Chapter : 121
“Ugh…”
The painfully thin girl raised her head.
It seemed that she had dozed off for a moment.
She rubbed her eyes and stared blankly at the air.
Once called Nem, she was now only referred to as ‘The Offering.’
She had spent most of her time in the Blood Cult’s prison.
Aside from having her blood regularly drained and kept alive by the barest of means, no one paid her any attention.
There was no one to talk to, and she was allowed nothing but to be locked away and lost in her own delusions.
Perhaps the reason she hadn’t lost her sanity was due to her fundamentally indifferent nature.
She smiled bitterly at the thought and, as always, fell into her daydreams.
Someone would come to save her, and she would return to the orphanage she had once known.
If that was too much to hope for, she would settle for just talking to someone.
As she thought that, the sound of footsteps reached her ears.
‘What…?’
It wasn’t meal time yet, and she had just been drained of blood, so no one should be coming to visit her for a while.
With a puzzled mind, she looked up.
A small shadow stretched into the cell she was in.
Following the shadow, Nem’s eyes widened in surprise as she recognized the person approaching.
A girl who appeared much younger than herself was standing there.
Since she had been kidnapped by the Blood Cult, she had never seen another child her age, so she was taken aback.
The girl’s appearance was also unusual.
With radiant platinum blonde hair and pink eyes like beautiful flower buds, she wore the typical robe of the Blood Cult, but her face looked as if she had just stepped out of a fairy tale, like a princess.
Could it be that, trapped in this hellish place, she was now seeing things?
Lost in that thought, she stared blankly at the girl, and the girl, like a vision, spoke up.
“Are you really Nem?”
“Uh…”
“I don’t have much time, so I’ll explain quickly. I’m going to give you a scroll. After I leave, count to 20 in your head, then tear it.”
“W-what…?”
“Then you’ll be taken to a safe place. Someone will be there to take care of you. After that, you just need to follow whatever they tell you.”
“Ugh…”
It was hard to respond. She rarely spoke to people, and her throat felt tight.
Who was this person, and what did she want from her?
She wanted to ask, but it took her a while to form the words.
Before she could ask, the platinum-haired girl gently spoke again.
“It’s okay. I’ve come to save you.”
“Save… save me…”
“Yes. Won’t you trust me?”
The girl took out a scroll from her pocket and passed it through the bars with a sad smile.
Perhaps because of her appearance, memories from a book about the divine forces she had once read came to mind.
The saints and priests of the temples were said to deceive people with false holiness, pretending to be virtuous to mislead them.
But the aura radiating from the girl before her was neither a façade nor an attempt at manipulation.
It was a truly sacred, divine light.
Anyone who saw it would respond in kind.
“…I trust you.”
“Thank goodness!”
The girl smiled brightly and handed over the scroll.
Just seeing her smile made Nem feel like her answer had been the right one.
“Now, like I said, when I leave, count to 20 and tear it. Got it?”
Nem absent-mindedly nodded while holding the scroll.
The girl turned to leave, and Nem squeezed out her voice to call her back.
“Wait…!”
“Yes?”
“Who are you…?”
“Ah. I’ll introduce myself properly later, but…”
The girl tilted her head and replied.
“I’m Calmia. Calmia Halloren.”
“Ah…”
“I’ll see you again!”
Nem felt a strange sensation in her chest.
She was from the Halloren family.
‘Of course. She’s not from the Divine forces…’
Daydreams were her only hobby, so she was momentarily overcome by strange thoughts.
Blushing, she started counting inwardly.
20, 19, 18…
She wasn’t sure if this countdown would end in salvation or if it would lead to the beginning of a new hell.
But the strange courage the girl had given her didn’t fade.
Nem took a deep breath and tore the scroll.
Light spread in all directions.
It was a mixture of hope and the certainty of salvation.
Part 2
“Phew, I’ve handled this side of things.”
I wore my robe deep over my face as I left the prison behind.
Since I had disguised myself with white magic, the Blood Cult wouldn’t notice that the real Nem was gone for a while.
‘They probably don’t care unless it’s time for another blood extraction…’
I glanced around before quickly slipping into a corner.
For the record, I had infiltrated the Blood Cult’s hideout alone.
Although my mentor had strongly opposed it, it was something I had to do.
‘The Blood Cult’s defensive structure is quite unique.’
Naturally, the Blood Cult was extremely cautious about exposing themselves to the outside world.
As a result, their hideout was protected by ancient magic, utilizing blood magic as a defense.
This defense method allowed only those who had used blood magic to a certain level of expertise to enter.
In other words, you needed a history of murder using other people’s blood to gain access to their hideout.
‘What a crazy idea…’
Since Yulrit in the original story had used white magic to perform blood magic, he could infiltrate the hideout without resistance.
Naturally, that meant I could easily infiltrate as well.
However, unlike me, my mentor used dark magic and could not enter the hideout.
For that reason, this mission had to be carried out alone.
Of course, there were more extreme options available to me without any risks.
I could disregard the victims, wipe out the Blood Cult’s hideout with my father and mentor’s help.
‘But… Nem would be caught in the crossfire and die.’
I didn’t want to sacrifice innocent people.
The ones who should fall into hell were the Blood Cult.
That’s why I risked sneaking in alone.
I had secured Nem’s safety, and thankfully, there didn’t seem to be any other hostages nearby.
Now, I just needed to turn their hideout upside down so they couldn’t even dream of causing a dungeon burst.
‘I’ll slip out and meet my mentor.’
I swiftly moved through the maze-like hideout and made my way to the outside.
The hideout’s structure was like a maze, so finding the exit wasn’t easy, but since I had left a trail with white magic, it was simple to follow.
I hurried toward the tree where my mentor was waiting.
“Mentor!”
I called out to him as I ran, but suddenly stopped in my tracks.
I saw a familiar face standing behind my mentor, looking quite uncomfortable.
“Ah… Father?”
“…”
My father, who was supposed to arrive tomorrow, stood there with an expressionless face, emitting a frightening aura.
Part 3
“Did you say Emil visited?”
“Yes, Miss. He urgently requested a meeting.”
“…Understood. I’ll go right away.”
Nem held back the urge to frown.
She hadn’t expected Emil to come personally to complain about being stood up.
‘Damn it, it’s because the other team failed…’
Emil Halloren had tried to seize his body but failed to trap him in the dungeon and take over his body.
As a result, Nem was left to handle the aftermath of calling Emil out.
‘Still, I just need to apologize for the mix-up, and everything will be fine.’
The dark magicians still didn’t realize they could intentionally cause a dungeon burst.
The alibi was set, so I just had to pretend I couldn’t make it due to a sudden issue.
As for the magic books, I would just pretend to be ignorant about them.
After all, Nem Deldomosang was a naïve, clueless girl in the eyes of the public.
When I entered the parlor with soft steps.
“…Grandfather?”
To her surprise, Emil wasn’t the only one present in the parlor. The family head, Perun, was also sitting there.
Had they called Perun to publicly protest this?
Her frustration began to rise when—
“Ugh…!”
Suddenly, dark, black ropes of shadow wrapped tightly around Nem’s body.
