On the serene night after the genius mage—Maya Hel Infinitum—was summoned by the Imperial Princess and abruptly visited the barren land of Eshu County.
In the infirmary of the Hero Academy, just one among the many, Professor Jacob was resting on a medical bed, his expression serene mixed with subtle calmness.
A girl distantly sat beside him.
Sometime later, Professor Jacob opened his mouth with a gentle, priest-like tone, "Is something troubling you, my child?"
Even though he was not the biological father of the visitor, the bishop voiced his question as a true servant of the church.
Falling into silence, the girl replied, "No... I just want company."
Professor Jacob glanced at her pitifully; he understood why this person was the way she was.
A cruel life of being alone and neglected at such a young age.
"Is it because of that man?" He asked.
"...?"
The girl only tilted her head, unable to understand his question.
Seeing this, Professor Jacob chuckled.
"Sigh, what an innocent teen you are. You should be enjoying your-"
Woom-
It was that moment it happened, causing the surroundings to distort as though it had become an ethereal abstract art.
It transpired in the blink of an eye—a crack of void swallowed Professor Jacob in front of his visitor.
Reacting quickly, the girl jumped through the crack before it dissipated into nothingness.
*
"What do you think you're doing?" The girl stared blankly at the perpetrator and, simultaneously, at unconscious Professor Jacob floating within a translucent glass-like rectangular solid prism—a form of sealing magic.
Looking around, the girl surmised they were in a vast forest far away from the Hero Academy—it was eerily quiet that the howling winds were prominently singing to their ears.
Seeing her presence, Maya's gaze shifted from being nonchalant to a genuine surprise. However, one of her amethyst eyes gradually changed to gleaming azure, a unique sign of her being battle-ready or in preparation for spell activation.
"I really hate that we have the same eye color... Alana." Maya mentioned the visitor's name, her voice gravely serious.
"I don't know why you're doing this, but let go of Professor Jacob," Alana said, her voice monotonous. Yet spatial awareness was in her demeanor.
Hearing this, Maya chuckled.
"Wow... I can't believe you can be this talkative? But what are you going to do? I don't want to..."
"You are making a mistake," Alana warned.
"Hoh? I like that look in your eyes. Ready to pounce me? But I like men, I'm sorry-"
Whoosh!
In that spur of a moment, Alana vanished from where she was standing, suddenly appearing in front of Maya, who didn't expect that this loner student would attack right away at the slightest bit of provocation.
Bang!
But Alana's attack didn't make contact—as if there was an invisible wall enveloping Maya's entire body.
However, sensing the gravity of the impact of her mere fist coated with miniscule amount of divinity, Maya rushed into counterattack as her fingers snapped.
[Tier 5 - Gravity Magic, Area Distortion.]
The area around them fell into disorder as if multiple dimensions were battling against each other.
The enormous trees were flattened, the flat land suddenly protruded, forming a miniature mountain, and the nearby river suddenly turned upside down, becoming waterfalls.
It was not in any way similar to elemental disturbance but rather the distortion of geographical structures.
The laws of nature were being challenged; it's one of Maya's magic, as the genius magician specialized in [Space-Time] magic.
Witnessing the dark-purple circular manifestation of the spell hovering above, Alana's feet remained rooted on the ground. It was as if she was being sucked by the earth whilst the landscape was constantly changing.
Alana calmly assessed the situation, but throughout this time, several wounds gradually appeared on her body.
Outside of the source, the danger of the magic was not the uncontrollable change of the landscapes... But the fact that its targets were also considered as a form of 'geographical entity.'
In other words, Maya's magic deemed Alana not as a person but as a simple piece of soil that could be swallowed.
However, if used against others, it would already lead to casualties.
But the thing that Maya had not considered was... that this individual was from the Hero Bloodline and was likely to become the True Hero during the upcoming Ascension Ceremony.
"I warned you..."
Hearing her voice, as Alana raised her hand as if to reach for something, Maya sensed something ominous, prompting her to cancel her magic to cast another one...
During this fleeting moment, she heard Alana chant indescribable words.
"I call upon you... the weapon that will judge the living and the dead, the worthy and the unworthy, and the good and evil. You, who was born from the wings of the Goddess' mighty archangel...
"...!"
"Seraphmire... Heed my call!"
BOOM!
A shining golden divine weapon landed in front of them, creating a massive crater that far outweighed the impact of Maya's previous magic.
It was not a sword... but rather a double-headed scythe.
At the same time, Maya managed to cast another magic.
But this time, it was not labeled by a [tier] in the sense of the magic world's standards.
[Talent: Swallowing Void]
A gigantic mouth of darkness with countless grotesque teeth manifested in four directions, facing them.
Then, as if it had been deprived of food for millennia, the mouth sucked everything immaterial variables in the surroundings.
Unlike the [Area Distortion], this thing only affected something metaphysical.
This caused the holy power emanating from Alana's weapon to flicker; its divine power was being forcibly separated from it—an attack that was outright a challenge against the beliefs of the Church of Luminary.
But that didn't matter for someone like Maya—the inhabitants of every Magic Tower of this world only served the Goddess of Wisdom, known as the Dragon God.
Sensing the effects of the [Swallowing Void], Alana, grasping the twin-headed scythe, sprung into action.
Jumping from her position, she reached for Maya, cleaving down the weapon without hesitation.
Its golden light subtly changed into something incomprehensible—the divine power of luminosity flickered into nothingness... before a new form of aura enveloped it, resembling a mix of dark and white hues.
[Talent: Severer of #######]
Maya was confident that her defenses would not be broken through. Because of that, she used a [Talent] of hers that would render her immobile as it required continuous channeling.
Whoosh!
But that was a mistake.
Spurt!
Alana shallowly cut her, leaving her alive but preventing her from fighting.
Maya's eyes were filled with bewilderment... an utter disbelief as someone considered to be a genius magician.
As if the flow of time slowed, before her body fell on the uneven ground, she suddenly recalled her Master's words quite a long time ago; it's something she asked out of mere curiosity.
"Master... if you and the True Hero fought, who will win?"
Her master just smiled before saying,
"Little one... there's a reason why the Goddess of Light's champion always leads the way in every war against the Demon King."