"Wait, Shane… do I really have to do this?"
Standing at the doorway, Mira pressed a hand against her right arm under the cloak and turned back nervously.
Even though she'd made up her mind a moment ago, the habit of avoiding things for so long still made her shrink back instinctively when faced with the villagers outside—people who saw her as a demon.
"This is your 'compensation' to me, remember?"
Shane leaned against the doorframe with his arms folded, wearing a front-row-seat grin.
"If you want to apologize, then don't waste time saying useless nonsense."
Before she could hesitate again, he lifted a foot and kicked the door open.
Bang!
The door flew wide, and he shoved Mira out with the motion.
She stumbled out of the cabin. The blood-red sunset poured over her thin back.
The villagers—still screaming, still throwing stones—fell silent the instant they saw Mira walk out "calmly."
A dozen pairs of malicious eyes nailed themselves to the "demon girl."
Then they saw Shane step out behind her.
He was no longer neat and spotless. Now he was dusty, clothes rumpled, looking downright battered.
The crowd instantly exploded.
"What's going on?! Why is that demon totally fine?!"
"I knew it!"
Someone shrieked, "City mages are useless!"
"Look! That idiot got beaten to hell!"
"Worthless trash! We paid you all that money—what were you even doing?!"
"Get out! If you can't kill her, then take that demon and get the hell out of our village!"
A tide of curses and abuse surged again—louder and nastier than before.
"…"
Listening to the screeching voices, staring at those blind, stupid, hate-filled eyes…
Mira's wavering heart became strangely calm.
"We didn't want to stay here anyway…"
She murmured so softly only she could hear.
This time, she didn't take a single step back from the swinging hoes and shovels.
Rip!
No longer lost, she yanked off her tattered cloak and tossed it to the ground.
The "demon arm" she'd always treated as a sin, always tried to hide, was now exposed—completely, openly—in front of everyone.
"AAAH!!"
The villagers' faces froze as they saw the arm, studded with purple crystals like a dead tree twisted into something inhuman.
Fear flashed first—instinctive.
But it was quickly replaced by something vicious: the urge to purge the abnormal.
"So it really is a demon! That arm is disgusting!"
"We can't rely on that useless outsider! Everyone together—kill the demon!"
Because Mira had always retreated before, none of them noticed her expression was nothing like the old Mira.
A burly man charged out without hesitation, face twisted, raising his shovel high and smashing it down toward Mira's head.
"DIE!!"
The wind screamed.
Mira didn't even lift her head.
She simply raised her right hand.
The shovel—strong enough to crack a skull—was caught effortlessly in that withered hand.
Not an inch moved.
"Hey! Guild work needs real skill!"
Shane's voice rang from behind. He cupped his hands like a megaphone, shouting like a shameless drill instructor.
"If you don't even know your own limits, you'll never finish any decent job!"
"So go on—show me everything you've got! Show your full demon power!"
Mira gripped the shovel handle and lifted the would-be attacker—man and shovel together—straight off the ground with one hand.
At the shouting, she hesitated and turned back.
"Everything?"
Honestly, ever since she "received" this power, she'd done nothing but suppress it and resist it.
Even she didn't know what would happen if she fully unleashed the demon within her.
"What does my full power… look like?"
She couldn't help it—curiosity flickered in her chest.
"Then… should I try?"
Seeing Shane's expression—Go ahead. I've got you.—Mira nodded.
She wasn't entirely convinced of the strength of the guy she'd dropped with one punch earlier…
But then again, this was her power. It shouldn't be a problem.
"Ha…"
Mira took a slow breath and closed her eyes.
The next instant—
BOOM!!
A vast, suffocating surge of magic erupted around her, whipping up a gale from the ground.
In dark purple light, Mira's soft silver hair rose and flared wildly.
Her small, delicate ears sharpened—stretching into pointed tips.
A black crack-like mark appeared over her right eye, turning her gaze razor-sharp and predatory.
"What a strange feeling…"
Mira narrowed her eyes, feeling the power roar through her veins.
The withered, bark-like demon arm rapidly transformed under that magic—hardening into a sharper, golden claw.
"Why was I… so stupid before?"
She looked down at the screaming villager in her grip and found the whole thing laughable.
"With power like this… I let insects like you trample us?"
Crunch.
She squeezed. The iron-hard shovel crumpled like paper.
Then she grabbed the man by the collar and threw him down like trash.
"Oho?"
Shane stared at her new, cold, almost "demonic" presence and whistled in surprise.
"Looks strong. So this is the demon you received?"
"Shut up."
Mira snapped her head toward him and shot him a sideways glare.
In this state, she seemed to have dropped the mask completely—her real irritation bare and unfiltered.
"Don't stand there acting like some lofty mentor from the start. Just hearing you talk pisses me off."
She sneered and pointed a claw at Shane.
"Once I'm done with these insects, I'm going to teach you a lesson."
"Huh?"
Shane blinked. Something felt… off.
"This Mira doesn't match the girl who was hesitating and apologizing five minutes ago at all."
He rubbed his chin, and some half-remembered magic lecture floated up from what Leyla had taught him.
"Right… Receiving magic can affect the user's personality depending on what they receive…"
"If the will isn't strong enough, or the power is too intense… the mind can go out of control…"
"And the solution is… beat them up?"
He stretched lazily, suddenly relaxed.
"Well, that's convenient."
But he still called out, just in case:
"Hey! Scare them a little, fine—but don't actually kill anyone!"
He really didn't want Mira to fully lose herself and do something he couldn't accept.
"Quit lecturing me!"
Mira didn't look back. Her voice was cold, arrogant, feral.
"These bugs… aren't worth dirtying my hands in front of Lisanna and Elfman."
Then she threw her head back and laughed, legs coiling—
And launched like a cannonball straight into the crowd.
Boom!
One punch hit the ground and cracked it.
A shockwave blasted outward, sending villagers tumbling like bowling pins.
"D-DEMON!!"
"I knew it! She's a real demon!"
"RUN! She's completely gone insane!!"
Panic erupted. A moment ago they were baying for blood; now they were screaming and scattering in every direction.
"That damn mage! What are you doing?! Help me! I PAID YOU!!"
The village chief shrieked as he ran.
But a normal human couldn't outrun Mira now.
"Run? Weren't you loud a second ago?"
She moved through the crowd like a ghost.
She didn't directly strike them—she simply let her terrifying magic pressure flood out, then punched the ground at their feet again and again.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Earth exploded. Stones flew.
Villagers were launched into the air, crashed down, and rolled in pain—yet none were fatally wounded.
"Mm. Still talking. Still holding back. Not out of control yet."
Shane sat on the cabin threshold, scratching his head as he watched.
"So… that earlier arrogance wasn't the demon taking over. That was just Mira?"
He couldn't quite wrap his head around it.
The gloomy, fragile girl from before had a core this wild?
Just then, Lisanna and Elfman came out with their bundles, startled by the noise. They'd thought something terrible had happened.
"What's going on?! Did they hurt Sis again—"
The words died in their throats.
They stared at a scene that shattered their worldview.
Their usually quiet sister was laughing like a true demon, chasing the villagers who'd tormented them for months.
"Hahahaha! Faster! Run faster! Or the next punch lands on you!"
The image was so intense it didn't even feel satisfying at first.
It felt terrifying.
"Th-this…"
They were more anxious than relieved.
"M-Mira…?" Elfman called weakly.
Mira, "playing" with the chief, turned.
"Oh. Elfman?"
Those eyes—marked by that black crack—locked onto him.
And seeing his timid, shrinking posture, her brow furrowed in disgust.
"Don't you dare look that pathetic! You're the only man in this family, aren't you?!"
She casually kicked.
Whoosh—!
A rock shot like a cannon and embedded itself in the dirt by Elfman's feet.
"Pick it up!"
Mira pointed at the stone and barked an order.
"They used to throw rocks at us. Now you throw them back the same way."
"B-but…"
Elfman's hand shook as he picked it up.
More than revenge, he was terrified of his sister's "wrong" state.
"No 'but'!"
Mira's eyes sharpened.
"What—now you don't even listen to your sister?"
"Guh!"
Elfman froze under her pressure. He clenched his teeth, shut his eyes, and threw the rock at a nearby villager.
"Yaaah!"
But he was still the same gentle, cowardly kid.
The rock landed weakly by the man's feet, not even hitting him.
"Hmph."
Mira didn't get angry.
Elfman had acted. That was enough.
She turned back to the chief, who was trembling so hard he'd wet himself, and grinned with savage delight.
"Hah—did you piss your pants?"
"I remember you. Back when I was hiding inside, you were the loudest one—shouting about how you'd personally kill the demon."
"So why, now that I'm right here…"
"Are you this pathetic?"
Watching Mira's wild, ruthless glee, Lisanna tugged anxiously on Shane's sleeve.
"Shane… is she really okay like this?"
"What's the problem?" Shane looked at her like she'd asked something strange.
"She's not killing anyone. Not chopping limbs off. She's just scaring them a bit. Why would that be a problem?"
"No, I mean…"
Lisanna stared at Mira's increasingly manic silhouette.
"Big Sis… she's like a different person."
"Huh?"
Shane looked even more confused.
"If the demon power isn't controlling her mind, and she can still recognize you two…"
"Then this is just what she's really like, isn't it?"
He glanced at Lisanna as if this should be obvious.
"Aren't you her family? You don't know what Mira's normally like?"
Lisanna fell silent.
Thinking about it…
Before this "demon" thing, Mira really had always been bold and reckless.
Otherwise she never would've dared sneak into the church alone to deal with a demon when she didn't even know she could use magic.
"Eh. She's probably been suppressing herself too hard. Now she's finally venting everything. She'll settle down."
Shane patted Lisanna's head to reassure her—patient with kids like he was with Levy or Lucy.
But—
The instant he said "she'll be fine," something changed.
"ROAAAR—!!"
Mira flung the chief aside.
Then a low, compressed growl ripped out of her throat.
And her body mutated again.
Crack! Crack!
With the sound of bone growing, her demon traits spread beyond her arm.
A massive pair of black membrane wings—like a bat's, like a dragon's—burst out of her back with a wet tear, shredding her clothes, blotting out the sunset.
Then a thick tail covered in black scales unfurled behind her, the tip sharp as a spear, whipping the ground.
As her transformation deepened—
Mira turned.
The brown-blue eyes that still held some reason were gone.
In their place: a void of madness—pure, endless black.
~~~
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