Volume 3, Chapter 12-1 – Bargain Mom Sells Bargain Daughter

An intricate white incantation was embedded in her left hand.

Stella remained silent for a long time.

“…”

She turned her hand over, then turned it back again.

“Did I recite the incantation wrong?”

Stella muttered to herself.

She carefully recalled everything she had done just now.

“All light returns to one, grace flows back.”

She hadn’t said it wrong. She had used the exact same words as when she absorbed Lainia and the Chastisement spirits before.

And her target had been the Chastisement Brand, not Aetlana herself.

But the problem was…

How had she kept absorbing and absorbing until the Brand ended up on her own hand?

Stella looked away.

By now, she could say she understood the operating mechanism of the Chastisement Brand fairly well.

The Chastisement Brand was basically a beacon that required no charging.

The moment the Brand determined that its host was in a suitable state to be struck, it would immediately transmit spatial coordinates to the Holy See’s White Tower.

Then, Chastisement spirits would teleport across realms to carry out the hunt, pursuing their target until death.

“…So now I’m the fugitive?”

The corner of Stella’s mouth twitched.

Although she had just drained more than a dozen Chastisement spirits in one go, meaning the White Tower would need some time to regroup its forces before it could organize another wave of pursuit, sooner or later, they would come.

And there would only be more of them each time.

Stella wasn’t particularly afraid.

After their previous encounter, Stella had already figured out what the Chastisement spirits were really capable of.

As pure aggregates of Holy Light, Chastisement spirits might be lethal purification storms to everyone else, but to a stitched-together monstrosity that lacked enough Holy Light to balance its Abyssal magical power, they were basically nourishing tonics delivering themselves straight to her door.

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However many came, Stella would devour that many with Holy Radiance Extraction.

And it was legitimate self-defense, perfectly reasonable and justified.

Stella stared at the Chastisement Brand.

But the problem was…

If the Chastisement Brand stayed with her forever, would she eventually end up eating every Chastisement spirit in the White Tower?

Stella followed that thought a little further.

All along, the White Tower had been the Holy See’s top-secret prison for incarcerating serious offenders.

It was packed with heretics and leaders of pagan sects captured over the past several centuries, and even ancient Archdemons.

The Chastisement spirits were the prison’s greatest security force and what kept the entire place running.

If she really ended up single-handedly eating every single prison guard in the White Tower like she was at an all-you-can-eat buffet…

What would happen inside the White Tower?

And if the Holy See investigated afterward and discovered that the culprit behind the whole thing was a Saintess candidate currently undercover in the Abyss, what would happen then?

Stella couldn’t help covering her face.

Now she was really in trouble.

Not only was she a mobile Abyssal stitched-together monstrosity, she might even become the culprit responsible for triggering an epic mass prison break from the Holy See’s White Tower in the future.

Stella lowered her hand and stared expressionlessly at the night sky.

Maybe she should transfer the Brand to someone else?

But in this enormous Abyss, where was she supposed to find a second Saintess who knew high-level Holy Arts?

For the moment, she couldn’t think of any way to solve it.

‘Forget it.’

She gave up thinking.

Time to slack off first.

When she had some free time later, she could flip through the miraculous Primordial Doctrine again.

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That stupid book might have rebellion on the brain, but its reserves of knowledge really were beyond reproach.

Maybe it knew how to deal with the Brand.

The most urgent matter right now was figuring out how to get out of this godforsaken place.

Stella looked around.

The dark-red haze was gathering once more between the tree trunks. A bone-chilling wind lifted the hem of her skirt and sent the leaves of the small trees rustling loudly.

“…Don’t tell me I’m going to have to survive in the wilderness?”

Stella muttered to herself.

She barely ever cooked normally. Whenever she was hungry, she just ate offerings. And now she was supposed to survive in this godforsaken place while dragging along a severely injured and unconscious higher demon?

That was way too challenging.

But she couldn’t just sit around and wait.

She might as well start a fire first.

Stella bent down, picked up several reasonably dry dead branches, and piled them together in an open patch of ground.

She raised her right hand and used her fingernail to cut a small wound into the pad of her left index finger.

Blood seeped out and splattered onto the pile of deadwood.

The Valentine flames ignited instantly.

A patch of orange-yellow fire crackled to life, illuminating several nearby tree trunks as wisps of smoke drifted upward through the gaps in the canopy and into the night sky.

Stella sat down beside the fire.

She glanced at Aetlana.

What was she supposed to do with her now?

The Chastisement Brand had indeed been removed, even if it had somehow ended up on Stella instead, and the White Tower’s pursuit had temporarily been called off, but Aetlana was still a genuine serious criminal of the Abyss.

The Nexus Council’s wanted notice for her was posted on bounty boards in every district.

The moment she appeared in public, she would immediately draw pursuit.

But Stella couldn’t simply leave Aetlana here and ignore her either.

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The problem was, what were the two of them supposed to do now?

While Stella was thinking, a strange sound suddenly came from the clouds and mist above.

The breathing and hoofbeats of Nightmare beasts.

Stella raised her head.

Within the dark-red clouds, several ghostly blue lights were approaching.

A Nightmare carriage was drawing closer.

It was probably because of the red distress signal the old demon had fired before falling from the carriage, combined with the smoke from the fire she had just started.

Someone had come to pick them up.

Stella stood and glanced at Aetlana.

If whoever came stepped out of the carriage and the first thing they saw was the Valentine heir lying side by side with the Abyss’ number-one wanted criminal, the Bone Dragon, that would be a huge problem.

They might as well reserve tomorrow’s front page of Prophet Weekly right now.

But she couldn’t exactly leave Aetlana alone in this black forest.

Stella thought it over.

Come to think of it, Aetlana had used Polyjuice Potion to transform into Cheryl’s appearance before approaching her.

Which meant…

Since she had bought out that goblin merchant’s entire stock, she should have brought some extras.

Stella rummaged through Aetlana’s pockets and, sure enough, found several bottles of premade silver potion. There were even a few strands of Cheryl’s crimson hair inside.

She pulled out the cork and, without another word, propped Aetlana up, brought the bottle to her lips, and poured it straight down her throat.

The potion took effect immediately.

The icy-blue hair began losing its color from the roots, rapidly turning a vivid crimson.

Aetlana’s facial contours shifted slightly, and a distinctive beauty mark appeared beneath the corner of her eye.

The higher demon Bone Dragon disappeared.

In her place was Cheryl Valentine.

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Stella breathed a sigh of relief.

She did feel a little sorry for her little sister, but she truly had no other option right now.

The sound of the Nightmare carriage drew closer and closer.

A fierce wind swept through the canopy of the black forest. Two Nightmare beasts with eerie green phosphorescent flames burning around all four hooves pulled a black carriage through the air. After circling twice overhead, they found a suitable spot and slowly descended.

The wheels crushed the dead leaves scattered across the ground before coming to a steady stop ten paces away from Stella.

A hand lifted the curtain at the side of the carriage.

Several figures stepped out.

The succubus at the front stopped in her tracks, her gaze settling on Stella’s face.

“Hm?”

“President, why are you here?”

“…”

The newcomer was none other than Patolize.

Her emerald-green hair swayed gently in the night wind.

She stood in front of the carriage, both hands still holding up the curtain, staring at Stella beside the fire with a look of surprise.

“Patolize, why are you here?”

Stella blinked in confusion.

“What a coincidence. I was wondering the same thing about running into you, President,” Patolize said as she walked forward. “The core members of our Lionheart Society gathered today and set out together. We hired two carriages to take us to Nightmare Street.”

Patolize pointed toward the black carriage behind her.

“We were almost there when we spotted another emergency distress signal from far away while we were above the clouds.”

“We figured a carriage rented by some Lilith School students had probably gotten into trouble. Since it was on the way, we specifically asked the driver to descend and take a look.”

“I never expected it would be your carriage that crashed, President.” Patolize brought her hands together and clapped once. “Thank goodness we made it in time. I’m so glad you weren’t hurt, President.”