Lilith's Challenge

Fresh morning sunlight streamed in through the window.

In the officers' quarters, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the entire room was soaked in semen. Kaisent lay on the bed while Lilith serviced him with a devoted blowjob.

"Slurp— sluuurp— Pwah♥ My jaw's going numb♥ For someone so young to be this…♥"

"Clean it up quickly. I have to head out soon myself."

"Gulp! Kuh-hoop!"

Kaisent gripped the demon horns jutting from Lilith's temples like handles and yanked her down hard, forcing her to deepthroat his cock.

The way it speared into her throat sent electric jolts of pleasure through her. She could have resisted anytime she wanted, yet she savored every pull on those horns.

Using a demon's horns as handles♥ To this boy, differences in appearance mean nothing at all♥

In her original world, ordinary humans would scream and collapse at the mere sight of a demon's horns. To Kaisent, they were nothing more than convenient grips.

I'm sorry, Aydan♥ I've lost to the pleasure this boy gives me♥ It's not like I can go back to the old world anyway, so what choice do I have♥

The longer Lilith stayed in this world, the clearer it became that returning home was all but impossible. And once Kaisent had taught her true pleasure, the long separation from Aydan only pulled her deeper toward the boy who made her body sing with happiness.

When he finally shattered her barrier, the blessing bound them together. He had even fulfilled the very reason she had become a Lost Heroic, forging an eternal link through the Emblem.

"Mmm~ I'm about to cum."

"Kuh-heup!"

Sensing the climax, Kaisent seized both horns and hauled Lilith's face flush against his crotch.

Thud! Thud-thud-thud! Thud-thud!

His cock twitched and pulsed as it prepared to flood her throat; she frantically slapped his thighs, signaling her distress.

Gulp! Gurgle-gurgle! Gulp!

"Krb♥ Krrrrlp♥ Kuhep♥ Kub♥"

Though not quite as massive as her own, Kaisent still pumped out a considerable load—hot, sticky ropes of cum flooding her throat.

Zrrrrr!

"Hwaaah~~♥"

After thoroughly emptying himself down her gullet, he lifted her by the horns and pulled free. Lilith wore a blissful smile, savoring the thick semen still coating her throat.

Cum so sticky it clings to the throat♥ No matter how much I swallow with spit, I can still feel it♥

"That should do for today. Shall I help clean the room?"

"I-I'm fine. Cough. Khhmm."

She cleared her throat of the lingering cum, then used a spell from her home dimension to conjure water and wind, scrubbing away the semen her own cock had sprayed earlier. While she was at it she cleaned her body, now painted white with the stuff, and finished the job with casual efficiency. Then she drifted toward Kaisent, trailing a seductive scent.

"Kaisent♥ Why not rest for a whole day?"

"I can't. I have to grow stronger if I'm going to protect everyone."

Once she had thought only of Aydan and ignored everything else. Now she saw that Kaisent was every bit as earnest as her former master. He had defeated Blood Zen—someone three of them together could not beat—yet instead of growing arrogant he only pushed himself harder out of the need to protect them.

It was not the mindset of an adult like Aydan, nor of a boy who should still be growing up in his parents' arms.

If it were me right now…

Lilith decided the reason Kaisent drove himself so desperately was because they were still too weak. She checked her own power. With the Demon King of Lust's blood fully awakened, strength she had never known before was surging through her.

If I'd accepted Kaisent sooner, I never would have suffered against that Blood Zen bastard.

Perhaps because his cock had completed her demonization, her longing for Aydan was fading while her feelings for Kaisent swelled at dizzying speed. Facing the truth she had long ignored, she finally understood why Lillian and Priscilla trained so hard.

Pride's involved too. That's why those two push themselves so fiercely.

A boy this small and young striving to grow stronger just so he could protect the adults—it was a complete inversion of common sense.

They said that Countess Akina is even stronger than Blood Zen.

Lilith resolved to show him he no longer needed to struggle so desperately.

"Kaisent."

"Yes?"

"You said you're training with that woman Akina this morning, right? Mind if I tag along?"

"Looking like that? People will get the wrong idea for sure."

"It's fine. I can shift to either form—or both—whenever I want."

She casually resumed her dark-elf appearance.

"Hmm… may I ask why?"

"I want to test my new power."

This is electric.

In the secret training hall of the Karayden family, Lilith took her place and felt her entire body tingle as if struck by lightning at the sight of Akina armored and armed with a spear.

Even in our world she'd rank among the absolute strongest. One moment of carelessness and it's over.

"Let me confirm the rules one more time."

Because the matter was important, Akina repeated them carefully.

"You said I may attack with full force because you can die—correct?"

"Correct. I'm a summon. As long as this bow isn't destroyed, I can be resummoned no matter how many times I die."

"With such a convenient ability, why have you neglected training until now?"

"I've been looking the other way."

"Looking the other way?"

"Something I didn't want to admit. It's personal, so I can't say more."

"If it's personal, I won't pry."

Akina found it strange that Lilith—who normally wasted time instead of training—had suddenly requested a spar, and stranger still that she cited personal reasons, but she shook her head and let it go.

"Fr…edrick."

"……. …Hm? Oh, what?"

The name her parents had given her already felt less familiar than "Priscilla." She answered Lillian's call a beat late. Lillian had used the old name deliberately so Akina would not overhear "Priscilla" and create complications; she pointed toward Lilith.

"Doesn't she feel different from usual?"

"Yeah. Before she always kept her face stiff, like she wanted distance from us. Now her expression looks natural."

"That's it, right?"

"That's it."

Both women instinctively knew the change was connected to Kaisent.

But Lilith was only a little stronger than us…

Is she planning to use the fact she can be resummoned to train?

Why she would challenge someone as overwhelmingly powerful as Akina remained a mystery, but whether it was confidence or recklessness would soon become clear.

Ting!

Akina flicked a prepared coin high into the air. The instant it struck the ground, her form stretched long and thin as she thrust her spear.

Kuuuung!

The shockwave of the thrust slammed into the invisible wall of the magic barrier surrounding the training hall. Lilith, who had stood directly in the path of a blast that could have turned hundreds of humans into meat scraps, simply vanished.

No presence at all. Did she dissipate?

Even after spreading her aura in every direction she felt nothing and concluded the summon was gone—until a powerful surge of mana flared above her.

Above!?

That was the first place she had checked and the one she had watched most carefully!

Lilith reappeared in the sky and rained mana arrows down on the ground in a wild barrage.

Kang-kang-kang-kang!

Akina spun her spear and swatted every arrow aside, yet the unexpected weight of each shot startled her.

Every single arrow is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠heavy. I can't just sit here taking them.

With no opening to counterattack under the continuous rain, she began dodging, waiting for a chance.

"Drel Magrida!"

"Ugh!"

Lilith cast the same earth-softening spell she had once used on Blood Zen, sabotaging Akina's footwork while loosing another storm of mana arrows.

"Ri Mus Bel Ru!"

Another spell from the Blood Zen fight erected an invisible mana wall around Akina.

"Igrepa Sirilun!"

With the woman's movement sealed, Lilith chanted again and thrust out her hand. A torrent of fierce flame poured through a hole at the base of the barrier and flooded the interior.

The fire roared inside the mana cage, whipping up heat intense enough to reduce Akina to charcoal.

"She's strong!"

"How!?"

Akina's face twisted in disbelief at the sheer weight of the mana arrows. Reports had said she casually swatted aside the same arrows from the weaker Blood Zen; being pushed back now meant Lilith's power had grown. In fact, the strength Lilith displayed surpassed Blood Zen's.

She was skilled with magic as well as the bow. Could she actually take the win ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠against Akina?

Kwachachachang! Hwaaak!

Their hopeful speculation was shredded when a shockwave smashed through the barrier, punched through the flames, and streaked straight at Lilith.

"Stronger than I expected."

The woman who had been trapped inside the flaming cage emerged without so much as a scorch mark.

"Ha… you're a real monster. Anyone who didn't know what was coming would have been charcoal by now."

"If you possessed this kind of power, why did you lose to that Blood Zen fellow? Was he that strong?"

"I was lacking in a lot of ways back then. Those lacks have been filled now."

"Lacking? In what?"

"Hmm~ Love, courage, hope?"

"……."

The emotions she had suppressed for so long in order to keep distance from Kaisent's group were free at last; Lilith's joke made Akina's face crumple.

Not entirely a joke, though.

Without Kaisent, who knew how much longer it would have taken her to gain this power?

Finished with the banter, she opened distance again and formed fresh mana arrows, hunting for another opening.

"Then I'll take the next move."

"Will you? Do you even get the chance?"

Lilith had no intention of giving Akina an opening and unleashed another barrage. Demonization had multiplied the power of her mana arrows several times over, and her mana reserves had swollen enough that she could fire nonstop all day.

As long as I dodge the shockwaves that explode every time she swings that spear, I'm fine.

She had heard that warriors who reached the Origin realm each possessed unique abilities. Akina's was supposedly tied to riding a horse—meaning that on foot she should never be able to close the distance.

The strong of this world, however, exceeded her expectations.

"Hah!!"

Kwaaaaaa!

With a battle cry, Akina summoned a violent mana storm that erased every arrow. Identical spears of pure mana materialized around her, each radiating a savage aura that felt ready to shred anything that drew near. Lilith's face hardened; she hastily widened the gap.

"Ssshh—"

Akina did not pursue. She simply gripped her spear in one hand and settled into a thrusting stance. Fierce energy began to whirl. The mana spears around her mirrored the stance and generated the same power.

"Huuuup!"

Kwajijijijik!

When Akina swung, every spear unleashed tornado-like shockwaves. Those shockwaves collided with one another, birthing still more blasts that filled the entire training hall.

"Kyaaaaaaah!"

With nowhere left to run, Lilith desperately raised defensive magic, but Akina's attack casually shredded the barriers and tore the body hiding behind them to pieces.

Moments later, blood, flesh, and organ fragments that had sprayed in every direction dissolved into light and vanished.

Clang!

Only the bow Lilith had held clattered limply to the ground. Akina reined in her power.

"Kaisent."

"Y-Yes!"

Kaisent, who had never imagined Akina's strength reached this level, jumped at her call.

"Resummon her."

"Yes!"

He answered crisply, picked up the bow, and poured his inner energy into it. Summoning a Lost Heroic normally consumed vast mana, yet Kaisent possessed more than enough to spare with only a modest effort.

A moment later Lilith reappeared beside the bow, still wearing a traumatized expression from the memory of being torn apart.

"…You're a hopeless monster. Are you even human?"

"If you train, you should be able to reach a level comparable to mine."

Prana, was it? Talent and money alone can turn anyone into a monster like this. If this power ever leaked into our world, the balance would collapse.

Of course even Prana allowed a fighter to defeat someone several ranks higher through pure training. Still, the fact that talent and wealth alone could grant such strength so easily made it a power tailor-made for the privileged nobility. That was how the nobles of this world so easily crushed the common folk.

"Again?"

"No. I refuse. Even after resummoning, the memory of the pain stays. I have no desire to fight a monster like you any further."

"A training partner I can kill without consequence is something money can't buy… If you need compensation—"

"I. Said. No."

"Is that so… A pity……."

Akina seemed to have taken a liking to Lilith's unique trait as a disposable sparring partner and dangled various rewards. Each time the bait grew larger she saw Lilith's interest flicker, so she left the offer open and turned her gaze to Kaisent.

"Now it's your turn……."

Just as she was about to begin training with Kaisent, a junior noble in charge of territory affairs connected through the communication device that linked the private training hall to the outside world, his voice frantic.

"What is it?"

This channel was reserved solely for reports of the highest, most immediate importance. Akina switched instantly into work mode and took the device.

"The contents?"

"Skip the nonsense."

A royal letter would naturally begin with flowery praise, but Akina despised that sort of fluff. It was not the ornate language itself she hated; it was the transparent attempt to manipulate her feelings with a few empty lines ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠when the writers felt nothing of the sort.

Taking a royal prince as a disciple would strengthen the bond between the royal house and the Margrave of Karayden. Yet the timing of the proposal twisted Akina's expression into a scowl.