Our circle finally broke, the echo of our shared secrets lingering softly in the candle-lit air of the nave. For the first time in my eighteen agonizing years on Andromeda… years spent locked in dim, oppressive archives translating bleeding Dalon scrolls under the thumbs of syndicate handlers… I felt the heavy armor around my heart give a slight, imperceptible twitch. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would look out across this brutal continent and see people who actually belonged to Earth.
But here they were. Bound by blood, metal, magic, and a collective trauma from a world left behind.
To the casual observer passing through the cobblestone streets of the 7th District, this building looked like a traditional, modest Catholic parish. In reality, it wasn't a consecrated church at all. It was an old, multi-story commercial building that Father Columbia had quietly rented out using his administrative funds, meticulously transforming its interior to mimic the metropolitan sanctuaries of the old world.
Right now, the plan was locked into place. The five other Reincarnated Souls… Father Columbia, Na Tae-man, Miss Karrie, Muhammad (Joy), and Kang Chul-yeong (Garret)... would all be permanently staying and living inside these repurposed walls. It was their safe house, their hidden fortress against the high-tier monsters, corrupt syndicates, and divine executioners of Caria.
We officially christened it right then and there: The Sanctuary of Reincarnated Beings.
And we established a baseline, unyielding law for this building. The moment any of us crossed the threshold and stepped into this sanctuary, the languages of Andromeda… Alatist, Dalon, and Carianese… were to be utterly stripped away. Within these walls, we would only speak English. Within these walls, we were no longer tools of a magical military or nameless mercenaries. We would call each other exclusively by our true Earth names.
Rules of the Sanctuary
The Linguistic Decree is simple , all conversations must be held strictly in English to honor our origins.
The Identity Decree is simple, fantasy aliases are banned at the door. We address each other only by our Earth Names (Roxanne, Tae-man, Karrie, Muhammad, Chul-yeong, Carnaby).
The Operational Decree is simple, this commercial building is a neutral, safe zone for cross-world souls to recuperate, train, and plan.
I adjusted the straps of my Leech's Hollow Mask, my single jade-green eye scanning the faces of my new covert team. They were settling into the commercial building's upper rooms, unpacking what little gear they had, their voices blending into a harmonious tapestry of fluent English.
My 90-day apocalyptic timeline was still ticking. The heretical demonic life inside my womb was still growing. The blood of the captives I had sacrificed in the sewers was still fresh on my conscience. I couldn't stay here and live a peaceful life with them; my path as the Crimson Phantom demanded I return to the blood-soaked shadows. But as I turned toward the heavy exit doors, the pulsing warmth of my Level 8 Mana Pool, Level 6 Magic Enhancement, and Level 5 Healing rings felt a little less cold.
I had given them a sanctuary. And in return, Roxanne finally had a reason to ensure this world survived.
I sat quietly in one of the cushioned chairs in the sanctuary's communal area, the soft glow of a nearby beeswax candle illuminating the pages of the Bible Father Columbia had painstakingly translated into Alatist text. Since I was safely within the borders of our sanctuary, I had unclasped the straps of my Leech's Hollow Mask, letting my true face breathe. However, my tattered crimson trench coat remained securely fastened around my frame. If I were to remove it, the compressed blood-wings folded tightly against my back would be exposed, instantly revealing my identity as the Crimson Phantom… the blood-sucking, winged demon carrying a staggering 18 gold bounty on her head.
As I turned a page, a familiar set of footsteps echoed against the floorboards. I didn't need to look up to know who it was.
Na Tae-man suddenly approached my chair. Over the last two months, the boy had genuinely grown strong. His high-tier mechanical reflexes and tactical macro-knowledge from winning that MOBA championship in Seoul had fully adapted to the brutal physics of Andromeda. His agility parameters were sharp, and his Armor Shattering skill was becoming a formidable asset for our team.
But as he came to a halt right in front of me, his tactical aura completely evaporated, replaced by that familiar, frantic adolescent energy.
I knew exactly why he was here. My mind flashed back to two months ago, just before I had set out to actively hunt down and liquidate the Immoral Knight Commander, Cameron Gal. Right outside this very building, Tae-man had cut off my path, his face turning an incredibly vivid red as he blurted out his cringe-inducing, light-novel-fueled dream of building a massive harem, culminating in an awkward, desperate plea to take me out on a date.
And now, two months later, he was clearly trying to cash in on that request.
I kept my single jade-green eye fixed on the Alatist scripture for a moment longer before slowly raising my head to look at him. My face was bare.. scars, cloth eye-patch, and all… and my mouth remained firmly closed over my missing tongue. The Level 8 Mana Pool and Level 6 Magic Enhancement rings on my right hand glinted in the candlelight as I waited to see how the Seoul gamer was going to pitch his "main quest" to a tongue-less, one-armed demonic executor this time.
Tae-man shifted his weight from one foot to the other, his face rapidly lighting up with that intense, bright crimson flush I had memorized two months ago. He rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes darting toward the stone floor before locking back onto my single jade-green eye.
"Well, Roxanne… Mind if we... you know, continue where we left off? Before you went after Cameron Gal?" he muttered, his English cracking slightly under the pressure.
I let out a soft, silent breath through my nose. I had known exactly what he was about to say. Thanks to my sixth-evolution demonic biology, my exceptionally pale skin, sharp features, and intense aura made me look like a walking magnet in this dim sanctuary, completely distracting a seventeen-year-old Seoul gamer from his actual survival parameters.
Reaching into my coat, I bypassed my heavy firearms, grabbed my purse, pulled out my notepad, and rapidly scribbled a short sentence in English. I held it up right in front of his face:
How about Karrie and Muhammad?
Tae-man blinked, reading the note, and immediately threw his hands up in a frantic, defensive gesture.
"Are you kidding me?! Karrie is a fully grown, strict academy professor woman! That's way too intimidating! And Muhammad? Come on! He's a literal Earth boy trapped in a cute beastkin girl's skin! My gamer brain completely short-circuits just looking at him. No way. I would never let that happen. It's only you, Roxanne." he blurted out, his voice a mix of sheer panic and intense gamer logic.
I stared at him through my single green eye, thoroughly unamused. The absolute conviction in his voice proved he had spent the last few weeks reasoning out every single anatomical and historical detail of our sanctuary members just to justify his impossible "main quest."
Honestly? I was just so tired of this. Tired of the heavy tactical calculations, tired of the suffocating scent of blood from the morning's bounty, and tired of hearing him stutter in the church communal room.
I closed the Alatist Bible, slid it onto the side table, and stood up to my full, imposing height. Before Tae-man could utter another digital syllable, I reached out with my pale right hand and firmly grasped his armored fingers. The Level 8 Mana Pool and Level 6 Magic Enhancement rings on my fingers clinked faintly against his gauntlet.
I didn't write another note. I simply gave his hand a firm, commanding pull, directing him straight toward the heavy entrance doors of the commercial building. If this boy wanted his tutorial date so badly, I would give it to him… if only to finally get some fresh air in the 7th District and secure some quiet pastries.