Chapter 58: Emergency

The first thing Lilith noticed when Gene exploded through the library ceiling…

Was how incredibly cool he looked.

Black slime armor roared around him like living smoke.

Purple crystals glowed across his body.

One arm had turned into a cannon.

And cultists were flying everywhere.

Lilith clapped excitedly while crouched behind Fluffy.

“GENE LOOKS AWESOME!”

Fluffy barked all three heads in agreement before immediately biting a cultist in half.

The upper torso spun across the library and smashed into a bookshelf.

Pages exploded into the air like frightened birds.

Another cultist screamed while falling through the hole Gene had made in the ceiling moments earlier.

CRASH.

A loud crunch followed.

Lilith winced slightly.

“…He probably needed that spine.”

Beside her, Prince Cassian Aurelius fought with surprising ferocity despite still recovering from his injuries.

His summoned knights clashed against armored cultists throughout the burning library.

Magic exploded everywhere.

Steel rang against steel.

Fluffy pounced on another attacker hard enough to flatten him into the floorboards.

Lilith watched the chaos happily.

This was exciting.

Terrifying for everyone else probably.

But exciting.

A cultist suddenly aimed a massive spear of shadow magic toward Lady Aurelia Valmont.

Cassian saw it instantly.

“AURELIA!”

He threw himself directly in front of her.

The spell struck him square in the chest.

CRACK.

Cassian slammed backward through a table hard enough to splinter the wood apart.

Aurelia screamed.

“CASSIAN!”

Lilith blinked.

“…Oh.”

That looked painful.

Cassian coughed violently while trying to stand again.

Dark corruption spread across parts of his armor.

The prince raised his sword anyway.

“You’ll…”

Cough.

“…Need worse than that to take me out.”

Aurelia immediately blasted the cultist responsible with enough wind magic to launch him through the far wall.

Lilith nodded approvingly.

“She’s getting better.”

⸻

Surrounded

The battle shifted quickly afterward.

More cultists poured into the library through magical doorways and ceiling breaches.

Too many.

Even Fluffy started growling uneasily.

The cultists formed a circle around them slowly.

Masks.

Weapons.

Glowing staffs.

One of the higher-ranking priests stepped forward.

Unlike the others, his mask resembled smooth ivory with hollow black eye sockets.

He spread his arms dramatically.

“The horror summoner is occupied.”

Lilith glanced upward toward the ceiling hole where distant explosions still echoed through the hotel.

Gene was definitely occupied.

The priest continued coldly:

“You will be transported before he returns.”

Moira looked furious.

“You idiots invaded the worst possible building.”

The priest ignored her.

Selene quietly summoned another dragon beside them while helping Cassian stay upright.

Lyra looked pale again.

She recognized the robes.

The symbols.

The masks.

Lilith noticed immediately.

She gently tugged Lyra’s sleeve.

“It’s okay.”

Lyra swallowed shakily.

“…No it isn’t.”

Lilith thought about that carefully.

“…Okay yeah but things will be better.”

The portal behind the cultists began growing larger.

Purple energy spiraled violently.

A warp gate.

Cassian grimaced.

“We can’t hold them forever.”

Lilith nodded thoughtfully.

Then held out one hand.

A raven landed immediately.

“Go tell Gene.”

The raven stared at her.

Lilith pointed dramatically.

“Emergency.”

The raven vanished into black smoke.

A cultist nearby looked deeply unsettled.

“…Did the child just summon a messenger bird from darkness?”

Lilith looked offended.

“I’m not a child.”

Then she paused.

“…Okay technically I AM a child but that is such a rude thing to say.”

⸻

Goodbye For Now

The warp gate expanded fully.

Cultists advanced.

Fluffy snarled viciously.

One cultist tried approaching Lilith too quickly.

The Cerberus removed his arm.

Then most of his upper torso.

Aurelia looked slightly green afterward.

The priest raised both hands impatiently.

“TAKE THEM.”

Chains of shadow erupted outward.

The library twisted violently.

Space itself distorted.

Lilith suddenly saw Gene crash back into the room through another wall.

He looked enormous in the chaos armor.

And very angry.

Lilith waved enthusiastically.

“GENE!”

The warp gate activated fully.

Reality bent sharply around them.

Gene lunged forward—

Too late.

Lilith smiled brightly despite the chaos swallowing them.

“We’ll be back before dinner!”

Then the world disappeared.

⸻

The Other Side

The teleportation felt awful.

Lilith hated teleportation.

Everything stretched weirdly.

Fluffy whined all three heads simultaneously.

Then suddenly—

Solid ground returned.

Lilith stumbled slightly as they reappeared inside a massive stone chamber.

Darkness surrounded them.

Cold.

Heavy.

Wrong.

Fluffy growled immediately.

Lilith looked down and noticed blood dripping from one of his legs.

“Aww.”

She crouched immediately beside the giant Cerberus.

“You’re hurt.”

Fluffy whined dramatically while one head licked her face.

Lilith pulled bandages from her bag.

Thankfully she always carried medical supplies.

And emergency cookies.

Though mostly she had cookies.

While wrapping the wound carefully, Lilith finally looked around properly.

Huge black stone walls surrounded them.

Massive cult banners hung from towering pillars.

Purple fire burned inside iron braziers.

The air smelled like ash and old blood.

Lyra froze beside them.

“…No.”

Selene looked toward her immediately.

“What is it?”

Lyra’s face had gone pale.

“This is Eldorwyn.”

Silence followed.

The ruined world.

Her world.

Or what remained of it.

⸻