Pretend to Be Hypnotized and Start Lying!

After who knew how long, Ansu opened his eyes groggily.

"Hmph, the brat finally woke up!"

Hearing Teacher Mary's icy voice, Ansu jolted fully awake and hurriedly looked around.

The curtains were drawn tight, the light was dim, and he was bound up tightly...

This wasn't the storage room from the simulation, but the surroundings were more or less the same. He'd still been tied up and brought to a dark little room by these two...

Ansu was speechless. Was he never going to get past this part?

All day, he'd been caught in a loop of getting knocked out, waking up, being drugged unconscious, and waking up again. He felt completely numb...

More importantly... this wasn't some simulation.

This was reality!

"Mary, you've disappointed me a little..."

Cecilia, seated on the desk, had returned to her original appearance.

An inscrutable smile played across her exquisite face. With her legs crossed and her long, shapely legs clad in black thigh-high stockings, she looked down at Ansu, who had just woken up.

Although the Witch of World Destruction was still young, she was already showing hints of the bewitchingly beautiful witch she would become in the future.

"If I hadn't been more alert, he might have slipped out of our control."

Her voice was calm, but the reprimand it carried made Mary sweat bullets.

"I'm truly sorry, Lady Cecilia..."

Knowing she'd nearly ruined something important, Mary glared at Ansu in annoyance.

"You little brat, your teacher told you to come to her office. Why did you keep running toward the park after class? Were you in a hurry to meet someone? And you still call yourself a good student?"

"Teacher Mary?" Ansu put on a confused, frightened expression. "Didn't I say I'd come to your office right away? You tied me up over something like that?"

It seemed they still didn't know he'd secretly contacted the Church. Otherwise, they wouldn't have stayed here, and they certainly wouldn't be treating him like this...

That was the one piece of good news.

Ansu quickly considered what to do. He had to buy himself more time.

He realized that his only chance to change things might lie in the moment of hesitation Cecilia had shown...

"Lady Cecilia, it was probably just a coincidence. He still doesn't know about our plan." Hearing Ansu's question, Mary felt relieved.

As an Order operative who'd spent years undercover within the Empire, Mary had always been cautious. How could a student easily discover such a major plan? She had that much confidence in herself.

Unless he could foresee the future, but that was impossible.

Cecilia glanced at Ansu's bewildered face, then coldly looked at Mary. "I'll let it go this time, but make sure there isn't a next time."

Mary wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and nodded repeatedly.

After that, the conversation between the two went much as it had in the simulation.

Mary first reported on Ansu's family background, and Cecilia seemed satisfied.

"All right, it's about time~"

Cecilia gracefully leaped down from the desk.

"Let's get down to business."

As she walked toward Ansu, the disturbing, foul power of magic spread around her. Mary, terrified of the mental Corruption caused by the magic, excused herself once more...

The quiet room was left with only Ansu and Cecilia.

Just as Cecilia was about to cast the forbidden black magic known as [Soul Domination]—

"Hm?"

Cecilia, whose appearance had turned into that of a fearsome demon, stopped suddenly, just as she had in the simulation.

She was puzzled. Ansu hadn't been affected at all.

"Aren't you afraid of me?" Her exquisitely beautiful face drew close to Ansu as she studied him curiously.

"Whenever I cast forbidden magic, you humans almost always have mental breakdowns from fear. But you..."

"I..." Ansu stared into the dark red eyes observing him, and his plan slowly took shape.

In the previous simulation, he'd shown that he could be useful, which had made Cecilia a little interested in him. That was why she hadn't acted against him right away.

But in the end, she'd seen through his lies by hypnotizing him.

Then she'd brainwashed him...

But things were different this time. He still had another card to play: the [Magic Immunity] skill the system had rewarded him with.

[Immunity includes all magical damage, bonuses from magical items, and negative and positive effects. Duration: the entire turn (from the start to the end of the magical effect). Cooldown: 24 hours.]

By that logic, he should be immune for the entire hypnosis process.

Perhaps he could play along, pretend she'd hypnotized him, and buy even more time...

This was his only chance!

With that thought, Ansu forced himself to put aside his chaotic thoughts and calmly raise his head.

"I'm not afraid."

"Not afraid?" Cecilia raised an eyebrow in surprise.

She spread her pair of 'ugly claws,' which radiated a sinister aura, and smiled.

"Magic is reviled in this day and age, and everyone steers clear of it. That goes double for 'foul magic,' which the Church has explicitly forbidden."

"The Church has taught you since childhood that magic brings madness and destruction, and that black magic is a bridge to the evil gods."

A hint of suspicion crept into Cecilia's smile. "Yet you're telling me you aren't afraid?"

As Ansu watched, a black flame suddenly flared in the middle of her palm. The atmosphere in the room changed abruptly, and the fire seemed to radiate an aura of destruction that could 'burn everything to ash.'

This was the "Black Demon Flame of World Destruction."

As the demonic flame slowly approached Ansu's face, Cecilia's smile began to fade. "Did the Church do a poor job educating you, or are you just pretending to agree with me and saying things you think I'll like?"

"M-Milady Witch!" Ansu stared at the flame so close to his face, feeling as though she might roast him alive at any moment.

But even as he wore a nervous expression, he let a hint of amazement show.

"Wait, is... is this the legendary supernatural power?"

At that moment, Ansu delivered the best performance of his two lifetimes.

He couldn't help it. He'd been forced into this.

While bound up just now, Ansu hadn't wasted a moment. He'd gone over the story of [Witch of World Destruction—Cecilia] several times.

He forced himself to understand Cecilia's way of thinking, her personality, everything about her...

By the end, he almost felt like he understood Cecilia better than she understood herself.

[Witch of World Destruction—Cecilia] had the sort of tragic childhood common to "beautiful, powerful, and miserable" villains. Her experiences had made her sensitive and insecure, with a twisted personality that was both self-deprecating and arrogant.

As a result, she was almost fanatical in her obsession with power.

So what if she had no family or friends, and no one understood or trusted her? Power was the only thing that truly belonged to her. As long as she became strong, "the great scholars would argue on her behalf."

As it happened, her magical talent was so extraordinary that even the Echo of Truth Cult feared her.

So Ansu needed to show Cecilia that he accepted forbidden magic, and even... yearned for it.

In fact, there was a basis for this approach. In the original story, when Cecilia recruited other villains, it was usually because they were "birds of a feather," and she gathered a group of ambitious people who craved power.

"Oh?" Cecilia looked at Ansu in surprise. Not only was this guy not afraid at all, there was even a hint of yearning in his eyes?

"What do you think of black magic, or so-called forbidden magic?"

She truly wanted to hear Ansu's opinion.

"Cool! It's really cool!" Ansu replied without hesitation, his voice full of anticipation. "If I could have supernatural power like that too..."

"But this is power tainted by the evil gods~" Cecilia interrupted. "At least, that's what the Church says."

Ansu immediately shook his head. "So what? The Church has lied more than once or twice. His Majesty's been wanting to kick theology out of the academy for ages, all for the sake of the Empire's booming magical industry! Who even believes that stuff anymore?"

"That's true." Cecilia agreed wholeheartedly.

"And another thing!" Ansu looked Cecilia in the eye and said sincerely, "I've always believed that power itself is innocent. What matters is the person who uses it!"

Cecilia froze for a moment, then her eyes lit up.

"Do you really think that?"

Ansu nodded. "Of course!"

There was a little sophistry in what he'd said, but Cecilia loved hearing it. It felt as though his words had struck a chord with her.

"Interesting..." Cecilia extinguished the flame in her palm and looked Ansu up and down. She was growing more and more interested in him.

"Whether you're lying or not, I'm quite pleased with what you've said..." She raised the corners of her mouth happily and suddenly cast a spell.

A familiar dizziness swept over him, and Ansu's thoughts instantly turned hazy.

Hypnosis!

She cast it so fast!

Ansu had been watching for her to make a move, but he'd still almost reacted too slowly.

The moment the hypnosis spell took effect—

[Magic Immunity]

Activated!

"Tell me what you really thought just now," Cecilia asked softly.

Ansu pretended the [Hypnosis] had worked and replied with a vacant stare. "I yearn for supernatural power... Black magic... is cool and powerful."

"Why do you yearn for supernatural power?" Cecilia pressed.

"If I'd had supernatural power as a kid, I wouldn't have been bullied..."

"Everyone would have stopped looking down on me..."

"I want the people who looked down on me, the ones who plotted against my father, and the ones who bullied my sister and me to pay for it..."

After answering, Ansu stared blankly ahead and said nothing more.

Cecilia suddenly fell silent.

She gazed at the boy she'd [hypnotized]. A flicker passed through her dark red eyes, and a flood of thoughts and emotions seemed to surge up all at once.

But in the end, she said nothing.

"Oh, I see..."

A boy a lot like her...

"Then, do you want revenge?" Cecilia smiled.

"Yes." Ansu answered stiffly.

"If you join us—no, if you join me—you can gain power." Cecilia asked in a seductive tone, "Tell me what's in your heart. Are you willing?"

"I am."

"And if... you end up opposing the powerful Church, or even... fighting against the whole world, would you still be willing?"

"I would."

Cecilia smiled with satisfaction, almost feeling that the trip had been worthwhile.

At first, she'd only wanted Mary to pick someone from the academy to complete the mission. She hadn't expected Mary to find such promising talent among the countless students there. Even the little displeasure she'd felt toward Mary vanished.

Someone whose ideals aligned with hers, and who even had some talent—turning him into a [Puppet] would be a terrible waste. Cecilia found herself wanting to cultivate him.

While Cecilia was delighted, Ansu felt a wave of bitterness.

It was over.

Not only had he failed to escape this Scum Witch, but they were getting closer and closer...

Ansu sighed helplessly to himself. His plan was now hurtling toward an 'Unpredictable Stage of Destiny'...

But on the bright side, at least he'd successfully bought some time.

Everything he was doing now was just a temporary measure...

But then, something Ansu hadn't expected happened.

"What do you think... of me?"

Cecilia had dropped her usual haughty air. She stared into Ansu's eyes and asked an inexplicable question.

"What... do you think of me?"

Ansu almost dropped the act.

What was this about? Was this really something [Witch of World Destruction—Cecilia] would ask?

He tried to keep up the act of being under mental control, his eyes blank as he stared ahead.

But Cecilia's pursed lips and slightly nervous expression were impossible to ignore.

"Hehehe... What am I even doing..." Cecilia seemed to find the whole thing strange herself. She touched her fair cheek and muttered awkwardly, "Is it because I finally found someone I can speak honestly with, and now I want to hear him praise me? Honestly, I kidnapped him. How could he possibly say anything nice about me..."

But to her surprise, after a brief silence, Ansu spoke.

"Adorable."

"..." Cecilia fell silent for a long moment.

"Huh?"