The creature that stood within the pillar of black flame raging before them could no longer be called “Volutia.”

It was no witchspawn, but neither was it the woman they had been fighting against moments ago. Instead, it was just a twisted abomination of what had once been Volutia. A shell of her former self, now filled by nothing more than the shadow and darkness that Amelia wielded.

The knights backed away as the flames finally dispersed, revealing Volutia’s new form. Twin horns jutted out from the crown of her head in a fashion that almost could have been considered majestic had it not been for the taint of the witch that pervaded her entire body.

Black tears fell from her eyes and ran down her cheeks like liquid night, her forehead bulging with veins that glowed purple in color. The sclera of her eyes were black whereas her irises had turned a bright red, matching the shade that her skin was slowly beginning to become. Her fingernails lengthened and hardened significantly, becoming weapons in lieu of her broken whip.

Her gaze had been fixed on Scarlet ever since the beginning of her transformation, and her now-slit pupils remained trained on the black-haired noblewoman, a strange amalgamation of rage, envy, and longing all swimming in her eyes. She released a long, shuddering breath that spat a cloud of black mist into the air.

“...What the hell is that?” Leticia stared at Volutia’s new form, her sword at the ready.

“This is what becomes of those who pledge themselves completely to a witch.” Medrauta said, recalling her mother’s stories. “In the past, they used to roam the mana wastes as rulers of lesser beasts. Now, it seems they are no more than desperate fools.”

“I’ll kill you... Scarlet...!” Volutia hissed, black steam pouring from her mouth as her body’s temperature increased significantly. The muscles in her legs tightened as she prepared to leap forward and pounce on her target, undeterred by the formation of knights clustered around Scarlet.

Just before Volutia could explode into a frenzy of action, the entire Spire shook violently, nearly knocking everyone off balance. Just outside the window, the knights and noblewomen could spot a second behemoth who had leapt down from the Spire to engage another section of junior knights just outside.

With Eirlys still duking it out with the first behemoth, there was no one who could address the new colossal threat that had descended upon the brave students. Despite that, Medrauta’s keen vision caught sight of Bradley leaping forward to the rescue along with Brigitte quickly following suit and tossing her glowing greatsword to the senior knight. It was quick thinking on Brigitte’s part, but Medrauta couldn’t help thinking of the danger Brigitte had placed herself in now that she was unarmed.

As it turns out, she wasn’t the only knight who had noticed this either. All of her fellow knights and even Viviane had witnessed Brigitte’s daring show of confidence, their eyes widening as a group of witchspawn leapt toward the red-haired knight. Unable to suppress her concern for Medrauta’s close friend, Viviane released a sharp gasp. The sound repeated thrice in the otherwise silent room, highlighting the urgency of the situation.

For a moment, Medrauta considered throwing herself through the window to rescue Brigitte, but she knew it would be a pointless endeavor. Her place was at the very top of the Spire where she would confront Amelia, not in the plaza fighting the countless waves of witchspawn.

Taking advantage of the knights’ distraction, Volutia leapt forward, but Medrauta’s gaze was still focused on the horrifying sight outside the window. She thought she could see a lavender-haired knight in the distance charging toward Brigitte with a shining lance, but there was no time to confirm the fact.

Volutia’s claws lashed out, nearly catching Medrauta in the side had it not been for Leticia’s timely intervention, the knight’s sword flickering out in a thrust that skewered Volutia’s wrist in a lightning fast thrust. Despite her new form, Volutia’s skill in combat was still lacking and mostly consisted of throwing around her considerable strength and speed.

“Oi! Weren’t you telling me to pick up the pace, Medrauta!?” Leticia clicked her tongue in annoyance. As a knight, she should be protecting her lady, not another knight who was more than capable of fighting on her own.

“But Brigitte—”

“Melindra has her, you idiot! Focus on what’s in front of us right now!”

Medrauta shook her head, attempting to banish her worries like a duck shaking off water. She nodded and steeled her mind, preparing to join Leticia in a counterattack as Volutia tore her arm free from the black-haired knight’s blade and simply allowed the wound to regenerate.

The two knights engaged Volutia, fighting the Sworn champion to a standstill. Though she was no match for Medrauta and Leticia when it came to martial skill, her increased regeneration and overwhelming strength was more than enough to give her an advantage. 

Several times, Leticia’s sword had been torn into nothing more than shredded steel, forcing her to retreat before Rosaline’s Crest could rewind it to its previous state. Medrauta’s blade remained intact thanks to the power of the Lake coursing through it, but it seemed that even such power did nothing to counteract Volutia’s regeneration.

The two knights leapt back, disengaging from Volutia and catching their breath.

“...I think we might be in a bit of trouble.” Leticia said.

Medrauta nodded. “Yeah. Looks like the situation is going to get worse the longer we’re here, and I don’t like how Amelia’s just throwing out those behemoths now. Combined with the rest of her army, they must take an enormous amount of mana just to maintain.”

As the two knights regained their stamina, they darted forward once more to meet Volutia, intercepting her mad dash toward Eris who stood in front of Scarlet. The knights were lucky that Volutia was dead set on attacking Scarlet and only Scarlet, for her new form afforded her incredible speed that likely would’ve caused a multitude of problems for the knights had she tried fighting tactically instead of zeroing in on a single target.

Volutia stretched out a taloned hand once more, threatening to tear Medrauta’s face off as she sought to destroy all who dared bar the path to the woman she hated so much. The silver-haired knight’s sword flicked into position with perfect timing, preparing to parry the telegraphed attack. However, before blade and claw could meet, a shower of rose petals floated through the air.

Volutia’s hand fell to the ground, twitching twice before finally laying still. She staggered back, staring at her dismembered limb for several seconds before looking at the crimson-haired knight who now stood before her. Rosette flourished her sword, rose petals trailing in the wake of its movements.

“All of you, head to the next floor.” Rosette said. “Leave her to me.”

“W-What!?” Medrauta was the first to respond. “What the hell do you mean, Rosette!? We can’t just—”

“The longer we spend here, the worse it’ll get for those below. Don’t try to hide it, Medrauta. We all saw how you reacted when those monsters descended upon Brigitte.”

“That... That may be true, but we can’t just leave you to deal with her alone!”

Rosette shook her head, smiling wryly as she stepped toward Volutia. Her lady, Estelle, followed closely, her eyes set in a determined gaze. “I’m not alone, Medrauta. I have my lady by my side. And besides... I’ve got a score to settle with Volutia.”

Medrauta stepped forward to protest once more, but Scarlet’s voice cut across the air, interrupting her before she could even speak.

“We shall leave Volutia to you, Dame Rosette. I have but one request.”

“Name it, Lady Scarlet.”

“She may have sworn herself to Amelia, but she was once a precious friend of mine. Please execute her quickly and honorably.”

“...I shall do my best.”

Aside from Rosette and Estelle, the rest of the group circled around Volutia, rushing for the stairs. Volutia whirled around, her tunnel vision zooming in on Scarlet’s fleeing figure. She bared her now-pointed teeth furiously as she dropped to all fours, leaping toward the raven-haired noblewoman with as much speed as she could muster.

Acting quickly, Rosette leapt over Volutia, rose petals blooming into existence beneath the soles of her feet and propelling her above and past the Sworn champion. She landed in front of Volutia, barring her way with a confident smirk.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Rosette said. “Your opponent is me.”

Volutia released a thundering bellow of anger as she dove toward Rosette, a single clawed hand outstretched. For some reason, Rosette’s Chivalric Arts had managed to suppress her regeneration quite significantly, causing her other hand to still remain as nothing more than a twitching stump attempting to take the form of a hand once more.

“Is this what you’ve decided!?” Volutia roared, desperately calling out to Scarlet as she pushed against Rosette’s blade. “The great Lady Scarlet running away!? How pathetic!”

The noblewoman didn’t respond. She had already begun ascending the stairway to the next floor.

“You’re going to leave!? You’re just going to leave me again like always!?” Volutia screamed, black tears pouring incessantly from her eyes.

At that, Scarlet had no choice but to stop.

“My lady, you—” Eris began, her words silenced by a curt wave of Scarlet’s hand.

The raven-haired noblewoman turned around, meeting Volutia’s eyes with a heavy gaze rife with disappointment. “Do not delude yourself, Volutia. This is the first and last time I shall leave you. Farewell, you who were once my friend.”

As Scarlet turned and continued up the staircase, Volutia released one final scream of pure rage and hatred. Its furious sound filled the room with her raw emotion, but even it would be forced to fade when the rose petals bloomed.