After biting the gag, the black sorcerer's mouth ripped and musty blood seeped out. Valac clicked his tongue and said.
"I captured her without any wounds, but this stupid sorcerer's still going wild and getting herself hurt."
Then, Lara said to the black sorcerer.
"If you're thinking of cooperating, blink or nod. You'd better not refuse. You may want to bite your tongue and die but I know a lot of ways to keep you intact."
Though her explanation was long, Lara's attitude was lukewarm. No matter what the black sorcerer decided, it was not much different. No matter how hard the black sorcerer struggled, Lara did not even react to her and said what she wanted to say.
"I know how you feel when you worship demons, but how long do you want to wait for that cold-hearted guy? He's not ascending no matter how much you offer the sacrifices. You know what? You underlings that act passively are not attractive. You have to move on your own without being told what to do to prove your usefulness."
A bit of ridicule from her tone and an attitude as if it was troublesome for her. Lara was opening her mouth out of obligation.
"Do you know that Vassago is a candidate for the demon lord of this generation?"
At first, the black sorcerer did not seem to listen to Lara no matter what she said. But after listening to that, her eyes flinched noticeably.
"Do you know the sacrifice that he needs is a black sorcerer? So far, you have only offered either people or innocent animals, then, you request him to ascend right away, right? You haven't even thought about offering yourself."
Cling!
Cling!
The chains wrapped around the black sorcerer's hands and feet shook violently.
"I'm a saintess, but I'm not the saintess that people think of. I think you probably know that better than I do."
Lara unfolded the crumpled prophecy in front of the black sorcerer. It was a prophecy that undermined the saintess, written by them under Vassago's revelation. For the first time since they gleamed with madness, the woman's eyes shook anxiously.
"Let's exchange what we want."
Lara said.
"Be the sacrifice. Then, I will make Vassago ascend."
The black sorcerer, who was mumbling as if she was biting the gag, bowed her head. She rolled her eyes and fell into thought. Lara could tell that much without having to check, she told her that she would give her plenty of time to think. After Lara stepped back, Valac approached her and whispered.
"If she becomes a sacrifice, she will die… Will she cooperate?"
"She will do it."
"How do you know?"
"That's how worshiping works."
"What?"
"A demon who feeds off his own pride like you wouldn't know, but that's what worshiping is. It's reckless that they are willing to give up not only their own lives but also other people's lives. Why else would demons imitate religion instead of making their worshippers be like a state or army?"
"Haa…"
"Now she's going to ask."
"Ask what?"
Valac was genuinely curious. His master seemed to be a saintess only on the outside, and he really wanted to know what she was thinking. It seemed like it was the same for the captured black sorcerer.
The black sorcerer contemplated with her head down, then she raised her head and blinked at Lara.
"Release her gag."
When Lara gave out her orders, Valac approached the black sorcerer with an uneasy look and loosened the gag in her mouth. The gag was dampened by blood and saliva and spilled on the ground. Valac could not stand it and took out his handkerchief to wipe his hands.
The black sorcerer was still staring at Lara.
"Saintess… Lara."
A hoarse voice came out of the black sorcerer's mouth, like a boy in puberty.
"When His Lordship ascends, you will all be torn to death. You'll become a handful of blood and seep under the ground! The luxury and glory that you've enjoyed so far will disappear…"
"Shut up. Are you going to cooperate?"
"What a fool! You talk carelessly when you don't even know how terrifying a demon lord is! The God you serve won't even be worthy enough to be his mouthwash!"
"I got it."
She could just say that she would cooperate but she kept saying something else. As Lara was bored by the black sorcerer, she approached her closely and said.
"You're going to be the sacrifice, right?"
"I have a question."
"Took you long enough to ask."
"What are you up to? How can a saintess help the ascension of the demon lord…"
It was natural for the black sorcerer to express her doubts. Of course, Lara did not intend to explain honestly.
"Look carefully."
Instead, Lara put Valac in front of the black sorcerer and ordered him with a gesture. Then, Valac revealed his teeth to the black sorcerer. His ordinary-looking fangs grew long and popped out like a beast. Red energy lingered around his eyes and there was a strong smell of blood.
The black sorcerer looked at Valac in disbelief.
"A… a demon?"
"Yes. I'm a great noble from hell."
"Not a plaything for the saintess?"
The black sorcerer shouted like a scream.
"What are you thinking? I can't believe you're carrying a demon around… Are you trying to be the demon lord?"
Lara did not answer this time either.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
What are you going to do by ascending a demon? How are you going to deal with the situation if something dangerous happens? Are there any good ways to make demons obey you?
The Barbarians had never asked her such things, not Domino, not Lampion, not even Oscar. They just accepted it and refrained from interfering with Lara's work. Their main concern was just letting Lara know that Demian was the coolest Barbarian in the world.
"Lara!"
As autumn officially began, Lara and the Barbarians gradually got used to and got closer to each other. Lara realized that the Barbarians were just ordinary people without anything special, and the Barbarians found that Lara was a much more honest and simple person than they thought.
"Lara, come here!"
"What's up?"
"The altar is ready!"
"Already?"
Lara asked Oscar to create an altar similar to those used by black sorcerers in a closed place outside the ancient sites. Oscar took Lampion and Domino, and with their incredible power and strength, they built a plausible altar by stacking large logs like stairs.
"I often see it so I know how it looks like."
"You really worked hard."
"Not really. Do you need anything else?"
"When it's midnight, the ritual will start. Please step back from a distance and run to me if anything happens."
"Okay."
Though he wanted to, Domino was not permitted to watch the ritual from a close distance. If he did, there was a possibility that Vassago would ascend to the wrong person.
'So what?'
Lampion reacted as such to Domino. He looked forward to Vassago's arrival, and to the fight between the demon and the Barbarians. He wanted to see how strong Vassago was.
Lara focused on decorating the altar until midnight. She hung a huge tapestry with Vassago's symbol and drew a summoning circle on the altar using the blood of a beast. The old book that Valentine found underground had a lot to do with demons and hell, so she got a lot of help from him.
Lara's undone long hair, coupled with her rubbing her sleepy eyes and delicately drawing the demon's symbol, resembled the witch that Vassago spoke of through the prophecy.
"Is, is it going to be okay?"
Valentine asked with a terrified look. Then, Konny patted him on the shoulder and said.
"Of course. I don't know how great of a demon that samba is or whatever, but he's not a match for milady."
It was almost midnight. Lara set up a fiercely burning torch and began the ritual. There were only Lara, Valac, and the black sorcerer to be sacrificed there.
"Valac."
"Okay."
The tightly tied-up black sorcerer was lifted on the symbol painted with red blood. She was drunk on madness. She continued to mutter words of unknown meaning, saying that she was able to summon the object she was worshiping with her own body. Her mouth was torn apart and covered with wounds, yet she still laughed with a weird face. Looking at her, Valac rubbed his arms while saying that he just got goosebumps.
After getting ready, Lara looked at the dark sky with a short dagger in one hand. Numerous stars were swirling over her head. As she stared at the night sky that seemed to be in the shape of a vortex, she thought that, somewhere high over there, her God would be looking at what she would do.
Abraxas… He might be sad.
Lara tasted death once in her previous life. It was painful, but she was able to endure it because she was the one who chose her own death. The same goes for when she was busying herself, and how she would correct her mistakes after returning to the past.
While facing the faults that she wanted to hide, Lara was still able to move enthusiastically. She thought it would be different this time. It was all right to be criticized or to jump into dangerous things. It was fine to have more people to take responsibility for and to take on troublesome tasks. Because it was her choice.
But all of that was the result of the mad God and the will of the world controlling her fate as they liked.
'I won't be swayed anymore.'
Lara decided to throw her fate away. Saintess or demon lord, both were fine either way. She did not want to surrender herself. Given birth to and taken away by death, coming back and becoming a saintess again. What was this all about?
She would do her best to prevent destruction, but she would not be a pawn that would move as God or the will of the world told her to. If necessary, she would even hold hands with the demons. She would gladly be covered with the skin of the demon lord rather than the saintess.
Abraxas–She would get away from him and take control of her fate completely.
Lara cut her own palm with the short dagger. Red blood flowed and fell down. Her wound quickly healed and disappeared without a trace, but residue of her red blood remained on the altar where Lara stood.
"Come out."
If it was her blood, born as the demon lord but had to become a saintess, she would be able to grab and drag out at least one heavy demon.
Lara said.
"Come out right now."