Leif took a deep breath before walking down the silent hallway.
Each step he took resonated on the carpet, confirming there was no turning back. He stopped in front of the last door, the one that lately seemed to hold more silence than it should, and raised his hand to knock.
Knock, knock, knock.
Silence, just before a weak voice came from the other side, dragged out as if she had woken up halfway.
"Who is it…?"
"Me," Leif answered, trying to keep his voice steady.
The lock turned with a soft click, and the door opened, revealing Lillith in bear themed pajamas. She rubbed her eyes with the palm of her hand, her hair still messy and her expression sleepy.
"Brother…? It is late," she said as she stepped aside, letting him pass, "Did something happen?"
Leif entered without hesitation and, as soon as he crossed the doorway, he stretched his hand back and pushed the door shut with force, hearing the sound of the lock activating.
Bang
The impact echoed louder than he expected.
Lillith flinched in surprise and looked at him with confusion. Her eyes, still heavy with sleep, blinked several times as she tried to understand what was happening.
He watched her with an intensity he had never felt in his life, guided by that persistent sensation that had been drilling into the back of his mind for days.
Without looking away from her, he took a step forward.
"Impure creature…" he murmured with gravity, raising his voice a little more as the echo spread across the walls of the room. "From the first time I saw you acting strange, I knew something did not fit. You are not human. Show your original form!"
?
Lillith tilted her head with a clear question mark on her face.
"Brother, are you watching those weird shows that make you paranoid again? Y-You are scaring me."
Leif shook his head and, without wasting time, slipped his hand inside his shirt to pull out the object he had decided would confirm everything: the pure silver cross.
Under the dim light of the lamp, the metal emitted a cold glow that filled the room with an unsettling radiance.
!
The confusion in Lillith vanished instantly.
Her entire face contorted. Her eyes widened, her skin lost its color in seconds, turning as pale as a lifeless wall.
What Leif saw in her pupils was not surprise, but pure terror.
"NO!"
The scream was heartbreaking, sharp, as if needles had been driven into her soul. "TAKE IT AWAY! Take it away right now!"
Leif opened his eyes in shock, he had not expected such a violent reaction.
But before he could think, a sort of dark smoke, like an explosion of liquid shadow, burst from Lillith's body with force.
The pressure of that energy struck the cross and tore it from his fingers, sending it flying through the air until it hit the wall with a dull thud.
With that done, Lillith focused her gaze on Leif.
Her eyes, once soft and sleepy, had turned into absolute black pits, an animalistic stare that made the hair on Leif's arms stand on end.
"So… you found out…" she said with a twisted smile that showed her small teeth trembling with fury. Each word seemed to scrape her throat, as if she were speaking with a voice that did not belong to her. "Right… little brother…?"
Despite how unsettling it was, Leif did not step back.
Instead, a tense smile appeared, slightly crooked, born from adrenaline, fear, and the relief of not having been wrong.
"That is better," he replied, feeling the strength of the talisman travel through his arms and legs.
Without giving her time to react, he stepped forward, grabbed the collar of her pajamas with one hand, and lifted her body as if she weighed no more than a doll.
Lillith's feet began kicking in the air, hitting nothing while the shock wiped the ferocity from her face completely.
"What kind of joke is this?! Are you a demon or what?!"
Her voice no longer had the control and sinister tone it had a second earlier; it was a mixture of fury and panic that revealed she had not expected Leif to overpower her so easily.
He clenched his jaw, focusing.
"Purification—!"
In his free hand, a burst of blue and white light exploded, a vibrant glow that seemed to move like soft flames around his fingers and grew as he intensified the skill.
The Purification light filled the room with a sacred brilliance, wrapping Lillith's body as she began to twist and scream.
"AAAAAAH—IT BURNS, IT BURNS, IT BURNS—!"
Her scream turned into a forced, trembling gasp before exploding again into a roar of agony that sounded too human and too monstrous at the same time.
She shook as if she were receiving electric shocks from the inside. Tears streamed uncontrollably down her face, and her body trembled so violently it was hard to tell where fear ended and pain began.
"STOP, PLEASE, I BEG YOU—!" she screamed between gasps. "I WILL DO WHATEVER YOU WANT, ANYTHING, JUST—AAAAAH, PLEASE, PLEASE—!"
"I want answers," Leif finally said. "Tell me who you are. Tell me what you are doing in my sister's body."
The Purification continued crawling across Lillith's skin like sacred acid that devoured the shadows trying to cling to her.
"N-no… it is not possession…" Lillith's voice broke into a choked sob. "I… descended… physically… this… this is my body…"
She twisted so violently that her nails scraped against Leif's wrist without managing to break free, and a shriek burst from deep inside her chest.
"R-recently… I recovered my power…"
Leif frowned.
"What are you?"
"I… I am not a thing…" Lillith murmured before releasing another scream. "I am a demon!"
"What is your name?"
Lillith clenched her jaw with hatred, refusing to open her mouth.
Leif narrowed his eyes and let the light burn a little more.
"Speak," he said without raising his voice. "Do not make me continue."
The light intensified.
"AAAAAAH—STOP IT, STOP IT, PLEASE, I WILL SAY IT, I WILL SAY IT, I WILL SAY IT—!!"
"My name is Lillith! Lillith, damn it, that is my name!"
Leif opened his eyes in surprise.
"So your name is the same…"
As soon as he finished saying it, a system window suddenly appeared in front of him.
[Accept as pet?]
The decision did not take more than a second.
"Yes."
Clack
In a blink, a red collar appeared around Lillith's neck, then vanished without leaving any visible mark on her skin.
!
Lillith opened her eyes in horror, bringing both hands to her neck, feeling her skin frantically.
"No… no… what did you do? What did you do to a primordial being like me?"
She started struggling again, trying to break free, but Leif's strength kept her suspended without the slightest effort.
"This is impossible… impossible…"
A moment later, her desperation turned into incoherent insults, and her voice rose in pitch, trembling with rage.
"You… insect…! How dare—!"
Pah
A slap cut her off.
Lillith stayed still, stunned by the slap.
"Behave."
Lillith trembled, but in less than a second she forced an exaggeratedly submissive smile onto her face.
"Of course, master…"
Leif loosened his fingers and let her drop.
Lillith fell to her knees on the floor with a dull thud, letting out a choked sound.
He looked down at her, trying to hide the storm of emotions shaking him inside at seeing that his "little sister" was not only not human but also carried the name of one of the oldest demonic entities in existence.
"Lillith, then…" he murmured, leaning forward slightly, studying her. "If you are going to be here, I need to know what you can do. What abilities do you have?"
Lillith kneeled formally, placing her hands on her thighs and lowering her gaze.
"Reporting. My main abilities are generating fear, absorbing that fear to increase my power, creating illusions capable of altering the perception of reality, and corrupting hearts to influence their decisions."
After hearing her, Leif showed an expression of disdain. "Is that all?"
Lillith blinked, unsure.
Leif exhaled slowly. "Very flashy abilities, but fundamentally quite useless," he said, crossing his arms. "If you run into someone who is not afraid of you, you are reduced to nothing. How is it possible that a primordial creature survives being so dependent on the fear of others? Did someone really think it was worth bringing you into the human world? Because to me, Lillith, it sounds like a scam."
The Purification light began gathering in the palm of his hand.
Lillith felt the energy and raised her hands in surrender, shaking them frantically.
"N-n, no, no, wait," she stammered with a smile that tried to imitate sweetness, even though her lips were trembling. "Do not misunderstand me, brother~, you know I would never lie to you, I am so adorable I could never deceive you, right?"
Pah
A second slap cracked through the air like a whip.
Lillith's head snapped to the opposite side, and a thin line of saliva fell from her mouth.
"Speak properly, demon," Leif said, with a completely transparent anger he did not bother to hide.
Lillith brought both hands to her face while her entire body trembled.
She turned toward him slowly, with tears gathering in her eyes, but this time without trying to act charming.
"Alright… alright…" she murmured with submission, her forehead almost touching the floor. "Master, my abilities are useful, I swear. Generating fear affects even those with the strongest will if I strike the right points. As long as they feel that fear, I can absorb it and multiply my strength."
"The illusions can become so real that even the firmest can fall into them. And the corruption…" She took a deep breath and continued. "The corruption allows me to dominate those whose minds are weak. If their spirit cracks even a little, I can turn them into my servants."
________
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