The Otherworlder and Liesl cautiously traced their steps back to where she was being dragged from. Instead of walking together, the Otherworlder made her stay only two steps ahead. She was still the one with his money. He needed to keep her in his sights. That, and also the fact the Otherworlder was not in the best condition, was why he had put her ahead.

Fighting with Racques had already drained almost all of his mana, and his stamina had decreased exponentially after the constant use of spirit magic in both battles. The Otherworlder was cautious, so whenever he felt he had only about twenty percent of his mana left, he would consider it bottomed out and call it quits. If he had used everything up, he might have been crawling on the floor right now. One experience was more than enough for him to never want it again.

“So, what were they using you for?” The Otherworlder used the chance to strike up a conversation with Liesl. He truly didn’t want to, but knowing everything she knew would just be more helpful for him down the road.

“Um, they were making me attack some giant stone sculptures with some high firepower spells, then after that, they clicked something on it and then the sculptures glowed and started to disappear.”

“Is that so...” the Otherworlder put a hand on his chin as he heard her words. It was exactly what he had done by coincidence. A sour taste spread in the Otherworlder’s mouth as he realized what had happened back there. They got completely played by Racques.

‘So that grotesque thing wouldn’t have come to life but disappeared instead’

“Started to disappear…?”

“Yes. They dragged me out before I could see what was happening.”

With a nod, the Otherworlder mulled over her words for a few more seconds. Then, he gestured with his chin to go ahead and picked up pace.

┈ ┈ ┈ ⋞ ⟨ ⏣ ⟩ ⋟ ┈ ┈ ┈

In the wide room with the enormous sculpture of the snake’s head, Vera walked around with her arms crossed. Each second, parts of the snake’s body appeared behind it.

“Marvelous, isn’t it?”

A mechanical voice suddenly came out from the right. Vera snapped to face the voice, but couldn’t see anyone.

“This is the true god of this land, the one and only object of worship for what people now call the Blume county.”

This time, the voice came from behind. Vera turned back but still couldn’t see anyone there.

“You recognize it, don’t you? That majestic ability to absorb any and all magical attacks. That charming prowess that was only in the hands of our god.”

Vera looked up. She finally caught the faintest glimpse of something moving away from above and coming down. She followed the movement with her gaze...

“Why are you here, Vera Lilie von der Blume!”

... and stopped right in front of her. A voice akin to a threatening growl oozed out of the black mechanical frame in front of her.

With a snap of her fingers, a curtain of flames appeared between her and the mechanical thing as she jumped backward as far as she could.

“Who are you?”

The mechanical frame walked right through her flames, its long thin arms reaching lower than its bulky wheeled legs. A large compartment sat firmly at the torso of the five-meter tall frame.

“Did you know about it and come here to stop us, or did that bastard Gottfried put you up to this?”

Hasty ripples formed in her heart as she heard the creature’s words. It was useless to attack it outright, Vera was also running low on mana herself. She didn’t know if she could take this guy on with what she had left. She hid all her thoughts under a calm, almost haughty expression as she stared at the thing head-on.

“You have a lot of gut,” she said. “Calling my father a bastard... How do you know about our bloodline ability? Name yourself, asshole!”

“HAHA!! Bloodline ability? You give such a sacred name to a power you stole!?”

The ripples in her heart only grew once more. The magician family of Blume, the family that was given the title of Count in the neutral power of the north, Angnarmarak. Aside from their unbelievable talent for magic, there was another reason they were so powerful that even the Royals were careful of them.

Their bloodline ability, the power that allowed them to absorb any and all magical attacks.

The legends said that it was an ability the first Blume received after defeating an evil spawn of hell, so what was this thing on about?

“You asked me to name myself?” The mechanical frame raised one of its long arms and pointed it towards Vera. The arm spun at great speeds as nozzles extended from its tips. “I am the first priest of the ancient god. The first worshipper of the being that saved us from the spawns of hell, and the first witness of the stealing, thieving bastards of Blume, who killed their own god in their greed!!”

Smoke escaped from the tips of the turning nozzles. Immediately, Vera jumped to her side and started sprinting away. She snapped her fingers and a dome of fire surrounded her from all directions. Within seconds, a volley of bullets shot out from the nozzles. Small explosions boomed in every spot the bullets hit as they dug through even the hard floor of the sewers.

“For the world, I am Holy Water.”

The speed of the bullets increased as they grazed around the dome of fire Vera had created. She clicked her tongue and brought her hands together. “[Fire Magic: Blazing Paths]”

A layer of fire covered the floor of the room as smoke constantly rose to the sky, creating a cover for Vera as she continued running away.

“But for you, Daughter of Blume! I AM DEATH!!” The frame continued to desperately fire its bullets at Vera, but it showed no signs of following her. “You can run away, but you won’t escape!”

Without slowing for a second, Vera ran across the room and dived right into the tunnel she had used to reach here. She rolled on the floor with the dome of fire still surrounding her and landed back on her feet as she ran again.

The sound of bullets, the heat of the room, and the dense air of the mana, all slowly faded away as Vera continued running away. Only when she had got out of breath did she stop and lean against a wall.

Sweat dripped down from her face as her iris trembled.

The creature seemed to have known all about her family. He even knew about the bloodline ability of Blume that no random person could hope to hear.

Such an accusation. It was not more than words of an inane creature, a madman. Vera wanted to dismiss the thought like that. She hoped that was the case.

But the ripples in her heart, the seeds of doubt... and the sense of familiarity from the head of the snake.

These feelings were too real to shake off.

Vera clutched her chest as she took deep breaths.

Was it true? Was the glorious history of her family all but lies? Was her esteemed bloodline ability a power stolen from a savior?

Along with such doubts, a monster she had thought she defeated long back showed its shadows in the depths of her heart.

Was she, who was not even Vera, allowed to feel this way? Was this not but a lie that she was living?

Releasing her hand from her heart, she raised it to her face and lightly smacked her cheeks a few times.

“Not now, Vera. Not now.”