Leo's gaze remained locked on the table when a short man in a gray robe approached him.
"Sir, I see your eyes have been caught by our special table," the man said with a sly smile.
Leo's voice turned sharp. "Where did you get this table?"
The man leaned in slightly, lowering his voice as if sharing a great secret. "It came all the way from the Kingdom of Light. Rumor has it, this table was present during a great incident that led to the summoning of the Goddess of the Moon. It was buried deep within the house where it happened, and they say it was touched by the goddess's power."
His voice dropped, tinged with disappointment. "Our specialists have been trying to uncover what kind of power it holds, but so far, it hasn't responded to anything."
"How much for it?" Leo asked, his tone cold and direct.
"Two hundred gold coins," the man said, his wicked smile widening.
"For a table you know nothing about?" Leo challenged.
"Even if we don't know its secrets, it's still an item blessed—or cursed—by divine power," the man said, shrugging as if that justified the price.
Leo slowly raised his hand above the table. At first, nothing happened. The surface remained dull and lifeless. Then, as if awakening after a long slumber, the table began to move on its own. The wood groaned softly as it folded and shifted into a compact form, reacting only to Leo's presence.
The merchant, who had been smirking moments before, now stared, wide-eyed and pale.
Leo, without touching it, used telekinesis to lift the folded table, letting it hover beside him.
"Sir, the situation has changed," the merchant said quickly. "The table is no longer for sale. However, we will give you one hundred gold coins if you tell us how you did that." As he spoke, two large, muscular men appeared at his sides, clearly not here to negotiate.
"You already said it was for sale," Leo said, tossing a small bag heavy with coins onto the ground. The distinct clink echoed in the shop. "I bought it."
The merchant snatched the bag from the floor and shoved it into his robe, smiling like a snake. "As I said, it's no longer for sale."
One of the brutes reached out to grab Leo's shoulder but the figure of Leo and the floating table both shattered like glass.
"An illusion?!" the merchant gasped, instinctively clutching the bag of coins. Feeling the solid weight of gold beneath his hands, he sighed in relief—but his expression quickly turned serious and furious.
"Find him!" he barked.
The two burly men nodded and sprinted out of the shop.
Meanwhile, Leo watched from the shadows of an alley across the street, an amused glint in his eye. Without wasting time, he turned and slipped away, heading deeper into the market.
After wandering for a bit, Leo found another shop—a more reputable one—and purchased a high-grade magic box with multiple strong enchantments, perfect for sealing dangerous artifacts. Carefully, he placed the folded table inside the box, sealing it tightly. He stored the box in his bag; there wasn't enough time now to examine the table properly.
With that matter settled, Leo visited the store he usually frequented with Klaus. There, he easily bought the three items Alexia had requested for five hundred coins: the black crystal, the Indrik heart, and the Dragon's Fire Orb.
He had already received funds for these purchases, but including the unexpected expense of the magic box and the table, Leo calculated his remaining funds. After the day's spending, he was left with one thousand one hundred coins—a comfortable amount considering his savings from the past year.
Once his shopping was complete, Leo returned to the mansion. He handed the requested items to one of the maids. Not seeing Klaus around, Leo made his way toward a special room designed specifically for high-risk magical experiments.
If he intended to study the table, he needed the safest place available—and aside from his personal domain, this room, fortified with countless layers of protective enchantments, was the best choice. Bringing an artifact potentially linked to another deity into his domain would be reckless, possibly even suicidal.
Inside the experimental room, Leo activated all the defensive spells embedded into the walls and floor. Protective sigils flared to life, bathing the room in a soft, blue glow.
In the center of a reinforced magic circle, he placed the folded table carefully. Now, it was time to discover the secrets buried within it.
Over the past few months, Leo had studied several enchanting spells—tools designed to probe and understand magical objects. One such spell was Reaction, used to reveal hidden enchantments by sending a pulse of mana into the item.
Leo steadied his breath and cast the spell. A gentle stream of blue light flowed from his palm into the table. At first—nothing. Then came the silence shattered.
With a sound like crystal cracking under immense pressure, a circular glyph surged into being above the table. It floated midair, spinning slowly, glowing with an eerie silver-blue radiance. The markings were not arcane—they were alien, celestial, shifting with a logic beyond human comprehension.
Leo's eyes widened. He drew the symbol into the Codex Arcanum, but the book returned nothing. Blank.
"This must be… divine magic," he whispered.
Determined, he began casting another spell: Unlock, designed to break magical seals. The spell was slow, intricate, and mana-draining. Energy bled from his hand into the table like liquid starlight. Ten minutes passed. Then—CRACK.
A sharp, splintering noise rang out and the world turned to black.
Total, oppressive void swallowed him whole. The protections, the wards—all snuffed out like candles in a storm. There was no light. No sound. No sense of direction. Just the crushing awareness of something vast—something watching.
'This is… godly power,' Leo realized, a cold chill crawling up his spine.
Then—she spoke.
"You reach too greedily into my realm… Child of dust… substitute of Selvanna."
Her voice wasn't sound—it was vibration. A resonance in the bones. A ripple across reality itself. It rang through the darkness like a bell tolling across the fabric of creation—ethereal, feminine, ancient.
"You must be the Goddess of the Moon," Leo said, struggling to keep his voice steady. "How do you know who I am?"
"Because I knew the one whose fire lingers faintly in your soul. Selvanna… my sister in the great war."
Her words rang like poetry carved into time.
"And what do you want from me? If you wished to destroy me, you've had countless chances."
"Destruction is not my purpose. I offer you a burden… a path shaped by shadow and flame. A mission born at the end of days."
Leo's fists clenched. "Why should I accept it?"
The darkness rippled. A cold wind blew, despite there being no air.
"I have already spared your fleeting life twice. I gave you a piece of my sacred craft—etched in silver flame. You breathe because I willed it so. You walk because I turned my gaze away from judgment."
"In the end of days," the voice continued, "Selvanna and I stood as allies. Now, I am the only thing left standing between the Destroyer and the end of this world."
"Destroyer?" Leo asked sharply, his breath catching. Only one god came to mind—a being described in fractured texts. The God of War, The Harbinger of Destruction.
He narrowed his eyes. "Why should I trust you? How do I know this isn't about claiming Selvanna's domain for yourself?"
A silence followed. Heavy. Measured. Then—
"Selvanna is already fallen."
Her words struck like a bell tolling across eternity.
"But," she continued, her voice lower now, as if it bent space around it, "for your assurance… I will give you something known to only a few across all time."
The void before Leo shimmered. Space twisted, like reality itself hesitated.
A pale blue glow began to form—moonlight spilling forth in an impossible place. A throne emerged from the dark, forged from shadow and woven starlight. Beneath it flowed a river of black liquid that pulsed with memory and sorrow.
And upon it, a figure—shrouded in mist and mystery. He couldn't see her fully. Just her eyes.
Two glowing blue eyes opened. They didn't just see—they pierced. Through flesh. Through thought. Through the soul.
Leo's body locked. His breath stilled. His heart pounded.
"What… is this?" he managed, his voice trembling.
"A truth," she answered, her voice no longer soft—it was thunder wrapped in moonlight, spoken by something eternal. "A name unspoken for a millennia."
Leo stared, confusion mixing with awe.
Then she spoke again—just two words.
"My name."
Leo's breath caught. He knew what was about to be said.
The true name of a god—never written, never spoken—was a bond, a contract, a revelation. Only the most trusted servants, the most faithful apostles, were ever granted it.
And now… a goddess was offering it to him.
"I am the Goddess of the Moon… the eternal sentinel of the night."
As she spoke, the very air seemed to shatter and realign itself. Her voice echoed like a thousand whispers and a single command all at once—ethereal, haunting, and absolute. The space around Leo trembled. Shadows quivered along the walls, and the ground itself thrummed with a pulse that matched the rhythm of her words. A silvery glow bathed everything, as if moonlight had replaced reality itself.
Leo froze in place—utterly still, breath held, heart pounding in awe.
"She who weaves silver dreams across the darkened skies. I watch over the sleeping world, my light a silent promise in the vastness of the heavens. I am… Lilith."
When she spoke her name, a cold wind swept through the place. The light dimmed, yet her presence grew larger—looming, endless, cosmic. Time felt like it slowed. Space bent.
"By knowing my name, you may call to me."
A storm of emotion churned in Leo's chest. It wasn't just the divine power suffusing the room—it was the name itself. Lilith. A name whispered across myths, games, books, and old religious texts on Earth. In Jewish lore, she was the first wife of Adam—a demoness. In countless stories, she was power, rebellion, temptation, wisdom. And now… she stood before him, real.
A wave of confusion and unease passed through him. 'If this is the same Lilith, does that mean the gods of this world influenced Earth? If so, why was there no magic there, but it's present here? Or... did I travel in time? Is this Earth's far future?'
The questions spiraled with no clear answers. He forced himself to focus. He had more pressing concerns—like the shimmering goddess in front of him, and whether she was truly an ally.
"Why do you keep helping me?" Leo asked quietly, almost afraid of the answer.
Lilith's expression softened slightly, her voice still echoing with divine resonance.
"As I said… you are Selvanna's substitute. And soon… her successor. A new war looms on the horizon, and you must be strong enough to face it."
Leo let out a low sigh. "And What's your mission?"
Her glowing blue eyes narrowed, locking onto his. For a moment, everything around him dimmed—the walls, the light, even his own thoughts—until only her gaze remained.
"I want you to kill the first vampires."
Leo blinked. "What?" His jaw dropped. "You want me to kill the first vampires? The most powerful of them all? I'm barely a B-rank!"
"Last year you were a C-rank. Before that, a mere mortal," she said evenly, her voice cutting through doubt like a blade. "Growth is no longer your limit—it is your duty."
Leo's eyes narrowed. "But why? Aren't they your creations? Your subjects?"
Lilith's glow flared brighter for a moment, and a sharp edge entered her tone.
"After the Second War and the betrayal, my essence scattered across the world. That family performed a forbidden ritual—stealing fragments of my power to become what they are now. They are not mine. They exist outside my influence. For centuries they were dormant, but now… they seek a city. A city that holds a weapon powerful enough to end the balance. If they find it, the world will burn."
Leo clenched his fists. The weight of her words settled heavily on his shoulders.
"I'll try… if they cross my path."
Lilith's figure seemed to move closer, or perhaps the world folded toward her. Reality shimmered around her outline, as if struggling to contain her presence.
"The night shall be with you… Leo Mantine," she whispered.
And with that, the world around him blurred, like fog swallowing a dream. Her voice echoed one last time, fading with the light.