Published at 26th of August 2026 8:37 am

Chapter 1961: No Turning Back

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Genevieve found everything to be a blur

A blur of pain and darkness.

A blur of fear and helplessness.

A blur of betrayal and loneliness.

Her eyes slowly fluttered open. Her vision was hazy, but when it focused, she found herself in a dark room.

This was not anywhere in the City Hall.

No, this seemed more like a safehouse in the city.

"Mm... uh... gh," she murmured.

She tried to speak, but was unable to.

I’ve been... drugged, she thought.

Her mind felt slow and chaotic, the urge to sleep constantly trying to bury her consciousness.

Furthermore, she had been gagged, physically preventing her from talking. Her hands were tied behind her back. Her ankles were tied as well. She lay on the cold ground, utterly helpless.

"You’re awake."

A gruff voice echoed in the room.

Genevieve’s heart skipped a beat.

The sound of footsteps echoed from beside her. At last, the speaker stood in front of her. He silently stared at her. Then he turned around and walked to the window to watch the red world outside.

Who... is he?

Genevieve wondered.

Where... am I?

She felt so sleepy. So weak. So afraid.

I... acknowledge... my fear.

I give it... no command... over me.

It is a... guest... within my... heart.

Not the master... of my... will.

She tried to calm her emotions, but the invocation did not help.

A drop of tear trickled down her nose bridgeas a single thought echoed inside her mind:

Am I... going to die?

No artifacts. No material components. Nothing. The enemy, whoever it was, had even gone so far as to cover her mouth, preventing her from speaking words of power.

Adam...

The memory of that young man flickered in her consciousness.

Where are you?

Genevieve struggled to think straight. She tried to understand what had led to her current predicament. But the drug must have been really strong. She couldn’t remember what happened. She didn’t even know what day it was.

She barely remembered a thing.

Except the memory of that young man.

Strangely enough, she recalled Adam with stark clarity. His raven hair, the patch of bone-white near his temple that gave him an eccentric vibe, his deep tenebrous eyes, his smile.

His beautiful smile.

Adam...

Genevieve’s eyes reddened as more tears trickled down her face.

Suddenly, the stranger in the room moved away from the window. He walked toward the door. Few people seemed to be standing outside.

Who... are they?

Genevieve wondered. She could barely see a thing. Everything was a blur.

"You may enter." The man’s deep voice resounded once again.

Following that, three people entered the safehouse. They wore crisp clothes, and their appearance was proper. They looked human.

The ghouls turned to Genevieve lying on the ground.

Then one of them turned to the man in the room and grinned. "That was quick."

"Take her and fuck off." The man’s cold voice echoed again.

The smile on the ghoul’s face froze. But it did not dare show any negative emotions. The man was a Cavalier Paladin, after all.

"Very well," the ghoul said.

It waved a hand and instructed the other two monsters to carry Genevieve.

"N... hh..." Genevieve grunted, fear gripping her heart.

Cold hands seized her hands and neck, and in that moment she realized that such hands couldn’t possibly belong to humans.

Monsters.

These were monsters!

Why?

The question emerged in her hazy mind.

Why would a human work with monsters?

She couldn’t understand.

Her limp body was flung over one of the monster’s shoulders. There were no more words spoken between them and the human... the traitor.

The door creaked open, and Genevieve felt the cold air brush against her face. It was nighttime. Red light cascaded from the heavens and illuminated her pale face.

Her eyes were red from grief.

Just like the moon.

Tears streamed down her face, falling silently to the ground and leaving behind a trail of sorrow.

Help me...

She pleaded inwardly.

Someone...

Help me...

Please...

The rest of the journey was a blur as well.

The monsters moved with relentless speed, leaping from branch to branch as though the forest itself carried them forward.

The crimson moon dipped below the horizon, and another gloomy morning arrived.

Genevieve’s mind cleared slightly. Just a little bit. But still not enough to set herself free. She could hear parts of the ghouls’ conversation.

Vampire king... Mountains... Castle... Ritual... Desire... Celebration...

She couldn’t connect them at all. Her mind was a mess. But slowly, as time passed, the effects of the drug were wearing off.

The crimson moon rose again. Night returned.

But the ghouls never stopped. They were tireless. They chatted away. The monsters were no obstacles to them. And they knew the terrain like the back of their hand. They pressed onward without rest, racing through the endless canopy as they continued east.

Several days passed. The effects of the drugs had finally worn off. Genevieve tried her best to resist. She tried whatever she could to stop the ghouls from advancing.

But it was all futile.

Without her spells and artifacts, there was nothing she could do that could stop the monsters. The ghouls simply laughed at her futile attempts. Strangely enough, none of them tried to hurt her. They didn’t dare to. They carried her with great care.

Eventually, the Lamiyan Mountains came into view.

The dense forest gradually thinned before giving way to rocky slopes dusted with snow. With every passing kilometer, the temperature fell, and a biting wind swept through the terrain.

A broad path soon emerged, winding its way through the towering peaks. Without slowing, the monsters followed eastward.

But soon, something strange occurred.

For the first time since the ghouls had set off from Adventurers’ City, they finally came to a halt. They didn’t move.

Genevieve wondered what had happened. But slung over the ghoul’s shoulder as she was, she couldn’t possibly see what was going on, or what had barred their way.

These ghouls hadn’t even stopped when monsters appeared in their way.

So why stop now?

She soon found out when the ghouls began speaking among themselves, their voices unusually grim.

"What the hell are they doing so far out east?" one of them muttered.

"I don’t know," said another.

"Looks like they don’t want us passing through," the third one said with a sneer. "How audacious!"

"You two deal with them," the first ghoul ordered. "I’ll take this girl through the pass."

With that, the two ghouls shot forward.

The sound of battle soon reached Genevieve’s ears.

In the next heartbeat, everything around her became a blur once more as the remaining ghoul raced ahead.

Fear gripped her heart.

She didn’t know what awaited her.

But she realized one thing...

Once she crossed the mountains, there was no turning back.

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