CHAPTER 579: EPILOGUE 1

End of remarks.)

Western Human Realms: Azure city, Guild of Demon Hunters, branch office.

Half a month had passed since Nicole stabbed Mo Ke in the chest. Within this half month, Nicole barely ate or drank. All she did was stare blankly at Mo Ke’s recording crystal, which she kept close to herself at all times.

Just like it did on that fateful day, it continued playing that song without pause as Nicole mutely listened.

Even if it was possible to nourish her body through alchemical potions, these two weeks of unnatural eating, or lack thereof, caused her to thin significantly.

Her robust and lean figure was now skinny to the point of seeing bone. Yet had it not been for Neneth forcefully opening her mouth, even those potions would have been rejected.

As Aques Lumen stood before her door, paused in deep thought, he finally decided to take that fateful step.

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Knock, knock, knock, went the door, Neneth’s feeding just about done.

Upon hearing the rapping, she whipped her head around and smiled when she saw who it was. However, the moment she remembered what state Nicole was still in, her smile immediately darkened by half.

Even the bright and cheerful girl that she was couldn’t find a reason to smile in this situation.

“Branch Leader…”

“Neneth. Get some rest for now, there’s something I need to talk to your sister Nicole. Alone.” Aques Lumen greeted her curtly then expressed for her to leave.

“Kay.” Innocent as she was, it had never crossed her mind that Aques Lumen would try to harm Nicole, thus she left without question.

With Neneth out of the room, Aques Lumen walked up to the dazed girl, and peered right into her dead eyes while he patiently and silently stood there.

Nicole wasn’t interested at all in what the man had to say to her. She merely curled up in her bed, red crystal tightly clutched to her heart.

“Nicole, my student.” He opened up in a heavy tone. In his heart, he had resolved to tell his devil-hating student his greatest secret to date. “I am actually not a pure human at all. The power of a devil flows in my body as well.”

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Faced with that explosive revelation, Nicole showed no signs of reaction at all, to which even Aques Lumen couldn’t help but twitch his eyebrows a little and smile crookedly.

He had honestly thought that Nicole would jump off the bed right there and then, and perhaps even draw her sword at him. After all, she was never one to suffer a devil waltzing around in front of her.

Unfortunately, she did not even react. As if she hadn’t heard him at all, she continued curling up on her bed.

“In the past, I met an illusion demon.” He continued, not caring if Nicole actually heard him or not. “Even though I’m sure in the eyes of a human, devils must have seemed monstrous, but she looked beautiful to me…”

According to him, he had a chance encounter with a female illusion demon when he was but a teenager. Then, through some strange twist of fate, the two hit it off.

Since time immemorial, love has always had the ability to make one forget their rationality. This time was no different as well. It didn’t take much for the fires of their romance to overcome the hatred their species held for each other.

However, this arrangement wasn’t fated to be a long one. The parents of this illusion demon soon sent their subordinates through a dimensional gate to wrest the two away from each other forcefully.

With no other choice, the female illusion demon used her secret arts to transfer her soul into Aques Lumen’s body. From that moment on, Aques Lumen gained a portion of an illusion demon’s power. In exchange, that illusion demon’s soul was sent into a coma.

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The only way to restore her consciousness would be to recreate a body for her. However, that illusion demon was of noble blood, making it a lot harder to find a suitable vessel in a place like the Western Human Realms.

In honesty, his initial goal of joining the Guild of Demon Hunters was to find a method of entering Abaddon. That was the hell that the illusion demon’s parents lived in. If it was them, they would have a way of reviving their offspring.

Unfortunately, Abaddon was a place of mystery for the humans. At the very least, there hadn’t been a reported case of someone being sent there ever making it back alive.

The brass of the guild actually knew of this matter as well. However, they had never once tried to burn him on the stake for that.

At the heart, the guild was just an organisation to hunt down the denizens of the dark; they weren’t the Church, and had even left it long ago. The guild as it was now only looked at strength for what it was. If it could be used for their sake, they weren’t going to turn it away.

Now that Aques Lumen’s recounting was over, Nicole still looked as comatose as before.

“Nicole, my student. As your teacher, I must tell you this.” He paused for a second. Every debt had its debtor, thus he decided to lay out his deduction.

“I’ve already asked Neneth; that person known as Mo Na should be your younger brother, Mo Ke.”

Nicole looked up with a start, her eyes blazing with hope never seen before.

“I’ve made contact with that person as well. According to my experience, he, or them should be more accurate, are two souls in one body. Normally, one of the souls will control the body while the other only comes out under special circumstances.” Seeing her finally react to his words, even he got a little excited as elaborated, “I have looked through the books myself recently, such a condition does in fact exist…”

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The book he read talked of a boy who unwittingly released the seal on a tool meant to seal devils. The soul of the sealed devil invaded the boy’s body, in a bid to claim it for his own. However, a body would always reject foreign intrusions, so the devil could only live in the boy as a parasite, coming out to make some noise from time to time.

As for what happened to that boy afterwards, the book did not mention. Perhaps, he was dissected in a lab somewhere….

Finally, Aques Lumen ended with this conclusion, “Your younger brother isn’t dead.”

This explanation was the proverbial light in the darkness for Nicole right now.

The whole reason why she was so upset was because she had acknowledged that the person she stabbed was her beloved younger brother.

Even now, the memories of Ferti’nier assuming control of Mo Ke’s body continued to haunt her. She thought she had killed Mo Ke, with her very own hands, hence her desire to punish herself by starvation. Only by doing so could she feel alive.

“Teacher… is Ke really still alive?” Nicole asked with a river of tears flowing down her eyes. She desperately clung onto the recording crystal as her tears slowly soaked the reddish crystal.

“Mhm. I’m sure of it.” Aques Lumen nodded his head. “I had talked to that devil a few times. She addressed the owner of that body as her little brother, so I’m sure their relationship shouldn’t be an adversarial one.”

Hearing that, Nicole immediately recalled another clue she had buried. “Ke told me he encountered a Fallen Angel in distress. He died trying to save her from goblins. So it was true then, that Fallen Angel really sent him into the Blood Sea to reincarnate?!”

“That devil controlling your younger brother’s body was very strong. She could have easily killed us all there and then, so I doubt she had a reason to lie to us…”

“What have I… done…” She looked down at her bony hands, recalling that exact moment when she first stabbed him: how the joy in eyes turned to confusion… No matter how much she cried, the guilt in her heart did not lessen in the slightest.

Seeing her so devastated, Aques Lumen couldn’t help but reach out to her again, “I’m sure he will forgive you. In fact, he probably doesn’t even blame you.”

“You really think so… teacher?” Even though that was a question she asked, her eyes more than made clear that it was an affirmative she was seeking.

She was deathly afraid of losing him, and never before had she hated herself more than these past two weeks.

Aques Lumen knew that the danger was finally over.

He smiled gently and nodded. “He has visited the Western Human Realms twice already. The last time, he rushed back home to find you, even in his devil form. You can see how much he misses you. I’m sure he won’t blame you, besides…”

“Besides?”

“Just like your younger brother, I have the same attitude towards the girl I love.” He remarked cheekily. However, his voice soon turned solemn. “The first time your younger brother visited Azure City, he sang a voice. I had once received a prophecy stating that the person singing this song would bring about the Apocalypse…”

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“Ke would never!”

This was the first time Nicole had ever forcefully interrupted her teacher like that. Her eyes bulged out as she glared at the man.

“Regardless, I hope that you are made aware of that prophecy.” He calmly ignored her hostility and continued explaining. “If that prophecy is true, then we need to do our best to stop it from happening. And if there’s anyone who can stop that prophecy, stop your younger brother from destroying the world, that would be you.”

“Teacher…”

Not even in a single word did she detect an ounce of hostility in her teacher. She had initially thought that Aques Lumen would kill Mo Ke in order to prevent the prophecy, yet not only was he trying to help her, he was trying his best to settle this prophecy in the most gentle way possible.

“I understand that this will be a difficult mission. But should we really get to that stage… our hopes will lie with you.” Having said that, a deep sense of helplessness seeped into his heart. Even so, what had to be said, must be said. “Remember: for your younger brother, his feelings for you will be the sturdiest restraints.