A Demon’s Paradise - Volume 1 Chapter 23 Laundry

On the northern side of Black City, there was a hall built of black marble. It rose high above the buildings around it, a cold haze of Dark Spirit Power permeating the air. A heavy feeling of dread struck anyone who so much as looked at it, yet it was revered by all citizens.

It was the City Lord’s residence, home of the most infamous man in the region. Usually there would be a boatload of servants and subordinates taking care of the various matters for the city, the main hall filled with people trying to meet the city lord in his office.

However, today was different. Not only were there no guests, all of the servants had been dismissed and sent back to their quarters. No one was allowed to take a single step inside of the hall, otherwise there would be a fatal punishment.

The feeling of intimidation had coalesced even thicker than before as Dark Spirit Power gathered in the main hall, painting the marble floors with black tendrils. The door of the hall was covered with black chains, letting nothing in or out, not even air. The door to the City Lord’s office was bolted up in a similar fashion, the metal door barely visible through the layers of chains.

The air was quiet. There didn’t seem to be anything alive in the hall, completely empty of life. An aura of death gathered, a nearly freezing coldness sweeping through.

A dull thud resounded through the hall as a large object slammed into it, a beastly roar ripping through the silence. It was followed by a period of absolute stillness, the sound of heavy breathing occasionally breaking the quiet.

The air thickened and warmed, invisible flames licking at the smog of Spirit Power, making it swirl and churn. An unearthly shriek tore at the empty space, heavy footsteps cracking the floor and causing it to shake, almost crumbling.

The chains on the door creaked ominously, quaking in time with massive thuds and the appearance of gigantic dents in the door. Tiny cracks appeared as bright purple runes materialized in the air, vibrating with a tenuous power. If Xia Moyin was there watching, she would have surely recognized them. They were the same runes as those carved into the city gates, though they were a bit more complex.

Energy crackled and flashed, the building’s foundation screaming out it’s protest as the wall cracked under the assault. The symbols shook violently, dimming to the point of translucency.

Part of the wall finally gave way and collapsed, revealing complete darkness and a shifting form. The runes gave off one last flash and disappeared, an earsplitting shriek accompanying it.

The sound of tearing rock echoed though the hall as the chains finally gave way, releasing the beast caged within.

*

Six hours earlier Xia Moyin was sitting in front of her refrigerator, a blank stare taking in the empty shelves. Just one day before it was practically filled to bursting with food, enough to last her almost a month. Now, It was as if it had never existed. All that was left were a few crumbs and some spilled juice in the corner.

“….”

‘Where could it have all gone?’

She went into her pantry. It was almost as empty as her refrigerator. All that was left were the few seasonings she had.

“….”

Her still full stomach sent a slight ache up to her brain and she looked down, her eyebrow twitching slightly. A hint of disbelief appeared on her face as a thought spawned in her mind. ‘I couldn’t have….right?’

It would explain the stains on the Moon Silk robe, along with the stomach ache she’d been dealing with ever since she woke up. But it was a bit unorthodox, even for her. She completely disregarded the posibility that she had left her home to feed.

A heavy sigh rocked her frame as Xia Moyin resigned herself to her fate, preparing to leave her house. She would have to go out and get some more food. Before she left, however, she changed her clothes and set the Moon Silk Robe in a special solution she had made beforehand.

Moon Silk was pretty much a very complex and valuable version of regular silk, and hence needed to be cleaned occasionally. However, it couldn’t be handled like regular silk. Old fashioned soap and water isn’t going to cut it. In fact, if she tried to use regular soap, it would be damaged and in extreme cases, unravel.

The best way to actually clean it was to put it in a vat of ground spirit beast cores that had been mixed with a minimal amount of water so it turned it a sort of thick batter. Just letting it soak for a long time would be fine, then when she took it out everything would just slide off the fabric. The spirit beast cores didn’t have to be of a particularly high grade, nor was there any special array or affinity it needed to have. Dumping it in a vat of random ground cores would do just fine.

Still, if anyone else was there, they would surely say she was being wasteful. Just one core would enough to power a washing machine for days, but she was using at least ten just to wash one robe!It was truly a waste of resources.

She swirled it around a bit in the tub before leaving, not noticing the subtle changes that were taking place. Unknowingly while she was washing the fabric, she had cut herself on the side of the tub. The cut was so small as to be invisible, but by some weird twist of fate, a drop of blood was squeezed out into the bowl. This mixed with the solution and melded into the fabric, causing it to undergo some changes.

The silver fox embroidered on the hip got an almost imperceptible lilac tint, but other than that, nothing on the outside could be perceived. The big things were going on inside, the composition of the silk. This, however, would go unnoticed for some time.