In the end, the most important thing is to escape. Sohow, I need to get out of here to throw myself into the frontlines of the story. Only then can I protect my comrades.
Of course, since I’ve already infiltrated the enemy’s stronghold, I also need to consider a way to inflict significant damage before escaping. A kind of internal wound.
Internal wounds and escape.
The first step to achieving both goals is the Blood Witch.
With her, a high-ranking mber of the Bloodstone Cult, I would be able to move freely here. More importantly, no matter what anyone says, she was my steadfast watcher.
The Blood Witch would never let go.
That must be why the cult leader entrusted to her.
So, I need to persuade her.
Even if only for a mont, I need her to stand on my side.
*
“… Are you saying this place is the cult leader’s dantian?”
I silently nodded.
The Blood Witch’s hand, which had been caressing my face, suddenly stopped.
Her crimson lips parted slightly.
I could see her swallow a gasp of surprise.
A flicker of distrust appeared in her gaze.
But she quickly shook her head.
Her jet-black hair floated briefly before settling again. Then, she pressed her hands together as if in prayer.
“… I’m sorry. I must have lost my mind for a mont. To doubt you, Ian… I won’t do it again. Yes, I will always believe in you. I’ll never doubt you again.”
“I would’ve doubted too, at least once.”
“No, this was my fault. A brilliant child like you would never lie. Please forgive . I’ll beg if I must.”
The Blood Witch clasped her hands together and bowed her head.
Her blind faith was so extre that it felt almost deranged. Answering her felt unsettling. I had a feeling that indulging her would only make her fanaticism worse.
What I feared were the consequences.
If her fanatical belief in were to shatter, the aftermath would be catastrophic. After all, I knew better than anyone how obsessive she could be.
So rather than making her believe in , I made her believe in the situation.
“Sit cross-legged and observe your body. Don’t focus on circulating your energy—just concentrate on the things that dissipate naturally within you. Then you’ll feel it. The life force that should naturally erode over ti is actually being drawn sowhere else.” Ɍ𝙖NỘᛒЁṥ
The Blood Witch sat cross-legged on the spot.
Experts like her usually never ditate in front of others. If an enemy had ill intentions, they could take advantage of this most vulnerable mont to inflict deviation.
Yet, she didn’t hesitate. It was proof that she genuinely trusted .
— Rumble
Her energy rippled.
A pristine, pure red.
‘…’
I was inwardly amazed.
Just as I had gathered the purest great elental essences, the Blood Witch seed to have gathered nothing but the most refined life force.
She was no ordinary person.
After scanning herself, she opened her eyes.
“… It’s true. The air here is naturally absorbing my life force as I breathe.”
“You didn’t know?”
“I thought it was natural for life force to evaporate over ti.”
“The cult leader exploited that.”
“… The cult leader?”
“Who else but him could orchestrate sothing like this?”
“… You’re right. Ian, you’re right.”
The Blood Witch’s gaze darkened with hostility.
“The cult leader… as expected, that man…”
She bit her lip.
Was it resentnt she had bottled up?
Or had she simply been refusing to acknowledge it?
I had witnessed the tension between her and the cult leader ever since I was captured and brought here.
‘… I can use this.’
Seeing her current attitude, I was certain I could make use of her.
Of course, I didn’t trust this demoness.
I was rely leveraging her eccentric nature.
She was emotional, unpredictable, and obsessively fixated on what captivated her.
Impulsive.
Which ant that, even if only briefly, I could make her believe in .
I could make her act for .
The situation worked in my favor, too.
No woman would enjoy the sensation of her own energy being siphoned away by soone else.
The Blood Witch was always the predator—never the prey.
A spider that slowly drained the life from its prey ensnared in its web.
There was no way she would enjoy being the prey.
That was likely a major part of her anger toward the cult leader.
Seizing the mont, I spoke directly.
With people like her, beating around the bush would only backfire.
“I want to turn this place upside down. Blood Witch, I want your cooperation.”
She blinked and stared at .
“… Are you asking to help you escape?”
“No. I just want you to help destroy this place. You hate this, don’t you?”
“Ahaha—”
The Blood Witch let out a wide, amused laugh.
The fury in her eyes was quickly replaced with her usual desire.
“Ian… Ahh, my dear Ian.”
Her gaze swept over my face.
“How are you so… delicious? Your words, your actions, your eyes, your very presence—everything about you makes salivate.”
She grabbed my face with both hands.
As if she wanted to devour whole.
But I was no longer afraid.
I t her gaze head-on. The Blood Witch swallowed hard.
“… Ahh. This is so exciting.”
Muttering to herself, she suddenly stood up.
Then, she grabbed my sleeve and pulled.
“?”
“Co with . I’ll guide you.”
— Click, Thud.
The Blood Witch led to the back entrance of the dwelling.
Unlike the front entrance, which faced the main street, the back door opened to a long, winding trail.
For a while, we pushed through the garden or forest.
“This is the place.”
The Blood Witch ca to a halt.
I stopped beside her.
“I’ll show you.”
She picked up a small twig from the ground.
Then, she extended it forward.
— Woong!
Sothing trembled in the air, and the twig, unable to withstand the repelling force, snapped clean in two.
“If you try to force anything out, this is what happens.”
I had imagined it in my mind, but seeing it firsthand was srizing.
A transparent barrier encompassed this entire place.
I focused on sensing the barrier.
Without realizing it, I took a step back.
It was invisible to the eye, but with my mana perception now heightened and more sensitive than ever—
What stood before was an impossibly vast and towering wall.
The Blood Witch chuckled.
“This isn’t an artificially created barrier. It’s a naturally ford one, refined through our cult’s doctrine. That ans it only grows stronger and more resilient as ti passes.”
She looked at it as if admiring sothing grand.
And indeed, it was.
But at the sa ti, I sensed sothing.
‘It’s not entirely impossible to break through.’
It was an overwhelming wall—impossible to climb.
But if there were even the tiniest gaps, I could dig into them, widen them, and create an opening.
And if that barrier held an imnse amount of energy inside, once a gap ford, everything would burst outward like a tidal wave.
The problem was the direction of that gap.
It had to clearly lead outward.
“If only there was so external trace left behind…”
I muttered, staring at the barrier.
Every inch of it was flawlessly smooth.
Not a single crack or weak point in sight.
It felt like staring at a wall that was never ant to be crossed.
◆
At the portal checkpoint in the southern region of the academy—
Danya, Lina, and Elena swiftly passed through.
The air that greeted them was all too familiar.
“… It’s been a while.”
Elena murmured.
They had traveled across the continent searching for Ian and had finally arrived at the academy.
But there was no ti for nostalgia—
Because the sky was too red.
Compared to the eastern front of the Great Central Forest, where they had just been, the sky here was far redder.
“We’ve been expecting you.”
The coachman bowed his head to them.
It was a carriage that Silvia had arranged in advance.
The magitech carriage quickly set off toward the Shadow Forest.
“The sky is definitely unsettling.”
“Danya Sister, it’s even stronger here. It feels like it all started from this place.”
“… Do you sense sothing, Danya?”
At their questions, Danya nodded.
“Yeah… It’s getting more and more ominous—nyah.”
Ominous.
A word too simple to describe this instinctive premonition.
Sothing overwhelmingly dangerous was lurking here, yet it hadn’t begun—not yet.
It was, in a way, a primal warning.
“… Then, Sister Danya, do you believe the Bloodstone Cult’s base is in the Shadow Forest?”
It was uncertain.
But sothing was about to happen.
More than anything—
“Ian is here—nyah… I think it has sothing to do with that red energy.”
That was the reason they had co.
Lina chid in.
“The cult leader showing up at the academy so suddenly was already strange.”
“… But would he really have a reason to be obsessed with the academy?”
“I don’t know—nyah. But…”
Danya fell silent.
This ti, she was relying entirely on her instincts.
That red sky was the problem.
As they approached the Shadow Forest, as they neared the origin of that crimson hue, her body began to tremble.
“… Danya, are you okay?”
Lina reached out and held Danya’s hand.
By the ti Danya realized she had been tensed up, her tail was already tightly curled.
She nodded and squeezed Lina’s hand in return.
— Clatter!
Just like that, the carriage arrived at the Shadow Forest.
Caw! Caw!
The sound of crows echoed in the distance, as if welcoming them.
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