The demonic hand that had emerged from the magic circle crushed and ground Flema into pulp. With a blank expression, Nephthys slowly unclenched her fist, then opened her palm. The demon’s hand mirrored the motion. What was once Flema, now a grotesque slurry of flesh, slapped onto the floor with a sickening wet thud. "Stop feigning and get up," Nephthys commanded coldly. A pure white flame erupted from the mangled heap. The horribly disfigured flesh rapidly reformed into Flema’s original shape—a miracle closer to resurrection than mere regeneration. Her face was ashen as she clutched her chest, gasping for air. [Ughhhh!]
The true power of the White Flame was its ability to self-heal. No matter the attack, it would regenerate its host endlessly. Even if her brain and body were so pulverized that she couldn’t think, the White Flame would reconstruct her original form.
[I’ll kill you...!]
A black line shot from behind, severing her head. Then, as Nephthys waved her fingertips like a conductor, a storm of black lines descended from all directions, carving her body into dozens of pieces like a pie. "Painful, isn’t it?" Nephthys’s voice was as clear and bright as a young girl’s, but her words were laced with venom. "I imagine it was for Lang, too."
’Thud. Plop.’
The chunks of flesh hit the floor, and the White Flame ignited again, regenerating the pieces back into Flema’s form.
[Damn it all!]
The moment she reformed, Flema shot into the sky, unleashing a torrent of White Flame. Nephthys raised an arm above her head, and the black lines from before converged into a shield, effortlessly blocking the holy fire. [Hahaha! Just you wait, Nephthys! Next time, I’ll definitely...!] As she ascended, her back slammed into something massive. A large coffin had materialized above her. ‘Iron Maiden.’
With a gesture from Nephthys, the coffin creaked and contracted, molding itself tightly to Flema’s body. Spikes then appeared from all sides, repeatedly piercing the coffin as blood gushed from the holes.
[Graaaaaah!]
Flema reappeared, having incinerated the coffin with her White Flame. Her face was a mask of pure agony.
[Nephthyyyyys!]
But the assault was far from over. Nephthys toyed with her, using her transcendent power to inflict a cruel and endless torment. Flema was fried in flowing brimstone, her cells rotted one by one from a debilitating curse, and her body was shredded by blade-like torrents of blood. Through it all, the Saintess’s White Flame, against her will, continued to resurrect her. Unable to endure any more, Flema finally activated a magic circle drawn on her skin. ‘Parapurigis.’
Once the divine barrier was cast, even she couldn’t escape. As a contingency, she had prepared a spatial teleportation spell for a quick getaway. Her body distorted, then slipped through a vacuum-like hole that tore open in the air.
--- She opened her eyes to a blinding light. She was on Sky Island, the headquarters of Efnel. People in white robes murmured as they stared at her sudden appearance. Covered in sweat and filth, she gasped for breath and lifted her head. The white marble buildings of Efnel stood before her. ‘I’m back...!’
Only then did a wave of relief wash over her. She was alive. It was finally over. Her body went limp, and she collapsed. "Lady Flema!"
[Contact His Holiness the Pope immediately!] she shrieked. [The Witch of Death is coming! Hurry!] "P-Pardon?"
Just then, a female priest approached the old man and pointed at Flema. "Lady Flema, what is that around your neck...?"
[What?]
Her gaze dropped to her neck. A golden collar had been fastened there without her knowledge. [...Ah, aaaaaah...!]
Terror flooded her eyes. ‘Tick! Tock! Tick! Tock! Tick! Tock!’
The sound of a clock echoed in her ears, and the people around her froze in time. The dimensional rift she had just escaped through tore open once more. From within its black abyss, two chilling blue eyes flashed.
[You...! Aaaaaah! Stop! Please, just stop! Isn’t this enough, you demonic bastard! Aaaaaargh!] Her spirit was so utterly broken that the great Saintess, her dignity shattered, was begging for mercy from the incarnation of evil. A golden chain now led from the collar into the abyss. A small, white hand emerged from the darkness and grasped it. "Come here."
Nephthys yanked the chain. Flema’s body was dragged back through space and slammed onto the cold floor of the Kizen command center. Nephthys stomped on the fallen Saintess’s head.
"So you had a trick like that prepared? What a waste of my precious time." She smiled, a smile thick with a viscous malice. Flema had been caught in a time trap without realizing it; the future in which she had used ‘Parapurigis’ had been rewritten, trapping her in a reality where she never escaped at all. "Now, shall we continue where we left off?"
A black line wrapped around Flema’s neck.
[Stooooooop!]
Her body was wrung out like a wet towel. She died. Again and again. She died in so many varied and colorful ways that she lost count.
Now, even when the White Flame revived her, her mind could no longer bear it. ‘I have to get out of here, somehow!’
She desperately searched for an opportunity. Then, as her body was being chewed to pieces by a summoned creature, she abandoned her physical form and ascended as a spiritual entity. ‘It worked!’
She could see the summon devouring her body below. Nephthys was still watching Francesca’s form, waiting for the White Flame to resurrect her. This was the Saintess of Purification’s second ability: to move as a spiritual entity, transcending the physical body. Her transparent form shot out of the command center and soared high into the sky. ‘Don’t assume that this is the end, Nephthys!’
She would never forget this humiliation. She would find a new body, and next time, she would ensure Kizen’s utter ruin. Next time, for sure...! ‘Huh!’
Her movement ceased. Without realizing it, Flema was trapped in a transparent cage. [Wh-What is this?]
She shook the bars frantically, but she couldn’t escape. She had never heard of such a thing. How could her movements be restricted when she was a spiritual entity that transcended the physical? "Did you know?"
Flema whipped her head around in shock. Nephthys had appeared beside the cage. "That form you’re in now, the one you priests call a divine body... its principles are actually quite similar to Kizen’s Spiritualization."
[Wh-What did you say?]
"Of course, possessing someone else’s body as you do is impossible for us, but moving as a spiritual entity isn’t that difficult. And, naturally, we also have ways to neutralize and destroy this technique." Nephthys stepped back from the cage and waved her hand. "I was waiting for you to ascend into your spiritual form. Now I can finally kill you in the truest sense of the word."
A grim reaper holding a black scythe appeared in the sky. It raised its weapon. [St-Stop!]
Sensing her final moments, Flema trembled, her eyes wide with terror. [Stooooooop!]
’Screeeech!’
A soul-shattering sound echoed across the sky. The Saintess was silenced forever.
How much time had passed since that day? Simon, who had fainted at some point, opened his eyes. "Uhh...?"
The room was unfamiliar, the smell strange. He was dressed in a patient’s gown, with IV tubes connected to his body. Simon rubbed his eyes. "You’re awake?"
A girl’s voice came from his side. He turned to see a black-haired girl sitting in a chair next to the bed, peeling fruit. "Lorraine!"
As Simon bolted upright, she held up a hand to calm him. "Don’t push yourself. You’re on absolute bed rest."
"...Ah."
"Visitors are normally forbidden, but I pulled some strings with my mom to get in."
Sitting up, Simon stared blankly out the window. He was in the Kizen infirmary. "Is everyone okay?"
"Yeah, don’t worry. Your team is fine, too." In a gentle voice, Lorraine filled him in on the aftermath. The Saintess of Purification had been completely annihilated by Nephthys. The divine barrier covering the campus had been lifted, and the white monsters vanished once Nephthys retrieved the ‘Prima Materia’.
Thanks to the students’ excellent initial response, there were just over sixty injuries, but miraculously, no fatalities. Simon had woken up two days after the incident. Kizen was currently holding shortened classes. "It’s a little embarrassing," she said, offering him a plate of peeled fruit. Simon took a fork and tried a piece of the unfamiliar yellow fruit. It was soft with a hint of sweetness, and it melted in his mouth. It seemed like the perfect thing for a patient. "What’s embarrassing?"
"An unprecedented attack on Kizen by a Saintess from Efnel, and I was the only one who couldn’t do anything. I gave in to my mom’s nagging and went to the mausoleum, and look what happened. I really shouldn’t have gone."
Simon gave a bitter smile. "You couldn’t help not being here."
"And I can’t help feeling disappointed," Lorraine replied. They shared a small laugh. "What do you think will happen?" Simon asked. "About what?"
"The state of the continent. Will there be a war?"
"Well, the atmosphere at Kizen headquarters and with the Council of Elders is certainly tense," Lorraine said, taking a new piece of fruit from the basket. "Even though there were no student casualties, Professor Lang is dead, and all of Kizen was deceived. Some of the elders are ready to go to war over it. As for the finer details..." Her gaze shifted toward the door. "Why don’t you ask her yourself?"
The door opened, and a small, silver-haired girl appeared, waving. "Hi! Hi! How have you been, Simon?"
"Lady Nephthys!"
The moment she entered, Nephthys scurried over and hopped onto Simon’s bed, her eyes fixed on the plate of fruit Lorraine had peeled. "Can I have this?"
"Of course. Go ahead."
"...Mom. I peeled that for Simon."
Ignoring Lorraine’s pointed look, Nephthys began to happily munch on the fruit. "Lady Nephthys, there’s something I want to ask you."
"Yep! Ask me anything!"
"What’s going to happen to the continent now?"
She smiled brightly. "Hehe, everyone might need to be a little on edge."
What did she mean? Was war coming? Or was a cold war about to begin? "I don’t know if a war will break out or not. But what’s certain is that Efnel will pay the price." As she spoke, Nephthys speared a piece of fruit with her fork and held it out to Simon. Her arm was so short that he had to lean down as far as he could to take it. After swallowing the fruit, Simon rephrased his question. "So, was this attack a declaration of war from Efnel?"
"Efnel has already disavowed her," Lorraine interjected. "Their official statement is that the Saintess of Purification was acting on her own, not under their orders."
"Hehe, they’re pitching a fit about losing their messenger of God, but oh well. A new Saintess of Purification will probably appear soon enough," said Nephthys. Simon tilted his head. "How so?"
"When a Saintess is killed, something called the ‘Essence of the Saintess’ is released and floats in the atmosphere! Soon, it will find someone in the Holy Federation with high compatibility, and a new Saintess will be born. No matter how many times we kill them, they’ll always come back to get in our way. Ah, but that’s not really important." She sat up and gently stroked Simon’s forehead. "Don’t worry. There won’t be any radical changes that shatter your daily life right away."
Nephthys’s words seemed to pierce right through to his deepest anxieties. "Still, gradual changes are inevitable, right? It’s a bit early, but vacation is about to start."
Simon blinked. Lorraine seemed to already know. "Vacation?"
"Yep. We moved it up a bit! Buildings have collapsed, many students are injured, and the situation is unsettled, so we’re having an early vacation. The second semester will be a little longer to make up for it." Seeing Simon’s blank expression, Nephthys’s lips curved into a smile. "You can look forward to it! It’ll be much tougher than the usual first-year second semester!"
"Hahaha."
’How much tougher could it possibly get?’ Simon was already starting to worry. Just then, Lorraine asked, "But, Mom. Didn’t you say you were going out today?"
"Oops. I should get going." Having finished the fruit, she hopped down to the floor. "Where are you going?"
At Simon’s question, she pushed open the ward door and gave him a meaningful smile. "The Holy Federation."
"...What?"
"I told you, didn’t I? Whether a war breaks out or not, Efnel will pay the price."
With those parting words, she was gone.

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