The Damned Demon

Chapter 729  Your Last Mission

The world around Arthur seemed to fall into utter silence, as though the very air had stopped moving. 
The desert winds, once so harsh and blinding, had vanished. His focus zeroed in on the face before him, and his heart sank in disbelief. 
The face that stared back at him was familiar, but the revelation was so jarring, it almost felt unreal. His breath caught in his throat, and for a long moment, he couldn't process what he was seeing.
"A-Anna?" Arthur mumbled, his voice shaky, as if the weight of the truth was pulling him under. His eyes, wide with shock, never left hers.
Anna's gaze trembled, her chest tightening as she realized the truth had been exposed. Her mask, which had once shielded her true identity, was gone—torn away. 
She felt the sting of betrayal in her own heart as she saw Arthur's shattered expression, but the pain of her own regret paled in comparison to the devastation she saw reflected in his eyes.
Anna's voice broke as she tried to speak, but the words refused to form, "Arthur... I-I..." she whispered, her words fragile, hollow. She had no idea how to explain herself, how to make him understand. How could she? This wasn't how it was supposed to happen.
Arthur fell back with a broken, lifeless expression.
His hands trembled as he tried to hold himself together. His voice, barely audible, cracked with pain, "You... It was you all this time? Why..." The question was soft, a whisper of disbelief, a raw admission of hurt. 
His eyes shimmered with so much pain that Anna's heart clenched in her chest. The devastation in his gaze was something she had never wanted to see, and yet, it was all she deserved.
Anna wanted to tell him everything, to explain why she had done what she did, why she had been forced into this life, this endless cycle of lies. 
She wanted to tell him about her friends, her desperate need to save them, and the truth of everything that had happened.
But as she looked at Arthur, she knew, deep down, that no matter what she said, it would never be enough. He wouldn't listen. Not now.
So, with a slow, strained breath, Anna pulled herself to her feet, her body aching from the toll the fight had taken. 
She looked down at Arthur, her heart heavy, "I know I don't deserve to ask for your forgiveness," she said, her voice trembling with the weight of her words, "Nor would I want you to forgive me. But I promise… I will come to you, and I will answer for everything I've done… once I save my friends."
Her voice faltered, and before Arthur could say anything more, Anna disappeared in a blur of dark yellow lightning, her figure a streak of electricity that shot through the air. 
Her heart was heavy with the knowledge that staying would only cause them both more pain. 
She couldn't bear it. She also had to know if Cila was alright. She couldn't afford to waste any more time. 
Arthur, still seated on the ground, lifelessly watched as she sped away. His vision blurred, the tears he didn't realize were falling staining his cheeks. He stared at the spot where she had vanished, the emptiness in his chest expanding with every passing second. 
His mind raced with the realization that everything he had shared with Anna—the moments of tenderness, the trust—had been a lie. 
The woman he had loved, the woman he thought had shared his heart, had been the demon responsible for so much death, for so many innocent lives lost. And he hadn't even known.
His hands curled into fists, his heart aching with guilt and regret.
He felt like he was drowning in the weight of everything he hadn't seen, everything that had been kept from him.
The world around him felt dark, hollow, and everything he thought he understood about right and wrong was now shattered.
And for a long time, he sat there, unable to do anything except feel the crushing weight of his failure. He had lost her. And maybe, just maybe, she had never been the person he loved all this time.
—
Meanwhile, Anna arrived at an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of a city, the evening sky looming dark and heavy above her. 
She sped up the staircase, her heart pounding in her chest as she neared the top floor, where Derek stood with his back turned, his hands clasped behind him.
"You failed your mission," Derek's voice was cold, calculated, as he turned to face her. His expression was stern, his right eye dark with displeasure.
Anna's heart tightened in her chest upon seeing his indifferent and unfeeling face, always looking at her as if she was nothing but a broken tool no matter what she did for him.
She dropped to her knees, her body trembling with exhaustion, "I... I truly gave it my all," she whispered, her voice thick with desperation, "I was close, but Arthur showed up, and I couldn't do anything... even if I wanted to. So please... don't hurt my friends. If you will please... I want to know if Cila is fine."
Derek's lips tightened into a thin line, and he took a step forward, his cold eyes assessing her with disdain, "She is fine... for now," he said, his voice laced with mock sympathy, "But she did have to undergo the procedure of having one of her metal arms removed and replaced. If only you hadn't taken this much time, and been so sloppy, she wouldn't have had to go through that one-hour live procedure."
Anna's fists clenched tightly at her sides, the anger and pain threatening to spill over. But she swallowed it down, knowing that showing any emotion before him would do her no good. She suppressed her emotions, fighting to remain calm.
"But thanks to you, we finally know how Hellbringer and his cult have been hindering our plans from our world," Derek continued, his voice low and dangerous as he remembered Ash's interactions with his wife and daughter, "To think he somehow found a way to inhabit a human shell and worm his way into my world and my family..." The words sent a shiver down Anna's spine, and her heart pounded in her chest, feeling the deep yet suppressed anger emanating from him.
"However, you've been compromised," Derek's gaze grew cold, and Anna's unease deepened. "So I have one last mission for you."
A chill ran through Anna's veins as the finality in his voice hit her. She could feel that it would be nothing good.
"What are my orders?" she asked, her voice strained as she slowly lifted her gaze to meet his.
Derek didn't even hesitate. His words were casual, like he was giving an order to a subordinate, completely unfazed by the weight of what he was demanding, "There has already been enough delay because of Lenny getting arrested. We need to compensate for that by continuing our old strategy. Almost all countries have given in, but we need them all. And among the few remaining, Germany is the only difficult one we have yet to take care of. You need to do something severe to make them bend the knee. So take out everyone in that orphanage you teach in. That should wake them up."
Anna's heart froze, her breath caught in her throat as the reality of the words hit her like a physical blow. Her stomach twisted, her body refusing to move at first. What... what did he just order me to do?
Her voice barely escaped her lips as she lunged forward, her hands shaking with desperation. "Wait! There has to be a—"
Derek didn't turn around, his posture stiff and cold. His words were sharp, final. "Remember. It's either you or them."
And with that, he was gone. Vanished, leaving Anna standing in the middle of the floor, her body shaking uncontrollably.
She fell to her knees, her palms pressing into the cold floor as the devastation of his words overwhelmed her. How could he ask her to do this? Her heart pounded painfully in her chest, the weight of her situation crashing down on her like an avalanche. She had no choice. No way out. He had forced her hand—again.
'It's either you or them...'
The words echoed in her mind, a constant reminder of her twisted fate. She wanted to scream, to fight back, but the reality of her situation was like chains around her soul, binding her to a path she couldn't escape.
Her breath was ragged as she forced herself to stand, her body trembling from the strain, the heavy guilt clawing at her insides. She knew she had to act. She had to do it. There was no other choice.
She disappeared in a blur of dark yellow lightning streaks, leaving the building as quickly as she had entered, the weight of her decision following her like an invisible shackle.
—
Not too long ago, in the Culthold of the Coven of the Damned, Yui was worriedly knocking at a locked door of a room as she sniffled and kept calling out, "Aunty Grace, please…Open this door. Y-You are making us worry…" Her voice was giving out as she weakly pounded her hand against the door.
"What's she doing in there?" Asher's concerned voice echoed across as Yui, with tear-stricken eyes, immediately turned around, "M-Master, please. You have to talk to her. She locked herself in to do something we might not like."
Asher frowned as he wondered what the hell Grace was planning to do.Nôv(el)B\\jnn