I Became the Substitute for the Runaway Heroine - Chapter 69

‘There must be a way.’

Even healthy people seemed to come to Demuna, seeking forgiveness for their sins.

From the murmurs around the inn, Odette had heard of others, people praying for failing businesses to be revived, for fortunes to turn.

Perhaps among them, there were some who sought to enter the underground?

Jayna answered quietly.

“First, you need the consent of your family and since it’s a journey to the divine, you must also pay a blessing fee.”

“How much?”

“One hundred gold. Once you step foot into the Tower of the Sun, you can never leave. You’re not thinking of going in there, are you?”

“I want to see the inside for myself.”

“Please, don’t do this. Everyone who enters begs to be let out… crying, pleading with regret. Take this instead.”

Jayna looked around anxiously before pulling a crumpled bundle of paper from her pocket and pressing it into Odette’s hand.

“What is this?”

“A map of Demuna. I’ve written instructions on how to escape this place.”

She explained that once a week, the weapons confiscated from visitors were loaded onto a supply cart and taken outside Demuna.

If Odette could secretly board that cart, she could escape safely.

Jayna’s eyes were pleading.

“Tomorrow… tomorrow is the day the cart leaves. If you miss it, you’ll have to wait another week. Please… don’t stay here.”

Suddenly, Jayna fell to her knees before Odette.

“Please… I beg you, leave Demuna.”

She bowed low, weeping uncontrollably at Odette’s feet.

“I’ve never met someone as noble and holy as you. You don’t belong here. This place—it’s hell.”

She might be right.

As they melted gold to seal the Rift, they lured in the sick—feeding them to monsters to keep the tide at bay.

Odette gently lifted Jayna from the floor and looked her in the eyes.

“Then I need to destroy hell.”

“What…?”

“You just told me, didn’t you? That I’m the first person you’ve met with such sacred power. I have to use that power.”

“Emma, take Vera and wait at the rear gate.”

As night fell, Odette moved without hesitation.

The longer she waited, the more people would suffer. There was no time to hesitate.

“Isn’t there something I can do to help? After I take Vera to the back gate, anything—I just want to help.”

“You can’t leave Vera alone.”

Vera clung quietly to Emma, not crying, not fussing. Her silence was heavier than any tears.

Odette understood better than anyone why the girl was like this.

‘I couldn’t accept my mother’s death either—not for a long time.’

Odette knelt beside Vera and spoke gently.

“Vera, will you go with Emma and wait at the rear gate? Uncle Jacques and I are going to ask Saintess Jayna if your mother has arrived safely in heaven.”

Vera stared silently at the floorboards, unmoving.

She had hoped to be reunited with her mother, and now she was told her mother had gone to the sky where angels lived. Of course she was disappointed.

But how could Odette tell her the truth—that her mother’s body had likely been offered to monsters?

Odette continued, her voice soft and steady, trying to reach Vera’s heart.

“I believe she’s in heaven, praying for you. Praying that Vera grows up strong and healthy, without pain. But just in case, I’ll go check for you, alright?”

Still, Vera said nothing. Emma let out a quiet sigh.

“Come, Vera.”

Holding her gently, Emma stepped out of the inn, Vera in her arms.

Odette watched as their silhouettes disappeared toward the rear gate. Once they were gone, she and Jacques made their way to the Temple of Spring.

“Over here.”

Jayna, waiting at the temple’s entrance, waved to them through the darkness.

Wearing a black hood, she looked pale—her face drawn with tension.

Odette approached her and spoke in a low voice.

“Saintess, just open the door and then hide at the rear gate. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“You won’t find the way to the underground passage. Let me guide you that far.”

“Thank you.”

Unlike the temples in the rest of the Empire, which remained open at night for worshippers, Demuna sealed its doors at sundown.
It was said that sick people and their families, with nowhere else to go, would sneak into the temple seeking shelter—hence the locked doors.

Jayna took a key from around her neck, the cold metal glinting faintly under the moonlight.

As the lock clicked ominously, the heavy door creaked open.

The Temple of Spring—so bright in name—was dark and desolate inside.

There wasn’t a single torch or even a candle lit, and the silence was chilling.

‘It feels like I’ve stepped into a massive graveyard.’

A cold shiver ran down Odette’s spine.

Jayna, stepping ahead into the darkness, looked back over her shoulder.

“If we light a torch, the guards might come. Watch your step.”

“I will.”

Odette glanced back at Jacques, who stood silently behind her, and gave him a warning look. Then she stepped into the temple.

‘The stench of death is even stronger now.’

She clenched her teeth, forcing down the rising fear, and pressed forward.

Following the pale moonlight filtering through the windows, Odette trailed Jayna deeper into the temple. As they reached the inner sanctum, a low hum vibrated beneath their feet.

“What’s that sound?”

“The sound of prayers… from the basement.”

“…Prayers? Behind locked doors?”

“There are prayer gatherings held in the basement every day, without exception. Today, it’s the Saintesses and priests of the Summer Temple.”

“Is there another level beneath the basement? I heard there’s a furnace where they melt gold.”

“No, there’s only one basement. The furnace is at its center, and the four seasonal temples are connected around it.”

Jayna stopped before a small door beside a massive altar.

“This is the entrance to the basement. The sick call it the ‘gate to heaven.’”

Jacques drew his sword and muttered grimly.

“Feels more like the gate to hell.”

“I agree.”

Odette nodded firmly.

From deep below, she could feel a dark, malevolent force rising—a sinister energy that made her skin crawl.

She knew it instinctively—there were monsters down there.

Jayna took out a key.

“We were told never to open this door at night, no matter what. Please, be careful.”

“Wait a moment.”

Odette exchanged a glance with Jacques, then drew upon her divine power. A fierce surge rose from within her, burning like fire.

“Now!”

At Odette’s command, Jayna slid the key into the lock and turned it.

Surprisingly, the basement door opened without a sound.

But then—
Something darted past Jacques, racing down the stairs.

A small, frail child disappeared into the darkness below.

“Vera?”

“Gods—how long has she been following us?”

Everyone had been so focused, so tense, that none of them had noticed Vera creeping silently behind.

“What do we do now?”

“…Saintess, please return to Emma and wait at the rear gate. We’ll bring Vera back.”

“I understand.”

Without hesitation, Odette stepped through the door.

A faint red glow radiated from deep below, casting flickers of light on the stairwell.

Far ahead, they could see Vera, her small figure running toward the bottom, her feet tapping rapidly against the stone steps.

‘She must think she’ll find her mother down there…’

Odette chased after her, descending quickly. Jacques followed close behind.

Finally, they reached the bottom—and saw Vera standing frozen.

“Dear God…”

Odette gasped, overwhelmed by the horrific sight before her.

Within a furnace the size of a house, molten gold boiled violently. Beneath the furnace yawned a massive cavern—its entrance like a sheer cliff into blackness.

And from that dark mouth, tentacles slithered forth, wrapping around the bodies of the praying, entranced people—dragging them into the shadows.

‘They must be drugged…’

Even as they were seized, one by one, the sick remained prostrate, praying as though in a trance.

“Vera.”

Odette rushed forward, lifting Vera into her arms, then handed her over to Jacques.

“Take her out of here—now.”

“L-Lady Odette, what about you? You have to leave with us. This… this is beyond what we can handle!”

“No. It isn’t.”

Odette pointed her chin toward the mouth of the cave at a silver staff embedded in the ground.

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