CHAPTER 45: THE SUMMIT

[With Lilith losing her cool after discovering your situation, you couldn’t return to your training and had to remain under her constant gaze, while Linda left — seemingly to bring someone over.]

[You didn’t resist, and simply waited. But before Linda could return, Selena arrived.]

[She seemed to forget every concern she had earlier. The moment she saw your condition, she lost her temper too. And like that, you were forced to sit under the sharp gazes of both of them.]

[A few hours passed. Linda still hadn’t come back — but someone else arrived instead: a middle-aged woman who gave off a similar vibe to Elysia, the witch you had met earlier today.]

[She examined you under the watchful eyes of Selena and Lilith. But in the end, she couldn’t find anything unusual.]

[Some more time passed, and then Linda finally returned, bringing with her a woman dressed in black clothes.]

[You noticed how both Selena and Lilith treated this woman with clear respect, politely requesting that she examine your soul — which slightly surprised you.]

[Yet even this big-shot figure couldn’t find anything after examining you. And the disappointed Selena and Lilith seemed to spiral further, growing more crazy as they once again began demanding answers from you.]

[You shrugged at their questions. But feeling that you had to say something, you told them about the Blood Scripture.]

[However, hearing about it didn’t calm them — it only deepened their suspicion, making your already abnormal situation become even more troubling.]

[One month passed. And since that day, you were kept under house detention, always under the unrelenting watch of either Selena or Lilith.]

So, it really came down to this?

Noel tapped his finger on the desk as he thought.

With imprisonment becoming more of a reality than a threat... it was really time, he finds a solution.

His gaze moved to the door, and knowing now that he couldn’t leave his room without finding that solution — since Lilith and the others would immediately notice — made his situation feel even more grim.

The hundred Null Points he had didn’t seem like much anymore.

Noel’s thoughts were many. But with the simulation text still flowing in front of his eyes, he turned his attention back to it.

[Even while living under detention, you continued practicing the Blood Scripture. The insistence of Selena and Lilith for you to stop during this time didn’t affect you in the slightest.]

[Most importantly, you had already gained some mastery over the early parts of the technique, and could finally measure your progress more clearly in the first stage — Vital Purification. You had reached 91%, and in your mind, all you could think about was the next stage.]

[Two months passed. You were still being detained, but your progress in the Blood Refinement Path hadn’t stopped.]

[Your slow advancement surprised both Selena and Lilith — but you didn’t bother explaining anything to them anymore.]

[One more month passed. And in the middle of your now-mundane daily routine, something finally changed: Serah came to visit you.]

[She had an argument with Selena and Lilith before they eventually left you both alone. And then, Serah finally asked you, "Okay, it turned out you were right. So now tell me — what kind of favor do you want? If you want, I can take you away from here."]

[You refused her offer, telling her that her favor was something far too precious to be used like this — and she laughed at that.]

[22 years old. You had reached 95% in the Vital Purification stage, and the next stage felt closer than ever. But despite the progress, when you focused on your current bodily condition, you didn’t feel satisfied.]

[You recalled something written in your notebook — and couldn’t help but wonder if maybe it was finally time to use that favor.]

[But a few days later, before you could make a decision, another guest arrived at your house.]

[And this time, even you could feel just how special this guest was.]

[When your eyes landed on the mature woman who covered her face with a veil, a strange sensation passed through you — as if she were not the same kind of human as you, but something higher.]

[Your sixth sense flared with danger — a type of instinctual warning you didn’t think was even possible before. And in that moment, you felt as though you could glimpse the very summit within this woman.]

[And then, watching Lilith and Selena bow their heads — despite their usual pride — and seeing how not even a trace of arrogance remained in their gaze, only respect for this veiled figure... you understood even more clearly just how extraordinary she truly was.]

[When the woman finally landed her gaze on you, it felt as if you were being stripped bare, right then and there. But you still tried not to be intimidated and held yourself with dignity.]

[Her bored eyes — eyes that seemed to have witnessed the long passage of time — became briefly intrigued. But in the end, even she couldn’t pinpoint the exact reason behind your condition.]

[Right in front of you, she explained to Lilith and Selena that your soul’s recovery rate had accelerated beyond what would normally be expected — as if your soul had acquired new qualities. But even so, that alone wasn’t enough to explain the full extent of your healing.]

[She then reassured them that the relic inside you remained sealed, and was not the cause of your sudden change. Even so, given the current state of things, she estimated that you had only a dozen or so years left to live.]

[Upon hearing her words, Lilith and Selena’s gazes turned grave. They barely managed to compose themselves in front of her, thanking her respectfully — while you simply stared at the woman in silence, feeling something strange... as if you had heard her voice somewhere before.]

Noel blinked, not knowing what to make of the situation.

That his soul’s healing could affect his life — that much, he already knew.

But hearing it so clearly... knowing now that he might only have a dozen years left — that was something else entirely.

Even then, that wasn’t the most important thing.

It was the woman.

Who was she?

And why... why did he feel like he had heard her voice before — inside the simulation?