Although a subconscious sense of alarm flared within Veronica's heart,
the auction house's solemn guarantees and the layers of rune Seals caused her to temporarily suppress her doubts.
"I should first transport it back to the Hester Family's secret vault in the royal capital and have the Family's Chief Mage conduct the most thorough inspection and sealing..."
—Just as she was thinking this, a sudden change occurred!
Inside the coffin, dark red embers suddenly ignited within the eye sockets of the demon skeleton!
A thick plume of black smoke erupted from the skeleton, instantly shattering the rune Seals and swallowing Veronica whole.
The Inheritance pendant, the "Wedge of Light," on her chest flashed only once before going completely dark.
The two guards didn't even have time to react before being swept up by the black smoke, silently turning into fly ash.
The Saronite embedded within the skeleton suddenly burst with an eerie purple light!
A dense black mist gushed out from the bones, instantly enveloping the entire handover room.
"Young Miss, be careful!"
The two guards instantly drew their swords, shielding Veronica.
But it was already too late.
The black smoke ignored the guards' blades and the faint glimmer of the "Wedge of Light" on Veronica's chest, surging violently into her body!
Veronica felt a cold, malicious will forcibly tear open her mental defenses.
At the last moment before her consciousness was consumed, she used all her mana to place a Sealdeep within her soul... As the black smoke dissipated, the two guards turned into walking corpses—while "Veronica" stood in place, slowly lifting her head.
Her gaze had become cold, tyrannical, and filled with an evil that did not belong to humanity.
"Damned... Earth Dragon!"
The demon Beelzebub had successfully descended, but it was now furious to the extreme.
If it hadn't chosen a soul Projection method to descend to the Material Plane, resulting in its strength being less than one percent of its true body, how could it possibly have been defeated by a lowly dragon?!
But it didn't matter; as long as the "Substitute" created by the Dark Possession Art remained, it would have countless opportunities to make a comeback.
Beelzebub began to inspect this new body.
Hmm, a human noble girl with quite good mana talent—a fine specimen.
It tried to read her memories, only to find the girl's soul protected by a sturdy magical barrier. In the moment before being completely possessed, she had actually taken the initiative to Seal her core memories.
"Paltry tricks."
Beelzebub didn't care. Given a little time, it had plenty of ways to erase this Seal.
Now, it had a new plan.
It would use this noble girl's identity to find that damned dragon, and then... tear it completely to shreds!
...The Hester Family Estate.
Just as the Beelzebub-possessed "Veronica" walked through the main gate, a silver-haired girl rushed to meet her excitedly.
"Ve—ro—ni—ca—!"
Cecilia drawled her name, pouncing over like a Young Dragon that had discovered a Treasure Trove. "Look at my new pose! This—is the power of the Saintess, rawr!"
Completely failing to notice the fleeting stiffness in her "friend," Cecilia immediately struck a pose she considered holy and solemn, but which actually looked like a comical penguin preparing for takeoff.
"Look, look!"
Her hands danced wildly in the air, attempting to simulate the blooming of Holy Light. But because her movements were too large and she used too much force, she accidentally slapped a decorative metal shield hanging on the nearby wall.
Clang!
A crisp sound rang out.
The afternoon sunlight happened to stream through the window, and as it reflected off the shield's polished surface, a blinding beam of light hit "Veronica" squarely in the face.
?!
Beelzebub was dazed by this sudden physical glare, its vision turning white.
It was currently concentrating on breaking that soul Seal, and its perception of the outside world was at its lowest. This light had come too suddenly, too coincidentally!
Damn it, is this some kind of targeted holy detection Spell?!
"I've been discovered?! This body's original owner actually left such a contingency?!"
Beelzebub immediately entered a state of maximum alert, the abyssal mana within its body surging wildly, ready to kill at any moment.
It stared fixedly at the dancing silver-haired girl—hanging around her neck was none other than the Church of Light's holy relic, the "tear of light," mentioned in the Cult's intelligence!
A Saintess Candidate?!
Beelzebub instantly concluded that the opponent had definitely seen through its true form, and that light just now was a probe!
"Ah! Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to!"
Seeing "Veronica" close her eyes and recoil from the light, Cecilia panicked and hurriedly apologized.
Hmm?
Looking at the unfeigned panic and apology on the girl's face, Beelzebub could clearly perceive that there wasn't a hint of hostility or wariness in her emotions.
Just a coincidence?
Beelzebub's tense nerves relaxed slightly, followed by a surge of absurdity at being fooled.
An idiot who can't even tell her best friend has been swapped out.
"Hmph, a Saintess Candidate in name only..."
A perfect plan formed in its mind.
Perfect. It would use this body to get close to the Church's high-ranking officials, and then use this gullible-looking silver-haired Saintess to fish for more intelligence.
Once it had complete control over this body, she would be the first one it killed!
Thinking of this, Beelzebub quickly controlled "Veronica's" facial muscles to squeeze out a friendly smile.
"It's alright, Colette. What new pose did you want to show me just now?"
Cecilia immediately threw the previous embarrassment to the back of her mind, her eyes brightening again.
"This is it! The Ultimate Purification Gesture I thought of! Look, like this—then like this—and finally'shoo' and the light comes out!"
She gestured wildly as she spoke.
Being overly invested and eager to show her "only friend who knows her true form" that she was also working hard to adapt to the Saintess role as a "Dragon," she subconsciously tapped into the Secret Artwithin her body to make the demonstration look a bit more "realistic."
Beelzebub watched with interest.
"Oh? A very... unique gesture. Is it the starting form for some holy Spell?"
"Yes, yes!" Cecilia nodded vigorously, fully immersed in the performance. "Especially the final'shoo' part, it has to be like this—"
The girl crossed her hands over her chest, beginning to "condense mana" with a serious face.
The demon watched coldly. It could sense her mobilizing the energy in her body, but the technique was crude and the energy was loose; it posed no threat whatsoever.
—Holy Light like this could at most attack low-level demons whose evil elements were "not pure enough." To a top-tier powerhouse like itself, it was completely ineffective!
"As expected, she's just eye candy."
Beelzebub completely let down its guard, even feeling a hint of playfulness.
Could a mere beginner's Holy Light possibly wound it through a human skin?
#
"Watch closely! This is... ahem, this Saintess's hard-practiced Ultimate Purification Secret Art!"
Cecilia took a deep breath, her feet unnaturally pressed together, her hands waving haphazardly in front of her chest like she was rolling a meatball, trying to condense "Holy Light." Her expression was exceptionally solemn, her brow furrowed, and her small face turned slightly red from the effort, as if she were performing an extremely precise operation.
"Ha... ha... I feel it! The Holy Light is coming!"
She suddenly snapped her eyes open, her arms swinging forward forcefully like she was directing traffic, as she shouted out:
"[Pu·ri·fying——Light-t-t-t-t-t]!!!!"