To His Hell and Back-Chapter 522: Situation In This Hell-I

When Ann finally looked up, Riley’s face was already right above her head, looming so close it killed off the light from the nearby torch.

The shadow she cast felt heavy, deathly over her, as though it carried the weight of a killing intent Ann could almost taste in the air. There was no time to scream, no time to think.

Riley’s hand fisted into the collar of Ann’s dress and yanked her up from the floor with terrifying strength. Ann’s feet barely brushed the ground as her back slammed against the wall, the breath punched clean out of her lungs. Panic flooded her chest when she saw the knife raised high once more, Riley’s arm trembling, not with hesitation, but with barely contained fury.

The blade came down.

Ann reacted purely on instinct. Her hands grasped the first thing within reach, an old wooden log left near the bed, brittle with age and splintered from years of neglect.

She swung it blindly, fear lending her strength she didn’t know she possessed. The impact cracked through the air with a sickening sound as the wood shattered against Riley’s head.

The log broke apart in her hands.

Blood followed immediately, spilling from Riley’s scalp and streaking down her temple. Riley staggered back, her grip loosening just enough for Ann to drop to the floor in a heap. For a heartbeat, everything went eerily still.

Ann stared at her hands.

They were shaking violently, flecked with blood and wood splinters. Her mind refused to accept what her body had just done. She had hurt a person.

The realization struck harder than the blow itself, horror crawling up her spine as bile rose in her throat.

Before she could process another thought and even check whether she had killed from an accident, Riley screamed.

"ANNNNN!"

The sound was shrill and unhinged, a cry more suited to a battlefield than a castle room. Riley swayed, blood dripping freely now, but the pain only seemed to fuel her rage. She lunged again, knife still clenched in her hand, her movements reckless and feral.

Ann scrambled backward until her shoulders hit the wall. There was nowhere left to run. No space to dodge. Terror rooted her in place as she raised her arms to shield her face, squeezing her eyes shut and bracing herself for the inevitable pain.

Then, nothing.

Instead, a familiar scent filled the air.

Sweet and full of warmth like melted chocolate.

Ann’s breath caught. She knew that scent. She had smelled it before, always lingering around sorcerers when magic was being used. Slowly, hardly daring to believe it, she opened her eyes.

A translucent barrier shimmered inches from her face, glowing faintly as it absorbed the force of Riley’s attack. The knife stopped dead against the invisible wall, unable to pass through.

Riley froze as well.

Her eyes widened as she stared at the barrier, then flicked sharply to Ann, suspicion and disbelief twisting her features. "You... you can use magic?" she demanded, voice cracking.

Ann couldn’t answer.

Because someone else had already stepped into the room.

A tall, blond haired man stood behind Riley, his presence so sudden it sent a chill racing down Ann’s spine. He wore an easy, disarming smile, one that pulled a deep dimple into the left side of his cheek, as if he had just walked into a pleasant conversation rather than a near-murder.

"Of course not," he said lightly, almost amused. "That’s my lover’s magic."

Riley barely had time to turn.

His hand came down in a precise, brutal chop to the back of her neck. The sound was dull, final. Riley’s body went limp instantly, the knife slipping from her fingers as darkness claimed her. She collapsed to the floor in an unmoving heap.

Ann stared.

Her mouth fell open, words failing her completely as she looked between Riley’s unconscious body and the stranger who had ended the fight so effortlessly. Panic surged anew, overriding her shock as she scrambled to her feet.

"Y– you— what have you done?" she stammered, backing away. "D– don’t attack me!"

The blond man raised his hands calmly, palms open in a gesture of peace. "Easy," he said with the same gentle smile. "We’re on your side." 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

There was something in his tone, warm and reassuring, that made Ann’s fear hesitate, if only for a moment. His voice carried confidence without threat, and despite herself, Ann felt her pulse slow just slightly.

"The barrier," he added, stepping aside.

Only then did Ann notice the figure standing behind him.

A young man with striking red eyes watched quietly, his posture relaxed, his hands empty. Though Ann sensed something unfamiliar about him, something not entirely human, there was nothing overtly dangerous in his stance. If anything, he looked calm, almost protective.

Ann swallowed hard.

"Why did she want you dead?" The young man asked at once, arms crossed after she had questioned what she wanted to know.

"Circe," Atlas whispered, hoping to tell her to soften her tone but Circe wasn’t one to be ordered.

"Circe?" Ann repeated with a blink. The only Circe she knew is their witch who had long died, Lady Circe. Also the person who had caused them to be bound in this castle for good.

"I asked." Circe reminded.

"She... wanted me dead."

"We all can see that. I asked why."

"Circe."

"Oh be quiet, Atlas," Circe turned to Ann again, "Did you steal her man? She seems so mad like you had tried to kill her first. Depending on your answer and whether your lips are loose or tight, we might have to tie you beside her."

Tie her beside Riley? When she wake up, Riley will kill her!

"I can’t tell you!" It’s about Isaac after all, "She wanted me dead... because of the lady’s order."

Narrowing her eyes, Circe cocked her head to the side, "Arabella had gone for blood now? I never knew of that."

"Not Lady Arabella but Lady Esme."

"That’s a name that I first heard," Circe noted dully, "And does Esme hates Arabella?"

"I don’t think she likes her..." Ann answered ambiguously before realizing that she was the one who had been asked questions which was wrong.

She was a part of this castle, that much was certain but this blond man? She had never seen him before and nor had she ever seen a person with red eyes, a vampire, ever in their castle of sorcerers. Also judging by how they were near the waterway which was a way to secretly escape from underneath the castle as well as enter it, this mean that they weren’t a part of the castle, ever.

They were... "You two were sneaking into the castle!"

Atlas looked at her warily and suddenly held something that had moved which turns to be Circe’s hands.

"Let me just ask this. Do you loyally follow Arabella or not? We are on her side and just so you know lying won’t work on both of us. As you see, my lover here is someone with lack of patience and wouldn’t hesitate to kill you when she sensed you lied according to her rules."

While Atlas looked at Circe, the latter didn’t even look at him or acknowledge his words but her gaze that was determined speak that Atlas hadn’t just said a word to threaten her but a fact that was about to happen.

"Of course I am on the lady’s side!"

"Hm? She’s not lying?" Atlas summarized when he saw how Circe hadn’t moved her finger and burst Ann to pieces. "We are also on your lady’s side. Sent here to help her from Morpheus but well what a coincident really. What about this one?" Atlas despite his gentle nature didn’t point to Riley but nudged her by his shoes. "She was really going to kill you?"

"By Lady Esme’s order..." Ann was still trying to perceive if the two people in front of her was truly on Arabella’s side. "I think she was threatened like the rest."

"The rest?"

"I ran here to escape Riley and throughout my running, I have yelled for help but no one came out to help," it couldn’t be magic, that much Ann who wasn’t so familiar with magic could tell but then no one wanted to answer her, no one even looked out of their door to see what had happened.

She doubted that this coldness was just because they didn’t want to be involved in a mess, no.

Clear enough they had been ordered by Lady Esme to turn their eyes away.

"So we have somehow helped an ally to us." hummed out Atlas before he looked down at Riley, "Well then, Ann do you think you can help us enter the castle? If you know a way where it could hide our identity."

Ann looked at Circe and then him, "Your faces are... far too unique."

"I can change my face, this one. Do something about him," Circe clicked her tongue. "Then let’s move somewhere to talk. Before we find a way to adapt to this castle, what we have to know first is the situation this Hell."