Demons swarmed the lands, claws rending stone and flesh. Cities fell, smoke and shadow swallowing countless souls. Mothers wept for children they could not save. Fathers fell defending what remained. Humanity teetered on the edge of extinction.
Its final hope rested on one man, the S-rank Void Esper.
He faced the Demon King alone. The sky split in jagged tears. When the dust settled, both hero and king had vanished. Only legend remained: a man who had sealed the Demon King within the Void, sacrificing his life and all he loved, for the fragile promise of peace.
But peace never lasts.
The Demon King's will festered in the dark, clawing at the seal that bound him. As the prison began to fracture, he reached for the one thing that could free him: the Void itself.
But the heavens would not allow it. A divine hand tore the power from his grasp.
"This power belongs not to you," a voice said, cold and unyielding. "It belongs to a better vessel."
Somewhere, in a world bathed in trembling light, a newborn girl drew her first breath.
The air around her bent, fractured. The same divine void that had once sealed the Demon King now pulsed through her veins, power enough to save, or to swallow, the worlds. She carried the weight of her father's sacrifice. She carried the hopes of humanity. She carried a curse that might be her salvation, or her undoing.
The daughter of the fallen hero.
The chosen vessel of God.
The curse reborn, to finish what her father began.
Sixteen years later—
Valencia stared into space—into nothingness, hands hovering in the air as she struggled to channel even the faintest aura.
Voices around them rose.
"Valencia? Valencia? Valencia!" the professor called. Valencia snapped out of it. The aura shocked her and her partner; they pushed their hands apart.
"Ow, what the fuck!" her partner cried. Valencia was stunned, but her hand remained unscathed. Her partner shook the slightly burned skin, glaring at Valencia.
"I'm sorry… I…"
"You were in your own little world again?" Professor Agnesar crossed her arms. "That's the third time this week, Miss Elayne. You'll never get your certification approved by the Headmaster if you keep this up."
Valencia bit her lower lip and bowed.
"I'm sorry, Professor Agnesar."
Agnesar walked away without acknowledging her apology. Valencia's partner scoffed.
"Serves you right, slum orphan," she barked as she left.
Valencia kept her head down and sighed. Once the room was empty, she raised her head and breathed in relief.
"These people sure hate people like me…" she mumbled, staring at the ceiling.
"They sure do," a voice pierced through.
Valencia widened her eyes and scanned the room.
At the entrance of the room, an apothecary, white cape billowing, pushed her glasses up.
"Dame Lupis," Valencia bowed.
Doctor Lupis smiled and came closer.
"Miss Elayne, say… why are you failing so often?" Lupis asked. Valencia clenched her fists and stepped back.
"I don't know what you're talking about… I'm just bad." A lie she'd told so often it almost sounded true. Lupis read her like a book and smirked.
"Your mother wasn't. Persai was one of the best S-Rank Guides in the world." Lupis's words landed. Valencia groaned.
"My mother never taught me much… what do you expect? I never even met my father."
Lupis squinted and leaned in.
One second. Two—
Lupis laughed, clapping her hands.
"You're right—your mother kept to herself." She waited for more.
Valencia looked away, uneasy.
"Then… I will be going," she said and left.
Lupis watched, curiosity written across her face.
"What are you hiding, little chick? Persai matched with the greatest Espers—why are you the opposite?" she whispered.
Outside, Valencia glanced back. Her green eyes glinted with purple flecks like stars. She stared at her hands, palms sweating.
"You must promise me never to tell anyone. You cannot trust anyone…" Persai's voice echoed like a mantra.
Valencia clutched the hem of her shirt.
"Mother… I promise."
She changed into comfortable clothes and joined the others in training to be Guides.
In the yard, the classmate from earlier shoved her aside. Valencia fell to the ground, grimacing.
"Oops! Didn't see the dirt on the way," a Marquise's daughter, Renai, joked. Her friends laughed and high-fived.
"Nice one, Lady Renai."
Valencia stood and brushed dirt from her clothes.
"No worries… a slum orphan like me should know to stay out of your path," she said flatly.
The girls gasped and then laughed.
"Did she just call herself a 'slum orphan'?"
"Wow, I called you that once, and you owned it!" Renai crowed.
Valencia gave a chilling smile and a small bow.
"It's true… nothing wrong with the truth."
Renai scoffed.
"What is her problem? Was she always this weird?" someone asked.
"I've noticed she gets scolded a lot, but she never argues back," another added.
"Let's go—this gives me the creeps," Renai said, and they pushed past her.
Then, Professor Haeg approached, a ball balanced on his finger.
"Hello, students!" he called. "This is your activity. Guides must be physically fit in case of danger or separation from their Espers. So—catch!" He threw the ball hard into the forest. "Whoever gets it gets a week off!"
Students sprinted after it. Valencia groaned.
"You just want to see who has endurance for Physical Espers…" she muttered and picked her way through the underbrush.
She walked until she realized she'd gone too far. Turning, her vision blurred and her legs trembled. The forest was too quiet. She stepped back and snapped a twig underfoot. A growl answered. Her breath stopped.
Red eyes glowed from the bushes.
"W-Who's there?" she whispered.
Something crept out and roared, birds scattering. Students near the forest froze. They darted their heads around, their eyes searching through the words.
"What was that sound? A monster?"
Renai grabbed the ball and bolted back.
"Run!" she screamed. Everyone fled—except Valencia. She froze, falling back and staring at the creature.
Shade cut across her face. Purple flickered in her irises. The monster loomed, thick saliva dripping from its jaws. Valencia hyperventilated, crawling backward with her eyes shut.
"Control… focus…" she whispered.
The creature lunged. Valencia thrust her hands forward. "Now!"
A dark orb erupted behind the beast's tail and yanked it backward. It thrashed, desperate to strike, but the Void swallowed only it—precise, controlled, deadly. A consuming hole lingered in the air, pulsing with quiet menace.
She gasped and lowered trembling hands. Her eyes widened, yet she felt nothing.
Clenching her fists, she turned away. "No one… must know." She walked off, hiding before any adults could search the forest for the monster.
But where could a creature that shouldn't be on Academy grounds have come from?
The Void vanished, obedient and silent.
Someone stood by the edge of the cliff, turning their back and light pooling faintly at their feet.
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