AN: This chapter is a relatively long one.

I forgot to mention it in the last chapter, but Lilith changed back into her human form for entering the Pyramid. There's not much use for flight indoors, plus the wings and tail might be a hindrance in confined spaces.

I also made a mistake in Chapter 2 by having Lilith mention ghouls in her backstory, despite Chapter 6 being her first encounter with them. I've fixed that here.


Lilith felt her breath catch in her throat. In hindsight, it was a terrible idea for her to continue exploring the Pyramid after seeing that its builders had been overrun by monsters. Though to be fair, it was also implausible for the Pyramid to still be inhabited—at least by living beings.

Ever since I left home, nobody had managed to see through my human disguise… until now, Lilith thought. I must have gotten overconfident…

But knowing that won't help me get out of this mess!

The undead—Thutmose—bent down briefly to pick up a long staff from among the treasures. The staff was made of gold and covered in bands of lapis lazuli, and strongly curved at one end.

"Well?" Thutmose demanded. "Answer me!"

Lilith flinched, as if she'd been struck by a physical force. This ancient undead was only the size of a human or succubus, yet he was even more intimidating than the sandworm from before.

Thutmose raised his staff, and Lilith suddenly felt a burning sensation throughout her body, a sensation that was most intense in her head and along her back. Then she felt the cool air on her wings and tail—her human transformation had been forcibly dispelled.

"You—Your Majesty, please wait!" Adam gasped. "It's—I understand that this situation doesn't look good, but she isn't—"

"Silence!"

Adam fell silent immediately. However, his jaw clenched and unclenched—he was trying to resist the command.

Thutmose—his voice, it has power in it. It's like the compelling voice that succubi have, except that his isn'tlimited to the weak-willed, it can even affect people on our level!

The ancient undead walked up to Adam. His face twisted into an expression of contempt.

"You… human and a warrior, yet you work with an enemy of humanity," Thutmose said. "To fall into temptation purely because she resembles a human… it's sickening. I have seen farmers, who had never taken up weapons in their lives, charge at monsters for the sake of their families, and die in seconds… any one of them would be worth a thousand of you!"

"Shut up!" Lilith retorted. "You don't know about him! You don't know about the effort he's put into training, or the people he's saved!"

Thutmose turned around and glared at Lilith. The succubus met his gaze: it was like looking directly into the sun, but she did not flinch.

"When I awakened, I asked you how you were able to enter my Pyramid," Thutmose said. "A feat that should not be possible."

Lilith considered her next words carefully. She hadn't survived until now by acting recklessly. She eventually decided that the best option—relatively speaking—was to tell the truth.

"The two of us found this Pyramid when it was uncovered by a sandworm—it was buried before that," Lilith explained. "The sandworm left after hitting the external barrier. Then we found the entrance and walked in. There was—there was one trap, an illusion of a human girl—"

"Yes… the lure," Thutmose said. "It was intended for monsters, who would not be able to resist easy prey… it seems that its designers made an incorrect assumption."

"That's right, I—"

"They assumed that all monsters would attack mindlessly, unaware of the more cunning individuals… such as yourself," Thutmose continued. "I do not blame them: they had little time or resources, as the situation had grown quite desperate by then. I will need to improve the security measures myself."

Lilith exchanged a glance with Adam. Their captor seemed to be less angry than before. That, at least, was a good sign—

"But you cannot fool me, monster," Thutmose hissed. "As part of my duties to my people, I mastered numerous forms of magic and fought against many of your kind. No matter how you disguise yourself, you cannot fool me. And I will not allow you to defile my Pyramid any further."

—A good sign that the two of them were still in immense danger.

Lilith licked her lips nervously. "Alright, I'll admit I was disguising myself. But—and I know that this might be hard to believe—I'm not like most monsters."

Thutmose narrowed his eyes, and Lilith winced. Even if this wasn't the first time she'd explained this, that didn't mean it was easy.

"I don't want to kill humans, or hurt them," Lilith continued. "That's one of the reasons why I'm working with Adam here. He's a hero—that's someone who fights monsters to protect humans. And the reason why we came here in the first place is because we heard that there's something here that can restore the land to the way it used to be. Do you know what's happened to your kingdom now? All the green has disappeared, it's now a desert with barely any humans left—"

Lilith abruptly stopped talking. The invisible force holding her had now tightened, just to the point of causing pain. From the side, Adam was struggling even more furiously against his restraints.

"Do not lie to me."

After that command, Thutmose swept his staff to the side. An image, framed in golden light, appeared in the air in front of him. The image displayed the desert just outside the Pyramid: it couldn't be mistaken for anything else due to the tracks left by the sandworm. This was a projection, a simple type of magic used for viewing a distant location.

Upon seeing the projection, the ancient undead slumped. He no longer seemed like a mighty king or a violation of the natural laws: he seemed like an utterly broken man.

"I see," Thutmose said quietly. "In this, it seems, you have not lied. I have slumbered for far too long…" He shook his head. "That does not change who you are. But before I slay you, I must know more about the current state of the world."

Thutmose reached a hand towards Lilith, who bent her body back as far as possible. She'd heard stories of past Demon Lords who'd torn information out of the minds of their subordinates, leaving the latter broken wrecks who couldn't even stand. Someone like Thutmose could easily be capable of the same thing. Unfortunately, nothing Lilith did could prevent the hand from contacting her forehead.

She was running through the street with her friends, who sometimes tripped each other to stay in the lead, all while their mothers yelled at them to come back for lessons.

She was staying up late at night, with a single magical light so they could see, as she and her friends exchanged stories. Her own story was a scary one, about a hero sneaking into the village and killing them all, one by one.

She was flying through the sky, her wings having finally developed enough for it. She enjoyed the wind in her face, enjoyed the feeling of freedom… up until she slammed into a tree and fell to the ground.

She watched in curiosity as the adults brought a stranger to the village: a human man. She wanted to talk to him, to know more about the world outside her tiny village. But she was interrupted by the adults, who explained that this was a different sort of lesson. They explained that succubi, unlike other monsters, were all female and relied on human men to make children. Then six of them descended on the man to demonstrate this point.

After it was all over, she couldn't sleep. She snuck out of her house and searched the village, hoping to find the man again. She eventually found his body outside the village, with a pack of werewolves feasting on it.

The next day, she went up to everyone in the village and talked to them. The adults were casual about the event, other than looking forward to a new generation of succubi. The other children were intrigued, with a few looking forward to when they would be able to join in on the fun. None of them shared her horror at a life being lost.

From that point on, she could no longer call the village home. But at the same time, she knew that she couldn't leave at once. As a six-year old succubus, she'd be easily killed by a human, a monster or even a wild animal. She had to become stronger. So she swallowed her disgust and asked the adults for training.

Ten years of effort later, she had come of age, and was unquestionably the strongest of her generation in both martial and magical arts. Her mother was proud of her. Her friends were eager to go out and capture a man for themselves, and expected her to come with them. Looking at their faces, she felt a pang of regret… but then she remembered the carcass being devoured by werewolves. She therefore turned them down, said she wanted to explore the world on her own. She neglected to mention that she had no intention of coming back.

In the distance, she saw humans, for the first time ever since she was six. She was disguised as one herself… but she didn't approach them. One part of her feared that they'd see through her disguise in an instant. Another part feared that she wouldn't be able to stop herself from attacking them.

After hearing the cry for help, she hurtled through the undergrowth, coming across a giant flower that had captured a human in its ivy. She blasted the alraune with fire, killing it and freeing the human. But when the human looked around for their rescuer, she ran off, still too afraid to meet one directly.

Following the sounds of battle, she found a werewolf attacking a human in full plate armour—a hero, just like in the stories. Not only that, but she could sense more monsters in the distance. She was still afraid, for either the hero or the other monsters could kill her. But she couldn't let someone die in front of her again.

The dark forest disappeared, and was replaced by a chamber of aged stone blocks. Lilith took several deep breaths to calm herself down. She was not diving through the air to impale a werewolf. She was inside the ruins of a long-lost kingdom, at the mercy of a monster-hating undead king that could kill her in an instant.

Though said undead king no longer seemed to be a threat. He staggered backwards, eventually leaning on his staff for support.

"That… impossible… no monster would ever…" Thutmose muttered.

"Do you realise the truth now?" Adam growled. He had clearly managed to throw off Thutmose's command of silence. "We're not here to defile your tomb—or home, or whatever it is. We're here because we're trying to help the few humans still living in this land. If you call yourself a king, you should agree with that goal. Now, let us go."

Lilith was shocked at how furious Adam was… and afraid of how Thutmose might react. But to her surprise, the undead king obeyed. The magic holding her and Adam subsided, allowing the two of them to land on the ground.

Once freed, Adam's first move was to hurry over to Lilith and grasp her shoulders. He asked, "Are you alright? Can you stand? Do you—do you remember where we are, why we've come here?"

Lilith looked up at Adam's face, which was filled with nothing but concern, and wondered how she'd ever been afraid of him.

"I'm fine… and I can stand. But thanks."

Adam nodded. He withdrew his hands and looked towards the centre of the room.

Thutmose approached the two of them. He did not gesture with his hands or staff, or make any other attempt to cast magic. Instead, once he stood before them, he lowered his head.

"I have misjudged both of you. Permit me to apologise."

-ooo-

They spent several hours in the room, talking. The conversation was naturally awkward at first, since one of its participants had just been planning to kill the other two. However, Thutmose did his best to make them more comfortable. He allowed them to use the treasures in the room as mere seats, and told them not to address him with formal terms like "Your Majesty", as he no longer had a kingdom to rule over.

The main reason why the conversation lasted so long was that Thutmose kept asking questions. It turned out that he'd spent over three thousand years sleeping in his coffin, according to an artefact in his room that kept track of the number of years that passed. He therefore had no idea of what the world was now like, so he kept asking questions, even when the answers visibly saddened him.

Lilith was surprised at how much she was engaged in this conversation. With the exception of Adam, she had never had talked for so long with a human—or a former human, in this case. And she'd never talked so long with someone who'd previously planned on killing her—again, with the exception of Adam. She'd certainly never expected to talk to a king—though Thutmose called himself a "pharaoh".

Eventually, it was Thutmose's turn to explain himself. To complement his words, he conjured up an illusion of his kingdom at its height. He showed them a grand city, with buildings of brick decorated with colourful murals, and tens of thousands of people milling in the streets. The contents of the illusion were similar to the artworks in the Pyramid, but there was a world of difference between static carvings—even high-quality ones—and a realistic image of the past.

"I was not a sole ruler, like the ones you are familiar with, but merely one of a multitude," Thutmose explained. He showed an illusion of a tall, handsome man with a headdress modelled after a bird's wings: it was unmistakeably his living self. Then a succession of other men appeared, each with a different attire but the same regal bearing. "These were my fellow pharaohs. The exact number varied depending on the era—for we were not always at peace with each other—but by my time, we numbered twelve. Each of us ruled our own domains, though we maintained strong alliances."

The illusion progressed through several different scenes: an immense farm that could produce enough to feed an entire city; a canal filled with ships and boats; hundreds of humans working together to build a colossal structure of stone blocks. The last scene culminated in the Pyramid: not the worn-down structure that it was in the present, but a magnificent edifice coated in white stone and capped in gold.

"That is what my Pyramid once was," Thutmose said, pride clear in his voice. "Each of us pharaohs had one constructed. They are not simply expressions of vanity, but also tools of defence. They are nigh-indestructible due to their barriers, and can channel spells capable of annihilating invading armies. With these, we thought our dynasty to be unassailable."

There was an uncomfortable silence. Thutmose looked towards the floor, unable to meet the gazes of his two guests.

"But we were fools," Thutmose continued. He altered the illusion, causing it to display scenes of monsters attacking humans. "The Demon Lord—or rather, a past Demon Lord, led hordes of monsters here. We joined forces and fought back, and even managed to repulse the initial assault. But the Demon Lord was relentless. She gathered more forces and created new varieties of monsters, and continued her attack."

The city was shown once more. Its walls were guarded by hundreds of soldiers. But their duty was for naught, as a quarter of the city suddenly collapsed, entire buildings sinking into the ground. Then a sandworm emerged, and proceeded to feast on the panicking citizens.

"After years of bloodshed, it became apparent that we could not win this war," Thutmose said, in a much quieter voice than before. "No matter how many monsters we killed, more would appear. We held an emergency conference and concluded that our only option was to hide. So we buried our own Pyramids in earth and waited for a time when we could rise once more. However, we would not be able to survive for so long with our living bodies… so we preserved ourselves, using techniques previously used to preserve our dead."

Thutmose lifted his hand, which was skeletal and covered in bandages, and examined it.

"We removed our organs, dried ourselves in salt, wrapped ourselves in cloth. Then we sealed ourselves in stone sarcophagi, waiting for someone to find and awaken us…" Thutmose shook his head. "But that is enough of the past. Now we must focus on the present. These lands have deteriorated after all these years. It is time that they were restored."

"Really?" Lilith said. "Not that I'm doubting your power, but can you actually change the landscape like that?"

"I can," Thutmose declared. "These Pyramids were intended for war, but it is entirely possible to use them for peaceful purposes. I can channel spells through this Pyramid that will reflect the sun's rays during the day, yet retain heat in the ground during the night, and also bring up water from the depths. That will allow vegetation to sprout and flourish. People—humans, I should say—will migrate here and establish new settlements, where I can protect them. As for you two, I will have you lead expeditions to find the other Pyramids, and awaken my fellow pharaohs. With all of the Pyramids active once more, revitalising this land will be no mere dream."

Lilith and Adam looked at each other, hope in their eyes. After spending their lives only able to help the people in front of them, now they could make a real difference.

"However, we will not be able to do that yet."

Lilith let out a confused "What?", and Adam fell off his seat.

"What do you mean by that?" Adam asked, while pulling himself back up.

"After so long in slumber, I… am not at my full power," Thutmose admitted. "It will take me time for me to regain my strength."

Not at full power, and he still captured the two of us with ease, Lilith thought ruefully. I really didn't need another reminder of just how weak I am. What was the point of all that training?

"How long will that take?" Lilith asked. "And… is there anything we can do to help?"

"If I rely solely on my natural recovery of energy, it would be a minimum of six months before I could use any major spells," Thutmose replied. "But there are various relics here that could accelerate that process. By using them, I could achieve the same state of readiness in…" He spent a few seconds thinking. "three weeks, four at the most. However, to ensure that this process is as rapid as possible, I will need to remain in this chamber and divert some of the energy normally used for the Pyramid's defences. I would therefore ask the two of you to stand guard while I am vulnerable."

"That—that would be a great honour, Your Ma—er, Thutmose, but are you sure about this?" Adam said.

"You've only known us for a few hours…" Lilith pointed out.

Thutmose laughed. It was a sound much livelier than Lilith expected from… well, someone of his condition. "When I was still alive, I ruled more than one hundred thousand people for over thirty years. I did not hold that position by being a poor judge of character. I may have only known the two of you for a few hours, but that is more than sufficient for me to trust you."

Lilith averted her face, as she didn't want Adam or Thutmose to see the look of embarrassment on her face.

"In that case, we'd be happy to—" Adam began.

Suddenly, the room was shaken by a great impact. All three of the people inside swayed, but managed to remain standing.

"What was that!?" Lilith demanded.

"Something has triggered the main barrier," Thutmose said, frowning. "But to feel it from so deep inside… it can't be!"

The pharaoh swept his hand to the side, conjuring up another projection of the Pyramid's exterior.

There was a colossal serpent, one that equalled, possibly even surpassed the sandworm in size. Their scales were deep purple with a metallic sheen, resembling enchanted armour plating. Their neck flared out to the sides, forming a hood-like structure. But the most intimidating aspect of the monster was their eyes: slitted pupils with golden irises and black sclerae, which seemed to look upon everything in the world as prey.

Even though Lilith didn't recognise the type of monster, and even though she was merely viewing them indirectly, she felt a primal fear that permeated her entire body. It was the kind of fear that one would feel when faced by a malevolent deity.

"What… is that?" Lilith whispered.

"I've never seen or heard of anything like this before…" Adam said. "Thutmose, just what in the world is that!?"

Thutmose did not answer immediately. Instead, the serpentine monster narrowed their eyes and spoke.

"It has been a long time, great pharaoh. Oh… and I see you have guests."

The overpowering voice struck Lilith and caused her to tremble. However, she remained lucid enough to discern the gender of the monster.

She can see and talk to us through the projection!? That goes against everything I was taught about how projections work!

Lilith looked around, desperately searching for a solution to the current situation. She was surrounded by countless treasures, many of which were powerful magical artefacts… yet she had the feeling that, even if she knew how to use each and every one, there was nothing she could do to change her fate.

Nearby, Adam was shaking the shoulders of the one person who did understand the contents of the room. "Listen to me! What kind of monster is that, and how can we defend against it!?"

"…An apophis," Thutmose replied at last. "One of the monsters at the forefront of the hordes that ended our dynasty. The Demon Lord herself was one of them. I… I did not tell you of them before because… because—"

"Because you were afraid of us?" The apophis said mockingly. "Because you were ashamed that you could never defeat even a single one of us?"

Despite her own fear, Lilith moved between Thutmose and the projection. Adam did the same. However, Thutmose pushed past them and raised his head high.

"No," Thutmose said, his voice firm once more. "It is because you were not worth being remembered. You defeated us pharaohs, I will concede that… but what happened afterwards?"

The apophis hissed.

"I have talked to these two visitors," Thutmose continued. "They told me many stories… but in none of those were your kind mentioned."

"Silence!"

"It seems that human and monster alike did not consider your kind worth remembering—"

The apophis roared, then opened her mouth and breathed out a torrent of violet light.

The projection disappeared, the room shook once more… and this time, Lilith heard the sound of stone crumbling. The Pyramid wouldn't last much longer.

"What can we do now?" Lilith asked.

"I have activated all of the Pyramid's defences—but those will do no more than delay her," Thutmose replied. "I will send the two of you out of the Pyramid to safety, while I stay behind to fight."

Lilith gripped her spear tightly. She thought of several retorts: that she and Adam could at least provide a distraction, that they could circle around and attack the apophis from behind, that they could make a difference if they fought without care for their own lives. But she remained silent. She'd seen enough of Thutmose and the apophis to realise that they were both vastly above her, like dragons compared to a mouse.

"…Alright," Lilith answered. "Then we'll continue searching for the other—"

"No," Thutmose said. "When I suggested that plan, it was under the assumption that my old enemies had died or abandoned these lands. Now I know that is no longer true. And if any of the other Pyramids were to be revealed, they would also be vulnerable to attack. You must leave these lands entirely."

The logic was unassailable… but that didn't make it any less painful. Lilith glanced towards Adam, but he didn't have an answer, either.

Meanwhile, Thutmose didn't remain still. He hurried around the room, picking up several of the treasures. He didn't stop even when there was the sound of a distant cave-in.

"Here," Thutmose said, while handing a pair of carved stone bowls to Lilith and Adam. "You will need these to survive in the desert. Fill them with water and expose them to the sun, and soon they will be filled with a thick soup. The taste is poor, but it will keep you alive."

Next came a pair of diamonds, each the size of a pebble. "These can store considerable amounts of spirit energy, and in theory should also be able to store demonic energy. They will be an asset in prolonged battles."

After that was a bag filled with small gemstones. "These have no inherent power, but they should be useful as currency even in this era. My apologies, but this is all I can give you. The remaining items here would be dangerous to you without the knowledge of how to use them."

"That doesn't matter," Lilith said. "Thank you. We… we…"

"We won't let you down," Adam said. "If only we could help you—"

Thutmose laughed. "If you wish to thank me, then you should live on and make good use of my gifts. Show the world that humans and monsters need not be enemies."

Lilith and Adam looked at each other awkwardly. It was a major burden to have thrust upon them, especially since they had yet to encounter any other examples of humans and monsters coexisting.

There was a distant explosion, and the doors to the room shook. That reminded Lilith of the uncomfortable fact that there were apparently no other exits to the room.

"Wait, how are we going to get out of—"

Before Lilith could finish her question, Thutmose tapped his staff against the wall opposite the doors. The stone changed into sand and flowed away, revealing a secret passage. A glimmer of sunlight could be seen from the other end of the passage.

"Once you leave, put as much distance between yourselves and this Pyramid as possible," Thutmose said. He paused briefly, then added, "Farewell. Thank you for soothing the loneliness of an old man."

Lilith blinked, then shook her head. "If you want to thank us, you should—you should win!"

"That's right!" Adam said, with forced cheer. "You must tell us more of your stories!"

Thutmose nodded, then turned to face the door. He did not say another word.

Lilith and Adam hurried towards the secret passage. They both glanced back one more time, then left the room.

The passage was just barely wide enough for them to run single-file. There was no lighting, so Lilith had to cast her magical light to ensure that neither of them would trip.

Once they reached the outside, Lilith spread her wings and picked Adam up. She flew away from the Pyramid, trying to ignore the shame in her heart.

-ooo-

"Old man", hm? When I was still alive, I used to hate it when Rakhamun called me that. He was always so proud of his achievement, becoming pharaoh at the age of fifteen. Yet when the Demon Lord struck, it was he who received a fatal blow to save me. It should have been the other way around…

Thutmose glanced at the doors. A wave of fell magic struck them, reducing them to dust.

Fortunately, it seems that the gods have granted me another opportunity.

The apophis slithered through the entrance. Since her natural form was far too big to fit inside this Pyramid, she had shifted into a smaller and more humanoid shape—though like most monsters, "humanoid" was a relative term. She had a head and torso with two arms and a serpentine tail below, all covered in purple scales. Her fingers were tipped with claws, her mouth excessively wide and with a pair of venomous fangs, yet all of this paled in comparison to her eyes: these were the same as those of her true form, the eyes of an ultimate predator.

"My memories have begun to return… your name was Mortaris, was it not?" Thutmose said, with a tone typically used for greeting foreign dignitaries.

"That's correct, and I'm glad you remember," Mortaris said, also speaking in a way that did not match the situation. "It has been a long time since we last met, I was worried you might have forgotten."

Despite being provoked into a rage, the apophis had quickly regained her senses. It was only logical, Thutmose mused—for all of their power, the apophises could never have been so successful if they were merely violent brutes. In all likelihood, he'd only managed to provoke Mortaris because she'd spent millenia without any opponents on her level, causing her to grow complacent.

Thutmose pointed his staff at the intruder. "Unfortunately, you do not have my permission to be here. Leave at once, and I will spare your life."

Mortaris laughed. "There's no need to put on the act any longer, great pharaoh. You and I both know that you stand no chance and are merely trying to buy time for those two. And you need not bother: once I've devoured you, I will find them and allow them to join you in the netherworld."

"Hmm… you do not seem to be surprised by that pair, even though they are a human and monster."

"It is not the first time I've seen such a thing," Mortaris replied, shrugging. "I've seen several other cases during these past three millenia. Fools who tried to ignore their true nature and ally with humans… and in every case, it ended the same way, with the monster devouring the human. We are not like you humans, who squabble with each other over the pettiest of matters. We attack and devour you because it is an innate desire for us, no different from the desires to survive and to produce offspring."

This was consistent with what Thutmose already knew. He'd scanned the minds of several monsters in the past, hoping to find a weakness, yet each and every one of them had possessed the same drive to attack humans. However, Lilith had been different: although he'd sensed the same drive within her, it was buried so deeply that it was barely noticeable. The sheer strength of will she demonstrated was why Thutmose had trusted her, despite her nature as a monster.

But this is a secret I will keep to myself, Thutmose thought. If Mortaris believes that a monster is incapable of change, then I will allow her to stew in ignorance.

"On that topic, what have you been doing for all this time?" Thutmose said. "I am genuinely curious: you had abundant time and no opposition, yet you failed to establish a nation of your own."

"Those pathetic tricks of yours will no longer work," Mortaris said, hissing slightly. "But to answer your question: the purpose of my siblings and I was to kill you pharaohs and destroy all of your works, so, after we could find no more traces of your existence, we decided to rest. A few of us woke, every century or so, and amused ourselves by taking on smaller forms and preying on the descendants of your subjects."

"Purpose… and who assigned you that purpose? The Demon Lord?"

"No," Mortaris said, now with a hint of pride in her voice. "We apophises were created by gods of darkness and death, gods that had been deposed by those that you worship, all for the purpose of vengeance. The most powerful of us became Demon Lord and commanded armies of lesser monsters simply to facilitate this task."

"I see," Thutmose said. He gathered spirit energy at the tip of his staff, forming a golden ball of light. "But even if you were created by gods, you do not share their power!"

Thutmose fired the spell at Mortaris. Any other opponent would have been utterly annihilated, with not even their bones remaining. Mortaris deflected the spell with one hand, causing it to strike a wall and leave a large crater.

In the next instant, Thutmose was pinned to another wall, Mortaris' hand around his throat.

"Was that the best you could think of for your last words?" Mortaris said, baring her fangs. "Regardless, it's time to finish this. I've tasted the flesh of two other pharaohs, and it was delicious… I hope that your undeath hasn't ruined the taste…"

Thutmose laughed. It wasn't the mirthless laugh of someone resigned to their fate, but the triumphant laugh of someone whose plan had succeeded perfectly. It was enough to make even Mortaris hesitate.

"What are you—do you think this will make me show a little mercy?"

"I am simply laughing at your stupidity," Thutmose said. "For you see… the moment you entered my Pyramid, you had already lost."

Suddenly, the walls of the room shone with a crimson glow. Alarmed, Mortaris released Thutmose and fired off beams of violet light from her hands, making more craters in the walls. But it was fruitless—once the sequence began, it could not be stopped.

"You see, Mortaris, these Pyramids hold great power, but we pharaohs knew that there was always the risk of them being invaded and captured. So we included a countermeasure for just this situation…"

Mortaris lifted Thutmose into the air and slammed him onto the ground, breaking multiple bones. But Thutmose no longer felt any pain, and so he continued to laugh, right up until the point when the room was consumed by crimson light.

-ooo-

Over three hundred paces away from the Pyramid, Lilith and Adam shielded their eyes, as the structure was suddenly surrounded by a crimson light as bright as the sun. The light lasted for several seconds. Once it subsided, the pair cautiously uncovered their eyes.

Where there had once been an immense structure of stone blocks, there was now only a pile of sand. And Lilith suspected that, if she were to search this sand, she would not find anything left, not even a single bone.

Lilith turned and threw her spear with all of her strength. The spear embedded itself in a nearby dune.

"Argh! What was the point of all that!? We came here trying to find something that would let us make a difference! But instead, we end up with basically nothing and we got someone killed!"

Adam walked over to Lilith and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "No. We shouldn't think of it that way."

Lilith looked at Adam with a mix of scepticism and scorn, but decided to let him explain himself.

"Suppose that we never found this Pyramid," Adam continued. "Sooner or later, someone else would have found it, like a person from that village we visited. In that case, one of the apophises would also soon find it, and it would be no different from now. Alternatively, if that didn't happen, if no one ever found a Pyramid, then the pharaohs wouldn't die and would continue to sleep… but do you think they would appreciate that sort of existence?"

Lilith recalled their last moments with Thutmose. When the undead pharaoh was about to sacrifice his life for their sakes, his last words were to thank them for soothing his loneliness.

"No… they wouldn't."

Adam nodded. "And there's another benefit as well, the death of an apophis. From the brief glimpse we got of her, I think it's safe to say that she was the sort of monster that preyed on humans. In killing her, Thutmose not only saved our lives, but also the lives of everyone that she would have killed in the future."

"That makes sense," Lilith said. "Sorry for—for losing control like that. It's just… today has been absolutely chaotic. First we're chased by a giant monster, then find a ruin from a lost civilisation, then meet a surviving ruler of that civilisation and nearly get killed, and I had to relive my past, and then we end up befriending that ruler, only for a second giant monster to attack, forcing him to sacrifice his life for us. It's just… it's just too much to deal with all at once."

"I didn't have to relive my past, but aside from that, I know exactly what you mean," Adam said. "But isn't that one of the reasons why people work together, to help each other when they have problems?"

"That's true…"

As she said this, Lilith looked at Adam. He was smiling softly, his face illuminated by the light of the afternoon sun.

And it would be so easy for her to obtain more. If she used her natural abilities, she could make his handsome face cry out in ecstasy, make him forsake his freedom in exchange for more. She could use him to infiltrate human society and work her way up the ranks. Once he was no longer of any use to her, she could discard him and move on to her next target.

Lilith slapped herself in the face. The pain brought her back to reality.

"Lilith?"

"I'm fine," Lilith lied. She walked over to her spear and pulled it out of the sand. "Just needed to work out my frustrations. Anyway, I think we'd better eat before we decide what to do next."

They pulled out the bowls and Lilith drew up some water from the sand to fill them. After a few minutes, the water had turned into thick green soup. The soup was… not good, but not terrible either. It wasn't sweet or sour or salty or bitter, but was instead devoid of any flavour. However, it still filled their bellies, just as Thutmose had promised.

With their hunger sated, they planned their next move. With the ability to obtain food in addition to water, they could travel along any route, without needing to worry about finding oases or villages.

They would first return to the desert village, and say that they had failed in their mission and nearly died. It was mostly true, it would fulfil Thutmose's wish to keep the Pyramids from being discovered, and it would also reduce the number of brave youths throwing away their lives trying to find them.

After that, they decided they would head to the southeast, towards the coast. There were multiple port towns here, and like every other human town they had problems with monsters. Additionally, neither of them had ever seen the sea before, so it would be a novel experience.

With their plan settled, they began their journey. Lilith spared one final glance towards the remains of the Pyramid.

I won't forget what you did for us, Thutmose. Neither Adam nor I will. And we won't forget your last request.

It might be a naïve dream… it might seem impossible… but we will find a way.


AN: And so this arc comes to an end. Lilith and Adam may not have obtained what they were after, but they did get entrusted with something else.

One final question, does anyone think that Adam's group in the first couple of chapters seemed incompetent? I've been wondering if having them be almost wiped out in their first onscreen battle gives this impression. I can rewrite the first chapter to solve this, but I'd first like to know if anyone else thinks this is a problem.