Hmm... had Sellen just backstabbed Ranni? This really was... wait, hadn't Sellen sold a Melina Doll before?
No way! There was a huge "Danger" sign over Melina's head!
Just then, Sellen suddenly sneezed. The witch suspected someone was slandering her!
Sellen glanced at the player walking toward the lift and figured it probably wasn't that do-gooder... had she offended anyone lately?
Ranni? Messmer? Rykard? Miquella? Hmm, she'd offended too many people to be sure.
But never mind. She was so close now... she had to see just where "she" was!
The lift slowly descended, passing through layers of rock and caverns. When the view opened up again, the player had arrived before a vast swamp.
It was called a swamp, but its color was strange-half red, half green, as though something was rotting, or something was burning.
The red portions were dark red liquid, like diluted blood. The green portions were moss spread everywhere.
Most striking of all was a swarm of red butterflies sealed within layers of golden chains at the center of the swamp.
Golden chains wound around them, stretching in from every direction to bind them firmly in midair. The butterflies' wings fluttered faintly, but they could not break free.
Sellen was already standing at the edge of the swamp, her back to the player and her gaze resting on those red butterflies. Her blue academic robes looked particularly bright against the swamp.
An irrepressible excitement showed on her face. "Yes! This is exactly what I wanted!"
"Haha, haha..."
Then her laughter abruptly stopped. Uh, apparently she'd laughed herself breathless. "Ahem... my apprentice, you're no use to me anymore..."
After that utterly unimposing villainous declaration, a cutscene suddenly triggered.
Countless torrents of scarlet water suddenly erupted from the half-red, half-green lake. The liquid surged from deep within