Chapter 16: The Eldritch Goddess Strikes Back

Preparations for the play had been going smoothly—or so I thought.

"...What is this?"

"This is awful."

The dresses Emilia and I were supposed to wear for the play had been completely ruined. The fabric was torn to shreds, and splattered with what looked like paint.

"Who would do something like this...?"

Frieda arrived and her expression darkened with a mix of shock and fury as she took in the scene.

"What should we do? There’s not much time left before the performance..."

"We’ll have to find replacement costumes..."

Emilia was flustered, and I found myself deep in thought, trying to figure out our next move.

"Oh my, how dreadful this looks."

The one who appeared, giggling as she spoke, was none other than Marie.

"Can’t even manage your own props properly? How terribly unladylike of you. Kukuku..."

"This was clearly sabotage!"

"Blaming others? How utterly disgraceful!"

Let’s be real—given the timing and circumstances, it’s almost definitely Marie and her crew behind this. But without solid proof, there’s nothing we can do.

"Emilia, let’s just ignore her. I’ll bring a spare dress from home. What about you? You could ask the drama club if they have any unused costumes."

"I don’t have anything that would work for a play, so… I’ll check with the drama club."

"Let’s go together, then."

I kept my expression calm, but inside, I was absolutely furious.

If you’ve got a problem with us, just say it to our faces. But to sabotage the whole class’s performance just to spite us? That’s low. Really low.

"Iris, Emilia—what’s going on?"

Just then, Felix and Klaus arrived.

"It’s nothing. The dresses were just… found in this condition."

"...I see. Do you know who did this?"

"I have my suspicions, but no evidence."

Felix frowned as he looked at the vandalized dresses, clearly furious. I shook my head.

"We’ll take care of the cleanup. You two should focus on getting new costumes."

"Understood, Lord Klaus."

They must’ve realized how hard it would be for us to clean up all that paint. That’s pretty gentlemanly of them.

So, here I was—cast as the tragic heroine. But honestly, as someone who used to be a guy, this just felt pathetic. Letting it go, getting protected by the boys, and standing around looking helpless? No way. Not happening.

Which means it’s time to unleash my inner eldritch goddess.

An angry goddess is a terrifying thing, you know…

Marie noticed the unfamiliar envelope in her bag during the late afternoon, just as she was about to head home from the academy.

"I know what you did. If you don't want it exposed, come to the third floor of the old school building."

That was what the letter said.

“Hmph. Ridiculous. This has to be those two again.”

Emilia and Iris. The two girls she couldn't stand. Marie quickly deduced that they were the ones behind this threatening note—likely a petty attempt at retaliation for that dress incident.

“But maybe it’s not such a bad opportunity to teach them a proper lesson.”

With a sly smirk, Marie turned to her ever-present companions.

“Clara, Mira. Look what I just found in my bag.”

She showed them the letter.

“What will you do, Lady Marie?”

“It’s obviously those two. To think they’d send something like this… They need to be reminded of their place. Don’t you agree?”

“Absolutely.”

All three of them were capable of using magic. Hurting a pair of weak, same-aged girls wouldn’t be difficult if it came to that.

Of course, Marie wasn’t planning to resort to violence from the start. No—her intent was to overpower them verbally. With no boys around to defend them this time, she'd utterly humiliate them.

With that in mind, she headed for the old school building.

The place was eerily silent.

“It’s… a little creepy, isn’t it…”

While the rest of the school was bustling with students staying late to prepare for the culture festival, the old building alone was wrapped in unnatural silence. It made Marie and her followers shudder.

Still, they pressed on to the designated classroom on the third floor.

“Come out already, Iris! Emilia!”

Marie threw the door open—but the classroom was empty.

“No one’s here…”

“Hmph. Cowards. They must’ve run. Pathetic. Let’s go.”

One of her followers said, and Marie turned to leave as well.

But then—

“H-Huh? What? The door won’t open!?”

That was when the fear began.

“What are you doing? Stop fooling around. Let’s go.”

“It really won’t open! Why!? What’s going on!?”

One of her followers rattled the door violently, but it wouldn’t budge—like someone was holding it shut from the outside.

“What the…!?”

Then, from the gap beneath the door, a red-black, glistening mass began to ooze into the room.

All three girls shrieked, recoiling in horror, stumbling backward in search of escape.

“W-What is that!? What’s happening!?”

“Someone help! Please!”

They screamed out for help through the third-floor windows, but no one heard them.

The slimy, fleshy mass continued to pour in through the door and even through the hallway windows. It started spreading across the floor, sprouting glistening tendrils—each one ending in an eyeball-like organ.

“Ahh! Aahh! Oh god, oh god!!”

They screamed, calling out to any god who might listen—but no divine help came.

The chaos only intensified.

Dozens of tentacles burst from the mass and snatched at Marie and her companions.

“Let go! Let go of me! I said let go!”

Marie blasted fire magic at the tentacle wrapped around her leg—but it had no effect. The tendrils grabbed her legs, her hands, her waist, her neck—dragging her and the others slowly into the writhing mass.

By the time the three girls had been completely consumed and lost consciousness, the classroom door creaked open.

Standing there was Iris—without her usual black tights.

“Wow. What a mess.”

She murmured, taking in the sight of the room, now completely overrun by the grotesque flesh.

The mass was her familiar. A being she had created by severing part of her own body—new life born of her flesh and bound to serve her. It was a creature of her bloodline.

“You can come back now.”

At her command, the grotesque mass slithered, undulated, and returned to Iris—vanishing into her lower body.

“There. All done.”

Left behind were only Marie and her two followers, now unconscious after wetting themselves in terror.

“Wake up whenever you want and go home. Well then, ta-ta~”

With a cheerful farewell, Iris turned and left the old school building alone.

Marie and the others did eventually regain consciousness—but were haunted by blasphemous nightmares for days afterward and stayed home from school.

And during that time, the school festival went off without a hitch.The play put on by Iris’s class was a rousing success.