Chapter 696: Open the Heart's Door

[When trials descend, demons whisper and evil spirits murmur in tongues we cannot understand.]

Thales woke amid the white smoke.

Or perhaps he had never fallen asleep at all.

His vision was hazy. His ears were filled with silence. The whole world seemed wrapped in a soft, thick blanket.

In front of him, Hilley was holding his face. Her eyes were wide, and her lips were opening and closing rapidly.

But he could not hear a single sound.

Thales blinked.

Hilley was saying something. She was shouting something.

But the silence remained.

Then something cold touched the back of his neck.

Thales' entire body stiffened.

He remembered.

He had shouted.

He had broken free of the nightmare in the white smoke, shouted with all his strength, and perhaps...

Perhaps he had drawn something over.

Something that should not have been drawn over.

"Who are you?"

Thales forced himself to speak, his voice dry and hoarse.

"What... are you?"

Hilley's expression changed sharply. She stared behind him, shaking her head with all her might.

Do not turn around.

Do not look.

But the thing behind him merely brushed his neck gently, as though comforting him.

"That is not important."

The voice was soft.

It was also strangely familiar.

Thales' pupils contracted.

"The truly important thing is..."

The thing behind him leaned close to his ear.

"Who are you, Thales?"

Thales' breathing stopped.

In the next second, he suddenly turned and seized the wrist behind him.

The white smoke surged.

Standing behind him was a girl.

She had long golden hair, a pair of glasses, delicate and beautiful features, and an expression both composed and stubborn.

Saroma Walton.

The Little Trickster.

Thales froze.

Hilley, separated by the smoke, stared blankly at the girl and mouthed silently:

Who is she?

Thales did not answer.

He could not.

The girl before him was too real.

Her posture, her expression, the slight tilt of her head, the way she looked at him from behind her lenses, even that stubborn brightness hiding behind her calm eyes...

It was all exactly the same as he remembered.

No.

Not exactly.

She looked a little older than the Saroma in his memory.

Her figure was more slender. Her features had unfolded more completely. Her eyes were brighter.

As if all the years he had missed had quietly passed over her and left their traces.

"Do you remember?"

Saroma looked at him quietly.

"What you taught me."

Thales' fingers tightened around her wrist.

"No."

His voice was low.

"You are not her."

Saroma smiled.

"I know what you are."

"No, you do not."

Her smile remained gentle.

"You are lying, Thales."

Thales' heart sank.

"You do not know what I am. You do not know what I should be. You do not even know what I am in your heart."

The white smoke swirled.

Hilley tried to step forward, but an invisible wall blocked her. She struck it hard, again and again, soundlessly.

Saroma did not even glance at her.

"Just like back then."

The girl looked at Thales.

"You lied to me."

Thales' throat tightened.

"You said everything would be all right. You said I would still have choices. You said if I wanted to leave, then I could leave."

Saroma's voice was soft, and because it was soft, every word cut deeper.

"But you lied."

Thales could not speak.

"And I believed you."

Saroma looked at him with those familiar eyes.

"Because you knew I would believe anything you said."

Her voice trembled only slightly.

"Even if I knew it was false."

Thales' grip loosened.

Behind the wall of smoke, Hilley pounded against the barrier with all her strength. Her mouth opened in a shout he could not hear.

"Why?"

Saroma took one step closer.

"Why were you so good to me?"

She looked up at him.

"And why were you so cruel?"

Thales' breathing grew chaotic.

"You would not let me go."

Saroma lowered her eyes.

"But you would not hold me tightly either."

The next moment, cold light flashed.

The dagger at Thales' waist had somehow fallen into her hand.

Saroma raised it and pressed the tip against her own heart.

Thales' pupils shrank.

"No!"

The Sin of Hell's River roared.

The dagger in Saroma's hand vanished.

In its place appeared a burning torch from several steps away.

The flame surged forward.

Saroma screamed.

Thales gritted his teeth and forced the fire toward her face.

Manifest in fire.

Vanish before god.

That was what the rumors said.

The flame licked across the girl's features.

Her beautiful face twisted in the fire.

Saroma's scream echoed through the smoke.

Thales staggered back, panting.

But before he could breathe, another voice sounded from within the flame.

"You said you would have a way, Thales."

Thales froze.

The burning Saroma disappeared.

Standing in the white smoke was a little girl of four or five.

Her face was dirty. Her clothes were ragged. On one cheek was a burn scar shaped like a coin.

Koria.

The youngest girl in the Sixth House.

Thales' mind went blank.

Koria looked at him quietly.

"We all thought you would come back to save us."

Her voice was small and childish.

"We believed you would have a way."

Thales' lips moved.

"You always had a way."

The little girl smiled.

"But you never came."

Thales' hand holding the torch began to tremble.

"Not even before we died."

The flame went out.

The smoke swallowed the little girl.

Thales stood there in a daze.

I am sorry.

The words stuck in his throat, unable to emerge.

I am sorry.

The next moment, Saroma returned.

Her eyes were red, but her smile was gentle.

"It is all right."

She came forward and embraced him.

"I know that feeling."

Thales did not move.

"The feeling of being butchered, of having no power to choose anything."

Saroma's voice sounded by his ear.

"You remember it. I remember it."

Thales' eyes lost focus.

"We hate that feeling."

The girl held him tighter.

"Even more than we fear death."

Thales slowly lowered his gaze.

"So in order to avoid it, in order to freely choose one day..."

Saroma murmured softly:

"We have to become strong."

Thales looked at his left palm.

At the scar there.

"No matter who you want to become, there is no need to fear."

Saroma's voice grew softer.

"No matter who you want to become."

Thales' fingers brushed over the scar.

Just one light cut.

"No matter who you became."

The girl's whisper was like a dream.

"Become..."

Just one light cut.

Reverse all of this misfortune.

"The person who reverses all this misfortune."

"Enough!"

A sharp cry exploded.

Thales shuddered.

The white smoke thinned abruptly.

"Get away from him!"

Thales fell heavily to the ground.

He looked up in a daze.

Hilley stood five steps away.

Her face was pale. She held the JC Dagger against her own throat.

Blood trickled down the blade.

Thales' heart clenched.

"Hilley?"

Saroma still stood beside him. She looked at Hilley with interest.

"Is he that important?"

Hilley's hand was steady.

"I am not joking."

Her voice trembled, but her eyes did not waver.

"Back off."

Saroma smiled.

Thales slowly rose and took a step back with her.

"What are you doing?"

Thales' voice was hoarse.

"Why..."

He tried to reignite the torch, but only smoke rose from it.

"You still believe that?"

Saroma glanced at the dead torch and chuckled.

"Manifest in fire, vanish before god. A lovely little rumor. Fire is useful against only a small portion of us. To many others, fire is a close friend."

She tilted her head.

"As for vanishing before god..."

Saroma's smile widened.

"At least humans hope so."

"Shut up."

Hilley's voice was cold.

She stared at Thales.

"Come here."

Thales looked at her, then at Saroma.

"And throw that thing away."

Thales hesitated for a moment, then threw the dead torch aside and walked to Hilley's side.

Saroma watched them with amusement.

Thales breathed out.

"Who is she?"

Hilley did not lower the dagger.

"You tell me!"

Her voice rose.

"Who is she?"

Saroma smiled at her.

"Cecilia, suicide costs more than death."

Hilley's expression turned colder.

"Then count it as me breaching the contract."

Saroma narrowed her eyes.

"If I die," Hilley said, "you lose your bridge to the mortal world. You lose your boat. You can wait a few hundred years, or a few thousand years, for the next foolish girl who is willing to make a bargain with you."

Saroma looked at her quietly.

"You are willing to pay the price of breach just for him?"

"None of your business."

Saroma suddenly smiled.

"The contract is formed."

Hilley's face changed.

Saroma spoke leisurely:

"One day, Cecilia Regina Bella Covendier will fulfill her promise only for him."

"That was not our consensus!"

Hilley's eyes widened.

"That was not the contract!"

But Saroma had already appeared before her.

The dagger vanished from Hilley's hand.

Thales reacted instantly and pulled Hilley backward.

Hilley bit her lip.

"I have other ways to kill myself."

Saroma examined the dagger in her hand.

"Poison?"

Hilley said nothing.

Saroma chuckled.

"You did not bring any today. You were afraid of accidentally poisoning the prince."

Hilley's face stiffened.

Saroma raised her head.

But Thales had already moved.

The JC Dagger vanished from Saroma's hand.

In the next instant, it appeared in Thales' grasp, pressed against Hilley's throat.

Saroma paused.

Thales' expression was extremely ugly.

"I can kill her."

Hilley was stunned for a moment, then immediately understood.

"Yes!"

She lifted her chin and helped him press the blade against her own neck.

"He can kill me!"

Hilley glared at Saroma.

"He is very good at it!"

Saroma stared at the dagger that had vanished and reappeared, then suddenly bent over and laughed.

She laughed so hard she nearly fell to the ground.

Thales and Hilley stared at her warily.

"Relax."

Saroma finally straightened, wiping tears that did not exist from the corners of her eyes.

"I was only joking."

She looked at Thales.

"I will not do anything to him."

Thales frowned.

"Why?"

"Because he is marked."

Saroma's tone was light.

"This object has an owner. Others keep away."

Thales subconsciously touched his forehead.

Hilley stared at him as well.

"Marked?"

Saroma circled Thales once with interest.

"How strange. Who reserved these goods?"

Thales' eyelid twitched.

"Goods?"

Hilley gritted her teeth.

"What mark? What does that mean?"

Thales looked at Saroma, his voice low:

"And can you stop using her face?"

Saroma blinked.

Hilley immediately asked:

"Who is this girl?"

Saroma did not answer.

Her skin suddenly rippled.

The golden hair, glasses, eyes, and features all dissolved like melting wax.

In the next second, what stood before them was a glossy black humanoid figure with no face.

Thales stared at it.

Honestly, the previous one looked better.

"You must be very valuable."

The faceless thing looked at Thales.

"Or very tasty."

Its voice became clearer and clearer, neither male nor female, neither old nor young.

"The more I think about it, the more I want to seize you, even if it means offending the great figure behind you."

Thales' expression darkened.

"I would present you to my lord, the Monarch of a Thousand Faces."

The thing's tone became intoxicated.

"And when my lord is pleased, when my lord is careless, I will kill it, torment it, imprison it, destroy it, and become the new monarch."

Thales and Hilley exchanged a glance.

"Does your monarch know," Thales asked slowly, "that you want to kill and replace it?"

"Of course."

The thing sounded as if the question was very strange.

"Otherwise, why would it grant favor to me instead of those cowards who do not even have the courage to betray their master, kill their lord, and destroy themselves?"

Thales fell silent.

"My monarch has long expected that one day its servants will become powerful enough to resist it, destroy it, and replace it."

The faceless thing's voice trembled with excitement.

"Only then can it experience the greatest enjoyment: greater, wider, more terrifying destruction, failure, and pain."

It laughed softly.

"Just like the demons long ago."

The surrounding white smoke stirred again.

"They incited humans to seek the unknown, touch taboos, break faith, resist gods, despise order, hate themselves, pursue excellence, pursue mystic energy..."

Thales' face changed slightly.

"Until humans became a disaster the world could not digest, creating the grandest catastrophe, chaos, horror, and amusement."

The faceless thing spread its arms.

"Even demons themselves suffered from it."

Its laughter became clearer.

"And they succeeded."

The white smoke seemed to carry distant echoes.

"When the first Mystic pierced through the wall of the world, awakened the gods, and shook faith..."

"When Calamity and the King of Calamities fell into hell, killing, destroying, and questioning the source..."

"When Hell's River was thrown into chaos..."

"The monarchs of hell savored success."

Its tone was intoxicated, almost reverent.

"A poem of self-destruction that had been awaited since birth. A chaos even the supreme gods could not repair."

Thales' breathing grew heavier.

"Heaven, the mortal world, hell..."

The faceless thing whispered:

"From then on, fate began to turn toward a terrifying end."

It chuckled.

"This boring world finally became interesting."

Thales looked at it coldly.

"Why are you telling me this?"

The thing tilted its head.

"You know why."

Thales' heart sank.

The thing turned toward Hilley.

"As for you, Cecilia, for finding me such wonderful entertainment..."

It bowed gracefully.

"I will give you a discount."

The white smoke scattered.

A figure fell out of it with a scream.

"Manny!"

Thales' expression changed.

Srimanny collapsed to the ground not far away, shaking all over.

The faceless thing appeared behind him.

"Srimanny!"

Hilley shouted as well.

But Srimanny heard nothing.

Just like Hilley earlier, he was trapped in another silence.

Srimanny stared ahead in terror.

"No..."

His face twisted.

"You are not real..."

"Do you not remember, Manny?"

The faceless thing's voice became intimate.

"Back then, you and your wife lived in that short-rent room. You could not earn money. You could not pay rent. You could not even buy one decent set of formal clothes."

Srimanny shook his head desperately.

"Poor and desperate, wanting so badly to rise."

The thing leaned close to him.

"On countless exhausted afternoons and numb nights, in tears, pain, and unwillingness, you questioned me."

Srimanny clutched his head.

"No..."

"So we made an agreement."

The thing's voice was cheerful.

"You willingly mortgaged a tribute to me."

Srimanny's breathing became ragged.

"Something that comes and goes naturally, silently. When it is present, it does not increase anything. When it is absent, no one notices anything missing."

Thales moved forward, but the white smoke rose into a wall and blocked him.

"What did he mortgage?"

Hilley's face was pale.

"Do not look directly."

She stopped Thales with one hand.

"During an Anomalous Descent, many things of common sense do not apply. If you look directly, you may be dragged in as well."

The thing continued behind the smoke wall:

"Not everyone has it."

"When others have it and you do not, you are especially happy."

"But when you have it and others do not..."

Its voice softened.

"You suffer even more."

Srimanny trembled violently.

"Look at it."

The thing ordered gently.

"Look."

Srimanny slowly opened his eyes.

Something lay in his hands.

It was a twisted, shriveled, blackened infant corpse.

Its head was crooked, its tiny limbs wrinkled, its body curled like a charred lump of flesh.

Srimanny screamed and threw it away.

Thales' blood ran cold.

The infant corpse landed on the ground.

Then it moved.

Its shriveled body twisted and crawled toward Srimanny.

"Remember?"

The corpse spoke in a thin voice.

"You mortgaged me to it."

Srimanny retreated madly.

"You mortgaged me, mortgaged your life, for a better life."

The corpse crawled on.

"Fine clothes and good food. Stored grain in disaster years. Status above others. Words that decide life and death."

Srimanny covered his ears.

"No..."

"Thin and weak."

The corpse's voice changed.

Srimanny twitched.

"Useless."

He twitched again.

"Glib-tongued."

"Bookworm."

"Cannot do farm work."

"Country bumpkin."

"Pauper."

"Odd-job worker."

"Lowly temporary hire."

"Cannot pay rent."

"Fool."

"Easy to bully."

"Coward."

Every word made Srimanny shudder.

Then the corpse's tone changed.

"Clever."

"Security officer."

"Penholder."

"Report expert."

"Eloquent."

"The police station's pen."

"Great defense lawyer."

"Watertight."

"Cunning and bright."

"Reversal of verdict."

"Learned."

"Client first."

"High-status, respected Mr. Srimanny."

Srimanny knelt on the ground, shaking so hard he could barely breathe.

"See?"

The thing's voice came from behind the corpse.

"What I gave you."

It paused and corrected itself:

"No. What you worked for, and through my small intermediary, exchanged from the world."

The infant corpse raised its head.

"But you breached the contract."

Srimanny sobbed.

"Not long ago, without permission, you took it back."

The faceless thing's voice remained pleasant.

"According to the contract, it is my property."

The corpse crawled closer.

"So I am here to reclaim the collateral, the principal, the interest, and the damages for breach."

Srimanny screamed.

Thales' hands clenched.

"Do not complain."

The faceless thing's tone became almost tender.

"This is a transaction. A contract. Fairness."

It laughed.

"Your example proves a rule many fools believe: abandon humanity, and wealth and fortune will come. Believe in humanity, and you will die an unnatural death."

Thales' face was ashen.

"The gods, and the existences behind the world, all want to see struggle, pain, tempering, the twists and turns of life, unexpected endings, and the proof of value."

The thing sighed.

"Like watching a performance."

"No different from demons."

The corpse climbed onto Srimanny's knee.

"The price is that all mortals are forever trapped in torment, repeating life again and again as actors for their appreciation."

The faceless thing chuckled.

"Compared with your landlord and your superior..."

Its voice turned delighted.

"You are much more interesting, Srimanny."

Srimanny collapsed.

The smoke wall vanished.

Thales rushed forward and caught him.

"Manny!"

He pressed his fingers to Srimanny's neck.

There was a pulse.

He was still breathing.

"Do not worry."

The faceless thing's voice sounded behind him.

"He did not mortgage his life to me."

Thales slowly raised his head.

"What exactly are you?"

"Evil."

Hilley came behind him and murmured:

"It is evil."

"How rude! I am not evil at all."

The thing giggled. Ripples spread across its smooth black face.

"Compared with the most frightening, wicked, and terrifying existence in this world; compared with the great magic it spent thousands of years inventing, establishing, and perfecting; compared with the operating mechanism that twists every ordinary, common person into villains who harm one another; compared with its genius idea and grand design of transforming ultimate evil into the banality of evil; compared with its decadent music that makes every person willingly, even proudly, persist in evil and even call evil good..."

It clicked its tongue.

"My kindness, purity, openness, and fairness are practically worth waking Losofia so she can write a biography, raise a monument, and carve an inscription for me."

Thales frowned.

"And I wish you victory over it, Your Highness."

The thing tilted its head, its tone playful.

"Become the evil among evils, the wicked above the wicked."

Thales' brows tightened.

"What does that mean?"

But the thing merely laughed.

Its entire humanoid body began to crack, break apart, and scatter.

"Get lost."

Hilley seemed to wake from a dream. She grabbed a stone and hurled it at the thing.

"Get far away!"

"Do not be like that, little Six-Finger. You are one of my premium clients."

The thing's laughter drifted through the smoke.

"As for this prince with an uncertain road ahead, hehe, please remember my name. It will make future business easier."

Thales frowned.

"By Hell's River, warm and hospitable. Borrow and return, fair and reciprocal."

Its laughter pierced the smoke.

"Soulbone Yake!"

Soulbone.

Yake?

Thales was startled and turned toward Hilley.

But she only shook her head.

"All right. Before I go home, I still need to find a client in the suburbs."

Its voice came from within the white smoke.

"A blind old widow who lost her daughter years ago, lost the trial, could not redress her grievance, and can only pray every day that her enemies meet retribution. She is still waiting for me to fulfill the contract and deliver the news. Perhaps I will collect a little more broker's fee?"

Thales thought of something and looked at Srimanny in his arms.

"And perhaps she will believe once more that justice may arrive late, but it is never absent! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

Amid seemingly endless mad laughter, the white smoke around them gradually dispersed.

The final laugh echoed in the thinning mist:

"When sun and moon are black as pitch, Hell's River drinks a cup of blood. I am the flesh-eating ghost, here to open your heart's door!"

At last, the white smoke that had covered their vision vanished completely.

Only Thales remained kneeling on the ground, together with Hilley, supporting the unconscious Srimanny.

"Your Highness, why did you stop?"

Thales trembled and turned back.

Glover stood before him. Behind Glover was Ralf, just as puzzled.

They were in a cold, quiet alley.

Occasional passersby came and went, casting curious glances at their group.

Glover looked at him in confusion, as though nothing had happened at all.

As though in the previous second, they had still been walking properly down the road.

But just now, just now, clearly...

"Forgive my bluntness, but we are still in danger. We cannot..."

Glover noticed something wrong.

"What happened to the defense lawyer? Did he collapse from exhaustion?"

He reached out and took the limp Srimanny.

Srimanny groaned and slowly woke.

Thales let out a breath of relief and squeezed out a smile.

"Manny, are you all right?"

Srimanny opened his eyes and looked ahead in confusion.

"Oh, I am fine, fine..."

Pop!

The sound of fireworks exploding came from the distance, as though someone had lit a large cluster of fireworks somewhere.

At the sound, Srimanny jolted upright, startling everyone.

He raised his head and showed a smile.

"Right, wife."

His face was filled with a simple, foolish grin as he looked at the moon in the sky.

"I copied fifty warrants today, and helped a secretary correct two wrong sentences. They gave me five extra coppers!"

Thales' smile disappeared.

Beside him, Hilley sighed.

Glover stared at the defense lawyer in surprise, then gave the prince a confused look.

No one spoke.

Srimanny seemed to realize something.

His eyes changed. He shrank back, avoiding the moonlight, and spoke timidly:

"Only, only I gave the money to the old woman at the street corner. But she and her granddaughter... they were almost out of food!"

He covered his head, his voice carrying a sob.

"I am sorry, I am sorry! Wife, I know I was wrong! I will not dare next time!"

Thales stared blankly at the trembling Srimanny.

"Manny..."

He spoke with difficulty.

"I know!"

Srimanny suddenly raised his head again, looked at the moon, and put on that simple, foolish smile once more.

"I heard the Security Hall is hiring temporary staff. I can read. I know arithmetic. I can recite scripture. I can also copy documents. And those official reports are not that hard, not hard at all."

Like a child, he counted on his fingers one by one.

"Believe me, wife. Believe me. Next week. Just next week..."

The former great defense lawyer took a deep breath. In his timidity, there was a trace of hope. He was full of confidence.

"We... we will definitely be able to pay the rent!"

"Definitely!"

At that moment, looking at Srimanny's dazed, foolish smile, Thales stood frozen in place.

He did not know what to say.