The Handbook for Completing Demi-Human Girls

Chapter 740: Sweet Dream Comes True

"Who... who exactly are you?"

The blonde Angel before her lifted the corners of her mouth slightly. The curve drawn by her pink lips was like the gates of hell tearing open the human world, spewing venom-like words from within.

"What, have you even forgotten me? Indeed, I set you aside for too long, because the time hadn't come yet. But now, seeing that fiery soul—which once took flight, struggled desperately, and ultimately burned intensely—reduced to this state, I still can't help but sigh with sorrow..."

Intuition told Jasmine that the woman in front of her was extremely dangerous, yet her words seemed to possess a magical charm that drew Jasmine's attention.

Although Xuan Can and Gou Wen had previously informed her of the truth behind her identity, the couple had also been emphasizing a very important point.

"You are no longer Asuka Karasawa..."

"You are Jasmine, you are our daughter."

The past was too painful; Xuan Can and Gou Wen didn't want the soul that had endured ten thousand years of suffering to bear that weight again. Even if they had to reveal the full truth to Jasmine at this moment, it was only out of the necessity of facing the current Situation with the Spirit World Contamination.

But what about Jasmine herself?

The past was hidden behind a wall, as if separated by a single door. Especially when she learned that the person named "Asuka Karasawa" had waited for Teacher Fisher for a full ten thousand years, behind that door... it was as if another resting, yet restless version of herself stood there.Whether it was Jasmine or Asuka Karasawa, both were waiting to open that door and meet each other.

"You... me..."

Therefore, at this moment, listening to Helaire's words, Jasmine felt hesitant despite her vigilance.

"You are connected to the Chaos outside the Barrier, right? You came here to target me, wanting to make the contamination outside completely lose control?"

Jasmine had already learned from Xuan Can and Gou Wen about her myriad connections to the Spirit World Contamination outside, which was why Teacher Fisher and the others didn't bring her along when they left for that Spirit World Shelter.

Helaire smiled and shook her head, telling Jasmine,

"That couple is not you. Like the deity you respect, they mistakenly believe this power is an extension of Dream Illusion. But what they don't know is that the contamination completely escaped Dream Illusion's control... a long, long time ago."

Immediately after, the reflection of the bewildered, ignorant Whale-kin girl appeared for the first time in Helaire's blue-gold eyes.

"Because the soul that bore that Chaos back then was a rare genius found only once in ten thousand. Her compatibility with Dream Illusion's Authority matched to a degree that even Dream Illusion itself found hard to imagine. To the point where, over the years, It could only influence your mind, but never directly interfere with your decisions... And these things they call 'Contamination' were originally a part of your power. It's just that your soul abandoned them, leaving them in the Spirit World forever, constantly searching for you..."

"You're lying!"

Jasmine abruptly interrupted Helaire's words with a furrowed brow. Clenching her fists, she retorted,

"If it really is as you say, all benefits and no harm, then why would Asuka Karasawa back then abandon it, even to the extent of choosing death?"

Helaire's expression turned playful. She smiled and inched closer to Jasmine, frightening her into hastily retreating, becoming even more vigilant.

"What... what are you doing? I... I'm going to call my mom!"

"Call your mom? Are you still a baby who hasn't grown up?"

Helaire chuckled softly, but she didn't step forward any further. Instead, she stood still, stopping extremely close to Jasmine, no more than exactly ten centimeters away.

"Since you've already noticed I'm dangerous, why didn't you call for Xuan Can immediately? Why do you think that is?"

"I..."

"Because deep down in your heart, you crave to know more about 'your' past. It's just that from the past until now, you've always been like this... good at deceiving yourself, aren't you... Asuka~"

Helaire gently extended a finger, slightly lifting Jasmine's chin, making the panting Jasmine tilt her face up slightly. Those eyes looked at Helaire with vigilance and disgust, but deep within them...

Heh heh.

"So, why did you abandon that power? Have you figured out the answer?"

Helaire slowly brought her cheek close to Jasmine's ear, whispering word by word,

"Because at that time, you were also deceiving yourself..."

Jasmine's pupils shrank. Helaire's words seemed to pierce her mind instantly, causing her legs to even start trembling slightly.

"At that time, you had already foreseen that the continually expanding dream inside your head might affect reality. You didn't want your power to affect others, so you chose to leave from The Ultimate in the Spirit World."

"'My own power has expanded to a point where it can't be hidden from the gods and the Mythical Species. If I continue to stay, it will inevitably mean going to war against them; in a war between Mythical Ranks, how could those humans survive? If something happens to humans, wouldn't Teacher Fisher be unable to exist in the future?'"

Helaire imitated Jasmine's tone, extracting the thoughts hidden deep in Jasmine's soul and tossing them under the sunlight. As Helaire's words exploded by Jasmine's ear, Jasmine's body trembled even more violently, like a sieve.

"'Therefore, in this case, the only way is to leave here immediately and avoid conflict...'"

"For the greater good, for kindness, so that that future could arrive... Actually, ever since you founded the Creator's Society, you've always been helping other Transferred Persons who came from afar, haven't you? Caleb Uz, Aris, Von Spencer... You were a respected President, a Transferred Person who existed for peace and to guide other Transferred Persons."

"You did so much for others, sacrificing yourself unrequitedly all just so the expanding power within your body wouldn't affect reality, wouldn't affect the living beings there..."

"So you deceived yourself, saying it didn't matter if you couldn't see Fisher... Even if you had waited for thousands of years, even if that illusion tortured your mind day after day... Having Fisher's appearance, yet allowing his image in your heart to grow increasingly blurred... the loneliness and agony endured during countless sleepless nights... the reliability in the eyes of others turning into despair and loneliness when alone..."

Helaire's words paused slightly, and finally, with a smile, she whispered into Jasmine's ear,

"But... does it really not matter, Asuka?"

"..."

No response.

As it turned out, Jasmine, who had been listening to all this, was already weeping uncontrollably amidst the involuntary trembling of her body.

"..."

Why?

Why did her tears flow uncontrollably when hearing this?

She should... shouldn't she not be Asuka Karasawa?

But why, after hearing what she said, was the despair that seemed to pour directly from the depths of her soul still so hard to suppress?

As if it had never disappeared, nor had it ever been abandoned.

"Ah, ah..."

"Thump!"

Jasmine, crying and shedding tears, unexpectedly let her legs give way and directly sat on the ground.

She clutched her chest as if unable to breathe, panting as she tried to dispel the sadness flowing within her heart.

Helaire also stepped back slightly. The smile on her face gradually faded, and a layer of incomprehensible Divinity tinted her blue-gold eyes, as if she had already completely seen right through the soul of the Jasmine before her.

"Do you still not understand, Jasmine... That thing outside is not some Contamination at all. It is the 'Dream' you long for day and night..."

"The more you deceive yourself, telling yourself that 'what I want is not important', thereby pushing it away in reality and yielding it to others... the flaws of reality can only be compensated by a dream. Thus, the more selfless you are, the more you deceive yourself, the larger that 'Dream' will grow, and the harder it will be to suppress."

"It possesses no consciousness, no intelligence, yet why does it search everywhere for you?"

"For no other reason than it simply wants to help your sweet dream come true, Asuka Karasawa."

With wide, tear-filled eyes, Jasmine stared blankly at the Angel before her.

Her pink lips trembled slightly, as if words were already at her throat, yet instinctively blocked by it...

Just like the countless words she had wanted to say but never voiced in the past.

It didn't matter if mom abused her, as long as she was obedient and mom was happy, it would be fine...

It didn't matter if her mind was abnormal, as long as she pretended nothing was wrong, dad wouldn't have to worry about chanting sutras like that anymore...

It didn't matter if her classmates bullied her, as long as she endured it and didn't cause trouble for her family or teachers, it would be fine...

It didn't matter if Helaire and Teacher Fisher were together, as long as she pretended not to notice and it wouldn't make Teacher Fisher think she was acting strange, it would be fine...

It didn't matter if Margaret deceived her, as long as she could give up and everyone was safe, it would be fine...

Waiting ten thousand years didn't matter, as long as Teacher Fisher could return safely, it would be fine...

Leaving this world and never seeing Teacher Fisher again didn't matter, as long as everyone in this world was safe, it would be fine...

It would be fine...

It would be fine...

It would be fine...

It would be fine...

Would it?

Jasmine clutched her head, gasping for breath. Her eyes slowly turned from azure blue to pitch black, like the thickest, darkest ink at the very center of an inkstone. Soon after, distorted characters began to seep out from within.

No good, no good, no good, no good, no good, no good, no good, no good, no good, no good, no good, no good, no good, no good, no good, no good, no good, no good, no good, no good, no good, no good, no good, no good, no good, no good, no good...

"No good..."

How could it be good...

How could it...

If it's like this, how could she ever be okay?!

"Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!"

Just as Helaire watched expressionlessly as Jasmine, whose tears had gradually turned to pitch black ink, painfully beat her own chest, an extremely terrifying sword radiance suddenly shot forth from far away.

Helaire didn't move an inch, yet despite the vast distance, the golden hair on her forehead fluttered uncontrollably. Following that, what was about to fall in the next moment would be her head.

"Crack, crack, crack, crack!"

But the very next second, from the shadow beneath where Helaire stood, it began to casually and meaninglessly expand. Within it, hidden like a deep pool of water, was something of utter terror.

"Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!"

That golden sword radiance contained the might of a Demigod, practically threatening to sever this entire space. But as the boundless darkness contained within the shadow behind Helaire expanded slightly to block in front of her, it miraculously swallowed that instantaneously arriving sword radiance, completely devouring it beyond all bounds.

Not even a single ripple was stirred.

"Stay away from my daughter!!"

The entire Gelsemium's Shelter was almost completely swallowed by that exaggerated sword radiance and the medium of Xuan Can's curse. When that medium swept over Helaire, the cold-faced Xuan Can seemed to realize that her medium had enveloped two separate entities.

One was that entity looking like an Angel, and the other was whatever was hiding in her shadow...

The Angel-like entity was at the Nineteenth Rank, but the one in the shadow... was incomprehensible. But it was definitely very powerful.

Are those...

Two incarnation-like things?

Helaire smiled as she looked at Xuan Can arriving from afar with monstrous killing intent. She sighed softly and said,

"Have you figured it out...?"

As a Demigod, it wasn't as if Xuan Can had never seen incarnations of deities. She had even seen the true body of Ramastia an innumerable amount of times, as well as the incarnations and true bodies of other deities countless times.

There were virtually a few existences left inside the Barrier who understood the matters of deities by now, and coincidentally, Xuan Can happened to be the one who understood it the most among them.

If only that Angel were present, Xuan Can definitely wouldn't have been able to tell it was an incarnation. But when that powerful entity inside her shadow revealed itself, Xuan Can was overwhelmingly certain that the thing was absolutely a deity's incarnation.

Therefore, Xuan Can didn't attack recklessly in midair. Instead, she fiercely reached out and pulled. The medium that practically covered this entire space exerted force simultaneously, tearing apart the entire ground in front of Jasmine, who was kneeling on it.

"Rumble!"

As if splitting the entire small island into two, the side where Xuan Can and Jasmine were located rose, while the smiling Helaire continuously fell downward.

"Ah, what's happening?!"

"Does it have earthquakes here too?"

The alien guests resting on the small island cried out in panic. But at this moment, glowing tentacles stretched out, grabbing them and pulling them back behind Xuan Can. It was Lady Bojiang who had taken action.

Xuan Can stared vigilantly at the smiling Angel below. She raised a hand and directly manipulated the medium, intent on ripping Helaire's body apart. However, the invisible medium seemed incredibly fragile before the boundless darkness behind her, tearing open a massive gash before it even reached her.

Yet Helaire, standing within it, didn't move an inch and showed no signs of attacking again. This gave Xuan Can a slight pause.

Could it be...

As if realizing something, Xuan Can hastily turned her head back to look at Jasmine, whom she was shielding behind her. Only to see Jasmine covering her face, her head hanging low, as drops of pitch-black tears pattered onto the ground. She looked to be in extreme agony.

That sight made Xuan Can's heart ache. She quickly crouched down, gripped Jasmine's shoulders, and called out,

"Jasmine, Jasmine! No matter what that woman just told you, do not believe her. All of those are words meant to deceive you. You have to control yourself, okay?"

Below, standing in the darkness, Helaire smiled without replying. She just slowly closed her eyes and talking to herself,

"Lies?"

The sobbing Jasmine heard Xuan Can's words. As she wiped away her incessantly falling black tears, she mumbled indistinctly,

"Mom... sob, sob..."

"I'm here, Jasmine..."

"Mom... but my heart hurts so much..."

"Jasmine, stop letting your thoughts run wild, okay? I'm here, and dad is here too... Your Teacher Fisher is also still around; everyone is here. Don't think about the past. Come back to the present, alright?"

"The present..."

"Yes, think about the present. Think about what you want to do the most right now, not the past, okay?"

Xuan Can gently cupped Jasmine's face, moving her ink-stained palms away to reveal her sorrowful face.

"Mom... I... I right now..."

"Right now, I only want my sweet dream to come true. Can I?"

Xuan Can was slightly stunned, unable to understand Jasmine's words for a moment.

"Wha-what? Sweet dream?"

"Yes, I... I don't want to deceive myself anymore... Not even once..."

"Mom... you and dad want me to abandon everything from the past... I'd cooperate with everything, I'd do everything you said, mom... I just... I didn't want to cause trouble for mom and dad, for Teacher Fisher, and for this world..."

Xuan Can's mouth hung slightly open as Jasmine's tears before her fell increasingly harder.

Xuan Can and Gou Wen hoped she would completely let go of the past. As long as she didn't think about or look at the past, then all the past pain and sadness wouldn't ever catch up to her...

But was that really the case?

Wasn't that exactly what Asuka Karasawa's biological father, the one in the temple whose daughter had been driven to insanity by her mother's torture, had thought?

He pleaded with Buddha so earnestly, hoping his young daughter would let go of her obsession and return to normal, but he never tried to solve the problems she faced or heal the trauma she suffered...

It was just that Asuka Karasawa didn't want her father to worry, so she deceived herself into believing she was cured, that she no longer had a mental illness...

And now, facing Xuan Can and Gou Wen's expectations, she made the exact same choice.

But the wound deep in her soul was still there. Could merely forgetting it make amends?

And this time, she didn't want to deceive herself anymore.

Jasmine said nothing more, only helplessly hanging her head low.

Xuan Can still wanted to say something, but suddenly, terrifying sounds chilled the bone from behind them.

"Crack! Crack! Crack!"

Xuan Can's pupils shrank as she turned her head back to look. She saw that the emerald green protective barrier enveloping the entirety of Gelsemium's Shelter was already riddled with cracks, on the verge of collapsing.

And outside that barrier was the boundless, endless Scarlet Mist, acting as if it had heard Asuka Karasawa's call and was eagerly trying to get closer...

Looking at the shattering barrier, a faint smile once again curled on Helaire's lips. Her eyes brightened slightly as a scarlet oil-paper umbrella, opened at some unknown moment, was held above her head.

"The sweet dream is about to come true."

"Crack, crack, crack, crack!!"

In the next second, the entire barrier enveloping the shelter violently shattered.

The limitless Scarlet Mist rushed inside like it had gone mad, wrapping towards Jasmine.

"Jasmine!"

Seeing this, Xuan Can's expression changed dramatically. She hastily pulled Jasmine into a tight embrace to protect her. At the same time, Jasmine, the entire island, and Helaire were completely devoured by the Scarlet Mist...

"Buzz..."

The instant the Scarlet Mist touched Jasmine's skin, the Scarlet Mist that had remained silent and bewildered for so long finally began to boil to its absolute limit, just like boiling hot water that had been simmering in a pot over a stove for a long time.