Chapter 53: The Nest

“The magic wave pattern is completely identical to the Karenzo family’s annihilation case from three years ago… This is the end, Evil Demon Society. Surrender. We still have many questions to ask you.”

“Reinforcements from headquarters will arrive soon. Don’t make meaningless resistance.”

Myut leaned against a withered tree.

The already sparse fabric of her clothing was even more tattered, especially at the left shoulder, where three claw-like gashes marked the worst injury—black, filthy, and with blood nearly dried.

Myut had been driven to the brink.

“Speaking of which, your timing was perfect. Were you watching us the whole time?”

The two Tuners didn’t answer, keeping a certain distance from Myut.

These two Tuners restrained their abilities carefully.

One wielded ice magic, but couldn’t swing the scythe freely.

The other summoned strange nails—Myut was severely wounded just from being pierced by one.

“By the way, allow me to correct you. Our church’s official name is the Holy Hive Society, not the Evil Demon Society.”

Myut’s smile contained no resentment—only gentle tolerance.

“Ugh… Disgusting. This is why I hate the Evil Demon Society. None of you fear death. A bunch of demons wearing human skin.”

“Death is merely a concept—a key to liberating the soul.”

At Myut’s words, one Tuner pursed their lips.

“Senpai, can I kill her? Didn’t our [Priest] say resurrection is possible within an hour of death?”

“That Crime Report said she’s at officer level, but I don’t quite believe it. Officer level seems too weak, and I didn’t see her use that thing.”

After all, the two of them had subdued Myut in just 18 seconds.

If not for the detailed Crime Report that revealed specifics of the case, they wouldn’t have believed an Evil Demon Society officer would come to a place like this.

Even now, they were only half-convinced about Myut.

A Tuner extended a hand toward Myut. The warm forest was swept by a cold night wind.

Myut first felt sharp pain—the blood at her shoulder wound was gradually freezing into ice.

She recalled a farewell ritual among fellow believers: freezing a person’s entire blood to ice, then shattering it.

Myut smiled in relief, glad to die.

It was her first time being captured, but she knew the outcome for those caught by Tuners.

Identity confirmed.

Crime declared.

No right to a defense attorney.

Execution in three days.

Death was the only ending.

Her sole regret was being unable to continue the Pastoral Service.

Oh well.

Others would take over her work. It was a chance to see her family again.

She’d chatted with them in dreams every day—reunion would be nice.

Right, family.

Myut licked her lips, recalling the sensation of the earlier kiss.

She’d moved too quickly, leaving that child behind in this filthy, sinful world…

The freezing had already reached the marrow of her right side.

A thought flashed in Myut’s mind:

If I took that child to the Golden Land, wouldn’t I have two little brothers?

“Lord, great Izabilis…”

Myut whispered, light seeming to flicker in her eyes.

Seeing her new movement, the two Tuners reacted—nails brimming with Curse Power materialized behind one, and radiant ice crystals rose at the other’s feet, accelerating the freezing aimed at Myut.

Myut summoned her scythe once more.

With her right hand, she also produced a floating item in her palm.

A nest shaped like a bird’s, woven of pitch-black branches—ominous and foreboding.

“The Refined Tree Nest! She really is an officer?”

They’d underestimated her.

The two Tuners clicked their tongues inwardly, regretting not bringing more people.

They channeled all their magic—before Myut could act, they aimed first at the Refined Tree Nest.

Still too slow.

The scythe wasn’t used to block, defend, or attack the Tuners—

But against Myut herself.

“That lunatic! She actually cut her frozen body apart!”

The scythe’s arc separated Myut’s frozen and unfrozen halves, the severed torso sliding down.

It narrowly avoided both attacks aimed at the Refined Tree Nest.

In the instant before falling, countless nails and ice spikes pierced Myut’s body.

Fortunately, she had already shielded the Refined Tree Nest in her arms.

In the few seconds she bought, she recited a prayer calmly and swiftly:

“Please release my shackles. I am willing to sacrifice 20 Fruits in your name, and beseech you for your crimson blessing.”

The two Tuners, realizing they hadn’t destroyed the Refined Tree Nest in time, retreated quickly.

The Refined Tree Nest extended countless cracked black branches, encircling them the moment before they could escape.

Suddenly, they found themselves in a space of absolute darkness—yet they could clearly see each other’s forms.

Black.

Nothing but black.

All around was a flatness more perfect than a silicon wafer.

Not even a micron’s undulation—just land stretching to a distant horizon.

From the outside, it appeared only as a pitch-black sphere with a 10-centimeter radius.

“Senpai, that Evil Demon Society member’s wounds have healed.”

“The nest has swallowed us. We’ve lost.”

Myut stood five meters ahead, both hands resting on her lower abdomen.

Her body was completely healed, with no sign of injury.

She touched her face, realizing the blindfold had vanished at some point.

Maybe it had been scraped off during the attack.

“How troubling. Lifting a lady’s veil at will is terribly rude, you know.”

Her tattered clothes barely covered her body.

The right side was completely exposed—smooth, white thighs, arms, and abundant treasures all in full view.

“Earlier, I sent 38 people to the Golden Land. With you two, that makes 40.”

Myut stood tall, and behind her, a terrifying “creature” crawled out.

A giant skeleton with a ferocious visage, its bones a mirror-like silver.

Its bony arm gripped a scythe, while bizarre, demonic skeletons surged around it, forming a hellish tableau.

The two Tuners’ faces were expressionless as they gathered magic—

Crack.

The Tuner who used nails felt their perspective lift—a white-silver scythe had pierced their chest from behind, hoisting them before splitting them in two.

“The transmission function… as expected, doesn’t work. To think Senpai would die first.”

The remaining Tuner used the Ring Chart’s camera function.

In that moment, countless demonic skeletons wielding scythes appeared in the darkness, their blades sweeping down and reducing the Tuner to dust.

“All men have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. When sin is repaid, one may enter the Golden Land. I, Myut Karenzo, shall bear your sins.”

As the words ended, the nest’s space vanished with the shattering of an electronic tone.

Myut felt a sudden lightness, then landed on soft grass.

She scurried behind a tree—and in the next instant—

A mass of sliced bones appeared from nowhere, pink chunks of flesh bursting like fireworks and splattering the surroundings.

Myut stepped out, picked up a Ring Chart from the ground, used the Tuner’s finger to unlock the fingerprint lock, and saw her own photo had already been uploaded online.

“Hah… It can’t be helped. I’ll return to headquarters to rest for now…”

Unable to help others for the time being, she felt a bit sad.

She’d used 20 Fruits from her last Pastoral Service to open the nest for 20 seconds.

Luckily, the two Tuners died quickly, so Myut had more time to escape after returning to reality.

Thinking of that boy with night-dark hair, Myut didn’t want to go to the Golden Land just yet.

“May Izabilis bless us. I hope we meet again, Mr. Wolf… Next time, I’ll give you a better fake name. Heh, heh, heh.”

Myut chuckled playfully.

***

“Achoo!!”

“Siloque, are you cold? Should we head back…?”

“No, I think some beauty must be thinking of me.”

Siloque checked his Ring Chart. There was still no news report of a Tuner capturing a member of the Evil Demon Society.

According to the upper echelons of the Tuners—the Valosa Group—if a Tuner caught an Evil Demon Society member, they’d rush to plaster it on the hot search for 24 hours straight.

Yet it was so quiet now, Siloque felt a chill on his back.

“…This place is different from Maple Court Garden. It’s too eerie. I don’t like it.”

Cass felt a cold wind at his back, making him shiver—Siloque had closed the door.

Checking the map, this was D Area, Floor 2—a deep and dangerous place for Siloque and Cass’s current levels.

It was already late. After leaving the cave, the two had changed into their usual exploration gear to boost agility, sneaking past monsters they couldn’t handle, and finally arrived at a church-like place.

Inside, benches were scattered, and a strange, broken statue loomed against the far wall.

The only light came from a few flickering candles on the floor, with darkness filling all four corners.

“Siloque, are you sure the Exclusive Weapon is really here?”

“Yeah. If you wait here until midnight, the hidden Labyrinth Passage will open.”

“I see… But do I really need an Exclusive Weapon? I don’t feel like I need it…”

“We’ve come this far. It’s too late to turn back. Come on—let’s grab the weapon and go. Trust me, it’s not as hard as you think.”

I remember your ‘trust me’ never bodes well…

Cass sighed inwardly. He’d looked forward to spending the night out with Siloque, like a fun trip—but almost got killed by a crazy woman.

But now, Cass was more puzzled by this church.

The Second Floor was supposed to be territory for bull-type monsters.

Why was there a haunted-looking building like this?

Unlike tense Cass, Siloque seemed relaxed—whistling, pushing aside benches to clear space and starting a fire.

Cass, with a sense of foreboding, whispered to Siloque:

“Siloque, don’t tell me you want to spend the night here?”

“Yeah. I don’t know how long we have to wait anyway. This place has a barrier—no, actually, there are ghosts everywhere, forming a special protective zone. No monsters will come, so you can sleep soundly until morning.”

Who the hell wants to sleep in a haunted place like this!

Cass hugged himself, pale as if frozen.

“Hey, can we sleep somewhere else?”