"Volunteer?! Damn it, Elliot! Why are you talking about volunteering like this Damn prince is going to sign up for charity work or a community tour?! Have you lost your mind entirely?! Why would a prince forfeit his royal status and noble bloodline just to become a wedding sacrifice who will die at the end of it anyway?! That’s a flat-out impossibility—no sane mind would buy it!"
Elliot fully understood the reasons behind his friend’s fiery anger and absolute rejection. The proposal to bring the prince inside through a covert infiltration was already a wild, suicidal plan with a high failure rate and guaranteed rejection from the prince himself. But now, with the idea of making him enter as a sacrifice.. under normal logic, terms like "risky" or "crazy" didn’t even begin to cover it—it was simply an utterly useless concept that no prince would ever agree to!
For even if the Eighth Prince of the Great Human Empire was considered an outcast and marginalized—having been born to one of the Emperor’s 102 concubines, to say nothing of his 40 official wives—and even if he was merely a forgotten name in an imperial palace rife with power struggles, at the end of the day, he was still alive and carrying the blood of the ruling dynasty in his veins!
Ordinary volunteers for the sacrificial rituals took such a step either out of extreme poverty, where their families received a massive financial payout as compensation, or if they came from low-influence families who were granted elevated standing and political prestige in exchange for sacrificing one of their offspring. By what right in the depths of hell would an imperial prince need to do something so catastrophic for two total strangers he had never seen or known in his life?!
Elliot asked in a calm, calculated tone: "Aren’t the marriage fees and costs between sacrifices completely free, covered and paid for by the Alliance Council itself?"
Michael’s expression darkened as he shot him a dry look: "Are you kidding me right now? What does that have to do with anything?!"
Elliot replied with a firm, cold logic: "I’m dead serious, Michael.. What do you think a person trapped in the Eighth Prince’s position needs to throw himself headfirst into this place?"
Michael answered instantly without hesitation: "To be officially insane and possess a suicidal urge! There is no other logical definition for such stupidity!"
Hybrid Elliot smiled: "No, man.. It’s the greed for control, fame, and the imperial recognition he has lacked his entire life! Yes, I agree with you completely that any ordinary, stable prince wouldn’t agree to this nonsense at all, and if I were in his shoes, I would’ve refused in outrage.. But what about this specific prince? The Eighth Prince possesses a terrifying, hidden talent in alchemy—one that rivals the depth and power of the greatest alchemist in history! If we can write a secret letter and deliver it to him, laying out the exact code to awaken the dormant alchemy talent in his body.. then he will blindly believe anything else we write in the rest of the letter!"
Elliot paused for a moment, savoring Michael’s widening eyes, before adding with confidence: "In that very same letter, we will mislead him by writing that this alchemy talent is merely his second strongest ability, and that his true, first legendary talent is the greatest magical gift in all of human history! To activate and hone it, he must immediately volunteer as a sacrifice and enter this exact castle to complete the magical awakening ritual! Don’t you think someone suffering under oppression and degradation like him would risk everything to obtain such legendary power?!"
Michael held his head in his hands, fully absorbing the sheer level of deceit and cunning Elliot was aiming for. He wanted to weave a foolproof trap and manipulate Prince Halza!
This devious trick actually held a far higher success rate than expected. Someone who was told that his newly discovered, god-tier alchemy talent was just a drop in the ocean compared to an even grander magical gift would be completely blinded by greed. He would gladly sacrifice his imperial title just to chase after the mirage of this supposed power!
However.. a logical obstacle quickly surfaced in Michael’s mind, leading him to ask: "But.. what if he realizes then that we fooled him and used him for our escape? He won’t help us at all! You want him to volunteer so he can use his alchemy skills to brew magical potions that boost our strength and facilitate our escape, right? But once he realizes we conned him, he won’t give us a single drop of his potions!"
Elliot looked at him, weighing the possibilities in her mind, then answered coldly: "Who says he’ll discover the trick early? We didn’t force him to come—he came of his own free will! By the time he realizes the truth, he will already be too deeply entangled in the sacrificial ritual to back out or turn around! By then, we will have gained stronger positions and better abilities, and his alchemical mind will realize that aligning with us is the only logical choice for survival, rather than remaining an outcast prince waiting for death in his dark palace!"
Michael couldn’t help himself; a sarcastic smile carved across his lips, and he covered his face with his hand as a faint, suppressed chuckle escaped him!
He laughed for a moment because his first instinct had been to scold Elliot and tell her that such deception was unethical.. But he quickly realized that Elliot’s decision was their best and only viable option. Who actually gave a damn whether it was ethical or not?! They wanted to get out of this cursed cage and survive with their lives, not abide by noble moral codes in a world that was inherently dark and immoral to begin with!
This entire world—with all its castles, demons, and rituals—was nothing more than a crude, sick joke birthed from their old draft notes.. Who in hell cared about the fate of a fictional prince?!
Michael wiped his face, setting his mind: "I’m in on this scam.. But first, we need to know the actual name of this castle where the sacrifices are kept, and whether we can find a secure way to send an external message that bypasses the guards to reach him specifically, so middle agents don’t intercept it and leave us stranded!"
Elliot nodded in agreement, running through the rest of the complex restrictions and logistics..
The designated hour passed quickly.. In the meantime, Elliot reverted entirely to her full female form to avoid raising suspicion, adjusting her ornate dress.
KNOCK... KNOCK!
The massive wooden doors of the suite swung open before their watchful eyes!
Two gigantic demon knights appeared at the threshold, clad in massive, intimidating black magical armor that reflected the dim light. Before them stood a demon servant staring at them with cold detachment:
"Follow us at once.. Do not linger!"
Both Michael and Female Elliot nodded, stepping out of the suite side by side. They held hands in a flawless act, looking like a loving couple still basking in the bliss of their wedding night!
Yet the internal dialogue between them was ablaze with irritation:
{You demonic bastard.. Don’t squeeze my hand with such brute force! Your sweaty male hand is driving me insane with disgust!}
Michael retorted in his mind with a scowl: {Would you shut up and stop complaining so this damn time passes quickly?! We are heading to a public execution designed to deter us, not going on a romantic stroll!}
They marched with steady steps into the dark corridors.. It was abundantly clear that this day was not going to be calm or innocent in any sense of the word!