‘Hmm, interesting.’

  To Izzy, the murals were a mystery, a fragmented tale of ancient events.

  However, there wasn’t enough context to truly piece together a meaning. It felt like being blind and stubbornly trying to see, wasting precious time.

  With a sigh, she let it slip from her thoughts and turned her focus back to the task at hand.

  ‘Let’s go, Izzy!’

  They reached the metallic door at the end of the hallway, its bolts and pipes gleaming with cold age. Benjamin slid the heavy key into the lock. The grinding gears resounded, a low rumble filling the corridor as the heavy door slid aside.

  Izzy looked at it with keen interest. This was her first close inspection of an advanced technical mechanism since arriving in this world.

  Intricate cogs, interlocking steel, pressure systems, there was none of the crude simplicity of a medieval workshop. To think they had developed something so sophisticated, she really appreciated it. If not for this, she would still be wondering whether this world was in a primitive, underdeveloped stage or not.

  This wasn’t important in the short term, but in the long run, it might help her blend in with society without standing out too much. After all, the goal was to act naturally when she eventually got out of here.

  While Izzy was still lost in these unrelated thoughts, Isa had already guided Benjamin’s corpse down the spiral staircase. Within Benjamin’s expanded Field Vision, Isa took a serious look at the prison chamber below, her eyes narrowing as she surveyed the grim space.

  The chamber contained numerous prison cells, each of them empty. It was understandable. Benjamin had already informed her that he wouldn’t be feeding her again, meaning he wouldn’t expend his resources on more sacrifices.

  It was a blessing in disguise, though Izzy couldn’t find it in her heart to feel relieved. After all, the deaths of those children were partially her fault.

  ‘May you rest in eternal peace,’

  Benjamin promptly closed his only functional eye for a moment, his posture shifting solemnly. His only functional eye shut tight. His shoulders hunched of genuine grief, one hand pressed slightly to his chest. For a full minute, the corpse stood in silence.

  They approached the narrow row of cages, Benjamin’s corpse brushing the iron stanchions with a dull clink as his hand lingered at each cell.

  Although in the depths of a cold season, the air in the basement clung with a pervasive dampness.

  Izzy was certain that if they re-enabled Benjamin’s sense of smell, they would be overwhelmed by a suffocating stench of blood, mold, human waste, and despair.

  ‘I see, so that’s why he has this many keys on this cluster keychain,’

  Izzy could vividly imagine the horrific narrative of each soul brought to this place.

  They stepped into the first cell, faint traces of memory pressed against their shared mind, like a half-burned echo of the past. Screams reverberated in her ears. Small hands clawing at rusted iron. The smell of flesh melting under fire.

  Children scratched grooves into the stone floor with their nails until those nails cracked and broke. Begging eyes staring up at the culprit who stood over them.

  Benjamin gripped his fists tightly. Izzy could feel Isa’s anger and disgust rising, a surge of emotion unlike anything she had witnessed from the young mind before, save for when Benjamin’s ability had manipulated her.

  Was this a residue effect of Benjamin’s ability? or a genuine emotion of Isa? Both of their minds were still in turbulence, needing time to calm down after that chaotic event. That's why they had to spend some time to calm down their minds.

  ‘Calm down, Isa’

  ‘Yes…’

  Isa’s mood plummeted, her initial anger giving way to a profound sadness. This scene, however, had little effect on Izzy’s mature mind. She had seen enough horrors in her past life to be immune to such sights, her mood remaining as stoic as ever.

  What intrigued her was that while the culprit of this entire ordeal was undoubtedly Benjamin, Isa’s anger wasn’t directed at him. The fact that Isa hadn’t immediately destroyed Benjamin’s corpse proved that.

  Within the chamber, they visited each cell together, offering a silent prayer for the dead souls. It was Isa’s idea, not Izzy’s, but she didn’t mind. They had plenty of time.

  With each cell they passed, Izzy noticed a peculiar pattern. Beneath the straw beds or in a specific corner of each cell, lay bone fingers. Some cells had ten, others twelve, and some even twenty,... the count was not in any particular order.

  These bones were slim and small, bearing a faint similarity to the mountain of bones piled nearby. Izzy concluded they belonged to the victims captured here.

  ‘...’

  Normally, she wouldn’t notice something like this. However, the strangest fact was that they were arranged so neatly and orderly. She could almost feel that it was intentionally set up. The purpose was unknown, but they were simply just so out of place.

  Unfortunately, the dead couldn’t speak. Otherwise, she would have asked Benjamin why he did this. It didn’t serve any discernible purpose, neither good nor evil, as far as she could think.

  ‘Does he have OCD?’

  ‘That’s… very random. As expected of you. But no, I don’t think so.’

  ‘As expected???’

  As far as she could guess, perhaps it was a record. A tally of how many children had been offered in each cell. But for what purpose? She could not tell.

  Well, villains didn’t always need a reason to do something. They all had a screw loose in their brains, after all. If this was just his peculiar habit, then there was no need to delve deeper into it.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  At last, their footsteps carried them to the farthest end of the chamber, where a wooden door awaited them, the threshold to the altar room.

  Benjamin pushed the wooden door open inch by inch. Slowly, they opened it and stepped inside cautiously.

  This was Benjamin’s secret chamber. There was no telling what traps or wards might lie within. More fundamentally, this was where Benjamin had communicated with the Herald. Izzy had no desire to accidentally alert the other party to her presence.

  The world of extraordinary was dangerous, after all.

  Last time, she had used a mouse as her proxy. Its tiny size and inconspicuous nature could slip in unnoticed, and could be dismissed as vermin even if it was spotted.

  This time, as a human form, even as Benjamin, it was far riskier.

  She remembered the little creature still nestled in the pocket of his coat. Without hesitation, Benjamin nudged at the fabric.

  A small head poked out, its two black eyes locking onto Benjamin’s one intact orb as if asking, ‘What do you want?’

  It leapt to the ground and scampered forward without a sound, and began to run around the room, circling the altar as if answering her will.

  ‘That was convenient’

  Since they didn’t want to expend energy extending their Field Vision into this deep basement, it was a small relief that this mouse still followed them without direct control.

  The mouse completed its circuit without incident, and Izzy relaxed slightly. They stepped inside, Benjamin’s boots scuffing against the flagstones.

  Benjamin lit the oil lamps on the walls for better visibility, throwing warm light over the chamber. Izzy instructed the small mouse to look out for any potential suspicious details. It was still questionable whether it could understand them, but it was worth a try.

  They approached the ominous altar, taking a close look. They dared not touch anything. Who knew what might happen if they carelessly disturbed the sacred objects?

  At the center of the altar stood an X-shaped statue, resembling two crossed swords. At its heart, a demon skull with two horns on its forehead leered silently.

  ‘Oh, look at this, Izzy!’

  ‘Wait–’ Too late. Before she could stop her young mind, Isa had already seized control of Benjamin’s body and picked up the exquisite golden sacrificial dagger resting before the statue.

  ‘No!’

  Immediately, Izzy regained control of Benjamin and tossed the dagger to the ground. Benjamin took several steps back, as if avoiding an irreversible illness that could spread by touch.

  The dagger clattered to the stone floor, ringing sharply.

  ‘Izzy?’

  ‘Don’t touch anything carelessly, Isa!’

  Izzy reprimanded her young mind, her tone harsher than she intended. She carefully scanned the room, checking if anything had changed.

  Ten seconds passed in tense silence. Then, a small squeak echoed through the room, making her jolt slightly.

  ‘Oh, it’s just you… why do you look at me like that?’

  The mouse had climbed back onto the altar’s base, its beady eyes fixed on her.

  Was it her imagination? It felt as if she could understand the mouse’s emotion to some extent.

  ‘That’s dangerous, Isa. Don’t do it again.’

  ‘But why?’

  Izzy furrowed her brows. This was exactly the kind of thinking that got people killed. Curiosity killed the cat. Who knew if the thing they picked up was infected with paranormal or extraordinary power? What if it was cursed? Or a trigger for some deadly trap?

  They would likely pay a great price if they carelessly touched anything, or even looked at anything too intently, in an unknown place. Just like how she herself had died in the first place.

  ‘Izzy, we can’t die,’

  ‘...Huh?’

  Izzy was slightly stunned. She paused, letting the information sink in.

  ‘Wait, you’re right. We can’t die in this state, huh?’

  Now that she thought about it, it made a strange kind of sense. But why had she forgotten it in the first place?

  It seemed her own ingrained cowardice, a remnant of her past life, had deeply affected her current thought processes. Izzy sighed inwardly, half in relief, half in self-disgust.

  Gaining a human body, even a corpse, had made her revert to old habits. She hadn’t considered the fundamental truth: she was essentially an immortal being.

  If she had existed in her old world in this state, she would have been classified as a paranormal object, requiring strict containment. She wasn’t human anymore. Her thought process needed to change accordingly.

  ‘Even when that’s the case, we still need to be careful.’

  ‘Yes, mom.’

  Izzy narrowed her eyes. Eventually, she let Isa’s rude remark slide and returned to the business at hand.

  They took a careful step toward the dagger. As they got closer, Izzy experienced an unsettling illusion: all her senses screamed at her that the object was extremely dangerous, that she absolutely must not pick it up!

  ‘No!’

  But before she knew it, Benjamin’s hand had already seized the dagger. It lay still in his grasp. Izzy wanted to throw it away again, but Isa’s calm, insistent thought held her back.

  ‘It’s alright, Izzy. See? Nothing happened.’

  She looked again. The golden handle gleamed with intricate designs, its sharp silver edge faintly etched with runes. The thing was… just a dagger.

  ‘Nothing?’

  Strange. She had been so sure that even approaching it was dangerous, yet it appeared completely harmless. This sacrificial dagger… was it just for decoration?

  Cautiously, she swept her Field Vision around the chamber. Still, nothing. She met the gaze of the small mouse, which once again looked at her as if to say, ‘Why are you acting like that?’ Coupled with the silent, eerie atmosphere of the chamber, it was all rather… spooky.

  ‘You… you don’t sense any threat? Nothing at all?’

  ‘Oh, I do, in fact. But your reaction was just too funny!’ Isa giggled in their shared mind.

  ‘...’

  So Isa had picked this up… just to mess with her?

  So childish. Who did she take after?

  ‘Oh right, it’s me.’

  Izzy grimaced, knowing her young self was likely giggling in the back of their shared mind.

  ‘Stop messing around.’

  ‘Yes, mom.’

  Suppressing her irritation, they tucked the dagger into the coat’s inner pocket and turned toward the sacrificial table.

  On it lay the dedicated young girl. Fourteen, maybe fifteen at most. Her long black hair spread across the table, unkempt and tangled.

  Wounds and bruises scarred her bare flesh, with blood and urine tainting her purity. Her glassy eyes were wide with terror frozen in her final moment, yet they radiated a palpable hatred toward whoever had done this to her.

  Interestingly, once again, her detestation wasn’t directed at Benjamin. Izzy guessed that since each victim had been sacrificed specifically for her, Isidora could faintly sense their emotions before their demise.

  Benjamin closed the girl’s eyes, unlocked the metal chains that bound her limbs, and offered a silent prayer for the departed soul.

  ‘May you rest in eternal peace.’ Izzy whispered through him.

  The ulster coat was slipped from Benjamin’s shoulders and draped over the girl’s body. With gentleness, he lifted her from the table and exited the chamber.

  ‘And please, forgive me.’

  Because her body was their final objective.

  Should I change the first chapter to: