As Zoe slipped back out into the area between the cathedral and the—what. sacrifice chamber? She realized that she still hadn’t identified the source of the demonic mana. It seemed like it was just sort of rising up from the entire room with the altar and skeletons with no particular source.

Given that it also seemed fairly faint and stale, for lack of a better word, that most likely meant that it was just a general malaise that had seeped into the space over time. This implied that the room was frequently used for demonic activities. While this didn’t exactly bode well, it was probably still better than there being some other powerful demon hanging around to oppose Zoe.

That still left at least three powerful enemies, though. Zoe didn’t want to tangle with any of them—but then there was the matter of Millie.

As Zoe peered around one of the cathedral alcoves to check for the presence of the paladin, she reevaluated her goals. After all, was the girl really that important? Sure, leaving a child to be sacrificed, or perhaps worse, wasn’t a particularly good look. But at the same time, it wasn’t like there was anyone Zoe cared about who was watching.

Yeah, but thinking that way just means not caring about anyone at all. Zoe had only known Millie for a few days. She didn’t have any real responsibilities or obligations, and she had already saved the girl twice. Which means that it would be kind of annoying if she ended up dying here.

Zoe decided that she would plan around trying to save the girl. While she wasn’t honestly sure whether she was ready to truly lay her life down for someone else—well, she probably wasn’t—she also wasn’t exactly risk-averse. Might as well get some more information before abandoning the idea.

Fortunately, the space that Zoe had taken to thinking of as the cathedral seemed clear. After taking a few steps out into the open, she rapidly backtracked, finding herself back on the balcony overlooking the chamber with the skeletons, the lich, and the cultist. I never actually analyzed any of the skeletons. Given that Zoe’s immediate goal was information-gathering, it seemed quite silly to skip something so basic and vital while it was right in front of her.

Frustratingly, every single skeleton she analyzed returned the exact same unhelpful description.

{??? Skeleton - ???}

It pretty much mirrored what she had gotten when she analyzed the lich itself. Did that mean that all of the undead here were on roughly the same high power level? Zoe didn’t think so. After all, why would the minions be equal in strength to their master? No, I bet it’s because they’re all bound to the lich with magic. Perhaps the System sort of treats masters and minions the same.

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Assuming, of course, that the lich really was the overlord here. But I mean, that seems pretty damn likely—I mean it’s literally called a lich.

But strangely, {Predator’s Eyes} didn’t reveal any visible connection between them. While that eerie green mana slowly evaporated off all of the skeletons, it didn’t look like it favored any particular direction. I guess it’s probably some sort of death-related mana? Death? Necromancy? Who knows.

As for the lich itself, the figure was perfectly opaque. Probably not a good sign. Zoe vividly remembered her earlier experience with the bizarre violet magic not too long ago. The fact that whatever it was had nearly crushed her dispassionately before the gold of the System pushed back made her shudder. Can’t say I’m really a fan of this whole place.

Unfortunately, neither the lich nor Basil were doing anything interesting. The lich was still just staring at Millie, and Basil was just standing there with his eyes closed. He kind of looked like he was meditating. Honestly, maybe he is. Zoe wondered if he had some special demonic technique. Damn, and I ended up with water.

Oh well. The upgraded ability actually seemed pretty good. Slipping away from the edge again, Zoe froze as she locked eyes with the paladin—who was now standing in the center of the archway. While she was blocking the only exit, she wasn’t actually doing anything. Somehow, that made Zoe even more tense.

Shoving down her anger and fear, Zoe slowly, silently stalked forward. The paladin didn’t move—aside from her eyes, which continued to track Zoe without blinking. Stopping just a couple paces away, Zoe narrowed her own eyes as she towered over the other woman.

Swallowing, Zoe did her best to prepare herself to whisper as quietly as she could. She had no idea why the other woman was just sort of standing there—but she got the idea that the paladin didn’t actually want to reveal herself to the others. I can use that.

“Attack me and I alert the others,” she hissed. “Now get out of my way.”

The paladin glared. “You’re not one of them.”

“You aren’t either,” Zoe hissed back. “Now move.”

The lich interrupted them before the other woman could form a response. “Someone’s there. Basil, see to our guests.” The words were spoken with a careless disinterest—which of course, only made Zoe more alarmed. She glanced back, but she wasn’t able to see either of them. She turned around just in time to see the paladin’s glowing fist striking her in the chest.

It didn’t even hurt. Unfortunately, Zoe was caught so off guard that she entirely failed to prevent herself from being blasted backwards over the railing. Landing with a thud in the middle of the floor, she just groaned, internally cursing the paladin as she darted back through the archway and out of sight.

And then she scrambled to her feet, giving her best smile to the lich and the cultist chieftain. For the first time, she could see the former’s face. Or lack of one. It wasn’t even a skull. It was some kind of porcelain mask. Actually, I think that’s creepier.

Sticking out one of her right hands and pointing up at the balcony with the other, Zoe went ahead and introduced herself. “Hi, I’m a demon. I would say I don’t bite, but I definitely do. A level one-hundred-twenty-eight paladin of lux just pushed me off the edge there, which was kind of rude.”

Neither of the others said anything, so Zoe cleared her throat and continued.

“Want to help me kill her?”