---

Chapter 59: What’s the Easiest Way to Open the Door?

Vilyric’s progress in the orphanage wasn’t exactly fast.

The boy named Ilai was very cautious. He would stop every few steps to look around, checking for any signs of danger or to see if the two big sisters behind him had caught up.

Perhaps because most of the enemy’s attention was drawn towards the Princess at the front gate, the three of them navigated through the orphanage for over ten minutes and miraculously didn’t encounter any Undead from the Throne of Immortality, thanks to Ilai’s skillful guidance and evasive maneuvers.

They did run into many children who looked like Ilai, but they were all just as listless, with dull gazes. Even when they saw Vilyric and Xiao Guang—two unfamiliar outsiders—they showed no intention of approaching or calling out.

Instead, they stood silently in the shadows, resembling small specters.

Since they didn’t come closer, Vilyric was quite relieved.

One Ilai was enough; it would have been a huge hassle if all those kids relied on her for comfort. After all, the Priestess despised troublesome situations the most.

In the end, the boy stopped at a dimly lit hallway corner.

“Wait, Sister Vilyric.”

“Mm?”

Though puzzled, Vilyric halted as Ilai instructed and gestured for Little Dragon Daughter, who clearly intended to ignore the situation, to stop as well.

“What’s wrong?”

Ilai glanced timidly at the shadow of a closed door around the corner and explained in a small voice.

“Up ahead is the experiment area, and I can’t approach it without adults. I’m sorry, I can only take you this far. After passing through the experiment corridor, there’s a really, really huge iron door. The older brothers and sisters who do experiments with us always come out from there…”

Ilai’s reasoning was easy to understand.

After he started remembering things, he had never personally interacted with outsiders. He didn’t know the difference between Vilyric and those loyal to the Throne of Immortality. Plus, with the Priestess’s friendly demeanor, it felt natural for him to agree to guide them.

However, the rules of the orphanage were absolute for him; even while being led by Vilyric, he was too afraid to enter a forbidden area. This was the limit of where Ilai could take them.

It might seem nonsensical, but it actually made sense; after all, he was just a six or seven-year-old child with a very simple mindset due to a lack of basic education.

“…”

Watching the small boy timidly lower his head, seemingly afraid of being scolded by Vilyric, the Priestess hesitated for a moment, ultimately deciding not to say anything more.

There was no need to keep dragging him into this.

“Then this is it. You should go back to where you live. Whatever happens outside, don’t wander out. Understand?”

In her clear and gentle voice, there was now a hint of command and authority. Vilyric understood that, for a child like him, a firm tone might be more effective than soft persuasion.

Meeting was a form of fate, and even though he was just a passerby, the Priestess hoped Ilai wouldn’t find himself dead amidst the chaos of the battlefield between the Throne of Immortality and Princess Liliya.

“Ah? But the adults said we have to… Ugh!”

Ilai seemed to want to say something more, but when he raised his head to meet the indifferent, clear silver-blue eyes of the black-haired girl, a wave of instinctive panic surged within him.

It felt as if opposing this girl’s will would lead to some terribly frightening consequence.

“I—I understand, Sister Vilyric! Then, see you next time.”

He spoke the first part with an unmistakable panic, but when he said “see you,” a hint of reluctance crept back into his voice.

The mindset of children is unpredictable. Perhaps to Ilai, Vilyric was the most beautiful and kind “adult” he could remember.

“Mm, see you next time.”

Unfortunately, there won’t be a next time.

A fleeting thought flickered through the girl’s mind.

After all, he was just an ordinary kid, and it was only because he was caught up with the Throne of Immortality that he happened to cross paths with Vilyric.

After this, even if Ilai managed to survive, their paths wouldn’t cross again.

This wasn’t a matter of taking a stand; rather it was a conclusion drawn from facts and common sense.

A fleeting encounter, they were merely passing by each other.

With that thought, the Priestess squatted down, smiled at the little boy in front of her, and when she turned, her expression returned to indifference, quickly leaving without any lingering feelings.

“Thank you, Sister Vilyric…”

Ilai pulled out a colorful candy he had kept warm in his pocket, and a fleeting warmth crossed his lifeless brow before he gradually walked back into the darkness…

…

Leaving little boy Ilai behind, following his directions, Vilyric and the others boldly stepped around the corner, arriving in front of a large iron door that clearly had been modified later.

This must be the so-called experiment area.

There was no one guarding the door outside, but a strange aura continuously spilled out from within, making it rather unpleasant.

It was an extreme form of spiritual energy, which could probably be labeled as “grudge.”

In this world, if humans die while harboring strong negative emotions, their souls have a chance of becoming Vengeful Spirits. This is a special spiritual entity that is tangible yet intangible, typically falling into the category of the undead.

Back in the Forgotten Land, Vilyric had seen many similar entities, but they were much stronger and more condensed than what she felt now; they could even manifest through the living’s flesh and act directly.

What lay beyond the door, however, felt very scattered, as if it was simply the broken souls of ordinary people turning into spiritual grievances.

The particularly noteworthy thing is that the sheer volume was astonishing, and they truly “resented” to the extreme.

Murder and torture—only the cruelest means could produce Vengeful Spirits of such magnitude.

How disgusting.

But what did the Throne of Immortality want to do by deliberately creating these extreme grievances?

“Master, there are quite a few bugs inside; what should we do?”

Little Dragon Daughter wrinkled her nose, easily picking up on the strong stench of decaying flesh. Even though she usually didn’t pay much attention to lowly creatures, her impression of these abominable things seemed quite negative.

“Kill them all. There’s nothing to be said to this bunch of things.”

With that, the Priestess raised her leg and, rather unladylike, gave the door a solid kick.

Boom!

That heavy and massive metal door, which certainly weighed several tons and required mechanisms to assist in opening, was unexpectedly dented inward by Vilyric’s ruthless kick and then detached from the wall, flying inwards with shattered stone chips!

The so-called experiment area turned out to be a huge room scattered with much data, magical instruments, and surgical tools, equipped with five or six metal tables still stained with dark red blood. In the corner stood several large metal cages covered with black cloth, making it impossible to see what was inside.

“Hurry! Move quickly! Gather everything, we’re about to start experiments… Ugh!”

As Vilyric “broke in,” a man in a white lab coat who appeared to be in charge was standing in the center of the room, directing a dozen clearly Undead members from the Throne of Immortality, as they gathered and organized the scattered papers and instruments.

However, since he was positioned directly facing the iron door, that thick metal plate flew in just right and crashed into him.

Although he seemed to hold a high position, his abilities were rather mediocre, and he couldn’t mount any resistance at all. When hit by the door, both he and the door were driven straight into the wall on the opposite side, never to be heard from again.

Silence.

All the busy Undead froze, their faces filled with confusion as they looked towards the large hole where the door used to be and at the two beautiful girls who were calmly stepping in from outside.

“Mm? Did we hit something when opening the door? Oh well… it doesn’t matter; the outcome is the same. Xiao Guang, go!”

“Yes, Master!”

Only at this point did these dumbfounded individuals realize that the two in front of them were invaders from outside. They quickly, in a panic, drew their weapons.

“Damn it, they’re enemies! Didn’t those idiots say the enemies were still in the front hall? How did they get to the experiment area so fast?!”

“Who cares! They killed Lord Leopold, we absolutely can’t let them go! Or else we’re all doomed—charge together!”