Cain could do nothing as he watched himself be sucked into a world of shadows.
Very soon, he landed on what felt like solid ground.
He knew this place rather well.
His expression was dark as he slowly rose to his feet.
"You better have a really good explanation for this, Eva." His gaze shifted through the darkness of the world of shadows until it settled on the only thing that was not made up entirely of shifting darkness.
Evangeline was as beautiful as always. The silver strands of her hair still glimred with radiant beauty even in this realm of dark shadows.
Her crimson eyes were as bewitching as the night sky, and her delicate curves were accentuated by the wonderful black leather armor she wore.
Her crimson gaze was pinned right into his body.
"Of course I do." She said calmly.
Cain raised his brows. She has always been strange, but he didn’t think she would do sothing like this without good reason under normal circumstances.
Still, it was never too bad to be cautious. For all he knew, she might well have brought him down here to assassinate him.
His finger wrapped around the hilt of his weapon tightly.
Evangeline’s eyes drifted over to the blade in his hand. His posture had not relaxed even a bit.
Her lips trembled and arched into a smile.
"Oh? Looks like you are still in a fighting mood. That’s good."
Cain’s eyes narrowed,
"What is this, Eva..."
Evangeline pursed her lips,
"I need you to co with . The battle you need to fight is sowhere else."
Cain frowned, "Is this so kind of joke?"
Evangeline’s expression turned serious,
"No. I am serious. Steve and the others can handle the Devils here. I’ve co to take you where you need to be, Cain."
He was speechless for a mont.
Then he let out an exasperated sigh,
"And that would be where, I wonder..."
Evangeline smiled,
"Battling the leader of the Devils, of course..."
Cain froze.
Indeed, it would be nice and well of he could end the life of the Devil Leader. That would an the greatest obstacle would be taken off the board. The rest of the pieces would fall naturally after that.
Still, it felt too farfetched to be true,
"The Leader of the Devils? Shouldn’t he be holed up within the Devil Spire?"
Evangeline shook her head,
"No. The final battle for the city is about to unfold "
She paused for a mont, then sighed,
"I guess it will be good if I give you all the information you need. But..."
Her expression turned a bit cold,
"I wonder if I am spoiling you or not. Constantly engaging in battles and trying to get yourself killed is not the only thing a leader does, Cain. You have to think strategically, to devour your enemies by expending the least amount of resources as possible."
Cain went silent.
Then he sighed. White motes of light wrapped around the blade in his hand and it disappeared into his inventory.
"Thank you. Please, give everything you know."
Evangeline paused for a mont with raised brows,
"You aren’t suspicious anymore?"
Cain smiled wryly,
"What’s there to be suspicious about? We are at a rather critical point so I’d rather we don’t waste any more ti."
’Yeah. Those idiots can handle it without .’ He smiled internally.
Evangeline chuckled,
"If you say so. Then..."
She proceeded to give him a quick rundown of the situation while he listened in silence.
"The Blood Matriarch is your adoptive mother?!" Cain went wide-eyed.
Evangeline shrugged,
"You don’t have to be that surprised. I lost both my parents when I was younger. My family belonged to a subsidiary clan and she had already taken a liking to my father. Perhaps I reminded her of him, for so reason..."
Cain went silent, unsure of how to handle the situation.
He cleared his throat and decided to steer away from it entirely.
"Still, this is good, isn’t it? With the two of them fighting, we can make use of this opportunity to destroy the Devil Spire. Once they exhaust themselves, we can swoop in and—"
"No. I had sothing else in mind." Evangeline said, a strange smile creeping onto her face.
Cain narrowed his eyes in suspicion,
"That sounds..."
Evangeline chuckled,
"You would be right to panic. After all..."
A dangerous gleam flashed through her eyes,
"I plan on killing her with my own too hands."
Cain froze in shock. Then he chuckled nervously,
"That... Isn’t she your family?"
Evangeline turned to him, the look on her eyes sinisterly cold,
"Less family and more like a rather crafty business associate. If she is out of the picture, I can assu the mantle of Blood Matriarch. aning the Blood Moon Sect will fall under my command. Which ans..."
Cain out his hands up to stop her,
"Hold up. Let’s slow down a bit,"
Evangeline tilted her head,
"What part in all that did you not understand?"
Cain’s eyes twitched,
"Everything! Since when did you begin worshiping the Blood Moon Goddess?!"
Evangeline pursed her lips,
"I don’t. But if I kill Aurora, I will acquire the seed of Divinity in her. I assu the Blood Moon Goddess won’t refuse having soone like as her champion."
Cain fell silent for a while.
"Is that what you want?" He asked softly after so ti has passed.
"Hm?" Evangeline was a bit taken by surprise.
Cain sighed,
"If this is sothing you are doing for , I assure you; you don’t need to— Ah!"
A stinging pain on his forehead, Cain furiously rubbed on it as he stared at Evangeline in disbelief.
’Since when did she beco so powerful, or am I just weak against forehead shots?!’
"Don’t spew nonsense. I’m doing this for my own gains. It is completely selfish." Evangeline said coldly.
Although she said that, Cain thought he could see a faint blush on her cheeks.
He couldn’t help but feel a bit happy.
And a bit relieved.
"Is it really that good to be the champion of a Celestial?"
Evangeline sighed,
"Ignoring the obvious limitations and risks, it is. To survive the invasions of Devils, the only way we lesser beings can resist the darkness, is by clinging onto the light of divinity the celestials provide. Living or dead."
"Still, I don’t think it is worth it. And when the ti cos, the Celestial will take possession of your body against your will."
Evangeline snorted and waved her hand dismissively,
"When that ti cos, I’ll handle it. For now, you don’t have to worry about anything. Just use that big sword of yours to smite that Devil down for ."
Cain smiled wryly,
"Why do you make it sound like I’m so musclebrain?"
Evangeline turned to him, a faint glimr in her eyes,
"Well, that’s because you are a bit of a musclebrain. Still, it isn’t so bad, is it?"
Cain chuckled, "No. It’s terrible."
Evangeline chuckled then turned around,
"Follow . We have to make it there in ti or we’ll miss all the fun."
Cain shrugged,
"There’s nothing fun about war. Only blood. And suffering. And—"
Feeling a strange gaze on him, Cain quickly cleared his throat,
"And maybe a little fun sprinkled in, I guess."
They continued to walk in this land of shadows for a while longer.
Cain used that ti to organize his thoughts.
’So this is it, huh... As long as I can defeat this final monster, we will break off the head of the tumor. We have a chance of turning things around.’
He glanced at Evangeline’s back, still lost in thoughts.
’But can it really be so easy?’
Of course not.
He was about to battle against a Tier 3 Devil. Although he had fought against a Tier 3 being before, in a sense, it wasn’t the sa.
Rather, it was a frugal imitation at what a a Tier 3 was supposed to be.
When Balangol had descended into the realm of mortals, he had taken possession of a weak human body that was not able to contain even a fraction of a fraction of his power.
And even then, he had co infinitely close to death.
While he has grown substantially since then, he was unsure if what he had beco could hold up against the real deal.
It didn’t help that the thing he was going to battle was a Devil.
As they continued in their path of ascension, the power divide between regular creatures and Devils began to beco clearly and clearer. Perhaps a Tier 2 humans would be able to defeat a Tier 2 Devil alone. Even then, the odds were not sure.
But a regular Tier 3 human would have absolutely no chance at all, let alone a Tier 2 like him.
In theory, he was running off to his death.
He snapped out of his thoughts and stared at Evangeline,
’Isn’t that what she’s trying to do as well? Then wouldn’t that make the two of us idiots? Courageous idiots, sure, but idiots nonetheless...’
He sighed.
Suddenly, the world of shadows began to fade and shrink away.
The sounds of war began to fill his ears.
Evangeline turned to him. There was a strange smile on her face,
"Cain."
She called out to him.
He lifted his gaze and found that his eyes were stuck on her, unable to look away.
She was like a radiant star, burning bright and beautiful.
She smiled,
"If you win, I’ll treat you to sothing nice."
He raised a brow, then chuckled,
"Good. That’s all the motivation I need then."
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