The Strongest Curse Master

"Lilith, honey, you don't have to die." Doctor Druid's voice was gentle but firm as she tried to persuade the latter. "Whatever problems or reasons made you think that… I'm sure that together, we can find a way. It might not be as big a deal as you're making it out to be—maybe it's nothing. Just let us help you."

She didn't ask Lilith why she wanted to die. She already knew the girl didn't want to talk about it. Instead, she tried to convince her to give up her obsession with death.

But Lilith wasn't having it.

"If you really want to help me, then stop trying to tell me what to do and just help Death earn our souls!" she snapped, her voice sharp with frustration.

The air around them became suffocating for a brief second before suddenly clearing. This gave them a momentary glance at the darkness hiding deep inside Lilith, which felt eerily similar to death itself.

Fortunately, whatever darkness lurked within Lilith, it wasn't focused on making others suffer. It wasn't seeking revenge. No, Lilith was obsessed with dying a warrior's death—for reasons Doctor Druid couldn't begin to understand. She knew she shouldn't feel relieved because of this, yet she was.

Apex Ace frowned, watching Lilith carefully, feeling something didn't add up.

Her words and actions didn't match.

If she truly wanted to fight to the death, she should've attacked them already. They would have had no choice but to defend themselves. And yet… she hadn't. Instead, she just kept repeating the same thing over and over—help Death earn her and her father's souls.

Apex Ace tried to understand Lilith's actions and could only think of two explanations.

Either she was hesitating.

Or…

She didn't actually know what it meant to make Death earn her soul and had only heard it somewhere.

Deciding to bet his life on the latter, Apex Ace took a slow breath and asked, "Lilith… do you even know what it means to make Death earn one's soul?"

"Not one soul. I said both mine and my father's souls," Lilith snapped, irritation flashing across her face. She stared at Apex Ace, genuinely baffled. 'How could a fully grown Moon Race warrior be dumber than an eight-year-old? No wonder they're almost extinct,' she thought with a huff.

That one sentence told them everything they needed to know.

Apex Ace, Doctor Druid, and Elinor all came to the same realization—Lilith had no clue what she was actually saying; she was only repeating what she had heard somewhere, which had left an impression on her. She was willing to die with her father; that much was clear. But did she really understand what it meant to make Death earn their souls?

She might have taken it literally. Maybe she thought it meant giving their soul to death as payment or something. Honestly, the possibilities were only as vast as her imagination. And with how stubborn she was, it was impossible to piece everything together without her offering more details.

Doctor Druid let out a quiet sigh, her heart aching for the little girl, believing that there had to be a reason—a wretched, painful story—behind why Lilith was so dead set on this.

Instead of pushing, she asked gently, "Lilith, do you go to school?"

Lilith perked up a little as if the question had caught her off guard. But soon, she confidently answered, "I did until second grade. Later, I had to drop out because of my health."

She paused for a moment, then continued, "And when I got better, Captain said a second-grade education was more than enough for our line of work. Said anything more would just be a waste of time and would get in the way of our work."

Despite everything, a hint of pride flickered in her expression as she smugly informed, "Actually, I'm the second most educated member of our team."

As Lilith spoke, a tragic story began to take shape in Apex Ace's mind. He couldn't help but consider the possibility that Lilith was only alive because she was a Curse Slave.

His gaze shifted to the man standing beside Lilith's throne, her father. Unfortunately, the mutated Rust Worm in it was of no help—his soul was deteriorating, slipping away bit by bit. And yet, he still stood there, still protecting Lilith.

Apex Ace could not help but ponder why that was. Was it fatherly love? Was that what kept him fighting for her, even as he edged closer to becoming a true Curseling?

Then, a status screen prompt cut into Apex Ace's thoughts, [Master, the Mutant Rust Worm inside that man… it's that little girl's Curseling partner.]

It was from Dame Wasp. With Doctor Druid being summoned, she was back to sharing his senses. She detonated the truth bomb, casually upending everything Apex Ace thought he understood.

Apex Ace stiffened upon learning this piece of information. Doctor Druid's breath also hitched as she mentally repeated, 'Lilith's father… is her Curseling partner?

Neither of them had expected that. Before either of them could react, Elinor spoke up, her curiosity piqued. "Lilith, about your team—what did you do to the other three?"

She had assumed they'd run, leaving Lilith to fend for herself. Lilith, however, painted a totally different picture, answering her without hesitation, "I killed them."

A graveyard silence took over the surroundings. Even though Ace and Doctor Druid had guessed this, having noticed the panic on the latters' faces as they were dragged into the pile of corpses by the corpses they were standing on.

"…What?" Elinor blinked, stunned. "Why?"

Lilith tilted her head slightly as if the answer was obvious.

"Because they were weaker than me. And they were mean to me." She shrugged. "I was going to kill them sooner, but Captain wouldn't let me. Now that Captain's dead, I killed them."

Her tone was indifferent and devoid of remorse, which caused a chill to creep up the trio's spines.

She didn't care. Not even a little. This was when her madness, what small amount remained, after most of it was fed to her father. But should she ever stop feeding her emotions to her father... the monster she could turn into was beyond their imagination.