Chapter 578: Outstretched Hand
"Y-you can sense me?" I stared at Luke, folding my arms self-consciously. I meticulously hid my aura, both to keep the demons from lusting after my soul and to hide from anyone looking for me. How could he just sense me?
"Well, your aura is a little unique," Luke said with a shrug, rubbing his horn. Oddly enough, there was a slight reddish hue to his face. "It took me a while to get it down, but there’s this sense of calmness around you, a quiet hush tinged with anticipation, like a storm brewing on the horizon. It’s beautiful."
"B-beautiful?" I stammered, averting my gaze before he could see the heat rising in my cheeks. Just how long had he spent practicing to be able to sense something like that?
Jessica’s cough startled me from my thoughts. "We’re still here, you know."
I shrank back against Fable, my blush deepening, but Luke merely flashed Jessica an easy-going smile. "I was simply answering a question. Now, what did you learn from this bastard?"
He nudged the listless Father with his foot, causing the man to twitch.
"At least have the shame to act embarrassed. Jessica sighed, rolling her eyes. "He cracked like the rotten egg he is. Apparently, the church has adopted the Circle’s mission of perfecting the Heart Crest. This city was just one of many experiments running across the world."
R’lissea’s pointed ears drooped. "Gods, I had hoped we were wrong."
"I hope it’s not every city," Luke said, rubbing his horn. "It would waste a lot of time if we had to slaughter every single city."
"Slaughter? But why would you do that?" I asked.
His intense gaze settled on me, making me shift uncomfortably. "If the civilian population can be manipulated into fighting alongside the army, that increases the number of people I have to kill manifold. Civilians’ combat power is negligible, but hunting them all down will waste too much time. It’s much easier when they just get out of our way."