"Damn it!" Ana cursed as she pulled away from Thera’s corpse, causing Elena to regard her with a worried look.
Ana hardly cursed which meant that for her to do so now, something bad must have happened.
"What happened?" Elena asked.
Ana clicked her tongue as she glanced at the boundary of the loop. "Whatever’s going on in there is more complicated than we expected."
"There are more forces at play than we anticipated," Ana remarked, taking a moment to regard Thera’s corpse.
Following her gaze, Elena regarded Thera’s corpse as well. "So what now?"
"Can’t you reach in again?... Let Alex know what he’s dealing with?"
"I can’t," Ana remarked before proceeding to pull up her shirt, revealing a patch of white scales underneath.
"The Serpent’s Corruption." Ana breathed out before shifting her attention back to Thera’s corpse, which had begun to go through a rapid breakdown.
Soon, the corpse turned to dust at which point Elena remarked. "What now?"
Ana glanced at her, her expression betraying a hint of frustration.
"Right, sorry," Elena muttered before shifting her attention towards the loop boundary.
It was her turn to figure something out.
Back in the Unending Carnival, Ulysses remained torn between the options he had about how he should handle the artifact.
Ultimately, he decided to leave it be until the others were made aware of its presence.
Maybe then, he could decide to take them back first and then pick up the artifact so whatever happens, he’d be able to handle the consequences alone.
Once the decision was made, he took one last look at the artifact he’d dubbed the Codex of Duality and went on his way, first heading towards where he felt his uncle to be.
He found Kallias along with his party in a valley of sorts with the corpses of two individuals covered in Quillion, lying across from one another.
"Uncle, I found something," Ulysses exclaimed as he approached Kallias only to pause as his gaze fell on the corpse his uncle was standing in front of.
Immediately, his heart lurched and his eyes widened as he recognized the face of the corpse; it had to be that of his sister, Cybele.
He’d hoped to find her just like he’d done with his mother.
Kallias turned to regard the young man. "What did you find?"
"I said look away!" Kallias loudly said, forcing Ulysses to do as he said.
The Nester youth closed his eyes as he struggled to contain his emotions.
Kallias stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Come, tell me what you found?"
Taking a deep breath, Ulysses followed his uncle’s lead with the others following closely behind.
"An artifact?" Kallias raised a brow once Ulysses explained what he’d seen.
"Yes, uncle. If I were to guess, it embodies the concepts once ruled by the Jester and the Hexad."
"That is quite interesting," Kallias muttered with vested interest in the matter.
"I considered taking it but thought it might be connected to the integrity of this dimension, so I let it be."
"That’s good thinking, boy. When faced with the unknown, it is best to tread with caution."
"I agree," Ulysses muttered, having already experienced the consequences of not acting cautiously.
"Go, find the others, bring them here then together, we’ll go after the artifact."
"Actually, uncle, I was thinking I’d send you all back first so if it turns out to be dangerous, u wouldn’t have to worry."
Kallias chuckled. "You want to chase this old man away so quickly?"
"Not at all, uncle, it’s just that..."
"I understand, I’m just pulling your leg." Kallias intoned. "Don’t worry, you can take us back once everyone has set their eyes on the artifact."
With that, Ulysses quickly took his leave with Kallias stroking his beard before an odd smile appeared at the corners of his lips.
"You have to be the first person that’s drawn the ire of a devil and lived to survive the tale." Victoria breathed out as she lay in bed.
The room she was in was one of the two rooms in the apartment they’d rented and was currently lit up by an oil lamp because the community they were in was quite backwards when it came to technological advancements.
Nadia was seated close to the door, her demeanor sour and her expression bitter.
She looked to be in deep thought, only jolted out of it by Victoria’s sudden words upon regaining consciousness.
"How do you feel?" Nadia inquired.
"How else?" Victoria replied.
"I’m sorry, I just..."
"No, I’m the one who should be sorry. I should have known those... Nothings would be forbidden territory."
"We both should have known, it’s not your fault alone to bear."
"I guess it’s true what they say... curiosity does kill the cat."
Both ladies chuckled before Victoria inquired. "So what happened?"
"Oh, it’s just... Vessina told me things, things I honestly was better off not knowing." Nadia muttered, causing Victoria to raise a brow as she inquired.
"Like how Sayda was able to find us,"
"How did she find us?"
Nadia let out a sigh. "Amase."
"The Devil of Greed?"
"Indeed. She gave Sayda our location, helped her track us down to the outpost."
"I see," Victoria said. "Will you inform master?"
Nadia hesitated before ultimately replying. "No, Alex doesn’t need to know. I’ll handle it."
"You wish to handle a grudge with the Devil of Greed alone?" Victoria raised a brow. "That’s a bit too arrogant, don’t you think?"
"Then I guess it’s a good thing I picked Vessina to sign a contract with."
With that, Nadia got to her feet and opened the door to leave.
Nadia paused just as she was about to close the door.
"Master cares for you. I’d advise you not to cause him worry."
"Don’t worry," Nadia said. "I won’t."