The sergeant halted the retelling after that, the silence rang heavy in the room.
Valeric's eyes darted to her, his smirk dimming a little—finally—and his curious gaze attaining a different weight.
"That's an unexpected development. I was briefed on the situation when I arrived, but hearing it from you might broaden my perspective. Please, continue. What happened after?"
Lilith didn't speak or move, she just maintained her position and looked at Valeric silently.
The guard complied.
"No one survived in the 28th Camp, even the commander was dead. The whole place was littered with corpses—dismembered, mauled, frozen, or not even having a single scratch on them. It was simply a one-sided slaughter. All in a single night."
He clenched his fists.
"We thought that it was done by humans at first, but the evidence left suggested that the camp couldn't have been attacked by more than one or two persons, which made the situation far more complicated than what we initially assumed."
Valeric nodded.
"Our only hope to get answers was to advance toward the Imperial Frontline and probe the humans. And there, we found a barely functioning stronghold that had heavy losses and injuries. It merely took us an hour to capture the location—something the 28th had been unable to achieve for a long time. We investigated the humans that we managed to keep alive..."
He looked back at the commander.
"They said that they were attacked by an unknown person, whom they thought to be one of dragon-kin at first, but that quickly turned out to be false when the perpetrator simply left after inflicting major losses to their numbers, even though they appeared to be able to fight longer. We realized that it was a third-party, and we confirmed their relation to the demise of the 28th based on the descriptions given to their abilities."
Lilith shifted in her seat, more interested to explore the feel of the soft furniture.
"It didn't make sense to us at the time, why leave just when victory had been almost assured?... To our horror, someone had pointed out that at the moment, the 26th was far less fortified because a lot of their soldiers were present here..."
The sergeant took a shaking breath and sighed in hopelessness.
"It was a trap... The stronghold of the humans was used as bait to keep us busy, while the 26th were getting massacred. We didn't even head to them, we were sure that they were already dead. We scrambled towards the 27th, as we knew that they would be the next target. And, when we reached them, they were already under siege by that person."
He shook his head, appearing completely baffled by how ridiculous it sounded.
"We joined hands with them and strengthened the 27th, but it was futile. The third party had the upper hand, and annihilating what was left of us was just a matter of time. What plunged us more into despair was the fact that we couldn't retreat anywhere. To our east was the Danger Zone, to our north and west were the human forces that would receive reinforcements shortly, and finally, the south was occupied by the Witch that had the blood of the 26th still fresh on her hands."
The sergeant's furious eyes burned at the back of Lilith's skull, however, she didn't turn back to face him.
"The 27th Camp, which we thought to be our most stable foothold in the region, suddenly became a death trap. Going east was out of the question; going north or west would've been just as bad. We would've fought with our backs to her and faced the possibility of the humans retaliating simultaneously. Since we couldn't defeat her, either, we could only hope for a miracle to unfold..."
Valeric's head tilted a little in amusement.
"A miracle, you say? Was that how you're still here with us?"
The man smiled bitterly at his commander.
"Yes... A Calamity had saved us."
The golden eyes of Valeric widened for what could be said to be the first show of genuine emotion since this conversation began.
"A Calamity?"
The sergeant nodded.
"Yes. It was Lady Nadia, the current Water Calamity. She had been serving under the Draconic Empire and happened to pass by the ongoing battle. She fought with the Witch and defeated her, but it wasn't an easy battle either. The area was left unrecognizable, so we had to move the 27th Camp a bit further to this place."
He lifted his hand and pointed a finger that was shaking with rage at her:
"She killed the commanders of the 27th and the 28th! She killed many of us! She killed Raul, Julia, and Carter! She deserves worse than what I did to her!"
Valeric's grin regained its amusement, he was clearly entertained by the display. Lilith didn't budge at all, staying indifferent and motionless.
"Do you have anything to say, Lady Etherea? Are his words truthful?"
He questioned, his voice crisp with delight.
Lilith didn't shy away from his piercing gaze, meeting it with the emotionless one of hers.
"Yes."
Her direct reply rattled the guard, he clearly had been expecting her to deny his story and try to win the favor of the commander.
"You..."
Lilith continued:
"All of his claims were truthful, I don't deny anything."
Valeric's fingers tapped on the desk with contemplation.
"But why did you do that? I highly doubt that you're affiliated with some hostile faction, and I don't think that– oh! Of course..."
He nodded his head to himself, as if finally finding the missing piece of the puzzle.
"The Nightmare Elves were basically exterminated by the joined forces of the major factions of Aetheria. The Draconic Empire being one of the most eager participants..."
Lilith's jaw clenched, she fought against the urge to waste the tiny bit of heavenly essence that she had accumulated inside her Heavenly Core and turn his head into an ice cube. Calm down... Just a little bit more refined heavenly essence and you'll be able to escape...
After scolding herself, she nodded and spoke with a soft voice:
"My lord indeed has insight. Due to my special heritage, I was pursued by everyone around the region. That led to the... minor skirmishes that I had with the other camps."
The sergeant was left speechless by her audacity.
"You call that minor?!"
Lilith finally turned her head back to look at him, her eerie eyes sending a shiver down his spine.
"If you're so mad about that, then you should've killed me instead of keeping me around to remind you of your failure."
Her words were cold and merciless. She didn't bother to explain or justify her actions, in fact, why should she? They had been weaker, and she had been stronger. Simple as that. He should understand that, most of all, he is a lowborn dragon-kin anyway.
Valeric interrupted their heated talk with a faint chuckle.
"Now, now. We shouldn't fight over past grievances. Flameclaw, you would've killed her or done something worse if you didn't know any better. We can only think of what should be done forward."
The sergeant who was about to burst on Lilith, paused, then nodded solemnly at the commander.
Valeric returned his nod then turned to Lilith.
"As you probably already know, what made a main character in this conversation and prevented you from being executed was your special prowess."
Main character? That's a nice way to say high-value goods. She thought to herself.
"Yes. If you weren't informed yet, I'm a Heavenly Ascender on both the Pathways of Water and Emotion. Combined with my inherent abilities that come with my race, I see why my lord would prefer to keep me alive." Like shit, he doesn't know what my abilities are.
She knew that it was impossible for the sergeant not to inform him of her powers, she just wanted to act genuine and make him drop his guard more. I'm getting close...
Valeric spoke with acknowledgment:
"That's probably also why you lost to Lady Nadia, both of you share the Pathway of Water."
He leaned forward and put his elbow on the desk, then supported his chin with the back of his hand and looked at the snow behind the window that was to his right. As if lost in thought.
"Calamities have absolute power over the Pathway that they are holding. They don't merely borrow the power of Existence like other beings, they quite literally embody an Aspect of Existence."
He looked sideways at Lilith.
"So, it was no wonder that you couldn't even escape. Lady Nadia—the Water Calamity—had been countering your Pathway of Water completely, simply being in her presence would be suffocating for you. The other Pathway of Emotion only postponed your loss."
The loud sounds outside were getting louder with each second. Unease began growing more in her chest when she felt the amount of heavenly essence in her Heavenly Core slowly approach her needed quantity... Just a little bit more...
Bam!
Valeric slapped both his hands on the desk. He leaned even more forward as he grinned.
"Speaking about Calamities... Do you know what the actual reason is as to why I called for you? A legendary Nightmare Elf?"
The sergeant frowned. Is there any reason to bring her here other than to recruit her? Lilith tensed as well, sharing his thoughts. She had already reached the sufficient amount of heavenly essence to activate the spell that she needed, but she chose to ask nevertheless.
"Why?"
Valeric's smile grew even wider, and his next ominous words sent a shiver down her spine.
"I'm going to sacrifice you to become a Calamity."
Boom!
Lilith exploded forward with speed that was far exceeding that of a mortal. Her fingernails suddenly grew longer, sharper, deadlier. A layer of ice coated them, cold enough to freeze souls.
Their target was obvious: Valeric's neck.
Her fingernails cut his neck.
... Or they should've.
"Stop."
Lilith froze, the throat of Valeric just an inch away from her hand. But she didn't continue, motionless as a statue. Her entire body was stuck eternally in a single moment.
He leaned forward and whispered into her ear words that can only be described as a death sentence.
"...You know, you were spot-on the fact that I was the third type..."