Chapter 321
The Pride of the Shadow Demon
Within the expanding shadow beneath Eivass, something slowly emerged.
It was a woman exuding an imposing aura, like a queen casually seated on a throne, her legs crossed.
This was also a form the Shadow Demon had never shown Eivass before—
She possessed long, straight hair as black as shadows, her strands merging into one. The outer layer was pure black, while the inside was a dark red, like fresh blood.
Her face bore no glasses, and her cloudy, emerald pupils were more like those of a lone wolf than Beyad’s.
Apart from this, her appearance was identical to Beyad’s. There was even no difference in their apparent age.
Upon appearing, the Shadow Demon let out a deep sigh, though it was unclear what sorrow weighed on her.
First, she turned back and meticulously buttoned up the undone buttons on Eivass’s chest one by one. Then, she extended her slender yet strong fingers to adjust Eivass’s collar, tidying her slightly crumpled clothes from being in Beyad’s embrace. Only then did she embrace Eivass and turn back with deliberate composure.
She shared black hair and green eyes with Number 14, and their appearances were somewhat similar. At this moment, the two embracing felt like an older sister holding her younger sister.
The scattered bats strung along the shadow threads merely rustled, making no other sound or movement.
They seemed simply stunned.
“What’s wrong, Beyad?”
The Shadow Demon flashed a sarcastic smile. “Seeing me, speechless now?”
Her left arm, which was around Eivass, already held her chin. She was idly stroking Beyad’s earlobe with the side of her thumb. Now, as a display of dominance, she roughly inserted the index and middle fingers of her left hand into Eivass’s mouth, pushing out her tongue.
Eivass, however, merely glanced at her.
Considering the Shadow Demon’s apparent desire to show off, she decided to humor her for now.
—We’ll discuss this later.
As she moved, the Shadow Demon’s right hand rose carelessly.
The shadow threads that covered the entire room and pierced through the bats suddenly sprouted countless needles of varying lengths.
The pierced bats instantly dissolved into clumps of bloodless organs, turning into pools of blood.
The blood, like a liquid in zero gravity, coalesced into masses and floated upwards.
They gathered in the center, reforming into human shapes. Only her glasses fell to the ground, but they didn’t break due to the plush carpet.
The previous web of shadows instantly dissipated and reformed—previously it had repeatedly pierced through the room, but now it had become a spider’s web with a sense of order, suspending the airborne Beyad once more.
Beyad was not incapable of tearing through the web’s restraints.
But the scene before her caused her to frown deeply, her heart pounding—
The shock surging from her core left her speechless.
This was the exact scene she had witnessed countless times in her nightmares.
—As if facing each other from opposite sides of a mirror, two nearly identical figures.
One sat on the bed, embracing a girl with a wild expression… the other, suspended in the air by a dark, shadowy spider web, wore a complex expression.
“Heh.”
Seeing Beyad remain silent, Miss Shadow Demon let out a cold chuckle. “You didn’t expect this, did you? I thought it was strange. If it were me, I’d have considered this possibility long ago… perhaps even dreamt it.
“Dying with such resentment, how could one not become a demon? And if my soul became a demon, what would that make you?”
As she spoke, she subtly withdrew the fingers playing with Eivass’s tongue.
She pressed her face against Eivass’s cheek and inhaled deeply, her playful gaze fixed on the silent Beyad suspended in the air.
“Say something, Miss Beyad. React in some way, don’t just be like a corpse… oh, apologies, you *are* a corpse. Or perhaps I should do something in front of you that you wanted to do before but couldn’t achieve?”
“…Have you pledged allegiance?”
Beyad finally spoke. “To such a weak master?”
Her first words seemed aggressive, yet they carried an inexplicable pallor.
She was evading the Shadow Demon’s question. This already indicated her mental confusion. Of course, Eivass’s performance might have also played a role.
The Shadow Demon, however, simply laughed. First a snicker, then a full-blown laugh.
It was the first time she had truly laughed in front of Eivass with her true voice—it was a rather sharp, aggressive sound, exuding a sense of haughty arrogance.
“Yes.”
The Shadow Demon abruptly stopped laughing and replied with mock seriousness. “So weak. But there is no one else who would satisfy me more.
“My dear master, who, despite being so fragile she could shatter with a touch, declared her intention to kill a Heavenly Envoy. Not empty threats, but a plan with concrete possibilities.
“And in this situation, she still dared to demand power from that Heavenly Envoy. What does this imply? It means she didn’t even view that Envoy as an arch-enemy—neither hating nor fearing them, but interacting with them as an equal.
“Is this fearlessness born of ignorance?”
The Shadow Demon looked at Beyad and said softly, “Of course not. It is ambition that ventures forth despite knowing the danger, courage that seriously challenges an impossibly strong enemy.
“—Just like us, isn’t it?”
By this point, the hostility in the Shadow Demon’s voice had faded.
As the one who had her name and identity stolen, she was the one to let go of animosity first.
This was certainly not gentleness or forgiveness— “Beyad” and such words were never associated with her. Even when she was human, she had learned how to seize power by stepping over others’ corpses and pain.
Legend says humans are the children of Hengwo and Father Snake.
Therefore, humans possess the adaptability of the Nine Great Paths, but transcendence and love are the most universal and profound.
—Ambition and desire.
These were the forces driving the mechanism named “Beyad.” What constrained her actions were not morals or laws—but pride.
The “Miss Beyad” before them was merely a fabricated soul created by Pillar God.
Whatever hatred she held in her heart did not need to be directed at her. It was meaningless, merely false comfort.
Beyad, released by the Shadow Demon, rubbed her wrists, which were slightly red from being suspended, and retorted:
“…Don’t you want to devour me?”
The Shadow Demon merely looked at her mockingly, saying nothing.
She hugged Eivass tighter. Leaning forward, she pressed her cold, voluptuous body against Eivass and rested her chin on her shoulder.
Although the Shadow Demon’s touch was as piercingly cold as a winter night’s snow, Eivass did not push her away.
She was gradually beginning to understand what had happened in the past.
—The Shadow Demon was a shapeless, asexual demon, its true form merely a mass of smoke that could never see the sun.
Any form it could transform into was a gain from consuming the other.
Just as she had stolen the voice and body of the Assassin Miss Chloe.
The Shadow Demon could never revert to its past life because it was already dead. It was a mere shadow stripped of everything; consuming corpses was of no use.
And since the Shadow Demon could now transform into Beyad and speak with Beyad’s exact voice…
This meant that the newly formed Shadow Demon had successfully consumed Beyad, the Child of the Moon.
Only in the case of “corpses being transformed into the Child of the Moon” would it have been possible for the Shadow Demon to revert to its past form.
However, although the Shadow Demon could also revert to its own appearance and speak with its own voice… it, like Beyad the Child of the Moon, possessed memories of its past life. In this regard, it had even obtained immortal life and immense power.
Yet, it clearly no longer presided over the mortal “Beyad Group” like the Child of the Moon, but had returned to the Dream Realm, quietly and solitarily residing in the shadow domain.
Now without its leader, the Beyad Group had long since vanished into the dust of history.
—It disdained to steal the name of Beyad.
Even though it had once been herself, it was now completely unrelated to her.
“Why would I kill you? What use would it be?”
The Shadow Demon finally spoke, her voice cold and clear. “You are not the true Beyad. Nor am I.
“Unlike you, demons no longer dream.”
