Crash!
Old drawers and tables were kicked over, suspicious walls were smashed through, and the ceiling was stabbed by my Dark Star Blade.
On the first floor, a staircase had appeared beyond a shattered wall. On the second, A puppet had burst through the floor.
The possibility of another hidden space could not be ruled out.
I did not know how many rooms I passed like this.
The booming and crashing echoes had grown distant by the ti I spotted a staircase behind an old set of drawers.
“Luan!”
At the sa ti, I heard Evan's voice from sowhere nearby. As soon as I stepped out into the hallway, we ca face-to-face, each erging from opposite doors.
“There's a staircase here.”
“There too?”
“ ‘Too’? Don’t tell ...”
We regrouped and exchanged uneasy glances.
“So... there are two staircases leading up.”
“What now?”
“...”
Naturally, all eyes in the room turned to , making feel a faint pressure. It was not easy being a leader, after all.
Especially in a situation like this, where there was no right or wrong answer because nothing ahead was certain.
I just had to make the best judgnt I could in the mont... but those choices inevitably ca with regret later.
Like now. Had leaving Mir behind really been the right choice?
After thinking for a brief mont, I made up my mind. “Let's split into two teams.”
Imdiately, I looked at Charon. “If you have anything to say, say it. If your point is reasonable, I’ll reconsider.”
Charon looked slightly uncomfortable. “...Emm. Well, there are prey out there who, instead of fleeing, toy with the predators chasing them. They aren’t just smart—they’re cunning, sotis even more so than humans.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”
“They will trick you with fake tracks, sar themselves with another beast’s blood and pretend to be wounded, or set up decoy traps...”
“...”
“That's what this mansion slls like. It slls of traps. If the princess intentionally split us from Mir and set up two stairways, then her goal is clearly to divide us.”
I nodded. “You're right, and that's why I suggested we split up.”
“What?”
“The princess has sothing the beasts don't. Did you forget already? She's a crazy bitch who finds great pleasure in danger.” Looking at the stairs, I continued, “She knows how strong we are. Whatever traps or enemies she’s set up in this mansion aren’t ant to overwhelm us.”
“Then you’re saying...”
“The challenges in this mansion are just that: challenges. They are things we can overco.”
I stopped there, letting them soak it in.
The mansion was the princess’s domain. I wouldn't be surprised if she was listening to us even now.
All four of us here had a hidden trump card of so sort.
Myself, Sellen, Evan the vice-cult leader, and probably even Charon, we all had at least one trick up our sleeves in case of ergency.
That was another reason I’d chosen these five.
If I had brought Barter Goodspring, would the princess have let her guard down? To take it a step further, what if I had brought Headmaster Alderson?
She would have raised her guard to the maximum.
On the other hand, we were nothing more than wannabe heroes.
We were just kids who hadn't even co of age.
Forget her being tense or threatened by us—instead, she would more likely handicap herself just to crank up the tension.
“Though I'm the best bet to win against her.”
“...”
“Let's make a promise here. If any of us, any of the four of us, ever run into her, make sure to give her a good fucking punch.”
Even just one of us was enough.
Anyone here had the potential to catch her off guard and land a hit.
“How are we going to split the group?” Sellen asked, finally catching on to my intentions.
“We'll split into two groups.”
“Two each?”
“No. I’ll go alone, and you three will go together.”
“...”
The three of them fell silent for a mont before nodding in agreent.
Their compliance suggested that the battle with Barter had helped.
“All right... Then, I’ll see you guys in a bit. Alive.”
“Yeah.”
I watched them disappear up the stairs on one side before heading to the other stairs myself.
The shape of this staircase was a bit unusual.
It was a spiral staircase that looked like it was made of iron, but it was designed in that damned circular shape I hated.
Round and round, making dizzy the higher I climbed. It was designed solely to annoy.
I had several reasons for splitting the group like this.
Aside from the fact that I could perform as a full group myself...
The main reason was that I felt like I wouldn't be able to go all out if I was with the others.
Because of the purple fla.
I knew for sure, now, that the mont I unleashed this fire, my attack power would surpass that of the White Fla State. It was the ultimate destructive force...
That was fine, but there was a serious drawback to using purple fla.
I snapped my fingers, igniting a purple fla like striking a match.
Whoosh.
Hmph... As expected.
This power only manifested when I tapped into demonic energy.
Naturally, demonic energy could unmistakably be felt in my purple fla.
...This is a pain.
What could I say about this?
Beyond even the physical toll it put through, it carried a huge risk. It made wonder if I’d even dare use it when my life was on the line.
Ignite a purple fla.
Expose my demonic energy.
Luan Bednicker is a mber of the cult.
Ah, hell...
The thought alone made my blood boil.
A high priest, of all things.
, a priest?
Wasn’t the whole “appointing a high priest thing” sothing only the leader could do?
And I haven’t even t the leader ye—
“...”
I stopped dead in my tracks as the realization hit like a truck.
What if... I had already t the leader?
No, that can't be...
Despite my denial, my hand instinctively pulled a note out from my pocket.
[See you in Setitus].
[P.S. I'm bored playing puppet.]
“...”
Leone had been an enigma from beginning to end.
And yet, I had never given her much thought.
She was just a figure from the past, a puppet—or so I’d believed...
But what if she wasn’t a puppet?
Supposedly, the leader of the Church of Darkness had remained unchanged for hundreds of years...
But maybe, just maybe, the torch had already been passed. Maybe we just hadn’t known.
If I was correct, then Leone was the second leader...
The Lord of Blood and Iron, upon learning this truth—coupled with the betrayal of soone he considered a friend—had begun to despise demons and the Church of Darkness.
...
Evan and Leone.
I realized now that I had done the right thing, not revealing their identities to each other.
Though, for all I knew, they might have already figured each other out...
But that raised a new question.
How could Leone, supposedly a puppet, have so much freedom?
Even Alderson seed clueless about Leone having been on the Veiled Side, not to ntion the headmaster’s control over his puppets.
“...The Veiled Side?”
Suddenly, I recalled Evan’s description of this place.
—The shadow realm, the world beyond the lake’s surface... To simplify, you could call it the dream world. Hadenaihar is also known as the ‘Demon Lord of the Veil.’
It didn’t feel like it, but apparently, this place was also called the Dreamworld.
—Do you know about the cult leader?
—That guy... knows how to control dreams.
—As a controller of dreams, the cult leader doesn’t care about ti or space. If he wants to et soone, he can just enter their dreams.
—He can make you feel hundreds of different things in a single night’s dream.
Juniang’s words from the training camp ca back to .
“The cult leader contacts high-priest candidates through dreams...”
That thought made burst into laughter. Not because I was happy, of course.
I was laughing at the absurdity of it all.
I stood on the floating stairs, laughing for a while...
* * * * *
* * * * *
Eventually, I collected myself, and I let out a rough sigh. “Phew...”
Through the gaps in the stairs, darkness stretched below. For a mont, I had the silly thought that, sohow, that was my future.
But what the hell could I do?
Even if I was surrounded by darkness on all sides, as long as there was ground to stand on, I just had to keep going.
I continued to move up, and finally, the stairs ended.
...I had been climbing them for a while.
It felt like I had passed the third floor long ago. Maybe I’d even passed the fourth and reached the rooftop.
Of course, that was just my senses talking—I had no idea how high I had actually climbed.
What’s this?
It was another place shrouded in pitch-black darkness.
Whether I used fire eyes or the serpent’s eye, I probably wouldn’t see anything anyway.
I trudged on, not wanting to waste my energy.
The ground was rather rough underfoot. It didn't feel like a hallway or a paved road, it felt like I was walking on untouched nature.
I continued on for a while, and as I kept moving, a hazy fog began to creep out from sowhere.
Beyond the fog and darkness ca the sound of a bell.
Jingle.
I stopped in my tracks.
The bell sounded nostalgic.
Then ca a distinct clack, like the sound of an iron fan unfolding.
Was I hallucinating? Or had I lost my mind?
I realized that my condition was not normal, but regardless, I couldn’t help but ask into the darkness, “...Senior Sister Cheon?”
I blinked a couple of tis, as if to clear my vision.
[The co-co-co-conditions...]
Conditions?
[Have been... fulfilled.]
At this mont.
[The blessing of the Spirit Mountain has act-activa-ted.]
I heard an absurd voice.
* * *
After parting with Luan...
Evan, Charon, and Sellen climbed the stairs in silence.
“...”
“...”
“...”
Evan thought to himself, What’s with this atmosphere?
The two were naturally quiet, not to ntion they weren’t particularly close.
Evan had only had a few conversations with Sellen...
As for Charon, their relationship was... not good.
Evan Helvin did not exactly lack social skills, but conversation was a two-way street.
No matter what he said, there wasn’t much point if the other person wouldn’t so much as spare him a glance.
But then.
“Evan Helvin.”
Unexpectedly, it was Charon who initiated, but with a sowhat hesitant attitude.
“Huh? What’s up?”
“...I felt it when I was running down the hall earlier.”
“Felt what?”
“You haven’t been slacking in your training.”
“...”
What was this guy trying to say now?
Evan narrowed his eyes slightly, but Charon quickly avoided his gaze and added, “...That's all I wanted to say.”
“Oh, okay.”
Evan, who had been nodding, took a mont to realize.
Did he just apologize?
It had to be about his comnts about being dissatisfied with Luan’s selection and saying that Hector Bednicker would have been a better choice.
A small chuckle escaped Evan’s lips. Though Charon sure looked like a wolf, he was softer than Evan had thought.
“Well, don’t worry about it,” Evan said, scratching his reddened cheeks, and Charon nodded.
A slightly softer, less tense atmosphere blossod between them...
While Sellen, who was standing on the sidelines, just stared at them and thought, What’s next? Holding hands?
“Ah.”
“It ended.”
The staircase had finally co to an end, revealing a long hallway.
This corridor was also carpeted, but the color was a distinct purple. It looked almost identical to the second-floor lobby...
“Hello.”
Once again, at the end of the hallway was the princess.
“...”
All three of them realized it at the sa ti: The princess faced this ti was no illusion.
The princess grinned and said, “So, you guys are the ones who ca. Hmm... I guess you can consider yourself lucky since the side with three survived. Though it's a sha, really. I’d been hoping Luan Bednicker would co.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Why, I'm talking about the path of life and the path of death, of course.”
The path of life and the path of death.
Evan frowned, thinking.
The two staircases he'd seen on the second floor, the forked paths. As he thought, one of them had been a trap.
Just then, Charon stepped forward.
“If you’re worried about Big Brother, don’t be. He'll be here soon. Not that it matters, since you’ll die by our hands before you even see his shadow.”
“I’m hoping for that too. However...” The princess’s crimson eyes suddenly lost focus and began to stare off into space, making Charon narrow his eyes.
The three were facing her, but it seed like she wasn’t looking at them but at an entirely different scene.
Where was she looking?
Don't tell ... Big Bro...
The maiden's eyes rolled around. She seed to be nervous.
Her lips quivered, and her tightly clenched fists seed to be silently cheering soone on.
But that was imdiately followed by a feeling of deflation. “No...!”
The princess’s body relaxed like she’d just witnessed the fall of the racehorse she’d been rooting for.
From her barely open mouth ca a faint whisper...
“He's dead.”
____
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