Edward had once been rather smug about it—he thought the "punishment" from Madman to the Right, which drained his life, wasn't all that bad. After all, it helped him maintain his humanity, and he could always "cheat the system" through his so-called memory resurrection trick.
That smugness now tasted bitter.
"It's all my fault…" Lilith murmured, guilt flashing in her blue eyes.
Edward gave her a warm smile, squeezing her slender fingers.
"How could this possibly be your fault? I was the one who chose to conduct my advancement ritual that way. I simply underestimated the cost of Madman to the Right."
Lilith bit her lip.
"But I know, Edward—You were in such a rush to complete the ritual because you wanted to reach Sequence 2 and enter the Mirror World to find me. You wouldn't have risked it otherwise."
Edward chuckled softly.
"And if I hadn't recklessly barged into the Mirror World and let that creature use me, you wouldn't have been in danger in the first place. You would've achieved your plan just fine on your own."
He sighed.
"I'm already grateful enough that you don't blame me for nearly getting you killed."
"That's not true at all!"
Lilith shook her head hard, her long hair bouncing slightly with the motion.
"By the time you came to find me, I was already lost inside one of Its endless 'loops.' I'd forgotten everything—who I was, why I'd gone there. My consciousness was falling apart. If you hadn't woken me up, I would've been devoured by that thing completely, turned into part of the Mirrored Original Creator Itself."
She looked up, her expression suddenly soft and serious.
"Besides, in the end, you were the one who used the Magic Wish Lamp to make the second and third wishes that saved me."
"If it weren't for you, Edward, I might never have escaped at all."
Then, she straightened up, determination shining in her eyes.
"So from now on, it's my turn to protect you! No matter how hard it is, no matter who I have to face—I'll find a way to save you!"
"Whoa, whoa—no need for that kind of drama."
Edward quickly raised his hands in mock surrender.
"Actually, I already have a preliminary idea from my divination."
Lilith blinked and leaned closer.
"Really? What is it?"
"You remember how I told you that inside Sefirah Castle, most of the costs of Madman to the Right can be offset by the Castle itself, right? The reason it didn't work this time was because the owner of Sefirah Castle at that moment was Amon. And the very thing I was reversing was—well, the fact that Amon was the owner."
He smiled wryly.
"That made me and the Castle enemies. Naturally, it wouldn't help me bear the price."
"So…" Lilith tilted her head, thinking. "If you became the owner of Sefirah Castle again, could you use that to reverse your current 'price'?"
Edward snorted.
"Of course not. If I could, I'd be able to cheat infinitely. That'd break the whole system."
"Then what about your new ability, Fantasy?"
"Also no. Well…not entirely. If I could gather enough imagination power, it might be possible in theory. But that would take a very, very long time."
Her bright eyes flicked mischievously.
"Then what if you used Madman to the Right to reverse and gain enough imagination?"
Edward tapped her forehead lightly with his finger.
"That's still cheating the system, you know."
Lilith muttered under her breath, puffing her cheeks a little.
"Well, you can't blame me for brainstorming every possible angle! So what did you divine, exactly?"
"It still involves using Sefirah Castle's power to resist the cost—just in a gentler way. Don't worry, even if it fails, it's fine. Worst case, I die again. I can always come back."
Lilith frowned, tilting her head in doubt.
"Oh…sure."
But she didn't look convinced.
She knew better.
Memory resurrection wasn't infinite.
Edward himself had already confirmed it after his last revival. Every time he revived using someone's memories, that person's recollection of him would fade a little more. Eventually, they would forget him completely—
And when that happened, he would never be able to resurrect through them again.
But he didn't tell Lilith that part.
Instead, he ruffled her hair lightly and changed the subject.
"Enough about me. How about you? How do you feel now?"
To be fair, even knowing that this "little girl" was essentially the same Lilith he knew—just in a younger form—he still found it a little disorienting.
The mature, ethereal version of her carried the aura of mystery and danger.
But this small, lively version felt…well, oddly normal. And endearing.
"Me?" Lilith blinked. "Oh, right. I just revived too, didn't I?"
She lowered her head, inspecting herself for a moment before nodding thoughtfully.
"Aside from my body being smaller and having to grow up again, everything else seems fine. My Sequence, my strength, my memories—they're all intact."
"The reason I didn't just return to my adult form," Lilith said with a faint, mysterious smile, "was to make sure there wouldn't be any lingering side effects."
Of course, that was only half the truth.
Inside, she was feeling quite smug.
Actually, it's because I didn't want Edward to feel awkward if I suddenly appeared as my older self again! Lilith is so thoughtful~ Always thinking about Edward's comfort!
Edward chuckled softly.
"Alright then, can you finally tell me what really happened? All of it?"
"Eh?" Lilith blinked, pretending not to understand. "What do you mean?"
"I mean—how did you learn to split your soul? How did you master this resurrection magic? Everything, from the beginning."
Lilith pouted, then sighed dramatically.
"Well…it all started back when we returned to Hogwarts. When I was studying magic with Susie, I accidentally found something in the library."
"I thought it was fascinating, so I memorised it."
She tilted her head, recalling.
"Later—ah, it's been, what, over a thousand years now?—one day, Cheek suddenly joined forces with Adam to ambush me. I didn't even realise what was happening until I was already dying. That's when I finally understood—they weren't just teasing me. They truly meant to kill me."
"And in that exact moment of death, I suddenly remembered the method for splitting one's soul. So, I used my own death as the trigger to forge a Horcrux—and hid it within Cheek's very soul."
Edward froze, momentarily speechless.
That sounded exactly like the relationship between Voldemort and Harry Potter.
"And Cheek never noticed you?" he asked, incredulous.
"Nope." Lilith shook her head. "Maybe because Cheek immediately used my extracted Beyonder characteristics to ascend to the Primordial Demoness. Maybe Cheek sensed me, but mistook my presence for remnants of the extracted power."
"Or maybe," she added after a pause, "it was Adam who helped conceal me. Or perhaps it was Will's luck. Or even Amanises' intervention. Though when I asked them later, every one of them denied it."
Edward's brow furrowed.
"But according to Krismona, you never had much contact with the Evernight Goddess, right? So why would She help you now? Especially this time—She even put Herself into slumber for your sake. I really don't buy that it was out of kindness."
Lilith snorted.
"Of course not! None of them ever do anything for free. Those guys—each one's darker-hearted than the next."
She wagged a finger.
"Adam does what he does purely for the sake of fighting the Apocalypse. I don't agree with his methods, but at least his goal is clear. Amanises, though…"
She sighed.
"For Her, opposing the Apocalypse is just incidental. Her real motive is Her own ambition."
"Anyway," she said, waving her hand, "that's a whole separate topic. Where was I?"
Edward prompted, "You were saying that when Cheek killed you, you split off a Horcrux and hid inside Cheek's soul."
"Right! Right, that's it!"
Lilith nodded eagerly.
"Because of that Horcrux, my remaining soul survived. I hid myself away for decades to recover, and when I regained enough strength, I reestablished contact with Sanguine Ancestor Lilith. With Her tacit approval, I assumed Her name and seized control over the Sanguine's faith, which allowed me to survive my weakest period."
She lifted her chin proudly.
"Of course, I didn't just take their faith for free! During the War of Four Emperors, if it weren't for my opposition, their entire race would've followed Auernia's proposal to submit to the Night Emperor. And when the Night Emperor and Auernia fell, the Sanguines would've been annihilated as well!"
"So saving half their race definitely earns me at least half a 'Sanguine Ancestor' title, don't you think?"
Edward couldn't help but smile wryly as she puffed up with self-satisfaction.
"Anyway," Lilith continued, "after that came the Pale Disaster. Cheek and the Underworld Emperor joined forces, but the Seven Gods united to slay Salinger, the Underworld Emperor, and wound Cheek severely. I took that chance to seize a portion of Cheek's authority through my Horcrux."
"Then," she said, leaning back with a nostalgic sigh, "began my thousand-year-long escape. I took little Krismona with me and wandered the world, regaining my strength bit by bit."
Her smile softened.
"It wasn't until a few years ago that I finally mastered the power of the Mirror World. That gave me strength close to that of a god—at least temporarily—and with that, my full resurrection plan began."
"First was the servant's flesh—that part's easy. No matter how bad my condition, it's never hard to find a few loyal subordinates willing to fight for me. Naturally, the stronger and more compatible they are, the better the effect."
"Next came the enemy's blood—and that was the hard part. I couldn't possibly defeat Cheek head-on, let alone extract blood from Her."
She gave a sly grin.
"So I took a detour. I deliberately stepped into the trap She set for me. If She couldn't descend directly, the best She could do was perform what I call a 'half-divine descent'—that's my own term, by the way. It's when a god separates part of Their flesh to temporarily manifest in the material world."
"And that was when, beneath Trier, I managed to get Her blood."
At that, Lilith let out a long sigh.
"But the final component—the father's bone—was the hardest."
She tilted her head and gave Edward a wry smile.
"You can imagine why. I was a cat! Where was I supposed to find a cat father's bone? And even if I did, an ordinary cat skeleton could never support a ritual of this scale."
Then her eyes lit up with pride.
"So I had a brilliant idea—to use your bone instead!"
"Stop."
Edward immediately raised a hand.
"Before we even talk about whether that would work—where did you get my bone, exactly? Don't tell me you stole one while I was asleep!"
Lilith giggled.
"Nope~"
"Actually, before meeting you in the Mirror World, I didn't even know you existed in this era."
She winked.
"I got your arm bone from the future—it was handed to my past self and brought it back here when we time-travelled. Remember when Grindelwald took a bone from you? That was it."
Edward blinked blankly.
"Wait—you mean…all that happened just to set up this moment?"
"Maybe~" Lilith said, stretching lazily. "Whether I secretly followed you back to Hogwarts or not—how would I know? That was the future me's doing! But after we returned, the future me passed the bone to my present self."
Edward exhaled slowly, shaking his head.
"So…how exactly did you use my arm bone to complete the resurrection ritual? I mean…I do treat you as my daughter, but still—"
Lilith's smile softened into something serious, her tone steady and low.
"That's exactly why I had to go to the Mirror World," she said.
"To find the Oldest One in the Mirror."
———
[Note]: Don't forget to VOTE. It keeps me motivated.