Chapter 16

1

The next day at noon, two hours before the second round was set to begin, everyone was not preparing for the competition but silently gathered in the hotel room designated for the match, by Wenxin's bedside.

A day and a half had passed, and everyone's expressions were all different. There was frustration, discontent, and sadness. All the unhappy expressions were written on our faces. It seemed like we had thought of every possible way, but the only method was impossible to achieve.

"Brother... Brother... Brother..."

"Wenxin!" Yao picked up a towel to continue wiping Wenxin's sweat. Wenxin's condition was worsening. In addition to excessive sweating, he had a high fever and nightmares. He kept calling out for his brother in his dreams, but all I could do was sit outside the dream, pinching my fingers.

Every time Wenxin weakly and breathlessly called out for his brother... Brother... I really couldn't take it! I couldn't bear to see Wenxin's life deteriorate every minute and second. Why did we even participate in this competition? I regret not giving the opportunity to Zisirou and the others. If it were them, Wenxin would be lying here. Even if this happened, it wouldn't be Wenxin who got hurt. Although this thought was not good, as long as it wasn't my loved ones or friends getting hurt in the next second, it would be fine.

"Xiaoyang~~~" Yao looked at me and motioned for me to come and see Wenxin, but I didn't. I silently left without a word.

When I stood in front of the door, I stopped and thought for a moment, making up my mind: "Let's do what the other side requires."

I knew I couldn't make the decision, but someone had to propose it for the rest to truly face it. At this time, everyone would certainly be very sad and unwilling. Wenxin's cries had exceeded my limit. I really couldn't, I really couldn't bear to see everyone's expressions anymore, so I decided to leave first.

I opened the door. Although the room and the hotel were beautifully decorated and magnificent, I didn't have any thoughts. I didn't even have the slightest desire to glance around.

2

They say men should not cry, but tears are the best outlet for humans. There is no pollution from shouting, nor the bloodiness of suicide.

I'm sixteen this year. Since I was six years old, I have always been in a low point. Before the day before yesterday, I thought I had already endured all the helplessness and suffocation. I could handle it, and I had even gained some confidence since finding out about Bai. But this time, Bai couldn't help, and neither could I.

Now, besides squatting on the rooftop of the hotel and shedding tears, I couldn't do anything else.

Thinking back to when we used to practice with Qin Yin, everyone was full of confidence in the competition and wanted to win first place for the academy. Maybe we still have next year, but the club president and the others will graduate next year. Maybe they will still have intercollegiate competitions, but the nature of those will be different from now.

"Is hiding away by yourself going to solve the problem?"

"What do you want me to do, big sister? What do you want me to do? What else can I do! Ah~!" I looked up at Qin with red eyes and shouted.

Qin didn't say a word. She grabbed my collar with both hands and forcefully pushed me against the wall, causing a sharp pain behind my back.

"Sorry, I'm in a bad mood. Stop causing trouble, okay!" I said weakly to Qin. I really didn't have any mood to say anything more to her at this time.

"Who's causing trouble with you? I think it's better to just jump down from here. What else can someone like you who's been running away all the time do?" Qin was very angry, and her anger was about to burn me alive.

"Are you talking about Nofice's method?"

"We don't have much time, this is the only and last method. You just need to recover the power you had when you signed the master-servant contract with Nofice." Qin still didn't let go, she kept pulling on me.

Nofice's method was troublesome, but despite that, if it could save someone, no matter how troublesome it was, it would be fine. The only difficulty was that Nofice didn't have the same power as before. At the very least, she needed to have the power that caused Nofice to back down with just a flash during their first contract.

"Heh~ Power. White already mentioned the only method, but I can't... do it!"

"Why not? Have you tried?"

"Try? I don't even have any memories. How do you expect me to try? Do you want me to bang my head against the wall or slap myself with a board?" Qin slapped me across the face with a "pa~" sound, the reverberation echoing on the rooftop in the midday sun.

I just covered my right face and fell to the ground, listening to Qiong saying, "Don't remember? Many things, if you don't remember, it's like they never happened, it's like you don't need to face them." I can tell from her tone that Qiong is very excited now, and I don't know if it's because of Wenxin or something else.

Qiong continued, "Just like you never truly faced me before."

"You?"

"Three years ago, maybe you thought I changed suddenly, but for me, this process was very long, very long~~"

"Three years ago? That period of memory that was completely blank?" Three years ago, I confessed to Qiong, and she promised to give me an answer with a deadline of one day. But the next day, I was blocked by someone, and afterwards, I only remembered going out, but I couldn't remember if I actually went to the appointment.

"The next day, you forgot everything, while I remembered everything, but I didn't want to remember. But every time I woke up and saw you, I remembered. Memories cannot be controlled by you, but it doesn't mean they completely disappear just because you forget."

Qiong unconsciously shed tears. She, who has always been strong, is crying. Whether she is willing or not, she is crying for me. Her tears are so familiar, and I suddenly feel like I've grabbed a key, a key to memories, and a broken "Dragon Spirit Contract."

3

Three years ago, the same person, the same tears, tracing the same face.

That night, Bai jumped out of the window because he forcibly suppressed the eruption of darkness, which led to the backlash of darkness. That's why I forcibly took back my body. In the state of uncontrollable power, my subconscious instinctively acted without rational analysis.

I always felt like there was something I didn't do, somewhere I didn't go. Subconsciously, I controlled my body and came to the park, where Qiong was waiting for me anxiously on a park bench.

"You're late! Why are you so late?" When Qiong saw me, she showed a relieved expression. No matter how long she waited, as long as I came, she would be happy. As long as she said that sentence, she would be content.

"I..." But Qiong didn't even finish her sentence before she choked.

Qiong looked at me with both eyes filled with blood-red runes, and she was shocked for a moment. She had never seen such a thing before. She had only lived for thirteen years and hadn't had the chance to witness such a magic array, even if she lived for a hundred and thirty years.

"What happened to you?" Qiong suddenly felt scared, watching me stumble towards her like a drunkard.

This person in front of her was about to become her closest person, so there was no need for defense. But she couldn't have expected that I would suddenly pounce on Qiong and forcefully push her to the ground. It was late at night, and there was no one in the park anymore. Even if there was someone, they wouldn't necessarily come to help in this situation.

"Hiss~~~" I tore Qiong's clothes as if I was tearing apart that scumbag who had torn Wenxin's clothes before. Why did I do this? I don't know. Maybe it's revenge, or maybe it's the impulse triggered by the uncontrollable power.

Qiong wanted to shout, to resist, but my mouth had already sealed hers, and her limbs were controlled. The thunder magic on me seemed to have no effect on me.

Qiong could only hear a voice echoing in her ears, "You are mine~~~ You are mine~~~ You are mine~~~ You are mine~~~" It kept echoing endlessly, and she felt something entering her body. The back of her hand seemed to be painful as if it was being branded.

Tears, they flowed down at that moment. Now recalling it, Qiong was just as helpless and frustrated as I am now. Qiong's inner self was constantly resisting this voice, feeling that the boy in front of her now was a demon, a devil scarier than the demon race!

She mobilized all her thunder magic to resist, to protect herself. She desperately and wildly increased her magic intensity. Perhaps her perseverance moved the heavens, or perhaps her magic reached the level of triggering heavenly thunder.

A bolt of lightning suddenly struck Qiong from the sky. Natural power is a force that should never be underestimated. Qiong, who received this gift, was filled with the power of thunder all over her body. After being struck by this lightning, I felt numbness all over and fell on Qiong's body without moving.

Qiong kept convulsing, continuously taking deep breaths. After many breaths in and out, she finally calmed down the confusion in her heart a little. Then she pushed me away from her, kicked me a few times in anger, and discovered an incomplete magic array on the back of her hand, flickering...

4

"Do you know how much time it took me to get rid of the shadow of this thing? Fortunately, it's not some terrible curse, otherwise, I wouldn't have just scratched my hand over and over again. I would have chopped it off." Qiong covered her hand, crying and sighing.

"Sorry!" Looking at Qiong like this, I can only say sorry, recalling what happened that day, this power is too terrifying, a power that even scares myself, how can I control it? If I were to obtain this power again, to what extent would I go insane?

"You shouldn't apologize to me. Since it was a power you couldn't control, I can't blame you. At least I'm not in danger, but..." Qiong's tone suddenly became heavier when she said the word "but." "Now it's your sister's life at stake, and you don't have the courage to control this power. What are you, exactly?"

What am I? This question keeps haunting me. Just a little restoration of my power, and I can save Wenxin and help the team continue in the competition. How come I can't do it?

"If you can master this power and save Wenxin, I can promise you to be part of your harem." Qiong seems to have made up her mind and said with determination.

What? "This... Ah! My head hurts so much..." While I was reflecting, my head suddenly started hurting, as if it were being stabbed.

"Hiss... think about it yourself!" Qiong took a deep breath, wiped away her tears, and left.

In my eyes, I saw Qiong's figure walking away. The headache made my thoughts chaotic. Memories that I had once tried to recall were connecting piece by piece, forming one scene after another. I saw my hands stained with fresh blood, and I remembered the feeling of plunging my hand into my mother's heart.

The pounding sensation of the heartbeat stimulated every nerve, probably triggering the hidden memories. Things I once didn't want to see or feel were all dug up.

My mother's expression, her last words, Elena's terrified expression, everything appeared before my eyes. The events that took place in the minute before my mother died kept repeating, over and over again, making me see it with incredible clarity. My mother's expression before she died, the one that made me calm down, was a smile!

This smile suddenly made me feel a warm sensation, a feeling that was sometimes hazy and sometimes clear, something I wanted to hold onto but couldn't grasp.

Accompanied by the rush of memories came something terrifying, something that was mine but that I was afraid of.

It was corroding me, torturing me. I wanted to compromise, to give up struggling, but the only words that kept me going were, "You don't have the courage to control this power. What are you, exactly?"

What am I, exactly? I am Wenxin's brother, a friend to everyone, a teammate, a... ruler of life!

Time has passed, and the memories left behind are not as terrifying as they felt at the time. What I see now is just an illusion!

I mustered all my strength and stood up, shouting to the sky, "Go away, weak self! I don't need anyone's pity, nor do I need to pity others. I only need to do as I did in the past - those who hinder me, disturb my heart, shall perish!" I mustered all my strength and stood up, shouting to the sky.

The motto of the Demon Dragon now has one more phrase: those who harm my loved ones - shall perish!

5

Tesha received the notice of the competition, and we only have half an hour until we step into the arena.

"President, Nanz Academy is second in the lineup." Tesha reported, holding the notice.

"Talk about meeting your enemies on a narrow road."

Everyone here despises Nanz Academy. If they win this competition, they will take first place. How ridiculous.

"This is their lineup. According to the information, the one who will be cursing Wenxin with a dagger is their first contestant."

The information shows Tong Fei, male, dark necromancy. He is the only one in their team who specializes in dark magic.

"President, we haven't given our lineup yet!"

"There's no need to think about it. Just put them in any order. We're all going to be eliminated anyway, doesn't matter who goes first." Qing, our senior, said impatiently and rudely, crossing her legs.

"Yao, you go first! Here's the lineup, give it to Tesha!" The president took out the pre-written order and handed it to Tesha.

"I'll go first!"

Suddenly, a voice came from the door. I was standing at the entrance, looking strange to everyone. The right side of my face slightly swollen, my steps light, I felt weak.

I'm still afraid that the power will suddenly go out of control, but I still need to persevere and control it. Fear does not mean weakness or retreat.

I used to be the Demon Dragon, the only one in The Demon Realm. If I retreat just because of fear, would the Ten Demon Kings still bow to me?

Today, it is necessary to celebrate my rebirth, the resurrection of the Demon Dragon, with someone's blood.

As the days of the Demon Dragon become clear, my original personality gradually merges with the personality of the Demon Dragon. In an instant, the experiences of the Demon Dragon transform the immaturity of a sixteen-year-old boy.

"Nopheus!" With a command, Nopheus reveals her original cold demeanor, and the eighteen wings spread out in this limited space.

Seeing this, I silently turn and leave, leaving that sinister smile and blood-red runes in the hearts of everyone in the room.