Her fingers twitched. The scent of blood flooded her nose. Sera cracked her eyes and saw the moonlight streaming from the small window of her cell. The coldness of the place was incomparable to her rage. She noticed that the wound on her head had healed. Prince Adrian probably healed her, attempting to save her life temporarily, only to execute her later.
FIRST MISSION: [BREAK YOUR CHAINS]
METHOD SUGGESTED: [BITE THROUGH YOUR WRIST. THE PAIN WILL AWAKEN YOUR MAGIC.]
REWARD: [BLOODFIRE SPELL (UNLOCKS MANA CUFFS)]
It hadn't been a minute since she regained her body, but the system was already giving her orders. Sera's violet eyes narrowed, but she didn't say a word to complain. The magic Anna had was way weaker than Sera's. The difference between them was day and night.
Since Anna took over her body, she had taken the standard approach. She didn't dare to stray from the orders of the magic academy, unlike Sera, who repeatedly violated the rules and caused several damages to the school properties because of her failed experiments. Had she not a daughter of the duke, Sera knew she wouldn't easily get away from it.
Without wasting any more time, Sera bit her right wrist hard. She relished the pain along with the blood dripping down her arm. In her previous life, she was able to use her blood to cast magic, as the most common ways were to use wands and utter the spells. Using one's blood was considered taboo and heretic; it was frowned upon by mages.
"Rules are for cowards. Power belongs to those who break everything—even themselves."
The cuffs were designed to block standard mana channels—the orderly, academy-approved spells most mages use. It would work on Anna, but not on Sera. Sera's Bloodfire is heretical magic, forged from pain and life force, not just mana. It operated outside conventional restraints, which were not often used. Biting through her wrist wasn't just about pain; it was part of a blood ritual.
Her powerful bite severed a tendon; the pain and the blood ignited her mana. As she mentally chanted the Bloodfire spell, black and red fire ignited her wrist. The runes on the metal cuffs screamed as they overloaded. The extreme heat and the overwhelming mana caused it to break and free Sera.
[Objective Complete: +150 VP. Upgrade Unlocked: 'Crimson Cauterization' (Bloodfire now heals as it burns)]
The guards rushed into her cell when they sensed magic from the inside. They were horrified to see her bloody arm and the broken cuffs on her feet. They stumbled back as they broke into a cold sweat.
"Th-those are meant to withstand even a demon's magic."
Sera smiled coldly. She flexed her left hand as Bloodfire danced between her fingers.
"Those cuffs are meant to restrain a lamb, but you see, I'm a wolf, good sirs."
Suddenly, tendrils of Bloodfire shot forward, impaling two guards before her. As soon as the tendrils left their dead bodies, the dead guards attacked the other guards and strangled them. A fight broke out inside her cell, but Sera stood as if it had nothing to do with it.
[Objective Complete: +200 VP. Bloodfire Mastery Unlocked: 'Scarlet Symphony' (Control enemies' blood like puppet strings)]
With one last glance at the metal cuffs on her feet, she muttered, "Next time, build better chains."
The wound on her wrist and entire body healed slowly by the Bloodfire. The night was still young, and Sera would ensure that the crown prince would get her message before dawn.
More guards came to intercept her, but how could they defeat someone as powerful as the master of the magic tower in her previous life? Sera was pleased that her memories were still intact and that she didn't have to start again from scratch.
She also learned from Anna's ways. She had to admit that Anna's organizational skills and study methods were more effective than hers. But alas, since Anna failed to cultivate her magic, Sera's mana supply was no different from that of a regular mage.
Sera strolled down the halls, her Bloodfire tendrils puppeteering dead guards to attack living ones. She walked past cells, melting locks to release prisoners—not to free them, but to unleash chaos as diversions.
Chaos ensued. The prison guards couldn't handle the situation on their own. The convicted prisoners Sera released were known to be violent murderers. The prisoners lurched at them, trying to snatch the weapons from their possession.
A starving convict lunges at Sera, but she burned out his eyes with a fingertip.
"Wrong villain to beg from."
The other prisoners instinctively avoided her and refused to meet her gaze, though some looked at her with unconcealed amusement. One of them licked his lips as his gaze remained on Sera's figure.
"How come I never heard that Duke de Lys has such an interesting daughter?" The man with long dark hair and golden eyes smiled as Sera kicked a dead guard away from her.
"Your Highness, we must escape at once! We can't have them catch us again." His companion replied, dragging him out by his sleeve.
"Lady de Lys, wait for me. I will surely come back for you." He said as his voice got drowned out by the chaos around them.
Sera turned her head in their direction, but only saw a prisoner tangled in a fight with guards. She thought someone was calling her. However, before she could dwell on the thought, she sensed a surge of magic coming outside the tower. The magic council and the royal guards must have been informed about her escape.
When she reached the lowest floor of the tower, she wasn't surprised to see an army of royal guards and a group of mages obstructing the main entrance. There was even a high priest amongst them, his white robe and protruding stomach made the scene like a joke in Sera's eyes.
"You will go nowhere, Lady de Lys." The high priest smirked at her. "Even you cannot escape from our barrier."
Sera merely cocked her head on one side. The church was one of the power figures in the kingdom of Soloma. Their influence was comparable to the crown; hence, most priests and clergy were arrogant and looked down on people who didn't belong to their sect. Their influence had been dwindling in recent years as people began to notice within the church.
The clergy didn't help the poor commoners when they came to them for help, yet they opened their doors wide open for nobles who gave hefty donations without hesitation. The corruption of the Church of Solmara continued to worsen, but no one was strong or defiant enough to contradict them except for the royal family.
The church initially revered Solmara, the merciful. The first queen of Solmara was her direct descendant; hence, the entire royal family was not only considered noble but heavenly as well. The royal family and the church worked hand in hand centuries ago, but both factions started to drift apart when the church began to use its influence to pressure the 'de Solmora' family.
As their reputation continued to persist, the emergence of Saintess Liliana made them relevant again. Liliana, a commoner from an unknown origin. The news of her ability to heal people spread like wildfire within the kingdom. The Church of Solmara didn't waste time. It took Liliana under their care, ensuring that only they would have the right to meddle in her affairs since she was the one sent by Solmara, the merciful, to save the kingdom from another inevitable war against the demon army.
A golden barrier appeared as the clergy and the mages chanted a spell in unison. It forbade Sera to take another step, effectively stopping her from going forward. Sera looked up and saw complex runes that created the barrier. The system slightly glitches, sensing a hidden weakness in the barrier. Sera let out a predatory grin.
>> [BARRIER ANALYSIS COMPLETE]
>> [SOLMARA'S LIGHT BARRIER IS JUST REPURPOSED DEMON-WARDING MAGIC]
>> [SUGGESTED COUNTERSPELL: BLOODFIRE MIMICRY]
Sera bit her forefinger. Using her blood, she traced a demonic containment rune of the golden barrier. The holy barrier shuddered, its golden light warping to blood-red as it misidentifies her as a lesser demon.
The high priest panicked at the sight and attempted to reinforce the barrier with his magic. Sera let out a laugh as his efforts backfired. The barrier recoiled and blasted away the high priest toward his clergy; a hidden demonic pact mark glowed through his robes. The scene not only stunned the clergy but the royal guards as well. Who would have known a high priest of the church was colluding with the demons?
>> IRONY DETECTED: HE PREACHES PURITY WHILE WEARING A DEMON'S BRAND.
Sera steps through the dissolving barrier, her Bloodfire now temporarily resistant to holy magic. She kicked the priest's fallen mitre toward the clergy, who scampered away from the fallen priest.
"A souvenir from your 'pure' shepherd. Funny how your 'holy' light burns your skin first. Tell your goddess it's time to revise her scriptures."