5 - Bloody Emperor

2V was walking down a secret hallway behind the palace. She was in the place where she’d spent most of her life. There was nobody left alive who knew about this place. She hadn’t even been here for a very long time. 2V was alive.

“You’re a very cautious woman. Even out there you used a doll that looked just like you.” It was Zero who spoke. Zero, for his own part, had taken the form of a new Liradan he’d been given. It had a beautiful face, but one with no trace of human warmth within it.

“I told you I’d thought this through. And I wasn’t lying when I said I was willing to let my life end. It’s time for me to retire. You’re free now to do whatever you like. That Demon King interfered with your powers. Are you going to fight him? If so, I’ll watch.”

It appeared that Akuto had the ability to interfere with Zero’s control over the gods. That was probably why both of them were called Demon Kings.

Zero left towards the depths of the palace. But as 2V set off in the opposite direction, someone appeared to stop her.

“You sure you haven’t forgotten someone?”

2V looked up in surprise. It was a young girl in a classy hat.

“Lily Shiraishi... right?” 2V said casually.

“Yup. I figured there’d be a path nobody knew about, so I searched the whole palace grounds. That’s what I’ve been doing ever since I got here. I knew nobody else would be able to catch you, so it was up to me.” Lily flipped her hat around. “I’ve got my magic back. And it’s time to use it!”

Lily quickly charged forward.

“Tch!” 2V made several mana balls appear around her body, and tried to control them with a wave of her hand. It was the same spell that Kazuko had used.

“Those are mana balls with striking power! I guess I just need to strike them harder, then!” Lily struck the area in front of her with countless fists.

2V tried to get the mana balls into position, but Lily struck at them before she could. Each of the balls carried its own striking force even when standing still, so this was a straight up battle of power.

“Raaahhh!” The balls knocked her fists back, but she kept firing away. Each hit from one of them was met with ten of hers. She was hitting at an incredible rate, and the strikes were beginning to push 2V back.

“Gah...!” And then Lily’s power overwhelmed 2V. Her mana disappeared, as countless fists struck her tiny body.

“Dryaaah!”

Lily’s punches smashed 2V into a wall. She moaned loudly as it shattered beneath her. “Guh...!”

“Hah. Don’t worry, I can’t just kill you. I need to prove to the public who you really are before we can go back to the old system. I’d like nothing more than to snap your spine, but it’s still better to keep you alive. If I kill you, you’ll have gotten what you wanted.”

Lily stretched out her arm with magic to grab 2V by the collar. 2V looked like she would’ve been happier if she was killed.

“Stop... Please...”

“I’m sure you noticed on some level, but humans aren’t that stupid. Once they know the truth, they’ll make the smart choice. The right choice. And I’m not going to let you die before you see that.” Lily smiled cruelly.

And then... There was a low thud from 2V’s body. The impact traveled all the way through Lily’s hands.

“...What?” Lily’s eyes went wide.

2V’s body had been pierced by a spear of light. “Gwah!” She spat up blood and moaned.

“What just happened...?”

The shining sword had come out of nowhere. And after running her through, it vanished. The sword had been made from mana. Not many magic-users could create a sword that could fly that far, or have such power.

Lily looked in the direction it had came from, and couldn’t believe what she saw. It was Kazuko, walking down the hall with elegant footsteps.

“Empress Kazuko...”

“Don’t you feel a little bad for her? Couldn’t you tell that she wanted to die? She’d been in a dark place for so long, with nobody to talk to in person. At least let her spend her last few moments in a pleasant dream.” Kazuko walked over to 2V. She was still breathing.

“Y-You bitch...” 2V moaned, but Kazuko simply kissed her. Blood stained Kazuko’s beautiful mouth and cheeks. But her smile remained unwavering as she looked at 2V with an expression of compassion.

“Poor girl. You wanted to be like me, didn’t you? Did your dream come true in the end? If it did, then I’ll kill you before the dream is over.”

Kazuko slammed another mana sword into 2V at close range. 2V’s body twitched.

“I-Is that really the best way...?” Lily asked.

Kazuko, now completely covered in blood, smiled as she stuck a hand into the wound in 2V’s stomach. She moved it around for a moment before finding the heart and ripping it out of 2V’s body.

“E-Empress...” Lily couldn’t believe what she saw.

Kazuko didn’t seem to think, however, that she was doing anything unusual at all. She took the heart and held in both hands, and began to eat it elegantly.

“Oh, it’s like a big dried plum,” she said.

“Wh-Why...” Lily said she stepped away.

“I’m taking her mana into my own body. I have to. She got the power that should’ve been mine: the Mirror of Yata. The power to move one’s mind into a Liradan or doll.”

“And that’s why you’re... eating that?” Sweat dripped from Lily’s brow.

“That’s right. And with that power, I’m going to take responsibility for what she’s done. I’m going to make Zero serve the Empire. For the first time in years, the Imperial Family will rule,” Kazuko declared.

“Wh-What...?” Lily was stunned.

“If both Zero and the Demon King belong to the Empire, then all magic will originate with one source. All will prosper in the name of the empress,” Kazuko said.

Then they both heard a voice.

“No...! I don’t understand what you just did, but I think you’re wrong!” Keena was standing there.

“My master disagrees. He says that the future only comes from continual thought. In other words, you’re wrong.” Fujiko was there too. They’d been teleported to the palace along with Akuto.

But Kazuko kept smiling. Instead, the bloody empress pronounced their deaths. “Then both you and the Demon King will have to die.”

○

Outside the palace, confusion had reached a fever pitch. Akuto had vanished from the sky, but the people’s terror remained. They fled, either on foot, by flying, or using the now-functional flying cars. Yoshie, Junko, and Keisu were the only ones going towards the palace.

Junko’s magically enhanced strength had returned, so now she jumped from wall to wall, carrying Yoshie. Keisu followed her. They left Yuko with Hiroshi, who had safely landed on the ground. The field blocking his energy was gone, so he’d be able to take her out of the area.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Yoshie said. She was talking about Akuto. She still didn’t know him well yet, and she didn’t seem to understand why he’d done what he did.

“He made everyone hate him deliberately. That’s just who he is,” Junko said.

“Why would he want to make them hate him? Does that help him somehow?”

“That’s his way. He carries all the legacies of hatred, and still tries to help everyone. I can tell from the way he was trying to sound like a villain that he wants to make this the last battle of the Demon King,” Junko said. There was passion in her voice, and the life had returned to her eyes.

“So he’s going to defeat Zero and rebel against the Empress? Wooaah! I knew something good was coming, but this is better than I thought!” Yoshie laughed. She looked up at Junko, who was still holding her in her arms.

“...What?” Junko asked. Yoshie grinned.

“You’re in love with him, aren’t you? That’s gonna make for a rough life, you know?”

“Y-You dummy! Now isn’t the time!”

“Right, right. Let’s both throw away our lives for a very interesting man, then.” Yoshie laughed.

○

“So 2V finally kicked the bucket, huh?”

A street far from the center of the capital — The Sage was smoking from a pipe, elbow on the roof of his stopped car, as he felt the disturbance in the mana he was tracing. He sighed.

“The limiter the gods put on the use of magic is gone. People can now use magic without having to be good. Now, which side should I join...?” The sage got in the car while sucking on the pipe in his mouth.

“Bochiro must’ve seen that days like these were coming. I’ll have to see if there’s anything else besides that suit and Zero’s body that he left behind, I guess...”

The Sage — the man once known as the strongest mage, codename USD — whispered.