Restricted Fantasy I Chapter 254: The Disease Called Love

"Rumble!"

Between the towering buildings, a massive swarm of tentacles surged forward like a tidal wave. Their target was incredibly clear: the three girls running desperately ahead—Ye Shiyu, Spencer, and Sakuramiya Hitomi.

"Hah... hah..."

Spencer sprinted anxiously with Sakuramiya Hitomi on her back. While Spencer herself wasn't even out of breath yet, Sakuramiya Hitomi's arms ached from struggling to hold onto her shoulders, leading the girl to pant uncontrollably.

'This won't work. We can't keep going like this. We'll never outrun these tentacles...'

Sakuramiya Hitomi glanced back at the rapidly approaching tide of tentacles, then at the towering structures beside them. She hastily cried out,

"Ye Shiyu! Spencer! Run inside!!"

"Awoo!"

Hearing the instruction, Spencer, who was running just beneath her, was the first to react.

However, just as Ye Shiyu, who had been running ahead, tried to turn her head upon hearing the shout, a massive cluster of tentacles ca howling from the front to flank them.

"Swoosh!"

With a sudden, violent downward snatch, the tentacles directly grabbed hold of Ye Shiyu before she could even react.

"!!"

Feeling a sudden tingling numbness where the tentacles touched her, Ye Shiyu's pupils shrank, shifting into a deep, eerie purple.

In the next second, the passive ability of her Index Finger activated, instantly biting through and severing the tentacles entangled around her body.

But just as the Index Finger feasted on the severed appendages, more and larger tentacles rushed in from all sides, swarming toward the already captured Ye Shiyu in endless waves.

One snapped off, and another imdiately took its place. An entire section was bitten away, only for another to replace it...

"Mmph!!"

As more and more tentacles wrapped around her, Ye Shiyu bit her lip, her complexion inevitably flushing crimson.

'It's the Superconductor Mode...'

With the multiplying tentacles, the Superconductor effect further weakened Ye Shiyu's will to resist. The Index Finger's frantic biting gradually slowed to a crawl.

Eventually, Ye Shiyu's body went limp. Her head drooped as she was thoroughly swallowed by the tentacles, vanishing without a trace.

"Ye Shiyu!!"

From Spencer's back, Sakuramiya Hitomi could not help but cry out as she watched Ye Shiyu completely disappear into the writhing mass.

Hearing her voice, Spencer subconsciously halted her steps, wanting to look back.

That single mont of hesitation was all it took. A tentacle shot out from a deviously hidden angle and instantly coiled around her ankle.

"Ouch!!"

Spencer stumbled and crashed hard into the ground. The montum threw Sakuramiya Hitomi off her back, sending the girl tumbling across the floor.

"Ugh... Sp... Spencer..."

Sakuramiya Hitomi had a fragile constitution. The heavy fall hurt so much that she could not get up for a long while.

However, when she finally lifted her head, the sight before her filled her with absolute terror.

The tide-like tentacles had already bound Spencer's limbs. No matter how much she unleashed her Golden Bull Great Strength, she could not break free and was frantically dragged backward...

Spencer gritted her teeth, her small face scrunched up in agony. It was clear she was suffering imnsely under the tornt of the Superconductor.

Despite supposedly having one hundred percent Resistance, she was now steadily losing ground to the pervasive Pleasure Manipulation that clung to her like a gangrenous sore. Gritting her teeth, she barely managed to pry her azure eyes open to look at Sakuramiya Hitomi.

"R-run quickly, awoo!"

"..."

Sakuramiya Hitomi's eyes widened, her heart practically stopping.

When she saw Spencer being dragged away, the very first thought that crossed Sakuramiya Hitomi's mind was:

'Spencer only got caught because she was carrying . I have to save her.'

'But...'

At this mont, her heart felt utterly crushed by fear.

It was not just the fear of the terrifying tentacles before her, but the traumatic mory of the near-tearing agony she experienced the last ti she unleashed her Room Barrier in the open air.

She never wanted to experience that kind of suffering a second ti.

Besides, her weakened body did not permit her to make any other choices.

"..."

Thus, Sakuramiya Hitomi sat on the ground, staring blankly as Spencer was dragged further and further away.

In the next second, without looking back, she mustered every ounce of strength she had and sprinted toward the indoor shopping mall.

"Hah... hah..."

"Slither-slither!!"

Behind her, the foul, blood-scented wind that had swept Spencer away refused to let things go, following closely on her heels.

It was just about to catch up to the agonizingly slow Sakuramiya Hitomi...

"Boom!"

Suddenly, lightning roared and crackled across the sky above.

Inside the Skytree, positioned high in the sky, An Le squeezed her eyes shut from the blinding flash of the lightning striking so close to her.

In that brief mont when An Le closed her eyes and lost her field of vision, the tentacles behind Sakuramiya Hitomi froze in place.

Taking advantage of the lightning flash and the tentacles' montary loss of control, Sakuramiya Hitomi finally dashed into the indoor shopping mall.

She anxiously searched for a confined room to deploy her Room Barrier, but glancing around, she only saw semi-open storefronts. Where could she find an enclosed room?

Just as Sakuramiya Hitomi pursed her lips, feeling her soul practically leave her body in terror, her gaze was drawn to a row of storage lockers placed near the mall's entrance.

"Slither!"

Without a shred of hesitation, she sprinted straight toward the lockers.

"Clack!"

The lockers were originally intended for travelers to temporarily store suitcases and other large luggage. Using one to fit a human was incredibly cramped.

Even with soone as petite as Sakuramiya Hitomi, she could only manage by curling her body tight and hugging her knees to squeeze inside.

Standing before the narrow locker, Sakuramiya Hitomi ducked down and wedged herself in, then peeked outside.

"Slither-slither!!"

The tsunami-like wave of tentacles ca crashing toward her, forcing Sakuramiya Hitomi to grit her teeth, squeeze her eyes shut, and violently slam the locker door closed.

At the sa ti, she activated her Room Barrier.

"Crack-crack-crack!!"

All around her, the already dark and cramped space grew even pitch-black.

It felt exactly like that wardrobe back at the Sakuramiya main residence, where she had been locked inside for an entire day and night many years ago.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

From outside the tightly shut door ca the sound of frantic, relentless slamming, as if malicious demons were pounding on the tal.

Inside the narrow, dark space, Sakuramiya Hitomi didn't dare look up. She simply squeezed her eyes shut and hugged her knees even tighter,

"Bang, bang... bang..."

The pounding grew quieter until it vanished entirely.

Yet, curled up into a tight ball inside the locker, Sakuramiya Hitomi remained completely motionless, terrified to move even a single inch.

She simply buried her head deep into her arms, her body trembling as she gasped for breath,

"Sob..."

Inside the Skytree, An Le narrowed her eyes. Through the extended field of vision from her tentacles, she stared at that locker door, which remained tightly sealed and seemingly indestructible no matter how fiercely it was battered...

Eventually, she directed her tentacles to slowly withdraw from the shopping mall.

At that mont, An Le recalled the words Sakuramiya Hitomi had spoken to her earlier.

'Never mind. Vice President Sakuramiya's situation is a bit different from the other Modifier Hosts.'

'Since that's the case...'

An Le shifted her gaze aside. Through her tentacles, she saw the unconscious, utterly defeated figures of Ye Shiyu and Spencer.

'There's still one more...'

'Bai Yi.'

An Le narrowed her eyes, peering at the street entirely overrun by her countless tentacles, yet showing no particular emotion.

Because Bai Yi was nothing to worry about.

Although the girl could activate Indifference and effectively freeze ti, An Le's tentacles had already carpeted the entire street.

Even if she could stall for ti, there was nowhere to run.

"..."

Sure enough, as ti slowly trickled by, a beautiful silhouette gradually materialized among the endless sea of tentacles in An Le's vision.

Without even sparing a proper glance in that direction, An Le instantly commanded the countless appendages to pounce.

"Boom!"

"Ugh..."

After a loud crash, amidst the billowing dust, Bai Yi was suspended in the air by countless tentacles, her head hanging limply.

And just like that, aside from Sakuramiya Hitomi, the other three Modifier Hosts had been entirely suppressed.

"Phew, finally..."

Seeing this, An Le, who had single-handedly steamrolled the entire battlefield in a one-versus-four, finally let out a sigh of relief.

All of Tokyo seed to fall silent. Only the rumbling thunder hidden within the clouds and the howling wind battering the windows of the Skytree remained.

"Tock~"

Before the window, Little Finger stared blankly out at the dim, gloomy expanse of Tokyo. It turned its head in sheer disbelief to look at An Le hovering in mid-air,

"You... you actually did it... You can actually withstand this level of side effects?!"

In Little Finger's widened serpentine eyes, An Le's head was lowered. Her entire body was now covered in snake scales as she gasped faintly for breath.

Little Finger truly could not comprehend where An Le found such imnse desire and endurance...

It was as if she were a black hole of desire, capable of endlessly pouring energy into the Modifier.

At this mont, such an exaggerated mass of tentacles—looming like storm clouds threatening a city—should have required a much longer channeling ti to manifest...

Yet sohow, under An Le's control, an overwhelming volu of tentacles had spawned right from the very beginning.

'An Le, you maniac...'

"Then, let's begin."

However, An Le had absolutely no intention of paying any attention to Little Finger.

With a pale face, suppressing the feeling of nothingness creeping across her body, she lifted her eyes to the three subdued Hosts before her and spoke softly,

"You three... please, relinquish all the Superpowers within your bodies... I'm begging you."

Her ethereal voice traveled instantly through the connected tentacles, reaching Spencer, Ye Shiyu, and Bai Yi.

Under the effects of the Superconductor Mode and the infused pleasure, her words carried an irresistible, magical weight.

It wasn't an order, but rather a form of gentle, thodical persuasion.

Only, amplified by the Superconductor, that persuasion acted like a potent poison, making it utterly impossible to refuse.

"Sob... I... I gi... I give up..."

Lacking any backbone whatsoever, Bai Yi squeezed her eyes shut and yielded the mont An Le spoke.

The instant she spoke those trembling words, an illusory croak of a toad echoed in response from within her body.

"Croak~"

A colossal, phantom image of a toad was painfully peeled away inch by inch. Its fragnted form was dragged out of Bai Yi's body by a supre, formless Great Power.

"Tock~"

Seeing this, An Le breathed a sigh of relief before turning to look at Spencer, whose eyes were shut tight.

"Spencer..."

"Mmh..."

Spencer had been struggling, but upon hearing An Le's ghost-like voice, she imdiately pressed her lips together.

Guilt, self-bla, and helplessness surged into her heart all at once, compelling her to speak,

"I... I'm sorry, awoo, An Le... I..."

"..."

"I... I give up... awoo."

"Crack-crack-crack!!"

The mont Spencer uttered those words, a massive, illusory phantom image of a scorpion was similarly dragged out by that supre Great Power.

No matter how unwilling it was or how much it wailed, it was of no use.

"Tock~"

Finally, An Le shifted her gaze to the last Host—Ye Shiyu,

"...Senior Student Ye."

However, unlike the other two, Ye Shiyu seed determined to resist to the bitter end.

No matter how intensely An Le applied the Superconductor, pumped her full of Pleasure, or actively tried to persuade her to surrender, Ye Shiyu remained perfectly still, her eyes firmly shut...

'She just refuses to give up no matter what?'

"..."

Seeing this, An Le narrowed her eyes, abandoning all rcy.

She instantly amplified the sensations injected by the tentacles and pushed the Superconductor Mode to the absolute limit, deciding to break her by sheer force.

She treated Ye Shiyu like a captive strapped to a pillar, blasting her with relentless shockwaves of euphoria.

"Ngh!!"

Ye Shiyu kept her eyes shut tight and gritted her teeth, looking as though she was in agonizing pain...

"I... I..."

Finally, when she could no longer endure it, Ye Shiyu strained to force out the words of surrender from her throat,

"I... I give up..."

"Crack-crack-crack!!"

In an instant, an enormous purple spider was violently squeezed out of her body.

"Tock~"

With the Modifier on the final Host suppressed, An Le gasped for breath and lowered her head.

'And then...'

'There's still .'

An Le took a mont to steady her breathing, looking down at Little Finger, who was staring back up at her.

It gazed blankly at the hovering An Le before sudden realization struck. Its expression shifted drastically, and it imdiately begged for rcy,

"An—An Le! How about we talk this over? I didn't an to lie to you earlier!! I... I was wrong!"

An Le simply shook her head, pursing her lips as she looked at Little Finger.

"Tock~" "From now on, I'll assist you wholeheartedly! I won't have any ulterior motives! Look, the other Hosts are all gone now, so you don't have to worry about a thing! You have self-control, and I promise I won't try to manipulate you ever again..."

An Le continued to shake her head.

"Tock~"

"What... what will it take for you to spare ? I... I'll do whatever you want. Isn't that enough?"

Looking at the panicked and helpless Little Finger, An Le pursed her lips and gave a resigned smile,

"Little Finger, I can't feel anything anymore..."

"Tock~"

"The mont Tentacle Purgatory ends, I... I'll likely disappear. When that happens, you'll still be alive, and you'll just go find another Host, right?"

Little Finger's eyes widened. It truly felt like things had taken a bizarre turn,

"I... you... How do you know everything? When... when did you figure it out?"

Hearing this, An Le offered a foolish, wistful smile,

"Because... you would never genuinely worry about the safety of soone like , right?

"So, earlier, when you tried to stop , it was only because you were afraid I couldn't handle the side effects. If I died, all your efforts would be wasted...

"And now, I'm about to give you up... so you have no choice but to settle for the next best thing. Even if your efforts are wasted, you still want to live. Isn't that right?"

Little Finger stared blankly at An Le, entirely speechless for a mont.

"Tock~"

It wasn't until a long while later that it hung its head, as if all the strength had been drained from its body...

However, before resigning itself to the slaughter, it flicked its tongue and muttered softly, completely devoid of energy,

"...At that ti, I really was worried about your safety... even if only a little bit."

An Le paused slightly at its words, but she soon broke into a beautiful smile,

"I see."

"Tock~"

One person, one snake, fell into a brief silence.

In the next second, An Le finally took a deep breath and lifted her eyes to the sky.

"Little Finger, this is the end... Do

a favor and make a few calls for ."

"Mhm."

Knowing it could no longer stop An Le, Little Finger could only comply,

"Who do you want to call?"

"...Mama, I suppose."

"Okay."

Little Finger raised its tail, dialing the number for An Le's mother, before swiftly reappearing on An Le's shoulder.

"Beep~"

"Hello? Lele?"

It was An Le's father who answered.

"Father? Um, where's Mama?"

"Ah... your mother is in the hospital ward. The doctor said her pregnancy is high-risk given her age, so she has to be extra careful. This younger sibling of yours is nothing like how well-behaved you were. They've really been putting your mother through the wringer..."

An Le opened her mouth to speak, but finally let out a helpless smile,

"I see."

"Yeah. Well, Lele, have a good ti in Sakura Country. I... need to go get so food for your mother."

"Okay, Father."

Before An Le could say anything else, Little Finger took the initiative to hang up the phone for her.

"Tock~"

"..."

An Le pursed her lips, but smiled once again as she looked at Little Finger,

"Help

make one more call... to Xiao Huan?"

"...Alright."

Little Finger lowered its head and dialed Yan Huan's number.

"Buzz..."

At that exact mont, inside the locker where Sakuramiya Hitomi was hiding, a phone began to vibrate.

Hugging her knees tight, Sakuramiya Hitomi jumped in fright. She looked down at the caller ID displaying the na "An Le