The outbreak of war caught everyone off guard. Lilithia couldn’t fathom what the enemy hoped to gain. They’d seized this territory only to eventually surrender it back—so what were they truly planting here?
When something buried underground scraped against the icy shell hiding her and Verutan—
“Captain, clear that rock.”
“Too big. Waste of mana. Just bury the thing. Depth doesn’t matter. Once Tulip Empire troops enter this zone, it’ll activate.”
*They’re actually scheming right under our noses?* Lilithia’s mind raced. *Are they planning something massive?*
She and Verutan huddled deeper beneath the ice, breaths held.
Finally, the enemy covered the earth again.
Lilithia signaled Verutan to wait half a day more before melting a tiny hole in the ice. Whatever had landed atop it tumbled down.
Dangerous? Absolutely. But maybe…
Lilithia squinted. The object resembled a lump of haggis—clearly magical.
*A mana bomb?*
“This is—!” Verutan gasped. “A magic weapon forged by the Demon King! Individually harmless. Its mana signature mimics underground insects. But hundreds together? They unleash an Archmage-level spell. Thousands? Grand Archmage tier…”
“So Crystal Orchid Empire colludes with the Demon King?”
“Huh?” Verutan blinked.
Lilithia’s brow furrowed. If this was merely a war between empires, it might be manageable. But with the Demon King involved? Annihilation loomed.
The Demon King was catastrophe incarnate.
Even if that catastrophe wore the face of a pretty girl—Lilithia had no illusions about redemption arcs. To the weak like her, such beings meant only ruin.
Verutan shook her head. “Or they traded for it. The Demon King sells these.”
“! Where’s his dignity? Shouldn’t he roar, *‘Foolish mortal! Dare you demand my treasures?!’*”
“Which bard fed you that nonsense?”
*Scorned. By an eleven-year-old.* Lilithia gritted her teeth. Her knowledge came from records—but the world’s true secrets were guarded by power. Power she lacked.
“If we… poke this thing, will it break?”
“I don’t know!” Verutan snapped. “I’ve only seen one! My teacher said handling it was the Hero’s duty.”
*Damn it.*
Lilithia’s scalp prickled. *Are we sitting inside a bomb right now?* It’d detonate when the army reclaimed this land.
*How wide’s the blast radius?*
She ached to peek aboveground—but feared the enemy lingered.
*Why don’t I have Fiore’s ‘Sword Eye’ skill?*
*Should I summon Fiore?*
…*Wait. What if they’re baiting Fiore?*
A Sword Saint could survive even Grand Archmage-tier blasts. But would Fiore come at all?
!
*He won’t—but his harem will!*
Mephas. Lisanna. Or that unseen Holy Maiden… Someone would come for Verutan.
*There’s a high-level spy in the Empire.*
They might not know Verutan’s true identity—but they didn’t need to capture her. The Tulip Queen’s cruelty was legend. She’d never trade victory for a child. This trap was for whoever came to rescue Verutan.
Before Fiore’s rise, the Tulip Empire was merely aggressive, not truly strong. But Fiore was a protagonist.
Stars orbited him. His contemporaries—even those falling short of his prowess—were formidable.
Most crucially: some could sway Fiore himself.
*The Holy Maiden.*
Lilithia realized it. The one who’d gifted Fiore that healing amulet would come. And per trope? She’d be gravely wounded. Plunged into coma. Or worse… until a healer—or one of the Demon King’s Four Commanders—revealed a quest to save her.
*This magic device is a curse.*
Hours later, Lilithia and Verutan cautiously poked their heads out. The area was deserted.
They exhaled.
Who’d suspect two lowly mages hid beneath this soil?
“Any way to alert our rear guard?”
Verutan shook her head.
*Right. My only real option is calling Fiore—but he can’t leave the Empress. With a high-level spy exposed, if he steps away…*
*The Sage’s Curse could strike across continents.*
*Though… why curse the Empress? Why not target weaker Dukes? Some unspoken balance?*
*Like how Sword Saints avoid slaughtering everyone but the Sage?*
Lilithia scoffed at such “rules.” Desperation made people reckless—*she* certainly was. Death? Fine. Let them resurrect her corpse just to flog it again.
No bodies littered the ground.
As expected. Crystal Orchid Empire never left corpses. Masters of necromancy, they imported cadavers as tribute—zombie legions marching alongside cunning living soldiers. Battlefields against them were always corpse-free.
*So much for looting gear to sell.*
“Cover me. I need to try something.”
Lilithia drew Fiore’s second vial of blood and activated Blood Transmutation.
From the golden droplet, she drew hair-thin threads of mana, injecting them into the haggis-like device.
It melted into a black bead.
The blackness condensed further—into an ordinary water droplet. Within it, gold and darkness swirled.
*Saint’s blood and Demon King’s blood don’t mix with water.*
Lilithia confirmed it. This was diluted Demon King essence, weaponized.
*Last time I absorbed a full drop of Fiore’s blood, it left… embarrassing marks on my stomach. Verutan gave me weird looks during baths.*
*If demon blood counters Fiore’s…*
She channeled Blood Transmutation again, absorbing a thread of the black essence.
***Ptooey!***
“Lilithia?!”
She clutched her stomach. “Damn it! So the strong get to play dirty?! One drop nearly kills me?! I refuse to believe it!”
It felt like swallowing a bomb—***BOOM***—right in her gut.
Alive. Barely.
But… her mana surged.
Lilithia stared at the land, then at the remaining golden blood in her vial. *This is my turning point. My main quest finally triggered. Time to skyrocket in power!*
*Wait—when the black blood clashed with Fiore’s… a trace of his essence remained?*
Her gaze snapped to Verutan.
She seized the girl’s shoulders. “You want strength, right?”
Terrified, Verutan nodded like a startled hamster. “I want to be strong!”
“Strength demands sacrifice!”
“S-sacrifice?!”
Lilithia reined in her frenzy. Silently, she sealed the golden thread back into the vial.
“First—we dig up every last one of those haggis things.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
