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Chapter 8
The Woman Who Entered the Secret Place
The training ground was better than expected.
Lilith had always been curious about the military training grounds of Gehenna, and this place was much larger and better equipped than she had imagined.
Rows of neatly arranged targets stood in place, and there were plenty of high-quality arrows. Along the walls hung dozens of swords, from longswords to shortswords. At the training ground in Malefiori Palace, they had always been required to use wooden swords during practice, but it seemed that real blades were used here.
“…As expected, this body can’t handle the heaviest weapons.”
Lilith swung the sword hanging on the far right a few times before giving up. Then she picked up an arrow.
It was easy.
She fired five arrows.
All five struck the exact center of the target without the slightest error.
Training had always been the best way to clear away unnecessary thoughts.
But not now.
Each time she drew her bow, her grip tightened, and her mind filled with dark, vicious thoughts.
She pulled the string a sixth time.
Thud!
The arrow completely pierced through the center of the target.
Breathing heavily, she casually threw the bow aside.
Looking around, she noticed a small door in one corner.
That must be the armory the Nightmare Demons had mentioned.
“Who’s there at this hour? Your Majesty?”
The moment she sensed someone’s presence, Lilith quickly ran toward the armory.
If she were caught, she could always pretend she had gotten lost.
But she had opened the magical restraints with far too much ease.
More importantly…
She still hadn’t found a weapon that suited her.
Lilith started running.
As she moved forward, magical lamps lit up one after another.
After some time, she suddenly realized something strange.
She had been running in circles.
She was certain she had chosen different directions each time, but whenever she looked around…
She had returned to the same place.
Should she just give up and come back another day?
With a sigh, she leaned against the wall.
Then—
“What… what’s happening?”
Her body suddenly tilted sideways.
In an instant, she was pulled into an entirely different space.
“Gasp!”
Lilith immediately covered her mouth with both hands to stop herself from screaming.
An overwhelming amount of magical power pressed down on her.
The air itself was so densely filled with mana that she could feel its flow simply by blinking.
“This is insane… If I still had Ariella’s body, overflowing with holy power, I would have fainted.”
She cautiously walked forward.
Only a few steps later…
She froze.
This looked like the outside of the castle.
The giant sphere she had seen from outside the main castle now shone above like the moon.
The night sky was calm.
And before her…
There was a deep black lake.
At first she wondered if it was an illusion.
But the cool breeze brushed against her skin.
The rippling water was perfectly real.
She crouched down and dipped her fingers into it.
The water was as cold as ice.
Such an enormous lake…
“Hm?”
After wandering around for a while, she noticed something swimming beneath the surface.
Her eyes widened.
“A Sylph!”
She couldn’t help shouting.
A Sylph was a spiritual creature whose evolution determined whether it would soar through the skies or sink into the deepest seas.
It resembled a whale, except it was much larger and possessed wings.
The most fascinating thing about them was that although their skin was normally silver, it would glow gold the deeper their bond with someone became.
Of course, that almost never happened.
By nature, they were violent and extremely aggressive.
This was Lilith’s first time seeing one in person.
Sylphs could never be tamed, and because of their extremely withdrawn nature, they rarely appeared before anyone.
Trying to hide her excitement, Lilith calmed her racing heart.
Maybe…
Just maybe…
“This is the first time someone other than the red-eyed man has entered this place.”
‘I can hear it!’
The voice of the spiritual beast echoed clearly in her ears.
Her ability to communicate with animals hadn’t disappeared.
“You look weak. Are you food?”
“Eating a demon will probably only upset your stomach.”
“Huh? You can understand me?”
“Yes. Why don’t you come a little closer?”
“What are you? A mage? Wow… you’re strange. Your soul is far too pure for a demon.”
Lilith smiled softly.
“They say Sylphs can see through souls. That’s amazing. So you can tell I’m not truly a demon.”
“A human couldn’t survive here… so you’re one of the Celestials?”
“Well… half and half.”
“Ugh… Is that even possible?”
“There are always exceptions.”
“I suppose so. That man also has a pure soul. The red-eyed man… the Demon King.”
Lilith stared in disbelief.
“That must be a mistake. The Demon King’s soul should be the most corrupt and filthy in the entire world.”
“That’s just prejudice. Even among Archangels, there are souls that are cruel and rotten.”
“…You’re right about that.”
She knew one.
A monster wearing the face of her first love.
A devil so gentle that it made her skin crawl.
“Aren’t you afraid of me? I eat people too.”
“I already know Sylphs are omnivores. It would be difficult with this body, but if we fought…
I’d still win.
I’ve even defeated dragons before.”
“Really? Damn! You’re amazing! We like strong beings!”
At that moment…
Part of the Sylph’s body shimmered with a faint golden light.
“It seems everyone who comes here is a little crazy.”
“Does the Demon King come here often?”
“Yes. Whenever he stands here releasing his aura, I can’t even approach him. He’s so beautiful it’s almost hypnotic…”
“…But terrifying.”
“Exactly. This place is connected to his room.”
“What?”
“This isn’t outside?”
“If you swim through the lake, it connects to the Styx River that flows through the center of Gehenna.”
“Then why don’t you leave?”
“I’m not trapped here. I stay by choice. The magical power that man releases is so overwhelming that it keeps me here. Even if I wanted to leave… I couldn’t. Oh! Hey! Shouldn’t you hide? He’s coming!”
The Sylph instantly disappeared beneath the water.
Lilith slowly stood up.
“You should’ve warned me sooner, you stupid Sylph…”
The entire place was overflowing with mana.
Yet all that magical power was spiraling toward a single core.
Lilith could clearly feel it.
Right behind her.
“Hello, Lilith.”
It was the Demon King.
***
Adrian couldn’t believe his eyes.
But the flowing blue-violet hair was unmistakably Lilith’s.
Her hair swayed beautifully against the dark waves of the black lake that reflected the night sky.
So…
He allowed the woman who had invaded his secret place to remain there for a while.
Even his breathing became slow as he quietly watched her.
He had expected her to be terrified.
The beautiful black lake could drag anyone to its depths at the slightest mistake.
It filled every living creature with instinctive fear.
Yet…
Lilith looked completely relaxed.
Watching her crouch by the water, idly stirring it with her fingers and wandering around without a care made him strangely irritated.
She had injured her head.
Had she also lost her sense of fear?
Instead of forcing her out immediately, Adrian silently followed her every movement with his eyes.
She didn’t even seem cold despite the overwhelming magical power filling the air.
She wore only a thin nightgown.
Every time the hem fluttered, her pale white calves were revealed.
Sand crunched beneath the slippers she had carelessly slipped on over her bare feet.
Yet she seemed completely unconcerned.
The black lake.
Her white feet.
The strange contrast made Adrian narrow his eyes.
Then…
Something moved.
It was small, but powerful.
A Sylph.
Did it want to die?
He didn’t know why that thought crossed his mind.
He had no intention of playing the hero by saving a woman in danger.
But Sylphs truly were dangerous.
‘What a nuisance.’
As Adrian slowly unfolded his crossed arms—
He stopped after taking only a single step.
Anyone else would have fainted in terror.
But what was this?
Lilith…
Was talking to the Sylph.
Even more unbelievable…
The Sylph wasn’t attacking her.
It behaved peacefully.
Lilith occasionally laughed.
Sometimes she even shrugged proudly.
He couldn’t hear what they were saying.
But one thing was obvious.
They were not enemies.
Adrian reached a conclusion.
Lilith Noctana had completely lost her mind.
After losing her memories…
She had surely gone insane.
When the Sylph’s skin glowed with a faint golden light, Adrian came to another conclusion.
…Or perhaps she was finally revealing the true power and identity she had hidden for the past three years.
Lilith slowly turned around.
Her face remained calm.
She controlled her expression perfectly.
Gone was the woman whose face used to flush bright red or turn pale from a single word he spoke.
Instead…
She looked at him with even less emotion than he showed her.
Had he been wrong about her family being foolish and incompetent?
Could this woman be the spy the opposing faction had secretly prepared all these years?
Did she possess hidden power?
Was that why his Evil Eye hadn’t worked on her?
Was that also why…
The frightened look in her eyes had become one of disgust?
“How did you find this place?”
“I got lost while exploring the castle.”
“You got lost?”
Her shameless answer was delivered so calmly and innocently that Adrian was left speechless for a moment.
Her eyes clearly showed surprise.
Yet her voice didn’t tremble at all.
“Where are Poris and Aim?”
“I slipped away from them, so don’t blame them. They kept nagging me and wouldn’t let me do anything.”
“You always used to blame everything on Poris and Aim.”
Adrian took one step forward.
Lilith took one step back.
One step.
Two steps.
Three.
Before she realized it…
Cold lake water touched her heels.
“If you take one more step back… you’ll fall into the lake.”
Adrian walked right up until he was standing directly in front of the shameless, troublesome woman.
