Deviant: No Longer Human

Wang Xiao responded, his voice heavy with suspicion, "Everything about it is wrong. But before we delve into that, answer me first—who in the heavens is Magnus?"

From behind them, Freya\'s voice cut through the air, sharp and unexpected.

"He\'s my dad!" she declared, her announcement hanging abruptly in the tense atmosphere.

"Your dad?" Wang Xiao spun around, his gaze intensifying as he fixed it on Freya, "What exactly is his full name?"

"His full name is Magnus Bjørnson, but Wang Xiao, what\'s going on?" Seraphine\'s voice quivered slightly, sensing a burgeoning storm of misunderstanding that threatened to escalate into a catastrophic clash.

She hurried to intercept the looming crisis, "Magnus is innocent regarding the letter; he merely found it abandoned outside."

Despite her aversion to Magnus, Seraphine knew that any misstep could lead to a bloodbath, judging by Wang Xiao\'s thunderous expression.

If their suspicions were misplaced, they all could find themselves trapped in an sea of blood, possibly leading to an untimely visit to the graveyard.

Wang Xiao, after a moment of intense inner turmoil, visibly composed himself. He snatched up the letter with a resolved grip and strode out, his footsteps echoing ominously as he ascended the stairs from whence he came.

Whoosh!

Without uttering a single word, the instant he emerged from the basement\'s gloom, Wang Xiao launched himself into the sky with an explosive force, indifferent to the eyes that might witness his supernatural departure.

_____

Hovering in the realm where heaven meets earth, Wang Xiao found himself adrift in a sea of clouds, their ethereal forms swirling around him like mischievous spirits.

The air caressed his ears with faint whispers, a symphony of silence and secrets that the vast expanse of sky held. He twirled gracefully, his movements fluid and deliberate, as he scoured the horizon, his eyes sharp and unyielding.

The boundless sky seemed to stretch into infinity, a canvas of blues and whites that blurred the lines between reality and the celestial.

"Did you spot anyone?" His voice cut through the tranquility, a beacon in the serene vastness, directed at Yin Yue.

His gaze was relentless, a hunter\'s stare that missed no detail, no matter how minute, as he searched for any disturbance, any shadow that dared to mar the perfect canvas of the skies.

[Nothing out of the ordinary], Yin Yue reported back, offering a momentary solace in the quiet before the storm.

Wang Xiao, "..."

He stood in silent contemplation, the weight of realization pressing down on him with an uncomfortable clarity.

Despite his expectation of being under surveillance, the precision with which he was being tracked irked him deeply.

The letter in his hand, crisp and foreboding, bore his name—or rather, his title as the 8th Prince—a detail that proved the meticulous planning behind this unexpected invitation.

The sender was none other than Gabriel Nightshade, a name that puzzled Wang Xiao\'s thoughts in knots of confusion and intrigue.

Nightshade\'s proposal was daring, extending an invitation to Wang Xiao to join a clandestine assembly known as Hell\'s Slaves, a society that pledged allegiance to the shadows and proposing that Wang Xiao become a herald for the Devil himself.

Such words, whether a deliberate provocation or an earnest invitation, left Wang Xiao ensnared in a web of speculation.

The intentions behind Gabriel Nightshade\'s overture were shrouded in mystery, a puzzle that resisted straightforward interpretation

[Hey, it could be simply that he was only interested in Anran, until you showed up, and he found you more intriguing than her, prompting him to want you to join him?] Yin Yue offered, her voice a mixture of speculation and reason.

It was a theory Wang Xiao had already turned over in his mind, a possible explanation for Nightshade\'s sudden and unsettling interest in him.

This suggestion, while plausible, did little to ease the chaos within Wang Xiao.

The idea that his mere presence could pivot Nightshade\'s attentions so drastically, from Anran to himself, suggested a depth of calculation and foresight that was disconcerting.

"That\'s possible, but then why this name? We already know there\'s a very powerful hell spirit aligned with Gabriel, and if they can spot us, it\'s likely they could recognize us as their kin as well... Why does it seem like this faction is specifically tailored for hell spirits?" Wang Xiao muttered, his voice low and tinged with unease.

[You are right!] Yin Yue\'s response came with a note of sudden realization.

Her acknowledgment added weight to Wang Xiao\'s suspicion, confirming the unsettling pattern emerging before them.

Wang Xiao\'s mind raced as he pieced together the implications. "This is not good. These hell spirits seem intent on creating their own world order... It appears someone is actively working to unite them," he mused, his words laced with concern.

The notion that there was a concerted effort to bring together beings of such supernatural potential was alarming, hinting at ambitions that threatened to destabilize the delicate balance between realms.

The letter\'s wording, upon reflection, seemed less an invitation and more a clarion call—a summoning to unite under a banner that Wang Xiao found both foreign and ominous.

The message, veiled in the guise of camaraderie, hinted at a larger, more insidious agenda.

[Hehe... These people are mistaking you for a hell spirit, but are you? I mean, you could be considered one in their eyes, due to me... But not really...] Yin Yue\'s amusement at the situation was palpable, even as she acknowledged the peculiar position Wang Xiao found himself in within this world.

Wang Xiao felt an acute sense of displacement, adrift between identities and worlds.

He was neither fully human nor a hell spirit, occupying a liminal space that left him isolated from both.

This sentiment echoed Bing Xueli\'s earlier words, casting Wang Xiao as a figure who belonged neither to the world beyond nor to the realm within Xianthera — a Deviant in its truest sense!

Even Luna\'s claims started to echo simultaneously with his; he was more of a deviant than anyone else!