"Your majesty, I'm delighted to know that you recognized my voice even with this— unpleasant body." the person said. He had come into their sights.
"Lily. that man, he's my English professor, Mr. Oswald." Ronnie said.
Lily could feel his hand getting sweaty and slipping out of hers so she gripped him tighter.
"He is not. Not anymore. His soul has been consumed by a demon" Lily said.
Ronnie looked at her. For the first time, he saw Lily sweat. Droplets of sweat slid down her face as she bit her lip.
"A demon? don't you mean a damned soul or phantom?" Ronnie asked.
"What could have made her so worked up like this? she usually doesn't look like this when we run into damned souls" Ronnie wondered.
"No, a demon. I know this one" Lily said. She looked aggravated.
"Feel at ease, Lilith. I am not here to fight you. I'm not that stupid" he said, wearing a mischievous smile.
"So, this is why he invited me to his office the other day? Maybe if I had gone he would have done something to me" Lily thought.
"Zen. What are you doing in the human realm?" Lily asked. She unclenched her fist and loosened her grip on Ronnie's wrist.
"Oh my, is it now a crime to visit an old friend?" Zen asked.
"Stop playing around!" Lily thundered, her true voice had surfaced due to the anger.
"Lily, we'll get kicked out of the library for being too loud" Ronnie said.
"No, you won't. I erected a barrier around this section. She can be as loud as she wants, besides, who doesn't get excited when they see an old friend again?" Zen asked. He snickered.
"Don't you dare call me your friend! You're a traitor to the throne. You betrayed your queen and joined the Samael faction!" Lily said. She got more upset with every word she said.
"Betrayed? Oh child. Don't kid yourself, I was never on your side. I just acted as a spy for my king" Zen said. His smiled disappeared and he had a serious look on his face.
"You haven't answered my question. Just what are you doing here?!" She asked again.
"I came to the human realm on an errand for my master, you see. I'd throw the same question at you but I know why you're here. I brought you here after all" Zen said.
Before Ronnie even knew what was going on, Lily had stormed through the library, making a mess of the books as she sped past. She grabbed Zen by the throat and flung him against the shelves. Before Zen could react to her speed, Lily grabbed him by the face and slammed him into the floorboards, shattering them with his head.
"Lily! You're wrecking the library, you'll kill the professor!" Ronnie yelled.
Lily turned back, shooting him a sharp look. Her eyes had turned bright ruby red even though she was still in her human form.
Ronnie was startled, she wasn't close to him but he still stepped back, stumbling on his feet and falling to on the floorboards.
"Ronald Carpenter! He is no professor. This demon, he brought me here! I don't know how but he's the reason why I'm away from the battlefield. He is the reason why I've lost my purpose!" Lily raged.
"Is fighting your only purpose?! Lily, Riya said your faction had the upper hand didn't she?" Ronnie asked.
"Who said anything about fighting? This is about protecting my people, if there were some other way I could protect them besides fighting, believe me I'd do it" Lily said with her fist held up. She was stuck between asking Zen questions and bashing his face in.
"You claim to want to protect me. It's clear you've never known anything about protecting a person. You've never had to watch people you care about die. You don't even have a family so how'd you except to—" Lily held herself back.
Ronnie just sat where he was petrified. He had a look of betrayal in his eyes.
"Do— do what you want. I won't stop you" Ronnie said.
"Look at you go. That was mean, didn't think you had it in you" Zen wore a mocking grin.
Lilith lowered her fist. She stared at Ronnie.
"if you move, I'll kill you" Lily said as she got up and motioned towards Ronnie.
"Ronald—"
"Don't come close, please" Ronnie said in a broken voice, his head facing the floor.
"This has been entertaining but I shall take my leave now. I was hoping to have a civil conversation with you but I guess that's not on the table. I can't risk dying, there's still so much to see in the human world" Zen said, getting up and dusting his suit.
Lily paid him no attention.
Zen lowered his barrier. The librarian was left speechless to see the damage that had been done to the library.
"I hope we meet again, Lillith. Maybe we can have a more….adult like chat next time" Zen said, he grinned as he walked to the entrance.
"Wait— what is this? It would seem that there is another barrier." Zen said, he looked bedazzled.
"We were starting to wonder when you'd drop the barrier. At a point, we thought you might have been dead" an aged man in a suit with a cigar in his mouth said. He leaned against the door frame.
"What are you? I sense no demonic aura coming from you, but this aura doesn't seem human. I'll rip you to shreds if you don't get out of my way!" Zen thundered, veins had drawn over the sides of his head.
The further pandemonium had drawn Lily to the entrance, Ronnie as well but he still didn't say a word to her.
"It's— him. The man from the hospital" Ronnie muttered.
"Carpenter, your attraction to trouble is becoming quite the habit isn't it?" He said.
In the blink of an eye, Zen was subdued by two youths, pinned to the ground with sabers.