Adam had seen the face of death several times, both before and after meeting Lilith. He had been trained to show no fear in the face of death, permanent injury or even becoming a monster's puppet; it would otherwise be impossible to be a hero. But he had never been trained for the possibility of becoming a monster at the hands of a friendly monster… and retaining his own will.

Meanwhile, Adam heard Lilith explaining the situation to him. She was right next to him, yet her words were as faint as if she was speaking from a distance.

But… just what exactly have I become? Adam wondered, his mind still reeling from the revelation. There are monsters who look similar to humans… one is in front of me right now… but I've never heard of any that look exactly like humans. Some can transform into human form... but could I really be doing that when I have no idea how?

"Adam… are you feeling okay?" Lilith asked. "Does it hurt anywhere? Do you feel tired, or—or hungry, or—"

Adam checked the condition of his own body using techniques ingrained from years of training. He took several deep breaths and felt the flow of air through his windpipe and lungs. He tilted his head to one side, then to the other. He clenched and unclenched his fists several times to confirm that he retained dexterity in all ten fingers.

"Nothing seems wrong yet—but I'll need to stand up to be sure," Adam replied.

"Hang on, I'll help you up," Lilith said.

Lilith placed her arm under both of Adam's shoulders, and Adam slowly rose to his feet, going at a cautious pace in case he had any undiagnosed injuries. But Adam didn't feel any bolts of pain shoot through his body, or even the dizziness that usually happened when standing up after sitting for a long time. Lilith slowly took her arm away, but Adam had no difficulty standing.

"I feel… perfectly fine," Adam said. "To the point that last night seems like a horrid dream… no, a nightmare…"

"I feel that way too… but there's no denying that it happened," Lilith said, shivering slightly. "Our bodies are covered in mud, the mountain next to us has definitely just gone through a landslide, and some of the gifts we got from Zipangu are broken or missing—it must have happened in the fight and the landslide right after."

Indeed, the signs of last night's events were clearly visible. Yet it was something that Adam still could not accept. His body might be intact—at least from their examinations so far—but his psyche was another matter entirely.

Justinia… I used to look up to her, just as I looked up to all of the other heroes of legend… I read and listened to stories of her, not just in my hero training but while I was growing up… Even after I learned that not all monsters are evil, I still admired heroes like her…

"Adam, what is it!?" Lilith asked, noticing Adam's distress. "Is it—Are you thinking about—about that fallen hero?"

"If she's doing atrocities like this… then just how much truth is in the legends?" Adam said. "Just how much evil has been lost to the mists of time, or outright covered up? How many of those other heroes have been just as bad—no, worse than the monsters they fought?"

"Okay, stop right there," Lilith said. "I can't claim to know for sure what those ancient heroes were like, but I know a decent amount about what the heroes of today are like. And you do as well. We both met a lot of them in Lescatie, and—even after seeing the darker side of that city—can you still say that there's nothing to be proud of in being a hero?"

Adam remembered those few days. He remembered every moment of that fierce, in which heroes and even fallen heroes fought to the end against a monster of legend.

"…You're right," Adam said. "And if my old friends were here, they'd no doubt be telling me the same thing…"

"And they wouldn't exactly approve of me—but that's not the point," Lilith said. "The point is, Justinia doesn't represent all heroes in the world. I'm sure if you revealed her to any other hero, they'd be just as horrified by her as we are right now. Now, Justinia is just another enemy to deal with… a really dangerous enemy, but not one who we should be questioning ourselves over."

"Thank you, Lilith," Adam said. "It's ironic… I'm the one with years more experience with heroes, but it's because of that experience that I feel so betrayed."

"It's not really something to be ashamed of," Lilith said. "The only reason I'm okay—relatively—is that I was raised to fear and hate heroes."

"Anyway, Lilith, I think I can stand on my own," Adam said. "Let me go, and I'll see just how much my body has changed…"

-ooo-

Ten minutes later, Adam was running through the woods, leaping over logs and weaving through gaps in the undergrowth. He was moving in a way that was unimaginable for someone who'd been mortally wounded the previous night.

"Are you still feeling okay!?" Lilith asked, rubbing alongside Adam.

"It doesn't hurt anywhere, and I don't feel tired in the slightest," Adam said. "If anything, I feel—my body feels more energetic than before!"

Adam spotted a bush with wild berries up ahead. Without even slowing down, he picked a handful of the berries from the bush, then popped a couple into his mouth.

"My appetite seems normal as well," Adam said. "Though I'll refrain from eating too much until I'm more used to this body."

A lake came into view, and the two of them slowed to a stop at the shores of said lake. Adam bent down and took several gulps of water. He then looked at his reflection in the lake's surface.

"The only clear differences are that I now have demonic energy, and my eyes have changed," Adam said. "They're the same colour as yours now, Lilith."

Lilith looked away, hiding her red eyes from sight. "W-Well, anyway, it looks like you have my energy in you now, and I'm not sure if this is temporary or if you'll be like this forever. I've never heard of anything like this happening before…"

Adam held up his palm and a ball of magical light appeared above it. This was among the most basic of spells, so basic that it could easily be done without any incantation or gesture, but it was still a spell meant for humans.

"I can cast magic normally, despite now having demonic energy running through my veins," Adam said. "Though it does feel slightly different from before… but that could just be due to the life-changing experience of last night."

"But like this, you'll have trouble going near any human towns or villages," Lilith pointed out. "Anyone who's experienced with monsters will be able to sense your demonic energy… unless you put on my bracelet, but we only have one of that. And I'm not sure if you'll be able to hide it on your own like I can."

The demonic energy-suppressing bracelet from Zipangu was, like many of the gifts from there, a rare and difficult-to-make item. It hadn't even been possible for the Zipangans to provide Adam and Lilith with a spare in case the first bracelet was destroyed or lost.

"You don't need to apologise for that," Adam said, forestalling Lilith's concerns. "It's a miracle that you managed to even save my life. No, I shouldn't call it that—it downplays the effort you put in to save me."

Adam looked directly at Lilith, who hesitantly met his gaze. The two of them spent quite some time just looking at each other.

The edge of a lake, in the soft light of the morning sun… it was a perfect place for people to deepen their bonds, especially after abstaining for so long…

Adam and Lilith turned away from each other so quickly that the former felt a pain in his neck. It was, ironically, the first pain that Adam had felt this morning. But he didn't care about that right now.

W-What on earth was I just thinking!?

Adam glanced back at Lilith, who picked this moment to do exactly the same thing. The two of them turned away from each other again, their faces both bright red.

I-It must just be the thrill of exerting myself, that can do strange things to one's mind! That's right, I remember hearing about this from… I think it was Marcus?

Adam exhaled, letting out some of the tension in his body. He looked up at some birds flying above the lake.

I need to focus on what's important. I've retained my abilities, though my new form will require me to act differently from now on. And I won't just need to hide my demonic energy, if that's possible… I'll also have to be careful around anyone who might recognise me, since it would be difficult to explain my new eye colour…

But… I do need to settle this issue between us. It's something that has been languishing for too long…

-ooo-

After leaving the lake, Adam and Lilith climbed back up the mountain to search for their lost items. Adam had dropped his sword after receiving that mortal blow from Justinia, and both he and Lilith had dropped various things as they were tossed and turned around by the landslide.

The mountain was, needless to say, a big place. To have any hope of finding their lost items, they repeatedly sent out weak pulses of unfocused spirit or demonic energy, then waited for a response. This method worked because most of the items they'd lost were designed to channel magical energy. Incidentally, using this method would have been risky if Justinia was still around, but she must have moved on by now; even the most paranoid person wouldn't stick around when her enemies had gone through multiple events that should have killed them.

But even after two hours of searching, the only item they were able to find was Adam's sword. They couldn't find any of the magical items they'd been given in Zipangu; presumably, those were too fragile to survive the landslide, and were now too damaged to be detected by Adam and Lilith's searching method. Among the lost items was, ironically, the enchanted needle that they had used to track Justinia to this location.

"Still, it's incredible how there isn't even a single scratch on this sword," Adam said, scanning the blade of his sword. "Kalk has certainly lived up his reputation. And there's also barely any damage to my armour… the blacksmiths of the ancient desert kingdoms must have been skilled as well."

"Though you still nearly died while in that armour," Lilith said.

"But without it, I would have died on the spot, with no chance of being saved," Adam replied. "Justinia's sword looked to also be made of adamantite, from the way it clashed with my sword without receiving a single scratch. If I had been wearing my original steel armour, she would have cut through it like butter, along with my body."

Lilith shivered. "Don't say that. I've already had to see you in a near-death state, I have enough nightmares already."

After another twenty minutes, they decided to end their search and head back to the woods at the base of the mountain.

-ooo-

Lunch was a relatively lavish affair, to make up for the fact that neither Adam nor Lilith had had much for breakfast. They gathered wild berries and tubers, and hunted for small animals.

While hunting, Adam came across a rather interesting animal: a frog with small horns on its head and a faint aura of demonic energy. Moreover, this frog didn't try to hop away as Adam approached it.

This must be one of the animals that Lilith transformed, Adam thought, picking up the frog. I've never seen or heard of any horned frogs, and this behaviour is like no wild animal… At the same time, it doesn't have any of a monster's instinct to attack humans…

Adam decided to bring the strange frog back with him to camp. He set down the frog and it perched on a log, its eyes looking around for insects to eat.

Eventually, Lilith returned as well, carrying various foods in both arms.

"Oh, you found one of those?" Lilith said, setting down her load.

"I did," Adam said. "And… it's quite interesting. It went through the same transformation as me, yet the effects on its appearance and behaviour are different."

"Yeah, that's still something I don't understand," Lilith said. "It's not just this frog—like I told you earlier, there's a few other animals who are like this now. And a lot more that died—but I made sure to get the process right before I started on you!"

"It's alright, I believe you, Lilith," Adam said, chuckling slightly. "But it's strange how all of those different animals were transformed in similar ways, yet only I retained my personality and—for the most part—my appearance."

"Maybe it's because of the differences in intelligence and power?" Lilith suggested. "Though this isn't something I want to try testing anymore… anyway, let's eat."

Adam and Lilith set up a fire, cooked lunch and began to eat. The strange frog remained throughout their meal, occasionally shooting out its long tongue to catch an insect; a reminder that despite its transformation, it was still an animal.

For his part, Adam wolfed down his share of the lunch. It might have been due to eating little in the morning… but he couldn't help but wonder if this was another aspect of his transformation.

At least I can eat normal food, Adam reassured himself. There are some monsters that don't have that luxury, such as vampires…

Hmm, have I taken on the traits of the monster who transformed me? That would explain the eyes… succubi are capable of eating normal food, even if they're generally known for feeding on something else.

Adam picked up a rabbit leg and stripped it to the bone in ten seconds.

Though if that's the case… does that mean I now have the instincts of a succubus? I have no desire for men, but if this transformation has worked to increase my existing desire…

Adam looked at Lilith, who was currently absorbed in her own meal. Then he quickly looked away again.

-ooo-

After finishing lunch, Adam stood up and began exercising lightly by swinging his sword. He wanted—no, needed to fully understand every aspect of his new body, lest a mistake doom him at a crucial moment. He couldn't afford to fall again, couldn't afford to worry Lilith again.

Both of us cannot afford to die, Adam corrected himself. If she died… I'm not sure I'd be able to continue.

We both must become stronger. I wasn't able to defeat that baphomet, even with the help of so many other heroes. Lilith, from her account, also had difficulty with that wight on top of the wall, and the battle could easily have ended differently. And both of us together weren't able to do any significant damage to Justinia.

It may take months, it may take years, it may even take decades, but we must become strong enough to defeat such foes.

With that level of strength… would it be possible to end this cycle of killing?

It was a desperate wish. Strength alone would not change the god-granted instinct that drove monsters to attack humans. Without changing that, there could be no true peace. But the only way to change such a thing would be using the power of a god… yet even Poseidon had no prospect of doing that, not when there were other gods who wished to continue the cycle.

Come to think of it… the original Chief God was the one who made monsters this way… and the current Chief God is apparently a different person. Just what were the circumstances behind that passing-down of the title? Though I suppose it matters little, if the current Chief God continues their predecessor's 'population control'…

That reminded Adam of how Justinia, the hero who'd slain the last Demon Lord, was now slaying entire villages to—ostensibly—prevent the rise of another Demon Lord. The thought caused Adam to put more force into his practice swings.

I still can hardly believe it… but it's the reality now. I must accept it.

…But perhaps… if I lost Lilith and fell to despair… would I fall down a similar path? Would I also decide that there was no way to oppose the gods, and the only option was to stall the cycle by… by controlling the human population?

It was easy to say that he'd never do it, that he was different. But during that encounter last night, he'd seen Justinia and heard her words… and heard the regret in them.

Adam charged his arms with spirit energy and then brought his sword down in a diagonal slash, cutting through the trunk of a tree and sending many tons of lumber crashing to the ground.

I cannot let myself fall down such a path. I cannot allow Lilith to die, nor can I die myself.

Adam began moving along the fallen tree, cutting it up into smaller pieces. On a couple of occasions, his sword became stuck in the wood, but he simply yanked it out whenever this happened. Eventually, he had reduced the tree to more than fifty chunks of wood, scattered amongst a bed of leaves.

But first… there is something I need to say to her, something that I should have said long ago.

Adam sheathed his sword and approached Lilith, who was currently sitting on the other side of the campfire and practicing her magic.

"What is it?" Lilith asked. "Do you want to train together?"

"While that would be a good idea, not now," Adam said. "I have something else to say."

Lilith seemed to notice the firmness in Adam's words, because she stood up. "Wait, is something wrong with your body!?"

"No, this is something that I should have said to you earlier, but which I was… too cowardly to bring up," Adam said. He looked into Lilith's eyes, swallowed, and then continued. "Lilith… you and I have been travelling together for a long time. A few months might not seem that long when compared to the rest of our lives, but so much has happened in this period, and—I've made a mess of my words. I'll get to the point."

Adam took a deep breath and grasped Lilith's hands with his own.

"Lilith… I love you."

Lilith's eyes widened. The succubus pulled her hands away and shook her head rapidly.

"This… This has to be a dream… There's no way that…"

"This isn't a dream, Lilith," Adam said. "This is all real, and these are my real feelings."

Lilith refused to look directly at Adam, but she jumped when he said these words.

"But I… it's my fault that you're like this now…" Lilith murmured, almost cried.

"That was because of Justinia," Adam said. "And I'm not saying this because of my new body, because I've felt this way for long before that, before Lescatie, before even Zipangu. I love you for your bravery and compassion in going against the rest of your kind, and choosing not to prey on humans. I love you, the one who was willing to save a hero despite the risk to yourself. I love you for staying with me all this time, and fighting alongside me. And I love you for being willing to fight to change this world into something better."

Lilith said nothing for a few moments, then slowly, hesitantly reached out and embraced Adam.

"…You really could have been a poet if you hadn't become a hero," Lilith said. "Just how am I supposed to match a confession like that?"

"Well, I've had a long time to think of these words," Adam said, returning the embrace. "More importantly, I don't mind how you answer, but I just had to tell you these words—"

"There's only one answer I have: I love you too, Adam," Lilith said. She then trembled and her next words were intermixed with sobs. "But… But we can't do anything more than talk about it… all because… all because I'm a succubus…"

Adam knew this to be Lilith's great trauma, the main reason for her rejection of other succubi. It was yet another reason to hate the original Chief God, for creating monsters who fundamentally could not interact properly with humans.

"Still, that doesn't mean we can't be together," Adam pointed out.

"Maybe not, but it means we can't do most of the things that proper lovers do!" Lilith retorted. "The most we can do is hug like this, and while it does feel good, we can't—huh?"

Adam didn't have to ask Lilith what was wrong, because he felt it as well: a sudden wave of energy that permeated his body. It didn't feel harmful, it was more like… more like he'd just eaten a bite of fresh fruit while watching a beautiful scenery.

Despite the pleasantness of this sensation, the two of them still picked up their weapons and scanned their surroundings; they hadn't come this far without being extremely cautious. But after half a minute passed, they realised that there were no enemies or any other dangers nearby.

"What just happened?" Lilith asked, still keeping her spear at the ready.

A strange possibility came to Adam's mind. He sheathed his sword and said, "Lilith, why don't we try repeating what we did before?"

"But before, we were… just hugging," Lilith replied. "I… guess we could try?"

Lilith put her spear down and wrapped her arms around Adam, who returned the gesture. A few moments passed with the two of them feeling awkward—they had just been on guard against enemy attack, after all—but then they began to relax.

I never realised just how warm her body is, Adam thought. Those legends about monsters having literally cold blood… I already knew they were absurd, but—oh!

The wave of energy came again. It wasn't a significant amount, and Adam could probably burn it all in less than a minute of exertion, but it was definitely there.

"Are you feeling the same thing, Lilith?" Adam asked, wanting to be certain. "This… This sudden wave of energy?"

"Yeah… and before you ask, I've never heard of any succubus being able to do this," Lilith replied. "Is this… Is this because you're something different now?"

"But even if that's the case, how can we both be experiencing an increase in our energy levels?" Adam pointed out. "A succubus' ability should only take energy from her partner…"

"Come to think of it, this shouldn't be possible no matter what you are now," Lilith said. "There shouldn't be any way for energy to just increase out of nowhere. Plants get their energy from the sun, people and animals from eating…"

"It's also possible, at least for human women, to absorb spirit energy from the surrounding environment," Adam said. "But even if we were somehow doing that, with the amount of energy we're gaining, there should be some disturbance in the spirit energy in the air… but I can't sense anything like that."

But as they continued hugging each other, Adam felt his energy further increase. It was a strange sensation, yet he didn't feel like stopping.

"I've never felt anything like this before, but it feels nice," Lilith said. "Just how in the world is this happening? If this is some kind of succubus ability, then someone should have discovered this before, unless…"

Lilith trailed off, so Adam asked, "Unless what?"

"No, it's just a stupid idea I had, there's no way it's right," Lilith said.

"Still, please tell me what it is," Adam said. "It might prove to not be so stupid after all."

"…It might be because no succubus ever liked any human before," Lilith said. She immediately turned her face away. "I know, it's stupid, there's no way that the power of love could completely reverse a succubus' ability…"

"But what if that is the case?" Adam said. "After all, don't normal succubi rely on a different kind of emotion when preying on men?"

"You're not wrong, but… well…"

Lilith trailed off and didn't say anything for a few moments, long enough that Adam was about to ask her what she was thinking, only for her to speak up again.

"Adam, I'm… I'm just going to try something, okay? There shouldn't be any danger for you, you can tell me right away if you want me to stop, and just in case, I'll do this…"

Lilith took her arms off Adam. She raised her index finger, now glowing with purple light, and used it to trace out a magic circle on the back of Adam's hand.

"This is just a simple spell… succubus mothers use it to keep track of their babies' health, it sounds an alarm if something is wrong… I'll link it this…"

Lilith traced a different magic circle on her own cheek. While Adam was no expert on succubus spells, he did notice that Lilith traced out a different series of shapes than when she'd set up the spell on his hand.

"Now, if you suffer any kind of harm, I'll feel… I'll feel like I've just been punched in the face," Lilith said. Her face was rapidly growing redder. "This… This should work, but… if you feel sick or tired in any way, make sure you stop me right away… you can even hit me or throw me away…"

Adam blushed as well. "Lilith, are you suggesting…?"

"Is… Is this not okay…?" Lilith asked, keeping her eyes firmly on the ground.

"Well… I didn't say that…" Adam said awkwardly.

Adam and Lilith sat there in silence for a while, fidgeting and unable to meet each other's eyes.

"Then I'll… I'll start, okay?" Lilith said. "Again, you can tell me to stop at any time!"

Then Lilith nervously took hold of Adam's face and moved in closer.

One thing led to another, and Adam didn't tell Lilith to stop by the time night arrived… or by the next dawn… or at all for the next three days.

AN: I spent some time wondering about the ending of this chapter, which is why I released it later than usual. I wondered if it might be out of character for Adam and Lilith's relationship to proceed this quickly. Ultimately, I decided that it would be best to have them take the next step; I've already spent thirty chapters building up their relationship.

But please remember to leave a review and tell me what you think about this.