The Owner's Heart Is Pierced

Even after the Association deployed so many of its people, they still couldn't locate Lee So-rin's hideout. Above it, Siren appeared in the sky.

"H-how...?"

She had been told in no uncertain terms during their 'deal' that not even the archmage's detection magic would be able to find this place. Lee So-rin, who had never intended to face Siren directly in the first place, froze in shock. I let out a low chuckle.

I still remembered exactly how Siren ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had found me. She had tracked me across dimensions through the system. It was obsession, or maybe outright madness, backed by power on the same scale. From the moment I was kidnapped, I had been certain she would come for me. I bought time, and it paid off.

With a soft tap, Siren landed gracefully on the ground and walked toward me. Then she threw her arms around me.

"I was so worried."

"Sorry."

She squeezed my waist in a death grip. I had been about to tell her to ease up a little because it was getting hard to breathe, but when I saw the crimson sky and the building with its roof completely blown off, I suddenly decided this wasn't so bad after all.

"You have to stay right by my side, Hyun. I never should have left you alone."

"Yeah. Yeah."

"From now on I'm following you even to the bathroom."

"Whoa, let's not go that far."

Meanwhile, while the two of us were busy being affectionate, Lee So-rin realized this was her chance. It stung like hell to be ignored so completely, but you had to know when to retreat if you wanted another shot later. She boldly activated her phase shift.

In the next instant, she had moved to the roof of another building. It wasn't as heavily warded against detection magic as her hideout, but it was the farthest spot she could reach while still in sight. She was just starting to relax, thinking that no matter how powerful that woman was, she wouldn't be able to pinpoint her location immediately, when her body suddenly locked up with a jolt.

The sky above her. That blood-red sky that looked like molten lava flowing down it had eyes. Thousands of them, eyes that seemed made of lava, rolling and shifting in their sockets. One of them fixed directly on her. Then, like a wave, the rest followed.

"W-what...?"

Was this what it felt like to be watched by a god? Lee So-rin stumbled backward on instinct, only to be hit by a powerful impact from behind that sent her sprawling forward.

"H-hot..."

A burning chain had flown in from somewhere and wrapped around her. The next thing she knew, her body was flying through the air like a fish on a hook, being reeled in the direction the chain was pulling from.

"Aaaaaaaaagh—!!!"

After what felt like an eternity of flying, a heavy impact slammed into her body.

"Hurk...!!"

Lee So-rin was hurled to the ground. She couldn't move a single finger. It felt like every bone in her body had been shattered. The most she could manage was a weak twitch of her head. Soon, a pretty shoe entered her field of vision.

"Where do you think you're running off to?"

It was Siren.

"Phase shift is her ability. You have to cover her eyes. She changes the location of anything she can see."

"You figured that out too? Hyun, you're so smart."

Siren's flames had wrapped Lee So-rin up like a mummy. The fire would burn away her mana the moment it regenerated, keeping her in a state of mana exhaustion. Just to be safe, I added another warning.

"What if the phase shift and invisibility aren't actually magic?"

"You mean she awakened additional powers on top of magic? But isn't one of this world's rules that mages can't have secondary awakenings because the initial awakening is already a phenomenon in itself?"

"That's true, but suddenly using abilities she couldn't before feels off. She might have been hiding thirty percent of her strength, but this is hiding way too much."

Yu Gang-hyeok was apparently still investigating exactly how she had obtained phase shift and invisibility. According to the Association, Lee So-rin had suffered from extreme psychosis after the incident. The mana stored in her circles had probably leaked during that time, seeping into her brain and contaminating it. It caused fatal damage to her cognitive functions, making her unable to distinguish between reality and delusion—a dissociative disorder commonly known as qi deviation.

They expected her new ability to be a complication arising from that disorder. The term wasn't used lightly. By forcing power beyond the limits of her nervous system, muscles, and brain, she would eventually destroy herself. It was a reasonable theory.

"Still feels too weird."

But I had a gut feeling that Lee So-rin's ability wasn't some pathological side effect. I couldn't explain why. Ever since I was kidnapped... I'd had this strange conviction. Come to think of it, the way I had known exactly when Siren would arrive was suspicious too. I had expected her to come, but how had I calculated her exact arrival time? Was phase shift really activated through the eyes? What had I based that certainty on?

I pushed the questions swirling in my head aside and told Siren exactly what I was thinking. She would take me seriously even without solid evidence.

"So you're saying that woman seems like she's undergone a second awakening?"

"Not so much a second awakening as... a contract? Something along those lines, maybe?"

I added that her hideous appearance and the way her body grew faint when she used powerful abilities suggested her powers weren't simply granted to her.

Siren blinked, then exclaimed in admiration.

"Hyun. You're so smart!"

"Not as smart as you."

"No, you're really smart!"

"Yeah... Hey, could you stop patting my head?"

"Why? You pat my head all the time!"

"Siren. Lower your voice a little."

Can't you see all those people sneaking glances at us?

"I want to pat you too—mmph!"

"Enough."

I quickly covered Siren's mouth before she could get any louder. She glared at me for a second, then smiled. A moist, soft sensation touched my finger. I flinched. Siren wasn't wearing her mask right now. She had lost it while flying here at top speed. Thanks to that, I could clearly feel her... warmth.

I tried to pull my hand back belatedly, but she grabbed my wrist and refused to let go. My hand grew steadily wetter. My heart thumped. It was about to race.

"Huff, huff. Sir, are you all right?"

"Ah. Association President."

Yu Gang-hyeok, whom I had contacted earlier, had finally arrived. Using the greeting as cover, I managed to free my hand. After confirming I was safe, he turned to check on Siren.

"Are you unharmed as well, Siren?"

"What does it matter to you?"

"Pardon...?"

"I'm seriously annoyed."

"...!!!"

Yu Gang-hyeok looked at me with wide eyes. I subtly avoided his gaze.

Lee So-rin and the kidnapped hostages were handed over to the Association. Maybe her only real goal had been to torment Siren, because the hostages were in surprisingly good condition. The worst of it was malnutrition. Still, it took quite a while. Siren had half-destroyed the building, causing the stairs to collapse. Since it was an abandoned construction site with no elevator, the awakened had to carry the hostages down on their backs.

In the meantime, I answered the Association investigator's questions while Siren waited for me.

"Would it be all right to visit later for additional inquiries?"

"Sure."

The conversation was just wrapping up when a small voice spoke.

"Um..."

"?"

Someone was tugging on my sleeve. I looked down to see a little girl.

"Here..."

She held something out. When I took it, I saw it was a camera. It had perfectly recorded the moment when Lee So-rin, after boldly declaring she would capture my agonizing death on film to inflict eternal pain on Siren, got absolutely wrecked by her. Seeing it now, it was actually kind of funny.

"Ha. Who the hell do you think you're..."

That was my reaction, but Siren seemed to feel differently. Her expression crumpled as she glared at the golden-chain mummy that was Lee So-rin. At that moment her eyes met Yu Gang-hyeok's, who happened to be standing nearby.

"Hmph!"

"Please at least tell me what I did wrong..."

Hm. Nothing serious, then. I turned to the child instead.

"Thanks. But why are you giving this to me?"

"U-um..."

Her gaze dropped to the floor. She fidgeted with her fingers, glanced up at me, then looked down again. After repeating the motion a few times, she finally bowed.

"Th-thank you for saving me."

"Huh? Me?"

"Yes...!"

"It was that pretty big sister over there who saved you."

"But you stepped up too, mister."

"Well, I guess I did."

I had mostly just talked a lot of shit, though.

"Thank you."

She bowed again. I stared at her small round head for a moment before belatedly reaching out to pat it.

"There, there."

"Hehe."

Looked like the camera had just been an excuse to talk to me. The girl soon turned around with light steps and headed toward Siren.

"Pretty big sister! Thank you!"

She gave Siren a polite bow too, then ran off to her mother who was waiting in the distance. I watched her bouncy little figure until she disappeared.

"She's cute."

I was smiling like an idiot when Siren walked over.

"She is cute."

"You were like that when you were little too."

"Hm. I don't remember."

"You were seriously adorable back then~"

"What? So you're saying I'm not adorable now?"

"You're cute now too... But could you move your head a bit?"

She kept pushing her head under my hand, so I patted her the same way I'd patted the little girl. Only then did Siren settle down obediently.

"Hehe~"

...She seemed to be getting bolder and bolder lately. Or was I imagining it?

"Shall we head home now?"

"Yes! I'm tired!"

"All right. Let's go rest."

"My whole body aches."

"Yeah. Let's hurry."

"So give me a massage."

"...Let's go."

"Massage."

"..."

"Answer me."

"..."

I deliberately avoided her eyes and stepped outside the building. Right as I did—

Lee So-rin wept. She had already sacrificed her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠eyes, so no tears fell. She felt wronged. What had she done wrong? What could she possibly have done to deserve this?

She had only wanted revenge. She had only wanted to return what had been done to her. Didn't that evil bitch deserve to be punished? So why was she the one suffering? Why, why...?

But her emotions soon flowed in a different direction.

The voice had promised her power. Enough power to make Siren suffer. Was this what it called enough? She had given her eyes. She had given the skin around her mouth. In ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the end she had given half her body. The arms that had been there when the chains wrapped around her were gone now. So why was she the one lying defeated?

And then the voice returned.

She cursed it. Her vocal cords were already gone, so no sound came out. But perhaps her intent still reached it.

The questions changed.

It led her.

It whispered.

With a sweet voice.

It shook her mind.

And so she made her decision.

Her body crumbled into powder with a soft rush. The powder gathered, shaping a new existence. A black body. A tail. Membranous wings. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Red eyes. Horns.

The chains snapped with a metallic screech. The being summoned through the sacrifice of a human body charged forward with singular purpose to fulfill its master's grudge.

The archmage's response was swift. She instantly raised a barrier to protect herself and the surrounding area. However...

"Heh... hehehe."

The part of Lee So-rin that had not yet turned to powder—slowly transforming even now—stared directly at her.

Siren, who had heard all about phase shift from me, anticipated that the position would switch to outside the barrier and began channeling her mana. That was the fatal mistake.

In a flash—

"N-no—"

Our eyes met.

From outside the barrier.

The black being's scythe had pierced straight through my heart.