Brainwashed Again

"Cecilia!?"

Elder Hall's eyes widened, as if he hadn't expected her to suddenly appear here.

The cultists wearing silver masks heard the commotion and swarmed in one after another.

When Mary realized this uninvited guest was Cecilia, her expression turned to one of utter astonishment.

"Didn't you say she wouldn't come?" Elder Hall shot an annoyed glare at Mary.

"What?" A mocking smile hung on Cecilia's face. "Did you think I would stay in the secret manor in the Riverside District, researching magic for The Order day and night?"

"You certainly know my daily routine well, Mary."

Mary's face had turned ash-gray; she knew she was done for.

But she couldn't fathom why Cecilia would appear here at this specific time.

Could it be...

Was it for that brat??

Mary looked toward Ansu in disbelief.

A faint smile still lingered on the corners of Cecilia's mouth, but it held no warmth, filled instead with murderous intent.

"Attack! All of you, attack!" Elder Hall roared. "Don't be afraid, Elder Colin is on his way too. If the two of us give it our all, it's not impossible to take her down!"

The dim firelight flickered incessantly. Ansu watched the group of masked cultists; even though he couldn't see their expressions, their trembling hands betrayed their true thoughts.

Cecilia's pressure was simply too overwhelming.

Yet, they had no choice but to muster their courage and charge forward; after all, disobeying Elder Hall meant death anyway.

Following a surge of terrifying, razor-sharp magic power.

In the next second, the heads of those dozen cultists fell neatly to the ground, scarlet blood gushing out like a fountain.

Cecilia's casting speed was so fast that one couldn't even see what magic she had used.

At the same time, Elder Hall's body transformed into a mass of worms that scattered and scurried away along the wall cracks.

Ansu couldn't help but curl his lip. This guy shouted for others to attack, yet he was the first to run; Elder Hall never had any intention of fighting Cecilia to the death.

"Heh, trying to escape?"

Cecilia narrowed her eyes, and wherever her black magic flames touched, Elder Hall screamed incessantly.

But there were too many worms; it seemed that unless every single one was destroyed, Elder Hall could still cling to life for a while longer.

Seeing Cecilia and Hall playing a game of "cat and mouse" in the basement, Ansu rushed toward Mary, who had fallen to the ground.

Mary's head hadn't been severed by Cecilia; it seemed to be a form of punishment, as surging magic flames were already consuming her body.

Ansu looked at Mary's miserable state, his scalp tingling.

The magic flames seemed to possess a corrosive power; large patches of skin were sloughing off Mary's body, revealing ghastly white bone. She screamed in agony, trying to extinguish the flames, but it was all in vain.

This was truly the most painful way to die.

"Teacher Mary! If you answer one question for me, I'll have her spare you!"

Mary's hideously burned face jerked upward. Her vocal cords were damaged, and she couldn't even utter a complete sentence.

"Wh... what?"

"Ether! The bottle of ether you used to knock me out, where did you put it in the office?" Ansu immediately pressed. "Hurry! Answer me and you'll be released!"

At this point, Mary was completely unable to think clearly; her survival instinct made her remember only the last sentence.

"In... the second drawer... of the desk..."

"Save... save me!"

"Fine!" Ansu picked up a knife from beside a cultist's corpse and plunged it into Teacher Mary's heart.

The heart-wrenching screams finally ceased.

Ansu had indeed granted her release.

The reason he forced this strange question out of her was that as soon as Ansu returned to reality, he would have to face Mary in the office.

He didn't think that he, someone who only knew one 0-circle spell, could defeat Mary.

Ansu looked around again. Under the glow of the fire, the basement had effectively become a slaughterhouse.

Blood and corpses were everywhere, and of course, there was Elder Hall, who had been beaten back into human form but was now missing limbs.

Until his dying breath, Elder Hall kept roaring, his voice filled with despair and malice.

"I told you... I told you already! A lunatic! The one Samantha picked up is an uncontrollable lunatic!!"

"Vile demi-human! Beast! Devil!!"

"You think you can be arrogant until the end? You will die in the most painful way! I curse--!"

"Too much chatter!" Cecilia impatiently cast a blast spell. Elder Hall's body instantly exploded into a mist of blood, his remains splattering everywhere.

Only when the battle ended did a single speck of filth finally touch Cecilia's clothes.

She frowned slightly, a look of disgust appearing on her exquisite and beautiful face.

"How disgusting, I hate bugs the most..."

Following that, Cecilia slowly shifted her gaze toward Ansu, who was standing not far away.

"Your Excellency Witch..."

Ansu did not know whether he should be happy or worried at this moment.

His Magic Immunity had already been used up, after all...

He did not know when Cecilia had appeared, but her timing was so impeccable... perhaps she had been observing him from the shadows for a long time.

What awaited him would likely not be a good ending...

"Ansu~"

She walked over gracefully, a half-smile on her face, "You seem to have many things you've been keeping from me, don't you?"

"Hmm..." Ansu blinked, "To what are you referring?"

As Cecilia walked closer step by step, the aura of forbidden magic spread along with her.

"What do you think?" she asked with a smile: "Is it your miraculous magical ability, or... the inexplicable conflict between you and Marina?"

Ansu completely gave up hope now; he had too many secrets, to the point where he couldn't even make up a lie...

On the fair skin of Cecilia's arm, a layer of demonic patterns faintly emerged, and those eerie pupils, representing her demon bloodline, stared unblinkingly into Ansu's eyes.

She raised her hand, her sharp fingertips resting lightly against Ansu's throat, as if a single gentle poke would be enough to pierce through his neck.

"I had thought you were someone worth cultivating."

Cecilia narrowed her eyes slightly, "But you seem to have another side that I cannot see through, Ansu. Just how much have you deceived me..."

Ansu opened his mouth, but in the end, he chose to remain silent.

"No answer?"

Cecilia sneered, and a filthy magical aura rapidly engulfed Ansu.

[Hypnosis]

"Tell me everything you have been hiding..."

It was unknown how much time had passed.

Cecilia stared at the dull-eyed Ansu, the smile on her face slowly fading away.

In the end, only disappointment remained.

"Heh..."

"So, it was a lie from the very beginning."

She lowered her eyelids and let out a sigh that was barely audible.

"I actually thought you were different, that I could hold such expectations for you... how ridiculous."

"If it weren't for today's events, I wouldn't even know when I would have discovered it..."

As expected...

If there is no hope, there will be no disappointment.

She waved her hand, and the light of a magic circle suddenly flared up.

"Only a version of you like this... is the most loyal."

When [Soul Domination] took effect, the Ansu before her lost all sense of self and thought.

Watching Ansu, who had lost the lively gaze he once possessed, Cecilia nodded in satisfaction, and a faint smile reappeared on her cheeks.

He would finally stop spouting lies, and he would no longer disappoint her.

It was just that.

The inexplicable sense of loss in her heart refused to dissipate for a long time.