Awakening

Had the hypnosis failed?

The Eye Hunter felt a flicker of surprise. He was genuinely confident in his abilities; forget ordinary people, even Demon Tamers of the same rank found it difficult to shake off his influence completely.

While Su Mian clearly wasn’t ordinary—both the gender shift and that faint, mysterious scent suggested she held deep secrets—the Eye Hunter remained certain of his victory. It had been working just moments ago, so why the sudden failure? Driven by curiosity, his interest in her spiked.

“You really are interesting,” he smiled as he turned around.

The purple light in his pupils intensified instantly. In Su Mian’s field of vision, the world began to warp violently. The night-shrouded street resembled a wax sculpture melting under high heat; the amber streetlights, the road, and the buildings on both sides dissolved and faded into a blur of abstract symbols at a visible speed.

The world spun. For a moment, Su Mian couldn’t steady herself and was on the verge of collapsing. At that exact second…

“Honestly… why must you force me?” she sighed helplessly, knowing there was no other way.

In the Eye Hunter’s view, the girl was standing perfectly still. Under the influence of his demonic power, she was losing herself, transforming into a puppet. He had done this many times; he was a professional. While an ordinary person’s mind would snap and turn them into an idiot, he figured this “special” one could be broken and then released once he got her back to the base.

He was certain she couldn’t escape this time, especially since he was drawing power from a Relic.

[The Stone of the Lost]: It enhanced all powers related to hypnosis, illusions, or enchantment. The drawback was that with prolonged use, the holder stood a high chance of getting lost in their own illusions and never waking up. It was one of his most frequently used tools.

Using a Hallucination Demon combined with the power of the Stone against a “normal person” felt like an extravagance to the Eye Hunter, but it showed his determination to capture her. There was another reason: his Familiar used to distract the Bureau’s lapdogs had been defeated. They would be here soon; he had no time to waste.

For the first few seconds, the Eye Hunter believed he had won. But he soon realized something was wrong.

The girl, who should have fallen and become a temporary puppet, offered no response. Instead, the surrounding atmosphere began to shift. A strange, sweet fragrance began to diffuse through the air. It was a scent filled with a sense of euphoria, making one unconsciously want to close their eyes and surrender to it.

The Eye Hunter felt a momentary daze. In his blurred state, he nearly fell asleep before snapping awake.

“Something’s wrong!”

How could he nearly fall asleep at a time like this? Cold sweat drenched him from head to toe. Fully alert now, he reached out, yanked the [Stone of the Lost] from its necklace chain, and gripped it tightly, scanning his surroundings with a wary gaze.

Who is it? Have the Bureau dogs arrived? Or did someone else stumble in?

Thoughts raced through his mind as his body tensed, ready for combat. But as he scanned the area, everything was silent. No one else was there. Then what was this…?

Belatedly, the Eye Hunter shifted his gaze back to the girl. In the next second, he locked eyes with a pair of crimson pupils.

They looked like the world’s most beautiful red crystals, or perhaps a hue nourished by fresh blood—deep, enchanting, dreamlike, yet bloody. Just one second of eye contact sent a jolt of terror through his heart.

What happened?

Looking at the girl who had reopened her eyes, the Eye Hunter clearly felt the change in her. He doubted if this was even the same person. Though her appearance hadn’t changed much, both her essence and the “vibe” she gave off were entirely different.

The danger-sense that had saved him countless times was now screaming in primal terror. A violent shudder ran through him, urging him to flee immediately. He chose to obey his instinct.

Unfortunately… it was too late.

“Oh my, are you the one bullying me?”

The honey-sweet voice rang out, acting like a magnet that forced the Eye Hunter to stop in his tracks. He instinctively tried to look away, but found it impossible. He could only watch as ‘Su Mian’ stretched like she was waking from a nap, twisted her body, and casually removed her mask.

The moment that face—which no words could ever hope to describe—fell into his sight, the Eye Hunter felt his heart take a heavy hit. The blood in his entire body rushed toward it uncontrollably; his heart pounded so violently it felt like it might explode.

What… is this?

He struggled to turn his brain, squeezing out every ounce of power to do something, but the moment he raised his hand, he forgot his target. All he could do was stand there, staring blankly at that beautiful existence.

The demonic girl said nothing more; she simply smiled. But just looking at that smile, the Eye Hunter felt like he was going insane. His body, his soul, his desires—everything was screaming. If it weren’t for the demonic power he had swallowed pushing back, and the [Stone of the Lost] helping him resist mental charms, he likely would have knelt down to lick her feet already.

What kind of monster is this?!

He regretted tonight’s actions. He shouldn’t have been so impatient, nor should he have approached an unknown target without more research. Curiosity killed the cat. But there is no medicine for regret in this world. He was paying the price for his recklessness. Only now did he realize that his “good luck” had led him to a true monster wearing human skin.

His last shred of sanity calculated escape routes, but under the gaze of those crimson eyes, all resistance seemed laughable.

The girl approached with a light laugh. Her short black hair rapidly transformed into floor-length silver tresses. As the silver hair flowed, her height also shot back up. Her clothes, which were already baggy, now felt restrictive. She paused, took off her jacket, and tossed it into the nearby bushes. The Succubus felt her chest was a bit cramped and wanted to undo a few more buttons on her shirt, but her hand suddenly stopped.

After a few seconds of silence, she made a helpless face. “So shy.”

Despite the remark, she abandoned the gesture and looked back at the man.

Because her gaze had shifted for a few seconds, the Eye Hunter regained a fraction of control. Moving stiffly as he tried to back away, he faked a calm tone: “What… what exactly are you?”

The girl still didn’t answer, only walking closer. She wasn’t moving fast, but because the distance wasn’t great, the intoxicating scent soon grew even thicker. The last bit of clarity in his brain turned cloudy. The world faded into black and white; only the slowly approaching girl carried a lethal, vivid color.

He couldn’t even form the thought of fleeing, let alone resisting. In this second, he felt that even if she ordered him to commit suicide, he would do so willingly. Even the demonic power in his veins, usually so effective, was now dormant—as if it had met its natural predator and was cowering in fear.

His sense of self was vanishing. The [Stone of the Lost] flickered with a colorless light, but it only brought a moment of clarity. Against that ultimate sweetness and dream, it was a drop of water in an ocean.

But at that moment, as expected, the unexpected happened.

“BANG!”

A gunshot rang out. A brass-colored bullet was caught between slender, pale fingers. The girl opened her hand, letting the deformed bullet fall to the ground with a rhythmic ting-ting-ting. She turned slowly toward the source of the shot.

In the distance, a bald man wearing black sunglasses swallowed hard. He spoke into his earpiece in a voice that he didn’t realize was trembling:

“I… I’ve found the suspected ‘Eye Hunter’ target. But things seem a bit… a bit off.”