Antinomy

—Found him.

Charlotte visually confirmed the intruder hiding in the tree shadows.

Only one magical signature. It seems the guide is no longer needed.

She won't let him escape this time.

Charlotte took her eyes off the scope and shouldered the sniper rifle.

She kicked off a tree trunk from the treetop and landed on the ground. Without stopping, she dashed forward as if in flight.

Neither the poor visibility nor the tangled brush paths meant anything to Charlotte.

The distance between them closed rapidly. She glanced at the sword at her waist and tracked the black-clothed back with her eyes.

The intruder continued moving, leaping from tree shadow to tree shadow.

It might look like fleeing, but he was probably luring Charlotte in.

"… Cheeky."

Charlotte smiled faintly.

She'd identified the target with the naked eye, not clairvoyance spells.

The face was cleverly hidden, but the build confirmed it was the same intruder from a week ago.

The sorcerer Yoal. Yoal Yaotl.

Whether he really was that person remained uncertain, but—

"You're going to hurt a little."

Charlotte took cover behind a tree and aimed the jet-black barrel.

She converged a spell into the bullet. Not a wide-area bombardment, but an optical spell emphasizing precision and destructive power.

She smoothly aimed the muzzle at the enemy. She peered through the sight—rear sight, front sight, and target aligned perfectly in a straight line.

Then, without any hesitation, her white fingertip smoothly pulled the trigger.

Hyuun. Light flew faster than sound.

The fired bullet dispersed mid-air, releasing countless rays of light.

Every ray flew chaotically like arrows. Each one targeted Yoal, flying in disorderly arcs.

"—Kuh…!"

A black shadow leaped out from the tree shadows as if repelled.

The cluster of lights clinging to his surroundings had their trajectories randomly disrupted. Deflected rays of light landed in all the wrong directions.

Some bounced off water mirrors, some lost their target after spinning uselessly, some had their concentrated light diffused—

"A futile struggle, that."

"… Gah…!!"

Just as Charlotte murmured offhandedly.

A ray of light that couldn't be deflected struck Yoal, piercing his legs to shreds.

"… Hah…!!"

The man staggered a few steps, then collided with a tree trunk and slumped down.

The hood pulled deep over his face hid his expression, but he clearly couldn't move properly.

"… Finally caught you. You've been quite the slippery one, sorcerer."

Charlotte lowered the smoking muzzle and approached the enemy.

He kept his hands pressed on his wounded legs, head down, not even trying to look at her.

"… Hah… hah…"

"—Nothing to say? I wouldn't mind listening, if you speak now."

Zari.

Her shoe tip scraped harshly against the ground as Charlotte looked down at him.

She placed her hand on the sword at her waist. Close enough to behead the man in the blink of an eye.

"Depending on your answer, I might just let you go. Your real name, for example."

Capture him alive and escort him back.

That option hadn't disappeared by any means.

But Charlotte couldn't help thinking.

Suppose this man really was Yoal Yaotl himself.

And if Almaeira chose him—Charlotte would be forced into a binary choice whether she liked it or not.

Return to the Demon King.

Or defy him and stay by Almaeira's side.

No compromise could exist. The Demon King was generally generous and believed in rewarding merit and punishing failure, but he didn't like being bitten by his own dogs.

He wouldn't care about the 20-year grace period—but what if he learned the promise had been broken?

Having his fiancée stolen by a human wouldn't look good to the other demons. He would surely go all out to crush Almaeira.

Therefore, Charlotte thought.

If she secretly finished him off here—wouldn't everything be neatly resolved?

Even if it was just a convenient way to escape a bitter choice. Even if it was a choice far from honest.

"… The Witch Queen is generous. But I'm not, you know."

Smoothly, her white fingertips curled around the hilt.

Her heartbeat quickened. Her breathing grew irregular. Her body temperature rose, her face taking on a faint flush.

If she laid hands on this man, from that moment Charlotte would become a traitor.

Of course, Almaeira probably wouldn't blame her. She wouldn't even consider it betrayal. Her words were requests, not commands, and there was no obligation to obey absolutely. If Charlotte explained the circumstances, Almaeira would understand—with downcast eyes tinged with sorrow, showing a lonely smile.

That was precisely why this would be a grave betrayal. Betraying the trust Almaeira placed in her, taking advantage of their long relationship. The sheer ugliness of it was nauseating, even though it was her own doing—

At that moment, the man suddenly removed his hands from his bloodied legs.

"Ha. Feel like talking?"

"… … … … fuse"

"… What?"

Charlotte frowned at the too-faint voice.

Instantly, Yoal thrust his hand into his robe.

Speed too fast for the eye to follow—activation of a subjective time acceleration spell.

"I refuse."

"…!!"

A revolver was drawn.

The muzzle pointed precisely at Charlotte's heart. He pulled the trigger with natural fluidity like flowing water.

Charlotte's sword left its sheath at exactly the same moment.

A gunshot echoed loudly through the quiet forest.

The silver blade drew a brilliant arc, and the bullet slipped beneath it.

"Kuh…!"

The bullet struck Charlotte's chest dead-on.

The bullet easily penetrated her defensive barrier. He'd probably collected her hair or something and incorporated it into the bullet. That would cause the bullet to be mistaken for part of her body, allowing it to slip through the barrier. The bullet also had multiple curses woven in; its power was already far beyond ordinary gunfire.

However, Charlotte's body was enhanced to the extreme, far surpassing human limits. A somewhat powerful bullet couldn't inflict even a single wound on her.

And the sword tip, thrust out as if brushing past the bullet, slipped through the man's neck.

"—Ah"

Instantly, Charlotte's eyes widened.

A dazed voice.

It was almost an unconscious action. The retaliatory slash had decapitated him with far too much precision.

Gray hair spilled from the hood.

The head slipped loose and tumbled across the ground.

"… Ah, ah"

Charlotte trembled as she looked down at the silent head.

No sense of accomplishment. Only the feeling that she had done it.

Now there was no turning back. She had betrayed Almaeira's trust and sided with Demon King Gardel.

She couldn't abandon her lingering attachments. She couldn't be as resolute as Aery. She couldn't choose to oppose the Demon King and stay by Almaeira's side—

"You really did it, huh."

At that moment, she heard a voice.

The decapitated head had spoken—she needed a full three seconds to understand that.

"Wh… you bastard!?"

At that moment, Charlotte observed the man's body directly for the first time.

She reflexively deployed clairvoyance spells—attempting a detailed analysis of the hostile sorcerer.

Then she inevitably realized.

He was not Yoal Yaotl's true body.

Just a prosthetic body built around a doll laced with cursed artifacts.

"Too slow."

The rolling head grinned, and separately, the torso stood up on its own.

Incarnation spell.

Moving unnaturally like a marionette on strings, the torso leaped at Charlotte.

"… Pointless!!"

"Nope."

Hyun, the blade swung sharply. Yoal's torso was split in two.

Instantly, a small click sounded.

A small fire ignited at his feet. The flames rapidly intensified, engulfing even the head.

—Explosion.

Intense blast winds and heat waves erupted with the torso as the epicenter, shaking one corner of the Black Forest.

It swept away the surrounding bushes, burned the fresh grasses and flowers, felled the ebony trees—and penetrated Charlotte's defensive barrier.

Its power fell far short of Charlotte's nuclear heat spells. It didn't even bore a huge hole in the ground.

Still, it would have been more than enough to take down an ordinary sorcerer.

The winds died, the heat subsided, the chaotically disturbed magical flows converged.

After the violence passed, Charlotte stood alone at the blast's center.

"… That's why I said it was futile."

Charlotte muttered softly, covered in dust, soot, and char.

The final explosion served no purpose. It only tattered the edges of her uniform and cape, leaving not a single wound on her body.

In terms of impact, the bullet had been more effective. No bruises remained on her skin, but her chest where she'd been hit directly was faintly reddened.

However, it wasn't completely meaningless. No blood or hair remained that could serve as clues about her opponent.

Troublesome. She sighed in relief while thinking that—she hadn't killed Yoal Yaotl.

"… What am I thinking…!?"

Charlotte brushed soot from her shoulders, bewildered by her own thoughts.

—He wasn't dead. She hadn't killed him. So she could still turn back. She didn't have to betray Almaeira.

She was clearly relieved by that fact. Even though she had thought killing him would be better, now it clearly seemed wrong.

Choosing to oppose the Demon King was foolish when thought through logically.

But she had to consider Almaeira's true wishes as well. She had heard why Almaeira prayed, hadn't she? To betray her trust on top of that—wouldn't that be an extremely sinful, grave act of betrayal?

"… Damn it…!"

Charlotte sheathed her blade and left the scene, burning with self-reproach.

Outwardly unharmed. No one could tell that her heart had been deeply wounded.

—Not even the wounded person herself.