The Ritual
No one gave chase; instead, Vina walked over to Camilla's side. As a Vampire, an arrow through the chest only left her severely wounded.
"Camilla, are you insane? Why did you block that arrow for that person!"
Camilla didn't answer; she just gazed in the direction where Beverly had fled.
Seeing her silence, Vina didn't press further, only forcing her to drink a potion to speed her recovery.
"Take this traitor back to be judged by the Queen."
Several blood slaves went forward to restrain Camilla, then they all returned to the camp.
Meanwhile, Beverly, who had fled, didn't notice a strange little object on her back—the feather at the end of Little White's arrow.
But how could an arrow brushing past at high speed possibly leave its feather behind?
The answer was simple...
Sensing Pelam's location, Serea, who was in the camp, murmured quietly.
"Run, morzada, let me see what secret you're hiding on your back!"
That's right. As soon as Beverly used that "familiar" power, Dogsius immediately confirmed it—that was Morzada's power, so Beverly was Morzada!
Serea believed those mysterious creatures' sudden appearance was definitely related to Morzada, so she had Pelam transform into a feather and attach herself to Beverly, in order to investigate her secrets.
And just like with Addis, this one had lost her token and posed no threat, so tailing her for information was the best deal possible.
If no useful intel came up, they would simply think of a way to recapture or eliminate her. With Pelam tracking, Serea could easily confirm her hideout anyway.
...
Back at camp, Camilla had already been restrained by anti-magic shackles, and her injuries had completely healed. As a Vampire, such power was incredible, yet it was a power Serea least wanted to see.
"Your Majesty, we've brought back the traitor."
Vina placed Camilla down, and Camilla knelt before Serea, head bowed.
"Do you know what you've done?"
"I'm... I'm sorry, but Beverly didn't mean it. She just isn't quite..."
"She's fake. Hiding beneath Beverly's shell is a lich's soul."
Serea revealed the truth. Hearing that, Camilla lowered her head.
"You must have realized it long ago."
"......"
Camilla remained silent.
"Unbelievable. To think that you, who always appeared so timid, would actually dare to do such a thing."
After saying this, Serea waved her hand dismissively.
"Even if you were forced to leave by that person, shielding her from the arrow is enough for me to suspect you. So, until we capture that person, you will remain imprisoned."
"I willingly accept punishment."
Upon hearing this, Serea issued her order.
"Vina, lock her up and guard her closely. No one may let her move freely without my command."
"Yes!"
Vina took Camilla and locked her up in the newly built dungeon.
Seeing the remaining people all filled with guilt, Serea said,
"That's enough, all of you go rest."
After dismissing the crowd, only Serea remained in the room.
"Morzada, morzada, let's see what scheme you've been holding back all this time for..."
...
Two hours later, at Lake Nos, a girl was staggering through the woods, her battered body barely covered by tattered clothing. Her entire body reddened from the cold, yet she kept wandering aimlessly.
"Finally got rid of them... but Adolf, where are you all..."
She called out feebly, but in response came a band of greedy goblins.
"Human female!"
The goblin elder, clutching his wooden staff, drooled at the sight of Beverly's lovely figure, and the other goblins glanced at her body with equally hungry eyes.
"Goblins!"
Having burnt part of her own soul, Beverly's spirit was too scattered for focus; unknowingly, she had stumbled right into a goblin ambush.
"But at least it's just a bunch of goblins, I can..."
Halfway through her sentence, Beverly froze, her pupils rapidly dilating.
Her own life force and mental power had been completely expended, and to fight goblins with such a broken body would only lead to...
Certain defeat!
"You... you lowly monsters, leave quickly!"
Beverly tried to stay calm, but her trembling words gave away her fear. For the once-mighty Demon King to fear a group of goblins was truly ironic.
But she could hardly be blamed. After all, her current body was that of a human woman, and her opponents were goblins. Anyone could imagine what kind of vile things goblins would do to a lone human female.
And now, her words seemed to have angered the goblins; they closed in, surrounding Beverly.
"Catch her!"
The goblins lunged. After taking out several with her dagger, Beverly broke through and fled.
"Bastards, wait till I find Adolf, then you're all dead!"
She said this, but for some reason, a wave of grievance welled up in her heart. If only Camilla were here...
"Ah!!!"
But she hadn't run far when she crashed into a mountain of flesh—before she could even see her assailant clearly, a huge force gripped her leg.
Picked up by the ankle and dangled upside-down by an ogre, she lost all power to resist.
"Got her."
"Hey, big guy, that's our prey!"
The goblins protested the ogre cutting in.
"This is Maregof's territory. This is Lord Maregof's prey. Pretty women—Maregof likes them."
With that, the ogre carried Beverly away.
Hearing Maregof's name, the goblins begrudgingly let their prize go, since Maregof was their lord.
"Let me go! Do you know who I am? How dare you treat me like this—wait till Adolf arrives, none of you will escape."
"Adolf?"
"Scared now? If you're scared, put me down immediately!"
"Ogres are never scared. Besides, Adolf is friend. Does not harm us."
"What did you say—you know Adolf?!"
Beverly's excitement showed involuntarily.
"Take me to him right now! I can give you anything you want!"
"No. Ogre will present you to Lord Maregof, not Adolf."
"Idiot! Maregof is nonsense—I want to see Adolf!"
Beverly ranted and raved, but the ogre ignored her. After joining several other ogre companions, they returned to the "goblin camp" at Lake Nos.
That's right—after the Jawfang lizardman tribe left, maregof immediately sent forces to seize this "ownerless land"—the original black pearl source, his dream territory.
After more than ten minutes, they arrived at a camp. By this time Beverly was hoarse from shouting, and as soon as the ogre let go, a group of goblins tied her up tight.
"You filthy, lower creatures—let Adolf see me!"
No matter how Beverly raged, no one paid her any attention, until some female goblins came to wash her up and dress her in clean clothes.
Meanwhile, the feather in which Pelam had transformed also drifted away.
Dressed as a handmaiden and still dazed, Beverly was taken to a large house. Pelam, who had transformed into a dwarf and tried to follow, suddenly felt a surge of powerful spirit. If she got closer...
She would be discovered—no question!
Pelam could only hang back at a safe distance to watch...
"Lord Maregof, this is the beauty we just caught in the woods."
A goblin said, and Beverly, now clad in a white handmaiden's dress, was pushed forward.
"Beauty? Your whole family's beautiful, you nasty freak."
Beverly retorted, and at this, applause sounded in the main hall.
Slap slap slap!
On the seat of honor sat a thin man wrapped in a black robe—clearly Maregof. But, different from before, now Maregof was surrounded by a bizarre aura.
Sensing that aura, Beverly immediately connected it to a person...
Adolf. It was his power!
"Hehehe, not bad. Quite a spirited beauty."
"Hmph, you have Adolf's power on you. Where is he!"
Knowing now that Adolf was here, Beverly didn't need to be afraid.
At her words, both Maregof, the girl in his lap, and a black-robed man beside him froze. Maregof looked at the black-robed man, who only turned his head slightly.
"I hear you're looking for Adolf?"
"That's right."
The black-robed man studied Beverly, then showed a faint smile beneath his hood.
"You really don't recognize who I am?"
"I don't care who you are! Where's Adolf!"
Beverly snapped. Adolf found it odd—he was right in front of her, she should be able to tell.
With growing suspicion, Adolf studied the girl and saw the clue.
The token was gone!
He recalled how they'd found out about Morzada's resurrection but then someone wiped her out again—by that logic, the person in front of them was indeed Morzada, but she had lost her power.
A powerless husk, was she? That meant there was now hope for the ritual...
Removing his hood, Adolf faced Beverly.
"Morzada, you've grown so weak that I'm invisible to you?"
"Adolf... you're Adolf!"
Beverly gasped with joy as Adolf gave a confirming smile.
"I finally found you!"
Beverly rushed up and hugged Adolf tight.
"Your current look... is certainly uniquely cute..."
Adolf said cryptically.
"Lord Adolf, do you two know each other?"
"Mhm. This is my younger sister."
Adolf replied. Beverly almost blurted "Who are you calling your sister," but realizing Adolf was maintaining a cover, she glanced at Maregof in the chief's seat.
Maregof...
Right, that was the sworn enemy of that nasty woman. So Adolf had actually been helping this guy against that woman all along.
"I've never heard you mention having a sister."
"I've just never had a chance. Now, Lord Maregof, could you give us some time alone?"
As Adolf spoke, a faint purple light flickered in his eyes. Controlled, maregof strangely agreed to such a suspicious request.
"Go ahead."
Alysta and Adolf took Beverly into a stone house.
Adolf stood; Alysta sat down and crossed her legs.
"Welcome back, morzada. The road must have been hard."
"That's not important. Now we're reunited—hurry, use your powers to help me reclaim the token. Then I can leave this body and be reborn!"
Beverly's voice trembled with urgency. Adolf pressed her into a chair, signaling her not to be hasty.
"First, tell us all about the token."
"Hmph, all because of that wretched woman!"
Beverly recounted her recent experiences, and both Adolf and Alysta's expressions shifted.
"Didn't expect you'd been through so much, but as for taking back the token... that can't happen now."
"Why not?"
"... To help you get the token back would take a huge effort, and we'd have to prepare a resurrection ritual for you, which would greatly slow down our 'mission'."
"But Addis is already dead, and the token is lost. If we don't recover the bone ring and necklace, do you expect just the two of you to finish the mission?!"
"Can't we?"
Adolf said. He touched the gemstone on his staff, triggering a mechanism—a spell circle lit up in the stone house.
The bright light made Beverly shield her eyes. When her vision cleared, the three of them had arrived at an underground chamber.
"This... is!"
Seeing the faint purple mud pit, Beverly's shock was visible.
"The sacrifice of a thousand living souls, countless magic crystals as power supply—all of these conditions are being provided for us by the esteemed Lord Maregof."
Adolf looked at the bubbling violet pit. The amazement on Beverly's face turned into wild laughter.
"Hahaha, you two really are something—so you tricked Maregof just for this! Now all the conditions are set, only..."
"Only the Demon King's soul."
"Yes. We need to look for Laviel's sealed tomb now. Once we find the traitor, we'll use her soul for the final ritual."
Beverly was ecstatic. Everything was going according to plan; once the ritual completed, regaining the tokens would be easy!
But what she failed to consider was that the original plan was to have all four Demon Kings awakened, then find and slay traitor Laviel to gain her soul. Now, however, only two Demon Kings were revived. If just Adolf and Alysta went after Laviel...
They would surely die!
All four had to act together. But why had Adolf said he didn't need to help Morzada get her token back?
Because Sacrifice required a "Demon King" soul. Laviel, as the traitor, was the first choice, but not the only possible one. If killing Laviel was too difficult, the target could be changed.
Adolf had even thought of using himself or Alysta for Sacrifice, but now there was another choice—Sacrifice a powerless, tokenless, helpless Demon King.
But Morzada knew nothing of this, for Adolf alone controlled the key information about the ritual; the other three merely assisted him.
"In any case, the ritual takes top priority. Morzada, stay in camp for now. When the ritual's done, we'll retrieve your and Addis's tokens."
"Alright, it's settled!"
Beverly agreed heartily, glancing at the purple mire.
"Camilla, just wait. As soon as the ritual is done, I'll settle the score with that nasty woman!"
Watching the determined Beverly, Adolf calculated quietly.
"It won't be much longer. The concentration of death energy in the jungle will soon be sufficient—when it is, the ritual can begin."
Everyone was plotting their own schemes. Outside, Pelam, unable to get closer, could gain no more information. To avoid being exposed, she quickly withdrew from the area.
Due to overwhelming feedback, the end of the last chapter was changed, making three backup chapters obsolete—painful, but readers come first. Don't worry, though—the main plot remains unaffected. That's all.
(To be continued...)
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