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“Haah… Everyone’s such a worrywart.”

Iris muttered to herself as she walked alone down the night road.
It’s not every day you find a town where a girl can walk alone at night, but that’s only if we’re talking about an ordinary girl. Any thugs or ruffians Iris might encounter wouldn’t stand a chance against her. Well, she couldn’t just blast them away with magic, so if things got dicey, she’d create a diversion and run.
If someone showed up that even Iris couldn’t escape from… well, that would be an emergency. Even the four of them together would be in danger.

…Iris thought so, and his self-assessment mostly accurate.

However, the assailant that night was something completely beyond her comprehension.

“Hmm…?”

Something caught the edge of her awareness. A faint stirring presence.

Almost simultaneously, all sound ceased.

The sound of the wind, the distant howling of stray dogs, the sounds of drunken brawls echoing from somewhere.

—≪Silence≫?

It was a magic spell that created a soundproof barrier. It blocked out sounds, meaning no sound could enter from outside, and no sound from inside could be heard outside.

It was a low-level spell, but it could be used for all sorts of nefarious purposes. Breaking into locked doors, assaulting girls…

Iris immediately brandished her staff and chanted a spell.

“≪Dispel≫!”

This spell dispelled magic that had a sustained duration. Light emanated from her staff, faintly revealing the dome-shaped area of effect of the ≪Silence≫ spell, enveloping the vicinity.

However, Iris’s ≪Dispel≫ scattered uselessly. Repelled by the soundproof barrier, the magic she cast vanished.

—No way…!

A cold sweat broke out on Iris’s back.

≪Dispel≫ didn’t work, which meant the ≪Silence≫ spell was cast by someone with higher magical power than her.

Iris was still a young (though she vehemently refused to be called ‘childish’) mage, but her abilities were already those of a full-fledged magic user. Someone with more power than Iris, be it monster or human, would cause serious trouble just by appearing.

“What…? “What’s going on?”

“Good evening, young lady”

“Kyaa!?”

A girl’s voice, younger than her own, came from right behind, and Iris nearly jumped out of her skin.

She leapt forward, putting some distance between them, and spun around.

The silver moon that should have been shining in the night sky had manifested on the ground.

It was the ghost of a silver-haired, silver-eyed girl, seemingly emitting a faint light.

‘…Or, in this form, perhaps ‘Big Sis’ would be more appropriate than ‘Miss’?’

“Who are you?!”

‘Someone suspicious.’

The ghostly girl laughed merrily.

Iris felt a tingling sensation, as if her skin was being scorched, her fine hairs standing on end.

It was similar to the feeling of being near a powerful magical explosion. In this case, it was a reaction to the magic power radiating from her opponent.

“An undead…!”

Iris couldn’t help but think this ghostly girl before her was the caster of the ≪Silence≫ spell.

Spirit-type undead were troublesome. The means to damage them were limited.

Moreover, this girl possessed high magic power and reason, indicating she was likely a high-ranking undead artificially created. She didn’t know why such a being was here, but it was an extremely dangerous opponent.

Staff at the ready, Iris backed away.

Her heart pounded painfully in her chest.

—I can’t defeat her…! I need to defend myself and get back to Diana!

Divine magic specialized in healing, defense, and combating undead.

Even if it was a high-ranking monster, with a divine magic user present, they should be able to repel it.

If she poured all her magic power into defense, she could probably hold out until she reached Diana… she hoped.

“…≪Signal Flare≫!”

Raising her staff, Iris cast the spell. A magic projectile that shot high into the sky, emitting sound and light.

This should alert the other three, allowing them to meet up sooner.

At the same time, Iris started running. She darted past the mysterious girl, heading back towards the Leaping Fish Inn.

The ghostly girl reached out towards Iris as she ran.

—Is that ≪Unholy Hand≫?

It was an attack conveniently classified as a low-level curse. A technique used by spirit-type undead, it drained the target’s life force upon contact, slowly leading to a gradual death. Well, even for ordinary people, it would take about 10 minutes for them to die from it.

As an attack from an enemy with high magic power, it was far too weak.

That’s why Iris was wary. She thought the girl might be casting a different spell with an extremely short range.

She focused on the image of shrouding her body in magical power.

Hardening her will, she increased her resistance to magic.

And then…

—Huh…?

The girl’s hand slipped into Iris’s body.

She knew it was magic, though she didn’t know what kind, and there was a sense that her resistance had been broken as easily as stepping on and crushing a fallen leaf.

It wasn’t just a matter of the undead girl having ‘higher magic power than Iris.’ This girl’s magic power was on a ‘completely different level’ than Iris’s.

There was no damage. But the ghostly girl reached deep inside Iris, towards a vital part of her being.

A sense of inescapable terror, a premonition of irreversible ruin, as if the core of her soul had been seized.

Iris fell. Her body wouldn’t move properly. Her breath caught in her throat. A coldness spread through her stomach.

“Wh-What… are you… going to… do…!”

‘I’m borrowing you. Well, I won’t be returning you… ever…!’

“Ah… Aaah, aaah…!!”

Like slipping into a nightmare, Iris’s consciousness was swallowed by darkness.

****

“Iris, what’s wrong!? Didn’t you fire a ≪Signal Flare≫!?”

Diana, panting from running, shouted.

“No, I didn’t do anything.”

“That wound…”

“I just tripped.”

Smiling sheepishly, Iris hid her scraped palm.

“I… see. Well, that’s good. Geez, maybe I drank too much.”

“Want to drink some more?”

“Hmm, I think I’ll stop here. But before I head back to the inn, I should tell Benedict and Hugh that ‘nothing happened’… Ugh, no, this is definitely going to lead to more drinking.”

Diana shook her head as if to say ‘this is hopeless.’

The option of going back to the tavern and not drinking more didn’t seem to exist for her.

“I’ll head back then. Um… try not to drink too much, okay?”

“I’ll do my best.”

Waving her hand dismissively over her shoulder, Diana staggered away.

After watching her go, Iris tested the sensations of her body.

The weight of bone and flesh. The coldness of the wind. Her feet on the ground. The feeling of clenching her hand.


—The sensation of a living body is the best! Being a spirit really… lacks something.

Iris stretched luxuriously.

The body of the girl named Iris had been taken over by the possessing spirit, Renée.

To Renée, the Dullahan form was just a temporary guise. It was merely her own corpse, reanimated and reshaped into the form of a Dullahan.

Renée’s true form was that of a spirit. If she were to be classified as a monster, she would be a mutated variant of an Abyss Spirit, the highest-ranking spirit-type undead.

The power Renée had obtained through the evil god’s blessing was, first and foremost, immense magical power. At this point, she could rival even the most powerful human mages.

But her greatest strength lay in the fact that Renée was a ‘growing undead.’

She could form contracts with resentful souls of the dead, fulfilling their grudges in exchange for devouring their souls.

This was different from simply absorbing life force. She could expand her own soul, her existence, her power. This was what the evil god meant by ‘theoretically, you could become stronger than a Demon Lord.’

The undead known as Legions also gained power by absorbing souls, but they were merely increasing the size of a collective of evil spirits. Renée’s ability to strengthen herself was virtually unique among the undead.

Renée had set her sights on a woman named Miriam. Her target of vengeance was Night Python, the organization that controlled the underworld of Ciel-Terra.

It seemed like overkill to devour a single soul for such a task, but Renée still didn’t want to let Miriam go.

Quality over quantity, as they say.

Incidentally, possessing a person and taking over their will was something most high-ranking spirit-type undead could do, but Lune had another special option.

However, to use that power, she had to possess a girl of the same age…

—Lucky me. I managed to secure a suitable body. Now then, how should I proceed from here?

Iris was the ideal host for Renée.

First, she was a girl of the same age. She was currently involved with Night Python, Renée’s current target. And above all, she was an adventurer and a mage, meaning Renée could use her own magic without arousing suspicion.

If she couldn’t defeat that Lawrence fellow, she wouldn’t be able to carry out her revenge against the Usurper. Strengthening herself by devouring souls was essential. To that end, she would make full use of this body and Iris’s companions.

Renée, as Iris, hurried back to the inn where they were staying.

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