Pearl squatted before Darius, sensing the black-robed people present starting to get agitated. Despair washed over her. She only had one bullet left; it would help slow down the black-robed figures but wouldn't do much else. Their heads were about as penetrable as bricks, and they didn't seem bothered by their gunshot wounds anyway.At this moment, Darius stood in the realm in the book tattooed on his arm, looking at Teivel in surprise. "You've merged with your physical body!"Teivel nodded. "Yes, and it's good that it happened when it did. The moment I opened my eyes, I saw you in danger."Darius didn't dwell on the subject. He put his hands behind his back and looked out a window showing what was happening outside the realm. He frowned when he saw Pearl standing before his body protectively.Teivel leaned close to him and clucked his tongue while shaking his head. "That look on your face is the farthest thing from being touched. Aren't you moved by a powerless woman trying to protec
As Darius pondered this, he suddenly heard a loud crash. Then, his body landed on the ground before him. His lips twitched; he was at a loss for words to describe how he felt. It appeared someone had flung his body from a distance and with all the strength they possessed because it bounced a little before settling on the ground. The next thing Darius noticed was that his skin was as purple as an eggplant. Although he knew it was because of the poison, he still couldn't accept it. He sighed, then turned back to the mirror.The scene had changed, and he could see many things that hadn't shown up before. Darius' breathing sped up when he saw Teivel. For some reason, Teivel stood behind Pearl. She seemed to be mimicking his actions … not that he could see what Teivel was doing. Surprised, he raised an eyebrow—this was the first time something like this had happened. Any enlightened martial artist who had the honor of witnessing someone so powerful in action would want to learn as much a
As he waited for the antidote to take effect, Darius imagined something nasty happening. In his mind's eye, he saw his body opening its eyes though his spirit had yet to merge with it … because another spirit had taken his spot. His breathing sped up. This wasn't impossible, so he had to be careful. When Darius saw his skin return to normal, he tried and failed to enter his body multiple times in succession. Then, he stopped and glanced at the mirror, looking worried. Everything that had happened was way beyond his horizon, and the scene he'd imagined earlier—though ludicrous—was not impossible. After all, Teivel had also talked about wanting to merge with a better body than his own.Darius exhaled, clenched his fists, and turned his attention to the mirror. He saw Teivel had already stepped away from Pearl; she collapsed to the floor, looking exhausted. Then, Teivel approached the mirror and suddenly appeared before Darius. The latter raised an eyebrow and looked at the former thou
Darius felt like his eyelids had been glued shut, and his ears filled with water. There were many muffled voices around him calling his name; they seemed to be coming from somewhere distant … very distant. Something about this thought made his eyes fly open, and he sat upright. And just like that, Darius sat up in his hospital bed. Everyone present gaped at him. No one had expected him to suddenly wake up and sit up like this.Darius winced at the sunlight pouring in through the windows. He felt like it had been ages since he'd last seen the sun, and he felt exhausted—it was tough staying upright, but he still propped himself up and swept his gaze over everyone crowding around his bed. They were all familiar faces, and they looked similarly exhausted. Pearl, Kate, Edward, Bridget, and Bruce were all present. He raised an eyebrow and was about to say something when Bruce placed a hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him back down. Darius was again on his back, but it didn't make hi
"The fact that you're asking me about this proves you already have your doubts about this matter." Darius sighed. "Unfortunately, I've been unconscious for too long that I can't remember too many details. All I can say is my prime suspects are a woman named Fleur Chamberlain and a man named Floyd Davis. The former handles the signing of contracts at Solaris Estate's sales office, and the latter owns the business. Then again, there's also a chance that the person behind this is one of the employees that I had some conflict with. Of course, we can't rule out the possibility that the mastermind could've been hiding in the crowd."Bruce's lips twitched. He gave Darius a look before sighing and standing up. His gaze was a mixture of helplessness and affection as if he was looking at a mischievous child. "Understood, sir. I won't reprimand Edward and Bridget anymore, but I still hope you'll allow the new bodyguards I've picked out to stay with you. I have a feeling Edward and Bridget won't
Kate raised her head. "I wanted to express my gratitude through more appropriate methods, but everything I could think of to help you wasn't within my abilities. I'm no match for you; everything I could do, so could you. It's not like I could hang around you every day, observing you to see what you needed. At the same time, I don't think that's appropriate behavior between friends." She stopped here, unable to continue making things up anymore. Her mind was a mess, and she didn't even know what she was saying. She lowered her eyes to her feet and exhaled. "Well, that's all I wanted to say. I'm sure you understand exactly what I mean—whatever happened between us, whether good or bad, ends here. Things will spiral out of control if we continue like this." With that, she spun around and hurried out of the room.Darius stared in the direction she'd left as if his eyes had been glued to the door. This lasted until Edward stepped forward to stand between him and the door, making him return
Darius didn't want to miss even the slightest change in Teivel's expression. He watched as Teivel rolled his eyes at him, then pursed his lips, feeling aggrieved. "I saw that, and I know it's not a good thing. I don't think I did anything to deserve that, though."Teivel sighed, looking helpless. "If you were mature enough, you wouldn't be asking me this. I didn't want to say these things to you, but since you insist, I don't mind telling you everything. After you passed out, I handled the three black-robed people and scanned their memories to find out what had happened. Of course, I should also mention that I used Pearl Chamberlain's body to do all this, so she knows about all this. Obviously, she couldn't see me, so she thought some unknown force in the universe protected you. Still, she received a shock and had a fever for a few days, but she's already collected herself and accepted everything she witnessed. She also seems quite happy about this turn of events."Teivel exhaled and
A few seconds later, Teivel spoke with the utmost confidence. "You did it on purpose. You've already guessed where things were going, and you believe I'll undoubtedly fail based on everything I've said so far. That's why you're saying this."Darius' brows raised as his eyes widened in shock. Then, he shook his head at once. "No, what you're saying now is merely a guess. However, I can tell you the truth; I haven't tried to reason or make assumptions about the relationship between you two." Upon saying that, his eyes lit up with curiosity. "Sir, I know you're emotional now, but I can only think of one reason for your reaction—you believe you're going to fail." The corners of Teivel's lips twitched as he shook his head. "No. I didn't seek out your grandfather because I firmly believed he did those things for your safety; he wanted to protect you. No matter what, I refuse to be the villain; I can't bring myself to harm an elderly man who loves his grandchild that much."While cocking