Chapter 261: Snowy Fields (1)  

Why are you? Isabella faltered and stepped back, looking as if she had seen a ghost.

Kasia Colagrande the older sister who had lost in the succession fight (though it was not a fight), was exiled to faraway Iceland. When the fissure from the North Pole to the Demon Realm opened 10 years prior, shed thought that her sister died in the aftermath.

"Y-you were alive?" Isabellas shoulders trembled, and tears gathered in her eyes. She brightly smiled and looked at Kasia as if shed found a long-lost treasure.

Kasias Isabellas lost sister? Ohjin wondered. Isabella wasn't the only one in shock; his jaw dropped in disbelief at the scene, and it sort of felt like someone had hit him in the back of the head with extreme force.

What the hell is happening? Who wouldve thought the Queen of the Serpents was Isabellas sister? Goosebumps appeared all over his body as his mind went blank for a moment. Kasia mistook him for the Heavenly Demon, so if she suddenly started talking nonsense in front of Isabella, the situation could get out of hand.

"Isabel"

"Sister, Kasia!" Before Kasia could even finish saying her name, Isabella leaped forward and opened her arms to embrace the other womans slender form.

Ssshhhhkkkk!

A pitch-black snake rose from Kasias shadow and seemed to be made of the darkness itself. Its mouth opened, revealing sharp, venomous fangs.

"Dodge!" Ohjin yelled, reacting faster than he could think as he grabbed Isabellas shoulder and yanked her backward.

Shhhaaaa! The snake narrowly missed Isabellas stomach and let out a grim cry.

"S-sister?" Isabellas sweater had ripped in the stomach area, revealing her white skin with a single rivulet of blood flowing down. If Ohjin hadnt pulled her back, the snake would have badly wounded her and sent her innards spilling out.

What do you mean sister? Kasia continued to give Isabella a blank-eyed stare. She spoke in a quiet voice, as if searching through old memories. "Bell la?" Awareness crept into her eyes for a moment, and she rocked back and forth. "Bella Is it Bella?"

"Yes! It's me!" Isabella exclaimed.

Agh Kasia curled up, swallowing her suppressed cry. "N-no, no. To me" She moaned, and her expression distorted into a grimace of pain as she clutched her head. Her eyes turned red as the blood vessels within them burst.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" A cry of madness echoed out in the dark amusement park. Kasia raised her nails and began frantically scratching at her face. I I have to kill. I have to kill everyone. Kill, I have to, I have to

Click, click, click

She ground her teeth, and her bloodshot eyes opened. They saw shed scratched most of the flesh on her face off with her fingernails. "I have to kill, so I can have it," Kasia muttered before straightening up.

Shaaaaaa!

Hundreds of snakes shot up from the long line of shadows behind her.

"Wh-what's wrong with you?" Isabella asked as she gave Kasia a confused look. How could the woman be so different from the sweet girl she remembered? It was like she was looking at a different person who had the same face.

'Something's not right' Ohjin frowned and continued to watch Kasia, who was mumbling like a mad woman. Even though he thought the Queen of Serpents was out of her mind when he first met her in the Demon Realm 'It wasn't to the point where she couldn't communicate like this.' It felt like she had a few screws loose back then, but shed still retained enough sanity for communication. More than anything, though "Stop, Kasia," he said.

"I have to killeveryone, everything. O-or I I I'll be thrown away again." She didnt listen to his orders. When hed met her in the Demon Realm, she fanatically did everything he asked of her.

"That jewel" Ohjin's eyes turned to the black jewel embedded in Kasia's forehead. The mana flowing out of the black jewel held the same disgusting, tar-like essence hed felt somewhat recently.

Its just like Barbatoss. The two black horns that had sprouted on the Thousand Curse Dragons forehead had held the same sort of suspicious mana that the jewel in Kasias forehead. That meant

The Heavenly Demon he mumbled. The Heavenly Demon, the real Devil in the Sky, not the clumsy fake, had reached out to her.

Wh-what do you mean, Heavenly Demon? Isabella asked, her face pale.

"Kasia is now being manipulated by the Heavenly Demon," Ohjin explained.

"What do you mean?" she asked. He was saying her sister, whom shed thought to be dead for the past 10 years, was being manipulated by the Heavenly Demon? How did he even know that? Her mind was extraordinary enough to run the Colagrande familys dozens of businesses, but she was having a hard time understanding.

"I'll give you a detailed explanation later," Ohjin said. First, they had to solve the situation at hand. He nervously reached for his waist, taking Dantalion from its spot and transforming it into its spear form.

Shlink, crack!

He considered his options. 'A head-to-head fight? No.' No matter how quickly hed grown and been selected for the Seven Stars, he wasnt capable of dealing with the Queen of Serpents yet.

The same could be said for Isabella. Even if the two of them worked together, it was difficult to predict if they could win.

I don't think Isabella is in a fighting state at the moment, he thought. The wisest thing to do was to run away.

Kasias brooding voice flowed toward them. "I won't let you go." Even in the dark, her emerald eyes shone with an eerie light as they turned toward Ohjin. Her tongue, which was easily long enough to extend past her chest, flicked out over her hand.

* * *

* * *

Ssasssasssasssa!

Kasias shadow grew at an explosive rate and formed a huge dome around them.

"Eugh!"

Wasnt the expression in the blink of an eye used often? It referred to something happening in the short time it took to close and open ones eyes, but this was a speed that surpassed even that description.

Ohjin, who was trapped in the huge dome of shadows, nervously chewed his lips. Damn. There was no way to avoid fighting anymore.

Shhhk, shhhhk

The sound of hundreds of sounds slithering along the ground flowed around them. Hundreds of pairs of eyes shone in the dark and turned to Ohjin and Isabella.

"Oh, sister! Wake up!" Isabella yelled out.

Kasias maddened eyes turned to her. "Bella"

"Y-yes, it's me!"

"You know what? The night reminds me of many things." Kasia spun in a circle with her arms open as if she were dancing. Her black dress fluttered, and a dreary hum left her mouth. After a short dance, Kasia smirked and said, "I hate you."

"Sister?

"A sister like you? I'd rather not have one." Those harsh words pierced Isabellas heart before the snakes shot at them like bullets. "Isabella!" Ohjin swung his spear in Isabella's direction in the path his stigma of Pyxis directed, cutting a snake in half. Lightning crackled in the air.

"N-not wanting a sister like me? What do you mean by that?

"I told you! Your sister is being manipulated by the Heavenly Demon!" Ohjin yelled.

"But"

"Focus!" He tried to get her to snap out of her shock. If this continues, your sister will keep being the Heavenly Demons puppet!

Had his urgent plea reached Isabella? She slapped her cheeks and calmly said, "I'll try to break through the wall of shadows, Ohjin. Please buy me a little time."

Slap!

Ohjin nodded and tightened his grip on his spear.

Shaaaaa!

The snakes rushed in.

Exceed. He swung his lightning-imbued spear at the approaching snakes.

Crack! Crack!

"Damn it." Dozens of the snakes clung together and wrapped around the spears blade as if they were made of paper. Ohjin returned the spear to its folding knife form and extended both arms forward. Lightning Charge!

Kzzzzzzt!

The blue lightning created an intense explosion, but it only killed a few snakes at the frontit didn't stop the tsunami of snakes coming in.

Fuck! He leaped and extended his arms upward, launching a wire shooter into a nearby amusement ride and soaring into the sky. That only worked for a moment. In the next instant, the snakes wrapped around his waist and pulled him to the floor.

"Keuk!" A groan left Ohjins mouth as he fell from several meters in the air and slammed into the ground.

Crash!

Dozens of the snakes swarmed over him before he could stand. "Let me go, you punks!" He stopped them for a brief second with a burst of lightning and slipped out of the mound of snakes.

'There's no end to them.' He had to attack the main body and used Charge to condense lightning before turning to Kasia. "What?" Kasia, whom he had seen just a few moments prior, was gone.

An ominous premonition ran down his spine. "Isabella!" He hurriedly called out.

Over here, Lord Heavenly Demon. Something slithered up behind him before he knew it and tenderly hugged himKasia. Ohjin's expression stiffened. As if she found his reaction to be funny, Kasia licked him and burst into laughter.

"Kasia" Ohjin nervously turned his head to see eerie emerald eyes staring back at him. "I am the master you must follow and serve." He spoke in as calm a voice as he could. For a moment, he felt Kasia's body tremble.

Did it work? he wondered, preparing to turn around.

"Liar, she whispered.

Crack!

Exerting her tremendous strength, she ripped his arm off.

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