Piper stumbled out of the hospital in a daze, her eyes unfocused as she tried to comprehend what had just happened. She knew that aspirants regularly died, but she never expected her friends to share the same fate.

  The healer must have made a mistake, she thought, her mood brightening slightly. I bet she got the names mixed up.

  Rushing back inside, she hurried back over to the healer. She tapped the woman on the shoulder.

  “Yes?” The woman sighed as she turned to see Piper again. “What now? I’m very busy.”

  “I… think you made a mistake.” Piper said. “I’m looking for Althea and Selene. They were brought in earlier today?”

  “As I told you, they passed away a short time ago.”

  “But they couldn’t have,” she insisted. “You said I had until nightfall. And I got back here before then. Please, just go and make sure you have the right names.”

  The old woman’s face softened slightly. “I will go check for you just to be sure.”

  Piper stood in the waiting room, tapping her foot as the healer disappeared into the back. A minute later, the woman reemerged and shook her head.

  “No,” Piper whispered. “It can’t be true. Can I see them?”

  “I’m afraid their bodies were already taken,” the grey-haired woman said. “Regardless, you should remember them as they were.”

  Piper nodded, blinking back tears. She spun around and dashed out of the hospital. She didn’t want everyone here to see her crying.

  I’m still not strong enough, she thought to herself bitterly. I was too weak to protect those I cared about.

  Since arriving in this world, she’d repeatedly found herself at the mercy of those more powerful than herself. She hadn’t been strong enough to stop Lord Ransford on the farm. She hadn’t been strong enough to defeat the demons in the Black Pyramid. And now she hadn’t been strong enough to keep Selene and Althea safe.

  The memories of all the good times she’d shared with Selene came rushing back. Though she’d only known the young woman for a short time, she knew they would have become lifelong friends. Unbidden, tears began to stream down her face. She furiously scrubbed them away, but more kept coming.

  Hector limped over to her side with the lizard Cronos following in his wake. “What’s wrong?”

  “My friends died,” Piper said, blinking her eyes rapidly. “I didn’t even get to say goodbye.”

  The young man ran a hand through his hair. “By the Abyss. I’m sorry...”

  A sudden yank on her soul made her stumble. The Infernal Realm was done waiting for her. She was going back to that cursed place one way or another. Right now, she had to get back to her room at the inn.

  Piper pressed her lips together. “Do you happen to know the way to the Dancing Gnome Inn?”

  “I believe so.” Hector set out at a slow pace toward the inn. He grimaced with each step, favoring his right leg.

  After the first few paces, she had to fight down the urge to drag him along once more. But she could see she’d already pushed him too far with the way he was limping. He may not admit it, but he couldn’t keep up with his much lower physical attributes.

  As they made their way slowly through the city, her thoughts kept turning back toward her friends. It was all she could do not to break down as she moved through the crowded streets.

  When they finally reached the inn, she’d come to the decision that she would take the most powerful class offered to her in the Infernal Realm. No matter what, she was never going to let someone in her group die again.

  Hector stopped and patted his lizard companion. “Do you… want me to come in?”

  “No, it’s alright,” she said. “But thank you for everything you did for me today.

  “I should be the one thanking you. You pulled my ass out of the fire with that rot mage. If you ever need anything, let me know.”

  Piper nodded and then headed over to the inn’s entrance. When she reached the door, she glanced around to make sure no one was watching. Then she cast [False Face]. Almost instantly, her hair transformed back to blond, and her features remolded to become her own once more. Lastly, her freckles blinked out one by one.

  As she was about to step inside, she remembered her gold badge. She hurriedly pulled off the epic one and tossed it into her pouch. Then she fished around for a second until she found her wooden one and pinned it back on her chest.

  Once her aspirant badge had been replaced, she pushed the front door open and peered inside. Most of the tables were empty, except for a group of aspirants toasting to something.

  Piper ignored the excited group and trudged up the stairs. She reached her room and quietly unlocked the door. She swung it open to see Ophelia sitting on the bed, the worry plain on the young woman’s face.

  “Where were you!” Ophelia cried out, springing to her feet. “I thought something bad had happened…” she trailed off as Piper’s face crumpled. “Oh no. What’s wrong?”

  “A rot mage….”

  Before Piper could finish, Ophelia rushed across the room and gathered her up in a tight embrace. As Piper began to sob, her friend gently stroked her hair and held her close.

  After a few seconds, Piper managed to pull herself together and stepped back. “I’m returning to the Infernal Realm.”

  “You reached level 50?”

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  “I did…” Piper took a deep breath before continuing. “But I don’t know what to do. There’s no one to watch over you while I’m gone.”

  “I don’t need anyone to babysit me,” Ophelia said indignantly. “I’m fine on my own. But I guess if you’re really worried, I can pay Andreas to start teaching me how to fight with a sword again. You have to promise you’re going to come back. No getting eaten by giant demons.”

  “I promise. Nothing could stop me from coming back to my best friend.”

  “Good. Because this place would be so boring without you.”

  “I need you to pay for our room while I’m gone.” Piper handed Ophelia her coin purse. “And that money needs to last. So, no buying magic swords or barrels full of ice cream.”

  “Not even one barrel of ice cream?”

  “No ice cream!” Piper rolled her eyes, but her heart wasn’t in the banter. She moved over to the bed and lay down on the soft covers. As she prepared to cast [Shifting Veil] to hide herself, a thought suddenly occurred to her. What if someone came into the room while Ophelia was out?

  The odds of someone breaking into their room and lying on her bed were pretty slim. Still, she didn’t want to risk being discovered. Especially since she wouldn’t be able to keep [False Face] and [Truth Veil] active while her soul was gone.

  With a sigh, she climbed off the bed and slid underneath. A fair number of dust bunnies called the floor home, but otherwise it was mostly clean. Once she’d laid down under the mattress, she prepared to cast the spells needed to hide herself.

  “Um… what are you doing?”

  “I’m hiding,” Piper said. “Hopefully this way no one will lie on me by accident if they come into the room while you’re out.”

  “Why would anyone do that? Do you think there are groups of people sneaking around taking naps in other people’s beds? Wait, could you imagine? What if they’re smelly and have lice?”

  The corner of her mouth twitched up at her friend’s words. She knew Ophelia was only trying to lighten the mood. But after the day she’d had, she had a feeling nothing would truly make her smile for a long time.

  Piper cast [Shifting Veil] to make herself disappear from sight. She then cast [Enduring Casting], so the spell would continue while her soul was gone. All she could do was pray no one stumbled across her by accident. The discovery of a demoness sleeping under a bed would probably scare generations of kids in the city.

  Piper took one last look over at Ophelia, who had bent down to peer under the bed. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The next instant, she felt an intense blast of heat as her soul was dragged down into the Infernal Realm.

  Elissa sat on horseback outside the dilapidated building, waiting for the nuns inside to make contact with their prey. A moment later, she heard cries of surprise and the unmistakable sounds of spells detonating from inside.

  Tapping her fingers on the saddle impatiently, she waited for the group of nuns to reappear. After their humiliating defeat against the infernal caster the previous day, she expected them to redeem themselves.

  To ensure they were properly motivated, she’d imposed a severe fast on the entire abbey. No one, herself included, would eat anything except bread and water until the infernal caster had been captured.

  Next to Elissa, Katerina leaned forward on her horse. “Do you think they caught him?”

  Elissa frowned at the augur. It was most unfortunate she’d been saddled with such a young and inexperienced sister. However, she must make do with what the Undying Emperor provided. “I have faith in our sisters.”

  “As do I,” Katerina said swiftly. “I’m sure they’ve captured him.”

  A moment later, a group of red-robed nuns emerged from the front door, dragging an unconscious man behind them. Several of them had been splattered with mud as if they’d ridden through a flooded field, but at least there didn’t seem to be any injuries.

  “Inquisitor,” Imilce called out. “We have captured the heretic Lukas.”

  “Excellent.” She slid down the side of the saddle and landed lightly on her feet. She passed the reins to Katerina, who had remained mounted. Thankfully, the young sister had started to ride side-saddle, as was proper for a woman. Though it was obvious, she hadn’t mastered the riding style yet.

  Elissa strode over the unconscious man and inspected him. To be honest, she was surprised her sisters had captured him so easily. She’d expected a repeat of the battle in the street from the previous night. Had they caught him unawares?

  Glancing over at Imilce, she gestured at Lukas. “If he tries to cast any spells, kill him immediately. Understood?”

  Imilce nodded and drew a stiletto dagger from her belt. She placed the tip near Lukas’s throat.

  Elissa proceeded to slap the man in the face. After three strikes, he finally roused himself. The dawning look of horror in his eyes made her heart sing. There was no greater moment than when a heretic realized they faced the Undying Emperor’s justice.

  “Did you honestly believe you would escape?” she asked sharply. “Now, you’ll confess to your heresy and tell us the name of your apprentice who viciously attacked my sisters.”

  “She wasn’t my apprentice. I… have no idea who she was.”

  “Do you expect me to believe a heretical caster just happened to show up to free you?” Elissa raised her eyebrow slightly. “Now, are you a demon or a man? Was the aspirant known as Lukas replaced at the Black Pyramind? Or was your soul infected with the taint of infernal knowledge somehow?”

  “I’m not an infernal caster,” he spat, his eyes hardening. “And I nearly died in the Black Pyramid fighting foul demons.”

  “We shall see,” Elissa gestured at Katerina. “Please check him for signs of corruption.”

  The young woman raised her hand and frowned. Then she repeated the process, her frown deepening. “I sense no infernal magic in him. He is nothing more than an earth mage.”

  “Impossible!” Elissa snapped. “There are no others who were present at each location where you sensed powerful infernal magic. It must be him. Check him again!”

  Another nun, whose name escaped Elissa, stepped forward. She reached across to rub her arm nervously. “There was an… anomaly the other night.”

  Elissa raised her brow. “An anomaly? Explain.”

  “One of the girls we captured resisted being identified by Katerina. I was suspicious, but the augur claimed she sensed no infernal magic.”

  A growing sense of dread crept up Elissa’s spine. Any who could defeat an augur’s magic was incredibly powerful. Most likely, the infernal caster must be at least level 200, with several epic classes. This was far worse than she had feared. “What was the girl’s name?”

  “I believe it was Piper.”

  Elissa curled her hands into fists and took a deep breath. “How could you let an infernal caster escape from the Dawn Citadel? Is this level of incompetence common in your abbey? Must I do everything myself?”

  Katerina’s face blanched. “I felt no infernal magic emanating from her. All that happened was that my skills didn’t work the first time.”

  “And why do you think that is?”

  “I… don’t know.”

  Elissa reached up and rubbed her temples. She felt a headache coming on and would need to report to the healer when she returned to the citadel. Otherwise, it would turn into a full fledge migraine.

  “Celestial and infernal casters often possess heretical abilities to hide their classes. At the first sign of your skills not working, you should have sounded the alarm. We could have easily trapped the infernal caster within the fortress if you had an ounce of intelligence.”

  Elissa angrily strode back to her horse and snatched the reins from Katerina. She remounted and glared at the assembled nuns. “If any of you fail me again, I will not hesitate to order your immurement.”

  A gasp rippled through the nuns. Immurement was an ancient and rarely used punishment in their order. It involved placing a nun in their room with several barrels of water and then walling up the entrance. They would slowly waste away, until eventually starving to death, while serving as a stark reminder to others of the price of failure.

  “I want every sister from neighbouring orders brought in to help with the search,” she called out. “I will grant a magical artifact to the person who brings me her head."

  Elissa knew the offer of an artifact would create a frenzy within the order. With such a powerful item, a sister could rapidly rise through the ranks. Many of them would likely die trying to subdue the infernal caster, but she would not mourn for the weak.

  However, even waves of chaff could be useful in a battle against a superior opponent. By the time Elissa swooped in for the killing blow, she wanted the heretic exhausted and completely drained of mana. Then she would burn away the demonic infection threatening the city once and for all.