Her nose stung.
Pushing her thoughts aside, Evelyn stepped closer and looked at the woman lying behind the girl.
She looked to be about Evelyn's age.
She was so emaciated that every bone in her body stood out, and scars identical to Evelyn's marked her wrists.
The Blood Purification Ritual.
The blood around her wrists had dried into a dark brown, as though the wounds had been left untreated for a long time.
What can I do right now?
Evelyn clenched the hand hidden inside her sleeve.
Then she looked at the other women imprisoned behind the bars.
Every one of them was covered in bruises, their faces filled with the hopelessness born of years of abuse.
She wasn't a real priest.
She had no authority to change the order of the ritual.
But perhaps there was something else she could do.
Something... I can do.
At the very least...
She could ease their suffering.
In her previous life, her healing power had worked on no one except Kallian.
Evelyn had always believed that was because of Louise's curse.
Now that the curse has been partially purified... maybe my healing power will work on others too.
She couldn't be certain.
But it was worth trying.
Taking a slow breath, Evelyn unlocked the cell door and approached the woman lying motionless on the floor.
She gently took her hand.
Then she slowly focused her mind.
A warm energy gathered at her fingertips.
The moment the soft light flowing from her small hand enveloped the deathly pale woman—
"Ugh..."
An indescribable force surged deep within her body.
Then—
Flash!
A brilliant white light burst from her palm in a wave of energy.
"Gasp!"
Some time later, when everyone's eyes had adjusted to the darkness again—
"Oh... merciful heavens. Messenger of God... thank you."
The woman who had been lying unconscious stared at her own body in disbelief, checking herself over again and again.
The other women were no different.
They gazed at the miraculous scene with awe before lowering their heads until their foreheads touched the ground in gratitude toward Evelyn.
"..."
The one most surprised by the overwhelming power was Evelyn herself.
She couldn't understand where such an immense healing force had come from.
It had erupted before she could even try to control it.
This isn't the time for that!
More than anything, she feared the priests might sense the surge of magic and come searching for its source.
"Don't worry. The isolation barrier will prevent anyone from detecting your presence, Priest. More importantly..."
The girl spoke as though she had read Evelyn's thoughts.
Then she tugged lightly at Evelyn's sleeve.
Still stunned, Evelyn turned toward her.
The girl smiled gently.
"There's something I absolutely have to give you."
Evelyn led the girl outside the cell.
After seating her on a chair behind the central pillar, she crouched down until they were at eye level.
They could have talked inside the prison.
But if someone overheard them, word might spread.
Though after revealing my powers... I'm not sure moving here makes much difference.
"You said there's something you want to give me?"
"Yes."
The girl nodded.
"A gift."
After saying that, she removed something hanging from her necklace and slipped it onto Evelyn's finger.
"...A ring?"
Sanans Lumen.
A thin silver ring engraved with the words:
"Healing Light."
It looked like the most ordinary ring imaginable.
Yet Evelyn's instincts screamed at her.
This is Mother's ring.
Holding both hands of the girl, whose worn cream-colored robe bore the number 100, Evelyn asked,
"Where did you get this ring?"
For the first time, panic flickered across the girl's calm face.
She seemed to think Evelyn suspected her.
Softening her voice, Evelyn quickly explained,
"I'm not trying to scold you. If someone gave it to you... there's someone desperately searching for that person."
The girl quietly studied the strange hope shining in Evelyn's eyes.
After a brief silence, she carefully answered,
"I didn't steal it."
"I just... thought the ring's true owner had finally appeared."
"The true owner?"
"When my sister and I first came here, there was someone who was especially kind to us."
"She... said she hadn't been able to give this ring to her daughter."
"So she entrusted it to me."
Her daughter...?
For a moment, Evelyn wondered whether the illusion spell had failed.
She glanced toward the altar and caught her reflection.
No.
She still had the face of a young man.
Her own face turned pale.
"Where is she now?"
"If you remember anything... anything at all... please tell me."
"I don't know her name."
"We're all called by numbers."
"She was Number 87."
"Before they took her to the altar... she gave me this ring."
"The altar?"
"...I never saw her again after that."
The meaning was unmistakable.
The blood consecration.
The prison filled with victims bearing the scars of abuse.
The altar.
Her mother had undoubtedly become a sacrifice for the temple's twisted rituals.
She still didn't know why the temple carried out such blasphemous acts.
But nothing else could explain the girl's story.
Mother...
What happened to you?
Closing her eyes tightly, Evelyn forced back the grief threatening to overwhelm her.
The girl silently watched her before gently covering the back of Evelyn's hand with her own tiny one.
"Will you promise to keep this a secret?"
"I don't want anyone finding out I told you."
"...I'm the one who should be saying that."
Her voice came out hoarse from holding back tears.
Perhaps pitying her, the girl continued.
"We're all from the same clan."
"We lived in Linguis Village, near the Irina Gorge, at the northernmost edge of the continent."
"The North?"
"Then why are you all here—"
Suddenly—
"Gasp... Shh!"
Footsteps echoed faintly in the distance.
Pressing a finger to her lips, Evelyn poured magic into the ring and extended her soul's senses.
Voices were approaching.
"Who the hell had the nerve to sneak in? Don't tell me it was one of those heretics who worship the Black Ram."
"Quiet! If the High Priest hears you, we're finished. Let's catch the intruder first. Once we force a confession—or torture them—we'll find out."
Judging by the footsteps, they had already descended the stairs and were heading this way.
Her heart pounded violently.
Cold sweat streamed down her back.
The girl seemed to realize the danger as well.
She immediately held out her wrist.
"It's our magic."
Her voice dropped even lower.
"The blood of our clan carries the power to restore life."
"If the temple keeps bringing us here to perform blood consecrations..."
"...then they must be..."
Evelyn finally understood how all the pieces fit together.
She slowly nodded.
"There must be something they absolutely have to resurrect."
Whatever it was...
Anything that required borrowing the power of regeneration to regain physical form could never be something natural.
A memory suddenly surfaced.
The grotesque mass she had once seen in her dream.
The way it had gradually taken on a human shape...
Until it finally wore her own face...
And smiled.
"Hehehe... Found you!"
Deep sorrow...
Unease...
And finally, terror...
One after another filled Evelyn's pale green eyes.
After sending the girl back into the prison, Evelyn hurriedly hid beside the Processing Room door.
The people searching for her had stopped just outside.
Only a thin wooden door separated them.
She couldn't move.
"That little rat already escaped!"
"This isn't the time for complaining! Before the intruder does anything suspicious, spread out and search!"
Soon, their footsteps gradually faded into the distance.
Evelyn didn't dare breathe until every trace of them had disappeared.
The moment the voices were gone, she immediately fled the underground chamber.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
She hurried through the corridors.
Passing the open-air gallery bathed in sunlight, she finally reached the rear garden.
Even though she was gasping for breath, the moment she spotted the tall black iron gate, warmth returned to her cold fingertips.
Benjamin should be waiting beyond that gate.
Once she got through it, all she had to do was follow him to the carriage waiting in the back alley.
It should have been a simple escape.
The only problem...
She had spent too much time inside the Processing Room.
Thump. Thump.
Her heart pounded wildly.
Cold sweat drenched her body as fear gripped her.
It felt as though someone would grab her from behind at any moment.
Please... please...!
Her trembling hand reached desperately for the doorknob.
Just then—
"Hey! You there!"
Someone called out from behind her.
It felt as though all the blood drained from her body.
This is bad.
Really bad!
She had no idea why she was being stopped.
But every instinct told her something had gone terribly wrong.
"What are you doing here? Everyone's busy searching for the intruder, and you're slacking off? You've got some nerve."
I'm so close.
I only need to open this gate...
Feeling the footsteps approaching behind her, Evelyn bit her lip.
Fortunately...
Whoever it was still seemed to believe she was merely a trainee priest.
Keeping her head lowered, she offered the best excuse she could think of.
"I was searching too..."
No!
The instant she spoke, Evelyn inhaled sharply.
The illusion spell had apparently exceeded its time limit.
Instead of the disguised male voice...
Her own naturally soft feminine voice slipped out.
"Ahem!"
"I-I was searching for the intruder under the priest's orders!"
She hurriedly cleared her throat and lowered her voice as much as possible.
But once suspicion had taken root, it couldn't simply disappear.
"Wait!"
"You..."
"Why does your voice sound like that?"
"Take your hand off the gate."
"Turn around."
"Now!"
A passionate storyteller who loves creating immersive worlds and captivating characters.
