Chapter 16 : Draw... Draw a Card?!

Draw... Draw a Card?!

Although Lin Yun no longer controlled the body, he could still feel everything—sensations he had never once experienced in his thirty-year life as a great sage.

Their lips met as Serea fed Celia the potion.

It could truly be said to deserve its reputation as a tier five item. In the blink of an eye, Celia's deathly pale face regained a touch of color.

Once her injuries had recovered, Celia groggily opened her eyes to see Serea smiling down at her.

"Serea..."

Celia called out the name. Hearing this, Serea nodded and gave her final farewell.

"Don't worry about me. Without me and the kingdom to burden you, you'll be able to soar so much farther."

With these words, Serea's eyes slowly closed, and, weakened, Celia also fainted once more.

Returning to the spiritual space, Serea saw the soul that looked exactly like herself and expressed her gratitude.

"Thank you, my lord, for granting me a chance to resolve my regrets. Now, as promised, I offer this body to you."

With that, Serea's soul began to fade, starting from her feet, transforming into shimmering pale blue stardust that scattered and vanished into the air.

Upon seeing this, Lin Yun finally asked the question that had been on his mind.

"Aren't you resentful that I've taken your body?"

At this, Serea smiled.

"I was already a person fated to die. If not here, then at the hands of the Ailera Empire's royal family. The moment I stepped out of the Otto Royal Palace, this fate was sealed. So why would I hate you?"

"You really are magnanimous."

Faced with this almost saintly woman, Lin Yun couldn't help but laugh. By now, Serea's soul had nearly dissipated. She was moments away from disappearing for good.

In her final moments, Lin Yun—or rather, the new Serea—made a promise.

"Don't worry. I will make the most of this body. With your name, I'll carve a legend that no one—of any people or race—in this world will ever forget. I guarantee it."

As Serea spoke, the dissolving soul smiled back at her, as if in approval, and then finally faded away completely.

System: Seal lifted. Soul Altar activated. Skill acquired—Soul Harvest!

System: Obtained one Soul Crystal.

Hearing the prompts within her mind, Serea opened her palm and saw a pale blue crystal fall into her hand—the remains of the original Serea's soul, now transformed into material.

Seeing this, Serea carefully stored the crystal before returning to reality.

After composing herself, Serea glanced at Celia, who still lay on the ground.

"I didn't want to expose my whereabouts, but for Serea's sake, I'll let you go today."

With those words, Serea stopped paying attention to Celia and instead turned to the neatly arranged corpses.

Aside from the seventeen corpses she had already absorbed, there were about twenty more piled here—most clad in bright silver armor, wielding sharp swords and steel shields. They were the royal guards of the Otto Kingdom.

Looking at them, the gloom in Serea's heart vanished. She rubbed her hands together impatiently and used Blood Absorption.

A total of twenty-five Blood Crystals were gathered. With her previous materials, she already surpassed forty Blood Crystals.

But that wasn't all—Serea went on to use her newly gained Soul Harvest skill.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

As the skill activated, countless blue soul forms were pulled out, condensing into pale blue gems in Serea's hands. Counting forty-three Soul Crystals in all, she could not stop herself from grinning widely.

"This feels so good!"

Serea counted her current materials as she spoke:

Soul Crystals: 43

Blood Crystals: 44

Death Crystals: 2

Dread Crystals: 53

Just two big words—

So satisfying!

With so many materials, she could directly build the Blood Well, and still have plenty to spare for converting into Dark Power for sacrifice.

Speaking of sacrifice, Serea became excited.

What did she desperately need?

Power!

How could she obtain it?

Sacrifice Dark Power!

At this thought, Serea decisively entered her consciousness and arrived in the dark space, where five dark altars stood before her.

Standing next to the shattered Dark Main Altar, Serea called upon the system.

"System, system, come out quickly. How do I sacrifice Dark Power?"

System: The host need only convert materials into Dark Power, then inject the Dark Power into the Dark Main Altar.

"Like this?"

As she spoke, Serea instantly converted 110 units of materials. It sounded like a lucky number, but it meant that—aside from the Death Crystals—she left only ten of each other type.

Although sacrificing Dark Power could boost her strength, these materials surely had other uses, so she decided to save a few.

System: Materials converted. Gained 1,098 units of Dark Power.

Watching the converted material dissolve into black mist and inject into the main altar, Serea inexplicably felt a burst of satisfaction.

"Alright, sacrifice it all!"

System: Sacrifice initiated. Please select a sacrifice plan.

"Huh? There's more than one plan?"

Plan One: Spend 100 Dark Power to receive one random reward up to Purple (Tier 3).

Plan Two: Spend 1,000 Dark Power to receive eleven random rewards up to Purple (Tier 3), with a guaranteed item, skill, or blueprint.

Seeing the system's schemes, Serea couldn't help laughing.

"Hehehe, nice, very nice—I like this style."

As she laughed, Serea gritted her teeth.

"You damn well must know my history of burning through hundreds of pulls and landing jack squat as the ultimate unlucky master, and that's why you designed this kind of trap for me, isn't it?!"

System: The system denies this accusation.

"Still want to fool me? Give my materials back, I won't draw anymore!"

System: Converted Dark Power cannot be reverted into materials.

"I object to this tyranny!"

System: Objection overruled.

Serea was speechless. She couldn't shake the feeling that this unscrupulous system was out to get her, but for now, she had no way out.

"I'll draw, but if you rig this and I get nothing, next time I'm out. Deal with that however you want."

System: The system does not interfere with probabilities. Host's threats are invalid.

"Like hell you don't!"

System: As the Vampire Queen in your world, you could indeed be defined as a 'ghost'.

Rendered speechless by the system's retort, Serea let out a deep breath.

"Huff... Ten-pull, do a ten-pull. Miracles from single draws are for idiots. Give me a ten-pull!"

System: Drawing random rewards. Please wait.

As the system chimed, black mist surged from the ruined altar. The recently-converted Dark Power was absorbed by the altar, replaced by eleven black cards.

System: Host, please reveal your rewards.

"Hmph! Don't underestimate me. I am a member of the European royal family now—reveal them all!"

Serea answered domineeringly as she flipped the cards one by one.

(To be continued...)

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

Of course it's a gatcha system...