"What's going on?"
Saria furrowed her brows and glanced between the other two, still gripping at Syon's head.
"Oh, Grand Fae…! It's Royal Magician! The current Royal Magician deofoized?!"
Yet it was Blanid who ended up figuring it all out, and the realization alone made her back off and stumble, trembling with fear.
"Wha…? N-no! NO! That couldn't have happened! Right?! It didn't happen, RIGHT!?"
Saria shivered at the mere idea of such a disaster happening and called out, shaking the vice headmaster even harder to make him spill out the truth.
Or rather, in hopes of him denying the claim.
"..."
"...no…!"
But seeing Syon biting his lips as his chin trembled, and an eye filled with tears, made her let go of him and back away from him.
"Not! That's impossible! Where is he now?!"
Saria shook her head before launching forward and grabbing Syon once again, but then…
"Well, since you're asking so nicely, I might just tell you. I'm right behind you~"
"...!?"
An amused voice called out at the silver-haired girl, and once she turned around so fast she almost snapped her own head…!
The heavens were torn apart as pulsating mana tore apart a hole in space, connecting the site of the burning Royal Castle with the courtyard of the Royal Academy!
And there, in the middle of it…
There he was.
Funny…
The former Royal Magician still looked almost completely human.
The only visible difference in its appearance, besides floating mid-air, which still could be explained with a levitation spell, were its eyes turning completely violet, with tiny, barely noticeable, violet cracks spreading out from its eyesockets.
A far cry from how Kyle Houndred, Brice Hervolst, or even Oliver Berdon ended up like.
Those looks were the reason why Saria and Blanid managed to compose themselves slightly.
"My boy. Look who I got here~ "
"...!"
Completely ignoring them, the former Royal Magician smiled softly and said to the trembling homunculus of its own creation, and with a slight wave of its hand, it brought out a battered headmaster of the Royal Academy…!
"How about you let me experiment on you like a good boy, and I will let dear Victor Lazalarius live? You look up to him, right? Or should I go around getting all those big brothers and sisters you've earned yourself that past decade to make the argument more compelling?"
The deofolized human chuckled playfully while making the unconscious headmaster slowly spin around limply.
"...wh-why are you doing this…? What happened to you? How… how could you…?"
"My dear boy, you surely won't try to tell me I betrayed humanity?"
Syon mumbled tearfully, but the former Royal Magician decided to finish the sentence for him, only with a hint of mockery.
"D-did you not?!"
…was the most natural response that the young man couldn't keep to himself.
"Of course not! My boy, I am going to elevate humanity to their next step as a species~!"
The deofolized human shook its head before letting out a triumphant laugh.
"...as always, such change will come at the cost… in this case, the cost would be around 99,995% of humanity, sure… but the remaining 0,005% would transcend into a brand new species~!"
The thing is, the former Royal Magician continued speaking, shrugging its shoulders and changing its tone to a dismissive one, as if the numbers it was giving out so casually were not unacceptable and utterly horrifying…!
Thankfully, it seemed that the deofolized human was so focused on Syon that it wasn't paying attention to the others.
Saria and Blanid weren't on friendly terms. Like, at all, but even for them, a simple eye contact and a head nod were crystal clear instructions in such a tense situation.
Encircle and attack from the side simultaneously while there's still a chance!
Saria, Fenri, and Polaris which teleported to the pair in order to help them create as much diversion as possible, from one side, Caladbolg's-shadow-wielding Blanid from the other.
The disguised girl had no doubt in her mind that the sword was not just their best, but also the only chance at survival…!
"That's why I need you, my boy. I mean, not you. The body I crafted for you. I need it back. It will make for a perfect host for the deofol I made a pact with. Sorry to say that, but…"
The former Royal Magician breathed out, faking concern, as the two girls and their contracted faes got into its blind spots and rushed in, enhanced with magic to their utmost limits!
*THUMP*
"...!"
At that moment, chains of light descended from the skies to the ground, binding Fenri!... A black web shot Polaris off Saria's shoulder, pinning it to the ground...! And several roots shot up from the ground, binding the silver-haired girl before any of them could even make a sound!
"Tsk, tsk, tsk."
…bit, at the same time, the deofolized human turned to them, clicking its tongue, mockingly disapproving of their action, exposing itself even more to Blanid!
"!"
The disguised girl jumped up, going for the overhead downwards slash, this time diagonal to cut off the deofolized human's head, doing her best to be as fast and silent as she could and…!
*SHIN-CRACK* *WHAM*
"Gu-huaaagh…?"
Just as Caladbolg's shadow's blade was about to reach the former Royal Magician, Blanid's elbows snapped like twigs, bending her arms in the opposite direction that they were supposed to, which caused the pommel of her sword to be driven right into her solar plexus, forcing the air out of her lungs even before the pain could make her scream!
*thump*
Blanid fell down, tumbling a few times on the ground, carried by her own momentum, Caladbolg's shadow slipping out of her grasp as she slid past the unbothered deodolized human…
"What do you think you're doing, little girl? Waving such a dangerous toy around?"
The former Royal Magician asked indifferently, turning its head towards the incapacitated Blanid, who still had her true appearance obstructed by a disguise spell.
With Mana Sight, seeing through illusions was a given, but there was a much more disturbing detail about the scene that couldn't be noticed from just a single perspective.
Saria and the two faes were able to see the deofolized human's right profile, while from Blanid's point of view, if she was able to focus on it, the former Royal Magician's left profile was perfectly in view…
Only that, it was physically impossible…
Or, it would be, if not for the fact that from Syon's perspective, he was witnessing his creator's head splitting in half, revealing a mass of thin, stem-like feelers wiggling slightly out of the hollowed out throat...!
Even the eyes of the former Royal Magician weren't connected the same way human eyes were supposed to, but rather, growing out of a pair of the stem-like tentacles.
Similar to a snail, only on much, much longer feelers.
"...dad…?"
The poor thing whimpered pitifully, looking up at what had become of his creator.
"Hmm? Oh, what is it, my boy? Sealing off your magic seemed to dampen your spirit. Don't be like that. Your last moments should be filled with pride and joy~! After all, a part of you will become a base for yet another breakthrough in the development of humanity~!"
The tentacles pulled the split head close, and the former Royal Magician focused back on Syon, speaking in a gentle tone, yet saying quite disturbing things.
"Only the physical part, though, since you're a fae on the inside and that part will cease to exist upon contact with gedwyld… You can think about it as the house you were chased out of becoming a base of operation for the revolutionary government!"
"Y-you're messed up in the head…!"
As the deofolized human cheered out, Saria struggled in her bindings and called out, trying her best not to show fear and panic overtaking her.