The previous story.

I infiltrated the mental world of the succubus queen to save Pingballez, who had been overtaken by her.

But the queen I thought I was fighting was a fake, and the real queen was hiding in young Yuri’s body, waiting for an opportunity—then she struck me with a fatal blow when I showed a gap.

I fell deeper into the mental world, my body and spirit tattered. That place was the stomach of the succubus queen, digesting its prey, and the real Pingballez, who had been eaten first, was also there.

Can I really escape from here…

“Don’t just stand there dumbfounded, fight!”

I got scolded while reminiscing.

—

Bennett’s metamorphosis “Howon” is… rather lackluster.

The ability to not break unless the heart is completely worn out is extremely limited in its use. It might be different if it were a large shield.

Or if the starting point of a collapsing mine’s collapse could coincidentally be propped up by a single sword, or if a star-shattering strike was conveniently focused enough to fit perfectly on the blade.

Otherwise, it’s just a sword with high durability. It’s just that it has a function similar to subspace storage. That’s why, lying in bed under the covers, I would occasionally think of ways to improve it.

How about creating a railgun launcher and using the indestructible “Houwon” as the warhead? It can be retrieved through summoning cancellation and re-summoning.

Or should I gift a secret manual of throwing sword techniques? The more I think about it, this seems more suited for bullets than a sword.

Then, the concept that came to mind was… “Joint Fable.”

The transformation of a fable usually involves the weakening or elimination of existing abilities. Like Elaine, whose ultimate move became a general-purpose skill, or Roderus, whose magic materialization weakened.

So, what if we could overlay another fable on top of the existing one… and make them synergize with each other?

From such an idea, a possibility was crafted.

‘What if Tara’s soul coexisted within Bennett’s body, and they could both use fables simultaneously?’

The combination of “Houwon’s” unbreakable nature and “Huihanmanggeuk’s” energy absorption ability.

Clang, clang!

Shadow Bennett clashed the swords in his hands together. Each time, sparks flew, and magic power, like fierce flames, blazed up.

“Huihanmanggeuk” absorbs power until “Houwon” breaks. However, “Houwon” never breaks until the will is exhausted.

Therefore, until the will fades, it scatters infinite power— “Houwonmanggeuk.”

The completion of the infinite power magic sword.

Whoosh—!!

As Shadow Bennett swung his sword, the black flames billowing on the blade swept across a 30-meter radius. I rolled on the ground.

Pingballez, lying flat, quietly listened to my explanation and then asked.

“…I’ve heard the theory. So, what’s the countermeasure?”

“Call Yuna.”

Those who wield infinite power are traditionally overpowered by overwhelming firepower. If you delay, you’ll see hell.

“She’s not here.”

“Not here…”

But that doesn’t mean we can’t win. After all, that’s just a fake. If we weren’t melting into the black tar, having all our information stolen, we would have caught it by now.

A tattered Pingballez alone can’t catch Shadow Bennett.

A tattered me alone can’t face him either.

We must combine our strengths.

“…I have an idea. But it might be a bit unpleasant.”

“Better than dying, isn’t it? Hurry up and do it.”

“It might feel worse than when you confidently approached the queen and got caught.”

“You know, I never knew what love was until now—”

Seeing her scratch back eagerly at the poke, it seemed like a sign of permission. I may look a bit shabby, but… I jumped onto Pingballez’s back. Clinging tightly, I wrapped my legs around the front to secure myself.

After falling here, I reconstructed the limbless body of Pingballez.

This is the mental realm, and it was possible because Pingballez was in a state like well-done ribs. I can interfere with her.

It’s like a fusion.

“…Isn’t this dangerous?”

“Don’t talk.”

Of course, it’s dangerous.

If we fuse but cannot unfuse, our consciousness will become one. If completely mixed, we’ll have to be called the mad mage Yurie Lannister.

So we share only as much as necessary, right now I’m trying to grasp the framework.

Whoosh-!

Shadow Bennett delivers an inescapable slash. It’s an area attack that seems to say, “If I burn everything, where will you run?”

Sizzle. Sizzle.

Pingballez moves with me on her back. Her movement, running through the sticky swamp, has a leopard-like aspect. It feels like she’s fully utilizing her physical abilities.

While she buys time, I interfere more deeply. Beyond her flesh, beyond her bones, to the inside of her heart, I reach out even to her soul.

I change my form to a black cloak, and dye her with my blackness. It feels like melting inside. The fusion ends in an instant.

The mysterious woman with black hair and yellow eyes, ‘Mad Pingballez,’ makes her entrance.

“…Eugh.”

Pingballez lets out a nasal sound as if a bucket of ice was dumped on her neck, shivering. I back her up as control slightly crumbles.

Thump.

I touch her inside to move her.

Pingballez must have felt her body moving on its own. She stretches out her arms, steps forward, and places her palm on the heated blade of Bennett… and lets it slide.

Since this is the mental realm, even the flames burning from the sword are clumps of information. So, by focusing and manipulating, we can change the direction or reduce the damage.

And then. Oops.

“This body, it doesn’t move like that. Take into account even the lumps of fat on the chest and find the center of gravity.”

I was too busy controlling not to mix completely, reducing damage, that I hadn’t thought that far. Well, if you’ve got the feel, you do it.

“Yes. Just tell me the pattern and buff me well… Are you thinking about my childhood at this timing because you want to be scolded?”

Okay. We’re properly connected.

It’s a joint fight based on delay-free communication. Pingballez moves based on what I’ve noticed, and I act based on her insights.

We were slightly off at first, but we matched quite well.

After a long fight, we were able to finish the battle by sticking the “Hohwon” into Shadow Bennett’s maw.

Shadow Bennett flailed his arms as if searching for his sister, then disappeared.

Time had passed. We were worn down, yet still we remained.

We fought with Cheonma (though we couldn’t quite replicate it), and with Namgung Cheonghwi (he was easy to capture). Through these battles, we accumulated experience and improved.

We refined the fusion state a bit more. From Pingballez’s hips, a tail was formed, which connected to my own similarly created tail. It was as if we had tied a string between us to share information.

A complete fusion was too risky, after all.

“Mad magician, how do you do?”

“Alright. Despite some side effects, like our thoughts intruding upon each other, we decided to maintain this fusion-mode since it’s advantageous in battle.”

It’s not through spoken communication, so there’s less worry about the queen catching on.

We spent our time connected. Melting away, we chatted idly, and when the shadow-enemies respawned, we fought. Then we chatted again.

All the while, we waited for the right moment.

Yuna must know best that my lifeline has been cut. She would wait a bit, grow anxious, attempt a rescue, and then unleash a barrage.

The passage leading to the “Nest” left in the mind of the Third Prince.

After the first barrage through that passage, if the situation was dire,

She planned to unseal my physical body remaining in reality and pour ‘it’ into the “Nest.” Such was the promise.

“…?”

“I’m not sure, but isn’t that incredibly dangerous?” Pingballez sent the thought through the connected passage.

“It is dangerous. But it’s better than dying here and now. It was a self-destruct button for when things got hopelessly tangled.”

“If ‘it’ could cleanly obliterate the succubus queen and I could reclaim it, that would be best… But things are unlikely to go so optimistically. It could be released into the world.”

If it were released, I’m not sure what would happen. But considering the temperament of the 7% Evil God-chan, it wouldn’t be pleasant. Not for the world, nor for me.

So, what’s the utmost effort we should aim for?

The moment Yuna Violetairis, the grand sorceress of the Ivory Tower, pours her heartfelt bombardment into the “Nest,” we must escape this place by any means necessary.

If we don’t escape, something unpleasant and terrifying will be unleashed upon the world.

If her home base is being mercilessly bombarded, the queen will hardly be able to keep her wits about her. Even so, we’re not in top condition, so it’ll be a tough fight…

What should the strategy be? How do we draw her out, and how do we attack? We hypothesized, refuted, collapsed, and rebuilt our plans repeatedly.

“Mad magician.”

“Hmm?”

Pingballez, partially melted, spoke up quietly.

“Being connected like this, I can vaguely sense it. It might sound strange, but it seems like you already have… a metamorphosis.”

“If I had one, I would’ve used it by now.”

“Well, it seems like you only have half of it. Is it incomplete?”

Incompletion?

I thought, rubbing my forehead with my middle and index fingers, while my mind wandered.

The manifestation of one’s soul is to dye it with the colors of emotions. And when I think about it, I was just indulging in intense emotions until a little while ago.

I loved a young Yu-ri and then got hit on the back of the head.

I was in the same state as my students who had been stuffed into a session and pulled out.

However, if it doesn’t manifest… maybe there’s a problem on the other side? In the soul. It’s like a black box inside, something.

If that’s true, it’s bad news. I was thinking of manifesting my soul, but even if I satisfy my emotions hundreds of times, if there’s a problem with my soul, there’s nothing I can do.

I couldn’t manifest it, no matter how hard I searched.

Then, Pinfabelle came up with a wild idea.

“My soul is still intact,” she said.

“… … … …”.

She hadn’t achieved enlightenment. It wasn’t a perpetual state of corruption. So, the color of her soul was only dyed when it manifested.

And now, she and I are closely connected. If we just tear down the boundary a little, we’ll become one body.

So, if I dye her soul with my emotions… maybe a different manifestation will appear, or… or she’ll be able to manifest her soul a little differently.

I mean, it’s like “soul corruption”…

“‘Soul fusion’, let’s call it,” Pinfabelle said with a bright smile, and I laughed together with her. We were joking around, but the situation was getting more and more intense, and we were drowning in crisis.

We were definitely dying, and maybe we’d really die.

I hadn’t thought about such a possibility.

Pinfabelle leaned her head on my shoulder, and I could feel her trembling. We were both dark and troubled, and I pretended to be unhappy while secretly feeling happy.

“… … … …”.

“You’re also in a state of turmoil.”

Looking back, it’s true.

Since I was reborn in this world, I hadn’t really thought deeply about emotions… no, I’d never faced them.

When my desires boiled over, I just suppressed them.

And when I felt anxious or angry, I prepared countermeasures using all sorts of modules.

Love, forget it… we just fooled around.

I didn’t care about my own desires, and I didn’t care about others’ emotions either.

And then, I faced the possibility of a death that felt like it was seeping into my skin, and my modules broke down, and everything went haywire, and only then did I remember one question that had been popular in my past life.

If I’m going to die tomorrow…

What do you think, mad magician? Tomorrow at this time, if I were to face the end of my short life given to me… And if I were to realize that vivid premonition with both body and mind.

What should I be doing now?

“Shi⋯⋯.”

Oh, you fool.

As I hit my forehead and tried to return to serious thought.

“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”

Scram!

Pinvalles fell away from me, keeping a distance. His face was beet red. I chewed over this anomaly and then… I realized.

All that talk about not being able to stand it, about wanting to devour something, and now he’s chickening out here.

Does that mean, all of Pinvalles’ bravado was just a bluff?

I just didn’t know anything. Right. Somehow. I got confused thinking only from my perspective, but for a succubus to have a man in her bed and not lay a hand on him till the end.

It means she was scared.

“⋯⋯I wasn’t scared.”

From noble mtl dot come

“⋯⋯Then come here.”

“Please keep a safe distance.”

If I had pushed harder, it would have been a winning fight!

I bitterly laughed at the newfound fragility of Pinvalles. It’s joyful to learn something new, but there might not be much time left to tease him with it. That’s regrettable.

I looked up at the sky. It was filled with a nasty black liquid, but thinking positively, there was nothing to miss in a starless night sky.

If I squint and blur my vision, I can easily recall the constellations from my memories. I can overlay stars one by one onto that dull blackness.

The shapes of these stars are quite different from my memories.

In my previous life, there were definitely the Big Dipper and Arcturus, and Spica. The spring triangle with Denebola, and the twinkling Regulus. I had recalled the sky of Earth.

But the stars I’m recalling now belong to another world. The night sky I observed after finishing research at the mage tower, and the night sky I watched while enjoying a cup of tea at the academy.

It might sound a bit strange.

But at this moment, I can distinguish between ‘the me of my past life’ and ‘the me of now.’

The calm before the storm. Facing a battle where I could die, I casually suggested to Pinvalles.

“We might as well leave a will, Yuri Lannister.”

“A will, you say? We’re in a situation where we should be joining hands and looking for a burial site, who would the will be for?”

“It’s a will for each other.”

Something seemed to stir faintly. This task, it wasn’t just going to be a sad sentiment. I had a vague premonition that it would complete me.

The time for me, who suppressed emotions with magic, and Yuri Lannister, who calmed his feelings with fables… to be honest for the last time.