Chapter 22 – A Test to Corrupt Magical Girls

From his palm connected to her back, which wasn't covered by her exoskeleton suit, Rai noticed her body was trembling. It was a sign that she had heard his words seriously and was affected by it.

"Invaders are shrouded in mystery, even for us."

With a soft voice, he slowly moved his hand up toward Ciel's shoulders. Her hands were tied behind her, and she only leaned against the floor with her shoulders, making it look painful.

As a way to show he cared for her, Rai pulled the ribbon slightly and put her in a sitting position. Her gaze was vivid. Various images flashed through her mind, especially the image of Sagi being pierced by a shadowy spike. His words still lingered in her mind.

"I am… weak?"

"You're weak," Rai confirmed with a nod, planting a seed of doubt. His hand was now on her nape, caressing her slightly as he prepared to extract her Magicule.

While she didn't seem to have much because she still couldn't transform, it should be enough to replenish some missing Magicule he used to create a barrier earlier.

"You can't transform yet, and you don't even have the specialized tool like that blonde Magical Girl."

"Blonde… Ahri…" The girl muttered in a weak voice. Her eyes had a hint of burning competition and envy.

For some reason, Rai's voice entered her ears easily and rang inside her heart as if he tried to pry it open.

Rai was still oblivious to that. He didn't know that he had the talent to influence someone easily. His voice had something special, caused by a side-effect from his transmigration to the base body and Ossa's power rather than his own.

But that didn't really matter to him as he had gained a clue about how to plant that seed of doubt within the girl. That would be useful in the future when he needed that seed to bloom like a flower.

In other words, he made an investment right now.

"Yes, Ahri. You're weaker than her. I had fought her before, and she was pretty strong, forcing even me to retreat. Compared to you, she's in heaven while you're down here on earth."

Once again, her body jolted slightly. Ciel's will to resist was already gone. She knew she wasn't a match for Rai, and her passive defense was easily breached. The only thing she could think of right now was… envy.

"No… I am also strong."

"You're weak," Rai repeated.

"As proof, you're here without being able to do anything while your teammates are putting their lives on the line to defeat the Invader. What you can do is become bait or distraction. Deep inside, you also know about that, right? Magical Girls are useless without being able to transform into one."

Rai's hand slowly went down to the back, between Ciel's shoulder blades, as he leaned closer.

"In other words… You're useless."

"I am useless…?"

At that moment, Rai activated his Devour ability to extract her Magicule. A dark aura covered his hand behind the girl's back as it made a connection to her core and turned her Magicule into a white liquid.

To his surprise, the Magicule he managed to extract was half of Ahri's, and that was even after the girl used that gun to try and hit him.

'She has potential.'

Planting a seed of doubt in her would be worth it. Her eyes quivered in wonder; she thought of his words seriously, which made him happy that his effort wasn't for naught.

Corrupting a Magical Girl couldn't be done in a day. It wasn't easy to destroy someone's belief that they built up in their entire life in just a moment without a proper trigger.

So actually, what Rai did right now was impressive. He managed to influence the girl even to doubt her belief slightly.

"Yes. But I can help you. Remember this feeling very well."

Rai stood up, hiding his hand with white liquid dancing on top.

In the middle of that white was a drop of black, clouding the liquid slightly but not enough to make an apparent change. He also controlled the ribbon to fully wrap the girl once again, leaving only a hole around her nose to breathe.

This time, the girl didn't struggle like before. She was already weak from having her Magicule taken, and her mind was damaged by guilt from the death of her teammate. So she was like a doll who accepted her fate at the mercy of an evil man.

A pleasure attacked her, making her quiver. The sensation was too much for her already weakened body and mentality. Her breathing turned rough, panting for air.

Looking at her, Rai added a comment in his mind.

'I wasn't lying when I said it wasn't my fault the Invader suddenly became stronger, though.'

Scoffing, he raised his palm, watching the white liquid dance on top of it with a smile.

"Thanks for the drink. Slurp–"

The creamy taste of milk spread in his mouth. As expected, he liked this taste more than a coffee one. He didn't mean the coffee tasted bad, but he preferred the creamy taste more than a bitter one.

"It's delicious." He muttered once he drank all the liquid and licked his lips.

Looking down, he noticed the girl's breathing had stabilized. It turned soft and steady, like a person sleeping soundly.

"She fainted?" Rai exclaimed, controlling the ribbon once again to retract back to normal.

And when it finished, he could see the girl was indeed fainted.

The combination of exhaustion, pleasure from getting her Magicule extracted, and many things that happened to her made her unable to keep her consciousness. Her brain decided to shut down and chose that fainting was the best way to keep her from harm.

"That was unexpected."

What he did expect, however, was that the team would be able to defeat that powered-up Invader after a few minutes he left with the girl.

*Crack!*

A loud cracking sound echoed as the shattered space was seemingly put together once again. It twisted around like a snake, turning the knotted and twisted space into normal.

Shattered space moved to fix itself as if they were alive. The ceiling had a large, white crack running around like a spider web. And the strong coffee smell Rai had always smelt since he entered WSP slowly disappeared.

"It seems they are done. As I expected, they could beat the Invader. Even though it's stronger than before, its defense remains the same. They could beat it easily if they used that blast attack once again."

*Crack crack! Shatter!*

Out of nowhere, the crack encroached on the surrounding area. The maze was destroyed, and the kaleidoscope of color disappeared.

The space was fixed!

From where he stood, Rai was now able to see the Guardians team running toward him clearly.

"Ciel!!"

The boy's bloodied appearance was a sign he fought hard against the Invader. One of his arms was limping, and he swayed around while trying his best to run straight. His other two teammates weren't an exception. Fear was clearly written on their faces.

"I guess it's time for me to run. I bet the reinforcement will also arrive soon."

Saying so, he tapped his cane against the ground and turned around, walking past the unconscious girl with a smirk toward the opening that appeared in front of him.

With the last twist, the space was turned to the normal lobby of Alpha Mall, and Rai pressed the emergency teleport button in his System Watch. A dark, swirling oval portal appeared in front of him like a black hole.

Stopping, Rai looked over his shoulder with an evil grin and spoke with an ominous tone.

"Keep Ciel safe for me. Tell her that I will pick her up when she's ready in the future."

With that last message, he entered the portal and disappeared from the Mall's lobby.

Today marked the Devourer's second appearance, and he slowly learned how to corrupt a Magical Girl.

When his next appearance was still unknown to the world.

No one knew yet. Not even the Devourer himself.