The Freed Slaves Are Obsessed

Elise’s appearance at the Grand Temple was different from when she and Karami had last parted.

Her twin sets of vampiric wings were gone.

Instead, she now bore the benevolent image of the Saintess—the same one she displayed before her devoted followers.

No matter how fanatically loyal her worshippers were, seeing their Saintess as a vampire would undoubtedly crack their faith.

She could have simply manipulated their minds, but that would taint their devotion.

And for Elise, whose power was directly fueled by faith, maintaining the illusion of the Saintess was an absolute necessity.

“What brings you to the Holy Kingdom?”

Her head tilted at a perfect fifteen-degree angle.

Her lips curled just enough—not too much, not too little.

The optimal smile.

The one Elise had perfected—designed to lower suspicion and win favor.

A smile, if executed poorly, would instead breed hostility.

"Ah... To think she would show kindness even to such vile individuals. Truly, she is a Saintess."

"How can someone be so pure-hearted? I can’t believe someone like her is human, just like us."

Elise, who had long mastered the art of deception, watched their already sky-high loyalty rise even further.

Of course, Karami, who knew everything, wasn’t the slightest bit affected.

“Why am I here? I came to check on my slave, of course.”

“You seem to be gravely mistaken. I am not your slave.”

“I never said you were, Saintess. But your reaction suggests otherwise. Is there something you feel guilty about?”

“......”

I knew it.

I really don’t like this man.

“If you’re only here to play word games, I suggest you leave. If you cause any further damage to the Holy Kingdom, I will enact divine judgment in God’s name.”

“Before that.”

Karami signaled to Mirabel.

The Shackles of Servitude, which had bound countless slaves without fail.

The thought of using such a precious artifact on someone else left Mirabel displeased, but she repressed her emotions.

She extracted the necessary amount of Karami’s mana and cast the spell.

The target—Elise.

The spell sought to bind her into a subjugation contract.

Crack—!

An unpleasant backlash struck Mirabel, signaling a failed spell.

Her brows furrowed.

“This won’t work as easily, Master.”

“Why not?”

“Her resistance is too strong. Forcing a contract directly on her soul is impossible.”

“After all the suffering I endured with those shackles, did you really think I’d ever allow myself to be bound again?”

To Elise, this was a logical and matter-of-fact response.

But two individuals took offense to it.

“That... thing?”

“That thing?! Some people would kill to have it, and you call it that thing?”

“Do you even understand what I went through?! He threatened to make me walk around naked as punishment.”

“That’s a reward.”

“Are you an idiot?”

“Who are you calling an idiot—”

“Enough. Let’s stop this nonsense.”

The conversation had taken a bizarre turn.

Karami stepped in, cutting it off before it spiraled any further.

His mind raced.

Not being able to bind her was not part of his plan.

No, wait. This is normal.

He had gotten used to people throwing themselves at him, begging to be enslaved—it made him careless.

Logically, no one should want to be a slave.

That was his mistake.

‘This isn’t an ideal situation.’

Damian was dead.

Which meant he was now rampaging inside Elise’s body.

On top of that, the Crimson Ring, which suppressed her vampiric urges, was also gone.

Even maintaining rational thought must be painful for her right now.

Just looking at Elise, Karami could tell.

She looked exhausted.

If she would just lean on him, things would be easier.

But Elise had no intention of doing so.

“I have given you multiple warnings. Since you refuse to move, I will escort you myself.”

A crimson halo gleamed above Elise’s head.

She lifted her hand—her fingertips sparkled with light.

A flash of divine speed.

Pshk.

A beam pierced through the forehead of the Nine-Tailed Fox.

But Lin, with inhuman reflexes, escaped her own body, retreating at full speed.

She had read the fate in advance—had she stayed still, her heart would have been pierced.

If she had been a second slower in twisting destiny, reality would have caught up to her.

“You’re quite the talented fox. You must be fun to train.”

“Hmm~? Lin only has one master. No interest in serving a bat. Besides—”

Lin wrinkled her nose.

“You stink. I’d never take orders from you.”

“Stink? What an uncouth thing to say to a lady.”

“Lin’s nose never lies. You reek of blood. And judging by how it’s soaked into your soul, you’re never escaping it.”

“......”

Lin saw the twitch in Elise’s expression.

She grinned.

“So don’t go rubbing ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) your stench onto my master, you filthy bat.”

“...You’re not walking away from this unharmed.”

“If you can make that happen~”

An Apostle is worth a million points.

So the Saintess... must be worth a hundred million.

If she took Elise down, she would win the bet against Arpia.

And, more importantly—

She would get a reward from Master.

Lin pressed her hands together.

“Eclipse.”

Her domain.

An isolated world that severed ties with reality.

A playground where the Nine-Tailed Fox twisted fate as she pleased.

A blue moon rose, swallowing the sun.

Lin had already figured out where Elise’s power came from.

The clergy.

If she cut them off, Elise was just another vampire.

“Petty tricks.”

Elise, who understood better than anyone how such tactics worked, wasn’t about to simply stand by and watch.

She raised her hand to the sky.

Her halo spun fiercely.

The blue moon that Lin had created with her Moonlight Eye began to stain red.

Then—it stopped.

Neither side overtaking the other.

“Are you seriously trying to compete in a power struggle with me?”

“There’s no need for me to handle this alone. That would be inefficient.”

Even before Elise finished speaking, the movement began below.

The clergy, who had been crouched in fear, rose to join the battle.

One of the Apostles, Constantine, the Noble Cross, slammed the massive cross from his back into the ground.

He clasped his hands together and recited a prayer.

The rosaries that the believers carried resonated with his divine purity.

Their souls trembled in devotion.

Another Apostle, Beatrice, the Burning Faith, lifted her own prayer. A halo of white flame ignited around her, burning like a firestorm.

The believers followed their lead, offering their prayers to Elise.

Faith became devotion.

Devotion became power.

Prayers in moments of despair carried the strongest conviction.

Faith surged into Elise, the Saintess who would drive out chaos and restore order.

At some point, light had spread across the entire Holy Kingdom.

Black-and-white flames roared into existence.

A radiant halo enveloped Elise.

The red moon began to push back the blue moon.

"Don’t intrude upon places meant for humans, monster fox."

“Oh? Acting high and mighty when you can’t do anything alone—how pathetic.”

Arpia, watching Lin slowly lose ground, smirked.

“You look like you’re struggling. Need some help? Of course, if you accept my help, I win the bet.”

“I don’t need your help! Lin can do this alone!”

“Suit yourself~”

Damn annoying elf.

Did she have some kind of disease that made her unable to function without making bets?

But Arpia wasn’t wrong.

The power difference between Lin and Elise was nearly equal—but with the support of the clergy, Elise gradually gained the upper hand.

‘It would be so much easier to just kill them all.’

But Karami’s orders were absolute.

Even though Lin had been rampaging freely, she hadn’t killed a single person.

She had knocked them unconscious, trapped them in illusions, but the problem was—there were too many priests.

As soon as one fell, another would heal them and send them back into battle.

‘Master is too soft.

These insignificant fools, daring to defy her master, should just be erased.

But if she acted recklessly—Karami would hate her.

And there was no worse fate than that.

At the same time—getting help from Arpia was out of the question.

And losing?

Absolutely not.

“Hmm....”

What would make Master praise her?

Lin groaned, unable to find a good solution.

"—Ah."

The change came from Elise.

She had been steadily maintaining her advantage, but suddenly, she let out a sharp breath and staggered.

For just a moment, the balance wavered.

Lin had no idea why—

But who cared?

A golden opportunity had just fallen into her lap.

A surge of pink-hued foxfire exploded.

The blue moon devoured the red moon.

And at last, the eclipse was complete.

The moon eclipsed the sun. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

And darkness swallowed Kassilon.

“What the hell? Where is this?”

Arpia checked her surroundings.

The spirits that usually hovered near her had weakened significantly.

Her Servant, being bound within her own existence, was mostly unaffected—but this was not a pleasant space.

Escaping would be a pain.

Karami, too, found himself within the eclipse’s domain.

He looked around, but the thick darkness obscured everything.

“Miss Mirabel, are you nearby?”

“Yes. Right beside you.”

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fi—”

She paused.

Her mind kicked into high-speed calculation mode, working as quickly as when she deployed grand magic.

A conclusion was reached.

She grabbed onto Karami’s pant leg.

“...No, I’m not. It’s dark, and I’m s-scared.”

“Oh dear. Come here.”

Karami reached out and pulled her into his arms.

He gently patted her back.

“Feeling better?”

“...Yes.”

In truth, it wasn’t dark at all.

Even in Lin’s eclipse, Mirabel could see as if it were broad daylight.

‘It’s just easier to protect Master if I’m clinging to him.’

Not that she needed to.

She could protect him perfectly fine even without it.

This was just an excuse.

An act to stay close to him.

‘I was away from Master for far too long.’

She would stay by his side from now on, of course—but the number of ‘slaves’ surrounding him was only going to increase.

Which meant her time being close to him would shrink.

If she didn’t take advantage of moments like this, she wouldn’t survive.

Who would’ve thought Lin would ever be useful to me?

The world really is full of surprises.

...Not that she had lived all that long.

The fox had done all the work—

But the witch was the one reaping the rewards.