I blink with self awareness. I never wanted to be a demon, but this is the first time I am ashamed of what I am.
"After all that the demons have done on our continent? Look around you. They brought us here. Only heavens know what is left of the continent". His voice has a helpless and distraught undertone.
"Not just the demons. The emperor gave you all up".
"Because his spirit is corrupted and hypnotized by the demon queen".
I, of all people know that that is not true.
The emperor was a very vile creature. He ordered me to kill every single member of the imperial army because they would not bow to his brutal rule. The female leaders of the army were forced into his harem. No one was safe from him. He is every bit as evil as the demon queen herself. But, I can't tell Xian Xi that without exposing myself.
He might eventually find out. Han and Arigana know who I am. They might have told the others.
"I am a demon".
He looks at me from head to toe, taking me in in a single solid glance. His eyes are no longer warm and smiling, they look as hostile and hard as ice.
"No kidding". Is all he says.
I wait patiently for him to say something more.
"You don't emanate the aura of a demon".
I didn't know that.
"That's because I was once a Gorhm like you. I had white flowing hair, but, my body was taken from me, and the body of a demon was given in its stead".
My story has many loopholes, only the necessary parts have been told. Mostly because, I choose to leave it buried for my own sanity.
"I see. Is your body the one the demon queen possesses?"
My eyes widen as I stare at him blankly.
"You've met the demon queen?"
"Multiple times. She seems to have taken an interest in me and some other diamond rankers I know. She comes whenever she wants to our private lounge".
My stomach sinks.
"Oh". I mutter.
He has no idea what it means for the demon queen to take an active interest in a creature.
"You have not answered my question. Is it your body? It has the image of a snake on its lower back".
My eyes flash to his.
"And how would you know that?"
His eyes take on a mischievous look.
"Because she does not leave very much to the imagination on her visits".
"I thought you swore off women".
"Looking at them is different. I have enviable self control".
I scoff.
"But, now that I have been raped, I may take her up on her offer. Back to what I asked, is that your body?"
I glare at him with indignation.
"If you call saving your life rape one more time, I'll cut your head off".
"Don't change the subject".
"Yes. How did you guess?"
"I'm not as dumb as you. You escaped this place once, according to the tales I heard from the demon queen and her comrades, and she possesses the body of a Gorhm. Plus, you just told me your story. It all adds up."
"Nice maths".
He nods in self appraisal.
"Do you want your body back?"
"What's wrong with this one?"
My mind flashes to a man I know on earth. Even if I can't remember him, I know that this is the body he recognizes. If I ever do see him again, I want him to recognize me.
"No".
"But, she is defiling it".
"That's exactly why I don't want it back. I don't want a body that has slept with everything in skirts and trousers. The body would remember and I don't want that".
"You are from my clan. You are the girl that could see dead spirits. How come you never died?"
So he knows me? I always believed I was invisible.
"I wish I did, believe me. How did you know me?"
"I was there when they were hanging you. You were just too pretty to be treated like that".
"You didn't know me before that?"
"No. But, you became popular after you died. A mob ganged up and killed the clan chief and his entire family. Not even his daughters were spared".
Justice for me? Instead of feeling happy that some people rose up for me, I feel emptier than I did before.
"Why didn't they stand up for me when I was alive? Necromancy is not very uncommon."
"Yours is unheard of".
"What is so special about it. I raise the dead".
"You have the eye of death, the demon eye. You can see souls. Not every necromancer can do that. The gift or rather, curse, is very rare".
That's also new.
"That still does not explain why they thought I would be better off dead".
"Everyone with your curse eventually ran mad and either killed themselves or killed others. When they started killing others, they never stopped".
"And how do you know so much about it?"
"Because I did my research after you...died".
I look away. The memory is still painful.
We just stand, a hand's length apart from each other in awkward silence.
"Now, what happens? We've both defeated out nightmares"
His eyes twinkle.
"The clock doesn't answer to my scholarly methods, darling. It only responds to bloodshed."
"What does that mean? Are we stuck here?"
He sees the horror in my guarded eyes and has the guts to chuckle. I want to take him by the arms and throttle him.
"As much as I would love to be left alone with you, we are not stuck here. We simply have to wait until the clock runs out".
"Then we return back the usual way?"
He nods. "How do you think I've survived this long. Trust me a little. I'm not your enemy," his eyes flash darkly, "for now". He adds as an after thought.
He suddenly does not seem so weak to me. I start noticing the lean muscles beneath his coat and his air of authority.
If he wants to kill me, he could.
"System, how much time do I have left?"
The system displays the remaining time on the holographic screen.
The clock strikes zero with a chime.
He grabs me by the waist and pulls me to him as a portal opens beneath our feet.
This is quite unusual. The portals are not usually like this.
I feel like we're falling into a bleak oblivion. Then, my feet touches solid ground just before I topple over.
We are back in the Vault.
Our limbs and clothes are all tangled up. This man has a lot of nerve.
I look around my surroundings. This is a very posh and well furnished room. It has a fire in the hearth and floor to ceiling windows that overlook the barren lands. There is a stuffed bookcase beside the window. A low stooled tea table lies by the wall with mats to match it.
I struggle to get up.
"Where did you take me?"
"This is my room".
"Why did you bring me here?"
"If I did not hold you, the portal would have split us apart. Non- members can not get into this area. This is the only way I could bring you here".
"Is this what members of the diamond rank enjoy?"
He nods and pulls off his scarf.
The screen lights up with the new ranks. As expected, my name is nowhere significant. He is still number one.
There is a knock on the door.
For a reason unknown to me, my blood runs cold. I start to shiver in the warm room. No. No. No.
The door opens and the demon queen walks in.