“The native girl disappeared!”
Hawa had disappeared. At Noel’s cry, Chi-Woo and everyone turned around, startled. Even though Hawa had been inside their formation a few moments ago, she had disappeared without a trace.
Noel, who had been looking for Hawa, lowered her gaze after quickly looking around. Then her sharp eyes widened in shock; the injured young man was also nowhere in sight. He’d disappeared in less than ten seconds, and there wasn’t even a trace of him left. It was at that moment—
Dududududu! The befuddled expedition team felt the ground shake underneath their feet, up and down and side to side like a concentrated earthquake. The shaking was so intense that a couple of them lost balance and fell.
“What is happening…!” Apoline yelled at the unexpected phenomenon, frustrated.
“Damn it! I have no idea either! This didn’t happen the last time I was here!” Jin-Cheon also desperately tried to maintain his balance.
Even in this unexpected situation, Chi-Woo saw Ru Amuh maintain his balance and lifted Abis into the air. Chi-Woo shouted, “We have to get out of here!”
Then Chi-Woo, who was about to help those who weren’t able to get up, felt both of his feet sink into the ground. The space around his feet felt suddenly empty, and when he unconsciously moved around, it felt like he was swimming in the air. The expedition members looked down on instinct, and they were all shocked to find the ground moving like a living thing—like a monster with its own will.
The ground opened up wide and swallowed the falling expedition members before immediately closing its mouth. The area where cracks had opened up returned to its original state. Then silence fell upon the land again—as if nothing had happened.
* * *
Onorables Evelyn. Even though she was reborn with the degrading and unjust title, the great whore of Babylon, and was the subject of intense fear and respect as the witch of the Abyss, she had been an ordinary peasant’s daughter when she was alive. Evelyn was an innocent country girl who was the eldest of six children. Her childhood was the very definition of ordinary, spent helping her farmer parents in the field and gathering medicinal herbs in the mountains to support their livelihood.
Even though it wasn’t a privileged life like all tenant farmers in any era, Evelyn had been happy. However, all that would take a left turn when an unforgettable incident completely changed her family’s life and hers. The beginning of the incident came unannounced when Evelyn became an adult at the age of 20. She was quite a celebrity by then. She was not only famous in the village where she lived, but everyone knew her name in the next village as well. It was all due to her stunning natural beauty. She grew up with abundant love and affection from her family as well as the whole village, and she became more attractive as she grew older.
Those who saw her for the first time fell into a daze, and the young men in the village blushed and turned into fools whenever they stood in front of her. This happened when she was a young girl, and now that she was a woman, it was needless to say the degree of influence she had on those around her. There were even rumors that a goddess had descended upon her village.
Then one day, Evelyn dreamed of meeting a great being. After waking up, she couldn’t remember the contents of her dream well, but she realized that there was an unknown power deep inside her. It was a power that made her whole body feel warm and cozy. She had no idea why she suddenly gained it. Even though Evelyn was curious, she suppressed her curiosity; despite being the daughter of an uneducated peasant, she was intelligent.
At that time, the place where she lived was under the control of the Babylon Church, which strictly forbade all forms of heresy. Moreover, they were in the middle of a holy war against the great demons who united to invade the middle world. The church, which did not recognize any except for one god, was already on extremely high alert against heretics. Evelyn knew that she shouldn’t recklessly reveal her mysterious power. Thus, she didn’t tell anyone or even her family about her newfound power and continued living a normal life.
However, an event that forced her to use her power occurred. One of her younger brothers went to the mountain with his friends and came back unconscious. He had gone to collect herbs to help his sister, but he picked the wrong place and got bitten by a snake. Its venom was said to be so fatal that those who were even slightly bit by it would only last a few days, and there was no antidote. Evelyn’s parents, as well as the whole family, fell into deep sadness and cried their hearts out as the young boy inched closer and closer to death.
When Evelyn heard the news and hurried home, her younger brother was already almost dying. Evelyn only hesitated for a moment before reaching toward him as if she was in a trance. She awakened the power lying dormant inside her—and a miracle happened. Her brother, who was in pain and dying, suddenly looked peaceful. The dark spots on his body quickly disappeared, and his breathing became calm.
Evelyn explained to her shocked family about her power and firmly asked them to keep this a secret. However, once revealed, no secret could be kept forever. The youngest’s mouth was the source of trouble and the reason why Evelyn’s power was revealed to the world. Was it because they were not as smart as Evelyn? Or because they were too soft-hearted? The youngest could not turn a blind eye to their friend who was crying every day because of their father’s worsening illness. When a couple of villagers came panting with a dying man on their backs, Evelyn immediately had a hunch that someone had told them about her power.
Their family was already receiving a great deal of attention from the fact that her younger brother had survived a bite from a terrible, venomous snake feared by all the villagers. No matter how much she pretended ignorance and tried to avoid them, it was useless. After their repeated requests, appeals, and even threats, Evelyn once again used the power she had vowed to never use again. The father of her youngest’s friend completely recovered that very day. And like this, her secret couldn’t be kept; instead, it spread like wildfire. It started with those who were seriously ill in her village, and soon, those from nearby villages also came to visit her. There were some who came a very long way after hearing rumors about her.
Evelyn didn't discriminate between wounds, poisons, or curses. Since she could fully heal every patient who visited her for free, it was only natural that rumors about her would spread widely. In the end, knights came barging into their house. Evelyn, who knew this day would come at any time, obediently followed their orders and went with them. She knew she’d soon be burned as a witch. She had long resolved herself, but the subsequent events betrayed her expectations.
“Oh…Ohhh….finally…” The lord, who ruled over the estate, couldn’t suppress his admiration when he saw Evelyn. He looked almost awed by her. His reverie continued for some time before he made an unexpected offer—won’t she become his? Caught off guard, Evelyn couldn’t understand his reasoning at all. She had used a power unrecognized by the Babylon Church; that alone was a great enough sin to be punished. The lord should have informed the church immediately after finding out about her power, yet he wanted to protect her and take her in.
Even if he was a lord, it should have been a very burdensome task to hide a heretic as he’d be punished as an accomplice. Why would he go out of his way just to save her? Despite all the thoughts popping up in her mind, the most important thing was that there was a way for her to live. If she just said yes, she could obtain the protection of a lord. And she’d probably live a better life than what awaited the daughter of a tenant farmer.
However, Evelyn immediately rejected the lord’s offer, surprising herself. First, it was due to the bad rumors surrounding the lord about the occasional disappearance of girls from nearby villages. Second, she didn’t know exactly why, but the mysterious power inside her showed a strong sense of resistance towards the lord. Even though she was basically fated to die, she rejected the lord’s offer and went against his will. Evelyn thought she would really die now without being able to escape, but the lord’s behavior betrayed her expectation once again.
“Haha. Was I moving too fast? A man should know how to climb a steep mountain to earn a beautiful flower. I’ll show you how sincere I am.” He gave her a cryptic smile and told her to stay in the castle for a few days. Evelyn worried that he might come and assault her at night, but she didn’t need to worry. The lord treated her politely as his guest and released her without touching even an inch of her hair. Moreover, she was sent back with expensive clothes and a handful of gold and silver treasures that a daughter of a tenant farmer could never dream of. He even sent her off in a carriage and made his knights protect her.
When Evelyn returned to the village and stepped out of the carriage, she looked like a noble lady to all those who gazed upon her. And rumors spread that day; rumors that were completely groundless and demeaned Evelyn. On the other hand, the lord made good on his promise to show his sincerity to her. Even after she returned to her family, he continuously sent gifts without end. He built a magnificent house for her family and regularly gifted them with money, jewelry, and food. With his authority, he exempted them from taxes and granted land to her father and made him the landlord. Thanks to this, Evelyn’s family was able to enjoy an extravagant life unprecedented for a peasant.
However, the villagers gradually grew more and more bitter. They couldn’t stand it that a neighbor who was in the same situation as them not too long ago had completely changed their lives in a few days. Envy and jealousy towards Evelyn and her family grew, and the rumors surrounding Evelyn ballooned to a ginormous size—that Evelyn had spent her first night with the lord on the day she was taken away, that she was supposed to have died but seduced the lord with her witch power, and that the lord was soon going to send people to the village to take her as his wife.
Even though Evelyn had to hear people gossiping about her whenever she went outside the village, she paid no attention to them. She thought it would be fine as long as she stayed true to herself and kept her morals. Then one day, an incident finally broke out. During this time, the long war against the demons had forced poor farmers to live in even greater poverty. Thus, the villagers began to grow even more hostile towards Evelyn and her family for living luxuriously while they were suffering. In addition, the church issued an additional collection order for landlords to follow. Her father, who had forgotten about his hard peasant life with the lord’s money, faithfully followed the church’s order and raised the taxes as a landlord.
Despite strong opposition from the villagers, the tax was raised, and a terrible incident happened that night. Or to be exact, the night after her father announced that he would be raising the taxes. One of the village elders knocked on Evelyn’s house in the middle of the night. He said a child was dying of a high fever in his house and wanted Evelyn to come and take a look at them. Since something like this had happened quite a few times before, Evelyn followed without much suspicion. However, the village elder led her to a deserted mountain path and not to his house. It was already too late when Evelyn realized the village elder’s suspicious behavior. By this time, the village elder was no longer the same person who had affectionately cared for her when she was young, but nothing more than a beast.
The red-eyed villager violently attacked Evelyn, and she screamed and resisted as she fell.
“Uncle…Why are you suddenly…! Why are you doing this..!”
“Just stay still. Okay? I’ve been eyeing you since you were young.”
“Don’t do this…! Please…!”
“Why, what’s the problem? You’re not a virgin anymore. You slept with the lord when you didn’t even get married. Why can’t you do the same with me?”
“No, that’s true…! I didn’t…! Ugh..!”
“Stop resisting or lying. What is it? I’m too lowly for you?”
The village man laughed and mocked her; then he took off her clothes. Evelyn didn’t know how she escaped his grasp, but after fighting him off like hell, she kicked his balls and ran away. She ran away with everything she had but stopped when she reached the entrance to her village. She couldn’t help it because she saw a huge fire lighting up the whole village—her house was in flames. She didn’t know what was going on, so she blankly stared at the house and suddenly felt someone roughly pull back her hair. The village elder had caught up with her.
“Haha. It’s over. It’s already all over, so just give up and accept it.”
Evelyn collapsed after being caught. All the strength in her legs and body left her. As his grimy hands touched her, Evelyn thought everything was really over—until a single scream pierced the air, and blood splashed all over her face.
“He’s a real dirty bastard.” A familiar voice rang in her head and lifted her up. “Are you all right, my dear?” It was the lord. She didn’t know when he came, but he showed up with his troops. “I rushed over as soon as I heard the news, but…”
The lord sighed and bitterly stared at the soaring fire. “It seems like I’m too late.” Only then did Evelyn come to her senses and ran in a hurry. Her father, mother, younger siblings… She desperately hoped that they would be safe, but the scene that appeared in front of her was reminiscent of hell. Her parents had long been burnt by the fire while hanging from a pole, and all of her younger siblings had turned into horrifying, bloody corpses. Everything had changed in just one day. Evelyn felt like she was in a dream as she saw the terrible scene in front of her. A very bad nightmare.
Those who were running around found Evelyn and approached her while drooling. There were no people in her house; only animals with eyes full of bloodlust who plundered and burned their surroundings. However, their shabby and immoral desires were not fulfilled. Soon, the lord’s soldiers came and captured every single one of them.
“Humans are…foolish and hideous animals,” the lord covered Evelyn’s body with his cloak and said. “They’re creatures that get way too much authority for the sole reason that they follow the King of the gods.” Then he looked at the villagers being dragged away one by one. “Do you see it?”
Evelyne, who was enraptured by his words, raised her head.
“This is human nature and human’s truest self.”
The villagers were crying and squirming and praying as if their minds had finally returned to sanity. They were all crying to the lord to forgive them and spare them as if they had completely forgotten what they had just done.
“Human beings do not exist to govern other beings.” Swish. A chilling sound rang out. “Instead, they’re beings that should be governed.” The lord continued, “By the few chosen ones who have the power to cause fear and destruction.” He put a sharp sword in Evelyn’s hand and whispered into her trembling ear, “This—this is not a trivial thing like revenge.” He smiled when he saw Evelyn tightly holding onto the sword.
“You and I. It’s a legitimate right and privilege that beings like us should exercise. We have the full justification to do so. Now…are you ready? To rightfully punish these foolish humans.” The lord’s whispers sounded extremely sweet and tempting to Evelyn’s ears—just like a devil’s.