Volume 3, Chapter 1-1 – Exiled Dragon

The Abyss was generally divided into three layers.

Upper, middle, and lower.

The upper layer lay close to the surface. For a thousand years, it had been the foremost front line in the tug-of-war between demons and humans, as well as the source of countless killings, massacres, diseases, and exhaustion.

It had been a very long time since the last War of Heaven.

Scouts from the human Templar Order, private armies raised by the Seven Electors, smuggling caravans traveling between city-states in pursuit of enormous profits, and slave-hunting parties specializing in raids on the surface to capture humans… all manner of people gathered here.

Clang.

A heavily armored caravan bearing the emblem of Mammon came to a stop before the scarred gates of Rhine Town.

Dozens of demon mercenaries jumped down from the wagons and began checking the wheels and cargo.

This was an important hub connecting the upper and middle layers of the Abyss, Rhine Town.

A road from here led directly into the heart of the Abyss, and it was also the first stop on the return journey for every demon coming back from the surface.

At the rear of the caravan, an inconspicuous gray-canopied carriage came to a steady stop.

The high-ranking goat-headed demon serving as the caravan leader hurried forward. He bent at the waist, every movement exceedingly respectful.

The curtain was soon lifted by a hand completely wrapped in bandages.

Immediately afterward, a figure wearing a dark gray cloak lightly jumped down.

She did not look particularly tall.

The oversized hood concealed most of her face, revealing only a small portion of her fair, delicate chin and several strands of blue hair spilling out from beneath its edge.

The goat-headed demon secretly studied this mysterious passenger.

Three days ago, his caravan had encountered her at a border outpost near the Human Realm.

At the time, her clothes had been reduced to rags, her entire body was drenched in blood, and traces of burns left by Holy Light covered her skin.

As far as the goat-headed demon could tell, the girl had definitely gone up to the surface, caused an enormous commotion, killed a whole bunch of Templars, then fled back wounded. She was probably the young lady of some noble family.

She had not said a single word. Carrying a massive sword with a badly chipped edge, she had simply climbed straight onto one of the caravan’s wagons.

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The goat-headed demon had not dared voice the slightest objection.

In the Abyss, demons who lacked the sense to read the situation usually did not survive their first sunset.

He had wisely chosen to keep his mouth shut and simply lead the way.

“Ms., this is as far as we’ll be taking you.”

The goat-headed demon swallowed and pointed toward the fork in the road ahead with lingering apprehension.

“This is Rhine Town, the throat leading into the middle layer of the Abyss. The road on the left enters the Valentine family’s territory and leads to the Eternal Night Corridor. Straight ahead is the Nexus Highway, which goes directly to the capital of the Abyss. As for the road on the right…” The goat-headed demon paused. “The road on the right leads into Lilith School’s territory. It’s a higher educational institution for succubi.”

“Mm.”

The girl nodded without another word.

She continued on foot. It was currently the Seventh Watch, Belphegor, the time of sloth and deep sleep. All kinds of shops had long since closed for the day, leaving the streets completely deserted.

She stopped for a moment in front of a tavern and listened to the noisy voices inside.

During the Seventh Watch, taverns were as packed and bustling as ever.

The girl did not enter.

Instead, she continued down the street until she reached a slightly smaller tavern.

It was called Leiber Tavern. Its reputation was not particularly good, and there were few customers inside, with only a handful of demons scattered around the corners.

Jingle.

The tavern owner was a one-eyed lesser demon sprawled over the bar, reading a newspaper.

Hearing the bell at the door, he looked the newcomer up and down.

Among all the customers, the girl alone had a cloak wrapped tightly around her shoulders. Even in the Abyss, where freaks gathered in droves, she stood out conspicuously.

“Back from the surface?” The owner asked instinctively.

“Mm.”

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“What do you want?”

“Beer. The strongest you’ve got.”

“Whoa, listen to you. One look and I can tell you only ran back because you caused some huge mess up there, huh? What, did you slaughter some bishop’s illegitimate son?”

A hand beneath the cloak accepted the mug, but did not drink.

She raised her head slightly. Several strands of pale blue hair slipped from beneath the edge of her hood.

“What year is it now?” She asked.

“Stayed on the surface so long you lost track of the date, huh? It’s Abyss Calendar year 1467, Destruction Season.” The owner shrugged. “If you’re asking for the exact day, it’s the second day after the Day of Rest.”

“1453…” She murmured. “…Has it been decades?”

Everything she had once devoted herself to had vanished. Throughout her entire journey here, it seemed as though every trace of her former master had been completely erased.

Like beautiful snow. Though it had truly existed, though it had once shone so dazzlingly, once the sun rose, everything would melt away without leaving the slightest trace.

And even now, she was simultaneously wanted by both the Abyss and humanity. She was a fugitive wanted by the human Church, and a traitor to the Abyss.

The brand carved into her by the human Church could not be erased. The moment she fell asleep, the chastising Holy Spirit would immediately appear and hunt her down.

If the Samael family’s main house discovered any trace of her, they would send an execution squad without the slightest hesitation to erase this stain upon the family.

The heavens and earth were vast, yet there was nowhere she could go.

The girl lowered her eyes, preparing to drain the strong liquor in her mug in one gulp.

Suddenly, her gaze froze.

On the copy of Prophet Weekly spread open across the bar by the owner, a magical image was playing on a loop.

She saw an exaggerated headline written in blood-red letters.

《Shocking! A Loving Mother and Filial Daughter? Internal Footage from the Valentine Family Leaked! Intimate Interaction Between Heir Stella and Family Head Vivian!》

“What are you looking at?” She asked.

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“Oh, this?” The owner excitedly pointed at the newspaper. “The special edition that just arrived today. Huge news from the Valentine family! I heard that the ruthless Family Head Vivian has chosen an heir, and she’s even some illegitimate daughter who was lost outside the family…”

“Heir?”

The girl was no longer listening to him. She simply stared at the magical image.

In the picture, silver hair intertwined with crimson fell beside the illegitimate daughter’s face, concealing half of her profile.

In the girl’s eyes, her face resembled an iris sketched with only a few faint strokes of ink, while the two or three stray hairs tousled across her forehead were like stamens swaying in the wind.

Without the slightest doubt, she was… her former master’s daughter.

The Pale Daughter.

Even though her long hair had been stained with a scarlet demonic hue, even though thorn-like demonic markings crawled across her face, those exquisite features and those cool, detached brows and eyes looked as though they had been carved from the same mold as the Vilpana in her memories.

“Lilith School… Stella…”

She murmured to herself.

The Pale Daughter had grown up.

She was no longer an oval, spotless succubus egg, no longer the fragile infant crying in swaddling clothes, nor the vague phantom lingering within her memories.

Yet it seemed as though, in the span of a single night, the Pale Daughter had somehow already grown into a girl like this.

Snow-white skin and bright eyes, graceful and slender. Her face and brows still faintly resembled the image within her memories, yet when she looked again, something seemed different. Like a lotus stem breaking through the surface of the water, the alluring beauty belonging to a succubus was already on the verge of blooming.

The final trace her former master had left behind in this world.

Snow-white skin, bright eyes, luscious and breathtaking.

Her… little mistress.

Smack.

A bandage-wrapped hand abruptly pressed down on the newspaper.

“Hey! What are you doing! I haven’t finished reading that—” The owner shouted in displeasure.

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Riiip.

Aetlana tore the photograph free, carefully folded it, and tucked it into the inner pocket against her body.

Then, she tossed down a gold coin engraved with an ancient crest.

Her gray cloak billowed.

She pushed open the tavern door and stepped back onto the empty streets of Rhine Town.

Wind swept in from the end of the street, lifting the hood from the girl’s head and revealing the delicate face she had kept hidden in shadow, along with the rugged dragon horns jutting from either side of her forehead.

Aetlana Samael raised her head, her golden slit pupils gazing toward the road on the right.

“Found you…”

The exiled dragon whispered softly into the wind.

“…Pale Daughter.”

Translator Note

Volume 3: Daughter of Ashes!!!

a.k.a. Pale Daughter!

Officially, there are just 14 chapters in this volume. But who knows how many dozen parts in total if I split them.

Anyway, I don’t know if you have noticed it or not, but… somehow the name of the calendar keeps changing.

At first it was called Destruction Calendar, and then Demon Calendar, and now Abyss Calendar.

smh author can’t be consistent.