How Could You Possibly Come to the Human World?

The ropes binding Os were easily snapped apart as he slowly rose. At last, he sat upright on the rack, facing the police officers. His drooping head gradually straightened, and his dangling arms seemed to regain control, twitching faintly.

At last, he sat upright and faced the police officers.

Then, he slowly opened his eyes. There were no whites or pupils in them, only an expanse of blackness, as if they were made of countless drops of black blood.

Under everyone's gaze, "Marquis Os" slightly turned his head, producing a teeth-grinding crack of bone. Then he spoke in a hoarse, low voice.

"Finally made it up here. Entering the human world in this era really is difficult.

"Those idiots were completely useless."

"Marquis Os?"

A young officer asked cautiously and even prepared to step forward, but Mark stopped him.

"Don't go over there. Something's wrong with him," Mark said grimly.

He could say with absolute certainty that Marquis Os had already stopped breathing. No human could have survived wounds like those. This scene of the dead coming back to life was completely beyond anything he could comprehend.

Fortunately, they were secret police and had seen plenty of brutal murder cases, so they were bolder than most. Otherwise, they would have fled already.

"Marquis Os?" the thing murmured. "A marquis? Sounds like a position of some importance. Those idiots weren't entirely worthless after all."

"What are you?" Mark asked, suppressing the fear in his heart.

Hearing that, "Os" slowly raised his head and looked around at the officers. "There are just a few too many extra people. So..."

The corners of his mouth pulled toward both sides, twisting into an inhuman angle. It was exceptionally savage, like a demon crawling out of hell.

"Could I ask you all to die?"

In that instant, Mark's heart sank to the bottom. Without any hesitation, he gave an order to the officers behind him.

"He's not Marquis Os. Fire!!!"

Mark seemed to hold considerable authority among them, so even though he had ordered them to attack a marquis, they raised their flintlock guns toward Marquis Os without hesitation.

But the instant they raised their flintlocks, they met Marquis Os's eyes. Those pitch-black eyes were like the gaze of an abyss.

When they came to their senses, they discovered that they could no longer move at all.

At that moment, they felt as though their bodies no longer belonged to them. No matter how their minds commanded their bodies, they could not make a single movement. They stood there like statues.

That unknown power drove the fear in their hearts to the extreme.

Some of the younger officers were already crying. Thankfully, the being before them had at least left them the right to cry.

Under Mark's gaze, Marquis Os gently raised a hand and snapped his fingers.

All the officers, including Mark, moved. They turned their gun barrels and aimed them at the companions beside them.

Mark clenched his teeth hard, roaring inwardly as he tried to regain control of his body. He even began to tremble from the effort, but it was utterly useless.

His gun was aimed at a colleague he had worked with for over a decade.

Bang! Bang!

Two gunshots rang out at the same time. Two officers could not resist that force and pulled their triggers.

Blood burst from both their chests, and they fell to the floor, their fate unknown.

Mark's eyes were bloodshot as he screamed inwardly, but he knew that he might be next.

His trembling finger moved toward the trigger as well.

But suddenly, his movement stopped.

Mark felt as if part of the control over his body had returned to him.

He struggled to pull his finger away from the trigger, then forced himself to turn his head toward Marquis Os.

The thing seemed to have noticed something. With a look of interest, it gazed past the crowd toward the stairway through which they had entered.

"I didn't expect there to be a rather special rat hiding here."

Mark looked toward the stairway. It was empty, but after his vision blurred for a moment, a figure in a black robe abruptly appeared there.

His black eyes appeared especially deep against the night, carrying a stillness and mystery like the darkness itself.

Heilang, who had been hiding in the corner, recognized Shaya almost instantly.

Though he did not know why Shaya was here, the heart that had been hanging in his chest finally eased somewhat.

The abilities he possessed were useless against something supernatural like this.

Just moments ago, he had even feared that he would not be able to escape. He had barely dared to breathe.

He knew that the thing below had discovered him long ago. It simply could not be bothered with him and had ignored him.

"Not a bad concealment spell," Os commented. "I thought there would no longer be people like you in the human world of this era.

"The people I found couldn't even manage a concealment spell like this."

Shaya silently watched Os while communicating with Cassifa in his mind.

However, to that Os, this silence was a provocation.

Os's mouth dipped slightly, and he looked displeased.

"You humans really are as foolish and arrogant as ever. But souls like yours? I've eaten more than I can count."

As he spoke, he slowly bared his teeth. Under everyone's gaze, Marquis Os gradually leaned forward, and a mass of black mist surged from his body. It was a grinning evil ghost. It passed through everyone and plunged straight into Shaya's body.

Marquis Os lowered his head and remained motionless, as if dead.

The entire storage room sank into an eerie silence.

The secret police officers still could not move, and the guns in their hands remained aimed at their companions.

They struggled to turn their stiff necks and stared at the mysterious figure who had suddenly appeared.

He remained where he was, his eyes shut as well, completely motionless.

Seeing this, the hope that had just risen in their hearts was extinguished once again.

To them, the mysterious man who had suddenly appeared had clearly been restrained by that monster's power just like them.

They began trying to save themselves, struggling desperately. Their bodies moved bit by bit as if frozen stiff, and their faces reddened from exertion.

They were fighting the evil ghost's power, while in a place unknown to them, a battle was also taking place within Shaya's consciousness.

When Shaya opened his eyes, he found himself standing on a slab of basalt.

Lava flowed all around him. The scorching heat warped the air, and a thick sulfurous stench filled the air. Heavy volcanic ash blocked out the sky, turning the entire heavens pitch-black.

A volcano in the distance was still erupting, while the lava beneath his feet seemed ready to swallow him at any moment.

Floating in the air before him was a throne.

That thing sat upon it with one leg crossed over the other, its right hand propping up its face as it looked down on him from above. It still wore the appearance of Marquis Os, which meant it had no fixed form of its own.

"Do you know where this is, human?" Os asked.

"A dream," Shaya said.

"It seems you're quite knowledgeable." Os spoke with interest. "Then do you know who I am?"

"A dream demon. Or rather, a nightmare."

Os slowly bared his teeth, revealing a savage smile.

"Then you should know that in the dream I create, no matter how strong you are in reality, your fate here will be ruled by me."

Shaya raised an eyebrow and said playfully, "Fate isn't something so easily ruled."

"Heh." The thing scoffed disdainfully. "Human, I can give you a chance. I need a capable helper in the human world. If you kneel at my feet and submit to me now, I may consider forgiving your disrespect."

"And if I refuse?" Shaya looked at Os with interest.

"Then you should consider spending eternity in night." Os's gaze turned cold. Then he raised his hand and lightly snapped his fingers.

But in the next moment, his expression gradually turned to shock, because despite his control, the entire dream world remained unchanged.

"Have you ever considered..." Shaya's voice came from below.

Os looked down at the man in astonishment. Shaya was staring at him, his eyes utterly calm.

And his words continued.

"That this dream wasn't created by you?"

Os's gaze froze instantly. Then he felt a blazing heat against his back, as though he were being roasted by flames, along with an astonishing surge of magic.

His body stiffened in that instant.

He slowly and stiffly turned his head. Behind him floated a Fire Demon several meters tall, composed of azure flames, looking down at him.

Its mouth was stretched wide and the corners of its eyes were raised, wearing the same savage grin he had worn before.

The secret police officers, still struggling to break free in the storage room, heard an unbearably piercing scream. In that instant, the force binding them vanished.

Then they saw the evil ghost made of black smoke emerge from the mysterious man's body and burrow back into Os's body.

The formerly lifeless Marquis Os suddenly drew a breath and raised his head. This time, the way he looked at Shaya held no disdain or superiority, only fear.

"N-No, impossible.

"You're not human.

"How could a being like you possibly come to the human world!?"