21. Mysterious Space
So quiet…
Darkness.
This place was boundless, vast and empty. Opening her eyes or closing them made no difference.
The church, Fire Dragon… everything, absolutely everything, had vanished.
She seemed to be walking on a black ocean, each step creating circular ripples.
…It seems the prayer connected me to a strange space, both illusory and real.
Suddenly, a golden streak, like a few glowing feathers, appeared out of thin air a few hundred, or perhaps thousand, meters away from Reina.
Reina walked towards it.
As if responding to her anticipation, the golden light emitted by the feathers grew brighter, and more feathers sprouted.
As the light intensified, the feathers multiplied, growing faster and faster. In a short time, they accumulated, transforming into complete golden rays, weaving and converging. After a shimmering, particle-like effect, they formed a complete shape—a golden, floating young woman.
The woman appeared before Reina like a giant, her fingers interlaced and raised before her chest in prayer. Her beautiful skin and slender, pristine body were completely bare, her legs drawn together and curled up in front of her, as if protecting something, or perhaps struggling for survival in a tight space, appearing somewhat pitiful and desolate.
Reina carefully observed her details.
And on this beautiful woman’s body, there were several pitch-black iron chains, fastened to shackles on her feet, legs, and waist.
The other ends of the chains were connected to pieces of purple crystal emitting an ominous aura, like black holes exuding miasma, distorting the space around them.
A beautiful jade-like neck was bound by a collar. The holy maiden had become a slave shackled by darkness, imprisoned in this bottomless abyss.
And seeing the cruel chains on the pure white feathered wings, Reina confirmed a startling truth:
“The Goddess of Light? No…”
She braced herself for a possible battle, ready to fight.
But this goddess didn’t seem to have the ability to resist.
After walking around the “Goddess of Light” for a few dozen steps, Reina’s calmed heart began to tremble.
The woman’s praying hands obscured the cherry on top, and her legs covered her vital parts, but Reina could still see a savage, twisted purple mark on the “Goddess of Light’s” chest through her translucent body.
It was the Dragon Mark!
After carefully observing the woman’s face and hair, she realized that her body was identical to her own current body.
That wasn’t the Goddess of Light at all, but herself!
“A reflection of my true self? Heh…” Reina recalled the priest’s words and broke out in a cold sweat.
But why did she have wings? What did this represent?
And what were those purple crystals?
With these questions in mind, Reina suddenly found herself moving through the air, flying towards the nearest purple crystal.
No… the purple crystal was moving towards her, matching her movements!
Seemingly out of curiosity, and not sensing any danger from the purple crystal, she gently touched it, feeling a warm, refreshing magic power that made her drowsy.
Reina lost focus for a moment and found her hand being drawn towards the purple crystal.
“It’s Calysia’s magic power.”
“So this is how she controls me?”
“If I can break these shackles, does that mean I can escape corruption?”
A glimmer of hope appeared in her eyes.
She noticed that among the ten purple crystals, including the one in front of her, three were vibrating slightly, emitting more miasma, almost imperceptible to the naked eye.
They seemed to be waiting for something, like birds in a cage gently pecking at the bars, yearning to fly free, urging Reina to unlock their chains.
“Can I shatter these three crystals now?”
“If I do, the chains on my hands will disappear, and Calysia will…”
“Yes, I’ve decided.”
Reina chose to shatter the crystals.
The crystal in front of her happened to be vibrating.
Calysia, I’m sorry.
Reina stopped thinking and focused on what might be the first step to escaping corruption.
She reached out and placed her hand on the crystal, which clearly sensed the rhythm of Reina’s heart and reacted.
Seeing the chains tremble, she breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed to be working. Was she about to succeed?
But the next second, she sensed something was wrong.
The chains didn’t break, and the crystal didn’t change. Instead, the chains suddenly retracted towards the “Goddess of Light,” bringing the purple crystal with them!
Before Reina could react, the chains had completely retracted. The moment the purple crystal touched the translucent body, there was no expected collision. Instead, they merged, becoming a part of the “Goddess of Light’s” body!
Damn it, I was tricked!
No, was it a misjudgment?
The golden, pure white body was being eroded by darkness. A faint purple tinge appeared on her arm.
Suddenly, an indescribable feeling, accompanied by the trembling of the Dragon Mark, began to invade Reina’s body. She knelt on one knee, her lips twitching, her eyes vacant.
It was the same feeling as when magic power was injected into the Dragon Mark, yet also slightly different.
She chanted a name:
“Master Calysia, Calysia… Master Calysia…”
“Mmph…”
Her voice carried a seductive moan.
“Pant… Calysia… I’m Calysia’s…”
“Master…”
As she spoke these words, she suddenly realized that the image of herself kneeling, about to collapse on the ground in shame, had disappeared. Now, she was praying silently, and the strange eerie wind and indescribable scenes vanished, as if it had all been an illusion.
However, the blush from her intense reaction hadn’t faded.
Recalling her enormous body and those black chains, Reina was certain that just now, a part of her body or soul had been fundamentally changed.
Because she felt something…
Reina stopped praying and tentatively reached out, discovering that her hand and arm were now entwined with familiar purple magic power.
She had actually learned a skill!
This was the first ability she had learned since coming to this world.
“[Gravity]”
Had she gained the ability because she touched that purple crystal?
It seemed that the so-called space was a place for Calysia’s vassals to upgrade their skills, not a way to break free from vassalization!
A nice new ability, do you like it? Traded your self-respect for it!
Reina recalled her earlier words and felt like her whole body was burning!
If Calysia found out, she would be done for!
“Lady Reina!”
Suddenly, Fire hopped over.
The priest was in tears, kneeling on both knees, as if he had just watched a touching TV drama.
The two Dragon Knights standing guard at the door witnessed the descent of a miracle. Reina’s status in their hearts rose again, and they couldn’t help but kneel before their new Commander, pledging their loyalty.
“This is the demon chosen by that great one.”
“She must have the power to change the world!”
Reina didn’t care about the others’ gazes. She quickly suppressed her inner excitement, looked at the priest, and said calmly: “Where is the human prisoner?”
The priest had initially doubted Reina’s strength, but after witnessing the previous scene, he was completely convinced, his heart filled with sincerity: “Lady Reina, you don’t need to ask us lowly demons. She’s in the basement.”
He walked to a corner, opened the door leading to the basement, and guided the two of them down.
“Excuse me.”
Reina didn’t waste any time.
The basement was about 100 square meters, quite simple, and filled with the damp smell of dust. There weren’t many goods here, it was somewhat empty.
Fire snapped her fingers, instantly lighting several candles on the walls.
And Reina had already spotted the woman imprisoned in the dark basement:
A blonde woman in a nun’s habit, sitting quietly on a wooden chair, her hands and feet shackled to the chair, the tight shackles on her full legs, clad in white knee-high socks, a shocking sight.
She was tied to the chair like this, even her eyes were covered with a black blindfold.
The young woman had also felt the suffocating, terrifying miasma in the church just now. She knew that a powerful demon was approaching her.
She took a breath and said in a cold voice tinged with fear:
“I won’t tell you anything, demon lackey. You might as well just kill me.”
Damn it, she was really taken for a high-ranking demon.
That damned Calysia!
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