Rewinding time just a bit, on the official road leading to Osterburg at the border of the Lordaeron Empire.
The carriage wheels rolled over gravel, emitting a dull sound.
Inside the carriage, "Colette Anastasia" sat on a velvet cushion, adjusting her compassionate expression in the mirror.
The person in the mirror had silver hair and violet eyes, breathtakingly beautiful.
But deep within those eyes, there was a hint of barely noticeable mockery.
The original owner of this body was indeed a pure, naive fool, but unfortunately, what now resided within was the top assassin of the Plasma Cult's dark trinity.
The original Colette's Soul was still struggling in a corner, buzzing like a damn fly.
But it didn't matter.
The endpoint of this tour was Osterburg.
As long as she met with the Regional Bishop there and completed the final ritual, she could completely devour the original owner's Soul and rightfully take over this identity.
By then, with the status of a Saintess Candidate, the entire intelligence network of the Church of Lightwould be opened to the Cult.
This was simply the perfect infiltration plan.
"Excuse me, is Your Excellency Anastasia in the carriage?"
A young man's voice suddenly came from outside the carriage, interrupting Colette's fantasy.
Colette frowned slightly. Where did this reckless fool come from?
She reached out and lifted a corner of the curtain.
Outside stood four people dressed as Adventurers. The blue-haired youth at the front was looking eagerly at the carriage, a broken sword hanging at his waist and an ancient-looking metal necklace around his neck.
Colette glanced at these four people.
A Blue-haired Swordsman, a Slovenly Priest, a dwarf, and an... Elf Mage with sharp eyes.
Could it be that recently famous "Hero Party" on the road? Heard these guys specifically go against the Cult.
Unlucky.
How did I run into them here?
Colette cursed inwardly, but her expression remained unchanged, even slightly adjusting the downturn of her lips to appear more aloof and holy.
She didn't speak, just pulled out a teardrop-shaped indigo-purple gem from her collar.
That was the "tear of light," the proof of identity for a Saintess Candidate.
Seeing the gem, the youth who called himself Siniel was stunned for a moment, then stepped aside with his teammates to let the carriage pass.
"Sorry, we were abrupt."
Idiots.
Colette lowered the curtain, and the carriage continued forward.
Watching the scenery recede through the curtain gap, she felt great.
These self-righteous guys not only failed to recognize their mortal enemy but even bowed respectfully.
This feeling of NTR right in front of them was addictive. Colette leaned back on the cushion, fingers rubbing the "tear of light" on her chest.
Although this thing was a holy relic of the church, as long as it was sealed with a secret technique, it was just a dead object.
"Patrolling the mortal world on behalf of the gods..."
Colette's lips curled into a mocking arc.
Doing all sorts of evil deeds right in front of those foolish believers, wearing their Saintess's face—this feeling, just thinking about it, brought a scalp-tingling pleasure.
"Patrolling the mortal world? Hah, just a lie of the strong."
"If gods could truly punish evil, why would there be so much injustice in this world?"
Colette whispered mockingly, fingers gently rubbing the smooth surface of the gem... Just then.
"Buzz—!"
A sudden anomaly occurred.
The originally docile "tear of light" hanging on her chest suddenly vibrated violently as if electrified.
Before Colette could react to what was happening, the gem shot upward!
This force was absurdly strong, not at all like something a dead object could produce, more like some invisible giant was pulling it.
"Huh?!"
Colette only managed to let out a muffled grunt.
The tough mithril necklace instantly dug into her fair neck, flesh torn, windpipe tightly choked.
Immediately after, her entire body was catapulted from the seat by the necklace!
"Bang!"
The expensive crystal glass of the carriage window instantly shattered into pieces.
Colette, like a hooked big fish, was directly dragged out of the carriage, flying into the sky.
The paladins below heard the commotion and looked up, only seeing a white figure whoosh into the sky.
"Saintess—!!!"
"Assassins! Protect Her Excellency!"
The scene fell into chaos for a moment.
"Cough... cough!"
Colette struggled desperately in the air, hands tightly gripping the necklace around her neck, trying to break it.
But this necklace was specially made by the church, using the highest-grade Mithril Alloy to prevent loss, ridiculously sturdy.
A sense of suffocation instantly surged into her brain, air squeezed out of her lungs. Even worse, that pulling force was still increasing.
She traced a bizarre arc in the air, diving at extreme speed toward the distant deep mountains and old forests—!
"Stop... it!"
After all, Colette was an LV.42 Amethyst Grade Powerhouse.
At the critical moment, she erupted with a dark purple magical energy, fiercely reaching out and tightly hugging an ancient tree thick enough for three people to embrace.
"Snap!"
The metal chain on the necklace instantly tightened, deeply digging into her flesh.
"...!" Colette felt her cervical spine was about to be pulled apart. Gritting her teeth, she forced two fingers into the gap between the necklace and her neck, trying to make space for a breath.
Finally, it stopped.
This "Saintess Candidate" gasped for air, lungs burning as if on fire.
Who was it?
Which bastard is ambushing me?
This level of pulling force, could it be that old undying pope of the church making a move?
No, impossible.
If it were that old guy, I'd already be turned to ashes.
"Whoever you are..."
A flash of Resentment flickered in Colette's eyes, "Once I break free from this damn necklace, I'll tear you to pieces and feed you to Ghouls!"
Before she finished speaking.
That temporarily halted pulling force suddenly increased tenfold...! If it was just a tug-of-war before, now—it was like a rocket launch—! The ancient tree Colette was hugging was actually snapped in half by this bizarre force—!
"Holy shit..."
This cold-blooded assassin from the dark Cult only had time to blurt out a curse.
The next second.
Her entire body shot off like an arrow from a bowstring, taking flight again!
This time, the speed reached its peak.
The surrounding scenery blurred into lines.
"Bang!" The back of her head heavily collided with a protruding tree branch.
A crisp bone-cracking sound rang out.
Colette's vision went black, consciousness instantly cut off.
But this body didn't stop.
Pulled by that bizarre skill called Payday, this body adorned with various expensive accessories transformed into a golden streak of light, crashing straight into a mountain peak several kilometers away.
...
Inside the cave.
"It's coming, it's coming! Big haul! Definitely a big haul!"
Cecilia was so excited her scales stood up.
She could feel that this thing being pulled over was "heavier" than the previous gold coins and gems!
That substantial weight was definitely a rare treasure!
"Come... over here, you!"
The Silver Dragon's face turned red, a low growl in her throat, using all her might to pull back her claw!
Caesar, who was guarding the belongings nearby, suddenly heard a terrifying whistling sound from the cave entrance.
That sound was familiar to him.
In his previous life watching war movies, intercontinental missiles re-entering the atmosphere made this noise.
"Whoosh—!!!"
Caesar instinctively looked up.
The sunlight at the cave entrance instantly disappeared.
A black shadow carrying gales and rubble, with the momentum to smash through the Earth, crashed in with a roar!
"Boom—!!!"
The ground shook, mountains trembled.
The rocks at the cave entrance exploded, dust mixed with rubble flying everywhere.
Caesar reacted extremely quickly, immediately activating Protect. A pale green light shield appeared out of thin air, protecting him and Cecilia, who was still posing, behind it.
Crackling rubble hit the light shield, creating ripples.
After a while, the dust slowly cleared.
Two dragon heads cautiously peeked out, looking at the large crater in the center of the cave.
At the bottom of the crater lay a person.
A girl.
Or rather, a girl who was once very decent.
She wore tattered Advanced Robes, her body adorned with various glittering accessories. At this moment, these gorgeous accessories were still trembling slightly, seemingly affected by Payday, wanting to crawl into Cecilia's embrace.
Most conspicuous was the necklace around her neck.
That huge purple gem was still emitting a faint glow, while the chain connecting the gem had completely dug into her flesh, almost cutting her neck in half.
The girl's head lifted at a bizarre angle... Her bloodshot eyes stared fixedly at the terrifying shark-like monster as big as a hill in front of her, then glanced at the silver little dragon beside it, mouth agape, looking stunned.
Dragons?
It's actually... dragons?
This is actually... the culprit who dragged me around like a dog for several kilometers?
"Pfft."
A mouthful of old blood sprayed out.
The newcomer's eyes rolled back, tongue sticking out.
"Gah."
Dead.
...
The cave fell into a deathly silence.
Caesar stiffly turned his neck, looking at Cecilia beside him.
"This is the treasure you mentioned?"
Cecilia shrank her neck, looking at the pitiful human-shaped object in the crater, swallowing saliva:
"Shiny... how can it not count?"
Caesar slapped his own forehead, then pressed Cecilia's head down.
"This isn't Payday, this is a death curse. This person was clearly strangled to death and then dragged over by you!"
"And judging by her complexion, she probably died a while ago, purely clinging to life out of sheer Resentment to take one last look at the murderer!"
Bro, this is too creepy, right?
Sitting at home, and a teru teru bozu falls from the sky?
"Then... what do we do?"
Cecilia was also a bit panicked.
Although greedy for wealth, she knew killing was wrong—especially someone with no grudge.
"Dig a pit."
"Huh? Dig a pit for what? Bury treasure?"
"Bury my ass! Of course, bury the corpse!"
Caesar pointed at the corpse in the crater, "Don't you see it's about to become a Zombie? Hurry up, use that light thing of yours to purify her!"
At this moment, the teru teru bozu began emitting strands of black energy, twisting and swirling in mid-air, vaguely forming an illusory human face.
That was Colette's Soul, also the true form of the assassin from the Plasma Cult.
Now, although only in Soul state, her face was ferocious, surrounded by terrifying black energy.
"Bastards!!!"
The Soul let out a piercing shriek.
"You dare destroy my physical body! I'll..."
Before she could finish.
"Luster Purge!"