Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu

  The experiment failed.

  That was the conclusion the gray-clothed man came to after noticing that the experimental subject's numbers had far exceeded the safety zone.

  'Ah, how regrettable that this bro wasn't able to survive.'

  Continuing might cause damage to his spell formation, so he decided to stop the spell and then clean up after the corpse.

  Yet… he failed to stop his own spell!

  Astonished, he immediately activated his backup protective spell. Yet, the spell continued to work on its own and even summoned greater power!

  This was impossible… it should have been impossible.

  After being shocked, the gray-clothed man then had an expression of frenzied delight.

  Being able to see such an unexpected mystical phenomenon was too amazing!!

  What exactly happened? Just what did this bro transform into!? He really wanted to know. But, it was currently impossible to observe in detail apart from normally watching.

  Suddenly, his vision went dark and then he felt himself turning upside-down. His body spun at a high speed as if he had been sucked into a whirlpool. Unclear chaotic sounds rang in his ears in a wild manner.

  He then suddenly fell onto the ground.

  "This is…"

  The gray-clothed man looked around him and saw dense mist appearing which speedily formed into a frighteningly gigantic figure!

  He realized what was about to happen to him the instant that he locked eyes with the figure's blood-red eyes. It would be obviously impossible for the gray-clothed man to escape.

  "Ahaha… hahahahahaha!!"

  He had no fear at all. Instead, he began laughing loudly and maniacally, to the point where his face distorted.

  'Truly amusing, this is the best, this is so interesting…'

  It was rather regrettable that he couldn't study this any further. But, having such a result was excellent enough already.

  The gigantic figure rapidly approached him.

  The maniacally laughing gray-clothed man reached out to the figure. Apart from insanity and delight in his eyes, there was even the expression of fervent worship… almost as if he was a devout believer who witnessed a divine miracle.

  *Boom!!!*

  With a loud explosion, blood was sent flying everywhere.

  Seiji and Natsuya took a car to the location that Seiji's locator spell indicated.

  Shika was riding with them as well. All three were wearing their spiritual combat outfits and weapons, fully prepared for battle.

  He hoped that they would be enough to rescue Kazufuru Ooike… if not, he would have to summon additional backup.

  To Seiji's surprise, the locator spell indicated that Kazufuru was at the riverside!

  Seiji, Natsuya, and Shika got off the car after they activated a concealing spell so that they wouldn't be noticed by ordinary people. This concealing spell would also be semi-effective against other Spiritual Ability users.

  They continued following the locator spell's mark, and… they met a brown-haired beautiful girl wearing Genhana High School's girls' uniform!

  "Ooike-san?" Seiji widened his eyes in surprise.

  The brown-haired girl who had been observing the scenery turned around and looked at Seiji and company.

  She had a white and clear face and blood-red eyes. She was wearing silver-rimmed glasses which gave her a scholarly appearance and the very aura of an excellent student. Her face and aura both greatly resembled Kazufuru Ooike!

  The only differences were in the eye color and the body shape… it was quite obvious that this person was female judging from her figure. She was also wearing black silk stockings which greatly accentuated her beauty.

  Natsuya widened her eyes in surprise as well upon seeing this female version of the student council secretary. Shika was the only one whose expression didn't change.

  "Good morning, Harano-san and President Yoruhana," the brown-haired, red-eyed girl greeted them in a clear voice.

  "Good morning… Are you Ooike-san… Kazufuru Ooike?" Seiji reflexively asked the first thing on his mind.

  "I am Kazufuru Ooike, but also not him. More accurately speaking, I'm an existence who signed a contract with him that's currently combined with his body," the girl replied.

  "Combined with his body… What exactly are you?"

  "I'm not sure myself. I suppose that you can treat me as something like a ghost. Kazufuru Ooike wished to live and to obtain power, while I responded to his wish. I combined with his soul and formed the current me, which brought him power and allowed him to live, along with helping him to kill his enemy."

  Seiji was rendered speechless.

  He looked towards Natsuya.

  Natsuya cast Astral Vision and carefully observed the girl before them.

  "What I can see is that she's similar to Rana in her synchronized state… her body is formed by spiritual power similar to a Spirit-branded Retainer's," Natsuya whispered to Seiji.

  Similar to Rana… so that meant this phenomenon was similar to how Mika combined with Mashiro!

  Kazufuru combined with a mysterious existence and transformed into a girl with a new personality!?

  "Could you explain in more detail about what happened? What's the current condition of Ooike-san's soul?" Seiji looked back at the girl and asked some questions.

  "Last night, Kazufuru Ooike was kidnapped while he was asleep. The kidnapper treated him cruelly. As he was about to die, his powerful desire summoned me… and then I killed his kidnapper, left that location, and walked here," the brown-haired girl answered calmly. "His soul is now also my soul, so he's fine."

  'His soul is now also my soul? That doesn't sound fine at all!' Seiji commented in his mind.

  "Although I'm still somewhat confused… You're currently a dual existence with him, similar to multiple personalities… different personalities with the same body and soul, is that right?" Seiji tried asking.

  "You could understand it that way." The girl nodded.

  This… was really just a female version of Kazufuru Ooike then! A gender change along with a new personality… You've acquired a strange trait overnight, Ooike-san!

  Seiji glanced at this female Kazufuru and didn't know what to say next.

  "You said that you killed the kidnapper… Who was the kidnapper? Where was the scene?" Natsuya spoke up next.

  "The kidnapper was the man who previously gave Kazufuru Ooike a cursed item. I killed him within the Domain."

  "'Domain?'"

  "Yes, this is my power. After I arrived… or perhaps I should say was born, I brought that man into my Domain and killed him." The brown-haired girl adjusted her eyeglasses and spoke as if it was nothing.

  "What type of power is the Domain? What happened to that kidnapper's corpse?"

  "The Domain is a dimensional space that I can control to a certain extent… Even I don't know the full details of this power. As for that man's corpse, it was already devoured by the Domain."

  "Devoured?"

  "It's now completely swallowed up by the Domain, as if it sunk into the ocean. Even I'm unable to retrieve his corpse anymore."

  This sounded like a rather dangerous power. Natsuya and Seiji exchanged glances.

  "What exactly did that man do to Ooike-san?"

  "First, he said that he analyzed how the cursed item was dispelled… basically, why the test product failed," the girl explained. "Then, he said that Kazufuru Ooike had potential and that he was going to perform an experiment. If this experiment succeeded, Kazufuru Ooike would be able to become a powerful individual and obtain great strength. The result was that he indeed obtained power, which is me."

  "And then you killed the kidnapper who performed this experiment… truly karma." Seiji sighed.

  "That's right… Harano-san, what do you think?"

  "Eh?"

  "About the fact that I killed someone." The brown-haired girl looked directly at Seiji with her blood-red eyes.

  Seiji blinked.

  "I don't think anything of it. You did it for the sake of protecting Ooike-san. It could be called self-defense. This is perfectly understandable," he stated sincerely.

  "…You don't dislike girls that kill people?"

  "Killing others is indeed something bad, but it also depends on the situation. Your situation isn't one where I would dislike you for it… No, I should say that I don't have the right to dislike anyone else because of killing others, because I've killed someone before as well."

  "I see…" Something flashed in the girl's eyes. "Harano-san isn't a shonen manga superhero after all." Her mouth faintly arced upwards after saying this.