A month had passed since the incident at East Wu Mountain Range. Most of students returned alive, and the few who did not were killed in the early phases of the raid mission. Many elders of the House of Wu, including the administrator, were locked up and punished in the house’s dungeon. Everyone who participated in the raid mission were given rewards and compensation for their service. 

Many people were speculating on the sudden closure of the rain mission. Rumors passed from mouth to ear, but they were suppressed by the House of Wu and Ivory Royal Institute. After a month, these rumors died down. 

In the legacy campus, Yang Yang was sitting beside Princess Jasmine, who was resting on her bed. After that battle, she had yet to deactivate her transformation and fallen into a deep sleep. Not even the chancellor had any idea on what happened to her. 

Yang Yang had already completed the entire War Trial Pagoda and raised his cultivation to fifth-step Virtual Aspect. At the end of the 100th floor, he was given a golden-merit, which he gave up to pay off his debt. Although he now had millions of silver-merits and a multitude of rare, powerful treasures, he was left with a bitter taste in his mouth. 

“Something about this world is just too strange. How can there be a royal succubus here? Does that mean other royal demons are here too? Why did she know Ecstasy Demon Magic? What kind of curse did she afflicted me with? What secret mission were they a part of?” Yang Yang leaned back on his chair and stared at the ceiling. He gritted his teeth. “Most importantly... how many other demons are aware that a ‘treasure’ like me was born?” 

For the past month, Yang Yang had been spending a majority of his time thinking. However, no matter how long or how much he thought, there was no way for him to find an answer. If it were not for the chancellor’s direct order to guard Princess Jasmine at all available time, he would have returned to the Wu Province to look for his answers. He looked at his left wrist where a red, circular mark had appeared. It was the physical manifestation of the succubus' curse. 

While contemplating, the chancellor appeared next to him. “Howdy.” 

“Greetings, Chancellor Dugu!” Yang Yang quickly left the chair and knelt on a knee. 

“Rise.” The chancellor sat on the bed. “I have good news and bad news for you.” 

“First, the good news, you don’t need to guard the princess right now. From now on, focus on cultivating and earning merits. The princess is currently in a state of deep sleep to adjust to her awakened bloodline. This is quite common for the royal members to do. She will get up anywhere between a year and twelve years. The quality of her bloodline is quite high so we predict she will stay in that state for as long as six years, longer than her father or sister. Considering that you have ten years of time, and three golden-merits left, I’m sure that you’ll have no trouble in repaying the debt before deadline. Uh... I guess that’s good news.” 

“Second, the bad news. This so called ‘Ecstasy Demon Magic’ is sparsely mentioned in our library books, even in the most ancient and sacred of texts. Only the famous spells of this demon magic are described, and this curse that the succubus placed on you is not one of them. I tried contacting the other Life Magic magi, but your teacher is still healing his majesty and the rest are researching the Hated Blood Curse. This ‘Everlasting Insanity’ curse is very ghostly; not even I can find the negative effects this curse has on you, beside that trashy wrist tattoo. Maybe if your power increases, you’ll be able to counter it by yourself, but until then, it remains on you.” The chancellor shook his head slowly as he spoke. 

Yang Yang shook his head as well. Minutes of talking passed and then the chancellor left. The sun had set, and the moon conquered the sky in its place. Soft moonlight trespassed the windows. Princess Jasmine’s silver hair magically glowed along the moonlight. 

Yang Yang dropped his head and hunched his back while sitting in the darkness. He closed his eyes. 

...... 

“Kind, virtuous, compassionate, noble, holy, and beloved. All words that are divine and righteous are meant for you. But now, those words couldn't be anymore wrong.” 

“You... all you knew was love.” 

“Never in your life had you ever known what it is like to not be loved.” 

An inhale. An exhale. Nothing in this darkness other than a living breath and a chilling voice. There was a path, yet it had no end. There was a destination, yet it did not exist. 

“Did you regret it? Making that choice? Following your path? Believing in a broken faith?” 

“Look where you ended up now. Alone, scared, pained, betrayed, and miserable. You are now left with no friend or companion, other than me." 

“Crossed by seven sins, deprived of seven virtues. You live your life for justice and peace, but there's not a lot of difference between our worlds, huh? You were blind to the true darkness of your world because of a false light. Do you see it now? This is the real world outside of your head.” 

“Your stubbornness lead to your misery. If only you did not take that deal, then none of this would have happened. It's your responsibility to own up to your mistake, and no one else."

There was no wind, but a biting air chilled the heart. There was no color, but the world somehow darken. There was no fire, but the blood boiled. There was no water, but ripples spread across the surface. 

Wailing and laughing harmonized into a symphony of outrage; bitterness and sweetness mixed into a flavor of sensical nonsense. A gentle breeze of fate slowly drifts two broken halves of a leaf together and apart. 

“I always saw myself of a composed character and mind, but it turns out it was beyond me the whole time. None of these feelings are mine because it already left me far behind...” 

"It's a strange feeling. A feeling I can't explain..."

The darkness was broken by a silver light. A pair of eyes turned and stared out the window at the silver moon. The bright stars in the night overcame the moon, twinkling as if greeting any one who saw them. A sigh was let out. The eyes turned again and stared at the other figure in the darkness. It closed, never to open again on this night.

However, it had missed the sighting of something strange: a thin, red string floating about. 

End of Arc 1