Chapter 279 - When All Your Preparations Were All For Naught
(MC POV)
"Sorry, who are you?" I blurted out.
She tilted her head at me, "I am Lilith. Are you just a passer-by? How unfortunate you must be then. Still, they have not offered enough so I will need to have you die too."
I felt a weight rest on my shoulders, trying to push me down.
It was rather weak so I just shrugged it off and continued to regard her, "So you were what they were trying to summon?"
"You didn't even know that? Wow… You must be really lost then. Curious though, you didn't explode in a fountain of blood from that… Now I'm interested in who you are now."
Before I could come up with some witty response, a bunch of Dark Sect members entered the hall dressed in some kind of ceremonial garb.
"Mother Lilith! Glory to your name O blessed one! We grant you… Wait, who the? Master Lin?! That alarm was you?!" The one leading the processions screeched when he saw me.
Ah, that was the guy I wanted to follow through the door before, guess he must be the head honcho of this place.
I raised my hand in greeting, "Yo."
He adopted a combat stance, his followers doing the same behind him, numbering easily in the thousands. I'm guessing every single person in this hidden base is now right behind him.
"You're too late Master Lin! She has already been summoned! Even you can't dream of matching up to Lilith herself! She is the True Mother of all!"
I don't even know how to tell him that all those terms mean nothing to me.
I shrugged, "Right, that's great and all… So what are you even doing here?"
As though just realising where he is, he quickly turned back to the demoness and placed his palms together in prayer, "Mother Lilith! Glory to your name O blessed one! We grant you the blood of the willing for you to sate your thirst! Feast upon this world's flesh and deliver the heretics their just dues! All we ask is to bear the honour of serving by your side as your heralds!"
What a simp.
Lilith simply put on a smile and gestured for them to go closer towards her, "Come then my children. Offer thy blood in oath and thou shalt taste the power that comes in carrying mine name."
The group of Dark Sect members began to sing a hymn as they marched their way towards her, completely forgetting about my existence.
Why am I not doing anything you ask? Well, first of all, I have no idea who the hell this Lilith is supposed to be. Sure, she got summoned by the Dark Sect, but she killed Dark Sect people too right? And since there are two different groups of Dark Sects, they might be working towards different…
Oh who am I kidding, "Alright, that's as far as you guys--"
Someone charged past me from the open door, hurling something that looked like a vial at Lilith.
The demoness reached out her hand and halted the vial in midair a distance away from her.
The person who had thrown it seemed to have expected it though since the vial shattered to spill its crimson contents out, splashing on to her torso.
It took me a while to recognise the liquid as blood.
"Now begone from this Plane Lilith! With the blood of the Royals I cast you back from whence you came! Leave and never return!" The guy roared, spreading his arms out like some kind of messiah.
Lilith blinked and looked down on the blood scattered on her, dipping a finger on it before bringing it to taste.
She sniffed, "Hmm… Not bad I guess, but I've tasted better. What was that supposed to do anyway?"
The man stood still, stunned, I finally recognised him as… Wait, that's the Third Prince! Wasn't he dead back at the palace? How is he here? A doppleganger? Then what about the First Prince? I am so confused right now.
"The traitor! How dare you infringe on this sacred ceremony!" the leader roared, gathering Dark Quarks in his hands.
Er… Alright then, guess I'll just... Melt into the background over here. Don't mind me.
The prince ignored him and continued staring at Lilith, "Im… Impossible! You should have been banished like what the prophecy says!"
She raised an eyebrow at him, "I have no idea what you are saying, mortal."
"'The blood of a Royal from the fairer brood shall send her back to her promised land'! You should have been sent back!"
Oh? Is this what he has been working towards? Guess he must be the leader of the 'don't want Lilith here' faction.
Lilith laughed. Like actually 'laughed out loud' laugh.
"HAHAHAHA! This? You dare call this pathetic blood a Royal?! Oh! Hahahaha! I get it now! This is the blood of your country's queen or something isn't it? Hahahaha! No mortal can be considered a Royal in front of me!"
Oops. Don't worry Third Prince, people misunderstand prophecies all the time, you don't need to be so embarrassed.
"Tch… Then… No, you must still be weak! They haven't sacrificed the five hundred thousand willing souls yet! You are still powerless!"
"Ahahaha! Stop it! Hahaha! You're killing me! Hahahaha! You think my power comes from sacrifices? How naive can you be? I am already at peak form the moment I materialise on this Plane! The sacrifices are just a price you pay for me to grant you power!"
Huh… So with that reasoning… The Third Prince is actually a good guy? I am so confused.
"Then… Then what have I been doing all this while?" The Prince muttered, his voice barely audible.
"Trying to stop the inevitable of course!" The other Dark Sect head mocked, launching a black ball of flames at him.
"Your Highness!" Someone shouted from the doorway.
A white barrier appeared in front of the Prince, protecting him for the attack.
Another group of men dressed in Dark Sect robes barged into the room, surrounding the Third Prince protectively.
"Your Highness! Run! We will stop them! Run and warn the others!"
"No one is leaving here! Mother Lilith shall feed on your blood!"
Lilith sighed loudly, causing everyone to turn to her.
"I tire of this farce, the annoying pests should just disappear."
She made a point of staring at me before snapping her fingers.
I felt a wave of energy wash over the entire room, most of it concentrated on the Third Prince's group.
Almost immediately, all of them exploded in a fountain of gore, spraying blood everywhere.
I managed to avoid it by hopping a few steps backwards, making sure none of it got on my sleeve. Blood is difficult to wash off, ok?
"AHAHAHA! This is what you get, little traitor! The power of Mother Lilith is not something someone the likes of you can--"
Lilith sighed and snapped again, causing the remaining Dark Sect members to explode in a similar fashion leaving only just the two of us left.
She yawned and stretched her back before focusing her attention on me, "Now, boy… You're quite the interesting one. Judging by the fools' reaction, you should be someone of importance here right? Swear your service to me and I'll keep you as my pet while I'm here. A good deal, no?"
I shook my head, "No thanks, not interested. Are you planning on wrecking havoc on this Plane though? Because if you are, I'll need to stop you here. I have no qualms about hitting a woman by the way."
"HAHAHA! What are you going to do? Punch me?!"
I blinked forward and punched her in her abdomen, sending her crashing into the far end of the hall.
The force caused one of the pillars to collapse on top of where she had landed with a loud boom, throwing up a cloud of dust.
Huh… I actually didn't expect that to hit…