Lilith blinked awake, fog in her lashes. She pushed herself up and let a yawn spill like a slow white cloud.

The Black Swordsman had already buried the girl’s great friends. He returned to her side, a night-black shadow guarding the pure White Holy Maiden.

“Mmm… is it evening? Then good evening, Mr. Swordsman.” Warmth bubbled first, then her lips curved into a sweet smile. The kingdom had gifted him to her when she set out, a guardian passed down from Saint to Saint. Lilith liked him; battle made him familiar, so instinct tugged her toward kindness.

“Mm. Pack up. We’ll head back to the kingdom.” Resolve touched her chest like a steady drum. She stood and checked her things. The Black Swordsman stayed close, a silent wall against the wind. When she finished, he reached out and took her luggage.

She thanked him softly, voice like tea steam in cool air. Then she led him toward the border.

She didn’t go to the graves. Grief settled, then steadied. She knew their noble souls would walk beside her, like lanterns on an old road, same as the journeys they once shared.

It was time to go home.

The White Holy Maiden and the Black Swordsman crossed land bare as bone. On the silent, wide plain, Lilith felt like the only breath of life.

The raging Taint had been taken into the young Saint like stormwater drawn into a deep cistern. Soon the wasteland would sprout green veins again. When human explorers returned, the earth that once ate men would open its chest and welcome them.

The crimson sun finally found its color again, a red coin sinking behind dunes. For the first time in three years she saw a sky dressed in hues. Ever since leaving the kingdom, her heavens had only been black and white.

Lilith loved walking under that red evening glow. It pulled up old films she adored, like red silk on a screen. If a few Taint wraiths could pop up to fight, it would taste even better.

But there were no wraiths now. Her task was done. She would go back to the kingdom and savor life. If she could find a way home to her original world, that would be even better.

She wasn’t heartless. Family waited there like lamps behind curtains. If this world hadn’t needed saving, Lilith would’ve run back long ago.

“System, why does my body feel weird?” Unease pricked first, then she rubbed the top of her head. A tingling itch crept from her crown and lower back, not battle bruise, not the sharp burn after swallowing Taint.

“Am I turning into a Taint wraith from taking in too much?”

“What are you thinking? You’re a super Saint with me backing you. You don’t even need a relic to suppress Taint.” The System bristled, pride flaring like a cat’s raised fur. “But for the discomfort part, Host, look at this.”

“?” She tapped the panel the System called up. It showed her personal data, neat as a card on a lacquer tray.

Name: Lilith (Fan Yu)

Sex: Female

Age: 1X (Lilith: Why is it blurred?)

Race: Dragon

Role: White Holy Maiden, Hero

Status: Taint Erosion

“Wait, Dragon?” Panic hit first, cold as a bucket of river water. She grabbed her little head—and felt what should not be there.

Horns.

“Why, System? What happened?” Fear scattered her thoughts like sparrows. Nineteen years she’d been a person. She’d somehow turned from man to little girl, sure, but still human. How did she become a dragon?

“Replying to Host. After analysis, this stems from the Demon King’s dying curse.” The System paused, words slow as stones sinking. Lilith tilted her head, not quite catching it. The System sighed and explained.

“The Demon King cursed you to feel its pain. But the Taint can’t remodel your body under my watch. So the curse changed form. It made you into a dragon.”

“No—how does turning me into a dragon make me feel its pain? That makes zero sense.” Frustration made her throat tight, like string around a kite. This world’s rules felt more abstract than the Demon King’s mind. A pain curse becomes dragonification—who wrote that logic?

“Replying to Host. In this world, humans don’t only fight the Taint. Other races are also opponents humans must face.” The System flicked open another screen, cheap game glow and all, like neon on a rainy alley.

“So there’s more than one ‘Demon King’?” She’d spent all her energy fighting Taint after arriving. World lore was a fogged window to her. This was news.

“Strictly speaking, not Demon Kings. But your understanding works. The Taint is the common enemy for every race. Only among humans do White Holy Maidens appear to absorb it. Most races choose friendship with humans because of that. Some do not. A few tried to conquer humans by force, make them slaves, and breed an efficient corps of White Holy Maidens—treat them as tools to drink the Taint. Dragons are one of those races.”

“Hold on. I get dragons and humans can be enemies. What does that have to do with me?” She cut off the lecture, steadiness returning like a hand to a sword grip. She raised her right hand. The Hero’s mark glowed blue, soft as starfire. The Saint’s mark on her brow tingled faintly.

“These marks prove who I am. Humans won’t deny me. I just have to explain it’s the Demon King’s curse, and have the kingdom find a way to dispel it.”

“That’s correct in theory. But, Host, the fact you killed the Demon King will reach the kingdom before you. Every race will soon know the Taint now rests in your body like storm in a jar. Dragons can sense their own. Those who want to use the Taint will—”

“Will come to seize you, newborn White Dragon!”

A figure dropped from the sky with a whoosh. Dust bit the air like stinging sand. A holy knight’s shade flared up and shielded Lilith from the blast.

She breathed out thanks, voice a silver thread. Then she called the Black Swordsman back. She lifted the Holy Blade, its phantom light like ice fire, and leveled it at the intruder.

“Who are you? Why are you in a Taint-restricted zone?”

“Don’t be so hasty, my cute Little White Dragon.” The voice was warm honey with iron underneath. “Just now, human royalty declared the Taint zone open. This is a normal wasteland again. I’m here to take our newborn back and host her hatchling rite.”

The dust peeled away. The figure stepped out in full form—a Red Dragon. For convenience, she wore human shape, but kept the thick tail, sharp horns, and wide wings. Just standing there, she pressed the air like a high-tier Taint wraith.

“Shut it. I’m a human White Holy Maiden, a Hero. Not the ‘Little White Dragon’ you’re calling me. Who are you?” Lilith clutched the hilt, forcing calm like snow laid over fire. She tried to stand as the stronger side, even as her Hero and Saint powers wouldn’t answer. The Holy Blade slept, this only its afterimage.

If fight came, she could rely only on the Taint’s strength, cold as winter river, heavy as iron.

“Heh. Little White Dragon, take a look at your tail.” The Red Dragon pointed, teasing spark in her eyes. “It’s gorgeous. Rare even among dragons. Too bad you haven’t undergone the coming-of-age rite. In human form, you can’t manifest wings. I’d love to see how beautiful yours are.”

The white-haired girl hissed under her breath, anger first, then action. She grabbed her twitching tail and hugged it tight. She turned and glared at the Red Dragon like frost on a blade.

“As for who I am. I’m Ofira, Captain of the Dragon Royal Knight Order. I’ve come by the King’s decree to take you back to the Dragon Territory.”

“I’m not going with you.” Fear flickered, then stubbornness planted feet like roots. “I’m human’s Saint. Human’s Hero. I’m going back to the kingdom. I won’t set foot in your Dragon Territory. Go back to your king.”

She inched back, blade up, widening the gap like a fox fleeing across stubbled fields. She didn’t want a clash. She only wanted to run now. Sure, her legs couldn’t beat a dragon in the sky. But she had a few speed skills. At that pace, a human-shaped dragon might not catch her.

“I know you won’t come quietly.” Ofira showed her claws, bright as polished coral, and pointed at Lilith. “So the King gave me the right to bring you back by force. Don’t worry. I’ll hold back. I won’t let you get hurt.”

“Daydream.” Panic buzzed in her bones, then she iced it with words. “You can’t take me. You’re twenty thousand years too early.”

“Ignorant Little White Dragon.” Ofira’s laugh cut cold, like wind over bare stone. “You haven’t learned magic. What will you fight me with? A Silver Dragon body as frail as a human’s?”

“Underestimating humans has a price.” Lilith snapped her fingers and summoned the witch. A black silhouette rose, staff leveled at the Red Dragon like a thunder rod. The witch seemed to scold the claim that Lilith couldn’t use magic.

Lilith went speechless, a sigh in her throat. How did she forget Mona was the most competitive of the lot?

“Is that so? Then let me see the price.” Ofira licked her tongue, hunger bright as fire behind her teeth, and lunged.

She’d wanted to taste White Dragon blood for a long time.