Extra's Perfect Ending

Chapter 155: Blood room

Onia, Theia, and Brent ran harder than they ever had before. Behind them, a group of priests led by Plutus shouted, demanding they let go of Theia in exchange for their lives. But Onia wasn’t about to release her sister—not now, not when she was so close. She just needed to get through this final hurdle, and then they’d be free. Or at least as free as heretics could be.

Onia was prepared to sacrifice everything for Theia. That fierce determination radiated from her, and Theia could feel it. Her heart squeezed painfully as she glanced at her sister. There was so much she wanted to say, but there was no time. She just hoped they’d make it out of here alive.

Theia ran with all her might, grateful for the training Hilda had put her through. It was paying off now. Leading the way, she navigated the twisting alleyways and entered the hidden passage with precision. They sped past the body of the cult member she had killed earlier. Theia averted her eyes. She didn’t want to remember it, even if, deep down, she was proud of surviving.

The priests hesitated at the entrance to the secret passage, but after some discussion and a quick divination, they resumed their pursuit.

The corridor was like a maze, walls of cold stone stretching on endlessly, but Theia remembered the way. She led them back to the place where she’d been held—the spot where she had split off from Reeva’s group.

"What the hell is going on here?" Onia asked between ragged breaths, catching her last bit of air after the relentless run.

"This is the cult’s base," Theia explained, scanning the area. "We were supposed to raid this place, but someone beat us to it."

She frowned. The heretics she had fought couldn’t have been the only ones. Someone else had been here—someone far more ruthless in dealing with them.

"Who? The church?" Brent asked, his mind racing through the possibilities.

Theia stayed quiet, unsure. There was no time to speculate. She took off running again, this time with a clear destination in mind. Leon was visiting the cult’s higher-ups to request their brainwashing painting, and if something had gone wrong, she needed to be there.

As they ran, Onia tried to catch up with her sister, asking questions, trying to bridge the gap that had grown between them. But Theia’s mind was elsewhere, focused on the danger ahead. Onia’s words barely registered, and their conversation felt dry, almost forced. Onia couldn’t help but feel hurt after everything she had risked to get here.

But there was no time to dwell on it—they had arrived at the higher-ups’ office.

"Mystic energy... there’s a fight here," Onia murmured as they neared.

All of them could feel the distinct pulse of bloodlines coming from a specific direction. The demon domain’s aura was unmistakable. Unlike other mystic energies, which were contained within objects or bodies, the domain’s power expanded, making it detectable from a distance.

Theia’s face tightened with worry. From what Reeva had told her, if mystic energy could be felt in the air like this, something had gone terribly wrong. Either Reeva had failed to stop the ritual or something much worse was happening.

If that happens, I want you to escape. His words echoed in her mind.

Why? Couldn’t I help you? she’d once asked him.

"...I don’t want you to die. Just a personal request of mine."

That was what Reeva had told her. But Theia couldn’t bring herself to abandon him like that. She couldn’t. Even if Reeva didn’t talk about it much, she knew that deep down, he cared about her. He had brought her into this world, given her a purpose, and built up her confidence. Sure, his past was shady, but it didn’t change the fact that he had helped her.

Without Reeva, she might’ve gone down a much darker path—the path of a true heretic. Maybe she wouldn’t even be alive to see this moment.

That’s why, when she felt the surge of mystic energy, she didn’t hesitate. She sprinted toward the source, following the flow of power until it led her to the altar room. What she saw there was unlike anything the three of them had ever encountered.

The room was soaked in blood, a thick pool of it inching toward the door but stopping just short, as if some invisible barrier was holding it back.

"Theia... we need to leave. Now!" Onia shouted, her voice sharp with fear. In all her years of demon hunting alongside senior priests, she had never encountered anything like this. She knew most demons were once ordinary people who stumbled upon mystic forces they couldn’t control, letting the power warp them into monsters. They were grotesque but manageable.

This was different.

Just from the sheer size of the demon’s domain, Onia could tell that this one was on another level. It was far stronger than anything she had ever faced before, and even the smallest demons had given her trouble. This one could kill her in an instant.

The door was half-open, left that way by the priests who had entered earlier. Theia was terrified, but she managed to peek inside. The sight filled her with horror and confusion.

At the center of the altar, an elevated platform held a grotesque, red-fleshed creature. The demon wasn’t fully formed yet, but what shocked Theia more was the familiar figure scaling the altar.

It was Reeva. He was climbing, drenched in blood that poured down over him. On his shoulder was Leon, knocked unconscious, and beside him stood a priest holding some kind of amulet.

From where she stood at the entrance, Theia could see that Reeva and the priest were struggling to reach the altar. The blood spilling from the monster was slowing their progress, as if it had a will of its own.

"Penu! Are you alright?" Theia shouted, using the false name she’d given Reeva to protect his cover. The last thing she needed was for Onia and Reeva to start fighting—she knew they weren’t on the best of terms.