The surroundings were still pitch-black. Though the monster representing the source of the curse had been defeated, it had not yet been completely destroyed.
Only after confirming that Shade was truly unharmed did Iluna bring up the matter. Shade then looked at Emilia. The elf girl shrank her head down, pointed at herself, and nodded hesitantly. Although she had always lived at the Academy under the protection of her family, classmates, and teachers, it was not as though she had never personally taken another life.
Given Emilia's temperament—bold enough to defy school rules—Shade did not really need to worry that she was too weak-willed.
Iluna did not let her approach the pure white figure to cast a spell. Instead, she took the pistol from the holster hidden inside her coat, carefully removed a bullet with runes engraved on its tip, loaded it into the magazine, disengaged the safety, and handed the pistol to her:
"Use this."
The elf girl took aim and fired. After the gunshot cracked like thunder, what burst from the muzzle was not a solid metal bullet, but a streak of golden lightning. It shot straight through the weakened white figure, and the entire dark world shattered like a mirror.
After a moment of weightlessness, the three of them returned to the room with its curtains tightly drawn. The black monster that had been curled up like a skinny monkey was still before them, except it now lay prone on the floor, electricity dancing across its body.
As the figure gradually turned to ashes, the three of them breathed sighs of relief. At the same time, the steam mist behind Emilia and Iluna connected into one. Bells rang, steam whistles blared, and the Eight-Ring Destiny Ring and Five-Ring Destiny Ring emerged from the depths of the steam