smile.”
“My… smile?”
“Your smile. It’s a very kind and gentle smile, one that can make others smile in return. That’s what I’m most jealous of. I wish I could smile like you do.”
“…For something silly like that?”
“Yep, for something like that. But you know, the way I see it, I felt the same way when you mentioned the things you were jealous of me for.”
“N-no way. The things you have are so much more important than what I have.”
“And what you have is much more important to me, Luna. And there isn’t anyone who can replace that.”
“Luciana…”
“That’s why you don’t need to cry. Not anymore. Instead, give me a smile. The usual lovely smile that I love, that I envy. Okay?”
Luna could feel her heart begin to unwind as she looked upon Luciana’s gentle smile.
“…All right.”
Luna laughed, awkwardly and while holding back tears.
(I can’t stop envying Luciana, but… even so, I still…)
“Luciana, this time, can we… can we be real friends…”
“…How utterly useless.”
“Wha?!”
Right as Luna reached over to take Luciana’s hand, a crack appeared in the space around them. Since the dark magic creating this space had dissipated, the classroom had begun to revert to its original shape, but within that interval, a shadow had risen from behind Luciana.
She had been late in noticing; a short man had emerged from that darkness, black mist spilling from his figure. He raised a hand into the air, holding a sword that drew in the mist.
“We need not a useless pawn. Now perish.”
And mercilessly swung down.
“Stop right there! Meteor Strike!”
A star-shaped projectile of magical power soared through the air, knocking the arcing sword off its trajectory and allowing the girls to retreat to safety.
“Christopher, let’s go!”
“I’m right behind you!”
With their words as the signal, the two raced towards the shadow and attacked together, their swords drawing arcs at their target. The assailant, Buque Kischel, leapt back to avoid their synchronized assault.
“…”
His hollow, lightless eyes carefully watched as Christopher and the others regrouped.
“Looks like this will be the same as last time.”
Buque’s eyes narrowed at Christopher’s provocation.
“Trash, need not interrupt…”
“So what does that make you, when trash like us can keep interrupting?”
Christopher needled his opponent with cheap words, putting up a boisterous front to hide his internal nervousness.
“Weaklings all, thinking I can be stopp–… guh?!”
Buque suddenly stopped, his words interrupted. His eyes suddenly opened wide; his breathing became erratic, and he clutched his chest as though in pain. Quiet words, too low for the others to hear, fell from his lips.
“No. I won’t let anyone control me… any longer.”
Without the pressure from Luna’s dark magic, Buque fought back to wrest control from the Demon King’s remnants. He struggled with a berserk fury, and the mist gathered around him, as though trying to suppress his struggling. With a sudden shriek, Buque leapt throught he window, breaking out of the classroom now that it had returned to its normal state.
The sudden change left Christopher and the others momentarily stunned, but they quickly recovered and rushed out of the classroom in pursuit. By then, however, they had lost his trail once more.
Headcanon TL 
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