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*──Don’t you want that woman… Don’t you want her soft-looking body?*

When that voiceless voice whispered in his ear, his heart thudded with an especially strong beat.
With awkward movements that seemed to creak and groan, he looked at her standing a short distance away.
She was the one he’d been partnered with ever since he was first entrusted with his mission as an exorcist by the temple.
The one he’d been thinking about all this time.
And now, she was right there beside him. Close enough to reach out and touch.

—That’s right. Go ahead and make that woman yours. Look, take a good look. At those breasts that look like they’re about to spill out of her torn clothes. She’s flaunting them right in front of you. She’s inviting you. Come on, accept her invitation. That is exactly what she wants—

A voice kept whispering in his ear. Nodding in agreement, he—Morganaik took a step toward the Holy Maiden, his drawn sword still hanging at his side.

.

But Morganaik stopped after just that single step.

Something whispering in his ear. He should know exactly what it is, yet for some reason, the truth eludes his dazed mind.

Still, a warning bell was ringing somewhere deep within him.

Morganaik dropped his sword and clutched his head with both hands.

Don’t listen. He must not heed this voice whispering in his ear.

Even though he knew that in his head, the voice he heard was so soothing. It was slowly, steadily eroding Morganaik’s mind.

*—What’s wrong? Don’t you want that woman? Haven’t you been thinking about her for a long time? You can have everything about her right now. There’s no need to hold back. Make her entirely your own.*

The whispers continued.

As if guided by the voice, Morganaik looks at Calcedonia.

The woman he has longed for more than ever before. Perhaps his love began the moment he met her.

He wants to make her his own. He wants to keep her locked in his arms forever, never letting her go to any other man.

He wants to cherish her. So much so that he has secretly sworn to his own God that he will protect her from any danger, no matter what.

These two conflicting emotions clash fiercely within Morganaik.

As these two feelings collided within his heart, and the scales were about to tip toward his desire to cherish her.

Something moved in the corner of his vision.

It was a man.

A man who had recently appeared at this temple and had become very close to Calcedonia. To be honest, Morganaik didn’t like it one bit.

A slight ripple stirred within his heart. “Something”—keenly attuned to that ripple—stirred it further.

*—Don’t you hate that man? Well then…why not just get rid of him? Can you really let a pesky little insect like that cling to your precious woman?*

Of course not. There’s no way he can allow some random man to remain by her side.

*—Then, you should just crush that annoying little pest right away. Surely your precious woman must be annoyed by that insect clinging to her as well.*

That’s right. Just like many other noblemen, Calcedonia must surely be annoyed by that man’s constant pestering.

*—That’s right. That’s exactly it. Getting rid of that pesky insect will lead to protecting your precious woman. If you do that, she’ll surely thank you and open her heart to you even more.*

He’ll eliminate that man. If he does that, Calcedonia will be happy.

Painting a picture in his mind of her expression—joyful, yet shyly blushing—Morganaik picked up his beloved sword, which had fallen at his feet.

.

*It* smirked secretly.

The human *It* had possessed before had harbored a great desire in their heart, yes, but this current human possessed a desire no less intense.

Desire is *It’s* sustenance.

Living creatures live with desires, to a greater or lesser extent. Even wild animals have various desires, such as hunger and the urge to reproduce. However, these are closely tied to the instincts necessary for survival and are not particularly strong as desires.

Among all living things, the ones that harbor the strongest and most complex desires are undoubtedly humans.

A veritable whirlwind of desires swirls within humans.

Appetite, greed, lust, ambition, and so on.

The more complex, vast, and murky a negative desire is, the more delicious it is to *Them.* That is why *They* are constantly on the lookout for opportunities to possess humans.

The desires of the human *It* had possessed until just a moment ago were delicious, but the desires of this new human seemed set to be even more so.

Pure affection for a single woman. Yet even pure feelings, when taken too far, can turn into a dark, possessive obsession.

*It* stimulates and amplifies the pure feelings of the possessed human, transforming them into a viscous, negative desire. Then, *It* devours that desire as it tilts toward the negative.

Even now, *It* had transformed the affection this human felt for the woman into an intense, ugly possessiveness.

However.

This human’s mental fortitude was far stronger than *It* had imagined.

He was trying to transform the affection—which had been turned into dark possessiveness—back into pure feelings.

So, *It* changed its objective.

Instead of heightening his possessiveness toward the woman, *It* would stoke his jealousy toward the man hovering around her.

Jealousy, too, can be considered a form of possessiveness. The dark flame of jealousy that blazed fiercely within his heart, fanned by “it,” tasted sweeter than any desire “it” had ever experienced before.

Now, kill that man. And next, defile that woman over there as well.

Little by little, bit by bit, if I strip away the possessed human’s reason, eventually this person too will transform into a monster that faithfully obeys its own desires.

With a lecherous smirk on its face, “it” continued to sip the dark desires welling up within the possessed human’s heart.

.

“Morgan…?”

Morganaik’s expression suddenly turned vacant, a complete reversal from before.

He slowly turned his head and stared intently at Calcedonia.

Light began to return, slowly but surely, to his once-empty eyes.

But that light was different from the stern yet gentle glow of his usual eyes—it was an ominous, crimson glow.

“M-Morgan…? N-no… Not only Lord Baldio, but you too…”

That was a sign of being possessed by a specter.

The strongest warrior Calcedonia had always fought alongside. To think that warrior had turned into a monster.

Unable to believe it at first, Calcedonia stood frozen, staring intently at Morganaik.

Morganaik shifted his gaze from Calcedonia to Tatsumi, who stood behind her.

The moment he spotted Tatsumi, a fierce rage flashed across Morganaik’s face. He raised the sword he had picked up and charged toward Tatsumi at a terrifying speed.

Morganaik, with a face like a demon, charged straight at him. The terror welling up at the sight of his hideous visage bound Tatsumi’s mind and body like chains.

Reaching Tatsumi in an instant, Morganaik brought his raised sword crashing down toward Tatsumi’s head.

But just as the blade was about to strike, a purple flash of lightning pierced his body.

Struck by the bolt from the side, Morganaik’s body was blown away.

Finally freed from his terror, Tatsumi looked toward the source of the lightning and saw Calcedonia standing there, her right hand thrust forward.

“Even if it’s you, Morgan, I won’t forgive anyone who tries to hurt Master!!”

She declared resolutely, then stepped between Morganaik and Tatsumi while chanting a new spell.

Though she had been in a daze moments ago, she seemed to have regained her senses upon seeing the beloved boy in danger.

As soon as the spell was completed, lightning burst forth from Calcedonia’s hand once more, striking the body of the fallen Morganaik.

With each strike of lightning, Morganaik’s body jerked and twitched, flopping about like a fish washed ashore.

“H-hey, Chiiko… That’s going a bit too far, don’t you think…? Is Morgan-san going to be okay…?”
“He’s fine!! I’m holding back, and Morgan isn’t so weak that he’d die from this!! Besides, since he tried to hurt you, Master, this is practically a slap on the wrist!!”

Caledonia declared firmly. Her eyes were completely fixed on her target.

Tatsumi wore an expression that said, “Whoa.” However, he said nothing more, simply praying for Morganaik’s safety.

Even as he watched, the fallen Morganaik was struck by lightning again and again, and had already stopped even groaning.

Just as Tatsumi began to worry, *“No matter how tough a warrior Morganaik is, won’t this kill him?”* Calcedonia’s incantation finally ceased, and the barrage of lightning strikes came to an end.

“…………He’s weakened now, so his resistance to magic must be down as well. I’ll use this opening to exorcise the specter possessing him.”

Caledonia began chanting Exorcism for the third time.

It seemed her goal wasn’t simply to inflict pain on Morganaik, but to weaken him and reduce his resistance to spells.

While Tatsumi inwardly tilted his head, wondering, *“Is that how that works?”* at Calcedonia’s words, the incantation was completed, and a pure light enveloped the fallen Morganaik.

The silver light of purification from Exorcism. Any specter caught in this light is immobilized and eventually vanishes.

Occasionally, a powerful specter might be able to withstand the purifying light, but that is merely “withstanding” it. Once trapped within the purifying light, the specter has no way to escape it.

But now. From within the silver light of Calcedonia’s Exorcism, something burst forth with great force.

That “something”—Morganaik—let out a beast-like roar as he lunged at Calcedonia.

The pain, suffering, and above all, the rage of the specter scorched by the purifying light were transmitted to its host, Morganaik. Having completely lost control of himself, Morganaik turned the tip of his sword toward the woman he loved.

It took her completely by surprise. Since no specter had ever been captured by the purifying light and escaped before, Calcedonia had let her guard down just a little.

Had Morganaik’s highly trained body achieved something that had never been possible before?

A close friend leaping at her with a specteric expression. And in that hand, a sword radiating a sinister glow.

Calcedonia’s eyes widened in shock. Her body remained completely still, as if paralyzed.

Right before Calcedonia’s eyes, Morganaik swung his sword-wielding arm wide. The lightning-fast horizontal slash that followed would easily cleave Calcedonia’s slender body in two.

The deadly blade slid out to her side.

The Holy Maiden, frozen in place, had no time to dodge.

The blade surged forward, instantly gaining speed and transforming into the lightning-like silver bolt that Calcedonia had just unleashed.

And then, the blade of the Free Knight—possessed by a specter—struck the Holy Maiden’s body.

.

The Free Knight’s sword swung through with full force.

Crimson blood spattered all around.

Without even wiping the blood that splattered onto her face, Calcedonia lay on the ground, staring blankly at the scene.

Just before Morganaik’s sword reached her.

Her body was violently shoved from the side, sending her crashing to the ground.

A warm, sticky red liquid dripped onto the side of Calcedonia’s face as she lay on the ground.

At the same time, the smell of iron filled the air. To Calcedonia, who had faced mabeasts and fiends countless times as an exorcist, it was nothing other than the familiar scent of blood.

And what she saw as she looked up from where she lay—-

It was the figure of her beloved boy, his chest sliced open by the swinging blade of the Free Knight, bleeding as he fell to the ground.