A loud sound echoed from outside the hall, as if something enormous had fallen from the sky at incredible speed, sending tremors and cracks through the building.
Before Rohan and Michael could even register what had happened, the entrance door of the hall opened.
A woman in a structured black blazer with gold buttons entered. She walked in leisurely, her short skirt and sheer tights highlighting her composed presence. Her face was pale, with her short white hair framed her face perfectly.
The moment Michael looked at her, his face filled with horror. "Eurasia… what are you doing here?"
Without even glancing at him, she ignored his question and continued walking toward Rohan. When she stopped in front of him, she looked down and asked, "Are you the one? The Storm God believer?"
With his bloodied face, Rohan looked up at her and nodded.
Still shaken, Michael snapped, "Hey, hey, don't you even think about taking my toy, alright? That guy's scheduled. Mother's got him marked for an hour from now, and I ain't messing with that."
At that moment, several figures emerged from the floor, turning toward Eurasia as if preparing to attack.
However, she kept staring down at Rohan, as if nothing else in the room mattered. Then, slowly, she lifted her gaze and turned to Michael.
"If that old hag of yours has a problem, she can drag her ass to Leviathan Castle and say it to my face."
As soon as she finished speaking, she shattered the chair Rohan was tied to, grabbed him, and shot upward, bursting through the hall ceiling and tearing it apart as she went.
Her movement was so fast that the figures surrounding her did not even have time to react.
As for Michael, his face remained frozen, confusion creeping in as he tried to understand why one of the kingdom's craziest mages would take Rohan away from him.
High in the sky, still held by Eurasia as she flew, Rohan felt a wave of relief.
A few hours earlier, right after Michael's mother left the hall, he had given three instructions to Merlinda. First, save a devoted believer of the Storm God from the Lastbender family. Second, provide him with aid such as money or a weapon. Third, spread the Storm God's faith among the people.
Fortunately, Merlinda had acted without delay and saved him.
'I didn't expect her to send someone so quickly, but I was hoping she would.'
Rohan still did not trust a psycho like Merlinda, but he had no other choice. Between dying and working with someone like her, the decision was obvious.
He could not help but feel that fate was toying with him. He had tried to avoid Merlinda, only to end up working with her anyway.
Below him, the city stretched wide, its buildings shrinking as they soared higher. Not long after, a castle came into view, surrounded by a vast moat filled with water that looked more like a lake than any ordinary moat.
He soon realized that Eurasia was heading straight for it, dragging him through the air along with her.
Just before they reached the castle, Eurasia suddenly let go, dropping him toward the moat as she muttered, "Gods, you reek."
Rohan did not complain. He wanted to clean himself anyway.
With a splash, he plunged into the water, and the moment his body submerged, he felt slightly better.
'It's pretty much confirmed at this point. My condition improves when I'm underwater. Even my physical strength feels slightly enhanced.'
'Maybe the reason I didn't die from blood loss after my fight against Ron was because I was in the sea at the time.'
And when he touched his messed-up face and noticed the bruises all over his body, Rohan was reminded of Michael.
'You will pay for this, Michael...'
For the first time since he got the system, Rohan wanted to accomplish something not because of a quest, but because of his own will.
After he calmed himself and washed up, Rohan rose to the surface. To his surprise, Eurasia was already there, hovering above him.
Without a word, she grabbed him by the shoulder again and pulled him into the air, carrying him toward the castle.
Moments later, they landed at the castle's front door, and Eurasia stepped forward to open it as Rohan followed close behind. Inside, he took in the luxurious interior, unable to imagine how many gold coins it must have cost to decorate such a vast place. As they continued upstairs into a corridor, she finally stopped in front of a door and opened it.
Once they entered, Rohan immediately recognized the room.
'This is Merlinda's bedroom...'
He then noticed her sitting at the edge of the bed. She tilted her head, a faint smile forming as she looked at Eurasia.
"Well… you actually brought him to me," she said, her voice light with amusement. "I knew you wouldn't disappoint."
Eurasia scoffed. "Don't get it twisted. You're damn lucky that bastard got picked up by the Lastbender family. I only stepped in because I've got a score to settle with that old hag, Monica."
She turned, already heading for the door. "If it were the Octavian family, you'd be on your own," she added, then stepped out and shut the door behind her.
The moment Eurasia left, Merlinda shifted her gaze to Rohan, still with a faint smile playing on her lips. "Why don't you sit?" she said, gesturing lightly toward a nearby chair.
After Rohan sat down, she asked, "Are you in the mood to talk?"
"No," Rohan responded instantly. "I feel awful right now. Can I have a place to rest?"
Merlinda studied him for a moment before nodding. "Of course. You look horrible. It is natural to want to rest first."
She then snapped her fingers, and two maids entered the room a moment later.
"Bring him to one of our guest rooms," she said.
The maids nodded and moved to help Rohan walk. However, Rohan told them he was still able to walk on his own and only needed them to show him where the room was.
Once Rohan and the maids left, Merlinda tilted her head, a flicker of confusion crossing her face. "Weird... very weird. Why do I feel like he's someone I should respect? Letting him rest, doing exactly what he says... that isn't like me."
She paused, then murmured softly, almost amused with herself, "Is it because he's a devout believer? And since I've sworn an oath to the Storm God, I am somehow subconsciously giving in to his demands?"
A faint smile curled on her lips, though her eyes remained sharp.
"It feels like that voice I heard back then. Magnificent. Absolute. Giving me instructions I could not refuse." She let out a quiet breath. "But that was a deity... and him?" Her gaze flicked toward the door. "He looks so... breakable."
Minutes passed, yet the thought lingered.
"How strange," she whispered. "I do not like feeling obedient."
Still, she could not shake it. That quiet pull. That subtle, unwelcome sense of submission.
Unknown to her, other followers such as David and Edmund felt exactly the same way toward Rohan.