The winding corridor spiraled downward into the depths. Humans in neat black uniforms and humanoid demons in grotesque masks like twisted ghosts now gathered together, standing along both sides of the hall and bowing, as if welcoming so exalted figure.
Even after their failed assault on the Hero, they still retained such power.
Clearly, the humans and monsters Vieya had encountered before were not the entirety of this mysterious organization. The ones who died on the battlefield had been only the tip of the iceberg; the true core remained dispersed, hidden near the vital hubs of the land.
At the corridor’s end lood a black iron gate dozens of ters tall. Beyond it lay a vast, lavish palace.
A man in an ancient military uniform stood before the gate, hands clasped behind him, an ink-dark tal mask hanging at his hip. His re presence exuded authority.
Aurora, the woman who had once clashed with Vieya beneath the ice, was here too. She strode past him, heels striking the red carpet as she entered the palace.
“Just you alone?” the man asked without turning.
“With the ss our failure made, what else could I do?” Aurora sighed, drained of spirit. “By the way, have you confird Vieya’s identity?”
“The daughter of an old noble family of the Royal Capital. She vanished in an accident over ten years ago. At the ti, people believed she’d been abducted and slain by monsters. It caused an uproar, with bounties hung across countless human city-states. But she was never found. As her family declined and was eventually forced out of the Capital, the matter faded from mory.”
“The identity Vieya uses now is that very daughter who vanished more than a decade ago. For all that ti she never appeared, but just half a month ago, she suddenly surfaced in Fengxiang Town,” the man answered.
Aurora pressed: “Didn’t she get taken once to the Tribunal? No one suspected her then?”
“According to our contact inside the Tribunal, a huge commotion occurred that day. Afterwards, everyone involved signed a confidentiality pact—one bound by divine power.”
After a pause, he continued:
“You fought her. Could you not deduce her school of power from her attack style, her preferences in battle?”
“Sorry. I couldn’t force her to go all out.” Aurora’s voice sank. In that duel, she had been toyed with from beginning to end.
She even suspected her escape at the end had been deliberate rcy.
Why let her go?
Was what Vieya said then true—that it was all for her sister’s sake?
But in the days after, Aurora scoured her sister’s relations. She found nothing linking her to Vieya.
“She didn’t go all out?”
The man pondered, wary himself. “Perhaps the Demon King Jiele Xiyin knew sothing. The anomalies during their clash were enough to alarm the Royal Capital... too bad she was silenced.”
“Silenced... not necessarily.” Aurora replied. “In the Demon King succession, mory and knowledge are inherited. Each ti one Demon King dies, a new one is born in that sa mont.”
“Such a thod of inheritance is enviable,” the man said absently.
“Enviable? Don’t make laugh.” Aurora sneered. “When you die, will soone sprout from the soil to carry your will and life? Wake up. The world doesn’t grow two identical leaves, not even on the sa tree beneath the sa sky.”
“Heh. Of course I know that.” His voice was as calm as still water. “Enough. Let’s go inside. Tianyuan Nine is waiting to hear the details of this operation.”
“Details?” Aurora snorted. “What, report how we were utterly crushed? How we were stripped bare, left with nothing—without even finding out her true identity?”
The man showed no concern, only a faint smile. “Perhaps she is one of humanity’s hidden trump cards. This may have been her first appearance.”
“A trump card? Ha. You’ve played cards so long you’ve gone stupid.”
...
The world dimd under storm clouds, rain lashing down in torrents.
Vieya was a little annoyed. To be honest, in a border ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) town caught between humans and demons, there weren’t many amusents to be found.
And the damned sky seed to be against her too, dropping great fat raindrops without end.
“The rain will fall regardless... let it.”
In the back street, Vieya walked slowly beneath a black umbrella. Jasmine clutched her other hand tightly, her little legs working frantically so as not to fall behind.
Everything in the human realm was strange, unknown, fresh and exciting to her.
“Mama, Mama, what are those people doing? Why don’t they hide from the rain, or use umbrellas?” Jasmine asked, curiosity burning in her clear eyes as she matched her mother’s deliberately slowed pace.
Vieya yawned and followed her daughter’s pointing finger. A crowd was gathered in the rain, yet the falling drops never touched them, splitting and sliding away before reaching their heads.
Flow Control – Rain.
A magical trick, only possible when the elents in the air were utterly calm. In battle, when mana and elents were chaotic, it was useless.
Most of the ti, only magic enthusiasts bothered learning such impractical spells... like Flaviel, that so-called archmage who claid mastery over 99% of all magic in the world—yet was actually a Demon King in disguise, hiding at Vieya’s side.
Vieya suddenly regretted never studying more magic, choosing instead to walk down the warrior’s path with no return.
If she’d been a bit more shaless, a bit more diligent, maybe she could have shown off magic in front of her daughter now.
The roar of cheers from the crowd cut her off from mory.
Her green eyes flickered with understanding, and she explained unhurriedly:
“That’s a wandering troupe performing a ‘Water-Shaped Play.’”
“‘Water-Shaped Play’? What’s that?” Jasmine blinked, pure innocence in her gaze.
Forgive her ignorance—she had only been in this world three years, most of that under confinent in the Demon King’s Castle. Her knowledge of the outside was ager.
“It’s a performance humans put on to celebrate,” Vieya explained as best she could.
“Celebrate...”
Jasmine turned the word over carefully in her mind. But then she noticed her view suddenly rise, and she could see the stage and the performance completely. Her small mouth opened in awe.
Cheers rolled from the audience. On stage, masked perforrs acted with full passion.
A stream of water shaped like a rmaid leapt through fiery rings in the air, sputtering steam with every pass. A fat seal puppet draped in peacock feathers opened its mouth, blowing the escaping steam into a cotton-candy cloud that floated skyward.
At its peak, the cloud burst into drifting white puffs across the heavens.
“ow~ why haven’t we eaten yet?”
The black cat poked her head from the backpack after sleeping the whole way. A puff of white cloud landed on her nose, making her sneeze explosively.
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