The Philosopher struggled onward, feeling her body grow weaker and weaker.
She panted heavily, then coughed up sticky phlegm flecked with blood. Nearly drained of strength, she lowered the bundle she was carrying.
She couldn't carry it anymore.
Her fingers had already gone white from gripping it. The thing was simply too heavy for her.
Inside the crude bundle were the Hatter's bodily remains—the ritual materials she had obtained only after great difficulty.
During the ritual, the Hatter had become a robust young man. The Philosopher had traded information with him, explained that she could no longer find her teammates, and expressed her willingness to form a team with him.
With the Hatter's help, the Philosopher, who had just escaped from the private room and was still weak and powerless, had managed to enter the Secret Passage. At the time, she could barely stand and had practically been lifted and stuffed into the passage by the Hatter.
Once they had both entered the Secret Passage and the Philosopher had caught her breath, she immediately ambushed and killed him with a spell.
—There was no other reason. She desperately needed to heal her body and restore her strength.
There was no priest in this ritual, and even if there had been one, it would have been difficult to kidnap them and force them to heal her. Although the Hatter had been willing to cooperate with her, if she continued to appear this weak, he might simply kill her outright.
So she had decided to strike first.
As a mage of the Path of Wisdom, the Philosopher had no recovery abilities. Fortunately, as long as one knew how to perform them, it was possible to conduct some simple rituals even without reaching the Path of Transcendence.
And a human corpse containing magical