After casting the constraint spell on Sophia and the rest of them, Lucien checked the notebooks carefully again. Finally, he picked it up.

The notes were very incomplete, and the handwriting was very casually and hard to read. However, from the words and the handwriting, Lucien could tell that the notes were from the same person and the person"s tone had changed as he or she aged:

"… After exploring the ancient relic deepest in h.e.l.l, they, including Solano, and even the teacher, are somehow different now. But why shall I care? They never see hope in me. After all, as a student in Astrology, I cannot even locate my Host Star of Destiny. If my father had not saved my teacher at the cost of his life, the teacher would have abandoned me already. They have no idea what the meaning of my Host Star of Destiny is."

"… They aren"t human beings anymore! They are demons! They have been possessed! … I can"t let them know I have figured this out. I gotta be very careful…"

"… What I can make sure is that the demons that have possessed them have never been put into any record. They like playing tricks with and distorting human mind by acc.u.mulating the negative emotions. I can"t stay here anymore. I have to find an excuse to leave…"

"… It was close. They would have caught me if I did not own the special Host Star of Destiny…""… I have finally figured out who they are: Arrogance, Envy, Greed, Hatred, Pain, l.u.s.t, Hypocrisy… They are completely different from the other demons that we know…"

"… It was so foolish of Solano… He tried to kill me. He must have no idea that I am already a seventh circle. He"s my perfect experiment material who came right in front of my door. I gotta check and see what in h.e.l.l Demon is…"

"… There"s not a single way available for constraining the projection of a demon. What should I do? Maybe I should go and explore the deepest in h.e.l.l. Hopefully, I can find something…"

"… There"s no way out. I"ll try if I can merge it with the common demon blood power…"

"… The results turned out to be fascinating. Gifted power can derive from the fusion and become part of the soul. The power can also strengthen one"s body and solidify one"s cognitive world. Maybe… it can accelerate my progressing…"

"… Since the acc.u.mulation of negative emotions can finally lead to the connection with the seven demons, I can do this on purpose. I have to design a special palace and a ritual…"

"… What is this?"

"… I was wrong from the very beginning…"

"… I think I"ve discovered the secret of the seven demons. I think I"ve seen the truth of the world…"

Lots of things were missing in the notes. Nothing really significant was left. It seemed that the pieces of notes were not left here by someone on purpose, but were ignored when some people were fighting for them. The winner knew that they were not the important parts and were in a rush leaving.

And then the notes were recollected by the ancestors of the Gorse family and compiled together.

The notes were automatically taken down in Lucien"s spirit library. Lucien wondered what the secret was and why it was related to the truth of the world, but the incomplete notes were not able to explain all the questions that he had in his mind. His curiosity was burning his guts.

Calming himself down, Lucien carefully checked the secret chamber again but found nothing else. Using the power of his spirit library, he recorded the design of the altar and the magic circles.

This place itself was a great treasure. According to Thanos, the altar and the magic circles could extract the projection of the demons, confine them, and even absorb them.

For Lucien, the seven demons were too powerful to be controlled. He was not interested in absorbing the projection of the demons to gain power since the risk was too high. However, knowing the way to extract and confine them was a great advantage. Also, studying mysterious creatures was a great fascination for every arcanist, not to mention the fact that they were related to the truth of the world.

Finis.h.i.+ng all of these, Lucien put Relph and Claire into sleep and cast the alert spell on them. Then he woke up Sophia,

"I still need you to do something for me. Follow me. Be my a.s.sistant."

"Alright," Sophia answered politely, but in her mind, she felt very resentful. Of course, she was not his a.s.sistant, but his tool for exploring the unknown areas.

But she could not do anything. Her life was in the sorcerer"s control. She could only follow the sorcerer docilely. They left the chamber and came to the portrait of the first Gorse duke.

Sophia was totally shocked when she saw Lucien revealing the entrance of the other chamber. And then great fear rose in her mind. She had no idea if the sorcerer would kill her since she had known the secret.

"If you want to stand there still, you don"t have to move anymore." Lucien smiled.

In Sophia"s eyes, the smiling face was like that of a demon, which was even more vicious than a demon. She wished that she could punch right in his face.

However, that was just her wish. In reality, she still had to say, "I"m going, sir."

She had no choice.

Walking alone the secret pa.s.sage, Sophia was very alert with her every single step. Finally, at the end of the pa.s.sage, she saw the inner palace exactly the same as the outside one and the statue of Thanos.

Looking around, Sophia released a sigh of relief. Her knees had almost lost all the strength.

Lucien led Sophia to the statue and pointed at the right hand of the statue.

"You touch there," said Lucien.

"Nothing"s there…" Sophia was very confused. But when she reached out her hand, she paused and looked at the direction where Lucien was standing.

No one was there!

"Keep going." The sorcerer"s low voice came from some distance away. Sophia turned around and found that the mysterious sorcerer had already retreated back to the secret pa.s.sage.

Sophia stammered, "Why… Why are you standing over there?"

"It can be very dangerous," said Lucien honestly.

Instantly, sweat oozed from her forehead.

"Hurry up. We still need time to sign the magic compact." Lucien gently reminded Sophia, still smiling.

Sophia knew that it was a threat. She felt her right hand extremely heavy. Very slowly, she lifted her hand.

"Move," Lucien commanded. Wearing Sun"s Corona, he saw that Sophia"s hand had touched the edge of the white light ball.

Sophia"s thin and beautiful hand was trembling. She had no idea what was going on.

"That"s enough." Seeing nothing happened, Lucien was quite confused.

Sophia flopped down to the ground as soon as she heard Lucien"s command.

Checking Sophia with the special testing spell, Lucien was certain that she was not lying. Sophia indeed did not feel the light ball and nothing happened to her. To get the first-hand data, Lucien did not control Sophia using magic. Lucien waited for a while to make sure it was completely safe, and then he walked to Sophia.

He made Sophia leave some of her power in Sun"s Corona, so she could utilize part of Sun"s Corona power just like how Lucien used the Saint Truth Badge for the first time.

Sophia finally saw the creepy white light ball above the right hand of the statue.

"Try again," said Lucien coldly.

Sophia cursed in her mind, but she even did not know who this young sorcerer was.

Taking a deep breath, Sophia kept telling herself that this was the last time she had to bear such a risk. Trembling, she reached out her hand toward the light ball. And within her expectation, the b.a.s.t.a.r.d sorcerer had retreated again.

The tip of Sophia"s fingers touched the light ball. It was cold.

Her hand went through without any difficulty. When Sophia touched the small gap, she felt something like heavy curtains.

Pulling back her hand, Sophia gasped hard.

"Sir… Nothing happened."

Lucien erased the mark left my Sophia from Sun"s Corona. When he was about to give Sophia some further orders, someone triggered the alert magic circles he laid!

The first idea flas.h.i.+ng through Lucien"s mind was that one of the demons was back.

Lucien put his hand back into the pouch and further retreated to the center of the hall.

"There"s another secret chamber here. Interesting." From the other end of the pa.s.sage, a blond, blue-eyed man slowly walked in.

It was Beyer, the prince.

However, Beyer"s eyes were rather sharp and clear, and his gestures were elegant. Obviously, he was not possessed.

His hands crossing behind, Beyer walked past Lucien and looked at the right hand of the statue.

"It"s here. I was right."

There was joy in his voice.

The look on Lucien"s face suddenly changed. He realized what was going on here.

Meanwhile, Sophia"s whole body started trembling. Her voice was full of surprise and

"F… Father?"