“It’s no use. You’re destined to be a sacrifice today. Save your strength and give up.”

Terrified, I swung the dagger wildly. A few strikes landed, but none were fatal. Instead, it only fueled his anger.

The soldier stepped on my hand. The intense pain made me drop the dagger, which he immediately kicked far away.

A rough hand grabbed my hair. The pain was so severe, it felt like my scalp was being torn off, and tears streamed down my face.

“Wait.”

For some reason, he crouched down next to me.

“I smell something delicious.”

His cloudy eyes fixed on the wound that had started bleeding again.

He dipped his finger in the blood and tasted it.

“As I thought… It’s so delicious. Can’t I just eat you?”

Drool dripped from his mouth.

He opened his mouth wide as if he really intended to devour me.

Imagining becoming part of such a foul creature filled me with despair.

‘Damn it… I’m going to become a wraith…!’

In what could be my final moments, I thought of Shahar.

If my soul was consumed by this creature, I wouldn’t be able to meet Shahar in the afterlife.

Which was more despairing: becoming a wraith or never seeing Shahar again? I wasn’t sure.

I closed my eyes tightly and curled up, bracing for the impending pain.

Thud!

Thud, thud!

I heard the dull sound of flesh being struck. It seemed the creature preferred its meat tenderized.

Instinctively, I curled up even smaller. The fact that the pain wasn’t as severe as the sound suggested was a small comfort.

No, in fact, it didn’t hurt at all. Even the pain in my scalp was gone.

‘Has my soul already separated from my body?’

“What are you doing?”

I opened my eyes to a familiar voice. Michalis was looking down at me.

“I came because I smelled something unpleasant. Looks like I arrived just in time.”

Michalis kicked the soldier. The heavy man’s body toppled backward. He seemed to have already fainted.

“Th-thank you, Michalis.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Michalis pried open the soldier’s mouth and pulled something out.

It was a small lump of clay, about the size of my fist. The lump squirmed, trying to escape Michalis’s grasp.

[Let me go…!]

The lump squeaked.

[If you let me go, I’ll give you half of that girl. Think about it. It’s not a bad deal for you!]

“Half?”

Michalis, who looked ready to crush the clay, paused.

His red eyes scanned me, sending chills down my spine.

“Hm. I must admit, it’s tempting.”

‘No way.’

“But you’re too insignificant to make such an offer. Not knowing your place is a sin.”

[W-wait…!]

Michalis didn’t listen and crushed the clay. It shattered and splattered messily.

He grimaced at the foul smell and flames erupted from his white hand, cleaning off the muck.

“What are these things? I smelled the same from the creature Ines summoned. Though it was stronger.”

“They are entities born from concentrated thoughts. Individually, they’re not strong, but together they can be quite powerful. The fishy smell suggests the core thought came from water.”

“…I understand that, but I can’t believe you didn’t notice until things got this bad.”

“Sorry. I underestimated that girl. But now that it’s happened, we need to clean up. Here.”

Michalis extended his hand to me.

But I hesitated to take it.

The momentary hesitation on his face earlier had been genuine. I couldn’t forget Janet’s warning either.

“Don’t worry. I won’t do anything unnecessary to you. Your mate wouldn’t let me off if I did. I’d end up like this.”

Michalis said, crushing the clay underfoot.

“We need to get help. If the fragments are this strong, the main body must be a big deal.”

I finally picked up the dagger from the ground and took Michalis’s hand.

After informing the temple and the security force, I returned to the mansion to a shocking sight.

The first thing I saw was Ines with her limbs twisted grotesquely. She surrounded herself with massive streams of water, fiercely attacking Shahar and Iscallion.

The two men seemed to struggle against her.

Not because they lacked skill, but because they couldn’t harm Ines and had to protect others at the same time.

Their fighting styles were mismatched. Ines manipulated the water freely to attack them.

Shahar’s similar fighting style was ineffective, and Iscallion, strong in close combat, couldn’t get near her. He was even unarmed.

Ines fought like a fish in water against the two men.

The rain intensified, and the water she controlled grew larger and more aggressive.

[Considering all your confidence, your skills are poor.]

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’ll be at a disadvantage as time passes.”

Despite the situation, Iscallion seemed unhurried as he deflected the water streams.

Shahar coldly retorted.

“But we’re running out of time too. The longer it takes, the more her life is drained.”

“So what? That’s not my concern.”

As Shahar said, Ines was far from normal. Blood streamed from her eyes, nose, and mouth, and her twisted limbs moved more like tentacles. She looked more like a zombie than a living person.

“What should we do, Michalis?”

“We need to extract the entity from Ines as soon as possible. Did you see what I did earlier?”

“Then let’s go quickly.”

“Unfortunately, I can’t go any further.”

Michalis smiled and shook his head.

I was taken aback, having expected his help.

“Why, why not?”

“I wasn’t invited.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem for you! Even if it’s a noble’s house, it’s still just a human’s home!”

“No, Ines offered this mansion to the entity. So the owner isn’t Ines or her family, but that entity.”

Michalis reached out his hand beyond the door. A transparent barrier shimmered and pushed his hand back.

“They don’t seem to welcome uninvited guests.”

“Break through it. What’s the point of your fangs?”

“Relying on others isn’t a good habit, Lou. As the heir of Enril, you must grow strong.”

Before he finished speaking, Michalis pushed me inside.

I glared at him in disbelief as he waved cheerfully and disappeared.

If only he’d keep quiet.

Annoyed, I had to admit he was right. I had always emphasized independence to Iscallion.

Right now, helping the two men was my priority.

Shahar couldn’t use his full power. The outcome depended on Iscallion.

With that in mind, I ran toward Ines, shouting.

“Hey! You stinking water ghost!”

[You’ve returned, heir of Enril. Have you chosen to become a sacrifice?]

“Ugh, your smell makes me want to puke. Don’t talk.”

[Arrogant girl. I shall offer your body and soul to awaken my master.]

Ines turned toward me. She seemed to think targeting me, the weaker one, was more efficient.

‘Good!’

Realizing she was now focused on me, I quickly turned and ran away.

But soon, water streams shot out from all directions, grabbing my limbs.

“Ugh.”

A groan of pain escaped me. Fortunately, Shahar flew in like lightning and cut through the stream of water. In the meantime, Iscallion targeted her exposed back.

Ines barely managed to fend off his attack, but she seemed somewhat confused with three targets to focus on. Amidst the chaos, perhaps due to the strain from her earlier movements, she suddenly coughed up blood.

[This wretched body…!]

Ines shouted in fury.

I was just as anxious. I was really worried that she might die like this.

Somehow, I had to make Iscallion neutralize her quickly.

I broke free from Shahar’s shield and ran towards Ines again.

Ines’s eyes flashed. As if determined not to make the same mistake as before, an even stronger and thicker column of water instantly surrounded me.

I held my breath and observed the situation outside the water. Everything seemed to move in slow motion.

Ines, with her mouth wide open in a bizarre manner, Iscallion rushing towards her exposed back, and finally, Shahar who had transformed into a giant scythe.

Ines didn’t have the energy to withstand both of their attacks simultaneously. She would surely die.

‘Why don’t they attack moderately…!’

I struggled desperately to stop the male leads, but none of them understood my intention. Instead, I ended up swallowing a lot of that disgusting water. Gradually, I began to feel suffocated.

I barely managed to pull myself together and focused on Ines. At this point, I had to move before Shahar or Iscallion.

I saw something inside Ines’s wide-open mouth. It looked much larger and dirtier than what had come out of the soldier earlier.