To His Hell and Back-Chapter 180: If You Kill A Demon

Bella felt a shiver run down her spine. She had doubted her ears upon hearing what Cassius had said. A moment and then two passed with her eyes staring blankly at him. No. It couldn’t be a real demon right? That would be impossible. Maybe it’s someone who looks like a demon? Perhaps a strong person... who was once called as demonic? Because dragons don’t exist so thus those demonic creatures. Worried, Arabella looked at his face only to see his cynical smile which made her shiver.

"How...? Demons are impo-... they are real?" Arabella asked him with her throat taut as if something had stuck deep into her throat and couldn’t be removed at all. She found herself wondering and questioning again, what was his age? How old was he? The one who had threw him into the cave... was his own mother?

"They are real," answered Cassius as he raised his hand and smoothened her hair, "I didn’t believe they existed at first st as well. Like any others, I don’t think they had existed, or at least would interact with creatures in the world. But then they were real and I had learnt that the hard way."

"I can’t imagine it... how could anyone defeat a demon? Even if you are strong you are still a child." Arabella furrowed her eyebrows, her expression looking even more severe as she thought about it and thought of how horrible this was for such a young boy.

Cassius smiled, thinking about how he was always said to be strong and so he was never someone that anyone would care whether how old he was or the fact that he was still only but a child. He had suffered much but never complained and whenever he sees children who cries to their parents, he didn’t know why would they do such thing. Why they would cry and wail and why their parents hadn’t admonished them like his mother would have and had instead scooped their body into a warm hug.

As a child he doesn’t and even now he doesn’t. But he knew it wasn’t right.

Though then what else would he do? His parents being cold to him was already a done past, nothing can’t be changed and Cassius didn’t regret it.

He didn’t know if that meant he had made peace with what had happened. Perhaps he just felt detached.

Seeing Arabella’s eyes downcasted and her sorrow expressed in her face, he could feel that perhaps his childhood self would have been happy to see how someone had really cared for him.

"A child who bears the crown can’t live like other children," Cassius said with ease but he didn’t want Arabella to continue being upset on his behalf and turned away, instead continuing, "The demon that I see was summoned by an old rune. It’s passed down from those of my mother’s bloodline. The story goes that the demon’s rune was formed by an old vampire while he was trying alchemy. The alchemy failed but he managed to summon a demon with the rune which eventually killed him. His family then preserve the rune but they couldn’t activate it no matter what and it became an heirloom."

Seeing how Cassius didn’t want to continue talking about his mother, she closed an eye to his veer of conversation, answering him, "The demon killed the vampire who made the rune?"

"Yes. They thought they could form a contract with demon in exchange for maybe a soul or something else of that kind. They were sorely wrong as it’s later found out that the demons that had been summoned would be there only to take summoner’s life, but they do find out that if the summoner kills the demon they summoned, they would gain the power that demon has."

Pursing her lips, Arabella couldn’t help but ask again if his mother knew that and was why she had sent him there in that cave. To kill the demon. While knowing that the demon would kill her son?

"My mother was the first to find out about this and she hurried to make sure that I’ll be there to receive the demon’s power before anyone could land a hand on it. She knew that I was still young but she reasoned to the fact that this was her only chance as she feared anyone who caught wind of the demon’s rune would try to steal it from their hands."

Arabella slowly nodded her head, "But how did you... manage to kill the demon?"

"I did my best," he answered as he sighed and seeing her face he smiled in a teasing way, "I was awake for seven nights and eight days. Fought to my nails until all my bones are broken and until I feel too faint to keep a clear head even for once. I saw the world spiral and that demon’s face grinning, it didn’t haunt me but I can still remember his face too clear in my head. He enjoyed specifically in ripping my arms and for a moment I thought I’d forever live with just my left hands, that won’t be too charming right?"

She only smiled at his words, as pity wasn’t what Cassius wanted from her.

"You managed to kill it," she said as she eyed the glowing mark under his neck. A sudden wonder surge her head as she raised her hand and lightly tapped the birthmark, "Then you receive his power?"

Cassius watched her face from above and nod his head, "This birth mark had been with me since I was a baby but it became alive once I killed that demon. He was annoying, full of taunts and all barks but no bite. I almost thought that his power would be too weak and that once I killed him, I’ll only receive minuscule power that won’t equate to the blood I’ve lost. Surprisingly, he was a real kind of demon."

She looked and saw his raised finger which then turned into a black blob of liquid which began to drip over his wrist. Then it suddenly returned to its place and became his finger, "It’s easy t0 manipulate this. I can turn my form into liquid which allows me to control its flow. It could harden," he said and the liquid turn as sharp as a spear with a ’whoosh’ sound immediately greeting her across her face. "It could also melts," and when he drops the liquid, it fell down the ground and melt the ground beneath it. "It is still tricky to control it and it has a bit of a limit. Specially since this power doesn’t really like me."

Arabella wondered what that meant when she saw the liquid that had fell to the ground slithered away in a hurry as if running away from him but then when Cassius pulled his hand away, the liquid was suddenly dragged and shoot back into his hand.

"See? It likes running away."

"It doesn’t seem like it’s a non living being." She said as she raised her hand to touch the liquid that seemed to have trembled under her finger. Then it swirled around her thumb as if trying to give her a handshake which made her smile a little as if this liquid does have an eye, it would have looked adorable perhaps. "It looks docile too." Though it did seem dangerous, it didn’t feel dangerous toward her. As if the malice from this creature was never there to her.

"Hm, it likes you," Cassius thought about how the power of those sorcerers connect to demons. Arabella being someone of the bloodline perhaps had this power from her bloodline which connects to those demons as well and perhaps that was why even his power heed to her.

That would mean many other power of the demons also heed to Arabella. ƒreewebɳovel.com

Can all those people with green eyes could command the demon’s power? No. He doubted that is the case as the sorcerer in Gordes Town couldn’t do it and neither could Morpheus or his underlings.

Then is it because she’s different?

That would explain the urgency Morpheus has with wanting to have Arabella and her power.

"How annoying," Cassius muttered as he shook his hand and dusted it, causing for the liquid to disappear. "It acts cute toward you but it is still an annoying little creature, alright?"

She chuckled and nodded, "Alright. But if you could control that power, it would help you tremendously. Is there a way to help you?"

"I doubt so, I’ve tried for a decade now and it’s still as stubborn as a mule, refusing to follow any of my order as if it wants me dead."

Arabella shook her head and pointed to his finger. Then she scolded jokingly, "Help Cassius, don’t be so hard on him. He needs you to survive."

"Oh I surely don’t need it to survive," he remarked and she looked at him before rolling her eyes.

"But it would be helpful."

"True it would," he shrugged as if agreeing to her simply because she had said so. "By the way. Tomorrow would you come with me to your old village?"

"Oh?" Arabella squeezed her dress. Going to her village doesn’t scare her but to meet her father again?

Arabella felt an immense amount of anger and frustration she resented against her father and to see him again makes her immensely angry. But Cassius’s offer was good to her. After all only this way would she be able to confirm her past and to find out... whether her mother had really died as that dream she had or it was all in her head...