I wanted to protect her.

Her back looked so small, fighting all alone—that’s why Touraku reached out to her.

That’s how it was supposed to be.

“I don’t understand why you won’t listen to me. I want to save you!”

Bursting through the jungle, the two leapt across ruined buildings.

Moments later, the buildings shattered and crumbled.

“Lutra, dual blades.”

The moment the voice rang out, came the sound of something being sliced.

At the same time, Sorciera’s vision was swallowed in darkness.

“Oh my.”

She had only the light entering Sorciera’s eyes cut away, forcibly robbing her of her sight.

A one-of-a-kind blade capable of cutting through any concept—that was Star-Slash.

Even if its awakening was incomplete, its threat level remained unchanged.

“—This ends here.”

Touraku circled behind Sorciera, her movements paralyzed by the loss of sight, and raised Lutra.

But a barrier appeared behind her just in time to block the attack.

“You’ve got to be kidding. That’s it?”

“…!?”

Magic circles formed around Touraku, silver chains shooting out.

She knew all too well the terror of those chains that absorbed magic from whatever they touched, growing ever stronger.

“Lutra, single strike.”

Touraku vanished instantly.

He reappeared a short distance away.

“That teleportation of yours… it’s a nuisance.”

Sorciera traced her fingers along her eyes.

In that instant, the concept of severance was negated, and light returned to her gaze.

“I’d say your interference is plenty annoying too.”

Touraku readied Lutra.

But in contrast, Sorciera didn’t even raise her great scythe, as if she had no will to fight.

“…What’s wrong? Aren’t you going to fight me?”

“Take a look around. Is this what you call protecting someone? So many are dead, everything is in ruins… The Gatou Touraku I knew wasn’t like this.”

A foolish question.

To Touraku, everything else was trivial. The only thing that mattered was rescuing Sorciera.

If that was the case, then every act was justifiable.

He had already been consumed by his own power.

“This… was necessary. To save you, there were many things I had to cast aside.”

“…I see.”

Sorciera exhaled.

An unusual gesture for her—Touraku braced himself for a counterattack.

(She’s trembling…?)

Touraku noticed something was wrong with her.

But it was already too late.

The moment things reached this point, the outcome had been decided.

“So in the end, fighting is the only way we can understand each other, huh.”

Suddenly, Sorciera’s bracelet changed.

The crimson, unidentified bracelet on her left arm activated, releasing countless objects from within.

Looking like barbed wire or perhaps thorns, they wrapped around Sorciera’s body in an instant.

“…!”

“What are you doing!?”

Touraku started to rush forward, but the black thorns lashed out violently, preventing him from getting close.

Meanwhile, the thorns completely engulfed Sorciera’s body, transforming into a single sphere.

Then—

“Starlight… passes judgment here.”

The thorns exploded outward.

The needle-like spikes shot toward Touraku like bullets, but he slashed them all down, retreating once again.

Then he looked up and turned toward Sorciera.

“…Huh?”

There stood Sorciera, her clothes torn and in tatters.

The thorns had shredded her outfit, exposing patches of pale skin dripping blood.

She shouldn’t have been in any condition to fight.

But—

“…Hehe, guess I’ll have to escort you now.”

Sorciera smiled and took a step forward.

At that moment, a magic circle reminiscent of thorns spread across the ground, launching her like a bullet.

Touraku reflexively chose to intercept.

“Lutra, dual strike!”

The crimson-black scythe clashed head-on with Lutra.

But with only minimal resistance, Touraku was overpowered.

“What!?”

In that instant, thorns shot from the ground like spears.

Seeing this, Touraku used his second swing—originally meant as a counter—to evade.

He vanished from the spot, and Sorciera’s attack hit nothing but air.

“…What’s with that look?”

“Oh? Don’t like it?”

Sorciera slowly turned toward Touraku, now some distance behind her.

Her tattered black outfit—

Yet something was slightly different.

Thin red veils, like cloth, were now covering the torn parts.

“Well then, why don’t you dress me up in a way you do like?”

Again, Sorciera charged straight at him.

Taken aback, Touraku managed to respond just in time.

“You’ve gotten awfully aggressive all of a sudden!”

“Otherwise, you wouldn’t dance with me, would you?”

Her scythe rained down blow after blow.

Her strikes were erratic, impossible to read.

(Her attacks are chaotic and brute-force. But… her specs right now are off the charts.)

Dodging as he observed, Touraku noted how illogical her attacks were—strange for her.

But they were sharp. Too sharp to do anything but defend.

(Wait… why hasn’t she fired any projectiles? Or tried binding? Or teleporting—)

“Are you daydreaming? Focus on me.”

“Gh—Lutra, single strike!”

Pouring all his magic into a single swing, Touraku knocked back the incoming scythe.

But the sheer force of Sorciera’s blow deflected his arm wide.

She wasn’t about to miss that opening.

(This is bad. The next one’s coming—!)

Just as he predicted, Sorciera raised her scythe again.

“—”

Suddenly, she dropped to one knee.

Rather than attacking, Touraku instinctively took distance.

His blood as a Gatou told him not to go in for the kill.

“…Hehe, you got away again.”

Sorciera stood up and smiled elegantly.

Dragging her scythe, she took one step after another toward Touraku.

Her outfit, now with more of that red veil, had become a dress—a blend of red and black.

“You want to stop me, don’t you? Then stop running.”

Sorciera said as she raised her scythe.

Seeing that, Touraku—

“So that’s how it is.”

He understood.

“You still don’t get it. You don’t need to fight anymore.”

What he drew was a jet-black blade.

Amplified within its sheath, the surging magic was forcibly restrained as Touraku gave his order.

“Star-Slash, prepare to draw.”

■

Hey, did he just say “Star-Slash, draw”?!

He just said “Star-Slash, draw”!!

『Did you need to say it twice?』

This is bad!

That’s the finisher from the latter half of the original!

The one where a slash that ignores defense comes flying at you!

Meanwhile, I’m stuck doing a self-imposed challenge using a bunch of made-up limitations!

『Teleportation banned. Projectile attacks banned. Chains banned. All you’ve got are fake thorn tentacles. Ha ha ha, you can’t do anything.』

Don’t laugh like that!

I just came to stop the slightly unhinged Touraku-kun by sacrificing my body like a mysterious pretty girl—look at his eyes!

They’re dead, man! You don’t see eyes that dead every day!

『Well, it’s not like he’s awakened Star-Slash. It’ll be fine.』

Really?

You’ve been slacking a lot lately, you know?

If I knew this was coming, I wouldn’t have specialized my Corrupted Form…

『You went for full physical build. That way there’d be more chances to get hurt and end up all tattered.』

You’re a masochist!

Also, I was seriously embarrassed when the outfit tore up like that for a second!

『The torn parts are automatically covered with thin red cloth made of magic. Over time, the whole outfit gradually turns red.』

Okay, that’s cool and all…

But like, unless I’m imagining things, this hurts periodically, doesn’t it?

『…Oh right, gotta reply to that follow.』

You’re on social media right now?!

Answer me!

『Oh, the “Things Sorciera Might Say Bot” just hit a thousand followers.』

Why do you have a weird account like that?!

Wait, Demonsgear is running a bot?!

『I also have another account, “★Yomi@WorkingOnNewBook,” where I post Sorciera receiving fanfics and R-18 illustrations.』

Wait, you have alt accounts?!

Starreader’s Staff is running alts?!

『I use various accounts to promote Sorciera’s bottom energy, day and night. Grassroots work, you know ^^』

That’s betrayal!

You get to be online 24/7—social media is cheating!

『Thanks to that, the idea of Sorciera as a bottom is spreading online. It’s the fruit of my labor ^^』

You traitor!!

『Scream all you want, the world won’t change!』

Are you the final boss?!

『I only get turned on by Sorciera as the bottom now.』

I don’t wanna hear about your kinks!

Don’t confess them now!

『R-18 Yuri Forced Sorciera—oh wait, that one’s on telepathy search.』

Are you searching right now?

Are you really searching for fan content right now?!

Were you even listening?!

This form hurts, okay?!

『I set it so that pain comes along with magic absorption. You’ll feel it periodically.』

Take that off immediately!

Why would you do that?!

『Her expression when she’s suffering is so hot—』

So it is just your kink.

You just straight-up admitted it.

『As the pain grows, the dress turns red… as if soaked in blood. Beautiful, right?』

You’re like some artsy psycho villain!

Seriously—so I’m supposed to do a self-imposed challenge with added pain and fight Touraku-kun?

『Just be careful—the “Truck Ratio” goes up from 10% to 20% and so on.』

Careful how, exactly?

『I’m not a monster. It caps at 90%.』

That’s still like, fatal pain in real life.

“—Lutra, draw.”

While I was filing complaints to Starreader’s Staff-kun, Touraku-kun unleashed Star-Slash at me.

The drawn blade wouldn’t normally reach me from that distance.

But the slash flew.

It was an attack that cut through the very concept of “cutting.”

An absolute strike that could tear through anything—even the idea of defense.

It could kill me easily.

This guy’s nuts.

『Just slash it down head-on with your scythe. That much is no problem.』

…Really?

『Believe in me.』

You sure about this?!

“What a clumsy Star-Slash.”

While scared out of my mind, I said that coolly and swung my scythe in sync with the slash.

In that instant, the concept of his slash dissolved.

…It worked!

『Told you. Since you don’t need to use magic anymore, I diverted all resources into a top-tier interference field over your body and scythe. That attack won’t beat you.』

I believe in you, Starreader’s Staff-kun!

『This form is built for close combat. It’s strongest when up close. Not that it can’t be done in your regular form.』

Wow, as expected of you, Starreader’s Staff—wait wait wait it hurts aaaaaaaaagh!?

“Guh…!”

“What’s wrong? If you’re feeling off, just stop being stubborn and lose to me. That way, it’ll all be over.”

“Hah… hah… No thanks.”

I nearly collapsed but held on.

Hey, give me a warning before the next pain wave hits.

『That function doesn’t exist.』

Seriously…?

『Now go! Hug him tight! If you cling close enough, you’ll stop his rampage through interference! Even if you’re hurt and in tatters, hug him gently in the end!』

You know… that’s actually kinda nice.

If you think of Sorciera as a character, that’s totally valid.

A beautiful event made possible because the main heroine’s not around right now.

『Exactly! Now go, partner! It’s just you who hurts, just you who suffers, but we’re in this together!』

…?????

『Go!』

Hmm… Roger!