I washed myself again, put on my clothes, and left the bathroom after crying for hours. I can't just sink into self-loathing, I need to keep exploring. If Uriel really abandoned me, then my only hope is to find Aurora.
I go to the table where there is a plate of rice with fish and salad, accompanied by sandwiches. I eat more, but it has no taste for me.
After eating, I'll probe the walls of the room behind that secret passage. I soon find it and open the wall, but when I'm about to enter, I come face to face with a barrier.
'Are they locked? What's down there?' I take the plate from the table and engrave the thunder rune on it to try to break the barrier, but it doesn't make a single scratch.
I give up. Until I find something powerful, I won't be able to break this. After all, I'm weak and useless.
I take the utensils and engrave thunder runes on them. I'll take them with me in case I find something, but I won't put them in my inventory because I can't quickly remove them, so it's better to carry them in my hands.
I go out of the room, looking around cautiously. I walk slowly through the corridors, being careful of everything around me. My caution has grown as much as my self-loathing.
Soon I arrive at the area of pride. I enter cautiously, walking through these corridors that seem endless. I keep walking for what seems like an eternity until I reach a different door from the others.
I open the door cautiously, taking all the safety measures I can think of. I look through the now open door.
The room is more common than I thought, although its walls are completely white, a luminous white that hurts the eyes.
I enter the room and start looking around carefully. I open a drawer carefully, but it's empty. I go to the bed, but there's nothing underneath.
I decide to leave this room. There's nothing here, and it could be dangerous.
"Haaa..." I let out a tired sigh and continue walking through the corridors.
"..."
"..."
I see a man in front of me. He is tall and has green hair, and his eyes are also green. He has slightly youthful features and is wearing some kind of green and black suit.
"Hello, Lilith," he says, addressing me by my surname.
"I am Astaroth, the Demon of Envy, but you can just call me Astaroth without honorifics," his voice is slightly strange, as if it doesn't quite fit him.
"H-Hello... can I pass?" I ask him, standing in front of me.
"... Of course," he says, making space, and I go on, not wanting to talk to him.
"You look beautiful like this, Lilith," he says, but when I look back, he's no longer there, disappeared like dust in the wind.
'It's better this way...' At least if he's gone, he won't be able to do anything to me. I continue walking through the corridors, ignoring this strange encounter.
I wander aimlessly through the corners. I have no idea where I am, and my motivation to try to find out is 0.
I walk, and walk, and walk, without opening any doors. I'm not sure what I'm looking for, I just want to be in a silent daydream to not think about anything.
The castle suddenly trembles. I try to ignore it, but it trembles again and continues with several small tremors.
"What's happening?" I murmur to nothing, then I run in the direction I feel the tremors are strongest.
After a while, I find a large door. The tremors seem to be coming from this place. I open the door, and what I see appears to be the stands of an arena. I walk through the many seats while noticing two people in the arena.
I sit down to watch what they're doing, knowing it's dangerous, but my lethargy dominates me.
I see Valac and Leviathan, they seem to be fighting, some kind of strength competition. The two hold each other's hands and push, the pushing generates shockwaves, which is the cause of the earthquakes.
'I wonder why they're fighting.'
They seem to be arguing about something while fighting, but I can't hear from here. Soon I see Astaroth sitting in the chair next to me, also watching.
"What do you think of this, Lilith?" he asks me.
"... I don't know..." I don't feel like talking, but not responding could cause me problems.
"Aren't you curious? You're the reason for this fight, after all."
"...?" I don't understand how I could be the reason for this fight, but I don't care.
"Do you want to hear what they're saying?" I don't know why Astaroth is doing this, but I nod.
Soon he uses some magic, and I start to hear them.
[Shut up, Levi, that's not how it works, you don't have that right,] Valac says to Leviathan, his tone irritated.
[And who's going to stop me? You? Don't interfere, Valac, I'll do what I want, and it won't be a spoiled brat who'll stop me,] Leviathan's voice is full of anger.
[Don't be arrogant. You can't tell Ayla that @%!@!#%!@] Valac's voice is distorted.
I'm confused by part of it, a sound of distortion like an old TV prevents me from hearing. I look at Astaroth, and he has a smile. It's clear he doesn't want me to hear that part.
[And why shouldn't she know? She deserves to know that %#@@##%#& and it's not just because you don't want her to know that I won't say anything.]
From what I can tell, Leviathan wants to tell me something, and Valac doesn't want to let him. I wonder what could be so important for them to fight. The fight doesn't seem that serious, more like a way to vent their anger.
[Levi, if Ayla finds out that %*@@!@%#@&@ we'll also have problems.]
[When did you become so cowardly, Valac? Are you afraid she'll hate you?] Leviathan says in a mocking tone. Every second, I get more confused listening to this conversation.
Astaroth just watches everything, smiling. He seems to be enjoying this fight between the two.
"Astaroth... what does Leviathan want to tell me?"
"..."
"Who knows? I can't hear it." This is a clear warning that he won't say anything to me, and that it's not worth trying to ask, as it will just be a waste of time. So I turn my attention back to the fight, maybe I can find out something important.
The floor of the arena is in pieces, the mere pressure of the two has caused huge cracks in the floor. The tremors here are too strong, so if I tried to walk, I would fall.
[Valac, you're just a coward. What's the problem? Are you afraid she'll lose it when she knows the truth? She's immortal, did you forget? There's no problem if she knows the truth, at most she'll feel bad for a while.]
[You have the sensitivity of a wall. You don't think about the problems she and we will have if she knows that %@&@@!%((@%@ and @$(@$(!¨@%@ is not just her, we'll also have problems, after all, we also @%¨$@!¨@!@@%@¨%.]
[And besides, Levi... if she finds out about this, she might even make her own Unique-level item. Imagine the problems that wouldn't create, a weapon made from her soul would be a problem even for Aurora.]
"Astaroth... how does the generation of an item of this level work?" I ask Astaroth, curious, finally losing a bit of my lethargy. If I make a Unique-level weapon, maybe I can finally be useful.
"They occur when someone discovers the true essence of their own creation... but it's very difficult to know this kind of thing on your own," he says.
So what Leviathan wants to tell me has to do with my creation? But how would Leviathan know this... then Ayla really did have something to do with Aurora before going to the royal family.
"You know, Lilith, I think we're going to get along very well," Astaroth starts talking, calling my attention. I take my focus off the fight, as they're practically growling at each other.
"How so?"
"Lilith... wouldn't you like to kill Beelzebub?" I notice a magical variation in the air, probably to prevent them from hearing everything.
"..." I don't respond.
"Think about it, Lilith. Why not? Isn't the idea tempting? I watched the broadcast."
When he mentions this, my body trembles, almost going into convulsions. I hold back the urge to scratch my body.
"..." I don't want to talk, so I just listen calmly, trying not to remember the incident.
"It was a scene, at the very least... different. I'm sure you'd love to get revenge, wouldn't you? So what if I helped you?"
His voice is like the whisper of the devil, trying to convince me to commit a crime.
"..."
"You don't need to look at me with that distrust... I can teach you how to kill Beelzebub."
"How is it for you, Lilith? I'll teach you right now. Beelzebub has an ability that if he's hit, he'll die instantly... and look at this..." He shows me a necklace that looks like an eye.
"This is my weapon, and what it does is pretty simple."
[Eye of Envy Necklace] - Ability = Copies 50% of all abilities of whoever the user looks at for 1 hour.
"Hehehe, doesn't it sound tempting? All you need to do is get this specific ability that he has, and Bam, he's dead. A single look, and you'll have 50% of Beelzebub's powers."
The proposal becomes more tempting every second. I didn't know this weapon could do something so incredible. If I get it, I'll finally be able to have the power to defend myself.
"... What do you want, Astaroth?" I ask, obviously it won't be for free.
"Now you're talking my language... I want you to steal something from Lucifer for me. If you do this little favor, I'll give you this necklace."
"How do I know you're not tricking me?" I can't trust him. Certainly it's a scam, and besides, steal something from Lucifer? Seriously, that's simply ridiculous.
"I can sign a soul contract with you if you want? What I want is worth the risk," he says in an envious tone.
"What do you want?"
"In Lucifer's room, there is a black sphere hidden somewhere. If you steal that for me, I'll give you the necklace. After that, what you do won't be my responsibility."
"... I-I'll think about it..." It's tempting, tempting to the point of being wonderful. Having this necklace would be amazing.
"You can think as much as you want, I have a lot of time. Now I think it's better for you to leave." I obey what he said and leave through the door I entered, walking with difficulty because of the strong tremors.