Students crowded both sides of the path, their whispers merging into a constant hum of speculation.
“What happened?”
“I’m not sure…”
“The Professor was right in the middle of a lecture when she suddenly bolted out the door. She met Lilith right at the academy gates.”
“What is that in the Professor’s arms? It looks like a person.”
“Is that even human? It looks smaller than a school bag.”
Wang Yue stood among the crowd, her gaze fixed on the mangled, humanoid shape cradled by the professor. As she squinted to discern the distorted features, a chill of terrifying familiarity washed over her.
“Those aren’t combat wounds,” Medeili whispered beside her.
“I know.”
Wang Yue took a deep breath, forcing her emotions back into a tight box. In a voice so faint it was meant only for herself, she murmured, “It’s that thing.”
At that moment, Lilith walked past her. Wang Yue saw it clearly—in those ruby-like eyes, a sorrow and remorse so profound it seemed frozen in place.
What on earth had happened?
Had Prima struck another deal with the creature from the Silver Lake?
Wang Yue followed them to the infirmary. The moment Gesha, the school doctor, saw the mutilated form, her pupils constricted. Her professional training took over, however, allowing her to maintain her composure as she hurried forward.
Gesha took the poor, small thing and laid it on the examination bed. She switched on the Luminoscope and began to probe the surface with her fingers, her voice a low, horrified mutter.
“Eyes, tongue, teeth, bones, several organs… they’re gone. Completely erased. There’s nothing left to even repair. We can only use potions to sustain what’s left of her life. How did this happen?”
“These two were partners for the Extracurricular Practice,” Sabrina said, glancing toward Lilith. “You’ll have to ask her for the details.”
Lilith sat huddled in the corner, her head buried between her knees, motionless.
Professor Sabrina dismissed the lingering students with a sharp reprimand. Only Wang Yue remained, exchanging information with the professor.
Fifteen minutes later, Mapeel was brought in by another teacher.
“Can you confirm if this is your sister, Prima?” Gesha asked.
The cruelty of the question sliced through Mapeel’s heart like a bloody blade. She looked as though she had been struck physically; her mind went numb, her movements and reactions lagging as if underwater.
She stared from a distance, afraid to step closer. She tried to recognize something, anything, but her eyes darted away, desperate to avoid the truth sitting inches from her. She was still trying to lie to herself, pretending none of this was real.
Until, finally, she whispered a single word.
“Persimmon.”
The corners of the mutilated figure’s mouth twitched upward, almost like a smile.
Mapeel bit her lip so hard it bled. Her small face crumpled. With legs that felt as heavy as lead, she stumbled to the side of the bed and sank to the floor. Resting her forehead against the edge of the frame, she finally broke, erupting into a jagged, agonizing wail.
No one in the infirmary spoke. The only sound was the rhythm of heart-wrenching sobs.
Dr. Gesha moved to treat Lilith, but the girl slapped her hand away. The doctor froze, unsure how to proceed.
Wang Yue walked over and crouched in front of her. “There’s no need to torture yourself with guilt,” she said softly. “If you refuse treatment, how do you expect to get revenge?”
At the mention of revenge, Lilith still didn’t react.
Wang Yue pressed on. “I know. She traded parts of her body for something. Those things don’t just vanish into thin air. They must be stored somewhere, in some form, don’t they?”
Wang Yue couldn’t be certain, but right now, Lilith needed hope more than anything else.
At those words, Lilith’s head snapped up. Her frantic eyes peered out from beneath her messy bangs.
“There she is. That’s the Lilith I know,” Wang Yue whispered. “Go and get healed. Then, we’ll do something for our friend.”
Gesha didn’t understand their riddles, but she saw that Lilith was no longer resisting.
The doctor clapped her hands together. “Wang Yue, help me out. Lilith’s injuries are quite severe. Her whole body needs to be disinfected and cleaned thoroughly.”
Lilith was laid onto the operating table. The magical light of the instruments illuminated her small body, revealing the layers of damage beneath the surface.
Once the curtains were drawn, Wang Yue and Gesha changed and disinfected themselves. They began the process of cleaning Lilith’s body, using a solvent to spray the clothing that had fused with her skin. Once the fabric softened, they slowly cut it away, peeling it from the raw flesh piece by piece.
Wang Yue stole a glance at Lilith’s face. The girl’s emotions were no longer at a breaking point; her ruby eyes were now shimmering with the cold light of calculation and thought.
As she worked on this body that felt so strangely familiar, Wang Yue tried to focus solely on the wounds. She tried not to let her mind wander to the past.
If not for the chaos caused by the Blue Lake summoning, if Lilith had just stayed in school… Wang Yue probably wouldn’t have even cared about their minor grievances.
It was all so close to being different.
And I… I think I went too far…
Wang Yue’s mind drifted, a cold sweat breaking out on her back. Her internal torment grew until her hand slipped, nearly nicking a blood vessel. Fortunately, her Mystic Art took over, guiding her body instinctively to continue the repairs.
Half an hour later, Lilith emerged from the inner room wearing a hospital gown, her skin stained a pale lavender by the disinfecting potion.
Professor Sabrina, seeing that her physical wounds were mostly closed, stepped forward to ask what had happened.
“It’s all my fault…”
Lilith finally spoke. Her voice was a raspy, broken wreck, dripping with regret.
“I shouldn’t have chosen a Grade 3 Project. My mana… it wasn’t working properly.”
At the bedside, Mapeel suddenly turned, her voice a shrill cry. “What do you mean it wasn’t working?! You said you were recovered!”
Lilith acted as if she hadn’t heard her, continuing her hollow whisper.
“I thought I was strong. But my arrogance was my undoing.”
“The situation was complex. I failed to make the right judgment because I was too restless.”
“Prima told me to be cautious, but I couldn’t control myself. I was more like a beast than a human.”
“We fell into a trap. The enemy saw through my weakness—that I need a conduit to access my mana—and they targeted it.”
“We were separated. My mana ran dry. Death was right in front of me. That was when Prima… she made contact with that existence. She sacrificed her body to grant a wish and turn the tide…”
“I ruined her. And yet, she saved me. She saved someone who used to bully her…”
Lilith’s eyes reddened. Her breath hitched as she struggled to keep her composure.
Slap!
A sharp crack echoed through the room.
Mapeel stood before her, her fingers stinging from the force of the blow. Her eyes blazed with fury as she screamed.
“You’re a lunatic! You never cared if your partner lived or died! you just wanted to show off! You just wanted people to look up to you! You’ve never cared about anyone but yourself!”
Lilith’s head remained tilted from the blow. She stayed silent. The edges of her pupils trembled as if her spirit had been utterly shattered, leaving her in a state of fractured self-doubt.
“That’s enough,” Wang Yue said, pulling Mapeel back. She tried to offer comfort. “Everything will be okay. I promise.”
***
The chaotic night eventually faded into a heavy silence.
Lilith wandered the academy streets alone. Her hair was disheveled, and she still wore the white hospital gown, looking like a wandering ghost.
She didn’t want to go back to her dorm.
She didn’t know how to face Mapeel.
The academy was vast, yet it felt like there was no room left for her.
“Nowhere left to go,” Lilith murmured.
She sat under a streetlamp for a while. Though no one was around, she felt as if invisible eyes were watching her—mocking her, accusing her. Her toxic personality had destroyed her partner; it had rendered her friend’s hard work and hope into nothing but ash.
She hid behind some greenery, curling into a ball like an abandoned kitten.
The lamplight filtered through the pointed leaves of the holly bushes, casting fractured gaplights and hollow shadows across her.
She pressed her face into the grass and mocked herself. “Lilith is alone again. Lost her lover, and now she’s lost her friend. Lilith really is useless…”
This was a forgotten corner of the academy. The streetlamps were bright and the air was chilly. Above, dark clouds drifted through the lunar halo, a clear omen of rain tomorrow.
Loneliness and remorse gnawed at her heart. She lacked the strength to fight back, so she simply curled tighter, letting the two emotions ravage her.
She bit down hard on her fingertip until it bled, her teeth grinding into the wound. The pain made her entire body go taut.
Weakness, helplessness, hunger, thirst… she felt them all, but she had no desire to seek sustenance. She just wanted to lie here until the end.
She didn’t know how much time had passed when the bench beside her was no longer empty.
A young, black-haired girl sat there, her back turned to Lilith, sitting in perfect silence.
No one spoke. The atmosphere was eerie, as if neither one acknowledged the other’s existence.
