“Damn it! I can’t sense Lady Elliris’s God Race bond connection anymore! And the barrier of the Arden Forest has been destroyed!”
Angelica jolted awake. Panicked, she used telepathy to wake Sophia, who was still fast asleep.
“Ugh… Sister Ann?”
“Huh?! What! How could the barrier of the Arden Forest be destroyed?”
Sophia, having just reacted from her sleep, exclaimed at the fact Angelica had just told her.
“Sister Ann, I can’t continue my training here. I’ll go tell Master Fiona right away. I have to go back and save Elliris. The Pope’s scheme must have succeeded!”
Sophia, having instantly analyzed the situation, was extremely impatient and could only think of returning to the First Continent.
“Lady Sophia, please leave it to me. I hope you can trust me. Going back by ship would be far too slow. Sister Ann will set off flying immediately. During this time, I’ve absorbed quite a bit of faith power in the Elven Forest, enough to restore my full combat strength about twice!”
Sophia was so anxious she could almost grind her molars to dust, but no matter how worried she was, she had to consider the time it would take to travel. Fretting was useless—Elliris had told her time and again to analyze things calmly.
After careful consideration, she chose to unconditionally trust Sister Ann.
“I’m counting on you, Sister Ann!”
“Rest assured, Lady Sophia! Protecting you sisters has always been my duty. I will not shirk this responsibility!”
With that, Sister Ann went directly outside the Elven Forest, assumed her full-strength giant dragon form, spread her enormous wings, and quickly sped toward the First Continent.
The worried Sophia clutched the clear sky blue glass bead bracelet that matched Elliris’s, watching Angelica’s flying dragon form disappear into the distance, and shed two lines of hot tears as she said:
“Ellie, please don’t let anything happen to you…”
—
Calonpolis, Pope City, basement level three, the deepest “VIP” prison.
From the first to the third basement level, each floor was heavily guarded. Even a skilled martial artist would find it difficult to break out head-on, let alone two young women whose magic had been sealed.
In other words, the possibility of actively escaping was slim.
Elliris and Nino were huddled together, still in their pajamas, because the capture had been so sudden they had no time to change.
Deep underground, it was extremely damp and dark. Only one dim magic lamp in the corner of the ceiling provided light, making the cell very gloomy.
However, the prison’s facilities were quite complete—surprisingly neat, with daily necessities provided, though the meals were not very satisfactory.
It was unclear whether this was the Pope’s thoughtfulness or his twisted taste…
Elliris and Nino looked at each other, wordless, sighing.
After waking up, they found that their sealing rings had been reinforced—though some were given extra special attention…
‘Why does Nino only have two seals—on her neck and right hand? I got hit hard: seals on all four limbs and my neck, totaling five seals?!’
She, Elliris, today’s alias: the Sealed Exodia.
‘Duelist, have you not yet gathered the cards of my sealed limbs?! Hey, scrub duelist! Ugh…!! Hurry up! Come on, come on~’
‘Damn… I can’t break them at all. These sealing rings are completely impossible for weaklings like me and Nino to unlock. And the one on my neck is really tight…’
Elliris recalled the defeat CG she imagined when she first came to this world six years ago. She really had a cursed mouth. What awaited her and Nino next… Most likely, it would be that kind of galgame scenario, right?
‘Pope-sama~ More, more~ “Nn… ah… mm… ugh… nn… haah… chuu… ah?” …’
‘Damn it!’
“Nino, we must not accept fate, and we cannot just sit and wait for death!”
Elliris was a girl with integrity and will. She absolutely would not become the Pope’s defeat trophy.
Yes, absolutely not!
Since normal magic activation didn’t work, Elliris immediately decided to activate the Divine Mark on her forehead to see if the forced spellcasting it provided could break the restraints.
She went all in, activating the Divine Mark to an extreme degree, until her entire face was almost covered with its mysterious runes.
This was her first time doing this, and of course she intended to break through the limits.
Her heart rate increased several times, but instead of breaking the shackles, a surge of necrotic energy, powerful as a bursting flood, poured backward into her body!
“Nnn… Aaaah!!”
Elliris let out a pained moan, and her soft body began to tremble violently.
Her skin became burning hot, and strange dark purple thorn-like magic patterns appeared on her originally fair complexion.
Her thin silk pajamas were instantly soaked through with sweat, clinging tightly to her body, outlining every curve of her upper half in a lewd manner.
This curse-like device effectively blocked the magic conduction of the God Race, as if the entire area had its signal jammed. Elliris and Nino could no longer freely manipulate the mana around them.
Treated as the Sealed Exodia, Elliris had the five sealing rings on her limbs and neck resonate, and was struck by a massive energy backlash. She almost lost consciousness, only able to let out pitiful, faint gasps.
“Sister Elliris!”
Nino immediately ran over, stepped in front of Elliris, and pressed her cool palm to Elliris’s burning forehead.
“Sister Elliris, don’t! Don’t do this! This necrotic energy backlash will drain your life force.” Seeing Elliris in pain, Nino paced anxiously.
“Calm your mind! Sister Elliris! Stop activating the Divine Mark, I beg you!…”
“Nino…” Elliris, who had calmed down, fainted from the pain of the backlash before she could finish speaking…
Nino tightly grasped Elliris’s cold little hand, which had curled up in pain, pressed it against her own cheek, and with the gentlest voice and tears at the corners of her eyes, whispered in Elliris’s ear:
“Sister Elliris, hang on… Nino won’t go anywhere. I’ll always be with you…”
—
Dinnertime arrived. A guard came to the iron bars of their cell, bringing out two servings of quality salad, a portion of fresh fruit, and two pieces of bread.
“Tsk! His Holiness the Pope has ordered that you two must not go hungry, and you are to be well taken care of. Hah, I don’t know what his intention is, but don’t get your hopes up!”
A voice called out disdainfully, looking at them with contempt, as if they were trash, then shoved the food tray through the gap in the iron bars.
“Give us back our things, you bastard! You’re nothing but thieves—you even stole our clothes!” Elliris, having recovered some strength, quickly asked while the guard was still there.
“Oh, you two witches? Your valuables have been confiscated. Since you’re not getting out anyway, you won’t need weapons or items. Heh, as for clothes, what you’re wearing is enough. His Holiness only said not to harm you. Prisoners don’t get to make so many unreasonable demands!” The guard looked down at them with arrogant, sideways eyes, his tone full of contempt.
“Oh~ I just found this worthless thing. The other valuable stuff was taken by the guard captain.”
The guard sniffed arrogantly and pulled out the clear sky blue glass bead bracelet that Elliris always wore, the one that matched Sophia’s—a token the sisters recognized, its color the same as their pupils.
This was not an item that could be measured in money.
Elliris’s ears tensed, and her cheeks stiffened and burned with anger. This item was as important to her as her spatial ring.
“Bastard! Give it back! Give it back!” Elliris shouted, flustered and agitated.
“This string of broken glass beads doesn’t look very valuable. Seems like it’s very important to you?” The guard looked at them with a glinting, contemptuous gaze, then said mockingly.
“Bastard! Give it back! Give it back now!” Elliris pleaded again. Her eyes became frantic and unsteady. She could tell from the guard’s expression that he was very likely to do something extremely vile next.
“Heh, give it back? In your dreams!”
Then, the clear sky blue glass bead bracelet that matched Sophia’s was mercilessly crushed under the guard’s foot.
…
Looking at the broken glass bracelet on the ground not far away, Elliris pursed her lips bitterly. Her eyes went hollow and dim. Then she lowered her head, her hair completely covering her face, making her expression unreadable.
The cell was silent, save for the sound of the malicious guard’s retreating footsteps.
She curled up on the bed. Nino quickly came over to comfort Elliris.
Nino gnashed her teeth, her eyes full of murderous intent toward that guard.
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