Iris looked up as Michello approached the scene, cheerful as ever.
He barely reacted to the sight of one student vomiting on the floor while another sat nearby with blood running from his broken nose.
Instead, he simply smiled and crouched beside the injured boy, his visible eye beginning to glow faintly pink as the relic activated.
“Run along,” Michello said gently.
“And forget everything you saw today.”
The boy’s expression immediately went blank.
Without another word, he stood and walked away.
Iris watched him disappear down the hallway, her eye twitching.
She really didn’t want to die again.
The memory of the wendigo’s teeth was still fresh enough that she could almost feel them grinding through her skull.
Her hands instinctively tightened at her sides as Michello turned toward her with the same pleasant smile as before.
“Iris, do you know what a Möbius strip is?”
The exact same question.
Iris slowly rose to her feet and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
Her legs were still shaking, but she forced them to remain steady.
Running wouldn’t work.
Fighting him was impossible.
Telling the truth would probably get her killed even faster.
Then an idea came to her.
A horrible, humiliating idea.
But an idea nonetheless.
“Of course I know what a Möbius strip is, you swine.” Iris crossed her arms and stared down her nose at him with as much arrogance as she could manage.
“And you’re standing far too close. A mere Cardinal shouldn’t be so presumptuous.”
Michello’s smile disappeared.
His hand shot forward.
Before Iris could react, his fingers closed around her face.
Her entire body stiffened.
“What exactly do you know about me being a Cardinal?” Michello asked quietly.
His glowing pink eye narrowed.
The cheerful priest from moments ago vanished almost completely, replaced by something colder.
“Not even the Dogs of War possess information at that level.”
His fingers pressed harder against Iris’s skull.
Her heart pounded.
Good.
She’d gotten his attention.
Now she just had to make sure that attention didn’t result in another death.
“Pathetic swine,” Iris said, forcing contempt into every word despite the hand currently threatening to crush her head.
“Must I report your behavior to Madam Silver? You dare lay your hands on an Oracle personally blessed by the Goddess?”
Michello froze.
Then his grip vanished.
Iris took a careful step backward, refusing to show even the slightest relief.
‘This is so fucking disgusting.’
She kept her chin raised.
‘I can’t believe I’m pretending to be some holy gift from this bastard’s cult.’
Even thinking the words made her stomach turn.
She knew what Michello’s Church was.
She knew what its followers had done in the name of their Goddess and how many people had died before the organization was finally destroyed.
Still, disgust wasn’t going to keep her alive.
So Iris maintained the most insufferably arrogant expression she could manage.
‘Just wait, Michello.’
Her golden eyes remained fixed on him.
‘I’m going to make you believe every word of this, and when I don’t need you anymore, I’ll make sure I’m the one who kills you.’
“Just think about it,” Iris continued, leaning casually against the wall as though Michello hadn’t nearly crushed her skull moments earlier.
“How else could my fate become this twisted if not through her intervention? Someone like you should’ve realized that immediately.” She clicked her tongue.
“How pathetic. Ranked number one on the government’s priority kill list, yet you can’t connect something this obvious.”
Michello stared at her.
Iris forced herself not to look away. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
If she was going to pretend to be someone personally chosen by his Goddess, humility probably wasn’t going to convince him.
Michello worshipped miracles, destiny, revelation, and whatever twisted divine plan his Church claimed to serve.
Acting frightened would make her look like a liar.
So Iris instead channeled the most arrogant person she had ever known.
Superbia.
Just thinking about him made her want to punch something.
But unfortunately, his unbearable pride was useful.
Michello’s smile slowly returned.
“Do forgive me, Miss Oracle,” he said with a quiet chuckle.
“You must understand that believing you’ve suddenly been blessed by the Lady is rather difficult. After all, just yesterday you told me you’d rather be drowned in pig shit than willingly step foot inside my cathedral.”
“Yeah, well, last night I received a revelation.” Iris raised her chin.
“The Lady herself blessed me. And considering you’re one of the Five Cardinals of her Church, protecting my life should now be one of your highest priorities.”
Her eye twitched.
‘Gross.’
She wanted to wash her mouth out with soap.
‘Every single word coming out of my mouth is disgusting.’
The temptation to abandon the act and insult Michello properly was almost overwhelming, but Iris held herself back.
She had lost the love of her life during the operation that finally destroyed Michello’s cult.
She knew exactly what kinds of atrocities had been committed beneath those robes, what kinds of things people had been convinced to do because they were told that the Goddess desired it.
‘You and that deranged Church are every bit as vile as Superbia.’
Iris smiled faintly.
‘Don’t worry.
I’ll kill you all the same.’
“May I ask what exactly I’m supposed to be protecting you from?” Michello asked.
“Though I’d assume you’re referring to the Dove.”
Iris’s eye twitched again.
‘Fuck.’
She had almost forgotten.
Michello wasn’t the only psychopath currently living in Applecrest.
‘It’s fine.
Nikolai is easier to deal with than this bastard.
Once I get the brothers on my side, he should be manageable.’
“No. Nikolai can be dealt with whenever necessary,” Iris said dismissively.
“I’m talking about something far more important.”
She pushed herself away from the wall.
“In three days, this entire town will become a T.A.L.E.”
For the first time, Michello’s smile weakened.
Iris stared directly into his glowing pink eye.
“Surely someone as knowledgeable as you can figure out what that means.”
Michello remained silent.
The silence lasted only a few seconds, but it was enough for Iris to know she had finally said something capable of unsettling him.
Then the smile returned.
“A Blood Moon.”
Iris said nothing.
“How fascinating.” Michello chuckled softly, almost sounding pleased by the possibility of his own impending death.
“Then Applecrest is destined to become a Devil’s Footprint. I suppose it makes sense. With both Nikolai and myself gathered in the same insignificant town, two powerful Cursebearers occupying one place were bound to draw the hatred of destiny eventually.”
Devil’s Footprints were the classification given to the deadliest form of T.A.L.E.—catastrophic areas born beneath a Blood Moon.
Ordinary T.A.L.E.s like White Wood Forest were dangerous, but localized.
Their stories had boundaries, rules, and anchors that could sometimes be exploited.
Devil’s Footprints were different.
They weren’t merely supernatural locations.
They were disasters.
Once a Blood Moon appeared, reality itself warped across the affected region.
Escape became nearly impossible, monsters manifested in overwhelming numbers, and the rules governing the area changed according to forces even organizations like A.E.G.I.S.
struggled to understand.
And in three days, all of Applecrest would become one. Find the original chapter at g.com.
‘To be exact, it’s because you, Nikolai, and the Valentine brothers are all going to be in the same place,’ Iris thought bitterly.
‘That, and your Curse’s Stigmata makes you unbelievably unlucky.’
Her eye twitched.
‘Bastard.
This whole thing is basically your fault.’
“Now, I need to return home,” Iris said, forcing her expression back into something suitably arrogant.
“The Lady will guide me toward the path we’re meant to take, but guidance alone won’t save us. Only our actions will. Prepare yourself for the coming T.A.L.E.”
Michello placed one hand over his chest and bowed.
“Praise the Lady, and all her miracles.”
Iris hesitated.
Every part of her wanted to refuse.
“Praise the… Lady.”
The words felt like ash in her mouth.
She turned and began walking away before her expression could reveal how thoroughly disgusted she was.
The sooner she got away from Michello, the sooner she could stop pretending that joining his insane religion was somehow part of a divine revelation.
After a few steps, Iris glanced back over her shoulder.
“And Michello, do try to deal with Nikolai before this becomes a bigger problem.”
“Of course.” Michello smiled pleasantly.
“I’m simply delighted that another Miracle has finally joined our ranks. The two of us seem to share a truly extraordinary destiny.”
Iris stopped.
Only for half a second.
Then she kept walking.
‘Another Miracle?’
Her expression tightened as she left the school behind.
Michello had called her that before.
Not today.
Not because of this ridiculous Oracle act.
Years from now, in her previous life, he had referred to both himself and Iris as Miracles.
At the time she’d assumed it was another piece of religious nonsense and never bothered asking what he meant.
Now she wasn’t so sure.
‘What the hell does he mean by Miracle?’
Iris kept walking.
A cold feeling settled in her stomach.
‘Just how many pieces of this story am I still missing?’
Once Iris disappeared from sight, Michello remained standing in the hallway.
His smile never left his face.
He waited several seconds before turning and walking around the back of the school, away from wandering students and any windows that might overlook the area.
The moment he reached the empty courtyard, the air beside him began to distort.
Something invisible moved across the brick wall.
Light bent around an unseen shape.
“Cupcake,” Michello said softly.
The distortion stopped.
“Keep an eye on her for me.”
His smile widened.
“A very close eye.”
For the briefest moment, the creature allowed itself to become visible.
A strange lizard-like beast clung to the wall beside him, its limbs spread unnaturally wide across the brick.
Nearly transparent scales covered its body, shifting in color to perfectly imitate whatever surface rested behind it.
Two large eyes turned toward Michello before slowly looking in the direction Iris had gone.
Then the creature vanished again.
Michello remained there for several seconds.
Still smiling.
“An Oracle…”
He chuckled quietly.
“How interesting.”