Chapter 193: Subtle Warning
"What's wrong?" Reign asked, curious by her statement.
He had been observing Angela from the very moment she showed herself but hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary aside from the charming effect of the song that was mostly harmless to humans.
"I could see parts of their souls leaving their body" Aiku responded.
"Soul?" Reign asked.
It was the first time he had heard that she could see souls.
After thinking about it, she was a ghost to begin with, so it wasn't far-fetched that she also had an ability akin to his Undead Eye but with a different spectrum.
He had an urge to devour her and see if he could gain another eye-based ability, but after weighing her usefulness, he decided to spare her.
The ability to possess bodies was too useful, and he didn't know if he could even get that ability if he eat her, considering that her real body was ethereal in nature.
Aiku felt a chill run down her spine when Reign turned his head toward her. She sensed her life was on the line.
'Please don't kill me, please don't kill me,' she repeated in her mind, regretting that she had opened her mouth in the first place.
He noticed her fear and decided to look back at the stage to give her some breathing space.
'Is it the same thing with vitality?' he mused inwardly, wondering if the phenomenon she observed was similar to what he sees when he activates his undead eyes.
He used his ability again , but he didn't notice anything leaving the bodies of the crowd at all.
In fact, he could see their vitality rising. It was like they were plants being showered by liquid type fertilizer and water.
Every time she sang a high-pitched note, their vitality would glow brighter for a brief moment.
So, while in this mode, he felt like he was watching a bunch of Christmas lights blinking.
"How do you even see souls?" he asked, wanting to understand what she was witnessing and compare it to his own perceptions.
Aiku pondered for a moment, trying to simplify her explanation for her master.
Not because he wouldn't understand, but because she didn't want to waste his time, afraid that he might scold her for not being able to articulate her words well enough.
"They look like floating orb located in their chest. I see light blue for humans, for Divergents they look dark blue, for demons they look purple," she explained, her words clear and concise.
'Interesting,' he mumbled to himself, pondering her words.
"What about me? What do you see?" he asked, wondering if his soul still resembled that of a human or if it had changed into something else.
He remembered hearing from that hypocritical cult leader that in her perspective, he didn't look like a demon, so he was curious to know what exactly he was.
"I'm sorry, Master, but I can't tell," she shook her head.
"What do you mean?"
"It's either you don't have a soul, or maybe you're so strong that I can't see it… I'm sorry, Master," Aiku apologized again, her voice filled with uncertainty and fear.
"Never mind, just tell me what's exactly happening," he refocused his attention to Angela.
"Yes Master… it's in small quantities and wouldn't harm them in the short term. But particles of souls are converging in her, and every time she breathes she sucks in these particles. Also, her soul is golden, and it's not in orb shape," she explained.
"It's not ? What is it then? "
Aiku squinted her eyes to get a better view. Her sense of sight was limited to that of a human, so she had to put effort into making out the details.
"I think... I think it's a golden harp," she concluded.
"A golden harp? What does that even mean?" Reign asked, clearly annoyed by her uncertainty.
"I— I don't know, Master, this is the first time I've seen something like this," she replied with a trembling lips .
'I'm just talking to you, and you're already shaking?' he mused inwardly, finding her repeated apologies annoying but deciding to let it go.
He started focusing his attention on the air around him and discovered that the virus was still present, meaning it wasn't being affected by her singing at all, which was a relief.
The worst-case scenario in his mind was that all this singing would miraculously heal the humans with divine power, canceling out his efforts.
If that happened, he might just snap and blow this whole place up along with her.
So with his plan still on track, he decided to just let her finish her concert first, before doing anything impulsive .
It would take days for the virus to show symptoms, so if he got lucky, she would be gone by that time and everyone with her would carry the virus to the next city.
That was the plan.
However, before she sang her last song, Angela looked up, and he could tell she was looking directly at him.
There was a warm smile on her face, but he knew that there was a hidden meaning into it.
'I knew it. Why can't the world just go along with me?' he sighed.
These angels were always so troublesome, somehow always able to detect him.
Angela's song continued, but now it was laced with a different kind of energy.
The crowd remained blissfully unaware, swaying to her melody, but he felt a subtle shift. It was as if she was challenging him, daring him to act.
Aiku sensed his frustration and whispered, "What's happening, Master?"
Reign's remained calm as he considered his options. He couldn't risk exposing his plan prematurely, but he also couldn't ignore the threat Angela posed.
"We don't do anything," Reign replied. If his assumption was right, then she also didn't want to make a commotion.
For some reason, angels were not known in the world, so she must also have a reason for hiding her real identity.
She nodded, though she still looked uneasy. "Are you sure, Master?"
Reign gave a short nod.
"Yes. She doesn't want to reveal herself any more than I do. If we play this right, we can still achieve my goal."
Angela's performance reached its climax, her voice soaring and captivating the audience.
Reign watched intently, his mind racing. He needed to understand her intentions so he could devise a plan of his own.
Was she merely taunting him, or did she have a counter-move prepared?
When the final note hung in the air and the crowd erupted in applause, Angela's gaze didn't waver. She held his eyes with a knowing look, as if to say, 'I can see you.'
As the applause died down, she addressed the audience before finally ending her concert.
"Thank you all for being here tonight. Your support means the world to me. Let's keep this energy in the air alive and spread it far and wide."
CRACK!
'Motherfucker,' Reign clenched his jaw so hard that Aiku could hear the cracking noise.
Her words carried more than just gratitude; they were a subtle warning.
She was aware of the virus, or at least suspected something.