Chapter 63: Eileen’s death 

“What just happened?”  

The group outside the cage widened their eyes at Floria’s sudden growth.  

It was cause for joy and curiosity, but the situation demanded immediate action.  

“Go!”  

Rita, reaching the cage, called for cover.  

Confirming Yan behind her, she attacked the cage.  

“Wave of Sin!”  

A massive wave surged from both sides, engulfing the cage, but it didn’t budge.  

Rita, skeptical, reached out to touch the black vines.  

Satan’s dark mana boiled like flame, trying to erode her hand.  

Her eyes narrowed.  

“Corrupted mana?”  

Rita faltered.  

Corrupted mana could only be countered with purification.  

She scanned the surroundings urgently.  

Thanks to Yan, the beasts couldn’t approach easily, and Seth, Blena, and Alois were leading the others closer.  

It was a relatively safe moment.  

There was no time to waste.  

‘No time for this…!’  

Rita attempted purification.  

As she extended her hand again, a stronger resistance pushed back.  

Satan’s lingering presence made purification difficult.  

Black energy surged to corrupt her mana, causing blood to pour from her nose and mouth.  

Despite the splitting headache, Rita endured, continuing the purification struggle.  

Her mana finally prevailed, consuming the cage’s power source.  

The cage dissolved from the top down.  

“Lady Floria! Lady Eileen!”  

Beyond the crumbling cage, Floria fought fiercely, shielding Eileen.  

As the cage vanished, the group rushed in, clearing beasts in their path.  

“Lady… Eileen…?”  

Seth, blasting magic, turned and froze at Eileen’s pale, limp form.  

The cruel image of his mother’s final moments flashed in his mind.  

Floria, checking Eileen’s state, stiffened similarly.  

With wide eyes, she reached out, shaking Eileen.  

No response.  

Floria’s lips trembled.  

She looked desperately at Mikael, who sat beside her.  

“Almighty God Rihanes, grant this humble servant the sacred power to save our kin.”  

The Saint, eyes closed, recited a fervent prayer.  

Blinding holy power flowed into Eileen, healing her wounds, but her pallor remained.  

“Almighty God Rihanes…”  

Mikael repeated the prayer twice, thrice.  

Yet, Satan’s poison eating away at Eileen showed no sign of abating.  

Realizing its nature, his voice faltered.  

He stopped praying, bowing his head in despair.  

“For now… detoxification… seems impossible.”  

His trembling hands mirrored Floria’s shaking eyes.  

In the brief silence, Eileen stirred, opening her eyes with effort.  

Meeting Floria’s golden gaze, she smiled faintly, silently blessing her disciple’s growth.  

Suddenly, she coughed up blood.  

Amid the dizzying screams, Eileen forced out a grave, faltering voice.  

“…Satan’s poison… dangerous to our kind…”  

“Lady Eileen…!”  

“Just hold on. I’ll find a way…”  

As Mikael, panicked, tried to pray again, Eileen grabbed his hand, stopping him.  

He read her resolve and fell silent, devastated.  

Eileen calmly accepted her end.  

Smiling at Floria, she struggled to speak.  

Unable to form words, black-tainted blood seeped from her lips.  

Floria, swallowing a gasp, collapsed.  

Yet Eileen held her smile.  

“My joy… all this time… was you. Thank…”  

Her breathing grew ragged.  

As Rita, fighting ahead, sensed something wrong and turned, their eyes met.  

Eileen’s golden eyes, tinged with sorrow, dimmed.  

She nodded faintly at Rita, then closed her eyes.  

Her peace came too swiftly.  

“Aaagh!”  

Floria’s maddened scream pierced the forest.  

The group, slow to realize, turned and registered Eileen’s death.  

Seth, convincing himself it wasn’t true, froze in shock.  

“Condemning Blizzard!”  

In the silence, Rita turned sharply, glaring at the forest’s edge where Satan had fled.  

A blizzard cleared a path, and she strode forward.  

Ignoring the group’s calls, she charged ahead.  

“Rita!”  

Blena’s cry rang out.  

Yan, holding a beast’s head, followed swiftly.  

Floria sprang up, turning to pursue.  

Sercia tried to stop her, but Floria dodged the beasts, chasing Rita.  

“Wait…!”  

Seth, staring blankly at Floria and Eileen, followed.  

As Blena moved to join, Eugene grabbed her arm, shaking his head despite her tearful expression.  

“Following now might burden the Great Mage. I’m sorry, but we should stay.”  

“…Okay.”  

“Eugene, what about Loen…?”  

Mikael, guarding Eileen’s body, looked at Loen.  

As she moved to follow, Eugene corrected himself.  

“No, not Loen. Saint, you go.”  

Eugene was right.  

Mikael was the only one capable of both attack and defense.  

Sercia nodded, understanding.  

Confirming the group’s resolve, Mikael left with a grim expression.  

***

“Dream-Wrought Creation!”  

Rita sprinted, summoning a bird to scout the skies.  

She didn’t stop to share its vision clearly.  

Instead, she maintained dual perspectives while running, despite the mental strain and physical toll.  

Clenching her teeth, she pressed on.  

‘I have to catch it now…!’  

Fortunately, Satan was close.  

Too exhausted to conceal its dark mana, it left a trail.  

Rita followed it relentlessly, tracking via her summon.  

Beasts under Satan’s command attacked, but they couldn’t stop her.  

“Surging Stream!”  

Oncoming beasts were pierced by fierce water jets, collapsing.  

Those from the sides or behind were dispatched by Yan, trailing her.  

Sensing his presence, Rita focused forward, running tirelessly.  

Breathless, she reached a rocky area.  

It was near where they’d recently spotted Asmodeus’s offspring, the goat-like beasts.  

“Fleeing to Asmodeus’s domain?”  

Rita gritted her teeth, seeing Satan’s pathetic form climbing a rocky peak.  

“Crumbling Wrath!”  

Despite the distance, the spell worked.  

The cliff Satan crawled up collapsed in a roar.  

Buried in rubble, Satan noticed Rita and cursed.  

“Damn it!”  

It signaled for aid, but no offspring responded.  

Panicking, it scanned the area.  

Yan had already slain the approaching beasts, with Floria, Seth, and Mikael fiercely handling the rest.  

“Tch!”  

The situation was clearly against it.  

Satan fled, but a tree vine shot up, blocking its path.  

Rita, casting Distant Purgatory Swamp, glared with sunken eyes.  

“Frozen Valor!”  

Her staff turned into an ice spear, and she charged.  

Yan, arriving, stopped as if his role was done, watching Rita.  

“Annoying…!”  

Cornered, Satan frantically defended against Rita’s mad rush.  

But it lacked strength.  

Already struggling to regenerate, it scrambled for an escape.  

An arrow struck its forehead from afar.  

Satan’s wavering gaze met Floria’s off-kilter golden eyes, and it grimaced.  

“Lady Floria, your mana’s unstable. It’s dangerous to keep moving. Leave the rest to me…”  

Rita, sensing her, cautioned, but Floria ignored her.  

Gripping her bow, she charged before Rita finished.  

Her reckless melee forced Rita to fall back.  

As Floria, heedless of her condition, grew concerningly erratic, she was kicked by Satan, crashing into a tree.  

“Lady Floria!”  

Seth and Mikael, arriving, rushed to her.  

With no time to receive holy power, Floria rose with sheer will, firing arrows wildly.  

But, as exhausted as Satan, her rampant mana missed its mark.  

Her relentless tenacity prompted Seth to stand beside her.  

Floria met his gaze silently.  

In that brief moment, a steady look passed between them.  

Seth quietly supported her with wind magic.  

“Damn it…! Damn it…!”  

Satan was on the verge of madness.  

Rita’s persistent spear, Floria’s fierce arrows, and Seth’s support overwhelmed it.  

Panting and drooling, it lacked the mana to defend, barely dodging by twisting its body.  

“Tenacious pests!”  

It trembled with rage.  

The alien, the red-haired mage, and Rita—all looked battered.  

Yet Rita, bloodied around her nose and mouth, clung like a leech.  

Desperate to escape, Satan roared in fury.  

“Damn it! Why! Why won’t you answer!”  

Its sibling, likely nearby, didn’t respond.  

Though their bond was poor, Satan hadn’t expected Asmodeus to ignore its life-or-death plea, cursing it bitterly.  

“Huff… huff…”  

After ten minutes, Rita’s movements slowed.  

Maintaining the ice cage and purifying Satan’s corrupted cage had drained her mana.  

Without concentrated mana stones, she couldn’t replenish it.  

Her vision blurred, but she clung to consciousness.  

‘Just a bit more… I can kill it…’  

Her body betrayed her.  

Struggling with stiffening hands, she was struck by Satan’s fist and sent flying.  

Yan rushed forward, catching her.  

Seeing her battered state, his eyes grew cold.  

Rita grabbed his wrist, halting him with a look, then glanced at Floria.  

‘Is she okay?’  

Floria, as exhausted as Rita and on the verge of collapse, kept rising like a madwoman.  

Her terrifying tenacity made Satan stumble back and collapse.  

It could barely breathe.