The banquet hall fell silent after Valen spoke.
The three players, who had been fighting for their lives, all turned toward Isolde.
They looked as if someone had slapped them across the face. Disbelief was written all over them.
Grant dragged himself upright against the broken dining table and exploded.
“You weren’t kidnapped?”
Rowan’s bowstring was only half drawn, and his fingers were trembling.
“She’s on the boss’s side! She’s been lying to us from the start!”
Everything that had happened since they entered Sylvain Castle flashed through Grant’s mind.
His face twitched. Gripping his iron axe, he charged toward Isolde.
“You goddamn bitch! I’ll kill you!”
The moment he took a step, the Blood Banquet Mark beneath his feet flared.
An invisible force crushed down on his knees and forced him back into place.
[Blood Banquet Rules are now in effect.]
[Warning, Guests may not leave their seats without permission.]
[Attempting to leave will trigger Execution.]
Grant’s knees buckled.
He caught himself with the handle of his axe, veins bulging along his neck. His eyes were so red he looked ready to tear someone apart with his teeth.
“Get in here! I’ll split you in half!”
Mina’s expression was grim, but she recovered faster than the others.
“Idiot!” she hissed. “Forget her for now. Kill the boss first!”
“She tricked us!” Grant roared.
“We need to get out alive before we can carve her up!” Mina snapped through clenched teeth. “Do you want to waste your strength and die even faster?”
Isolde ignored them.
She looked up at Valen. The panic on her face lasted only an instant before she forced it down.
This wasn’t the time to reveal everything.
If Valen discovered the truth now, all her preparation would be wasted.
Isolde took an anxious half step toward him.
“Father, you’ve misunderstood. I wasn’t helping them.”
Valen’s enormous body pressed closer.
The stench of decay washed over her. His weight forced a ring of dark blood out of the soaked carpet.
“Then why did you allow that woman to live?”
Isolde looked down at the severed arm of rotting flesh on the floor.
“Because she’s still useful.”
Mina spat out a curse.
Isolde continued as if she hadn’t heard her.
“These three are Descenders. They have considerable value. It would be such a waste if you crushed them all at once.”
She raised her eyes and studied the three furious players as if they were cuts of meat laid out on a butcher’s block.
“An intact skeleton, a living heart, and a soul still struggling to escape are far more valuable.”
The candles above the banquet hall flickered.
Isolde could still feel Valen’s suspicion weighing on her.
Her thoughts raced.
Valen was suspicious, but he was also greedy.
As long as she appealed to his obsession with perfection and materials, he would give her a little more time.
A little was all she needed.
Valen slowly lowered his swollen face until it was nearly touching hers.
“If you aren’t helping them,” he rasped, “then prove it.”
Isolde’s fingers went still.
An ugly smile spread across Valen’s twisted face.
“Cut one of them open in front of me. Show me whether you brought me materials or accomplices.”
Rowan immediately shouted at her.
“Touch me, and I’ll nail you to the wall!”
Isolde stood where she was without answering.
Then she let out a quiet laugh.
It wasn’t loud, but it sent a chill down the backs of all three players.
Isolde slowly drew the bone knife hidden beneath her dress. Eager excitement appeared in her eyes.
“My beloved father, I’ve been wanting to do this for quite some time.”
Her gaze settled on Rowan.
He recoiled from her.
“I’ll take him. I watched him draw his bow earlier. His arms are strong, and his heart beats quickly. He should be very fresh once I cut him open.”
“You crazy bitch!” Rowan screamed. “Why me?”
Why?
Because he had been the loudest.
Isolde ignored him and turned toward Valen.
“I’m not very strong, though. I’m afraid I won’t be able to hold him if he struggles.”
She smiled sweetly.
“Father, would you restrain him for me?”
That was exactly what Valen wanted to hear.
This was the Isolde he adored.
Obedient, cruel, and skilled at choosing materials.
Valen’s enormous tail slammed into the floor.
The dining table split down the middle. The crimson tablecloth writhed like a living creature, rising to form a wall of blood.
Grant and Mina were forced to the other side.
The Blood Banquet Mark beneath Rowan’s feet suddenly expanded.
Dark red threads burst from the carpet, wrapped around his body, and hoisted him into the air.
[Duke Valen activated Blood Banquet Divide.]
[Rowan Keene has been Restrained.]
[Movement restricted.]
Mina’s expression changed.
Without hesitation, she cast [Blessing] on Grant to restore his condition.
Grant immediately used [Guardian’s Heart] to raise both his physical and magical defenses.
Taking advantage of Valen’s post-cast recovery, he rushed forward and hacked at him wildly.
The fight immediately descended into chaos again.
“Hey!” Rowan shouted. “Save me first! If I die, neither of you is getting out alive!”
Holding the bone knife, Isolde slowly approached him.
Rowan hung helplessly in the air. He couldn’t move his arms or legs, so he could only twist his neck and curse at her.
“Stay away from me! Touch me, and I swear I’ll kill you!”
Isolde stopped in front of him and raised the knife.
The tip pressed against his arm.
She wanted to drive it in.
She wanted to slice away his flesh piece by piece, dig out his bones, and make him understand what true despair felt like.
Rowan’s voice trembled. Heavy breaths scraped from his throat, and he even squeezed his eyes shut in fear.
Isolde paused.
She suppressed the impulse, leaned closer, and whispered so only he could hear.
“I can help you kill Valen.”
Rowan froze.
He quickly recovered, his face twisting with anger.
“You think I’ll fall for another lie?”
Isolde pressed down with the bone knife.
The tip sliced through his skin, and beads of blood immediately appeared.
Pain made Rowan’s shoulder jerk, but Isolde didn’t stop.
Her voice dropped even lower.
“The Blood Banquet Array needs fresh blood to activate. Valen uses it to heal himself and control you.”
“What are you trying to say, you lunatic?” Rowan hissed.
Isolde lifted her gaze slightly.
“I know his weakness. I can turn the array against him.”
[Witch’s Mask] activated without a sound.
She spoke more slowly.
“You don’t have a choice. Besides, your teammates don’t seem interested in saving you.”
“You can let me cut open your stomach and die here, or you can trust me and gamble on killing Valen.”
Her lips curved into a faint smile.
“If you survive, I might even help you kill them afterward.”
Cold sweat rolled down Rowan’s temple.
He hated her.
He wanted to hack her into pieces.
But he had also noticed that Grant and Mina didn’t care whether he lived or died. They were even using his capture to keep some of Valen’s abilities occupied.
He refused to die just so the other two could profit.
Rowan swallowed.
“What do you want me to do?”
Isolde smiled.
“All I need is a little blood.”
She slashed the bone knife down his arm.
“What the fuck?” Rowan screamed. “You were serious?”
Blood poured from the wound and ran down his arm.
It dripped into the dark red array lines beneath the carpet.
The array lit up like a starving creature that had finally been fed.
Lines of blood crawled toward the center of the banquet hall and flowed into Valen as he fought.
Valen recovered a small amount of health.
A smile returned to his face.
“Very good, my daughter.”
Isolde lowered her head obediently.
“I’m pleased you approve, Father.”
The next instant, she turned her hand.
A Bone Nail, bleached white after being soaked in Degraded Purification Holy Water, appeared in her palm.
Without hesitation, she drove it into the array nexus beneath her feet.
The moment the nail struck the floor, the Blood Banquet Array shuddered.
Thin white lines exploded through its dark red glow like bolts of electricity.
Valen’s smile froze.
“Isolde?”
Isolde snapped her head up and shouted at the bewildered Grant.
“Now! Keep attacking!”
White light raced across the floor toward Valen.
His entire body began to convulse as though he had been struck by lightning.
The Blood Banquet was supposed to feed the players’ blood back to him.
But once the holy water-soaked Bone Nail pierced the array nexus, the corrupt power within the array was forcibly purified for a single instant.
That instant was enough to reverse the healing channel.
The blood that should have restored Valen became a current that burned him from within.
Valen screamed.
Huge slabs of rotten flesh peeled from his body and struck the floor, still twitching.
[Duke Valen has suffered Blood Banquet Purification.]
[Decay Protection weakened.]
[Decay Protection, 60% to 20%.]
[Rowan Keene’s Restraint has been removed.]
Rowan crashed to the floor.
Ignoring the pain, he grabbed his bow and fired at Valen.
He had no idea what Isolde was planning.
But system notifications didn’t lie.
Valen’s defenses had fallen.
If they didn’t attack now, they were dead.
Mina understood as well.
Using nearly the last of her mana, she raised her staff and attacked.
“I’ll cut you apart!” Grant roared.
Red light covered his axe as he brought it down on the weakened Valen.
The iron blade sank into the rotting flesh far more easily than before, carving away a huge chunk.
[Duke Valen’s Health has decreased.]
[Current Health, 60%.]
Valen’s body began to thrash violently.
The entire banquet hall shook. The candles overhead went out one after another as his roar thundered through Sylvain Castle.
Isolde seized the opportunity and issued an order to Lia, who had been waiting for her signal.
“Lia, now!”
Lia raised her head from where she had been hiding in the corner of the banquet hall.
She ran across the overturned dining table and leaped into the air.
In her hand was the bottle of Degraded Purification Holy Water that Isolde had given her beforehand.
She aimed for the exposed third vertebra of Valen’s spine and hurled the glass bottle with all her strength.
It shattered on impact.
The white liquid seeped through the gaps in Valen’s rotting flesh.
His enormous body convulsed uncontrollably once again.
[Valen is being corroded by Degraded Purification Holy Water.]
[Flesh-stitching speed reduced.]
Silver-white light flashed deep beneath the rotting flesh.
Isolde’s heart slammed against her ribs.
It still wasn’t enough.
They needed one final strike.
Valen whipped his head around.
His swollen face twisted beyond recognition as he roared through clenched teeth.
“Isolde!”
“How dare you betray me!”
The banquet hall floor split beneath the force of his voice.
Corpse hands unfolded from his body one after another, like the bones of countless dead clawing their way out of their graves.
[Duke Valen’s Health has fallen to 30%.]
[Warning, Boss has entered Enraged State.]
[Phase transition in progress.]
Isolde closed her fingers around the final Bone Nail.
Its point pierced her palm, but her grip remained steady.
Valen’s voice erupted through the banquet hall as he activated [Master Contract] to suppress his servant.
Lia’s body suddenly went rigid.
She had only just landed when her knees slammed into the floor. All strength vanished from her body, leaving her like a lifeless doll.
Lia struggled to raise her head.
Her dull gray eye stared toward Isolde.
“Miss…”
Those were the only words she managed before one of Valen’s long arms of rotting flesh struck her.
Lia flew across the room and crashed into the wall.
Cracks spread through the stone like a spiderweb.
She slid to the floor. Her fingers moved weakly, but she couldn’t stand again.
The shock wave also threw Grant, Mina, and Rowan into the ruins.
All three crashed into the rubble, and their health bars dropped sharply.
The rotten flesh scattered around the room began to writhe.
Severed arms forced themselves back into Valen’s body. More unfamiliar pieces of corpses crawled from the cracks in the floor and stitched themselves into his flesh.
The Silver Core at his third vertebra was now completely exposed.
Valen’s swollen human face slowly split apart, revealing rows of tightly packed teeth underneath.
His voice sounded as though it had risen from the depths of hell.
“I will stitch every last one of you into my body.”
Bloodred system warnings flooded everyone’s vision.
[Warning!]
[Valen’s Near-Death Frenzy has been triggered.]
[Valen’s Bloody Banquet has entered Phase Two.]