Chapter 334: I Surpass This Victory (Part 3)
When Lily finished killing the lone Moon Children and slowly crept back to the hall in the shadows, she was suddenly startled.
Why is the ground covered with white ash——
She had just left the hall not long ago, and at that time some Moon Children had already been attacked and killed by earthbound spirits.
Lily probably guessed that it must have been the young master's doing.
Because she had noticed that Aiwass had gone to inquire about the haunted inn near Eagle Point Village and prepared the materials for sealing the Flame-Rebellious Butterfly...so she felt that maybe Aiwass was going to catch ghosts.
The result is really...
But that kind of death was not complete for the Son of the Moon.
As Director Cornelius had said, it was difficult for the Earthbound Spirit to directly harm the Moonchildren. The Moonchildren he killed were usually weak newborns. After all, their souls were too fragile... attacking the soul directly, bypassing the Moonchildren's immortality, pulverizing them into dust.
The rest were basically the Sons of the Moon who were trapped in hallucinations and killing each other.
The deaths caused by this kind of killing without a finishing blow are not terrible - although they fall to the ground and stop breathing and heartbeat, as long as the blood has not been completely drained, they are not truly dead.
Even if they turn into gray sculptures, they can still be awakened if enough blood is spilled on them.
Even if the statue is destroyed by supernatural forces and only ashes remain, a certain amount of ashes can be combined with the corpses of other supernatural beings on the Path of Love to create a new Moon Child. This can also be considered a kind of rebirth.
And if the amount of ashes is large enough, it can be resurrected directly through the ritual... but then the Moon Child will be all-in-one.
——Only newborns would be afraid of this.
Because they do not have the common sense of being monsters, they still regard themselves as the dead before, and therefore they fear physical death.
To completely kill a Moon Child, one must soak the ashes with holy water from the path of devotion, or other liquids from the path. Alternatively, they must be burned to death with fire and light, or their souls can be directly attacked to kill them. A Moon Child burned to death will skip immortality and turn directly into ashes instead of becoming a statue, just like the old man who died after being attacked by the earthbound spirit.
Such ashes cannot create a new Moon Child, nor can they be resurrected.
Lily had already prepared herself mentally—a large number of Moon Children would gather in this hall, their rank undoubtedly higher than those who had escaped. This was bound to be a fierce battle.
But in the end, there was only one Son of the Moon sitting alone in the hall.
She was a green-eyed woman with beautiful, long, smooth black hair and glasses.
She was sipping the blood wine alone, with an indifferent and aloof expression on her face.
Across from her sat another woman who looked exactly like her. Black smoke was emanating from her body, and she looked at them with malicious intent... Apart from not wearing glasses, she looked no different from the other woman.
She was holding another girl in her arms, and she was looking towards Lily with a soft, foxy smile that Lily was so familiar with.
Lily relied on her own intuition and almost immediately recognized the identity of the "other Bayard" who was not wearing glasses.
That is...
——Miss Shadow Demon?
“How could it be…”
Seeing this scene, the first person to fall into confusion and astonishment... was the shadow demon in Lily's shadow.
There was no doubt that she also sensed the other party's identity.
"Thank you for your hard work...Alai. You saved me a lot of time."
Aiwass said with a smile, raising a glass of wine to Lily: "Are you thirsty? Have a drink? There's no blood in this."
There was a look of mischief on her face that only she and Lily could understand.
Lily reacted quickly.
He walked over helplessly, took the red wine from Aiwass's hand, skillfully helped Aiwass open the bottle and poured two glasses - it was a kind of red wine that had become extremely rare and expensive due to the war in the empire.
Aiwass was probably too lazy to open the bottle himself, so he held it and waited for Lily to come...
Lily said casually, "What are you doing, Mr. Gray? Oh, by the way, I've killed the ban..."
"That would be great."
Aiwass said lightly, "So, there are now six confirmed dead—we've won again."
“…Six people?”
Lily was a little surprised: "I thought you...you killed them all."
"One missed. He was running too fast, there was no way."
Aiwass gave a meaningful smile. "But it's okay to let him live... He's a talented person. Killing him might ruin his talent."
——I understand. The young master is moved again.
Lily thought.
Lily was now incredibly familiar with this expression—the same one Aiwass had when he went to see Mr. King. It was a strong desire of "I see it, I want it, I get it."
However, with just such a brief contact, the young master was able to directly see through the other party's true identity... This investigative ability is truly amazing.
Lily sighed in her heart.
"……really."
The shadow demon in Lily's shadow sighed, seeming a little confused: "This is... a promotion ceremony."
When it heard the term "promotion quota" before, it had vaguely sensed something was amiss, but it simply refused to believe it.
And now it has been truly confirmed.
The hatred, pain, and confusion in my heart... are all false. And the desire for revenge is also false.
Just thinking about it, the hatred I felt when I saw "Bayard" right in front of me became so absurd and ridiculous.
——Looking at the shadow demon, it knew that it had eaten Bayard in the future. Otherwise, the silhouette of the shadow demon would not have any color.
If the person it transforms into has a color, it means it has already devoured the other person and completed assimilation, incorporating the other person into its own body.
In other words, he has already completed his revenge in the future.
There are three Bayards here now.
Bayard as the Son of the Moon; Bayard resurrected as a demon; Bayard who became a shadow demon and returned to the past with his master...
The past, present, and future were intertwined. This contradiction and pain made Shadow Fiend feel as if his nonexistent brain was humming with pain.
But at this moment, as the desire for revenge faded, a new confusion arose in her heart...
Look at the terrifying and cold demonic posture of "future self" - compared with "Bayard" next to him, who is more like a monster?
"You guys should be leaving soon, right?"
Bayard, the Son of the Moon, suddenly spoke up: "Then we will never see each other again."
She looked at the girl, her eyes full of longing.
"If, as you say, six ascendants have been killed... then even the New Moon Ritual should be completed."
Shadow Demon Bayard let out a low rumbling sound: "Or, do you have any other mission to accomplish here?"
"There is indeed one more."
The girl replied.
She looked at the Son of the Moon and showed a beautiful smile on her face that stunned the Shadow Demon.
She walked over slowly and hugged Yue Zhizi from behind.
She leaned over and whispered softly, "My Master...
"—Excuse me, can I kill you?"
Miss Bayard, with her back to Aiwass, smiled when she heard this.
It was a smile that he had guessed long ago and had been mentally prepared for, so it seemed extremely frank and calm.
"sure."
Without even turning her head, she turned her back to Aiwass and said softly, "We've already agreed on this."
The Shadow Demon who witnessed this scene only felt that his non-existent brain was vibrating violently.
It felt as if it had missed something important.
At this moment, another "self" appeared in Lily's shadow. She entered so smoothly and naturally that she forced the shadow demon into a corner.
The Shadow Demon finally realized why this person's shadow was so attractive and why he instinctively went in... like a puppy that sees a new kennel and runs in on its own.
"I have an idea."
My future self said, "I know you want to kill Bayard once, and I want to too. But I can no longer devour her."
"Haven't you already devoured her once?"
The Shadow Demon sneered, "Do you still want to eat me? But I'm fake. If you eat me, it will just be air."
“No,” my other self responded calmly, “I have not eaten Bayard.
"In the history I experienced, it was she who ultimately offered herself to me. Because of this, I no longer use the name Bayard, and I almost never use this body anymore."
"……What?"
The Shadow Demon was stunned.
"We've been through a lot, and eventually even became friends. Her willingness to sacrifice herself ended my vengeance, and the endless anger in my heart was finally calmed. I regained my rationality, but the mark of rage was removed, and therefore I could no longer grow stronger."
The future Shadow Demon said calmly, “However, my revenge did not end properly.
"I think this might be my only chance in this life. The benevolent twin mirror allows me to connect with my past self...with two of my past selves at the same time.
“Even if everything is fake, the experience left behind will be real—I think this is what the Twin Mirror is trying to say.”
"……never mind."
The Shadow Demon was silent for a moment, then sighed, "As you wish."
It felt that it was gradually merging with another self.
The Shadow Demon is amorphous, without body, name, or color. It is just a burning rage of nothingness.
But now, it felt the cold and empty heart of its other self.
But now, within that... it seemed to vaguely feel a hint of warmth that shouldn't exist.
It looked like flowing blood, and also like a golden sun.
It was a deep purple glow, a freedom beyond all restraints—
“…That’s great.”
The Shadow Demon sighed silently.
——I really envy you.
The shadow under Aiwass gradually spread like a quagmire.
The shadow demon transformed into a hound and emerged from under the motionless Miss Bayard.
The dog's head, taller than a human, opened its mouth, revealing huge, razor-sharp teeth. The shadow dog swallowed Bayard whole and dragged him into a shadow resembling a black swamp.
That was Shadow Dog's Bite, the Shadow Demon's most powerful move. It instantly devoured a person and carried them away—even if they tried their best to resist, they would be taken to the dream world and lose their physical body.
If the opponent's resistance is ineffective, or if they simply do not resist, they will become food for the Shadow Fiend.
——In this way, all tasks are completed.
Aiwass took a sip of the expensive red wine, looked at the shadow demon who had suddenly lost his voice after devouring Bayard, and said calmly, "As for the last person, it should be Mr. Stranger who was next to me at the time. He was bought by Bashir Valentine and should still be discussing alchemy with him in the carriage.
"As for the one beside me... she's not Alai, but Hui. I am Alai.
"Is this all right, Lord Terpsichoree? Does this meet the settlement requirements for Secret Reflection?"
After a brief silence, a soft, ethereal and pleasant voice sounded:
"Triggering the victory condition for 'Secret Reflection', ignoring the necessary tasks and resolving them early—"
A pure white light appeared before the eyes of everyone, including those who had died in the ceremony.
It was the brilliance of the temporary dream world suddenly collapsing and disintegrating.
A series of constantly changing images appeared before everyone's eyes:
The bound young man, his eyes burning with anger, cursed loudly;
A young man walking in a secret passage was suddenly pierced through the back of his head by an ice spike from behind.
An indistinct mass of something was submerged and devoured by countless scarlet tentacles amidst shrill screams;
The girl lying on the ground was bleeding from all seven orifices, her eyes were empty and lifeless;
The young man's naked body was covered with traces of acid corrosion, and his face showed an expression of painful struggle;
The girl had a helpless but not panicky smile on her face, and calmly got stabbed into a sea urchin by the shadow spear;
The girl was happily chatting with the other person at the table, and the atmosphere between them was harmonious and warm;
Shadows lingered around the young man's feet, and the smile on his face became strange and terrifying;
And finally, the well-behaved girl lay quietly in the arms of the black-haired woman and fell asleep.
The picture froze on the girl's sweet sleeping face, and then the whole picture collapsed and turned into a sea of blood, slowly dripping.
Ai Hua suddenly couldn't hold it anymore.
"——Why is it this scene?!"
Update completed!
Today's post is almost 9,000 words, so it's a little late——
I feel like if I write any more it will be over ten thousand words, so the entry will have to be put off until tomorrow!
(End of this chapter)
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