From inside, I heard Lucian’s voice, soft and doting. “Don’t cry. Your Lucian is here.”

“Lucian... I’m scared...”

“Shh, don’t be. I’m here.”

Then came the sound of fabric rustling... labored breaths... the unmistakable rhythm of intimacy.

I leaned against the cold wall outside. The black dog’s blood on my body reeked. They were inside, on my bed, doing that.

I didn’t know how long I stood there. Eventually, the door opened.

Lucian appeared, disheveled. He looked down at me. “Evelyn is kind-hearted. Let me take you inside. Behave, recover and we can start over.”

“Start over?” I laughed. His expression darkened.

“What are you laughing at?”

“I’m laughing at myself,” I said, meeting his eyes. “Lucian, do you really think I still want you?”

His face turned to stone. He slammed the door. It crushed my fingers. Crack. The pain was blinding. Blood poured from the mangled joints. I stared at my deformed fingers... and laughed again.

Seven years. Seven years... and now I saw his true face. From inside came Evelyn’s voice again.

“Lucian... will Sister Isabelle hold a grudge?”

“She dares?” he growled.

“If she shows you even a hint of disrespect, I’ll make her pay.”

That night, my spiritual energy surged and tore through my body. I was burning, shivering, like ants gnawed at my bones from the inside.

I dragged myself to the door and pounded on it with my last ounce of strength. “Lucian... give me a Rejuvenation Pill... please...”

The one who opened the door was Evelyn. Her face twisted with glee. “What are you screaming for? If you want to die, go far away! Don’t taint my home!”

Behind her, the black qilin lunged, knocking me down. Its claws raked across my chest, blood bursting forth.

Evelyn crouched beside me and whispered with a smile of triumph, “Do you know why my Demon Bond is so powerful? It loves spiritual energy.”

Then, with gleaming eyes, she said, “Guess where today’s spirit embryo ended up?”

A wave of hatred surged through me…so vast, it consumed my soul. My child. My child with Lucian. She fed it to that beast.

A strength born of fury surged within me. I grabbed her hair and slammed her into the wall. “Evelyn! I’ll kill you!”

She shrieked, “Lucian! Save me! Isabelle’s gone mad, she’s trying to kill me!”

Lucian burst out and kicked me in the chest. Crack. My ribs snapped. I coughed up blood, clutching his pants. “She… she fed our child… to that thing…”

He kicked me away in disgust. “It was just a worthless energy form. What’s the fuss?”

His voice was like ice. “If you hurt Evelyn, I’ll destroy you. Don’t mention this again, not once, not ten times, not a hundred. If Evelyn needs it, you give it.”

So he had known. He gave the remains of our child to Evelyn. That was the final blow. He dragged me to an abandoned barn and set a barrier. “Stay here. Reflect. You can come out once you’ve come to your senses.”

The door slammed shut. In the darkness, silence closed in. Blood soaked my lips. My spiritual energy turned against me, ravaging my meridians. This was how I died.

I was dying. Before my consciousness slipped into darkness, I used the last ounce of my strength to bite my fingertip and draw an ancient totem on the ground with my blood.

A summoning array. I crushed the engagement token, once meaningful, now hollow. Inside it, I had sealed a drop of life-giving blood from the moment of my birth. This was my final summoning. My final sacrifice.

"With my bloodline as the offering, I humbly welcome my master... Damien."

The ritual circle blazed to life, surging with a crimson glow. The entire Highmoor Valley quaked. Storm clouds swallowed the sky, casting the land into shadow. Streaks of violet lightning tore across the heavens. A suffocating force pressed down from above, heavy and dreadful, stealing the breath from every chest.

In the healing chamber, Evelyn clutched Lucian's sleeve, trembling. “Lucian, what’s happening?”

A moment later, the restraints over the storage barn shattered as a surge of overwhelming power tore through them. A man stepped out from the shadows, clad in a black trench coat, with silver hair and eyes glowing a deep, blood-red. Dark energy coiled around him like a living thing, oppressive, untamed and absolute. He ignored everyone else. His gaze locked onto me.

Without a word, he strode forward and gently picked me up. Seeing my body torn with wounds and my fingers mangled, his pupils narrowed sharply. Lifting his head, he swept a piercing glare toward Lucian and Evelyn.

“Who did this?”