Sophia’s life was filled with acts of defiance against existing common sense and conventions.
When others spoke in unison that something was right, she would ask, “Why?” When others hushed up and pretended not to see, she would expose it, asking, “For what reason?”
People often misunderstood her, but she wasn't trying to view the world with a jaundiced eye or negate everything.
If a rational reason or logical basis existed, she was more than willing to accept the lesson and bow her head.
However, the world sometimes treated the very act of asking “Why?” as a sin.
This is the answer derived by our great predecessors. Therefore, you must not deny it.
Everyone else is keeping quiet. The world will be at peace if you just shut up, so why stir up trouble for no reason?
Do not ask for a reason. Do not harbor doubts. If those above say it is so, then it is so.
Many people forced Sophia to keep her mouth shut, and Sophia fought back against them with words.
It was not an easy task. The world was filled more with people who, when pushed back by words and logic, would resort to stubbornness or swing a sword rather than concede.
The proof was that the period Sophia had spent branded a sinner and sealed away was longer than the period she had been able to act freely.
Sophia did not regret such a life.
She was the kind of person who could insist on “NO” even if the entire world said “YES.”
To put it nicely, she had a strong backbone. To put it badly, she was self-righteous.
Even if she could return to the beginning of her life and do everything over, Sophia had no intention of bending her principles.
However.
Not bending did not mean she couldn't feel pain.
When her own blood-related family treated her as a nuisance and even became hostile; when the scholars who had shared her ideals were brutally murdered; when the student she had so preciously nurtured sacrificed herself to save none other than her.
Behind a smile that seemed carefree and serene, she was undoubtedly feeling agony.
She could not mend the relationship with her family, which was long past.
Her lost fellow scholars and her ruined homeland would not return.
But there was one thing that was not yet over.
To reclaim it, she stepped into the emerald palace.
The inside of the palace was utterly bizarre.
On the walls, at slanted angles, were rods of some sort, placed at regular intervals. At the end of each rod hung various kinds of hats.
The countless hats that filled the walls were all different in color and shape; not a single one was the same.
“Ah, ah. So you came after all. It would have been better if you had all died somewhere else.”
An emerald throne stood in the center of the wide hall.
A voice laced with displeasure and irritation flowed from it.
A face that was once like a fresh flower bud had now fully bloomed into that of a mature woman.
Eyes that had once been filled with admiration for her teacher and a passion for learning were now veiled in a languor that seemed to find all worldly affairs bothersome.
One of the four wings that represented the military might of the Heavens.
The Angel of Transformation, Langwidere, looked at Sophia.
“So? What brings you here now? Teacher?”
“Judging by that title, it seems you haven’t lost your memories.”
“What, did you think my head had been washed clean or something? As if.”
Her tone and demeanor were devoid of respect, filled instead with ridicule and contempt.
“‘My good Langwidere would never do something so cruel.’ ‘The Heavens must be controlling her.’ I can see it without even looking. Your way of thinking is so old-fashioned.”
Thoroughly mocking the heart of a teacher who cared for her student, Langwidere declared, “I am me. I am here of my own will, and I fight for the Heavens of my own will. It’s only natural that a celestial angel is superior to an ant on the ground that could be stepped on at any moment, even if there are a few more bothersome things to deal with.”
Therefore, whatever Sophia said would be meaningless, she spat, her words dripping with malicious taunts.
And Sophia spoke.
“It’s alright, Langwidere. People who are truly sick in the head often don’t realize they’re sick.”
A silence of about four seconds followed.
Langwidere rolled her eyes a few times as if trying to comprehend what she had just heard, then beckoned with a finger.
One of the many hats hanging on the wall.
A viciously red hat, so bright it hurt the eyes, flew through the air and settled on Langwidere’s head.
CRUUUUNCH!
The next moment, Langwidere grabbed Sophia by the neck and slammed her head into the wall.
Blood and brain matter trickled down, staining the palace wall and floor.
Langwidere growled, her eyes burning as fiercely as the color of her hat.
“—Just because I called you ‘teacher,’ did you delude yourself into thinking I’d give you some kind of special treatment? Or did these shabby wings give you a boost of confidence?”
Sharp blades of fire materialized around Langwidere’s body and pierced through Sophia’s bat-like wings.
The combination of flames mixed with holy power and the flesh of a vampire from the underground was the worst possible matchup.
The membranous, bat-like wings were instantly incinerated, scattering ash with a burning smell.
But as if that wasn't enough to satisfy her, Langwidere began to shove the fiery blades into Sophia’s body as well.
Stab! Sizzle!
Shins, knees, thighs, pelvis, side, chest, shoulders.
The area below the neck that Langwidere held was covered in blades as if it were a dartboard.
No blood flowed. The heat had forcibly staunched it.
Even as she unleashed such a horrific series of attacks, Langwidere’s violence showed no restraint.
The more she struck, the more her anger seemed to flare rather than subside, and she continued her rampage.
If the Langwidere who wore the blue hat in the City of Scales had shed tears of pity and sorrow for the world below, the Langwidere of now seemed to be a condensation of pure rage and violence.
“What gave you the confidence to come here alone? Did you think if you called my name with your sweet voice, I’d be so moved I’d run to your side?”
Crack! Pow! Crunch!
“Or did you trust in that pathetic power you hold in your body? You think a mere ‘vampire’ can beat me? Don’t make me laugh.”
Fwoosh! Sizzle! Stab!
“You’re always like this. Your words are slick, but you lack the power to execute or protect them. No matter how plausible your ideals sound, without military power, they’re meaningless, even with your immortality.”
BOOM!
At Langwidere’s furious kick, the wall behind Sophia finally gave way and shattered.
Sophia, tattered and torn, rolled across the floor and lay sprawled there.
Langwidere, who had been glaring and panting at Sophia, finally brushed the hat from her head as if shaking it off.
The rage and violence that had filled Langwidere’s body vanished like mist, and the empty space was once again filled with the initial, languid irritation.
“It’s a pain to even deal with you. Just take a nap over there.”
With only those words, Langwidere turned and walked back to her throne.
That very throne was one of the four wedges maintaining the celestial barrier.
As commanded, she had to guard the throne until the next enemy arrived or a new order was given.
In other words, in Langwidere’s eyes, Sophia was no longer even an ‘enemy.’
Even if she had gained the power to use vampiric abilities by drinking blood, it was meaningless if her skill in wielding it was so pathetic.
No, in the first place, her total power was on a different level compared to an angel’s.
“…Powerless words are meaningless, you say.”
And.
That was something Sophia had known from the very beginning.
She knew that even if she received blood from Dorothea and Adelaide, her own skills and combat prowess wouldn't dramatically increase.
“That’s where you’re wrong, Langwidere.”
Yet, the reason Sophia had requested blood from her companions was twofold.
First, only by saying so would her companions let her come here alone.
Second, the ritual she was about to perform required fuel worthy of it.
“Words themselves hold great power. A slave who has been exploited their whole life can learn of their injustice through words. A farmer who never learned to read a single letter can dream through words. A voice that is but an empty echo when spoken alone becomes a great wave when many gather and proclaim it.”
Langwidere spoke as if it were absurd.
“A great wave? If you want to talk like that, you should have at least dragged a horde of grunts with you. What’s the use of all that talk when there’s no one to listen to you?”
“Oh, but there is someone to listen.”
Sophia’s finger pointed at Langwidere.
Seeing this, Langwidere scoffed.
“I will not fall for your wordplay.”
Sophia did not argue.
She simply turned her finger and pointed at herself.
It seemed like a meaningless gesture.
But Sophia was not spouting nonsense.
Because she knew of an audience—no, audiences—who would listen to her words and her story.
“Langwidere, as you said, I have no talent for fighting. All I can do is provide support and inspire people with my words.”
A white radiance seeped from Sophia’s body.
A red mana seeped from Sophia’s body.
The two energies shot out to Sophia’s left and right, as if repelling or harmonizing with each other, and soon began to etch a strange pattern in the air.
“If I cannot save you with my power alone, I will gladly bow my head and ask for help from others.”
“If they ask why they should help me, I will shout the righteousness of this cause until blood seeps from my throat.”
“If a price is required to borrow their power, I will pay it without hesitation.”
The red hue asked, stating the choice could not be undone.
The white radiance spoke, asking if there would be no regrets.
Sophia answered, stating the answer had already been given.
“Wait, don’t tell me you…?!”
Langwidere’s bored eyes widened.
Realizing what Sophia was about to do, she hurriedly tried to summon a new hat, but Sophia’s spell completed faster.
FWOOOOSH!
An intense light and a cool breeze blinded Langwidere.
When it all subsided, two shadows stood beside Sophia.
“—What a foolish, foolish vessel. To so easily cast away a treasure coveted by all who live in this world.”
To Sophia’s right.
Using the blood, mana, and ageless life she had absorbed as materials, the beautiful Queen of Vampires manifested.
“—To abandon eternity to gain a fleeting moment, you are a fool indeed, vessel. However, it is also true that your boldness is something we could never dare to dream of.”
To Sophia’s left.
Using the holy power she had honed and her undying life as materials, the holy Angel of Divine Calculation manifested.
Sophia collapsed to the ground as if her strength had given out.
Her complexion was deathly pale, but not a trace of regret remained in her eyes.
Even though she had cast away her mana, her holy power, and even her immortality.
Sophia declared.
“—Now that I’ve invited some guest instructors, let’s have a lesson for the first time in a long while, Langwidere.”