Many lies can sit right beside someone for a long time without ever being noticed—so long as nobody lifts the veil.
Yet the moment the cover on such a lie is pulled back, an overwhelming sense of unreality and insecurity sprouts in the heart of the victim, as if an unknown seed has been planted deep within their mind.
And Mark’s Heavenly Demon Charming Voice served as the ultimate fertilizer for that seed.
Under this extreme catalysis, Selene even felt an involuntary surge of closeness and trust toward Mark.
Mark’s final question, in particular, threw her mind into utter turmoil.
Almost unconsciously, Selene looked at Mark with a touch of newfound reliance.
After a long, agonizing struggle, she summoned all her courage and asked, “You know my origins…
don’t you?”
“My parents…”
She faltered halfway through, her body trembling slightly, as if she didn’t dare to ask any further.
Spurred by the Heavenly Demon Charming Voice, the lies Viktor had fed her through centuries of brainwashing began to entangle her like deep-sea kelp, filling her with dread.
At that moment, deep within Mark’s eyes, a runic restriction composed of the Heart Demon Grand Curse flickered darkly.
Looking at the increasingly vulnerable, heartbreakingly fragile Selene, Mark didn’t feel the slightest trace of sympathy or tenderness.
“Yes,” Mark said in a low, somber tone.
“It is exactly as you think, Selene.
You have been living inside a nightmare built on lies.”
“Viktor is a quintessential aristocrat, craving eternal life, power, wealth, land—everything.”
“After receiving the First Embrace from Marcus, Viktor used poison to trigger the wolf’s bane dormant within William’s body.”
“William went wildly insane, and Marcus exhausted himself trying to save his brother.”
“Once Marcus fell into a deep slumber from exhaustion, Viktor seized power within the vampire coven.”
“Having grasped the supreme authority over the vampires, Viktor began to crave even higher status, greater wealth, and vaster territories.”
“He used poison to activate the wolf’s bane in all lycanthropes, turning them into a plague that ravaged the kingdom.”
“At the same time, Viktor built a vampire guard, casting himself as a righteous protector driving out the lycans.
He slaughtered every opponent in his path and made himself the Grand Duke of the kingdom.”
“Your father, Talia Sounder…
Though he was merely a common village leader, he remained the king’s most loyal supporter.”
“And so Viktor slaughtered everyone in that village.”
“Except for you, Selene.
You looked so much like his daughter, Sonja—the one who was burned to ash by the sun.”
Mark wasn’t inventing a lie; he was laying out the true history of this world.
Influenced by the Heavenly Demon Charming Voice, the sealed memories of Selene’s childhood began to flash faintly in her mind. The source of this chapter is g.com.
Just as Mark prepared to drive the Heart Demon Grand Curse embedded within his voice directly into Selene’s sea of consciousness, she suddenly clutched her head and dropped to her knees in agonizing pain.
*Dammit, overdid it.
Ruined at the finish line.*
The Heart Demon Grand Curse failed to take root.
The sudden backlash caused Mark’s face to flush red and then turn pale, his mental energy instantly sapped.
Fortunately, he currently had little to no magic power, having merely squeezed out a sliver of mental energy through minor tricks.
The backlash wasn’t overly severe—at most, he would have a splitting headache for a while.
What truly annoyed him was the flaw in the Heart Demon Grand Curse itself.
Through the backlash, Mark acutely realized that the Heart Demon Grand Curse could only be easily forced upon those who were low-IQ, brain-damaged, or mentally unstable.
Once a target possessed a complete and unshakeable sense of self, the curse became exceptionally difficult to land.
At least, it would remain difficult until Mark successfully condensed his Soul.
Consequently, a bug-like, thought-stamping technique like the Heart Demon Grand Curse saw its utility dramatically reduced.
Which made sense upon reflection.
If the Heart Demon Grand Curse were truly that unstoppable, the Blood Fiend Demon Sect back in the Yanfu World would have conquered the universe long ago instead of remaining branded as a demon sect.
Fortunately, Mark quickly realized an alternative application for the technique.
He was currently at Umbrella Corporation, after all.
And what was Umbrella Corporation most famous for?
Zombie monsters like Tyrants and Lickers!
He could totally use the Heart Demon Grand Curse to subtly subvert and control Umbrella’s bio-weapons without anyone noticing.
He could even take those zombie monsters and forge an army of Shura Dao Soldiers.
Wouldn’t that provide him with a fiercely loyal, highly powerful armed backing?
He mentally noted to put that plan into motion as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, Selene finally emerged from the agonizing agony of her unsealed memories, coming fully to her senses.
“Viktor…
You monster!”
As her childhood memories resurfaced, her hatred for Viktor’s centuries of deceit—and his hypocritical act of adopting her—boiled over.
In her rage, Selene wanted nothing more than to storm Viktor’s lair and tear him apart right then and there.
Before she could lose control, however, Mark gently took her delicate hand, comforting her with warm, considerate tenderness.
“Viktor is far stronger than you imagine.”
“Besides, if you kill Viktor, the sealed Marcus will awaken.”
“Whether it’s Marcus or Viktor, both possess bloodline suppression over you.”
“You need a long-term plan.”
“Don’t worry.
I will help you.”
If the Heart Demon Grand Curse was temporarily unreliable, he would simply fall back on his personal charm.
While Mark wasn’t a pure self-serving pragmatist, it was hard to say he wasn’t enticed by a beauty of Selene’s caliber.
More importantly, bringing Selene to his side was crucial for pushing forward his vampire-hunting plan.
*Hmm, with a massive army of zombie Shura Dao Soldiers, maybe I can expand my original plan a bit.*
*Hunting vampires might be stripping the pond to catch the fish.*
There was no natural spiritual qi in this world, and every form of supernatural energy—be it earth, water, fire, wind, light, or darkness—was strictly controlled by dimensional demon gods.
Mark wasn’t some shameless scoundrel like the Ancient One who could rely on sheer brute strength to borrow energy for free.
Refining Primordial True One Qi from blood required a literal ocean of essence blood.
He could start by hunting them, but once his cultivation reached the entry level, he would transition to ranching them.
To keep a steady stream, as long as he ranched enough vampires, he would never lack energy.
Umbrella Corporation possessed top-tier biotechnology, effortlessly mastering human cloning, let alone artificial blood production.
With a steady supply of synthetic blood, he wouldn’t even need to look outside for food to keep his vampire livestock fed.
*Settled, then.*
The abacus in Mark’s heart clicked pleasantly away.
At the same time, under the subtle influence of the Heavenly Demon Charming Voice, Selene—who already felt an unexplainable affinity toward Mark—felt her centuries-old, slow heartbeat accelerate ever so slightly.
Looking at him closely, Mark really was remarkably handsome.
She wondered if he would care that she was several hundred years older than him.
Having spent centuries doing nothing but hunting lycans, she had never been with a man, accumulating a heavy density of Yin Qi.
She wondered if he could handle it.
If all else failed, she could always give him the First Embrace.
For a moment, Selene’s small fangs twitched with subtle intent.