“……”

Upon hearing the man’s words, Zoe remained silent, not saying a single word, nor making any move forward.

“Young lady, hesitating now is the most foolish thing you could do,” the man sneered. “You didn’t hesitate before enrolling. You didn’t hesitate when conspiring to harm the princess. You didn’t hesitate when becoming our accomplice. But now—when the die is cast and there’s no going back—you hesitate? How utterly stupid.”

“Do you naively think you still have some other value? Give it up. The moment you did our bidding, you were already on this sinking ship—whether you wanted to board it or not.”

“Right now, aside from the fact that you’re still of some use to us, if your status as a collaborator of the Demon God Pillar cult were to be exposed—if your deeds ever came to light—you’d become a wanted criminal across all human nations, condemned to the guillotine the moment you were caught. Do you really think you still have the right to hesitate? That you still get to choose anything?” The man laughed mockingly.

“So from the very start… you were lying to me? You never intended to let me and my brother go?!”

It was only now that Zoe seemed to realize the truth.

The moment she’d chosen to cooperate with [Bronze Blood]—even if it had been out of fear for her brother’s safety—her life had already been tainted by an indelible stain, the kind that could get her beheaded.

From that point on, [Bronze Blood] would always have leverage over her. They wouldn’t need to threaten her anymore. She would act as their glove and tool on her own, afraid to reveal her identity, clinging to her own survival. She had truly boarded the cult’s ship—and one day, when her identity was exposed, or when [Bronze Blood] had no further use for her, they would discard her without mercy, like a rusted, broken tool.

Realizing all of this, cold sweat streamed down Zoe’s back.

If this was the case, then not just her brother—her entire life would be ruined. She could never go back. All she could do was help these lunatics carry out their atrocities until everything inevitably collapsed, and she was thrown away like trash.

“I already told you—I don’t have the right to answer that question. Nor the ability to. All I can do is deliver the response from above. That’s it.”

The man’s expression returned to indifference.

His icy tone was like a midwinter wind cutting straight through bone.

The perfunctory attitude and cold pretense had already laid the bloody truth bare before her eyes.

The truth was just as that blue-haired young man had said:

These lunatics who worshipped the Demon God Pillar would never spare her or her brother. The moment she got involved, her fate had already been shackled to theirs, even in death.

If it hadn’t been for that young man—and for President Mirexia—reaching out to her…

Then by now, she really might have ended up exactly as the masked man had described.

At that thought, a chill of terror ran through Zoe.

“Enough. You have no room to bargain with me. Hand over the princess. I’ll take her and go invisible, and leave through the secret passage.”

The man urged her coldly.

“…Secret passage?”

“Don’t ask. You’re not entitled to that information. Just remember—you’re nothing more than a pawn we planted inside Carillian Academy. If we want you alive, you live. If we want you dead, you die. It’s that simple.”

“You have no choice. As a traitor to humanity, you’ve already lost your right to live among the human nations. Now, only we are willing to take you in and offer you shelter.”

The man sneered.

“Did you see all those ignorant heretics at the banquet tonight? Heh… they’re in for a little ‘terror party’—right inside this so-called sacred cathedral they revere!”

“Don’t be modest. You had a hand in making it happen. We won’t forget that. And of course… neither will they. Hahahaha!”

The man burst into laughter.

“…You might be the ones facing bloodshed before your little party even begins.”

But just then, a crisp, cold, and beautiful female voice cut off the man’s laughter.

The golden-haired girl—who had just moments ago been slumped unconscious on Zoe’s shoulder—now stood upright.

She stepped forward, her radiant, sun-like hair lifting in the evening wind.

At the same time, several figures appeared in front of the sanctum’s entrance.

They wore the uniforms of senior instructors from Carillian Academy.

They surrounded the man, eyes cold and full of veiled meaning.

“Worm of the academy. Tumor of the earth. Your death has come,” said the lead instructor, a tall man, lifting his gaze.

“…What is the meaning of this?”

The man’s face froze instantly, as if swarmed by maggots.

His eyes locked on Zoe like invisible hands choking her by the throat.

“You… you dared contact heretics behind our backs?”

The man ground his teeth. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?! Don’t you care about your brother’s life?!”

“Heh… hehehe… I see. So that’s it. You chose them over your own brother, didn’t you?”

The man growled viciously.

“You naive fool. You really think that means you’ll be able to live peacefully among these heretics? That they’ll truly accept you?”

“No chance. Even if they pardon your crimes, the label of ‘abnormal’ is already burned into you. No matter where you go now, you’ll never again be seen as purely ‘human.’”

“Returning from the wrong path is still better than being a stubborn beast beyond redemption,” one of the instructors said.

“Take this maggot of the Demon God Pillar into custody. Don’t kill him. We’ve got plenty of questions for him yet.”

“…Heh… hehehe… hahahahaha!”

The man suddenly began to laugh like a madman, for no reason anyone could see.

But the instructors remained calm, utterly unshaken—even if he tried something desperate, they didn’t care.

After all, the team dispatched to protect Mirexia and capture cultists was comprised of Carillian Academy’s most elite instructors.

In front of them, this man couldn’t even dream of self-detonation.

“Mister Demon God Pillar worshipper… it seems you still don’t understand your situation.”

The towering instructor with a long scar across his face spoke evenly.

“The secret passage you mentioned, the guards watching it, and all your allies for ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) this mission—our people have probably already found them all. Won’t be long now before you worms are reunited in the stinking sewers.”

“…You’re… the Boneless One, Morinket?”

The man looked at the lead instructor in shock, gritting his teeth.

“Oh? You actually know me?” Morinket smiled.

“Am I really so famous among you Demon God Pillar cultists?”

“How could I not know you…? You once stripped the bones from an entire Demon God Pillar battalion.”

“Ohhh, that story. So even [Bronze Blood] heard about that, huh?”

Morinket chuckled coldly.

“Well then. If you knew, and still dared to run wild here at Carillian Academy… I suppose I have to admire your courage. Or maybe your stupidity.”

“Enough talk. If you have anything to say, you can say it in the interrogation chamber. We don’t entertain guests here.

And if you don’t want your bones removed right now, I suggest you behave.”

Morinket returned to his cold, indifferent tone.

“Your entire plan has failed.”

“…Ugh—! Aaaahhhh!”

But at that moment, the man suddenly dropped to his knees, clutching his head, howling in agony.

“A parlor trick,” Morinket sneered. He remained unfazed. Even if the man was trying to self-destruct, Morinket was confident he could extract his bones before he could do it.

But the situation didn’t seem to be that simple.

After the brief spasm of pain, the man lifted his head again—and his expression had completely changed. His eyes glowed with an eerie violet light, entirely different from before.

“A pleasure to meet you, esteemed members of Carillian Academy. I believe this is our first meeting. It’s unfortunate that our initial conversation must take place in such an unseemly fashion.”

“Who are you?”

Morinket immediately saw through it—the man’s soul was gone. The entity speaking now wasn’t the original one.

“I am a devout servant of the Lord of Truth, Elrunas. High Priest of [Bronze Blood].”

The man casually dusted himself off, smiling faintly as he cast his eyes over everyone present.

“‘Boneless One’ Morinket. And… Her Highness, Princess of the Kingdom of Camella. An honor.”

At the man’s unnatural behavior, Mirexia silently moved to shield Zoe behind her.

“You Demon Pillar cultists sure love to hear yourselves talk. If you’ve got something to say, just spit it out,” Morinket said impatiently.

“Patience, Mr. Morinket. It appears your side has won this little game, hasn’t it?” the man said leisurely. “However… have you considered that the moles hidden among you might not be limited to the ones you’ve found?”

“What if—while you were so busy deploying combat instructors to guard the deceiver goddess’s cathedral and protect your heretical fish eggs—our infiltrators struck from within, targeting your anti-magic formations?”

“What will you do then, if the defensive array surrounding the Spire of Order collapses? What happens to Carillian Academy? Heh heh…”

“So that’s your whole plan?”

Morinket fell silent for a moment, then let out a mocking laugh.

“You fell for our bait on purpose—and you think we didn’t know that? That we wouldn’t anticipate it?”

“From the very beginning of this operation, we expected you to deliberately take the bait. Which is why we stationed numerous instructors in ambush around every array node.”

“Right now, your agents assigned to attack the anti-magic points have probably already been wiped out by the instructors secretly guarding them.”

“High Priest of [Bronze Blood] or whatever you are—your plan has completely failed.”

Morinket’s tone turned cold. “After this, I’ll make damn sure you cough up something useful.”

“……”

The man was silent for a moment—then suddenly burst into wild laughter.

“Hahahahahaha!”

“Oh? Is that so? Truly?”

His tone turned mocking and strange.

“Well then… let’s wait and see, shall we?”

“You’re protecting the holy cathedral, you’re focusing on key array points—but how much fighting force do you have left, exactly?”

“Tonight’s celebration… is just about to begin. And with that, good night—Carillian Academy.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the man’s eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the ground, foaming at the mouth. His breath ceased.

“Damn pestilent rats…”

Morinket signaled two instructors to check on the man’s condition, then walked over to Mirexia.

“Morinket Instructor, I fear that tonight’s [Bronze Blood] plan might not end here.”

Mirexia had already guessed that [Bronze Blood] had intentionally sent sacrificial pawns to take the bait—but judging from how things were unfolding, they were likely hiding something deeper.

That man who had passed out, who’d spent the entire time mocking Zoe as if he were a core operative, had in fact been nothing more than a disposable pawn sent out by [Bronze Blood]—used and tossed aside like garbage.

“Did we overlook something critical?”

“Who knows. These disgusting worms who slither in the shadows—who could possibly guess what they’re thinking? All we can do now… is take it one step at a time.”

BOOM! BOOM!!

Suddenly, a tremendous explosion echoed beneath their feet—followed by terrified screams from within the cathedral.

“Shit! Something’s happened at the cathedral?!”

Morinket stiffened, his face immediately turning grim.

“Judging by the direction… it sounds like it came from the banquet hall in the rear.”

Mirexia’s expression was grave.

“That’s impossible! There were so many instructors stationed there—and aside from the students, no one else is even allowed into the rear sanctum. What the hell’s going on?!”

Morinket didn’t know what had happened, but the students’ safety came first—he had to check immediately.

“Mirexia, you and one instructor take Zoe and this bastard back. Everyone else—come with me!”

With that shout, Morinket turned and led the others down the stairs at a run, heading straight for the rear sanctum of Saintess Selina Cathedral.

****

Meanwhile, inside the banquet hall of the cathedral’s rear sanctum—

“Holy shit! My damn steak!!”

Vinny had no idea what was going on. One moment he was chewing his steak, the next—something exploded somewhere, the ground shook violently, and the steak flew up, nearly slapping him in the face.

Then came the screams. Piercing shrieks of panic. The chaos of frantic footsteps. Everyone around him was losing their minds.

What the hell is this? What the actual hell is going on?

Did the protagonist trigger some kind of passive event or something? Can’t a guy just eat dinner in peace without getting caught in some ridiculous disaster?

He looked around—

The entire banquet was descending into utter chaos. No one knew where the explosion had come from. No one knew if anyone was hurt.

But the sudden upheaval had turned every single student into a panicked deer bolting in every direction.

“Stay calm, everyone! Don’t panic! Follow your instructors and evacuate in an orderly fashion!”

Thankfully, the instructors hidden in the shadows to protect the students leapt into action, restoring order before a stampede could occur.

“Uuuh! Vinny, w-what’s going on?!”

Beside him, Shikondell was curled up like a frightened quail, practically trying to bury her head in her knees.

“You’re asking me? Who the hell am I supposed to ask?! I don’t know either, okay?!”

Vinny couldn’t stop himself from muttering irritably.

“Seriously… all that crap about saintly protection and divine blessings—what a joke. It’s all blowing up right in our faces!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep