Mind Demon's Path of Domination

Mark touched the ice wall with a complex expression on his face. The importance of the woman trapped inside it had changed a lot in his heart. He hadn’t believed his mind could be swayed this quickly to go from extreme caution to this complex mix of emotions.

Destined Partner, huh?

More than anything, he thought about something she had said with a deep gaze.

"Yep. I didn’t know you would be here in the Hunter World, by say. I made some arrangements that made sure you will appear exactly here."

She had explained to him calmly.

Mark grew thoughtful.

Reol’ran used a unique method of her race and made sure that I would end up here. The method was unclear even to her but it added a Destiny in my life that I would somehow end up in the Hunter World exactly in this time period.

According to the natural way his life should have moved, he was not supposed to be in the Hunter World at this moment. Not nearly. But to find the other side of the red thread—her Destined Partner—Reol’ran forced him to reach here.

He had been a simple human being on Earth with no knowledge of the supernatural.

He was not supposed to be a demon at all.

Since Reol’ran tempered with his destiny and forced him to be in the Hunter World in this period, did his reincarnation happen to make that a reality?

Did he reincarnate as a demon coincidentally so that he could be in the Hunter World today?

Then, was Reol’ran forcing a new destiny on him the ’cause’ that created the ’effect’ that was his reincarnation?

It seemed hard to wrap his head around.

Was this destiny thing that he still didn’t really understand... that strong?

Then what if he was truly destined to die someday? Would he die no matter how hard he tried not to? Would the coincidences just pile up and would he die no matter what he did?

I will face that when I really have to.

He cleared his mind of distraction. Once again, his gaze moved back to Reol’ran’s stunning figure encased inside the ice.

He asked, "So, what is your actual situation now? Will this Ice made from the waters of the river of destiny ever melt?"

Reol’ran remained silent for a while. Then, her uncertain voice echoed in his mind, "I don’t know really. The elders of my race always said that messing with destiny is a fool’s errand. They don’t even dare to mess with the destinies of Mortals for that precise reason."

"Then why did you play with my destiny, isn’t that too bold of you to touch something you don’t even know how to handle the consequences of?"

"Defying one’s destiny is impossible, true," she said, "But that doesn’t mean adding a new destiny in your life that doesn’t go against another destiny is impossible. Especially because when I changed your destiny, you were just a normal mortal.

"That gave me the courage to touch your destiny even though I am not well versed in its consequences.

"Many Heaven Souls have added destinies into mortals and received no repercussions. I shouldn’t have been affected much either.

"Normally, it should have went like this: I will add a part in your destiny that will make you appear in the Hunter World in some way or the other, you will appear there as a mortal and I will descend on you and bring you away into somewhere else and we will conceive our relationship. At least, that was the plan!"

"And it didn’t go like that," he said.

"Yes, you are now a demon and obviously no mortal—that’s good. But I was sealed inside the ice, too. It’s all probably because of... that. The mirror.

"Maybe, that made you different from a normal mortal and since I tempered with a non-mortal’s destiny, being trapped in the ice is my punishment."

"Do you know that I was not a demon some time ago?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I was a human!" he said. "But one day, I just woke up randomly and I was now a demon. I got reincarnated."

"...I knew you were a powerless mortal when I tempered with your Destiny. Nothing more. Humans are just one of the trillions of species in the world and as for reincarnation... I am unaware."

"So, is me becoming a demon also a consequence of your actions?" he asked.

"Probably?" she muttered. "As I said, the added destiny in your life only decreed that you will appear in the Hunter World. Not ’how’ you will do that. Maybe, the way you ended up here just happened to be by being reincarnated as a demon."

"..."

"Listen Mark, this whole thing is against my expectations, but even f I knew it, I wouldn’t have hesitated to make you appear in the Hunter World forcefully once more."

"Why? That doesn’t make any sense. You are frozen inside that ice and you don’t even know if you can come out at all. Was it worth it?" he asked, still comprehending everything. "Since we were ’destined’ as partners either way, wouldn’t you meet me at some point anyway?"

She defended her actions. "Don’t misunderstand me. I didn’t do this because I couldn’t handle the loneliness for longer. I did this because I had to do it."

Mark briefly remembered what she said when he first met her frozen body in the basement.

When he had fought the huge Vine Demon in here, she had once briefly opened her eyes and said: "Save me. You. You need me."

Not only that, when she opened her eyes, the violet screen inside him had also thumped like a heart.

What did she mean when she asked him to save her? Why did he ’need’ her?

(Reference: Chapter 66)

"Why did you have to do it no matter what?" he asked.

"Talking about it might be dangerous, but I will tell you." Reol’ran’s voice sank into his mind. "It is because of the Mirror within your Soul Space that I had to find you now more than ever. I found a shard of it and that made me understand things about you that you need to be aware of yourself."

"What things?" Mark frowned.

"You will understand it after I give the shard back to you."