Gardenia’s Heart

Inside the grand hall at the highest point of the castle, the metamorph stared expressionlessly at the entity before her.

”A demon...” Nia murmured.

Still standing near the altar, Orlaith studied the woman before her with curiosity, her fingers grazing her own face.

”Oh, you don’t seem all that surprised.” Her words carried the tone of someone disappointed by the lack of any dramatic reaction from the woman in front of her.

”I recently learned that Velmont went on an expedition to the demon continent a little over a decade ago, hunting demons. Almost his entire group perished there, yet he somehow managed to return and decided to change his life after that. Were his traumas so severe that he resorted to killing and kidnapping people? I don’t think that’s the case.”

Shrugging indifferently, Nia noticed a shift in Orlaith’s expression—the hostility in her borrowed body flaring to life.

”Perfect! Absolutely perfect!”

Clapping her hands as she laughed, Orlaith began to pace the hall.

”You should have seen him begging for his life. Promising to do anything to stay alive. Such foolish hope, so easy to crush, so easy to destroy.” Winking and pointing a finger to the side of her head, Orlaith let out a loud laugh. ”But then I thought, why not?”

”You could start by telling me what you’re planning,” Nia said, ignoring the demon’s unhinged ramblings as she gestured toward the sphere of stardust.

”The great Demon King, the one teacher to whom I owe all my knowledge, always told me that before we seek an answer, we must first pose a question. I’ve just answered yours by telling you who I am, so now it’s your turn.” Intertwining her fingers, Orlaith leaned her elbows on the altar, a grin stretching ear to ear. ”First, let’s see—what is your name?”

The demon’s question was simple, but for the first time, Nia felt a wave of nausea spread through her body. She didn’t want to reveal her name to this woman, but she needed the conversation to continue.

”Gardenia.”

She would never lie about her name. Her crimson eyes narrowed even further, burning with cold fury as she stared at the grinning demon.

”Very good! This is how those who are worthy communicate. After all, we’re not barbarians, are we? Now, tell me, Gardenia, how is it that you can wield dark mana?”

Nia raised an eyebrow in surprise. Orlaith hadn’t asked why her magic resembled that of monsters or what her race was. She had asked directly and explicitly how she could use dark mana.

”I thought it was my turn to ask questions now,” Nia replied, her mind racing to find a way to avoid discussing the matter.

”No, don’t try to dodge my question.” Orlaith wagged her index finger back and forth. ”Even I can hardly believe what I’m seeing, but you’re doing it, aren’t you? With all the mana in the city being drawn into my invention, it’s easier than ever to notice. All the remaining dark mana in the atmosphere is orbiting you. Like a stone thrown into a lake, you’re causing ripples in something that should be static.”

Her gaze turned serious, and the pressure emanating from her body grew so intense that all the humans and demi-humans in the room struggled to breathe.

”I learned it in a moment, without even realizing I had learned it. As for how I’m doing it? I have no idea,” Nia answered with a shrug, offering the raw truth.

She wasn’t lying—just omitting the existence of the Book of Truth.

The metamorph had expected a debate to erupt after her response, but instead, Orlaith remained frozen in place, staring at her in astonishment.

”How can you say such absurd things, yet I can’t detect a single lie? You’re such an enigma, and it piques my curiosity. Hehihihihi!”

Laughing as she rested her chin in her hands, Orlaith gazed into the beautiful crimson eyes of the woman before her.

”It’s a shame we can’t delve deeper into this now, but we can discuss it more later—when we get to know each other better.” Orlaith’s expression turned into one of exaggerated disappointment, accompanied by a theatrical sigh. ”Alright, your turn.”

Though Nia found it odd that Orlaith had given up so easily after such a brief answer, she took a moment to consider her next question.

”Where is all of this—the things you’ve been doing in this city—leading to?”

What had initially seemed like a mundane question suddenly became an entertaining one for Orlaith. She clapped her hands several times, stepping away from the altar to gesture toward the fallen people scattered across the hall.

”[Shadow Puppeteer]”

The way she uttered the words carried an almost sensual appreciation for each syllable. As her deep, abyssal voice echoed, everyone in the hall stood up at once, snapping into a salute.

”Tadaaaa~!” Orlaith’s grin widened as she watched the metamorph contemplate what she had just seen. ”So? You’ve been analyzing my spell quite a bit, haven’t you? What can you tell me about it?”

”You’re able to create these stigmas to influence people remotely, either suppressing their memories or controlling their bodies, turning them into pawns,” Nia replied in a neutral tone, her crimson eyes keenly observing Orlaith’s reactions.

”Yes! Yes! But come on, don’t give me such a plain answer. I’ll give you a little hint. Here’s the million-gold question! In the second case, what do you think happens if I make them use mana?”

The moment the question was posed, Nia didn’t hesitate for even a second before answering.

”They can cast spells on your behalf, using your mana to do it.”

Nia had suspected something was off ever since the fight in the mines. All the workers had been ordinary civilians, merely possessing magical affinities. Yet somehow, they had been able to cast spells, even though they shouldn’t have known how.

”Gardenia, you’re amazing! You’re absolutely incredible! Where have you been all my life!? You understand things so quicklyyyyy!!”

Orlaith, so excited that her words began tumbling out with a careless cadence, skipped around the room. The spiral-shaped mark on her hand was visible from various angles as she moved.

”I’ve already granted plenty of minor spells, but I’ve never tried using [Shadow Puppeteer] through someone else. To make this one work, I had to etch it not just into the soul but into the flesh as well. This is one of my finest stigmas! I’ll gladly accept any compliments you’d like to offer~.”

With a sudden snap of her fingers, two demi-humans standing on the edges of the hall dashed toward the purple-haired woman.

”Now, your turn. Show me how you’re destroying my spell.”

Nia didn’t have time to respond. Her black shield absorbed the impact of a lightning-coated punch so powerful that the entire room trembled.

The attack was swift, but it didn’t end there. The second man approached from the opposite side.

”Tsch.” For the first time, Nia clicked her tongue as she leaped backward to avoid the strike.

Having missed their target, the two demi-humans began to sprint through the hall, weaving between the pillars in search of an opening to attack again.

Nia couldn’t remain stationary. She started running.

It wasn’t because her two opponents were strong enough to harm her. In truth, it was the opposite.

Droplets of red liquid began to pool on the hall’s floor.

The purple-haired woman had needed only a second to assess their bodies after the first attack. Their eyes were rolled back, veins bulging to their limits, blood streaming from their mouths and arms.

With the mana in their bodies being frantically drained to cast spells and reinforce their physical forms beyond what they could endure, they had achieved just one minute of explosive strength—at the cost of their lives.

Nia’s crimson eyes landed on the man whose strike had been blocked by her black sphere. His right arm was completely mangled from the recoil of his own attack.

If Nia remained still and simply continued blocking their blows, one or two more strikes would be enough for the demi-humans to destroy their own bodies.

”Hurry up and show me, Gardenia. These two won’t last another ten seconds in this state.”

Even without Orlaith’s warning, Nia already knew she had to act fast. Observing the demi-humans’ movements, she quickly calculated where they would be in two seconds, then conjured two portals.

With a single motion, she thrust both arms through the portals, grabbing the men by their necks and slamming them to the ground.

”Shatter,” she murmured. The speed at which she dismantled the stigma this time pushed her mental limits to their edge.

When her two pawns fell unconscious to the floor, Orlaith’s controlled eyes widened in shock.

Planting both hands on the altar, Orlaith leaned forward so far she nearly toppled over, her expression one of sheer disbelief.

”Wait a second—I know this! It’s the innate ability of The Hermit of Eternal Branches! How are you using this as a spell!?”

Transporting the two men out of the room with another portal, Nia observed the demon frozen in place.

”No, that’s impossible! We destroyed that village and wiped out his entire species. The Hermit is the last one alive, and he’s in the labyrinth of Star Dust Spring! I confirmed it myself and have kept my distance from that city! There’s no way he could’ve noticed what I was doing in Caligo!”

As if unable to make sense of what was happening, Orlaith furiously ran her hands through her jet-black hair.

Watching the demon wrestle with her thoughts, Nia considered her words. If she had understood correctly, Orlaith was referring to Nox, the guardian who had offered his heart to be consumed.

So she knew he was there?

If the answer to Nia’s question was yes, it would explain something she had always wondered: why there hadn’t been anyone under Orlaith’s control in that city. The demon had been deliberately staying off the guardian’s radar.

“It doesn’t matter anymore; it’s too late for him to do anything now. Even if he knows something, the Archmage hasn’t shown up.”

“Archmage?” Nia murmured, but no response came.

There was only one person she could think of who could unsettle Orlaith to such an extent. The person Nox had declared as his master. The mage who traversed the world gathering disciples, developed the foundation for what would become the magic used by all, and authored the Book of Truth: Sylvan.

The purple-haired girl slowly walked back to the altar where she had been standing before. Orlaith’s frantic ramblings gradually quieted until her euphoric expression returned.

“We are survivors in a world full of insects, Gardenia!”

Orlaith proclaimed with a loud cry, the reason for her smile still unclear to Nia—until the girl felt a powerful impact beside her.

Once again, the structure of the hall trembled. A massive pool of blood spread across the floor.

Nia, who hadn’t moved from her spot, didn’t even glance at the explosion behind her. The black sphere she had conjured now bore numerous cracks along its surface for the first time.

“Did you like it? Love it? Adore it!?” Orlaith exclaimed, her voice brimming with enthusiasm, like someone unveiling a masterpiece. “You know how it is, don’t you? Repeating the same spell over and over runs the risk of losing control if we’re not careful. I call this effect ‘overload.’ Now, imagine this: what if we could control that loss of control and make it work the way we want? Using nothing but simple explosive spells pushed to the very limit of the caster’s body, but delaying the overload to occur at a specific moment with as much power as possible. In that case, even a mediocre human can be made useful!”

Orlaith snapped her fingers several times, sending five more civilians charging toward Nia. Their bodies glowed with a blinding light before erupting in explosions.

There was no way for the metamorph to cancel her stigmas in such a situation. With no other choice, she reinforced the black sphere around her, shielding herself until the explosions subsided.

Half of the hall collapsed under the impact of the attacks.

“So, I can assume that’s why you had that man capture so many people with even the slightest affinity for mana? You were experimenting with overload until it satisfied your desire to learn? If it took you this long, at least a few hundred people must have been used for it.” Dispersing the black sphere and observing the demoness, Nia spoke coldly. “Imprinting a stigma on every hourglass for visitors and every resident card isn’t something that could be done in just a few months. You’ve spent years on this city. What’s the point of going this far? Do you hate humans that much?”

That question made Orlaith freeze for a moment.

“Heheheh... heh... hehehihihihihihihihi!!”

Then she laughed, a laugh that seemed to come from the depths of her very being.

In a sharp, sudden motion, the head Orlaith controlled tilted upward. Her eyes gleamed with ecstasy, her cheeks flushed red, and her fingers intertwined in front of her mouth, which could barely conceal her heavy, uneven breathing.

”Getting test subjects in Finis isn’t easy, you know? Ever since the war ended, I no longer have people brimming with hatred recklessly storming into my laboratory to kindly become my research objects. Setting traps to capture mages is so tedious and boring! This human settlement here, however, was an investment well worth my precious time. And it wasn’t even difficult, really. The royal family doesn’t even bother to check what happens far from the capital. If a few villages vanish in the far reaches of the Mist Territory, it’s just another misfortune, easily blamed on monsters. As long as I provide food and entertainment, humans keep reproducing, and that means I’ll always have test subjects. If I eliminate a few anti-demi-human factions, these beasts with great power will see my city as a safe haven, and I won’t even have to bother hunting them down! Do you understand, Gardenia? How could I possibly hate humans!? They’re so easily manipulated, so preoccupied with scratching their fat bellies and indulging in their carnal pleasures that they don’t even question the strange things happening around them. They’re the ultimate test subjects, superior to any other species on the planet! No one had ever imagined such a simple way to get everything they needed! Aren’t I a genius? My beloved master would be so proud of my brilliance!”

For the first time in a long while, Nia’s mind went blank.

Orlaith’s nearly incomprehensible words revealed the monstrosity of her thoughts. Her eyes glowed with utter contemplation, her arms stretched skyward as if trying to feel the presence of her master.

“You’ve already absorbed more mana than you needed with that sphere. If you don’t cancel your spell now, everyone in Caligo will die. If you gain so much from this city, why are you doing this to it?” Nia couldn’t grasp the woman’s logic.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Tilting her head with genuine confusion, Orlaith stared at the purple-haired woman. “Experiments are meant to be developed and completed. My research is finished, so I have no reason to keep Caligo anymore.”

When the word ”finished” was uttered, Nia took a single step forward.

“Finished, you say? Planning an army of human bombs isn’t exactly what I’d call an experiment,” Nia said, her crimson eyes narrowing.

“Oh, you silly girl, of course not. Why would I need low humans to cast my spells when I can create something far more glorious? I’ve been dropping hints here and there, but you still haven’t figured it out? You even said it yourself earlier. I’m not limited to humans and monsters—I can imprint my marks onto objects.”

Orlaith held the black orb in her hands, and the artifact began to float.

“Look here, here! Stardust, luminite, and countless others. Nearly a ton of mana-conducting ores mixed and condensed down to an object smaller than a head!” The demoness laughed, caressing the artifact lovingly. Her smile stretched impossibly wide, ear to ear. “This is my greatest masterpiece! The destroyer that will incinerate and reduce everything to ashes! The Seed of Chaos!”

Mana pulses began to flare from the sphere, its previously dormant energy now seeming to find a purpose.

“Velmont mentioned wanting his people to live under the sun. Are you planning to blow up the capital with that thing?” With each mana pulse reverberating through the castle, Nia had to shield her body with even more dark mana.

“Naaah! Why would I do something so dull on such a special day? I’ve got a much more entertaining place to test this invention first~” Orlaith sang, her smile widening as she skipped around joyfully.

Nia had witnessed the power of a single stardust rod infused with the mana of a single one-star mage.

With the amount of mana poured into the orb from the entire city, she knew nothing good would come of it. If the overload occurred and multiple explosive spells were unleashed on this scale, it would take a large part of the region with it.

“This is my farewell gift to Caligo.”

Orlaith declared, her tongue running over her lips as if savoring the chaos about to unfold. Her next words left no doubt that the point of no return had long since passed.

“Death~”