"Thank you so much, everyone! That's all for today's performance. See you again next time!"
Onstage, the breathtakingly beautiful girl smiled, drawing thunderous cheers from countless audience members.
"Whoooa! Miss Sylvia, I love you!"
"Sylvia! Sylvia!"
Amid the audience's cheers, the stage lights completely went out, and Sylvia disappeared into the darkness.
Yet the spectators didn't leave. Instead, they continued calling her name over and over.
Such was the influence of Sylvia, a world-class songstress. She had fans practically everywhere in the world.
As Queenvail Girls' Academy's Number One, not only did she possess peerless beauty, she also had a magnificent singing voice and abilities related to song. She was truly beautiful in both appearance and voice.
Even W&W, the foundation backing her, was actively promoting her. If she still couldn't become famous under those circumstances, it would practically defy the heavens!
That was why every one of Sylvia's concerts drew enormous crowds. Some people who couldn't get tickets would even rent helicopters just to watch from the sky. It was utterly outrageous.
Her fans had even more confidence in Sylvia than Sylvia herself did.
Across the entire world, the only person who could probably rival her in popularity was the Church of the Saintess.
And according to certain rumors, that Lady Saintess seemed to have quite a close relationship with Sylvia.
That made her concerts even more impossible to miss!
...
Inside the dressing room behind the stage, Sylvia, the star of tonight's concert, wasn't living the unimaginable life others might have expected.
She simply stared blankly at herself in the mirror, lost in thought.
"What's wrong, Sylvia?"
Suddenly, a woman's voice came from behind her, snapping Sylvia back to her senses.
"Petra..."
Only after seeing who had arrived did Sylvia realize that her manager had come to find her.
"You haven't been yourself lately, Sylvia."
There were no words of comfort. The iron-fisted manager immediately went straight to the problem the moment she opened her mouth.
"This is already the third concert, isn't it?"
"Your performances lately have declined noticeably. You've been covering it by interacting more with the audience, but that trick isn't enough to fool me."
As the chairwoman of Queenvail Girls' Academy, Petra had risen to her current position despite being an ordinary person. That alone spoke volumes about her ability.
She had also worked as a manager for more than ten years, and combined with how well she knew Sylvia, it was easy for her to notice something was wrong.
"People online have already started digging for things to criticize you over, though Benetnasch has been suppressing all of it."
"If you keep holding concerts in this condition, it won't be long before you make the headlines."
"Negative headlines, of course."
Only after saying all this did Petra's expression soften slightly. Her gaze was no longer as sharp as before.
"Did something happen? Or is it related to your teacher?"
"If you need to, you can talk to me about it."
As Queenvail Girls' Academy's greatest star, Sylvia generated an unimaginable amount of profit for the foundation every year.
Whether as her manager or as her friend, Petra didn't want anything to happen to Sylvia.
It wouldn't only affect the foundation. It would affect Petra herself as well.
"..."
After a brief silence, Sylvia finally raised her head, her face filled with worry.
"It has nothing to do with Professor Ursula."
A month ago, Elise had found Sylvia and brought her teacher back to her.
At the time, Sylvia had naturally been overjoyed.
She had a close friend.
Even her teacher, who had been missing for so long, had finally returned.
Both of those should have been incredibly happy things, so why had everything turned into this?
Even Sylvia herself didn't know. She only felt a strange sensation.
She couldn't describe exactly what it was, but if she had to identify its source, it undoubtedly came from her close friend—Elise!
Could something have happened to Elise?
The instant that thought appeared, Sylvia immediately rejected it.
Who was Elise?
The Church of the Saintess!
She was also the powerful Wordweaving Strega. There were only a handful of people who could defeat her.
Then why did Sylvia keep feeling this strange palpitation in her chest?
Sylvia pressed her palm against her chest. Her heartbeat had clearly accelerated, and that was definitely not a good sign.
"Could it be... Elise?"
Seeing Sylvia like this, Petra immediately thought of the Church of the Saintess.
Aside from Sylvia's teacher Ursula, only that Saintess could make Sylvia show an expression like this.
"According to the information we received from Benetnasch, there hasn't been any news about that Saintess over the past month. All we know is that she's remained at the Church headquarters and hasn't gone out."
"Perhaps she's recuperating from her injuries?"
It was perfectly reasonable for Petra to think that way. After all, the three of them had fought so brutally during the academy festival. Naturally, recovering would take time.
But Sylvia didn't believe that at all.
She knew Elise possessed miraculous power. Elise had dragged her out of the hospital completely healed the very next day.
Sylvia would be the first person to reject the idea that Elise was recuperating!
Elise had to be planning something. Sylvia simply didn't know what.
"Then what do you think it is?"
Seeing Sylvia's expression, Petra knew her own guess had been wrong and directly asked her.
But Sylvia's brows immediately furrowed.
She had already tried extremely hard to recall what happened back then, yet her memories remained hazy.
It felt as though something had been placed on her mind.
The moment that thought arose, Sylvia became vigilant. Could she have unknowingly been affected by some form of mental control?
"Sorry, Petra. Could you wait for a moment?"
A fluctuation of Prana spread from Sylvia's body. Petra understood what she meant and quietly stepped back several paces to watch.
A familiar song flowed from Sylvia's lips, and the Strega's ability manifested at that moment.
Through song, Sylvia could use virtually any ability other than healing. The more thoroughly she understood an ability, the more proficiently she could reproduce it.
Among those abilities, Elise's purification naturally ranked near the top.
Their relationship had always been special. In their daily interactions, Sylvia and Elise had also learned from one another.
As a result, Sylvia possessed a unique understanding of purification.
Not purification of physical abnormalities, but purification of abnormalities within the mind!
Threads of purifying light gradually appeared in midair. Sylvia didn't hesitate and directly poured that power into her own mind.
"Ugh..."
An unimaginable agony swept through her consciousness in an instant, and that pain made Sylvia realize the truth.
Someone really had used a mental interference ability on her!
Sylvia might not have been among the absolute strongest, but neither was she someone who could be manipulated at will.
There weren't many people capable of doing something like this without her noticing at all.
The most likely candidate was naturally her closest friend...
"Why... Ely?"
When the power of purification descended upon her, the first thing Sylvia felt was warmth.
She had learned this power entirely from Elise. Although the two of them were currently in different parts of the world, whenever Sylvia used it, she felt as though Elise were sitting beside her, sharing tea with her.
Yet beneath that warm light, Sylvia saw the shadow that had been hidden away!
Memories she hadn't known existed gradually surfaced within her mind. Even Sylvia herself found it unbelievable.
She still remembered that during the academy festival one month ago, Elise and Sylvia had been forced to fuse in order to oppose the overwhelmingly powerful Fan Xinglou, thus giving birth to the existence known as Elyvia.
From Sylvia's perspective, after the fusion, she had been completely unable to control the body. All she could do was "watch."
That alone hadn't seemed like much, because Sylvia had never known that after the two fused, not only their bodies but even their hearts and minds became connected.
But after Sylvia used purification, what she dug out from the depths of her own mind were precisely the memories from after that fusion...
At that moment, Sylvia's face was filled with bewilderment. The contents were simply too shocking.
The constant excitement rising from deep within while hurting others, the ability to coldly watch even miserable scenes unfold, the persona constantly maintained in front of everyone else, and much more.
These memories completely broadened Sylvia's horizons. She hadn't imagined someone like this could exist in the world.
But immediately afterward, she realized the real problem.
There was no way Sylvia herself could have thought those things. That meant these memories could only have come from Elise, who had fused with her at the time.
"But why? Why Elise?"
Even Sylvia herself could hardly believe it. She and Elise had been friends for so many years, yet she had never once seen Elise display anything resembling what was in those memories.
Unless... Elise had deceived her?
The more Sylvia thought about it, the more abnormalities she noticed.
They had spent so many years together and been friends for just as long, yet Sylvia's understanding of Elise was somehow limited entirely to trivial little details?
In other words, she truly knew almost nothing about the real Elise...
Sylvia clenched her fists, her expression becoming exceptionally dejected.
If she didn't figure all of this out, her terrible condition would probably continue for quite some time.
"Sorry, Petra."
"Could I take some time off soon?"
Perhaps even Sylvia herself hadn't realized that the importance Elise held in her heart had already far surpassed that of her teacher Ursula.
"Taking leave is fine, but your schedule is packed during this period. Seven days is the absolute most I can give you."
Seeing that Sylvia had identified the source of the problem, Petra immediately began making arrangements.
If Sylvia could resolve her issues sooner, the foundation would suffer fewer losses, and then neither of them would have to deal with pressure from above.
Originally, Petra could only have given her five days, but she forcibly managed to carve out seven.
"Seven days? That's enough."
"Thank you, Petra!"
Just as Petra understood Sylvia, Sylvia understood her equally well.
Although she appeared to be a cold and ruthless career woman on the surface, an indescribable gentleness was hidden deep inside her heart...
The excellent treatment enjoyed by Queenvail Girls' Academy's female students had a great deal to do with Petra.
"Forget the thanks. If you really want to thank me, hurry up and finish whatever you need to do, then come back and hold more concerts to make us some money!"
"That'll save me plenty of trouble!"
Petra waved a hand and left without looking back.
Obviously, even though she hadn't said anything, she had already gone to rearrange Sylvia's upcoming schedule, leaving Sylvia alone in the preparation room.
"I'll definitely resolve this as quickly as possible..."
Thus, the songstress made her decision.
...
Back at the Church.
"Lady Elise, who are they...?"
During this period, Lady Saintess had returned to the Church, and countless people were celebrating.
To ensure Lady Saintess' safety, Miss Mana once again took up her duties as a maid and personally attended to Elise.
What surprised her, however, was that several children were now following Lady Saintess around.
One white, one black, and one purple.
Are they children newly taken in by the Church? Mana couldn't help wondering.
Although the Asterisk War world appeared peaceful, wars still existed elsewhere in the world. Taking in a few orphans was hardly unusual.
In the past, Mana had often accompanied Elise to churches to care for children.
But this time, things seemed a little different.
Lady Elise appeared to care about these children a bit too much.
Seeing Mana's puzzled expression, Elise smiled and explained.
"They're all special. They're companions I personally chose!"
"Companions? Them?"
Surprise filled Mana's face. That answer was completely different from what she'd imagined—not even close.
But Elise's response immediately reminded Mana of something.
If they were companions she'd chosen, then surely they were going to do something together. And what had the students of Asterisk been preparing for lately?
The Festa, of course!
The Phoenix Festa was fought individually, the Phoenix Festa was fought in pairs, and only one Festa involved a multi-person team!
The five-member Gryps Festa!
"Are you planning to participate in the Gryps Festa, Lady Elise?"
After all, Elise had only recently won the Phoenix Festa.
According to the Festa Committee's regulations, a person could participate in only three Festas during their lifetime.
Anyone who won all three would inevitably leave their name in history.
Take Jie Long's Banyuu Tenra, for example. Why was that title so famous?
Because every previous generation of Banyuu Tenra had achieved the Triple Crown at the Festa.
That was why the title Banyuu Tenra had become so renowned throughout the world, even though all of those generations had actually been Fan Xinglou herself.
Aside from Fan Xinglou, the other Triple Crown winner was Helga Lindwall, captain of Stjarnagarm and the Chronotemis.
Why was this starting to sound more and more like a horse-racing anime?
Winning the Triple Crown required more than just strength. A certain amount of luck was necessary as well.
Although that sounded like an obvious statement, it was undeniably true.
Luck was something invisible and intangible. Its influence might seem minor in battle, yet the actual consequences could be unimaginable.
That was precisely why so few people throughout history had managed to win the Triple Crown at the Festa.
"Mhm. I want to fight alongside my companions too!"
Originally, Elise had planned to participate in the Phoenix Festa three times, but unfortunately, under the plan she had formed with the Golden Bough Alliance, there would never be a third Phoenix Festa!
So she could only choose between the Phoenix and Gryps Festas. In any case, Elise had brought quite a few people with her.
Elise, Est, Ren, Ophis... After that, she could simply add some random person to fill the final slot. When the time came, she would definitely harvest an enormous amount of Power of Faith from around the world, wouldn't she?
The only ones who would suffer were the competitors participating in that year's Gryps Festa...