In the aftermath of Graviel’s demise, the Armageddon Cult.
Within the shadowy depths of one of their strongholds, a masked man adorned in a flowing red robe sat in silent meditation. His form was illuminated only by the flickering torchlight, casting shifting shadows that danced across the chamber’s walls decorated with ominous runes and sigils.
As the masked man delved deeper into his meditation, an intangible energy enveloped him, suffusing his being with strength beyond comprehension. Yet, just as he began to revel in the empowering surge, a sudden jolt disrupted the tranquility. With a gasp, he convulsed, coughing up a mouthful of blood that stained the stone floor beneath him. The rupture of a blood contract sent shockwaves through his body, severing a connection that bound him.
Frowning slightly, he slowly rose to his feet and stated, “That pawn, Graviel, is dead. Who dared go against the Armageddon Cult?”
In a flash of negative energy, a strange creature materialized before him, its form twisted and otherworldly. It resembled a beholder, its pink, meatball-shaped body adorned with numerous eyes of varying sizes, each glinting with unnatural intelligence.
“What’s your question, arcane seeker?” asked the strange creature in a menacing voice.
The masked man narrowed his eyes. “Tell me,” he demanded, “how did he die?”
The creature's central eye fixed upon him and glowed. “Killed by an unknown Elemental Adept Magus,” answered the creature.
“Location?”
“The Luminous Kingdom, somewhere inside the Thornwood Forest.”
“Interesting.” A slow smile spread across the masked man’s lips as he went into deep thought.
The Thornwood Forest was a secluded place within the Luminous Kingdom and not many magicians ventured there. This meant that Graviel likely had found the inheritance of a Magus he provided him with and didn’t report it to the Cult. For him to go against him, one of the executives under the Harbingers of Doom, meant that the inheritance he found was of a very high quality.
The masked man pondered the situation. He could have expended more energy to inquire for more information about the circumstances surrounding his pawn’s demise, and the inheritance was enough as an incentive to do so. Still, in a kingdom as vast as the Luminous Kingdom, searching for a mere individual would consume precious resources and risk exposing the Cult’s movements to unwanted attention. Moreover, he couldn’t make a move right now because of the old hidden injuries in his body.
“What a setback,” he muttered grimly. “No matter, though. There are still many others like him in the Luminous Kingdom. Besides, all the other executives of the Cult have yet to reveal their hands. We can afford to proceed slowly.”
Of course, he harbored no intentions of letting off the assailant who had killed his pawn. The debt must be repaid tenfold. Plus, if the inheritance was useful, he could present it to the Cult. Thus, he sent a magic transmission to his underlings to prepare a ritual to summon forth a low-level champion of the outer god — a formidable entity capable of devouring its prey and absorbing its power. It should be more than enough to take care of a middling Elemental Adept Magus. Though it would take time for the champion to arrive, its eventual arrival would spell doom for the ignorant fool who dared to cross the Armageddon Cult.
“Foolish ignoramus. You will pay dearly for daring to challenge the might of the Cult and killing one of my pawns.” And with that, he sank back into meditation.
***
Elara slowly regained consciousness — her mind shrouded in a dense fog of confusion and disorientation. The last thing she remembered was the trials inside the mechanical tower, and her memories of the second trial were gone, as if it had never been there. And as her senses gradually sharpened, she became aware of her surroundings; it was a dimly lit room with unfamiliar walls closing in around her. Panic bubbled within her chest as she realized she was bound and restrained with some kind of spell and chains alongside her companions, her limbs feeling heavy and immobile.
Blinking groggily, her heart sank as she realized the gravity of their situation. “Where… where are we?” she murmured, her voice trembling.
A small detail that she started to notice was the chilling sensation coursing through her body, sending shivers down her spine. It was as though she had been encased in ice before being thawed. If it wasn’t for her strong constitution, she wouldn’t end up with just shivering.
Jared, Dorian, and Rowan stirred beside her as they too began to awaken from their enforced slumber. Dorian was the first to fully rouse and muttered with furrowed brows, “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know…” Elara replied. “Does anyone remember anything after we entered the second chamber?”
“Sorry, no.” Dorian shook his head.
“Of course not!” Jared shouted in frustration. “Shit, why am I chained?!”
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It appeared that none of them remembered anything after entering the second chamber of trials. Any recollection of the events was fragmented and a blur at best. Though Elara couldn’t shake the feeling that something had gone terribly wrong, that they had been caught in the midst of a disagreement and a scuffle for whatever reason before losing consciousness.
“Where’s Sir Graviel? What the heck actually happened?!” Jared attempted to break free from his restraints but to no avail. Even his attempts to cast magic failed, leaving him feeling powerless and trapped.
The realization struck them like a thunderbolt — they could not use their magic power, rendering them helpless to escape from this place. And to compound their distress, their leader, Graviel, was nowhere to be found. As if the situation couldn’t get any worse, they discovered that all of their belongings had been stolen. It was the worst kind of situation imaginable.
Rowan, who had been silent, smirked in disdain. “Stupid. You three are beyond help.”
“What’s that, you lowly dog?!” Jared lunged forward, about to give Rowan a lesson, only to be abruptly halted by the unyielding chains that bound him. “Ugh! Dammit! Why are you still alive?”
Rowan didn’t answer and simply mocked him with his face, causing Jared to become angrier.
“Calm down, you two. It seems that we’ve been captured,” Elara replied grimly, her eyes darting around the room in search of an escape route. “But by who?”
Before anyone could offer an answer, the door creaked open, revealing the figure of a person they least expected. Elara’s heart skipped a beat as a surge of fear coursed through her veins. The person in question had striking blue hair and a sharp, handsome face, wearing a stylish acolyte robe. At first glance, he was quite an ordinary magician.
However, it was none other than Victor — the one that they had assassinated for his artifact fragment!
Victor approached them with an air of authority, his stature a total contrast from the figure they had once known. “Welcome back, my dear comrades,” he greeted with a smile that was certainly masking his true expression.
“V-Victor! You’re still alive?!”
Elara was speechless. The others were not much better as they could barely utter a few words of disbelief. This was beyond their wildest imagination, but it also connected all the dots. Every strange incident happening all the way from the village to the pocket dimension was finally explained, with the culprit being the young man before them.
Unmistakably, they had countless questions swirling inside their heads, but it was futile to ask these questions at this point.
“So, you were the one who destroyed that mechanical beast…” Rowan murmured and appeared to have resigned to his fate.
The mechanical beast? Everyone here knew well that they were no match against the mechanical beast in the first chamber. For Victor, who had been no stronger than they were, to manage to defeat it meant that he had become much stronger than before, which also meant that they were at his mercy. This realization brought despair to everyone present.
On top of that, Elara noticed a strange mana fluctuation coming from him, so she meekly raised a question: “Victor, have you advanced to Elemental Adept rank? But that’s impossible…”
“Take a guess.” Victor’s way of speaking confirmed their doubt.
“What do you want from us?” Jared demanded, still unwilling to accept the reality.
Victor merely smirked and took a step closer. “Simple. I want your loyalty,” he replied. Even though his tone was calm, it sent a chill down Elara’s spine. Her gut was telling her to flee as far as possible, yet the chain and magic seal didn’t allow her to do so.
“Ptui. You want our loyalty? Keep dreaming!” Jared snickered in disdain.
“Victor, give up. We won’t be your dogs,” Dorian advised, trying to assert dominance. “Release us, return our belongings, and we can swear a magic oath never to return. Let bygones be bygones.”
Elara nodded and said through gritted teeth, “Letting us go is your best option. You don’t want our families to—”
“Are you threatening me?” Victor shot a malicious glance at her, sending a wave of fear through her trembling body.
“Pfft, after all you’ve done to me, now you want to let the past slide?” Victor raised an eyebrow as though looking at a bunch of fools. “I never said that I need your consent.”
What?
Elara and the other acolytes couldn’t believe their ears. Whatever he was trying to do, it was definitely not something good for them.
“You, don’t come ne—! Agh!”
Without allowing him a moment to protest further, Victor’s hand seized Jared’s with an ironclad grip, and he started to chant an incantation. Crimson tendrils of shimmering energy coiled around Jared’s skull, penetrating his mind. Despite Jared’s best attempts to resist, his struggle soon waned, leaving only vacant eyes staring blankly ahead.
As Victor released his grip, Jared stood motionless for a moment before quickly kneeling before him — a polar opposite of his former self. “Please, give me an order, Master.”
The sight was chilling. Jared, the most unbridled and disdainful of Victor, now reduced to a mere puppet under his control. Watching all this transpiring, Elara was frozen in horror at the side. The spell that Victor used was none other than the forbidden mind-controlling spell. And now, she was going to be turned into a mindless puppet like him.
The Victor she once knew would never dare to do this, would not be this terrifying. He was completely different from the one she knew. Where had the original him gone? What had become of him? These questions haunted Elara as she was consumed in despair.
One by one, those around Elara were transformed into mindless puppets. They willingly kneeled in front of him like loyal servants ready to carry out his every command.
Finally, Victor turned toward her and pointed at her coldly, saying, “You are the last.”
Elara closed her eyes. She couldn’t deny the wrongs she had committed, forsaking the friendship that had been built over years, all for the sake of her family and her own selfish ambition. Pursuing the truth and uncovering the secrets of the universe was the dream of all Magi, but now, faced with this hopeless predicament, she felt that all of this had been for nothing.
Elara had prepared herself for the inevitable, but to her surprise, Victor spoke again. “For you, I will let you retain your emotions and thoughts. Be grateful.”
Instead of being relieved, she trembled, her teeth chattering nonstop; to be a conscious vessel under Victor’s control was a fate worse than to be turned into a mindless puppet. Not being able to do anything according to her will would be like a living prison. A fate worse than death!
“No…!”
“Don’t worry, you will be well-liked by the players as an important NPC. Haha,” Victor assured, quickly gripping her face just like he did to the others.
Elara had no chance to question his words before she felt a wave of dizziness, and her mind became clouded with confusion. She tried to resist, to cling to her sense of self, but it was futile. Bit by bit, her will eroded, until there was nothing left but subservience — not a single thought of defiance resided inside her no more. Although her face was full of despair, she could no longer muster the will to resist.
This was her new life.