deia paused for a mont.
That was the very thought she had been wrestling with.
She knew better than anyone that trying to save everyone was a fool’s dream. In the end, it would only lead to suffering—hers or soone else’s.
Could she kill them? Of course. It wouldn’t even be hard. Most of them looked like grown n anyway, and if she didn’t check their ages on the system, she could pretend they were just faceless enemies, nothing more.
And yet ...
Sothing about it left a strange, unsettled feeling in her chest.
If she kept killing more and more young n, then what was the point of saving the others?
What made her any different from those scientists who claid they had to sacrifice a few lives for the so-called greater good?
That thought made her stomach turn.
With each passing day, deia wondered, had her heart grown softer?
How could she feel that way in such a short amount of ti?
She had ruled Hell for thousands of years. Was it really possible to bury her thirst for blood and violence in such a short ti?
"I’m not sure," deia admitted, her voice unusually hesitant. She hated feeling uncertain, so she turned to him. "What do you think? What should we do with them?"
Lucian fell silent, his brows furrowing as he thought it over.
"Most of the younger soldiers were probably taken from their families and forced into service," he finally said. "There’s even a chance the military is producing babies, just like Stormclad did."
Victims. Every single one of them was a victim.
"It’s hard to ignore that," Lucian sighed, then locked his eyes into her blue eyes. "But deia ... can we really save them all?"
She breathed slowly.
It was strange.
She had never imagined a day would co when their roles would be reversed.
She was supposed to be the rciless executioner, and he was supposed to be the kind soul. Yet now, she was hesitating, and he was the one reminding her of reality.
"I know," deia muttered. "The system has already branded them as evildoers, so technically, there’s no reason for to hesitate."
Wasn’t that a good thing?
More souls for her to devour. More coins and points to collect.
No need to waste ti and resources giving them shelter or food to survive the winter.
Logically, killing them was the best option.
And yet ...
Why did it feel so damn heavy?
It was as if a massive stone had settled in her heart, weighing her down, refusing to budge.
How could a demon feel this way?
The shift in her heart felt too sudden. Too unnatural. It unsettled her.
The world was unfair.
She had always known that.
Maybe the soldiers she spared were simply lucky, while the ones she killed were just the poor souls who had drawn the death card in this cruel ga of fate.
That was all there was to it. Right?
"We can’t save everyone," Lucian said, his voice calm but laced with sothing she couldn’t quite place. "But think about it—how many children could the military have stolen? A few hundred? Maybe less? I doubt there are more than 400 young soldiers in a single base."
deia turned to him, observing his expression. "What exactly are you trying to say?"
Lucian exhaled slowly, as if choosing his words carefully.
"After the world fell apart, most children didn’t stand a chance. So beca the Lost. So starved to death. Others were massacred before they could even fight back." His gaze darkened. "We can’t save the whole world, but saving a few hundred? That’s not impossible."
His words hung in the cold night air.
She had never considered it that way.
Lucian turned to her then, a small warm smile tugging at his lips.
"So, deia ... what if we made our base bigger?"
deia stared at him, unblinking.
Expand the base?
For what? More people to feed? More lives to protect? More reasons to hesitate when the ti ca to make hard choices?
The logical part of her wanted to reject the idea imdiately.
But the part of her that had been growing softer—the part she didn’t want to acknowledge—was listening.
Lucian’s gaze remained steady, waiting for her response.
"Do you even hear yourself?" deia whispered, her breath turning to mist in the freezing air. "You want to take in more people? More mouths to feed, more bodies to keep warm? We can barely sustain ourselves as it is. How do you expect us to protect them?"
Lucian didn’t flinch. Instead, he reached out, his fingers brushing against her cheek, warm despite the cold.
"We don’t have to protect them," he murmured. "We just have to teach them, help them stand on their own. The sa way we did with the others." His lips curled into a small. "Besides, wasn’t that always the plan? To fix the world together?"
A foolish promise.1
One deia and Lucian had made long ago, back when they were just two desperate souls clinging to hope—before they built the base, before they fell in love deeply, before everything spiraled into sothing much bigger than themselves.
The two of them sat side by side in front of a flickering fireplace, taking refuge in an abandoned barn as acid rain poured outside, along with Nico.
Lucian had told her then, he couldn’t fix the world alone.
And deia, reckless and selfish, had promised to stay with him.
Not because she believed in saving the world. Not because she cared about anything beyond that mont.
But because she needed an excuse to stay by his side.
At the ti, her reasons had been toxic. Selfish.
Yet now ... sohow, that promise has beco real.
They had built this base for people, which was the first step toward creating a haven.
And then, they saved more. people And more. And more. Until every room in the base was filled.
deia had long forgotten that promise.
But Lucian never had.
"So, what do you say?" Lucian asked, his gaze locked onto hers. "I can ask Richard to work harder."
Chapter 19: Lucian’s Ability (2)
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