Shadow travel.
Clelia moved through the shadows, completely unconcerned about the pollution from the Red Moon.
’No matter how potent the polluting force, isn’t it still blocked by these ordinary stones?’
’Eternal life. Gods are inviolable. The Red Moon is incorruptible. This is the truth.’
’To achieve eternal life, one must be greater than the gods and more terrifying than the Red Moon. Only then can one live forever through the turn of epochs and the death of worlds.’
With all sorts of random thoughts running through her head, Clelia casually searched for the ordinary people infested with Bone-Eating Worms.
’How dare he not believe ? Hmph. I’ll just have to show him what a bored person is capable of...’
That’s right.
The only reason she’d decided on a whim to stop the Abyssal Sect’s sacrificial ritual was simply because she was bored and looking for a little fun.
Her original goal had been to get revenge on that old man, but after an entire night of trying, she hadn’t managed to harm him in the slightest...
Clelia began her search in the north of the Caster City State, passing through Golden Street all the way to the Laos District in the south, but she found nothing.
’Not in Yidrisu, and not in the slums... Is the Abyssal Sect this good at hide-and-seek?’
The Caster City State was only so big. She refused to believe she couldn’t find those hosts.
With this in mind, Clelia switched between several of her puppet bodies.
Natali, Dumitru... Ruer, huh?
Ruer District!
’Found you, my little darlings~’
Inhabiting the body of a wretched, scrawny man, Clelia gave her lips a "seductive" lick, completely ignoring the black bread crumbs caked into his mustache.
’If I’d known they were this close, I would have co from the slums. I wasted so much ti for nothing.’
’Let’s see which mber of the Abyssal Sect has co...’
"Thousand Faces?" a cool, detached voice asked.
Clelia’s puppet body froze. She turned to face the speaker. "So, you’ve found out~"
"I saw your earlier conflict with the Favored One from the Despair Sect. We haven’t been formally introduced. I’m Bolsen Heiki."
The newcor was tall and slender, dressed in a long, dark green robe. A pure black mask covered his face, revealing only a pair of dark green eyes that stared calmly at Clelia.
"Oh, so you’re the Abyssal Sect’s newest Favored One."
Clelia had heard his na before. She adopted a coy tone. "Was that you in the northern Yidrisu City State last ti, too?"
"It was," Bolsen admitted.
"The Abyssal Sect has been very active lately. What are you planning?"
"The One... is hungry."
Huh?
’He answers every question directly? What’s going on?’
Clelia frowned, the puppet’s wretched, triangular eyes narrowing. "You’re just telling this? Isn’t sothing like that supposed to be a secret?"
"They did tell to keep it a secret," Bolsen said with a calm nod. "However, I don’t think it’s sothing that needs to be concealed."
"..."
For so reason, a chill crept over Clelia.
Based on her knowledge of the Abyssal Sect, all its followers signed contracts with Abyssal Creatures.
Over ti, their personalities would gradually morph to resemble those of their contracted Abyssal Creature.
’In other words, he’s contracted with a very honest Abyssal Creature?’
’Or... one so arrogant it believes it can disregard any and all obstacles...’
"Can you tell why you are here? Do you intend to interfere with the offerings we have collected?"
"No, of course not. You’re overthinking things~"
Clelia was secretly on high alert. Her abilities made her difficult to expose or capture, but that didn’t an it was impossible.
After all, Wei’en had been able to see through her, and the old man she’d encountered last night had managed to injure her real body...
"That’s good. Otherwise, I would be quite troubled. If there’s nothing else, please leave."
Bolsen seed to believe her. "If they were to find out I killed a mber of the Eternal Life Association, they would likely be very displeased."
"..."
’What an infuriating thing to say... No, wait. Where does he get this confidence?’
Clelia’s expression darkened. "Are you so sure you can keep here?"
"Keep you?" For the first ti, a flicker of sothing disturbed the placid surface of Bolsen’s eyes. "Killing you would be easier. Why would I want to keep you?"
"Heh heh~"
Clelia was so angry she laughed. "Then you’re welco to try... huh?"
POP!
A soft, almost inaudible bursting sound echoed.
"You?"
Clelia looked down in disbelief at the large hole that had appeared in her chest. Not a single drop of blood flowed from it.
"It was simple. Not difficult at all."
Bolsen tossed the still-steaming contents of his hand onto the ground: flesh from the sternum, the heart, the liver and spleen, muscle and bone from the back...
"What... What is the Abyssal Creature you’re contracted with?"
"Oh, you an it?" Bolsen pointed behind her. "Look. It’s been there the whole ti."
Clelia stiffly turned her head. Her gaze started at the Abyssal Creature’s toes and traveled upward. "What... what is that?"
A towering Abyssal Creature stood behind her, balanced weightlessly on its tiptoes.
Its body was dozens of ters tall, yet it didn’t look strong. On the contrary, it was so slender it looked like gray scales stretched over a skeleton.
A tongue, even longer than its body, slowly descended. It coiled around the chunks of at on the ground and lifted them into its mouth to chew.
Its long, narrow, sinister eyes gazed dispassionately down at Clelia’s tiny puppet body. "Bolsen, her real body is not far from here."
"I know." Bolsen, who was also watching Clelia, asked again, "Are you sure you’re not leaving?"
"Wh-who said I’m not leaving?"
"Then goodbye. I apologize for being a bit heavy-handed just now."
"...See you next ti."
As her words faded, Clelia silently severed her control over the puppet.
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