Hansley took a deep breath and said, "You and your father have disappointed me equally. At the very beginning, I asked your father to work with me, but he refused. He even gave me a lecture about not working with the black-robed people. I didn't wanna admit it, but I knew he was right. I—" Before he could continue, Darius cut him off.His gaze was frosty as he said, "Tell me what you're gonna do while I'm stuck here for the next two days."Hansley stiffened, then forced out a smile. "What are you talking about? I don't understand you at all."Darius rolled his eyes. "I thought you were more cowardly than others, but I didn't expect you to be so shameless. I've already uncovered the truth, yet you're still playing dumb. If this is a game you're trying to play, it isn't fun at all—not for me, at least. You may enjoy it, but I detest it." He tucked his hands into his pockets and gave Hansley a mocking look. "If you have anything else to say, now's the time to spit it out. Remember: I on
Darius raised an eyebrow. "You've already spent a lot of time dealing with me, so just satisfy my curiosity. I can accept being locked up in this hospital for the next two days; it just comes with a condition. I believe it's a fair trade."Suddenly, Hansley had an ominous feeling. He turned pale and looked at Darius nervously. "What happened? What have you done to my office?"Darius smiled mockingly. "I discovered a tiny secret, that's all. You say the office is yours, but you don't seem to be able to enter and exit it as and when you like. Rather than saying you're the person in charge of this hospital, perhaps it'd be more accurate to say you've been forced to take charge of this place. So, tell me—did I guess correctly?" He crossed his arms. "That's why I told you to cut the crap and just give me what I wanted. Of course, you have the right to object or refuse to go along with me; it's just not gonna put me in a good mood. And I'm sure you know what'll happen when I'm in a bad moo
Now that he had a direction, Darius thought about the multicolored plaques he saw earlier. If there were any secrets in this place, those plaques would contain them. He wouldn't act rashly, of course, not when dealing with a nefarious organization that had been running wild for years. He headed out of the ward. If he couldn't dig up the secrets in this place, he would destroy them so no one would know! With this thought in mind, he stopped outside a room with an orange plaque above the door; the words "Gastroenterology Department" were printed on it.Darius lifted a hand and channeled his life force out through his palm to surround the plaque. A few seconds later, it disintegrated into dust. He retracted his hand, smiled, and turned to move on to the next plaque. Suddenly, a panicked voice rang out from his arm. "God, I'm so glad I decided not to merge with my body just yet. Look at what you've done, Darius!"This was Darius' first time hearing Teivel raise his voice like this, and i
Darius looked into Teivel's eyes upon saying that. "I knew I wasn't as capable, but I never thought I'd be this much weaker than you. You don't even have a body, and you've been bodiless for a while now."He snorted, and his gaze hardened with unprecedented seriousness and determination. "So, what must I do to detect those invisible streams that you can sense—the ones that I can't?"Teivel hadn't seen this side of Darius in a long time. Now that he did, his heart rate regulated, and he smiled. He then explained calmly, "Shut your eyes. Allow the life force flowing from your body to soften. Life forces tend to have minds of their own. However, I'm sure you've realized it long ago since Edward gained the power to read energies upon achieving enlightenment."Darius lifted his head, his eyes gleaming as though he were deep in thought. That ruminating look remained on his face as he shut his eyes. At that moment, it was like he had realized something he never noticed before.He then heard
Darius' eyes were on Teivel, who sighed deeply and shook his head. Teivel knew everything he had revealed was unimportant now that they faced a different issue. He shrugged before voicing, "Magic seals can evolve in mysterious ways. No one can understand them except the person who cast them in the first place. Of course, there's a higher possibility that the caster has no clue how to remove said seals either; casters only know how to pause or shut off the seal. What you need to do now is break out of this seal.""I'm a little confused." A sigh came from Darius as he shut his eyes. Many negative emotions left his lips as he sighed. Then, he reopened his eyes and returned to his usual self. "What do you mean when you say 'magic seal'? It sounds too abstract. Do you mean it's a confined space?"A warm smile spread across Teivel's face. "You can think of it as an enchantment. Many enchantments exist. Some of which can turn this building into a dangerous space. Of course, they don't only
The energy was intensely cold, but it wasn't like being on the receiving end of others' frosty energy or the sensation of getting frostbite. Instead, the cold plunged past the fibers of Darius' body and stabbed his bones like thousands of sharp needles. He trembled fervently from the chill. Nevertheless, he soon regained consciousness and knitted his brows into a deep V. Then, his attention returned to the ball of energy in his hand as if nothing had happened. Now that he could sense the frost radiating from the ball of energy in his hand, his features gradually darkened. Even his voice came out harsher and lost all its warmth. "Is there anything I can do about our environment now?"Sighing deeply, Teivel scanned the room once before meeting the former's eyes. His lips parted, but he ultimately refrained from speaking. Darius soon made his choice. He lifted his chin, his steely gaze flickering toward Teivel. "Since the dangers remain regardless of what I do, I shall start with red!
Darius' eyelids jerked wide open with delight and shock. "Sir!"Only calm vibes radiated from Teivel as he placed both hands behind his back. The only emotion that stood out was his smiling eyes. "These little dogs exist—or rather, they used to be real dogs. It's just that I used a unique method to keep them by my side after they died. They can temporarily appear here if I infuse large quantities of life force into them. They'll do what regular dogs do upon materializing."Darius nodded, now realizing how miraculous the former's actions were. Then, another idea formed in his head, causing his lips to purse. Yet, he ultimately couldn't bring himself to ask it directly. "I bet this wouldn't work for humans—""Humans and dogs are different," Teivel answered as he knew what Darius wanted to ask even though the latter hadn't said it straightforwardly. While he said that, his gaze deepened like he had recalled a distant memory. Darius silently stood aside and shot a curious gaze at Teivel.
Instead, Darius willed them to gather in his chest, surrounding his heart in thick layers.Sure enough, the sight before him became disillusioned with time. He sucked a sharp breath in when he realized the room was actually red. However, it differed from the orange paint earlier; this entire space was blood red. There were even globs of red that climbed up the walls, then formed distorted words. Not only that, but Darius could sense the fresh human blood getting infused into this room, giving more power to the room's dried, darkened blood. "This place isn't a hospital; it's more like a massive slaughterhouse!" Darius mused while sighing deeply and shutting his eyes, concealing the fiery rage in his pupils. He spun around to voice his shock and discomfort to Teivel. However, Teivel's hands were behind his back, and he smiled as if unbothered by the grotesque scene.A frown marred Darius' face at once. At the same time, distrust and fear crept into his voice as he asked, "You're my m