The Vampire Prince's Toxic Consort (BL)
Chapter 48 The Chosen One

“Wake up.”

Lucius smelled the fresh scent of wet leaves and grasses after a light spring rain and felt the tender warmth of filtered sunlight kissing his cheek. He opened his eyes and saw layers of green leaves weaved green heaven above his head, setting against numerous big, roseate, glossy apples.

He realized that he was standing underneath an unusually enormous apple tree. Under his bare feet was a blanket of soft mosses. Around him was an endless meadow filled with a sea of colorful, luxuriate wildflowers. One side was framed by the silhouette of rolling mountains with icing-like snow caps on the tops. On the other side, an emerald sea spread into eternity.

Several bluebirds were chirping on the branches above him, and butterflies were flustering and chasing each other among the flowers.

Lucius blinked, wondering if he was in the afterlife.

He remembered vividly that he was falling, and then there was nothing. And the memory still brought about a throbbing pain in his chest, so fresh and real that he was almost sure he was not in a dream or some pre-death hallucination.

He stood there for a while, submerging himself in the serenity of the wind, the scent of the apples, and the buzzing of the bees. He felt...peaceful.

No pain, no memories, no flashbacks.

If this was death, then it was not so bad.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps. He turned around abruptly and saw a man approaching.

He was a breathtakingly beautiful man. Long, silky silver hair almost reached his shins, swaying behind him. His skin was almost translucent and glowing slightly under the sun, and his eyes...his eyes were not any color Lucius had ever seen. Those irises were an alluring, dreamy iridescent color, swirling and changing in different light and angles.

Lucius was slightly stunned by the man’s ultramundane beauty. However, as their distance shortened, he found those iridescent eyes familiar...

Were they the same as the giant eye on the sky above the labyrinth?

No way...

“Don’t be afraid.” The man’s smile was extremely disarming, “You are safe here.”

“Am I dead? Am I in Hell?” Lucius blurted out. If this man was indeed Asmodian, the King of Hell, then it is only logical that he was in hell.

He self-sacrificed to Asmodian, after all.

The man laughed, “Does this look like hell?”

“No, but I don’t know...maybe you and your demons planted more trees or something. The environmentalism trend is pretty strong...“Lucius didn’t quite understand how he could make jokes under such circumstances.

The man chuckled more, seemingly joyful, amicable, and harmless. But Lucius remembered the primal fear when watching that gigantic eye tear the sky.

“Do you like it here?“Asmodian sauntered toward the apple tree.

“I guess? It’s beautiful...but where is this place? If not Hell?”

Asmodian sauntered toward the apple tree and put a hand on its strong, gnarl trunk, “This is the second tree ever planted in this world, the place where humans are ‘seduced’ by me. Can’t you guess where this is?”

Lucius gaped at the devil, “...Don’t tell me this is the Land of Aidan.”

Aidan, according to the Scripture, is the blessed land where mankind lived until they pissed God off and got kicked out.

“This is a memory of it. My memory.” Asmodian said nostalgically, his long fingers tracing each wrinkle on the wood tenderly.

“So...is this the tree of knowledge, and those are the forbidden fruits? Like they are really just...apples?”

“This part is...use human’s word, bullshit in your Scripture.” Asmodian scoffed, “There is no magic apple that can make obedient, mindless morons that your Scriptures made your ancestors to be suddenly able to think for themselves. You humans are capable of independent thinking from the beginning. However, this is where I taught some of the smartest first humans about the truth of this world and opened their eyes to more possibilities. And they started to question God’s words, which didn’t end so well for them. I guess the truth was twisted by one of the ‘Saints’ who wrote the Scripture to make it more...dramatic.”

Lucius didn’t know how much of it was true, though to him, Asmodian’s story made much more sense than the Scripture, “So God really exists? And you didn’t turn into a snake and seduce the first men and women to eat the apples?”

“How can I seduce anyone in a snake’s form? Don’t you think it will be much more efficient if I look like this?“Asmodian opened his arm jestingly, “Whoever wrote that Scripture must be high on something when they wrote it. And I’m surprised so many people believe such nonsense.”

“So what’s with all those snakes on your statues?”

“Those are not really snakes. They are appendages of my true form, but it is...not of this world, and not many humans can stay sane after seeing it. And those who survived had to twist it into something they understood in their mind before writing it down in the Scripture, hence the name ‘the Serpent.’ “Asmodian paused momentarily and then asked amusingly, “Any more questions?”

“Oh yeah, tones.” Lucius felt like he had to replace somewhere to sit and collect his thoughts. He found a big root protruding from the ground and sat on it with a blank, confounded look, “was that you appeared in my dreams, made that miracle happen, and then saved my life in the Sleeping Chamber?”

“You are welcome.”

“I don’t understand...” Lucius was having trouble putting his thoughts into words. Asmodian told him that he chose him to spite God, since God chose Julian. But why did it all happen after he came to Eternia? Why didn’t he hear or dream anything about the devil when he was younger? And what was his use for him?

However, the Serpent seemed to be able to understand his disorientations without any elaboration. Asmodian picked an apple from the tree and said, “I know your world through all my scions. The first time Dorian Ashdown drank your blood, I felt your presence and caught a piece of your memory, and I recognized that you are the other twin. The one that wasn’t chosen. That was how I found you.”

No wonder why those dreams only started after that night they were attacked by werewolves.

“So...that’s your only reason to pay so much attention to me? Because my brother?” Lucius scoffed bitterly, “I should have guessed.”

“You don’t believe you can be loved, do you?” Asmodian said gently as he strolled toward him.

Lucius wasn’t sure how to answer such a question. He was not ready to bare his heart to the devil.

“All my direct creations are dead, eliminated from this world because of some treacherous scheme among others, who tried to diminish me to ingratiate with God. My influence in this world is greatly weakened as there are fewer and fewer pure-blooded scions in my line. I need a new start, a Messiah who is strong enough to carry my will, be my representative in this world, and restore my glory.” Asmodian paused before Lucius. The brilliant sunlight radiated behind him and gilded his golden tresses, making him look like a mighty deity, “and I want you to be my first generation.”

Lucius blinked, “are you serious?”

Asmodian smiled down at him, “Why shouldn’t I be?”

“First of all, I believe I just committed suicide.”

“You are not dead. I have no use for a dead man, so I caught you.”

Not dead...that meant he had to return to the world of the living, even though there was no place for him in that world anymore.

He used to think he found his place next to Dorian, but he couldn’t lie to himself anymore after Dorian made his choice.

“Even so, of all the vampires and humans that are smarter and stronger than me, you want ME to be your first generation?” Lucius said bluntly, “I’d say you are lying to me, but I can’t think of a reason. You are the King of Hell, and I am nothing but Julian’s brother...”

“I admit that it is an excellent bonus that you are God’s new toy’s twin brother, but that is not why I want you.” Asmodian sat next to Lucius on the apple tree root, surveying the distant emerald sea, “I want you because I like you, and I see myself in you.”

Lucius stole a few glances at the appearing harmless devil and wasn’t sure how to feel about that, “say...if I become your scion, what do I have to do? Do I have to sacrifice ten people to you every three years?”

“You will know what to do when you embrace my gift to you. I won’t force you into anything.”

“But...eventually, you want to return to this world, right? Wasn’t that why they killed all your first generation? To stop you from coming back?”

“I need to return to this world because it was supposed to be a fair game between God and me. I have a claim over this world, but they cheated me out of my right.” Asmodian was speaking riddle and did not attempt to explain in detail, which made Lucius even more suspicious of his intention.

“If I refuse, will you kill me then?”

“No, I won’t. I will still release you back to your world.” Asmodian replied without hesitation.

Lucius felt like he couldn’t understand the Elder at all, and his bewilderment was written clearly on his countenance.

Asmodian turned to gaze at him. His swirling, colorful irises drew Lucius in like a hypnotic swirl. The fallen archangel leaned in slightly and gently caressed Lucius’s cheek as if they were lovers, “You are heartbroken, aren’t you? You can’t replace your place in that world, and no one is on your side.”

“Florian is on my side.” Lucius insisted, refusing to let the devil poke the sore on his heart. However, he didn’t flinch from the touch. At this moment, when he felt so alone and hurt, the affection drew him in like a warm flame in an eternal winter night. And he didn’t care if that flame was from hell.

“Is he?” Asmodian chuckled, but his gaze was so intense and tender that it made Lucius’s eyes water with a fresh grievance, and his voice soft like honey, “You can deny all you want, but given time, you will see the truth. Your parents, your husband, your friends...they all forsake you, and the only one on your side is me.”

Lucius knew he should reject the devil’s offer without hesitation, but the truth was, he didn’t hate Asmodian as he should have. The Serpent, who was supposed to be so evil and horrifying, had never hurt him. Moreover, he helped Lucius multiple times when he was in dire situations. He was probably one of the nicest people to Lucius.

But Lucius couldn’t agree to destroy the world just because his parents sold him, his country used him, and his lover abandoned him for another, could he?

Some people had been through much worse and still loved the world. Did he really have the right to be so cynical and arrogant and put himself in a position to decide the fate of everyone?

“I can’t do it...“Lucius closed his eyes, “I’m just a regular man. You chose the wrong candidate.”

“It’s ok.” Asmodian took Lucius’s hand and placed the apple onto his palm, “My offer stands for you. Whenever you are ready to accept your destiny and embrace a power so immense that can devour the world, drink my blood.”

The apple felt hot as if a fire was burning inside of it. Lucius opened his mouth, about to say something, but as he raised his head, Asmodian was gone.

Lucius was startled. He stood up hastily, trying to replace the Serpent. But suddenly, he felt the ground beneath his feet dissolve, and he was falling again.

He woke up screaming, and realizing shortly that he was not in the blessed land anymore.

He was looking into a familiar sky of myriad stars and a big, silver moon. Soft, fine sand cradled his body.

His head throbbed, and his mouth was dry as if he hadn’t drunk a drop of water for months. He sat up, realizing he was in the middle of the desert, and not a soul was in sight.

He looked down at his right hand, where he was holding the apple Asmodian gave him. But instead of an apple, he saw a small crystal orb glistening mystically under the soft moonlight. And in the middle of the orb was some crimson liquid.

Though still giddy and disoriented, Lucius instantly knew what that liquid was.

Asmodian’s blood.