"She reeks of the Witch, yet still insists she knows nothing and has nothing to do with it? Don't make me laugh!"
Rem blocked the doorway and searched Subaru Natsuki's room inch by inch.
The magic mirror's concealment was surprisingly effective, and the moment Subaru hid, Rem lost track of him completely.
"You're not escaping, you filthy bastard!"
Watching from the side, Grin was so tense his legs nearly went weak.
This girl was terrifying.
That Morningstar of hers looked like it could blast a person apart in a single hit.
The oni-transformed Rem looked less like a maid and more like a humanoid war machine.
"We have to do something, or Subaru Natsuki is going to log off for real."
With that thought, Grin began circulating mana and activated Transformation Magic.
His features twisted and shifted until he took on Subaru Natsuki's face.
Click.
Wearing Subaru's appearance, Grin pushed open his own door, stuck out his head, and shouted toward the next room,
"Haha! I'm over here!"
Rem spun around and glared at him.
"You idiot, Grin. Go back to sleep."
"Huh? Okay!"
Grin jumped and instantly pulled his head back inside.
Two or three seconds later, he poked it out again.
This time, his face had already changed back to normal.
"I swear anyone can see through my Transformation Magic. It's like some kind of universally visible fake."
Rem turned her head again, her gaze sweeping every corner of Subaru's room like a radar dish.
"Rem has already heard about Grin-kun's abilities from my sister. You do not carry the Witch's miasma. Please step back before Rem loses control."
At least for now, she had not fully lost her reason.
"Found you!"
Rem's nose twitched.
After transforming, an oni's senses became brutally sharp, and she had finally caught the scent of the miasma.
The Morningstar in her hand spun like a propeller before she hurled it toward the corner of the room.
Whoosh!
Even in that cramped space, the throw cut through the air with a shriek.
"Ah! Help, Master!"
The magic mirror immediately gave up on the concealment and shrank back to its true form.
Two oversized magical hands burst from the mirror and barely caught the incoming Morningstar in time.
Subaru Natsuki's figure was exposed as well, and he immediately screamed for Grin's help.
This must be the guard from the rules!
"Godfather, save me!"
Having barely survived, the magic mirror flew straight to Subaru's head and started bashing him.
"Didn't I tell you to get away from me if someone attacks you? Did I or did I not? Are you trying to kill me?!"
It hammered him once with every sentence.
That bowl-sized spiked iron ball had nearly smashed its face in.
Rem frowned and looked coldly at Grin.
"Grin-kun, as a guard, your first priority should be the safety of the mansion. Are you really going to stand with a Witch Cultist?"
"Calm down, calm down, Rem. As far as I know, this guy shouldn't be a Witch Cultist."
Grin stepped into the corridor while trying to reason with her, though he was careful not to come too close.
"For the safety of my sister and this mansion, it's better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free."
"You know I understand a little divination, right? I already checked. This guy's just some unlucky idiot tangled up in a Witch's aura."
Without changing expression, Grin tried to talk her down.
There were indeed occasional people on the continent who carried a Witch-like scent while having nothing at all to do with the Witch Cult.
Unfortunately, Rem in this state was no longer willing to think.
"Shut up! Shut up!"
She grabbed at her head and clawed through her soft blue hair.
"If I just kill him, then it all ends! Why bother with anything else?!"
With a flick of her wrist, the chain snapped back through the air, and the hammer head hovered behind her shoulder once more like a beast waiting to pounce.
Subaru Natsuki and the magic mirror huddled together in terror and looked at Grin with pleading eyes.
"Boss!"
"Godfather!"
"Shut up, all of you!"
Grin stood in the middle of the corridor, thin sleepwear fluttering in the wind.
His eyes turned cold.
In his hand, a mass of pitch-black mana gathered.
"Shadow Devour!"
The magic erupted, transforming into countless vicious shadows that surged toward Rem and swallowed her whole.
Bang! Bang!
The sound of chains whipping through the darkness rang out again and again.
The massed shadows were torn apart continuously, each one dissolving into black mist with a wailing cry.
Then Rem slowly walked out from the darkness, Morningstar clenched tightly in hand, blue ghost-fire blazing in her eyes.
The next instant, she moved.
She was so fast it felt like the air itself was ripping.
The Morningstar came straight for Grin's head.
But instead of retreating, Grin advanced.
With a light tap of his foot, the shadows below expanded at once, turning into countless black tentacles that shot out and wrapped around Rem.
"Binding slowdown!"
The effect was immediate.
Rem's body and even the Morningstar she wielded were caught midair by tentacles lashing out from the walls.
Grin seized the chance and exploded forward, charging her at top speed.
Rem fixed him with a murderous stare, veins bulging along her arms and legs as she forced strength into every muscle to break free.
Snap. Snap.
Her right arm tore loose.
Then, with a violent burst of power, she yanked the Morningstar back and hurled it straight at Grin.
Boom!
The throw even carried a sonic crack with it.
That alone showed how monstrous the force behind it was.
Grin twisted in midair and barely evaded it.
Before he even landed, he cast Transformation Magic again.
Purple-black mana wrapped around him and, just before his feet touched the ground, reshaped him into Ram.
"Rem, haven't you made enough of a scene?!"
The sharp rebuke in her sister's voice made Rem freeze for the briefest instant.
And that instant was enough.
Grin closed the gap.
Then he raised one hand, clamped it over Rem's mouth, and forced the small object hidden in his palm past her lips.
Only after he saw her swallow did he let go and leap back.
"How does it taste, Rem? I extracted crystals from a whole pile of alpine lily-of-the-valley roots. I even added a little brown sugar in case the flavor didn't suit you."
Grin had gathered up all the broken lilies of the valley from the shattered vase earlier.
Then, back in his room, he had secretly processed the crystals and refined a toxin potent enough to paralyze.
That bedside tea set was probably no longer suitable for tea.
"Grin… you dare impersonate my sister?!"
Fire seemed to blaze in Rem's eyes as if she wanted to tear him apart on the spot.
Thump. Thump.
Her heart rate suddenly soared.
So did her body temperature.
Inside her stomach, the toxin crystal dissolved and began to take effect.
Damn it!
Rem gathered all her strength into one violent contraction and finally tore through the tentacles binding her.
The moment she landed, she drew back her right fist and punched herself in the stomach.
Pfft! Pfft!
Once.
Twice.
"Blegh—!"
Rem dropped to her knees and spat out a milky-white crystal about the size of a sugar cube.
Unfortunately, nearly a third of it had already dissolved.
A numbness spread from her organs into her limbs and upward toward her brain.
Even her vision began to blur, as though the world itself were slipping out of focus.
"Hey, Subaru Natsuki—throw the magic mirror over here!"