Chapter 26: The Lilim, who saw the truth.

...

Reginald backed away as he widened his eyes in disbelief while his hand clenched tightly on the hilt of his weapon. Ash and Sasha heard the frantic screaming of customers coming from behind and saw an unusual individual who stood in front of Elen's older brother. Ilassa exhaled in dissatisfaction after the ruckus they had caused, which scared guests by letting herself expose her own identity out of pride until her gaze turn her attention toward Ash Cyrus and Sasha Fullmoon.

"D-Did I just heard that right?"

"A-A Lilim, here!? Out of all places!?"

"What is she doing here!?"

Ash and Sasha heard the words of the customers around the tavern that spreads out their fearful upheavals. Only one word, a Lilim, the couple understood, would mean one thing... the daughter of the Demon Lord is right here, in this very tavern. The couple tensed when Sasha reached for her talisman and Ash went for his broadsword until the Lilim quickly waved her hands in surrender.

"Whoa whoa whoa! H-Hey! I'm not here for causing a ruckus!" Ilassa hastily replied with a wry smile. "I-I just only came here to see the "infamous" Knight and his Maiden, that's all!"

Ash's expression remains unfazed, yet his senses did not detect hostility or anything mischievous until he lowered his guard for a bit. "Then why are you here to stalk at us? Do you have any reason?"

"W-Well, umm, I just heard about the rumours which have been circulating by the Mamonos around the continent," Ilassa speaks out with a bit of tension as she felt a single sweat trailing down her face and then turning to Sasha. "Also, I know what you're thinking. But I'm not here to monsterize you."

Sasha stiffened and took a step back to hide behind Ash. But the standoff broke off as they were interjected by a Knight of Sunlight, Arcturus and Elain came to see the ruckus until both of them widened their eyes to the Lilim in surprise.

"A-Aunt Ilassa!? Is that you!?" Arcturus spoke up while Sasha and Ash rolled back in shock, hearing him calling her that. "It's been five years since we've met! How are you doing?"

At that moment, Sasha dropped her jaw incredulously. "Wait... Auntie!? Is that Lilim your auntie!?"

"His Godmother, in fact. She's also his tutor, who taught him the general subjects about Mamonos." Elaine replied before giving the Lilim a mischievous smirk as she placed her hands on her hips. "Heya~! It's been a while to see ya' ol' granny~!"

"O-Oi! I might be old, but not that old!" Ilassa pouts while pointing her index finger at the orc in an accusing manner. "S-so anyway, is Gerome with you?"

"Yo! If it isn't the travelling granny!" Gerome greeted Ilassa from behind, surprising her, and the young knight gave out a soft tap on her back. "Long time no see!"

"Gerome!? You little rascal... still have that habit of yours for calling me that, huh!?" Ilassa growled in exasperation until her head perked up in realisation and then scanned her surroundings of the tavern. "Oh, wait... we shouldn't be making a scene here."

"Nah, that's okay Auntie. I'm sure they'll just forget everything once we finish our talks here.'" Arcturus smiled as he waved his hand in dismissal and then points his thumb around to Sasha and Ash. "These two were our friends here. So be friendly with them!"

"Ah, I see. Then that's good! Then let's get back to where I stopped." Ilassa then relaxed in relief while turning to the Ashen One. "So the reason I came here is that I was going to meet the person of interest."

Then Ilassa pointed towards Ash, to everyone's surprise. "And that's him!"

Sasha grew a bit worried to see the Lilim pointing her finger at Ash as if the mamono wants something to do with him while Ash looks around and then pointed to himself in confusion.

"... Me?"

"Yeah, you!" Ilassa replied.

"... Then what sort of your business does it have to do with me?" Ash asked as his eyes scrunched behind his helmet visor. "Is it a concern about my reputation?"

"Kind of, but not just that." Ilassa then placed her hands on her hips while scanning his entire identity with an amused smile. But then her expression changed as her joyful smile, which had plastered on her face, turned to gloom. "A few days ago, I received a message from a banshee who told me what just happened to the Fallen God."

Ash grew silent when she mention the Fallen God while Sasha was in concern as she peers up at him with a worried look. Ilassa looked down with a saddened glance while making a light kick against the floor's wooden surface.

"While I was minding my own business. I felt an eerie sensation that had just rippled through time and space." Ilassa then turns her eyes up to him. "This feeling is new. But it was like what I've experienced that one before... and I knew that some depraved god who had fallen must've released a wave of emotions that entails one thing... Despair."

"Um... If I may..." Sasha raised her hand slightly. "Just... what are you trying to talk to Ash about this concern from the Fallen God?"

"Well. Curious, aren't ya? Alright, I'm going to speak to the point." Ilassa then chuckled bitterly. "The message I've received from a banshee, the adherent of Hel, who talks about your boyfriend or whatever you prefer, him as your beloved bodyguard. The thing is... the Fallen God was slain."

...

...

"... by the Silver-Blue Knight of Lescatie!?" Lilith dropped her goblet of wine to the floor and the said object let out an echoing clang throughout the throne hall. "Impossible... defeated by a mortal... no less?!"

"Indeed." The person who stood before her, an Elder Banshee, bowed to the Demon Lord in response. "It might have been impossible, but Fate allowed her death."

"How... how can this be!?"

Lilith felt her body become stiff while her eyes are wide open as she slowly glanced down. Unable to rationalise what was going on, she didn't expect this will happen to one of her closest allies as if fate didn't want to let her know about the unforeseeable. She wished that was a lie, yet her voice emanates the truth that no deceiving words can be found. Now realising her dream from last night, of which the charred knight had spoken, about that her Paradise of Love is becoming bleaker to the point of a dead end.

Starting with the Fallen God and the downfall of Pandemonium.

"This can't be happening..."

The Demon Lord's husband glanced at his wife, who sat on his seat beside her right. His concern morphed into worry as Lilith slowly lifts her head. Now displaying a glimpse of fear, her husband knew the Fallen God was an important ally for expanding the demon realm by corrupting the human heroes and their clergy to sway for them before they could invade the human nation with ease in a matter of hours. But with the Fallen God is now dead in its tracks and the Queen of the Royal Makai soon realise that this new adversary, some human knight, is more dangerous than they comprehend and the revelation of his existence is not for show.

"A God Slayer... this knight... killed a god." Lilith's voice was shaken. She knew that the Fallen God is a clone counterpart of Chief God ever since her ascension, and both had similar powers and divine adherents to one another. But her most important asset being killed by a mortal warrior tells that he has the chance to kill other deities, including the Chief God. "Don't tell me... this new adversary of ours... can kill gods?"

"I believe so... our Goddess said that this Silver-Blue Knight of Lescatie might have been an Outworlder." The Elder Banshee nods while looking down in woe and fear. "Hel saw visions from another realm, his origins... a world with multiple worlds... a realm where the men never feared the gods as if the gods themselves walked among them like titans... but the races of men have the powers to slay them."

'Another realm where humans have the powers to overcome the deities?' Lilith swallowed a lump in her throat before raising her hand. "You are dismissed."

The Elder Banshee bowed until she became transcendent and disappeared from her sight. Lilith slumped on her throne as her palm struck her forehead and she turned her glimpse at her husband.

"Honey...?"

"... Dear." Lilith trembled as her eyes produced tears. She sat back up and threw in a hug. "It's the dreams... I... I feared this outcome."

Her husband was surprised within all of a sudden until he hugged her back in return to comfort her due to the impending crisis. It has been a thousand years since her ascension to the throne as the current Demon Lord without having fears of facing the consequences. But now, as news of the impossibility has shattered her expectations, he grew fearful that one day, the world will turn back to once it was. A new cycle of war and death.

"It's alright... I will never stray from your sight." Her husband cooed while rubbing against her back to give his wife some comfort. "I'm here... I will protect you, no matter what it cost."

...

...

Olivier and Sasha dropped their jaws in disbelief while on the bar, Jennifer shared their same reactions after hearing the words coming out from a Lilim. Reginald and Elen had their looks of surprise while Arcturus, Elaine, Gerome, and Junayd were mildly surprised to hear the tales. Their ancestors might have defeated the Goddess Ares, twice, but they did not outright kill her and spared the deity from turning the tables in her favour.

But slaying a God might take to another level.

"A-Ash... you... You!" Sasha then held Ash on both of his shoulders. Then her head came close to his face, looking at him with frantic eyes. "You killed the Fallen God!?"

"Um, well. Yeah, I did." Ash answered admittedly while taking a deep whiff. "I killed the Fallen God, but I prefer to not speak about this-"

"B-But Ash! You killed a God! A monster god!" Sasha's grip tightens until she shakes Ash back and forth in a fit of a hysterical wail. "So after I was rescued, you never told me about this!? You said you're not a Hero!? Then explain how did you! SLAY! A DARK DEITY?!"

"H-Hey Sasha! Cut that out!" Sieglinde stepped in while trying to stop the former priestess from shaking the poor knight. "Stop it! He just ate food and you might let him puke!"

"Hah~, this will be some long talk." Ilassa chuckled in amusement before looking up at the couple while Sieglinde pried off Sasha from Ash. "So, you both done?"

Sasha and Ash nodded silently, and the Lilim took a seat on their table. Then she ordered a cup of tea to Sieglinde while Ash and Sasha followed the suit and took their seats.

"So... where should we begin?" Ilassa asked while making a steepling pose on the table. Then Sasha raised her hand. "Ah! I see you have a question. Then what do you want to ask?"

The former priestess then asked. "About the Fallen God... is it true that she... is slain?"

The Lilim cocked her brow, intrigued. "... To be honest, I wasn't actually lying since this matter of subject is serious."

Sasha felt her heart pounding as her inner spirit tremble in realisation about her knight's actual capability to defeat a God. She truly wants to jump up and wants to hit Ash for lying about his false nature of being an ordinary knight. Yet she kept her calm composure silent while glaring at Ash with a blank look on her face and then staring right back at Ilassa.

"I-I see... So another question, how come did Arcturus and his relatives called you their "Auntie"?" Sasha then asked. "Also, Elaine said you were his "Godmother"... Then are you by any means a member of their family?"

"Oh no~! I haven't married to any members of the Astora Family... yet," Ilassa laughed out loud while rolling her eyes and then giving them a wink. "I am, in fact, allies with them."

"Allies? From what I've heard, the Demon Realm despised them for hurting the 2nd Borne." Ash asked while raising his brow in question. "Unless you have a reason. Then why should you take sides with them?"

"Hum~ Actually, my answer is this. It is because of their grandfather." Ilassa pointed at the three Knights of the Sunlight. "Artos was an interesting fellow whom I've ever met, and we have a lot of fun back then. Hah~ I remember Dina, a valkyrie, and their grandmother, who used to argue with each other."

"Wait... Arcturus' Grandmother is a Valkyrie!?" Sasha's eyes bulged out in disbelief. "O-One of the Divine Adherents of the Gods!?"

"Yeah, she is. I visited her cottage in the rural countryside when I was young," Arcturus replied with a smile while shyly scratching the back of his head. "She used to serve under Ares until gramps told me some tales how he severed her loyalty from her God."

"Eh? But how did he do that?" Arcturus turned around and saw Olivier joining the discussion. "From what I learned about the Valkyries, they have an unbroken loyalty to their deity. But their loyalty would be cut off when they're monsterized."

"You're not wrong, but my grandmother isn't a Dark Valkyrie if that's what you're thinking," Arcturus replied with a shrug.

Olivier then asked. "Then how did he do it?"

"He made a deal with Ares and engage in a duel to give my grandmother's freedom if he wins," Arcturus explained before Sasha and Olivier paled in silence. "The Goddess of Fighting was defeated by a single lightning spear that had struck into her chest and sealed the deal. So that's how they got together. My grandfather told me it was sheer luck that did it."

"It's true. He has that Devil's Luck. One hell of a bastard who beaten a god. Ufufu~! I remember seeing Ares crying out like a cute, spoiled child~!" Ilassa added with a smile before exhaling and making an unimpressed expression. "After that, they got married... then my big idiot sister mounted an invasion out of jealousy."

"Huh, so that means you fought along with Artos." Ash guessed before the Lilim nodded honestly in reply. "But why did you take their side instead of the Demon Lord?"

"Hah~ well... I have some complicated matters with my family once I heard my sister is invading Gaul. By the gods, that was already seventy-five years ago," Ilassa groaned in displeasure once an image of the 2nd-Borne Lilim appeared in her flashbacks. "In fact... they're all hypocritical idiots and lacking common sense about the true meaning of coexistence between monsters and humans... and they think converting a neutral nation is a good idea."

Ash and Sasha raised their brows at her sudden change of mood as if the Lilim wasn't very fond of talking about them. Then Ilassa continued with a frown on her face. "Tsk! I can't go back to that idiot mother of mine who adores my sisters, who are willingly converting nations without giving humans a chance to change themselves for the better."

"It... sounds like you have some terrible matters with the Demon Lord," Sasha spoke up with a thoughtful look. "I mean, you are Ilassa. The rumoured Lilim, the ruler of Arum Sedis of the Southern Deserts. But how did you get yourself to the bad side of your family?"

"Well, obviously... I didn't agree with them in the first place and I left them by giving them the finger," Ilassa replied with a hint of pride in her voice. "Thus I can never forget that it was Artos' fault for inspiring me to be a decent ruler of Arum Sedis. Up 'to this day, I still followed his words. Now that place is no longer a green demon realm, but an ordinary region like a human realm. A kingdom where there is an international trading hub for the five factions."

"The five factions?" Olivier raised her eyebrows. "I've heard those words mentioned by the scholars. Yet the rumours about them were dismissed as complete myths."

"Ah, what if I told you they were real and now standing beside you? Then you must be new to this subject," Ilassa noticed the curious look on Olivier. "Those are groups and families that the Mamono deeply feared more than the Order of the Chief God."

"The five factions... hmm, wait, does that involve Arcturus' family?" Sasha spoke up curiously while Elaine and Gerome raised their eyebrows. "And then there's Junayd, a Swordsman of Carthus, then those three individuals from Mirrah from which I've seen them around the town. They all have a connection with each other... does that mean...?"

"Yes, those kinds of people," Ilassa nodded with a smirk before looking at Oliviers' incredulous expressions. "Astora, Carthus, Mirrah, the Clan of Alonne in the Blue Mountains of Zipangu, and Vinheim. They're a small alliance that brought fear to the Demon Lord for almost a century."

`Vinheim... That's a place where the most talented Sorcerors come from in my world...' Ash widened his eyes in surprise. 'So they were here as well... Now it is probably taken over by their descendants to fill up their roles in this world.'

"N-no way..." Olivier felt her jaw drop. "Then that means they aren't just legends, but real people!?"

Ilassa nodded until Sasha speaks up to the Lescatian Musketeer. "I had the same thoughts as you when I first heard about them."

"Those guys who stood beside you, their grandfather," Ilassa then points, showing her index finger for Olivier to the three Knights. "Is the legendary Artos Astora, who defeated the Lilim during the invasion of Gaul seventy-five years ago."

"Huh... It feels like my mind couldn't process anymore..." Olivier fell deadpanned with disbelief while turning to Sasha. "Do they belong to a family of heroes?"

"According to Arcturus and Gerome's account, their grandfather wasn't a hero in the first place and started off as an adventurer," Sasha recalled their tales which caught Olivier's concern. "He was a warrior with extraordinary skills without a blessing given by the Gods. He defeated the 2nd-Borne while not being a hero until the people gave his reputation as their national hero after the invasion."

"Th-That's hard to believe! No ordinary warrior can defeat a monster such as her, a Lilim!" Olivier spoke out loud while pointing her finger to Ilassa, her reaction amused the daughter of the demon lord. "How can you believe such fabricated stories so easily?! What if they were actual lies?"

"Well... why won't you ask Ash?" Sasha replied bravely while glancing over to Ash. "He's an extraordinary warrior who claimed himself that he isn't a hero. Yet he, as a knight, slew a God."

"Hogwash! I don't buy this!" Olivier growled while eyeing Ash. But the Knight didn't reply and silently heard the conversation. "Look, you-"

"Just drop this talk and get over with," Ash spoke blatantly with a stern aura. The conversation had been derailed in much to his annoyance and Olivier reeled back in surprise. Looking at him with such a terrifying glare behind his helmet which made her silent. "Now let's get back to the topic of why are you here? Since you don't want to cause harm and wanted to meet us... then are you trying to tell us a message? Some sort of warning?"

"To answer your question frankly... Yes. The Demon Lord and the Monster Gods are now aware of the Fallen God's death." Ilassa, while looking down with a scowl. "Both sides were planning to send their divine adherents and married monster heroes agents to eliminate you, Ash Cyrus. They now see you as a hindrance, bringing their so-called "Perfect World" into ruins."

...

...

"What!? A mortal killed the Fallen God!?" Bastet's eyes grew wide in disbelief. "How can that be!?"

"This should be impossible..." Poseidon clenched the arms of her seat. "This man needs to be eliminated before our plans for a peaceful world will go for naught!"

"But this human... he's difficult to find, like the outworlder's descendants," Hel spoke solemnly with grief. "After that incident. I get no further insights of their fates."

"Damnit! Who's manipulating our foresight? Just who is that human!?" Poseidon grits her teeth as she seethes before looking up at the two monster gods, her eyes now filled with fury. "I need to know his name... and he shall pay for what he did to our ally."

Hel and Bastet shuddered to see the Goddess of the Seas emit a wrathful aura. The Goddess of Life and Death took a deep breath and speaks up to his name.

"That man... his name is.."

...

...

"...Ash Cyrus?" Ares spoke his name casually before exhaling in pity. "I see. That fool of a goddess didn't see what was coming to her."

"Don't you feel any sorrow for the Fallen God?" Eros spoke up, saddened when she heard the fate of the depraved goddess. "That God was promoting love for her adherents. Yet I don't see why he killed her... maybe... was there a reason?"

"Probably, but I'm too drunk to think of words for this conversation." Bacchus slurred as she almost drops her golden goblet filled with wine. "At least Ares is very lucky."

Ares raised her brow. "Just... what are you talking about, Bacchus?"

"Huh...? You didn't get my point, blockhead." Bacchus mocked mischievously. "You got your ass kicked twice in a row by two mortals nearly a century ago. First, that one guy from Carthus who almost killed you in a fight, and then the second, there's Artos, and once again; you were defeated in a duel. I remember how humiliating that was and you cried out like a spoiled child! Hahahaha!"

Ares groaned in annoyance and she pouts her cheeks like an unsatisfied, spoiled child as she crossed her arms and contained her anger "Well, at least I'm not the same person from before and I gave them a right to fight back for whatever I care for!... Back then, I never knew they have a dangerous potential to kill Gods, so I leave them as they wished."

"Yeah... and now there's the Fallen God. She literally takes it to the extreme more than you." Bacchus then looks down with a smile, yet it does not emit with mischief, but out of sorrow. "Who knew the stubborn Dark God herself would underestimate that Outworlder? But this time, her actions were not up to our expectations..."

"Indeed... with her death. I felt this world... no longer needed us," Ares uttered as the Gods expressed their dispirited faces. "We live long... but we aren't immortal. We're just powerful until the day they came."

"... To think about it... does the world still need us?" Eros asked, worrying about the future. "If the people no longer worship us and we are left forgotten?"

"Well... we'll live long as we can until the day we decide where we die." Ares sighed while looking up at the heavenly skies in reminiscence. "The Oracle of Sindria was right after all... one day, the Gods will no longer rule the world."

"I believe we should apologise to her..." Bacchus said while twirling her goblet and then groaning in dissatisfaction once she was out of wine. "Ha~ah! These thoughts about us to be forgotten in the future felt so depressing... maybe I should learn how mortals live when our time is up."

...

...

"I see..." Ash replied to Ilassa before raising a brow. "But why are you so eager to help us out?"

"Didn't I tell you earlier that I wasn't buying any bullshit from my mom?" Ilassa crossed her arms with an annoyed expression while rolling her eyes. The Lilim takes a long sigh until she speaks. "When I was young... I listened to the story about the Oracle of Sindria by the scholars of that fallen nation. A legend tells that one day, the world no longer needed the Gods and a new era will soon take place after a thousand years. My mom laughed about it and told me the oracle's prophecy wouldn't come true."

"So I grew up and having different thoughts, unlike Druella, who's a fanatic, the Queen of Hearts who's a depraving shape-shifting loli, and Mari who like to convert human nations without care. I believe in the true coexistence of Monsters and Humans while being a ruler of Arum Sedis." Ilassa continued while looking down. Sasha then sees her face grow troublesome. "But... As a monster... like my sisters and any other... including my mom. I thought I was doing good and decide that humans converting themselves into monsters, for whatever they please, felt great... until the day I meet Artos and his friends... We were doing some unusual adventures. Then one day, we found out about Artos's hidden ability, which can let me connect the spiritual cores of monsterized humans and I saw... the truth."

At this moment, Sasha and Ash felt their eyebrows raised when Ilassa speak in a tone out of spite until Olivier asked. "The truth?"

"Yes, I've seen it, and it made me sick... when humans were transformed into monsters and incubus, their inner desires locked up their humanity, regardless of their moral compass... Oh, thank you." Ilassa paused for a moment while Sieglinde came over to their table and served the tea. She blew the hot tea for a while before taking a small sip, keeping her serenity to relieve. Then continued. "Their humanity was locked in some form of an eternal dream... a prison worse than death. It brought them into a dream-like reality, an illusion where a world favours them. Not aware that their true selves were already monsters... and I just thought that monsterized humans said that they still keep their humanity... From that day after I learned the truth, I soon realise the world that my the world what my mother wants is just a delusion of lies coming out of her mouth. Those were different souls and not the same person I knew... They were born out of their monstrous desires and mimicking themselves under their skins... like humans."

"And you thought yourself that you were making things great?" Ash asked and Ilassa nodded as her eyes shed tears of regrets. "I see... so that's the reason you never side with the Demon Lord and decide to work with his grandfather."

"But how did they let you see into their spiritual core?" Sasha asked, gaining sympathy for the Lilim.

"Artos... he connected me with physical contact, along with a monsterized woman," Ilassa answered, explaining the details. "In order to see their inner cores of their spirit, one must be of outsider's blood and the other must be a mamono of the Demons Lord's blood. Artos experimented with this method and connected it with other people, whether it be humans of the Chief God's System or other mamono without royal blood. Yet it didn't work. Only Artos, my other comrades who have similar blood like his, then along with me, could do it together on the monsterized victims."

"Huh, now that's why gramps and grandma were so glad that you were on our side," Arcturus comments with a smile. "It seems learning the truth made you rewrite your choices."

"Indeed, we were just noble friends with my comrades back in the old days, which I had never experienced before as a Lilim." Ilassa smiled back and took another small sip of her tea. "From this truth... never again I would let any humans monsterize, even when they do it for themselves. Regardless of the choice of their desires. I let them be who they truly are and be free... and not putting themselves in their own prison."

"Ohh~ I'm so moved~!" Sasha looked back and saw Jennifer cry out with tears out of sympathy while Sieglinde came in with a pack of tissues. "Who knew that a royal mamono would have a sympathy for us humans!"

"Looks like not every monster is the same..." Ash moves his gaze to Olivier, who shared the same sympathetic expression as Jennifer and expressed her heartfelt words. "I entered the Order to become a hero to protect Lescatie... but... I wasn't sure who I will side with? I knew Order in Lescatie was corrupt and I want to get rid of them. Others told that siding with the Demon Lord is great... however..."

"Neither of them was great," Ilassa said admittedly to Olivier. "There were no integrities to see what is the good side... so we have to solve it by ourselves."

"Jeez, that story was dreary to hear... even though, those actually happened," Elaine murmured while raising her siegbrau. "While I feel distressed about it, I'm having another drink."

"EVERYONE!"

Suddenly, a man rushed through the doors of the tavern, catching the attention of everyone in the building.

"Th-There are Zombies coming into town!" The man yelled out frantically in fear. "Even Zombie Dragons were among them! Quick! Call Siegward!"

"Sieglinde, call your father!" Jennifer said to her daughter, and the waitress rushed to her father's dorm. "The town's getting rowdy outside."

While Sieglinda was on her way to call out for her father. Ash turns to Sasha and nudged her shoulders.

"Looks like we have a job to do," Ash told to the former priestess. "Now get yourself ready. It means business."

"You're not going out alone without us!" Arcturus spoke up of a sudden with pride while standing up from his seat. "In the case of Zombies Dragons, we're here to blitz them out from the skies!"

"And me as well. The flames hunger for undead flesh." Junayd approached Arcturus from behind while stretching out his arms. "I would also provide aid and my sword is desperately seeking action."

"Don't forget that we're here too," Elen called out while landing off from the wooden beams and silently landed beside Reginald. Then she smiled viciously. "Out of this boredom... looks like it will be an interesting day~!"

Thus, from the second floor, Siegward stepped down from the stairs while carrying a massive club over his shoulder. Olivier felt her spine shaken to see an Onion Knight wielding a giant weapon like it was a feather. She can tell he's not just some ordinary knight, yet not a hero either.

"Well! Looks the crew is set!" Siegward spoke up enthusiastically. "Are you all willing to help me out for a jolly cooperation?"

Ash stood for a moment of silence as if he had a nostalgic feeling sprawled across his memories. That time when he once worked in the Astoran Military in his past life, where he had a bond with other soldiers. Then Sasha curiously looks up to him and saw his face had an indecisive reaction like he doesn't know how to respond.

"Ash?" The Knight turns his gaze to her. "Are you alright?"

Then Ash blinked and snapped out of his thoughts. He turned to Siegwards and nodded. "Yes, let go."

"Also, don't forget me~!" Ash and Sasha turned to Ilassa, and they were surprised that she is willing to provide them with her assistance. "I would also like to help~!"

Sasha then flabbergasts in surprise. "Wait... she's also helping us?"

"Don't worry, she's unlike any mamono," Junayd said with a confidential thumbs up. "I know what she wants... After all, she's one of our allies."

"Alright, then let's head out."

Once Ash declared, the group walked out of the tavern until they heard screams of civilians running away from the main streets. Ash saw Sif with the orphans riding on his back, had approached in front of the tavern as he gracefully leapt from the rooftops to one another and landed in front of them, thus bringing the orphans to safety as the children disembarked from the great wolf.

The children wept as they went for their big sister and the knight, then two orphan girls went to the priestess while tugging her blue kirtle.

"Sasha~!"

"Lisia, Emiyu!" Sasha kneeled down and hugged the two orphan girls in relief. "I'm so glad all of you are safe!"

"Sif, what's the situation?" Ash asked the Greatwolf.

"It appears the mamono barged through the gates like a massive horde," Sif replied while unsheathing his sword.

Out from the group, Ilassa saw a massive mob of zombies and a few Dragon Zombies flew in the skies, then a smoke appeared before the mob and a Wight arose from the ground. Ilassa stood unamused once she noticed someone she knew, while at the same time, the Wight scowled at the sight of the Lilim.

"Ilassa... It's been seventy-five years since we've last seen together." The Wight scoffed. "Are you here to protect this pathetic town that has brought shame to your family's history?"

"Well, if it isn't Aedra. The Daughter of the Atrea, the Northern Wight," Ilassa said with an uncaring tone as if she never cared the Wights' words. "I never thought her younger daughter would strike on a weak settlement like Gerth itself. And let me guess... bringing vengeance for her?"

"This settlement marks where the humiliation of the Second-Born took place, and you still didn't care about one bit of your sister!" Aedra sneered as she raised her hand, taking the overall command of the undead horde. "I planned this place to make it mine to bring back the 2nd-Borne's honour so that Druella and her sisters will be satisfied with its defilement! But I never thought I would meet you here again, traitor of the Demon Realm!"

"Looks like we have to shut that mouth of hers, don't we agree?" Ash asked Ilassa, and in no doubt, she replied with a nod. "Great, now let us give them this town's welcoming."

...

Chapter 26; Ends

Authors Note; Errors and typos will be checked. This chapter will be in an update in case of it. (Therefore, I'm just a lazy writer).