The Shadow of Melina Closing In

The woman's brazen provocation made Denian immediately shift into a stance like a predator ready to pounce on its prey. But Wolfgang raised one hand toward Denian, signaling him to pause for a moment, and spoke.

"If you disappear quietly even now, miss, you'll still be able to see tomorrow's sun. If not, today will be your last chance to take a walk with that lover of yours beside you."

Even at what seemed like Wolfgang's final act of mercy, the woman showed no sign of hesitation.

"There's no need to tell such obvious lies, is there? You never intended to let us live anyway."

"...Well, well. You're surprisingly sharp for a young lady."

"What should we do?"

Denian asked Wolfgang while fixing a gaze as sharp as a blade on the uninvited guests.

"...Deal with them."

At Denian's question, Wolfgang gave an order as cold as his own voice. With their boss's permission granted, Denian began slowly approaching the young man and woman who had dared to invade the boss's hideout without fear.

'This doesn't feel good.'

Watching Denian gradually close in on them, I felt an unease slowly crawling up from deep within my chest.

'They appeared at the exact moment the quest was ending? Could this really be a coincidence?'

And I wasn't the only one being consumed by this ominous feeling.

"N-no way... This voice, it can't be..."

Emilia's face twisted in shock, her amber-like orange eyes trembling violently.

"Melina... How is she here?"

Emilia collapsed to the floor with a thud and muttered.

The moment I heard that name, my hands began to grow slick with sweat.

'Fuck, Melina?'

If it was Melina, she was an officer in the student council that Sophia belonged to.

'Don't tell me Sophia came here too?'

I forced my stiff, tense neck to turn and scanned the area around Melina, but besides her and the two men, there were no other shadows to be seen.

At that moment, Denian, standing in front of Melina, cracked the knuckles of his thick fingers and said,

"It'll be much easier if you don't resist and just let your neck snap quietly."

"How stupid. The one whose neck is going to snap is you, you filthy old man."

As soon as she threw off the hood covering her face, Melina's revealed features were as youthful as her small frame. Of course, her cat-like, sharply slanted eyes were filled with a dangerous smile that didn't match her innocent appearance at all.

"Bulk-up, kill him."

The moment Melina stared straight at Denian's face and called out that strange name, the man standing beside her began to twitch abnormally. He scratched at his entire body—arms, legs, everything—causing a liquid to drip from his skin onto the floor.

But the horrific scene didn't end there.

The man's body began turning a vivid red, noticeable even in the dark passage, and soon started swelling as if someone had pumped air into him. In an instant, he grew into a giant that surpassed even the massive Denian, glaring at him while making a gurgling sound like a throat full of phlegm.

"Fuck, what the hell is that? I'm scared!"

"Kyaaaaaah!"

Seeing the man whose entire body looked like it was armored in blood, with overgrown muscles bursting through his skin, both Emilia and I couldn't help but scream.

Even Denian, who always maintained a poker face, spat out words of panic at the sudden, absurd sight before him.

"What the hell is this monster?!"

"Excuse me, he's not a monster. He has a cute name—Bulk-up. Doesn't that upset you, Bulk-up?"

Instead of answering Melina, the man she called Bulk-up moved at a speed unbelievable for his massive frame and grabbed both of Denian's shoulders.

"Gaaah! L-let go right now!"

Denian screamed in agony as his shoulders were gouged by Bulk-up's grip. He kicked desperately at the monster's stomach, but escaping those hands seemed impossible.

Bulk-up, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠who had been enduring Denian's kicks without a care, suddenly tilted his head back and slammed it straight into Denian's skull.

With a sickening crunch—like the sound of a wild animal's body exploding after being hit by a car—nothing remained above Denian's shoulders.

The bloody lump that had once been his head flew far away and smashed into the wall.

They say that in extreme terror, the body freezes up. I couldn't even scream as I stared at Denian's gruesome, instantly killed form. My tightly clenched fists refused to open.

"Ah..."

Even as blood gushed like a fountain from where Denian's head had been, soaking my knees, I couldn't utter a single word.

The monster casually tossed Denian's body to the floor as if it were trash.

"Hehe, looks like his neck didn't just snap—it completely disappeared. How unfortunate."

Melina lightly kicked Denian's cold corpse with her foot a few times before stepping over it and walking toward us. With every light step she took, her footprints were stamped on the floor using Denian's blood as paint.

And trailing right behind her was the monster that had finished Denian off, sticking close like a bodyguard.

When Melina reached us, she rubbed the sole of her shoe against the floor to wipe off the blood and said,

"Now we can finally have a calm conversation. But before that..."

Looking at our now-silent group, Melina snapped her fingers.

"Bulk-up, tie them up first."

At Melina's command, the monster pulled handcuffs from the bag it had brought and slowly approached us.

"I'd advise against resisting. You never know when our Bulk-up might get angry♡"

At Melina's cheerful threat—since she held our lives in her hands—we had no choice but to obediently let the monster bind our hands behind our backs.

'Is that the Academy uniform?'

Up close, the torn clothes the monster was wearing were indeed the Academy's uniform. Even Emilia, who had been trembling in terror, noticed the blood-soaked white garment was a uniform and her voice rose in shock.

"Melina, don't tell me you used forbidden drugs on a fellow student?!"

At Emilia's near-scream, Melina stroked the chin of the monster that had returned to her side after restraining us and answered,

"How rude, speaking first like that. Still, since you showed some courage, I'll answer. Yes, that's correct."

The monster who had once been a student responded to Melina's touch with a dog-like growl. There was no longer any trace of human reason in that reaction.

"But please don't misunderstand, Professor. I never forced anyone to take the drug."

"Don't lie! You don't care what happens to others as long as it amuses you!"

Emilia's voice grew heated, as if she had some connection with Melina.

"How dare you speak so arrogantly without knowing your place."

Melina approached the defiant Emilia and slapped her pale white cheek. It was hard to believe such a cruel sound could come from such a small, girl-like hand. With a sharp smack, Emilia's cheek flushed bright red.

"Hngh..."

Emilia let out a pained moan.

I couldn't just stand by and watch anymore. I stepped in front of Emilia, placing myself between her and Melina.

"Wait! I understand, so stop it now."

Melina looked at me with an intrigued expression.

"Moving to protect someone else in a situation like this—either incredibly stupid or brave. It's a bit different from the personality the Vice President told me about. Oh well."

Just like Jericho, Melina clearly thought of me as trash who only went around fucking women, thanks to Sophia's incitement.

After casually evaluating me however she pleased, Melina ordered the three of us,

"All of you, gather over here. If you don't want to die, do it now."

In the end, following the orders of that bitch Melina—who held our lives in her grasp—we had no choice but to kneel side by side inside Wolfgang's hideout under the monster's watchful ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠eye.

—And back to the present.

Melina sat on a chair that had appeared from who knows where, legs crossed. Thanks to that, between her smooth thighs, a pink pair of panties similar in color to her hair peeked out slightly.

"Hehe, this is quite the spectacle. Too good to enjoy alone."

'You're one to talk. Don't tell me your pubic hair is also pink to match your hair color, so you deliberately coordinated your underwear?'

Of course, I wasn't stupid enough to say exactly what was on my mind to the crazy bitch who had turned a student into a monster and casually ordered murder.

Instead, I gathered my courage and asked Melina directly about her purpose.

"What's your goal? It can't be something as obvious as coming to catch delinquent students as a member of the student council."

"Of course not. No one in the student council knows I'm here right now. That includes Vice President Sophia, who's obsessed with dealing with you, Brother Arwen."

"What did you just say? Brother?"

Melina smiled lightly as if it were the most natural thing.

"You're older than me, aren't you? Did it feel good being called 'brother'? Hehe."

"What? Ha... Never mind."

Melina twisted a lock of her pink hair around her finger as she continued.

"Still, I was surprised. I didn't expect you to change your hair color. It's a simple but effective disguise. No wonder that idiot Yosef failed to tail you so many times."

"D-did you just say Yosef?"

"Yeah. Last week, an enraged Vice President Sophia smashed his left testicle. Hehe. She healed it right away with a potion, though."

'Damn it, Yosef. No wonder his face looked so awkward at the banquet.'

I never imagined Yosef had become one of Sophia's lackeys too. Whether by choice or under threat, I wasn't sure. But given how he'd been treated, the odds of blackmail were much higher.

I tried not to be overwhelmed by Melina's violent aura and gathered my courage once more to ask about her purpose.

"Why did you follow us?"

Melina switched which leg was crossed over the other and shrugged.

"At first, I just wanted to find the creator of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Viagrak. My pathetic older brothers from the main family were whining so much."

"D-don't tell me... The people who made the popular virility drug before were from the Fleming family?"

Melina readily admitted what Emilia said.

"That's right. To be precise, it wasn't the Fleming family—it was entirely me who developed it. But you see..."

Melina pointed inside the bag containing the Viagrak and said,

"Because you made Viagrak, Emilia, my pride took a little hit. I never expected you to create something superior to my own work."

While Emilia and Melina were having their private conversation, I was desperately trying to think of a way to escape this situation. The problem was that no plausible ideas were coming to mind.

'Fuck, fuck, fuck! What do I do? Should I beg for my life by offering to lick her toes?'

My ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠judgment was dropping endlessly due to despair. At that very moment, a new quest appeared before my eyes, filling the previously empty quest window.

'Fuck, it came out of nowhere like this?'

Just like with Raibel, the quest arrived without giving a single damn about my circumstances. I quickly scanned the quest window. The success conditions themselves weren't that difficult, but the time limit was only one hour. Both the reward and penalty were traits related to drugs. It fit perfectly with the target, Melina.

The title was also fantastic. Fuck the Bratty Bitch? Even in a situation where my life was hanging by a thread, our developer apparently wouldn't be satisfied until I rammed my huge penis into that tiny psycho bitch's hole. What terrible timing.