Unlike Harris, slaves like me could cross the invisible wall called the barrier.
‘In fact, the barrier only stops those wearing restraints.’
The very fact that it couldn’t block Harris’s powers was proof enough.
I put down the chair that had been smashed by two chair shots. The servant named Eric was unconscious from my repeated attacks.
And in his fallen hand…
‘There it is!’
I quickly snatched up the controller.
The material and magic stone embedded in it were similar to the ones on Harris’s restraints. As I grabbed it, a jolt like static electricity tingled through my hand.
Seeing the blood pouring from Eric’s nose and mouth—was that because the device drained his magic power?
‘Well, good. Everything’s going according to plan.’
I could unlock the door and escape at any time.
‘But to release Harris’s restraints, I need this controller.’
Without undoing the restraints, he wouldn’t be able to pass through the invisible barrier, and his powers would remain shackled.
My escape plan was perfect.
‘Because I copied it from the original story, where Adrian and Harris escape together!’
Sorry, truly sorry… but I have to survive too, don’t I? Please understand. Thank you in advance.
Anyway, there were two variables in my otherwise perfect plan.
First, I had forgotten who had the controller.
‘Even if I’m a fan of Ghosts of the City, I can’t remember some random extra!’
I couldn’t even remember my own character—‘Jade’—so how could I remember them?
So I asked Harris to help. I told him to scare them on purpose, to make them feel threatened enough to pull out the controller.
Those bastards feared Harris but also wanted to trample him.
They had never accepted Harris, imprisoned in the underground dungeon and abandoned by his own father, as their master. They saw him as an inferior being.
‘So if they felt screwed over by Harris, they wouldn’t sit still.’
Everything had gone just as I expected.
“Harris, I found it!”
At my call, Harris lifted his head. His face, previously contorted with pain, was now calm as if nothing had happened.
As expected of my favorite character—so cunning. He has the perfect qualities for a future villain!
“E-Eric?!”
“What the hell is going on?!”
While I was feeling proud, the servants were horrified at the sudden turn of events.
They knew they’d die if Harris got loose.
Realizing the situation, the servants rushed at me, but—
“You think you’re going to grab me?”
“Ugh—!”
Adrian kicked the servant who had lunged to grab me. And then—
“Gahk!”
“Argh!”
“Crush him! Kill him!”
“This bastard brought that monster to our underground prison!”
Slaves suddenly emerged from the shadows and started attacking the other servants, knocking them down and beating them.
This was the second variable I had planned for.
Slaves—beings that weren’t even in the original story.
Originally, they were meant to be slaughtered long before this moment ever arrived.
This time, they survived because I used myself as a sacrifice, but that didn’t mean they had any fondness for Harris, who almost killed them.
‘We’re lucky if they don’t try to harm us, let alone help.’
So I shared supplies and explained the plan, appealing to their desire for revenge and a future escape.
So far, it had worked.
The last step was…
I ran toward Harris and shouted, “Harris! Your hand!”
“……”
He frowned at my outstretched hand, like I was calling a puppy.
“Hurry!”
“…Fine.”
He calmly held out his wrist to me.
‘He’s kinda cute, you know.’
Even though I had nearly died because of him, I couldn’t help grinning foolishly. It was ridiculous, but strangely enough, I couldn’t hate Harris.
Just being near him made my body feel lighter and my heart race.
‘Must be because he’s my favorite.’
A kind of irresistible fan obsession I couldn’t rationalize away.
I brought the controller close to the magic stone on Harris’s wrist restraints.
Tick, tiddick—!
Just as the stone began to glow like a spark—
“Ugh…!”
I felt some kind of energy from within me being sucked into the controller. My strength drained, and my breathing became labored.
Instinctively, I knew it—that sensation of magical energy being depleted.
‘So I really did enter a fantasy world.’
Until now, I had only watched as an outsider, but now I could physically feel it.
A specific part of my body throbbed uncomfortably, but I couldn’t let go.
The restraints lit up as the magic stones exchanged energy, and the bindings began to release.
Tick! Tiddick—
Finally, the lock clicked open, and the restraints around Harris’s wrists and ankles fell away.
“Phew…”
Even though they weren’t on me, I felt a wave of relief. I wiped away cold sweat and asked,
“How do you feel? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“……”
Harris didn’t respond, just stared at his own body.
With the restraints gone, the dirty scars on his wrists and ankles were fully revealed.
Marks from countless times when he had tried to exert his power and was punished for it, tortured beyond the limit.
“These…”
Those bastards.
I barely managed to hold back the curses rising to my tongue. The novel Ghosts of the City described them too, but seeing them in person was so much worse.
“So this is what it feels like,” Harris said flatly, touching his wrist.
“To be free of the restraints.”
Maybe because he had longed for it so desperately, it now felt anticlimactic.
“And to use my power…”
Dark energy swirled in Harris’s now unshackled hands.
“Ugh.”
The sheer pressure made it hard to stay standing.
“…So this is how easy it is.”
His bright red eyes stared across the room.
There, the servants were being pummeled by the slaves.
His face was eerily calm.
Black and white. That’s all that was left.
But Harris’s vivid crimson eyes gleamed with chilling intensity, in contrast to his peaceful expression.
“W-Wait—”
Before I could even reach out, Adrian pulled me back by the shoulder and shouted, “Everyone, move!”
“Aaahhh!”
“Run, run away!”
As the slaves scattered, the servants who had been beaten and curled up on the ground looked up—
“Die.”
And Harris’s black power surged toward them in an instant.
Boom! Boom-boom!
The space trembled with a rumble. The force was so overwhelming that I instinctively crouched, covering my ears and squeezing my eyes shut.
The shockwave made my hair and clothes whip wildly.
When I finally uncovered my ears—
“AAAAARGHH—!!”
The first thing I heard was a horrifying scream. The dying shriek of someone moments from death pierced the air.
I jerked my head up—only for my legs to give out at the sight.
There was nothing left.
Not even a trace of the corpses.
“My… my god…”
Only the black scorch marks on the ground remained—evidence of Harris’s unleashed power.
Only then did I realize just how much Harris had been restrained… and what happened when those restraints were broken.
Maybe I had just released an untamed monster.
* * *
Harris still remembered it clearly.
‘Show me your wrist.’
That voice. A voice from his father, uncharacteristically gentle and unfamiliar.
‘It will only be for a moment.’
‘Your powers are still dangerous. This is just a small experiment.’
‘You don’t trust your father? Do you think I’d harm my own son…?’
Duke Godwin had coaxed a child not even twelve years old like that.
At the time, Harris had been too young. Even after being rejected, abandoned, and imprisoned countless times, he was still naive enough to believe it.
‘……!!’
The moment the restraints were put on, it felt like lightning struck him.
The pain was so unbearable he couldn’t even scream.
And watching him suffer was…
‘You will never be free from that.’
Cold, familiar eyes full of disgust.
As Harris collapsed and gasped, clutching his wrist, Duke Godwin had said:
‘Even if you were to break free, I’d know instantly. I’d just imprison you again. If I did it once, what’s stopping me from doing it twice?’
The sneer on his face couldn’t hide the hatred beneath.
It was a face Harris knew too well.
His father had never shown him any other expression.
Young Harris had hesitated, suspecting it might be a trap… but he reached out his hand anyway.
Because he thought he might never again see that brief, kind expression up close.
‘Stupid bastard.’
Harris sneered.
Even then, he had still hoped to be loved by his father. Still wished to be recognized by that gaze.
He hated it.
If his father appeared now, he wanted to rip him to pieces.
He loathed Duke Godwin, who had deceived him with sweet lies—and himself, who had fallen for them.
Those memories brought uncontrollable rage to the surface.
But that wasn’t why Harris had recalled them.
‘He said he’d “know.”’
Recalling Duke Godwin’s words, Harris thought.
That meant the restraints had another function—besides just suppressing and torturing him.
‘He probably added a detection spell to alert him if they’re removed.’
The one who created the magic tool was the Tower Master, Elysias. The monitoring function was likely controlled by the magic tower too.
From the moment the restraints were released, a signal would’ve gone to the tower.
It was only a matter of time before Duke Godwin noticed—and used every trick to capture him again.
Just when Harris had finally broken free… just when he had tasted freedom.
He still needed time. Time to recover. Time to adjust to the sudden return of his powers before beginning his revenge.
‘In that case…’
Harris’s red gaze searched for the restraints—and found them.
“……!”
A small white hand had already snatched them off the ground.
What is she trying to do now?
His frown paused at her next action.
“……?”
