Illusion Report

In the dim, pale yellow light, the Resident’s features were twisting and contorting, gradually leaving behind only a vaguely familiar frame.

But the foot pressing down on Chaisi’s chest was still Daiju Monroe’s.

It was the foot of the mother from his memories—though perhaps that memory was just his imagination: a younger version of himself, stumbling and tripping as he ran between his mother’s legs, his laughter echoing loudly.

The Resident had said Chaisi had been an orphan his whole life—what a pity—so it was going to help him relive a part of his memory of a mother.

Pinned firmly to the ground by that mother’s foot, the air was squeezed from Chaisi’s chest until only a thread of breath remained. The back of his head felt like it was bleeding—warm and wet, his consciousness draining away bit by bit. His vision blurred. All he could see was Daiju Monroe, her head tilted, smiling at Damian.

"Is this alright?" it asked gently.

’If only I were stronger, more powerful... If only I weren’t so useless.’

"Don’t press too hard," Damian said. "I told you, don’t actually hurt my brother. Just keep him from moving."

Half a minute ago, Damian had changed his mind.

Chaisi had refused to be driven away. He wanted to stay, to block and close Damian’s Path—even if it was just for now, just for one night.

That wasn’t the only reason.

In the process of rediscovering himself, Chaisi couldn’t pick and choose which parts he wanted. He had to grasp every single shard to piece together this life he didn’t want, to bear its weight once more.

Another, equally important—or perhaps even more important—reason was that the moment he walked out that door, he would be obligated to wake Uncle Kai. And then what?

Once Uncle Kai arrived, just as Damian had said, wouldn’t he also want to test the limits of his control over the Nest and the Resident?

Uncle Kai knew full well that cutting off the Path would make the Resident fall back into its Nest; he had used this method eight years ago to send a Resident back with his own hands. With that confidence, would he... would he try to communicate and negotiate with the Resident, just as Damian was doing right now?

Even if it was just for one night, Chaisi had to close Damian’s Path by himself.

Tomorrow... tomorrow, he would plead with Uncle Kai to think carefully about what the last Resident to enter the human world had done.

He refused to leave, and his younger brother had just come up with a new idea.

Damian’s eyes shone as he stopped the Resident, which was looking less and less like their mother. "Wait, don’t attack him yet. You’re completely inside now. If you were lying to me before, then you have no reason to listen to my orders now, right?"

The Resident, still maintaining the vague silhouette of Daiju Monroe, nodded.

One of its eyes looked at Damian, while the other drifted to the side of its head, peering at Chaisi from between strands of their mother’s brown hair.

"Then, hold my brother down for me. Don’t let him touch my Path," Damian said thoughtfully. "This is... my command."

In that moment, Chaisi suddenly realized that Damian truly was Uncle Kai’s son. His tone, his expression, the light in his eyes—he was almost a miniature, blond-haired Kai Luonan.

He had completely inherited Kai Luonan’s blood, his ambition, his will... and that almost beast-like intuition, unclouded by fear.

Perhaps it was because Damian had never known fear in his life.

Where Chaisi could only see terror and disaster, Damian saw a future territory yet to be conquered.

No matter how long he was raised under the same roof, he could never make Uncle Kai’s blood flow in his own veins. He would never be Uncle Kai’s son.

Half the genes in his body would forever belong to some nameless, useless nobody who came from nowhere and went nowhere.

The Resident let out a soft laugh.

One moment, it seemed about to open its mouth to reply. The next, its upper body abruptly twisted at the hips, whipping around with a gust of wind to strike at Chaisi again, completely engulfing him in shadow. Even Damian couldn’t help but jump, letting out a soft gasp.

"Don’t kill him!" Damian hastily added, but Chaisi was too slow to dodge. He was grabbed by the ankle and yanked straight off the bed. The back of his head slammed hard against the floor; his skull bounced once before smashing down again, like a helpless rubber ball.

"How was that?" the Resident asked Damian, planting a foot on Chaisi’s chest. "I wasn’t lying."

Damian was breathing shallowly. He sniffled, then chuckled. "...Yeah, you weren’t. Why are you still listening to me? If you killed my brother right now, or used him to threaten me, there’s nothing I could do."

Chaisi stared at the blurry ceiling, thinking dazedly, ’So Damian is feeling his way, trying to establish power over the Resident bit by bit.’

’...Why did it have to be this way?’

There was almost nothing in this world Chaisi wouldn’t do for the Kai Family. Law, morality, his own life—he could abandon them all.

But this one thing, he could not do.

And this one thing was what Damian was dead set on achieving.

"I’ve told you before, you control the Path I use to come and go, so you hold the power of life and death over me. That’s an unpleasant truth. However, on top of that, the reason I’m willing to obey your commands is because of something else... Our interests are perfectly aligned."

The gentler the Resident’s voice, the heavier the force of its foot.

"What you want is what I want."

His younger brother let out a few nervous chuckles.

"What about the other Residents? Are they like you?" Damian asked. "Do powerful Residents have special abilities? Will they listen to my commands too?"