Twin Mirrors Were Pretty Ruthless

Supervisor Cornelius led the way, guiding Iver and Bayard to the end of the Secret Passage passage.

—In fact, as the supervisor, he personally led Miss Bayard through the Secret Passage, which could be considered a sign of sincerity.

Despite being fellow Child of the Moon and having a close working relationship, and the possibility that Crescent Moon Manor might need to borrow money from Miss Bayard again, the thought of shoving someone directly into this dark, unknown corner where no one can find help... sounds far too dangerous.

Whatever traps, rituals, seals, or ambushes lie along the way, they could all be deadly. Moreover, the space here is so narrow that if a fight breaks out, there won't even be room to hide.

Is there only one Secret Passage?

Feeling Iver's fingertips gently scratching her palm, Miss Bayard asked with a hint of unease, "The passageway here is so narrow... what if someone happens to walk by from the outside while we're walking along?"

"You don't need to worry about that. We will expand it later."

Supervisor Cornelius shrugged. "Having too many Secret Passage passages isn't necessarily a good thing. We can't monitor so many entrances and exits at the same time, which will only make the manor less secure. One is enough—no more, no less—anyway, not that many people use this place normally. If too many people clog it up, they can turn into bats, right?"

"Too."

Miss Bayard nodded in agreement.

Her sharp nails scratched at Iver's palm, indicating that she had confirmed that there was only one Secret Passage.

"But if we go out from here..."

Supervisor Cornelius reached out and pressed his hand on the runes on the wall.

As he moved, three overlapping white, yellow, and black rings gradually appeared. The areas where they intersected were filled with a blood-red hue. In the very center was the rune on the wall, which meant "secret."

"Wind, earth, and darkness—injecting these three elements in equal proportions will open this Secret Door. It requires a total of three units of magic power to be injected simultaneously... This can be considered a simple form of identity verification."

Cornelius smiled. "But any Child of the Moon should be able to open it. If you want to return to the banquet, you can go back through here. The other side is also opened with runes."

The Child of the Moon are a race, and also Extraordinary Profession.

As a favorite of the Constant Self, this class possesses mana pools of three attributes—wind, representing change; earth, representing burial; and darkness, representing curses. This is also the basis for the Child of the Moon's versatile and adaptable abilities.

Whether it's transforming into a bat, changing their appearance, or manipulating others through "bewitching," all these abilities rely on Wind Attribute magic. The soil from their homeland can enhance the power of the Child of the Moon. After they die, they turn to ashes and are reborn from the ashes, a rebirth method similar to that of the undead. As for the Dark Attribute, it is related to their abilities such as curses and corrosion.

...etc.

Iver's pupils contracted slightly.

She suddenly realized what was happening.

... Luckily, I didn't believe this damn quest prompt, Iver thought to himself.

She knew that the New Moon Ritual couldn't possibly involve any serious "cooperative tasks".

If they enter the Secret Passage, they will find that they cannot open the door at all.

Although there must be people among them who possess all three types of magical power, there are three of them.

It is absolutely impossible for three untrained individuals to simultaneously inject completely identical magical power. Not to mention that their magical power is already limited, leaving them with very little opportunity for trial and error.

To forcibly break through this Secret Door, you'll have to use blood.

Infuse mana into the blood, then mix them together in proportion and apply it to the runes... this can also open doors.

The problem is that they usually arrive here after being drained of blood. If they are given more mana and blood, they might even faint – they don't have any mana storage mediums like fire essence, and pure blood doesn't contain much mana, so a large amount of blood is needed.

So they definitely wouldn't want to.

However, things are different when a person dies—regardless of how much mana a person has while alive, after death, the mana pool itself will separate into the blood and internal organs. Any amount exceeding ten points will enter the internal organs, brain, and bone marrow, while a maximum of ten points can remain in the blood.

No. 14 has a maximum of three points of Dark Attribute Mana in her body. Therefore, after she is killed, one-third of her remaining blood will contain one unit of Dark Attribute Mana. The same logic applies to the others.

Find people with Dark Attribute, Wind Attribute, and Earth Attribute, kill them, mix their blood, and pour it onto the rune. This will give you a 1:1:1 ratio of mana injected into all three attributes simultaneously.

In other words, even if they reach a cooperation agreement, they might not know how to open the door when they arrive at it. Most likely, only mages on the Path of Wisdom or extraordinary individuals on the Path of Love will be able to decipher this rune.

Then they would have to kill two or three people to open the door—if there were a Path of Wisdom mage as a sacrifice, they could kill one less person, since he alone could provide both wind and earth elemental magic.

If they regret it and go back the way they came, they will find that the other side is also closed.

—We still need to kill someone to open the door.

If there are fewer than three people here, they won't even be able to open the door and will be trapped here, quietly waiting for time to pass. And this long period of more than ten hours... is enough for some of them to change their minds, or for newcomers who have been tricked into coming to the Secret Passage by the mission to arrive, thus disrupting the balance.

"The Twin Mirrors ' mission is really ruthless..."

Iver felt a little uneasy.

Fortunately, she didn't take any chances and gave up on the possibility of a "loving and harmonious" collaboration from the very beginning.

The last New Moon Ritual wasn't nearly as blatant... Of course, it might have been too blatant, which made Iver feel it was fair. In short, killing everyone is victory, very knightly.

This time, she finally experienced what a "bloody ritual" meant.

Lies, deception, betrayal...

Unlike the Full Moon Ritual, the New Moon Ritual symbolizes the divergence and conflict of the Nine Great Paths.

Indeed, we still have to treat each other as enemies...

Her mindset has changed somewhat.

Just as Iver was thinking this, the three eye-like red eyes were simultaneously filled.

The sealed door finally appeared—a door of light suddenly appeared at what was originally a dead end.

This was not a long-distance teleportation portal, but a door concealed by the Preservator using souls as material and the concept of a "grave." As Iver passed through it, he felt an intense chill... as if he were walking through a mass grave at night in only a thin layer of clothing.

They did not arrive at any dark cave or labyrinthine cavern through this door.

Instead, they entered a dark, sealed room with all the windows covered by heavy curtains.

The building is made of wood, and there is a faint aroma of essential oils in the air, indicating that some kind of ceremony has just taken place.

"Here it is..."

Bayard felt that this place seemed somewhat familiar.

"This is Theresa Abbey."

Supervisor Cornelius stood with his hands behind his back, his back straight and his expression composed.

He explained earnestly, "It's Secret Society dedicated to Sister Sasha. You must have been here before—when you first become Child of the Moon, you're usually brought here to get through the initial period of irrationality."

"Theresa Abbey..."

Iver murmured, his eyes sparkling.

"So this is where it is..."

"You're also interested in Sister Sasha?"

Bayard was somewhat surprised.

It is rare to see humans showing interest in Sister Sasha.

Iver nodded vigorously. "Yes, I'm very interested!"

—Because this is a fixed location where equipment drops.