The devastating impact of Yuna’s words left me slumped in a wheelchair like a withered radish. The wounds on my heart ran deep.Yuna, who had been nervously fidgeting as she watched my pathetic state, hesitated before lowering her hand from her mouth and murmuring,
“⋯⋯I don’t like you!”
“Kuaaaaack!!”
She fired another death beam from her mouth. Realizing what she had said, Yuna quickly clasped her mouth shut, but the damage was already done. I writhed in agony.
Yet, having taken the first blow, the second was slightly easier to endure. After all, the word “no” could also be interpreted as “like” due to phonetic rules, right?
“That’s pure escapism Mr. Mima. Anyway, what happened to the Tower Master?”
“I hate⋯⋯ hap.”
Observing Yuna and her uncontrollable barrage of no-missiles, I began forming a theory. I had a few guesses.
“Well, that is⋯⋯ Pink-Haired Lesbian, how does the Tower Master appear to you?”
“She looks like she’s a bit mentally ill.”“No, I mean physically.”
“Cute and lovel⋯⋯ she’s cute.”
Pink-Haired Lesbian seemed to miss the point of my question, so I decided to be more direct.
“How big is the Tower Master’s chest?”
“Probably around a B?”
“That’s the thing. She doesn’t always appear that way to me. Should I say it goes back and forth?”
“Huh?”
Her appearance was inconsistent. Sometimes it was larger, other times more petite—a strange, overlapping state in short.
If you asked the senior and junior members of the Purple Magic Tower about Yuna, you’d get wildly different statements. Some described her as small, others as big, some saw her as big and small, and some as an ice cold beauty⋯⋯.
This might seem entirely contradictory, but a defining trait was how her appearance shifted based on the observer’s desire. People with a preference for larger chests tended to see her as more voluptuous.
Another characteristic was that individuals skilled at or highly resistant to illusion magic could perceive her more accurately.
Perhaps this was due to the effects of her Sublimation⋯⋯.
The cute version of the Tower Master that Pink-Haired Lesbian perceived appeared to be Yuna’s normal form. It was a form closer to Yuna’s true essence. It looked like this was because of Yuri’s resistance to illusion magic which was enhanced because of her Metamorphosis.
As for me, with my extreme talent and resistance, how did Yuna appear? Quantumly.
If I focused and kept my eyes open with the intention of inspecting every aspect of her, I saw her in a blend—60% cute and 40% full-figured⋯⋯ it was a kind of overlapped state. In everyday situations, the cute form became more dominant and in battle, the full-figured version emerged more prominently.
Despite these fluctuations, Yuna was still Yuna, so I didn’t take it too seriously. Even if her body proportions changed, her mannerisms, personality, and way of speaking were always consistent.
I thought it was similar to how I occasionally played around with TS mode, but it seemed her case was somewhat different.
“Nyo⋯⋯!”
Each time another no-missile was launched, her overlapping image shifted, and the full-figured percentage went up to 95% before dropping back down.
It seemed as if an alternate side of Yuna—one I had always regarded as part of the same person—was asserting itself with such intensity that it overwhelmed her usual self.
Why was this happening?
I didn’t know. Only Yuna herself could truly answer that. In the past, I might have ignored such a mystery, but now, as a wizard committed to confronting every truth…
I was going to desperately beg her. To prove to her that I was ready to face Yuna’s past and wounds, to allow me to reach her wounds. However, in her current state, this task seemed quite difficult.
“Should we eat mutton today?”
“N⋯⋯ no!”
“With me?”
“Ye⋯⋯ No!”
This relentless no-machine was derailing every conversation. I had to stop the overflow first. Even a day more of this, and my soul would be irreparably scarred. I hated this no.
When you can’t find where the bug came from, sometimes you have to resort to good old-fashioned trial and error.
I decided to review every change that had occurred between my past and the present self. By rolling back each change, I might be able to pinpoint the cause.
“So Pink-Haired Lesbian, I need your help. Let’s be friends again—not for any dark motives. Here, a lap pillow for old times’ sake.
“⋯⋯I’m okay with being friends again, but that’s a bit much…”
“Just say you don’t want to if you don’t want to⋯⋯!!”
“No!”
Not you, Yuna⋯⋯!
This felt downright unfair. Both the Pink-Haired Lesbian and Yuna were distancing themselves from me. How could life be this cruel to me?
My frustration was churning inside. If a flawlessly functioning code suddenly fails, wouldn’t anyone feel this way? In the past, I might have drowned this feeling in the “college student with no lectures left” module. But now, it was time to practice confronting my emotions.
As I was considering that, I briefly thought about beating up Roderus in a dream to vent my inner rage on him.
Yuna suddenly jumped to her feet and hissed.
“Shaaaack-!!”
“⋯⋯⋯⋯!!”
Her outburst struck me like a bolt of inspiration.
Maybe?
“Alright, Tower Master, let’s play a little black-and-white game. Let me know if you sense anything malicious. Ready?”
I let a faint thread of Malignancy seep into my mind, just enough to provoke a reaction.
“Kyak kyak-!”
Yuna let out a peculiar, chattering sound—one you’d typically hear from a cat eyeing its prey.
I deepened the darkness in my heart, letting Malignancy fully bloom. Ah, I love blood-soaked pure love. Ah, pure love felt incomplete without a touch of blood. Painting the world red would make everything so much more beautiful, wouldn’t it?
“DIE-!! No, don’t kill⋯⋯?!”
With a sharp Pew!, Yuna’s Death Beam narrowly missed, flying just over my head. Had it not veered off at the last moment, it might have drilled straight into my skull. I flailed and quickly suppressed the malignancy within me.
That confirmed it. I still didn’t understand why this was happening, but I had found the trigger.
It seemed like Yuna⋯⋯ or something within her—had a built-in defense mechanism. And this system became hyper-reactive whenever it sensed Malignancy emanating from me.
Considering how Malignancy corrupts and darkens a person’s heart, her response made sense. But why now?
That ‘thing’ had been inside my head all along. It existed both before and after this whole situation.
The reason she was fine with it before── the difference was that I accepted my Malignancy as part of myself. Did she now believe I had been consumed by it?
If that was the case, I needed an emergency countermeasure.
I began purging the darkness from my mind, conjuring a pure, radiant intent. In this pure path, there were no shadows. I focused on kindness to drown out the stains of Malignancy.
Gradually, Yuna’s hostility began to subside. That was proof my countermeasure was working.
I pushed harder, painting my mind with white until all negative emotions like embarrassment and reluctance were pushed aside. All that remained were sugar-coated thoughts of love, hope, and untainted dreams.
When I reached a certain threshold, click.
It felt as though a hidden switch had flipped.
===============================================================
“⋯⋯Hu, heuu.”
Yuna, who had nearly struck me with her Death Beam, clasped her trembling hands together and tried to steady her breathing.
While it wouldn’t have killed me outright, it definitely would’ve sent me to the hospital for at least a day. Even that thought was frightening enough.
Her heart thundered against her chest as she spoke quietly to herself. Why was she behaving like this? Everything had been fine before.
Sure, she was a little jealous about how far he seemed to have progressed with Yuri⋯⋯ maybe even slightly upset. But she didn’t need to be this aggressive.
Yuna and the reflection in her mirror were supposed to be one and the same. Over time, they’d practically fused into a single entity—or so she thought.
But for the first time, she could feel an undeniable gap.
To her silent monologue, her reflection answered her.
-Don’t you feel it? He’s been consumed. His eyes had that same rotten stench as them.
No. It’s a misunderstanding. It has to be a misunderstanding. And look, he even joked about⋯⋯ playing a white-and-black game. Doesn’t that prove he’s still in control.
—Control? That’s the clearest sign he’s already been consumed. He’s been suppressing it all this time, but in the end, he’s succumbed. We didn’t act fast enough. We were indecisive.
But, I couldn’t just shove ‘thing’ into Envers or Roderus’ session⋯⋯. If I did, that would have just made him mad.
—Even if it meant being hated, we should’ve acted faster to remove it. Look at his eyes—they’ve changed entirely. He’s not the same person anymore—
“Hello.”
Just a casual word from Crazy Wizard—that was all it took to sense the shift.
“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”
-⋯⋯⋯⋯.
“Mm. I’m sorry, everyone⋯⋯ I think I startled you a bit. It’s okay. Let’s all just take a deep breath, calm down, and⋯⋯ could you listen to what I have to say?
His tone was soft and soothing, like a comforting blanket wrapped around you. His voice carried a tenderness that eased nerves, and his smile was serene.
Pink-Haired Lesbian stared in disbelief, then grabbed his cheeks, frantically turning his head side to side to check for injuries.
“W-Wait⋯⋯ did the beam graze you? Your head?”
“No, I’m fine, Yuri. Thank you for worrying about me. Truly, I’m okay, so⋯⋯ there’s no need to look so surprised. I’m sorry if I scared you.”
“Tower Master, I think Mima, has officially lost his mind.”
“I might be sad if you phrase it that way⋯⋯ Yuri, your hands are cold. While it’s said that cold hands signify a warm heart, keeping yourself warm is better for your health. May I warm them for you?”
With that, Crazy Wizard placed his cheek against her hands, smiling gently like a serene sika deer. He even rubbed his hand tenderly over hers.
Boom, Yuri’s emotional dam broke. She backed away so quickly it almost seemed like she teleported, pressing herself against the far corner of the lab.
She struggled to maintain composure, but she couldn’t control the pounding in her chest and the warmth spreading to her ears.
The sudden change in someone who wouldn’t do such a thing was overwhelming.
After neutralizing Pink-Haired Lesbian, Crazy Wizard rose from his wheelchair and approached Yuna, speaking softly.
“If you still a little, eung⋯⋯ uneasy around me… I’ll keep my distance. But I want to stay by your side, even just for a little while. We’ve been apart for too long. May I?”
“Eu, eueung⋯⋯ no, nyot. Maybe we should keep some distance for now⋯⋯.”
“I’d really like to explain myself. To tell you how much you mean to me, how I’d never stand against you—no matter what. I won’t stop until you understand.”
“Eu, euaaat⋯⋯.”
Overwhelmed by his intense gaze, Yuna curled up and pleaded in her mind.
Mirror, mirror, please make him stop. I can’t handle this emotionally honest Crazy Wizard mode!
-I think it’s fine⋯⋯.
You were shooting Yuna Death Beams just a moment ago!
—Because, that was a bad one. This one’s nice.
They’re the same person⋯⋯?!
“You see, before I explain my current state, I want you to know how deeply I love you. Although there were few misunderstandings, I’m grateful that Yuna is working so hard for me and──”
“Hiyaaat!!”
White Flowerfield Wizard spent two hours holding Yuna, two hours holding Yuri, and another hour back with Yuna.
And whispered how he liked them, and what he admired about them, which parts of them he found adorable, and why. He assured them that accepting Malignancy wasn’t submission but rather a step toward resistance and promised to take every measure to ensure their peace of mind.
Click.
And just like that, the switch flipped off.
After expressing his unfiltered emotions, Crazy Wizard collapsed under a tidal wave of embarrassment as a rebound. So.
In the lab, only three thoroughly flustered souls remained, sprawled out like overcooked octopuses.
===============================================================
I was in a rush. I was panicked. And I didn’t know this would happen.
“It won’t happen again. Now that I know I’d risk corruption if I fully embrace it⋯⋯ and won’t be a need to use it again anyway.”
“Eu. eueung⋯⋯.”
“⋯⋯Yes. Please be cautious.”
Silence.
An awkward silence lingered.
I tapped my flushed cheeks and took a deep breath. Today’s events were⋯⋯ a minor accident caused by Yuna’s secret and my lapse in controlling my Pseudo-Metamorphosis, but…
As I thought about it more and more, something felt off.
The way it reacted so sensitively to my Malignancy. And how I could feel those changes directly piercing through my mental barriers.
It was undeniable proof that the thing within my mind and the Purple Magic Tower Master were intricately connected.
Today wasn’t the right time to dig deeper, but I planned to discuss it with Yuna soon. Thanks to the earlier chaos, things seemed smoother after these two weeks of turbulence.
Yuna seemed less upset. And Yuri too, I think.
And for some reason, that stung my pride.
Technically, that wasn’t the real me. After a moment’s hesitation, I quietly spoke to them.
“By the way, uh⋯⋯ do you have some time? Yuna, Yuri too?”
“⋯⋯Eung?”
“Confessing while drunk is tacky. What’s even the difference between doing it nowand calling someone while drunk? Real confessions need thought and courage. No, I’m not saying I was confessing just now⋯⋯.”
That day’s conversation ended after my second attempt.
===============================================================
“By the way, where did Espoir De Eternal Dark go?”
“⋯⋯Uh, right. I used her during 『Nest』 raid⋯⋯.”
Two weeks had passed since the disappearance of Evil God-chan.
We finally realized her absence.