Kefi pressed her palm against the cool door panel, sensing the abnormal silence beyond it and the faint, chaotic Magic Power Wave, her unease growing bit by bit.
‘Is Teacher okay? Would a normal magic crest flare-up leave her without even the strength to answer?’
‘And I’ve never seen Teacher’s mana so chaotic and weak. Teacher seems really strange today.’
‘Could she… have run into some other trouble? A more serious kind?’
For a moment, worry outweighed hesitation. Kefi pressed her lips together, then a flicker of resolve passed through her pale blue eyes, and she gently pressed down the door handle.
Fortunately, the door was not locked from the inside. “Teacher, I’m coming in?”
Kefi pushed the door open while tentatively asking, trying to give the possibly unwell teacher a buffer.
However, just as the door handle turned—
Inside the room, Sefina, who was concentrating all her focus on fighting the magic crest for the last trace of mana, felt her mind jolt violently from the sudden outside disturbance!
Her control, already stretched to its limit, collapsed completely with a pop, like a balloon pierced by a fine needle.
In an instant, the last of the mana inside her lost all restraint and surged violently toward the magic crest on her lower abdomen!
“Nn—!” Sefina let out a short, almost pained breath. ‘This is bad… I’m in trouble…’
The dark purple Rune blazed brightly at that moment, though only for an instant, but the pattern on it completed its final and most crucial few strokes of connection and deepening, fully taking shape.
Now, the magic crest on Sefina’s lower abdomen matched the second stage demonic pattern depicted in the ancient records exactly.
‘It’s over! I’m going to die…’
Sefina’s suspended heart did not settle; it sank completely into the abyss.
She could clearly “feel” that some boundary had been crossed, that some worse “rule” had begun taking effect inside her…
Almost at the very moment Kefi carefully stepped into the room carrying that cup of hot cocoa.
An unprecedented heat and itchiness exploded from deep in Sefina’s lower abdomen, instantly sweeping through her entire body.
“Nngh—!!!”
Sefina couldn’t help but curl her body, letting out an even more pained and unbearable muffled groan.
The sensation was too intense, so intense that she couldn’t maintain her sitting position and began curling up and writhing on the bed, her fingers desperately clutching the bedsheet beneath her.
Kefi was stunned by the scene before her.
Teacher was curled on the bed with her clothes disheveled, her cheeks flushed deep red, her body trembling slightly, and broken sobs spilling from her mouth.
This was completely different from the state Teacher was in when “resolving the magic crest” as Kefi knew it; it looked more like she was enduring some severe torment.
“Teacher! What’s wrong? Are you hurt? Is it mana backlash?”
Kefi hurriedly set the cup on the nearby cabinet, urgently approached the bedside, and reached out to check Sefina’s condition, her pale blue eyes filled with alarm.
“Get out!”
Just as Kefi’s fingers were about to touch Sefina’s shoulder, a hoarse low growl came from between Sefina’s clenched teeth.
It was the last wall of her remaining reason, the desperate cry of shame before an overwhelming instinct.
Kefi’s hand froze in midair, and she was completely stunned.
She looked at Teacher Sefina’s wine-red eyes, filled with confusion and shame, and at her face, so red it looked almost ready to bleed…
In a flash, some clues connected, and Kefi’s fair cheeks also flushed red with a whoosh; she seemed to understand.
‘Maybe… it’s still the magic crest’s problem, but perhaps a more serious state.’
“S-sorry! Teacher, I’ll leave right now!”
Kefi apologized hastily and turned to flee this awkward and anxiety-inducing scene.
However, before she could even take a step—
“No… come back, come back and help me…”
A murmur thick with violent trembling and heavy nasal tones came from behind her. The struggle and fragility in that voice hardly sounded like something Teacher Sefina would make.
Kefi stopped abruptly and looked back in shock and uncertainty. ‘Teacher is… telling me to come back?!’
Sefina on the bed seemed to be going through an extremely painful inner tug-of-war.
With one arm she tightly hugged her trembling body, her nails almost digging into the flesh of her arm; yet at the same time, she couldn’t control herself from casting a longing gaze toward Kefi, her wine-red eyes brimming with tears, reason and instinct locked in fierce battle.
“No no no no! Get out!!! Go away!!!!”
The next second, Sefina seemed frightened by her own “plea for help” and drove her away even more frantically, her voice straining, even burying her face in the pillow and curling up tighter, as if trying to hide herself.
Kefi was utterly bewildered, standing frozen in place, unable to advance or retreat. ‘What on earth is wrong with Teacher? She looks like she’s in terrible pain, yet she’s so contradictory…’
However, the effects of the second stage demonic pattern far exceeded Sefina’s own expectations, and were far beyond what her current chaotic and fragile will could resist.
That fully ignited craving, like a wildfire, quickly consumed the last tottering defenses of her reason.
Under Kefi’s helpless gaze, Sefina suddenly stopped her violent struggle and contradictory cries.
As if she had used up all her strength, or as if she were completely dominated by some instinct, she slowly and somewhat clumsily got up from the bed.
Then, Sefina did not walk toward Kefi. Instead, like a puppy seeking support and comfort, she inched to the edge of the bed, reached out, and hugged Kefi’s thigh as Kefi stood beside the bed.
Her soft cheek pressed against Kefi’s thigh, the burning heat seeping through the fabric.
Sefina lifted her head, her wine-red eyes completely clouded with moisture, looking straight up at Kefi, filled with helplessness and craving.
In a tearful tone, Sefina murmured her final plea:
“Please… help me…”
***
Time came to midnight.
The embers in the fireplace had long since gone out; only cold moonlight filtered through the gap in the curtains, casting a few blurry streaks of light on the floor.
Sefina slowly opened her eyes.
Her wine-red pupils were unfocused at first, blinking blankly at the dim ceiling.
Then, memory crashed back into her mind like reefs exposed after the tide receded.
The magic crest transformation… Kefi bursting in… her own uncontrollable craving… the shameful sight of herself clinging to Kefi’s leg…
And what happened after that, those even more unbearable chaotic scenes…
At this moment, all the blood seemed to rush to Sefina’s head in an instant, then drain away completely the next second, leaving behind cold numbness and overwhelming shame.
Sefina abruptly sat up in bed, both hands pressed tightly over her face, her slender fingers buried deep in her hair.
‘I… what have I done aaaaaah!’