Velma was still clutching her chest, which was rapidly rising and falling as she gasped for air. On her right stood Alioth, who was also still trying to neutralize his pounding heart, while on her left, Adam seemed quite calm.
When the woman looked better, she let out a long breath. "You two must be confused," she murmured.
Alioth and Adam simultaneously looked at her.
It was Adam who asked, "Very confused. Can you explain?"
Velma gave a bitter smile, looking at the graves that were now empty holes with no corpses inside. "Before that, can we bury those two and leave here?"
So Adam was helped by Alioth, who was a little reluctant, to bury the bodies of Greg and Paul in the now-empty graves. After they finished filling them, they left the graveyard.
Alioth suggested they go to the inn where he was staying so the conversation could be more private. No one objected to the idea.
The three entered the inn building where Alioth was sleeping. The receptionist immediately lost his drowsiness when he saw the guests arrive.
"Welcome," he said, trying to be friendly, although his eyes were red.
Adam held up two fingers. "Two rooms for me and her," he said, pointing to Velma.
The receptionist then glanced at Alioth, and the young man said, "I already booked a room here and have paid."
It seemed the attendant didn't want to bother checking the truth of Alioth's words. He immediately nodded, then gave the keys to Adam and Velma after the young man provided enough money.
"Did you hear the sounds of explosions from the hill earlier?" the attendant asked casually, just before the three people walked away.
Alioth replied vaguely, "No, we didn't hear anything."
And the desk attendant decided to immediately believe him. After the three had passed, he went back to sleeping at the desk with his arms as a pillow.
They didn't go straight to their respective rooms but entered Alioth's room first. After the door was closed and Adam sat down on the chair while Velma sat on the bed, Alioth, who was already curious, demanded an explanation from Velma.
"I hope you can give a satisfying answer."
Velma took a deep breath; her face was still slightly pale, although the wound on her shoulder had healed. "Do you know what possession is?"
Alioth nodded, and Adam answered, "I know. Isn't it about someone whose body is controlled by a demon?"
Velma nodded. "Demon race, an ancient race whose existence is no longer in this world. They live in a different dimension from us."
"The point?"
The woman showed an awkward expression when Alioth pressed her. "The point is, I was possessed just now. But it wasn't demon possession; it was human possession."
Adam and Alioth were both surprised to hear that.
Velma continued, "Actually, if I said my father owed Greg and Paul a favor, and that's why I joined this trip to repay that debt, then that's not wrong. But I had no idea that Greg and Paul were involved with the Church of Blood."
"What is the Church of Blood?" Adam asked, interested.
Alioth was also becoming more interested. This development was different from what happened in the game. In the game, the female corpse-controller had to be killed by the player to proceed to the next main quest, but now the truth was revealed that the female corpse-controller was actually possessed and was not acting out of her own free will.
Velma answered, "I don't know much, but they are a congregation of mages who make contracts with demons from another world. They borrow the demon's power for themselves. The one who possessed me was also a demonic power; perhaps he had magic that could be used to possess another person's body."
She continued, "Not all demonic powers can be used to possess others, and considering that those two men called me 'Mistress' when I was possessed, perhaps the one who possessed me is an important person in the Church of Blood."
"How do you know that the one who possessed you was a person and not the demon itself?" Alioth asked suspiciously.
Velma's answer slightly alleviated Alioth's suspicion. "Actually, I'm still not entirely sure, but according to my knowledge, when someone is possessed by a demon, they lose total consciousness, and their soul drifts in limbo. Whereas just now, when I was acting crazy like that, I was actually still conscious and could see everything. It's just that I couldn't control my body and expressions."
"Then, why were you no longer possessed when I managed to break the crystal at the tip of that short staff?"
However, Velma's answer was quite surprising. "That was my staff, and my heart felt a little pain when you destroyed it. But you were able to make me conscious not because the crystal was shattered, but because of another crystal."
"What?!" The two young men glared. What kind of coincidence was this?
Velma suddenly opened her cloak and lowered the top of her left clothing down to her shoulder. Adam and Alioth's cheeks flushed, thinking Velma was about to take unexpected action, but when they saw what was hidden there, they gaped.
On Velma's left shoulder, there was still a scar from the Demon Slayer's slice that had been closed. There was also a faint black image with a strange shape and a black indentation perhaps the size of a fingertip.
Velma chuckled lightly, but her expression showed that she was uncomfortable having something like that on her body. "I don't know what kind of sword Alioth used, but that sword was so strong that it felt incredibly painful, and this scar won't disappear. As for the black image and this indentation, that's what's related to the crystal, as I said earlier. Those two men ambushed me at night and managed to give me a magical mark in the form of this strange image. My body immediately became weaker, then Greg threw a small crystal that instantly embedded itself into my shoulder, where that indentation is. Alioth's last slash managed to destroy it, but the scar didn't disappear."
In her last remark about the scar not disappearing, Velma slightly emphasized each word and looked at Alioth.
Now Alioth felt a little guilty. That must be because Demon Slayer was indeed powerful when fighting dark forces related to demons.
"So the story about an old friend wanting to buy a lot of goods from them was a lie?"
Velma nodded. "It turned out it wasn't true."
"Why didn't you cause chaos right after arriving here?"
"The person they called 'Mistress' had to adjust to my body first, and that took about a day."
"Why did it have to be you who was possessed?" Adam continued to press.
Velma shrugged while tidying her clothes. "When that person possessed me, he said that my body was suitable to receive his power. When he forcefully entered this body, I actually suffered internal damage, but my healing magic automatically activated, and that's what made him say that my body was suitable."
"So Paul and Greg were targeting you from the start?"
"As for that, I'm not sure. Perhaps I was just unlucky to be sacrificed by them."
"If you had succeeded, what would have been next?" Adam didn't give up; he kept asking about all possibilities.
The woman shook her head several times. "I don't know. I wasn't part of them, and even when I was possessed, no one mentioned their plan."
Adam thought for a moment, then his mouth opened, wanting to ask another question. However, his shoulder was held by Alioth.
"Look at her face; she is still pale and exhausted from the possession. We'd better rest first," Alioth said in a rebuking tone.
Adam realized this; he looked at Velma's face, which was indeed still pale and looked very exhausted. He then stood up. "I'm sorry for pressing you, but we have to keep an eye on you to make sure you're not a bad person. Let me walk you to your room."
"Please keep an eye on me. I can assure you that I am not one of them," Velma replied calmly.
When they disappeared behind the door, Alioth lay down on the bed and let out a sigh of frustration.
"So that's the real story...."
That meant that back in the game, it was highly likely that he had killed Velma. The developers did not clearly state who the mage woman was or where she came from; even her face was not visible because it was covered by a wide cloak hood.
"Well... even though this world was originally just a game, it turns out to be more complicated than it looks."
His eyes slowly closed, and it wasn't long before he fell asleep.