Chapter 213: Academy Heroine's Right Diagonal Back Seat
Chapter 213
The girl who had been there just moments ago was nowhere to be seen. All that greeted Sylvia's eyes was the dark, rain-soaked street.
Sylvia, staring blankly at the now desolate street where the girl should have been, shook her head as she recalled what she had seen earlier.
"...No. It can't be."
She couldn’t stop thinking about the people who had dissolved into the rain, pierced by the tentacles that descended from the sky.
Sylvia unconsciously pictured the girl who had shielded her from the monster's attack in that moment, and she shuddered, shaking her head frantically while muttering to herself.
No, no.
It can't be.
There's no way Scarlet could be dead.
Maybe something urgent happened... Yeah, that's it. She was attacked and needed treatment, so she must've rushed off to find help.
Even Sylvia knew how absurdly empty these words were as she whispered them to herself.
But she couldn’t help it.
If she didn't deny the images that filled her mind, she felt she wouldn't be able to endure it.
So, even though she was so shaken that she forgot her usual habit of speaking politely, she kept shaking her head, repeating, “No, no,” trying desperately to convince herself.
She told herself that since her stamina was so drained right now that she couldn't even move, she'd just rest here quietly to recover. And when she did, Scarlet would surely come back, just like she always did.
Just like when she’d been kidnapped by that witch, even though it seemed hopeless, Scarlet had come back safe and sound.
So this time, too...
As she tried to rationalize it to herself and regain her strength by sitting in the corner of the sewer, she let out a sob.
“...Hhic.”
The longer time passed, the more her body trembled like a leaf, and eventually, she couldn’t hold it in anymore. She buried her head in her knees and started to cry.
It happened again.
She had sworn never to let something like this happen again, but once more, Scarlet had sacrificed herself to save her.
She had confidently told her to ask for help if needed, but instead of offering help, all she had done was burden Scarlet.
Yet Scarlet had still told her it was okay. That’s why the overwhelming feeling of self-loathing crushed her.
She didn't need to hear "it's okay."
Even if Scarlet cursed her out, that would be fine, as long as she was alive and safe.
Sylvia sobbed for a long time, her face buried in her knees. Then, she slowly lifted her head, staring at the tightly closed manhole cover before she shakily stood up.
“I need to... I need to confirm...”
She couldn’t take it anymore.
If Scarlet was alive, she wanted to see her face.
And if she wasn’t...
At the very least, she needed to confirm that reality, no matter how much she dreaded it.
She hadn't thought about what she would do afterward, but if she didn’t move her body, she felt like she would lose her mind. So Sylvia stood up, determined.
She knew it was reckless.
Even after resting, she barely had enough strength to walk.
It was nowhere near enough to wander aimlessly through the rain.
But like someone who had lost their mind, Sylvia staggered, determined, and opened the manhole cover, stepping out onto the street.
As she emerged, the cold, rain-cooled air brushed against her skin.
She saw the water running slowly down the street.
The thought crossed her mind—what if Scarlet was among the water running down the street? She felt nausea rising in her throat but shook her head quickly, dismissing the idea as absurd. Mustering all her strength, she called out the girl’s name.
"...Scarlet!"
Her voice was drowned out by the sound of the rain, but she still called out, hoping that maybe Scarlet would hear her and come.
She wandered the streets, calling out Scarlet’s name.
But, as she feared...
“Hhic... Scarlet...”
There was no trace of the girl she was searching for.
"Has... anyone seen Scarlet?"
[What? Sylvia, wasn’t Scarlet with you?]
“Uh, that’s...”
She tried asking around through her communicator, hoping someone might have seen her. But the answers she got were never the ones she wanted.
Please, someone, anyone, tell me Scarlet is still alive.
She had never wished for anything more desperately in her life. But no one said those words she longed to hear.
With every reply that said they hadn’t seen her, Sylvia felt the hope she had been clinging to slip further and further away.
The more hope she lost, the more her strength drained away, until she could barely move.
Cold drops trickled down her cheeks.
She instinctively looked up at the sky, but it wasn’t rain flowing down her face.
If it had been raining, she wouldn’t still be standing here.
But it wouldn’t be long before she collapsed.
The protective barrier she’d been using to shield herself from the rain flickered weakly.
Once the last bit of her strength was gone, that barrier would disappear, just like before.
And then, just like Scarlet, she would fall victim to the monster's attack.
It was a dangerous situation, but the thought of escaping didn’t cross her mind.
A bitter smile crept onto her face.
It didn’t matter anymore.
Perhaps this was the punishment she deserved for not being able to protect Scarlet, for being so foolish.
It was then that a voice came through her communicator.
[Hey! Is there anyone who knows a red-haired girl who can control fire?]
At that, Sylvia felt a flicker of hope return.
A red-haired girl who can control fire.
Hearing that, Sylvia, desperate, called out into the communicator more urgently than ever.
“Yes! Yes! I know her! She was with me just a moment ago! Where is she now?!”
[Well, I don’t know what happened, but she suddenly showed up here and started fighting with the monsters—]
Scarlet is still alive.
That was all she needed to hear.
“Hhic... Thank goodness...”
Sylvia collapsed in relief, tears streaming down her face.
She’s alive. Scarlet is alive.
She had wished so desperately for this news.
As she cried tears of relief, the tension finally releasing from her body, Sylvia suddenly realized that this was no time to relax.
What had the voice just said?
Scarlet, fighting with the monsters—
As soon as that thought struck her, Sylvia jumped to her feet.
She had a sense of how strong the monsters attacking the city were.
The fact that Scarlet was fighting them meant she was in extreme danger.
Something terrible could happen at any moment.
She didn’t know why Scarlet had gone to fight, but before anything happened to her, Sylvia had to save her.
With all the strength she could muster, she cast a flight spell.
Just moments ago, she had barely been able to walk, but now, suddenly, small specks of light appeared before her eyes.
She threw herself into those stars, cutting through the rain as she flew into the sky.
There was no need to confirm where to go.
Far off in the distance, even through the rain, flames could be seen flickering up into the sky.
Sylvia prayed that the flames would not die out.
As long as the flames were burning, it was proof that Scarlet was still alive.
“Scarlet... Scarlet...!”
Fueled by her fierce determination to protect Scarlet this time, the stars whisked Sylvia through the sky faster than ever.
And what Sylvia saw when she arrived—
“...Huh?”
—was Scarlet, caught by tentacles, being swallowed whole by the monster’s massive maw.
With a sickening sound, Scarlet was devoured.
The red-haired girl who had been there just moments ago vanished into the maw of the monster.
Sylvia, witnessing yet another person she had desperately wanted to protect disappear right in front of her eyes, could only scream.
“Ah... Aah!! AAAAAAHHH!!! Give her back!!! GIVE HER BAAAACK!!!”
She screamed, sobbing uncontrollably.
With fury and desperation, she tried to launch a spell at the monster.
“Ah...?!”
But she couldn’t. She tried, but her body had already long surpassed its limits after the flight spell.
The delayed exhaustion swept over her, causing her frail body to collapse to the ground.
Even as she lay on the cold, wet ground, Sylvia desperately reached out towards the monster, but her strength had run dry. There was no power left in her to fight and reclaim Scarlet from the monster’s grasp.
All she could do was helplessly watch as someone precious to her slipped away once more.
"Why... Why?! I swore that this time, this time I would protect her! Why am I always so powerless?!"
All the training, all the effort to avoid being in this situation again, and yet here she was—completely powerless. Sylvia cried out, feeling as though she was spitting blood from her frustration.
But no matter how much she screamed, nothing changed.
She couldn’t even take out her anger on the monster that was now grinning, seemingly satisfied after devouring Scarlet.
Then suddenly,
“Ah...”
Flames began to rise from within the monster’s body.
There was no need to ask whose flames they were.
It was clear that Scarlet, who had been swallowed by the monster, was unleashing her final burst of fire from inside.
The monster, startled by the sudden flames igniting its body, began thrashing wildly, trying to extinguish the fire that clung to it.
But no matter how much it flailed, the flames refused to go out.
Instead, they burned even more fiercely, engulfing the monster entirely.
Even with its powerful regenerative abilities, the upper-class monster of gluttony could not heal the areas where the fire had spread.
Watching this, Sylvia suddenly remembered something she had heard in class from Tellos earlier that day.
The weakness of gluttonous monsters.
Tellos had explained that these creatures had a core somewhere in their bodies, usually located in the most developed part of their anatomy.
Sylvia had heard from the other heroes that Tellos had been swallowed and killed by that very monster.
For it to have digested someone with Tellos’s blessed, near-invulnerable body, perhaps the most developed part of the monster’s anatomy was its digestive system, concentrated in its stomach.
Maybe Scarlet had figured that out...
Sylvia couldn't help but shed silent tears as the thought came to her.
That was who Scarlet was.
Someone who saw self-sacrifice for others as a matter of course.
The monster let out a final, agonized scream as it was consumed by the flames, then collapsed to the ground.
As the monster fell, the dark clouds that had swallowed the sky began to clear, and the rain gradually stopped.
The barrier that had disappeared now slowly began to restore itself.
The city, once on the brink of unimaginable danger, was regaining its peace, all thanks to one girl’s sacrifice.
Though Sylvia hadn't wished for it, Scarlet's final act had been nothing short of heroic.
Through her tears, Sylvia vowed that she alone would never forget Scarlet’s sacrifice, the way she had lived her life.
But then, at that moment—
The embers that had been slowly fading after burning the monster black flared up again.
“Huh?”
Sylvia gasped.
Her voice, filled with surprise, also carried a glimmer of hope.
With all her heart, she called out the girl's name, hoping for a miracle.
"Scarlet...?"
And as if in response to her call,
Like a phoenix reborn from the flames of legend,
The red-haired girl slowly walked out of the fire.
“Scarlet...!”
Amazed by the miracle before her, Sylvia's face lit up with joy, and she called out to her once more.
As if hearing her voice, the girl slowly turned her eyes toward Sylvia.
"......"
The moment their eyes met, a terrible feeling of dread washed over Sylvia.
“...Scarlet?”
And then—
“Watch out...!”
A hand suddenly yanked Sylvia backward.
What had just happened?
The heat was so intense it felt like her skin would burn—it was right beside her.
As she turned her head toward the source of the heat, Sylvia's face hardened.
She realized that the very spot she had just been standing in was now engulfed in hungry flames.
If the hero nearby hadn’t pulled her away, Sylvia would’ve been consumed by the fire.
Her eyes then slowly turned toward the place where the girl stood.
And there, standing amidst the flames—
Ah.
The girl was wrapped in deep crimson flames, as red as blood.
Ahh.
She was laughing madly, her face contorted in agony, tears of the same color as the flames running from her eyes.
Ahhh.
As their eyes locked, Sylvia realized something.
The Scarlet she knew would never have eyes like that.
Eyes filled with nothing but hatred, resentment, sorrow, and rage.
A scream as long and agonized as an eternity tore through the air.
"That... is no longer Scarlet Evande."
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