Chapter 265: You can… even go to the Demon Realm?

After the silver light engulfed him, Lucian’s entire vision turned white.

The last thing he heard was Naomi screaming his name before all the sounds and movement around him disappeared.

That made him frown.

He opened his eyes, and his expression changed when he realised he was in an entirely different place from where he had been moments before.

Lucian looked around.

The place he was in was... strange.

There were no walls, nor any ceiling.

There was no floor either.

He was just... hovering in the air, without using his energy.

Also, the place didn’t seem to have any end.

He could look as far as he wanted.

It was all the same.

His own condition was still the same as before.

His body was still ruined, he still couldn’t use his limbs, and the pain was still there.

Right now, however, that did not matter.

What mattered more was where he was.

To which, he honestly had the answer.

Or at least, a pretty strong guess.

Aevrienne’s place.

There was no other explanation.

And just as he expected, as he continued looking around, his eyes suddenly fell on the woman standing right in front of him, and Lucian instinctively knew it was her.

Aevrienne.

From her face, she looked around twenty-five or twenty-six.

She had long silver-white hair that flowed past her waist, unnaturally pale skin, and a translucent silver light surrounding her.

She wore a silver-white dress.

And another odd thing about her was that she...

She was barefoot.

Lucian stared at her for a few good seconds, then he frowned.

He tried to use Still Pulse to read her, but there was nothing.

No heartbeat, no breathing, no movement of any kind of muscle.

Heck, even the air around her seemed undisturbed when it should have been disturbed, especially when her hair and dress were moving.

It was as if...

She wasn’t real.

Or as if this entire thing was an illusion.

’Ah, that makes more sense.’

Lucian nodded to himself.

The entire thing being an illusion did indeed make sense.

That would explain this absurdly large space he was in, though if he thought about it, that could also be explained by the woman’s power.

Not that any of it mattered right now.

What mattered was what the Ancient Spirit had to say.

And she—

"Welcome."

She smiled politely.

"I am Aevrienne."

Her voice was soft, very calming too.

Also, it didn’t seem like it was coming from her.

It was as if the entire space was surrounded by speakers and the voice was coming from those speakers instead.

’Definitely an illusion.’

Lucian nodded to himself.

Then, he looked at the woman standing in front of him again and—

"So you’re the creepy shrine lady."

Aevrienne only stared at him.

It didn’t look like she liked the name, so Lucian instantly shifted the blame.

"Naomi calls you that."

"You do know I watched everything that happened in the Trial, right?"

Aevrienne asked, amused by how quickly the boy lied to her.

As one would expect from a man with demonic blood.

Aevrienne chuckled, then she shook her head and looked at him.

"I misunderstood you."

Lucian raised an eyebrow.

"You are not like other Demons."

"I am not a Demon."

"Yes."

Aevrienne nodded.

"You are not."

Lucian paused.

That was surprisingly easy.

"...good."

The Ancient Spirit then started walking towards him.

Then suddenly, something odd happened.

The Spirit, who had definitely been a few metres away from him, suddenly appeared right in front of him, staring at him from a very, very close distance.

"You would be... perfect for my Authority."

She spoke, her mesmerising silver eyes observing every inch of his body.

Lucian blinked in surprise.

That was... direct.

He actually wanted to move back, though his limbs weren’t really working, so he was kind of helpless here.

Then suddenly, Aevrienne raised her hand.

Strong silver energy leaked out, stretching into the darkness of the vast space around them, then—

It formed a road.

The road continued moving forward until it led to...

A stage.

A temporarily formed stage.

Lucian noticed the chaos all around, with multiple people walking around frantically.

He could hear the absurd roar of a crowd screaming from somewhere he couldn’t see, and very quickly, he realised where he was.

Evelyn’s concert.

He recognised some of the staff members.

They were moving around with panicked looks on their faces, and the moment Lucian saw that—

His face turned solemn.

Something happened.

Suddenly, the vision changed, almost as if it zoomed closer.

Finally, Lucian’s eyes fell on her.

Evelyn was lying on a stretcher, unconscious.

Just as he feared, she had exhausted herself and collapsed mid-performance.

He clenched his fists.

He looked around, trying to find someone trustworthy.

Someone he could rely on to protect her, and—

His eyes fell on his Teacher.

’What...?’

He blinked.

Vivienne was standing about a hundred metres away, staring at the entire scene.

’She is here...?’

Lucian couldn’t believe it.

But seeing that she was actually here made him sigh in relief.

Aevrienne noticed that relieved look on his expression, and for a very brief moment, her face turned cold.

Soon, however, it returned to normal, and she smiled.

"The woman connected to you through your contract."

Lucian’s eyes returned to her.

"You can see her?"

"It was quite easy to follow where your energy was coming from."

She chuckled lightly.

Then, she looked at him and—

"I can reach her anytime I want."

She spoke, and as she did, the road disappeared, and Evelyn vanished with it.

"Distance is merely the space between two destinations."

She showed Lucian different places.

Places he didn’t even recognise.

A place filled with Vampires.

Another with many Werewolves.

Then the Witches.

And even...

Demons.

Not Hosts.

Actual demons.

"Is this... the Demon Realm?"

"What do you think?"

Aevrienne smiled.

"You can... even go to the Demon Realm?"

For the first time, Lucian’s eyes changed.

Aevrienne noticed that, and she smiled.

"Did you not hear what I said?

I can go anywhere I desire.

And you can too, if you obtain my power."