Ansu observed Samantha, who had been caught in the blast of the magic traps.
She was nearly covered in blood, with a wound on her left shoulder so deep that bone was visible. At the moment, she was leaning miserably against a large rock, using healing magic to slowly tend to her injuries.
The old hag was surprisingly resilient; even this hadn't killed her.
When she saw Celia finally appear before her, the expression on Samantha's face became even more contorted.
"Traitor! You damned traitor! To think I spent ten years meticulously grooming you, and you actually dare to betray me? To betray the teacher who treated you best?"
Her bloodshot, crimson eyes shifted toward Ansu with pure malice.
"And you even hooked up with the cult's greatest enemy! Do you even know who he is? Celia, do you have any idea what you're doing?"
Ansu felt Celia beside him take a deep breath, seemingly trying to suppress some intense emotion.
After a moment, she spoke in a cold, detached voice.
"Teacher?"
She gave a self-mocking laugh. "Would a teacher view their own student as prey? As a vessel to replace their body and extend their life?"
Celia watched the surprise gradually dawn on the other woman's face, the mockery in her eyes deepening.
"Samantha, I'm grateful for the magic training you gave me over the years, but betrayal? Forget it! You don't even deserve to use that word!"
"From the moment you found me, you already harbored that insidious and cruel intent," she said coldly. "You and I were always in a life-or-death struggle. Since there was never any trust, how can there be betrayal?"
Samantha's eyes flashed with a moment of shock. "How... how did you know?"
She instinctively looked at Ansu, her gaze so fierce it seemed she wanted to tear him apart. "It was you... it had to be you! You again!!"
"Don't mention it," Ansu chuckled. "It was definitely me!"
Samantha's gaze swept over Celia with a complex mix of emotions.
Realizing that all her disguises had lost their meaning, she suddenly let out a low, guttural laugh.
"Fine, very well... Since you already know, then you can die with your eyes open!"
As soon as she finished speaking, a massive, thick wave of mana swept through the area.
A foul mana radiating a black aura blotted out the sky like a storm, instantly enveloping the two of them.
Celia looked around warily, narrowing her eyes as she tried to lock onto Samantha's position.
But Samantha seemed to have anticipated this.
The foul mana permeating the storm didn't just carry a destructive, corrosive power; it also had a deliberately created chaotic nature that severely interfered with her reconnaissance magic.
In her current perception, Samantha's figure was like an omnipresent ghost, and the entire roaring shadow storm seemed to be an embodiment of her will.
"Ansu... be careful of this move." Celia's tone carried an unprecedented gravity. She would never underestimate her teacher.
"Samantha is a high-tier mage of the Evocation, necromancy, and Conjuration schools. What she's best at is fusing the powers of different schools together... just like this."
"It's just for show." Ansu could feel the anxiety in Celia's heart, so he squeezed her hand, trying to give her strength.
"Over these ten years, you've already surpassed Samantha without even realizing it. The only reason you feel nervous is because of her title as 'teacher.'"
After all, Samantha was the one who had truly opened the doors of magic for Celia. Even if Celia had long since far surpassed her, that awe hidden deep in her subconscious was difficult to change.
"Mhm." Celia nodded slightly and immediately applied a thick magic shield around the both of them.
A dark, sinister cackle suddenly drifted down from high above. Ansu looked up and saw a massive, ugly face peering down at them.
"Hehehe, you can't escape!"
The surging shadow storm constantly battered the magic shield Celia had placed around them, and it kept shrinking, seemingly intent on trapping the two in the center of the forest.
Ansu couldn't help but let out a silent laugh. They hadn't intended to run in the first place. Right now, both he and Samantha were waiting for the optimal moment to cast the sacrificial magic.
Celia nervously gripped Ansu's hand back, staying alert for any sudden attack that might come from any direction.
Just then—
A figure suddenly coalesced behind them. The two immediately turned around to see Samantha standing there with a sinister smile, her eyes locked onto Celia's.
"By the soul, I forge this pact! Lord of the Scales! Contract Watcher, Zak-Eos..."
An ancient name slowly fell from Samantha's lips, each syllable seemingly carrying the power to distort reality.
Ansu immediately felt Celia beside him shudder. Then, an invisible force began to pull the two of them apart.
Celia's current perception was... her entire vision being swallowed by blackness. She couldn't seem to perceive anything in reality anymore; even the warmth of Ansu's hand was rapidly withdrawing and vanishing...
"Ansu!!" she cried out urgently.
Samantha's smile grew increasingly distorted and triumphant as she continued to chant the long and obscure black magic incantation.
Everything was going according to plan!
She gazed greedily at the beautiful, youthful body before her. Now! As long as she completed the sacrifice, all of it would be hers!
However, the wicked smile of success hadn't stayed on Samantha's face for long before she suddenly froze. Something strange was happening.
Ansu was also chanting an incantation.
In fact... it sounded somewhat similar to hers?
Wait...
Ansu looked at the old hag's momentarily stunned expression, a mocking smile appearing on his face.
You're not the only one who knows this move.
What Ansu was chanting now was the even more concise, ancient, and precise Ancient Enus. Although Samantha had taken the initiative, Ansu finished almost simultaneously with her.
"Witness this feast! I offer here a soul, vibrant and exquisite—Celia!"
"Zak-Eos, I offer a soul to you—Samantha!"
The moment the incantations ended, the vision of all three was simultaneously occupied by an infinite blackness.
The sky-blotting storm Samantha had brought forth vanished without a trace. In the middle of the barren forest, the figures of all three disappeared from the physical world at the same time.
"This... where is this?" Celia looked around in surprise.
It was an eerie, pitch-black space, like the deep reaches of outer space. Beneath her feet was a floating, massive, and exquisite scale. Seemingly influenced by some kind of rule, the scale's tray, which was covered in beautiful carvings, was her entire movable area.
Ansu and Samantha were both quite far away from her, and each had an identical scale tray beneath their feet.
Realizing that Ansu was also here, Celia's anxiety settled significantly.
As long as he was here...
On the other side, Ansu quickly scanned the environment and waved to Celia.
"Ansu! What did you just do?" Samantha let out an unbelievable, furious roar. She tried desperately to break out of the restricted area, but found she couldn't escape no matter what.
Ansu didn't bother wasting words on her. Instead, he looked at Celia in the distance, analyzing the situation thoughtfully.
"Just as we're seeing... once the ritual starts, it forms an absolute territory, forcibly linking the caster and the target and placing them on opposite ends of the scale."
Reasonably speaking, once a soul was devoured by the demon, one side of the scale would become lighter and then descend... after which the process of stealing the body could be achieved.
However, the current situation was a bit complicated...
The eerie black space echoed with various sounds. The scale linking the three of them flickered in and out of existence, trembling unstably. The bodies of the three swayed along with it, and eventually, it became like they were standing on a three-way seesaw...
Since when did a scale have three trays? Was there going to be a bug?
"Ansu..." Celia asked curiously, "what do we do next?"
Ansu frowned, staring into the deep, endless darkness.
"Let's wait and see for now..."
Just as he was wondering how this ritual would develop, he felt an indescribable existence watching them from the depths of the infinite darkness.
"It's coming..."
Rate on N.U.
