—I dread.
It was a dream where I was dominated by sothing in a pitch-dark space. My limbs, my thoughts, and even my emotions were under control, unable to move of my own will. It was far from a pleasant dream.
I struggled to escape, but like all dreams, struggling within it did not wake . Trapped in this endless nightmare, I was left to battle only fear and pain.
But just as the universe has its limits, so did this seemingly eternal nightmare. With a burst of brilliant white light, sothing reached out to and forcibly pulled upward. It was like being lifted from the depths of an abyss in an instant.
Monts later, I awoke from the long dream, cautiously opening my eyes. The bright lights painted my vision in a hot glow, making it impossible to fully open them right away.
"—You’re awake."
"Ah..."
Slowly opening my eyes, I saw Eight sitting in front of , smiling. Unconsciously, I returned his smile. Once again, he had saved —rescued from a crisis I couldn’t even begin to count the number of tis before. How could I not fall for him? I was still a woman, after all—a girl longing for her prince on a white horse.
"Hehe... I overslept a little, didn’t I?"
"..."
"Good morning, Scientist..."
Eight simply smiled at .
...
...
...
"Sniff... Hic— I-I’m sorry...!"
"So, have you reflected on your actions?"
"Y-yes, I’ve reflected..."
Kneeling on the floor with my hands raised so high they touched my ears, I sniffled and cried, apologizing profusely. My arms had gone numb, and my legs felt as though they were being electrocuted, but Eight didn’t let off easily.
It wasn’t until thirty minutes later that I was finally released.
****
"Truly..."
Having removed the malicious flower from Aile, I went straight to work resolving the chaos. Using every tool at my disposal, I restored the frozen people to their original states, repaired the damaged city, and healed the injured. Manipulating mories to ensure no one rembered anything was an added touch.
Tampering with mories like this was dangerous, but I had no choice. What Aile—no, the black flower that had infested her—had done could have caused irreversible psychological harm. It had summoned the World’s Enemy indiscriminately, creatures capable of inflicting ntal scars just by being seen.
As I stared at the black flower now sealed in my lab, a bitter smile crept onto my face. It was ti to figure out where this thing had co from and how it had ended up parasitizing Aile.
To think such a creature exists, one that parasitizes humans and controls them...
This was precisely why I couldn’t believe this world was Earth or anywhere within its sphere of influence. On Earth, a creature like this couldn’t possibly exist. Such a dangerous entity would never be permitted.
And its traits—hiding in a subspace until a gap in soone’s heart allowed it to latch on? It was clearly designed as a weapon to harm humans. This wasn’t sothing that could occur naturally.
"Seriously... who could create sothing like this?"
"A flower of malevolence," the Watcher’s voice interjected.
"You know what this is, Watcher?"
"Yes. It is a weapon designed to harm humans."
"A weapon to harm humans..."
At that mont, the Watcher’s voice casually identified the flower’s origin, delivering a shocking revelation. It claid this flower was a manufactured weapon.
On Earth, such a thing would be unthinkable.
"Who—who created it?"
"Humans," the Watcher answered simply.
"What?"
"Only humans create weapons designed to kill humans."
"But... that’s..."
I fell silent. The Watcher’s words had struck a chord. I’d claid humans wouldn’t create sothing to harm themselves, but was that really true?
In all of Earth’s history, no other creature had ever created a weapon to kill humans.
Only humans create weapons designed to kill humans.
"What kind of purpose would justify making this?"
"A naive question, coming from you. What other purpose is there for a weapon?"
"...To kill people."
"Correct. To kill humans."
"But to make sothing this dangerous—why?"
The Watcher remained silent for a mont before replying cautiously.
"It seems you lived in a very peaceful era."
"...A peaceful era? It wasn’t that peaceful."
"Incorrect. From your words, it’s clear you lived in an era untouched by war."
The Watcher unleashed a torrent of ssages before falling silent again. Turning my gaze back to the malicious flower I had captured, I reflected.
Weapons designed to kill humans... it shouldn’t have surprised . Many of the tools I’d created were weapons designed for that very purpose.
And yet—yet I had never seen sothing so singularly focused on harming humanity.
A weapon created solely to kill humans...
Sure, swords or guns could be considered weapons designed to kill humans, but they had other uses—cooking, crafting, hunting animals. This flower, however, existed solely to kill humans.
It left nature untouched, spared the animals that lived within it, didn’t destroy machines, and targeted humans alone.
That was why it was a flower of malevolence.
"Even so... I have to investigate."
I needed to ensure such an event would never happen again. And if I ever faced this malevolence once more, I had to be prepared to deal with it.
Thus, I stood face to face with humanity’s malice. A wretched, grotesque product of madness.
****
"Huh?"
Back in her room after being scolded by Eight, Aile discovered a black floral pattern on her skin while bathing. She initially thought it was dirt or a bruise, but no amount of scrubbing removed it, nor did it hurt when she touched it.
The floral pattern was far too vivid to be dismissed as dirt or a bruise. It was so perfect that even the greatest artist, dedicating their life to their craft, couldn’t replicate it.
As Aile ran her fingers over the pattern, she felt a strange power emanating from it—one oddly familiar to her.
"This is..."
Even in her current state, without magical powers, she could feel the sa energy she had wielded as a villainous magical girl.
Instinctively, Aile extended her hand and attempted to use magic as she had in the past.
In that mont, a thorny black vine erupted from her palm, lashing out like a whip and striking the bathroom wall with a resounding crack before drooping lifelessly.
"Kyaaah—!"
Startled, Aile scread and staggered backward, staring at her hand in disbelief.
"Did I... just use magic?"
No, it wasn’t magic—not precisely. It was sothing different, closer to the psychic abilities so used naturally, innocently, in childhood.
Yes, it was more like a psychic power.
Aile had never possessed such a thing before, but she had always wished for it—a power so commonplace that 99% of humanity took it for granted.
"How is this... No, I need to contact the Scientist—"
As she hurried to find Eight, she accidentally stepped on sothing on the bathroom floor. Turning, she realized she’d just destroyed part of the bathroom wall with her newfound power.
Panicking, Aile stared at the ruined wall, lanting her lack of a spell to fix it.
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