Like dripping black into white paint. Although it was theoretically possible to unmix it a little, the pure white hue could never return.
That was the theory behind how I designed Evelyn's corruption. Because of her
Later in the story, Demonification became more prevalent.
I made a point of showing how it could give people extraordinary power for a price, and used it as a way to set up enemies for Roland to take down. There was even a heel-face moment for a certain someone who used a Demon Gem to embrace the Demon God's power.
But their situation was different from Evelyn's. Unlike them, Evelyn naturally absorbed and assimilated all sorts of energies she encountered. Ordinarily, this was an incredible blessing. It gave her perfect affinities for every magical element, and allowed her to synergize and combine affinities as needed.
However... a human was just a human. I made that divide clear. Barring incredible circumstances, an individual couldn't overcome the will of the divine.
And the Demon God, although a terrible god of darkness, chaos, and destruction... He was still a full fledged divine being.
Evelyn had no chance. It was a dead end. One that I perfectly crafted for the optimal tragedy and emotional impact on the reader. And thinking that, I remembered a line I wrote for Roland after he awakened to Durandal...
'...No. Even if I had this back then, I couldn't save her, Marisa. Durandal cuts and separates. But... the princess. Evelyn had already become one with that power. She... was never able to be saved...'
I grit my teeth.
"What's wrong, Alex?" Evelyn's soft voice echoed as she gently tugged my sleeve to look at her. "Are you okay?"
I stared into her warm gaze and took a deep breath. Then I put on a forced smile and said, "It's nothing, Eve. Promise."
Yes, nothing.
Because I had to make sure it was nothing. Somehow, someway...
===
By the time the bus took us all back to Starlight Academy, it was already well into the night.
I gave a quick farewell to everyone and then headed to my room. And the moment I locked the door behind me, I pulled out a notebook and pen. Laying it down on my desk, I sat down and pulled out my phone too.
Things were going to spiral from this point out.
And to prepare for that, I had to organize everything, as well as plan for the future.
Although the System was down, the information was still accessible using my phone. At least, the information before the last update after the mid-term exam.
But forget that. I had to focus.
First off... general capability analysis.
From the last few messages in the log, it seemed that I was a Rank 3 Mage and Warrior now. Considering I'd gone from a Rank 1 to a Rank 2, then nothing and all the way back to a Rank 3... it was outrageous progress.
Then again,
The Talent that I gained was one that no normal person would ever be able to acquire, so it was to be expected. But... it still wasn't enough.
Barely halfway through the first semester and Rank 5+ enemies were popping out of the woodwork like ants. Unfortunately, although as numerous as ants, they were far from as easy to take down.
But somehow, I had to deal with them.
It had been going fine for now.
I was managing to pull through with some careful thinking and trump cards. But sooner or later, I'd be forced to pull something out that shouldn't be used in order to settle my fights.
Sure, the protagonist could punch a few ranks above their level in stories.
But I wasn't a protagonist. Unlike Roland... at least, the Roland I wrote in 3D-ED, I didn't have plot armor to rely on. And any asspulls I used turned into double-edged swords the moment I used them.
Again, that was the problem with having competent enemies in a story. Especially those who had superhuman intellect and/or hax reverse engineering abilities.
I might be smart and above average intelligence. And I might know information that didn't exist in this world. But sooner or later, the leverage I had would be smoothed out.
There was only so many shenanigans a Rank 3 Mage/Warrior hybrid could pull off before the bad guys decided to just flip the table over and send out a crazy Rank 8 or above and go scorched earth.
No. It wasn't good for me to stay this weak. So I needed to quickly find a means to 'justify' rapid rank-ups. And do so in a way that the enemy attributed it to 'luck' instead of actual skill or talent.
But there was a time limit. 3D-ED was called that for a reason. There were three disasters and an ending.
Since the mid-term exam had just happened, we were about a quarter through the first arc. There were a few more things that were supposed to happen before the Winter Solstice Ball, but either way this arc was still on course to end with Evelyn's demonification and subsequent death.
...And in real life time, that equated to about two months until Evelyn's death.
Unless I stopped to. And god I wanted to.
Evelyn...
After spending time with her and seeing how starved for affection she was, I couldn't help but feel that I'd been cruel and callous.
Evelyn was written to be a lonely and talented girl striving to do her best in a world with all the odds against her. She had been drowning under expectations and yet managed to have a faint ray of hope in meeting Roland.
And then I killed her. Even if not by my hands, I had intended for her death and wrote the events leading up to her demise in vivid detail. And I'd been so clever about it that it was impossible to save her.
There was no reversing her demonification. There was no removing the Demon God energy already coursing through her veins. And there was no way to let her control that power for herself.
I had gone out of my way to pin that nail in her coffin again and again. At first, to show how desperate the situation was. But later to make sure that the ship between Roland and Marisa sailed.
And this was the aftermath.
I ran my hand through my hair and stared at the blank notebook in front of me. "Goddammit..."
A double-edged sword.
Everything I knew about this world was a double-edged sword. And what I had once praised myself on for being so through and complete was now biting me in my ass.
As if the cogs of fate themselves were mocking me, the neatly fitted webs of intrigue and subplots happening in the background were slowly wrapping around like a noose.
"Dammit." How did I fix this? How did I save her? How did I find a loophole in a story I worked again and again to iron out?
Too much.
There was too much to focus on right now. So I took a deep breath and started writing. Like I did when I was writing 3D-ED, I put my thoughts to paper to sort out the plot. "Evelyn's descent into a demon and her death. The Empire's Fall. The Demon God's descent. His defeat... and then the ending."
Those were the four anchor points in the story. The main 'beats' that Rob had been talking about and what this world revolved around. But not because of some esoteric cosmic force of 'Fate.' Instead, it was because of overlapping mortal intrigue and motivations. Events that had been set in stone long before the story began.
As much as I wished I could pull a generic overpowered isekai protagonist move and flip the table over... that wouldn't help in this case.
Actions had consequences. Like the real world, this world was designed to reflect that fundamental truth.
I wrote this story to show that happy endings could occur. But not without a price. And yet... and yet...!