The corridor leading to the dungeon was eerie and long. Elia’s footsteps echoed against the stone floor, each one landing with a heavy, deliberate thud.
She and Kiz were bound together by a Blood Contract, their fates intertwined into a knot that could not be easily unraveled.
And now, someone wanted to cut that knot… Elia would never allow that girl to die comfortably. She did not deserve a dignified end.
‘But still… Anya is just an ordinary maid. How did she get her hands on such a potent poison?’
That question had been circling her mind for a while now.
Poison capable of killing a member of the Royal Blood Race wasn’t something one could buy at a street stall. The recipe for such a toxin was complex and the ingredients were rare. There were only a handful of individuals or factions in the entire Dream Spirit Continent capable of producing it.
How could a mere maid like Anya afford such a thing?
Even if she had spent her entire life savings, how would she have even found a seller?
Unless… someone had contacted her first.
Someone had secretly reached out to Anya, delivered the poison to her, and instructed her on how to use it. Perhaps they had even promised her something in return.
Was it protection after her revenge was complete? Or some other form of payment?
The problem was that there was no such mastermind in Anya’s memories.
Elia had discovered this when she read Anya’s mind. From the moment she learned of her father’s death to the purchase and administration of the poison… she had been entirely alone throughout the process.
Not a single suspicious person appeared in her memory.
And that, in itself, was highly suspicious.
It was very likely that someone had erased Anya’s memories.
To accomplish such a feat, one would have to be a master of Mental Magic at the Tenth Tier or higher. Furthermore, they would need to be exceptionally skilled in memory manipulation to leave no trace behind for Elia to find.
‘Is it the Heavenly Saint Race?’
It was possible. Those old fossils who claimed to be the descendants of gods had always looked down on the Blood Clan. Laura had even come by specifically to warn her a few days ago.
The Heavenly Saint Race was indeed proficient in Mental Magic. Moreover, it was rumored that one of their Sacred Artifacts was specifically designed for manipulating memories.
‘Or perhaps the Demons?’
The Demons and the Blood Clan had fought a war hundreds of years ago. Although they were currently at peace on the surface, small skirmishes continued behind the scenes.
Poisoning a Blood Princess and framing the Humans or another faction to incite a war would allow them to reap the benefits. It perfectly matched the Demons’ style of doing things.
‘Then there is the Human Empire…’
The fact that Elia had been “subdued” had caused the Church and the Empire to lose a great deal of face. It would make sense if those old men wanted to eliminate Kiz to spite the Blood Clan and drag their traitorous Saint back in the process.
Regardless of which faction it was, or who was behind it…
If they dared to touch Kiz, she wouldn’t let a single one of them go.
For now, she would deal with Anya. As for the mastermind, she would investigate them slowly.
***
Anya was locked in the innermost cell of the dungeon.
Elia pushed the door open and stepped inside. At first glance, she saw Anya curled up in the corner, motionless.
Scorch marks from the Holy Light still lingered on her body.
Hearing the footsteps, the girl lifted her head. She turned her empty eye sockets toward Elia and asked in a raspy voice, “Who… who is it…”
Because of the Holy Light, the damage Elia had dealt to her eyes had not healed, which was exactly what Elia intended.
Elia did not answer. She simply stood in the center of the cell and watched her.
Anya’s body began to tremble. “Are you… that Saint… what are you doing here… are you here to torture me again…”
“Yes, I am here to torture you.”
Elia knelt down in front of Anya.
Anya shrank back, sobbing. “Please just kill me… I beg you, kill me… please… *sob*…”
The next moment, a golden light from Elia’s palm illuminated the entire cell.
“Ah… AHHH! AAAAAAAAAAGH!”
Anya let out a heart-wrenching scream.
Though she was blind, she could feel the Holy Light. After all, a fear of that power was etched into the very bones of the Blood Clan.
Elia pressed the Holy Light against the girl’s chest.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!”
Elia watched expressionlessly as a blackened mark was burned into Anya’s chest. Then, she withdrew her hand and asked, “So, who gave you the poison?”
“I… I bought it myself,” Anya whispered.
“Where did you buy it?”
“…The Dark Market.”
“Which Dark Market? What did the seller look like?”
At that question, a look of confusion crossed Anya’s face. She seemed to be trying her best to remember, but she couldn’t recall anything.
“I… I don’t remember… I just… I went to the Dark Market… and someone sold it to me… I don’t remember what they looked like…”
As expected, her memory had been erased.
Elia sighed, no longer bothering with the questions. In the next second, she raised her foot and kicked Anya hard in the stomach.
“Ugh!” Anya curled into a ball from the pain.
Elia kicked her several more times, each strike landing heavily. She kicked her until Anya was vomiting blood and eventually lost the strength to even make a sound.
After a moment, Elia stopped and looked at the blood staining the tips of her leather shoes. She grabbed Anya by the hair and whispered, “Do you know who you almost killed? You almost killed my Kiz!”
With that, Elia delivered a harsh slap to her face.
“This is for the suffering Kiz endured.”
She slapped her again, causing more blood to spray from the girl’s mouth.
“This is for the soldiers your father got killed.”
One more slap followed, this time knocking out three of Anya’s teeth.
“And this is for me… because you forced me to watch her cough up blood.”
A glimmer of madness flashed in Elia’s blue eyes. The golden light flared in her palm once more. This time, she focused the Holy Light onto her fingernails.
Anya felt death approaching.
“No… no… please… don’t…”
Elia grabbed her by the throat. Her nails, coated in Holy Light, pierced into the side of Anya’s neck just as they had pierced her eyes.
She continued to squeeze.
Anya struggled with all her might, her hands clawing at Elia’s wrists in an attempt to pry them off, but Elia’s grip was immovable.
Suffocation, the searing burn of Holy Light, and blood loss—three different types of agony washed over Anya’s body simultaneously. Her face turned from pale to purple, then from purple to a deathly gray.
Finally, her struggling ceased, replaced by nothing but twitching.
Elia watched as the life slowly drained away. A pleasant smile finally curled onto her lips, the madness in her eyes nearly overflowing.
Suddenly, Anya’s body ignited with dark red flames. The fire spread from her pierced neck, quickly engulfing her entire body.
In just a few seconds, Anya was reduced to a pile of ash.
“Hahaha… hahahahaha… HAHAHAHAHAHA!” Her low chuckling escalated into a fit of manic laughter.
She even began to stomp repeatedly on the pile of ash that used to be Anya.
Anya was dead… the person who had nearly killed Kiz had died by her hands! She had to admit, revenge felt truly wonderful.
“Haa… no, no… I have to be calm… calm… Kiz won’t be happy if she sees me like this…” Elia took a deep breath and exhaled, forcibly suppressing the twisted, frantic emotions in her heart.
Once she had pushed it all down, she turned to leave the cell. She spoke to the guards outside. “Clean up that pile of ash inside.”
“Yes, Lady Saint!” The guards didn’t dare disobey her orders.
Stepping out of the dungeon, Elia stood by the window in the corridor. The bright sunlight outside spilled onto her cute face.
She looked down at her hands. The blood on her nails had dried, but Elia used Cleaning Magic to wash it away nonetheless.
Then, she turned and walked toward Kiz’s Sleeping Palace.