"Where.. am I?" Iliana questioned herself, remembering the pain she went through after drinking Alice''s blood, making her shudder.


    "Dear, are you alright?" A woman asked Iliana as she put her hand on Iliana''s shoulder. "Alisa, dear.. are you okay?" The woman repeated when Iliana didn''t repeat, seemingly in shock.


    "M.. Mama?" Iliana spoke, before she realised where she was. Her expression turned to horror before it returned to normal and she lost all control over herself as she realised that she was back in time.


    "Dear, did something happen? Why did you zone out suddenly?" Alisa''s mother spoke worryingly as Alisa zoned out in the middle of the dinner, leaving everyone present to be worried.


    "No, mama.. I''m alright. Just zoned out suddenly, I don''t know why.." Alisa replied, waving her hand to ease out her mother and father, who were sitting across her.


    "Yeah, sis.. You scared me," Alisa''s sister, Arianna spoke up, as she was sitting beside Alisa on the table and almost spilled her food when Alisa zoned out.


    "I''m sorry, Ari.." Alisa said with a smile as she rubbed Arianna''s head.


    Meanwhile, Iliana was now watching all of this as a silent spectator, unable to interact with anything at all. Her expression was gloomy and the spectral body she was in, began to crack as the memories of the night surfaced back in her mind.


    And in the blink of an eye, the happy meals she shared with her family were replaced by the night that took everything from her everything she loved.


    And as the scenes began to grow grotesque with details that she didn''t know, it made her question if everything she was seeing even happened.


    Her maid, Iliana was dragged back to the place where her family was being tortured. Her father''s body was already mutilated to the point where he wasn''t recognizable, part of his body was being passed around like a treasure for the blood thirsty crowd to see like an artifact.


    The mob was confident that they had just hunted down vampires, even though there was no reason to believe so. They were taking the bones to be ones of vampires, despite there being no meaningful distinction between the body of a vampire and a human, which the human eye can see.


    Yet the death of the four people was being celebrated like a festival. The mother was killed soon after the father met his demise, but the worst part of human nature was experienced by their little daughter, who was groped and assaulted by the men before she died of physical trauma.


    And the maid, Iliana, was raped by a dozen men before she was executed soon after. Though they originally wanted to keep the maid alive but some of them were afraid of justice.


    Though most of the people who participated in the mob died, the surviving members still denied ever doing anything wrong. And the justice that was served to the Ranberr Family could never have been possible without the Supreme Judge''s verdict.


    Iliana knew the case all too well, but she did not know how much her family suffered at the hands of the mob group and the maid who took care of Arianna.


    And seeing everything that had happened to her family broke her spectral body even more until she was barely recognizable.


    "A soul so scarred.. Child, is this what you have experienced in your life?" An ethereal voice echoed in Iliana''s mind as the grotesque scene shattered, leaving her in an empty space that was every color all at once. But most of everything present in that world vanished leaving behind a world that was pure black with her in it.


    Just then, the voice echoed again. "This is your Spirit Space.. I''m not surprised."


    The voice made Iliana look around the empty void, when she noticed a being descending from the sky.


    A woman clad in clothes whiter than the whitest white appeared in front of Iliana. Her arrival marked by the phenomenon of thorns and flowers blooming where she stepped foot. Though she mostly looked like a regular human, she had various plantlike features, including the thorn halo over her head, a noticeable amount of plant root protruding out of her left arm, and a blooming rose pattern in her pupils.


    The air around her was no-less divine than her appearance and right as she touched Iliana''s cheeks, a gush of cold sap-like liquid covered Iliana, filling the cracks in her soul. The sap hardened almost instantly and began healing her soul.


    "Child, your soul is too fragile to handle anything right now. Let''s focus on patching you up first.." The woman spoke with a smile on her face, as if doing the most natural thing. She felt detached from the world, and her existence was almost impossible for Iliana to understand.


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    In that moment, Iliana wanted to ask the woman who she was but before she could utter a word.


    Another being descended.


    At first, the entire plane began glowing white before everything turned black again. And there stood a being, a man made of pure white light. He had seven eyes and his stature was a near copy of Rei''s, and his presence was comforting and familiar.


    "Apologies, young lady.. It''s been a while since I have descended down here. My name is Supramasima, it''s nice to meet you," He spoke in a commanding voice before he raised his hand and two fluffy balls of light appeared beside Iliana before it clung to her cheeks.


    ''This is so soft..'' Iliana thought to herself as she was melting under the softness of the fluffy balls. But the happiness didn''t last long as the light soon began seeping through the cracks, mixing in with the tree sap.


    It stung Iliana but other than that, it was relatively painless. And as balls of light began to shrink, Iliana became aware. She could hear her past ringing in her ear but it no longer troubled her as the tree sap eased her soul and faith filled her mind.


    She could feel the cocoon encompassing her body with Alice sitting beside the cocoon in the rain. She could hear Rei comforting Alice as they talked about the war.


    Though dull, she could hear enough to understand that the war was proceeding smoothly. Just then, she heard the two otherworldly beings talk to each other in front of her.


    "I was expecting a grandchild of mine but not under such circumstances.. What are your views on it, Prima Vampire?" Supramasima asked with a calm tone, hiding his disappointment.


    "Well, what can I say, Lord Faith.. They were really going at it.. though this child isn''t related to that," The Roots replied with her ethereal voice.


    "To think omniscience would ruin our first encounter, would also be an understatement.. Interesting things have been happening and I haven''t had the time to discuss it with anyone," Supramasima replied but his conversation with the Primordial Roots was interrupted by Iliana.


    "You.. are.. the Elder God of Faith.. and the Mother of Progenitors?" Iliana spoke with a shocked look on her face. She had ample knowledge about most mythological beings and currently two of the most prominent figures in all of creation were in front of her.


    "Oh? To think a human can ascend the blood of an Elder being without any major repercussions. That''s something straight out of fiction.." Supramasima spoke with a look of amusement as he saw Iliana''s pupils turn scarlet.


    "I see why Alice suggested you inherit her blood.." The Roots complimented Iliana as the last of the light vanished, absorbed in its entirety by Iliana, who had achieved scarlet eyes and her canines growing out.


    "Welcome to the family, child.. What would you like your name to be? Would it be Alisa, the name given to you by your first parents.. or will you inherit the name of Iliana, the noblewoman whose sacrifice is the reason you are alive." The Roots spoke as she stepped closer to Iliana, holding her chin up by her fingers.


    "Ili..ana.." Iliana replied in a daze, as her mind was expanding, time began to slow down and she felt like she could do tasks a thousand times more efficiently.


    Seeing Iliana so absent-minded, the Root smiled before she snapped her fingers near Iliana''s right ear, breaking her out of her daze. "Is that your final answer, little one?"


    Iliana looked at the roots with a shocked look, but she nodded eventually and replied "Yes.."


    "Trillions of universes have passed in front of our eyes.. and this is the first grandchild I''ve had. I should celebrate it," Supramasima spoke as the black world they were in began to shake and rupture.


    "You may not remember us or this encounter, child.. But you will figure out every word exchanged amongst us with some help. Have faith in yourself and the people around you.. You were good enough before and you''ll be good enough now. And that is okay.." Supramasima smiled, as the world collapsed, leaving Iliana''s soul to float in the space of her mind.


    The tree sap and the light flowing through her soul, slowly became a part of her, indistinguishable from her. And after what felt like an eternity, her consciousness returned to her body.


    ''Huh.. Where am I?'' Iliana tried to move her body but she was encased in a hard cocoon and despite her best efforts, she couldn''t move. She remembered that she drank Alice''s blood after stepping into the circle she drew but nothing after that.


    ''HELLO! ANYONE THERE!'' Iliana tried to shout but her mouth didn''t move. ''Am I trapped here? How long have I been trapped for?''


    Worry filled Iliana as she remembered Abel and Eluya, not wanting to leave them alone in this world.


    ''I need to get out of this..'' Iliana thought to herself as she tried her best to move her body but it didn''t listen to her. It felt like her body was too weak to listen to her mind.


    No matter, how much Iliana tried to move, there was no response from her body. And before she knew it, a loud thunder filled her ears.


    ''Wait, I was outside in the garden. Will the lightning hit me? Lady Fourth, help me.. I''m scared.." Iliana said to herself, still trying to move and wanting to cry but even that didn''t reflect on her body.


    And just then, Iliana felt warmth. The warmth of a hug and a blanket covering her, before a few words reached her ears. "Iliana.. Don''t worry, I am here. Nothing will harm you anymore," Alice was speaking to her, not knowing that Iliana could listen to her.


    But most surprisingly, she was speaking her name, instead of addressing her as a ''Child''. Her voice also carried guilt in it, though Iliana can''t remember why, when it was her who took the offer.


    A few moments later, Iliana heard Rei''s voice.


    "Lady Alice, please you should eat something. You haven''t eaten anything in a while.." Rei said as he sat down in front of Alice with a plate of food in his hand.


    "Why does it matter if I eat or not? It''s not like I will ever be hungry or sick.." Alice replied, hugging the cocoon tighter as more of her warmth seeped deeper.


    ''It is warm.. It is so.. comforting.'' Iliana thought to herself as she fell asleep while enveloped by the warmth, unable to stay awake any longer.


    ''It feels like I will be here for a while,'' She told herself as she slept in the cocoon, blissfully unaware of the threats her beloveds were facing.