Eris, born as a kin of the Star Crystal Beast Orleon, the very source of Mana that governs the world, carries an innate destiny. To stop the world's destruction brought about by human greed, she unleashes the forbidden magic 'Apocalyptic Seven Swords.'
Her sole purpose is to eradicate the exploitation of Mana by humans and to protect the life of the star. This is her answer to the countless cries of life she has witnessed over centuries. But humans call her 'the Last Boss who will destroy the w
Last Peril of the Supreme Star - Fictional justice, a star devoured
The air was heavy.
The fifth underground level of Vesper's Tower was completely cut off from the clamor of the surface. Even though, if he strained his ears, he could almost hear how many starving people had died last night in the lower districts of Graushtadt, no sound reached this place. The pale blue mana conduits running across the walls flickered faintly, as if pulsing. The entire tower felt like the inside of some enormous creature's stomach.
And at the center of that stomach, Kaito Veldorunt was pinned in place.
"...Da...mn..."
A voice that couldn't become a voice crumbled in the back of his throat. His limbs were fixed in magical restraints—silver shackles that, when mana passed through them, sapped the strength from the bound person's muscles—leaving him utterly immobile. From inside the restraints, a thick, molten exhaustion seeped through his entire body. Even so, he did not stop resisting.
The star crest on his left shoulder flickered wildly beneath his clothes.
(What are they going to do to me...)
Sweat streaming down his forehead stung his eyes. The deep crimson tips mixed faintly into his black hair clung damply to his cheeks. Only his burning reddish-brown eyes gleamed sharply in the darkness.
"Oh my, you're awake, are you?"
A smooth voice resonated, as if stroking his eardrums.
Kaito couldn't even turn his head; he searched for the source of the voice with his eyes alone. Standing there was an old man with neatly combed silver-gray hair. His small, pale blue eyes were, as always, not smiling. Only his mouth drew a soft arc, and the massive mana crystal ring on his right ring finger emitted a dull, pale blue glow.
Cassius Heidel.
A member of the Seven Pillars Council of the Kingdom of Feldorunt. Director of the Crystal Extraction Institute. The man who reigned over the place closest to mana crystals in this entire country.
Behind him was a glass-walled adjacent room. The interior was filled with a faint blue light. Kaito had been shown the source of that light since yesterday.
"How are you feeling, Child of the Star?"
Cassius slowly approached Kaito and pressed cold fingertips against the star crest on his left shoulder. The moment his skin was touched, the star crest reacted, emitting heat. A searing pain shot through Kaito's entire body.
"Gh, agh...!"
"Magnificent. Truly magnificent reaction. This star crest is what resonates with that familiar's mana. You are, in the truest sense, living material."
"Material... you say..."
"Yes. I call it the Origin Instrument. We extract the waveform of the star crest from your body and synchronize it with Eris's mana. And then, you see—"
Cassius pointed to the adjacent room. Beyond the glass, countless crystal tanks were lined up. Within each tank, pale blue glowing crystals pulsed as if they were alive. Some were fist-sized crystals, others tiny fragments no larger than a fingertip. All of them were artificial mana crystals cultivated from Eris's mana.
"All of those are replicas of that familiar's power. Alchemy that transforms the end of the world into gold and weapons."
Kaito clenched his teeth. His back molars ground audibly.
"Don't screw with me... you're going to... sell the end of the world?!"
"Sell? Exactly right. The apocalypse is an enormous market. The question is who gets their hands on it first. I will make you into a weapon, and Eris into a resource. That is all."
So saying, Cassius picked up a long, slender needle with his gloved right hand. A silver mana extraction needle. Its tip glowed faintly pale blue.
"I'm going to insert this needle a bit deeper now. Please don't struggle. If it slips, your left arm will never move again."
"...Who would ever... stay still..."
Before Kaito's words could finish, the needle was driven into the center of the star crest on his left shoulder.
In that instant, his vision exploded into pure white.
"GAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"
The scream tore through the underground silence. The star crest flickered madly, and pale blue light raced along the blood vessels beneath Kaito's skin. A violent pain as if his organs, his bone marrow, were being slowly burned. The restraints clattered, and every muscle in his body convulsed. Foam spilled from the corners of his mouth, and his eyeballs burned hot deep within their sockets.
The world lost all sound.
Pain alone proved his existence.
"This scream is the prayer of the Child of the Star. The more I hear it, the more purified my heart feels."
Cassius spoke in rapture, looking down at Kaito writhing in agony.
How much time passed before the needle was slowly withdrawn, Kaito no longer knew.
――――
How long had he been unconscious?
When Kaito regained his vision, the first thing he saw was the pale blue mana conduits crawling across the ceiling. They pulsed like blood vessels. He didn't even have the composure to assess the state of his own body. The restraints on his limbs had not been removed. Beyond his wrists, bound tight in the silver shackles, he could barely feel anything at all.
"Why..."
His lips were dry and cracked. Just speaking scraped the back of his throat raw.
"Hm?"
Cassius was polishing some instrument at a workbench a short distance away. He turned around, a thin smile on his face.
"Why... are you doing this?"
It was a voice squeezed out from deep within. But that voice no longer even had the strength to burn with anger.
"Why... me... why... this..."
"That's a good question, Kaito-dono. A truly good question."
Cassius set down the instrument and bowed deeply, with exaggerated courtesy, as if performing a ritual. The gesture was so excessively polite that it alone sent a chill through Kaito's chest.
"Allow me to give you the answer. About what lies at the root of your justice."
He slowly took one step closer to Kaito.
"Fifteen years ago, the incident in which your hometown, the village of Helden, was attacked by magical beasts. You remember, don't you? That accursed night when you lost your family."
Kaito's heart stopped for a moment.
"...Stop."
"I will not stop. Because this is an important truth."
Cassius's voice was soft, as if singing a lullaby.
"That was a ritual orchestrated by us, the Seven Pillars Council. To awaken the Child of the Star, the most certain and efficient method was to disturb the ley lines, lure magical beasts to the village, and give the boy the despair of losing his family."
"What... are you saying..."
"Shall I tell you the names of your father, your mother, and your little sister? The screams they made inside the beasts' bellies are preserved in the Crystal Extraction Institute's records. Would you like to hear?"
Cassius's smile deepened.
"A well-trained Child of the Star gains greater strength when awakened through despair than when kept alive through sympathy or sorrow. That is why your family died—to become fuel for your justice."
The veins in Kaito's body bulged with rage.
"Don't you... screw with me!!"
He thrashed wildly within the restraints. The silver shackles bit into his arms, splitting skin and spraying blood. Even so, he didn't care—he struggled with all his strength, trying to burst out of the cage.
"You... you people... my family!! My justice isn't your toy!!"
"That's right. Your justice is a story I wrote."
Cassius declared it in a cold voice.
"Your justice is nothing more than a script written by the Seven Pillars Council. You danced so well in the palm of my hand. A truly adorable little clown."
"UAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"
The scream echoed through the underground.
Cassius listened to that scream as if it were background music, and once again picked up the mana extraction needle. This time, it was longer and thicker. The tip glowed with a sizzling sound.
"Now then, things are getting noisy, so let's have you sleep for a little while."
"Stop... stop it!!"
Cassius's arm swung down.
The needle pierced Kaito's temple.
Darkness closed in from the edges of his vision. The anger, the pain—everything receded into the distance. The last thing he heard was Cassius's laughter.
――――
He pried open his heavy eyelids.
The first thing he felt was the cold sensation of stone. His cheek was stuck to the wet floor. He tried to raise his body and realized the silver shackles were still on his wrists. The restraints seemed to be connected to some other device now.
(Where... am I...)
When he opened his eyes, he was in a dimly lit small room. The walls were lined with surveillance crystal panels, each displaying pale blue light. That light illuminated Kaito's feet.
"Kaito-sama!!"
Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out.
Kaito turned his face toward the sound. At the entrance of the room stood several figures. Leading them was a gaunt man with a double-edged greatsword strapped to his back. His gray hair was cropped short, and his sharp eyes glared into the darkness.
Werner Kreuz.
Commander of the Twilight Spear Knights. Another sword of the Seven Pillars Council, and the man who had taught Kaito the blade.
"Werner... Commander... why..."
"Shut up. I'm getting you out."
Behind Werner were five members of the Twilight Spear. All of them were equipped for night assault, naked swords in their hands. They had heard rumors of Cassius's experiments and, without formal orders from the Seven Pillars Council, had stormed this tower on their own judgment.
But before them, a smooth voice blocked the way.
"My, my. Well, well. Werner-dono. It has been a while."
Cassius emerged quietly from the darkness.
"Cassius... you bastard."
Werner's hand went to the hilt of the greatsword on his back.
"My, what dangerous tools you've brought. Entering Vesper's Tower without the approval of the Seven Pillars Council. You can hardly complain if you're charged with treason."
"Silence. Hand over Kaito-sama."
"Hand him over? How amusing. But I don't mind handing him over. If you meet the conditions, that is."
Laughing, Cassius produced a small crystal panel from his breast pocket. He held it out to Werner.
"Go deep into the Noir Great Forest, to the Altar of Dawn, and bring back the head of the familiar Eris. If you do, I will release Kaito-dono."
"Eris's... head..."
"This is a formal directive from the Seven Pillars Council. If you don't believe me, verify it yourself. Though that's assuming your lives last long enough to do so."
Cassius's mouth twisted into a grin.
Werner glanced at Kaito for a moment. His disciple, bound and unable to move properly. What reflected in those eyes was not anger or fear, but a light desperately trying to convey something.
"Don't go... it's... a trap..."
Kaito said it in a voice squeezed from his throat.
But Werner made his decision regardless.
"Even if it is a trap, if it's an order, there's nothing to do but carry it out."
"Werner!!"
"Rest easy. We'll defeat that familiar and come back."
Leaving only those words behind, Werner signaled to his squad members with his eyes and disappeared into the depths of the dark corridor.
――――
The time that followed was, for Kaito, the longest time of his life.
Cassius sat him in front of the surveillance crystal panels. The restraints were left only on his waist and ankles; both hands were free. Many times he thought about using those freed fists to punch the old man in front of him. But even if he did, it wouldn't help Werner and the others.
"Now, watch. The heroic figures of your comrades."
The crystal panel emitted pale blue light.
What appeared was deep within the Noir Great Forest. Trees grew thick, and the darkness of night enveloped the surroundings. Werner and his five squad members had been lured, exactly as Cassius had secretly arranged, to an open area in the forest—a ley line nexus.
"Why... why this deep..."
"That place is the center of Eris's territory. If intruders come, the familiar will certainly attack."
At that moment, within the crystal panel, the air flashed white.
A pale blue flash.
"That's..."
From between the trees, Eris appeared, her long silver-wh
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