Did you think this young lady was an ordinary villain?

[Guardian of Domination (50%)]

Whether it was the format of the reward for the affection points with Kujo Ryuko, [Blood Manipulation (5%)], or... the name 'Dominator'.

It all seemed to be a silent declaration.

This was Soga Toyura's affection points reward.

This was... Soga Toyura's Guardian of Domination for her.

But--

That person...

Staggered out of the bath, not even bothering to wipe the water droplets off her body.

Pulling a bath towel around herself, Su Youzi clutched her forehead in pain.

In her memory... that person had finally gripped her hand.

When was it?

Six years old?

Or seven?

A sharp pain shot through her head.

Her memories in this area were a complete blank.

Regarding her childhood.

Su Youzi had many blank spots in her memories.

But... it was completely different from normal "Mental Manipulation."

Normal "Mental Manipulation" wouldn't allow one to actively recall things without external stimuli from people or objects.

And recalling it wouldn't cause a headache.

She just felt lost.

A voice from the depths of her heart told her, hinted at her... the 'answer' to the problem.

The answer given by Soga Toyura.

Su Youzi actually understood.

Her condition was more like a 'sequela.'

The sequela of a failed "Mental Manipulation."

In her memories, that person was always recklessly abusing her Ability.

To her.

The value of everyone's existence was merely a tool in her hands.

The value's level depended entirely on how useful the tool was.

Clearly--

Being both useless and unable to be "Mentally Manipulated," she...

Must be the most difficult tool to use.

But... wasn't her Guardian of Domination given to her by that person?

Why was she guarding herself even from her?

Smiling bitterly, Su Youzi tried to amuse herself.

She reached out towards the powder-blue nightlight.

Then, just as her fingertips touched the nightlight's switch, Su Youzi suddenly remembered something else--

When did she... start being afraid of the dark?

Her past self, before transmigration, had clearly experienced walking alone on long mountain roads late at night.

But after transmigrating... whenever she was plunged into darkness, she always felt her hair stand on end.

Cold sweat broke out on her palms.

Her head buzzed, and she could clearly hear her heart pounding in her chest.

She felt as if she were deep inside the belly of a giant monster.

Just like... the Taotie in her chest when she used "Combat Record," a monster that could never be satisfied, leaving only endless emptiness.

Her fingertips, reaching for the nightlight switch, hesitated and ultimately did not press it.

The girls' dormitory fell into darkness.

Her crimson eyes opened in the dark, Su Youzi curled up in the corner of the bed, as if warding off an invisible monster.

However... her right hand was extended into the darkness.

As if grasping an invisible hand.

Grabbing that invisible hand, Su Youzi slowly closed her eyes.

"Don't be afraid--" a voice that felt like her own.

"I'm here."

"..."

"Youzi..."

"Youzi!!!"

"..."

Walking on the night street, the girl suddenly stopped.

She frowned, tilting her ear slightly, as if listening to a sound like distant sobbing.

"Don't be afraid—"

From her cold lips, she managed to utter a gentle voice.

"From now on..."

"I will be here."

She reached out her hand, as if grasping an invisible hand.

"I will... always be..."

Meanwhile--

Long after Su Youzi and that Third Sequence Ability User had entered the dormitory.

The girl with orange hair shakily... managed to prop herself up.

Her stomach... was very hungry.

Her thin school uniform offered no protection against the cold wind of early spring nights.

Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi, an ordinary Mental Ability User, felt this sensation of hunger and cold for the first time.

Shivering... the girl didn't go directly back to the dormitory.

In her mind, there were more important matters.

She wanted to go home--

To ask why Father had been roaring in anger that morning.

She already knew... Su Youzi was perhaps more than just a simple pawn.

Why would a pawn be worthy of the Soga Family's Main Family dispatching a Third Sequence Ability User to protect her.

But... she still wasn't reconciled.

The grievance in her heart was about to overflow.

Even if she had mistakenly provoked Su Youzi... she had acted according to her feelings at the time and backed down.

She had even... even in front of everyone, had her clothes cut open by Su Youzi, making such a huge embarrassment.

She was still bare-chested even now, yet she hadn't thrown a tantrum or acted like the Young Lady.

Why was Father still so angry.

It was as if he didn't care about her at all.

After bowing and apologizing to Su Youzi, the grievance in the girl's heart had already welled up. A mist filled her equally red eyes, and her nose felt sore.

She hailed a taxi.

Shivering... she sat in the back seat, hunching her shoulders.

The girl was throwing a little tantrum.

Like many little girls.

For no reason... she was hurting herself by enduring the cold and hunger, just so that when Father saw her, he would feel just a tiny~ tiny bit of guilt.

Even if she had to pay more for it.

A fever, illness.

Things that were incredibly uncomfortable for a Mental Ability User.

But--

As long as she could see Father worried and anxious about her suffering from the cold and hunger, she would consider it a victory.

However... sitting in the back of the taxi, watching the scenery flash by outside the car window.

Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi suddenly felt something was wrong.

Her crimson eyes shone with light as she looked at the driver in the rearview mirror.

Then, she saw the eyes on the driver's shirt.

A... black and purple eye.

"Who are you?"

"Where are you taking me?" The Young Lady unleashed her full aura.

"Miss Kiyomi." The driver looked up and met the gaze of the girl in the rearview mirror.

"Do you resent Su Youzi?"

"Hate her?"

"Do you want revenge on her?"

"We can grant you power."

"Power originating from this World's beginning, the power to glimpse the Truth of this World."

"Ha?" Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi sneered, "Who do you think I am?"

"I am the Young Lady of the Soga Family."

"Even... if I'm just from a branch family," she added silently in her heart.

"Even if I wanted revenge on Su Youzi, I wouldn't need help from a bunch of rats like you."

Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi understood.

Help offered by these shady characters would never be anything good.

She didn't want to end up like the villainous Young Lady in novels, manipulated like a chess piece and meeting a miserable end.

At worst, she could just avoid provoking Su Youzi.

She could stay far away from that pair of sisters and still live her life as a Young Lady.

However... the word 'rats' seemed to strike a nerve with the man, "That's no longer up to you."

He slammed on the gas pedal and accelerated.

The orange taxi sped through the night.

Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi activated her Ability.

"It's useless... Miss Kiyomi, we've already prepared..." The man wearing a hat in the rearview mirror sneered, "What!?"

Invisible mental waves spread out.

"Remember this—"

"My Ability isn't just 'Mental Interference'."

"It's..." Area-wide Mental Interference."

Although it couldn't compare to that person's Mental Manipulation, she looked at the wireless earphone on the man's ear.

How could ordinary Technology Department equipment possibly block her?

He wasn't Su Youzi.

Even now... Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi still didn't understand how Su Youzi had blocked her Mental Interference.

Screech—

The sound of tires screeching on the road pierced the night.

The orange taxi broke through the guardrail and, under the man's frenzied... Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi's panicked gaze, plunged straight into the sea.

"Let the 'Eye of Insight'..."

"Propel Fate!!!"

He shouted, spreading his arms wide.

Black gears... spun in the cramped space of the taxi.

Fear washed over the girl.

"I..."

"Don't want to die."