Chapter 14: An Unexpected Development

‘It seems I’ve been caught.’

The thought arrived with surprising calm, like a drop of water in an ocean. Jessica’s helpless maiden act crumbled like ash, there was simply no point in continuing it. This woman, whoever she was, wasn’t buying a single word she was selling.

Jessica met the shadowed gaze as evenly as she could, even as the pressure in the room weighed heavily on her shoulders. She resisted it calmly. She had felt pressure before. Real pressure, more terrible than this. The kind that came from an ancient entity chained in darkness

‘Still far below Old Gramp’s casual presence, though.’ The chains around her glowed faintly, as if draining something deep within her, energy, power, maybe even her will to fight. She didn’t care, she was already prepared to talk her way out of a situation that, for once, didn’t involve monsters trying to eat her.

For now.

“‘Monster?’ What do you mean, monster?!” Jessica contorted her face into an angrily hurt expression, pretending to struggle against the chains and chair with renewed effort. She still feigned ignorance about her being a monster, because part of her was genuinely fishing, she hadn’t seen a mirror since waking in this world, and the verification would be useful regardless of how this interrogation went.

The chains rattled dramatically. Her acting was, quite.. quite convincing.

A deep, tired sigh echoed from the shadows.

“All of your abilities and your connection to your system are sealed.” The woman’s voice was flat, matter-of-fact. “So stop struggling. You’ll only hurt yourself at this point.”

Jessica paused mid-rattle. She hadn’t considered that the chains might be
system-sealing chains. She’d assumed they were just draining her energy and blocking her powers, annoying, but manageable. But sealing the system entirely?

‘Well… that’s one hell of a—’

<< Sigh… I’m still here, though. >>

‘FLAMING HELL!!’ Jessica’s mental shriek was pure, unfiltered joy. The system was here. Still connected. Still present.

But joy, as always, quickly curdled into righteous fury.

‘Where the HELL have you been, you BASTARD?!’ She wasn’t letting this one go. ‘After giving me that one-answer-for-a-thousand-questions pill to swallow, you suddenly snap your fingers and forced me out of my own subconscious?! Do you have ANY idea how disorienting that is?!’

Silence. A long, thoughtful pause from the system.

Then:

<< I was not the one who expelled you from your subconscious. I was merely… guiding the process, Dummy. >>

‘Who are YOU calling a dummy, you BASTARD?!’ Jessica’s mental volume somehow increased. ‘From now on, you’re supposed to call me ELDER SISTER! You HEAR ME?!’

An offended scoff echoed through their shared consciousness.

<< Not in this life. Not in any other. Not even in theoretical parallel existences. >>

‘WHAT?!’

Before Jessica could launch another volley, the system cut in sharply.

<< Just focus on your current predicament. >>

Jessica wanted—needed to retort. But the system was right. She was chained in an empty room, feeling the weight of the shadow woman’s attention like a physical thing, and now was not the time for family squabbles, now was not the time to bicker like a child. She guided her gaze back to the figure leaning against the couch, who was about to speak.

“You asked whether you look like a monster, yes?” The shadow lady’s voice dropped to a low, dangerous register. “Then explain the wings and horns on your head. Earlier.”

Jessica’s expression shifted. The theatrical hurt melted away, replaced by something more serious. She was caught. Truly caught. And based on the woman’s tone, she might be seconds away from being killed.

But one word snagged her attention: ‘Earlier.’

‘Does that mean… they’re not visible anymore?’

She filed that thought away for later and opened her mouth.

“Then why didn’t you kill me?” The question came out calm. Genuinely curious.

The shadow lady sighed again, a sound that seemed to be her primary mode of communication.

“Why would I kill something that wouldn’t even give me enough experience points? You’re basically useless to me.” She waved a dismissive hand. “And besides…” Her voice trailed off as she turned her head away, mumbling in a tone that sounded almost offended, but not at Jessica. At someone else entirely. “He said he has seen you are not dangerous… Yet.”

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Jessica didn’t hear the last part. She was too busy staring at the screen that had materialized before her eyes, her own widening until they threatened to escape her face entirely.

[STATUS]

+

Name: ???

Level: 47 [Ascendant Rank]

Specie: Human

Rank: [Terror]

Magic Cores: [4/4]

+

………

‘H-holy mother of Flames…’ The thought was barely a whisper in the chaos of her mind. ‘I am useless. She’s LEAGUES above me. An Ascendant Terror, or whatever the hell that means.’

She did the mental math. Compared it to her own paltry Level 7.

‘I am definitely, absolutely, completely NOT a good experience kit for her. She’d probably lose experience just by touching me.’

Jessica shuddered, remembering the maiden act she’d just performed in front of someone who could, quite literally, spank her to death without breaking a sweat. The embarrassment was almost as overwhelming as the terror.

“Hey!”

The shadow lady’s voice cut through her spiral. Jessica straightened immediately, her spine snapping to attention like a soldier caught napping on duty.

“Y-yes, ma’am!”

Seeing Jessica instantly become cooperative, almost comically so, the shadow lady leaned back into her couch, studying the strange creature before her with narrowed eyes.

‘Why the sudden change?’ she asked herself inwardly, suspicion coiling in her thoughts. Last week, this pale [Level 7] being in front of her had appeared out of nowhere, crashing straight through the roof of her home. What infuriated her more was the timing, not any random moment, but the exact instant she’d been enjoying a private evening picnic with her husband, who’d finally emerged from his workshop after days, almost weeks of isolation.

And the girl had been naked. Completely, utterly naked. She and her husband had to wrap the unconscious figure in a blanket after noticing that the wings and horns, clearly visible upon impact, had vanished the moment she landed.

Now, after all that chaos, here sat the red-haired being. And she didn’t look like a monster at all. She looked like a jade beauty goddess stepped out of legend. Even her husband had teased her mercilessly for days afterward.

“Dear, don’t you think I should take a second wife?”