A massive shadow surged outward from Clarice's feet, growing like ink spilled across the floor.

In an instant, it lunged upward and wrapped around me.

The cold touch of the shadow swallowed me whole, and the world disappeared in a single heartbeat.

My vision went completely black.

The shadow that had risen to my face suddenly surged forward—

and in an instant, it swallowed everything.

My vision turned pitch black.

"—!"

I couldn't breathe.

A cold, suffocating pressure wrapped around my body as if I had been dropped into deep water. No matter how desperately I swung my arms or kicked my legs, nothing changed. My hands sliced through the darkness like it was thick tar, offering no resistance—no hope.

Panic hit me hard.

A crushing helplessness spread through my chest, something so heavy and absolute that for a moment I truly felt—

Ah… I might die here.

My senses blurred.

The world grew distant.

All that remained was the suffocating dark.

And then—

"Louis!!"

Lisa's voice cut through the void like a lightning bolt.

A small tear opened in the darkness, and from it, her hand reached toward me—bright, trembling, desperate.

Her eyes were filled with light, almost shining with a starlike glow even through the gloom.

I didn't think.

I just reached back.

My fingers closed around hers.

"Haaah—!"

Light exploded across my vision.

Air rushed into my lungs in a frantic gasp as if I had resurfaced from drowning.

"Cough—! Haa…! Cough!"

The cold pressure vanished.

The ground returned under my feet.

"Are you okay??" Lisa asked, her voice trembling.

"I… I'm fine," I managed between coughs, though my legs felt like jelly and my heart wouldn't stop racing.

Lisa let out a long, shaky breath.

"Thank goodness…"

Lisa, still gripping my hand tightly, rushed over to check me like she was afraid I would crumble any second.

Only after confirming that I was merely gasping for air—and not fatally wounded—did she finally exhale in relief.

But before I could even sit up properly, another voice cut through the air.

"…What are you?"

Clarisse's glare was sharp enough to cut.

Her expression, usually cold and drained of emotion, now held something unexpected.

Unease.

"Why can you use that power…?" she demanded, taking a step toward Lisa.

"H-Huh? W-what do you mean?"

Lisa shrank back, clearly bewildered.

I blinked, still trying to recover from the suffocating darkness Clarisse had trapped me in.

That suffocating, chilling void—definitely not normal magic.

It felt… wrong. Twisted.

A power granted by something not human.

And she was saying Lisa used the same thing?

Clarisse didn't let up.

"Don't pretend you don't know!" she snapped. "What you just unleashed—that was demonic power, the same as mine!"

"I-I really don't understand what you're talking about!"

Lisa insisted, shaking her head rapidly. Her eyes kept darting toward me, silently begging for help.

But even I wasn't sure what to say.

As my breathing steadied, I pieced together the fragments.

Clarisse's darkness.

The oppressive void.

The strange energy that had wrapped around Lisa just moments ago…

If Clarisse, who clearly wielded demon-given abilities, said Lisa used something similar—

Then there was only one conclusion.

Lisa could use demon-related power too.

And whatever it was, it was almost certainly tied to her magical eye.

I slowly rose to my feet, my hand still in hers.

Seeing how Lisa kept glancing at me—nervously, almost pleadingly—it was obvious what she wanted.

She didn't want anyone to know she used demonic power.

But…

I kind of already suspected it.

Ever since I discovered she had a magical eye, I had considered several possibilities.

And the idea that her power wasn't… normal… was one of the strongest ones.

Her role in creating the chimera, the unnatural abilities she displayed now and then—something had always felt off.

Like there was a force behind her that didn't quite belong in the realm of ordinary magic.

Though I hadn't known it was demonic power specifically, it wasn't exactly shocking news.

The difference was that now Clarisse knew something was strange.

"Answer me! Where did that power come from?!" Clarisse barked.

"I already told you, I don't know…!!" Lisa snapped back, sounding genuinely irritated.

From her point of view, having Clarisse relentlessly interrogate her was probably unbearable.

She was already trying hard to hide her demonic nature—so being hounded like this must've been nerve-wracking.

"Do you plan to keep dodging the question?" Clarisse stepped forward, her eyes sharpening. "If so, I'll just force it out of you."

"Ugh… you're seriously such a pain…" Lisa muttered, her voice dripping with annoyance.

But Clarisse wasn't giving up.

If anything, she looked more determined than ever.

She raised her sword—not to strike, but clearly to threaten, to pressure, to force an answer through fear if she had to.

That was when I stepped forward.

I tightened my grip on my sword and took a stance.

I wasn't going to let the same thing happen as earlier.

The humiliation of being caught off guard once was enough.

Besides…

I had finally begun to understand Clarisse's ability.

Shadows.

When Clarisse stole magic from the male student who attacked her…

And when she shoved me into that strange, suffocating darkness…

Both times, I'd seen it.

A faint ripple, a drip of something unnatural—black and viscous—flowing out from beneath her feet.

From her shadow.

If that's the case…

Her shadow isn't just a shadow.

It's a conduit. A second body. A weapon.

"Everyone—target Clarisse's shadow!" I shouted.

Elena, who had sprinted over with her sword drawn, skidded to a stop beside me.

"Her shadow? Why—?"

"No time! Just do it!"

Elena nodded sharply and shifted her stance, eyes dropping to the ground beneath Clarisse.

The moment Clarisse heard my order, her expression twisted.

"…You figured it out," she said, voice low and dangerous.

Her shadow began to stretch—slowly at first, like ink spreading through water.

Then all at once, it snapped outward, elongating like a living creature.

A black tendril shot toward us.

"Louis!" Elena moved instinctively, slashing downward.

Her sword didn't touch Clarisse—but the moment the blade brushed the shadow—

KRRSSSH!

A shrill, tearing sound ripped through the air.

The stretched shadow recoiled violently, twitching as if in pain.

Clarisse flinched, her stance breaking for a half-second.

So I was right.

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