The Love That Remains

The dimension gate shuts behind Reis and Fang Aisa. It evaporates into the air, leaving everyone amazed by the events. In the furthest corner of the hall, Fate has been quietly hearing everything. There is little she can do right now. She can't constrain an immortal demon oracle from doing what she will do next. The immortal demons are the people who have succumbed to the darkness. After becoming the king or queen ranked semi-mortal, the person has to cross Dante's Inferno to shed his mortality and become an immortal. After crossing Dante's Inferno, they become immortal. However, most of those people have lost their minds or they are tainted by the darkness. If their heart is still impure after crossing Dante's circles of hell, they can never be accepted by heaven.

Reis is smart. Even now, he used someone like this oracle against her. A god is using a demon immortal. How ridiculous is that! A god and a demon stand on the opposite side of the line. She clutches her dress in frustration. She needs to cleanse herself of the karma she accumulated before she can come back here. If Reis is really trying to transform Fang Aisa into a god, everything is going out of hand.

"Hey, Shaman King!" The immortal demon oracle sits cross-legged on the floor. Though she is immortal, she is still afraid of death. Seeing a real god scared her out of wits earlier. Else, who bows down to a god, eh? Her friends are going to make fun of her if they find out. The cat is cute though.

She bowed to a cute cat. There is no harm in that.

Sung Jun stares her like she is a dead woman. The immortal demon flinches when she sees his expression. He looks scarier than the demon lord. She is too scared to remove the barrier. A demon is afraid of a half-mortal. Ah! He will make a good demon. Already a king-ranked shaman, huh? His future is rather bright. Should she take him and throw him in hell? If he survives, he will come out as an immortal. Maybe he can beat down the cocky demon lord for her?

"Hey Shaman King, how about you follow me and become a demon?

"Come out of the barrier." Sung Jun commands her in a low voice.

"You dare to command me, sweetheart?" The teen girl raises her green brow. "Do you know who I am?"

"If you are an immortal, what are you afraid of?" Sung Jun asks in an unkind tone.

"What I am afraid of?" The demon jumps on her feet. "Hah! Mortal, I am not afraid of anything.

"Remove the barrier." He lips curl up into a mocking smile. "Come out if you are a real demon."

"Jun, do not worry." Ms Sung puts her hand on his shoulder. "I have called a priest. He is coming with holy water. The barrier will become ineffective once he is here."

"Hey, how could you call a priest?" The demon is truly scared this time. The heaven knows. The hell knows. The infinite number of gods and demons knows. Strong faith can even bend down a god's will. What are demons in front of a true priest with pure faith?

"Are you afraid?" Sung Jun is untroubled after hearing Ms Sung's words. "As I said earlier, we can do it in a hard way."

"What hard way?" The demon's eyes turned neon green. "That damn god told me to show your previous lifetime and your future to you. Do you want to see or not?"

"I am not interested." He crosses his arms. "I am interested to know where he took her."

"Did I look like his buddy?" The demon spats in anger. "I am a freaking demon. An immortal demon. I chose to be a demon after crossing the nine circles of hell. Do you understand this, mortal? I chose the path of darkness. My dream is to become the empress of hell."

Sung Jun is unfazed. He looks toward the door, evidently waiting for the priest to arrive.

"I can just leave now. You can do nothing to stop me, Mortal." The demon clicks her tongue.

"If you go to hell, I will summon you right back."

"Haha! You can try..." The demon is baffled, but she still laughs. "Since it is like this, I will tell you this. That god is the god of time. He is a primordial god. He is certainly high class. You can never win against him. Earlier, I tried to see her future. But there is only darkness ahead of her. It means two things. Either she broke the heaven law and she is abandoned by heaven. She joins me in the hell in future after her death or she is already dead. Teehee!"

She waits for Sung Jun to probe. But he doesn't respond. He seems bored by her words.

"Tch!" She shakes her head. "What kind of person are you? How you are not surprised?"

"I already know that he is the god of time. I also know why you can't see her future."

"Oh!" The demon nods thoughtfully. "Did she commit a grave sin already or is she already dead? Dead people have no future."

"None." Sung Jun doesn't tell her the reason. Fang Aisa's future is black because she is chosen as the god's representative. She is touched by a god. She also remembers her other life. Because of her special situation, she might not have a written future ahead of her. It is not necessarily bad.

The demon's eyes become big and round. "Even if she breaks a heaven's law, she can't have a blank future just yet. She doesn't look dead either. I certainly sniffed...she did die once. Still, she shouldn't have a black future. Then, why? Should I ask the demon lord? hmm...hmm...why?"

Sung Jun has never met anyone who could talk this much. Even bright Ms Sung darkens after hearing the demon's non-stop words. President Sung is still knocked out.

"My head hurts!" The demon grabs her hair. "Why would a god support a person who is already abandoned by heaven? Why is her future black? I am a demon oracle. What will happen to my reputation if other demons hear that I couldn't see the future? Is he trying to create an....Hah! That must be it."

Sung Jun rubs his forehead. Where is the priest with his holy water? He wants to burn this demon to smithereens.

"Hey Shaman King!" The demon looks smug. "You are already a semi-mortal. But crossing a king-rank to immortality, do you know how to do that?"

"Not interested." He just wants to have a peaceful life with his wife on earth. Without interfering demons and gods.

"You should be." The demon's eyes become bright red. "I am in a hurry. I have to give this news to my friends and the demon lord." She throws a pill that passes through the barrier and falls near Sung Jun's feet. "It's not poison. I would hate to kill a good looking man like you when there is a high chance that you will become one of us."

"Are you out of your mind?" Sung Jun is losing his patience. If he could break this barrier, he would make her shut her mouth first.

"I am," The demon replies cheerfully. "I lost my mind a long time ago. I was a princess once. Then, I was sacrificed by my father as a gift to the enemy nation. I was killed by a thousand cut after the king of the enemy nation, his general and his soldiers had fun with me. I lost my mind before I died. Before I died, I was not a good human. I hurt my siblings and my stepmothers. I killed people with my bare hands. I was a jealous woman. Ah! I do not regret. I dare not regret. I found myself in hell. I survived and crossed the circles of hell to become who I am today. How easy it is for us to become who we are after we die, huh? You mortals work hard and cultivate. Even you, who is probably the genius of this era, have to come to hell to achieve the immortality. Why not just sin and die? Why do you work hard when you can directly come there?"

"I have come." The priest hurries into the hall. "I have holy water."

The demon's expression distorts. "Tch! I am going to leave. If you want to know the truth, take the pill. At most, you will lose your mind like me and come to the darkness. Don't be afraid. Darkness accepts everyone whether they like it or not."

She disappears into smoke. The barrier disappears after she is gone. The priest's feet become weak and he falls on his knees. He has never seen a real demon in his life.

"It's gone..." The priest closes his eyes and lets out a sigh of relief. He is never coming if they ever call him again.

"Are you going to summon this demon again?" Ms Sung asks Sung Jun. The priest is scared when he hears her. Summoning a demon? Have these people lost their mind?

Sung Jun nods. He takes the vial of holy water from the priest's hand. "Send more vials later."

The priest doesn't dare to ask why. He runs away from these maniacs.

"What about that pill?" She looks at Sung Jun's hand. She doesn't trust the demon. The demons are lying creatures.

"It's not poison." Sung Jun gives it to her to check. "It is not malevolent."

"Don't take this." Ms. Sung is even more doubtful of this pill now. "Why must you remember your previous life? It's forgotten for a reason. I don't understand that god. Gods are not supposed to do things like this."

Sung Jun sighs. "He didn't directly break the law. The memories of my previous life must be important. I have to know because Fang Aisa also remembers. For some reasons, gods are involved in our lives and they have turned us into their chess pieces. If I don't find out why I can't move forward with Fang Aisa. Our lives will always be manipulated by these gods."