This Perspective Is a Little Strange

"Ah—"

When the Headless Horseman's Black Flame entered her body, Galina Dubois let out a heart-wrenching scream of pain.

"Ah—you lied to me—ah!"

It was so agonizing that even Kino could not help but move a little farther away.

How could soul fusion possibly be that simple?

Of course, once the fusion was complete... it would not hurt anymore!

A mass of "darkness" slowly rose from beneath Galina Dubois's feet, gradually swallowing her body and then her head as Black Flame shot toward the sky!

There was not the slightest trace of heat, yet it still forced Maria Hill and Rogue to retreat several steps.

Its momentum was overwhelming!

The Black Flame blazed fiercely, seeming to incinerate and purify Galina Dubois's body. She could no longer remain standing and slowly dropped to one knee. The Black Flame shot into the sky and had already reached the ceiling, yet strangely enough—the ceiling had not caught fire.

It did not look like flames so much as a gaseous mist.

But Kino knew that it was indeed Black Flame, Black Flame that did not follow ordinary rules!

Puff, puff... puff, puff—

The flames burned with a terrifying sound like fire consuming firewood.

Athena the Unicorn also trotted down the stairs and quietly stood to one side, seemingly witnessing the birth of a "new kindred spirit."

No one knew how long it burned. Galina Dubois remained half-kneeling the entire time. It felt as though half a century had passed, until Maria Hill felt her neck beginning to stiffen before the Black Flame gradually receded.

When the flames withdrew into her body and vanished, the Headless Horseman—appeared!

The half-kneeling Galina Dubois slowly rose to her feet, except... she no longer had a head.

More precisely, Maria Hill was not sure whether "this person" before her was still Galina Dubois. Her clothes had changed; the denim outfit she had worn at first had become a skintight black leather suit.

A one-piece leather bodysuit, leather pants, leather gloves, and high-heeled leather boots.

To put on clothing like that, she would have to squeeze in through the collar, right?

Her figure seemed even more seductive in the skintight outfit!

Her butt looked perkier, and her curves more S-shaped!

What sent a chill down the back of Maria Hill's neck was that Galina Dubois had no head. Her neck had been severed straight across, and the cross-section was black... burning with leaping Black Flame.

She simply stood there without moving, as though she did not know what she was "thinking" about.

For some reason, the sight made Maria Hill's scalp tingle and sent chills down her spine.

"Galina!" Kino shouted.

He knew full well that newly born contractors often lost themselves, unable to distinguish reality from illusion. At times like this, someone needed to wake them up.

"!"

As though struck over the head, Galina Dubois did wake up, but... something about her appearance felt strangely off!

"I... did I succeed?"

"Dear?"

"...Mm, why does this perspective... feel... so awkward? Why can I see myself?"

Kino also felt that something seemed wrong. When she called him, she should have turned around to face him, but... why had she turned her back to him?

"Uh..."

Thud!

When she tried to walk, her gait was equally bizarre! She staggered and swayed like a one-year-old learning to walk. Swaying this way and that, she ended up tripping over a chair beneath her feet. Her hand—braced against the tabletop, but unfortunately it only "steadied" her for less than a tenth of a second. Then, crack... she snapped the tabletop and face-planted—

"Uh?" Kino felt utterly embarrassed.

He had contracted several already, but Galina Dubois was the only one this "embarrassing."

The Headless Horseman was an existence in the first echelon of the Book of Kino!

This was truly embarrassing beyond belief!

"Dear... uh—"

Thud, she fell again!

Only then did Kino realize where the problem lay. It was not because she had no head, resulting in confused vision. How could she speak if she had no head? So, the issue with her perspective was not the "headless" part, but the Book of Kino.

Her head was gone, but not truly gone; it was actually still there. It was simply that her viewpoint had become linked to the Book of Kino, and the book was standing on the table.

Her field of vision faced the same direction as the book's front cover, while the front of her body faced directly toward the cover, so she had just seen her own body. To look at Kino, she had to turn her head toward the book's back cover, and likewise, once she turned... her entire body ended up facing away from Kino.

Because of that, due to her perspective, what she saw was the space from the book's back cover to Kino. But the path she was actually walking was precisely the opposite! She could not see the space in the direction the front cover faced, so she bumped into the chair in her path and fell headfirst.

Kino slapped his forehead, then tapped the book. "Reset perspective!"

Galina Dubois, who was in the middle of walking, suddenly froze with one foot raised!

There had clearly been a table before her, but now... it was gone.

"Uh... this is much better now."

"Mm, my field of vision still feels a little strange."

"I have no head, but I can still see."

She raised a hand to feel around, but all she touched was the air above her neck, which made her feel deeply unaccustomed to it. She flailed around messily, then grabbed her neck... and swiped upward. Eh—her head... was gone!

"I have no head, but I can still speak. That's incredible."

Then she began throwing punches.

"Hey, hey, ha, hey!"

Not bad—she looked fairly convincing, her punches slicing through the air.

It was just a little cringey.

Galina Dubois's current Headless Horseman appearance was not like the one from the legends, but rather resembled Celty Sturluson, Celty, from Durarara!!.

Dressed in leather, riding a motorcycle, and wielding a scythe!

Uh, right now she only had the leather outfit, without the motorcycle or scythe.

Moreover, what burned around Galina Dubois's body and neck was Black Flame rather than Celty's black mist; there was a fundamental difference between the two.

Still, everything else was roughly similar.

"Galina, try out your abilities." Kino waved a hand and set up spatial magic.

"Okay!"

After briefly sensing them, a flickering bloom of Black Flame appeared in her palm. Then, with a flash, it transformed into an enormous Reaper's Scythe, just like the one in the Book of Kino earlier!

The massive L-shaped scythe danced through the air with fierce force.

"Mm, not bad! The Reaper's Scythe is standard equipment for a Headless Horseman. Since your instincts have formed a scythe out of habit, once you become familiar with your abilities... you'll be able to create any weapon you want."

Celty's black mist could turn into any weapon or tool. The clothes on her body were also formed from black mist, but could be removed and reshaped!

Galina Dubois's leather outfit was likewise formed from Black Flame and could likewise be taken off.

"It doesn't seem all that impressive..." Maria Hill said.

Kino shook his head. "NO! NO! NO! The Headless Horseman's ability is to reap souls. Her attacks target the soul, leaving the body completely unharmed! Besides, no matter how strong one's external defenses are, they cannot withstand her Soul Harvest."

As he spoke, he looked at her teasingly.

"I'm guessing you wouldn't want to try it!"

Maria Hill rolled her eyes speechlessly. "..."

Try it, my ass!