This Is Why I Possessed Him
A night of whispering wind.
A woman stood atop a hill, cold dew beneath her feet.
And I — the man brutally wringing her throat — was a villain of legend.
Her name was Jeffbery Shut.
Frigid fury settled around her eyes.
"You again, Double Crown!"
"Jeffbery. Give it up already."
I began to squeeze that impossibly beautiful throat. The cuffs of my tailored suit shirt bit into her soft skin.
"Hh—!"
"You think Dwight is coming to save you? That's never going to happen."
A single tear rolled down her cheek.
This was the moment the heroine at the center of every succession debate in the novel was about to vanish.
As Jeffbery's head began to drop, her neck caught against my solid arm.
"You're giving up that easily? Jeffbery! Have you already thrown away your dream of becoming the Empire's final Spiritual Entity?"
At my words, her sliding eyelids fluttered open.
"How loathsome. I can't simply let you go this easily."
I withdrew the arm that had been constricting her.
"Jeffbery… Letting you leave here on your own terms is something my pride will not allow. When you stand at the very top, I will drag you down properly. So live."
I stepped back from her and, with telekinesis, lifted her body upright. As I shoved her torso away at a distance, I struck her abdomen so the blood pooled inside her organs would come up.
Thud!
"Ghk…!"
Jeffbery curled like a seahorse, coughing blood as she floated into the air. Once she had fully expelled it, her long hair surged upward and her upper body arched the opposite way.
I left the unconscious Jeffbery suspended in midair and stared at her for a long time.
I had saved Jeffbery.
My absolute favorite character!
It was the single best thing I had done since entering this novel.
This scene was a development the author had forced through despite the protests of countless readers. As one of those readers, I had never been able to accept it. How could you build up so much romance between the protagonist Dwight and her, only to kill her off like that out of nowhere?
That crossed a line.
The moment I realized I had possessed the novel's villain, Double Crown, my fate was essentially sealed. In the scene where Jeffbery dies by my hand — I save her.
And right now, I had done exactly that.
Overcome with emotion, I gazed up at Jeffbery floating in the air. The telekinesis would wear off soon — I needed to get out of here before then.
But first, just one more look.
Hop!
I took a running leap and looked down at her face.
She really is beautiful.
Beautiful, yes — but her actions were ridiculously charming too. If she had lived, she would have become a grand mage for certain. Not that weird Peggy Ylang-Ylang.
I sank into pure satisfaction. I lost track of time staring at her — until, suddenly, she opened her eyes.
Uh-oh.
I laughed first.
"Muhahahahaha!"
".....!"
"Awake, are you?"
".....!"
"You're awake. Muhahahaha."
Looking down at Jeffbery's dumbfounded expression, I spoke with a thoroughly villainous face.
"I won't watch you cling to regrets any longer. I'll wait until you become a Spiritual Entity."
As I finished speaking, Jeffbery's body plummeted toward the ground. I barely managed to throw myself forward and catch her.
Nestled demurely in my arms, Jeffbery flinched. Red welts marked the throat I had squeezed earlier. Toward the Jeffbery who recoiled on pure instinct, I whispered:
"Muhahaha. Still don't know me? I have no interest in prey I've already caught. If I were going to kill you, I would have done it earlier."
I laid Jeffbery on the ground. Kneeling on one knee, I carefully arranged the hem of her robe, then said:
"I, Double Crown, do not touch a weakened enemy. So grow stronger!"
With those words, I left the place.
The place I returned to via teleportation was Double Crown's lordly castle — Demarken House.
The tension that had held me together finally loosened, and exhaustion crashed over me. I collapsed straight onto the bed and slept like the dead for two full days.
When I opened my eyes on the third day, my little sister Igrian was looking down at me with her arms crossed.
"You're back?"
"You slept like a corpse."
Even in a novel world, real siblings existed. It had already been six years since I entered this story. In that time I had not only adapted to Double Crown's villainy — I had also had to prepare for the gradually building blood feud with Jeffbery.
Enduring my little sister's relentless nagging is something I still can't get used to, no matter how many times I try.
"Now that you're up, look at this."
Igrian played a magic recording transmitted through a crystal orb. The footage showed captured news articles and people's comments.
3,583 comments……
"So what are you gonna do?"
Hell if I know. You think I planned that far ahead?
For Dwight to end up with Peggy Ylang-Ylang, Jeffbery had to die — and I had overturned that. Still, the path I needed to walk was clear. As this novel's most passionate reader, I had to make sure Dwight and Jeffbery ended up together. I absolutely refused to watch him end up with that Peggy Ylang-Ylang.
In this novel, Double Crown was the leader of the dark organization Dwight was destined to eradicate. In the end, I would die by Dwight's hand. But I intended to delay that moment however I could and elevate Jeffbery back into the heroine's position. Clear up the misunderstandings between them, then personally witness the moving moment when their true feelings finally meet.
"Now that things have gone this way, Dwight won't just sit still."
Igrian spoke with a rigid expression. I answered half-listening.
"I have to fight Dwight once anyway."
"Oppa… You know he's made a major breakthrough recently, right?"
I looked at Igrian with a bitter smile.
"So? We've got you, don't we?"
Igrian was a genius magic engineer. It would have been nice if she'd used that brain for good — but under the influence of her older brother Double Crown, she was currently working overtime as a villainess in this novel. Her transmutation magic, in particular, was a cheat skill. Anything became whatever she intended.
My magic, by contrast, was simple.
Blending
A magic that mixes this and that to create something new. The magic of 1 + 1 = 2. There is no magic more precise, no result more certain.
Starting from that simple formula, I had cultivated magic skills refined enough to become the leader of a dark organization.
"Because you were sprawled out sleeping, I couldn't fill the quota."
"Shall we head out?"
I shrugged on my suit jacket and buffed the toes of my shoes with a brush until they gleamed. In short: the picture of a high-class villain.
"What's the target?"
"The Ash Witch. The artifact between her teeth supposedly boosts magic casting speed."
I curled the corner of my mouth.
"Nice."
It was time to hunt.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud.
A lean witch tore down a dark forest path at breakneck speed. Heila, the Ash Witch, left afterimages everywhere she passed, her blue curls streaming behind her.
"Hah… hah…!"
For a while now, a strange presence had been chasing her. The moisture in the air felt as if it were draping over her like a veil.
Whoosh!
Sensing instinctive danger as if dodging an invisible snare, Heila moved. She leapt through the forest this way and that, almost as if teleporting.
Catch.
But in a moment of carelessness, the surrounding air began to constrict her like a spider's web. Damp, stifling air sucked into every opening of her body.
Sssssssss.
BOOM!
In an instant, Heila scattered into fragments and vanished as black smoke. From the tooth still floating in midair to the very end, I plucked out the artifact.
"This is it!"
I handed the artifact to Igrian for inspection.
"Can you boost the efficiency further?"
"Your call. Hand it over so I can improve the efficiency of a device I make — or keep it yourself."
"You take it."
"Really? Oho…… Wait! You're not just testing me, are you?"
I answered while studying the surface of the lake where the Ash Witch had been. Small vibrations were growing steadily stronger.
"The Ash Witch… You didn't say there was only one, did you?"
"I never said there was only one? I said I couldn't fill the quota."
Damn it. Why are you telling me this now!
In a flash, the lake water surged upward and Heila's clones came charging in. Unlike me, who was diving straight into a grind session, Igrian spoke with an excited expression.
"Whoa… How many is that?!"
Whee!
I stuck my fingers in my mouth and whistled. The drifting moisture surged toward the witches like ropes.
It was time for a slaughter.