Chapter 113 : Hey, I Have an Idea

Tifna’s fingers dug into her palms, blood dripping onto the floor.

“Because you’re not like the others.”

Lillian’s words echoed in her ears. Now, she finally understood why.

Ever since she could remember, she had heard of family members dying every year. The story was always the same: they had died on the front lines, fighting against the demon invasion, their bodies torn apart, only a blood-stained relic brought back.

When she was five, she had hidden behind a pillar in the corridor, watching a Church knight deliver her father’s blood-stained relic. Her mother had held it, her face a mask of composure, her eyes red, but no tears fell.

At that time, she was too young to understand death. She only knew that some relatives would leave every year and never come back. Now, the same thing had happened to her father. She didn’t know where he had gone, only that he would never hold her again, his stubble brushing against her cheek.

“Brother… will Papa ever come back?”

“He’s just on a long mission. When he’s done, he’ll come home with presents.”

She remembered burying her face in her brother’s chest, his gentle words of comfort. But behind them, there was a terrible finality that she only now understood.

“I will find the truth behind all this.”

Blood dripped from her fingers. Why had it taken her so long to realize? The family cemetery was filled with empty graves. The Church knights always brought back only blood-stained relics, never a body.

The bloody truth was right in front of her.

She gripped the hilt of her sword. In that moment, her eyes changed.

She understood. She knew who her real enemy was.

Everything she had been taught, everything that had been ingrained in her, shattered in an instant.

She thought of what she had done, of what Lillian had said.

“Is it that important that she’s a demon?”

That day, the day Milly had revealed everything, she had been protecting them, saving them. But she had been blinded by the false, ingrained hatred of the Church.

She had wronged Milly.

“Milly…”

She looked back. She was gone. When she had broken down, Milly had gone deeper.

She entered the next area and saw the huge, rotten mass of flesh. An endless sadness filled her eyes.

“I know. I know everything…”

To achieve the Church’s goal, how many of her own people had been brutally murdered?

Of the younger generation, she was the only one left.

Just then, she heard a sound, like someone falling.

“Milly?”

On the wall behind the altar, she saw an open secret door. Milly was there. What had happened?

Tifna rushed in and saw Milly on the floor, her hands covering her eyes.

“Milly!”

She remembered Milly’s eyes had a problem. She shouldn’t be able to see. But from the dungeon to here, she hadn’t seemed blind.

Perhaps it was her demonic nature. She had seen Milly’s incredible healing ability. Her damaged eyes could have healed. But her powers were sealed by the Pope. Her healing ability was probably affected, not fully recovered.

Tifna didn’t know. She could only help her up and sit her down.

The room was filled with broken pillars, covered in symbols she didn’t understand.

This place was different from what she had seen before. If the previous areas were for the Church’s artificial Fell God experiment, then this place… she didn’t understand.

“Milly? Are you okay?”

Milly, rubbing her eyes, shook her head.

In that moment, Tifna felt a sense of déjà vu. The two of them, sitting together, it was like before, before their relationship had broken.

Could things still be salvaged?

“I’m fine. Just some dust in my eyes.”

The numbers in front of her were still counting down. She knew it was a countdown, but she didn’t know what would happen when it reached zero.

She could only guess.

When the time ran out, the world would be destroyed?

If so, it would explain Stacy’s motives. She knew time was running out, so she was pushing her to leave this world, so she could follow.

It seemed plausible.

But how would the world be destroyed? By a creator god, or by some great catastrophe? But the countdown had appeared after she had seen that sphere. It was related to the Church.

She could only guess that the old fool, no… the thing behind the old fool was up to something.

If she knew its identity, she might be able to figure out the true meaning of the countdown.

The only question was, could her appraisal skill see through it?

She had investigated enough. It was still before dawn. She would go to the demon territory to confirm a few things.

Recent events, the appraisal skill, the countdown, the words from her world on the pillars, all made her realize that this might not be the kind of other world she had thought it was.

But that was just a guess. She had to confirm it.

Tifna probably wouldn’t stop her from leaving now.

She stood up and brushed the dust from her clothes. If she had time, she would have changed. Running away like this, it was hard to hide.

Seeing Milly get up, Tifna slapped her forehead, then grabbed her hand.

“Milly, let’s go. Let’s leave the Church.”

She didn’t need to be told. She was going to leave anyway. But she was curious why Tifna was saying this.

“What is that old fool from the Church planning to do to me?”

“He… he said that when he returns, he will perform a thorough purification ritual on you.”

A thorough purification. So he was planning to kill her.

Milly stopped, pulling Tifna to a halt.

She had come to the underground to escape. But hearing that the old fool was planning to purify her, she suddenly changed her mind.

“I can’t go back now.”

“Milly?”

“This is a chance. Since the old fool wants to kill her, this is a chance.”

Someone wouldn’t just watch her die. Since the Church was so ruthless, they might accidentally kill her. Then, if that woman was still alive, she would surely come out.

Let’s see, Stacy, are you dead or not?