Chapter 207 Chapter 207- h.e.l.lish Heaven (Part 1)

Aria exhaled a long breath before she started speaking. She went on to tell Kai every single thing that happened, what the mysterious figure said and did while also telling him what she did without hiding a single thing.

Meanwhile, Kai listened silently with a cold expression. All of this wasn't shocking to hear for him. After all, he had deliberately told Aria to stay in the city for the time being in case something like this happened and he was indeed right.

'He wouldn't want someone that knows his secrets to stay alive. Predictable b.a.s.t.a.r.d.' He thought to himself.

A while later, Aria's stories ended with her knocking on his apartement and then falling unconscious when she was sure Kai heard her.

Another thing is his suspicion of who this mysterious dark figure grew more and more certain. He still didn't fully believe it but he was close to that and if it was indeed who he thought that person was, then the problem really became annoying.

'He won't let her go after what happened. Either he dies or she dies. Neither of them is in control of his fate.' He thought before exhaled a small breath and spoke, breaking the tense silence of the room.

"If you fought him seriously, you would've killed him but you would've also died. Your choice of escaping was better."

Aria nodded her head silently.

"However, that doesn't mean that it's over. He will probably try to hunt you down."

"Didn't he follow me here yesterday?"

"No. I made sure to check every possible trace he could leave behind and there was none. He left after you ran away."

'Which is weird. She was an easy target. Did he get heavily injured?' Kai felt something was off but he couldn't grasp what it was quite well.

"I was waiting for this day to arrive. Perhaps it came a little bit earlier than I antic.i.p.ated."

"What did you expect?" Kai asked coldly as he put down the gla.s.ses on the table. However, Aria stayed silent as she looked down.

Seeing that, Kai's eyes squinted for a moment before he opened his mouth.

"Why did you do it?"

"Hm?" Aria lifted her head in confusion.

"11 Years ago, why did you do it? What were you promised?"

"..." Aria's face crunched a little as she opened her mouth to speak before she closed again. "It was for my personal benefits." She said with a low tone. "I used you to get stronger."

Kai didn't reply immediately as he studied her expression. Although her words did sound like what he expected, there was a bugging feeling inside of him that told him that there was something wrong with her and he couldn't quite grasp it.

The feeling told him that he was missing a key point of this whole matter.

"I see" Murmuring to himself, he stood up from the couch and looked at Aria. "You can sleep there for now. I will see what to do in the morning." He said before he turned around and walked away.

Entering the other room where Eva and Kaya were, they looked at him apprehensively.

"Is she ok?"

"Yeah. Her injuries are healed, she just needs some rest." He replied as he sat down on the bed.

The two girls looked at him silently for a while. They didn't know how to bring the matter up or perhaps they were hesitant to even bring it up. Kai had created a silent sphere around him and Aria so they couldn't hear him.

While it was rather disappointing, it didn't mean they didn't understand why he did that.

"We didn't thank you properly for the ring, didn't we?" Kaya finally broke the silence with a smile. She didn't like the heavy look on Kai's face as if he was conflicted about something.

"Yeah." Eva picked up on that and smiled. "Thanks for the gift, my love. It's the best thing I've ever got, I will cherish it forever."

"Me too." They hugged him tightly from both sides.

Kai closed his eyes for a moment as if he was savoring their gentle touches before he nodded his head.

"I'm glad." He said.

***

Meanwhile, in a whole different place, far away behind the shrouds of mist. A place Kai was so familiar with and yet hated the most in the world.

In the heart of that land was a beautiful temple surrounded by countless spires that made it even more intimidating.

Inside this place, a shrouded black figure moved through the corridor silently. The more he walked, the darker the place became even though it was the middle of the day. His shadows didn't move and dance as usual and were in contrast tame and motionless as if they feared disturbing something.

In actuality, it was simply following its master's mood and it was far from fine. His nonchalant att.i.tude was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a stoic seriousness that permeated through every muscle on his face.

Minutes pa.s.sed as he continued down this endless corridor silently. Its end couldn't be seen and neither did its start as if the mysterious man was stranded in the middle of an endless loop that didn't reach an ending point.

However, he didn't seem to be bothered by that fact as he simply moved. That was his sole purpose there, no ulterior motives, no anger, no fear, just pure, undisturbed seriousness.

Eventually, after an unknown amount of time, something s.h.i.+fted in this monotonic, one-path maze.

In front of him, The atmosphere started to crack as if it was a piece of gla.s.s. The sound of the damage spreading made him stop and stare directly at the crack as he waited.

Seconds pa.s.sed before the cracks eventually filled the whole corridor, from the ceiling to the ground. Then, in one sudden moment, the particles exploded into pieces, sending everything into disarray.

The endless path that didn't seem to end actually broke down and disintegrated as if it was purged by the flames of h.e.l.l. What replaced it was a sight that would've shocked anyone who saw it. Where the path breaks down, a whole new world is created. A beautiful, heaven-like vast plains stretched as far as the eye could see. Beautiful, magnificent trees rose into the sky, piercing it like heavenly pillars, rivers of crystal clear water ran through this beautiful land, enriching its gra.s.s and cultivating its gigantic trees.

If one were to be told that this was heaven, they would've believed those words in a heartbeat.

The shadowy figure looked at this sight for a moment, absorbing the beauty with an appreciative look before he stepped forward and entered this world.

A moment later, the corridor behind him vanished too, replacing itself with a wider stretch of gra.s.sy plains, the same as the other part.

Looking around him, the shadow figure moved through the small dirt path that extended across the whole plain and beyond.

Eventually, he saw the end of this path which led to a tree, far bigger than any other tree around it. Its size alone would make skysc.r.a.pers look like miniature toys. Each one of its leaves was big enough to cover a small city and each one of its branches extended far and wide.

On the main trunk of this divine tree was a gigantic red eye. The shadowy figure didn't know whether it was simply a drawing or something far more different And ominous.

Just a mere glance at these eyes would send a s.h.i.+ver down his spine before he quickly turned around and averted his eyes. He couldn't bear to look at the eye for longer than a second.

"You're late."

Suddenly, a booming voice reached his ears.

"My apologies, master. I had to heal my injury."

Looking behind him, a man was sitting on the gra.s.sy hill with a big wooden flask next to him. A moment ago, he wasn't there and somehow he appeared out of thin air.

Just seeing his back sent a s.h.i.+ver down the shadow figure's spine as he gulped down a mouthful of saliva secretly.

"How is your eye?" The deep, hoa.r.s.e voice asked him again as the man picked up his flask and chugged down whatever liquid was inside of it.

"... Yes, I'm fi-"

Before he could even finish his sentence, blood splurted out of the shadow's left eye.

"AGGHHHH!!" A howl of pain echoed in the empty world around him as the man fell down to the ground, crying. The pain he felt in his left eye was unimaginable. Far more painful than anything he ever felt before.

"You failed and failure is inexcusable. I trusted your ability, shadow. Why did you disappoint me?"

"I-I'm sorry."

"I have never thought I would hear an apology from you, Shadow. You're turning into them, into those weaklings."

"No! Master, please give me another chance! I will definitely do it!"

"Why should I?"

"I-I know where she went!"

"Then why didn't you kill her?"

"B-Because he was there"

"He?"

"Kai"

The moment the man heard that name, the whole world around them dimmed.