"Give back what belongs to me."
The figure before me clutches his chest in agony, screaming with a twisted face as blood pours from his mouth.
"Impossible, Ethan Zhang, you clearly..."
I said nothing, raised my hand, and in an instant, my Deathbane Aura pierced him, leaving him riddled with countless holes.
Synchronization and instinct—this is Coexistence.
In that moment, I felt resistance from him; he was still struggling desperately.
"It's useless. You're no match for me."
My vision darkened, my consciousness fading bit by bit. Suddenly, I was in a pitch-black space, Deathbane Aura sweeping toward me from all sides.
"I'll kill you! Ha! Ethan Zhang, since you dared to come in..."
Raging Deathbane Aura surged toward me. I saw him in the distance, closed my eyes, raised a hand, took a deep breath, and roared.
I am Coexistence.
The once raging Deathbane Aura stopped just as it was about to engulf me. I opened my eyes as the aura surrounding me slowly dissipated.
"Impossible, you all... Kill Ethan Zhang, if you want your consciousness back."
Suddenly, before the darkness, my Seven Ghost Souls stood, their faces expressionless as they stared at me. I walked toward them step by step. The seven souls floated up, all pitch-black and faceless, rushing at me.
"Long time no see, old friends. Welcome back."
As I spoke, the Seven Ghost Souls vanished behind me in a flash. The darkness before me widened its eyes, and behind me, seven forms of Ethan Zhang appeared—four men and three women. On the ground, a shadow with golden eyes revealed an evil grin.
"Alright, my Instinct has returned. Now die."
In the distance, a flash of pink light darted over. With a scream, the figure before me stood up, howling viciously and charged at me.
Belle flew into my hand. I gripped Belle in reverse and slashed at the figure before me, roaring as endless murderous Deathbane Aura converged from all directions.
"Ah, you've grown so strong. Impressive. It seems what Martin Lane said is true."
My eyes widened as a black hand stretched out from the figure's mouth, grabbing Belle as I swung down. The figure screamed in agony.
I watched in disbelief as someone slowly crawled out of the darkness's mouth—a man in his twenties, pale-skinned, broad-faced, with lively eyes and a gentle smile. I couldn't sense his aura. My Ghost Souls circled around, and my shadow grabbed my collar, pulling me away from the figure.
"Lan Miu, you bastard, how dare you..."
I stared in shock. The figure felt familiar. Looking closer at his broad face, heroic features, gentle smile, and carefree aura, three people overlapped in my mind—Lan Yin, Martin Lane, and Lan Miu, who now stood before me.
Lan Miu wore a tight black outfit with a red robe over it. In my memories, Lan Miu was an old man with white hair.
With a scream, the darkness howled in pain. Lan Miu pressed a hand to its head, closed his eyes, then, after a moment, opened them with a smile.
"Alright, your task is finished."
With a snap, the figure exploded, shattering and dissolving into black mist that vanished.
"Allow me to introduce myself. Nice to meet you, Ethan Zhang. My name is Lan Miu, ancestor of the Lan Family of the Hades Circle—great-grandfather to Lan Yin and Martin Lane. For all you've done for my great-granddaughter Rachel Lan, I sincerely thank you."
I said nothing, silently watching Lan Miu. Suddenly, my consciousness began to fade.
"What do you want to do?"
I roared and charged at Lan Miu.
In a daze, I snapped back to consciousness. A cold hand pressed against my forehead, sending chills through me as I shuddered and drifted backward.
"What did you just do?"
Everything in the Apartment Building had returned to normal now that I had regained the other half of my Instinct. Lan Miu sat in the pavilion, sipping a steaming cup of tea.
"It's nothing. I came here to talk with you, Ethan Zhang."
"Lan Yin is still searching for you, living between despair and hope."
Lan Miu took a sip of water, nodded, and then looked at me with a warm smile.
"Yes, I know. That child who hasn't grown up yet—maybe it's my fault. I should have killed him back then. Maybe then he wouldn't have had to endure wave after wave of despair."
My mind was a mess. I remembered when Lan Miu taught Lan Yin sorcery, the two were as close as father and son, or dear friends. Hearing these words from Lan Miu now, anger surged within me as I stepped forward, Deathbane Aura overflowing from my body.
"Sometimes, choosing death might be easier for people. As for Lan Yin, I only heard about him from Martin Lane now and then, but that has nothing to do with me anymore. My duty was to cultivate Soul Collectors for the Lan Family. Of the three I trained, Lan Yin was the last. My responsibility is over; the rest is meaningless."
I sneered, looking at Lan Miu.
"You people, your minds and hearts have long rotted. All of you are nothing but decaying corpses."
I cursed, but Lan Miu only smiled helplessly.
"With your understanding, that's how it seems. But we're not like those pure evil ones from the Immortality Society. We're just people who've fallen into darkness."
I burst out laughing.
"Maybe this is the funniest thing in the world. You who have given up what matters most as a human, how can you still call yourselves human?"
Clenching my fists, I could no longer hold back. As Lan Yin's friend, facing his benefactor with such an attitude, my anger erupted.
With a thud, I threw a punch, but Lan Miu caught it with one hand, unmoving. My furious Deathbane Aura swept through the Apartment Building, leaving chaos in its wake.
"If you want to fight, wait a moment. I think you need to know some things, especially about our Lan Family. So, Ethan Zhang, listen to me quietly first. It will help you with what you want to do next."
I slowly lowered my fist, sitting across from Lan Miu with an angry face.
"Do you know why we founded the Hades Circle? You probably remember, right? The thing inside the Trial Marriage Stone."
Suddenly, I remembered—the pale yellow mist inside that stone, when I went to save Rachel Lan. The mist formed a human shape and said it was all because those ten people were greedy.
"What did the ten founders of the Hades Circle do?"
"They agreed to things they shouldn't have, and the price was never seeing the light again. At the Dark Banquet, I was on the Silent Ones' side."
"What do you mean?"
"We're harmless, really. We exist in darkness but haven't done anything unspeakable. And as you said, we've lost the most important part of being human. After all, everyone comes into this world alone and leaves it alone. So I've done all I needed to do; the rest doesn't matter to me."
There was a coldness in Lan Miu's voice. I couldn't blame him, nor did I have the right.
"The longer you live, the clearer you see the essence of things. Let me ask you, Ethan Zhang: when the one you love dies and you're left alone, what do you have left? Everything you risked your life to protect is gone. In that moment, enduring the pain of loneliness, what can you do?"
I glared at Lan Miu. What he said was true—loneliness is the greatest challenge for those who survive year after year.
Those guys from Blackfang are probably the same. I never thought about this question before, but I quickly shook my head.
"As long as they live on in my heart, they're still alive. The will of those I love lives on in me, Ethan Zhang, after their deaths."
"That's far too heavy, Ethan Zhang. Living like this for thousands, tens of thousands of years—the only thing you'll get is loneliness. Nothing else remains."
I didn't want to argue pointlessly with Lan Miu anymore, so I stood up.
"So why did you come here?"
"Well, years ago, Martin Lane told me about you in a dream. I've always wanted to meet you, but we couldn't leave the darkness. Now, with a little help, we managed to come. Martin Lane said you have the potential to overturn the darkness, so I wanted to see for myself."
"So, what did you find?"
I stared blankly at Lan Miu, who smiled gently.
"You do have potential, but potential can become zero at any time."
As Lan Miu spoke, he pointed behind me and continued.
"That guy was also once called a person of potential, but in the end, his potential was zero. Isn't that right, Mr. Wraithshade?"