CHAPTER 181: EX 181. INSANITY

After the scrumptious meal, Unit 1 finally let themselves sink into rest. The long day had drained them all, though Leon, as usual, wasn’t done just yet. He slipped away for what he cheerfully called a "light spar" with Nikko. After all it was a necessary ritual to distribute the points he’d gathered. By the time he returned, even he was ready to stretch out and shut his eyes. Elizabeth had already retired to her room, Nikko humming a soft tune while curling up with a book of old Federation war songs, and Adrian, predictably, settled into silence, cleaning his shiel before finally resting.

Tonight, Eden had taken the first watch over Bal’ark.

There wasn’t much danger, or at least that’s what Leon told himself before turning in. Bal’ark, once a demon lord feared across realms, was now reduced to little more than a shadow, shackled inside Eleanor’s body. Eden’s mind had been fixed, stripped of its chaos, and demonic possession was no longer a possibility. Still, the Governor hadn’t been careless. He had handed Leon a set of artifacts: a warding clasp and a detector that would flare at even the faintest spec of demonic energy leaking beyond Eleanor’s vessel. Caged as he was, Bal’ark could be described as harmless. But no one in their right mind ever dropped their guard around a demon lord.

The residence given to Unit 1 made their barracks at the base look laughably small. It had two floors: a wide sitting room and kitchen below, five private rooms with their own bathrooms above. Every corner had been outfitted with comfort.

Eden sat sprawled across the couch in the sitting room, enjoying his quiet shift. The television screen glowed with the grainy flicker of a horror film. His eyes stayed fixed on the bloody scene unfolding, though the room itself was quiet. Too quiet.

Bal’ark, or rather, Eleanor’s body, sat beside him, unmoving. Her violet eyes never blinked, never wavered, just stared at him with a stillness that would have unsettled most people. Eden, though, didn’t flinch. He’d grown up on these movies. Fear, when boiled down, was a tool. One you either used or were consumed by.

Without turning his head, his gaze still locked on the screen, he asked, "She’s still in there, isn’t she?"

The corner of Bal’ark’s lips curled upward. A smile, that was neither Eleanor’s nor human.

****

Eden’s gaze finally settled on the vessel. The body that carried the demon lord. Eleanor’s features were still there, hauntingly familiar, the same delicate jawline, the same slender frame, but changed. Her golden hair had paled, almost colorless, and her once sky-blue eyes now burned a violet hue. Apart from those jarring differences, she was still unmistakably Eleanor.

Bal’ark’s voice cut through the silence, dripping with mockery.

"I can tell you wanted to mate with this human." The demon lord’s smile twisted wider, cruel amusement in every syllable. "Now that I am weakened, you can have your way with it."

Eden’s expression darkened, irritation flashing into something hotter, heavier. His voice was measured, but fury simmered beneath every word.

"Why Eleanor? Why not someone else? Why did you have to ruin her life?"

The question was selfish, he knew it. But Eden didn’t care. He could never deny it: once, he’d felt something for Eleanor. Until the betrayal.

Bal’ark tilted its head as if in thought, a parody of contemplation.

"I didn’t choose the child. She was merely the pawn fortunate enough to drift close to the boy. When you’ve lived as long as I have, you learn to weave back-up plans into every shadow and every thread of fate."

Eden scoffed, eyes narrowing.

"Says the one trapped in a body."

The demon lord’s smile faltered, silence answering the barb. Eden leaned forward, voice low, unyielding.

"Just know this, when we’re done with you, I’ll enjoy watching you pay for everything you’ve done."

Bal’ark’s eyes gleamed. "Even if the vessel suffers with me?"

For a long moment, Eden was quiet. Then, unexpectedly, a faint smile touched his lips, one that made Bal’ark hesitate.

"If she’s still in there... if she’s sorry for what she did... she wouldn’t want it any other way."

That answer left the demon lord staring. Its smile cracked, confusion flickering through its gaze.

"You’re insane," it spat.

Eden leaned back against his chair, unbothered. "Insanity is a skill you learn, if you want to survive in this world."

He turned his eyes back to the movie playing on the screen. At that very moment, a sudden jump scare shrieked across the room, but Eden didn’t so much as flinch. Bal’ark stared at him, silent now, with thoughts racing like shadows behind its gaze.

****

Adrian had only meant to slip downstairs for a midnight snack. The house was quiet, shadows stretched long over the stairwell, and he moved without hurry. But halfway down, voices caught his ear.

At first, he told himself it was none of his business. Yet his feet stayed rooted, listening. The weight in their voices wasn’t something he could ignore, and soon enough, curiosity gave way to something heavier, guilt. By the time their conversation ebbed into silence, Adrian realized his appetite was gone.

He turned back, step by step, climbing until he reached his room. The door clicked shut behind him, and he sank onto the edge of his bed, elbows on his knees.

"I need more strength."

The words rose in his mind unbidden and hard as steel.

He dragged a hand down his face. The truth was bitter, Eleanor’s fate still weighed on him. Even if she had betrayed them, being bound in her own body by a demon was a punishment beyond death. And he had been powerless to stop it.

"If I was stronger," he muttered into the quiet, "I might have been able to stop her before she fused with that thing."

The thought cut deep. Another followed, harsher. "If Leon had been there, it wouldn’t have gone that far. Even Elizabeth... she would have handled it better than I did."

He clenched his fists.

Adrian had always told himself not to compare, that the only rival worth chasing was his past self. Strength was personal, built step by step. But saying it and believing it were different things. The truth, no matter how unwelcome, still pressed in.

"But how... how do I reach that strength?" His voice was quieter this time, almost swallowed by the room.

All the drills, all the training, every hour spent bleeding and sweating, it never felt enough. He was stronger, yes, but not strong enough.

He stood, the decision made before the thought finished forming. Sleep was impossible now. If his mind was in turmoil, then his body would bear it. Adrian stepped out again, heading for the training room buried in the residence. Only the sharp bite of exertion could burn through this frustration.

The truth, though, whispered at the back of his mind as he walked: Leon was a monster. Elizabeth too. Their very presence had shifted his scale of what "power" meant. Compared to the average trial taker, Adrian Peer was already a beast. But in this company, it never felt like enough.

And that, he knew, was the danger.