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"What's happening to their bodies?"

Samantha muttered, not particularly looking for an answer.

At this moment, the nine vampires trapped in Frozen Thorns, including the Vampire Commander, were having a weird reaction due to Ayleen's interference in their memories, which was being performed per second.

The Vampire Commander, as the one whose Ayleen explored the memories the most, though wide awake and wrapped inside the cerulean cocoon of thorns, looked like someone who just lost his mind after losing everything he held most dear.

He was smiling as his crimson eyes were aimlessly looking forward, and sometimes he was crying, while there were times that his expression was blank as if an empty vessel needed to be filled.

Furthermore, the effects of the Frozen Thorns that were binding them were still effective, causing them to feel excruciating pain while experiencing an unusual calm, but considered a nightmare. It was as though their identities were continuously being tampered with.

"It must have been Miss Ayleen's skills side effect."

Thessalia muttered in a polite manner, trying to make a guess as they watched a few meters away from the current circumstances. There's a wide purple magic circle that's overlapping with the lined-up bodies of the captives, and purple mist was lingering around, though it's not enough to cause Samantha and Thessalia to block their visions. On the other hand, Ayleen Mayfield was floating a few inches from the ground while the ominous yet striking scythe, the Fog of Nightmare Scythe was also floating in front of her. Her arms were spread as though she was projecting her soul and tethered to every vampire that was being subjected in the process.

"How old is Miss Ayleen, by the way? As someone from the Elven Race, I'm more sensitive to Mana lingering in nature even without learning any Mana-related skills, and I can tell that Miss Ayleen's suppressing her Mana to a great extent so that we won't get crushed by it even just by pressure."

Thessalia couldn't help but ask, keenly observing the circumstances transpiring from a distance.

"Hmm. If I'm not wrong, she's either 27 or 28 years old. In fact, she's the youngest SS+ Rank in the history of humanity."

Samantha terse answered, somewhat feeling nice to be having a casual conversation while waiting for Ayleen to finish her job.

"...What?! Only in her late twenties?"

Thessalia shifted her gaze to Samantha, trying to find if she was spouting nonsense since Ayleen was so young to be in possession of that strength, however, what was screened in her vision was the casual look of Samantha as her criminally beautiful brown eyes weren't showing a hint of faltering.

"It's unbelievable, but it's the truth. She's the one who mostly appears in public places because of her image – young, strong, beautiful, hardworking, and inspiring. Her presence gives hope to the youth to strive further and pursue their careers, though it's just been quite recently since the First Close Mystery Tower, Tower of Growth appeared, which continuously brings either help or death to challengers."

Samantha, who was either mostly quiet or too talkative, seemed to have activated her latter side as she babbled what seemed to be irrelevant, but in a strange way, Thessalia's gaze was painted with confusion.

"Uh, what's wrong?"

Samantha asked, tilting her head.

"N-nevermind. I just thought of something."

Thessalia didn't speak any further as she pondered Samantha's words. The latter then looked at her with suspicious eyes, however, Samantha didn't press on the matter.

'Though the answer isn't guaranteed and it depends on her mood or circumstances, I can try asking her about Thessalia's reaction.'

She thought to herself, recalling the entity or the guide that's been in her head for a long time.

After some time, as the two striking women chattered about random things, the process of gathering information finally ended as the atmosphere returned to normal.

***

"Miss Ayleen, how was it?"

Samantha asked as she and Thessalia anticipated an answer that was at least related to the situation they had just experienced before the current one.

Reading Samantha's thoughts instinctively and naturally, Ayleen's expression turned serious as she averted her gaze from Samantha and looked at Thessalia.

"Regarding the state of the real Commander Tafor, I'm sorry to say, but he passed away."

Ayleen then proceeded to recount everything related that happened according to the memories of the Vampire Commander.

"I see… T-thank you for telling me. I'll handle the matters about the commander's death."

Based on what Ayleen had gathered in exploring the memories of the Vampire Commander, apart from his name, Vekel, the Elven Commander, Tafor, went outside the border to get rid of the very near Vampire Soldiers or scouts, but the vampires took advantage of it as they quickly delivered the message to Vekel, who then caught off-guard the Elven Commander by stabbing him in the back and possessed him after, which allowed him to infiltrate the Elven Army, at least on the Northern Elnira.

In other words, Vekel's confession of his deeds and story account was all true, though it's not something that could save him by being honest and offering to spill crucial information since Russell had threatened him about the Crimson Princess, Almirah, whose wishes were considered a top priority for mere Vampire Commanders such as himself.

"What's going to happen now, Miss Ayleen?"

Before exiting the small world within the artifact, Samantha asked as she glanced for a moment at the vampires, who were in their vegetative state while being skewered continuously by the piercing and sharp thorns. Their minds and bodies were all broken.

"Looking at their current state, death must be comforting, isn't it?"

Thessalia whispered, but her expression was dark because of the news about Commander Tafor's death. Although their commander was an oddball, he was the one that guided them for quite a long time and the atmosphere he was projecting was a lively one.

"Thessalia, release them from Frozen Thorns."

Snapping out of her senses, Thessalia did what Ayleen had requested.

Holding the purple-bladed scythe in her right hand, Ayleen activated one of the Intrinsic Effects of her Personal Weapon.

[Activating Skill: World of Nightmare]

[The Witch of Dreams has allowed the use of this skill!]

[The souls of the targets will be transported to the imaginary world made of the Witch of Dreams.]

[The souls of the targets will be forced to live the worst moment of their lives over and over again with their consciousness intact, but free will be taken!]

It's one of the skills that Ayleen barely used against an intelligent being since the World of Nightmare was only considered a playground of her Star Contractor.

A moment later, Ayleen's purple eyes constricted as the next System messages echoed in her head.

[A paragon of death is near the vicinity where the gathering of souls is being performed!]

[Seek permission from the closest paragon of death to legally obtain the souls of the targets!]

"...What now…?"

Samantha and Thessalia noticed the bewilderment spread across Ayleen's face. They couldn't help but query.

"Miss Ayleen?"

"Is there something wrong?"

As though their words weren't heard, the series of System messages kept flooding.

[The Witch of Dreams looks for the one who rules over the dead.]

[The Witch of Dreams finds the one who rules over the dead.]

[The Witch of Dreams looks at the Ruler of Death and asks the latter's permission.]

[The Ruler of Death says to not bother him and asks the one he assigned on that matter.]

[The Witch of Dreams fell silent.]

[The Witch of Dreams asks her Champion to look for the paragon of death in the vicinity!]

Ayleen slowly turned her eyes to Samantha and Thessalia, causing the two to tilt their heads almost at the same time.

'What does this mean, though? Do I need to get permission? This is the first time this happens.'

Ayleen thought, trying her best not to suspect Thessalia or Samantha to be someone related to Death.

"Ehem... Let's get out of here first."

Ayleen said, causing the two to look at each other before they nodded.

Since it required both Thessalia and Lusha to perform the replica of the Frozen Thorn, and the latter's appearance wasn't present, they had no choice but to physically drag the vegetative state of the vampires.

"Green Exit."

Ayleen muttered the exit phrase, which was written on the artifact before they proceeded within.

With her words, all of them, in a green magic circle, disappeared together.

***

Appearing at the underground facility of the Elven Army Headquarters, Ayleen explained the situation.

Lusha glanced at Thessalia the moment they appeared. The latter then shook her head silently, which only meant one thing – that Commander Tafor's dead.

Iefyr and Kerym, who understood the subtle glances between their two comrades, had their expressions darkened to the point of tearing up.

Ayleen, on the other hand, shifted her gaze around, trying to scrutinize every individual's face as if she were going to be painting them.

From Russell, Freya, Amelie, Amery, and Ken, Ayleen found nothing unusual that might be related to the so-called paragon of death, at least based on what the System referred to as.

"What's happening to them?"

Amelie whispered, causing everyone's current circumstances to be disrupted. However, they looked at the nine vampires who were braindead. It's not because their brains were physically damaged, but rather because their souls were split apart into fragments due to Ayleen's interference.

"Hmm. Everyone!"

Ayleen couldn't help but be curious so she gathered everyone's attention.

"Before I say some crucial information, I need the Elves to swear in the name of the Elven Goddess first."

The Elves did what they were told without question. In addition, they added what Lusha had claimed to discover the true identity of the Elven Commander. They recited the four phrases, which in the end told about the death of the Crimson Goddess – the taboo placed on every vampire's existence.

A few moments later, Ayleen continued:

"I'll be frank with you. These vampires, based on the memories I've seen, deserved critical punishments.

"But there's something hindering the process, which is related to the so-called paragon of death.

"Does any of you have any idea what it means? According to the System, it says that it's in close proximity."

The four Elves denied the question, while Russell and the others glanced at each other.

At that moment, apart from Russell and Samantha, Amelie, Amery, and Ken couldn't help but instinctively land their gazes on Freya.

"Freya Moon?"

Ayleen fell into confusion, including the other Elves.

***

"Uh, Miss Ayleen. Can you tell us the entire circumstances about something that's hindering you?"

Freya asked, doing her best to stop herself from smashing the heads of Amelie, Amery, and Ken.

"Hmm. Alright."

Although Ayleen was confused because of Freya's Status Window which looked ordinary and had no Star Contract, she complied with the request as she recounted her plan about the vampires.

"Ah..."

Freya's mouth was slightly agape. According to the guidebook of being a Death Executioner, if there's no Death Executioner present in a certain radius, then the souls would only stay for a while or wander aimlessly, which could be corrupted by Evil Spirits.

At least it's the basic knowledge for her since there were beings that could touch the souls just like what Ayleen could do, though it would be considered illegal without the Death Executioner's permission.

"I-I see. Okay, Miss Ayleen. Please proceed."

Glancing for a moment at her older brother, Freya then basically admitted that she was related to Death.

Even though Ayleen couldn't quite grasp it, she did what she was supposed to do earlier.

***

[Activating Skill: World of Nightmare]

[The Witch of Dreams has allowed the use of this skill!]

[The souls of the targets will be transported to the imaginary world made of the Witch of Dreams.]

[The souls of the targets will be forced to live the worst moment of their lives over and over again with their consciousness intact, but free will be taken!]

[A paragon of death is near the vicinity where the gathering of souls is being performed!]

[Seek permission from the closest paragon of death to legally obtain the souls of the targets!]

***

The repeated System messages rang in Ayleen's ears, but this time, an unfamiliar message finally appeared after Freya had instinctively spoken some words using the language of the Undead, which couldn't be interpreted by language-translation skills.

"In my name as a Death Executioner, I permitted these souls to be handed to the specific individual, Ayleen Mayfield."

Since it would be dangerous to say that she was handing it over to any being who desired the vampires' souls, she specifically mentioned Ayleen's name.

A moment later, the execution of the Skill: World of Nightmare ended, together with the incredulous expression of Ayleen, and the four Elves.

[You have been permitted to take the souls of the targets.]

[You have sent them to the World of Nightmare.]

[The Witch of Dreams is feeling grateful to the paragon of death.]

[The Witch of Dreams asks her Champion to give... to the paragon of death.]