Chapter 399: Broken Hearts.
When the last of Damian’s followers disappeared through the emerald gates, they slammed shut with a heavy boom that echoed across the shattered California estate. The spatial fluctuations quickly settled, leaving only silence behind.
Faceless remained suspended in midair, facing Corbin while Clara and Linda floated quietly beside the towering priest. For several long seconds, none of them moved. The wind drifted lazily through the broken mansion beneath them, carrying fragments of shattered glass and splintered wood across the ruined courtyard.
Only after confirming that every one of his people had escaped safely did Faceless let out a long, exhausted sigh. The terrifying aura surrounding him slowly receded as the overwhelming demonic pressure dissolved into the air. His snow white hair gradually darkened, black swallowing every strand until only faint violet streaks remained.
His facial structure shifted repeatedly, bones subtly cracking beneath his skin before settling into the familiar face everyone knew. Within moments, the masked ruler of the Ministry of Love was gone. Floating there instead was Damian Hill, wearing the same tired face that had once stood inside courtrooms, and during awkward conversations.
Damian slowly raised his head and met Corbin’s gaze.
Corbin frowned.
For the first time since meeting Damian, he noticed something he had never expected to see.
Exhaustion.
It was the exhaustion of a man who had spent far too long carrying a burden no one else understood.
"Was I really so evil that the world had to conspire just to get rid of me?" Damian asked quietly, his voice completely human once again.
Buzz!
The golden light burning beneath the cloth covering Corbin’s eyes slowly dimmed. Beside him, both Clara and Linda stared at Damian with visible surprise.
This wasn’t the Prince of Lust speaking, this was simply Damian Hill.
"I know I used my powers to pull a few strings and win a few cases, but I also saved lives. I helped people. I protected people. I protected the weak."
His gaze slowly drifted toward the city stretching beyond the estate.
"I turned a demon infested country into a nation free of spiritual incidents. Every demon in America answered to me. None of them dared lay a finger on a single human without my permission."
His breathing gradually became heavier as his violet eyes slowly reddened.
"I KILL DEMONS TO PROTECT HUMANS!"
His roar echoed across the ruined estate before gradually fading into silence.
"So why?" he asked, his voice cracking ever so slightly. "Why are the very humans I’ve protected always the first to see me as the same monsters I protected them from simply because of where my power came from?"
Damian slowly lifted his gaze toward the afternoon sun hanging peacefully overhead. His eyes revealed nothing but exhaustion.
Since obtaining this inheritance he had done nothing but fight, run and hide. Every time he thought he had finally secured a peaceful life, another enemy appeared. At some point, it had simply become exhausting.
Corbin remained completely silent.
The more he reflected upon everything Damian had done, the harder it became to look at him as the villain.
They had once fought side by side against Duke Haborym. Despite being betrayed first, Damian had deliberately spared Corbin because humanity still needed the Order of Moses to protect itself from demons. Even after driving the Order out of America, Damian had maintained peace across the nation with an efficiency the Order itself had never managed to achieve.
There were no large scale demonic incidents anymore, no massacres, no secret possessions or hidden cults. Even gang violence in Chicago, his state of residence was nearly brought down to zero percent.
By every definition humanity traditionally used to describe evil Corbin struggled to place Damian within it. The only thing people truly feared was the source of his power.
After a long silence, Corbin finally lowered his head slightly.
"That’s just the way things are."
A heavy sigh escaped him. There was neither accusation nor triumph within his voice, only resignation.
Damian remained staring at the sun for several more seconds before finally lowering his gaze once again.
"I guess so."
His voice carried no anger anymore.
"Now you’ve pushed me away. You’d better keep this planet safe from my brothers or I’ll make sure your soul doesn’t get to rest in peace even if I die here today."
Damian’s body slowly began breaking apart. Tiny particles of violet light detached themselves from his skin one after another, sparkling gently like glowing dust carried upon the breeze.
The process was strangely peaceful, almost beautiful.
"Wait... Damian..." Clara unconsciously reached forward and her voice trembled, but it was already too late.
His entire body burst apart into countless streams of glowing violet dust that drifted into the sky before scattering beyond the horizon.
Silence descended upon the estate once more. Clara remained frozen where she stood.
Slowly, her eyes wandered across what remained of the mansion. The place that had once terrified her had somehow become familiar.
She remembered watching Damian reading reports in the living room while pretending not to notice her staring.
She remembered their awkward conversations and his ridiculous jokes despite her coldness and uncertainty.
Clara closed her eyes and almost instinctively she heard his voice again. It was the same gentle whisper against her ear from the night Hagrid had almost killed her.
The memory struck her heart with painful clarity.
"Now I regret not going on that date." Her lips trembled.
The words barely escaped her mouth. They were so quiet they almost disappeared beneath the sound of the wind.
Linda silently drifted closer and gently rested a hand upon Clara’s shoulder. Clara instinctively turned toward her with an irritated expression.
"What?"
Linda didn’t answer. She simply held out a neatly folded handkerchief and Clara frowned in confusion before absentmindedly raising a hand to her own face.
Only after her fingers touched her cheeks did she finally realize why Linda had offered it.
She had been crying without ever noticing.