When she pushed the door open, Ella appeared before Letia’s eyes.
Upon seeing Letia, Ella bowed slightly.
Judging by her demeanor, it was truly difficult to believe that she was not a living, breathing human, but a Magical Doll with autonomous thought.
“Let’s go.”
Since the other party had come knocking first thing in the morning, it was clear that this ritual was indeed quite important to the White Church.
Letia did not hesitate for long before putting on the Magic Mask.
As space distorted and shifted, the girl, who was less than 1.5 meters tall, suddenly shot up in height, transforming into Litt.
Litt took a deep breath.
She looked at her own slender, pale hands and let out a long sigh.
If everything went as expected, this would probably be the last time she took on Litt’s appearance.
The scenes of death that constantly flashed in her mind were now growing increasingly hazy.
The variables she had created by guiding Red to the Twenty-Fourth Floor had already begun to manifest little by little.
Furthermore, last night, Letia had clearly seen the aftermath of Liz facing the Magic Armor Lord alone through the Script.
She had to admit, the Script she was in was indeed a Retreat-Genre Novel.
The once-lofty noble daughter, through her own arrogance and stubbornness, had finally begun to remember the good qualities of her former teammate after nearly losing her life.
Wasn’t this a type of catharsis?
However, based on the atmosphere and images she had seen in her dreams… when Dawnblade returned, the party would likely disband on the spot.
Judging by Liz’s expression, she had clearly lost her spirit.
It was impossible for her to continue maintaining Dawnblade, a team that was already on the verge of collapse.
‘Sigh… it’s like slacking at work, and as you’re slacking, the company goes bankrupt…’
But if anyone were to ask if she felt any guilt…
She truly felt none at all.
That was simply how a heartless, carefree person lived.
“Sister Lit, did you say something just now?”
Litt shook her head slightly.
Her expression was natural, as if it came from the bottom of her heart, and she wore a smile that was as gentle as an angel’s.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“…Is that so?”
Ella glanced at Litt with some suspicion.
Her keen ears had definitely caught Litt’s mumbling just a moment ago.
However, since Litt did not intend to speak of it, Ella naturally would not press the issue.
Because it was early morning and Ella was wearing a black robe with her hood up, no one noticed that the two girls looked almost identical.
Even when they encountered passersby, their gazes only focused on Litt’s bright and warm face.
After walking for about 10 minutes, the two arrived at the gates of the Sacred Heart Monastery and stepped inside.
The monastery was peaceful and quiet in the early morning.
Combined with the surrounding decorations, it made Litt feel a strange sense of reverence.
‘Is this the side effect of the mask that Otto mentioned?’
At that thought, Litt could not help but sigh inwardly.
Once she escaped the cycle of death, she would never have to maintain Litt’s appearance again.
In a sense, she would finally be free…
However, in the Script, she was playing the role of Red’s Bright Moonlight, the girl who had pulled him out of the darkness.
If his beloved Bright Moonlight vanished completely after he returned from the Dungeon, Red would probably be devastated, right?
But if she were to confess… that would be incredibly difficult for her.
Based on Red’s perception of her, even if she told him ten thousand times that she was Litt, he probably wouldn’t believe it.
And it wouldn’t even matter if he didn’t believe her; if he actually did believe her… wouldn’t she be finished?
In a way, her pretending to be Litt only to walk away after finishing her business really made her feel like a heartless woman playing with someone’s emotions.
She had an ominous feeling.
It felt like she could be liquidated by the Script at any moment.
Combined with the overly quiet atmosphere of the Sacred Heart Monastery, Litt couldn’t help but shudder.
She glanced at Ella beside her and spoke as if trying to find a topic of conversation.
“It feels so quiet…”
“There isn’t a single person in the monastery right now. It’s such a big difference compared to before.”
Ella only nodded slightly at Litt’s words and said, “Yes, everyone has likely gone to the ritual site to prepare.”
In the eyes of most members and believers of the White Church, this grand ritual was merely a solemn, sacred religious event similar to an Easter or Thanksgiving Festival.
They were filled with piety, anticipating the descent and blessing of the Holy Light.
However, only Ella knew that the ancient magic array deep within the Sanctuary, which was regarded as a sacred symbol, had long since been completely tampered with and reconstructed by Otto’s subtle methods.
Currently, it was by no means a sacred blessing ritual, but an Anchor Teleportation Array connected to the Dungeon.
Once activated, all the White Church personnel gathered there, filled with faith and piously feeding mana into the array, would find their energy forcibly gathered and drained.
Like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, all of it would eventually be poured into the sole container at the center of the array.
Immediately after, a powerful spatial force would activate, forcibly teleporting the container carrying that massive amount of mana into a Hidden Area on the Twenty-Fifth Floor.
There, the Ancient Demon Altar waiting for the mana would ruthlessly absorb and swallow all the mana gathered within the “container.”
This was the first step of the ritual.
The second step involved Otto using this mana to completely bend the power of the Demon to his will.
As for the third step…
That was a matter for another plan.
Ella looked at Litt out of the corner of her eye, but the expression on her face did not change much.
“None of that matters anymore.”
Ella shifted her gaze away from Litt.
“Let us hurry to the Sanctuary. The congregation is waiting for both of us.”
Litt nodded, passed through the iron gate, walked down the stairs, and entered the Sanctuary.
A large number of White Church followers were gathered here.
An elderly man dressed in magnificent Priestess robes saw Litt’s arrival and stood on the high platform.
With a booming voice and a strange sense of holiness, he spoke slowly.
“The hour has come. With our pious hearts, let us guide the brilliance of the Master to descend.”
Following his announcement, Litt took one step at a time into the center of the array, just as Otto had instructed her.
The White Church clergy members, who were already stationed at various nodes of the massive magic array, raised their hands high as if praising the Sun.
They chanted obscure scriptures from the Bible, and along with their voices, their mana began to leak out and converge toward the center of the array.
This mana was originally intended to pray for rain, blessing the people with favorable weather and a peaceful life.
The interior of the Sanctuary was filled with a warm, pure, and comforting sacred glow.
Faint echoes seemed to drift through the air as everyone focused on their prayers.
But no one noticed that the massive magic array beneath Litt’s feet had begun to operate in an entirely different manner.