Chapter 69: Albus

"Children, enjoy your feast." Hino Umaba smiled and clapped her hands. "Remember to leave that woman's body for me."

The moment the words left her mouth, the monsters from the primordial era swarmed forward.

Albus had already reverted to his true form, shielding me. He snarled and bit, tearing into the creatures to keep them away from me. Before long, blood had completely soaked his white fur.

I rushed forward to hold him, lashing out at the monsters that had grown even more frenzied at the scent of blood.

"I see it... their weakness is in the forehead..." Gasping in my arms, Albus gradually shifted back into human form. "Use your power to seal them!" He reached out and removed the silver ring from my index finger.

The instant the ring was removed, a dark aura surged forth like a tidal wave.

I gritted my teeth, gathering a powerful dark energy throughout my body to hold the line, forcing the monsters to hesitate.

"You lowly demons..." I raised my hand, and a beam of light struck a monster's forehead. The creature instantly transformed into a stone statue with its claws bared—the statue even preserved the hideous expression it wore as it lunged at me just a moment before.

I leaped into the air, sealing them one by one.

"Watch your back!" Albus's voice suddenly rang out. His voice was actually trembling slightly, carrying an inexplicable terror.

I instinctively ducked to the side. Albus had already pulled me into his embrace as a tongue of fire narrowly brushed past us. I looked back at him; his pale face was set in an expression of grim slaughter. I had never seen such a look on his face, which was usually as cold as ancient ice.

Wherever the tongue of flame touched, roaring fires ignited. These flames carried the scent of a curse, burning fiercely within the dilapidated Great Hall of the Inquisition.

I noticed that Hino Umaba was no longer where she had stood. Only the monsters turned to stone and a few that hadn't been sealed remained in the hall. All those creatures scattered and dissolved upon contact with the fire. Horrified, I instinctively pulled Albus away from the flames. These were no ordinary fires.

Albus's hands were shaking slightly. He gritted his teeth, and his usually cold black pupils were filled with a dazed vacancy.

"Albus, Albus! Snowy! What’s wrong with you!" I gripped his hand, growing anxious.

"Albus? Heh, are you starting to remember something?" Hino Umaba's voice suddenly echoed from the void. "The records say that when Selene disregarded her status and willingly fell, abandoning her position as Director to become a demon with you, do you still remember the curse the elders placed upon her?"

"You are currently worse than any demon," Albus spat through gritted teeth, losing his usual composure.

Hino Umaba didn't care and laughed. "The day Selene fell was the day she suffered the pain of these flames consuming her body. That day, the elders cursed her to become a vampire so she could never appear in the sunlight, while you could only transform into human form during the day... ensuring that even if you stayed together for a thousand years, you would never see each other for a single day..."

I remembered what Albus had told me that day, and my heart ached.

"After a thousand years, how does it feel to return to the old place?" Hino Umaba's voice carried a sense of manic delight. "Aurora Tung, you want to atone? You want to fulfill Cass's final wish? You want to accept God's judgment to stop the apocalypse? Hahaha... This is the fire of Hell. This fire will drag you both into eternal damnation. You will always be a demon! You will always be a demon!... I curse you! I curse you to fall into Hell forever, to suffer the pain of burning flames, and never know a moment of peace!"

The fire grew larger and larger, and Hino Umaba's voice gradually faded. I pulled Albus, trying to find a way out, but it was useless.

"It's no use. This place has been sealed by the curse." Albus pulled me along, avoiding the tongues of fire.

"Then what do we do? Are we really going to be turned to ashes here and fall into Hell forever? How did Selene escape back then?" I gripped his hand and asked.

"Back then..." Albus looked at me and spoke slowly. "White accepted the curse so that I would be unharmed." His voice was very, very slow, as if every word carried the agony of a thousand cuts.

I froze, a sharp pain twisting in my chest again. Was it Selene's heart that was aching?

The air was thick with the scent of fire. Flames swept through the entire hall. I felt a searing pain and grabbed Albus's hand, attempting to break through. "I don't believe it! I don't believe we can't get out!"

I tried to gather my strength, only to find I couldn't summon even a bit of power.

The fire engulfed everything. I felt my hair beginning to singe. Suddenly, I felt a slight tightening on my right index finger. I instinctively looked down and saw that Albus had slipped the silver ring back onto my hand.

"What are you doing?" I was startled.

Albus said nothing. He looked at me, and his usually cold eyes gradually turned gentle.

But that gentleness made me uneasy. What was he doing?

"No matter who you are, I will not let you go to Hell," he suddenly said.

I stared at him blankly, allowed myself to be pulled into his arms like a wooden doll.

He held me tightly, and no matter how I struggled, I couldn't break free.

That cold embrace, amidst the raging fire, carried a strange, icy warmth. The unease in my heart grew.

"Albus, let me go! What are you doing!"

He didn't move or speak.

"Albus! Are you made of stone? Let go of me!"

I felt my surroundings gradually turn cold. That icy aura blocked the surrounding inferno. I was isolated in a safe space, unable to feel the pain of the burning fire at all.

I suddenly understood this man's intention—he was going to use his own body to create a barrier to protect me!

"Albus! Are you crazy? Let's find a way together; we can get out! Albus, let go!" I screamed, trying to push him away, but he held me—held me so tightly, like a rock, unmoving and unshakable.

My eyes widened as I watched his long silver hair slowly curl and burn in the fire...

"Let go of me! Albus! Let go of me!" I cried. "Albus, I beg you, let go... let go..."

"Albus! Let go! We can get out! We will definitely get out! I'll give the body back to Selene, and you two can be together forever... You can stay together until the end of time, no longer fearing any threats... Albus... please, let go..."

I watched his white robes turn black and charred. I watched the cold jade at his waist shatter on the ground. I screamed, incoherent.

A cold hand covered my eyes. He whispered in my ear, "Don't look. Just sleep. When you wake up, it will all be over."

I gritted my teeth and shook my head, my tears wetting his palm, but my consciousness gradually began to drift away.

In my daze, that embrace felt so cold, yet it carried a strange warmth. In my daze, someone was murmuring in my ear.

That voice said, "You are my descendant. I was the one who turned you into a vampire. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have been caught up in this chaos... I'm sorry..."

I shook my head. No, no. I am Lilith; the trajectory of my fate was arranged long ago. Even without you, I still wouldn't have escaped this chaos.

He said, "I gave you the First Embrace, yet I abandoned you and never taught you how to be a vampire... I'm sorry..."

He said, "You said Michael promised only to take your spirit and give White back her freedom. I wavered. Out of selfishness, I took you out of Samael's barrier and put you in danger... I'm sorry..."

I shook my head. No, no! It was my selfishness! My selfishness! I just wanted to fulfill Cass's final wish. I just wanted to atone...

That voice kept murmuring something in my ear, but I gradually couldn't hear it clearly. The voice was intermittent, carrying complete desolation and grief, yet warm to the bone.

Through the fog, that voice kept saying in my ear: No matter who you are, I will not let you go to Hell.

He said, No matter who you are, I will not let you go to Hell.

I don't know how much time passed, but I woke up.

The fire had gone out. I sat where I was, and something in my mind gradually became clear. "Albus, Albus, Snowy..."

I looked everywhere for the man.

I moved, wanting to stand up, but I felt as if I were being held by something.

Slowly looking down, I froze like a stone statue.

It was a charred skeleton, holding me tightly in a protective embrace...

"Al... bus."

I spoke in a murmur, tears dripping onto the charred skeleton. With a hiss, they sank into the bone and disappeared.

Meeting him for the first time at the Night Charm Bar—the man with silver hair and white clothes. He wore a long robe with wide sleeves like ancient clothing, a piece of transparent cold jade hanging from his waist, his long silver hair fluttering in the wind, and dark pupils as cold as unmelting ice...

In his arms, he held a tiny girl—the person he loved with all his heart...

He and she had stayed together for a thousand years, yet never saw each other for a single moment...

Their love was cursed...

The man who looked like a jade carving, the Judge of the Kindred, the pet called Snowy...

Now... only this charred skeleton remained...

The doors of the Inquisition swung open with a clunck. A gust of wind blew in, and the charred skeleton that had been holding me tightly turned into dust.

I slowly extended my right hand. The silver ring on my index finger had become translucent, with a texture like jade.

Gently stroking that jade ring, my hand shook slightly. My heart suddenly began to ache violently, a pain as if it were being torn in two.

Selene. She was wailing inside me.

She was crying.

I couldn't bear her bone-deep grief and couldn't help but scream out loud.

"Judge, I can foresee your future."

"You will die."

Back then, Morven had said those words.

"You say Albus will die, why?" Selene had asked back then.

Morven only answered with four words: "It is destined."

Morven's prophecies really never turn out wrong...

It hurts so much, so much... it hurts...

"Aurora."

A gentle voice rang out softly, carrying a power that warmed the heart. I looked up blankly. At the doorway stood a tall man with his back to the light. Against the sunlight, he looked like an angel descending.

He was an angel to begin with.

Michael.

He walked slowly to me and reached out to gently wipe the grime from my face.

"It's over," he said.

The pain dissipated in an instant. I could no longer feel Selene's presence...

I looked at that face—the face that belonged to Cass.

"Take me away. I accept the judgment."

Looking at him, I spoke slowly.