The Demon Prince goes to the Academy

Swoooosh!

The rain continued to pour down.

Antirianus's expression had already hardened.

"It's happening again."

He silently watched Ludwig, who managed to withstand the onslaught of vengeful spirits once more, staggering to his feet.

The dark flames that once flickered on his right arm had gone out, and saliva absentmindedly dripped from the corner of his mouth. But Ludwig, like someone who wouldn't collapse due to the fact that he couldn't be killed, rose once more.

A normal person would have lost their sanity upon encountering the attack of these vengeful spirits, yet Ludwig endured it.

Even the Demon King had fainted from being attacked by them, but Ludwig gritted his teeth and stood up, fully aware that he was being toyed with.

All he could do was buy time.

Despite knowing that his existence held no greater value than that, he refused to fall.

Could an iron-willed soul truly exist?

Was there such a thing as an unbreakable human?

Once again, the raging torrent of vengeful spirits engulfed Ludwig.

Rumble!

At first, Ludwig had screamed as if he couldn't breathe, but now he no longer let out pain-filled cries.

It wasn't because he was enduring it.

He simply no longer had the strength to scream.

Still, he managed to rise once more.

He was sure to fall this time.

This was no longer amusing for the monster.

If he killed the boy who somehow resisted, it would be a defeat of its own.

He needed to break him and trample him.

Wouldn't it only have to kill the boy once he could no longer rise?

If an unbreakable being existed, he wanted to see it with its own eyes.

If such a being truly existed, he wanted to know.

That had been Antirianus's long-held curiosity.

He had to see if he would break.

If he didn't, it would be astonishing.

If he did, it would confirm the truth that existence is always swallowed up by despair.

So now, it was a defeat for the monster to kill the boy himself.

In that moment, as he watched to see if the boy would rise again...

Swish!

"!"

Crack!

The dark greatsword, piercing through the storm of vengeful spirits, shattered the barrier the monster had created and grazed his right ear.

Antirianus's right ear disappeared, along with the storm of dark magic.

"Ha... ha... ha..."

At the spot where the torrent of vengeful spirits had vanished, a boy sat, gritting his teeth and gasping for breath.

"So you still had that much strength left."

The boy's face contorted with despair as his crucial, desperate, but ultimately single surprise attack failed.

He had waited for the monster to let its guard down, conserving his last ounce of strength.

It must have been his final, desperate ambush.

But it had missed.

The miraculous attack had indeed found an opening, but in the end, it couldn't inflict more than a scratch.

Antirianus smiled at the sight of Ludwig's expression as his one chance evaporated.

The boy hadn't been trying to hold on.

He had been waiting for the right moment.

"What a wonderful expression."

There was no such thing as an unbreakable being.

Didn't that expression say it all?

"Is that right arm your hope?"

Ludwig's deeds were of little importance to Antirianus and thus hadn't reached his ears.

At a glance, the right arm appeared to be transplanted from another being.

Something sinister related to dark magic

Perhaps it was related to the Immortal.

The boy had endured in order to seize a single moment of reversal with that arm, which must mean that the arm was everything to him.

Antirianus waved his hand.

Sharp blades of wind flew through the air.

Swish!

"…!"

All too easily, the foundation of strength that the boy had been desperately clinging to was severed in vain.

"Ugh…!"

Having lost his arm for the second time, Ludwig groaned while gripping his bleeding stump.

There was no more power left to attempt a reversal.

The toy's sting had been removed.

"Now all that remains is pain."

Rumble!

A storm of spirits formed in the monster's hand once more, rushing towards Ludwig.

Since his hope had been broken, he would finally break.

Without the ability to seize a moment of reversal, he had only to enjoy the sight of his despair-filled expression.

But.

Rumble!

"Ugh…ugh…"

Rumble!

"Ugh…"

"…"

"…"

No matter how much time passed.

Ludwig managed to stand up again, albeit staggering.

Holding onto his injured right arm, he struggled and definitely.

Stood up.

Antirianus's expression hardened.

His eyes.

As if to declare that as long as his will remained, he would continue to rise.

He stared at Ludwig's eyes that kept getting up.

The light did not fade.

Even while writhing in agony.

Even though now all he could do was buy time, and he knew he was merely being toyed with.

A worthless enemy.

No, not even an enemy anymore, he kept getting up.

"Why do you keep getting up?"

"You, who are nothing."

"Knowing you can do nothing."

"Without any basis."

"Why do you keep getting up?"

Even though he had no power.

He kept getting up just to buy time.

Did he believe there would be some variable when the Demon King awakened?

Ludwig, battered and barely able to stand on his two legs, spoke.

A boy with fading eyes muttered blankly.

"Because this is all I can do."

"Because I know nothing else."

"I have to do this, at least…"

"I don't regret losing my right arm."

"It wasn't mine to begin with."

"That's right…"

"Getting up even when I'm knocked down."

"That's what I was able to do."

"I was good at nothing but this."

"All I could ever do was this."

"Being stupid and having only stamina was my advantage."

"Always running, always holding a sword. Thinking that if I did something, I'd become something. That's how it was…"

"In the end, I couldn't become anything."

"I could only become something by attaching someone else's arm."

"That's right… I'm nothing."

"I have no power at all."

"But this must be my true self…"

"If you could kill me at any time, but you're keeping me alive because it's fun…"

"Then let me try a little more."

"I'll keep getting up, as long as I can…"

"Play with me a bit longer…"

"I'll keep getting up."

"Because that's the one thing I'm good at, even though I'm nothing."

Terror, despair, and pain battered his body, but he resolved that his will would never break. He was determined to keep getting up, if only to buy time.

For the first time in his life, Antirianus felt an odd emotion.

It was discomfort.

Was there an existence that would not break?

He wanted to see it.

However, when faced with an actual unbreakable human, Antirianus felt an unbearable discomfort.

How could one be so foolish, and yet so persistent?

Knowing full well their own insignificance.

Defying the odds, refusing to fall.

Antirianus felt it.

That one would not fall.

Rather, unconsciousness due to blood loss would come first.

As long as the will was there, he would continue to rise, and when he finally fell due to blood loss, Antirianus would experience something:

An overwhelming sense of defeat.

When he lost consciousness without breaking, he would only be acutely aware that he had failed to destroy the unbreakable human.

The fading light in Ludwig's eyes told him.

It wasn't the collapse of his spirit, but the blood loss that would cause him to lose consciousness.

"You say you are nothing."

Not knowing who stood before him, how could he be so self-deprecating?

"In my immeasurably long life, I have seen many humans - as insignificant as they are great."

"There were those so strong as to be inconceivable."

"And there were those of noble blood who acted more disgracefully than the lowest of creatures."

"I have seen countless despairs."

"And countless hopes."

"All of them, in the end, reduced to the emptiness of inevitable death."

"I have seen many great and insignificant beings."

"But never have I seen someone as insignificant, yet as tenacious, as you."

"Indeed..."

"How can I not call that greatness?"

"Among all the humans I have known, you are the most uniquely great."

"How can I call such a person nothing?"

The boy was not strong enough to surpass the old monster.

But he was utterly unbreakable.

Unbroken by pain that could not kill him.

He just kept rising.

Even knowing he could do nothing, only hoping for what he desired.

Not because it was the right answer, but because the death of the Demon King was an absolute wrong.

He had to do whatever he could, no matter what.

It was the first time Antirianus had faced such determination.

"I have lost," he said, lifting his right hand.

This time, it wasn't a force to torment or cause pain, but a blade of wind.

He had tried to break him, but he would not break.

Acknowledging defeat, he would take the boy's life.

If he would not break, then he would be shattered.

That was the highest compliment and respect Antirianus could give to the nameless human before him.

—---

-Woosh!

Ludwig looked at the wind blade forming in the monster's right hand.

It had been a hopeless fight.

All he could do was rise, but even that was now meaningless.

The opponent had lost interest in the unyielding enemy and now sought to take his life.

Next would be the fallen Demon King and Ellen.

He didn't even know what was before him.

He didn't know what was happening.

However, in the end, he had tried to change his mind and protect the Demon King, but even that had failed.

Like despair.

Like emptiness.

Swoosh!

The rain.

Fell.

"…"

His life had been a series of failures.

Protecting someone, becoming stronger, everything.

Repeating failures, losing everything, making wrong decisions, and finally, losing his life.

Was it to end like this, a life of a loser?

Was this the only outcome prepared for someone as incompetent and foolish as himself?

Pathetically persistent.

Would it all end like this?

He had confidence that he wouldn't crumble, but not that he wouldn't break, and he had no means to attack the enemy before him.

Could someone like him not dream of victory?

He had done his best.

It was his best, up to this point.

It was sorrowful and infuriating that his best only went this far, but he had done everything he could.

He couldn't ask for more than this.

Wasn't this enough for someone like him?

Considering his status, hadn't he done enough?

The moment he thought that, Ludwig couldn't help but recall a conversation from long ago.

In the rain, he glanced at the unconscious Demon King, and Ellen who had fainted, held by the Demon King in his arms.

He had respected, hated, and decided to kill that being.

But in the end, he had resolved to protect them.

He had definitely heard those words from the Demon King.

Those words had spurred him on, it was no exaggeration.

Was it the night before the Temple Tournament semifinals, at the training ground?

Feeling a sense of defeat, Ludwig had asked Reinhardt.

"Reinhardt, I have a question."

"What is it?"

"Have you ever fought knowing you'd lose?"

"…Yes, I have."

"But you won them all, didn't you?"

The Demon King, who had always fought recklessly, hadn't been hiding his strength but was genuinely weak.

He had hidden his identity but not his power.

He hadn't pretended to be weak; he really was weak.

Insignificant.

Despite that, he had always fought impossible battles.

He had entered the battles knowing he would lose.

But he had always won.

"How do you think that was possible?"

Ludwig had been curious.

Why fight when you knew you'd lose?

And how on earth had he won?

"You have to believe."

"Believe?"

"Yes."

He had definitely heard those words.

"Even if I'm going to lose, even if I have no choice but to lose, I still have to believe."

"That you can win?"

"Yes."

There was no victory in any battle where defeat was assumed.

"I'll find a way to win, and I have to believe I can win."

"But what if you still lose in the end?"

"What does it matter?"

The Demon King had rejected Ludwig's mindset.

"'I'll do my best even if I'm going to lose' is just an excuse prepared for defeat. It's like saying, 'I still tried my best. I'll do better next time.' Isn't it just a way to create an escape route for yourself after you've been defeated?"

The resignation of having done one's best is ultimately just an excuse for oneself.

The same was true now.

The moment he thought his best was only up to this point, it was over.

He had already given up.

The Demon King had said.

Instead of making excuses for defeat, one should make resolutions for victory.

Because then, perhaps.

By some chance.

There might be a different outcome.

However, even in this impossible battle, the Demon King gained something through an impossible resolution.

As always, the Demon King, who had seized something in such battles, proved himself once again.

After all, who could confidently claim that they could not achieve such a victory?

Why was I giving up?

Claiming I had done my best.

Accepting this as my limit.

Why was I meekly accepting death?

Rather than continuing to lose and ending up as a good-for-nothing who could do nothing,

I desired a single victory.

I wanted to seize it just once.

I hadn't died yet.

Life was not over until my breath had completely stopped.

Although I had lost my right arm, which had given me indescribable strength,

I still had my body.

My legs trembled, and I lacked the strength to stand properly, my consciousness blurred,

But it seemed like there was still a drop of power somewhere.

If death was approaching,

I would not wait for it idly.

Even if I couldn't reach it, I tried.

—---

That was the driving force that allowed Ludwig to come this far, despite constantly failing and losing on all those days when he was exhausted and fell asleep.

Not giving up.

Stubbornly moving forward.

Ludwig finally realized that this was his only weapon and his most absolute weapon.

Thus, before the blade of death approached, he took a step towards it himself.

Oooh!

He drew upon the magical power that might have been left somewhere in his body and strengthened his physique.

Even with the arm of the Grandmaster that had been transplanted, he had been unable to bring down his opponent.

But if death approached, he should at least try to confront it.

He had always walked forward with the thought that it might not work, but one never knew.

With the determination to see his lifelong compulsion through to the end.

"Are you... trying to fight?"

A look of discomfort beyond annoyance appeared on the old monster's face.

It was astonishment.

With a faint blue magical aura around him, the boy who shouldn't have had the strength to move a single finger took a step forward.

It wasn't much, but there was still power left.

Even if it was a light that seemed to flicker out any moment,

It was definitely a light.

Even a weak light could dispel some darkness.

He poured that strength into his weakened body.

"Yeah. I have to fight."

If it was a fight in which he was bound to die,

If an insurmountable enemy was trying to kill him,

He was afraid.

It was despairing.

But if he was going to die either way,

Oooh!

"And if I fight,"

Why shouldn't his heart's compass point towards victory?

"I should... hope for victory."

Even if the desire for victory didn't bring victory,

"Because..."

Why should he submit, broken, and wait for death?

So, he wished.

"I will."

A declaration for victory.

"Defeat you."

Here.

"Bring it on."

Rumble!

A portion of the sky, which had been covered in dark clouds, opened up.

A single ray of golden light struck the ground.

Boom!

Something was thrust into the ground in front of Ludwig, accompanied by a fierce shockwave.

It definitely had the shape of a spear.

"Oh... that is..."

The old monster stared blankly at the spear that appeared in the sky with a flash of light and let out an exclamation.

It had always been the weapon of the weak.

The simplest form.

The most deadly form.

It had always been the weapon of the weak.

A simple shape and a sharp edge.

That most deadly straight line was precisely

The form a weapon should take for the weak when they faced insurmountable opposition.

The old monster knew the name of such a weapon.

The weapon of the weak.

The artifact of courage.

The Divine Spear.

"Alixion..."

It certainly had such a name.