Chapter 91: Monsters’ Home Turf
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: PlumSauce
Because no one could (or wanted to) stop Coraci, he was currently very free. Once again, he walked alongside John, carrying an address book, heading toward the residence of a supernatural being.
John would rather travel while wrapped in blackout blankets during the day than let anyone else partner with Coraci. He confidently declared that not only was he Coraci’s former partner, but he had also formed a bloodkin bond, making him the best candidate to control Coraci’s behavior.
As they approached the Skoda parked by the roadside, John noticed a gray shadow curled in the driver’s seat. Wu Jiu was waiting for them there.
Once they got in, Wu Jiu spoke to Coraci. Coraci just smiled wryly and gave brief replies. From his responses, John inferred that they were probably discussing Ms. Hai Jiu and the Atwood family. Hai Jiu still felt unable to face Coraci, so even though she had returned to West Bay City, she had kept herself hidden.
“Thank you, Wu Jiu.” Coraci sat directly behind the driver’s seat, placed his hand on Wu Jiu’s shoulder, and cast an illusion spell. The illusion gave Wu Jiu a human face as not to scare anyone while driving.
John deliberately paid attention. Sure enough, Coraci always made Wu Jiu resemble Sean Connery.
It was almost like three years ago. Wu Jiu drove while they sat in the back, discussing matters and meeting various contacts.
Coraci’s way of speaking made John feel nostalgic. “The genius we’re looking for,” Coraci said, pointing to an address, “is Cyrpho.”
“What race is Mr. Cyrpho?” John asked. He had never heard the word and assumed it was a name.
“He is a Cyrpho,” Coraci corrected. “That’s the race. He has three bodies, and his name is Hilton.”
John, wrapped completely in his blanket, peeked out with a bewildered expression.
Coraci looked at him helplessly. “After more than three years, you still never spend extra time in the Association’s archives, huh?”
“Some creatures are rare,” John explained. “It’s hard to remember details just by looking at old illustrations. For example, most people in the Association don’t really know much about Stone Men.”
“Alright. The word ‘Cyrpho’ translates roughly to ‘brain’ in English. (Note 1) Actually, it’s closer to ‘master mind.’ A Cyrpho is a race that shares a single consciousness across two or three bodies. Each body appears and differentiates gender like a human. A Cyrpho woman can only carry one child at a time, even though it seems like a ‘multiple birth.’”
“Multiple births, but only one child?” John asked.
“Because they have multiple bodies sharing one mind. Cyrpho usually have two or three, with the master brain randomly residing in any one of the bodies. These bodies look like identical human multiples, but in fact, they are one person. Their awareness is fully interconnected and synchronized.”
John marveled at the Cyrpho’s peculiarity. “They look no different from humans? What if the master brain dies? What about the others…”
“They become less intelligent,” Coraci said. “According to the Association’s records, in the eighteenth century, someone assisted a single Cyrpho body that had lost its master brain. That body was like a mentally challenged human.”
“And if the master brain survives, but the other bodies are lost?”
“The intellect still declines, but not significantly — at most, it drops to roughly human levels. Cyrphos are naturally very intelligent. Occasionally, a defective Cyrpho is born with only one body; their lifespan is very short, only eighty to ninety years. Such Cyrphos are often mistaken for humans.”
“Eighty or ninety years…” John considered the modern human lifespan. “What’s their normal lifespan?”
“About three hundred years,” Coraci said. “So they need the Association’s help. They live long, age slowly, and legal identity issues are tricky. The Hilton we’re looking for is about 110 years old. He’s skilled with electronics and programming. He has three IDs to disguise himself as human; externally, he appears as the three brothers Sangli, Songli, and Seli.”
At that moment, the driving Wu Jiu emitted a throaty sound, like a laugh, then uttered a string of unclear syllables.
Coraci responded, “Yes…I felt that too.”
“What did Wu Jiu say?” John asked.
“He said our appearance reminded him of the old days. Back then, we often talked about all kinds of creatures from the back seat.”
“Yeah,” John said. “I wish every day in the future…we could spend it like this.”
Coraci didn’t answer, nor did he look at him. He simply smiled silently, gazing out the window.
Mr. Hilton’s house sat in an upscale residential area. It was a standalone three-story building, complete with front and back yards. The “Sangli, Songli, and Seli brothers” were exceptionally talented in technology, well-known in fields like information technology and software engineering. Many people thought they were almost pathologically low-key; otherwise, with their abilities, they should have become figures of global influence.
Of course, Hilton had to keep a low profile. He still had nearly two hundred years of life ahead of him and always needed to prepare for rebuilding his identity.
The security system answered automatically, playing music while guests waited. The door opened to a young man with black hair, possibly of Hispanic descent, wearing a bathrobe, his hair still dripping.
John was about to greet him when the young man asked, “Are you Deville Coraci and…his partner? Why are you wrapped in blankets?”
“I’m Coraci,” Coraci replied. “My partner is a bloodkin. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Oh, I don’t mind. I’ve seen plenty of strange things.”
“Is Hilton home?”
Apparently this black-haired young man wasn’t Hilton… John thought silently, No wonder — his aura was entirely human.
“Come in. He hasn’t finished his shower yet.”
Coraci and John sat on the living room sofa. The young man even drew the curtain to accommodate John. Beneath his collar, skin was faintly discernable, the bathrobe covering deep and shallow traces of desires.
Sensing John’s gaze, the young man curled the corner of his mouth. “Since you’re a vampire who can be out during the day, you must be at least a hundred years old, right? You’re looking at me like a schoolboy staring at a naked cheerleader.”
John coughed awkwardly. Coraci decided to help him and changed the subject. “Sir, you just called me ‘Deville Coraci’, so you must know what’s happened to me, right?”
“Of course,” the young man nodded.
“Thank you for letting an Umbral into your home without fear.”
“It’s nothing,” he shrugged. “I’m not that old; I never experienced the days of fighting devils, so I’m not familiar with this. Since Hilton welcomed your visit, I obviously have no objection…”
But halfway through his sentence, his entire height suddenly shrank dramatically, and the last syllable of his words sharpened into a high pitch.
“Whoa!” John’s eyes widened, and even Coraci was completely stunned.
Before them, the young man had transformed into a black-haired woman. Her body had changed shape, making the bathrobe loose; her shoulders and ample chest were completely exposed. This all happened in an instant.
“You’re a…Bewildering Monster?” Coraci said, astonished, staring at her.
The black-haired woman adjusted her bathrobe. “I’ve already switched back to a female body. Can’t you look away for a second? Learn from Mr. Vampire.”
She finished speaking and fiddled with her hair as she walked upstairs. Coraci turned to see John very gentlemanly, his face turned aside.
“She’s dressed now,” Coraci reminded him.
John glanced at the Bewildering Monster’s retreating figure, then looked at Coraci.
“What’s wrong?” Coraci asked.
“The Eyes of Truth… They haven’t recovered yet, right?”
Coraci nodded. “They’ll probably recover gradually in time. It’s a process.”
“Does that mean…”
“That I’m not stable yet?” Coraci answered. “Yes, that’s true. It’s not necessarily bad. After all, we must prepare for the devil sacrifice…”
John wanted to say something more, but Hilton came down the stairs.
Three people — well, technically one person — were dressed in matching loungewear, each holding the same canned drink in their right hand. One by one, he shook hands and embraced Coraci, then sat neatly on the sofa opposite them.
“The one who just spoke with you was Franco,” said the body on the left.
“My partner,” said the middle one.
“He used to be a hunter,” said the one on the right.
Hilton knew about what had happened three years ago, and he also knew what kind of creature Coraci had become. He didn’t mind. He said that since humans had two fewer bodies than Cyrpho, it wasn’t surprising that a human body could hold a more complex and massive soul.
The conversation was mostly led by Coraci. As he recounted recent events and the Association’s requests, John sat stunned, staring at Hilton’s three bodies, wondering how Cyrpho and the Bewildering Monster managed to sleep together. It was obvious that, before they had arrived, Hilton and Franco — well, the four of them…actually just two people — had been engaged in some intense activity. But…even though Hilton was technically one person, he had three bodies. Three!
Did all three bodies need to be satisfied? Or was one enough? And if one was enough, why did all three need to shower?
Before he could figure it out, Coraci stood and shook hands with each of the three bodies to say goodbye. Hilton was willing to help the Association. His only request was that the exorcists who calculated spell data come to his house to work, for easier communication.
Just as they were about to leave, John was called back by one of Hilton’s bodies.
“Today’s my day off, so…I didn’t plan my schedule well. Sorry you had to see all this.”
“What?” John turned back.
“You were in a constant state of surprise that I’m dating the Bewildering Monster,” said another body. “If the Association comes to work at my house, I won’t let you run into these things again. I promise.”
John asked awkwardly, “Mr. Hilton…are you like a shapeshifter? Can you read minds?”
“No,” said the other body. “Your thoughts are all written on your face.”
That evening, the exorcists arrived at Hilton’s house. Soon after, clerks with nowhere to work and hunters with nowhere to rest showed up too.
By eight o’clock at night, three vans had parked in front of Hilton’s house. It was Lathander, leading a group of demons, joined by Carl and several wild bloodkin from West Bay City.
The vans carried stacks of bookshelves from the north tower library of the Blackmoon family. Lathander explained that some of the books might have protective spells, so they couldn’t carry them directly. Instead, they laid the shelves flat and stacked them on the vans one by one.
Wiping his hands, Lathander said, “The Association doesn’t have werewolves. Only demons and bloodkin have the strength for this kind of work.”
One of Hilton’s bodies (the one called Songli, it seemed) came out of the upstairs study and leaned over the railing, waving. “Hey, there are basically no problems over here.”
“Then can we start?” Coraci asked.
“Start what?”
“Start designing the program…”
“No, I mean—” Hilton (Songli) wrinkled his nose, as if Coraci’s question had deeply insulted their intelligence. “Before you even moved in, I had already written the program. Your requirements are extremely simple — much easier than the jobs I usually take. Now, the program has already calculated the preliminary results.”
Everyone in the living room exchanged glances. The humans queued to run upstairs, while some impatient supernatural beings simply climbed over the railing.
Hilton’s three bodies pointed at a few simple graphics on the screen, alongside a pile of numbers and letter commands.
“1,468,805.2 seconds.”
“What?” The exorcists sat cross-legged on the carpet like schoolchildren.
“That’s the calculated revival time, based on the general recovery rates you provided,” the Hiltons said in unison, spreading their hands.
When a family bloodline disappeared, the sacrifices didn’t instantly appear the next second — they revived gradually. For example, the Atwood family’s sacrifice had gradually grown stronger over time.
Hilton explained, “This result means that if everyone in the Blackmoon family dies, starting from the moment I just reported the first number, the devil’s soul will be fully free in 93,960 seconds, and its power will reach a high level. Oh, that number just dropped slightly because a few seconds passed while I was talking…”
“Please convert that into days,” Coraci reminded him.
“A little over one day,” Hilton answered.
“This assumes the Blackmoon family is completely gone?” Liz asked. “But we’re not dead yet — we still have at least two of us…”
“Mm, I know,” Hilton said. “One of them could disappear at any moment, right?”
Liz nodded. She didn’t want that to happen, but she had to be prepared — this was reality.
“Assume only you remain,” Hilton said while typing on the keyboard. “Based on the data you provided, it would take roughly one million four hundred sixty-eight thousand eight hundred—”
“Please convert that into days…”
“About seventeen days. Counting down from the moment Lucian dies.”
The members of the Association fell silent. The deadline didn’t sound too terrible at first, but the more they thought about it, the more urgent it became.
If Lucian couldn’t survive, they would have to start the countdown.
Author’s Note:
Note 1: “Cyrpho” literally means “brain”. It comes from an obscure language called Esperanto. Of course, it has nothing to do with Esperanto here; it’s just borrowing the pronunciation. Just pretend it originates from some ancient highbrow language…
Currently, Lucian is in critical condition in the hospital. But Liz, as the only fully capable member of the Blackmoon family, has to work.
So who’s guarding the hospital? A particularly scientific person… (Not Carolyn!)
And I really love the Bewildering Monster — a naturally marginal creature. Since it’s something I randomly created, we can’t deeply question its social relevance or rationality. Just treat it as a hidden group that blends into human society.
From The Unthreatening Creature Protection Association’s Guide to Unscientific Monsters:
Cryphos
Cyrphos are humanoid beings born with two or three bodies, which are not physically connected. All bodies share a single consciousness, with the main brain located in one body. A Cyrpho with only one body is considered incomplete, suffering from reduced intelligence and health, and is often mistaken for a human.
Cyrpho live around 300 years and are exceptionally intelligent, far exceeding human intellect. If the body containing the main brain dies, the remaining bodies become mentally impaired — even by human standards. If a non-brain body dies, the main brain remains, but its intelligence still suffers, dropping closer to human levels.
Cyrpho can reproduce with humans:
- A male Cyrpho and a human female always have human children.
- A female Cyrpho and a human male always have Cyrpho children. However, every body of the female Cyrpho must conceive, and only the body with the main brain can gestate and give birth. If this process isn’t followed, reproduction fails. Thus, mating with humans is not straightforward.
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