The silence of the manor grounds felt heavy, a suffocating weight that pressed against Leo's lungs. He stood there, legs trembling slightly, staring down at the small, vibrating figure of Lilithia. The way she was hiding her face, the way her shadows flickered like a dying candle—it didn't make sense.
What is she? An angel? Am I hallucinating? Leo's mind raced. He had spent months analyzing every mechanic of this world, every dark corner of the lore, and yet nothing prepared him for a Sovereign of the Abyss acting like a shy middle-schooler. But the morning light was coming. Alisa's time was a sand timer with only a few grains left. He couldn't afford to waste a single second on a demon's identity crisis.
"I won't beg to you, Lilithia,"
Leo said. His voice was sandpaper—dry, rough, and devoid of the hope he had once carried.
He tightened the straps of his bag, his broken hand throbbing in rhythm with his pulse.
"And besides, you can't do anything about this anyway. You're just a Noble with too much time on her hands. I have to find a miracle that actually exists, not just some demon looking for a show."
Leo turned his back on her. He began to walk toward the iron gates, his boots crunching loudly in the gravel. Every step away from the Manor felt like he was pulling a dagger out of his own chest.
Lilithia stopped her trembling. The air behind Leo didn't just grow cold; it turned stagnant. The shadows around her snapped back into a sharp, jagged aura that seemed to swallow the moonlight whole.
"No,"
She said. Her voice was suddenly very calm, stripped of all its playful chime. It held the weight of a thousand-year-old glacier.
"When I mean I can help you, I mean I do can."
Leo stopped. He slowly turned his head to look at her over his shoulder. His eyes were hollow, two empty pits that had seen too much failure to believe in a stranger's promise. He was waiting for the twist. He was waiting for her to laugh and tell him that the only "help" she offered was a quick death.
When Lilithia saw that dead, skeptical look on his face, her "scary" aura shattered instantly. Her embarrassment came bubbling back to the surface like a geyser. She began to twirl in a small, frantic circle, her smoky dress fluttering like a swarm of dark butterflies.
"Oh! You are doing the scary stare again! It's so grumpy! Why are you so grumpy?!"
She giggled, pressing her tiny hands to her cheeks.
"If you want the forgiveness of Lady Lilithia for being so rude and calling me a stray, you have to do a lot more than just look at me! You have to be extra, extra nice! Maybe you should try a bow? Or a song? Or maybe just stop acting like a big, gloomy rock!"
Leo's face darkened. He didn't have the energy for her games. The sun was going to rise, and Alisa was going to die.
"Stop yapping,"
Leo muttered, his voice cracking with a sudden, sharp desperation.
"You talk about the Abyss and the Great List like it's a game. If you're just here to mock me while I watch her slip away, then just kill me now and get it over with."
Lilithia locked in. The childish light stayed in her eyes, but her posture became stiff and regal. She stepped closer, the shadows lengthening behind her until they looked like the wings of a fallen god.
"There is a potion," she whispered.
"It is not a human myth like your 'Soul Exception.' It is something entirely real, kept in the deepest, most forbidden vaults of the Maw. It is called the Phoenix Divine Harist."
Leo felt a jolt of electricity run down his spine. His breath hitched in his throat.
The Harist? In the game's secret files, the Phoenix Divine Harist was more than just a potion. It was an elixir brewed from the blood of a primordial Demon Lord. That blood was the only substance in existence capable of generating a total recovery from a Sun-blade strike. It didn't just heal; it rewrote reality.
"The Sun-blade is a conceptual weapon, right?"
Lilithia continued, her voice dropping to a serious, hushed tone.
"It erases what it touches. Well, this blood belongs to a Lord whose name I... well, I actually cannot say his name out loud or my tongue would turn to ash! But his essence is the only thing that can generate new life where the Sun-blade erased it. It can regenerate a Sun-blade ultra-cut like it was just a scratch."
Leo stood there, completely paralyzed. Every bit of his knowledge confirmed she was telling the truth. The Harist was the ultimate reset button. It was a guarantee.
A massive, overwhelming wave of joy crashed into Leo's chest. It was so sudden, so violent, that he couldn't breathe. The hopeless walk, the grief, the guilt—it all vanished in an instant.
Without thinking twice, Leo lunged forward.
**He hugged her.**
Leo grabbed the tiny, shadow-wrapped girl and pulled her into a massive, tight embrace.
"Thank you!"
he shouted, his voice cracking with pure relief.
"Thank you, Lili! You're serious? You can really get it? Thank you!"
---
Lilithia's Inner Chaos
Inside the dark void where Lilithia's heart should have been, everything went into a blind, screaming panic.
What... what is happening?! her thoughts shrieked. A human is touching me? He's... he's squeezing me?! In all her centuries in the Abyss, no one had ever dared to come within a yard of her. Even the strongest demons kept their distance, terrified of the suffocating aura she projected. She was a Sovereign. She was used to fear, to worship, and to cold isolation.
She had never been hugged. She had never felt the warmth of another living thing pressing against her.
His hands are so warm, she thought, her internal logic melting into a puddle. And he smells like soot and... and gratitude. It's disgusting! It's... it's... why is my face feeling like it's on fire?! No one has ever hugged me... not even the other Nobles... this guy is so forward! He's just a stupid human and he's making me feel like I'm... I'm...
The shock was too much for her demonic core to process. Her instincts reacted to the foreign warmth with a violent burst of mana.
Lilithia's face, hidden in the supernatural gloom, suddenly bloomed with a deep, dark violet-blue glow. It was a blush so intense it radiated heat. The air around her began to hum with a dangerous, crackling static.
"Wha—! Who—! Let go of me!"
She shrieked.
Suddenly, a massive flash of black-blue light electric energy erupted from her tiny body.
The magical force hit Leo like a physical punch. He went sailing backward through the air, his boots skidding against the gravel until he hit the ground with a heavy thud near the Manor gate.
"Idiot! Fool! Insolent human!"
Lilithia screamed, her voice a chaotic mix of deep embarrassment and absolute fury.
She was stomping both of her feet on the gravel, her hands desperately covering her glowing violet face. Thick blue sparks danced between her fingers, scorching the grass beneath her feet into black ash.
"You do not just grab a Sovereign! I should turn your bones into dust! I should feed your soul to the hounds! You are so... so shameless! How dare you hug someone like me!"
She looked incredibly dangerous, a miniature storm of Abyssal lightning, but through the gaps in her fingers, her eyes were darting around with wide-eyed panic.
"There is one condition!" she huffed, pointing a trembling, sparking finger at Leo. "It is far too early to thank me, you bossy human! Don't think a hug buys you a miracle!"
Leo groaned, slowly sitting up and rubbing his chest where the black lightning had scorched his shirt. The pain was sharp, but he didn't seem to care. He sat properly on the ground, crossing his legs and taking a deep breath to steady himself.
He gave her his full, undivided attention. He did not think about his pride. He didn't think about his "special" status. He only wanted that potion.
"I'm sorry, I'll hear you out now, forgive me for my early action, I can't think straight..."
Lilithia noticed the shift. When she saw that Leo was sitting there, listening nicely, she smoothed down her smoky dress. Her cheeks were still glowing with that violet hue, and she began to yap again about his earlier insults to hide her nerves.
"You were so mean to me!"
She complained, crossing her arms.
"You called me a stray! You said I was just yapping like a common pest! That was completely unforgivable! A human should be honored just to see my shadow!"
"I apologize,"
Leo said immediately. His voice was calm and sincere.
"I was wrong. I was angry and blind. I am sorry, Lady Lilithia. I'm just a big dummy who doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut."
Lilithia blinked, surprised by how quickly he folded. She let out a small, satisfied humpf, though her blush hadn't fully faded.
"Fine! Since you admitted you're a dummy, I might consider helping,"
She said, her voice regaining its edge.
Leo looked up, his expression hardening.
"Are you going to tell me what I must offer? I told you... I will do anything. Just say the words, and I will do it. I promise."
Lilithia's face darkened. The playful mask vanished. She stepped closer, and the temperature around them seemed to drop to zero.
"Right,"
She whispered.
"What I really want... it is not as simple as it seems."
"Now... pay close attention."