Ansu's eyes sharpened as he heard Samantha's words, and he immediately extended his wrist.
His veins had already turned black, and a filthy power was slowly creeping upward like dark branches; at the same time, he felt an unbearable, piercing pain.
Damn it! That old witch poisoned me.
Ansu quickly grasped the situation. Samantha must have used some kind of mechanism or a mysterious magic item to forcibly bring him to this secret stronghold in the North.
He was certain it was an item rather than a teleportation circle because he trusted Celia's perception. Magic rituals were lengthy and required a massive amount of mana; such a process could never be hidden from her.
He sneered inwardly. It seemed the old witch had been wary of this all along, which was why she deliberately separated him from Celia...
Fortunately, I am one step ahead.
"This is both an ultimatum and your only chance to survive."
Samantha sneered, "Do not think Celia can save you! If magic curses could be easily dispelled, they would not have been used by black mages for thousands of years. Remember! Only by finding the Chosen One can you live!"
Leaving those words behind, she turned and walked away gloomily.
When the door was slammed shut...
Ansu endured the intense pain in his arm, leaning against the wall as his mind raced.
Since it was an ultimatum... stalling would no longer work. Upon returning to reality, he had to give Samantha an answer... even if it was a false one.
He thought about the upcoming journey for the demon army's treasure, and a plan gradually formed in his mind...
...
【Reality】
【Radiant Calendar Year 625, May 26, 16:12】
【Commentary: Instead of using the simulation for a three-way romantic confrontation, you use it for this? Host, you really are... quite the penny-pincher~】
【Rating: D+】
【Reward: 12 points】
【Remaining Points: 68】
After returning to reality, Ansu looked at the door in front of him, took a deep breath, and slowly pushed it open.
Samantha had been waiting for Ansu for a long time.
She stared intently at Ansu as he closed the door, asking impatiently, "Hermit, how is my mission coming along?"
"Cult Leader, I was just about to talk to you about that." Ansu observed her. Samantha clearly lacked her usual composure; her bloodshot eyes suppressed a hint of madness.
Furthermore, her appearance was vastly different from before. He had noticed it in the simulation, but only now did he have the mind to observe closely.
Samantha had originally looked like a woman in her forties, but now her face was covered in wrinkles and dense age spots. At this moment, she truly looked like a stereotypical 'old witch,' aged and ugly to the extreme, even somewhat repulsive...
It seemed the magic maintaining her physique and appearance could no longer hold. This evil cult leader, who had lived for hundreds of years, had reached the final stage of her dying breath.
"Oh? Is that so!" Samantha stepped forward excitedly. "Hearing you say that, you must have found the Chosen One! Quick, tell me, who exactly is the Chosen One from the prophecy!"
Ansu subconsciously took a step back. "Cult Leader, please calm down first. Regarding the specific identity of the Chosen One, I do not know yet, but I have found an important lead..."
Before he could finish, Samantha's old face suddenly darkened.
Those gloomy eyes looked as if they wanted to tear Ansu to pieces. "Still haven't found him?"
"Hermit, I have given you so much time! Given you so many opportunities! What use are you to me!"
As she spoke, she suddenly picked up a mysterious disk already prepared on the table. The moment she touched the mechanism, a surge of thick magic energy erupted instantly.
Ansu quickly looked around. A magic circle covered in runes rapidly formed beneath his feet, flickering with a ghostly blue light. The teleportation magic enveloped both him and Samantha.
He suddenly felt the world spinning. His last consciousness at this location was Samantha's sinister expression, and...
Outside the window, Celia's terrified and angry cry.
"Ansu!!"
In just a few seconds, Ansu and Samantha were teleported from the vicinity of Benalu City to the cold and distant Northern border of the Empire. The surroundings were identical to the border market inn from the simulation.
"I will give you only one last chance! The very last!" Samantha grinned as she looked at the caught-off-guard Ansu, immediately casting a magic curse that emitted a filthy aura.
"Within one week, if you cannot find this Chosen One for me, your body will..."
"Wait, Cult Leader! Wait!" Ansu hastily interrupted the maddened Samantha. "Why won't you let me finish? What I mean is, I have basically narrowed down the Chosen One!"
Samantha froze, and the filthy energy stopped spreading.
"As long as you listen to me, you won't even need a week!" Ansu finished his words quickly. "You might find the Chosen One in three to five days, but as for the specific execution, I can no longer go deeper because you must personally visit the Royal Capital!"
"The Royal Capital?" Samantha furrowed her brows. "What do you mean? Is the Chosen One not in Benalu City?"
"The Chosen One was originally in Benalu City..." Ansu continued as he saw her finally calm down a bit. "But this fellow has already followed Holy Maiden Freya and secretly arrived at the Holy Dome Cathedral in the Royal Capital to meet the old Pope. Cult Leader, that is the reason why the Holy Maiden hurried back to the Royal Capital!"
Samantha watched Ansu in surprise. "So that's how it is? I was wondering why that Holy Maiden... suddenly returned to the Royal Capital in such a hurry. So..."
"Exactly!" Taking advantage of the information gap, Ansu continued to spill explosive news. "And based on my observations during this period, Holy Maiden Freya did not come to Benalu City to look for the Chosen One at all!"
"What?" Samantha was even more surprised. "Then what did she come for?"
"She came to observe the Chosen One." Ansu sneered. "That old fellow the Pope actually found the Chosen One long ago. That is why the Holy Maiden, a holy revelator, was sent to Benalu City—on one hand to confirm, and on the other to observe and test him."
"Observe and test?"
"Correct!" Ansu continued, "The Holy Maiden carries a certain sinister intent from the Church's upper echelons. If the Chosen One's heart is pious... or rather, if he is willing to collude with the Church and use each other, then the Church is willing to announce it to the world, using the Chosen One's status to gather influence."
"But if this Chosen One does not cooperate... or even attempts to split the Church," Ansu scoffed, "then his end..."
"Wait, wait..." Samantha was stunned by the succession of explosive revelations Ansu was dropping, to the point that her mind was a bit muddled.
"Hermit, you mean to say..."
Samantha reorganized her thoughts. "All of us were played for fools by the Church of Holy Light... no, by that old thing the Pope, and that clumsy, naive Holy Maiden Freya who supposedly has no schemes?"
"Of course." Ansu nodded helplessly. "However, you truly underestimated her. As the Holy Maiden of the Church, the spiritual idol in the hearts of thousands of believers, the God-Awakened Freya, how could she truly be a simple and sweet girl?"
"But..." Samantha revealed a look of astonishment. "We have observed her for so many years; she has always been..."
"We were all deceived by her appearance!" Ansu said with certainty. "Think about it, with something as significant as the Chosen One, how could the Church entrust it to a naive little Holy Maiden? The Church of Holy Light is not stupid!"
Seeing that Samantha still had doubts, he continued, "Cult Leader, if a person appears to have no schemes, that is the greatest scheme of all! Do not forget, who is the Holy Maiden's guardian? It is Archbishop Paul!"
"Paul..." Samantha became thoughtful.
"Exactly... Paul!" As soon as Samantha thought of Archbishop Paul, she suddenly had an epiphany. "How could a disciple meticulously raised by that schemer be anything good?"
That fellow Paul could make everyone believe he was a good man, a saintly man... it was simply incredible. Even Samantha found it eerie... that 'merciful saint' who had climbed to the top of the Church while deceiving everyone was one of the few opponents in the Church who truly made her feel afraid...
Ansu watched Samantha as she pondered, gradually believing his nonsense, and he laughed secretly in his heart.
This kind of rhetoric was designed to hit Samantha's sore spots. Because a schemer and careerist like her would naturally think of things in complex and dark terms; she assumed the people in the Church were just like her.
Setting Paul aside for a moment—since Ansu didn't understand him either—Freya truly was a naive girl without a single scheming bone in her body...
He almost wanted to laugh.
With the little Holy Maiden's kind personality, she probably wouldn't turn dark like this in her entire life...
But in the end, Ansu did not forget to distance Freya from the situation.
Enduring the disgust in his heart, he leaned closer to Samantha and whispered, "Since the Chosen One has arrived at the Royal Capital, he must be under the heavy protection of the Church headquarters and the Sacred Cardinal Guard. Although this situation is dangerous for us, I believe it is actually our opportunity! Because in this way, the identity of the Chosen One will be very easy to investigate..."
Ansu was attempting to lure Samantha to the Royal Capital. If he succeeded, she would certainly have no time to worry about Celia's trip to the demon army's treasure.
Luring the tiger from its den!
Ansu was buying time—one week, even just one week would do. As long as he and Celia obtained the opportunities within the ancient ruins, the balance of power would shift rapidly! Even when the old witch finally realized...
It would already be too late!
Rate on N.U.
