Chapter 109……………………………………..
Mammon and Elias couldn’t take their eyes off Lilith’s descent. She appeared, splitting the sky, and slowly approached the Hasent Church. Lilith then stopped above the church.
As Lilith drew closer, Elias couldn’t help but be even more astonished. And it made sense—her appearance was vastly different from the Lilith he remembered.
In Elias’s memory, Lilith had been nothing more than a beautiful and enchanting archdemon. But the current Lilith was different.
“That form is….”
She was still beautiful and formidable, but now she had two massive horns sprouting from her head, and three pairs of large black wings spread from her back.
She looked like a true demon incarnate. Anyone who saw her would surely recognize her as a demon.
It was exactly the kind of demon often described in books.
Black wings, huge horns, and a beauty capable of beguiling anyone.
Elias was shocked by Lilith’s appearance, but soon his concern for her began to grow.
“Lilith… You came because you were worried about me… Are you okay?”
For a god-level archdemon like Lilith to manifest physically, tremendous conditions were required. Judging by her current form, the cost must have been enormous.
And Elias wasn’t the only one who noticed. As Lilith descended, Mammon, who quickly assessed her form, widened his eyes and let out a bitter laugh.
“Ha… Lilith…!”
Mammon’s hands and feet trembled uncontrollably. At the same time, he felt an overwhelming hatred for Elias, who was surely looking up at Lilith just like him.
“Is this child really that important to you?!”
Mammon roared at Lilith as he looked up at her. His heart was a mixture of hatred, contempt, and a twisted love-hate directed at her.
“So much that you would borrow power from an ancient demon?!”
Elias couldn’t immediately understand what Mammon meant.
“Ancient demon?”
He had never even heard of such a being. At that moment, Lilith, now near the Hasent Church, smiled and spoke.
“Indeed.”
It was a simple reply, yet Mammon felt as if his heart had dropped. Lilith’s current power surpassed the inherent strength of an archdemon.
Even Mammon, if he unleashed all of his strength, couldn’t predict the outcome of a fight against her.
As Lilith drew closer, she added in a gentle voice:
“The life that child saved, I will use it for that child… Is that really a problem?”
Elias alone could not grasp the situation. What kind of “ancient demon” was this, that it involved someone’s life?
“What… what is this…?”
Before Elias could make sense of it, Lilith’s divine form, floating in midair, moved with a speed that made her almost invisible.
Thak!
“Ugh—!”
Mammon barely blocked the sudden, fierce strike with his arms. Lilith withdrew, a faint smile on her lips, retracting the hand she had used to attack.
“She’s definitely strong.”
Mammon looked at the arm that had blocked Lilith’s attack. It trembled uncontrollably from the impact, barely held back by his strength.
“It can’t be helped.”
Glaring at Lilith, Mammon began drawing forth the power he had hidden within himself. Until now, he had relied mostly on Hasent’s power, but against Lilith, using a single source would not suffice.
Even using both of his powers, the probability of completely stopping Lilith was low.
As Mammon prepared his strength, Lilith moved swiftly.
Swish!
Her hand lightly sliced through the iron cage that had trapped Elias. Elias looked at Lilith in stunned disbelief.
“Li-Lilith… Thank you. But… how did this happen…?”
“My child, I cannot explain much to you right now. First, take these children and hide.”
Lilith pointed toward Theron and the others instead of giving a full explanation. Elias hurriedly responded:
“Yes, yes!”
Freed from Mammon’s cage, Elias could use his powers again. His first action was to move his unconscious companions out of the battlefield where Lilith and Mammon were fighting.
Elias’s power enveloped Theron, Pelles, and Ceria. Their bodies floated in the air and were moved to a safer corner under his control.
Elias then checked their condition. He could have removed them entirely from the church, but he didn’t.
“I can’t leave Lilith alone like this…”
He couldn’t leave the recently manifested Lilith behind and had a feeling he needed to stay here.
“At least everyone’s condition is fine.”
Though they had been attacked by Mammon, their physical state was not too bad. Elias began using his powers to heal them, worn from consecutive battles while ascending the church.
As Elias treated his companions,
Rumble—
The temple trembled. Elias looked up, having just finished healing, and saw Mammon fighting Lilith.
But Mammon’s appearance had changed from before.
“That power…!”
Elias’s eyes widened. Around Mammon, not only black energy but also white energy swirled. Elias recognized it immediately.
“That’s Hasent’s power.”
Perhaps by using divine power, it seemed Lilith was being pushed back slightly.
Boom, thud—!
Every time the two massive beings collided, the building shook. Ripples spread through the air, and a thunderous sound split the sky.
“Ah… no, it’s not my imagination.”
Watching the battle, Elias realized Lilith was not actually being pushed back. Mammon struggled while Lilith appeared composed and confident.
“Seems your power is only this much, Mammon.”
Lilith relentlessly pressed him, and Mammon struggled to block her attacks.
“Do not underestimate me, Lilith! The contract you borrowed from the ancient demon will not last long!”
“Haha. You know that well. But, Mammon, before my power fades, your breath will run out first.”
As soon as she spoke, Lilith’s divine form disappeared. The next instant, she appeared behind Mammon.
“…Farewell, Mammon.”
Her speed was so swift that neither Elias nor Mammon noticed.
Lilith’s arm pierced through Mammon’s chest and then crushed his heart with her hand.
“Guh—!”
Mammon vomited dark red blood and collapsed. Lilith withdrew her arm from his chest. Elias’s expression brightened slightly.
“Li-Lilith…!”
It finally felt as if everything had ended. With Mammon, the pillar of Hasent Church, gone, nothing remained to obstruct them.
At that moment,
“Guh!”
Lilith coughed up red blood. Seeing this, Elias immediately ran to her.
“Li-Lilith!!”
As he reached her, Lilith lost her balance and began to fall. Elias caught her, struggling to support her weight.
“Are you okay?!”
“I am fine, my child.”
Lilith said with a faint smile. Though she claimed to be fine, it hardly seemed so.
“You’re… bleeding so much!”
At that moment, Mammon, who was slowly disappearing from sight, laughed.
“Ha, haha! You’re crumbling too, Lilith. The power you borrowed from the ancient demon has ended.”
Again… the ancient demon was mentioned. Elias urgently asked Lilith:
“Lilith! What exactly is this ancient demon?”
But Lilith only smiled at Elias without saying a word. The answer came from Mammon.
“The one who created the demon realm is the ancient demon. And Lilith foolishly sacrificed half her lifespan to borrow its power. Without doing so, she couldn’t manifest fully in the human world.”
Elias’s eyes widened in shock.
