“Ugh— cough.”
I sat crumpled on the ground, trying to clear my throat.
I’d nearly caught a chunk of shattered pavement, dodging it by a hair’s breadth at the last second…
“Rowell. You okay?”
“Uh— I think I’m okay…”
That, too, was thanks to Grape-Head.
Right before the black mist could slam into me—
This guy grabbed me by the collar and yanked!
My throat had taken a beating for it, but that beat having my face crushed in.
Still, the sight in front of me was terrifying enough to freeze the blood in my veins.
“What is going on?”
Black mist coiled in a spiral around the heroine.
Anything the mist touched split apart cleanly, like it had been sliced with a massive blade.
Could this be — a black magic runaway surge?
Something that occasionally showed up in the original story to move the plot forward.
A phenomenon where a person infected with black magic had their emotions spike so violently that the magic broke loose, tearing apart everything around them.
But for that to happen right in the middle of the palace?
And to the heroine, of all people?!
No — there was no reason for the story to veer this far off course, was there?
Grape-Head glanced sideways at me.
“Rowell. Can you use any magic?”
“M— me? Just the basics, barely—”
“Tch.”
…Did you seriously just click your tongue at me, in a moment like this?
But there was no time to be offended.
The black mist pouring off the heroine was closing in fast.
“Finley! Get clear, now!”
I shouted, spinning around — and found Grape-Head already casting.
He raised his bracelet-wrapped hand, and a burst of violet light struck the black mist!
It seemed to work — the mist scattered a little.
Grape-Head glanced back at me, snapping irritably.
“Run. Get inside the building!”
I turned and bolted straight for the building.
“Hff, hffh—!”
A ribbon of mist Grape-Head had missed was closing in on me fast.
If I can just get the door shut, I’ll be fine!
Allison was watching the chaos outside through the hallway window.
The instant I grabbed the door and pulled it open—
“H— hey, what do you think you’re doing!”
“Gah!”
Allison shoved me back!
She had a shocking amount of strength for her size — I went stumbling backward, hard.
Slam!
At the sound of the door slamming shut, I looked up to see the black mist hissing like a snake, bearing down on me as I sat sprawled in front of the door.
Damn it!
Died in a car accident in my last life, and now I’m about to go out in some occult accident this time?
Bang!
But an explosion cracked overhead, and the black mist scattered into nothing.
My ears rang, a high whine drowning everything out.
“Ugh…”
Still, I was grateful all four of my limbs were still attached.
What just happened?
Did Grape-Head chase after me and step in?
But the voice I heard from behind me was—
“Rowell!”
“M—!”
The male lead.
He’d come to help.
I pointed frantically toward where the heroine and the second lead were, gasping.
“Right now! Julianna—!”
The black cloud of mist around her was growing bigger by the second.
At this rate, both of them were going to be in real trouble.
The male lead’s gaze snapped forward.
“Cover your ears and get down, Rowell.”
“Got it!”
I dropped flat, clamping both hands over my ears.
No idea what he’s about to do, but—
A silver pistol appeared in the male lead’s hand.
And without a moment’s hesitation—
Bang!
He shot the heroine.
…Wh— what?!
In an instant, this romance-fantasy office drama had swapped genres entirely.
Into some kind of action blockbuster shootout.
The bullet the male lead fired struck the black mist wrapped around Julianna dead-on, but—
Crack!
The round burst with a sharp report, wrapping the mist in white light and dissolving it — nothing more.
It never touched the heroine underneath.
The male lead gritted his teeth beside me.
“At this rate, it’s going to eat straight through her lifespan.”
“What?!”
Wait, is this seriously the ending where the heroine actually dies?
I caught glimpses of Julianna’s shape, but the mist kept growing thicker by the moment.
The male lead broke into a run toward her, shouting back at me.
“Rowell. Get out of here!”
“Y— yes sir!”
I scrambled up in a panic, but—
Where could I even run?
It’s already surrounded on every side—!
Any tree the mist touched had withered instantly.
Some of the pavement had cracked into pieces.
The only place I could even hide is the building, and—
The door Allison had shoved me away from was already sealed shut.
There was nowhere left to run.
In that case…! Is there really no way to stop her from going out of control?
Just then, one of Grape-Head’s attacks briefly cleared the mist, and Julianna’s shape came into sharp focus.
Huh?
A white stone hovered, suspended, near her heart.
The stone had no shine to it at all — dull, bone-white, and unsettling to look at.
My eyes snapped wide open.
That’s the black magic core!
The source point where black magic gets released from.
A dense knot of magic that amplifies a person’s emotions.
Precisely because so much power was packed into it, it was unstable — the slightest shock could stop it cold.
In theory, anyway. Also — since when could you actually see the core like this?
Wasn’t it only supposed to appear after the black magic fully dissipated?
Whatever — figure out the reason later!
The male lead was in the middle of saving someone who’d nearly been struck by the mist.
He caught sight of me running toward him and his face twisted sharply.
“Why didn’t you run!”
“There’s nowhere to go! More importantly, sir!”
I pointed toward Julianna, exposed again for a brief moment by another hit.
The white stone was still hovering right where her heart should be.
“Can’t you see that?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Sir! Right there, by her heart, how is there—”
“Rowell, are you trying to kill Crosswell—!”
“I’m not trying to kill her! There’s a core there — I can see it!”
“…!”
“If you strike it—”
He probably had no reason to believe words blurted out in the middle of a crisis like this.
But the male lead adjusted his stance instantly and nodded.
“Rowell. Can you make an opening and touch it?”
“What? Me?”
“I can’t see it — which makes it more dangerous for me to try!”
“But—!”
What kind of thing to ask an office worker!
If I touch that, won’t it infect me too?
Just then, the black mist swallowed the heroine’s body again, and the male lead started firing at it.
Bang! Bang!
The mist faltered under the barrage, but—
“Go!”
The instruction that followed was terrifying.
This is insane!
I’d dreamed of a cushy, easy career, so why were my legs sprinting flat-out right now?
I called out to Julianna, standing there pale and bloodless as a corpse.
“Julianna!”
Her eyes had gone gray, glassy — like she couldn’t hear a single thing.
Meanwhile, that eerie white stone kept glowing brighter and brighter.
Like it was draining her life away, drop by drop.
I moved toward her, slowly, and reached my hand for the stone.
Ah— it’s hot!
The moment it settled into my palm, I gripped it and yanked with everything I had.
And the black mist began melting away, like snow.
“Hff. Hnngh.”
I collapsed straight down onto the ground.
My hand throbbed with pain, and adrenaline was still screaming through my veins.
Julianna is—
Thud.
The instant the last black particle vanished, Julianna, who’d been suspended in midair, dropped straight to the ground.
I crawled toward her on my hands and knees.
“Is— is she dead…?”
“She’s not dead.”
An exhausted voice answered from behind me.
Grape-Head walked up, wiping sweat off with his sleeve.
“Grape— Finley!”
“You… what’s that in your hand.”
“Hm? Oh, this.”
He must mean the black magic core.
I opened my palm and looked down at the stone, tilting my head myself.
Huh? Was there always a symbol carved into it like this?
It almost looked like a black crescent moon…
But something about Grape-Head’s tone had shifted.
“How did you know the core was there?”
“Huh?”
“Seeing a core isn’t something even most Mage Tower graduates can do.”
His black eyes glinted, sharp.
For the first time, it actually hit me that he really was the second lead, and I flinched, my shoulders drawing in on their own.
By then, the male lead had walked over too.
“Rowell…”
His red eyes bored straight through me.
I looked between the two men looking down at me and swallowed hard.
My survival instincts whispered a quiet, sinking realization.
So much for the cushy life. This was well and truly ruined.
