It took Zoe embarrassingly long to finally think about Millie again. Ah shit. She hoped that the girl was okay. The best outcome would probably be that the child had been left back in the cavern that had formerly been the sloth den. After all, Zoe knew that she was generally capable of taking care of herself in the wilderness.

The other two possibilities were that she had also been taken into this ruined place as well, or that she had died. Honestly, none of them seem especially more likely than the other two. In any case, none of the options really left Zoe with anything to actually do proactively. If Millie had been left behind, it was honestly probably for the best. Zoe was practically a magnet for danger at this point.

In the case that the girl was also snatched away by the kraken—or something else—Millie would only find out if she happened to encounter her again here. That particular possibility would obviously be highly situational. It was useless to try to plan around it. Zoe wasn’t particularly keen on wandering around the endless corridors in search of Millie either—although, that’s sort of what she was already doing.

Maybe once I find out more about what’s actually going on and what this place is, it might become more practical. Maybe.

And finally, in the last case, well, Millie was dead. There wasn’t really anything to be done about that—not with Zoe’s current arsenal, at least. From the beginning, and even now—to a lesser degree—she was more about stopping people from dying than bringing them back. Or at least, stopping herself from dying. Usually.

Actually, I bet necromancy is a thing. I probably even had it as an option at the very beginning. But even then, that didn’t actually let her accomplish anything herself. It’s not like there are any necromancers nearby or anything.

Which was probably for the best. Wait, does {Devour} work on undead? Assuming they even existed, Zoe wasn’t sure at first, but quickly decided that it was probably ‘yes,’ as the ability seemed primarily magical in nature. Undead have to have magic, right? I mean I think it’s kind of a prerequisite for the concept…

With that in mind, Zoe decided that she actually did want to meet a necromancer. Maybe they’d be more friendly towards her than the paladins were so far. After all, she was a demon. Solidarity between evils, right?

Well, given her experiences with infernal cultists, pirates, and a hitherto unidentified but definitely shady organization, perhaps not.

Sighing, Zoe plodded along. Until she stopped, hesitated, twirled around, and took several steps back towards the side archway she had just passed. Peering down its rather featureless length, she scrutinized the staircase leading up at the very end not too far away.

It only had two torches and no decorations along the walls. But what caught her attention was the faint whiff of mana wafting out from it. Zoe focused as hard as she could with {Predator’s Eyes}. I’m pretty sure that’s demonic mana.

{Predator’s Eyes has leveled up! Predator’s Eyes is now level 3.}

Thanks. Brushing away the notification, Zoe quickly darted down the hallway to the stairs. Flattening herself against one wall, she peeked upwards. The stairs weren’t very long, rising straight up about a single story high. There was definitely demonic mana drifting down, though it was a bit stale.

But not so stale that it’s completely diffused away. She didn’t detect any hint of corruption, though, which was slightly reassuring. Nevertheless, the demonic presence was alarming and exciting in equal parts. After all, while it surely meant nothing good, there was also a decent chance that following it to its source would be informative.

Zoe ascended the stairs.

The staircase brought her to a grand hall with an architecture not unlike that of the first hallway she had started in—the not-secret one with the tall columns. Zoe emerged from a relatively small, unadorned and unimportant alcove along the ride side. Well, right according to the direction she felt that one was supposed to face. At the ‘front,’ the middle portion of the wall recessed into a trapezoidal alcove.

There was neither a raised platform nor altar, but it definitely reminded Zoe of a Christian church. Catholic, specifically. It was probably the faintly illuminated stained-glass and the gothic feel. Also, it did have a hexagonal stone pulpit on the left.

The rest was about what Zoe expected. Various alcoves and side passages, a high, vaulted ceiling ornamented with fancy, abstract stonework that probably had an architectural name which Zoe didn’t know about. A rear balcony, along with an imposing set of double-doors made of dark, greenish metal, flung wide to reveal—

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Zoe wasn’t sure. It looked like some sort of covered but otherwise outdoor walkway, but she couldn’t actually see anything beyond the rows of columns and the pale but natural light crisscrossing between them.

But that wasn’t where the mana was coming from. It was coming from around the corner of the wing leading off from the right. Marching forward, Zoe almost slipped on the polished-but-dusty floor. Silently cursing, she regained her balance and proceeded with greater care.

It really is quite dusty. But the air was completely clear, not musty or dusty at all. Like it’s been unused and sealed off for so long that all the dust is already settled. Even the dust is old and dusty.

Mildly amused for a moment, Zoe regained seriousness as she noted the spots where the dust was disturbed—a trail leading once again around the right. As she rounded the bend herself, Zoe caught sight of a little bit of green mingling with the red.

At first, she thought it was standard life mana. She quickly realized it was anything but. It was similar, but more—well, sickly wasn’t even quite the right word. Sickly still implied the existence of true life, even if diseased. This was more like a faded echo that had later gained a driving force of its own.

Zoe didn’t like it.

The right wing led to a smaller, but still rather broad hallway that was entirely unremarkable. Of course, a quick turn to the left led to a short trip through a tunnel reminiscent of one of the passages to and from the main seating of a large stadium.

Instead, Zoe emerged onto a peripheral balcony overlooking another rectangular chamber. Crouching down to a crawl, Zoe inched forward. For the first time since entering the hidden corridor, there was sound. It was a sort of faint, slow shuffling, occasional rattling, and general reverberation.

Reaching the edge, Zoe slowly peeked over from between the stone slats. A sharp crack followed by a reverberant boom caused her to flinch, but not before she caught sight of the altar, the skeletons, and the person in the robes.

Goddamned cultists! Zoe peered back over. Necro-cultists? There was actually only one non-skeletal figure, and they were standing over the altar. Well, they COULD be a skeleton. Can’t actually tell.

Of course, judging by the loudly approaching footsteps, someone else was coming as well. Flicking her gaze back at the altar-person, Zoe analyzed them.

{Lich (???) - ???}

Zoe swallowed. Probably not good. But then again, she hadn’t been able to see anything about the kraken. At least this time she got something to go on. Also, it was interesting to see that there was a region of power differences where the System would show her partial information. Apparently, it wasn’t just pass/fail.

Tearing her gaze away from the mostly visually uninteresting lich, Zoe analyzed the newcomer as he strode into view.

{Infernal Cultist Chieftain - 81}

Zoe blinked. I recognize that hair. And the coat. As if to confirm it, the lich greeted the cultist chieftain in a surprisingly natural and youthful voice. Oddly, Zoe couldn’t decide if it belonged to a man or woman.

“Basil.”

Zoe narrowed her eyes. Yep, same guy. Definitely tried to kill me. Thanks for the demon core though. I think. She still wasn’t sure if starting out with the whole demonic ascension thing was truly beneficial. Also, wasn’t he in the lower seventies then? It seemed he had gained quite a few levels. Not nearly as many as Zoe, of course, but it still pinged her interest as something unusual.

“I located one of our guests.”

The lich just gestured for him to proceed with a slow gesture of its robed hand. Or rather, arm. Zoe couldn’t actually see a hand under the ridiculous sleeves.

With a flick of his own hand, Basil dropped a small child onto the ground out of empty air. Dimly glowing red bindings coiled around her, much like the whip the cultist had used while fighting the paladin. Huh, looks like Millie went with option two.

At least it was better than option three—that is, being dead. Not yet, at least.

Zoe leaned back, thinking. She definitely needed to hear or see whatever was about to happen. While part of her wanted to leap down right then and free the kid, she was already hesitant to take on Basil, let alone at the same time as a Lich.

Seeing as how she could still see the female paladin’s level but was nearly obliterated, taking on the Lich probably wouldn’t work out too well.

Also, how did he just ‘produce’ Millie like that? Can storage devices store living things? The question brought to mind Zoe’s own storage ring, which she had never really used and lost during her corrupted transformation. Annoying.

In any case, nothing exciting seemed to be happening yet. Peering down again, Zoe saw that the Lich was hunched over the unconscious child, seemingly inspecting her. Zoe looked around for anything else of interest. Wait, I never analyzed any of the skeletons.

A subtle movement on the opposite balcony caught her eye.

Zoe tensed, and then just deflated. You have got to be kidding me. There, staring right back at her with wide eyes, was the female paladin. While her equipment was in no better shape, Zoe could tell at a glance that she was looking much healthier already.

Zoe stared back. There was zero doubt that the other woman had seen her. Inclining her head, Zoe pointed down at the lich, the cultist, and the girl. The paladin flicked her gaze down as well, then narrowed her eyes at Zoe.

Zoe shrugged.

The paladin disappeared back into the shadows, and Basil coughed. Zoe slumped against the stone. It never actually gets any better, does it.

Oh well. Guess it’s better than being bored. Scooting back into her own shadows, Zoe eyed the exit back into the hallway and the cathedral. I really hope this paladin lady can put aside our little differences for a common goal.

Though to be fair, Zoe wasn’t sure which side she should actually be on.

No. She did know. It’s me. I’m on MY side. If the paladin didn’t want to join her, that wasn’t Zoe’s problem.

It was hers.