Enchanting Embers: Dance with the Divine

Chapter 15: Promise

It felt like a heavy hammer crashing into her chest, the overwhelming pressure causing an instant suffocation. The combined physical and mental strain made it nearly impossible for her to speak.

Truth be told, she wasn't entirely indifferent to this proposal.

—Considering that this little demon could hunt high-tier magical beasts alone and openly admit to being unable to defeat her mother, the latter must be quite formidable, sounding knowledgeable in spatial magic.

However, Alex had explained this matter before; most dark races easily mastered magic due to their lineage. Humans or other races from the Western Continent learned and understood magic differently, and forcibly imitating it could result in half-hearted attempts or even accidents.

Moreover, Ian was a bit dense. What made that lady willing to teach a stranger like her?

With these thoughts in mind, Aurora struggled to breathe, organizing her words amidst the pressure. "Plus, knowing magic doesn't mean knowing how to teach someone... like, you can't teach me fire-breathing..."

Ian: "............"

It didn't seem wrong.

He released his tail somewhat disappointedly and then inexplicably glanced at her.

Aurora clenched her teeth, pinching the muscles around her waist. She felt like she was consoling a child. "What's wrong now?"

The little demon suddenly approached her, reaching out to grasp her face and scrutinize it. "...You're really strange."

Aurora felt the sharp claws pressing against her jawbone, as if they could easily snap her neck. The scalding sensation continued to burn her skin, although it was merely a feeling and caused no real harm.

She wanted to step back, but the other person didn't loosen their grip. To prevent disfiguring herself, she remained in that position without moving. "...I think you're strange too."

Ian didn't seem to care about her retort. He looked at Aurora with confusion, muttered something under his breath, then let go, his expression growing increasingly irritated.

Furrowing his brow, he pondered for a moment. "Why do you want to learn magic?"

Aurora was about to answer but realized she couldn't quite express why. This liking and pursuit seemed to lack a clear reason.

When she first heard about the existence of magic, a surge of enthusiasm filled her chest. Years later, when she got hold of her first magical book, she repeatedly tried spells in the ship's cabin until a transparent ice crystal formed in the air. She had been overjoyed to the point of tears.

"To be honest, I don't know," the girl said, biting her lip. "I just know I want to do it, like how you enjoy eating grilled meat. Here, I'll write down the recipe and ingredients. With these, you can make similar food too."

Aurora silently prayed her mother wouldn't blame her. Some secret recipes were meant to be passed down only within the family. However, she felt indebted, knowing that what she had done was far less than what she had received. Besides this, there was nothing else she could do in return.

...Her mother would probably agree, if she were still here.

She felt a pang of sadness at the thought.

Without delay, the young girl walked to the table, picked up a quill and parchment, took a deep breath, organized the wealth of knowledge in her mind, and decided to start with making butter dough and preparing broth.

She hadn't even written the first letter when she heard a questioning voice beside her. "What's this?"

Aurora turned, clutching the quill, and saw Ian rummaging through a stack of drawings. They were her doodles from leisure moments—not beautiful but not embarrassing either.

However, the particular one that caught the little demon's attention depicted a forest shimmering with starlight, countless pure white flowers blooming on the branches. It was a scene she occasionally dreamed of, one that a drawing couldn't fully capture; she simply symbolically depicted it.

Ian tilted his head, examining it for a while. "I feel like I've seen this place."

Aurora looked at him in disbelief. "Really?!"

He turned back. "Yeah."

Aurora, uncertainly, asked, "...Is this a forest somewhere in the Eastern Continent?"

"I don't know," Ian blinked, "I've seen many places; this one looks familiar."

"...Are you saying you've been there?" Aurora was puzzled, "I don't know. In principle, it's unlikely, because this is just a scene I occasionally dream of. The second time I thought it was an illusion. Sometimes in dreams, you think you're familiar with the scene, but it's not real. But then I wrote it down, and later it really happened again. I'm certain I've dreamt of this place more than once."

The little demon pondered for a while, then tossed the paper aside. Apparently, his approach to dealing with the problem bothering him was to ignore it. "Dad won't come back, otherwise, he would know."

Aurora sighed, not responding to his childish omnipotent thoughts. "Listen, we can discuss any topic, but you... need to behave a bit more maturely."

Ian blinked, confused. "What?"

"A mature, dignified person wouldn't argue or even fight over a difference in opinion," Aurora patiently explained. Seeing his dismissive expression, she couldn't help but say, "How would your mother react to opposition?"

Ian seriously thought for a while. He initially wanted to say no one dared oppose her, but upon careful consideration, it wasn't entirely true. "Kill them."

Aurora: "..."

Aurora looked at him with complicated feelings. "Damn, you don't seem like you're joking. But your relationship with your mother isn't always harmonious, right? From what I know, even the most well-behaved children inevitably have arguments with their families, let alone you."

Ian paid no attention to the well-behaved child part. He disdainfully snorted, "She can't kill me."

"You... are you saying that if she could, you would be dead? Is that what you mean?" Aurora was incredulous. "And you said you can't beat her."

"Yeah," the little demon looked at her perplexed, "but I won't die, even if it's her, she can't do it."

Aurora: "..."

Fine, take back what I said; maybe this guy doesn't lie, but he often harbors some unfounded convictions.

For instance, in the past, he claimed to be a god; now he says he's immortal—a creature like a demon is almost invincible to ordinary humans or orcs.

Even though holy fire, specialized against dark races, had limited effectiveness against demons, it wasn't difficult for a semi-divine Archangel to kill an ordinary demon, let alone true gods.

Aurora knew she couldn't argue with him. She wanted to give up on this topic but felt it wasn't right.

...This guy can't be too overconfident! Otherwise, when he encounters an Archangel or god on the battlefield, he'll just rush in like a fool and get himself killed!

Thinking about that possibility terrified Aurora. She took a deep breath, deciding to address this issue seriously and indirectly. "Have you ever faced... an Archangel?"

The little demon tilted his head, pondering for a while. "Hmm?"

"I'm talking about an Archangel, not an ordinary angel," Aurora paused, "like some demons can become Archdemons, they're half-gods!"

"Yeah... it's all the same," Ian lazily flicked his tail, treating them all as easily torn trash, "What about it?"

I think they would kill you.

—Of course, I absolutely can't say that.

Aurora racked her brains to articulate, "Um... I've seen angels or Archangels. They caught very powerful individuals and then made all of us watch as they were executed."

This wasn't a lie; she had indeed witnessed nonbelievers being publicly executed.

Perhaps they weren't actual heretics; they might have been just mages, possibly mercenaries with dark-race lineage, or any targets the church needed to eliminate. In the eyes of the people, their identity was exactly as declared by the church.

Occasionally, powerful mercenaries clashed with the church's knights, resulting in rivers of blood, bodies piling up under swords. Then, those angels appeared. They effortlessly defeated the nonbelievers who survived a siege by a hundred-person troop—

She had seen such scenes before. Holy knights lay on the ground, their armor and blades glinting with cold light. They were taken away. The entire city of Magnolia fell into silence. Countless bodies, blood staining the ground, while the nonbelievers were bound, awaiting execution. They were then led onto the pyre, some silent, some screaming curses, their bodies burning in the flames, skin cracking, muscles blackening.

Aurora didn't like being a spectator in such events. Yet, she had to cheer along with those around her or at least wear a smile. In any case, she had to express hatred for these tortured individuals and show reverence toward those angels.

—Among the deceased, many were indeed heinous wanted criminals and sinners. Many genuine nonbelievers were more than just opposing the God of Light; they might have conducted rituals using an entire village for a blood sacrifice or thrown bodies into the river to infect an entire town with disease. History had numerous such incidents, so the residents' reliance on and gratitude toward the church wasn't entirely brainwashing without reason.

"But I don't believe that every deceased person deserved such an end, especially those who simply possessed magical talent and refused to pledge allegiance to the God of Light. They didn't do anything wrong," she sighed, "and it's even more painful when the executioners are from the church—I might indeed be a mix of dark races. I just hate them."

"..."

Ian understood but wasn't sure what the other person was trying to convey.

Unprecedentedly, he wanted to comfort someone, though he didn't realize what he was doing. "You don't have to be afraid."

Aurora turned back in confusion, "What?"

"I'll kill them," Ian promised in his usual, somewhat casual tone, "Angels, gods, elves, they'll all die."

He lifted his head, those golden eyes cold and blazing, like a consuming fire contained within, and the world would eventually burn in that flame.