My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

Chapter 1284: Chapter 1285: The One Who Creates And The One Who Destroys

Lilith knew it was all her fault. She was the one who had forced Damon to join her years ago. She was also the one who had dragged Renata into this. Why had she dragged her friends into her stupid and absurd revenge? If she had simply let go and lived her life, perhaps none of this would have happened.

Sylvia was dead, and now Renata was dying. Her grandmother and father were trapped in that battle, and many people had already died, including people she knew.

Ranar was gone, and so was Luna. She hadn’t found Iris, and she was too scared to look because she was afraid she would find her corpse.

”Renata, please don’t die. Don’t die...”

Tears streamed down her face onto Renata’s chest. She was far from the calm and collected Lilith Astranova.

She could feel Renata’s heartbeat growing weaker and weaker. Then a hand touched her head.

Her tears stopped for a moment, and she looked up, her face streaked with tears.

She saw the faint flicker of Renata’s violet eyes.

”Ahh...” Renata seemed to rasp weakly.

”Never... ugh... thought I’d see the day you cry over...” Her words came out strained. ”A busybody like me...”

”Don’t speak, okay? You’ll be fine.” Lilith’s lips quivered.

Renata smiled, even though she knew that wasn’t true.

”Yeah, I guess I’ll be alright.” A single tear gathered in her eyes.

She looked at Paimon and Seras, then smiled faintly.

”It’s quite interesting to see the hero of the goddess races and a Demon Lord together. It really is the end of the world.”

With those words, she went quiet.

”Renata,” Lilith called out.

”Renata. Renata! Renata!”

She shook her vigorously, but Renata didn’t move.

Tears fell down Lilith’s face. Then Paimon crouched beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

”I’m sorry for your loss. All we can do now is pray for her soul to find rest in the gentle hands of God.”

Lilith slapped her hand away.

”She’s not dead... Renata wouldn’t die so easily. She wouldn’t! She’s strong and resilient. She’s sly and always knows how to get herself out of trouble. She’s not dead!”

Lilith’s tears wouldn’t stop flowing. She clenched her hands and begged, ”God, God, please! Please don’t let Renata die. Don’t take her away. Please, please!”

It was rather pathetic, what she was doing. Praying to God at a time like this. It would have been better to accept that Renata was dead, but Lilith’s prayer was heartfelt. She wasn’t begging for revenge or out of anger over Renata’s death. She simply wanted to save her friend, who had risked her own life to save hers.

It was the desperate, hysterical cry of someone who had lost someone dear to them.

Nothing more. Such prayers had never amounted to anything. Many people had done the same thing today. Millions must have wept and prayed for the Goddess not to take their loved ones.

Nothing happened.

But Lilith wasn’t just anyone. She was a priestess, and a radiant light emerged from the large stigmata on her back. The light then formed the image of a beautiful angel. There was nothing hideous about him. He was only beautiful, and that was all he was.

His eyes seemed to be unseen, and this gentle construct of light reached down and touched Lilith’s head.

”My dear, why do you weep?” he asked in a voice that sounded neither male nor female, like a gentle father comforting his child.

Lilith had wanted to brush the hand away, but she jerked her head up and saw who, or rather what, had appeared. She grabbed Renata’s body and pushed herself as far away from him as she could.

”Y-You... You’re the Unknown!”

Of course, the one who had answered her was none other than the Unknown God himself. The author of their destruction was the one who had answered her prayer.

”Why are you here? Have you not done enough? What more could you possibly take from us? The Pillar is right there! Just take it and go! You’ve proven your point. We are nothing to a god. Just go! Just go!” she cried out, unable to bear the thought of him taking anyone else she loved.

The Unknown turned towards the Pillar, then said, ”Conflict is the greatest driver for growth in the Omniverse, and still, war is cruel and senseless.”

Then he disappeared. The next thing she knew, he had placed a hand on her head while Seras moved her sword towards his head, only for it to pass straight through him.

That was because he wasn’t really there.

He placed his hand on Renata’s head and said to Lilith, ”She is still alive.”

Lilith glanced at Renata, then made up her mind.

”I don’t care what you are or what you want from me. I will do whatever you want, whatever it takes. Just save Renata!”

”If that is your wish.”

Renata’s body began to heal rapidly, and soon she was completely healed, as if nothing had happened.

Lilith leaned her head against Renata’s chest and listened to the soft thumping of her heartbeat.

Then she stood up.

”What do you want?” she asked.

” Lilith, no! Don’t trust this bastard,” Seras warned.

The Unknown glanced at Lilith and circled around her.

”Nothing. You need not give anything. A god answers prayers.”

When he said that, Lilith’s eyes narrowed. She wondered what trick he was playing. He had once used her to grow a flower by making her die over and over again, all so she could save Damon. Surely Renata’s death had been part of some esoteric plan.

”There is no such thing. I am here because you called out to me.”

Lilith narrowed her eyes, then looked at him.

”Then give Ranar back.”

”I’m afraid I can’t do that,” he replied.

”Leave our world and never come back,” Lilith said coldly.

The Unknown seemed different. She had seen this before. Then she remembered something.

”You’re the Unknown who let us see the Goddess of Doom, aren’t you? There are two of you.”

The Unknown walked towards her slowly.

”There is only one me, and often I desire different things. The me who will obtain this Pillar is also me, and I am me as well. I am not a copy or an imitation. I am simply myself, carrying out a different desire.”

When he reached Lilith, he began to fade into the stigmata.

”What do you think of existence?” Lilith asked, wanting to know if he was different from the other one.

He leaned closer to her ear.

”I am ******. The end is what I bring.”

Lilith didn’t understand, so she asked one last thing.

”How do we win? Give us a way out. You are cruel, but you still wish to be fair in your own twisted way.”

”Make a choice,” the Unknown’s voice echoed as he faded back into her stigmata.

Seras glanced at her, turning her sword towards Lilith.

”Since when have you been consorting with the Unknown God?”

”Since now,” Lilith whispered.

”What did he mean by ’make a choice’?” Paimon asked. She hadn’t been afraid because all he had been was beautiful.

”This reminds me of what Ishana believed. The Unknown God responds to the nature of one’s desire. Resentment breeds an outcome of suffering, while pure desire breeds positive outcomes.”

Seras shook her head.

”It’s not that easy. When I was in the Abyss, I had a vision of someone who believed that, and the Unknown trapped his entire race in eternal happiness, where no one could cry or grieve, no matter what became of them. Having lived through what I have, I have no fondness for any god.”

”Then there is a way out.”

Renata’s voice came from Lilith’s arms. Her eyes were open, staring at the bleak sky.

”Renata!”

Lilith hugged her.

Renata closed her eyes and whispered, ”You smell like blood.”