Anais was confused by Lilith’s words.

“Isn’t that good for you then?”

“How could that possibly be good? What about my revenge if I just let Lady Anais go like that? And even without Lady Anais, my plans will still come true.”

Lilith’s response seemed off to Anais, as if she was seeing Lilith’s struggle with a difficult situation.

“What are you hiding from me?”

“What could I possibly be hiding from Lady Anais?”

Lilith looked at Anais with annoyance before turning to the priests of death. She was still holding the shard of glass to her throat that was now bleeding from the scratch.

“If you don’t listen to me, you’ll be in trouble.”

“The High Priest of Death already predicted you’d react this way, Your Majesty.”

The five priests of death, none of whom wore the insignia of a high-ranking priest, were not the problem. The real issue was the two noblemen standing behind them with guns.

Click. Anais realized the binding on her hands had snapped.

“If you don’t want the Empress to die, follow my orders.”

With fierce eyes, Anais grabbed the shard of glass and pressed it against Lilith’s throat. Lilith, put away her own shard and sighed as if in agreement.

“Why are you siding with the saint, Empress?”

“Didn’t I tell you to do as I say? I don’t want to listen to the High Priest of Death.”

Anais began to doubt if this Empress was truly the Lilith she knew. The Lilith she knew doesn’t talk like this. The Lilith she remembered was gentle, kind, and considerate, a warm person. The idea that it was all fake was unsettling.

“Step aside if you understand.”

Anais said this and attempted to drag Lilith outside. The priests of death stepped aside, allowing them to pass.

“Everything is going exactly as predicted.”

“Uht…!”

The lead intermediate priest raised a spear crafted from divine power.

From the moment Anais regained consciousness in the dark underground, coping with all these events had been overwhelming. Yet, drawing on every ounce of her strength, she pushed Lilith out of harm’s way and blocked the attack with one arm. The impact drained Anais of her energy rapidly.

“You must not kill. Intermediate priest.”

“I understand.”

A junior priest interfered as if to restrain the intermediate priest, who almost infused the spear with death’s power without realizing it.

“The sacrifice for the burnt offering must not be blemished.”

“I told you I know.”

At that moment, Anais intervened in their conversation.

“What will you accuse me of being if I die?”

“We have no reason to tell you.”

Anais stepped back clutching her sore arm. She gripped the shard of glass properly. Although it was unlikely she could defeat them with a palm-sized piece of glass, it might buy her some time.

Kylian would come.

Because the Empress was here.

That thought felt bitterly ironic to her.

“Time is running out, intermediate priest.”

“It is.”

They had come down here because the time to conduct the burnt offering was nearing. Anais only then realized the eerie atmosphere surrounding the place.

“This is the outskirts of Reinberg Forest outside the capital.”

“You seem well-informed. Is your mind getting clearer as death approaches?”

The intermediate priest looked at the woman before him. It was natural for the High Priest of Death to be hostile towards the saint. However, after listening to Lilith and entering the imperial palace, he now acted as if he had become a different person.

Everyone present was a follower of the God of Death, meaning they could piece together most of the situation based on what they had seen and heard. The Anais Percival in front of them was a fake, so it was possible the saint could also be a fake.

However, the God of Death would likely not have favored such a cumbersome method of killing Lilith, the saint. Simply keeping Anais Percival alive would already be an insult to Goddess Julias.

Moreover, the saint had previously cooperated with them and still had value, not having exhausted her usefulness yet.

They could sense Lilith’s immense divine power even from afar. Offering her as a burnt offering would grant them the power of the God of Death.

Yet, this would lead to a shortage of healers. Raviel, the High Priest of Life, was not the most cooperative individual.

However, doubts were irrelevant to the priests of death. They followed the order of power. Thus, obeying the High Priest of Death’s commands was all that mattered.

They were unaware of the full extent of the High Priest of Death’s plans. Including his intent to transfer the power of the God of Death to Lilith. Even considering such a thing was sacrilegious.

“Step back, if I get hurt, the Emperor would not stand by.”

Despite the Empress’ warning, they ignored her words.

“Why don’t you take a sword?”

“Do you think I’m as brutish as Lady Anais?”

Their conversation made it evident that their souls had indeed been swapped, but everyone else seemed to turn a blind eye.

“Hurry up and take them.”

“Yes.”

“Ugh…!”

Suddenly, someone struck Anais from behind.

“What is this…!”

The Empress also lost consciousness, not from a blow to the head like Anais but from having her energy drained for a moment.

“Take them to the altar.”

Thus, they carried the unconscious Anais and headed to the ground.

* * *

Darkness enveloped the outside.

“Hurry, track them down.”

Kylian’s eyes once again took on a crazed look. He had initially thought the Empress’s disappearance, who claimed she needed a walk, was Anais rejecting him.

“The Emperor is being too bothersome. I need some time alone.”

After saying this, the Empress had gone for a walk in the garden. Yet, even after waiting anxiously for one hour, two hours, she did not come back.

Kylian was saddened by the thought of her seeking freedom away from him but endured. If Anais left him, he could not live. So, he decided to bear the pain of her not looking for her out.

For over three hours, Kylian waited, hoping the Empress would return to her room.

It took him four hours to realize something was wrong.

While stealthily moving through the garden, Kylian found the Empress’s maids and knights dead. Only the Empress was missing.

“The, the magic… just a moment…!”

“Track them now.”

Kylian brought a wizard capable of tracking and forced them to cast magic. Since most wizards were drained of their magic alive to save Anais, the one before him luckily escaped.

He left them be even while knowing this fact, to utilize their unique abilities immediately when needed like now.

The wizard was reviewing the scene from when the Empress disappeared. The people he had seen through the magic wore knight’s armor but seemed suspicious for knights.

“The Empress is unconscious. And those who took her… seemed like knights, but their actions were odd.”

“Cut the unnecessary talk. Where is my wife now?”

“It appears she is outside the castle.”

Kylian mounted the tracking wizard on a horse.

“Ack!”

“Continue tracking. Unless you wish to be beheaded.”

“It’s, it’s the Reinberg Forest!”

After loading the tracking wizard like baggage, Kylian got on behind him.

“Yah!”

He pulled the reins hard. The startled horse began to run.

Following Kylian were Captain Lacey and other imperial guards. The sound of their horses running felt like an army marching.

They left the imperial palace quickly. The forest was on the outskirts of the capital, so it took some time to reach from the imperial palace in the center of the capital.

Thanks to Kylian’s familiarity with the dark, he could see ahead more clearly than the horse could. The horse moved entirely at his command. The horse was trained to run in the direction Kylian wanted, even if it couldn’t see well.

“What next?”

As they neared Reinberg Forest, Kylian ordered the tracking wizard.

“Ah, there seems to be a temple inside!”

Kylian instantly knew that the priests of death were involved. But why take Anais?

The priests of death were the ones who helped Kylian keep Anais alive. At least until she lived out her natural lifespan, it was in their interest to keep her alive.

But why now?

“Turn right! This way is an illusion!”

Directed by the tracking wizard, Kylian sharply turned right. The noisy clatter of hooves and dust filled the air.

“Neeeigh!”

With a sharp cry, the horse reached the entrance. Kylian quickly dismounted.

“Ah… She seems to be inside!”

A barrier blocked the way, with an entrance visible behind it. The door seemed like one that could not be opened without divine power.

Kylian clicked his tongue and drew his sword. His large zweihander’s blade fiercely sliced through the air as he cut through the front.

Boom!

With a crash, the entrance was torn apart.

He immediately began running with his eyes blazing with determination. Kylian was listening for the sounds of footsteps and breathing to find the presence of the person he was looking for.

He first checked the underground but, feeling no movement there, he quickly headed towards the highest point.

There, the noise of footsteps and voices mixed together, as if everyone was gathered in that spot.

He didn’t want to entertain the thought that Anais might be dead. He could no longer endure that kind of pain. He was in such a state of anxiety that he couldn’t even feel his heart racing fiercely.

As he ran with his sword gripped tightly, a large door came into view.

Bang! Without even taking the time to open the door, he shattered it and headed inside.

“Uhp…!”

Inside, he saw the unconscious Empress and the saint who was tied up as if to be offered as a sacrifice being pushed towards a fiery altar.

__