Chapter 25: Wishing Upon the Stars

Presia, who had survived in the back alleys, had never formally learned magic.

The most she had done was recently accepting a teaching position at the academy, where, out of boredom, she taught herself by browsing through magic books in the library.

If she did have a teacher, perhaps it was the little stars shining brightly in the night sky.

And so, Presia simply wished, without following any established system of magic. Her talent was such that by simply wishing upon a star, she could invoke her own unique magic.

Any wizard who had witnessed her magic even once would never dare to imitate it—not only because they couldn’t, but because they wouldn’t try. Her magic showed no discernible system: no incantations, no magic circles, not even the orderly flow of mana.

She simply wished.

However, to others, what looked like chaos in Presia’s magic had its own order. Its own rules.

If one wanted to understand her order, they would have to match her talent.

Could anyone ever catch up to her?

Even as Valikan staggered to his feet, Presia only looked on in calm dignity.

And to Valikan, this silence from her was a greater insult than any spoken taunt.

“This little brat…”

True to his title of “Valikan the Arrogant,” he delighted in looking down on others. So he could never accept the sight of a mere youngster, barely over a decade old, looking down on him.

But while arrogant, he was by no means foolish. He acknowledged that the young girl before him had some unexpected advantage.

He assessed the damage to his body to see if he could continue fighting, gauged the direction of her attacks, and ensured the demonic barrier he had spread over the area was still intact.

Among all these calculations, the thought of fleeing was never an option for Valikan. That’s why he was called Valikan the Arrogant.

While Valikan proceeded cautiously, Presia simply extended her hand to the side.

In that instant, Valikan doubted his own eyes.

It seemed as if one of the little stars that had been hovering behind the wizard was now resting in her hand.

But it wasn’t an illusion. One of the countless stars in the sky had indeed settled in the girl’s palm.

Whether it was realistic or not didn’t matter. All that mattered was that Presia wished for it.

Presia clasped the starlight in both hands.

Flash.

A blindingly bright light flared, then quickly vanished.

As the light enveloped Presia, her bleeding forehead wound healed, and the bones broken from being thrown to the ground mended.

The light then surrounded the unconscious Elysia, restoring her shallow breathing and pale complexion back to normal.

Unlike before, when Presia had only performed basic first aid, Elysia was now fully healed, though she was still too drained to regain consciousness.

Presia hadn’t done this in hopes of Elysia joining the fight. She could handle the demon before her alone. She only wanted to relieve Elysia’s suffering as quickly as possible.

Watching Presia’s magic again up close, Valikan the Arrogant began to sense the oddity of the situation.

The choice of staying to uphold his pride or fleeing to fight another day finally settled in Valikan’s mind.

But Presia kindly decided to spare him the trouble of choosing.

“Well then, let’s finish this.”

With the girl’s words, countless starlights filling the night sky began to take shape.

They transformed into arrows of light. Each varied in brightness and size, but all the starlight in the sky had become arrows aimed at Valikan.

Whoosh!

The first arrow shot forward.

Valikan swung his hand to deflect it, but this arrow of light was unlike the previous ones.

The arrow did its job perfectly—not larger, not smaller, creating a hole precisely the size of an arrow in Valikan’s hand.

Normally, this kind of wound would be nothing, but—

*Swish, swish, swish!*

An endless barrage of arrows of light, as numerous as the stars in the night sky, rushed toward Valikan. There was no grand spectacle, just the sound of a faint breeze and the repetitive thud of holes being punched through him.

“Still alive, I see.”

After dozens, hundreds of arrows had rained down, Valikan’s condition was pitiful.

As he stood, resembling a porcupine, Presia approached him.

Valikan could only writhe like a worm; he could neither counter nor react.

“I need to take Elysia back soon, so let’s end this.”

Though Presia’s tone was almost merciful, the magic gathering at her fingertips was massive, fierce, and ruthless.

The power at her fingertips summoned the brightest star in the night sky.

“Divine Punishment.”

A punishment from the heavens.

Boom!

The brightest star from high above, like a massive meteor, crashed down on the helpless Valikan.

And after that, the demon once known as Valikan the Arrogant was no more.

“This way! You, report back, and the rest follow me!”

The thunderous explosion from the outskirts, near the slums, drew all the guards—from those standing at the main gate, patrolling nearby, or resting—to rush toward the area.

Though most of the guards couldn’t use magic and thus couldn’t fully grasp what had happened, the overwhelming sound was enough to suggest something serious.

As they advanced in formation toward the slums, they spotted two girls—one unconscious girl and a smaller girl holding her in her arms. The taller girl being carried in a “princess carry” by the smaller girl made for an odd, yet somehow fitting, picture.

“Stop right there!”

A guard at the front leveled his spear toward Presia, issuing a warning.

But Presia paid no mind to the guard’s warning. Her attention was entirely on Elysia.

Despite having already healed Elysia’s wounds and knowing she was no longer in danger, Presia continued to carry her carefully, almost like she was treating a patient.

“Hey, hey. Lower your spear. That’s the one who’s been restoring the barrier these past few days.”

Fortunately, some guards recognized Presia, and the guard’s spear was quickly lowered.

The senior guard stepped closer to Presia and spoke to her.

“Ma’am, could you tell us what happened here?”

Only when he spoke up close did Presia respond. However, though she acknowledged him, she had no intention of satisfying his request.

“Later, come find me at the academy.”

She passed the guards in front of her and the reinforcements being summoned behind them, with no intention of taking a detour, moving with light steps.

*Clop, clop*

It was as if she were climbing stairs, walking through the air.

Step by step, Presia walked through the night sky, carrying Elysia in her arms, heading beyond the castle walls, back to the academy.

Naturally, Pelches and the higher-ups at the academy were in an uproar.

There were several reasons for this.

The biggest reason was that an academy student had been injured, the second and third being that a hole had appeared in the barrier and demons had infiltrated through it, and the fourth was the overwhelming magical power felt from the crater in the slums.

Though each of these factors had different levels of importance, they were all undeniable causes of headaches for the upper echelons.

First, Elysia was admitted to the academy’s infirmary. Thanks to Presia’s magic, it was confirmed that there were no serious wounds, but since Elysia had not regained consciousness yet, she was forcibly hospitalized until she recovered her strength.

The hole in the barrier that demons had used to infiltrate was examined by the older professors of the Magic Department, who had been woken in the middle of the night. Though no suspicious traces were found, they decided to punish the previous person who had worked on the barrier restoration. However, a lingering discomfort remained.

Then there was the appearance of a mid-level demon, which Presia had defeated.

According to Presia’s testimony, the demon was a mid-level demon known by the moniker “Arrogance.” Unlike low-level demons, who were numerous and acted recklessly, mid-level and higher demons typically operated under some semblance of order, governed by the Demon King. Therefore, a mid-level demon targeting the academy meant that the Demon King’s forces had started to move seriously. It was not something to take lightly.

And Presia, who had defeated such a mid-level demon, had shocked the professors of the Magic Department. In truth, they hadn’t known the exact extent of her abilities or strength. They only knew that she had received a noble title from the Emperor.

Her magic was a bit unusual, but that was about it. They assumed that Presia, though young, must have some skill, but they thought she was mainly granted the noble title due to her potential, not realizing the true weight of the Emperor’s recognition.

The fact that she had completely wiped out the mid-level demon and left no trace, along with the remnants of magical power still lingering in the slums, was more than enough to make them realize their mistaken judgment.

While the higher-ups were struggling with these various matters, Elysia, who had been comfortably lying in the academy infirmary, woke up to feel troubled for another reason.