As Seo Kangrim’s expression turned contemplative, Yoo Harang’s face took on a slightly tearful look.

Yoo Harang stole glances at Seo Kangrim and spoke.

“This is really something special… It’s a great prize…”

“Understood. I will be your friend.”

“Yes, that’s the spirit!”

As Seo Kangrim reluctantly agreed, Yoo Harang finally broke into a smile.

Then, pulling out more snacks, she piled them generously into Seo Kangrim’s hands.

“Here, child of the Seo family. Eat up.”

“Isn’t this the Cult Leader’s treasure?”

“Since you’re my friend, I’m giving it to you specially.”

With that, Yoo Harang picked up a single snack and began nibbling at it in tiny bites.

It was easy to tell how carefully she had been rationing them all this time.

Seo Kangrim thought of Yoo Harang from his past life.

She had been an ordinary child who loved food.

“Does the cult not provide snacks?”

“They do not.”

Even the food the follower had brought earlier was nothing more than plain rice porridge and vegetable side dishes.

At a glance, it could have passed for temple cuisine.

Seo Kangrim stared down at the snacks in silence before speaking.

“There are many delicious things outside beyond snacks like these.”

“Truly?”

“Yes. I have many friends who love sweets. I believe they would adore meeting you, Lady Harang.”

Shin Sooa, Jang Taeheon, Yoon Bom, Yoon Gyeoul, Father Yohan…

He hadn’t encountered Yoo Harang in this lifetime, but if they ever met, they would undoubtedly adore her.

“Are you not curious about the outside, Cult Leader?”

“The outside…?”

“I can take you out of here.”

Yoo Harang’s eyes flickered with a moment of hesitation.

But a resolute answer came back almost immediately.

“No, I cannot do that.”

The face that had been bright and animated just moments ago had settled into a calm stillness.

An air of authority that seemed ill-fitting for a child.

Yoo Harang spoke in a cool, measured voice.

“This body is the Cult Leader of the Holy Grace Cult. Many people await me. I cannot abandon them and leave.”

Yoo Harang possessed eyes that could discern one’s true nature, but those eyes had been veiled by Yoo Sunmin.

Yoo Harang had been subjected to brainwashing for a long time, and even if shown the truth, she would deny it.

Even if she learned that the followers were being brainwashed by Yoo Sunmin, she would only assume there was some reason behind it.

Was forcibly abducting her truly the best option?

“Now, thank you for the entertaining stories. Go on and leave for now. If you visit from time to time, I’ll share more snacks…”

At that moment, Yoo Harang stopped mid-sentence and turned toward the door.

Seo Kangrim also heard the sounds coming from that direction.

Footsteps—multiple people.

“Someone’s coming. Hide, quickly! If Vice Cult Leader Yoo Sunmin catches you, it’ll be terrible! Hide over there!”

Yoo Harang urgently pointed at the curtains nearby.

Seo Kangrim hesitated, then seated Yoo Harang back on her throne before quickly concealing himself.

And almost simultaneously, the door opened.

“Vice Cult Leader Yoo Sunmin, what’s going on?”

Seated on her throne, Yoo Harang regarded the people entering with a composed expression.

Yoo Sunmin stood with a placid face, accompanied by his entourage.

He offered a slight bow.

“I came to pay my respects.”

Yoo Sunmin said this while scanning the room.

Like someone searching for something.

Yoo Harang sat rigid, feigning composure.

“I heard you dismissed everyone and wondered what might be the matter. You haven’t eaten your meal.”

“I haven’t had an appetite, so I haven’t eaten yet.”

“You must take proper care of yourself. And…”

Yoo Sunmin spoke with a smiling face.

“By any chance, is there something you are hiding from me?”

“There is nothing of the sort.”

“Does the sacred one intend to harbor lies upon their lips? Is that what I taught you?”

At those words, Yoo Harang couldn’t bring herself to argue back.

As if caught in a spell, her body went rigid.

Then, that gentle voice came once more.

“Tell me honestly what happened. What occurred while the others were away?”

A soft yet commanding order.

Yoo Harang’s face drained of color, and then her mouth slowly began to open.

Fear was written across her features.

“A… a follower… came in transformed as a rat…”

“Where are they now?”

Yoo Harang pressed her lips tightly together, then slowly raised her hand.

Her trembling finger pointed in the direction where Seo Kangrim was hiding.

Yoo Sunmin glanced that way and spoke.

“Drag them out.”

The moment Yoo Sunmin gave the order, one of the followers yanked the curtain aside.

Seo Kangrim immediately released the ‘Hidden One’ and revealed himself.

‘Even if I hide now, I’ll be caught anyway. With Yoo Harang’s ability in the mix.’

If ‘Forced Dispel’ stripped away the ‘Hidden One,’ it would only expose his own ability.

Seeing Seo Kangrim revealed before them, Yoo Sunmin smiled thinly.

“Someone I don’t recognize… A little rat sneaked in.”

The followers drew blades from their waists and trained them on Seo Kangrim.

Seo Kangrim shielded his face with one hand while quickly scanning everyone’s Fortune Windows.

‘They’re all Unawakened. Ordinary people.’

Judging by their eyes, they were all under the effects of brainwashing.

As a rule, using special abilities against Unawakened was prohibited, but this was hardly the time to worry about regulations.

Subduing this many would not be difficult in itself.

The problem was Yoo Harang.

‘Can I get Yoo Harang out safely?’

Yoo Harang was already in Yoo Sunmin’s grasp.

Though she appeared terrified, Yoo Harang was clearly on Yoo Sunmin’s side.

Fighting anyone here would accomplish nothing.

As Seo Kangrim assessed the situation, Yoo Sunmin issued orders to his people.

“Seize him. I need to hear what he has to say.”

“Yes, Vice Cult Leader.”

The followers closed in on Seo Kangrim step by step.

Their eyes were anything but normal.

They looked ready to strike the moment Yoo Sunmin gave the word.

Seo Kangrim acted first.

-Ppagak!

“Ugh, aaargh!”

“S-seize him! He’s running!”

Seo Kangrim struck down the follower blocking the entrance, then bolted outside.

The others gave chase belatedly, but Seo Kangrim was already nowhere to be seen.

Yoo Sunmin, veins bulging in his neck, shouted.

“Find him, all of you! Don’t let him escape!”

“Yes, Vice Cult Leader!”

The followers scrambled out in a panic.

Yoo Sunmin also exited the room and rushed to the broadcasting equipment.

With an urgent expression, he grabbed the microphone.

[Attention, all followers.]

Yoo Sunmin’s voice carried through the microphone and spread to every corner of the facility.

People who had been chatting and laughing cheerfully froze like puppets at the sound of his voice.

[An intruder has been confirmed within the premises. All doors are to be sealed and the intruder located.]

The light vanished from their eyes.

Their expressions seemed to have been bleached of all emotion.

Hearing Yoo Sunmin’s voice, they began sealing every entrance with mechanical movements.

-Kung, kuuung!

Thick iron doors that seemed out of place in such a facility.

The windows had been covered with steel plates as well.

The building was locked down so completely that not even a single rat could slip out.

[The intruder is a young man approximately 180 centimeters tall with the ability to transform into an animal. If any animal is found within the facility, kill it on sight.]

After issuing those instructions, Yoo Sunmin switched off the microphone.

As he gritted his teeth, a senior follower beside him asked cautiously.

“Could it be a follower’s family member?”

“No. They didn’t come for that purpose.”

From time to time, family members or errand runners came looking for followers who had gone silent.

Such intruders were never much of a problem.

Simply brainwash them with the ‘Voice of Brainwashing’ and turn them into another follower.

“The brainwashing didn’t take hold, and he was using special abilities. He’s quite a capable individual. It’s a shame I couldn’t get a proper look at his face.”

Because Seo Kangrim had covered his face immediately, ‘Physiognomy’ had failed to activate properly.

Yoo Sunmin agonized before muttering.

“Moreover, he went straight for Yoo Harang. He seems to know quite a lot about the Holy Grace Cult. Could our trail have been picked up?”

“All information leaking to the outside has been blocked, but… it’s possible he could be someone from the Protection Bureau.”

At the mention of the Protection Bureau, Yoo Sunmin’s brow furrowed even deeper.

If the Protection Bureau was keeping the Holy Grace Cult under surveillance, that was the worst possible scenario.

Yoo Sunmin let out a heavy sigh and spoke.

“If he escapes and calls for reinforcements, or if a formal investigation is launched, we’ll be in trouble.”

“Then what should we do?”

“We’ll have to expedite the preparations. We move the schedule forward.”

At the mention of moving the schedule forward, the senior follower looked alarmed.

He asked carefully.

“Are you sure that’s wise? You had specifically chosen an auspicious day for this…”

“It can’t be helped. Better this than having everything turn to nothing when an investigation comes. Go and make the preparations.”

The senior follower bowed his head and left the room.

Yoo Sunmin pressed his hand against his head as if nursing a headache.

Just then, a voice came from outside the door.

“It’s Yoo Harang. I’m coming in.”

“…Please, come in.”

A moment later, Yoo Harang entered, seated in a wheelchair.

Yoo Harang’s eyes were filled with deep anxiety.

“Vice Cult Leader Yoo Sunmin, do you intend to capture and punish that outsider from earlier?”

“Yes. That would be necessary.”

“They are but a pitiful soul. One who wandered into this place without even knowing where they were in this corrupt outside world…”

“Why do you concern yourself so with that outsider?”

A sharp voice cut off Yoo Harang’s words.

Yoo Sunmin’s gaze was as cutting as his tone.

It was a look that seemed determined to dig out what lay beneath the surface.

He glared at Yoo Harang and spoke.

“I was aware that you, Cult Leader, had been collecting objects from the outside world.”

“…!”

“I assumed it was simply childish behavior and chose to overlook it, but…”

Yoo Sunmin approached and lowered himself to Yoo Harang’s eye level.

Meeting his gaze head-on, Yoo Harang involuntarily hung her head.

“By any chance, do you wish to go outside with that outsider?”

“No, no! I merely…!”

“Would you abandon all these people of the Holy Grace Cult? Would you cast aside all those who cry out, begging for your salvation?”

Yoo Harang bit her lip hard.

Amid the silence that followed, a small voice slipped out.

“…I never had such thoughts. This body is the Cult Leader of the Holy Grace Cult. One who stands on the side of the weak. For that, I would do anything.”

It was a voice filled with nothing but sincerity.

Yoo Sunmin seemed to recognize this as well, and his expression finally softened into a smile.

As warm and gentle as he was during his sermons—more so than anyone else.

“Yes, that is as it should be.”

He stroked Yoo Harang’s head with satisfaction.

Yoo Harang received the gesture in silence.

Yoo Sunmin’s anger seemed to have subsided somewhat, but Yoo Harang couldn’t bring herself to feel at ease.

‘Did that boy… escape safely?’

She worried about Seo Kangrim, who had fled, in more ways than one.

Every follower was already pursuing him.

Even if he had the ability to transform into an animal, the followers numbered in the hundreds.

‘If he’s caught, it’ll be terrible…’

Even Yoo Harang couldn’t predict what would happen if Yoo Sunmin caught him.

But one thing was certain—it would not be a light punishment.

As Yoo Harang sat in silence, Yoo Sunmin began slowly wheeling her chair toward the exit.

Noticing the direction, Yoo Harang asked.

“Are you not returning to my room?”

“Yes. That location has already been compromised, after all…”

Yoo Sunmin said with a smile.

“We’ve decided to move the date of the ritual up to today.”

“……”

At the word ‘ritual,’ Yoo Harang’s expression hardened even further.

In contrast, Yoo Sunmin was smiling.

With a sinister and despicable smile, Yoo Sunmin spoke.

“Then I entrust the ritual to your care, Cult Leader.”