Jella slowly rose to her feet.

Cain’s gaze fell on her disheveled appearance and the red bite marks scattered across her pale skin.

“…”

His jaw clenched tightly.

Cain, who had been staring at her with ice-cold eyes, slowly lowered his gaze. Suddenly, his expression hardened.

Yupheon’s chest had been torn open.

“Thankfully, you’ve saved me the trouble of finding you.”

Jella flashed a sweet smile at Cain.

Only then did he notice her hands, stained with copious amounts of blood.

[The god is using her body to try to reclaim its heart.]

Yupheon’s body, having lost its heart, was turning black with decay. Like a corpse, it was emitting the smell of death.

The scent of blood and death rushed into Cain’s lungs.

Cain’s face froze coldly as he realized the identity of the impure scent that had been bothering him.

“Don’t make that face, Cain.”

Jella, who had somehow approached him, whispered as she placed her hand on his chest.

“The woman you’ve always wanted to touch is right in front of you.”

She gently cupped his cheek with one hand and pulled him toward her.

“If you keep making such a frightening face, won’t she run away?”

“…”

Cain lowered his head as she pulled him, staring blankly at her upturned red lips.

[That’s not Jella! It’s Arne!]

Helasio shouted urgently. Due to the prohibition, Helasio couldn’t make such sounds in Jella’s presence.

Therefore, Helasio’s shout was proof that the woman before him was certainly not her.

Although Cain must have known this fact, he showed no reaction.

He simply stood in the same place, quietly gazing at her as she pressed her body close to his.

Looking at Cain like this, Jella, or rather, Arne, who had stolen the divine core from Yupheon and completely taken over Jella’s body, wore a bright smile.

T/n: Boys, you were already failing at communication. This scenario could have been prevented by that… just saying…

Now, please at least show us that you want more than just her shell. And also save my boy Yuphe ASAP!

***

Just moments ago, when faced with the truth revealed by Yupheon, Jella’s mind had shaken violently.

Unlike those of other humans, her soul—too pure and vast to be consumed—curled up vulnerably, crying like a little girl’s.

Arne didn’t miss this opportunity and pushed her soul aside to take control of her body, then tore open Yupheon’s chest to separate his core from his soul, thus regaining his lost power.

His soul, which had been withered and twisted after losing its power for so long, instantly came alive with the recovered divinity.

“Yes, this power!”

Arne shouted in ecstasy, feeling the power surging within.

Arne’s enlarged soul trampled Jella’s soul and completely conquered her body.

“Ha…!”

A tremor of delight escaped through his lips.

Arne glanced at the man collapsed beneath him.

Yupheon’s body, having lost consciousness from the shock of losing his core, was turning black with decay. Since his body had already died once five years ago, the speed of decomposition was particularly fast.

Arne clicked his tongue at the ghastly sight.

“Such is the end of one who betrayed his master, blinded by a woman.”

But it was still not enough.

It was because those damned human men had divided his heart among them.

The Emperor, one of the three who had shared his heart, had already exhausted all his power, he’d been told.

‘Then what remains is…’

Arne was thinking about the other man who had taken his heart when the sound of the bedroom door opening was heard.

Raising his head, Arne recognized the person and smiled brightly.

“Ah, Cain.”

Cain Aleret. The heir of the Hersha clan with snow-white hair and cold blue eyes.

“Now only you remain.”

When Arne whispered, mimicking Jella’s manner of speech after reading the memories embedded in her body, he could feel Cain’s subtle agitation.

Somehow, it seemed things would be easier.

“Thankfully, you’ve saved me the trouble of finding you.”

Arne approached Cain with a sweet smile.

In Jella’s memories, there was one particularly intense scene.

Even though it was a memory from before she obtained this body, her soul couldn’t forget that scene and had engraved it again and again in her new body.

Therefore, Arne was certain.

This man would never defy his request.

“The woman you’ve always wanted to touch is right in front of you. If you keep making such a frightening face, won’t she run away?”

“…”

As expected, he couldn’t say anything and just stood frozen, staring at him.

“Cain Aleret. Give me the heart. The divine heart you received from that man.”

“…”

“You’ve never disobeyed my orders, you good boy. Even the order to kill me.”

At those words, Cain’s eyes twitched slightly.

Seeing this, Arne curled his red lips and moved closer to him as if about to kiss him.

“You don’t know how to refuse my orders. Right, Cai—”

Just as Arne was trying to persuade Cain while gently caressing his cheek.

Grab.

Cain firmly caught Jella’s hand that was stroking his cheek.

“Forgive my rudeness.”

He said as he took out a handkerchief and wiped the blood from her hands.

“The divine heart, for something so trivial, these hands are too precious and valuable to be stained.”

“Trivial?!”

Arne raised his voice, suddenly incensed.

“…”

Cain looked at Jella with an expressionless face.

Arne involuntarily flinched at that cold gaze, which couldn’t be seen in Jella’s memories.

“If you want the divine heart so badly.”

He muttered bleakly in a monotone voice as he took out a dagger. Then, without a moment’s hesitation, he stabbed himself below his collarbone.

Surprisingly, instead of bright red blood, a red gem fragment shot out from where the dagger had pierced.

It was part of Arne’s heart that he had received from Yupheon five years ago.

“Ah…!”

Jella’s face filled with overwhelming joy.

“My heart!”

Arne couldn’t wait and snatched the core from his hand.

Although he realized that Cain’s attitude had been subtly different, there was no time to reconsider or question it.

Because the heart he had longed for for so long was right before his eyes.

Just as Arne was about to swallow and absorb the red core:

“…!”

Suddenly, Jella’s expression froze pale.

“Urgh…”

Struck by terrible pain in his soul, Arne sat down with a distorted face in agony and began to retch.

After several dry heaves, the red core he had just swallowed was vomited out.

Clack.

The core that rolled onto the floor was tainted with dark demonic energy.

“My, my heart, why…”

Just as Arne reached out toward it with trembling hands.

Crash!

The contaminated core emitted a dark red light, then shattered into pieces with a loud noise.

Looking at it with disbelieving eyes, Arne suddenly felt a gaze and jerked his head up.

Cain was looking down at him with a cold face.

As if he had expected this to happen, calmly and indifferently.

“You, you… what did you do to my heart…! Kuhack…!”

Arne collapsed on the floor before he could finish speaking. Cain clenched his teeth as he silently watched Arne writhing in agony, twisting his limbs.

Five years ago, Cain had made a contract with Helasio to hold Jella’s soul, giving his heart in exchange.

However, it required tremendous power to keep a soul that should depart to the spirit realm bound to the earth, and because of this, Cain’s pure heart was rapidly being tainted by Helasio’s demonic energy.

If his heart couldn’t withstand the demonic energy and shattered, it would go berserk.

This was something neither the demon dragon Helasio nor the three men wanted.

If Cain were to go berserk and lose her soul before Niel could bring her body from another dimension…

So Helasio came up with a desperate measure.

To create a temporary vessel that could contain the demonic energy whenever it threatened to overflow from his heart.

Upon hearing this, Yupheon divided the divine core he had stolen into three parts and gave them to the two men.

He had embedded the core in his soul with the desire to meet Jella again, but he was able to do this because he had no attachment to the divine power.

And over the past five years, the divine core that had absorbed the overflowing demonic energy now became a trap to annihilate Arne.

Although he spat it out immediately upon detecting something wrong, the terrible demonic energy had already attached to Arne’s soul.

“Aaaaaargh!”

Arne rolled on the floor, screaming in agony.

Despite his seemingly expressionless face, Cain’s fingertips twitched subtly as he watched this.

He had to repeatedly remind himself in his mind that the being with his master’s face was not his master but something else.

Nevertheless, Cain felt her pain as if it were his own when he saw her face contorted in agony.

He had to barely restrain the urge to embrace her immediately.

“Huk, heok…”

Arne, who had been gasping face down on the floor, suddenly glared at Cain with bulging eyes.

“You, what did you do, heuk… to my heart…”

“Get out of that body now.”

Cain spoke in a calm voice to Arne, who was glaring fiercely.

“Stop tormenting her and get out now.”

However, there was a subtle crack in that seemingly calm voice.

Noticing this, Arne immediately sensed what Cain feared.

Arne burst into giggles, then flashed his eyes.

“You’re worried that something might happen to this woman.”

“…”

Reading the answer from Cain’s silent face, Arne rushed at him and shouted:

“Give me back my heart right now!”

Crash!

The two fell to the floor together. Cain gritted his teeth and subdued her by pinning down Jella’s arms and legs.

“Jella.”

“Heu… uk…”

Cain’s blue eyes pierced into her struggling eyes.

“You’re in there, aren’t you? I’m sorry I’m late. I should have been by your side protecting you, but I foolishly left your side and made you suffer again.”

Cain spoke to her in a clearer and more distinct voice than ever before.

“It’s my fault. Please come to your senses and scold me.”

Arne, struggling beneath Cain, sneered at him as he addressed Jella with such a serious voice.

“How foolish. No matter what you say, this woman’s soul is already…”

It was at this moment.

Arne’s movements, which had been mocking Cain, suddenly stopped, and his expression twisted strangely.