"If you are Draven Skywalker," Magnus asked, pointing to his side, "then who is this?" As he spoke, his shadow rippled once more and a youth appeared before everyone.
The expressions of everyone present changed when they saw the youth. Even Draven narrowed his eyes in surprise, because the young man looked exactly like him. The only difference was that while Draven was muscular, this young man was leaner, with red eyes and shoulder-length hair neatly tied behind him in a ponytail.
"This is the real Draven. We matched his DNA sample with ours and it is confirmed. He also awakened the Chaos Divine Ape bloodline and innate Chaos Divine Ape physique like Aeron. Do you have anything else to say?" Magnus asked calmly.
Draven remained silent. Now, even he was not sure whether he was the real Draven or not. After all, he was a transmigrator from a different world who had replaced the original.
Seeing Draven's silence, Devis asked again, "Now tell me, what is your relation with the True Demon Cult? Don't worry, we will not harm you if your answer is satisfactory."
Draven's patience snapped at that moment. Even though his 7th sense warned him to keep quiet, he lifted his head and directly met Devis's gaze. "Are you an idiot or what? I already told you I don't know any True Demon Cult or anything. As for why I bought the Ultimate Demon Body Forging Art from the black market, the reason is simple. I only had a single 1st-tier essence coin as savings at that time, and only that seller was willing to sell me something at that price."
Everyone was stunned by Draven's sudden outburst. Devis's eyes narrowed and his aura once again surged out. But before it could reach Draven, Seraphina stood before him with a cold look on her face. "We are talking here. Don't take your temper out on the child."
Devis snorted. "What are you protecting him for? He is clearly someone from the True Demon Cult. Do you really believe the core technique of the True Demon Cult would be sold to an outsider for just one first-tier essence coin? Or do you believe a little child could escape the True Demon Cult all by himself if it was not intentionally done by them? If you still have doubt, check his soul. There will not be any sign of soul injury, since that was also a lie they made us believe. In reality, they just want to create a perfect scenario for this demon vessel to enter our family in place of our true grandson."
Seraphina frowned. She walked towards Draven and gently touched the place between his brows. After a while, she withdrew her hand with an ugly look on her face. "His soul is not injured."
Devis smirked. "Told you. He is just acting."
Suddenly, the young man who resembled Draven bowed towards Seraphina and the others with tears in his eyes. "What Grandpa said is true. I was locked in a jail cell from the age of six. It was only when Grandpa rescued me that I saw sunlight again in my life. I also don't have any memory loss like he claims. I remember everything and everyone of you."
Draven stared at this clone of his, but he did not say anything as he truly had nothing more to say.
Magnus remained silent for a moment before taking out a pill from his storage ring and giving it to Draven. "Fine. Since you insist you don't know anything, just eat this pill and answer some of my questions."
Draven nodded and swallowed the pill without hesitation. The next second, a golden layer of light covered his body.
"This pill is called the True Heart Pill. After eating it, you will only be able to say what your heart feels is true. Otherwise, the golden barrier around you will collapse, so do not try to lie," Magnus advised before asking the first question. "Are you really Draven Skywalker?"
Draven remained silent for a moment and said, "I don't know."
Magnus nodded, as the golden barrier did not show any sign of collapsing. "Are you related to the True Demon Cult?"
"I don't know."
"According to the official records, you have 145 unsolved murder cases in your name. This number goes beyond 300 if we consider the unofficial records. Are you the one who killed all these people?"
Draven paused for a moment, but in the end he still nodded. "It was me."
"Who told you that your name is Draven Skywalker?"
"I don't know."
"Why did you come to the Stonewill family mansion?"
"To kill."
Magnus continued asking a few more questions, all of which Draven answered truthfully. Lying in front of them was not an option because of the golden barrier surrounding his body.
"Seventeen years old and already has more than 300 murders in his name. This qualification alone is enough to regard him as a True Demon Cult member, even if he was not directly involved with them," Devis said icily.
Draven kept quiet with an expressionless face.
Magnus frowned as he looked at Draven's clone, who was crying like a little baby, and then at Draven, who remained still like a mountain even though some of his bones were broken from Devis's aura suppression.
"Do you not know how to cry when you feel pain?" he asked Draven with some surprise.
"I am used to pain. This is not the first time I am getting injured like this," Draven replied matter-of-factly. The golden barrier around him remained intact, indicating he was telling the truth.
Hearing this, Elara could not watch Draven's miserable appearance any longer. Ignoring everyone else, she walked towards Draven and helped him stand up from the ground. A few light-element butterflies also appeared around him and healed all the wounds on his body.
"What are you doing?" Magnus asked with a frown.
"Even if he is a demon vessel, he did not do anything by his own will. Both our grandchildren were also safe, so this matter ends here," Elara said calmly, without any gentleness as she looked at Magnus.
"Grandma, what about the grievances I suffered all these years? Are you saying I should also forget everything the True Demon Cult has done to me, just to replace this bastard in my place?" the young man wiped his tears and asked indignantly.
"Did you not hear what Sister Elara said? This matter ends here," Seraphina also said coldly, without any warmth in her tone.
The young man closed his mouth and did not dare speak anymore.
This silence lasted for some time. At last, Devis was the one who broke it. "Since you looked after my granddaughter for all these years, we Skywalkers will adopt you into our family and provide you with the resources you need to cultivate. Even your broken inner world can be cured in no time. Consider this your reward for taking care of our child until now."
The expression on Draven's clone became ugly when he heard this. He wanted to say something but in the end he kept quiet.
Everyone expected Draven to agree to the offer, but he did not respond and kept quiet.
Jessy became anxious when she saw this. "Big brother, hurry up and agree," she urged. "We can still be together, and I will be able to look after you."
Draven took a deep breath and shook his head. "If I agree, our relation as brother and sister will end here. What he is offering is not a reward, but a price for our relationship. I cannot accept that. Moreover, ever since I was a child until now, I have lived my life with my own effort. I don't need anyone to take care of me."
"But brother, they have a way to recover your inner world! At least for me, come with us, please!" Jessy ran over to Draven and hugged him tightly as she sobbed.
No one stopped her. They all just stood there with complicated looks on their faces.
Draven expressionlessly freed himself from Jessy and bowed towards everyone. "If I have permission, I would like to excuse myself."
Seraphina and Elara nodded gently, while the others stood there with indifferent looks on their faces.
"Big brother, you cannot just go like that... I am also coming with you...!" Jessy tried to run towards Draven, but before she could, she lost consciousness and fell into Devis's arms.
"Don't use the surname Skywalker from now on. You are not worthy to carry our family name," Devis said to Draven coldly.
Draven bowed once again and left the place.
..........
After leaving the Stonewill family mansion, Draven changed into a new white hoodie from his storage ring and rode back home on his black Phantom. The sky was entirely dark at this moment.
Just then, he noticed someone standing in the middle of the road under the illumination of a street light. His 7th sense also throbbed violently, filling his heart with a deep sense of unease.
He stopped his bike a considerable distance away from the old man and stared at him. "May I know why Senior is blocking my way?"
The man, who looked skinny even though he was wearing an oversized coat, smiled with his yellow teeth. "The purpose of leaving you alive is over. Now it is time to die."
Draven's expression changed as he felt his body freeze up in place under the stare of the old man.
Boom!
Before Draven could understand what happened next, he saw a flash of light from the sky impale the old man to the road, passing through his head like a piece of meat on a skewer.
There was no flashy move or energy burst. The old man, who had been staring at Draven like a predator moments before, died with that same expression frozen on his face, a spear from the sky having struck him directly in the head.
"Asura Spear Intent," Draven muttered to himself in astonishment as he felt the power radiating from the spear.
"Yeah, Asura Spear Intent. Tell me, kid, how did you even achieve perfection in Asura Spear Intent in just a few days? Are you truly a demon vessel carrying the soul of some old monster who refused to enter the cycle of reincarnation?" Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out from behind Draven, scaring the hell out of him.
Turning around, Draven saw Silas standing behind him with a wine gourd in his hand.