CHAPTER 240: THE HIDDEN DEMONS (2)

"Did they ... eat children’s hearts?" Medeia asked quietly.

Tian closed his eyes for a moment and nodded. "Yes, they did. Every month, they brought ten children into this room. All of them had to be under thirteen." He paused, then added, "The demons liked warm hearts, the kind that had only stopped beating a few seconds earlier."

To fulfill that cruel desire, the cultists would tear open the children’s chests with their bare hands, ripping out their hearts while the children screamed and begged for mercy.

Tian knew all of this because his father forced him to be in the room, asking him to watch it all. Said it was important for him to understand what he would have to do in the future.

But in the end, he became a victim too.

One day, they couldn’t find two more children. Normally, they took kids from orphanages, but the police had started getting suspicious, every child they took seemed to die from "illness."

Because of that, finding children became harder. And eventually, they were forced to sacrifice their own children so the demons wouldn’t take over their bodies.

Tian had begged his father not to take his brother. But his father didn’t listen.

By then, the demon had already taken half of his soul. He wasn’t the same person anymore. He even told Tian’s mother, coldly, that they could just make more children later.

Ren was supposed to be the first one sacrificed. But before they could do anything to him, their mother made a desperate move.

She asked the other women to set off homemade bombs behind the church, creating a massive distraction.

"No wonder the buildings behind the church are so badly damaged," Medeia muttered. "They provoked a mother’s rage, and they should’ve known what would come from that."

Tian’s mother and the other women killed every man guarding the tunnel. They used whatever they could find: guns, butcher knives, anything within reach.

They had been oppressed for years by the men of that cult. They couldn’t run, because the men always knew how to track them down.

For years, the women endured it all because they didn’t have the heart to leave their children behind. But once those men began taking their children one by one, they had no reason to keep bowing their heads.

"They couldn’t kill the demons," Tian said. "But since the demons were starving, my mother was able to weaken them using a silver knife wrapped in cloth that was covered in runes."

Medeia narrowed her eyes. "Was your mother a shaman?"

Tian clicked his tongue. "You sure ask a lot of questions."

"Oh, come on," Medeia rolled her eyes. "Telling me about your childhood is a cheap price for what you’re asking me to do."

He let out a sigh, answering half-heartedly. "My maternal grandfather was a shaman. He was the one who taught my mother how to seal demons. That’s also the reason ... I have a system that helps me see the future."

And just like that, things made more sense.

Now Medeia understood why she sometimes felt a deep resentment toward the twins. It was because she hated shamans, especially those who meddled with demons or borrowed their power to see the future.

She asked, more gently this time, "Then ... what happened to your mother?"

The air between them suddenly grew heavier. Tian’s eyes darkened.

"My mother died from illness," he said. "Her body couldn’t handle the radiation. Instead of gaining powers like the others ... she became undead after we arrived in Willowshade Village."

Medeia didn’t need to ask what happened next.

One look at Tian’s face told her everything.

He was the one who had to kill her.

[Ding! Ding!]

[Congratulations! You have completed a Special Quest: Uncover Tian and Ren’s Past!]

[Reward:

- Upgrade Water Mutant Ability to Grade-S!

- +5,000 XP, +3,000 C-Points.]

[Congratulations! You have reached Level 35!]

[Stat increase: +3,500 MP (Total: 67,800), +1,600 HP (Total: 25,450), Intelligence: +50 (Total: 410)]

[Reward Item: Dagger of The Hollow Flame (Grade-S) — Effect:

- 100 % damage to Demonic Entities.

- Each Strike delays the demon’s regeneration and burns a fragment of their soul, making it harder for them to possess another body.

- Note: Cannot be used to harm humans.]

[Congratulations! Your pain tolerance toward the wings has been reduced by 95%!]

Ninety-five percent?

Medeia let out an annoyed sigh. Why not a full hundred? Still, it was good enough.

A moment later, a silver dagger suddenly appeared in front of her.

She raised her hand and caught it easily. The blade was dull, so much so that it didn’t even scratch her skin when she touched it directly.

"Is that something that can kill demons?" Tian asked.

Medeia tossed the dagger into the air once and caught it again. "I’m pretty sure you already know the answer to that. So, tell me, can I kill every demon in that room without getting hurt?"

Tian replied in a flat tone. "I can’t tell your future."

She clicked her tongue in frustration. That rule was annoying. Still, she knew Tian wouldn’t have asked for her help if he thought she wouldn’t make it out alive.

Just like he said earlier, he was afraid of Lucian.

If Lucian ever found out that Tian had sent Medeia into the gate of hell and she didn’t come back out alive, he probably—no, definitely—would kill Tian with his own hands.

"Are you coming in too?" Medeia asked as she reached for the rusty padlocks wrapped around the chains.

Tian didn’t answer right away. He stood stiffly, a bit farther from the door, his eyes darkening the longer he stared at the wooden surface.

Just by looking at him, Medeia could tell, he didn’t want to step back into his nightmare.

"You can wait here," she said as she broke the padlocks one by one with her bare hands. "If Lucian comes looking for me, just tell him I’m trying to have some fun."

Tian hesitated. "Are you sure you want to go in alone?"

Medeia turned her head and gave him a confident smile. "Don’t pretend like you don’t already know. I’m sure you saw me going in alone in your future vision."

If he hadn’t, Tian would’ve come prepared with weapons, gear, holy relics, anything to fight demons.

But he showed up dressed casually, with nothing but a single rifle.

What could he possibly do with that? Sure, it could work if the bullets were wrapped in rune-marked paper, but when Medeia glanced at his spare magazines, she didn’t see any runes at all.

In other words, Tian had no intention of fighting. He wanted Medeia to go in alone, while he stayed behind to guide her.

"If I die, good luck dealing with Lucian’s rage," she said with a small laugh, then pulled on the chain sealing the door.

The chains clattered to the ground all at once, ringing loudly through the tunnel like a broken bell.

Just as Medeia reached out to push the door open, it opened on its own.

The walls trembled as the heavy wooden doors slammed against them.

Medeia took a step back as thick black mist poured out from inside. It looked like fog, but it carried the strong stench of burnt flesh, a scent that always came with low-ranking demons.

She cracked her neck, smiling to herself. At last, she had a chance to meet her kind again.

From deep inside the room, she heard a low, guttural growl echoing through the thick mist, followed by the frantic sound of something crawling fast toward the door.

The scraping of nails against stone. Heavy breaths. Hunger.

"See you later, Tian," said Medeia.

Without hesitation, she stepped inside and slammed the door shut behind her.

The darkness swallowed her whole. A second later, the system’s voice echoed in her head, clear and sharp:

[New Quest: Hell’s Gate Battleground]

Objective: Eliminate all demonic entities inside the sealed chamber.

Bonus: +20,500 XP if completed without serious injury.

Time Limit: None. Exiting early will count as failure.

Warning: High demon activity detected. Good luck, Host.]

A small smile appeared on her face when she saw the bonus. With that much XP, she could level up twice at once.

Even better, she’d probably get an extra reward if she managed to kill every last demon in this room.

But strangely, she hadn’t seen a single one yet.

The room was dark, completely quiet, but thanks to her night vision, she could see everything clearly.

It was big and circular, almost like an old underground theater. In the center stood a stone altar, stained with dark patches that looked a lot like dried blood.

Around the altar, there were wide stone steps going up in rings, each one lined with narrow seats carved straight into the walls.

It looked like a place where people once gathered to watch something ... something awful.

Now, those stone seats were empty, but the room didn’t feel empty.

There was a heavy feeling in the air, like something was hiding just out of sight, holding its breath, waiting for the right moment to move.

"Come out," Medeia’s voice echoed through the room. "Your queen has arrived. How dare you not welcome me properly?"