“Joint responsibility.”
Vivian spat out those four words as if she were pronouncing a sentence.
“Joint protection.”
Alicia’s smile followed in agreement, like a seal being stamped on a contract.
The two women, two pillars of imperial power, had reached an utterly absurd agreement at this moment.
Their gazes refocused on Lynn—no longer a simple struggle for possession, but a partition.
The left side belonged to the Imperial Family; the right side belonged to the Church.
The daytime belonged to the Knight Commander; the nighttime belonged to the Saintess.
Lynn could even imagine them fighting over a shift schedule.
‘It’s over.’
‘My life has gone from a stayed death sentence to a life sentence—and in a double cell, no less.’
The surrounding Royal Capital Guards, holding their shields, looked at each other in confusion.
They had come to de-escalate the situation, only to find that the source of the trouble was two great figures they couldn’t afford to provoke.
The leading Centurion looked at his own Knight Commander and the Church’s Saintess, flanking a single man on either side against a backdrop of ruins that looked like they had been struck by a meteor.
He felt his worldview being shattered.
How was he supposed to write this report?
Just as this eerie balance was about to solidify…
A soft laugh broke the heavy silence.
*Giggle…*
The laughter was very light and soft, like a kitten’s paw scratching at one’s heart.
It was Lilith.
She had been quietly leaning against Lynn the entire time, like a harmless parasitic vine.
Everyone had subconsciously ignored her, including Vivian and Alicia.
Now, she lifted her head, and her pure black eyes swept over Vivian and then Alicia.
In that gaze, there was no fear and no reverence—only a look that seemed to be… watching a play.
“Joint responsibility?”
She repeated the phrase, tilting her head and asking innocently.
“Are you two discussing how to divide my brother?”
Vivian’s brow furrowed.
The Holy Light on Alicia’s face dimmed by a fraction.
This little girl had quite the tone.
“This is no place for you to speak,” Vivian said coldly, her voice carrying a warning.
“A filthy soul is not fit to stand beside the Holy Son,” Alicia said softly, her words carrying a sense of expulsion.
Neither of them took her seriously.
In their eyes, Lilith was merely a tagalong Lynn had picked up, a weakling in need of protection.
Lilith didn’t get angry; instead, the smile on her face grew even sweeter.
“Is that so?”
She released Lynn’s arm and took one small step forward.
With that one small step, something about the entire ruins seemed to change.
The wind stopped.
The dust floating in the air went still.
The guards suddenly felt a chill on the backs of their necks, as if a venomous snake were crawling up their spines.
Lilith tilted her small face up to look at the two women.
Her voice remained soft and sweet.
“Did you ask for Brother’s opinion?”
“Or rather…”
The corners of her mouth curled up into a grotesque arc.
“Did you ask me?”
Before her voice had even faded —
*Whoosh — !*
On the ground, the shattered stones, the broken rebar, and even the armor plates from the corpses of the guards all rose silently into the air!
Hundreds upon thousands of fragments suspended themselves in midair like a flock of vultures sensing the scent of blood.
Every sharp edge was pointed directly at Vivian and Alicia.
Vivian’s pupils suddenly contracted.
Alicia’s smile froze completely on her face.
What kind of power was this?
It wasn’t Battle Qi, it wasn’t Magic, and it certainly wasn’t a Divine Art!
It was a cold, chaotic power from the abyss that they had never seen before!
“You…”
Vivian tightened her grip on her sword hilt.
“The Devil’s Whispers…”
Alicia subconsciously took a half-step back, Holy Light condensing in her hands.
The surrounding guards were frightened out of their wits.
They held up their shields but had no idea which direction to defend.
The fragments hovering over their heads could turn them into sieves at any moment.
Standing behind Lilith, Lynn’s heart hammered like a drum.
It was happening.
The thing he had worried about most was finally taking place.
‘This sister of mine has finally stopped pretending.’
‘She’s showing her fangs.’
“Brother,” Lilith said without turning around, though her voice reached Lynn’s ears clearly, “they’re so noisy.”
“One wants to lock you in a cage in the Imperial Palace.”
“The other wants to tie you to a Cross in the Church.”
“They don’t understand at all. What Brother wants is freedom.”
As she spoke, she reached out her small hand.
The hovering fragments moved slowly forward following her gesture.
Their sharp points traced lethal trajectories through the air.
The expressions of Vivian and Alicia became incredibly solemn.
They could feel that the power attached to these fragments was enough to easily tear through their defenses.
More terrifyingly, they didn’t dare move.
Because Lynn was standing right behind those deadly fragments.
Once the battle began, he would be the first one affected.
‘To hesitate at a strike for fear of hitting the vase…’
This little devil who had crawled out of hell had accurately grasped their only weakness.
“Now,” Lilith said with a hint of a playful smile in her voice, “do you still want ‘joint responsibility’?”
“Silence.”
A deathly silence.
Vivian’s chest heaved.
She wanted to draw her sword but didn’t dare.
For the first time, her pride as the Empire’s Knight Commander gave her a taste of powerlessness.
The Holy Light in Alicia’s hands flickered on and off.
She wanted to perform a Purification, yet she feared the light of that purification would first consume her beloved Holy Son.
The situation had been reversed in an instant.
The stalemate between the two powers had been shattered completely by this sudden third party.
Now, she was the one in control.
Looking at Lilith’s petite back, Lynn suddenly felt that this was what the game was truly supposed to look like.
“Saintess, Imperial Princess—whatever.”
Before the “Maximum Obsessiveness” setting he had personally modified, they were nothing more than appetizers.
The true boss had been by his side all along, acting spoiled and calling him “Brother.”
“Since Brother can’t choose,” Lilith turned around and grabbed Lynn’s hand again.
The coldness of her small hand made Lynn shiver.
She looked up at him with those pure black eyes, filled with absolute dependence and possessiveness.
“Then don’t choose.”
“Come with me.”
She pulled Lynn, intending to walk right between Vivian and Alicia.
The thousands of hovering fragments moved with her, shifting their direction to remain pointed at the two women.
It was as if she were clearing a path for herself.
“Stop!”
Vivian finally couldn’t help herself and shouted sternly.
“Don’t you dare take one step with him!”
Alicia’s voice also turned sharp.
They could tolerate each other, but they absolutely could not tolerate a third person snatching their treasure away before their very eyes!
Lilith stopped and glanced back at them.
“Do you want to try?”
She smiled with innocent radiance.
“Want to see if your movements are faster, or if these things can shred Brother faster?”
A lunatic.
A total and complete lunatic!