Chapter 74: Cass

I stared at him in astonishment. Within those gentle gray eyes, I saw a black flame mark had appeared between my own eyebrows.

What was that?

"I have already placed a curse upon her. If I vanish, she will be buried with me," Hino Umaba sneered.

I grew furious, jumping up and pointing at her nose as I cursed her out, "Why the hell are you dragging me down with you! If you want to die for love, this isn't the way to do it!"

Hino Umaba’s face twitched slightly. She gave Michael a cold look. "Well? Do you still wish to continue?"

Seeing that arrogant, punchable face made my blood boil. This woman was exceptionally stupid; Michael had wanted to eliminate me long ago. He wasn't Cass—how could he possibly show mercy?

"You are using her to threaten me?" Michael smiled, the light in his palm growing intensely bright. "Do not indulge in delusions. I have long since discarded those useless emotions."

Discarded useless emotions? I looked at Michael suspiciously. What did that mean?

Hino Umaba’s expression changed slightly.

"I am not that useless human, so do not attempt to bind me with human sentiment." With those words, the beam of white light lunged straight toward Hino Umaba.

"I won't allow you to speak of Cass that way!" Hino Umaba shrieked, driven nearly to madness.

"Hehehe..." Michael smiled. "Cass, that useless human... he never truly existed."

Never existed?

What did that mean?

How could that be...

The man who was so kind to me... he actually said Cass never existed?

"I am Cass," Michael said with a smile.

Michael and Cass were the same person?

Was this a fairy tale? I stood there dazed, unable to process it.

"Just like Lilith and Aurora, Cass was merely my avatar. I separated the most cowardly and incompetent emotions from myself to create Cass."

"What are you saying? You're lying!" Hino Umaba screamed.

"Host bodies, possessions—it’s all laughable. The man called Cass... was always just a piece of useless trash separated from my body. Now that I have reclaimed this form, it is only right. However, that fool really was a complete idiot; he actually offered to return his body voluntarily just to trade for ten days with you five years later. Isn't he truly beyond help?" Michael looked at me and smiled.

I stood there in a daze.

That day, meeting on the street.

That day, he smiled as he pulled me into his arms.

That warm embrace, carrying a faint fragrance. He said: My Aurora has grown up.

At that time, in an embrace so incredibly warm, I had sensed a certain scent of sorrow.

But I didn't care back then.

I was only worried he would leave me again, vanishing mysteriously once more. I needed a promise, so I asked him: You won't leave quietly again, will you?

Beneath those thin lenses, a flicker of trance passed through those deep gray eyes. He smiled and answered me: Of course not.

That night, a pair of warm hands gently brushed my cheek.

He asked: Aurora, are you asleep?

I kept my eyes closed and remained silent.

Then... a warmth touched my brow. His lips gently kissed the center of my forehead with a cautious tenderness.

My vision blurred...

Cass, my Cass, he had never truly left me.

He said: 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...

He said: 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...

He did it.

After being nailed to the cross, after being judged, he who no longer had the strength to return to my side offered up his own physical existence just to trade for ten days with me.

Hino Umaba was trapped within that sphere of white light, her face looking wretched and despairing.

The Directors of the Inquisition were appointed by the Elders and trained from childhood. She had to face that harsh training every day since she was five. As a child, unable to endure the rigor, she tried to run away countless times, but each time she was dragged back and beaten until she was covered in wounds.

Only Cass—only Cass would help her. Only Cass was kind to her.

Every time she was beaten, Cass would apply medicine for her and teach her to endure. That was why she had endured, all the way until she grew up...

A man as good as Cass, as kind as Cass... actually never existed?

Watching Hino Umaba slowly vanish, I suddenly felt a sense of shared sorrow.

"Stop." Suddenly, a black flame spiraled forward, lunging at Hino Umaba and snapping the layer of holy white light apart.

The Great Demon King Samael appeared.

"Aurora... are you alright?" Alastor cried out exaggeratedly, appearing by my side.

"This woman's illusion magic is very powerful; we were all fooled by her just now." Kaan Tung, holding her crystal ball, walked over while clutching Usan’s hand.

Looking at those two joined hands—hardship truly reveals true feelings. Their relationship had certainly progressed by leaps and bounds.

"Lift the curse." Samael looked at Hino Umaba and spoke coldly.

Hino Umaba laughed. "Impossible. This curse has no cure."

"Is that so..." Samael nodded.

I was surprised. Since when was this guy so easy to talk to?

He raised his hand, and a delicate small glass bottle appeared in his palm. "Get in."

Hino Umaba let out a sharp cry and was sucked into the bottle.

"Let me out! Let me out!" Hino Umaba turned into a mass of black mist, her features indistinguishable as she shrieked inside the tiny glass bottle.

"Since she will be safe as long as you exist, you shall prepare to stay here forever." He plugged the bottle and spoke flatly, placing the glass bottle inside his robes, keeping it close to his chest.

Alastor whistled. "You're so cool, Samael."

Turning my head, I looked at Michael, and something in my heart turned into a hollow void.

"Cass was the person who treated me best in this world. In your eyes, he might just be a part of you, just a useless human. But it so happens that the very emotion you deem most cowardly gave me the deepest warmth."

"Whether or not he was a 'real' existence, at the very least, he was real when he carried me home from a trash heap. He was real when he taught me to speak and walk. He was real when he was willing to be nailed to a cross for my sake. Therefore, regardless of whether he was a real existence, in the heart of Aurora, he will always be the most important person."

"Michael is the messenger of God, the commander of the Divine race, the legendary six-winged angel. Cass was always just a human; he gave Aurora a new life and a new soul. Michael and Cass have always been two different individuals. So, please, never say that you are Cass again."

Looking at him, my voice was cold to the bone.

Michael never once looked at me.

"Hino Umaba has been punished, and the monsters that escaped from the seal have vanished. There will be no more apocalypse."

After speaking flatly, he vanished into thin air.

That evening, a grand victory banquet was held to celebrate the Queen reclaiming her rule over the Demon Realm.

And so, another magnificent stroke was added to the legend of the Demon Queen.