Succubi Chapter 110. Silence
The cafeteria noise blurred around us, metal trays clinking, students laughing, enchanted utensils scooping things up on their own. Someone in the back was playing music through a mana crystal that hummed too loud for a moment before getting scolded. It was just… normal.
But not at this table.
At our table?
The silence felt wrong.
Like we were all sitting in the eye of some storm none of us could see yet.
I tried to smile, tried to act normal, because hey, that's my thing, right? Friendly neighborhood chaos gremlin. And Leon?
He looked like someone just took the floor out from under him and forgot to tell him gravity was optional now.
So I tried.
"Hey," I nudged him with my elbow, forcing a grin. "Cheer up. This ain't your first time getting beat up."
He blinked. Barely reacted.
I kept going. "I mean… I've been there too. I've gotten flattened multiple times. Once by a training dummy with an aggression glitch back in high school days."
That should've made him laugh.
But it didn't.
He just nodded a little. Still distant. Like his brain was stuck buffering a memory that didn't make sense.
"…Leon," I added quietly.
Nothing.
Then Evelyn spoke.
"That's not the case, Evan," she said, voice soft but firm.
I turned to her. She was still half-facing Leon, elbows resting on the table, hands folded like a puzzle waiting to be solved.
"It wasn't just that he lost," she said. "It's how."
I frowned.
"The power-up," she continued, "was too obvious. Too clean. No build-up. No hesitation. Just, boom. Suddenly, Ares had speed and strength way beyond what we've seen from him."
I nodded slowly.
"He didn't get a scratch," she added, eyes narrowing. "Not one. And that speed… it wasn't Valor-speed. It was something else."
She glanced at me.
And yeah.
I got it.
Because she wasn't talking about normal speed.
She was talking about our kind of speed.
Demonic kind of speed.
The kind that didn't come from training or talent, but from blood. From mana that wasn't mortal.
And that?
That explained everything.
Leon didn't just look beat up.
He looked confused.
Like he was still trying to understand what happened. Trying to do the math and realizing the numbers weren't even real anymore.
I didn't say anything.
Neither did Evelyn.
"I see."
I opened my lunch box in silence, trying to act casual, but my thoughts were moving faster than I could chew.
Evelyn opened hers too, neat, perfect bento packed in tight rows. She didn't speak. Just took a bite and stared forward, expression unreadable.
Me?
I took a bite of my grilled chicken.
It tasted good. Soft. Juicy. Exactly how I liked it.
But in my mouth?
It was just… plain.
Flat.
Because while my taste buds were busy trying to enjoy the food, my brain was spinning through every horrible possibility.
'Okay,' I thought. 'Let's think.'
What Evelyn said… that meant Ares suddenly had speed like hers. Which, to be clear, was not human.
Which meant… what?
He wasn't a demon. At least, not one of the known bloodlines. If he was, the girls would've sensed him. I mean, they sensed me immediately. And I was new. They all sniffed me out like predators spotting a fresh steak at a party.
So either Ares wasn't a demon… or…
Or something else happened.
Did he turn into a demon?
Is that a thing? Can you become one?
Or maybe… maybe something invaded him?
Possessed him?
Or swapped him?
What if the Ares we saw today wasn't the same one from yesterday?
What if something stepped in, took over, and now we're dealing with a walking meat puppet wearing a Valor uniform and smirking like a discount war god?
I glanced sideways at Evelyn.
She was chewing, calm on the outside, but I caught it. That one quick glance at me. That little flicker in her eye that said, 'don't say anything now. Not in front of him.'
Right.
Later.
We'd talk later.
Not now.
Not with Leon sitting here trying to hold himself together.
I glanced at him again.
He still looked down. Picking at his food like a guilty ghost in a cafeteria line.
I sighed.
"Hey," I said. "Do you want my food?"
He blinked.
"What?"
"I ate a lot this morning," I said, nudging my tray closer. "I can share."
His eyes lit up a little. Just a flicker. But it was there.
"Really?"
"Yeah. Take whatever you want."
He hesitated. Then pointed at two specific items in my lunch box. The good ones.
"The grilled dumplings and… that teriyaki chicken?"
I grinned. "You've got expensive taste."
He gave me the tiniest smile. "They're Lilith's, right?"
"Yup."
He huffed, that small spark of humor flickering back. "No one cooks like her. Even the cafeteria chef worships her recipes."
"Yeah, well," I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck, "she is kind of a legend in the kitchen. Something about ancient seasoning rituals and terrifying levels of butter."
Leon chuckled quietly. "It tastes divine. I swear she could make poison taste holy."
I smirked. "That's accurate. She's probably done it, too."
That earned me a short laugh, the first real one I'd heard from him all day, and for a second, things felt a little lighter.
He snorted and reached over, grabbing the dumpling like it was a sacred artifact. Evelyn raised a brow but said nothing, watching him eat in silence.
I leaned back.
Watched them.
The three of us.
Just students on break.
Pretending things were normal.
Pretending there wasn't something dark and wrong blooming just beneath the surface of this academy.
I looked at Leon again.
I'd seen him beat entire squads before.
And now?
He sat here, chewing in silence, like he didn't know what strength even meant anymore.
I clenched my jaw.
Whatever Ares did… whatever he is, I'll find out.
Even if I had to dig through forbidden spells and demon archives myself.
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