“…!”

    seira was barely able to stop moving. someone had attacked calrad before her by a narrow gap.

    was it to save isabelle? or was there another reason?

    ‘mel…?!’

    the man was none other than mel. their bodies clung together, broke the door, and flew beyond it. seira coughed as she held her stomach. she caught a glimpse of isabelle coughing up her stomach as she left the chapel while the two were fighting.

    ‘is this still underground?’

    she assumed she was already outside when she exited the door, but what appeared was a staircase that split into two. to her right, calrad and mel were fighting, so the only way was to take the left stairs.

    seira, who decided it was useless to not take the opportunity, ran straight up the left-side stairs. of course, calrad saw her.

    “seira? why are you here?”

    she didn’t look back even with his astonished cries.

    “wait, stop!”

    ‘i can’t just stop because you tell me to!’ seira sneered.

    if she missed this time, it was going to be difficult to find another chance to escape. calrad and mel were both tough opponents for her now. it was best to avoid them as much as she could.

    “seira!”

    ‘disobeying the emperor would be much better than to attack him.’

    with explosive powers in her legs, she widened the distance between them.

    ‘how did this building look like again?’

    seira quickly climbed the stairs, recalling the shape of the temple she had seen several times when she was outside.

    the priya temple’s influence expanded throughout hesrad after the catastrophe 15 years ago. the people of the empire, who were once on the brink of extinction due to the beasts that poured endlessly out of their nests, were terrified that the same thing would happen again.

    just at that point, the goddess priya’s saintess began to receive oracles.

    thanks to the oracle, they could find the nests faster. then, she’d present a solution in the name of the goddess.

    ignorance brought fear. it was only natural for the authority of priya’s temple, which gave the people the answers they sought, rose. originally existing from the outskirts, the temple now stood tall at the highest point of viseltium.

    however, high-ranking nobles still didn’t visit the priya temple much often. seira also had never entered the temple until now, as well as during the days when askan was still alive.

    the problem lay in the fact that the purebloods were said to be the messengers of god himself. the ‘god’ they refer to and the goddess priya were unrelated and their doctrines were very different.

    ‘because of that, i have no idea of this place’s structure at all.’

    the stairs she followed recklessly felt hopeless. she didn’t think it would’ve been drilled very deep to the ground, but she couldn’t see an exit leading to another floor or the outside.

    ‘should i have taken the stairs to the right, instead?’

    suddenly thinking of something else, seira slowed down and put her hand to the wall.

    ‘no way, top…is it?’

    perhaps it wasn’t that she couldn’t get out of the basement, but she might’ve climbed without thought into a tall tower without a single window.

    she stopped in her tracks and wondered what she should do next. she then raised her head in anger. she could feel someone’s presence above her.

    the man was in his mid to late 20s with long, bright blonde hair. despite him wearing priest’s clothes, there was a decadent atmosphere around him. seira couldn’t tell if it was because of his dark eyes and single eyelid, the shape of his thin lips, or whether it was because of his loose front teeth.

    ‘who is it?’

    as she paused and gazed, the corners of the man’s mouth raised into a smile.

    “this isn’t a place for ordinary believers to set foot in, so i came out and lucky me! i never thought i’d meet you,” he said.

    “do you know me?”

    “of course. how can i not?” he chuckled, then came down one more step and said, “aren’t you seira, the last bloodline of askan who saved the empire, and his majesty’s fiancée?”

    “i don’t know you.”

    “oh… it’s our first time to meet,” he gasped, “i am tesser. although i’m not good enough, i’m in charge of this post.”

    ‘high priest tesser?’

    when she found out who the man was, seira’s fingertips tensed.

    “i really wanted to see you,” tesser said.

    “why was i brought here?”

    the powers she had saved just in case were activated regardless of her will. this place…

    “even if i don’t tell you, you’re probably well aware of your value.”

    he meant that it was a place full of malice.

    the entire dark space seemed to wriggle. there were dozens of signs she could feel throughout the floor, walls, and ceiling.

    ‘how…?’

    even when she opened her eyes wide, the only thing she could see was tesser.

    “as expected, you seem to have noticed. then we can talk quickly.”

    as if thirsty, she stuck out her tongue and wet her lower lip.

    tesser reached out to her, “will you come to me? dare i say, that the best path for you to take now is to hold my hand.”

    patterns in the shadows surrounded her and narrowed down. however, seira’s gaze was fixed only on tesser.

    “i’ll take care of you. now, come here.”

    suddenly, a scene flashed in front of seira’s eyes.

    askan’s vassals and knights lost their lives miserably. the duke’s castle, which used to protect their devastated territory alone, collapsed without a single cornerstone left. and seira, watching it all, moaned helplessly as she was crushed by someone.