The D?ng family's villa felt like a taut string, stretched to its limit—ready to snap at the slightest tremor. Beneath the afternoon sun, as ice slowly melted from the roof tiles and left puddles across the stone courtyard, the cold storm within the household only grew stronger.

  In the living room, M? Linh sat trembling on the sofa, hands cradling her head, too afraid to look toward the kitchen. Upstairs, in her princess-themed bedroom, Anh ?ào was still screaming in fear, as Anh Tú tried to soothe her. Both mother and daughter seemed imprisoned within hallucinations only they could see—and the more they struggled, the deeper they sank.

  C?u D?ng looked like a man on the verge of collapse. His voice was ragged with panic:

  – “Master V?nh... Is there anything you can do? Please save my wife and daughter…”

  Master V?nh stepped forward, his gaze calm and heavy—like a monk reading sacred texts amidst a world descending into chaos. He reached into the folds of his long robe and retrieved two small crimson silk pouches. Embroidered with shimmering five-colored threads, the patterns pulsed faintly, as if alive.

  Inside each pouch: a faceted shard of deep violet energy crystal, a packet of coarse salt that gave off a herbal aroma, and thin stalks of mugwort—charred by sacred flame. These were high-grade warding items, once used in top-tier exorcisms by master sorcerers.

  – “These two pouches—have your wife and daughter carry them at all times."

  His tone was solemn. "They won’t be able to fully repel a high-level demonic energy… but they’ll create a mental shield. It should help them stabilize.”

  Trúc Di?n, who had been silent till now, finally spoke. His silver-hinted black eyes glinted with seriousness:

  – “In the meantime, we’ll investigate the dark force manipulating this place. This villa isn’t targeted by just one entity. There are two—possibly more—forces converging on it.”

  Anh Th?, kneeling beside her mother, looked up in shock:

  – “Why are so many powers targeting our family? What did we ever do to deserve this?”

  Trúc Di?n responded without turning to her:

  – “There are things hidden from human eyes… but never from the eyes of gods and demons.”

  Mr. ??c cast a meaningful glance at Mrs. Tam, then stepped forward and placed a hand on C?u D?ng’s shoulder. His voice wavered:

  – “We’re deeply grateful to you… truly grateful from the bottom of our hearts.”

  C?u D?ng forced a weary smile, trying to lift the shadow on his anxious face:

  – “Please… stay and have lunch with us. It’s nothing fancy, but it comes from the heart.”

  Master V?nh glanced at the antique watch on his wrist, then exchanged a knowing look with Trúc Di?n. No words were needed between them.

  – “We’ve an appointment at noon. A homeowner requested our guidance for a ground-breaking ceremony. He bowed politely. Please allow us to visit again another time.”

  Together, C?u D?ng and Mr. ??c escorted them to the gate. Footsteps echoed gently over damp stone. As the silver Innova slowly pulled away from the villa complex, Master V?nh spoke in a low voice:

  – “My disciple—a feng shui and numerology expert who also happens to be a lawyer—will be arriving at noon. He’ll help us trace what we need to uncover.”

  Trúc Di?n gave a slight nod. Beneath his long black hair, his eyes drifted toward the pale blue sky in the distance—as if already seeing the storm brewing beneath its still surface.

  Inside the Gothic mansion, with its towering stone walls and European-style vaulted ceilings, the tension hung like a blade mid-fall.

  A lesser demon, dressed crisply in a tailored gray suit, hurried into the drawing room. His voice was tight with urgency:

  – “Sirs, the sorcerer and the white serpent have left the target premises.”

  Erion, still lounging on the black leather sofa with his legs crossed, eyes glinting with restrained fury, tilted his head toward Din:

  – “Din, track them with the surveillance satellites. I want every step recorded.”

  Din was already on it. His fingers moved like lightning as he opened a specially encrypted laptop adorned with the insignia of the Black Diamond: A black crystal flanked by demonic dragon wings. Violet pulse-lines traced the edges of the device, glowing in rhythm with his heartbeat.

  He tapped in a flurry of codes, accessing the organization’s exclusive satellite network. A 3D digital map projected from the screen, highlighting a red beacon in motion—the silver Innova had been located.

  – “Signal locked. Satellites are tracking them with millimeter precision.”

  Standing behind them, Yin twisted a Hetian jade ring on his finger, his voice razor-sharp:

  – “We possess a chúa-class surveillance grid. Their handmade spellcraft is nothing more than a child’s toy compared to our tech.”

  ---

  Meanwhile, in the outskirts of Bình Chánh, within the central operations chamber of the Royal Satanic Command—

  The walls pulsed with sapphire-colored magical circuits. Screens displayed data streams flowing like liquid fire. Satan stood silently behind Arian, his voice low and grave, echoing like a war drum from ancient voids:

  – “Track them. Use the royal satellites. Not a single byte is to slip through our hands.”

  Arian nodded, his platinum-blonde half-tied hair swaying as he moved. He keyed in the command, and the Satan-class satellite array responded at once.

  A holographic map emerged in midair, projecting the real-time trajectory of the silver Innova heading southward through the city.

  ---

  Thirty minutes later, at Master V?nh’s traditional residence—

  He and Trúc Di?n stepped through the gate, unaware that two of the most clandestine surveillance systems in the supernatural world were tracking their every move.

  Without wasting time, Master V?nh moved into the living room and pulled out his phone.

  – “Thi?n, I’m back. Can you come over now?”

  A young male voice answered crisply from the other end:

  – “Yes, Master. I’m on my way.”

  ---

  Back at the Gothic mansion, the trio—Erion, Din, and Yin—were still glued to the live feeds.

  Din popped a mint candy into his mouth, eyes flickering across the screen:

  – “They’ve returned to a townhouse in the southern district. Looks like they’re preparing to summon someone… or investigate something.”

  Erion stood slowly, hands in his pockets. His amber eyes shimmered with flecks of ruby-red flame.

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  – “Good. Let them think they’re free. I want to see what they find… and who survives until the final move.”

  Yin tilted his head, tone low:

  – “Then we need to accelerate as well. That old accident... it might be the key.”

  Din nodded, eyes dark and calculating:

  – “And maybe… that girl is the trump card Satan’s kept hidden for decades.”

  Back inside the Gothic mansion, the atmosphere had just started to settle after Din’s ominous remark—

  When suddenly, a young lesser demon, still fresh-faced and na?ve, blurted out:

  – “That girl really is the black diamond the universe created to balance the General... I wonder what will happen when the two of them meet…”

  The moment the words left his mouth, the other three demons froze, eyes wide in horror. Their faces turned pale as ash.

  Din turned sharply, brow arching:

  – “Oh no…”

  His voice lowered, gaze snapping to Yin:

  – “If the intel you got from the neighbors around that villa is accurate... then her parents died in a car accident twenty-five years ago. But if she’s truly a cosmic entity—created to counterbalance the General—then…”

  Yin clenched his jaw. His eyes were as dark as a moonless void:

  – “...Then how the hell did she end up on Earth? And as a newborn no less? Surviving a fatal accident at the age of five? We can’t even be sure that’s her true age…”

  Erion rose from the couch, fists clenched at his sides. His amber eyes were slowly overtaken by the glow of burning ruby-red:

  – “This is far more complicated than I expected. There’s a force—something immense—that brought her to this world.”

  ---

  Meanwhile, in an old-fashioned townhouse in District 3

  In front of a grand door of carved limwood bearing the Four Celestial Beasts, a young man named Thi?n arrived. Dressed in a modernized dark áo dài, he carried himself with the quiet intensity of one well-trained.

  – “Greetings, Master and Uncle. You summoned me urgently?”

  Master V?nh sat calmly at the tea table, the curling white smoke of agarwood incense coiling softly through the air. His voice was low and pensive:

  – “I need you to investigate a member of Mr. D?ng’s family—the man who owns the frozen mansion we discussed this morning. His in-law, Mr. ??c, revealed something to me.”

  His younger sister and her husband perished in a car crash twenty-five years ago. They had one daughter..."

  Trúc Di?n, standing nearby with arms clasped behind his back, picked up the thread:

  – “...The girl survived. Mr. D?ng became her legal guardian. But oddly enough, no one seems to know where she is now. There’s no photos, no mention of her at all. It’s as if the family erased every trace of her existence.”

  Thi?n sat down, eyes firm with resolve as he pulled out a small notebook:

  – “Did Mr. ??c provide any description of what she looked like?”

  Trúc Di?n replied coldly:

  – “According to him, the family saw her at the wedding of Anh Tú and Anh ?ào—the eldest daughter of Mr. D?ng. A tomboyish woman working as a street food vendor. Her name is Trang. Thirty years old. She lived in a boarding house in Bình Th?nh District.”

  Thi?n scribbled the details, nodding thoughtfully:

  – “I’ll start in Bình Th?nh. Even if she moved, the neighbors might still remember something.”

  Master V?nh leaned forward, voice firm:

  – “Be careful. Keep this operation completely discreet. No one must suspect anything—especially not Mr. D?ng’s family.”

  – “Understood. I’ll handle everything in complete secrecy. I’ll trace her through population records, hospitals, legal archives—whatever it takes to find an image of her and her parents from the past.”

  Master V?nh nodded, satisfied:

  – “Good. Proceed with extreme caution. Her origins may be the key to everything we’ve witnessed so far.”

  Trúc Di?n looked at his student, eyes fathomless, as if seeing beyond flesh and time:

  – “We must uncover the truth before the other forces make their move.”

  Far above, hidden in the blue expanse of the sky, two sets of satellite eyes silently followed Thi?n’s every step—

  Unseen.

  Unfelt.

  And unknown to him.

  Soft sunlight spilled through the intricately carved wooden window, shaped with the Four Sacred Beasts, in the traditional townhouse in District 3.

  Just then, Trúc Di?n’s phone lit up with a new message. The sender: Anh Tú.

  “I overheard my parents talking, so I’m quickly forwarding you a photo of Trang. She was in our wedding picture. I’ll gather more information and keep you updated regularly.”

  A satisfied smile tugged at Trúc Di?n’s lips. He immediately opened the attached image and turned the screen toward Master V?nh and Thi?n.

  It was a crisp wedding photo taken at a restaurant in District 1 not long ago.

  Standing to the right of the bride was a tomboyish young woman in a soft blue shirtdress, with sun-kissed brown skin and neatly cropped hair pinned back with a single ivory plum blossom clip. Her build was small, her expression gentle, but her eyes carried the quiet shadow of someone deeply scarred.

  Master V?nh frowned slightly, voice thoughtful:

  – “There’s something... unusual about this girl.”

  Thi?n leaned in, squinting as his mind raced:

  – “Uncle, please send me that photo right away. I’ll have the team comb through every boarding house in Bình Th?nh—that’s where she was said to have lived.”

  Without hesitation, Trúc Di?n transferred the image through a secured, encrypted channel.

  Once the file arrived, Thi?n gave a respectful nod:

  – “I’ll leave now. Please don’t worry—I promise to bring results as soon as possible.”

  Without another word, he left the house, mounted his matte black scooter, and took off into the sweltering midday traffic—carrying with him a mission cloaked in secrecy, a thread in a tapestry of mysteries yet to be unraveled.

  ---

  Meanwhile – back at the Gothic Mansion...

  Inside the dim, velvet-draped lounge, the atmosphere was heavy and still. Stained-glass windows arched like cathedral vaults glowed faintly with twilight.

  At one end of the room, Din was intently watching his screen. A twelve-layer-encrypted laptop pulsed with violet light as the Black Diamond satellite fed in live coordinates. It was now tracking the exact movement of Thi?n’s scooter as it sped southward, from District 3 toward District 8.

  On the far side of the room, Erion stood tall, hands clasped behind his back, framed by the arched window. The fading sunlight cast his sharp features in stark relief, illuminating the faint purple sheen in his black wool sweater—like a cold, regal halo.

  But his ears were no longer human.

  They had transformed into pointed, flame-like ridges—black and long, like the ears of a dragon—quivering slightly with the vibrations of surrounding space-time.

  His voice rang out, deep and glacial:

  – “I’ve just connected to the energy field around that area… I can hear everything.”

  He turned slowly, ruby-red eyes glowing beneath a veil of unreadable emotion:

  – “The apprentice of that sorcerer has begun the hunt. They’re searching the boarding houses of Bình Th?nh for her trace…”

  He walked toward a short trench coat hanging on a stand, his broad shoulders emanating invisible pressure with every step:

  – “...Then I’ll go there myself. I want to know exactly how she came to be on this planet—and who brought her here. Because the moment I sensed her... something stirred inside me. Something I couldn’t name.”

  Din, eyes still locked on the screen, spoke evenly:

  – “The moment her power awakened—based on satellite data—it happened in that abandoned mansion on the outskirts of Bình Chánh. I double-checked. That place is definitely the Satanic royal stronghold.”

  Erion’s voice sharpened to ice:

  – “I know. But what I want now is information about her. I want to confirm… whether she truly is the black diamond the universe forged to counter me.”

  Inside a marble-clad bathroom, steam drifted gently beneath the muted lights.

  Trang lay still in a warm bath infused with soft herbal fragrance, fresh rose petals floating quietly on the surface like whispers from a forgotten spring.

  Beyond the bathroom’s misty walls lay the architecture of a warrior’s domain—an elegant blend of ancient and modern.

  Titanium wolf-head sculptures guarded obsidian columns, while recessed moonlight LEDs bathed everything in a silvery, spectral glow.

  Her eyes closed, her long black hair cascading behind her, bronze-hued skin gleaming beneath the steam. A low, wistful murmur escaped her lips:

  – “I remember that little boarding house...

  It was humble, yes—but those were the days of peace, simplicity... and truth.”

  She slowly stood up. Beads of water trickled down her well-toned, hourglass figure.

  Slipping into a robe and wrapping her hair in a towel, she stepped through the frosted glass door into a high-end dressing room awash in ruby red, onyx black, royal violet, and the sparkle of Austrian crystal chandeliers woven into the ceiling like constellations.

  Each step echoed softly against ebony wood floors inlaid with precious metals.

  Stopping before a row of color-coded wardrobes sorted by season, she selected a crisp white high-collared blouse, its sleeves and neckline trimmed with noble ruffles, and paired it with sleek black leather leggings that hugged her long legs.

  A pair of black high-heeled boots with signature red soles and a smoke-gray Italian leather crossbody bag completed her look.

  She gazed at herself in the mirror.

  The reflection that stared back wasn’t the tomboy girl abandoned by humanity, rejected by love...

  It was someone else now—a warrior bearing the bloodline of a demon king.

  And in her eyes, something dangerous burned.

  ---

  Descending the grand staircase into the cathedral-ceilinged living room, sunlight poured through the Gothic glass dome above, casting halos on her high brow and crimson eyes.

  Every elite guard and attendant in the chamber froze. Their eyes followed her in reverence, as if witnessing the march of a modern war goddess in the form of a woman.

  From a dragon-hide sofa in the center of the room came Satan’s deep, commanding voice:

  – “And where are you off to, daughter?”

  Trang adjusted her sleeve, voice calm though her gaze remained cold:

  – “I need a walk around Saigon… to clear my mind.”

  He studied her for a moment, then nodded slowly.

  – “Very well. I’ll assign two high-level agents to escort you. Just in case.”

  She said nothing. Just gave a slight nod and turned toward the massive front door framed in ancient ??ng S?n drum motifs.

  Outside, a gleaming black Cadillac Escalade ESV awaited. Two agents in black suits with earpieces opened the doors in sync as she approached.

  The vehicle rolled forward, passing through golden gates etched with dragons and phoenixes in combat.

  As they crossed the illusion barrier protecting the estate, silence settled inside.

  From the passenger seat, the agent asked via rearview mirror:

  – “Princess, where to?”

  Without shifting her gaze from the window, she replied:

  – “Take me to the boarding house district in Bình Th?nh… I’ll guide you.”

  And in her thoughts:

  “I must find the truth myself. Father said he’d tell me everything eventually…

  But I can’t wait any longer.

  I’ll start… with the car accident that took my parents twenty-five years ago.”