Chapter: Death Scroll
The days that followed were a long and grueling escape for Sefina.
She tried many ways to expose the Pope’s true nature, but all ended in failure.
The wanted notice spread from the Sarkax Empire to the surrounding vassal states, and wanted posters bearing the name “Holmes” were plastered across nearly the entire Western Continent.
Left with no choice, Sefina had to remove her Magic Ring of Transformation, revert to her original small blue-haired form, and flee to the Eastern Continent, where the influence of the Church was weaker, to lay low for a while.
Lisika and the others who had worked with Sefina naturally ended up on the wanted list as well. Without Sefina’s means of transformation, they were conspicuous targets and in an even more dangerous position.
Unable to protect herself, Sefina couldn’t keep them by her side. She risked contacting the only person she could still trust—
Her student, Versie.
Sefina sent an urgent plea for help to Versie through covert means, briefly explaining part of the situation.
Unexpectedly, yet perhaps predictably, Versie didn’t ask many questions.
She promptly used the power of the Duke’s Family to secretly protect Lisika and the others, promising to find an opportunity to safely send them to the Eastern Continent.
This timely aid and unwavering trust filled Sefina’s heart with a complex mix of gratitude and guilt during her escape.
As for the situation of the Sheng Nü… Sefina, in the early days of her flight, had taken a great risk to investigate the woman’s family.
She learned that the Sheng Nü had two daughters. The younger daughter, Kelin, had been home with her mother that night and had not survived.
The older daughter, however, had been boarding at an Elementary Magic Academy at the time and had escaped the tragedy.
But when Sefina tried to trace her, the girl had already disappeared from the academy, her whereabouts unknown.
After arriving on the Eastern Continent, Sefina was not truly safe. The shadow of the wanted notice and the weight of her heart clung to her like a constant companion.
She wrote a long letter to her mentor, detailing her experiences on the Western Continent.
After some time, Sefina received a reply.
Attached to the letter was another Magic Ring of Transformation and a book that looked very ancient.
Using this new ring, Sefina established herself on the Eastern Continent under the identity of “Einstein” and devoted herself to studying the ancient text.
As time passed, Sefina gradually deciphered its contents:
At the core of the text was a description of a forbidden magical array used to summon beings from another world.
The array had two variations, extremely similar yet subtly different at key points.
One variation was intended to summon beings called “Angels,” described as “clad in wings of light, bearing blessings to come, purifying filth, and bestowing grace.”
The other was for summoning “Demons,” with warnings that they “feed on desire, are adept at stealing bodies, devour souls, and will ultimately cause realms to collapse.”
According to the author of the text, both kinds of beings came from an “Otherworld,” whose rules differed vastly from the present realm. Their power systems were unknown, and the methods and consequences of their arrival were vastly different.
But Sefina’s mentor emphasized that summoning either one was extremely dangerous, as they were uncontrollable beings.
On a separate piece of paper, Sefina’s mentor added a key inference in more direct language:
[The Church’s goal should be to summon an “Angel,” using a miracle to solidify the faith. But it seems the array deviated; the one that descended is not an Angel, but a Greater Demon.
The Pope you speak of has likely been possessed. These Otherworldly beings are far more cunning than logic allows, and their power grows in a bizarre way. You must be careful and avoid direct confrontation.]
After reading the letter, Sefina instantly understood everything.
All the mysteries now connected.
So Sefina lay low on the Eastern Continent, trained, investigated, and built her own small intelligence network, waiting for the right moment.
Now, Sefina knew it was time to make a clean break with the past.
At this moment, in this bitterly cold border town wooden cabin, Sefina slowly recounted the dusty past, along with the cruel truth, to the three before her.
She told them of her experiences as “Holmes”—
The Sheng Nü’s plea for help, the terrifying discovery in the church late at night, the confrontation with the Demon-possessed Pope, and the despicable frame-up followed by a continent-wide wanted notice.
Sefina also confessed her escape to the Eastern Continent and the shocking conclusion later learned from her mentor.
Of course, she said nothing about the identity and mission of [Black Utopia].
That was another dark whirlpool, unrelated to Kefi’s past. She didn’t want, and couldn’t bear, to drag them into a more dangerous situation.
Sefina’s voice was calm and clear, but in the cold air, every word seemed to carry weight.
Mia and Ellaria had long been stunned.
Mia’s blue eyes were wide, filled with disbelief and horror, which quickly turned into a surging ache and sadness for Kefi.
She instinctively covered her mouth.
She stared at Kefi’s rigid back, her hands clenched tightly in front of her, nails nearly digging into her palms.
Ellaria’s emerald-green eyes trembled violently, her face pale.
And Kefi…
She stood there, her back to everyone, facing the empty staircase.
Her shoulders began to tremble faintly at first, then grew more and more violent as Sefina spoke, like leaves about to shatter in the bitter wind.
Sefina’s words, like a cold and heavy chisel, struck again and again against the walls of her memory.
Those warm family dinners, her mother’s gentle reminders, her sister’s crisp laughter, the dancing flames of the fireplace…
The images that made up her entire “past” began to crack, revealing behind them a darkness and blood she couldn’t bear to face.
“…No… no… I don’t believe it…”
Kefi finally made a sound.
It was hoarse and dry, like the scrape of sandpaper.
She spun around suddenly. Her face was a mess of tears, her eyes violently agitated, pupils contracted, filled with struggle and resistance.
She looked at Sefina, but her gaze seemed to pass through her, seeing some terrifying phantom.
“No!”
“You’re joking, right?! This isn’t funny at all! Not funny at all!”
She screamed, but her voice shattered.
Large tears rolled down faster, tracing paths across Kefi’s pale cheeks, hitting the cold, dusty floor.
“Mom… mom was just an ordinary baker in town… Little sister Kelin loved the candy I brought home most… We… we were just an ordinary family living here…”
Kefi spoke incoherently, as if desperately clinging to the warm details in her mind to fight against the completely unfamiliar world in Sefina’s words.
“What Sheng Nü… what Demon… I don’t understand! How could this be… how could this be!!!”
Kefi’s final question was a cry of grief that dissolved into sobs.
Her frail body could no longer support her. Her legs gave way, and she could barely stand, her eyes filled with the confusion of a collapsed worldview and the hollow emptiness of extreme pain.
The warm memories of home versus the cold, dead haunted house before her.
The loving mother in her memories versus the wretched Sheng Nü in the story.
The lively little sister Kelin versus the long-vanished young ghost.
Which one was real?
If what Teacher Sefina said was true…
Then what was the “past” that had supported her efforts to live all these years?