"Now.....  die."

The elven girl grinned as she held out a hand, twisting it about like a corkscrew.

From it, a small tornado formed, swirling about as it charged with energy.

"You first."

Holding her hand towards the principal, she lightly floated down to the table as the six turned to look at the girl in shock.

"Wha..... how did you get in here!?"

"She came in from the roof.... a spy!? No.... no spy would have this much power.... and she's an elf!!"

Two of the dwarven men shouted back and forth to one another, however Hailey ignored them as they scrambled to grasp the situation.

Shooting off the whirling torrent of wind magic, the spiral pierced through the air, shooting out with immense speed.

An explosion of dust and debris spread throughout the room, and the girl landed to stand on the table while closing her eyes as her own skin became covered in a cloth of lightning.

The dust cleared, and she opened her eyes to witness that the elven man with velvet hair was standing in front of the principal, his own arms having been twisted around violently as he stood protecting the man.

"I will take things from here."

The elven man whispered this back to the one he defended between breaths, looking forward with a grand smile.

"Get out of here. Now. If I need to limit myself just to protect you, then I might truly die against this one, whoever she may be. She is powerful. I will give you all 30 seconds. That is the amount of time I can hold her off for. If you are not gone by then, then I will not worry about whether or not you are caught up in the aftermath."

The man's smile became one that was strangely barbaric, highly opposed to his elegant demeanor which he had shown at the table of negotiation.

On the outside, he was a politician who held a large amount of power both individually and within the military.

On the inside, however, he was a beast who was raring for a fight.

"Heh...."

"Do you truly think that you can oppose a hero with such cheekiness? Ah, but you're Velphis, aren't you? The 1st Division commander, and the strongest among the human races. So in your mind, the only reason I can stand before you is because you are limiting yourself."

The girl who was now clothed in electricity sprung forward, shooting around the room like a bolt of lightning.

"Unfortunately..... I don't even want to waste time teaching you a lesson. I've already heard everything, so the only thing left for me to do...."

In the next moment, the thuds of five bodies filled the room.

"Is to kill everyone."

The spraying of fluid filled the ears of Velphis, and as he looked behind him, he jumped back just before his own head was sliced off by the hand of the girl.

"Ah. Looks like you really are strong. At least strong enough to dodge that while I was talking. But look around you."

The girl seemed to smile as she bore her hands, showcasing the bodies which surrounded her.

"Did you not just say that you could protect them for 30 seconds?"

Looking to her side, the woman glared at the orb which hovered next to her.

"But on my clock.... that was only 5."

'She is fast.... too fast.... how can she be so fast? Heh..... heh.....haha... I see.... I see..... she will make for an excellent opponent.'

Velphis, still in whiplash due to the sudden attack which took his full concentration to dodge, was in a state of adrenaline as he thought these things.

However, it was then that Velphis looked around and noticed it.

'Wha....'

The five men who were in the room just now were all now on the floor, dead.

Their heads had been sliced off, and their own bodies were jittering as the electricity caused the corpses to spasm.

'In that moment.... she took all of them out? How.... how is that.... no.... that is better..... haha.... that is much better!!!'

Holding out his arms, the man begun to gather energy around him, to the point where his skin begun to glow with a blinding light.

"Hahaha!!!! Who are you, girl!? You come into our meeting, dropping through the ceiling with no indication..... I didn't even sense your presence, so I thought that perhaps you were specialized in stealth, but that doesn't seem to be the case!! Hahaha!!!"

The man begun to laugh to himself, lowering his arms as the mana within him begun to settle.

"I'm charged..... you won't be catching me by surprise anymore. But please, tell me. At least tell me your name."

"My name? Hahaha..... looks like you higher ups really are all creeps. It's pretty nasty for an old man like you to ask the name of a young girl like myself."

"Hahaha!! You're cheeky too!! Excellent!!! Why are you so powerful!? Who taught you? Was it the principal!? Did his methods drive you to this point!?!? They drove me to become as strong as I am. Are you not the same? Yet you killed him without any remorse.... hahaha...."

Placing his hand so that his eyes peeked through his fingers, the man looked towards Hailey with a mad smile.

"Perhaps he drove you to the point of madness then?"

"This asshole? He sent all my classmates to their deaths in the monster realm. That's where he drove us."

Stepping on the head of the man known as the principal, Hailey brought down her foot so that the skull was crushed and the brain matter splattered underneath her.

"Oh..... so you were the only one to survive.... and in order to do so, you awakened to this level of power!?"

Velphis begun to glow red as the mana seemed to be flowing through his veins, which were now alit.

"Awakened?"

Hailey jumped forth, aiming straight for the throat of the man.

"I was awakened alright. But it wasn't by him. It was by something else. I don't exactly know why.... and to be honest, I don't really want to understand what drives that person..... but even so, I'm going to use this power against you. Because I have it."

"Hahaha!!! Bring it on, girl!!"

A number of red lines of energy then shot out from all around the man, and like missiles they honed in on the girl as she rushed forth.

"It is only against someone with so much mana that I can use my own skills like this!!!"

The red lines shot forth, piercing into the girl, yet even so she continued to run, unphased.

"Wha..... how....."

The man jumped back, clicking his tongue at realizing that the lightning had acted as armor, preventing his own attacks from penetrating, absorbing the mana instead.

'Then I'll just chip away at it until it's gone!'

The girl was now covered head to toe in the lightning, to the point where there was not even a single open spot of skin.

The flaring tentacle-like beams of energy begun to swing back and forth, attacking the girl as she pressed forward through the attacks, slowly closing in on the man who continuously retreated.

However, he had now reached the corner of the room.

"Nowhere else to run, eh?"

Springing forth, the woman shot into the man, her own hand piercing through hid stomach as he continued to attack her.

The man spit blood, yet even so he smiled.

"Hahahaha!!!! Do you think that.... blergh.... is enough.... blegh.... to kill me!?"

Grabbing the hair of the girl, Hailey felt energy being pumped into her head from his palms.

"Die with me!!!"

"No."

The girl then jumped away, shaking off the man's grip with ease as she ran off, jumping up onto the roof where she had entered and then diving off the building.

"NO!!! Come back here!!!! We.... we need to die together!!! Don't you see!?!?! Someone as strong as you.... someone who could wound me like this..... we were destined to fight!!!! We were destined to die together!!!! Don't you....."

The man shouted these last words as an explosion destroyed the entire building. The girl turned around, blocking with her hands as the wind furiously assaulted her midair.

The girl tumbled to a landing, rolling through the streets before standing up and dusting herself off.

At this point, her lightning clad suit had dissipated, and she looked back at the scene of destruction with thinned eyes.

"They're insane. The leaders of this nation.... those were the people who were ruling us? No wonder..... we were sent to such a place."

[What will you do now? Without a ruler.... your nation will fall.]

As Hailey looked upon the scene of destruction, the voice of a temptress entered her mind.

It was that woman.

That evil yet angelic woman, who seemed to hold everything within the palm of her hand.

"I..... don't care. It's fine now that those people..... are gone."

[Are you sure about that? Without a ruler, things will delve into chaos. It might even become worse than before. Who knows.... perhaps I'll take over myself? Haha....]

Her expression becoming tense, and Hailey felt as if she was being choked, just listening to the words of this woman.

"I.... I get it. Alright.... alright!!! I'll do it!!! I'll take control!!!"

The dwarven people who were walking through the streets had been watching in shock, their jaws having dropped at the sudden explosion, however they now turned their gazes to the girl who appeared to be pulling her hair while talking to herself.

'Oi....'

'Who is that girl....'

'She just got thrown out of the building like that...'

'After that huge explosion....'

'Did she go insane? Did something rattle her brain?'

"Hey!! Are you alright!? What the hell happened in there?"

A dwarven woman rushed up to Hailey, who gazed at her with a piercing look.

The woman stopped in her tracks, too terrified to approach the girl.

"Er.... sorry."

The woman instinctively apologized, backing away from the girl.

'What did I just apologize for? I don't.... know. But....'

The woman turned around, walking away as if she hadn't seen the scene at all.

'I just got a feeling that I needed to do so. If I hadn't..... I would have died.'

Stepping forth, Hailey walked through the city, a determined expression in her eyes.

'Alright alright. I'll take over. I get it. I'm the one who destroyed the current hierarchy, so I should be the one to fix it and take responsibility, right?'

Hailey headed towards a central plaza with a sigh.

[Do not get it wrong, lower being. I was the one who destroyed the current hierarchy. You were merely the tool which I used to sow my chaos.]

----

'Ooh.... Claire, you've become so manipulative.... you remind me ever so much of that man.'

'Don't ever compare me to him.'

'Hahaha..... I guess that was a bit insensitive of me, wasn't it?'

'Wouldn't it be a bit more insensitive towards yourself? After all, you are the one who he hurt, no?'

'I suppose so.'

From a demonic throne, the angelic woman sat alone, with nobody before her.

The large throne room was empty, as the rest of the slaves of the Dictatorship had been sent home to rest for the night.

The antiheroes were currently going from city to city, ensuring that proper preparations were made.

'But if I were to be compared to him.... well, I don't think he would be able to compare. No?'

'You truly have lost it, my other self.'

'Heh....'

'Hah....'

The two voices spoke to one another within the mind of Claire, who had become well accustomed to having a second voice in her head.

At first, she felt as if she was losing her mind.

Throughout her entire life in this new world, she had wondered so desperately this one single question.

Who was she?

Who was Clarice?

Why was she this way?

All these questions had now been answered.

With the answer to these questions, there was only one thing left to do.

'Tomorrow is the end of everything, isn't it?'

'That it is.'

'For good or for bad.... for better or worse.... it will all be over tomorrow. Heh..... I really am getting sick of living in such a horrible world.'

'Has all the suffering affected you?'

'Of course it has. How much suffering have I seen now? The lives of thousands of people, monsters, animals..... every piece of suffering that has ever occurred.... I've seen it now. Now let me ask you, Clarice. With this knowledge, how exactly could I simply come to terms with a world like this?'

With a sinister grin, the fangs of the girl poked out of her angelic mouth.

'The answer is that I can't. Hah.... hahaha....'

'I see..... then, let's get started.'

The girl raised her left demonic hand with a smile, snapping her finger.

Closing her eyes, she sat back in her seat, folding her hands as she peacefully rested.

'It's time for the show to begin.'

----

'Up to this podium..... alright.... I don't know what to say at all.... but I have to be strong. I'm going to lead these people, after all.'

"Excuse me. Everyone. I need your attention, right now."

Speaking in a demanding tone, the elven girl looked out to a passing crowd of dwarves, many of whom stopped what they were doing to see what was going on.

'Hm? Was there an event today?'

'Whew... that girl sure is a pretty one. Let's see what she has to say.'

'Hm? An elf? Those are rare in this city. I wonder what she's doing? And she looks young enough to be a student.'

At gathering the attention of those around her, Hailey puffed out her chest, taking in a breath before she spoke.

"The leaders of this nation are dead."

As these words entered her mouth, Hailey admitted the truth to the people, who stopped in their tracks at hearing these words.

"Eh?"

"Dead...."

"The leaders...."

The people looked to one another in shock, however Hailey didn't so much as flinch as she continued, cutting their murmurs off.

"They were killed in that explosion earlier."

'My goodness...'

'What could have happened?'

'Who could have done such a thing?'

As the girl stood forth and told these people such things, their hearts were filled with concern as they looked to one another with worry.

'What will happen?'

'How could this be?'

"But fear not. Because I have come to lead you. People of the Alliance..... there is so much which has been happening behind the scenes which you all are unaware of. Times are changing so quickly, and with the Indeterminant having shown himself in the North, and with the Determined having shown herself in the monster realm..... things are truly taking a chaotic turn. But I tell you, fear not."

Hailey looked onto the people with fervency.

She herself was unsure what she was saying, but even so she felt as if she was being pushed.

Perhaps her dead comrades were pushing her forward, holding her up as she took on the weight of this nation for herself.

"It is time for a change. It is time for this nation to become one free from the chains of isolation."

At hearing this, the eyes of the people went wide.

"Eh?"

"We're going to become involved with other nations?"

"How will that work out?"

Holding out a fist, Hailey grinned as she stepped forward with power.

"To all the people of this nation, we have been closed off for our entire lives. Not only have our walls been closed, but so too have our minds. And it is this closeminded state which we were in which allowed us to go through our lives, completely unaware of the sufferings of a select few who were under the scrutiny of those ruling this nation. But that will be no more!!! From this point onwards, there will be no need to train warriors to be more powerful than ever!! There will be no more reason to run students through the gauntlet in order to awaken hidden power!!!"

'What is she talking about?'

'I'm completely lost.'

"I know that many of you don't know what I refer to!!! But I am speaking of the treatment of the Academies towards the students!!! My name is Hailey, and I was once a student at Yulen Academy. Please hear me out!!!"

The girl turned to the audience, pleading for their cooperation.

"One week ago, a troop of 228 students- all first years- were sent to the monster realm in order to train themselves as part of a remedial trip."

"The.... monster realm?"

"Why would anyone be sent there?"

"That's...."

The people looked around with clear concern, but Hailey continued speaking.

"The principal of Yulen Academy said that this was in order to teach the students.... in order that they may be trained under harsh conditions to become highly skilled soldiers..... but let me ask you this."

Thinning her eyes, Hailey looked around the crowd.

The people looked at her, breathless, awaiting her words.

"227 of those students are dead. Now tell me."

Thinning her eyes with disgust, Hailey balled her hand into a fist as she looked forward with anger.

"Was it worth it?"

The eyes of the people went wide at hearing this.

'What....'

'How..... could they do such things...'

'To the precious students....'

'Sending them to their deaths like that....'

"I survived because of one factor, and one factor alone. I don't know why or how, but a monster seemed to take pity on me because-"

As Hailey spoke, she felt herself choke up.

'Because the Determined, the Queen of Evil, was interested in me.'

Were the words that Hailey wished to say.

[Ah ah. No mentioning me. What a naughty girl you are. I told you before, didn't I?]

The people looked to the girl with confusion, wondering why she had suddenly stopped.

[That if you went against me, that I wouldn't hesitate to destroy you.]

"Huff.... huff.... huff...."

Hailey felt as if her heart was being twisted about.

The woman spoke with such overarching power that there was but a single thought which was instilled into her mind in that moment.

'Do not go against this woman.'

This one desire, this single purpose was instilled into her once more.

And then, Hailey stood up straight with a cheerful smile.

'Wha..... my body.... it.... it's moving on it's own....'

Looking into the crowd, the girl gave them a wonderful expression, spreading ease through the hearts of the people despite their confusion and anger at the horrid events which they had just recently been made aware of.

"Ahem... do not worry, my beloved people. I have slain the villains who rule this nation, for such people who would send so many students off to their deaths..... are most certainly evil."

The people looked up to her, once more shocked at her statement.

'She..... killed them?'

'The leaders of this nation....'

'The explosion from earlier...'

'THAT IS WHAT WAS HAPPENING?'

"I could not allow myself to sit back and watch as such horrible people led this nation. Therefore.... I made it my duty to ensure that they were no longer allowed to perform such acts."

The people were shocked, but soon it sank into them the reality of the situation.

'I see...'

'So all that has been going on this entire time....'

'But.... how did this girl..... how on earth could she kill Velphis?'

"Some of you may be wondering how it would be possible for me to defeat the leaders of this nation. The answer to that question is simple."

The girl held out her hand, giving the crowd a beaming smile as she closed her eyes joyfully.

"It's because I am the hero of the Alliance."