A misunderstanding.

That is, a failure to understand something correctly, and thus the forming of an incorrect conclusion.

A misconception.

That is, a conclusion that is incorrect, because the data that was used to form it was incorrect.

For example, “monsters are evil by definition”.

For example, “the elemental goddesses created the world”.

For example, “this world is just a normal fantasy world”.

For example, “one has to be born a god”.

For example, “Entropy was born a god”.

For example, “creating a world is a conscious action”.

For example, “the demon king’s goal is to take over the world”.

Though varied in scale, scope and significance, these were all splendid examples of incorrect statements.

Monsters were simply monsters. They had no particular ingrained moral compass—just like any other creature, though their actions could be labelled as “vile” or “just”, such words had no meaning in the true sense.

And the elemental goddesses were created after the world itself, to help manage certain aspects of it… was also incorrect.

After all, that phrasing implied an intention. A goal. A purpose.

They were created, but was there any proof they were created consciously?

After devouring Mephistopheles and, although momentarily, reaching out to “the space inbetween worlds”, the demon king had realised several things.

Who said creation was a conscious act?

Emanation cosmology.

“At the centre of reality lies an absolute principle, and all things flow forth from such”.

And with every “degree”, every “layer” of emanation, the resulting creation would be less pure, less godly, less divine.

In other words, the further away from the centre of the cosmos, the more unlike the central principal things became. And at the very centre of it all lie that very principle itself.

It was a school of thought that was popular amongst several occultist and esoteric interpretations of the world, but nevertheless, it never quite managed to gain the same kinds of fame that more well-known religions had…

But, well, in any case.

A hypothetical to end the age. The ultimate what-if. A situation beyond imagination.

What if that absolute principle was not something like a Godhead, or other such thing—

But simply, just, only, a desire?

“I want to know everything.”

“I won’t let anything get in my family’s way.”

“I want to be with my family forever.”

Or, perhaps—

“I want to be alone—”

***

The May-Porter Magical Academy, in many ways, resembled a castle of sorts.

High walls. Gorgeous architecture. A defensive function.

Sighing listlessly, Emily was draped over the side of a balcony…

Staring at the massive magical circle underneath the building.

When it had first appeared, she had, astonished, tried to figure out what secret lay behind its purpose, the way it functioned, or even how to practically create such a thing, but she’d quickly given up.

Far from ‘hard to pull off’, this was straight-up impossible to replicate.

The only way one could perform something of this scale was with an amount of mana that was likely more than currently existed in the world, or so she had concluded.

And indeed, she was right.

For summoning a god was hard… but summoning a God was much, much harder.

Both the demon king and his Goddess far surpassed the elemental goddesses in strength, and calling them forth in physical form was literally impossible no matter what one did… so any summoning rituals performed had to create a vessel on-the-spot.

Aye, it was impossible to call forth Entropy in the flesh. At most, what could be summoned was what she was currently parading around as her mortal body… if one were to compare her to a human, that would be akin to a white blood cell.

“Haaaa…”

Once more, Emily let a sigh leak from her mouth. Looking at a magic circle that was literally impossible to produce just caused depression, rather than curiosity.

Whether it be fortunate or unfortunate, before she had the chance to get even more depressed, a loud cracking sound, like a breaking pane of glass, resounded from the sky and caught her attention.

The sky had shattered.

And from beyond it poured forth pitch-black Obsidian, as well as a single girl.

Purple skin. A military uniform covered her body, hugging her curves. A golden-yellow stole hung from her shoulders. On her head sat two pairs of horns, a heart-tipped tail sprouted from her lower back, and on her upper back rested a pair of bat-like wings.

With a gaze like she was looking at a pile of dirt and trash, she stared down at the academy and happened to lock eyes with Emily.

Within seconds, Emily was on the floor, retching. She only barely managed to retain her lunch.

What was that?

What was that monster? That monstrosity? Unreasonable. Beyond unreasonable. That amount of mana, and the way it was arranged, that was something that wasn’t supposed to exist.

Seemingly having lost interest in Emily, the devil separated her eyes from her, gave the academy another cursory glance, and then opened her mouth to speak.

“I am the third Apostle of the Demon King, Gehenna Devil Lilith Bral’goch! As a representative of the Demon King, hallowed be His name, I hereby declare your deaths for the sake of this world!”

Ah, that explained it.

A Gehenna Devil. Which was to say, an embodiment of Gehenna.

Hell had descended in human form.

Only several seconds later did Emily realise that fighting this devil truly was hell.

A literal rain of spells.

So many of them that every spell was equivalent to a raindrop in a storm, the she-devil rained down hundreds, thousands of spells per second.

The academy, fortunately, was protected with a strong magical barrier produced by an ancient artifact…

But at this rate, that would not last half a minute.

She wasn’t chanting. She wasn’t even saying the spells’ names, or making any gestures.

She simply stood there, and the spells launched themselves. Fires to scorch the heavens. Water to drown the earth. Rocks to crush all life. Wind to rend the oceans. Light strong enough to burn everything and darkness to smother all that existed.

Already, cracks were starting to form in the barrier, and the academy hadn’t even mounted a counterattack yet.

“Kh… Everyone!”

Emily finally got off her ass and started running around, calling out to everyone she saw. Despite her young age, the people of the academy generally recognised her merits, which meant she commanded a fair bit of respect around here.

Under her guidance, every mage she stumbled across followed her outside, and they started launching spells of their own, in an attempt to drive off the devil…

The devil just gave them a funny look and swiped her hand, muttering something under her breath, and the spells they launched all but disappeared.

“Tch… Gather up!”

She realised that there was no way out of this situation, other than the very thing she had proposed to His Majesty earlier.

Pool all these mages’ mana together to form the ultimate spell.

Something so powerful it could end the world if she wanted it to, let alone defeat one singular she-devil.

“Apply mana cloaking… C’mon, guys, you can do this!”

It was hard, for sure. But when was the time to succeed at this if not now?

Align their wavelengths to each other, exactly, perfectly.

Not a single bit of deviation could be allowed.

Exactly the same…

A perfect match-up.

“Fuu…”

She took a deep breath, and started chanting.

Like always, the ‘words’ flowed naturally from her soul, as though embedded in her at birth.

Gather mana.

Force it to take the shape you need it to. Create the magic circle, overlay it with the incantation of the spell.

Picture the spell’s effects in your mind.

Complete obliteration. Until nothing is left.

At some point, the she-devil had stopped attacking, instead observing the goings-on with a slightly interested look.

Target, set. Lock-on, confirmed.

Launch the spell——!

“[All-Attribute Magic: Magical Maelstrom]—”

Ultimate, all-destroying nothingness, made up of all six attributes.

Nothing could survive this.

In response, the she-devil cleared her throat…

And, judging by the movements of her mouth, spoke the same words she’d muttered at the earlier barrage of spells.

But this time, out loud.

“By the authority of this world, thy spell is rejected.”

Poof.

Gone. Completely. Without a trace.

Emily locked up.

“Eh…?”

That simply. Without even the slightest hint of trouble.

Far from obliterate her, they hadn’t even managed to land a hit.

“But, well, that was pretty impressive, I must admit. I’ll be borrowing that.”

Recognition that hurt more than it felt good. What an ant would feel after inflicting a slight sting upon a lion.

A little emotion showed through on the devil’s face… She truly was impressed, it just so happened that she was operating under different rules. With that slightly, but genuinely impressed expression, the devil drew a short blade from her waist and opened her mouth.

“Ah, magic, how beautiful you are.

More than anyone, more than anything.”

Closing her eyes, she called out to the radiance of her own soul, praying to her Lord to fulfil her desire.

Her hall of the Obsidian-stained castle flowed forth from the blade’s metal, colouring the sky pitch-black.

“Yet that beauty is, in the truest meaning, a double-edged sword.

Where there are many who would admire you, there are just as many who would take you for their own selfish ends.”

She sang an ode to her beloved family, and cautioned them not to let their love be used against them. So that things like that would never happen again.

The sky creaked and screeched out in pain under the pressure.

“I have no wish to work, but for your sake, I shall endure.

Magic, I shall become your guardian, to protect you from the vile hands of those who would turn you against me.”

A vow to protect her family, no matter what. Never again would she be stolen from. She had lost one family, and that was more than enough.

Mana gathered around her, weighing her down, causing her to become slow and sluggish. She could hardly move.

“Come, now, o magic, and allow me to protect you!

Until the end of time, I won’t let anyone lay their hands on you!”

Forever and ever, she would protect them with all she had. If she did not have the power herself, she could just take it from elsewhere.

She beseeched Him to allow her craving to manifest.

“Amen.

As the Apostle of Destruction, I invoke—

Stigmata of Indulgence—

Manifest, my Craving -

Angra Mainyu—

Demon God of Want

Daeva Niyaz—

Record Replication!”

Ridiculously, absurdly, she waved her hand to the side. To protect her family, she would do anything.

Whether that meant managing the world’s souls in the system’s stead…

Or keeping an accurate, up-to-date base of every spell that had ever been used.

She raised a finger in the direction of the academy and opened her mouth—

“[All-Attribute Magic—”

Emily froze up. Did she hear that right—?!

“Anti-magic! Everyone, barriers, wards, whatever! Stop that attack!” she roared, but her voice was soon drowned out by innumerable chants from her side, as well as the mana, so dense as to be audible, on the opponent’s side.

Lilith, not bothering to chant, completed her spell—

“Block it, block it, block it—”

“—Magical Maelstrom].”

Too late.

The very same dense, absurd mass of mana the entire academy had earlier put all their forces together for to fire was now being bounced right back at them.

No, not just one.

“Magical Maelstrom, Magical Maelstrom, Magical Maelstrom, Magical Maelstrom…”

Muttering under her breath, the devil cast the spell again and again, without even pausing to chant.

The ability to perfectly reproduce any spell that had ever, ever been cast. All in order to protect her family.

The fourth point of the Hexagram was torn open by hundreds, if not thousands, of absurd spells.