Huuukâ!
The hallway was filled with a chilling cold.
Tududukâ! The sound of the palace collapsing echoed amidst the aftermath of a fierce battle.
While silence prevailed, faint and subtle noises reverberated within.
Drip.
At some point, even those faint sounds stopped.
A stillness had descended.
Suddenly, all noise ceased.
Even the raging cold was no longer felt.
I didnât panic.
I simply stared at the woman in my grasp.
Her lips, streaming blackened blood.
Her rolled-back eyes exposed as she lay unconscious.
Though it was clear she had lost consciousnessâ
[How did you know?]
âshe spoke to me.
What was peculiar was that it wasnât the voice of the woman, whose tone Iâd always thought elegant.
Instead, a deep, gruff male voice reached my ears.
Hearing it, I smirked.
âOh, yeah. Nice to meet you too.â
[â¦]
The entity went silent for a moment at my greeting.
Her frozen expression gave no hint of her thoughts.
Not that it mattered to me.
Seconds passed.
[Iâll ask again.]
It questioned me once more.
[The ninth pureblood.]
[How did you know I was within the Apostleâs body?]
Hmm.
I furrowed my brows at those words.
There was already a wealth of information packed into that brief sentence.
Apostle.
Ninth Pureblood.
I had to consciously suppress the corners of my mouth from curling upwards.
I spoke to the entity.
âAn Apostle, huh⦠So this woman is your Apostle?â
[Haha-.]
The thing let out a short laugh.
[I know youâre not surprised. Are you really going to play this ridiculous charade?]
Ah, Iâve been caught.
Indeed, as it said, I wasnât particularly shocked.
Iâd experienced so much in life that events like this hardly fazed me anymore.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Moreover, this was something I had somewhat anticipated.
I didnât know about the Apostle or the Ninth Pureblood part, though.
My assumption had simply been that there was something inside Yuseon.
I had noticed that it was related to the Ice Essence, but beyond that, I knew nothing.
[Do you intend to not answer my question?]
Hearing the words, I tilted my head slightly.
What a terribly impatient personality.
âIt wasnât exactly a groundbreaking mystery.â
Even what I had deduced wasnât hard to figure out.
The reason was simple.
Becauseâ
âThis woman.â
Yuseon.