Chapter 2: The Great Reversal

Not only did Bai Jin’s face sting with fiery pain, but a sense of guilt for deceiving Lilith also arose in her heart.

Bai Jin couldn’t decide on matters like transmigration.
As for occupying Lilith’s sister’s body, all she could say was sorry.

The chains slowly tightened with Lilith’s movements, gradually pressing into Bai Jin’s flesh.
Beads of blood seeped out, bringing Bai Jin a piercing pain.

“You told me to live well, to forge an undying contract.”

Lilith looked up at Bai Jin, her eyes unfocused, it was unclear if she was speaking to Bai Jin, or to her former sister.

“But I only want to be with Sister forever, why…”

Lilith’s unfocused eyes grew misty, and crystalline tears streamed down continuously.

“Why did you have to leave me…”

Lilith threw herself into Bai Jin’s arms, crying her heart out.

Seeing the tear-streaked Lilith, Bai Jin felt a stir of emotion.
She wanted to say something, but the memory of the previous slap blocked the words in her throat.

“For these five hundred years, I’ve always wanted to revive Sister. For that, I’ve even tried all sorts of evil arts, as long as it could save Sister…”

“But I’ve tried every method, except for that soul-summoning spell. Do you know, when you woke up from the sacred coffin, I really thought Sister had returned.”

“I really thought we could be together forever.”

Lilith’s tears soaked the front of Bai Jin’s chest.
She continued to speak, as if pouring out all the bitterness in her heart.

Bai Jin desperately wanted to know what to do now.
In her past life, she was a straight-laced guy, she had no experience handling emotional relationships.

Yes, Xiao Chunan didn’t even know how to comfort people.

And now, Bai Jin was trussed up, the pain from the cross-shaped chains was unbearable.

Even the most good-tempered person would have feelings in this situation, right?

Yes, even if Lilith wanted to resurrect her sister, was it Bai Jin’s fault that the wrong soul was summoned?
This wasn’t a situation she wanted to see either; she just wanted a peaceful life.

“Since you’ve already seen through me, then you should accept reality!”
Bai Jin endured the intense pain, roaring in a raspy voice.

“Lilith! Your sister is already dead!”

Lilith cried while pounding Bai Jin’s chest with her small fists.
“Sister isn’t dead! She’s just staying in the Underworld and doesn’t want to come out, it’s all your fault, you!”

Although these coquettish punches didn’t feel like much on a cushioned area, each blow caused the chains to tighten a little more.

Especially the one wrapped around Bai Jin’s neck.
Bai Jin’s face flushed red, and each breath was a struggle.

“I’ve fallen into your hands, kill me or cut me up as you please!”

Bai Jin roared furiously, with the despair of someone who had nothing left to lose and a trace of resentful grievance.

Lilith’s crying stopped abruptly.
She took a step back and slowly raised her head.

Her tear-washed eyes were no longer misty, but instead held a sediment of almost crazed obsession, staring fixedly at Bai Jin.

“Kill you? Cut you up?”
She murmured, but the corner of her mouth curved into a cold and twisted arc.
“That would be too easy for you, you thief who occupies my sister’s body. I will completely annihilate your soul, then I can use the soul-summoning spell again…”

Before she finished speaking, Lilith suddenly raised her hand, her palm aimed at Bai Jin’s head.
The crest on her forehead bloomed with a scarlet light, and blood-red runes and lines slowly emerged from behind her.

A cold, viscous, and intensely ominous aura gathered in her palm, emitting a fluctuation that made one’s soul tremble.

Bai Jin’s pupils shrank.
She could feel that power aimed directly at her soul.
A huge fear, originating from the very instinct for life, seized her.

Struggling was also futile.
The chains were deeply embedded in her flesh, grinding against her bones until they creaked.

She spoke of taking life and death lightly, but when it came down to it, the instinct for survival and the powerlessness of reality made Bai Jin feel despair.

Lilith coughed up a large mouthful of blood, her raised hand trembling constantly, but there was not the slightest waver in her eyes, only the madness of an all-or-nothing gamble.

Even though she knew Lilith was about to unleash her ultimate move, Bai Jin, trapped in a fatal predicament, couldn’t stop replaying Lilith’s words and the experiences of the past three days.

At this moment, Bai Jin felt a pang of sympathy for Lilith.
Perhaps her sister was her only family.

But her own arrival not only failed to give her the slightest bit of care, but she also hypocritically played the role of a “sister” for the sake of her own wonderful life.

The lines and runes behind Lilith intertwined into a complete, massive magic circle.
Her small body was also torn by numerous wounds from some unknown force.

The pure white priest’s robe was dyed red with gushing blood, turning her into a figure of blood!

“Give me back… my sister!”

[Holy Blood Contract · Soul Annihilation]

Boom—!

The torrent of impact, condensed to its limit, like a solid pillar of black light, slammed violently into the space between Bai Jin’s eyebrows!

‘I’m sorry… although I’m just an outsider…’

‘But if I had another chance, I would definitely become your sister… Lilith…’

In an instant, Bai Jin could no longer feel the intense pain in her body.
Her consciousness felt as if it were being brutally “dragged” out of its shell by an irresistible force!

Her vision was engulfed by endless darkness, and in her ears was a sharp whistling sound, as if space itself were being torn apart.

She felt like a falling leaf in a violent wind, swept into a cold, silent, and boundless vortex.

It was unknown how much time had passed, perhaps an instant, perhaps an eternity.

Bai Jin felt light and ethereal, the previous intense pain seeming like an illusion.

‘Am I dead? Is this the world after death?’

‘Is this… the Underworld Lilith spoke of?’

There were no mountains of corpses or seas of blood as imagined, no wailing souls, no legendary Styx ferry or Hall of Judgment.

Only a… suffocating emptiness.

A grayish, seemingly solidified mist permeated the surroundings.
Overhead was a gray expanse, with no stars, sun, or moon.
There was only an extreme cold and silence, as if time itself had frozen here.

Dead silence, absolute dead silence.

Bai Jin looked around, her heart filled with only shock and bewilderment.

‘Although the Underworld shouldn’t be too lively, isn’t this state of utter silence a bit abnormal?’

‘In this space devoid of everything, would anyone really be willing to stay here forever?’

Just then, Bai Jin felt a hint of something unusual.
The violent power Lilith had driven into her soul had not dissipated with Bai Jin’s separation from her body.
Instead, it had taken root deep within her soul and produced a strange resonance with this silent Underworld.

Hum…

An indescribable throb came from the depths of her soul.
The surrounding gray mist, which seemed solidified, as if summoned, began to slowly converge towards Bai Jin’s soul like trickling streams!

This mist did not have a cold and dead aura, but was a gentle, pure, primordial power carrying some ancient will.

This power actively merged into Bai Jin’s consciousness, washing, filling, and transforming her.

[World Line Fluctuation Detected…]

[Contract of Fate Unfolding for You…]

[Activation Failed…]

[Insufficient World Origin…]

A grand voice, neither male nor female, as if the world itself were whispering, resounded directly in Bai Jin’s consciousness.

There was no cold, mechanical feeling, only an ancient and vast will.

‘Who? What is this? A system?’

In that instant, Bai Jin’s mind raced with many thoughts.
After all, her current situation was already fantastical enough.

But the development of events interrupted Bai Jin’s thoughts.
All the mist in this space began to rush towards her, forming a huge vortex with Bai Jin at the center.

[Vacant Contract of Fate Detected…]

[Conditions Met…]

[Authority 『Reversal』… Binding…]

Authority: 『Reversal』!

Bai Jin instantly understood the essence of this authority—it was not a simple turning back of time to change an outcome, but a subversive interference with a “predetermined state.”

『Reversal』 could act on “life” and “death,” “existence” and “disappearance,” “rules” and “exceptions,” and so on, possessing unimaginable power at the boundaries of the world constructed by laws.

And the power that drove this authority was that mist—no, it was the power of death that had become the world’s origin! It was the divine power of the God of Death!

Just as she had just understood this power, a powerful and irresistible suction force suddenly came from the void!

“In my name—Lilith Lancaster—binder of the Holy Blood Contract, I call upon the soul wandering the Underworld—Bai Jin Lancaster! Return now!”

Lilith’s voice carried a sense of ethereality, yet it penetrated the boundary between life and death, resounding clearly in Bai Jin’s consciousness.

The powerful soul-summoning force, like an invisible grappling hook, accurately latched onto Bai Jin’s consciousness, intending to forcibly pull her back to the world of the living.

‘You’ve got to be kidding me, right? So the soul-summoning can only summon me?’

Bai Jin subconsciously resisted.
She had just come into contact with the power of this Underworld, just obtained this magical authority.
She didn’t want to go back to face that crazed Lilith and the cruel cross.

[In-transit Contract Detected, Reverse?]