Dietrich smeared blood on a white cloth and painted a few sigils on the red formation where Louise was standing.

“Unfortunately, a sacrifice of life is necessary for the completion of black magic. Many were offered as noble sacrifices to create you, Louise.”

From Dietrich’s fingertips, a bright red image began to form.

The grotesque, blood-stained image filled the floor.

“But if it were an undying life, wouldn’t it become an infinite source of power for obtaining black magic?”

Having completed the spell, Dietrich put down the blood-stained cloth and posed a fundamental question.

Now, the time had come to find the answer to that long-standing question.

The full commercialization of black magic that transcends mana and aura.

Liberating the power monopolized by God from the limits of cruel slaughter.

Immortality obtained without anyone dying.

Dietrich picked up the sharp sword he had leaned to one side.

The metal, soaked in the light emanating from the sigils, glowed red as if stained with blood.

At that moment, Eve felt an intense premonition.

She didn’t know why, but something was happening.

Her mother was in danger.

Her heart was pounding, making her dizzy.

“No… You bad man! Stop! Don’t hurt my mom!”

Eve shouted at Dietrich.

At the same time, a dark force spread from Eve’s body, attacking Dietrich.

“Oh my.”

The high priest, who had been off guard, hurriedly blocked Eve’s black magic with mana.

The dark force was deflected by the white light.

“You’re quite strong for a young child.”

Dietrich pushed up his glasses, his eyes gleaming with intrigue.

It was unbelievable that a three-year-old could wield this much power.

But no matter how strong a three-year-old was, there was no way she could defeat the high priest.

When Dietrich applied a little force and pressed with mana, Eve, who had been deflected by the mana, collapsed to the floor and lost consciousness.

As the small body fell to the cold stone floor, Dietrich nodded leisurely.

“Don’t interfere and take a nap. Your turn will come soon.”

He wiped his hands clean with a handkerchief and picked up the knife again.

Then, with a very light step, he stood face to face with Louise.

“You’re used to this pain now, Louise?”

He examined the blade in the red light, checking again to see if it had dulled.

Having completed the perfect inspection, he met Louise’s clouded eyes.

Dietrich smiled and gently stroked her pretty face.

And then.

“Let’s share eternal life.”

He thrust the knife straight into Louise’s heart.

Blood spurted from Louise’s mouth, wetting Dietrich’s cheek.

Louise’s body collapsed onto the bright red floor.

At the same time, Dietrich felt the power of black magic flowing through the red sigils on the floor.

Yes, it was good that he had completed her in advance.

Everything had become easy, simple, and perfect.

Dietrich felt his strong mana slowly being tainted by the power of heresy.

A pain equivalent to replacing all the blood in his veins overwhelmed him, but it was bearable.

However.

“…What?”

The flow of heretical power gradually ceased.

Dietrich frowned and looked down at Louise, who had collapsed on the floor.

Louise was scratching the stone floor, her nails breaking and flipping over as if she were having a seizure.

“Could it be… she’s habitually suppressing black magic?”

Come to think of it, the Louise he had met again had a very bad habit.

She had become so accustomed to hiding the power of black magic for so long that she was trying to suppress her regenerative ability even in the face of the pain of having her heart pierced.

“That won’t do. That’s not allowed. It will only delay time and make you suffer longer.”

Dietrich clicked his tongue, waving his index finger.

He quickly ran to the research desk, pulled out a medicine bottle from the drawer, and returned.

“Good girl. Unlike what Felix made you take, this is a safe drug. There’s no risk of it going out of control.”

Dietrich forcibly opened Louise’s mouth as she bled on the floor and shoved the pill down her throat.

“Ugh, cough…!”

At the same time, a dark energy overflowed from Louise’s body.

The black light coagulated and receded on the stab wound, then clumped together again.

Louise died countless times and was resurrected countless times.

As much as she died, and as much as she was resurrected, Dietrich felt the strong and thrilling power flowing into his own flesh.

The pain that tingled even in his capillaries became a powerful pleasure and joy.

He was receiving eternal life from a human who lived forever.

This power would bring down God’s dictatorial authority.

No, perhaps God had prepared this possibility in advance for humans.

The last grace of God bestowed upon humanity.

He would take the first step in the great research that would save the world.

Dietrich Lester felt a full and pure joy in the noble sacrifice of eternal life.

Sched looked out the window as he put on his shirt.

Usually, it would be the time for dawn to break, but the sky was still dark due to the clouds.

The weather had turned quite heavy and chilly last night, and it seemed like it was going to rain.

‘Giselle Marlhein has arrived in Lecherdam, I heard.’

He recalled the report he had heard last night.

She had finally come to Ideana.

She would probably arrive in Paradel today or tomorrow.

At that moment, the head butler Werner knocked and entered the bedroom.

“Master, Lady Riana Venesi and the child are nowhere to be found.”

At Werner’s report, the hand that was buttoning the shirt stopped.

“What do you mean, nowhere to be found?”

The straight eyebrows furrowed.

“They are definitely not in their room, and we have searched everywhere they could have gone in the mansion, but they are not here.”

Sched had planned to have breakfast and a conversation with Louise and Eve at least once before Giselle arrived.

They wouldn’t have woken up early since they were out late last night and must have been tired.

Above all, it was strange that Eve had also disappeared at this early hour.

‘Could it be…’

His blood ran cold.

Louise’s absence had never once turned into a good memory.

She disappeared without a word far too often.

Sched bit his lower lip anxiously.

“First, find out if anyone has seen Riana. If she left this place, find out when she left.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

Feeling a sense of déjà vu in this situation, Werner bowed his head and ran out to inquire with the servants.

Sched also put on his jacket, grabbed his sword, and left.

‘There was no sign of anything until yesterday…’

Even his beastly intuition had not foreseen this situation.

But she was a person whose hobby and specialty was disappearing without notice.

Empirical anxiety drove his quick steps.

‘Could it be Eclas?’

It was possible that the smart merchant had made a move without Sched’s knowledge.

He might have taken Louise and Eve away to Sizlon, or hidden them in an even more secret place.

Sched’s fist clenched tightly.

He could not waste another 8 years, no, possibly more than 10 years this time.

However.

“High Priest Dietrich came by yesterday.”

An unexpected name popped out of the servants’ mouths.

“Dietrich?”

“He said he had something to discuss with Riana before seeing you, so we showed him to her room. We don’t know what happened after that.”

The servants did not find Dietrich suspicious.

The timid high priest they knew was not someone who would do anything bad.

Moreover, he was a member of the Lester family.

Although he lived in the temple as the high priest, to the servants, he was an elder of the family who should be served, just like Sched.

Sched’s eyes wavered.

It was quite late after Louise returned home.

“Why would Dietrich…”

He had told the servants that he came to see Sched, but Sched had never met Dietrich.

He even lied to come see Louise?

Veins bulged on his clenched fist.

Sched had disliked Dietrich from the moment he entered the Lester family.

Because he felt uncomfortable every time he saw Dietrich.

There were strangely worrying parts whenever he had a conversation with Dietrich.

Why? Because he stuttered? Because he was an eccentric absorbed in his own world? Because he competed with Sched for the position of Duke Lester after the previous duke’s death?

No, that wasn’t enough.

He knew other people who stuttered, other eccentrics, and other members of the family, but none were like Dietrich.

Sched had pondered the reason for a long time but couldn’t find an answer.

So he ignored his intuition, thinking he was being too sensitive.

It was a fatal mistake.

Sched recalled the persistent blue gaze Dietrich had always shown toward Louise.

He had long suspected that Dietrich might have feelings for her.

But his interest seemed strange for love.

‘Did he kidnap Louise because he loves her…?’

No, there was no reason for him, as the high priest, to lie and take her away in the middle of the night.

He was an eccentric, but he wasn’t a fool who would ruin the honor, reputation, and future he had built up by kidnapping the person he liked.

It would have been better for him to use his status to pressure Louise.

Moreover, if it were because of love, there would be no reason for Eve to disappear together.

It was strange. And ominous.

Sched immediately took Gardwell and rode to the high temple.

There was one reason he was so anxious.

Louise and Eve had the power of black magic, and Dietrich was the high priest.

‘Could it be that he recognized her…’

The day Dietrich first saw Louise.

That day, Dietrich stared at Louise’s face as she sat on the bed for a long time.

As if carefully examining her face.

As if confirming the face of a familiar person.

The anxious premonition grew larger and larger.

“I, I feel black magic…”

At that time, did Dietrich really not know about Louise’s power?

Him, who was more knowledgeable about heresy than anyone else?

Him, who was more obsessed with his research than anyone else?

At that moment, Sched realized the reason for the discomfort he had felt.

The gaze Dietrich showed when looking at Louise, that deep interest, was…

“I wish I could have seen it too!”

Similar to the curiosity he showed about evidence of heresy.

“I-it was an external report…”

The demise of the Ideana family was manipulated, and Dietrich was the priest who gave final approval to the death report of the Ideana clan.

Then, the fact that Louise was alive… did he not know?

Did he really believe that all members of the Ideana family had died when he submitted the report…?

“Damn it…!”

Sched twisted the reins, furious at his own complacency.

Gardwell dashed forward, cutting through the dark air even more fiercely.

Dietrich definitely knows.

That she has black magic.

That she is the Louise Ideana he let go of in the past.

‘But why…’

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t understand.

‘Why didn’t he deal with her right away?’

There must have been many opportunities until now, so why did he only make a move now?

Was he not sure? Did he only just find evidence to confirm that Louise was a heretic?

The puzzle pieces rattled.

As if connecting mismatched pieces.