Chapter 73: The Illusion

The castle was freezing cold. Not a single spark flickered in the massive fireplace. I stared at the luxurious, antique gilded wooden chair beside the hearth, momentarily lost in thought.

Driven by some inexplicable impulse, I leaped down from the shoulder of the mountain-like demon and walked forward slowly, taking a seat on that gilded chair.

"Aurora!" Alastor’s voice jolted me awake.

I blinked, coming back to my senses. "What is it?"

Alastor yanked me off the chair immediately. "Just now, your expression was exactly the same as Selene’s."

My eyes widened slightly. That was eerie.

"We must leave here quickly! The Yin energy is very heavy," Kaan Tung said urgently, pulling a crystal ball from somewhere.

"Where do you think this is? This is the Demon Realm," Usan said, rolling his eyes at her.

"No, no, it's a different kind of Yin energy, an aura distinct from the demon race!" Kaan Tung explained frantically.

"Another kind of Yin energy? A vengeful spirit?" I asked, looking at her.

Kaan Tung nodded.

It was her, indeed—Hino Umaba.

I turned my head and caught a glimpse of a small figure sitting on that antique gilded wooden chair. Startled, I watched as the small silhouette slowly turned its face toward me.

"Selene!"

A pair of hands suddenly covered my eyes, and Samael’s voice sounded in my ear, "It's an illusion."

I nodded and pushed his hands away.

"There is an illusion spell cast here. Everyone, stay alert." Alastor took a step back, shielding me.

Usan, Alastor, Orlando, and the mountain-demon stood back-to-back with Kaan Tung and me, protecting us in the center.

"Illusion magic is the most terrifying type of sorcery," Kaan Tung whispered to me.

"Why?"

"Because it targets the heart. It awakens one’s inner demons, crushing the opponent completely and leaving them with no power to strike back."

I instinctively covered my heart. Was Selene... my inner demon?

Suddenly, a cluster of eerie light flickered in the dead fireplace. Looking closer, it wasn't fire at all, but fireflies.

Countless fireflies swarmed out of the fireplace, decorating the dark room until it sparkled like stars in the night sky. But these beautiful stars harbored a deadly intent. Samael raised his hand; thinking he was going to hit me, I ducked, but then I saw a black flame ignite in his palm, trapping the fireflies within it.

The trapped fireflies were scorched, making a crackling sound and emitting a faint, ethereal fragrance.

Unnoticed, a woman had appeared on the gilded chair. She slowly turned around and smiled at me.

It was Hino Umaba!

It really was her! I clenched my fists. It was her! She was the one who caused the death of Albus!

"Welcome to my castle." She smiled, gently stroking a monster crouching at her feet. Her bright red nails contrasted with her pale, slender fingers, creating an unspeakable, eerie beauty.

Gritting my teeth, I pulled off my jade ring. My fingers sharpened into blades as I lunged toward her with incredible speed.

With eyes wide open, I passed right through Hino Umaba’s body. My attack was useless against her. When I turned to face her again, she was laughing hideously.

"I sacrificed my body to the Great Demon Lord long ago."

She was a vengeful spirit—a spirit without a physical form.

"What exactly do you want?" I looked at her, suppressing the urge to kill her to avenge Albus.

"What do I want?" she laughed loudly. "I want your body and your power. I want to become the Queen of the Demon Realm. I want to avenge Cass!"

"You powerless, cowardly loser. Cass was nailed to the cross for your sake, yet you can't even manage to seek revenge for him?!"

"No! Cass is a clergyman! Don't use him as an excuse for your ambition!" I retorted loudly, trying to convince her, and perhaps myself.

I suddenly felt an unprecedented loneliness and fear. Instinctively, I tried to move closer to Alastor and Samael, only to find they had vanished. The vast room was empty, leaving me entirely alone.

Hino Umaba sneered and raised her hand. An illusion mirror appeared, and the scene within it made my breath hitch.

Wait, I am a vampire; I don't have breath to begin with.

I stared at the image in the mirror, dumbfounded.

"How can you know the torture Cass suffered without experiencing it yourself?" Hino Umaba’s voice whispered in my ear.

I closed my mouth, clenching my fists as my whole body trembled.

Within the mirror lay a dark sea. On a jagged rock by the shore stood a cross.

Hanging from the cross was a man. His wrists and ankles were pierced by massive nails. He was pinned to that broad wooden frame, his white sweater stained with blood...

That person... was Cass.

"Where is he?" I spoke, my voice shaking.

If the person on the cross was Cass, then what was the deal with Michael’s body? I felt as if I had fallen into a massive labyrinth with no way out.

"Come, give your body to me... give it to me, and I will become the greatest ruler of the Demon Realm! I will lead my kin straight into the Ninth Heaven to avenge Cass!" Hino Umaba’s voice buzzed in my ears.

Straight into the Ninth Heaven? To defy the Celestial Realm? To ignite a new war?!

I shook my head. This is an illusion. It must be an illusion!

"Haven't you always wanted to see Cass again? I’ll grant your wish." Hino Umaba sneered and swept her hand.

I was sucked into the illusion mirror.

Under my feet was cold, damp sand. I stood alone in a strange place, looking around. The dark sea surface looked as if it had been dyed with ink, stretching boundlessly.

Where is this?

Where am I? Where are Alastor and the others?

"O Spirits, the man-eating monsters have crawled out from their tombs..." Suddenly, a salty sea breeze blew past, and I heard a blurred voice carried by the wind.

The tone was peaceful and serene, but to my ears, it sounded like ten thousand arrows being fired at once—it was a sound of iron and horses, filled with a killing intent.

I followed the voice until it grew closer.

Stopping my pace, I saw a group of white-robed believers on the beach. They were barefoot, forming a semi-circle around a jagged rock. Their faces were solemn as they chanted in unison.

"In the name of the Lord, may this person, a child of the Spirits, return to the side of the Divine. May the merciful hands of the Lord protect his peace and forgive his sins..."

"Amen..."

I finally saw clearly. On that protruding rock by the sea, a man was hanging!

Cass!

It was Cass!

Almost without thinking, I rushed forward. "Let him go! Let him go!"

I screamed and charged at them frantically, completely forgetting I was a vampire and ignoring the powers I possessed.

...Like a helpless child trying to save their most important person, I rushed forward with raw, unprotected force.

I passed straight through them and fell clumsily onto the sand. I looked back in disbelief; not a single person noticed my presence.

They couldn't see me... they couldn't feel me...

Why!

Cass was nailed to that cross. The massive spikes were driven into his wrists and ankles, crimson blood snaking down from the wounds...

He was pinned there, his white sweater soaked in blood...

"Cass! Cass!" I scrambled up and rushed to his side. I wanted to save him, but my hands passed right through him. I couldn't touch him!

I couldn't touch him!

The crimson blood stung my eyes. I tried in vain again and again to save him, but I was powerless!

He slowly lowered his head. The rimless glasses on his nose slid silently onto the sand. A white-robed believer walked forward and stepped on the glasses. With a crisp "crack," the lenses shattered into countless tiny shards.

"Speak. Do you plead guilty?"

Cass kept his head lowered, motionless, as if he no longer showed any signs of life.

"Stubborn and unrepentant!"

"Almighty Lord, we pray to exile this demon so it may never return to his side. May its eyes never see him, its hands never touch him, and its mouth never call his name!"

Cass suddenly shivered. He slowly raised his head.

"No..." A few beads of blood seeped from his dry, cracked lips. He gritted his teeth. "Don't..."

"Curse this demon, let it never return to your side. Let its eyes never see you, its hands never touch you, its mouth never call your name..." the white-robed believers chanted softly.

"My Aurora is not a demon!" His lips trembled as he spoke. "Do not curse her..."

My eyes widened as tears suddenly fell.

Hearing that forbidden name from his lips, the white-robed believers began to panic.

The chanting grew more intense. The man, who remained as gentle as an angel even while nailed to the cross, suddenly smiled faintly.

Cass slowly closed his eyes, his pale, dry lips parting slightly.

What was he saying?

I stood beside him, listening to his soft murmur.

"Aurora, even if your eyes can never see me again, even if your hands can never touch me, even if... your mouth can never call my name..."

"This time, let me come to see you. Let me touch you. Let me go to your side..."

"Then, I will become a beam of warm sunshine by your side, accompanying you, protecting you, and... never leaving you again, never leaving you alone..."

Tears fell like broken strings of pearls. I looked at him, and a certain part of my heart was suddenly filled.

He did not plead guilty. He did not believe that loving me was a sin just because I was a demon...

Unnoticed, the eastern horizon began to show a hint of pale light. The dark night had quietly passed.

A warm sun rose slowly from the sea level. The azure sea was peaceful and serene...

Crystalline tears slid down my face, reflecting a dazzling, rainbow-like light under the sun.

"Aurora..." a voice called out.

I looked at Cass. Those deep gray eyes were peaceful and gentle, as if those massive nails were not driven into his hands and feet at all.

He was looking at me!

He saw me!

"Aurora..." His pale, dry lips parted as he slowly uttered those syllables. It was as warm as ever.

I reached out and embraced him.

"Michael!" Hino Umaba’s vicious voice rang out.

I jolted awake, looking up at Cass again, only to see a pair of peaceful, compassionate eyes. Behind him were the six holy wings of light.

Releasing my hold, I looked back and found myself inside the castle in the Demon Realm. Hino Umaba was staring at me with a distorted, hateful face.

What happened?!

"She set an illusion to send your soul back to the past," Michael said gently. "If you hadn't woken up, your soul would have stayed in the past forever, never to return."

Returned to the past? Then... everything I just saw, it really happened?

Cass... did not regret it.

He did not plead guilty.

"Lord Michael, don't forget she is a demon. You have saved her time and again—what exactly are your intentions?!" Hino Umaba sneered.

"The Inquisition is the Lord’s eye in the human realm. As the 265th Director, you not only let the Inquisition decline under your watch but also sold your soul to demons and became a vengeful spirit," Michael’s voice was calm and gentle. "In the name of the Lord, I descend punishment upon you here."

As he spoke, a beam of holy white light enveloped Hino Umaba.

"Hahaha... Punishment?!" Hino Umaba laughed loudly, her body already becoming semi-transparent. "Look at what is on her forehead."

Her? Which her?

Following Hino Umaba’s gaze, I went cross-eyed trying to look at my own forehead.

Me? Was she talking about me? Was there something on my forehead?

A sudden heat flared on my brow. I raised a hand to touch it, but felt nothing.

Michael pulled me closer, his brow furrowing slightly.

I looked at him in surprise. In those gentle gray eyes, I saw a black flame mark had appeared between my eyebrows.

What was that?