Sera’s question received no response… but she knew that person was always listening.
That person never repeated their orders. Looking at her own face distorted by the glass bottle filled with fresh blood, Sera slowed her pace.
A direct subordinate of Lai Wei An Se, a spy for Nephtalia, and an executive of “Moon”—Sera, constantly switching between these three identities, sometimes even lost track of who she was working for at the moment… just like now.
Therefore, she needed a moment to reflect. To recall her true intentions, the initial purpose that had set her on this path full of deceit and betrayal.
“…Lord Jiuye Yue. What I am about to do is to stain the pure and flawless soul of my ancestors. It is a shameful act of betraying the royal family and breaking the Oath of the Forest Patrol. After doing something like this, I fear my soul will never be accepted by the Deep Forest.”
Sera murmured as she gazed at the bright moon above the forest… as if the moon veiled by thin clouds could hear her words.
“So please tell me. Will everything I have given and will give bring me the reward I hope for?”
She stopped in place. In the deep forest, only the low hum of insects and the rustling sound of leaves trembling as the wind stirred them intertwined, harmoniously blending into the silence.
“Of course. This body is merely my temporary residence. If my plan proceeds smoothly, you will naturally be reunited with the original owner of this body… I recall this girl is named Liesel, right?”
That voice finally appeared. Sera missed this voice, longed for it to ring out… even though the soul that dominated this voice was not the one she thought of or loved.
“I will keep my promise. But as for your words… there are a few points I must correct.”
“First. That soul is not as pure as you imagine… No one in this world knows this better than I do.”
This was the first time Sera had heard an emotion resembling anger and hatred in Lord Jiuye Yue’s voice.
“Second. What you are doing will have no effect on your soul at all. If you think the acceptance of the Deep Forest means turning into a tree after death, then you only need to possess powerful enough magic power—magic power strong enough to carve your will into this world.”
“In this world, only life and magic power matter. The souls you use to swear oaths… are worthless.”
“…Thank you for your teachings.”
Sera bowed her head to express her gratitude… but it was not because of the “teachings” she had spoken.
If I can bring back Liesel’s life… if I can make her smile at me again, then how could my soul be worthless?
Having cleared her confusion, Sera clenched the glass bottle in her hand, determined to carry this blasphemous and treacherous act through to the end.
—
Lian and Waletidina were still staring at the lake.
Time always felt especially long during moments of waiting… but unlike Waletidina, who was focused on the mist over the lake, Lian kept part of her attention on the communication pearl on her bracelet.
That child Milin said she would contact Meiliya later… If the two of them had connected, she should have called long ago, right? At this hour… it must be well past midnight, shouldn’t it?
The starry sky tonight was clear and bright, so Lian, an expert in outdoor survival, could roughly estimate the current time by the positions of the moon and stars.
Meiliya was probably already asleep… and Sephy too. The last few times I contacted her, she was always complaining.
Although Nolan was far from the Sea of Trees, the Forest Domain where Fenglin City was located and the eastern edge of Nolan were roughly on the same longitude… So there was almost no time difference between the two places.
I hope everything is going well and you’re safe.
Just as Lian was silently praying for her faraway wife, she suddenly heard a gasp from Waletidina beside her.
“Wh-what is that?”
Lian’s attention snapped back to the lake surface. And she quickly understood what kind of situation could shock this Captain of the Imperial Guard so much.
“The color of the mist has changed…?”
An ominous color was slowly seeping into the mist that spread over the lake… it was as unsettling as thick, viscous blood.
A fierce, malignant magic power surged toward them… Waletidina’s face turned pale.
“…This is a curse. And a rather vicious one at that.”
Although Lian’s magic power was sealed, her keen perception of external magic power remained.
In the past, she had fought countless demons who used curses… including the strongest curse user in the Demon Realm, the Necro Lord.
Strictly speaking, curses were also a kind of spell, but when casting them, the caster did not offer prayers with the true color of their soul, their “Soul Color.”
To inject pure malice into colorless magic power, they would use strong negative emotions—their own or others’—as a substitute for Soul Color… and rather than praying honestly, they preferred to occupy and plunder colorless magic power as a resource for spellcasting.
But that was still only an ordinary curse.
The powerful curses used by the Necro Lord could even pollute other people’s magic power and Soul Color…
Even now, Lian remembered how troubled everyone in the brigade had been when trying to remove the curse he had left on Waletidina.
And the curse before them was clearly not an ordinary one.
Because it was penetrating and corrupting the barrier laid down by the powerful magic power of the first queen, who had transformed into a giant tree.
Lian wasn’t skilled enough to discern the specific effects of a curse just by looking at it, but even the color alone was enough to chill the heart.
As the two were stunned by this, a heart-wrenching scream came from within the mist.
“Your Majesty…!”
Waletidina made an immediate decision.
She picked up her sword from the ground, jumped onto a small boat, and cut the mooring rope with a single stroke.
Before Lian could stop her, she grabbed an oar and rowed her boat into the blood mist.
“Honestly…!”
Lian made her decision at once. She jumped onto one of the two remaining small boats, tore the rope, and followed Waletidina’s boat into the mist.
“Sister Lian!”
“Lian…! Come back!”
Just before she entered the mist, she suddenly heard two familiar calls from the shore.
She turned to look and saw a carriage stopped in front of the camp.
Several figures got off the carriage and were running toward the dock, waving their hands in her direction.
Is that Milin… and Iyue?
Before she could make out their faces, her path back was completely sealed by the thick, bloody mist.
—
“Xiao Milin…!”
Iyue exclaimed Milin’s name.
Seeing Lian’s small boat enter the blood mist, Milin leaped straight into the lake.
Ignoring the calls from the shore, she swam alone into the mist with a nimble posture and a speed no slower than the boat.
“…What now, sister? Rushing in blindly would be suicide.”
Nephtalia stood side by side with Iyue, her expression grave.
Iyue’s hesitation lasted less than a second.
She jumped onto the last remaining small boat and was about to row.
“You’re going to leave me without a word? Not this time.”
“Nefi… This is dangerous! You hurry back!”
Seeing her sister jump onto the boat, Iyue stopped rowing.
“Back where?” Nephtalia chuckled lightly, then snatched one of the oars from her sister’s hand. “I have nowhere else to go. Are you going to waste time on something you don’t care about at all?”
“…!”
Iyue’s expression changed abruptly… She wanted to refute immediately, to clear up the deep misunderstanding in her words.
But she really had no time to waste. So she could only grit her teeth and say to her sister.
“Don’t leave my side.”
“For years… I’ve been hoping you’d say that to me again.”
“Wait…! You two, come back…!”
The two rowed the small boat into the mist together, leaving only Prince Alvin on the shore.
He took off his clothes, ready to dive into the lake, but as he started his run, someone struck him hard on the back of the head, knocking him unconscious.
Sera, who had arrived unnoticed, caught the prince’s limp body… The carriage driver ran over at that moment.
“Who are you…? Let His Highness go!”