As if her toy had been snatched away

If anyone else had said this, Ellie would have assumed without hesitation that they were insane or spinning some ridiculous lie.

But that eerie black mist that had swallowed the bronze bell was something no ordinary magic could explain, and it had happened right before her eyes.

If this news got out, it would send unimaginable shock waves through every nation, especially those within the Church of Light's sphere of influence.

A banished, good-for-nothing noble had become the emissary of a lost deity?

The implications were far too complicated, and far too dangerous.

Ellie fell silent.

She looked at Greg, her gaze unreadably complex.

After the shock came an even deeper worry.

Was attracting the attention of such an ancient, mysterious being a blessing or a curse? And what did she want?

Greg could see Ellie's doubts and shock, but for now, he could not explain the deeper details either.

Still, the dark-attribute magic he had just used had shown him an entirely new possibility, one he had never dared imagine when he was merely an ordinary villain character.

"Ellie."

He stepped forward, his expression turning serious. "There's something I need your help with. And you're the only one who can help me."

"What is it?"

"I need you to find a way, over the next little while... to establish a religious order that worships the dark night."

At last, he voiced an idea that had come to him in a flash of inspiration.

Ellie froze, as though she had misheard him. "...What? Establish a religious order? Worship the dark night?"

"Yes."

Greg nodded, his thoughts growing clearer by the moment.

"Nightmare... the goddess's power is closely tied to faith."

"She's gone without worship for too long, leaving her terribly weak."

"If we can restore that faith, even on a very small scale, it would help the goddess regain her power. And it would help me... too."

He did not specify how it would help him, but Ellie could guess.

There had to be a connection between a deity's power and her emissary's.

Perhaps that strange ability Greg had just demonstrated came from precisely that connection.

If the goddess grew stronger, Greg would naturally benefit as well.

More importantly, Greg had something else in mind: if Nightmare recovered some of her strength, could he, whose fate was bound to hers, gain some kind of Blessing too?

He thought of Victoria.

That gray-haired hero had taken a direct hit from Lilith's Flame Explosion and somehow escaped with only minor injuries.

Although Lilith's Flame Explosion was currently only LV1, an ordinary person struck head-on would have been gravely injured, if not killed outright.

That was the tremendous survivability and resistance the Blessing granted.

What if I could get something similar through Nightmare?

Then, as long as I kept growing stronger, combined with whatever Blessing I might gain...

Whether it was the bizarre misfortunes caused by that damned -10 luck stat or the fate that doomed Ellie and me to die, I would have the power to change it!

He would no longer have to pin all his hopes on Victoria's plot armor or forever tread carefully around every familiar scene.

Perhaps he could truly take his fate into his own hands instead of leaving it to that damned plot and luck stat.

The thought burned like wildfire in his heart, filling his gaze with intense anticipation as he looked at Ellie, along with a barely perceptible trace of nervousness.

Because he knew perfectly well how outrageous and fanciful his request was.

Asking a maid whose only specialty was swordsmanship to establish some secret religious society and spread faith in a deity the world had long forgotten... it sounded like a terrible joke.

But he had no one else to rely on now.

Only Ellie, the woman who had grown up with him, whose tongue was sharp but who had never truly left him, and who stayed with him until the end even in every bad ending.

Ellie did not answer right away.

She lowered her head slightly, her long golden hair falling forward to obscure part of her expression.

Only the wind could be heard atop the Clock Tower.

After a long while, she slowly raised her head and looked at Greg with her blue eyes. Countless emotions surged within them, along with... a sharp glint of resolve.

"Understood."

She finally spoke, her voice returning to its usual calm, even taking on a slightly businesslike tone.

"I'll try. But don't get your hopes up."

Greg breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. "I'll leave it to you. I know you can handle it."

He went over a few more things with Ellie. For safety's sake, he generally spent most of his time in the Dungeon and would not leave lightly, so it was best to explain everything he could now.

Ellie simply listened, occasionally nodding, but remaining silent most of the time.

Once they had discussed more or less everything, Greg prepared to leave.

"Well, I should get going. Take care of yourself."

"Mm."

Ellie murmured her assent, but her gaze turned elsewhere.

Greg said nothing more. He turned toward the small door, and soon his figure vanished into the shadows of the stairway.

Only Ellie remained atop the Clock Tower, along with the ceaseless night wind.

She slowly walked to the railing and looked once more at the sleeping city below, though her gaze was unfocused.

Moonlight fell over her, making the white silk of her maid's dress seem to glow.

Her feelings were rather complicated.

It felt as though someone had snatched her toy away out of nowhere and forcibly dragged it into their mess.

But...

Ellie closed her eyes, and old memories flashed through her mind unbidden.

The blond brat who had followed her around as a child, clearly afraid of the dark but stubbornly insisting, "I'm not scared!"

The boy he had become a little later, whose personality was growing increasingly warped, but who would sometimes awkwardly toss her a bottle of medicine when she hurt herself practicing with her sword.

And later still, the young master who had gradually grown arrogant and foolish, disappointing her again and again, yet whom she could never truly bring herself to abandon...

She opened her eyes. The cool moonlight reflected in their blue depths, but a nearly obstinate resolve gradually settled within them.

Fine.

She told herself inwardly.

That idiot never had anyone by his side except me anyway.

If even I let go, then he really would have... nothing left.

The night wind stirred her long hair and the hem of her skirt. Like a statue beneath the moonlight, she stood there quietly for a long time. Only when the first, barely perceptible hint of pale dawn appeared on the horizon did she turn and silently vanish from the top of the Clock Tower.

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