Legacy World 4.32 Surprise, Surprise!

The moment Angela broke in with the other angels, Vanora's eyes followed her. She wanted to look away, but she could not. A surge of hateful emotions suddenly coursed through her veins. Her breathing turned ragged. Every muscle fibre in her screamed to attack. So, although she had her eyes on the fight, she paid no attention to it.

/Not again./ Vanora fought for control over her body. The internal fight to keep her sanity was so intense that she unknowingly dug her nails into Vlad's arms. It went in deep enough to draw blood.

/Are you thinking of letting her go? Of running away?/ A deep voice that sounded like nails on a chalkboard suddenly resounded clearly in her head.

Vanora paled in shock. That was far from the voice she expected to hear in her head.

The voice cackled in the same way it did when it first communicated with Vanora.

/Surprised? Demons don't have a weak thing like trust. See what would have happened if I trusted you?! I told you that it was conditional! Since you aren't taking your revenge for us, I'LL do it!/

When Vanora's nails pierced his skin, Vlad did not even flinch. Instead, he lightly held onto her hand that had its nails in him, and studied her expression. He immediately knew that something was wrong. Was she that scared? Would she be okay to retreat then? /Guess I could ask her now./

"Va-" His whisper died back down as he watched her eyes glow alarmingly bright.

Before anyone could blink, Vanora dashed forward and appeared in front of Angela. However, Michael and Angela reacted at the same time, reflecting her attack back on her and throwing her back to where she came from.

"Vanora!" Vlad cried out in reflex and caught her. However, she paid him no mind and leapt forward again. He watched as Vanora's strength and power reached new heights. However, she fought like a battle-crazed maniac. Every move stretched her muscles beyond their limits. Every hit fractured her bones. New cuts covered her body and blood flowed freely. The only reason she could keep going was because her regenerative speed could keep up. The whole time, she laughed like she had been looking forward to this fight. Her aura also flared in an unhinged way that was uncharacteristic of her.

/No. She won't be that reckless./ Vlad instantly concluded in a short few seconds. However, it also caused him to hit the roof. /Then WHO THE FUCK HAS THE GUTS./

He jumped in, planning to retrieve Vanora then escape, so that he could settle this problem, but he got intercepted by Michael.

"GOD FUCKING DAMN IT! I SHOULD HAVE FINISHED YOU BACK THEN!" Vlad's yell echoed throughout the space and maze. He wasted no time in commencing his attack, which caught Michael by surprise. His understanding of Vlad was someone who would at least finish his rambles before toying with his prey. Despite the improvement he had made in the past year, it still proved to be insufficient against Vlad. Michael was barely keeping up his defense. There was not even a glimpse of a chance to fight back.

Angela had been aware of Michael's fight from the start, but she did not worry about him. Michael was the strongest angel she knew of. However, the way their fight progressed increasingly alarmed her. It finally dawned on her that there was one demon who did almost kill Michael before, resulting in the need to recover for almost over a year.

"So it's YOU!" Angela spat. Her voice was filled with hate and anger. She had recognised Michael's opponent as the one that had always teased and made fun of her, and rubbed in her face how she was so far from her ideal self. Now that she knew he was also responsible for Michael's near-death state, her hatred for him got renewed and was stronger than ever.

Angela finally focused her full attention on her own fight, eager to end it so that she could go to Michael's assistance. She did not believe that Vlad could survive a showdown with two strong warrior angels. Her newfound vigor increased her strength and almost magically helped her to push Vanora back.

Vlad ignored the crazed shout of another female and continued with a succession of moves as planned. Vlad was about to finish Michael off, but Angela also executed her finishing move on Vanora.

Vlad decisively abandoned his fight to teleport to Vanora. Now that Michael was in no condition to interfere, Vlad successfully made it to her side, then covered her body with his.

A thousand lightning quick strikes rained down on Vlad and Vanora. When it struck the pair, a bright light shone and momentarily blinded everyone.

BOOM!

The loud explosion echoed throughout the maze and everything shook dangerously. Debris fell from the ceiling. Everyone knew that they had to escape now or get buried alive.

Most of the hell beings successfully escaped because they knew their way around and had the advantage of it being their turf.

The lost abandoned angels sought to regroup and figure their way out of this together. Only Angela swung her sword around in anger, but it only struck debris, dust, and air. "They disappeared! It's impossible! There was definitely not enough time for them to escape and I KNOW my attack hit! But!"

Angela was greatly puzzled. She was prepared to see their bodies explode or shredded into tiny pieces.

"Angela." Michael's voice was soft but firm and steady. He grounded her back down. She pursed her lips, then took off with him.

All the angels literally clawed their way out of the earth, except with their weapons. The barrier around them made them look like a flying comet bursting out of the ground.

Vanora could only describe the experience of losing control like a dissociation. Immediately after she lost control, she found herself back in the black space where she would be held in between transmigrations. This time, however, she could clearly picture whatever was happening in real time, from a third person's point of view.

"Sweet place you have here inside of you.” Vanora spun on her heels and found a floating head looking at her. It was the demon’s head that she consumed. “All dark and black. Just how I like it."

"How're you here? Why're you here?" She controlled her tone well, but he could almost smell her fear.

He laughed maliciously. "You don't know how?! Or why?! No freaking way! You don't know what this place is?! Hey, I'm clearly superior to you. So, you should just hand over the control of your body to me. Oh wait, you're so weak, I didn't even need to ask!" Then, he was back to cackling.

Vanora frowned a little, then took the chance to scan the space. However, the only other oddity was a floating ball of stars and white smoke. It looked as if the milky way got confined into a crystal ball.

"Finding the little demon?"

Her eyes widened in surprise. /He saw BaoBao?/

"What's he? Your child?"

Vanora's gaze turned a little sharper. /Is what happened to BaoBao related to his presence?/

Although slight, the demon caught the change in her gaze. "Ohhhh. So THAT'S what you were fearful of!" He guffawed. "And here I thought that you feared me! You fucker!"

Vanora did not even try to humour him. She merely watched him with hostile eyes.

He nonchalantly nodded towards the ball of stars. "I don't know what happened to him."

/That's BaoBao?/ Her lips drew into a straighter line and her eyes shot daggers at the demon.

However, her look of suspicion and protectiveness only tickled it. "That's a good look! You think I did something to him? Oh please, I have standards. He's so weak that he didn't even notice my presence here." His annoying cackle resumed.

"How could we have known your invasion was possible?" Feeling defensive for BaoBao, she bothered to rebut the demon.

"Since I’m in a good mood, I shall educate you a little, girl. If I have to name this place, I'd call this the heart of your soul. It's basically the deepest part of your existence. NORMALLY, you'd sense some disturbance within you if there's an invasion." His tone then became mocking. "Then again, you're so pathetically weak. Or maybe I'm just that much stronger than you." His cackle followed as usual.

However, Vanora had already ignored him after his explanation. She focused only on the glowing orb that was BaoBao. The demon got offended that a small fry like her dared to ignore him, but he gradually faded away instead. Vanora knew that their fight with Angela required his full focus now. Her life was in danger. Yet, she could do nothing, but watch the demon rush headlong to their death. Her attempts to wrest back the control were still futile. The only option she had left was to use the system market that BaoBao talked about. After all, he had been so confident about its usefulness.

She stroked the ball of white stars. The stars twinkled a little brighter with every stroke.

"BaoBao... You can hear me, right? You can feel me, right? Please wake up, I could really use your help now."

This time, its light started to pulse.

Hoping that it was reacting to her, she talked more eagerly. "Will you come back already, BaoBao? I need my partner in crime by my side. Otherwise, it just does not feel right... I miss you." Vanora surprised herself. For the first time, Vanora spilled out her heartfelt feelings this easily and straightforwardly. Suddenly, the ball of stars shone so brightly that Vanora had to close her eyes and shield them with her arm. After the light faded away, Vanora opened her eyes and lowered her arm. A familiar looking boy, who looked around 10 years old, stood before her. He looked and glowed like BaoBao, but was less chubby and taller.

“BaoBao?” Vanora immediately recognised him.

"Luna!!" BaoBao jumped into her arms. However, he completely froze in the midst of his jump.

Luna had happily spread open her arms to welcome him back. The way he froze mid-jump and stayed floating there puzzled and worried her. That was until she turned her attention back to what was happening to her body. Angela had unleashed some power move and Vlad wrapped her in his arms just before the attack hit them. Only Vanora witnessed how the attack actually collided with an invisible barrier around Vlad and her body. The attack caused it to light up, momentarily blinding their opponents, like a flash bomb.

Before she knew it, her consciousness returned to her physical body.

[Now it's up to you, Lu- Vanora! I'll keep this demon in check!]

Vanora immediately whispered into Vlad's ear, “Teleport away, NOW.”

Her command told him that Vanora was now back to normal. He did not know how or why or what happened, but he obeyed without question or delay.

Now, they stood in Vlad’s study, but Vlad continued to scrutinise her face closely. "What happened just now?" He finally asked.

Vanora explained everything about the consciousness of the demon still existing within her. His face scrunched up into a deep scowl. The whites of his eyes showed streaks of black. "It's his life force keeping him alive within you. This means he has witnessed EVERYTHING I've done to anyone who crosses me or you. Yet, he has the baseless confidence that he's safe from me? After what he dared to do to you?"

He took a long deep breath to not lose his temper. "Sorry, this'll sting for a moment."

Before she could ask him what he meant, she felt his teeth sink into her left shoulder. A brief sharp pain was followed by intense waves of ecstasy.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the heart of Vanora’s soul, the demon head flew aimlessly. No matter where it flew to, he could not find the way out. BaoBao had effectively kept him quarantined. The power that BaoBao reigned over this area shocked the demon. “Just wait till I get you!” He fumed over his mistake of underestimating a seemingly young and weak demon.

He was still flying around when he suddenly felt an intense burning sensation. It was so painful that it stopped him dead in his tracks. His voice felt stuck in his throat as well. /What’s. Happening. To. Me./

His quarantine included getting robbed of the ability to view the real world from inside. Sometimes, not knowing was the worst experience. He did not know what was happening, why it was happening, and how long it would last. How can he stop this? How can he cope with it? There was nothing solid he could ram himself into or roll around on. He had no body to hug himself with. He could only grit his teeth and completely experience the pain in its entirety. His eyes were opened so widely that it looked like they could pop out of his sockets at any moment.

After what seemed like an eternity of burning, he felt his consciousness and life seep away from him. In his final moments before darkness consumed him, his life flashed by his eyes. /Finally. I'm finally dying./

When the image of Vlad killing and torturing others for meddling with Vanora, he had a flash of inspiration. /Lord Vlad?/

He laughed bitterly as he cursed his fate that the person he converted had strong guardians looking out for her.

In reality, it took only around 5 minutes for Vlad to locate then drain the life force of the demon within Vanora.

When Vlad let go of her shoulder, the feeling of ecstasy vanished without a trace. Vanora frowned as she found herself panting and wanting more. Vlad’s lips repeatedly returned to her neck, showering it with featherlight kisses.

"He’s still there?" She whispered, after waiting for a long while.

Ever since their passionate night, they have not behaved as intimately with each other. With the trust established with Vlad, she immediately assumed that this sudden intimacy had to do with dealing with the demon inside her.

Vlad stopped planting kisses on her and leaned back to reply, "It’s done. He'll never bother you again." He stroked her rosy cheeks.

"What did you do?"

"My power of gluttony also allows me to consume the life force of another, but only by biting.”

“Basically… Vampires?”

“Yes, actually."

Vanora’s body turned stiff. Would BaoBao be affected by it? After all, she was not sure how BaoBao’s and Vlad’s powers worked.

/BaoBao?!/