"I’m sorry, what?"
Axel stared at Kinsey like he had misheard her, even though he knew he hadn’t. His brows pulled together and his lips parted slightly, stuck halfway between confusion and disbelief.
"You’re a vampire." She repeated it calmly and casually. She said it like it was obvious, like she had just pointed out the color of the sky.
Axel blinked once. Then twice. Then he let out a short sound that almost escaped his mouth before he could stop it. It wasn’t a laugh. More like a snort.
Kinsey tilted her head. "What’s funny?" she asked.
That snapped him back. Axel straightened a little and shook his head.
"Sorry," he said quickly. "That just caught off guard."
He couldn’t exactly tell her that there was an artificial intelligence inside his head losing its mind right now. Inside him, Aurora was having a field day of laughter.
"Oh, this is priceless!" Aurora said, her voice ringing with open amusent. "A vampire? Really? Dear host, why do you insist on surrounding yourself with idiots?"
’Shut up!’ he thought sharply as he tried to hold in his own laughter.
Aurora laughed louder, completely ignoring him. "Mind wipe equals vampire. By that logic, every hypnotist in history must have been one too."
Axel felt the corner of his mouth twitch again and forced it down. He kept his eyes on Kinsey, but his focus was slipping. Aurora’s voice kept cutting through his thoughts, mocking, poking, enjoying herself far too much.
Kinsey noticed and her eyes narrowed slightly, not in anger, but in curiosity, then she asked;
"...Who are you talking to?"
Axel froze. For a second, the room felt too quiet. His heart gave a small, sharp thump against his ribs.
"What? No one," he said after a pause. "I was just... thinking."
Kinsey didn’t respond right away. She studied his face, his eyes, the way his attention seed split, like he was half-present.
"That’s not true," she said finally. "I’ve been watching you and I’ve seen you act strange enough to conclude that there’s soone else here. Not physically. But you’re not alone."
Axel was almost impressed despite himself. That person she was talking about was Aurora. She had put it together frighteningly fast.
"Stop," he said. His voice ca out firr than he expected.
Kinsey didn’t. Instead, she turned her head slightly, as if addressing empty space beside Axel.
"Who are you?" she asked. "Whatever you are."
Aurora’s tone shifted instantly. The laughter vanished.
"This girl is a problem," Aurora said, her voice low and serious. "She’s smart. Too smart and she knows you aren’t human."
"She could expose you," Aurora continued. "Out you to the academy. To Oval Corp. To everyone. You know what that ans."
"You might need to get rid of her."
’What? No! I’m not getting rid of anybody. Why’s that always your solution to every problem?’ Axel asked Aurora whilst maintaining a straight face at Kinsey.
"She is a problem!"
’I’m not killing her!’
Aurora scoffed. "Weak."
’Drop it!’ Axel snapped back in his mind.
There was a brief pause, then Aurora clicked her tongue.
"Fine, then erase her. Demonic Mind Wipe. Clean and simple."
Axel hesitated.
’Erase a week of her life? Everything she had seen, learned, connected?’ He shook his head slightly. ’That’s not possible and you know it.’
Kinsey watched him closely as he stayed silent, her suspicion deepening. Axel took a breath and decided to steer things back.
"I’m not a vampire," he said aloud.
"But you erased soone’s mind."
"That doesn’t make a vampire," Axel replied. "Vampires burn in the sun. I don’t."
He gestured vaguely, as if that alone should settle it. "Vampires need blood to survive," he went on. "The sll of blood makes nauseous."
"Infernal liar..." Aurora comnted dryly. Axel ignored her.
"Dane Cornwall attacked and my friend," he said. "He was going to kill us. I didn’t have a choice."
He didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t dramatize it. He just stated it as it was. Kinsey fell silent.
She looked away from him for a mont, her fingers tapping lightly against her arm as she processed everything. The vampire theory began to settle under its own weight.
"No," she murmured. "That doesn’t fit."
Axel let out a slow breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.
"If you were a vampire," Kinsey continued, mostly to herself now, "there would be other signs."
She looked back at him in a less accusatory and more analytical manner.
"So what are you?"
Before Axel could answer, she started listing nas.
"Ghoul? No. They decay. Lich? No phylactery, no necrotic aura. Succubus? Definitely not." She shook her head. "Djinn don’t work like this eitherand Werewolves are just a bunch of hounds running in a full moon."
Axel stared at her. It dawned on him slowly that she wasn’t just guessing randomly. She actually knew this stuff. She was basically a Mythology Creature Guru
You’re a walking encyclopedia, he thought.
Kinsey paced slightly as she spoke, matching traits to creatures, discarding them one by one.
"Mind manipulation," she muttered. "Red energy. Physical enhancent. mory erasure..."
Her steps slowed then she stopped.
"...Mind Wipe," she said quietly. "Do demons even do that? Maybe so sort of Demonic mind wipe?"
The mont she said the demonic mind wipe, Axel’s blood ran cold.
Aurora’s voice sharpened imdiately "She’s too close. End this now. It’ll be quick. She won’t even feel it."
Axel’s pulse spiked. His fingers curled into fists. Kinsey looked up at him again, her eyes wide, not with fear, but realization.
"That red energy you use," she said slowly. "I thought it was Infernal at first as a joke. But... now that I think about it, infernal is also inferno and inferno is hellfire."
Her breathing hitched as she took a step back. Axel’s mind was screaming. Aurora was urging him forward, relentless, vicious.
"Do it, now!"
Kinsey swallowed, her voice barely above a whisper.
"...Are you a demon?"
____
Outside the Oval Academy. That sa familiar throne room was silent when the sa woman returned. She wielded the sa weapon as she did last ti.
The sa long hallway stretched behind her, the ancient symbols along the walls dimr now and their glow were sowhat unstable, as if reacting to unseen tension. She walked with asured steps, her posture straight, her expression unreadable.
She stopped before the black throne and bent on one knee.
"My lord," she began. "The Infernal Beacon that was detected has gone silent."
The man on the throne did not move at first. His fingers rested calmly on the armrest, his gaze fixed forward, unfocused, as if staring through her rather than at her. Then he spoke, his voice bood across the chamber.
"Gone silent?" he repeated. "Explain yourself."
"The surge vanished, My Lord." she said. "The signal collapsed completely. There is not a trace of Infernal or Demonic Core resonance remaining in the area.."
The man leaned back slightly against his throne "So the demon is dead?"
"That was my first conclusion," she replied. "I contacted the Level Three slayer you ordered to dispatch."
"And?"
"He confird it was not him," she said. "He never encountered the target. No combat. No kill."
The silence deepened. The man’s eyes narrowed just a fraction before continuing.
"Then explain how an Infernal Beacon dies without death."
The woman lifted her head slightly to speak but he interrupted. "It shouldn’t be possible." The man’s gaze sharpened. "Shouldn’t even be spoken out loud!"
"An Infernal Core cannot be hidden," The man continued firmly. "It burns constantly. Even dormant, it leaks. Even while suppressed, it resonates. So a demon cannot simply turn it off. It’s not a damn switch, Diana!"
"So you believe the beacon was destroyed," the young lady known as Diana asked.
"No," the man answered without hesitation. "I believe sothing is wrong."
The man’s fingers tapped once against the throne. "But, father—"
"You disagree with your own conclusion."
"Yes," she said. "Because the evidence contradicts it. Maybe the demon died of other causes."
He stood slowly. The pressure in the room changed instantly. The pillars groaned softly, reacting to his presence.
"I do not believe the demon is dead," he said. "I believe it is hiding."
The woman’s eyes widened slightly, just enough to show surprise. "Hiding... its core?" she asked.
"If Infernal Entities have found their way back to Earth," the man continued, "then concealnt is only the beginning."
His voice hardened.
"If more follow, that planet will not survive the attention."
The woman lowered her head again. "What are your orders?"
"Escalation," he said. "This situation calls for a Level Five slayer."
She paused. Then she lifted her gaze slowly.
"...Are you asking to go?"
The man looked directly at her now.
"Yes."
A brief silence followed.
She nodded once. "I will depart imdiately."
As she turned to leave, the man spoke again. "One more thing. While you’re at it, check on your brother at that academy..."
The words lingered in the air long after she straightened.
"...Oval Academy."
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