Luna clutched the rough blanket tightly, her knuckles white from the strain.
Her body was still trembling slightly, whether from the chill of the night wind or the indescribable shame and fear of the moment.
Her pale golden eyes fixed on the masked man not far away, her gaze filled with complex emotions—fear, alertness, confusion, and a trace… of something she couldn’t quite name.
The girl was silent for a long while before finally gathering the courage to speak tentatively.
“Was… was it you who saved me?”
“What else?”
Hell sat on that chair, his posture still casual.
Hearing the question, he gave a slight shrug, the movement light and indifferent.
His voice came from behind the mask, still that flat tone devoid of any emotion, but it made Luna’s heart sink sharply.
He saved her. He really saved her. Luna’s emotions became incredibly complicated in that moment.
She looked down at the blanket wrapped around her, then up at the masked man, countless thoughts churning wildly in her mind.
‘What is this guy… really planning?’
‘Is this part of his plan or not?’
‘If he deliberately lured her to that factory to die, then why save her?’
‘If he didn’t do it on purpose, then what the hell is going on?’
‘Is it to curry favor?’
‘Or… does he have another motive?’
Luna’s brows furrowed tightly, confusion and vigilance intertwined in her pale golden eyes like a tangled knot.
“You don’t need to thank me for saving you.”
Hell looked at her puzzled expression; something seemed to flicker beneath the mask for a moment. He tilted his head slightly, the red “V” slowly flowing in the dim light. His voice carried a rare hint of almost frank sincerity.
“I didn’t expect the Underground Factory to hide a monster like that. The intelligence was insufficient, which led you into danger.”
Luna was stunned. Her pale golden eyes widened slightly, a trace of disbelief flickering deep in her pupils.
‘This guy… is he sincerely apologizing to me?’
The girl stared at the expressionless white mask, trying to find any trace of pretense on it. But the mask was like a cold wall, blocking all emotions behind it.
She couldn’t see through him, not at all.
However, before Luna could recover from these complex emotions, an even more serious question suddenly surged into her mind—
‘Wait. Right now, she seems to be…’
Luna suddenly looked down at herself. The blanket was still tightly wrapped around her, covering most of her skin. But her face—her face was completely exposed.
She was now in her ordinary human state; the Goddess Armament was completely deactivated. In other words, she was no longer the Annihilation Angel Artemis, but Luna Florea—an ordinary seventeen-year-old female student.
And the one sitting across from her was the Adjudicator of the Eternal Night Gospel.
‘The villain.’
Luna’s heart clenched sharply, a chill rising up her spine.
Almost instinctively, she raised her hands and pressed them tightly over her face, as if that could hide her identity and block the man’s gaze.
“D-don’t look—!”
The girl’s voice leaked out from between her fingers, filled with obvious panic.
“You don’t need to cover your face.”
Hell watched Luna’s reaction, and a helpless sigh seemed to come from beneath the mask. His voice remained calm, but carried a matter-of-factness that made Luna’s whole body burn.
“While you were unconscious, I saw what I should see, and also saw what I shouldn’t have.”
He paused there, the red “V” seeming to gaze at her.
“Besides, I already knew your true identity. Covering up is useless.”
Luna’s face flushed bright red in an instant.
The blush spread from her cheeks to her ears, even tinting her neck a faint pink.
Her hands froze over her face, neither able to lower nor keep them there, as if she were petrified.
She knew this guy knew her true identity. From the very first day, he knew.
From the first meeting in that Abandoned Warehouse, to the confrontation at the Clock Tower, to everything today—he had always known who she was.
But having him say it so bluntly felt completely different.
Luna slowly lowered her hands from her face, revealing her flushed cheeks, red with shame and anger yet trying to appear calm.
She stared hard at Hell, her pale golden eyes burning with a flame of shame and rage.
“So… you… you saw everything?”
The pink-haired girl’s voice trembled slightly, but she tried to make it sound more forceful.
“What do you mean?”
Hell tilted his head slightly, his posture as if asking back “What are you referring to.” His voice carried a faint, irritating calmness.
Luna bit her lower lip.
‘What does she mean? Of course she means—her body.’
‘Right now, she’s practically half-naked.’
‘Under that blanket, she was wearing almost nothing. The tattered remains of her clothes, corroded by the tentacles, couldn’t cover anything. If the blanket slipped off, she would be completely exposed to the air, exposed to this man.’
‘And he just said… while she was unconscious, he saw what he should and shouldn’t have. Doesn’t that mean…’
Luna’s face grew even redder, so red it seemed about to bleed.
Hell watched the girl looking like she was about to combust, and was silent for two seconds. Then, he gave a soft “hmm.”
He didn’t answer directly. But that “hmm” made the meaning all too clear.
Luna’s mind went boom, erupting into blankness. ‘He really did see everything.’
‘While she was unconscious, this guy saved her from that monster, brought her here, and then… then saw everything.’
Luna didn’t dare think further.
She just stared at the masked man, trembling with anger, one finger pointing straight at Hell from beneath the blanket, the slender tip trembling slightly from the strain.
The pink-haired girl opened her mouth, wanting to curse him out—call him shameless, accuse him of taking advantage, of doing that while she was unconscious… unconscious…
But the words stuck in her throat, and she couldn’t get them out.
Because it was a fact that he had saved her.
‘If not for this guy, she would have been torn to shreds by those tentacles. Seeing her body… was unavoidable.’
‘When she was entangled by those tentacles, the Goddess Armament was already mostly corroded. After she fell unconscious, those remaining pieces of cloth surely… surely…’
Thinking of that, Luna’s face burned again.
‘Should she have let herself be completely dissolved by the tentacles? Should she blame him for saving her?’
‘No.’
‘In this matter, she was not in the right. She couldn’t blame him.’
“You, you, you…”
Luna could only keep stammering “you,” unable to form words.
The hand pointing at Hell trembled even more, before finally dropping limply, her whole body like a deflated balloon, embarrassed, angry, yet helpless.
Hell looked at the girl in front of him, and a barely audible laugh seemed to come from beneath the mask.