"But some sacrifices must be made for the greater good." Jeremy’s eyes rested on Seles’ motionless figure. "And I am sure... she wouldn’t mind helping her own father."

Alden barely stopped the smile threatening to appear on his face but Seles, smart as ever, still didn’t react, continuing to pretend she was unconscious.

Honestly, Alden was hoping she would be the first one to die and just as he saw Jeremy beginning to walk toward her, one clueless and reckless fool moved first instead.

Cedric.

His body vanished instantly before appearing right in front of Jeremy, a far brighter green glow erupting around him.

"I WON’T LET YOU TOUCH EITHER OF THEM!"

He roared loudly.

And at that exact moment, both Alden and even Seles sighed internally at the same time.

Idiot!!

But this wasn’t some fairy tale and this definitely wasn’t a story where the power of love and friendship could overcome everything and Cedric realized that the hard way.

The moment he got close to Jeremy—

Jeremy’s hand pierced straight through his chest as blood splattered across the platform as Jeremy slowly pulled out Cedric’s still-beating heart.

Thump!!!

Thump!!!

Thump!!! 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

The heart pulsed weakly in Jeremy’s hand, blood dripping from it in slow streams.

Cedric remained hanging there, Jeremy’s arm still impaled through his body and then slowly... he turned his head slightly to look at Alden.

"...I... am sorry..." Blood spilled from his mouth as he coughed weakly. "Alden... for everything..."

Another cough escaped him.

"And please... forgive me... for not being useful... even now..."

With those final words, the light in Cedric’s eyes faded away and his body went limp.

Alden looked at him calmly.

This was the same boy who had turned his life into a living hell. The same boy who had become one of the reasons behind his death and now, that very same boy was hanging there lifelessly, dying as pathetically as some insignificant extra.

Alden didn’t feel anything much except a faint trace of annoyance but he dismissed even that without much thought because he himself wasn’t in much better position.

"Ahh, he just had to ruin the order but no matter, I can simply switch their positions." Jeremy spoke coldly as he casually flung Cedric’s limp corpse away with a wave of his hand. "I will use his blood to carve the ritual circle and use Seles later to filter out the impurities."

Jeremy explained the entire process excitedly, almost like a child showing off a new toy. Holding Cedric’s heart in his hand, he began using it like a quill, drawing intricate patterns across the platform with blood.

Every movement was precise and deliberate.

Once every last drop of blood inside the heart had been used up, Jeremy pointed toward Cedric’s corpse.

Immediately, the blood pooled beneath the body, along with the blood still remaining inside it, began floating upward before flowing toward Jeremy as though it possessed a will of its own.

As Jeremy busied himself carving the ritual circle, Alden’s thoughts drifted elsewhere.

More specifically... toward Cipher.

Or rather, toward the strange way she had acted when handing him the button that had caused all of this.

Why did she do it?

Alden couldn’t understand.

Had Jeremy promised her something?

Or was there another reason?

But he immediately shook the thought away.

No... that shouldn’t be possible.

Vanya’s life was tied to his own or at least that’s what Cipher thought and she should know that if something happened to Alden, then Vanya’s life would also be placed in danger.

And just then, Alden’s eyes widened in realization.

Wait...

Was Vanya herself in danger?

Was Jeremy using her to threaten Cipher?

The more Alden thought about it, the more everything started making sense. If Vanya truly was in danger, then Cipher would absolutely prioritize her safety over his own, even while knowing their lives were connected.

Especially if Jeremy had promised not to kill Alden or perhaps... A way to break the pact between him and Vanya entirely.

"Tch."

Alden clicked his tongue softly.

Still, he didn’t feel particularly betrayed.

Deep down, he had always known something like this might happen eventually. After all, he had never truly trusted Cipher to begin with. Relationships built on deception rarely lasted long anyway.

His gaze snapped toward Seles next as he wondered how long she was going to continue the act.

She should know by now that everything was pointless so, what the hell was she doing?

It was another mystery Alden couldn’t understand.

—

Meanwhile, lying on the ground facedown with shadows twisting all around her, was Seles. Her heart thumped loudly against her ribs as she... for the first time in her life, felt afraid.

She didn’t want to die. She still had many things left to accomplish, after all, and yet she knew it was inevitable now.

The man who called her his daughter was preparing to slaughter her so he could transfer his soul into a new body.

She regretted ever trusting that bastard. Regretted ever believing he was genuinely going to give her everything he promised.

Fuck... I am such a fool.

She cursed herself.

But there was no way out. The barrier around her completely blocked any kind of teleportation, and even though she could extend her shadow outward, there was absolutely nothing else she could do with it.

Still, while lying there, she sent a small sliver of her shadow out of the domain, taking advantage of Jeremy being engrossed in his own world, hoping to find a way to get out of here.

The shadow slipped sneakily through the cracks in the platform, traveling toward the edge of the barrier before quietly passing through unnoticed. Through it, Seles could hear and feel everything outside.

There was nothing but chaos.

But then... something landed on her shadow as a voice echoed out.

"Alden... is that you?"

"Please, tell me it’s you."

Seles recognized the annoying voice immediately, and with it came the first glimmer of hope she had felt since all of this began.