Inside a private room near the academy, Ethan was sitting cross-legged on the bed of his bedroom. The room was quiet. His mother had gone out for shopping, and Ethan finally had the perfect chance to do something important—something he could only do when he was completely alone.
He was about to talk to Gareth.
From his pocket, Ethan pulled out a shiny golden ring. This wasn't just any ring—it was a special one that held a soul inside it. He slowly poured his mana into the ring, and right away, a ghostly figure floated out of it.
It was an old man with a sharp, triangle-shaped face. His long white mustache and beard swayed slightly as he appeared. Gareth, the soul inside the ring, looked around the room and saw Ethan sitting in the quiet room, with the door tightly shut. He immediately understood the situation.
Gareth stroked his beard and smiled slightly.
"Hmm… I was actually waiting for you to summon me," he said in a calm voice. "I've fully recovered and can now talk to you anytime you need me."
Before Ethan could even open his mouth to speak, Gareth continued.
"I wanted to talk to you too. About conquering a Rank B inheritance!"
Ethan's eyes brightened with excitement. "Yes! I was thinking the same thing. My strength has reached the level of a Rank B awakened already. This is way more than I had in my last life. But…" His smile faded a little. "I'm planning to finish the academy before going for a Rank B inheritance."
Gareth raised an eyebrow and tilted his head. "And why is that?"
Ethan sighed and leaned back a bit.
"I don't know about any Rank B inheritance nearby. I only know some that are far away, maybe in other parts of the kingdom… or even outside of it. But I can't just leave now." He looked down at his hands. Unlike Esdeath, he actually cared about growing with his team. He didn't want to run off alone."
But Gareth then said something that completely shocked him.
"But I sensed you entering a Constellation's inheritance."
Ethan blinked. "A… Constellation's inheritance?"
His heart skipped a beat. A Constellation's inheritance was the highest and rarest type of inheritance someone could find. They were so rare that even hearing about them in rumors was a big deal. Because usually next to none Constellation would ever make an inheritance, They would rather choose incarnation instead.
But Ethan had no memory of ever seeing one forget about entering one.
He looked at Gareth, confused. "What do you mean? I don't remember anything like that."
Even Gareth looked a little confused.
"Huh… was I imagining things?" he muttered softly, scratching his beard.
But then Ethan remembered something.
"But I did go to that illusion-type inheritance made by the academy… and I found something there!"
He quickly reached into his other pocket and pulled out a small item. It was a locket without a chain. The front had the carved figure of a woman—graceful and peaceful—it looked like the Goddess of Fortune.
Gareth leaned forward and looked at it with interest. Since he couldn't touch real objects, he used mana to make the locket float in front of him. He looked at it closely from all sides.
"This doesn't look like an Essence Stone," he said in a thoughtful voice. "And it's not any kind of magical artifact either…"
Hearing this made Ethan feel slightly disappointed.
"Even Gareth doesn't recognize it? Maybe I'm just overthinking a simple thing…" he thought.
But then Gareth added something else.
"It feels more like a ritual item," he said calmly.
"Ritual item?" Ethan repeated, tilting his head with a puzzled look.
"I'm not sure either," Gareth replied, his tone a bit unsure. "But it looks like something used in prayer… Maybe it's for praying to the Goddess of Fortune? Could be to receive her blessing."
He looked at the locket once more before floating it back to Ethan.
"I don't know exactly, but keep it safe. You never know when it might help."
Ethan nodded and took the locket back, slipping it into his pocket again.
Then, after a short pause, he finally asked something he had been holding inside for a long time.
"Actually… I've had this strange thought for a while. Are demons… were they once human? Does killing demons mean I'm killing humans too?"
His voice was serious. The words were hard to say, but he had to ask.
He remembered that night—Esdeath's words, the blood, the students she had killed that were under caramel's control. She had told him, "You've killed more humans than I have," and explained that demons were once human too.
Gareth had been inside the ring that night and overheard it all.
So now, Ethan wanted to hear the truth.
Gareth slowly nodded.
"In a way… yes. But to truly understand, you need to know the real history. Not the stories told by books or priests. I'm talking about the time when the Goddess Seraphine gave birth to her youngest son… Aurora."
He looked Ethan in the eyes.
"The Demon King."
Ethan's body froze.
"W-What?" he gasped. His eyes widened in shock. His mouth hung open. "The Demon King is… the son of Goddess Seraphine?"
This didn't make sense. It went against everything he'd ever believed.
"But… wasn't the Demon King supposed to be an evil god? A monster sent to bring chaos to the world?"
He looked shaken. It felt like his whole faith—his entire belief system—was breaking apart.
Gareth gave a small, quiet yet empty smile.
"That's what most of the world know, Only barely any peaple knows the real truth!"
-----------------
Soon, night had fallen. After wandering around all day, enjoying herself, Maruti finally came back to her dorm room, completely exhausted.
She opened the door with a long yawn, her shoulders drooping from tiredness. She slowly walked inside, heading straight to her bedroom.
"Ugh! I didn't duel anyone today either… and I probably won't tomorrow either because of all this prophet drama and Kailith showing up to class," she sighed in frustration.
Even though Lilith had taken over the responsibility of maintaining her grades, Maruti still wanted to duel others—not for marks, but because she enjoyed fighting. It made her feel alive.
When she entered her bedroom and saw the soft bed, her eyes lit up like she had found a treasure. Without a second thought, she jumped onto the bed.
It was still early in the night—around 7 or 7:30 PM.
"I'll take a short nap and then head to that masochist Ravenna's room at midnight. And do my work." she thought with determination and shut her eyes, planning to sleep just for a while.
She wasn't even worried about dinner. Ethan's mom would deliver some delicious homemade food soon anyway.
But of course, nothing ever goes the way Maruti plans.
Just a few seconds after she closed her eyes, she heard loud noises—thuds, bumps, and the sound of something falling. It sounded like two wild cats fighting outside her room.
At first, Maruti just groaned and pulled a pillow over her ears to block the noise, but the sounds were too loud and annoying.
"Argh! Let busy people sleep, dammit!" she yelled and jumped out of bed. She stormed to the door and yanked it open in one angry motion.
But the moment she saw what was happening outside, she froze.
It wasn't cats.
It was Kailith and Alice—rolling on the floor, grabbing each other's hair, and scratching like crazy. It looked like a messy, wild fight between two girls who had no idea what personal space meant.
Kailith had transformed, so Alice had no clue what Kailith had become now.
As soon as the door opened and both girls saw Maruti standing there, everything paused for a second.
"I came here to—" Kailith started to say something.
But Maruti raised her hand and cut her off.
"You two… enjoy yourself!" she said quickly, then slammed the door shut.
Or at least, she tried to.
Just as the door was about to close completely, Kailith stuck her fingers between the doorframe and stopped it.
"No! Let me in!" Kailith said with a grin.
Maruti tried to push harder, using all her strength to shut the door, but it was no use. Kailith pushed back and opened it again like it was nothing.
Seeing no other choice, Maruti sighed in defeat and changed the topic.
"Why did you come here?" she asked, annoyed.
Kailith slipped inside with surprising speed. Within seconds, she stood in front of Maruti holding a big bag.
"Me and you are going to live together from now on!" Kailith said casually, like it was no big deal.
"Me too!" Alice chimed in, proudly showing off her own little suitcase. "Actually, I was the first to come here!"
Maruti stood frozen for a moment. Her brain was trying to process everything but failing.
"Wha—?!" she managed to say, stunned.
"Did you get too excited?" Kailith said with a wink, at the same time reading Maruti's thoughts.
"Fuck you!" Maruti cursed silently in her mind.
Hearing it, Kailith smiled even wider.
"Aww, she's so desperate~" Kailith thought, her excitement growing.
--------------
In the nearby three-story building—one of the house, That belonged to the Mariette family—Esdeath was busy preparing something strange.
Inside the large living room, she had pushed all the furniture like sofas, chairs, and tables into the corners, creating a big empty space in the middle.
On the floor, there were three large star-shaped symbols drawn with salt, each overlapping the other. At each point of the stars, glowing candles had been carefully placed, filling the room with a dim, eerie light. The entire place felt quiet and heavy, as if something important was about to happen.
Esdeath had already shut Selene inside her bedroom and told her not to come out but she herself wasn't fully sure if Selene would do that or not.
Near the star symbols, there was the dead body of a strange pig-like monster—a mutated pig monster. Beside it were two large glass bottles. One held thick golden honey, and the other was filled with a glowing water like liquid known as 'essence oil.
Essence oild was a type of oild used in mysticism, It was actually water type liquid and tasted like water but because of it's slippery and slightly glowing properties and etheral smell, It was called essence oil, often used in mysticism and rituals.
Lastly a silver knife, shining under the candlelight, lay beside her.
Lortell sat on a wooden chair in one corner. The chair was clearly too small for her tall, graceful figure, but she didn't complain. Her eyes were focused and serious, her hands folded on her lap, quietly watching.
In the middle of the star symbols, Esdeath sat on her knees. She was completely naked from head to toe, except for a long, see-through white veil that covered her head and draped down her back like a wedding dress. The fabric shimmered in the candlelight, adding a beautiful and sensual touch to the strange scene.
Her hands were pressed together in front of her chest, her fingers interlocked like she was praying. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing was calm.
This was the start of the "Blood Purification Ritual".
Esdeath hadn't decided yet whether she wanted to fully become a vampire or not. She needed time to think about it. But she had to purify her blood as wel. Lortell, understanding her hesitation, agreed to help and let her decide later in future.
Lortell could have used her blood powers to do it quickly—but it would have caused Esdeath unbearable pain. And Lortell would never hurt Esdeath unless it was necessary, Absolutely necessary!
So instead, they chose to do a proper ritual.
This kind of ritual was rare and sacred. Esdeath had to offer her body to Lortell, not in a dirty way, but as a form of trust and submission. Doing so would help Lortell gently purify her blood with close to no pain.
In normal cases, offering your body to someone during a ritual meant giving them complete control. They could destroy it, use it, or consume it. But this was Lortell. And Esdeath trusted her completely.
Lortell finally spoke in her usual calm, quiet voice.
"You remember the incantation, right? You can begin the ritual now."
Esdeath smiled faintly, her red eyes still closed, and replied softly,
"Yes, dear~."