On the third floor, Class 2-C, Arcurus was humming a tune of a song he liked.
After Lilith destroyed the seven male idols, they were still in shock, as well as the ones that were standing at the gate. When Lilith came inside the school building, Arcurus watched as all of them stood there stunned.
He took off his glasses to clean them since he was having difficulty seeing. He hadn't cleaned his glasses. Even though it was magically enchanted, it was for consolment and vision clarity.
If he wanted automatic cleaning function, he would have had to pay way more then he wanted. Because the more enchantments there is in an item, the more difficult it get for it to enchanted.
And his glass frame was normal as well. If he wanted to get better enchantments, he would have had to buy new frame with better materials which he thought was utterly useless.
He took out a fresh glass cleaner napkin from his bag and started to clean while humming a soft tune.
It was then that the sliding door opened with a boom. His glasses almost fell from his hand. He caught them in a comedic way. He quickly looked towards the door instinctively but all he was seeing was some blurry figure.
'Which mother fucker is using the door as a fucking drum!?'
He quickly slid the glasses back on — and the sight made his eyes widen in horror.
'Huh!?'
Lilith Nocturna Valemire was staring straight at him with a cold expression.It wasn't her expression that scared him, but the presence around her. The air felt heavy, suffocating, and biting cold like the deepest northern winds.
But it wasn't that either. It was the possibilities of her presence could bring in his life if someone saw them together.
He knew there wasn't anyone else in this classroom, so there must be something she wanted… from him.
'Am I seeing things? Is that really her? Why is she here? What does she want? Did I ever give out anything that could make her interested in me?'
Arcurus could already see his life — his peaceful, quiet life — crumbling in front of his eyes in real time.
Lilith stopped in front of Arcurus and said,
"Arcurus Dragonis Xevrion, we need to talk."
Arcurus, who heard his full name spoken for the first time in years, didn't flinch. He knew, with her family's power, it was a piece of cake to get information about him.
'No! Fucking! Way!'
He almost screamed but held back and just flatly said,
"No. Go away. We have nothing to talk about."
He then looked away from her and towards the window. The students were starting to move outside — and if anyone saw him with them, it would be over. An endless wave of pestering would begin: How? When? Why? Why was he talking to their goddesses?
'Shit! Why is this happening to me? What did I do?'
Arcurus was having an internal panic attack.
But Lilith didn't care and didn't leave. She stubbornly said again,
"No. We need to talk."
Arcurus, who heard this, knew he couldn't shake off this stubborn girl so easily.
'Stubborn rich, powerful lady!!!!'
He looked her dead in the eyes he wanted to say many things but didn't want further trouble.
"Alright. We will. But not now. Let's talk after school."
He said with slight desperation. He looked out the window again and saw the students were almost entering the building. Lilith wasn't having it.
"No."
She said flatly.
Arcurus's heart was racing fast with tension. He was sweating slightly. He didn't even feel this much desperation when he was in front of the underworld bosses and beating their asses in poker.
'NoNoNoNoNoNo! This can't go on. I must convince this bitch to leave at all cost! Before they arrive!'
He stood up abruptly, pointed toward Lilith's nose and snapped,
"Look here, lady! You're already fucking my life upside down right now just by talkin to me. Do you think you talking to me is doing any good? Huh? Just leave me the fuck alone! Look at them! If they saw me with you, they're going to destroy my peaceful life.
Shut the fuck up and get lost. Please! Have some damn conscience. We can talk — whatever the fuck you want — after school is over."
Arcurus's out rage started as rapid fire of complaint and at the end turned in a desperate plea.
Hearing Arcurus talk like that, not only Lilith, but also the other four girls who had arrived behind her, were stunned.
Lilith wasn't stunned for long, though — only for a few seconds. But in that moment, her eyes slightly widened. Then she quickly recovered and put on her serious expression again.
She waved her hand, and a disk appeared — black, metal-like, etched with ancient glowing runes. She whispered something to it, then threw it into the air.
The disk shined.
And in the blink of an eye, the dome spread across the entire academy — freezing everything in motion.
The clock hands stopped ticking. Wind halted mid-blow. Leaves stopped falling. The chatter outside froze like a scene in a paused film.
Only those inside the dome, acknowledged by Lilith's artifact, could move now.
'Eh? What is this? Did she just use a temporal item above Mortal Realm? Is she that desperate to talk to me? ... Guess i will give her a chance since I want to end this once and for all. I want no further contact with them. I should make it clear. Yes! Let's do this! But before that...'
Arcurus walked up to the window looked outside and saw that, except for this small dome, everything was not moving at all. Although there was no visible difference between the dome and the outside of the dome, there was no black and white effect.
It was just an invisible zone of 5 meters. If he put his hand outside the dome, he would feel that his hands were moving extremely slow.
'Facinating!'
Lilith, who was watching Arcurus do his things with a frown and a serious expression, said,
"Can we talk now?"
Arcurus looked back at them and gave a smile.
"Of course. Rich lady, you invested such an expensive item to meet my demand. Of course we can talk."
Arcurus said with a sheepish expression. He was feeling relieved. The type one feels when the impending doom is avoided.
Lilith's lips visibly twitched. Her frown deepened. The other four behind her didn't talk, but they were listening eagerly to what they were talking about.
Lilith then looked at Arcurus dead in the eyes and said,
"I wish to test your skill."
'My skills, huh? I wonder what kind of drug she took today. Does she not know I can't cultivate? Even with her family's power? The survents must be doing a very bad job.'
Arcurus, not looking away, still smiling slightly, said,
"Why?"
Lilith then took a deep breath and explained as she started to speak.
"I have a divination artifact that answers questions related to the future, and it revealed that you will be the party leader of our party when i asked it."
Arcurus, who heard this, was astonished.
'Now that's news!'
He was in front of the window, then started to walk toward Lilith in slow motion and said,
"So, from what I am getting, you asked an artifact about the future, and it answered that I will be your party leader. And you, Miss Lilith, think that I may be some kind of leecher, who is here to leech off of you guys. Is that what I am getting?"
Lilith nodded.
'Bruh, I just want to get away from you.'
Arcurus thought but didn't say it outright. He watched shows were shaltered rich lady tend to fall for guys who ignore them. He doesn't want her to fall for him and bring unnecessary troubles. So that's why he is trying to act sheepish.
Arcurus stopped and then extended his hand in front of her. Lilith stepped back instinctively. Her expression grew colder as she asked Arcurus coldly,
"What are you trying to do?"
Arcurus shook his hand lightly and said,
"Test it. See if I have any cultivation at all or not. And then answer me—if I may really be a leecher. Because if you wanted, you could kill me anytime. And if you are worried about the karmic sin, you should just use your resources to exclude me from your party."
Arcurus said. He knew about those one-time only artifacts. But he doesn't have the connection to buy them even if he has the money.
Lilith looked at Arcurus's hand and contemplated—but didn't take it to check in the end.
"But you still need to prove your character."
"No, I don't. I would rather not be in the same party as you. It will bring more trouble for a disabled person like me. Just so you know, I can't cultivate, and on top of that, I can barely see anything without these glasses."
Arcurus said as he tapped on his glasses with a smile.
"So I think it will be best for both of us if you exclude me. We'll both have what we want. You will have your medal piece of your achievements not getting stolen, and I will have my peaceful life. You see, it's hard for an ordinary person like me. And if I get involved with people like you, I probably won't even know how I died."
Arcurus said softly. His earlier outrage had calmed down and been replaced with an eerie calm.
"But the World Laws can't be wrong."
Lilith said, her expression ever colder.
Arcurus looked at her for a few moments. He had to admit—she was incredibly beautiful. But not beautiful enough to throw away his peace for.
She was more trouble than good. And she seemed to have a shattered mentality.
"The World Laws may have been wrong this time. Please think about it, and it would be best if you exclude me. You don't have a choice, because if I become your party leader, I will take the majority of the Spiritual Energy to preserve my life."
"There must be something you're hiding."
"And what might that be?"
"I don't know. But there is definitely something, and that's why the World Law chose you. And aren't you a dragon? Maybe that's why?"
Lilith said.
'This stubborn bitch...'
Arcurus was now sitting on his chair, cheek resting on his palm, watching Lilith with an expression that gave out nothing. The tension was thick.
"That's not how it works. Having something and being able to use that thing is entirely different. Even though I have dragon bloodline, I can't use it because I can't cultivate. My meridians and dantian are almost non-existent. You can check if you want."
Arcurus sighed as he said that. He extended his hand again. This time, Lilith took it—with hesitation. He could feel Lilith's cold hand on his, and also feel her energy invade. He didn't stop. He had nothing to hide.
All he said was true. He truly couldn't cultivate.
Lilith pulled away her hand a few seconds later. Her expression was an ambiguous one.
Arcurus stood up.
"If there is nothing more, please leave. I don't think using that thing for a prolonged amount of time is good. Since it amplifies the time around us. It is especially harmful for me, since I can't live long."
Arcurus said flatly.
He looked at Lilith—she looked like she was fighting a world war inside her—but still nodded.
'Finally some light in this darkness!'
Arcurus was relieved. He smiled and said,
"Glad we could come to a proper agreement."
Lilith extended her hand upward and the disk came floating back. The dome dispersed and time returned to normal.
The students started to move again.
Lilith and her group went away quietly.