The Demon Lord Is An Angel
Chapter 150: Reunited

Chapter 150: Reunited

Kordia leaped into Kir’s arms, and the next thing he knew he was spinning happily to a stop with her in the shop, before sharing a tear-filled kiss. For a long moment, they touched foreheads together.

Then they parted, as if with the breaking of a spell.

Kir looked into her eyes for a long moment. Kordia’s eyes were tired. Dark and slightly baggy from lack of sleep.

The weight of lost time filled him.

"Kordia... I’m so, so sorry..."

"It’s not your fault. Rain and I chose to go after you... We thought..."

Kir reached up and wiped her tears away. "Tell me everything."

Kordia went first. By the end of it, Kir was quietly crying at what his misfortune had cost the ones he loved.

"I tried, Kir... I tried so hard to talk him out of leaving... but his family just... I couldn’t get them to listen, and he just... he let them take him away..." she inhaled a sobbing breath. "He’s in Araqlun. That’s all I know..."

Kir hugged her tight, rubbing her back as his tears fell on her hair. "We’ll get him back. Somehow..."

Amarena and Sam left after her tale, and for a moment as Sam ascended the steps, Kir caught a look from Kordia that seemed slightly envious. Since Sam was starting to show, he wondered if Kordia had wished such a thing for herself from Rain.

What Amarena meant to do was beyond him, but she donned her cloak and set off into the city. He just hoped she’d be alright.

Then Kir began his story. By the end of his tale, it was almost midnight.

Kordia had quietly listened, her emotions mostly spent. Kir told the truth about what he and Stella had needed to survive the dungeon, and while she’d colored a bit at learning it, she had looked to Stella with a gaze that was more respectful than reproachful, which gave him some relief.

When it came to his relationships with Amarena and Noir, she’d listened before quietly touching his face.

"I know this is how you love... So I don’t disapprove or want you to leave them or anything... I’ll try to make time to get to know them, but I can’t promise I’ll love or even like them the same way you do," she promised. When she withdrew her hand, she held her elbow, looking aside as she contemplated something. "Is it strange that I feel... better? Knowing you had Stella and others to take care of you?"

"Maybe to most, but not to me," Kir assured her.

"I’m a bit new to this, um, but it’s very nice to meet you," Noir added. "Kir’s had nothing but good things to say about you and, um, Rainier."

"Thank you," Kir added, sensing palpable relief from Noir as the weight fell from the air.

"Hey, what about me?" Stella asked.

"You and I can talk later," Kordia answered. "Go over some ground rules."

"Yeesh, sheepy gets a welcome and I get ground rules."

"You know why," Kordia frowned a little but left it at that, turning back to Kir.

"There’s... something else I wanted to talk about. Some of the things you told me..." Her fingers twisted the rim of her cloak nervously. "I’m not sure how to say this, but... They don’t sound like you."

"What do you mean?" Kir asked.

"I’m... not so sure. I mean, I sensed you were different after being sealed but... I thought it would pass. That you would throw yourself into studying seals to figure a way out of them... But forgetting Stella... Getting lost in rage like..." she swallowed "...like what you said happened at Darlbridge..."

Explaining Darlbridge had been the most fraught conversation, Kir felt, but Kordia had no love for the Syndicate even if she’d been passive about the presence of slavery in the world. Knowing he wouldn’t be passive any longer had concerned her, but not enough to try to dissuade him; and Kir sensed that it was because something else was weighing on her mind.

His instinct, however, was to make excuses. "With Stella, the situation was moving fast. I didn’t mean to..." Halfway through trying to explain himself, he realized that excusing himself would only draw attention away from something he should have realized as a source for his uncharacteristic turns. Shaking his head, he focused on holding the thought, and discovered a subtle sort of slip whose source he couldn’t place, even though he knew to look for it.

"I’m sorry. General Sreev said that the seals had some sort of effect on my mind. Have," he amended, remembering his one remaining seal. "But even he wasn’t sure exactly what, aside from pushing my thoughts away from trying to remove my seals directly. He said it was subtle."

"That’s... disturbing," Kordia said, pondering. "Seals aren’t supposed to be subtle."

"The thing is... given what unsealed the first three, I think Halie, or whoever she’s working with, knew I’d wind up in those situations because of them. It’s like someone wanted to shove me out of the Academy and into that dungeon because... I don’t know."

"Are you saying you think some kind of prophet did this to you?" Kordia asked.

"Is there magic that lets you see the future?" Kir asked.

Kordia shook her head. "I don’t know. There are plenty of prophets in history... but never has anyone established if magic could produce prophecy... Almost all the time prophecies are about events; queens and kings, not people like us. And it’s never subtle. An angel or demon or god delivers the prophecy, and then things always unfold as said."

She took a long breath.

"I can try to talk to Chancellor Lumis. Since I was moved to special student status, I’ve had access to new sections of the library, but I haven’t had time to check with my... new duties..."

"Can we talk to her?" Kir asked, sensing there was something she wasn’t telling him. "I thought she’d be busy with the siege."

"She is, and I need to report in. I have to go alone though."

"No. I want to go with you," he said insistently. "I deserve to know."

"Kir, I know you do, but no. The only reason I risked coming here is that she is supposed to be watching me on behalf of Heaven and my... future in-laws." She scratched the back of her hand nervously. "If anyone figures out you’re here, they might send more Executioners or worse..."

Kir opened his mouth to protest. He could fight Executioners. But that had been just one team, and they had seemed more arrogant than prepared. If multiple teams were sent...

Knowledge of ’hybrids’ like him seemed to be a secret, and echoes of his past life told him that the will to keep secrets - symptomatic of the desire for absolute control - was often a prerequisite to mass slaughter. Thinking through things, he wouldn’t necessarily be able to count on help. Even if he had his wings out, that might confuse things only up to a point. To them, he was an abomination, and the fervor with which the angels had fought to the death told him that even their lowliest soldiers might be indoctrinated to kill people like him on sight.

Searching his memories of Earth, he felt the echoes of the struggles that sought, above all, to control the narrative of history. Lies of ancient glory, the brutality of empires, and, closest yet, the quest for absolute control; vicious, murderous control...

To his surprise, he found he remembered many names, and many details that sharply pointed towards the very idea that war never changes.

And then there was an echo...

"Shadows and spies and lies upon lies.

Slaughters and, after, in boardrooms laughter.

We were all fake. But not you, my serpent.

Tempter to the truth.

Venom True, I’ll die with you..."

Kir found himself holding his head. The poem had come from nowhere, but it had come out in a voice he felt he should know. Not the voice of his near-death experiences, but something... closer. Darker.

"Are you alright?" Kordia nervously touched him. Her tails and ears had lowered, expressing nervousness.

He would not subject Norneau to the sort of slaughter that those willing to indoctrinate unthinking soldiers would produce, which meant that staying hidden had to be his priority.

Reigning in his feelings, he nodded.

"I’m fine... Probably just... just my enhancements." He took a breath. "I think I understand," he sighed. "I just don’t want to wait around." He wanted to address her engagement too, but she’d made it clear that for now, her plan was to sit out the war as much as possible. He couldn’t blame her for that.

After a long, awkward pause, he asked, "Is something else going on?"

Kordia’s ear twitched guiltily. "It’s nothing. Probably nothing. Not something that has anything to do with you." She took a deep breath. "Students have been going missing... ever since the siege began."

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.