[Side Quest: Kill all of the National Level Hunters 4/4. Completed!]
[Level up! x10]
[+30 SP!]
[+1 Soul of a Ruler's Vessel]
Lilith took her blade out of Siddharth's chest and looked at her status, "System, equally distribute my points."
[Affirmative]
[-230 SP]
Lilith felt immensely stronger and then looked at the devastation she caused in New Delhi. Her expression was blank and she quickly flew away, heading toward her castle in Seoul. She flew that great distance in only five minutes. She saw many news reporters and hunters surrounding her castle, but when she landed the bustling crowd quickly went silent.
"Why're you all here? Go away." Lilith shooed them away and they left at her command, not wanting to be killed. Lilith walked into her castle and sat on her throne, "System, where are these Monarchs and Rulers located? I tried sensing the entire planet and I felt nothing, do they live in another dimension?"
[Affirmative, accessing that dimension will be difficult without the [Gate Creation] skill.]
"I won't need it, just give me the coordinates." Lilith said as she gripped her sword. The system gave her specific coordinates and she supercharged her right arm with mana, vibrating the air.
"HAAAAAHHH!" Lilith swung her sword and the fabric of space tore open, creating a black swirly portal. Lilith smiled widely, "HAHAHAHAH! I did it! I didn't think that would work but it did!"
[Skill created: [Spatial Distortion]]
[Spatial Distortion: By dedicating over 45% of your mana pool, you're able to slice through space like butter.]
"C'ya later egg! When I return you'd better be hatched!" Lilith waved her egg and castle goodbye and stepped through the portal. Once she was through, it closed behind her.
The landscape she was brought to was similar to the Underworld. Red sandy ground, large rocky mountains made of red rocks, a cloudy sky erupting with thunder and lightning, and little to no vegetation.
"How boring…" Lilith sighed she didn't even have to spread out her awareness to feel the large concentration of mana in this realm.
"Do I fight them now? Or should I fight them later?" As she was questioning herself, she felt something approaching her from beneath her feet. She stepped out of the way and not long after that, a gigantic red centipede monster bursted out of the ground. It was well over 100 feet, had six red beady eyes, sharp mandibles, and three rows of even sharper teeth. Yet on top of this creature was a grey-skinned humanoid. She had short black hair, a bow and arrow on her back, and long ears.
[Alpha Centipedorous - Level 40]
[Valentine Darkroot - Level 55]
Valentine wasted no time and fired an arrow at Lilith, who caught it with ease. The arrow then released a green smoke cloud, poison.
Lilith waved her hand and dispersed the cloud of poison, surprising Valentine.
Lilith sighed, "Hey! I don't wanna kill you, so please don't attack me again or I will be forced to." Valentine narrowed her eyes and took another arrow from her quiver.
"Fine." Lilith made eye contact with Valentine and exerted her aura over her. Suddenly, Valentine felt like the heaviest weight in the world was pressing on her entire body, she couldn't even breathe! The centipede she was riding felt the same weight, only its carapace began to crack.
"P-Please, s-stop!" Valentine managed to squeak. Lilith looked at the helpless girl and sighed. She stopped exerting her aura over Valentine and her pet, soon giving them the ability to breathe and move again.
Valentine immediately prostrated herself in front of Lilith, "I deeply apologize! Doppi and I greatly appreciate your act of mercy!"
Lilith waved her hand in dismissal, "It's alright kid. I'm not really in the mood to kill anyone at the moment, done enough of that in the last week or so. What's your name?" Lilith squatted down and asked that question, despite already knowing her name.
"I-I am Valentine Darkroot! This guy here is Doppi, my best friend and hunting partner." Valentine said making very brief eye contact with Lilith.
"Nice to meet you Valentine and Doppi. I'm Lilith no surname." Lilith waved and smiled, enamoring Valentine.
"Now do you know where we are? A little new to this area," Lilith laughed. Valentine smiled and nodded, "Yes we are a few clicks away from my village. Would you like to accompany us back?"
Lilith thought about her main quest but decided to procrastinate, "Yeah sure."
Valentine smiled and hopped on top of Doppi and gestured to Lilith to do the same, "No thanks, I can keep up on foot." Valentine nodded and they began to move southwest.
Lilith easily kept up with Doppi's speed with a light jog. Within a few minutes, they arrived in front of an enormous valley. Lilith extended her vision deep into the valley but saw nothing. She then sensed the area around her and felt various mana signatures beneath her.
"My village is beneath this valley." Valentine said as she and Doppi went underground. Lilith followed closely behind them and soon, they were at Valentine's village. Houses were built into the walls of the cave they inhabited, with there being a larger stone house in the middle.
Lilith saw the village bustling with people who looked like Valentine. Some of them held glowing crops in their hands, and some of them also held weapons.
"Shrink Doppi!" Valentine commanded and Doppi went from 100+ feet to being the size of a regular centipede. He happily crawled up Valentine's arm and placed himself on her shoulder.
"Allow me to introduce you to my father, the village chief." Valentine said. She and Lilith walked through the village and Lilith garnered many stares and whispers. Some out of curiosity but most of them were out of fear.
They walked inside of the large house and soon met Valentine's father. He was a tall rugged man with grey skin, long black hair, and one eye. His other eye had a large claw-like scar.
[Cerlucious Darkroot - Level 95]
Cerlucious and Lilith made eye contact with one another, sizing each other up. Cerlucious could feel the wealth of strength lying dormant within her and decided to stop before things turned left. He put his hand out to shake.
"My name is Cerlucious Darkroot, the chief of this village. And you are?" Lilith shook his hand and introduced herself, "Lilith no surname. Pleased to meet you."
"Likewise, now if you don't mind me asking. What is a powerful demon such as yourself doing outside of the Demon Realm?" Cerlucious raised his brow in question.
Lilith laughed, "Let's just say I have a really important mission that involves the beings that govern this realm."
Cerlucious eyes widened, "Don't tell me you're talking about the Monarchs?" Lilith nodded.
Cerlucious scoffed, "You will try and you will ultimately fail. Those monsters are on a spectrum of strength we cannot even fathom!"
Lilith shrugged, "That only makes the battle more enjoyable then. Trust me, killing me is no easy task. You're welcome to spar me if you want to see the depth of my strength." Her eyes flashed red at the thought of a spar.
Cerlucious thought for a moment before accepting her challenge, "I accept. But not as a measure of your strength, but rather to show my daughter how powerful the creatures of this universe can be."
Lilith looked at Valentine and smiled, "Hey if I win, let me become her teacher."
Cerlucious was confused about the sudden request for Lilith to train his daughter, "What's with the sudden request? You just met her today no? Why would you want to train someone you just met?"
Lilith smiled and shrugged, "Because I feel like it? I don't have some grand reasoning nor do I feel like she has some incredible world-defying potential, I'm just bored. But that doesn't mean I won't train her to the best of my abilities."
Cerlucious just sighed and laughed, "Fuck it. Sure, if you win I'll let you train my daughter. I'm sure she'll have no issue with that right?" He looked at Valentine who was gobsmacked.
"Ah uh, um, no?" She managed to squeeze out.
"Great! Now let's get this spar going!" Lilith said excitedly. Cerlucious grinned, "We won't be able to fight down here we'd destroy the village. So lets go to the surface."
Lilith nodded and they made their way to the surface. Cerlucious got into his stance and Lilith stood still.
"Begin!"