It was different for everyone else, but for Lilith, she was afraid. It was strange to associate the word afraid with Lilith Astranova.

Nevertheless, the closer they came to reaching the world dungeon, the more fear she felt in her heart.

Or perhaps it wasn't fear. Perhaps it was unease. This unease came from one thing and that was Damon.

Lilith should have been happy to see him in such a good and playful mood. He smiled more, he laughed more, and he was all around just… nice.

That was the problem. It was Damon. Not to say he couldn't be happy or smile, but she felt uneasy exactly because it was Damon.

She knew, in his heart of hearts, what he desired the most, above money, companionship, or even strength.

At his core, he wants to die. She clenched her fists. This was Damon's strongest desire. She had really thought she could be a reason for him to live, but apparently, she was not. So Lilith had to find a way.

For now, Damon was alive because he wanted to live long enough to find his sister a cure. But the moment he did, he would die.

He simply believed he had no more reason to live. His sister would be cared for by his grandfather, who would have to watch helplessly as his grandson died.

His goals, ambitions, or promises, none of those mattered, because those weren't really Damon's. Those had been Lilith's.

A desire to destroy the temple, to build an organization, or whatever else… even solving the mysteries of the gods.

Damon didn't truly care about any of it.

'He'd once told me Valarie Sunwarden asked him to create something beautiful… then why does he think his death would be something beautiful?'

She knew he didn't truly think that. She just understood that he saw himself as something ugly.

Depression was a difficult thing to understand. People who were depressed yet surrounded by loved ones almost always wore the brightest smiles and laughed the loudest.

"I have no mouth, and I must scream." Damon had told her that was how he felt when Matia died right before his eyes.

He had stifled his pain, always going defiant yet so quiet. Always putting up a strong front to hide a very frail and weak man.

A honey badger.

That was how he always described himself, willing to fight everyone but losing every battle.

"What do I do… now…"

She squatted down, looking for something she had noticed earlier.

His Deathless skill was powerful, but when he was finally ready to truly die, what was to say Damon wouldn't find a way to end his miserable existence?

Lilith Astranova was at a loss. Still, she wandered toward her objective, something she had sensed moving in the ground.

She stopped, the stigmata on her back buzzing slightly. Her green eyes narrowed, her palm pressing against the earth.

There was a spark behind her as the magical orbs broadcasting her to the outside exploded, and pieces of the hovering magical device fell to the ground.

"Hmmm… what just happened?"

She hadn't been the one who did that. Something else had destroyed the device.

Whatever it was, it was flowing right under her feet, traveling through the earth, mountains, and rivers, spreading slowly.

Brushing her hand over the ground, she slowly began to dig, pushing her fingers into the soil and ripping out the earth and roots, tossing them aside with a simple gesture.

A few feet into the hole, she saw something, a pattern, a mark of sorts. She waved her hand, moving any leftover dirt and sand, teleporting them away.

In the ground, there was a large circular array with the pattern of a bleeding heart, a mark she knew well.

The symbol of the Goddess of Doom. Or at least, it felt that way. Lilith paused, glancing at it, then made sure no one was there and no new broadcast was active before punching the ground. The earth shattered. Dust rose as it caved in with little to no resistance.

Lilith's eyes widened slightly when she saw what was beneath the arena.

It was a symbol, a mark that she herself carried on her back. It was the symbol of the Unknown God.

It carried a strange aura, one that was here and there, far and near, right yet wrong, divine yet demonic, god and demon.

The symbol of the Unknown God, the unseen sovereign was carrying out his unseen hand right under their noses.

But why?

She glanced at the flow of energy. Whatever this was, it wasn't the formless and unreadable divine authority of a god. If anything, this was actually simple and mundane in a sense.

This was just magic. Mana was flowing all around in a complex magical circle, one she could not even fully comprehend.

All she knew was that it was using the dragon veins in the earth to power itself.

The ley lines were used as magic circuits, all heading and connecting to the very center of all this, the gate to the world dungeon.

But that wasn't the end of it. This magic was also absorbing energy from the blood of whoever had fallen, making it saturated and bigger than before.

"It's… trying to use us as fodder for whatever this is. When we reach a certain number, this magic will be activated."

She crossed her arms over her chest, looking at the mark.

"What I don't get is, why would you let me see this? Surely you accounted for my presence."

Lilith Astranova had no idea what the Unknown God was planning, but she knew that her being here, at this time and in this place was all part of his schemes.

The Unknown God was cunning and powerful. How could the god of the abyss let some mortal he gave his stigmata to thwart his plan?

Lilith being here was the plan. Still, she turned around to leave. When she did, her leg caught on a vine, a root of one of the buried trees, she stumbled and almost fell. Luckily, she caught herself with her palms.

She felt a warm sensation on her hands. Looking down, she noticed blood pouring from her palms. A small glowing stone had actually cut her.

The blood landed on the mark with a soft squish, and the mark grew brighter.

Lilith bit her lip, feeling irritated.

She'd been had.

Still, she paused, biting her lip again as she decided to make the best of it.

"I don't mind the blood… but in return, you also have to do something for me. I want to make a little deal with you, a question I want to ask… no, a promise."

She didn't receive a response, but she knew he was listening.

"I want Damon to live till the very end. In exchange… I'll do whatever it takes to help you find the Ninth Pillar."

A flower slowly grew from the ground, a white Gardenia

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