15. Adriana

"Indeed. The chaos has arrived. It is now time to calm the dark."

The words of the first highest priest are puzzling to Mona.

But before she could ask him, the first highest priest settled his right hand on her head and spoke.

"Lives are at stake at the empire you came from. A demon appeared and incited monsters to slay more humans. They need help." First Highest Priest Yunis met her eyes, "Demons aren't afraid of anything. They do not surrender even in the face of being purified. But they know how to obey."

Mona only became more confused.

'Obey...?'

"Please explain it more to me."

"We have no time. You must leave now." The first highest priest declared.

Then a portal from behind her opened and sucked her in. The portals created by the oracle are out of pure divine mana, which is why it worked on her.

After ruffling her hair, the high priest's hand let her go.

"Whether you come back here or stay outside, the choice is yours. But remember, if you still think you aren't welcomed anywhere.... then, come back here."

The suction of the portal was so strong that no matter how Mona tried to struggle to stay on the ground, it was just in vain.

She saw the disappearing image of the first highest priest, the man who had become like her father in that short time, smiling at her gently.

"This place had now become your home. You can always come back, Adriana."

His last word echoed inside the portal.

The name was bestowed to her by the oracle himself.

Which means 'dark'.

Adriana.

Her heart was moved by the first highest priest's words and was also saddened. She didn't even have the chance to at least annoy the Saintess one last time before she left.

Aside from the first highest priest, Eli, the Saintess, was the second person she had grown closer to. Although the Saintess was very quiet and only talked when needed, once Mona pestered her to the bones, her words and actions would become more vulgar and violent which Mona found entertaining.

During her stay in the holy nation, First Highest Priest Yunis had become her father while Elizabeth had been her friend and entertainment.

Of course, she can always come back as the first highest priest said, as long as she possesses divinity. But once she enters again, her freedom would once again fall into the hands of the highest priests. Since they were the only ones who could permit someone to leave. Even Elizabeth had no control over that.

The portal emitted a blinding light that she instinctively shielded her eyes with her arm. When she put it down, what greeted her the moment she exited the portal was a place covered with thick fog.

She could see knights standing and somehow looking joyful. And she also spotted the Grand Duke of Adri.

She intended to approach him but also stopped in her tracks.

Mona was hesitant. Since it has been two years, she wondered if the Grand Duke still remembers her. But apart from that, she's quite afraid that if she said she wanted to stay with him, she would really become his horse' playmate.

In the end, she decided to walk towards him.

But Mona was struck by a throbbing pain in her heart. It made her stop moving once again. She clutched her chest as if taking something away from it to ease the pain. She breathed out and felt goosebumps rise on her skin. Like a predator waiting for its prey, her instinct became sharp and felt something evil approaching the knights. She immediately glanced upon a place where her senses were pointing, and before clashing with whatever it was, she covered the entire place with darkness.

Her own barrier.

Like a huge blanket cast upon them.

Mona was perplexed more than frightened. Sure, she learned dark magic, did exercises, and practiced wielding swords from the holy knights. But her agility and speed aren't something like a frog catching a fly.

It's as if her body had remembered how to fight, which obviously she has no memory of, and like a dormant skill that suddenly awakened.

"Argh!"

That 'thing' she hit with the scabbard of her sword, shouted painfully.

Mona was quite shocked that it sounded like a human.

So, she immediately jumped back a few meters and observed it.

It has the appearance of a human, hands with dark long nails, reddish eyes where the irises are similar to snakes, a mouth with fangs, and a face and body decorated with black inks. It has shoulder-length black hair and pointed ears, and small brownish horns sprouting on both of its temples.

"Demon..." Mona could only utter that word.

It was likely a woman since an obvious lump on its chest could be seen.

She has no clothing, but her entire body except her arms and face, are covered in black.

The demon yelled again and jumped on her. She stretched her hands with long nails that almost scratched Mona's neck if she wasn't quick to dodge.

The demon attacked her again, so Mona unsheathed her sword and thrust it forward. But the enemy evaded it while approaching her continuously. Then the demon took something behind her body and Mona saw it was actually a black dagger. And it was too late for her to stop it with her sword, so she used the sheath as a shield instead.

A loud metal noise was created.

Mona jumped back quickly. She thought how stupid she was to not realize the weapon on the demon's back. And then blamed its color afterward.

They continued to fight. Both their blades kept clashing until both of them were too exhausted to even lift their weapon once more.

So instead of fighting, Mona started to talk.

"Hey, you. Do you understand human language?"

The demon, catching her breath, looked at her and answered. "Don't look down on us, filthy human."

Mona's eyebrows twitched.

"Then don't feed on us, ugly demon."

The demon gritted her teeth and tried to attempt an attack, but slipped instead. Out of embarrassment and frustration, she punched the ground repeatedly.

"Demons don't feed on humans! We exist because of them, how ungrateful are we to devour what gave birth to us!" The demon yelled instead.

"Stupid! I'm not saying you eat humans literally. Monsters are what eat humans' flesh, but demons eat humans' vitality and humanity!" Mona yelled back, annoyed at the demon throwing tantrums at her.

She sighed and calmed herself down.

"You might be created on human's negativity or from an accumulation of their wrongdoings, or a result of obsessive and powerful emotions, or maybe an evolution of a strong resentful dead spirit. But don't say demons don't devour humans." Mona approached the exhausted demon.

She was guessing this demon was a newborn since it wasn't that strong yet. If it was fully grown, she would have been helpless against it.

"Humans became twisted because of your existence. And you existed because of humans becoming twisted. Truthfully, it's hard to decide who's at fault here. But demons latched and fed on humans as soon they exist, and humans are just protecting themselves."

She stopped just before the demon's head.

"It's like you demons are humans' past regrets, if not found, fulfilled, and freed, will only keep on haunting us to our graves."

She knelt and touched the demon's head. An act that even she was surprised. It was a demon she was facing, but she didn't even feel scared at all. Mona had noticed it from earlier, the goosebumps and chills she felt were never caused by fright but something she can't explain yet, even no hesitation in fighting head-on against a demon. And now this...

When her hand rested on her head longer, she thought of purifying the demon. A spell she learned from Eli herself who insisted on teaching her unaware of her dark magic, since her divine mana was measured as stronger as her before.

But as soon as golden lights glowed on her palm, the demon shouted and cried painfully. She then started to grab Mona's hands and forcefully yanked them away. But Mona gripped her head tightly even when the demon's nails started to hurt her exposed arm.

Blood began to drip. But the demon had no signs of giving up. So instead of purification, Mona used her dark magic. The golden light vanished and was replaced with creeping darkness.

The demon stopped struggling, and slowly, the paled skin became ashen. Then from the head that Mona was touching, the darkness slowly crept and covered the demon's entire body. It only took a few minutes before the creeping shadow went back on her hand.

The demon was no more. What was left was just the ground covered with reddish leaves from the trees inside the crimson forests.

'How...what happened...?'

She dazedly looked at her blood-dripping hand and wondered how was that possible. She thought how was that so easy?

She's aware that Luna can destroy every living thing she touches if she wants to, just like she did at the oak tree. But she didn't know it could work even on demons. Moreover, she felt a strange sense of fulfillment after devouring the demon. Like a hungry child fed with delicious food.

Completely immersed in her own thoughts, Mona did not realize that she unconsciously lifted the blanket already. And without realizing it, she slowly brought her bloodied hands to her lips.

But before it touched, heavy footsteps rapidly approached her dazed state. Snatching her arm covered with deep scratches where blood kept dripping.

Then a familiar annoying voice echoed in her ears.

"Snap out of it."