“Grgghh! Goddamn it! Furghh!” Rexerd’s body quivered in uncontrollable agony.
A rattling scream tore from his throat as blood pooled under his numb body.
Every breath he took felt like glass shards scraping against his lungs. His vision blurred at the edges, tears mixing with sweat and grime.
And Juliana…
She was still laughing. Still peeling off his nails one by one.
And only after she’d had her fun by ripping off seven of his fingernails did she lean down. Her voice was full of mock concern when she whispered, “Do you want me to stop now?”
Rexerd couldn’t answer. His jaw trembled, and his lips shook, yet nothing but a weak whimper escaped his mouth.
He was trying — trying to circulate Essence, trying to summon a Card — but the poison mixed with pain made it impossible to focus.
Juliana giggled. “Poor thing. You do want me to stop, don’t you?”
Her fingers curled into his hair, yanking his head back. His pupils were blown wide and his expression was slack with shock and torment.
“But here’s the thing,” she murmured while digging her nails into his scalp, “Pets don’t tell their masters what to do.”
She let that sink in before purring, “That’s right, Professor. You’re my pet now. And pets obey.”
Releasing his hair, she let his head drop with a dull thud against the cold stone floor.
“You don’t believe me? Well, let me explain.”
She slouched back in her chair with such a casual attitude like she was discussing something as mundane as the weather.
“You see, I’m doing what you did to your girls all these years. I’m blackmailing you.” She lifted the sleek storage drive in her hand. “If you try anything, if you even try to defy me, this will go straight to the Academy. And in case I suddenly drop dead, well… let’s just say I have a failsafe. Every file in here will automatically be sent to the authorities anyway.”
She pocketed the drive and ran the tip of a kunai down his cheek. “So, you see, Professor, you belong to me now. My pet. My slave. You’ll do exactly as I say. You’ll make my potions. You’ll give me Essence Stones. You’ll be at my beck and call. You’ll serve me.”
She threw her head back, smiling. “And you’ll keep serving me until I decide I’m satisfied.”
Her grin widened. “And guess what? I don’t think I’ll ever be satisfied.”
Rexerd, with his face pressed against the floor, weakly gritted his teeth. This was bad.
He needed a way out.
Well, the solution was obvious.
He could pretend to comply — act obedient, be useful, submit completely — and wait until he found the right moment to end her.
Or… he could kill her the moment he managed to subside the effects of the poison.
Yes. That was the better option.
After all, he could deal with whatever dirt she had on him. A few years in prison wasn’t the end of the world. He could serve his time and use his connections to get an early release.
But if the Academy found out about his secret experiments?
That wouldn’t mean prison. That would mean execution.
By one of the Monarchs themselves. They’d hunt him down if he ran, they’d make an example of him if he surrendered.
And even if the Monarchs forgave him, which was highly unlikely, his patrons won’t.
His life would be over.
He had to avoid that scenario at all costs.
So, instead of giving up, he forced himself to circulate Essence. The poison made the process excruciatingly slow. And the pain didn’t help either.
But he had no choice.
Before this crazy bitch killed him, he had to get up.
He had to kill her himself.
Meanwhile, Juliana stood up while wincing slightly from the injuries she’d inflicted on herself. “Of course, you’ll have the privilege of being my pet — if you live through today.”
The moment she said it, she threw the kunai straight at his face.
Rexerd’s eyes widened.
For a split second, he thought this was it.
He was going to die.
But then…
The kunai stopped.
No, it didn’t just stop. It suddenly suspended in mid-air, inches away from his eyes.
He blinked in confusion and snapped his gaze up to the white-haired girl. Over Juliana’s head, her Origin Card had manifested. It was glowing brightly, resembling a halo.
Juliana smirked. Seeing his bewildered expression, she decided to enlighten him.
“Neat ability, right?” She tapped the kunai, which was still frozen in the air. “I can wrap time around small objects. Like this blade. I haven’t stopped it exactly — it’s still moving, just very, very slowly.”
Turning away, she strolled over to the experiment table where the chalice filled with a translucent liquid was placed.
Sliding the silver chalice toward her, she smirked. “And now we’ll play a game. You said this poison was supposed to be painful, right? So here’s how it works — if it’s painful enough to break my focus, my Origin Card will be dismissed. And that kunai will resume moving. It’ll go right through your skull.”
She tilted her head.
“But if I can endure the pain…” Her grin widened. “Then lucky you. You get to keep living your miserable life.”
Rexerd struggled to move and escape the kunai’s trajectory.
He did everything in his power to force his body to respond by circulating the Essence within him. But it was no use. It wasn’t fast enough.
He was desperate now.
Because he knew.
He knew the agony of blood poison was beyond what a human could endure. No matter how strong Juliana thought she was, she wouldn’t be able to handle that kind of pain.
When the slave mark on her chest would burn, when it’d feel like she was being scorched alive from the inside — she would break.
Her mental resilience would shatter.
She would lose focus.
And in that moment, her Origin Card would disappear.
Rexerd would die.
Or, at best, be left with a fatal wound.
So he squirmed, thrashed, and fought against his unresponsive body. But no matter how much he willed his limbs to obey, they refused.
“Damn it! Damn you, fucking whore!” He shouted and cried and cursed.
But Juliana only laughed in response.
That fucking wench was relishing his misery!
And she really was.
Laughing coldly as she watched him struggle, Juliana took out the small vial containing Samael’s blood.
Without wasting another moment, she uncorked the glass container and tipped it over the chalice, letting the crimson liquid spill into the translucent mixture below.
Slowly, she stirred. The thick translucent fluid inside the chalice turned a lighter shade of red.
And there it was.
The blood poison was made!
It was the only known way to forcefully remove the BloodWorm from a person’s body.
But because of its cruelty — and the rare ingredients needed to create the poison — this method wasn’t very widely known.
Even she had no idea about it until she wrapped Rexerd around her little finger and made him spill alchemical secrets dark enough to land most people in prison.
The process was simple.
To create blood poison, you first need a person’s blood. Whosever blood you used, the poison would only react with them. It wouldn’t kill anyone else.
That was what made it so dangerous.
And so illegal.
…And most assassins’ favorite kind of toxin.
Because using it, you could poison a whole room but only kill a single target. The target you intended to kill.
No other casualties.
Sure, the rest would suffer, but they wouldn’t die.
And since the BloodWorm inside her contained Samael’s blood… and this blood poison was also made from his blood…
The poison would react with the BloodWorm and destroy it.
Yes, there would be consequences.
When she ascended to B-rank, she might struggle to circulate her Essence.
There was a chance of heart damage.
And the slave mark, branded on her flesh — right above her heart — using Samael’s blood, would burn away and leave a scar.
So, she’d be disfigured for a long time until she could find a high-ranking healer, concoct a strong healing potion, or acquire a powerful Card capable of mending magical wounds.
But none of that mattered to her.
Because she would be free. And she was ready to pay whatever price she needed for freedom.
“Haa…”
Exhaling sharply, Juliana raised the chalice to her lips…
And drank.
Not with hesitation. Not with fear.
But with conviction.
She took one big gulp after another like she was drinking some kind of elixir, not a deadly poison.
Rexerd’s eyes widened. His breath caught in his throat.
It was over.
Soon, the kunai hovering mere inches from his head would pierce his skull.
Soon, he would die.
His life’s work. His ambitions. His everything would be gone soon!
Soon…
…Soon?
Wait.
…What was happening?
Juliana… wasn’t screaming. She wasn’t writhing in pain.
In fact, she wasn’t suffering at all.
Rexerd narrowed his eyes.
And standing a few feet away, Juliana did the same.
Her heart pounded in her chest, beating wildly.
She felt the rush of adrenaline in her veins.
A strange, stinging sensation pierced through her chest, spreading like wildfire.
But there was no unbearable agony. No suffocating, searing torment.
Her heart still felt… heavy. Too heavy.
Something was wrong!
The BloodWorm… was still inside her.
…Why?
The smile vanished from her lips.
She looked at the chalice in her hand, scowling in disbelief. “Wha… what’s going on?”