1 Prologue

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The young woman felt her headaches with the sound of water dripping as she lay on the cold floor with her eyes closed. She did not know how long she had been lying here like this.

Every time she tried to move her hands and feet, a terrible pain shot through her body and she realized that she was bound by mana chains.

Every time the vaporous air escaped her mouth, she could tell how cold it was in the basement. Her muscles screamed as she lay on the cold, wet floor, and she frowned at the putrid odor in her nostrils. The young woman was nauseated by the odor, but she endured it.

There had been times when she had been exposed to much more disgusting odors. That's why such a smell was nothing to her. Groaning, she got up from where she was lying and leaned her back against the wall.

The black tulle stockings she wore under her black shorts were torn in some places. Her white shirt was gray from the dirty water and her hair, which her friend had always compared to a purple orchid, was disheveled.

How did this happen?

The young woman thought about what had happened to her, feeling helpless for the first time in a long time. She and her crew were going to rob the last auction house, but things had unexpectedly gone wrong and she had been caught.

"I wonder how the others are doing?" she muttered to herself as she heard echoing footsteps.

She remained calm as she distinguished between the footsteps of two different people. Even if she felt helpless, she would not show it. This was the only way she could survive.

She continued to pretend to be unconscious when she heard a heavy, thick voice saying,

"Open the door!"

"Yes, sir."

As the door to the cell she was in opened, the person she recognized as the second speaker walked in and shouldered her out.

The big guy followed the hooded man in front as he carried her, not knowing that the young woman on his shoulder was awake. They passed silently through long torch-lit corridors and entered a larger space than the others.

In the center of the room, which resembled a round hall, were two altars. A thin and frail female figure lay on one of the altars, while the big guy placed the young woman on his shoulder on the second altar.

With a red magic circle encircling the altars, the hooded man approached the altar and with a flick of his hand untied the mana chains from the young woman's wrists.

"Is that okay, sir?" the big guy asked, looking worriedly at the hooded man.

"She is already unconscious and for the spell to work, there must be no trace of any other spell on her." As he finished his sentence, a kick touched the lower jaw of the big guy in front of him.

Before the hooded man could recover from his shock, he saw the young woman lying unconscious on the altar pinning the big guy's head with her legs and knocking him unconscious.

"What are you waiting there?! Grab her now!"

The young woman had just become aware of other men in the room when the hooded man shouted. But she was not worried. As long as she hunted down the sorcerer who had just run back in fear of her, she would not lose against the others.

So she took a step away from a man attacking her with his sword, twisted her body and swung the axe she had just knocked unconscious at the big guy's waist as she fled.

The arm of the man who raised his sword was severed and the sword in his hand was thrown several meters away. The man let out a terrible scream as he looked at his severed arm. A few retreated, frightened by her strength, while others, swallowing their pride, continued to attack harder.

The young woman's body dodged their attacks with agility and speed, not hesitating to inflict great wounds on them.

The hooded man standing behind nervously watched as more than ten men fell to the ground, badly wounded, but despite the increasing number, she was unharmed.

"But you've reached the end of your endurance, haven't you?" he murmured, a cruel smile curling his lips. "What I gave you must have worked!"

Although he was far away, he could see the sweat on her forehead. Her chest was rising and falling heavily from the breaths she was taking. Her movements were no longer as fast as at first and had slowed down.

So much so that she couldn't dodge an incoming fist attack and fell face-first to the ground as she was punched in the jaw.

"Bitch!"

The man who had fought her and whose arm had been injured by her angrily kicked her in the face and grabbed her by the hair. Looking into the young woman's unfocused eyes, he punched her in the face.

"Calm down, commander," the hooded sorcerer intervened and the man from earlier looked at him sternly, his face red with rage.

"All my capable men have perished because of this bitch!"

The hooded sorcerer clicked his tongue as he looked at the men lying groaning on the ground. They had hired the Morte Mercenary Guild to help them capture and subdue the notorious pirate Atlantis. But Atlantis had acted beyond their expectations and nearly overpowered them.

The muscles in the Mercenary Commander's jaw twitched as he smiled, "Luckily, I gave her the paralyzing potion beforehand."

"Besides, you can't harm Atlantis' body. You don't want to offend the master, do you?" he spoke calmly and the man clicked his tongue and let go of the hair he was holding.

When the young woman fell to the ground, one of the mercenaries, who had not been injured by the hooded sorcerer's order, lifted her and put her back in her original position.

"Now then, let's finish the job," he smiled contentedly as the injured mercenaries left for treatment while the others stood back.

The hooded sorcerer began to mutter words in the ancient language as he looked at the women on the two altars in the center of the magic circle.

As the magic circle glowed, the signs began to move like blood. The red markings enveloped the body of the woman on the first altar who had been lying there from the beginning.

As the red rune letters flashed and moved rapidly on the woman's body, the connection between the two bodies was realized.

The hooded sorcerer continued to mutter the incantation, smiling with satisfaction at what was happening in a way that others could not see, only the sorcerers could see.

He saw the transparent soul emerge from the body of Atlantis and enter the woman lying on the altar.

When the red runes on the other woman's body slowly faded, the soul-swapping ritual was complete.

"Is it done?" asked the Mercenary Captain next to him, frowning as he looked at the two unchanged women and the sorcerer smiled.

"Of course. Atlantis is no longer a pirate, but a slave who must serve us from now on."