Chapter 205: Silverleaf Academy (LIII)

Lilith’s heart-shaped pupils narrowed slightly as she continued.

“It’s not just a name… It’s His name.”

She looked straight at Aestrea now.

“The one we were warned about. The one who isn’t supposed to exist anymore.”

“You’re saying… Aestrea isn’t…” Ella’s voice trembled slightly, her eyes widening.

“Isn’t human?” Lilith finished for her with a playful smirk.

“Oh, darling~… he’s supposed to be something far worse.”

“No.”

Aestrea suddenly interrupted Lilith’s words.

“You’re hiding something.”

Lilith licked her lips.

“You’re sharp~. But I only know fragments, I swear. Even I wasn’t told everything. I was only ordered to keep an eye on you. Never touch you. Never kill you. Not even seduce you until… the Emperor asked me to help him…”

“That was what the Demon God prophetized…”

A heavy silence followed.

Then Violet stepped forward, her violet eyes glowing faintly with the magic of her [Seven Colors Eyes].

“…She’s not lying.”

Everyone turned to her.

“At least… not completely. Her heartbeat hasn’t changed once. Her body’s telling the truth.”

“But…” Lucas muttered, his hands trembling at his sides. “Aestrea? If what she’s saying is true… why would the Demon God care about you? What makes you—?”

“I don’t know,” Aestrea cut him off, but his brows were furrowed. “I don’t remember anything like that. If I’m ‘Luntheris,’ then… I don’t know what that means.”

‘…Even Selene mentioned that… that’s very weird, it seems I must have some different origins or something like that…’

Lilith’s voice turned quiet.

“Maybe he hasn’t awakened yet~…”

Swishh…

She looked down at the frost still binding her legs, her voice lower now, no teasing.

“But I’ll tell you this… The Demon God didn’t tell anyone why. He gave the order in silence. No questions allowed. But even the generals… even I could feel it…”

A single chill swept through the air.

“Aestrea…” she whispered.

“You scare Him.”

His eyes narrowed.

“A god?”

Lilith nodded slowly.

“You’re the only one He didn’t want anyone interfering with. The only one He told us to fear. Even when I… manipulated the Emperor, I was just doing it to isolate you. To keep the Empire away from you. That’s how far He wanted the world to stay out of your path.”

Ella stumbled back, her hand covering her mouth.

Leon looked like he’d stopped breathing.

Everyone else stood stunned, unable to speak.

Maya clenched her fists.

“Why? Why would a god do that?! What the hell is Aestrea supposed to be?!”

Lilith smiled again, in a strangely sad way.

“I don’t know. But whatever he is… he’s not ready yet.”

Aestrea didn’t answer as he simply turned away from her slowly, the frost still curling around his boots with each step.

His head lowered slightly, shadows falling across his eyes.

“Luntheris… huh?”

He mumbled quietly.

And then, he raised his hand.

It stretched out calmly toward Beelzebub, who was still pinned by chains, his monstrous body twitching from pain, his black blood soaking into the cracked ground.

Beelzebub’s eyes widened as he felt the chill building again.

“N–No! No, wait—wait! I was just following orders! Don’t—!”

But unfortunately for him, Aestrea didn’t hesitate the slightest.

『 Frost Explosion! (✦ 6th-level Spell ✦) 』

With just a flick of his fingers, a small cyan sphere spun in the air, humming softly, and zipped forward like a bullet.

BOOM!!

SPLURTTT!!!

A burst of blue light erupted on contact.

The ground shook, and a pillar of blood shot into the sky like a fountain.

Beelzebub’s final scream was swallowed up in the deafening blast, his entire form vanishing into a storm of frozen mist and gore.

And just as the echoes faded—

THRUMMMM…

A giant red portal lit up in the middle of the battlefield, twisting open with a low rumble like a heartbeat from the depths.

Everyone turned to look.

“It’s the exit…” Eira breathed out.

Some of her group, bruised and breathing hard, didn’t hesitate as they ran toward the gate, carrying the wounded along, trying to leave while they still had the strength to walk.

But the others?

They stayed still.

Because Aestrea… hadn’t moved yet, and Lilith… was still there. All of them wanted to know what Aestrea was going to do with her.

He turned his gaze back toward her.

“Lilith…” he said softly.

“I guess it’s time for you to die.”

He started walking.

Step by step.

The frost beneath his feet spread like cracks in glass, reaching toward her slowly.

Lilith didn’t move.

Instead, she shivered under his stare, but it wasn’t from fear. Her arms wrapped around herself, her legs tightened together, and her breath hitched in her throat.

Her lips parted slightly, and she let out a soft, shaky sound.

“Mhmn~…”

It really wasn’t fear.

But rather, it was something else entirely.

Excitement.

Her cheeks were flushed, her tail curled tightly behind her back, and her pupils, still shaped like hearts, quivered.

She bit her lip, her thighs pressing together subtly as she let out another breathy sound.

“…You’re really gonna kill me like that, Master~?” she whispered, her voice sultry, but trembling.

“Just when I finally got claimed…?”

Aestrea once again didn’t reply; his eyes were like ice. without having a single flicker of emotion in them.

But the mana around him pulsed gently, gathering behind his back like a storm ready to fall. Everyone else could feel it too.

Lilith tilted her head, watching him get closer.

And still, despite the chains, despite the cold, despite the fact she knew she could die right here and now…

She smiled again.

Because in that moment?

Even chained, even humiliated…

She’d found the situation terrifyingly addictive.

Finally, Aestrea slowly raised his right hand, the tips of his fingers glowing faintly.

A small blue sphere of mana began to form, quietly spinning, releasing thin trails of frost that coiled around his wrist like ribbons.

The air trembled slightly.

The chains around Lilith pulsed.

And for the first time in a while… she looked nervous.

“Nn… w-wait~!” she whimpered softly, before dropping to her knees with a quick thud.

Then—

Fwump.

She clung to his leg.

Her arms wrapped tightly around his thigh, and her generous, warm chest pressed firmly against it, the soft bounce of her breasts molding along his leg as she rubbed up slowly.

“Mmmhh~… Master…” she purred, tilting her head up with eyes full of sinful sparkle.

“Please, please~ don’t kill me…”

Her body trembled, not from fear, but from desperate seduction.

“I can be useful,” she whispered, voice low and husky.

“You want to kill the Demon King, don’t you~? I know where his real heart is hidden… I know what he’s planning… I know what his generals are doing…”

She licked her lips, sliding her fingers up his leg with slow, teasing strokes.

“I’ll be your best little weapon, Master~. Strong, obedient, eager~. I’ll do whatever you want~. I’ll even crawl if you tell me to…”

She let her tongue peek out between her lips and gave the faintest moan.

Then, her voice turned darker, more serious.

“And if you want more than just the Demon King…”

She leaned in closer, her breath hot against his thigh.

“I can help you kill the Emperor.”

Everything stopped.

Everyone froze.

Even the sounds of the portal pulsing behind them seemed to disappear for a moment.

Leon’s eyes widened, but Ella—

Her whole body tensed. She stepped forward, eyes locked on Aestrea like her soul had just been cracked open.

“…Aestrea?”

Her voice wavered.

She took another step, her hands shaking.

“…Why… why would she say that?”

Aestrea didn’t speak.

He didn’t even blink at Lilith, who was still rubbing herself against his leg like a lover begging not to be left behind.

Ella’s voice rose, small and scared.

“Tell me it’s not true…”

“Please… Aestrea…”

Her voice cracked, her fingers curled tightly into her skirt.

Tears welled up in her eyes.

“…Tell me you weren’t planning to kill my father…”

And slowly, almost lazily, Aestrea turned his head to her.

His expression didn’t change.

His tone was hollow, cold, and almost completely emotionless.

“Ella, listen to me carefully.”

She looked at him, breath caught in her throat.

“I’ve never truly liked you.”

His words came out flat.

And Ella’s face twisted.

Like something inside her had shattered all at once.

Like she’d just been struck by lightning.

“No…” she whispered, taking a step back, almost stumbling.

“No… you’re lying…”

Aestrea’s voice remained the same.

“I only accepted your proposal because it gave me a chance to get closer to the Emperor.”

He took a breath.

“So I could kill him.”

“Nothing more.”

Her lips parted, but no words came out.

Her eyes were wide, glossy with tears, and her whole body trembled.

“…Why…?”

She whispered, voice barely there.

“Why would you…?”

She couldn’t finish the sentence.

And yet, she didn’t need to.

The look on her face, cracked and broken, was already saying everything.

Behind her, James lowered his head.

Derek clenched his jaw, looking away.

Mia covered her mouth.

And Maria’s eyes were trembling with disbelief.

They knew Aestrea.

They knew him.

He wouldn’t do something like that…

And yet… this didn’t feel like a lie.

Ella fell to her knees.

Her hands pressed against the stone floor, her shoulders shaking as tears fell freely down her cheeks.

Everything she had believed…

Everything she had loved…

Shattered.

And all she could do was whisper.

“…Aestrea…”

Lilith, still clinging to his leg, peeked up at him with a twisted little smile.

“Ooohh~ That was cold~…” she giggled, biting her lip again. “Such a good Master… hurting your lover with no hesitation~…”

She rubbed her cheek against his leg with a purr.

“Mmn… I’m so wet right now~…”

Aestrea said nothing.

He didn’t even look at her; his hand was still raised, the blue orb still pulsing quietly above his fingers.

He stared ahead.

As if none of this touched him.

But as he looked ahead, he also saw a familiar figure. The same figure who had told him to be more selfish.

And now, he was looking at him again.

His amethyst, shimmering eyes stared at him intensely.

A crystal clear tear descended down his left cheek as another, but having a crimson color, descended down the other.

His pale pink lips slowly parted.

“…That’s not the future I intended…”

And strangely, Aestrea could hear him, his eyes also staring back.

He simply mouthed the words, his lips curling up slightly.

“I just did what you told me to do.”

“I discarded Ella since a much better piece came to the board.”

“Isn’t that what you wanted me to do?”

“Be… more selfish?”

The figure’s face contorted at his mouthed words, then he shook his head as if he couldn’t do anything more about it.

“…You’ll regret it.”

The figure mouthed silently before dissipating into wisps.

And hearing those words, Aestrea sighed, looking at the now clear sky.

“…It’s not like her heart… is able to leave me.”

He merely glanced at Ella, using his 『 Scan 』ability.

Her favorability, instead of decreasing…

Skyrocketed.

[Ella Wagner’s Favorability: 101 (Obsession)]

There was no way she was going to be able to leave him, even if she desired to tear him to pieces, after all…

She was obsessed with him.