Lilith squatted behind the bushes, biting her finger and staring at the clearing without blinking.
Her left leg was a little numb.
But she couldn't switch legs or move, because she still wanted to see how the plot unfolded.
The clearing was deathly silent.
The three men in black stood in a triangular formation. Their hoods obscured most of their faces, leaving only their chins and lips visible. All three faces were devoid of expression.
The silence lasted for about ten seconds.
The man in black standing at the front spoke, his voice sounding raspy.
“Blame yourselves for taking something you shouldn't have. We told you to hand it over back then, but you wouldn't listen. Now that you've left the city, let's see who can protect you.”
He took half a step forward, the tip of his sword rising slightly to point at the elderly man.
“I'm giving you one last chance. Hand over the Third-Order Magic Crystal, and we'll let you live.”
A Third-Order Magic Crystal?
Lilith blinked behind the bushes. What was that? It sounded like something quite expensive.
The elderly man didn't answer. He struggled to reach for the sword beside him, but quickly realized his body couldn't even lift a hand at this moment. He had basically lost all control.
The young girl behind him had trembling lips, but the terror in her eyes was fleeting, replaced by a flicker of determination.
“Otherwise,” the tip of the man's sword rose another fraction, “you will all die.”
The elderly man finally spoke, his voice halting as if the words were being squeezed out of his throat with every ounce of his strength.
“Lady...” He didn't look back, his eyes still fixed on the three men in black, but his words were clearly meant for the person behind him. “Whatever you do, do not give it to them.”
He coughed, a trail of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
“Even if we hand it over... we'll still die here. They won't keep their promise at all.”
These words were spoken very softly, but every syllable was clear.
The girl's pupils constricted.
Then, she did something no one expected.
She stood up.
Rising from behind the elderly man, she moved past his hunched shoulders and stepped to his side.
She raised her hand, and a ball of pale green light ignited in her palm. It was healing magic.
The light fell upon the deepest wound on the old man's body. Although the wound remained...
It clearly began to heal slowly.
Watching quietly from the side, Lilith muttered to herself, “This is good. Looks like I need to learn healing magic too.”
“Steward,” the girl's voice was even more stubborn than she looked, her words deliberate. “Don't worry. I won't hand it over even if I die.”
The old man's lips trembled, his eyes turning red.
The three men in black watched this scene, their expressions shifting from cold indifference to anger.
The only reason they hadn't immediately moved to seize it was because of a mage's personal storage space.
It was a private storage dimension bound to the soul, which only the owner could open.
If the person died, the space wouldn't disappear, but it would enter a sealed state. To unlock it, one would have to spend a massive amount of time and effort to break it by force.
Furthermore, the success rate was low. If luck was poor, the items inside would be annihilated along with it.
That was why they were wasting their breath with these two.
Otherwise, given the way these three operated, they would have killed everyone long ago.
The man in black at the front remained silent for three seconds, then let out a cold snort.
“Ungrateful.”
He tilted his head and waved his hand to the two behind him.
“Enough. Kill them.”
“Remember to take the girl's body. Once we're back, have the superiors crack her personal storage space.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the three of them moved simultaneously.
Their movements were clean and efficient, without a single wasted motion.
The elderly man tried to shield the girl, but it was futile.
With a casual swing, the lead man in black struck the old man's chest. Under the force of the palm strike, the old man flew backward like a kite with a broken string.
At the same instant, the man on the left thrust his sword toward the girl.
The blade cut through the air, heading straight for her throat.
The man on the right didn't attack; instead, he moved two steps to the side, sealing off the only path of retreat.
Their coordination was seamless. There were no openings.
The girl's healing magic hadn't been withdrawn yet, and the green light shattered into sparkling fragments in her palm.
Her eyes went wide, reflecting the approaching sword tip.
She had no time to dodge.
Flying through the air, the elderly man stared fixedly in the girl's direction, his mouth open as if to scream, but blood surged out first, choking back all sound.
Then, he tumbled toward the nearby bushes.
“Oof!”
By some stroke of luck—or lack thereof—the old man landed exactly where Lilith was hiding.
Seeing the object flying toward her, Lilith's body instinctively reached out to catch it.
The strength of this Demon King's body was ridiculously high. With just a bit of effort, she steadily caught an adult man who was a full head taller than her.
The old man leaned against her arms, his face covered in blood, his eyes half-closed as his consciousness began to fade.
Lilith looked down at him, not yet realizing what had happened.
Then, she felt three gazes fall on her simultaneously.
She slowly raised her head.
The three men in black turned at the same time, six eyes staring straight at her through the shadows of their hoods.
A large hole had been smashed into the bushes. She was half-squatting inside, one hand supporting the old man while the other remained in a catching posture.
The man in the front looked her up and down.
His gaze eventually settled on her bare feet.
Then, he frowned.
“...Who are you?”
Lilith squatted there, her lips parting and closing, closing and parting.
She cleared her throat, trying to make her voice sound as non-confrontational as possible.
“...If I said I was just passing by, would you believe me?”
No one answered.
One of the men in black gestured to the leader. “Look at how ragged her clothes are, and she's not even wearing shoes. She's probably just some wild brat from around here. Kill her.”
Hearing this, the lead man in black slowly gripped his sword and walked toward her step by step.
Lilith sighed and set the elderly man aside.
She shifted into a combat stance. “I originally wanted to get along with you all as an ordinary person, but I didn't expect to be met with ridicule instead. In that case, don't blame me.”
The man in black snorted coldly, feeling that the person before him was nothing to fear.
He then vanished from the spot, appearing in front of Lilith the next second. Raising his longsword with both hands, he delivered a horizontal slash.
But the expression on his face froze instantly because Lilith caught the sword with one hand and then crushed it directly.
“How is this possible?” The man in black looked at her in terror, his legs tensing as he prepared to retreat, but... it was too late.
“I hope your body is sturdy enough,” Lilith said with a smile. Then, she threw a punch at the man. Before he could even let out a scream, his body was instantly torn apart by the force, and the trees behind him were blown away.
Lilith looked at the scene before her in confusion. “What's going on? It wasn't like this when I fought Veen.”
A moment later, Lilith reached a conclusion: not everyone's body was like Veen's.
Meanwhile, the other two men in black had yet to react. Lilith walked slowly toward them. “Now, you may say your last words.”
Rate on N.U.
