***
The corridor on the third floor of the academy.
A fierce melee was underway there.
“Tch... Just how many more are there?!”
Sera muttered, clicking her tongue.
Around her lay women with grotesque physiques.
Female academy students whose breasts and hips were larger than their faces.
Despite being short and having youthful faces, their figures were abnormally voluptuous.
It seemed they were the academy students who had been turned into women by the yokai.
She had already defeated over ten of them, but they were still swarming from all directions.
“Of all things, to be caught by an enemy who relies on sheer numbers...”
Sera's abilities truly shone in one-on-one combat.
She was confident that in a one-on-one fight, she wouldn't even lose to Seol-wol.
However, in battles where she was overwhelmed by numbers, she was much weaker than other exorcists.
This was because her main technique, 「Assassination」, was specialized solely for eliminating a single target.
“Why don't you give up already? I'm starting to get bored.”
Kishi said leisurely from beyond.
That guy, only sending out his subordinates.
Moreover, the ones she was currently fighting seemed to be controlled by Kishi.
In other words, they were originally students of this academy.
Therefore, she couldn't just recklessly swing her weapon.
“Since it's come to this... I guess I have no choice but to settle this.”
Sera muttered.
She then brought her hands together, forming a seal.
“What are you planning to do?”
“「Finishing Move: Lightning Flash」!”
「Finishing Move: Lightning Flash」. It was an attack that instantly increased speed to kill the opponent in a single moment.
Its speed far surpassed the speed of sound.
However, it caused a strain, inflicting considerable damage on herself as well.
It was a secret technique that could only be used once per battle, a true finishing move.
Even if she used it to defeat Kishi, she would undoubtedly be killed by the subordinates.
Conversely, if Kishi was eliminated, the unknown spell cast on the academy students might be broken.
Sera decided to take a chance on that.
“Gah?!”
The next moment, Sera moved with terrifying speed.
This caused a fierce gale to swirl around her, blowing away the academy students like reeds struck by a gust of wind.
A path opened.
A flustered Kishi tried to defend, but before she could react, Sera's sword swung, cleaving her in two.
“Target eliminated.”
Swoosh.
Sera, who had charged forward like a streak of light and reappeared on the far opposite side in the blink of an eye, sheathed her sword and muttered.
The sound, unable to keep up with her speed, was heard a beat later.
By the time the scabbard embraced the sword, Kishi's severed body slowly split into two pieces and fell to the floor.
Did I defeat her?
The moment she turned around.
Clap, clap, applause was heard.
“As expected of an exorcist. That last attack was surprising. Lord Yaruo's advice not to underestimate you was indeed correct.”
“How could you...!”
She had definitely cut her down.
She had felt it too.
But Kishi, standing before her, was perfectly fine, without a single scratch.
“Still don't understand? The one you cut down was a fake.”
Kishi lifted the fake's body, which lay on the floor, and said.
Looking closely, she saw sewing lines on its back, like a doll.
“A fake... How could this be...?”
“I already knew about your finishing move, Lightning Flash, from Lord Yaruo. So I deliberately set up a doll that resembled me and controlled it from afar, watching you.”
She knew?
Could there have been a spy inside?
And who exactly is this 'Yaruo' guy?
“Lightning Flash cannot be used twice in a row. And it seems you're exhausted.”
As Kishi gestured, the busty female academy students approached, their chests jiggling, and surrounded Sera.
“Ugh... Let go of me!”
Sera struggled, but it was futile to escape.
“I will re-educate you into a gentle personality befitting your beautiful appearance.”
Kishi approached and said.
Kishi then lifted Sera's chin with her fingertips and kissed her.
“Mmph?!”
She felt something pass from mouth to mouth.
Tongue, saliva, and something else.
‘Do not resist. I will never harm you. This is a gift.’
Kishi's voice suddenly echoed in her mind.
Sera, who had been glaring with wary eyes, gradually, for some reason, felt a warm and cozy sensation, so much so that she couldn't possibly feel angry.
‘Now, swallow it down, gulp, gulp.’
Kishi's voice, transmitted directly.
She tried to resist, but for some reason, her mouth moved on its own, accepting and swallowing whatever had entered.
After a long moment, Kishi pulled away.
“You...! What did you make me swallow...!”
Sera glared at Kishi and shouted.
But for some reason, no matter how hard she tried to force it, she couldn't feel any hostility.
Instead, the moment she shouted, a sudden fear gripped her, and a worry that she had done something she shouldn't have filled her mind.
It was as if, yes.
It felt like talking back to her parents.
“It's remarkable that you can still maintain such an attitude. As expected of an exorcist. What I made you swallow was a lump of my yokai energy. My ability is to break down yokai energy into fine threads, infiltrate them into a target, and control them. We call them 'brainwashing threads.' In other words, countless brainwashing threads, formed from the yokai energy you just swallowed, are spread throughout your body like a spiderweb.”
“Then this feeling is...?”
“My brainwashing threads can emit yokai energy to interfere with your mind and disrupt your thoughts. Furthermore, they can be broken down into very fine particles to control your brain. Like this.”
Sliiiide.
Kishi gestured in the air.
Then Sera's limbs moved on their own, snapping into an attention stance.
“Ugh...?!”
“Do you understand? Your body is now in Kishi's grasp. Exorcist. If you understand, then obediently become my possession.”
“Who... would ever... to someone like you...!”
Sera resisted, gritting her teeth.
Yet, deep down, an impulse kept rising within her to do just that.
She wanted to obey the elegant and beautiful woman before her.
She wanted to surrender both her body and mind and find peace.
She had a premonition that a reward would surely follow.
A profound happiness, enough to melt her mind into a soft haze, would follow.
But this feeling was clearly manipulated.
This emotion was also absolutely unnatural.
“Hmm... Even after injecting this much brainwashing thread... Well, there's always a way.”
Kishi crossed her hands.
Immediately, Sera's expression twisted in pain.
“Aaaaargh?!”
“If I physically damage your brain, your mental strength becomes meaningless, doesn't it? Lord Yaruo told me not to kill you if possible, but he didn't say anything about not breaking you.”
Her vision distorted and blurred.
She felt something strongly pressing from within.
Fear gripped her, the fear that she might die if this continued.
At that moment, a scene from the past flashed in Sera's mind.
The back of a black-haired young lady, wearing a sailor uniform and holding a tachi in one hand.
Exorcist Seol-wol.
A comrade and a rival.
However, that competitive spirit was always closer to Sera's unilateral pursuit alone.
Because Seol-wol was always far ahead of her.
As an exorcist.
And in the resolve of someone who faced life head-on.
Exorcists were always warriors who lived bearing the risk of death.
Despite that, no honor or material reward followed.
Because exorcists weren't chosen; they were born that way. From the day they came into existence, they lived with such a destiny imposed upon them.
Ultimately, by their parents, by their ancestors, by their family, by the group they belonged to.
But Seol-wol was different.
She chose to become an exorcist herself.
There was only one reason.
She couldn't stand by and watch yokai harm people.
Sera thought that resolve was admirable.
This was especially true for Sera, who had always resented this destiny that bound her, cursing it in a corner of her heart.
That's why she wanted to be like her.
A female warrior with a human heart, not just a weapon.
“What...?!”
Kishi stared at Sera in astonishment.
For an unknown reason, the connection to the brainwashing threads she had infiltrated into Sera had weakened.
It was as if.
“She's pushing back my yokai energy?! She shouldn't have that much strength left...?!”
“If I lose here, you'll take even more innocent academy students as your subordinates and manipulate them as you please.”
Sera said, shaking off the brainwashing threads with a voice full of resolve.
“Do you think I'd let that happen?!”
Surging vitality.
This was the result of the game's system, which formed the foundation of this world, having an effect.
A kind of support feature prepared for beginners or some players who enjoyed casual difficulty.
In Exorcist Seol-Wol 2, if playing on Easy difficulty, a 'Chance for Awakening' is granted.
This was an unlimited retry opportunity that, if defeated with a certain amount of gauge filled, would restore roughly half of one's health and allow them to continue the battle.
That's right.
This time, the [Bad Ending Objective] included the unconventional restrictions of [All four exorcists participating] and [Difficulty set to Easy].
In other words.
It was virtually impossible to make an exorcist retire through 'combat'.
“「Finishing Move」...!”
Sera, squeezing out every last bit of her remaining strength, raised her sword.
Kishi belatedly pulled out threads to defend her body.
“—「Lightning Flash」!”
A sword strike poured forth with terrifying speed.
The thread-made barrier was brutally cut down and collapsed, and the attack reached Kishi beyond it.
“Evil... I will never forgive it...!”
Sera appeared from beyond, sheathed her drawn sword, and said.
Immediately after.
“Kuaaaaargh!”
Blue blood gushed from the yokai's body.