"Celia!?"
Elder Hall's eyes widened, clearly not expecting her to suddenly appear here.
The cultists wearing silver masks flooded into the room as they heard the commotion.
Mary's expression was one of pure shock when she saw that the uninvited guest was Celia.
"Didn't you say she wouldn't come?" Elder Hall shot an annoyed glance at Mary.
"What's the matter?" A mocking smile played on Celia's lips. "Did you think I would stay in my secret manor in the Riverside District, researching magic for the cult day and night?"
"You certainly know my routine well, Mary."
Mary's face had already turned ashen, knowing she was finished.
Yet, she couldn't understand why Celia had appeared here at this exact time.
Could it be...
Was it for that boy??
Mary looked at Ansu in disbelief.
The faint smile remained on Celia's lips, but it lacked any warmth, filled only with murderous intent.
"Attack! Everyone, attack!" Elder Hall roared. "Don't be afraid! Elder Colin is on his way! If the two of us give it our all, we might just be able to take her down!"
The dim torchlight flickered incessantly. Ansu looked at the group of masked cultists. Even if he couldn't see their faces, their trembling hands betrayed their thoughts.
Celia's presence was overwhelmingly oppressive.
However, they could only steel themselves and charge, for disobeying Elder Hall meant certain death anyway.
A terrifyingly sharp surge of magic erupted.
In the next second, the heads of the dozen or so cultists fell to the ground in a neat row, blood geysering like crimson fountains.
Celia cast her magic with such blinding speed that it was impossible to discern what spell she had even used.
Simultaneously, Elder Hall's body dissolved into a swarm of magic worms, scattering and fleeing through the cracks in the walls.
Ansu couldn't help but curl his lip. This guy shouted for everyone else to attack, only to be the first one to run. Elder Hall never had any intention of fighting Celia to the death.
"Hmph, trying to run?"
Celia narrowed her eyes. Wherever her Black Flame reached, Elder Hall's agonizing screams followed.
But there were too many worms. It seemed that unless every single one was destroyed, Elder Hall would manage to cling to life.
Seeing Celia and Hall playing a game of cat and mouse in the basement, Ansu rushed toward the fallen Mary.
Celia hadn't taken Mary's head, seemingly as a form of punishment. Her body was already engulfed in raging Black Flame.
Ansu's scalp crawled as he watched Mary's miserable state.
The flames seemed to possess a corrosive power. Large patches of Mary's skin were sloughing off, revealing stark white bone. She screamed heart-wrenchingly, trying to extinguish the fire, but it was useless.
This was easily the most agonizing way to die.
"Ms. Mary! If you answer one question, I'll have her spare you!"
Mary's horrific, charred face snapped up. Her vocal cords were damaged, making it difficult to form a complete sentence.
"Wha... what?"
"The ether! Where did you put that bottle of ether you used to knock me out in the office?" Ansu pressed immediately. "Quickly! Answer me and you can be free!"
At this point, Mary was beyond rational thought. Her survival instinct made her cling to his last sentence.
"In the... second drawer... of the desk..."
"Save... save me!"
"Alright!" Ansu picked up a blade from beside a cultist's corpse and drove it through Ms. Mary's heart.
The soul-piercing screams finally fell silent.
Ansu had indeed given her freedom.
The reason he demanded an answer to such a strange question was that once he returned to reality, he would have to face the Mary in the office.
He didn't believe he could defeat Mary with only a single 0-ring spell.
Ansu looked around again. Under the flickering light, the basement had turned into a literal slaughterhouse.
Blood and corpses were everywhere, along with the broken, mangled form of Elder Hall, who had been forced back into human shape.
Even in his final moments, Elder Hall continued to howl with despair and malice.
"I said it... I told you! A lunatic! Samantha picked up an uncontrollable lunatic!!"
"Vile demihuman! Beast! Demon!!"
"You think you can stay arrogant until the end? You will die in the most painful way! I curse—!"
"Too much talk!" Celia impatiently unleashed an Explosion Magic. Elder Hall's body instantly burst into a cloud of blood mist, his remains scattering everywhere.
It wasn't until the battle ended that a single speck of filth finally touched Celia's clothes.
She frowned slightly, a look of disgust crossing her exquisite, beautiful face.
"How revolting. I hate bugs the most..."
Then, Celia's gaze slowly drifted toward Ansu, who was standing nearby.
"Lady Witch..."
Ansu didn't know whether to be relieved or worried.
My Magic Immunity has already been used...
He didn't know when Celia had arrived, but her timing was too perfect. She might have been observing him in the shadows for a long time.
What awaited him might not be a pleasant end...
"Ansu~"
She walked over gracefully, a faint, ambiguous smile on her face. "It seems you've been keeping quite a few things from me, haven't you?"
"Um..." Ansu blinked. "What do you mean?"
As Celia approached step by step, the aura of forbidden black magic spread.
"What do you think?" she asked with a smile. "Is it your mysterious magical ability, or... your inexplicable conflict with Mary?"
Ansu completely gave up. He had too many secrets to even begin making up a lie...
On the fair skin of Celia's arms, a layer of demonic patterns faintly emerged. Those unsettling pupils, marking her demon lineage, stared unblinkingly into Ansu's eyes.
She raised her hand, her sharp fingertip resting lightly against Ansu's throat, as if a gentle thrust could pierce his neck.
"I originally thought you were someone worth cultivating."
Celia narrowed her eyes slightly. "But it seems you have another side that I can't see through. Ansu, just how much have you lied to me..."
Ansu opened his mouth but ultimately chose to remain silent.
"No answer?"
Celia let out a cold laugh, and the foul aura of magic quickly swallowed Ansu.
【Hypnosis】
"Tell me everything you've been hiding..."
...
A long time passed.
Celia stared at the dull-eyed Ansu, the smile slowly fading from her face.
Only disappointment remained.
"Heh..."
"So, it was all a lie from the very beginning."
She lowered her eyelids and let out a faint, almost inaudible sigh.
"I thought you were different. To think I actually held such expectations for you... how ridiculous."
"If not for today, I wonder when I would have ever found out..."
Indeed...
Without hope, there would be no disappointment.
She waved her hand, and the light of a magic circle suddenly flared.
"Only like this... will you be truly loyal."
As 【Soul Dominion】 took effect, the Ansu before her lost all sense of self and thought.
Gazing at Ansu, whose eyes had lost their former spark, Celia nodded in satisfaction, a faint smile reappearing on her face.
Finally, he would no longer spout lies, and he would never disappoint her again.
And yet.
A strange sense of loss lingered in her heart, refusing to dissipate.
Rate on N.U.
