When Takagi Naoko first received that call, her fingertips were icy cold.
This world was far vaster and darker than she had imagined.
That afternoon, in the school infirmary, the man who suddenly appeared casually took away her 'mind' and 'abilities,' as if flicking away a speck of dust.
She had once thought her 'Maximum The Hormone' was her unique shining point, proof that she surpassed Shiina Taki. But in front of those eyes that could casually peruse and strip away her existence, that light was as faint as a candle flame in the wind.
Like a cascading mountain flood crushing a bonfire, not even smoke remained.
That Lord mercifully returned her mind and abilities. He even allowed her to step into this world of shadows and serve him. This 'grace' ignited a spark of desperate hope in the embers of her fear.
Perhaps… perhaps he was not invincible?
Fleeing back to her empty home, she hid in her room, sliding down with her back against the door, her heart pounding.
She forced herself to calm down, using the most rigorous logic to review and construct a cold fortress:
"This failure was due to the opponent's surprise attack."
"Yes, the 'Maximum The Hormone' vibration waves can widely interfere with physiological functions… as long as I keep my distance and don't let him get close!"
"He's not that scary… my unease and fear are just because he startled me for a moment…"
"As long as I'm fully prepared—"
"Want to try?"
A voice that wasn't hers, cold, drilled into her ear canal, reaching directly to her brain marrow.
"Who?!"
Takagi Naoko sprang up from the ground as if branded by a hot iron.
She jumped onto the bed in terror, her back pressed firmly against the cold corner of the wall. Her gaze swept over the pink curtains, soft pillows, and small desk lamp that once brought her a sense of security… now, their shadows looked like lurking monsters.
Fear, the fear that had just been slightly suppressed by logic, like a cold tide, instantly engulfed her, suffocating her.
She finally understood; that voice was in her own head.
"Trying to rally with reason?"
"I'll give you a little praise, Takagi Naoko."
She felt instantly stripped bare, every thought, every bit of timidity exposed, with no secrets to speak of.
"I can give you a chance to face me."
"But my time is precious…"
"What price are you prepared to pay?"
The word "price" was like a poisoned needle, piercing her heart fiercely.
Takagi Naoko's body stiffened, as if an invisible venomous snake was coiling around her beating heart, its cold tongue licking that crimson fruit.
This was not a warning; this was a naked interrogation that bypassed all lengthy procedures and went straight to the core.
It was not an interrogation of her body, but an ultimate judgment of the lingering delusion deep within her soul.
On that day, Takagi Naoko completely prostrated herself.
She surrendered to that voice, submitted to the brand that man had etched into her mind, willingly becoming his loyal hound.
So, when the cold command to "protect the [Spider] at all costs" came over the phone, the unsettling cloud of anxiety in her heart was dispersed by a strange gust of wind.
She completely ignored the cruelty of the order requiring her to risk her life for others, only catching the words "value"—she was still valuable to that Lord! This realization brought a morbid sense of gratitude and relief.
She completely abandoned her past of imitating Shiina Taki. Following the blurry afterimage imprinted on her retina during that golden afternoon, she dyed her hair a dazzling, brilliant gold. Her attire was completely revamped, choosing pure black that could swallow all light—just like her first impression of that voice, bottomless, devouring all things.
With an almost pilgrimage-like excitement, she rushed out of her house. For the pedestrians blocking her way in the station, she subtly used her 'Maximum The Hormone' to emit imperceptible vibration waves, precisely stimulating their intestines.
Watching the person turn pale, clutching their stomach and scrambling away in embarrassment, she curved her lips into a cold smile.
Obstacles should be cleared this way.
When she arrived at the high-rise apartment building, she immediately spotted the two men in cheap work clothes, lurking suspiciously.
Her mind raced, but she didn't act immediately.
She wanted to wait, to appear like a hero at the most critical moment and save the important person codenamed [Spider]. This would maximize her "value" and increase her weight in "that Lord's" heart.
The timing was perfect. Just as the opponents were about to break in, a bright blue headless robot's fists, like heavy hammers, cleanly knocked out the intruders.
She smugly adjusted her sunglasses, flashing what she considered a cool smile at the doorbell camera.
However, when she entered the room, what greeted her were scarlet blood characters gushing out from the walls, floor, and ceiling.
Countless distorted, viscous characters of "Fool" instantly filled her vision, writhing and expanding wildly, carrying a strong mental shock that almost drowned and devoured her.
"My rescue was so brilliant, why!"
============
The door slid open silently. The [Spider] sat in the faint blue glow of the computer screen, not turning her head, typing the last key on the keyboard with her fingertips.
The blood characters filling the room instantly vanished as if evaporated, as if they had never existed.
Only then did the [Spider] turn her chair. Her delicate face was expressionless, with only a pair of drooping golden dog ears on top of her head moving slightly. She didn't even glance at Takagi, who was frozen at the doorway, her gaze falling directly on the unconscious work-clothed men on the floor.
"Is she the 'Spider'... Wait, that appearance!"
"Misumi Uika?! The idol!"
Takagi Naoko was clearly surprised by the [Spider]'s true identity, but she still didn't show her emotions.
She cooperated as much as possible with the [Spider] to extract two highly suspicious items from the two men on the ground, expressing no opinions throughout the process, merely waiting quietly at the side.
"Metal insects… insect eggs."
The [Spider] murmured, the red light on her fingertips growing stronger, holding the insect eggs completely still. She took out her phone and dialed a number.
"Yes, samples have been collected."
Her voice was steady, but Takagi keenly detected a very subtle hint of… reliance? Or something else.
"Okay, next I will conduct an [interrogation] of those two. Is there anything else you need me to do?"
The other end of the phone seemed to say something, and the [Spider] listened in silence, her golden dog ears twitching almost imperceptibly.
"Monitor the follow-up dynamics of the 'beastification' incident in real-time…"
She repeated, her gaze sweeping over the scrolling news windows on the screen—the authorities were vehemently blaming the nonexistent [Japari Park] organization, while other channels were still lavishly praising the 'Happiness and Relief Committee'.
"I'll hang up now."
"Right now, I also need to conduct an [interrogation] here."
============
Togawa Fuuki casually tossed his phone onto a nearby metal equipment table, making a clanging sound.
He leaned back into the specially brought black leather sofa, crossing his legs.
A stark white beam of light, like a searchlight, shone directly into the center of the basement.
There, a gigantic metal crucifix stood coldly.
Rough steel cables deeply bit into Fudou Hayabusa's skin, binding him securely in an 'X' shape.
He hung his head, his once arrogant orange hair now matted with blood and dust, his tattered clothes revealing large areas of strange golden spots and incompletely faded beastification features on his skin. A bowl-sized penetrating wound on his left chest was gruesomely exposed, the surrounding muscle tissue showing unnatural gray decay and dissolution, clearly the result of corrosion by some powerful chemical toxin.
The 'Japari Park' had been taken away and transformed into a 'DISC', and along with it, the "self-healing" state remaining on his body had also been eliminated.
Fuuki sat quietly, the only sounds in the basement being Hayabusa's heavy, painful gasps and the rhythmic dripping of water from an unknown source.
Drip… drip… drip… cold, slow, like the second hand of a countdown clock.
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