The crystalline glow in the sky faded, and from the broken clouds, pure moonlight spilled down, bathing Lux.
She raised her head, looked at her own handiwork, and let out a long breath.
Although she had drained her magic dry, this was still the most satisfying moment she had experienced since awakening her magic.
With every bit of magic in her body exhausted, she no longer had any strength left. The moment she landed, her legs went weak, and she fell backward.
Then she leaned against a solid chest.
Luke's face appeared before her eyes.
After seeing him, Lux's face broke into a silly grin. "Hehe, was that cool?"
"It was pretty cool, but that was way too reckless. Didn't I tell you that if you ran into trouble, you should meet up with someone first?"
Luke looked down at the girl in his arms. Her pretty face looked a little weak, but right now it also carried a smug, triumphant little look. Her bright eyes shimmered with starlight, lively and radiant, so beautiful it was hard to look away.
"As long as it was cool, that's all that matters!"
Lux clearly could not handle being praised. The smile at the corners of her mouth rose higher, and she grew even smugger, looking absolutely adorable. She settled peacefully against Luke's arms and hummed. "Besides, I don't want to stay a useless burden who can't help with anything. I've already done what I needed to do. I'll leave the cleanup to you."
"Sure, sure. You worked hard."
Luke raised a hand and, while Lux was not paying attention, directly stuffed a pill into her mouth.
Lux's eyes instantly widened, and she immediately tried to spit it out.
But Luke, having predicted this one step ahead of time, covered her mouth. She struggled with muffled little "mmph mmph" sounds, but her body had no strength at all, so it was nothing but useless resistance.
Only after she stared at Luke resentfully and swallowed the pill in her mouth did Luke release his hand.
"That was so bitter!"
Lux glared at Luke. "Is this how you treat the great hero?"
"It's not time to hand out credit yet. You just get some rest."
Luke changed his hold, shifted Lux from his arms onto his back, then carried her with him to confirm Nocturne's condition.
Lying on Luke's back, Lux wriggled around a few times until she adjusted herself into a comfortable position. Only then did she rest her head against his shoulder in peace.
The temperature on the cliff was clearly not high, but at the moment, her body felt warm and relaxed.
Luke first went over to Luca to take a look. The child was breathing steadily and was not in any serious danger.
However, the dark aura still lingered on the cliff.
After the battle, the place was already a complete mess. Cold wind rose from below the cliff, bringing with it an eerie, howling sound.
The light energy inside Lux could sense Nocturne's presence. The two were like opposing forces born to restrain each other, one born from light, the other from darkness.
Because of that, she could sense that Nocturne had not died in that Final Spark just now.
She pinched Luke's arm to warn him but did not speak.
Luke nodded slightly. He had absorbed part of Nocturne's power, so he could also faintly feel that Nocturne was not dead.
However, the top of this cliff was empty. There was nowhere to hide, aside from that raised little mound, Fossian's grave.
The battle had not destroyed this place. Fossian's grave had stood firm the entire time.
Luke looked at it thoughtfully, then asked, "Can you still sense that demon?"
Lux yawned and answered sleepily, "I can't feel him anymore."
"Looks like this is finally over."
Luke breathed out and lifted Luca with one arm. "There are still three children missing. Let's go find them."
"Okay."
The sound of their voices grew farther and farther away.
Inside the grave, beneath the damp soil, in the coffin, a tiny mass of black mist floated inside while a skeleton lay to one side.
Nocturne clung to the edge of the coffin and strained to listen to the sounds above. After realizing that those two humans seemed to have left, he finally let out a slight sigh of relief. Still, he did not dare leave rashly. He drifted around the coffin in a violent rage, pounding the walls angrily.
"Damn humans, to think they reduced me to this! I'll remember this grudge. If I don't get revenge, my name isn't Nocturne!"
He gritted his teeth and muttered, clenching his fists.
He was a tyrant-level existence of the spirit realm, yet he had fallen to such a state in the mortal world. This was an unbearable humiliation!
He had never expected humans these days to be more absurd than the last. He had actually suffered two major losses in a row.
The first time, part of his power had been stolen. The second time, he had nearly lost his life outright.
Thinking of that pillar of light that pierced through the sky, Nocturne still felt a lingering fear.
But as long as he was not dead, there was still a chance for everything!
That was right.
He was a demon created from the fear within human nightmares, revived from shadow magic.
As long as human nightmares still existed, as long as the spirit realm still existed, he, Nocturne, would never truly die!
He would always make a comeback, and each time, he would become stronger than before!
As long as he was given time, he would recover his power sooner or later. When that time came, he would personally take his revenge!
Thinking of this, Nocturne let out a cold laugh. "Humans, just you wait!"
Once it was safe later, he would leave this place and casually possess a human or a beast. For the next while, he would temporarily hide among humans and silently recover his strength!
Suddenly, there was a clack, and some gray dirt spilled down. Nocturne was so startled that he jumped up and slammed into the coffin lid. Only after confirming that it was just dirt falling did he let out a breath of relief.
Continuing to imagine his grand plan for revenge, Nocturne curled the corners of his nonexistent mouth into a cold smile.
Once he recovered his strength, the first person he would seek revenge on would be that sharp-tongued human prince. He would make him die in agony through day after day of torment!
If not for that guy, he might not have lost just now!
When the time came, he would take a whip and beat him viciously.
You like running your mouth, don't you?
Huh?!
Still got something to say?
Huh?
Didn't you love barking?
Huh?
Just imagining it was incredibly enjoyable.
While Nocturne was lost in his fantasy, the sound of flowing water came over, startling him again.
Nocturne was wondering how there could be water beneath a grave. Had it started raining outside?
The moment that question surfaced, drops of water had already seeped through the gaps in the coffin and dripped inside.
Curious, Nocturne reached out to touch one. In an instant, there was a hiss, as though he had been burned, and pain shot through him. He hurriedly withdrew his hand and retreated.
But the same water was everywhere behind him too. The moment he moved back, a drop landed on his body.
"Ah!!"
Nocturne roared in pain. For some reason, the moment he touched this water, it hurt especially badly.
The flow of water became faster and faster, and more and more of it poured into the coffin. In a short period of time, Nocturne had already been scalded four or five times.
He realized that this place was no longer safe to stay in, so without hesitation, he decided to abandon the coffin and fly out through the grave.
The moment he escaped the little mound, he immediately saw several humans. They were pouring water into the grave, and that human prince was standing off to the side.
Nocturne had no time to think. Realizing something was wrong, he turned around and tried to fly away, bursting forth at full speed while anxiously searching for a target he could possess.
But it was already too late. With a hum, a wondrous melody rang out.
Several musical notes transformed into streaks of golden light in the air and chased after Nocturne, their speed just as swift.
Sona's delicate hands played upon the Etwahl, her eyes serious and her focus absolute.
The piece she was playing right now was called the Celestial Immortal-Binding Melody, a type of sealing magic.
Several streaks of golden light merged in the air and drew closer and closer to Nocturne. In his current state, Nocturne could no longer fly very fast. He could only watch helplessly as the magic grew nearer and nearer.
At last, he was trapped in the middle of the binding array formed by the melody. The array kept shrinking, squeezing down Nocturne's space.
"No! No!!"
He roared with all his might, but he had no strength to resist.
Finally, he found a sliver of opportunity. He saw a gap and used every bit of strength in his body to squeeze out through it, suddenly feeling the joy of having been reborn.
However, that feeling did not last even two seconds before he abruptly saw that the one standing in the direction of his escape was none other than that human prince.
And in his hand, he was holding a small black dog that no longer had any breath.
"No!!"
Nocturne let out another wail, but he had no time to brake at all. His entire mass of black mist sank into the little black dog's body, then went still.
Sona quickly adjusted the melody. The tune attached itself to the little black dog and released a golden glow, trapping Nocturne inside.
Frey, standing nearby, cast the black magic she had prepared long ago. This was a sealing spell centered on Nocturne's name.
The black magic surged forth and flowed into the little black dog. After flashing with light, it completely trapped Nocturne inside.
This fully prepared, premeditated combo gave Nocturne no chance to react at all.
By the time he came back to his senses and opened his eyes again, he was already in the identity of a little black dog. No matter how he struggled, no matter what methods he used, he could not escape this fragile body.
He finally realized that the current him had been completely bound to this dog's body!
Nocturne roared in grief and rage, "What did you do?!"
Luke slapped him across the face. "Stop yelling. Behave."
Nocturne's little beady dog eyes glared at Luke with hatred. "Damn human..."
With a crisp slap, before he could even finish speaking, Luke struck him again. "Still don't know who's in charge, huh?"
"Damn..."
"Slap!"
"Human..."
"Slap!"
"..."
"Slap!"
One side of the little black dog's face had been slapped swollen. Nocturne stared blankly and said in angry confusion, "I didn't even say anything!"
Luke smiled. "I just felt like slapping you."
"..." Nocturne fell silent. His senses were now connected to this body, so the pain he received was completely real.
Those slaps genuinely hurt!
But this was only the beginning.
With another slap, Luke struck him again and sneered. "Weren't you acting tough earlier? Acting all arrogant? Weren't you embracing the darkness?"
"Slap!"
"Huh? Still arrogant? Still embracing it?"
"Slap!"
"I'm asking you. When I call you trash, do you have a problem with that?"
After several consecutive slaps, Nocturne was completely dazed. His little dog face was full of bewilderment.
Lux curiously leaned closer and looked him over. "If you slap him like that, won't something go wrong?"
"No." Luke thought for a moment, then explained, "When we found this puppy, it was already dead. The one living inside its body now is Nocturne. The two of them have been connected together. If Nocturne wants to survive, he has to use his own power to maintain the puppy's life. Isn't that right?"
He looked at Nocturne with a smile.
Nocturne's eyes were wide right now, and he said in disbelief, "How do you know my name?"
When Luke had said his name just now, it had been like a thunderbolt crashing down, directly jolting him out of his daze.
He had roamed the mortal world and the spirit realm for so many years, and almost everyone who knew his name was already dead.
So how exactly did this human, whom he was certain he had never seen before, know his true name?
Luke slapped him again from the left. "What does it matter how I know? I asked if that's how it works."
At this moment, he was being held in this human's hands, and as much as Nocturne did not want to admit it, the current him really had been bound together with this little black dog's body.
It could be said that they would live and die together.
Although he would not truly die, the price would be returning to the spirit realm, back to his original state, waiting for the day when humans touched shadow magic again and summoned him.
But the shadow mages had nearly all been killed by him already, so that was honestly not much different from death.
Most importantly, this human knew his name. No wonder that water had been so scalding. Clearly, it was holy water made using his name.
And now, being trapped inside this little black dog's body was also clearly the result of black magic cast with his name.
Everything suddenly became clear.
So Nocturne very quickly recognized reality.
In the truest sense, he was now completely at this human's mercy.
How to put it?
He suddenly felt like his entire mind had cracked apart.
"Yes."
Nocturne endured the humiliation and answered Luke.
"You heard him, right?"
Luke looked at Lux.
Lux nodded. "So now he's just a dog?"
The corner of Nocturne's mouth twitched. He felt an enormous humiliation, but his survival instincts told him it would be best not to speak right now.
Who would have thought Luke would slap him across the left side of his face again and nod. "Pretty much."
"???" Nocturne's dog eyes were filled with question marks. "What did I do this time?"
"Oh, I felt like the left and right sides of your face weren't even. My OCD acted up."
Luke explained with a smile.
Because Nocturne would not let the body die, even if Luke slapped him hard, there would be no problem.
After hearing Luke's answer, Nocturne nearly felt the urge to just fight him to the death, but he still forcibly held it back and squeezed out a smile. "Are they even now?"
The little black dog grinned.
This sudden change in attitude caught even Luke off guard.
It had to be said, Luke's force was fairly even. At this moment, both sides of the little black dog's face were swollen, looking like he had been stung by bees.
Even Luke found it hard to slap a smiling dog, so this time he placed Nocturne on the ground and looked at him strangely. "Looks like you're adapting to your new identity pretty fast. Then remember this, from now on, you're a dog. Understand?"
Nocturne nodded again and again. "I understand."
Luke smacked him directly on the forehead. "Do dogs speak human language? From now on, I don't want to hear you talking. You can only bark."
Nocturne once again forced himself to endure it. As a demon, he honestly did not know what dignity was, nor did he possess such a thing.
He had seen many experiences related to dignity in countless human dreams.
In the end, he had reached a conclusion.
That useless thing would not sell for a few coins by the pound.
Staying alive was the only hard truth!
That was why Nocturne's attitude had instantly taken a complete one-eighty.
After all, now that he was trapped here, he could not escape, yet he still wanted to live. What else could he do?
All he could do was start sucking up!
Otherwise, if he died and returned to the spirit realm, who knew when he would wake up again? And Nocturne was not even sure whether he would ever...
So right now, if he could survive, then everything else was still manageable.
Thus, he opened his mouth and let out two barks. "Woof woof."
The barking sounded very clear and crisp. After all, this was still a puppy less than two months old.
Seeing how obedient he was, Lux asked Luke, "You went through all that trouble to catch him, so why not just kill him?"
Nocturne suddenly looked at her. He really wanted to ask how lips that warm could say something so cold.
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