237 Blood Ritual [2]

Haven.

Rustle~ Rustle~

Delilah sat on her seat while unwrapped the chocolate bars before her. There were over a dozen, and looking at the scattered wrappers everywhere, she continued to unwrap more as she gorged herself on them.

Her mouth was soon covered in chocolate, but what did she care?

More.

Rustle~!

More!

<nulli>To Tok

"Chancellor! Chancellor! We've got another letter from the delegates of the Aurora Empire!"

"Chancellor!"

Outside of her door, she could hear the shouts of her secretaries.

They seemed desperate, and they probably were. A situation occurred. The cadets from Haven, including those from the Aurora Empire had gone missing.

Cr.. Crack!

Delilah's desk started to crack.

"....Just when things were going smoothly.

The past five months had been some of the smoothest she ever had.

There were some attempts here and there, but there was nothing that gave her a headache.

But guess what?

The moment Julien returned, her peace of mind shattered.

"Chancellor!"

To Tok!

"Ukh."

Delilah groaned and stuffed a chocolate bar in her mouth.

"Munch... I knnew it...!"

She continued like this until there was nothing left, and that was when her expression blanked.

Gone.

....Just like that, the chocolate bars she had bought were gone.

"How?"

Delilah stared at the wrappers with a blank look.

Gaze : Should I switch to drugs?

"....."

That probably wouldn't do a thing to her given that her constitution made her immune to most drugs, and those that did work were simply too costly.

"Why has he not used it yet?"

But the thing that bothered Delilah the most was the fact that Julien had yet to use the item that she had given him.

Knowing that something was probably going to go wrong in his presence, Delilah took it upon herself to gift him something to use in cases of emergency.

She had been waiting the entire time for him to use the item.

....And yet, he still hadn't used it.

Swoosh!

Delilah flung the wrappers aside with an expressionless face.

But she was angry.

Or at least, she thought she was angry.

"So difficult."

Her head started to ache.

At least, she knew that she was stressed.

Bang!

The shouts turned into outright bangs and Delilah raised her head. Narrowing her eyes, she could see exactly what sort of expressions the people outside were making and she sighed.

"Looks like he won't use it."

Her body started to fade.

".....I'll get into trouble for this, but I have no choice."

***

"....."

My surroundings were silent and I slowed my steps down as I looked at the dark path ahead of me.

I could hardly hear any sound, and I tried to keep my breath at a minimum.

<nulli>'This should be enough, right?'

I looked towards my arms and legs which now looked like they were made out of the same rock as the sides of the cave.

To the naked eye, it shouldn't be possible to detect me.

There was only one problem, I didn't know whether it was enough to completely fool the eyes of whatever things were lurking within the cave.

".....Stop."

Owl-Mighty's voice echoed quietly.

Standing on my shoulders, its red eyes gleamed beneath the darkness as they stared ahead.

"I hear a couple of footsteps."

Ba... Thump!

My heart leaped out of my chest as I hastily pursed my lips.

I didn't hesitate to move to the nearby wall and adjust my cloaking to match the surroundings better.

Tak, tak

I could finally hear the steps and I swallowed nervously.

The steps drew nearer, and I held my breath.

"....!"

Soon, two people in white appeared in my vision. With muddled looks, they walked in my general direction. I felt something lump in my throat as I continued to hold my breath. At the same time, I started to channel my mana within me in preparation for a potential conflict.

Tak!

The steps drew nearer.

They were now a couple of meters away from me.

The cave's narrow width left little room to maneuver. As they walked past, my back pressed against the cold, rough wall, I could feel the air shift with their every step as they drew nearer.

My eyes widened in terror, and I stifled a gasp with my hand as their shoulders nearly brushed against mine.

Tak, tak

'Ah.'

Thankfully, there were no hiccups as they walked past me.

I continued to remain glued to the wall even as they walked forward, and just as I was about to sigh in relief, I heard a subtle cracking sound coming from the distance.

Cra... Crack!

My heart froze at the sound as I robotically turned my head to meet two glaring black eyes that stared in my general direction.

With their necks twisted backward, they both looked behind.

My stomach churned at the sight that greeted me but was just barely able to keep myself from making any movements when I realized that their gaze wasn't focused on me but on my general direction.

.....Or at least, I hoped.

"...."

The silence was defeating.

Perhaps it was my imagination, but I could hear the sound of my own heartbeat echo loudly within the cave.

I stood frozen on the spot while staring back at the pair of black eyes.

I thought that my heart would collapse on me due to the anxiety, but somehow, and in some way, I was able to persist until their necks returned to normal.

Cra... Crack!

Sweat trickled down the side of my face as their backs retreated into the darkness.

It was only after several minutes had passed that I finally sighed in relief and relaxed.

"You should've killed them."

But of course, Owl-Mighty wasn't going to let me relax.

I turned my head to look at the owl.

"What do you mean?"

".....The moment they passed you. That was your chance to end things."

"Ah, but"

"You've wasted valuable time. If it was Julien, he would've killed them right the moment they passed him before carrying forward."

"....."

My expression hardened.

"What does that have to do with me? I am not him."

It was absurd that I was continuously being compared to a guy that I didn't know anything about.

Unlike me, he was used to this world.

How did they expect me to act the same way as him?

I was learning.

"It doesn't matter. You're wasting time again."

Clenching my fists, I held back all the words that I wanted to say and turned around to head in the direction of where the church was.

At the same time, I glanced at the map one more time.

The general layout of the cave system wasn't very complicated. It was a series of tunnels that branched out like roots until eventually coming to a stop deep down.

It sounded complicated, but just like all roots, they all combined to lead to one single path.

The exit.

....Or in this case, the church.

Located right above the cave system, the church was where I needed to go in order to exit this forsaken place.

Tak, tak

As the steps faded, I looked to my left and held my breath.

I was now very close to reaching the church. With the aid of Veil of Deceit, I was able to avoid getting caught and managed to find my way towards the very top.

'It's strangely quiet.'

Before, several explosions had rang throughout the place.

The explosions came from the others trying to escape, but the sounds didn't last for very long before subsiding.

There could only be two explanations for such a situation.

One, they had all managed to escape, and two...

I licked my lips.

"They've been caught."

I hoped that it was the former, but a part of me knew that it was the latter.

'In that case, should I save them?'

The thought ran through my mind for a brief moment before I shook my head.

'No, that doesn't make sense. I can hardly take care of myself. How can I, in the right mind, be able to save them?'

I quickly discarded the thought of saving them rather quickly.

Everyone was a stranger to me. Not only that, but I could hardly survive on my own. How could I even entertain the thought of saving them?

I felt a little sorry, but there was no chance for me to save them.

"We're close."

Owl-Mighty spoke from my shoulder.

It would appear and disappear whenever it wanted to. I was starting to get used to its strange actions.

"....."

My steps slowed and I evened out my breathing.

The path was still dark, and I could barely see what was ahead. However, I trusted Owl-Mighty knew what it was talking about.

For that reason, I started to get myself ready.

"Be careful. I can sense quite a few forces up ahead."

"....I see."

I nervously nodded.

Just one person was hard for me to handle. Multiple...? I felt dread quickly crawl up my mind. However, I had no choice but to continue forward.

My steps were light and so was my breath.

....Fortunately, I didn't encounter anyone on the way up and I soon saw a bright light up ahead.

'There.'

Covering my eyes, I slowed my steps further and made sure to camouflage myself better with the environment.

It was only when I was confident with my appearance that I moved forward.

"We will be starting the ritual soon. Is there anyone missing?"

"Yes, just one."

"Oh? One? Do your best to find them. We don't want any unwanted siOh! ....Looks like someone is awake."

Drawing closer, I could hear a few voices in the distance.

I slowed my pace further and moved towards the door that led to the church.

There, I spotted a couple of people coming out.

Tak, Tak

Their steps echoed quietly as they moved in my general direction. Holding onto my breath, I stuck to the wall and waited for them to pass before moving forward and taking a peek to get a better look at what was happening.

".....!"

Something clamped at my throat as I stared at the sight that greeted me.

Everyone was present.

Locked onto the wooden rows, they sat with their heads lowered as the Archbishop stood in the middle, staring at the altar in the middle.

<nulli>'That's...!'

At the altar, I spotted a familiar circle and my heart almost leaped out of my chest.

'As expected, I need to get out of here.'

The ritual was about to start, and I didn't have much time.

I was just about to move back and think of a solution on how to get out when suddenly my eyes locked onto a pair.

My entire body froze at that moment.