Chapter 38: I fully intend to keep my promise
"It’s true that the Yak tribe was destroyed by his mother," continued Kristian, his voice becoming softer again.
"But it would be useless to take revenge on him." He took a step toward the door, opening it slightly to check the corridor. "So run away. And if possible, stay far from the Sword Clan. In this story, you too are a victim."
He turned back toward her. "So I have taken my responsibility. I am disobeying the Patriarch to allow you to escape."
Luna could no longer understand what was happening. "Huh? What do you mean, by his mother?"
"I know that you became Daemon’s servant to take revenge on Persephone, the one who destroyed your tribe."
Luna remained silent. The words turned in her head... She who believed that it was the clans that had massacred her people. She who had spent years searching for the identity of those who had participated in the massacres... And here it was the mother of Daemon: Persephone El Dagon.
Then, she wondered. Shouldn’t she take revenge by killing him? After all, she had made so many sacrifices to get here. All this time, she had believed that her target was the entire clan. But it was only Persephone. And Daemon was her son.
She raised her eyes toward Kristian. "I see... "
She closed her eyelids for a moment. Then she used her Chi, making it circulate in her arms. The chains began to vibrate, to heat up, then they gave way. She headed toward the door, passed in front of Kristian without a glance, and disappeared into the darkness of the corridor.
...
Daemon was running hurriedly toward Luna’s dungeon, but it was already too late. He turned the last corner and almost collided with Kristian, who was just coming out of the underground prison.
Daemon stopped, out of breath. "Kristian? What are you doing here?" He glanced over his cousin’s shoulder, toward the open door of the cell. "Did you not see Luna? It seems she escaped."
Kristian did not move. "Indeed, it was I who helped her."
Daemon thought he had misheard. "Huh? But what are you doing? That will just incriminate her even more! I had already found a solution, damn it!"
Kristian placed a hand on Daemon’s shoulder, a firm but non-violent gesture. "Listen to me, Daemon. You should let Andromeda go."
"Andromeda?" Daemon raised his eyebrows. "You knew her?"
Kristian nodded. "Indeed. She is very tormented because of her revenge." He withdrew his hand and crossed his arms. "If she stays here, I am very afraid that she will want to take revenge."
Daemon felt his stomach knot. "What are you talking about? Where did she go? I must find her quickly!"
"If you try hard to find her, she will kill you."
Daemon froze. "And why would she do that?"
"Because your mother destroyed her entire tribe... She became your servant to kill you, Daemon."
Daemon shook his head, incredulous. "Huh? Persephone destroyed the Yak tribe?"
"The tribe had something to do with her past, so she erased them." Kristian sighed. "Now that I have convinced Andromeda to spare your life, do not ruin everything. Stay away from her."
Daemon felt anger rising in him. "There is something you do not understand, Kristian... Luna is my master. And she had no intention at all of taking revenge on me."
"Besides, now that I know the truth, I must do everything to prevent her from becoming an assassin again. I promised her... You should stop interfering in things that do not concern you!"
Without waiting for Kristian’s reply, Daemon ran in the opposite direction from where he had come.
...
*22 hours 45, Inner courtyard of the Main Domain of the Sword Clan*
Daemon Shaytan Dagon had been running for nearly thirty minutes. He was forced to follow the corpses she left on her path so as not to lose her trace. The bodies of the guards lay in grotesque positions, their throats slit with a precision that left no room for chance.
"Shit... "
As he emerged into the main courtyard. He saw a white-haired silhouette moving with supernatural speed, finishing off a last opponent.
" Luna!!! "
She heard his voice, but it did not stop her. She continued her progression toward the exit, ignoring his presence. Daemon did his best to intercept her, sprinting on the blood-soaked paving stones, his heart beating at an irregular rhythm under the effect of stress. He threw himself across her path, arms outstretched, forcing the young woman to stop her momentum.
" Hey! What are you doing! I had found a plan to get you out of here and now you are ruining everything! " said Daemon, his chest heaving and his gaze desperate.
’ Why is he struggling so much? I did not ask him for anything...’
Luna stopped, her sword pointed toward the ground, purple drops beading along the steel. Her ruby eyes, usually annoyed, were now animated by a murderous coldness that he had only seen in Blood Moon.
" Get out of the way Daemon... "
Her voice was monotone, devoid of all the humanity he thought he had perceived during their training on Mount Sandalphon. She tried to finish off a chi user who was still crawling on the ground, desperately trying to flee the carnage. But Daemon seized her arm with a firm grip, refusing to let her sink back into the abyss.
" Stop... Go back to the dungeon. "
He then took out from his tunic the short black blade that belonged to Blood Moon.
" I will impersonate you and make sure they believe that Blood Moon is a man. And do not worry, I have observed you well... I can move almost like when you use your < Ancestral Sense >. "
’ Him impersonating me? This idiot is just going to put his life in danger unnecessarily. ’ thought Luna, a hint of exasperation crossing her mind clouded by the killer instinct.
She snatched the sword from his hands and quickly freed herself from him, stepping back a few steps to assess her position.
" I told you to get out of the way, if you do not want to die. "
" I made you the promise that I would never let you become an assassin again and I fully intend to keep it. " affirmed Daemon while drawing his own katana.
" Then you will die. "
Luna drew her sword just like Daemon, and the atmosphere in the courtyard changed instantly.
Luna used the first < Sense of Wyrm >, and her body seemed to disarticulate, each movement recalling the undulation of a snake. She slid on the paving, her blade tracing deadly arcs in the darkness. Daemon used the first sense of the era, his < Blade Perception >, to try to read the invisible trajectories that formed in front of him.