Chapter 65 - The Great Darkness (3)
The Market City. It had been ages since I last set foot here. The familiar hum of the bustling streets barely reached the quiet alley where I stood, waiting for my sister. The air felt tense, a mix of anticipation and nostalgia clinging to me. After a short wait, I saw her approaching, her usual leather suit hugging her curves, the front teasingly open, revealing her full, luscious breasts.
She had her hands tucked in her pockets, her walk confident and relaxed as she made her way toward me.
"Leon!" she called out, her voice warm and excited as she threw her arms around me. The soft weight of her breasts immediately pressed against my face, nearly suffocating me, but damn, it felt good. They were soft, warm, and comforting, giving off that familiar, almost motherly aura that only she could make me feel. "I've missed you so much!"
"I missed you too, sis," I said, wrapping my arms around her, pulling her closer, which only made the pressure of her chest more intense. It had been months since I last saw her, and I couldn't deny the excitement building inside me.
***
We decided to grab dinner—it was her treat. I told her she didn't need to, but she insisted. She said her job as an assassin had been paying her more than she could ever spend. As we ate, she filled me in on her travels, how she'd been crossing different lands, always on the move, searching for our other siblings.
Oh, and before I forget…
"I found someone named Eclair," I said, breaking the casual rhythm of the conversation.
Her eyes widened in shock. "What? Really?" she leaned in so hard that she nearly knocked over the food between us. "Where? Where did you find her?!"
"She's working as a magic knight now," I explained, meeting her eager gaze. "And she's the vice commander. Her name's Veronica. Veronica Eclair."
"Veronica…" she repeated softly, letting the name sink in. "So, one of us is a vice commander in the magic knights, huh? Well, that's a relief. At least I won't have to worry about her getting captured by the Seven Princesses."
Elise said that we were being hunted by the Seven Princesses, though I had no clue why. Back when I was in the Kingdom of Elves, I found out that the Seven Princesses were the ones who brought down Lilith, our creator. Our mother, in a way. In a desperate attempt to save herself, she split into different parts. And those parts? They were us—the Eclairs.
I also discovered something else: Lilith had chosen me as her vessel for survival. In other words, I'm supposed to dominate and absorb the skills of the other Eclairs, and once I have them all, Lilith would revive. Every skill we Eclairs possess? They were originally hers.
"I'm going to track down Veronica and warn her," Elise said, her tone shifting from light-hearted to serious. "It's my duty as the big sister to protect her."
I guess that meant she really was the oldest. I couldn't help but wonder how Lilith had split herself up in the first place—and over different times, too? Elise was created first, but others like Veronica and me seemed to have appeared later. Were there even more of us out there, scattered across the world?
"Can I ask you something, Sis?" I said.
"Go ahead, Leon. You know you can ask me anything. Whatever your big sis knows, I'll tell you," she said, flashing me a teasing grin.
"How did… how did we come to be?"
Elise had no idea I already knew about Lilith, so I figured this would be the best way to get more out of her.
"You mean, how were we born?"
"Yeah," I nodded.
Elise went quiet for a moment, her spoon stirring the soup aimlessly, lifting it up only to set it back into the ceramic bowl. After a while, she spoke, "Honestly, I don't really know myself. One day, I just… existed. And then, sometimes, I'd hear a voice telling me to find my siblings. Which is what I've been doing ever since."
"You hear that voice often?" I asked, my curiosity piqued.
"Only once a year," she said softly, her eyes distant, like she was reliving those moments. "Most of the time, it comes to me in a dream. Our creator, Lilith... back then, she was known as the Great Red. She's one of the beings who shaped this world into what it is now—a place where life could thrive." Her gaze flickered to mine, and I could see the understanding in her eyes.
"But I can tell by the look on your face, you already know that, don't you?"
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I couldn't help but feel exposed. Guess there was no point in pretending anymore.
"Lilith," Elise continued, her voice now laced with a quiet intensity, "was brought down by the Seven Princesses. They believed she didn't belong here anymore, not in this realm. The other Great Ones either disappeared or left this world a long time ago, but Lilith remained. She stayed, watching over everything. And what she saw was a world slowly being torn apart by mortals, destroyed piece by piece.
When the war between humans and demons broke out, Lilith saw it as the final straw. She made plans to end it all, to bring about this world's destruction."
World destruction. That sounded pretty ominous.
"Of course," Elise continued, "it was inevitable. Lilith had watched for centuries as the world she and the other Great Ones created got exploited, twisted, and ravaged by the very mortals they allowed to live here. To end the world's suffering, there was only one solution—destroy it. But before she could make that final move, the Seven Princesses stepped in. They found a way to stop her...
something from beyond this world."
"Nothing from this world could harm her," Elise's eyes bore into mine, the intensity in them unwavering. "Lilith was the creator. Everything here—everything mortal, magical, anything—was powerless against her. But the Princesses… they figured out a loophole. They reached beyond this world, into a realm that wasn't bound by the same rules.
And they brought something back—a weapon capable of destroying even her. That weapon didn't belong here. It wasn't part of this world's fabric, but now... now, it exists here, just like everything else tainted by those who tamper with the natural order."
"What kind of weapon are we talking about?" I asked.
"Firearms," she said with a cold finality. "They were called firearms."