Hold on, Alto!
I cannot let you pass.
You will engage with me for the time being.
How very annoying.
Vermeil!
Incredible, truly incredible!
THIS is what all my research was for!
Black or white? Tangled up, they turn gray
Everything always seems so ambiguous
I walk by your side as you smile, helpless
Admiration clear as day
Shining out across the endless distance
Cast a spell on this pitiful situation with an Abracada-Boo
There's a loneliness hidden beneath the darkness in your eyes
I wish I could embrace it with a gentle song
Even the whole world starts to shout it's all a lie,
As long as you are as you are
I'll sweep through with a glimmering wind and scream out the truth
Even if the whole world yells out that it's a sin,
Even if I'm all on my own
I want to keep learning to understand you
I'm on your side, I'll protect you
WISH
Vermeil...
Wh-what is that?
Professor!
Professor Obsidian! What's going on?
Oh, excellent timing!
P-Professor...?
Come, look at this. Isn't is absolutely incredible?
Behold!
She's kneeling before me! A demon of her power!
Professor, what is going on?
Hm? What? You still haven't pieced it together?
And here I thought you were a brilliant student.
This was no easy task.
I had to establish a magical means of causing madness,
but condensing it into a liquid form
was back-breaking labor.
It was custom-made, after all.
Injecting it causes their powers to run amok.
And it works on true demons, as you can see.
Finding the right guinea pigs to test it was difficult.
I had to use five in total.
But they served their purpose well.
Now, my research has led me to this incredible success!
Wh-what does all of that mean?
You still don't understand?
I'm the man behind everything, Alto Goldfield.
Everything...?
That's right. EVERYTHING.
Behold, the greatest calamity known to man!
Who wouldn't want it in the palm of their hand?!
Yes! Even YOU are struck with awe and wonder!
But fret not! You will find I am a far more
suitable master for her than you ever were!
VERMEIL, NO!
Alto?
I felt as if I were adrift in deep water.
Dark, cold, nothingness...
Though it was something I so desired...
Yes, that's right...
I...
She's growing even more vicious...
This can't be!
You can't.
Vermeil.
Alto...
Why?
Why? I don't know...
I moved without really thinking.
Besides...
...I'm...
...your master, Vermeil.
Alto, I... I...
It's all right.
I'm right here. Everything is all right.
Alto?
No... Is he dead?
I've got him.
Alto...
I won't let you die.
You're the one person I'll never let go.
Golden mana...
It can't be!
Even death is no match for them...
Is that what a real demon can do?
A real demon... A real demon... A real demon!
A real demon, a real one...
What the hell?! Why did this happen?!
Damn it! Damn it! Damn it all to Hell!
Wh-what's that?
I won't be fooled!
"Real" demons don't mean shit!
Don't take me for a fool!
I'd steeled myself for this long before!
Behold! This is my creation, the demon hybrid!
The ultimate demon,
fed upon hundreds of low-level demons!
And with your rampage ended, I can crush you easily!
This is my research!
Feast your eyes upon me, plebians!
This is my true power!
I'd planned on keeping you as my pet, but no more!
I'll slice you, crush you, and assimilate you into my being!
Huh?
N-no! How?! With one strike?!
Damn it! Damn it all to Hell!
Damn it! Damn everything!
Damn it all!
I'll make my escape into the sky!
What?!
N-no!
D-don't kill me!
I won't kill you.
Not after Alto saved your precious life.
Huh? I...
Alto!
L-Lilia?!
You're alive, you're alive!
I thought you'd never wake up again!
Please, calm down, Lilia...
The wound's healed up...
Vermeil?
One day, we'll meet again.
There you are.
How are your injuries?
Oh! I was shocked, they're mostly fine.
Even the doctor was stunned.
I see.
Good, then.
Um... Vermeil, when I-
I pierced your heart with my attack.
You were dead.
S-so you healed me, Vermeil?
Not quite.
Your heart only beats because my mana
has been knit together as one with you.
I'm sorry.
Huh?
Why are you apologizing, Vermeil?
I don't care how you did it, you saved my life!
And my momentary death wasn't your fault!
Look, I'm walking around, right as rain!
You're not.
Huh?
You are, but you aren't.
The heart beating in your chest is my heart.
The heart of a true demon.
This means if I die, you die, too.
H-hold on, does that mean-
Yes. If you die, then I die, too.
Why did you do that?!
I mean, you're a demon, Vermeil!
You should live forever! Centuries, millennia!
And I'll die like every other human...
I'm sorry.
That was all Vermeil had to say.
I heard the student council president
fought against a co-conspirator,
but we haven't any clues about them...
Professor Obsidian was hauled away
by the Ortigia City Guard.
Though many mysteries still hung in the air,
the incident was, for the moment, resolved.
Ow!
Dammit, what the hell's going on...?
The students in comas all woke up and were feeling fine.
Alto, it's time.
Oh, I didn't realize it was this late.
A few things have changed since then.
Now my heart needs Vermeil's mana to function.
How are you feeling? Anything feel off?
Oh, no, I feel fine.
And Vermeil stopped talking to me.
Hey, Vermeil!
Hm? What is it? Is there something
you wish to tell me after all?
Why are you acting so cold?!
"Why?" You know why.
I'm a monster they call a scourge, a living disaster.
I shouldn't be around a being like you.
Are you not afraid of me?
You saw how terrifying my true form is.
I'm an ugly, vile monster.
Th-th-that's not true!
Don't worry, I'll accept responsibility
for turning you into this.
I'll return the mana you give me
into demon mana to feed your heart.
It may take decades for the heart to properly take hold,
but once it does, my role in your life will be over.
Huh?
Did you not just hear me? I shouldn't be around you.
I'll go hide away in another book.
That'll be better for you, too.
Vermeil...
...you're making me angry.
You don't get it, do you?
We can't live this "normal" life together anymore!
Wh-what are you doing?!
He didn't take any mana...
Why would I...?
Why would I be scared of you?!
But I...
No "ifs," "ands," or "buts" about it!
You are my familiar, Vermeil!
I need you by my side, now and always!
V-very well.
S-So you get it, then!
A-anyway, I think you should only
k-kiss someone you're in love with!
Does it get easier with time for the immortal?
If I was born normal, if I become normal, can I stay close?
With the children, we link our arms
Make a circle and sing a song
Knowing there was no chair for me all along
You locked me into the dark, I'm your preserved flower
The world is too slow to understand
Not all blossoms spark, And spikes may be sharp
They only want to see the beautiful parts
Sitting in a shower of scarlet rain
It all used to be ours, I'm counting the hours
Hours that stood between us like a river
Once I crawled through the water
All I ever knew have become distant past