“Stop!”
Elaine’s voice was heard behind Malek.
But it wasn’t a voice of fear. It was a voice that was half commanding, half possessed by evil.
Malek looked back annoyed, then smirked.
Because Elaine was pointing a sharp dagger at her chest.
[Where on earth did you get such a dangerous thing?]
Although Malek didn’t seem surprised, Elaine gripped the dagger—given to her by Serge for self-defense—tightly and shouted:
“Let the butler go! Or I’ll stab my heart with this.”
[What kind of threat do you think that is to me? You, whether you die or not—]
“What about the magic core attached to my heart? If I stab my heart with this dagger, what will happen to that?”
Only then did Malek stop.
And Elaine, who had half been bluffing to provoke him, realized she was right—if she stabbed her heart, the magic core would also be damaged.
“Please send the butler back. I am the one you need anyway.”
Malek clicked his tongue and returned to his human form.
“Well, it would be foolish to waste my energy on such a stupid demon…So let’s do that.”
Then, he teleported Hubert, who had already lost consciousness, to the front gate of Count Lindell’s house.
“Are you sure you sent the butler back?”
“You’re quite a suspicious person. It’s funny that you came all the way here on your own two feet.”
“Answer me!”
“Do you really think I would go to such lengths to lie to a human being for something like this? So don’t test my patience any longer.”
Malek was smiling, but his eyes were eerily cold. Only then did Elaine, left alone with him, start to tremble.
‘A magic core in my heart… What does that even mean? He said it could defeat Rabes… So… I can’t let that monster get it!’’
Elaine tightened her grip on the dagger.
At that moment, Malek extended his magical power and tied Elaine’s dagger-holding hand. It was an attack that took advantage of the brief moment when Elaine wavered.
“Isn’t it you who’s the liar, not me?”
Elaine tried to drive the dagger into her chest with all her strength, but neither her hand nor the dagger moved.
“Why throw your life away so easily? At least you should die after being of help to someone.”
Malek smirked as he sent a light shockwave toward the stunned Elaine, making her collapse on the spot.
Malek, who had caught her before she hit the ground, frowned in displeasure as he saw the dagger fall to the ground a moment after he had supported Elaine.
He could sense her unwavering resolve to stab her heart for Rabes’ sake, even in her final moments of consciousness.
“Why is everyone so obsessed with that Rabes? It’s so annoying.”
The loyalty of others that he did not have was once again ruining his mood.
* * *
John was suddenly and secretly summoned to visit Sasha’s villa. It was a small, remote villa that was not even known to be Sasha’s.
[Please bring along two or three priests who are capable of performing the purification ritual and are loyal to the High Priest. Ensure this visit is not recorded in the temple’s schedule.]
John got out of the carriage and looked around the dark villa, recalling the letter of request that felt somehow dangerous.
Soldiers, seemingly well-trained, stood guard, signaling this was no ordinary matter. But he knew that the higher the risk, the greater the reward.
“Welcome, High Priest! Thank you for trusting me and responding to my request.”
“If it’s the request of the Marquise of Haberon, then I must grant it. But what on earth is going on? Even bringing priests skilled in divine power?”
“First, take this.”
Sasha handed a small box full of jewels to John and the two priests who followed him.
While John was used to that kind of thing, it was the first time the Priests who followed him had held so many jewels in their hands.
“What is this, Marquise?”
“I’m paying you in advance for today’s work. And I must also ask each of you to sign a confidentiality agreement. None of this must leak outside.”
Sasha’s insistence on both prepayment and secrecy made John chuckle nervously.
“No, shouldn’t we first hear what’s going on? What if my companions refuse?”
But Sasha’s lips curled into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“Oh, if that happens… I’m afraid I can’t let you leave.”
At first, it seemed like a joke, but the cold expressions on the knights behind her told them that this was no joke.
“Ah, hahaha! We need to go back to the temple, then we’d better sign those agreements, shouldn’t we.”
“Don’t worry, it won’t harm you at all. Hahaha!”
John and the priests smiled awkwardly and signed the agreements.
After signing, Sasha led them to a room where Malek, disguised as Abel, was waiting.
“High Priest! Thank you for coming. I appreciate your understanding that this is a very serious matter and that we must keep it a secret.”
“Your Highness! What on earth is going on?”
Instead of answering, Malek pulled back the cloth covering the couch in front of him. There Elaine was sleeping as if dead.
“Huh? That girl is from Count Newt’s—!”
“Yes, that’s right. That’s Elaine Newt.”
“I thought she was serving as Count Lindell’s chaplain. Why is she here?”
Malek said with a sad expression, as if he was in pain.
“I happened to find out that Miss Elaine was hiding an evil power.”
“What?”
“There’s demonic power rooted in her body. It must be removed. But if this becomes public, the Newt family will suffer. Now, do you see why I had to summon you in secret?”
John thought of Lorina, who had begged him to excommunicate Elaine, claiming she was a witch.
Now he can understand Lorina’s attitude of being impatient, saying that he would just have to produce evidence and not even hold a formal witch trial.
‘Even if she is an illegitimate child, if it is rumored that the young lady from the Newt family is a witch, both the Newt family and their allies, including the prince, would be in trouble.’
John nodded vigorously.
“You must have had a really hard time. This young lady has been living well, so I can’t believe she hid such wickedness”
“That’s right. I’d like to explain in detail, but I don’t have time. I’d like to ask you to purify Miss Elaine first.”
Then, two priests who had received John’s nod stood on either side of Elaine and took out their rosaries.
“We will now begin the purification ritual.”
Then, he began to recite the prayer to ‘remove the devil’, which was mainly used during the period when witch hunts were rampant.
It was a spell to forcibly extract the magical power that was circulating like blood within the witch’s body.
‘It’s a shame, but I have to get the magic core of Rabes like this. What can I do?’
Malek smirked internally, feeling Elaine’s magic flowing out of her.
Though he had originally planned to extract the core directly, the magical core that should have been attached to the heart had somehow become almost fused with Elaine’s heart, and the magical power that Rabes had given her was spreading through Elaine’s blood vessels to her entire body.
In that state, extracting Elaine’s heart did not result in obtaining the magic core.
In the end, Malek had to resort to complex methods.
He would need to extract all the magic from Elaine’s body and condense it himself to recreate the core.
In that process, humans with divine powers were needed, because it was impossible to extract magical power from the bodies of other beings with magic alone.
‘How ironic. I ended up borrowing the power of the priests I so desperately wanted to get rid of.’
The divine powers of humans were truly a headache for dragons, especially Malek, who wanted to rule the human world.
‘Perhaps this was the reason I worked so hard to win over the High Priest. This must be divine providence guiding me to conquer the human world.’
Malek commended his past self for enduring the discomfort of the divine barriers and regularly visiting the temple.
Meanwhile, the magical power flowing out of Elaine’s body was steadily taking shape on Malek’s hand. It was a slow but meticulous process.
* * *
