Life as a teacher at Mahora Academy had slowly become accustomed. Aside from attending school and accompanying Evangeline, Yoshino spent her time wandering around the school. One day, when Yoshino ran to the underground of Library Island, she happened to see a radish-headed figure in stone armor chasing Negi and others. Knowing that he wouldn't harm Negi, she ignored them and went to the lowest level, where she saw the giant dragon guarding the place. However, the giant dragon didn't attack Yoshino; instead, it lay on the ground, glanced at Yoshino, and then continued to sleep.
Looking at the stone gate entwined by a large tree, Yoshino knew that Al, a member of the Red Wings, was recovering from his injuries behind this stone gate. Although she really wanted to see this cunning fellow and help him heal his wounds, she felt that now was not the time to see Al. She didn't want to disrupt the carefully planned and maintained plan because of her.
Then, one day, a determined Yoshino finally found Evangeline in the magic villa within Evangeline's villa and told her her current thoughts, which startled her.
"Magic of Darkness? How do you know about that? Ah, no, that's not right. As the ace of my Dark Gospel, it's natural for you to know. But your strength is already considered the strongest in the Magical World, so why do you still want to learn that kind of magic?" Evangeline frowned deeply. Evangeline knew best how terrifying the Magic of Darkness was. After all, that was something she had developed herself. Although it was no big deal to her, that was only under the premise that she was a true ancestor.
"It's not enough! I'm still not strong enough, Kitty. Sixteen years ago, I originally planned to stop the 'Ritual to Return the World to Nothingness' alone, but I encountered the Origin Mage, who defeated me. My attacks had no effect on him at all, but her attacks could hit my elementalized body, putting me in a near-death state. If it weren't for the power of Dalet, I would probably have died then. So I need stronger power to protect the people important to me," Yoshino said with a serious expression. At present, this was the only way to quickly improve her strength.
"It seems you intend to take a shortcut. However, such a path naturally comes with risks, and the side effects of Magic of Darkness, along with its difficulty to learn, are significant. This is a dark power, yet you are the most peculiar existence, Yoshino." Evangeline took out Yoshino's contract card, looked at the Guardian Angel and the demon on it, and said, "What is darkness? Light relative to shadow! Day relative to night! Right and wrong! Good and evil! Order and chaos! Rational and irrational! This is the darkness I know. There are shadows even under lamplight, and evil always exists around us. But within you, both dark and light powers coexist. Two forces that should be incompatible somehow exist peacefully within you. Your very existence is an anomaly."
Evangeline looked at Yoshino with a complex expression. From the moment she became a Vampire, she began to curse the gods. She should have felt disgust towards the light within Yoshino, but the dark power within Yoshino gave her a sense of familiarity. According to her experience, if there is dark power within, most of the light power should be devoured. Even if not devoured, these two extreme forces should clash violently, ultimately leading to a fierce explosion of both energies within Yoshino.
"The darkness you're referring to must be me, little girl? I am the evil within Yoshino: Astaroth, symbolizing creation, maintenance, and destruction." Just as Evangeline was about to say something else, a phantom of Astaroth appeared beside Yoshino, smiling at Evangeline. "It seems your understanding of darkness is quite profound. As expected of a Vampire hunted by humans for hundreds of years. You have a very delicious evil about you. If it weren't for your contract with MASTER, I would truly want to absorb it. You…"
"What evil scheme are you plotting again, Astaroth? Are you trying to restore your power by acquiring the evil from others? I won't allow that." Just as Astaroth was about to say more, a white phantom appeared beside her, reaching out and grabbing her small face, rendering her completely speechless. Then, she turned to the stunned Evangeline and said, "You are the Vampire who signed a contract with the guardian, aren't you? Hmm~ Although the evil within you is deep, there is still good in your heart. You are not entirely a bad person, so it's acceptable for you to be with the guardian."
"Uh… who are you?" Evangeline frowned, a feeling of disgust rising in her heart at the appearance of this person. This feeling was similar to the power used by bishop-level figures when she was hunted by the Church. "Although it's a bit impolite to say, there's a power on you that I find repulsive."
"Repulsive power? It must be related to my identity. I am the guardian's Guardian Angel, Zadkiel, and the power within me represents light. This must be why you feel disgusted," Zadkiel said calmly. "I know that the guardian wants to learn Magic of Darkness. Since it's the guardian's decision, no amount of persuasion from me will be useful. You don't need to worry about the guardian's soul being devoured by darkness, because this fellow controls all the darkness within the guardian, which is all the evil. If she intends to do anything superfluous to the guardian, I will use every method I have to make her understand what despair is!"
After speaking, amidst the demon's painful (enjoyable) moans, the Angel began her daily disciplining of the demon. Evangeline, watching the show from the side, showed a complex expression, while Yoshino gave a wry smile. Why were these two still engaging in such a cheerful (?) greeting at a time like this?
"Their roles are reversed, aren't they? Why do I feel like the Angel is more like the demon?" Chachare tilted her head and asked in confusion, "It looks like she's already been completely disciplined."
"Indeed. After all, too many of her weaknesses are held by the other party. Even if she has grievances, she can't express them. Over time, she gets used to the other party's violence, and gradually develops this masochistic personality. The superior-subordinate relationship is thus formed," Yoshinon said, looking at the joyful (?) scene between the Angel and the demon. The demon wasn't like this originally; who knows what happened to her?
"What a useless demon. Didn't she claim to be a demon symbolizing destruction? Is it really okay for her to be suppressed by the Angel like this?" Chachare asked somewhat confused.
"You'll get used to it. I've seen this scene many times. Beating is affection, scolding is love, and if love isn't enough, kick them. From this saying, you can see that the Angel's love for the demon is very deep! Otherwise, she wouldn't do such things, right? Listen, isn't the demon's current sound very cheerful?" Yoshinon said, suppressing her laughter.
"Yes, it's truly joyful. It seems demons and angels can also get along very happily together."
Yoshino and Evangeline watched these two unreliable individuals with cold sweat. Yoshino was already used to it, but Evangeline felt a headache. Normally, one Chachare was enough to give her a headache, and now there was an additional Yoshinon. The combined power of these two was not as simple as one plus one equals two!
"Forget it! Since there's already a guarantee, let's give it a try. Darkness is not such a simple thing; I need you to experience it properly first. This is a test before learning Magic of Darkness." With that, she extended her right hand and placed it on Yoshino's head, grabbing it. Her eyes turned black with white pupils, looking a bit terrifying. "Emissary, overcome this thing. If you can't endure it, you're finished!" After saying that, a large amount of black lightning appeared in her hand, directly striking Yoshino's brain.
"Ah ah ah ah ah!!!!!" The intense pain made Yoshino feel as if countless needles were pricking her brain, causing her to let out a painful scream. Under everyone's worried gazes, she rolled her eyes and fainted. A strange flush appeared on her face, her right hand clutched her chest, and her breathing became rapid.
"What's going on? This is a bit different from what I imagined." Evangeline looked at her right hand with a solemn expression. Why didn't her consciousness get sent through?
"What's wrong? Did something unusual happen, Master?" Chachare, who was watching the annual drama, asked with some confusion when she saw Evangeline's solemn expression.
"According to the usual process, I should have placed my degraded replica, an artificial spirit, into Yoshino's body as a test for her to learn Magic of Darkness. But a surge of energy suddenly appeared in Yoshino, pushing my consciousness out, preventing the consciousness I sent from entering Yoshino's body." Evangeline, refusing to believe it, placed her hand on Yoshino's head, intending to send her consciousness into Yoshino's body again, when a strong force pushed Evangeline away. This force even caused injuries to Evangeline's hand, bleeding profusely for a moment.
"It still failed. It seems there's some hidden presence within Yoshino that's rejecting my entry! Hey! You two! When you were inside Yoshino, did you ever sense any other presence besides yourselves?" Evangeline shouted at the two still bickering. After hearing Evangeline's words, the two came to Yoshino's front, frowning as they looked at Yoshino lying on the ground.
"Strange… something seems off." Astaroth squatted down, observing Yoshino's condition, then frowned and stood up. "I can't control all the evil within MASTER's body right now. Something is currently contending for my control over the evil within MASTER."
"What do we do now? Should we forcibly wake the guardian?" Zadkiel said with some hesitation.
"No! Although my consciousness didn't enter, the Magic of Darkness test is still ongoing. Forcibly waking her up might lead to unforeseen accidents! It might even cause Yoshino to never be able to use magic, and it's even more likely she might never wake up." Evangeline stopped them. No one was more familiar with the seriousness of this ritual than she was. Forcibly waking Yoshino now would definitely lead to irreversible consequences.
Meanwhile, in Yoshino's consciousness space, Yoshino opened her eyes and found herself in complete darkness. She looked around, confused, not understanding why she was in this place. "Where is this?"
At the same time, a very familiar voice came from the dark environment.
"I didn't expect us to meet again…"
Yoshino reflexively turned around, wanting to see who was speaking, but the person she saw made her eyes widen!
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