deia didn’t know where Tian was taking her. They kept walking deeper into the underground tunnel.
The air felt heavier with every step, making it harder to breathe, and the silence around them was so thick she could hear her own heartbeat echoing in her ears.
"Tian, where are we going?" deia glanced over her shoulder, eyeing the dark tunnel behind them. "Lucian might get worried if we stay down here for too long."
"You said you wanted to see the demons," Tian replied, his voice calm. "So, that’s what we’ll do."
deia still didn’t understand why the system had said it could sense humans in this place. How could anyone survive in a tunnel like this?
Besides, she hadn’t seen a single sign of life down here.
The tunnel looked untouched, as if no human hand had ever reached this deep. Still, she chose to stay quiet for now.
Eventually, deia saw a pair of large wooden doors at the end of the tunnel. They were thick, solid, and sealed shut with countless rusted chains and padlocks, clear signs that no one had opened them for years.
"This is where we held the rituals," Tian said as he slowly walked toward the door, his steps hesitant. "We sacrificed many people here. From children ... to young won." He clenched his jaw. "I told Ren there was a door to hell in the basent."
Tian had warned his brother that a demon would drag him to hell if he ever opened the door and that once taken, he’d never be able to co back..
It sounded like a child’s bedti horror story, made up to keep curious kids away from sothing dangerous. And in a way, it worked. Ren had never dared to go near the basent door.
But the hell Tian spoke of wasn’t just a taphor.
He had seen it with his own eyes, sothing so terrifying that it still haunted his nights.
"So, this is where the demons live," deia whispered as she stepped closer. She reached out and placed her hand on the door, feeling the cool wood beneath her fingers.
Her eyes moved across the runic symbols carved into the surface. "Who made these runes?"
Tian looked away, as if he couldn’t bear to stare at them for too long. "My mother."
Interesting.
His father had been a high-ranking leader of the demonic sect, yet it was his mother who had sealed the demons away.
The carvings were extraordinary.
Each rune held supernatural power, strong enough to keep most demons from crossing through the door. However, such symbols were useless against high-rank demons, like deia or Lucifer.
If deia had still been in her original body, she could have touched those symbols without fear of being burned.
"What do you want to do once we open this door?" deia asked.
Tian was silent for a mont before answering, "Kill the demons."
He said it so casually, like it was the easiest thing in the world. But deia didn’t even know what kind of demons were waiting behind that door.
Still, as long as it gave her points, who cared? She only needed a bit more before she could finally use her wings without feeling any pain.
"But before I open this door, I want you to do sothing for first." deia turned to Tian, her eyes serious. "Tell about your past. It doesn’t have to be long."
The system had already told her that the reward for this special quest was an upgrade to her water ability, raising it to Grade-S. However, deia was sure it would also give her more experience points.
Honestly, she just needed around a thousand more experience points to level up.
"Why do you want to know about that?" Tian asked.
Since deia had learned about Tian’s system, she no longer stopped him from asking questions or trying her best to lie to him. "It’s part of my quest. Co on, help level up. I know you only asked to do this because of a quest too."
Tian turned his face away, clearly not wanting to et her eyes. "No ... it’s not part of any quest. This is sothing I asked for myself."
deia blinked. That was unexpected. It was strange for him to ask her to do sothing, especially if the system hadn’t told him to.
Before she could say anything, Tian added, "But I know you need this. Those demons can help you level up."
deia narrowed her eyes. "Have you seen my future?"
"I can’t answer that," Tian replied. "My system has one rule: never tell anyone about their fate. If I do, the system will imdiately drain all my points."
deia understood how painful that could be, so she didn’t press the issue. "Then just tell why you want to go into this room."
"My father is inside," Tian said quietly. "Before the apocalypse, the people in the cult were performing a ritual. A ritual ant to increase soone’s power."
deia leaned against the wall, listening without interrupting.
"My mother once told that soone predicted the end of the world," Tian continued. "They claid the world would fall into ruin."
Back then, Tian didn’t believe in fortune-tellers. He still didn’t. He thought that person probably got secret information from scientists or the governnt.
"I thought the ritual was just nonsense," he said through gritted teeth. "I didn’t believe anyone could beco as strong as a demon."
"But I was wrong. I still don’t understand how, but sohow ... they beca stronger. Three tis stronger than normal people. They could survive without eating or drinking, like monsters in human skin."
deia frowned. The only way to gain power from demons was to let one possess their body. It would make them strong, yes, but eventually, the demon would consu their soul and take over their body.
The only way to delay that was to offer sacrifices, so the demon would spare their life.
"Did they ... eat children’s hearts?" deia asked.
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