"Heh, leave it to me!" the doll chirped.
"Axel-kun..." Ayaka reached out as if to follow, but Chachazero firmly grabbed her sleeve, pinning her in place. She looked at me, her eyes wide with worry.
I gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder and a small smile. "Don't look so worried. I'm just going to hear what the magic is about."
"But it's called the 'Magic of Darkness'! It sounds inherently dangerous!"
"Names can be deceiving," I said, waving as I turned to follow Evangeline. "I'll be fine."
I was lying, of course. Anything that only Evangeline and a select few could use was guaranteed to be lethal. If it were easy or safe, it would have been widespread. There was a reason this power remained in the shadows.
And yet, my Psychokinesis was thrumming. Just like when I saw the book, that sixth sense was screaming at me, pulling me toward this forbidden art with a violent intensity. I knew, with a certainty that transcended logic, that I would need this power. Soon.
"I... I see. Very well!" Ayaka called out, striking a determined pose despite her trembling. "A wife's duty is to guard the home her husband returns to! I shall wait for you here!"
"...'Husband,' huh?" I chuckled to myself and stepped into the castle.
Inside a private chamber of the Lebensschuld Castle, the three of us—Evangeline, Chachamaru, and myself—sat in silence.
"The Magic of Darkness," Evangeline began. "Its primary characteristic is the act of taking offensive magic into one's own body."
"I read that much," I said. "But normally, if you hit yourself with an offensive spell, you just get hurt. How do you 'absorb' it?"
If I blasted myself with a high-level fire spell, I'd end up with third-degree burns, not a power-up.
"A fair question. To put it simply, you aren't absorbing the magic into your physical flesh. You are fusing the spell with your spiritual body—your soul's manifestation."
"Your spiritual body..."
"Indeed. By doing so, you can internalize the spell's properties, making its power your own."
"But a feat that reckless has to have a price," I countered. "What's the catch?"
Evangeline's lips curled into a predatory smirk.
"Of course there's a catch. Power is never free. I developed this art specifically for my own use as a Trueblood Vampire. For me, the risks are manageable. But for anyone else—a human, for instance—the darkness and the 'demonic' nature of the spell will begin to erode them."
She paused for dramatic effect, letting the tension hang in the air for a full ten seconds before continuing.
"In all likelihood, your mind and body will be consumed. You will become an inhuman abomination—a creature of the dark. And once that happens, there is no turning back. You will never be a 'pure human' again."
"I see."
"…What?"
Evangeline blinked, clearly thrown by how casually I had accepted the news.
"An inhuman monster," I mused. "So, I'd become a vampire like you? No, probably something unique to my own aptitude. But you're saying I'd lose my humanity and likely go on a berserk rampage driven by instinct the moment the transformation occurs."
"Axel!?" Evangeline stood up, her voice sharp. "Did you not hear a word I said? Are you still intending to learn this after knowing the cost?"
"Yeah." I nodded without a shred of hesitation.
"Why?! You already possess mana that rivals Nagi Springfield—the Thousand Master. You have skills that don't even belong to this world. Why do you hunger for more? Especially a high-risk, high-return curse like this?"
"Because I'm going to need it."
"Need it? What for?"
"I don't know yet. But my gut—my Psychokinesis—is telling me it's necessary."
Even now, my inner power was roaring, demanding the Magic of Darkness like a starving predator.
"Psychokinesis? You mean that power you used to pin me down?"
"In a sense. I haven't given you the full explanation, but 'Psychokinesis' is just a label for a cluster of extrasensory abilities I possess. Theoretically, one who masters this power reaches the level of a 'Psychodriver'—someone capable of wielding the power of a god."
"A god?"
"Theoretically. I'm not there yet. But in my world, there was likely no one who surpassed my level of potential."
In the Super Robot Wars systems I remembered, Level 9 was usually the cap for Psychokinesis. But my status showed Level 10. I had broken the limit.
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