Chapter 8: Laplace’s Revenge

*1*

Meanwhile, at the top of the clock tower, Maxwell sneered down at the city below.

“Destiny waits for no man, it seems.”

Soon... Soon he would take control of Ode—no, the entire empire. He had waited 300 long years for this.

In the beginning, he only wished to better himself. That ambition had turned to self-pity as he spent more and more time wallowing in his failures. Then it turned to resentment, directed at the women who had abandoned him. And then... and then... and then...

He could no longer tell what it was he hated, or why exactly he was doing this. All he knew was that he despised women. Women like the shrine maiden of the White Dragon, his wife, who left him. Women like his daughter, Laplace.

He wanted to take their power away—force them to serve him and only him. That way he could finally get the happy ending he deserved... or so he believed. To that end, he abandoned his body... abandoned his heart...

Now he couldn’t even remember what his face had originally looked like.

“Now then, Arianora. It’s time for you to be crowned Queen,” he whispered sweetly to the unconscious artificial girl in his arms.

At this very moment, back in the laboratory, the Brides were operating on autopilot like mindless zombies. Their only objective: to destroy Maxwell’s enemies. And in order to perfect this loyal army, he would need to create a Queen—a control tower that would command the rest of the nameless swarm. She would serve as his pawn, and when the time came to take over the country, she would exist to garner the support of the citizens. Fortunately for him, she was already a well-liked princess.

As an individual, she was an excellent specimen. It would be all too easy for him to rewrite her thoughts and emotions. Like the other Brides, she existed only to serve him without question—just as Laplace herself once had. And once she was Queen, his dream would be realized.

“Initiate Queenmaker ritual,” he growled. “Begin mana transfer.”

At his words... the entire city of Ode began to glow faintly.

“Beautiful... A job well done, even if it took me an eternity.” He chuckled to himself.

He had spent the past 300 years imbuing every inch of Ode with his magic. The churches, the fountains, the flowerbeds—each was a functional piece of his magical formula, he’d turned the city itself into one colossal magic circle.

Maxwell was delirious with joy. Soon... Soon it would all be his...

But just then, a voice echoed across the clock tower—the voice of the one who had chosen to defy him.

“MAAAAXWELLLLL!!!”

“...It’s not very ladylike to raise your voice, Laplace.”

He turned. The only way she could have got up here was by climbing the long spiral staircase leading to the roof. And sure enough, standing in the doorway to the stairwell—

“Let... Let go of her, Maxwell!”

—was Laplace, her feet bleeding from the soles. Standing beside her to keep her upright was the Magi-Knight, her pale pink hair fluttering in the wind.

“Go get him, Laplace! Kick his ass!”

At this, Maxwell let out a laugh. There stood his daughter, the look in her eyes just as rebellious as it was 300 years ago, and now some stupid dyke had tagged along, too.

“You think you can stop me with those artificial talents of yours?”

“Artificial...?”

“That’s right. Nothing about you is natural, Laplace!” he roared.

Every strength she had was given to her by Maxwell himself... and now she was trying to bite the very hand that had fed her. Unacceptable.

“Your talents are all artificial—I’m the one who embedded them into your blood. Your abilities are unnatural—they don’t belong to you, I gave them to you. And now you’re gripped by artificial desires as well. You were never supposed to turn against me, your own father!”

Maxwell shook with rage and thought, You stupid inhuman wench!

“And this... this anger you feel toward me isn’t yours, either! It’s merely borrowed!”

“...What?”

“That Knight woman—she’s turned you against me! I raised you to be a good girl, and now you’ve let someone else convince you I’m the bad guy!”

At this, Tanya felt something rise up from the pit of her stomach.

“...Hey, Laplace?”

“Hee hee... What is it, Tanya?” Laplace asked, trying (and failing) to keep a straight face.

After everything he just said, she was convinced anew: This asshole doesn’t know a single thing about me.

“MAXWELL!!!”

She was never the type to scream... and yet her roar echoed across the clock tower.

“Listen up, because I’m only going to explain this once!”

I admit, I was inspired by Tanya and her fury on the day we met... but still...

“The only person who ‘convinced’ me to be angry... was ME! NO ONE ELSE! MY EMOTIONS ARE MINE!”

Her emotions. Her anger. Her body. Her strength. All of it—all of it—was hers.

“You have NO right to call me ‘artificial’ when YOU’RE the one who made me that way! You hypocrite!”

She balled her hands into fists.

“So there you have it.”

She glared directly into her father’s eyes.

“I’m going to destroy you—right here, right now!”

*2*

“I wish they’d at least put some clothes on,” Nadine muttered.

“Wh... Nadine! Don’t slut-shame them!”

This comment struck Katherine as a little harsh, considering they were already being forced to fight the poor little things.

Fortunately, the albino foxkin tribe was among the most skilled of beastkin at using the secret arts. And with her perfectly heat-controlled Fox-Fireballs, she could keep the damage she caused to a minimum. But the downside to heat control was that it required more focus than going full-blast... Yeah, this would be a lot easier if they had armor on.

“Ugh... I hate to say it, but... I’m not gonna last much longer...!”

Maxwell’s spell had drained her mana just a few hours earlier, so she was already dangerously low—and now she was scraping the bottom of the barrel. She gritted her teeth. God, I’m totally going to pass out.

Right as her legs buckled, however, Nadine swooped in and seized her by the arm, holding her upright. The slight chill of her palm felt nice against her skin.

“Are you alright, Katherine?”

“Yeah... This is nothing...”

“Glad to hear it. Of course, I would have expected no less from an honor student like yourself.”

“...Is that sarcasm?”

“Perish the thought! I honestly find you impressive, Katherine... Now then, it’s time to begin.”

“Begin what?”

Nadine crouched down low. In her hand was a leather satchel—a farewell present from Laplace given right before she and Tanya left the laboratory:

“C’est pour toi, Nadine. A little gift from the Great Sorceress.”

Inside, the satchel was chock-full of gold coins.

“Are those... Laplace’s Orichalcum Coins or whatever?”

Indeed they were.

She remembered that day back at the Little Vixen, when they’d told her about the “mysterious thief” who had stolen the orichalcum coins from all the local magic supply stores.

“Wait, so... Laplace stole them?!”

“Who knows. But to be fair, they’re called Laplace’s Orichalcum Coins, are they not? She can’t exactly steal what’s already hers.”

“Is... Is that how that works...?”

“It’s a legal loophole,” Nadine grinned. Despite her meek, unassuming appearance, she had the tendency to drop some delightful bombshells.

Smiling, Katherine sighed and swung her staff, unleashing another round of Fox-Fireballs that kept the Brides at bay and interrupted their wordless spellcasting.

“So she wants us to slap those coins on these naughty little girls? Fine by me! Not that I get why, but whatever!”

“I can’t say I understand it myself, but... right now, all we can do is trust her. Alright... Here I go!”

And with that, Nadine shot forward, gracefully weaving between the Brides like a dancer, her presence carefully masked as she taped an orichalcum coin to each of the girls using the only adhesive a Healer came equipped with: bandages. This was a feat only a former Assassin could have hoped to pull off.

“Ugh!” Katherine growled in frustration as she cast another wave of fireballs.

I guess it’s up to me to provide cover fire, then!

*3*

“Surrender now, and I’ll see that you receive preferential treatment during my reign as dictator. For example, you could be my slave-in-chief.”

“Non, non. Hard pass... For that matter, dare I ask what a ‘slave-in-chief’ is supposed to even mean?”

Atop the clock tower, Maxwell smirked, feeling secure in his victory.

“Hah... Foolish woman.”

He could feel an entire city’s worth of mana filling his body, granting him power beyond measure. As a fairly run-of-the-mill Mage (give or take the body-swapping that had kept him alive for an eternity), this was power the likes of which he had never felt before.

He raised his arms high into the air—

“Then take this! Firestorm!”

—and swung them down, summoning a veritable tornado of hot flame that engulfed Tanya and Laplace.

“Nngh...!”

Firestorm was always an advanced-level spell, but at Maxwell’s current power level, its strength had magnified tenfold. He reeled, in love with his own omnipotence. He had already drained Laplace of all her mana back in the underground laboratory; after all, the spell he used had been designed to absorb her mana specifically. She couldn’t possibly survive this attack.

“Heh heh... Hahaha... Oh, Laplace, you didn’t stand a—wha?!”

But when the dust settled, two figures remained standing.

“Hey, so, uh... was that actually Firestorm?” asked the one with the pink hair.

Unfortunately for Maxwell, he had made one grave miscalculation.

“Because it seemed a lot more like a beginner-level spell. Are you sure it wasn’t just Fireball?”

These were no ordinary Mages.

“Just kidding!”

“What...?!”

“Now then, I think it’s time for me to bust out my fancy sword and get to work!”

“Sword?! Where did that come from?! You didn’t have any sword earlier!”

Maxwell stared in shock. Meanwhile, the golden ring on Tanya’s finger sparkled in the light.

This woman—Tanya Artemiciov—had imbued her sword with Water Magic in order to block his Firestorm. This was the warrior who fought in his daughter’s name.

“Damnit...!”

Maxwell, the Court Grand Mage. Granted, yes, he was a garbage human being, but he was more cunning than he let on, and he wasn’t altogether incompetent with battle magic. Definitely not to be underestimated, or so Tanya had decided. In which case—

“We’re going to defeat you—whatever it takes!”

Because that’s all there is to it.

“...Hey, Laplace?”

“Hmm? What is it, Tanya?”

“You’re hiding something from me, aren’t you?”

“...What makes you say that?”

It all started the day they first met. I can’t use any of my attack spells, Laplace had told her, thereby forcing Tanya to have to defeat the Wyvern single-handedly. Then Laplace stole a kiss from her to awaken within her the power of a Magi-Knight... or so she claimed.

Normally Tanya would have complained about the non-consensual nature of the situation... but her lips were so sweet, she just couldn’t complain.

“Why would I hide something from you?” Laplace asked, wearing her usual relaxed grin. Meanwhile, the soles of her feet were still bleeding, unused to walking directly on the stone pavement.

Laplace almost never lost her calm, cheerful composure. She was so strong.

“You actually can use your attack spells—you just choose not to. Isn’t that right?” Tanya asked.

At this, Laplace’s shapely lips curled in a perfect crescent.

“...Remember how you gave me a portion of your mana?” Tanya continued.

Magi-Knight: a master-level class that combined sword skills with magic. Unlike Mages, however, Magi-Knights could circulate mana directly into their sword to cast, no incantation required. Plus, with elemental attribute magic serving as stat buffs, Tanya was essentially “a Mage who could punch people”—and she was nigh unstoppable.

But wasn’t it all sort of... too good to be true?

Could a single kiss really streamline her mana circuits and upgrade her to a Magi-Knight, totally for free? Surely not... unless, for example, she had just been lent power, power equal to that of an ancient, mythical Great Sorceress.

“What gave it away, Tanya?”

“Back when that magic circle was draining us...”

“Hmm?”

“It just kept draining and draining and draining... almost like there was a lot more inside me than I remembered having.”

Laplace’s mana was etched into her blood. Hence, it was pretty much impossible to transfer it to another person. But through contact with their mucous membranes, one could lend their mana to a recipient—for example, the exchange of saliva through a kiss.

“And I always wondered why you kept trying to kiss me at any given moment!”

“Hee hee... Looks like the cat’s out of the bag. But before you judge me, do try to put yourself in my shoes. Can you really blame me for taking an interest in a hard worker like yourself?” Laplace smiled softly.

“Laplace...”

“Listen closely, Tanya. I’m going to draw his attention to buy you some time. I need you to get out of here before his spell activates and starts draining the whole city’s—mmmmph?!”

Her eyes widened in surprise as she felt something soft touch her lips. Then she saw strands of pale pink hair and realized that Tanya had seized her by the front of her dress and pulled her in for a kiss. A long kiss.

All this time, Tanya had always thought of Laplace as too physically affectionate. She would always spring kisses on Tanya, be it when they were drunk, late at night, or in the middle of the afternoon. But looking back, what she was really doing was topping up Tanya’s mana so she could keep using her Magi-Knight abilities.

“Haah... There. You can have your mana back now, Laplace.”

Of course, Laplace had only performed these transfers because she was absolutely confident in Tanya’s magical prowess. After all, it was the mana of a Great Sorceress. A lesser Mage might lose control of it and endanger themselves.

And that trust meant the world to Tanya.

She pulled away and gazed into the eyes of her partner in crime.

“I want you to punch him with your own two fists!”

The mana from inside her body—a mingled fusion of Laplace’s mana and her own—was now inside Laplace.

Slowly, softly, Laplace began to float into the air. Her long dark hair billowed around her as if she were underwater.

“Now then... I think it’s high time you gave me back my sweet little adopted sisterrrr!” she declared in a singsong voice as she savored the feeling of the mana swirling around inside her.

Granted, this was just a drop in the bucket compared to the inexhaustible stockpile she was used to... but to Laplace, it felt more like Tanya had lent her the freedom to express her rage. And that thought made her heart flutter in her chest.

“You whelp! You still seek to oppose me?!”

“Oui, oui.”

For Arianora and the injustice she’d suffered. For Tanya, who never gave up on her. But most of all... for herself and her long-suppressed anger. She would be unstoppable.

“Just warning you, but... at the moment, I’m afraid I can’t use anything but attack spells! I hope you’re prepared!”

*4*

What Maxwell witnessed next was incredible—the work of a true genius.

Even after a full 300 years, he still hadn’t caught up to his daughter in terms of sheer ability; he wasn’t stupid enough to pretend otherwise. Painful as it was, he had to admit it. After all...

“Nnngghh...! Damn it... Goddamn it!!!”

“Hahaha! Frustration is a look you wear well. C’est magnifique!”

She didn’t take even a single step—she just snapped her fingers.

“Blast it all... There’s so much blood...!”

“Yeah, it really hurts to lose an arm, huh? Happened to me alllll the time back in the day.”

Indeed, Maxwell’s arm was gone—literally erased from existence.

Laplace had cast Photon, a beginner-level Light Magic attack spell. Normally all it did was illuminate the area or blind the enemy—or if you were really lucky, inflict a tiny scrape.

“But that was hardly the worst thing you did to me. Think of all the other awful shit you did!”

“Nngh...!”

Drunk on revenge, her beautiful countenance was tinged with joy.

“Now for the other one!”

There was a light, airy pop as Maxwell’s other arm vanished without a trace.

“AAAAAAGGGHHH!”

Meanwhile, Tanya couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Laplace’s Photon spell had exceeded the realm of possibility. She was just that damn powerful.

Now that she’d returned the mana Laplace had previously lent her, Tanya’s was running on fumes. For someone who had trained as hard as Tanya had, however, this wasn’t a huge issue—she could still cast two or three more beginner-level spells. And if at any point it looked like Laplace needed backup, Tanya was prepared to pull out all the stops.

However...

“I don’t think we want Arianora to see this.”

Tanya darted forward, past the all-powerful Sorceress, past the armless and bloody Maxwell, and scooped up the princess’s limp body. For once, she was grateful that Arianora was unconscious.

“Wouldn’t want to set a bad example for her, y’know.”

Tanya and Laplace were both prepared to torture this man to death... but just then, his lips twisted in a stiff smile.

“Ohhh...! My ultimate spell has activated...!”

And the next thing they heard was a series of wet popping sounds that made their skin crawl.

“Ew! Gross!”

Maxwell’s flesh was wriggling and swelling—regrowing his lost limbs like he was some kind of lizard. Needless to say, it wasn’t pleasant to witness.

“Heh heh... HAH HAH HAH! It appears you’re too late. All the city’s mana is now mine! No matter how you may wound me, you will only be wasting your time. I shall regenerate as many times as it takes! No one will ever laugh at me again... With this, I am the ultimate life-form! Immortality is MINE!”

His body began to glow faintly, brimming with the mana from all the people of Ode. He was appropriating their life force, all to sate his own greed.

“If that isn’t wasteful consumption, I don’t know what is!”

Laplace struck him with another Photon—but this time, his body regenerated before she could even draw blood.

“Heh heh! I’m afraid that won’t work on me any longer!” His lips curled into a haughty smirk. “As my daughter, surely you know better than any—waaagh!”

Just then... Maxwell went flying.

“Wow.”

“Sorry for stealing your spotlight, Laplace.”

“Tanya!”

Sure enough, there stood Laplace’s one and only partner, her pink hair fluttering in the breeze. She had run up to the legendary newly-immortal Mage and punched him directly in the jaw.

“Très forte! Forget knowledge—strength is power!”

“Yeah... Over the past few months, I’ve come to learn that sometimes it’s way less hassle to just throw a few punches instead!”

Naturally, the damage done to Maxwell’s jaw was quickly nullified... but the damage to his fragile male ego remained. No one in the past 300 years had ever dared to punch the Court Grand Mage. A series of emotions flickered across his face before finally settling on anger.

“Why...? Why do you oppose me?” Maxwell growled at Tanya. “If you would just be a good girl and do as I say, you could stand to gain so much! Think about it: I already have the imperial family under my control. So why are you fighting me over that artificial child? Why are you taking my daughter’s side?!”

But Tanya merely giggled.

“Well now... What do you make of this, Laplace?”

“Hmmm... ‘Why,’ indeed? I’d say it’s a very philosophical question. I didn’t know this incompetent coward had it in him.”

Laplace floated down beside her partner and scooped up the unconscious form of Arianora where Tanya had laid her. Meanwhile, her smile was identical to that of the other woman’s... almost as if they were twins.

“Well, the best answer I can think of...”

“Oui, oui. The best answer would be...”

Atop the clock tower, its roof long-destroyed from a climactic magical battle, a gust of wind rushed past, ruffling two heads of hair—one pale pink, one inky black and glowing with mana.

They could each think of dozens of reasons to fight him. For all the little girls out there dreaming of adventure. For all the women he’d personally victimized. But at the end of the day, it all came down to one thing:

“Because I’m a woman! And given your crimes, that’s reason enough!”

“C’est exact. Because we’re women!”

Together, their war cries pierced the night sky.

*5*

“I swear, you only care about saving your own skin.”

Laplace clucked her tongue. No matter how hard she attacked Maxwell, his body’s infinite proliferation healed him right back up again. And although Tanya had returned her mana to her, her current condition was still a far cry from top form.

Worse still—

“Every time you make me regenerate, I absorb more life force from the city. Your rebellion is hurting the citizens, Laplace! Haha! Hahahaha!”

“Oh dear! We can’t have that, now can we? That mana’s not yours to play with.”

Indeed, all the mana he used was taken directly from the people of Ode. The more he used to heal his injuries, the more they lost... and one’s mana was directly tied to their health. What if he siphoned all that mana from a sick person? Or a child? Their very lives could be in danger.

“Heh heh! See? You cannot attack me!” Maxwell boasted smugly.

At this, Laplace snorted.

“Oh really? Sorry to say, Maxwell, I think you’re operating under a dire misconception.”

What an idiot, Laplace thought to herself.

Maxwell hadn’t gained this power with his own two hands; he’d stolen it the same way he’d stolen everything else. And yet somehow he was still fully convinced that he was going to win.

“You may think I’m artificial, but you don’t even know what you are.”

“Excuse me?”

“You don’t know what it is you’re stealing. You don’t understand what it means to be immortal. You’re utterly ignorant. Honestly, the extent of your delusion...”

Laplace had only gained her power through his human experimentation. She understood that, but it didn’t matter right now. Her anger was still her own; Tanya had taught her that.

“I’m immortal too, you know. Trust me, I already know exactly how to kill you.”

“What?”

“You want to know why I can’t die? Because these magical formulas you embedded in my blood continually generate nearly limitless mana. This experiment only succeeded because I happened to inherit the blood of the Dragon God, but still, you went on to spend the next three centuries trying to make lightning strike twice. You gave me this curse, and then you decided you wanted it for yourself.”

Her blood contained a myriad of overlapping magical formulas, including several for automatic regeneration that protected the rest of the formulas from being dismantled. Hence, barring any catastrophic events—such as a magic circle designed to drain all her mana at once—she would never run low, and thus, never die.

“But I know the solution. All you have to do to kill an immortal is drain their mana. Isn’t that right, Maxwell?”

“A-And so what if it is?! As it stands, the entire city is keeping me alive. In my current state, I am Ode!”

“Heehee. I feel like I’ve heard that one somewhere before.”

His groundless confidence refused to waver, and at this point, Laplace was starting to feel sorry for him. Maybe at one point he’d had a real vision for the future, but he’d long since abandoned every last ounce of self-respect... and it was time to put him out of his misery.

“Okay, Daddy Dumbo, listen up. Your beautiful, talented, adorable, gifted, gorgeous daughter is going to clue you in.”

No... This was no time for sympathy.

“You’ve lost this battle, and now you’re going to die.”

“What?”

“Tanya!”

“At your service!”

“Get little Ari somewhere safe! Also, did you do that one thing?”

“You betcha! It’s in place and ready to go. They don’t call me a Magi-Knight for nothing!”

“Haha! Sounds like something I would say.”

What were they talking about? Maxwell quirked a brow.

Then he noticed that Laplace was staring... at his pocket.

“You didn’t think that punch was just for funsies, did you?” Tanya grinned smugly.

Of course. Thinking back, he’d been too distracted by the impact to notice anything else.

Timidly, he reached into his pocket... and felt something hard, thin, and round. A coin.

“Is this—?!”

“How does it feel to be hoisted by your own petard, you villainous scumbag?” Laplace chuckled. “Now then... It’s time you gave me back my mana!”

*6*

Long, long ago, Maxwell had devised a plan that would grant him immortality. He would scatter orichalcum coins, imbued with magical formulas, throughout the city of Ode and drain mana from the citizens. After all, currency is a concept inseparable from civilized society. It was there to be spent or saved; it was rooted in all aspects of daily life.

Back then, Laplace had put a stop to this dastardly plot... and as thanks, she was sealed away for 300 years. But now Maxwell was holding one of those cursed coins in the palm of his hand.

She snapped her fingers—

“Wh... What...?! No...!”

—and activated the very spell he himself had concocted: the mana absorption spell. And because she was the one who’d cast it, its power was tenfold. But unlike Maxwell, she wasn’t targeting the entire city. She was targeting only him.

Mana flowed out of his body and into the coin.

“D-Damn it...!”

Desperate to fling the coin away, he tried to move his arm... but his borrowed body wouldn’t respond. All the repeated regeneration had dulled its senses.

“Hee hee! After everything, you still think all you have to do is drain more mana from the city, don’t you? It’s written all over your face.”

Just then, the floor beneath them began to shake.

“Wh-What’s happening?”

Was the clock tower shaking?

“Too bad for you... I’ve already drained you dry. As of right now, you’re running on empty.”

No... This was no earthquake.

“Mana, as you know, is life energy. And because I’m never short on mana, I can never die. But if an immortal were to lose all their mana—why, they would be rendered mortal, wouldn’t they?”

The vibrations were coming from Laplace herself.

“What?! Your mana flow is making the whole tower shake?!”

“Surely it’s not so infeasible for a Great Sorceress, non?”

Brimming with mana, Laplace radiated an ominous aura from head to toe. The coin’s absorption rate was tremendous, easily outpacing the spell that was siphoning the entire city. Actually, no—for some reason, the latter wasn’t draining properly. Why? What’s going on?

“Dites-moi: how does it feel to lose the power you stole?”

A chill ran down his spine. He had spent 300 years running from death, and now it had caught up to him once more.

“It would be so easy to kill you right now.”

His expression stiffened. Am... Am I going to die...?

“D-Don’t...!”

Lit by moonlight, her hair and skirt billowed with the flow of her mana. And the smile on her face exuded all the charm and confidence befitting of a Great Sorceress.

“At this point, I could just snap my fingers and get it over with... but that would be a little too anticlimactic, don’t you think? Instead... I think I’ll kill you with one of my own custom-made spells.”

She took a deep breath... and began her incantation.

“From twilight I summon the ultimate destruction...”

*7*

“What the...? What’s going on?!”

“Perhaps Tanya and Laplace are behind this?!”

Back in the underground laboratory, Katherine and Nadine shrieked in surprise as all the Brides suddenly slumped to the floor like ragdolls. Why? Because their mana was being drained away.

“Wh... What’s happening?” gasped Vis. “My mana... It’s returning...!”

Mana was flowing out of the Brides—specifically, out of the orichalcum coins Nadine had affixed to them—and back to its respective owners. Everyone present felt a revitalizing wave of strength wash over their formerly sluggish bodies.

“Oh, Katherine! Your complexion’s looking nice and rosy again!”

“Likewise.”

“Now all we can do is trust in Tanya and Laplace, I suppose...” Nadine smiled brightly. “Thank you, Katherine. We couldn’t have done this without your support.”

Katherine chuckled. “I’m glad I had the opportunity to win back your approval after I totally humiliated myself in the Sparring Tournament.”

“Don’t be silly! I never thought badly of you. You were always an excellent student back in school!”

Katherine felt a burgeoning warmth in her chest. It was clear that Nadine trusted her without question... a sentiment she returned in full.

The two of them had done what they could; now all that remained was to believe in Tanya and Laplace—the ultimate duo who had taught them that anyone, regardless of gender, had the right to stand up for what they believed in.

Staring at the lifeless Brides, Katherine let out a sigh of relief. “It was a close shave, but fortunately it all worked out and stuff!”

While her Fox-Fireballs were streamlined for maximum mana efficiency, she’d been running on fumes back there. Any more and she probably would’ve passed out.

“I gotta say, that was a lot of mana—uh, what the heck are you doing?!”

“Hmm? What do you mean? I’m administering first aid.”

“Excuse me?! Just leave them! What if they get back up and start attacking us again?!”

Katherine stared in shock as Nadine started to cast Heal. I swear, this chick’s too nice for her own good. It was almost hard to believe that just moments prior, she’d been darting around the room Assassin-style.

Just then—

“Pardon me, ladies,” Vis cut in. She staggered to her feet, then drew herself up to her full height. “It would appear the mana is flowing in the direction of the clock tower.”

It was obvious that she was worried for the safety of the young princess. Quietly, yet firmly, she declared:

“I want the two of you to escort me there.”

*8*

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...!”

*9*

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.

*10*

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.