Chapter 33: Memories of the Past Life

Surrounding me was nothingness, leaving only a heavy, dense black. Amidst the endless darkness, I looked toward those Exorcists who had invaded the Demon Realm with my blood-colored eyes.

“Demon, in the name of God, I save thee from the mire of darkness!” A Holy Cross Exorcist spoke in a low voice, the light in his palm flaring brilliantly.

“Save?” The corners of my lips curled upward uncontrollably. With ghostly speed, I lunged at the Exorcist. My sharp fingers gathered into a blade, tearing open his chest. The smell of dark red blood, thick and sweet, rushed at my face.

At the sight of the Holy Cross Exorcist's corpse, the demons began to stir restlessly, their cheers deafening.

Looking at the mangled body, I felt a flash of doubt. I stared blankly at my blood-stained fingertips; the fountain of crimson liquid quickly made me feel a sense of exhilaration. I heard my own eerie, supernatural laughter.

A trace of terror entered the Exorcists' eyes as they looked at me.

Crimson blood flew everywhere. In this world of scarlet, I slaughtered wantonly. What could be more wonderful than this gushing, fresh, sweet red liquid?

The demons began to counterattack. The formation of the Holy Cross Exorcists fell into chaos, utterly routed.

It was a scene from hell.

“Lord Gareth!” suddenly, someone screamed.

Just as the voice fell, I already had the heart of a Holy Cross Exorcist gripped tightly in my palm. His pupils dilated slightly, but there was no fear in those eyes; instead, they revealed a look of joy.

I froze.

Following the dying cry of that Exorcist, a beam of light suddenly pierced the thick darkness. Within that light, a man walked out slowly.

Set against the radiance, the man descended like a god. The white Holy Cross uniform he wore gave him a beauty that brooked no profanity.

He looked at me, his deep gray eyes cold and icy, devoid of any past warmth.

I felt as if I had been struck by a freezing spell, unable to move. If he wanted to kill me, it would take no effort at all. His icy gaze caused a pain that felt like being torn apart in a trance.

Who am I?

Who am I?

Who... exactly am I?

Why do I possess such terrifying power?

In those icy gray eyes, I saw a woman covered in blood. That woman had blood-red pupils; she was so strange, yet so familiar.

I looked around in a daze, discovering with horror that both my hands were soaked in crimson liquid. I saw mangled corpses littering the ground.

Those people... were all killed by me!

An unprecedented fear made me begin to tremble. I looked up at Gareth, desperate to find a sliver of warmth in his eyes, but there was nothing. He was unwilling to give me even a spark of warmth.

“They...” Licking my dry lips, I looked at Gareth. “They...”

“Were killed by you,” Gareth spoke flatly.

“What... kind of thing am I?” Slowly, step by step, I walked toward Gareth, my eyes filled with plea. “Who... am I?”

“Aurora! Don't go near him!” Alastor’s shout echoed in the darkness.

I turned a deaf ear, still walking toward Gareth step by step. I wanted to get close to him, close to that light.

That light... looked so warm.

I was so cold.

Gareth stood amidst the radiance, watching me without moving.

Despite being within arm's reach, he seemed worlds away at this moment. I looked at him, and as I approached him step by step, memories came rushing back like an overwhelming tide.

Not long ago, I was a happy, normal human, an ordinary and unremarkable person who couldn't be found once lost in a crowd. Not long ago, I was still working at the Splendid Candy House, heart and soul looking forward to a reunion with Gareth. Not long ago, I was inexplicably bitten and became a rookie vampire who dreamed of turning human again...

But suddenly, how did everything change?

I had actually become the Queen they spoke of? What was more fatal was the discovery that I was actually an old monster, a thousand-year-old undying monster...

Clearly over a thousand years old, yet playing at amnesia and pretending to be a young girl.

I am a through-and-through old monster!

What kind of joke has the heavens played on me...

Finally, I stood before Gareth.

Stopping my pace, I reached out to hug him, like a drowning person grasping at the last piece of driftwood.

“Tell me, I am Aurora...” I begged.

Gareth did not move.

“I am Aurora, I am only Aurora... I am Gareth’s Aurora...” I spoke in a low voice, as if convincing myself, or perhaps convincing Gareth. “I don’t care what I was in the past, but now I am Aurora, just Aurora! You said it—Aurora means dawn, a new beginning. Since there is a new beginning, why must I repeat my past life!”

Gareth’s body stiffened slightly.

Four hundred years ago during the civil unrest in the Demon Realm, a war broke out between the Camarilla and the Sabbat. Her Majesty the Queen, Aurora, drove the Sabbat out of the Demon Realm, but the Queen was also heavily wounded by Sol. Within a magic circle, she split into two entities: one, due to insufficient mental strength, became the child-like Queen, while the other lost her memory and became me—an ordinary human...

But, since I was given a new life, why must today’s scene occur?

I don't want to be Aurora the Queen; I am not the Vampire Queen! I am just Aurora. I only want to be Gareth’s Aurora—that naive idiot, that resilient girl who grows stronger under pressure!

“Gareth... are you here to kill me?” I asked, holding him.

Gareth did not speak.

“If you are here to kill me, then... just kill me.”

“If the ending is death, I would rather the person who kills me... be Gareth.” Clutching him tightly, I spoke slowly. “If it’s Gareth, I can go to my death.”

“What can be done? You dislike yourself so much; as one of the Blood Kind, through that long and never-ending life, how much pain you must suffer... You will see your former kind as food, you will watch the friends and family around you grow old one by one and die one by one... finally, only you will be left, left alone to struggle in this strange mortal world... how painful it must be...” In a trance, Sol’s voice echoed in my mind.

He said, “How about... let me end your life... that way, you will be free.”

That time, I refused flatly. I didn't want to die.

Because I had Gareth, and I was waiting for him to come back. Because of that conviction, I worked hard to live until now! I didn't want to give up like that. I wanted to find the vampire who bit me, I wanted to find a way to become human again, I wanted to... see that man from my memories again, the one as gentle as an angel...

Because he was my entire faith...

That was my reason to keep living.

But now... those reasons have become one giant joke.

Ten years ago, with no memory whatsoever, I inexplicably appeared in a trash heap. My appearance brought death to others... Auntie Wang’s mother-in-law said before she died, “A demon has come to the world”...

So, I didn't turn into a demon; I was a demon all along, a blood-drinking demon.

Friends and family are such luxuries. Humans truly have the sharpest instincts; they can still recognize a wolf in sheep's clothing at a single glance, even one that has lost its memory.

I really am not wronged, not wronged at all.

Slowly letting go of Gareth, I looked up at his deep gray eyes.

“I heard that if two people who love each other ride a Ferris wheel together, they will part ways. But if they kiss when the Ferris wheel reaches the highest point, they will stay together forever...” Curling my lips, I smiled. “...Turns out, that was a lie.”

In stories, the protagonists always go through countless hardships before reaching a happy ending—not to mention if they encounter a "wicked stepmother" style author; after all that trouble, it might still be a tragic separation, never to meet again in heaven or earth... or perhaps a simple line like "better to forget each other in the world than to struggle together in a drying pond" ends it, and they forget each other from then on.

I truly had too much foresight.

This happiness that came too quickly was indeed just a beautiful dream.

Waking up in the morning sunlight, seeing Gareth’s gentle, smiling face, taking a walk while holding Gareth’s hand—every single bit, all that happiness... was just a dream that was too realistic.

Gareth slowly raised his hand. I felt myself being pulled into the air by an invisible giant hand.

Looking at Gareth’s face with lingering affection, I saw him draw a "Cross" in the air.

The upward momentum slowly froze, and I plunged downward. If I fell into that Cross magic circle, I would probably be disintegrated until not even a scrap remained.

My clothes were torn by the air currents. The wind whistled in my ears as I fell straight toward that white magic circle.

I heard Alastor’s roar. He stood outside that beam of white light, staring at me and wanting to plunge in, but he was burned and battered, unable to step half a pace into the circle. That idiot—it was a barrier; he couldn't break in.

“Send me back to the human world, please?”

“Alright, I'll take you back.”

“It's almost dawn. You go sleep. I'll go say goodbye to Rose, and we'll leave tonight!”

“No, we leave now.”

“It's almost morning! How can you stand the sunlight?”

“Who am I? I am an Elder! A vampire who has lived for over six hundred years—a figure equivalent to an Archon! How could I be the same as you...”

“Aren't you going to say goodbye to the Queen?”

“No need.”

“What about Rose...”

“No need.”

Recalling those dialogues, I suddenly smiled. Although he was the one who brought me back to the Demon Realm, he regretted it. He was so desperate to send me back to the human world, even disregarding the Queen's orders. He truly couldn't bear to let me endure the memories of the past.

That idiot...

I looked down at Gareth and unexpectedly met those gray eyes.

He was also looking at me.

The indifferent gray eyes were mixed with a strange emotion. He looked up, watching me fall from mid-air, and suddenly took a step back. A powerful pain actually entered those gray eyes.

He looked up at me, his face terrifyingly pale. I had never seen him so out of character.

I suddenly remembered the scene from that day riding the Ferris wheel at the amusement park; such a person actually had a fear of heights.

But right now, the one falling was me. What was he afraid of?

The panic in his eyes grew as he looked at me. I felt the powerful force of the magic circle, and a searing pain like being thrown into fire overwhelmed me.

Just when I thought I would completely vanish in the magic circle, Gareth suddenly waved his hand violently and withdrew the Cross formation.

He looked at me, his face deathly pale.

Withdrawing such a powerful magic circle at such close range, even for him, it must have been an immense strain.

Giving me a look filled with complex emotions, he opened his mouth, but ultimately turned and walked away.

In this battle, High Priest Gareth of the Inquisition led ten Exorcists into the Demon Realm. None of the ten survived. High Priest Gareth was also heavily wounded and returned in total defeat.

The Demon Realm chronicles record: In the year 2008 AD, Archon Sol of the Sabbat led his forces into the Demon Realm. Her Majesty the Queen, who had not appeared for long due to heavy injuries from a rebellion four hundred years ago, returned and drove the Sabbat from the territory once more. Archon Sol of the Sabbat, in a fit of rage, shattered the Space-Time Gate connecting the human and demon worlds.

High Priest Gareth of the Inquisition took the opportunity to lead ten Holy Cross Exorcists into the Demon Realm in an attempt to destroy it. The great Queen slaughtered all the Exorcists, heavily wounded the High Priest of the Inquisition, repaired the Space-Time Gate, and guarded the Demon Realm.