"My lady. There is no sight of him anywhere. It's as if he vanished into thin air. I personally saw him enter his camp last night to rest, and there's no sign of him ever leaving," answered the knight nervously.
Hearing his confirmation, she frowned, turned her back to him, and gazed at the statue of the First Priestess. 'Could it be the vileness had gotten him?' She hoped it wasn't what she thought, for that would mean things were far more dire than she anticipated. A flash of dread shimmered within the depths of her eyes.
"My lady, could this be the doing of the vileness? And… what is the vileness exactly?" questioned the knight in an anxious tone.
She turned, gazed at him for a few seconds, then commanded,
"Go and search Sir Ran's wife's compound. See if there is any trace of him there."
She completely ignored his question.
"My lady, Miss Ran's compound was one of the first places I searched. There were no traces of him there either," said the knight with a frown.
"Then continue your search for the vileness," she said coldly.
"My lady, how can we find something we know nothin—" shouted the knight, but before he could finish, she interrupted with a shout of her own, golden light flashing in her eyes.
"Go!"
Seeing the golden flare, the knight trembled slightly. He realized he had overstepped; he was a knight, and a knight must never question the priestess.
"My lady, I apologize for my outburst. I will immediately continue the search as commanded."
He bowed, then blurred toward the cathedral's exit, moving at forty meters per second.
Once he was gone, the priestess dropped to her knees. Tears flowed down her face. She gazed up at the statue.
"Ancestor… what must I do? I'm afraid… I fear what we're up against is the demon you spoke of in your memoir… and I… I fear we didn't catch it in its waking state. Now it might be at full strength, and we have no hope of defeating it."
She wept to her dead ancestor like a little girl, an act unbecoming of the strong, majestic priestess she pretended to be.
And who could blame her? After all, her destined fate was to be...
After a few seconds, she stopped crying.
"No… I cannot give up now. There might still be a chance. Yes, if I can gather all the knights and the king."
Her eyes sparkled. She rose and rushed out of the cathedral at extreme speed, leaving a blur behind her.
But the moment she stepped outside, something happened that caused her mind to tremble.
The instant she opened the door; she froze in place. Shock and fear surged through her as she let out an unconscious scream,
"EeeeeekkK!"
Just a few meters ahead stood two pikes, each bearing a head. One belonged to the knight who had just left. The other was, was. Sir Ran's, though part of his skull was missing. Both faces were frozen in masks of terror.
She scratched her face, shook her head violently, muttering incoherently,
"No… no… no… NO!"
She stepped back, tripped, and fell.
But instead of hitting hard ground, she landed on soft grass. Flowers. Lilies, to be exact.
She sat in a field of lilies from her dreams.
She weakly rose and staggered around, searching for someone. She didn't have to search long.
A meter behind her stood him, the demon disguised as the epitome of beauty.
Her body lit up with golden light, and she let out a piercing scream as she hurled a golden sphere containing all her strength at him.
Whoosh!
It struck.
But it didn't hurt him.
It passed through his body like he was a ghost.
Her golden eyes dimmed with helplessness. She dropped to her knees and wept.
"Why… Why are you doing this to me? Why don't you just kill me? Why torture me?"
She looked into his eyes and shouted, her voice hoarse,
"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?"
The demon did not speak. He stood, silent, gazing down at her with suffocating calm.
"ANSWER ME!" she cried. "WHY AREN'T YOU ANSWERING ME, DEMON? YES, I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE. A VILE THING THAT DWELLS IN THE DARKEST AND EVILEST OF PITS!"
The demon knelt down. She wanted to back away, to escape him. But, just as in her dream, his presence smothered her resistance. She stayed frozen, trembling with want.
He raised his right hand slowly, inch by inch, and gently brushed aside a lock of her white hair, revealing her angelic face. He leaned toward her neck. Her heart pounded,
Ba-dump!
'Nooo!' she whimpered in her mind.
He stretched his serpent-like tongue and licked her neck, slow and deliberate. She shivered in euphoric pleasure. His touch was no different from being embraced by lust itself.
He sniffed her hair deeply. Then he gazed into her eyes, filled with boundless hunger, and finally spoke, not with a question or statement, but a declaration.
"You are mine."
His voice was deep and melodic, like a choir of angels. But he was no angel. He was a demon. And in a single night, a single dream, a single embrace, he had polluted her soul and etched his image into her very being.
And now… she no longer wanted to fight him. She didn't want to rid the world of him.
She felt no revulsion at his claim. No, some part of her felt grateful.
Happy… to belong to him.
Her tears fell harder.
"I am falling."
She said to herself internally.
yes.
falling into the endless abyss of his lust.
He leaned forward, inch by inch, to devour her lips.
But just before he made contact, the last part of her with the strength to resist erupted. The golden light around her blazed, and she screamed:
"NO!"
Pash!
A sound like shattering glass rang out. The field of lilies crumbled like a dream ending.
The next moment, she was back at the cathedral doors. Without hesitation, she turned and ran inside in fear.
Bam!
The heavy doors slammed shut behind her.
Under the tree outside, veiled by the shadow of its leaves, stood Veal.
His eyes glinted with slight disappointment.
"So close… if only it wasn't for that suppression and her attribute," he whispered.
But inside, he was thrilled. The more she resisted, the more he wanted her.
Suddenly, he sensed something, turned his gaze toward the palace, and grinned.
Then vanished in a blur.
A second later, the sound of him devouring the knights' heads echoed through the air.
crunch!