OVERLORD- CH-98. A Night of Terror

"Is that so? That's great," Lilith replied casually while preparing to summon monsters. "But your men—those should be your men—almost killed my family."

"You almost destroyed my knight, didn't you?" Arthur countered.

"You mean we're even?" Lilith shrugged.

"Well, I have a very peaceful and gentle personality, so if there's no conflict, that's not a bad thing."

"Really? Peace and gentleness aren't exactly apparent yet." Arthur remarked.

Despite their words, neither of them relaxed. Their gazes remained locked, unwavering.

Lilith's level was 90, the upper limit for summons created by Aya's "Sea of Life." To go higher, she needed to gain experience and upgrade herself—her self-upgrade limit was 95, a powerful feature of the "Sea of Life" creations.

Though she was five levels higher than her two sisters, Lilith wasn't combat-oriented. Her attributes were concentrated in intelligence, transformation, control, and assistance, with some experience in summoning. In terms of combat ability alone, she likely couldn't match Camilla, who had the professional Valkyrie (sword) class.

But even as a non-combat-oriented individual, her level 90 attributes were genuine. While she had hardly encountered strong enemies in this world, the knight before her now made her feel significant pressure.

"Rongominiat..." Lilith whispered the name softly, though she had no knowledge of its significance. For now, the only judgment she could make was that it was unclear—and potentially a threat.

Arthur didn't take the initiative to attack. She took a step back with her right foot, ready to engage at any moment. She felt threatened, though not as strongly as she had by the vampire named Shalltear. Yet, for some reason, Arthur hesitated to attack.

A feeling of displeasure. That was the emotion Arthur felt when she saw the succubus before her, similar to what she had felt upon meeting the vampire. She sensed the other's 'evil' and felt a strong disgust for it. This was the truth behind her unease.

Because of that disgust, because of her hatred for 'evil,' she had attacked the vampire without hesitation. But now, facing this succubus—who shouldn't be as strong as Shalltear—she hesitated.

Unease. Yes, she felt uneasy because she sensed a strong "divinity" emanating from this succubus girl. It wasn't the half-baked divinity inherited by humans with divine blood, but the pure, true divinity of gods. It wasn't strong, nor complete, but it was undeniably present.

Her 'intuition' told her she would never lose in a battle with the opponent. Yet, the deeper "Eternal Protection," her divine intuition, warned her that she must not attack.

After a moment of hesitation, Arthur finally chose to relent.

"You are not the target of my mission, and I don't intend to kill you." She said.

"Oh?" Lilith thought, 'The murderous aura on her isn't fake!' But she kept the remark to herself.

"What are you going to do?" Lilith asked. If the other party didn't intend to attack, there was no need for her to provoke a fight. She wasn't foolish enough to create trouble for herself.

'Remember the names Longominiat and Arthur.' Lilith thought, 'And discuss this with Mother later.'

"You just have to promise not to harm humans again."

"Okay, I promise, in the name of my faith, Queen Crystal!" Lilith said with a smile, raising one hand.

"Crystal?" Arthur frowned.

"Ah, don't worry about it. She was a famous queen of our race in the past." Lilith explained. In the lore, Crystal was the object of faith among succubi, but Lilith didn't care about her at all. She was just a 'boss' defeated by her mother long ago. To Lilith, the only Succubus Queen that mattered was her mother.

Thus, the essence of this promise was that Lilith had no intention of keeping it.

"Really?" Arthur frowned again.

Though she sensed something strange, Arthur didn't feel that Lilith was lying. This was because Lilith never considered actions like "killing" or "transformation" as harming humans. In her eyes, human life wasn't even worthy of the word "harm."

Because of this mindset, Arthur's intuition was unexpectedly bypassed.

"That's it. This time, I'll spare your life." Arthur said, seeming to lose interest as she slowly turned away, "Finally, let me ask your name."

"Eh? Is it appropriate to ask a girl's name?" Lilith didn't intend to reveal her real name, so she made up a pseudonym.

"Don't lie."

'Tsk, does she have an intuition or protection that can see through lies?* Realizing this, Lilith had no choice but to reveal her real name.

"My name is Lilith, Lilith Tiamat."

Since she had no plans to go out like Camilla, Lilith saw no need to hide her real name.

Arthur turned her head, her hands trembling.

"What did you say?"

It was just a name, but it triggered an extreme sense of crisis within Arthur, rising from the depths of her heart like a tidal wave, chilling her to the bone.

"The plan has changed," Arthur said softly, her voice growing colder under the clear moonlight.

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Unable to sleep, Aya sat up and leaned against the windowsill, gazing outside boredly.

Tonight's moon hung between a full moon and a crescent, neither waxing nor waning, casting a cool, clear light over the earth.

Aya's room was built on an artificial island in the center of a forest lake. Through the window, she could clearly see the shimmering lake surface under the moonlight.

"Mother." A voice called from outside the door, followed by a knock.

"Come in." Aya answered casually. The door slowly opened.

A girl with animal ears entered, carrying a tray with a teapot and teacups.

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Thank you all for supporting me.