Chapter 44: Purple Eyes

Via stared at the infected magic core and poured her mana into it.

The core, which had been completely still, immediately began to stir.

The simple channeling circle activated.

Runes lit up in sequence, guiding the ambient mana in the room into a steady, cycling flow.

As long as Via stayed inside the room and did not leave the circle, every wisp of mana would pass through her body.

That meant the abyssal aura leaking from the core would also circulate with the mana, touching her again and again without the slightest waste or leakage.

HUMMMMM—

The trembling core showed signs of going berserk.

It released a shockwave that shook the entire room.

Dark-purple mist poured out, racing along the channeling circle and passing through the spot where Via stood.

“Ugh…!”

A violent impact slammed into her spirit.

An icy chill drilled straight into her spine, almost freezing her blood.

Her stomach churned like stormy seas; her vision blurred and swayed.

Her body’s instincts screamed at her to flee the circle, to escape the abyssal aura.

“So it begins…”

Via clutched her forehead with both hands, her face twisting in pain.

Sweat soaked her white shirt, plastering it to her skin and revealing glimpses of the soft pink flesh beneath.

Crimson-black patterns crawled across her cheeks, pulsing with the fluctuations before spreading to the rest of her body.

The abyssal aura she had been completely accustomed to in her previous life was now dealing her tremendous damage.

THUD!

Via dropped to one knee.

She wanted to scream, wanted to run.

Terror gradually swallowed every other emotion.

She would go mad—she would definitely go mad.

A human body could not withstand the erosion of abyssal aura.

She would become a demonized being just like Emma.

Run away now.

If she gave up right this instant, she could still survive.

“Nngh… guh…”

Breathing became harder and harder.

She felt her soul splitting in two.

One half was panicking, desperate to flee.

The other half was spiraling out of control, ready to abandon all reason and unleash the madness she had suppressed for so long—turn into a beast.

Kill.

Kill!

The nobles who looked down on her, the emperor who wished she would vanish, the Holy Land that oppressed her, the academy that ostracized her…

Kill them all.

Drag everyone into the abyss of death!!

“Who… am I… really…?”

Via’s consciousness grew increasingly muddled.

Her body no longer felt like her own.

One moment she laughed, the next she cried.

Her forehead pressed against the cold floor.

In her daze, fragments of the past flickered before her eyes.

Because of a promise made in childhood, the young demonkin boy had believed the human girl’s words.

When they grew up, he tried to change the relationship between demonkin and humans.

He showed heart-moving sincerity, placed his trust in humanity, and walked unarmed into human territory.

The result… betrayal.

“I don’t want to be weak ever again…

Even if I die, I will never taste that powerless despair again…!”

Via threw her head back.

Both hands seized the infected core and stabbed it straight into her own palm.

The abyssal aura, like piranhas smelling blood, went into a frenzy and surged through the wound into her body.

“…”

Her endurance reached its absolute limit.

Via collapsed to the floor like a marionette with its strings cut.

The abyssal aura had already exceeded what a human body’s capacity to bear.

At this rate she might not even become a demonized being—she would simply die.

Her vision dimmed, then turned blood-red.

Blood poured from her eyes, nose, and ears, dripping onto the floor.

Even so, the pink-haired girl still refused to let go of the infected core, even if it meant dying in unimaginable agony.

Tap.

Footsteps echoed inside the room.

Via could no longer tell reality from hallucination.

In the blood-colored world, someone was slowly walking toward her.

Tap tap.

Tap tap tap.

The footsteps stopped beside her.

She used up the last of her strength to shift her eyes and glanced behind her.

A blurry humanoid figure was watching her.

The figure was shrouded in unstable darkness; the lines forming its body writhed without cease.

“This power does not suit you. Let it go.”

The figure spoke in the obscure tongue of the abyss.

“…”

Via only tightened her grip on the core even further, silently declaring her resolve.

“If you walk this path, you will die.”

The figure’s voice seemed to rise from the bottom of a distant, echoing valley—yet also rang directly inside Via’s mind.

She still showed no intention of releasing the core.

“It seems Sylvia lost the bet.”

The corner of the figure’s mouth split into a strange, eerie arc—almost a smile.

He raised a finger.

All the rampaging abyssal aura instantly grew still, the raging inferno turning into a silent ocean.

This mysterious existence had completely dominated the abyssal aura with a single gesture.

At the same time, a part of his face became slightly clearer, enough for Via to make out one feature.

Purple eyes.

“Daughter, since you insist… then accept my gift.”

The abyssal aura ceased its invasion of Via’s body.

As though receiving an imperial decree from their sovereign, every wisp knelt in submission.

…

…

“…Ah!!”

Via’s eyes snapped open.

Morning sunlight streamed through the window and fell across her body.

Still lying on the floor, she touched her teddy bear and felt her racing heartbeat.

She… hadn’t died?

“Meow meow.”

The familiar cat voice sounded.

The little yellow cat licked Via’s cheek.

That warm, wet touch convinced her she was still alive.

“Phew…”

Via let out a long breath and stretched her limbs, feeling as though she had survived a calamity.

She couldn’t tell whether what she had seen last night was a dream or a hallucination.

“Meow meow.”

The little yellow cat rubbed against her again.

“I’m not in the mood to play.”

Via gently pushed the cat away.

At the same time she found it strange—she had definitely set up a creature-repelling circle in the dormitory.

How had this cat slipped in again?

“Meow meow.” The little cat stuck to her once more.

“Quiet. I’m thinking.”

“Meow!”

The cat meowed once and walked off.

Via thought it would finally be quiet, but then she saw the little yellow cat return—this time carrying something in its mouth.

Before she could see what it was, the cat opened its jaws.

Something soft and squishy slapped against her face, releasing an absolutely revolting stench.

This is…?

A mouse!!

“Aaaahhh!!”

Via shot upright in terror and flung the dead mouse off her face.

“You evil cat!!!”