*WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*

The pillar of flames erupted from the ground, engulfing Ehmi’s remains and evaporating the darkness blades, and preemptively detonating the swallows.

”!!!”

The voice that was heard howling his name sent chills down Zoemi’s spine.

…and then Ehmi stepped forward with a face twisted with ire.

There was no trace of any injury on her in sight and her body was completely clad in flaming armor all the way from head to toe.

And not the dress one like the one the Zoemi watching it all through a screen saw during the tournament, but a complete set of menacing battle armor more suited for a heavy infantry unit.

”…!”

Zoemi gritted his teeth so hard he felt the metallic taste of his own blood in his mouth and continued pouring his mana into the barrage of spells but now, no matter what he threw at her it was either evaporated or simply deflected off the armor.

This was the worst possible option.

”Zoemi… What is the meaning of this…?”

Ehmi’s cold whisper was even scarier than her flaming shouts.

Good thing that Zoemi couldn’t hear her through the sounds of the endless barrage of multiple spells.

Thanks to that, he could focus.

The remaining swallows retreated towards the wall and gathered into one place, they kept on coming and coming until they began merging together, from that point it was easy for Zoemi to infuse them with another formula and create the shiny black egg.

Yes, just like the one at his wedding.

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|The other you cast the phoenix spell on his wedding and not the tournament.|

|…|

It almost seemed that the original personality wanted to make some small talk, but this time it was the black-haired boy who stayed completely silent, just watching the screen in silence.

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”SKREEEEE!”

The next moment, without announcing anything, the shell cracked and the black phoenix was unleashed onto the world, shaking the space itself.

”So it’s really you, Zoemi… Why are you attacking me…?”

Ehmi muttered to herself as she extended her hand towards the oncoming phoenix.

And as soon as the legendary bird’s beak touched Ehmi’s hand…

”Skree~!”

Phoenix stopped and cawed friendly, then it flapped its black wings and nested itself on Ehmi’s shoulder, and she petted its head as if it was just a normal animal and not a fearsome spell.

”Trying to turn fire against me…? Why would my hubby be that stupid…? Hey, birdie, get rid of that annoying wall for me, alright?”

She asked and the phoenix cawed eagerly and flew at the wall.

”HOREO, TELEPORT EVERYONE AS FAR AS YOU CAN! NOW!”

Zoemi shouted in utter panic.

”H-huh…?!”

”FUCKING NOW, YOU CRETIN!”

Thankfully after that, the prince just grabbed every survivor and disappeared in the flash of light right as Zoemi passed him.

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|PFFFT! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! GOOD! I hope your pathetic weak-willed ass will get scorched into ash!|

|!!!|

Zoemi snorted and laughed mockingly at his other self, making the original personality flinch and actually start to worry a little bit…

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The attendant jumped into the air and his body simply exploded into the sea of darkness that crashed against the walls of the academy and flooded everything, completely engulfing the building.

Not even a fraction of a second later the black wall got completely obliterated and waves upon waves of black and red fire spread through the earth cremating everything and anything it could reach.

The raging inferno subsided and completely disappeared.

”Wow, hubby sure can make a strong fire!”

Ehmi nodded to herself with a big smile.

”But he sure is mean, teasing me like that… I bet he and Grazio agreed to prank me!”

Her logic could not be even properly comprehended by a human anymore, her strength and pure mastery over fire mana made her almost undefeatable, getting her body shredded by spells was a mere trifle on the level of childish pranks.

The crimson-haired Ehmi was that kind of monster, that was the only reason that the godlike existence-like presence could take over and use her body as a vessel. Or rather, it could use it as a vessel until Ehmi realized that something was wrong and put up her defenses.

Because Ehmi Gamemi Victureo was a natural-born human with a mana level that was reaching the very limits of what was humanly possible, a single entity who, right from the moment she was born, possessed the amount of mana equal to that of the amount that all the members of the Ghosts of Bellcephora gathered through over two hundred years of a constant hunt for the strongest mages of the known world.

Hmm? But aren’t the ones who possess so much mana supposed to have black hair and eyes?

Oh…?

But that was a lie all along, though…

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|Hold up… that’s right… sages don’t have dark hair and eyes as Miriette does…|

|…|

Zoemi momentarily lost his anger and thought to himself in concern – as for the original personality, he certainly stayed completely silent careful not to say anything.

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Everything in sight was equally charred black, the only other color except black was the blue of the sky and the red of Ehmi’s flaming armor.

”Oh well, hubby, you can come out now! Grazio, you too!”

Ehmi called as she was approaching the black hill that was slightly different than the surrounding flat blackness.

It looked almost… moist…

”So he covered the academy with this to prevent it from burning? Silly hubby, as if someone could die from that little heat.”

Ehmi giggled completely oblivious to the level of damage she has caused.

Or rather, completely not interested in said damages.

After all, why would she be worried about anyone other than her loved ones? She always was strong enough to annihilate anyone who stood in her way.

Ehmi deactivated her armor and tapped the foot of the black hill with her foot.

The gross tar-like substance stuck to her hill and almost pulled off her shoe as it retracted.

”Ugh…”

Ehmi frowned and shuddered.

”Hubby, you are no longer allowed to use this spell, it makes me want to throw up.”

She complained.

And then…

”GHAAAH…! Sis-sister..! Help…!”

”EEEEEHHHH?!”

Something, or rather someone, suddenly came out of the black tar.

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|HE DID NOT JUST DO THAT! HE DID NOT!|

Although he was concerned about the reason for Miriette having eyes and hair a different color than it should be possible, the things happening on the screen certainly demanded his attention and sparked great rage.

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The red-haired boy tried to come out but the sticky blackness was holding him back and preventing him from escaping its grasp.

”Grazio!”

Ehmi couldn’t hold her voice down when she realized who it was.

She no longer cared for the tar and run straight to her younger brother, she lost her shoes on her way and the black substance was slowing her down considerably. It turned out that even her flames could not affect it at all…

Finally, she got to Grazio, trapped like a seagull in an oil spillage, despite the struggle it took her.

She couldn’t see his face clearly, but it was definitely his body and his voice.

”Grazio! Your big sister was so worried about you!”

Ehmi cried with a big smile and kneeled by the boy and hugged him despite him being almost completely covered with tar.

”Big sister…! I-I was so worried about you…!”

Grazio also cried and threw his hands around Ehmi, locking her in an intimate hug.

”G-geez… Grazio… You are not a little kid anymore… You shouldn’t hug big sister like that… What if Zoemi sees us?”

Ehmi blushed but didn’t do anything to pull away.

”Big sis… I missed you so much…”

”~!”

Something in his tone made Ehmi tense up expectantly…

He slowly moved one of his hands lower, sliding down Ehmi’s back and ending up on her…

”…You can’t tell Zoemi about this…”

Ehmi blushed and whispered while burrowing her head at the base of Grazio’s neck.

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|Just… just what is going on there? Just how messed up is that timeline? Are we really supposed to use it as a reference? Sure – if only as a negative example!|

Zoemi felt like spatting to the side but he had already realized that he doesn’t possess a body n that world of murky darkness.

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*stab*

”Eh…?”

Ehmi gasped as she felt multiple sharp blades entering her body and pouring some sort of foreign substance into her.

”G-Grazio… what have you…?!”

She jumped up at her feet, this time she was using her enchantments so the sticky tar wasn’t an obstacle anymore, and started touching her body.

There were seemingly no entrance wounds…

”Grazio…?”

She trembled and looked at her brother still stuck in the sticky blackness.

”Uuugh…!”

Suddenly she collapsed with a groan and started clawing at her body.

”It burns…? It buuuuurnnnns…! Grazioo! What have you done to me…?!”

She cried.

Not waiting for the answer she activated her flame armor, but nothing helped, she could feel the ungodly burning spreading all through her body…!

”What is happening to me…!?”

She vailed.

”Interesting thing, mana.”

”Eh?! Grazio…?”

But she was interrupted by no other than the person she identified as her younger brother – who, while still covered in tar, stood up without any effort.

”We can use it to force the elements surrounding us to bend to our will or we can create them out of the mana itself… But did you know that if you create fire out of mana instead of pulling the heat from the surroundings, the fire you created won’t spread into the normal, non-magic, fire? It’s a fun fact that allows someone like me to make really amazing things.”

Grazio smiled…

”What are you talking a… ugh…! It buuurns…! What did you do to me…?! I control fire…! How can I feel pain from burning…!?”

Ehmi crumbled and fell face-first into the black tar.