Khan was looking out from the balcony after leaving his hot bath. The weather outside was colder, making his hair sway slightly with the breeze blowing across the wide balcony. He watched the city below.
Everyone has their own lifestyle, each with its differences... It’s strange to think of sothing like this as real, when all of it was just things I made, trying to replicate realism...
Khan was deep in thought, wondering what his creations had beco—whether they now had real lives of their own.
I wonder what their mories are like... Do the adults have mories of being children? Of their parents? Does this place have its own stories and legends now?
As he sighed, a gust of wind lifted the cloth that covered part of his face, briefly revealing his cold eyes before it dropped again to conceal him.
Without Khan noticing, Lilith had co up behind him.
Lilith jumped onto his broad back, carefully pressing her double horns against him—she would have stabbed him if she had used her full weight. Feeling the horns, Khan thought,
Looks like she’s already recovered from earlier... that was fast.
Breaking the stillness of the mont,
"You seem deep in thought," Lilith said with a more serious tone.
"Maybe... Just wondering what their lives must be like..."
Lilith let go of the hug and walked to stand beside him, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she looked at the view.
"I think their fragile lives exist only to serve us," Lilith said coldly, no hint of playfulness in her voice.
I don’t know if I agree with that... but it’s what they all seem to believe... Will I end up like that too?
Khan watched the city a little longer before turning away from the balcony. A new room had appeared at its entrance. He looked at Lilith.
"Is that your room in the mansion?"
Lilith turned to look, responding with a hint of pride,
"W-Well, you could say that."
Khan observed the room. Red tones were constant. A sofa leaned against one wall, with a carpet in front of it. When his eyes landed on the bed, Lilith, not missing a beat, teased,
"The bed’s really soft, want to try it?~"
Khan stared at her for a few seconds.
"No... I want to try sothing else..."
Lilith tensed at those words. Her wings twitched and her cheeks turned slightly red.
"And what would that be?~" she asked in a more flirtatious tone.
Completely ruining the mood, Khan replied,
"Is there a place to train?"
Feeling betrayed, Lilith pouted internally.
No way he didn’t do that on purpose...
With a small sigh and a twinge of disappointnt, she answered,
"There is... but it’s not as durable as the one at the castle."
Khan noticed the little sigh before her answer and thought,
She probably had sothing else in mind... Honestly, I wouldn’t mind either... But I don’t have ti for that now...
"Perfect. It won’t be for intense training."
I just want to test so footwork Luxian taught to move more efficiently.
Lilith shifted the room ahead of them into the entrance to a large training center, with several dueling arenas and various training mannequins. The place wasn’t empty, but it wasn’t crowded either—so people were dueling in the arenas.
As they walked in, a few surprised glances ca their way, but neither Khan nor Lilith paid them any mind and headed toward an empty arena.
Once there, Lilith asked,
"So, what are you testing?~"
"Movents..."
I want to test so footwork Luxian showed , but I never had much ti for it.
Khan climbed into the arena, pausing for a mont to recall how it went...
How was it? I have to use the strength of my foot to leap far, but stay as close to the ground as possible.
As he did it, he vanished from Lilith’s line of sight, only to reappear at the side of the arena.
Khan turned to see if he had left a trace—which, according to Luxian, he shouldn’t—and sure enough, there were a few cracked tiles.
This is harder than it looks... but it’s fun.
He tried again, and that’s how their night went—Khan training while Lilith watched. anwhile, soone else was up to sothing elsewhere on the island.
Walking down a vast corridor lit only by the moon, a place that looked abandoned for years, with broken windows and cracked walls, a white-haired elf moved through the shadows.
Hm... how am I going to get Livia to co here?
She muttered as she walked.
Arriving at a door, she opened it calmly, coming face to face with the tied-up corpse of a woman, already lifeless.
If this takes too long... I don’t think I’ll manage to play my little ga...
She stopped staring at the corpse and hurried out of the room, heading toward where she was most likely to find Livia.
She entered a cathedral near Khan’s castle.
As expected, Livia was there, kneeling in prayer before a giant statue bearing the likeness of their creator—Khan.
Sitting on a bench and waiting for Livia to finish her prayers, the girl pulled out a bag of potato chips to snack on.
What had been a peaceful silence was now interrupted by the crunching of chips.
Livia began to grimace in irritation. When she opened her eyes and stood up, she looked back and saw her younger sister—Iris.
"What do you want, freak?" Livia snapped.
"Eh~, calling a freak is a bit harsh, don’t you think?~" Iris replied, stuffing more chips into her hand.
Livia didn’t answer, just glared at her with visible irritation.
Iris shoved the chips into her mouth and munched as the silence between them grew awkward.
"Uhm~, to answer your question, since I’m such a good girl, I just ca to call in a favor. I let you spend ti with Khan, didn’t I? You enjoyed that, didn’t you?~"
Livia sighed, rubbing her forehead with one hand before leaning on the bench and sitting beside Iris.
"I knew it wouldn’t be for free..." she paused, looking at Iris. "So, what’s the ’price’?"
"I want you to use the resurrection ability..." Iris said seriously.
Silence settled again. After a few seconds, Livia replied,
"You know what happens to when I use it, right?" she said, narrowing her eyes.
"I know..." Iris paused dramatically and then added in a playful tone, "You’ll just sleep for a bit.~"
"...", Livia stayed silent, thinking. Then she continued, "The skill—Tear of the Miracle—will make sleep for a whole week. What if Khan calls for during that ti?"
Iris put the chip bag back in her inventory and started thinking of a way to convince her.
After a mont, she said,
"I can tell him you used the skill to resurrect a prisoner who died during interrogation, and if you’re lucky..., maybe he’ll even take care of you, right?"
She tried to sway her sister by bringing Khan into the picture—sothing Khan wasn’t even aware of—and her sister...
"I hadn’t thought of that!" Livia bit her nail, looking down and mumbling, "If that happens... being touched by Khan..., being cared for by Khan..."
Livia began to have a small ltdown imagining the scenes, clearly falling for Iris’ trap. Iris just watched, waiting for her to calm down, thinking,
Sorry, my dear Khan... I swear I’ll reward you with a nice little prank involving that woman.
After a few minutes, Livia began to settle down, and Iris took advantage of it.
"So? What do you say?~ Can you help ?"
"Hm~, I can, but it depends on the target."
That alone made Iris happy, though "depends on the target" worried her a bit. Still, she pushed forward.
"Co on~, I’ll show you the way."
They left the cathedral where Livia had been praying and headed to Iris’ domain.
The place was grim. Only those with broken emotions and a lingering will to live wandered there.
Instead of a city, it was a massive spiral, where many souls wandered trapped for eternity.
This was where Khan’s creations ended up when they died but refused to move on. So referred to this place as hell.
They entered the ruined castle at the center of the spiral, walking through its corridors lit only by moonlight.
Livia broke the silence.
"This place brings back mories... but it’s as creepy as ever."
Iris, cheerfully in front of her, replied,
"Hahaha~, hard to believe this is the sa place we used to run around as kids~."
Another silence followed—on Livia’s end, bitter. Iris kept whistling down the hallway.
As they passed the shattered throne room, Livia thought,
It’s been so long... would our parents forgive our choices?
Dark thoughts continued as they neared their destination.
At the door, Iris looked at Livia and smiled.
"I hope you don’t mind the subject of resurrection—it’s for a little show I’m planning, hehe~"
Iris opened the door, revealing the tied-up corpse of a woman. Livia looked at it and imdiately made a disgusted face—she couldn’t feel their creator’s energy in that body.
"No," she said dryly and turned to leave.
"But sis, it’ll be fun to watch, I promise! Just bring her back, I’ll handle the rest!~"
Livia just turned her head slightly and said, even colder,
"My answer’s still no."
Iris grabbed Livia’s arm, trying to persuade her by force.
"Why not?~ I helped you get that ti with Khan, and now you’re leaving hanging?~"
Livia sighed, burdened by the guilt of not returning the favor.
"Just this once. There won’t be a second ti."
"Yes! One ti is all I need!"
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