“However, we should still hurry. We must finish before they return! Quickly check if the totem has any problems and then leave!”
The person who spoke first seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. “You’re right.”
The two of them then fumbled around at the base of the rock for a while, their movements extremely cautious…
But they still failed to notice the far more advanced magic node Movira had left behind.
A moment later, one of them stood up, patted the other on the shoulder, and said, “No problems. Let’s go to the next point.”
The two black shadows quickly vanished into the night.
Movira’s consciousness watched them leave with cold indifference. Of course, she knew exactly who the “they” the two men were referring to.
At the same time, she considered whether she should notify Dekalorin.
For the same reason, this was not the Demon Realm, a place where Movira could freely wield her power.
At the very least, she could not casually use the demonic magic she specialized in. As for human magic… she was unsure whether it would drag her into certain matters.
Moreover, with absolute confidence in her own strength, she decided for now not to notify Dekalorin.
The next morning, after a very simple and somewhat crude breakfast, Movira went alone into the study. She took out a sheet of parchment and, relying on her clear memory from the previous day, began to replicate the totem from beneath the rock using a quill pen.
The dark-red lines snaked across the paper, precisely recreating every unsettling curve.
When the final stroke was lifted, the entire totem seemed to come alive, appearing even more real than the original, and the bloody aura grew even stronger.
This was no crude imitation from Movira—it was a deeper reconstruction!
Just then, the study door was pushed open. Seraphina poked her head in, her face showing a hint of curiosity.
“Why did Sister head straight to the study right after eating? What are you busy with?”
Although this was something she should keep from Seraphina, getting discovered wasn’t a big deal. She could just brush it off with a few words.
So Movira didn’t show much emotion and explained in a calm tone, “It’s nothing. I saw this interesting totem in an old book. Since I had nothing to do, I copied it down to study it.”
“A totem?” Seraphina was actually quite bored. There was no one else in the manor and nothing fun to do, so her attention was immediately drawn.
She walked over to the desk and leaned in to look at the parchment spread out on the table.
The moment her gaze fell on the complex and sinister pattern, she felt a deep, instinctive repulsion from the depths of her genes. “This totem… feels really strange and repulsive! It’s definitely not a common type, nor any proper totem.”
Movira turned and pulled a few books on totems from the bookshelf behind her.
“The human totem system is vast. Different factions have their own totems, not to mention that certain great families develop symbols unique to themselves.”
As she spoke, she flipped through the books, but in reality none matched this totem—not even anything remotely similar.
Afterward she gave up and began trying to interpret it using knowledge of Demon Realm totems. Though it was a cross-domain approach, the two magic systems of humans and the Demon Realm were essentially similar at their core, so they could serve as a reference in certain cases.
Time passed in silence, accompanied only by the sound of turning pages and the scratching of the quill.
At first Seraphina merely stood to the side watching curiously. After all, she didn’t have the ability to decipher such a totem.
But later she began helping Movira look up contents in various classics for comparison.
As the research progressed, a vague conjecture gradually took shape in Movira’s mind. “I… think I have a bit of a conjecture.”
“Hm? What?” Seraphina looked up from an ancient tome.
Movira raised her eyes and spoke in as neutral a tone as possible. “It carries traces of Demon Realm magic. It seems to contain some meaning of ‘exchange and extraction.’ Simply put… it’s a bit like those things that require sacrificing something to gain something.”
“Sacrifice?” Seraphina repeated the word, chewing on it. Generally, anywhere the word “sacrifice” appeared, it definitely involved paying with life.
Combined with this blood-red totem, there was no need to think further. It was like… those demons exchanging living beings, or even… for power or life?
Even “living beings” already terrified Seraphina. As for what came after “or even…” she didn’t dare voice it.
This made her hug her arms tightly, as if the surrounding temperature had dropped several degrees.
Although Movira had phrased it very euphemistically, Seraphina could still guess a thing or two from “sacrifice,” which was enough to make her feel psychologically uncomfortable.
“This is way too terrifying! Let’s stop researching this. Who knows if it might trigger something bad… What do we do?”
Seeing the genuine fear in Seraphina’s eyes, Movira felt it was time to end the matter.
She immediately picked up the quill and added a few more strokes to the totem. Instantly, all the vitality on it seemed completely masked. She rolled it up and placed it on the highest shelf, then gently patted Seraphina’s shoulder. “We’re not researching it anymore. You’re right—this really isn’t something pleasant. It was just a way to pass the time when bored. Since you’re scared, we won’t look at it. You go out first. I’ll tidy up these books.”
“Okay…”
And right after Seraphina left, Movira took out a fresh sheet of paper and wrote on it:
Mobilization Order:
Not long after, inside the Demon King’s Castle.
“Sister Lina!” Ailinuo rushed into the study in a panic, her voice carrying the heavy breathing from running all the way. “This is an order… from Her Majesty!”
She hurriedly placed the letter on Lina’s desk. Lina took it, opened it, and after just a quick glance, her brows furrowed.
“Mobilization…”
She did not reply immediately but quickly instructed the nearby maid to summon Erasia and Dekrian.
During the days when the Demon King and the Princess Regent were acting as hands-off managers and were absent from the Demon Realm, all major affairs were basically decided by the four of them together. However, the final decision-making authority rested with Erasia, who was Movira’s trusted confidante.
Soon, their figures arrived one after another, and the four of them proceeded to the side hall.
This sheet of paper was just ordinary parchment, but the flowing magic imprint on it undoubtedly pointed to one person—Movira!
The paper was passed among the few present afterward. Its content was brief, yet it made one’s heart tighten!
“Mobilization…” Dekrian also repeated the word that carried the weight of a thousand pounds.