Chapter 109:The Bride Beneath The Moon
The commander's office was unusually quiet.
No reports scattered across the desk.
No Amaira leaning against the wall with crossed arms.
Only Commander Duan sat by the window, the morning light painting silver across her hair as she read through a stack of documents.
Lucifer pushed the door open without knocking.
"You called?"
Duan didn't look up immediately.
"Sit."
Lucifer dropped into the chair opposite her and glanced around.
"...Where's Number Two?"
"The captain has been assigned elsewhere."
Lucifer frowned.
"You mean Amaira?"
"Yes."
"Hmm..."
He leaned back.
"The office feels strangely peaceful."
Duan finally raised her eyes.
"...I expected you to complain."
"I am."
"You are?"
"She isn't here to argue with me."
"...That's complaining?"
"It's become part of my daily routine."
For some reason...
Duan almost smiled.
Almost.
Instead, she slid a thick file across the desk.
"This mission is yours."
Lucifer opened it lazily.
His playful expression slowly disappeared.
Photograph after photograph.
Children.
Eight...
Ten...
Twelve years old.
Every one of them found floating in the same lake.
Eyes wide open.
Expressions frozen in terror.
No wounds.
No signs of struggle.
Only water filling their lungs.
Lucifer silently turned another page.
Victim number seventeen.
Victim number twenty-three.
Victim number thirty-one.
Each report ended exactly the same.
Cause of death: Drowning.
The strange part...
None of the children knew how they had arrived there.
The mountain itself was nearly impossible for children to climb.
The lake sat high above the village.
No roads.
No bridges.
No trails.
Only jagged cliffs and ancient forest.
Yet somehow...
Night after night...
Another child disappeared.
Only to be found floating peacefully upon the water the next morning.
"The villagers believe the lake is haunted," Duan said quietly.
"Our investigators found nothing."
"No ghost?"
"None."
"No traces?"
"Nothing."
Lucifer closed the file.
"So..."
"You want me to prove whether the ghost exists."
"I want the truth."
He stood.
"No backup?"
"This time..."
"You'll be working alone."
Lucifer shrugged.
"I usually work better that way."
Without another word, he picked up the file and walked toward the door.
Just before leaving—
Duan spoke.
"...Come back alive."
Lucifer looked over his shoulder.
"I don't know how to do anything else."
By sunset...
He arrived at the village beneath the mountain.
The place felt...
Wrong.
Children didn't laugh.
Doors remained shut despite the pleasant weather.
People hurried indoors the moment the sun began to disappear behind the peaks.
Lucifer approached an old woman carrying firewood.
"Excuse me."
She flinched before he had even finished speaking.
"I'm investigating the—"
"I don't know anything."
She hurried away.
He tried another.
A hunter.
The man simply lowered his head and continued walking.
A farmer.
He pretended not to hear.
A merchant.
He shut his shop the instant Lucifer mentioned the lake.
Every conversation ended before it began.
But Lucifer noticed something.
None of them looked angry.
None of them looked annoyed.
They looked...
Terrified.
Not of him.
Of speaking.
As if merely mentioning the lake would invite something to listen.
Lucifer sighed.
"Fear spreads faster than disease."
Chirin floated beside him.
"They're hiding something."
"No."
Lucifer looked toward the mountain towering over the village.
"They're hiding from something."
Night arrived.
Without waiting until morning...
Lucifer began climbing.
No rope.
No safety hooks.
No proper trail.
Only broken rocks jutting from sheer cliffs.
One wrong step...
And the mountain would swallow him whole.
The climb was exhausting even for trained soldiers.
Sharp stones tore at his gloves.
Cold wind howled between the cliffs.
Several times loose rocks crumbled beneath his feet and vanished into darkness below.
Lucifer glanced downward once.
"...Definitely fatal."
Chirin floated comfortably beside him.
"I'm glad I don't have legs."
"You also don't get leg cramps."
"Another advantage."
Hours later...
Lucifer finally reached the summit.
Dense fog drifted between ancient trees.
The air became strangely cold.
Too cold.
There were no insects.
No birds.
No rustling leaves.
Only silence.
A silence so complete...
It felt unnatural.
Chirin slowly looked around.
"...Why do we always come at night?"
Lucifer smiled.
"It makes things more interesting."
"...Only you could find excitement in a haunted mountain."
"Thank you."
"...That wasn't a compliment."
"I accepted it anyway."
The deeper they ventured...
The stranger the forest became.
The trees leaned inward like towering giants.
Twisted roots crawled across the ground like sleeping serpents.
Every shadow seemed to move just outside the corner of his vision.
The fog thickened until it swallowed the world beyond a few meters.
It felt less like walking through a forest...
And more like being digested by something ancient.
"The mountain feels alive," Chirin whispered.
Lucifer nodded.
"And something is watching us."
Neither spoke again.
Step after step...
The oppressive silence followed them.
Until—
The forest suddenly ended.
Before them stretched a breathtaking lake.
Moonlight shimmered across perfectly still water.
White flowers floated gently on its surface.
The surrounding trees reflected like mirrors.
Beautiful.
Peaceful.
Almost sacred.
Lucifer looked around.
"...Perfect place for a date."
Chirin sighed.
"You are still thinking about women?"
"Always."
"You'll never change."
"No."
Then...
The wind stopped.
The temperature plummeted.
Dark clouds swallowed the moon.
The beautiful reflection vanished.
The lake became black.
The water began to ripple...
Without anything touching it.
A violent gust exploded across the surface.
The roses floating upon the water slowly turned crimson.
Then...
Something rose.
First...
A pale hand.
Then another.
Long black hair emerged from beneath the water like seaweed.
A white bridal dress slowly surfaced.
The figure floated upward until she stood silently upon the lake itself.
She held a bouquet of red roses.
Her wedding gown was stained with dark water.
Blood streamed endlessly from two empty eye sockets.
No eyes.
Only hollow darkness.
Her neck bent unnaturally.
A slow smile spread across lips far too wide.
Lucifer's grin only widened.
"...Now this..."
"...Where else could you find entertainment like this?"
He rested Chirin across his shoulder.
"Let's—"
Before he could finish—
A shadow burst from the opposite forest.
Fast.
Small.
Silent.
The figure leaped through the darkness and hurled three silver knives.
The Bride twisted.
The knives exploded into brilliant golden light.
Holy water splashed across her dress.
The ghost shrieked.
Lucifer stopped.
"...Someone beat me to it."
The mysterious attacker never spoke.
Only continued moving.
Quick.
Precise.
Disciplined.
Despite the darkness...
Lucifer could tell something immediately.
"...That's..."
"...A kid?"
The figure couldn't have been older than thirteen.
A small girl.
She moved with astonishing experience.
Every dodge came moments before the ghost attacked.
Every knife landed exactly where the ghost's body became tangible.
She threw paper talismans.
Holy water.
Silver chains.
Blessed needles.
Each attack targeted a different weakness.
Not random.
Practiced.
As if...
She had fought this creature dozens of times before.
The Bride screamed.
Her long black hair erupted across the lake like countless serpents.
The girl rolled beneath them.
A kick.
A slash.
Another talisman.
The battle flowed with incredible precision.
Lucifer folded his arms.
"...Interesting."
Chirin stared.
"She knows everything about that ghost."
"Which means..."
Lucifer's crimson eyes narrowed.
"...She's survived against it before."
But experience alone wasn't enough.
The Bride adapted.
Her movements became faster.
More violent.
Hair burst through the ground itself.
The girl's breathing grew heavier.
Her supply of talismans dwindled.
One mistake.
Just one.
Her foot slipped upon the wet rocks.
The Bride instantly appeared before her.
Long fingers wrapped around the girl's ankle.
The child crashed onto the ground.
The ghost slowly dragged her across the rocks toward the lake.
The girl desperately stabbed at the arm with blessed daggers.
Nothing.
The Bride smiled.
Her mouth stretched wider.
Wider.
Almost splitting her face apart.
Lucifer sighed.
"I've seen enough."
One step.
Then—
CRACK!
A crimson slash split the darkness.
The ghost's arm flew through the air before it even realized it had been cut.
Lucifer caught the falling girl effortlessly with one arm.
"...You fought well."
The child looked up in shock.
"...Who—"
"We can do introductions later."
The lake suddenly exploded.
The Bride screamed with monstrous fury.
Her severed arm regenerated almost instantly.
Hair shot toward them like thousands of spears.
Lucifer smiled.
"Too slow."
Without hesitation—
He wrapped an arm around the girl's waist...
Turned...
And jumped.
Straight off the mountain cliff.
The world disappeared beneath them.
Wind roared past their ears.
The girl's eyes widened in horror.
"W-WE'RE FALLING!"
Lucifer simply laughed.
"Exactly."
Above them...
The eyeless Bride stood silently at the edge of the cliff.
Her regenerated hand slowly tightened around the bouquet of blood-red roses.
Then...
She turned her empty sockets toward the darkness below.
Waiting.
Patiently.
For her prey...
To climb back.