Chapter 227 – Escape
Due to the nature of ‘Cup’ spirituality, which allows for growth by consuming flesh, an ‘Extraordinary Being’ of the ‘Cup’ type would be much more efficient at consuming another ‘Cup’ Extraordinary Being compared to a regular person. Therefore, conflicts and mutual consumption within spiritual societies are extremely intense…
‘So becoming a ‘Cup’ Extraordinary Being seems quite dangerous. Fellow ‘Cups’ see each other as nothing but meat…’
Having thought this, Doro manipulated Nephnis to continue asking questions.
“Regarding the alliance in South Tivyán, do you know where it is located? What’s the current situation? Do you know anything about this?”
“I apologize… I don’t know much about that. Ever since the boxing club was destroyed, I haven’t wanted any further interactions with other ‘Cups’, so I haven’t specifically sought out information on this.”
Moisans said this, causing Doro to feel slightly disappointed. In her view, if she could find that ‘Cup’ alliance, there might be a chance to obtain many ‘Cup’ secrets from there.
With this in mind, Doro had Nephnis continue speaking.
“I’ve only been in Tivyán for a short time, so I’m not fully aware of the situation. Thank you for your information today. As a reward, I can let you go and not k*ll you.”
“R-really? Thank you for sparing us, Miss!”
Upon hearing that they wouldn’t be killed, Moisans immediately expressed his joy. After his society was preyed upon by the Wolf bl**d Association, he harbored a slight fear towards other ‘Cup’ Extraordinary Beings. Now, this ‘Cup’ Extraordinary Being who had been robbed by his side had shown mercy and spared his life. This was truly wonderful. If he had encountered a ‘Cup’ associated with the Amniotic Sac, he might have been completely devoured.
Seeing Moisans’ grateful demeanor, Nephnis smiled slightly and continued.
“I can spare you, but if you dare to attack me, you will have to pay a price.”
Nephnis glanced at the group before her and extended her hand.
“I don’t need much. Hand over all the cash and hidden resources you have, and compensate me for some mental distress, then you can leave.”
Nephnis smiled at the group of robbers, and at the mention of this, Moisans and the others were momentarily stunned.
Afterwards, Doro controlled Nephnis to strip Moisans and his subordinates of everything, then let them go.
Since they were in the city center, Nephnis didn’t have a magic box to handle the bodies, and given that they only robbed for money and did not harm lives or take possessions, to avoid trouble for Nephnis, Doro did not k*ll them but instead robbed them.
In the end, Doro obtained three sigils, two of which were related to bl**d-Eating, and one related to ‘Shadow’. However, she couldn’t identify what exactly they were. She also acquired a secret transmission of the ‘Cup’ and some miscellaneous ritual materials, along with 53 pounds in cash.
“d*mn, there isn’t even 100 pounds. We’re really broke,” Doro thought as she looked at the cash they had taken. But there was no help for it.
Afterwards, Doro controlled Nephnis to a safe street, helped her hail a carriage, and got in, then released control.
“Huff… I… I finally… am back?”
On the carriage, feeling her control over her body return, Nephnis sighed deeply. She placed her hands in front of her eyes and muttered in disbelief.
Being able to regain control of her body gave Nephnis a sense of security, but soon she realized something and opened her bag.
After removing the “spoils of war” that Doro had helped her gather, she saw a large pile of broken bricks inside the bag. After rummaging through the debris, she found a cracked cosmetic box and a hand mirror. The precious cosmetics had scattered and mixed with the brick shards.
Seeing this, Nephnis felt her heart stop. With tears in her eyes, she thought in her heart:
“Miss Doro… couldn’t you choose a different weapon?”
…
On the other side, after helping Nephnis resolve her troubles, Doro stood up in the secret room and stretched lazily.
“Ahh~ Another good deed done, feels great! Indeed, being in the Black Earth Tier is different.”
Doro said happily, having experienced a new ability through Nephnis and feeling quite good.
“But, the spiritual energy expenditure has become quite high again. Although puppet manipulation has no distance limit, it requires at least one ‘Cup’ to start, and another ‘Cup’ for Life-Eating. Hissing… just upgraded, but ‘Cups’ are clearly lacking…”
Rubbing her chin, Doro mused aloud. After advancing, her ‘Cup’ had only six points left, and now this round of activities had depleted two of them. She currently had only four ‘Cups’.
It was foreseeable that as a supporting ‘Cup’ Puppet Master, the demand for ‘Cup’ spirituality would certainly be high in the future, but she was essentially a Scholar and didn’t produce ‘Cups’ herself. Each ‘Cup’ used was one less.
“It looks like after dealing with school matters, it’s necessary to visit South Tivyán and look for that so-called ‘Cup’ alliance.”
Doro muttered to herself, having gained the most from helping deal with the small-time criminals not from the loot, but from unexpected intelligence about the ‘Cup’ society in Tivyán. She now planned to visit South Tivyán to try and find the alliance and acquire some ‘Cups’ from them.
“Sigh… At this moment, I feel a bit nostalgic for the Holy Communion…”
Suddenly, Doro thought. Back in Igewent, when had she ever lacked ‘Cups’?
“Forget it, I’ll deal with the school situation first. Those guys should withdraw from the school after this.”
Saying this, Doro packed up the items in the secret room and took a kerosene lamp, walking through the exit passage that had been previously opened.
Entering the exit passage, a staircase leading upwards appeared before Doro. Walking up the stairs, Doro ascended for a long time until her legs started to ache. Finally, the upward passage reached its end, revealing two tall stone statues. The statues depicted two hooded figures in robes with goat beards, one holding an open book and the other a celestial globe-like object.
“Celesital globe and book, observing stars and writing books, meaning knowledge and the sky?”
Looking at the sculptures, Doro thought, then focused her attention on the space between the two stone statues where a stone door stood.
Doro approached the stone door, touching the worn-out general language inscriptions, which twisted into Prit Writing.
“Congratulations on your advancement, Scholar. More knowledge awaits your exploration. May you journey farther under the gaze of the All-Seeing Eye.”
After the words appeared, the stone door slowly creaked open, and bright sunlight poured in. Doro heard the sound of running water nearby.
