Chapter 154 - 80: Got You

Chapter 154: Chapter 80: Got You

「In the reading room.」

Lilia’s eyes flew open, her breathing ragged.

"What’s wrong?" Victor, sitting across from her, noticed something was amiss.

Lilia shook her head slightly, indicating she was fine.

"Are you too tired?"

Victor’s voice was gentle. "These Magic Circles are a very high Level. Using them nonstop every day puts a great strain on your body..."

Lilia wasn’t listening to him.

She was reviewing the experience from her last reset.

The final scene had left a profound impression on her. That oppressive feeling, like an approaching storm—even the slightest hint of its aura was enough to make her realize the insurmountable chasm in power between that thing and herself.

A pentagram.

According to Lilia’s limited knowledge of theology, that symbol was used to summon a Demon.

’Was this the Demon Lord’s goal? To use the "secret" to deceive humans, borrow their power to resurrect himself, and descend upon the world.’

Lilia couldn’t be sure.

But that wasn’t what she should be focusing on.

The point was, she had clearly stopped Victor in time; his final stroke never touched the paper. And yet, the ink had moved on its own, completing the evil Array.

’Does the pattern itself represent some kind of power? Does just partially recreating it cause it to complete itself automatically?’

...She could only assume so for now.

Lilia went along with Victor’s concerned words, admitting she was a little tired and needed to rest.

Victor didn’t press her.

The research had reached its final step, and it wasn’t as if the manuscript was going to grow legs and run away.

Half a year had already passed. He didn’t mind waiting a few more days.

Lilia returned to her chambers.

Instead of going to her bedroom to rest, she cast a Concealing Magic on herself and crept quietly to Victor’s residence.

This time, he was behaving himself and hadn’t tried to continue the research on his own. He probably thought the secret he was looking for was hidden in the final Magic Circle and was just waiting for Lilia to recover her Magic Power to test it.

Lilia breathed a temporary sigh of relief and began to ponder how she could completely dissuade Victor from this path.

In the previous loop, Lilia had interacted with Jennifer quite a bit.

In her opinion, Jennifer was a textbook scholar.

Serious, meticulous, and stubborn.

To put it nicely, she was persistent. To put it bluntly, she had a tendency to get bogged down in trivialities.

If something puzzled her, she absolutely had to get to the bottom of it. The more complex the problem, the more she wanted to solve it herself.

Victor was also a scholar, and in this regard, his persistence surpassed even Jennifer’s.

Even disaster couldn’t scare him away, so what reason could possibly convince him to stop?

Lilia thought for several days but couldn’t come up with a good excuse.

She had been feigning illness and staying in her chambers for days, and Victor hadn’t pressed her.

She held the final page of the manuscript firmly in her possession.

Since destroying it was useless, she decided to keep the source of the danger in sight and watch over it personally.

Only by ensuring no other accidents could happen would she be able to think about a solution in peace.

But the Demon’s power was far more terrifying than she had imagined.

One night, in a dream, Lilia saw herself sitting at a desk, a pen in hand, sketching something on a sheet of parchment.

Her heart sank. She subconsciously tried to stop, but the hand holding the pen was no longer under her control.

Lilia looked down.

A jet-black pentagram entered her vision.

Before her slightly startled eyes, her own right hand drew the final stroke.

Perhaps because she was in a dream, Lilia’s vigilance was greatly diminished.

She didn’t reset immediately.

She was a little curious... what would happen next.

The next second.

The lines closed.

Lilia felt a wave of dizziness wash over her consciousness, and the entire dream world began to tremble and collapse.

Then, a deep voice resounded directly in her mind.

He called out: "Lili..."

...

...

Lilia reset.

Again, and again.

She tried to destroy the manuscript in every way she could think of, but whether by freezing, burning, or suppressing it with Magic, nothing could change the outcome of the Demon’s advent.

She also tried to convince Victor with various reasons, but it was obvious that at this point, his personal wishes could no longer influence the course of events.

Regardless of whether he wanted to continue the research, events would proceed along their predetermined track.

Lilia suddenly realized that the amount of time she could Retrospect was too short.

The moment she first activated the Array recorded in the manuscript, an anchor point of no return had likely been set.

From that point on, no matter how much she struggled, the future of the Demon’s advent could not be changed.

Only the time and place of its arrival might differ.

Realizing this, Lilia decided to stop trapping herself in this endless loop.

In the previous loop, Victor had stayed in Navia the entire time.

He had said that the secret of the Demon could be found there.

Lilia wasn’t sure if this was true, because when Victor told her, he was clearly looking for an excuse to push her away.

But it was a fact that he had remained in Navia.

Lilia was inclined to believe that Victor hadn’t lied about this.

In the last loop, he must have gleaned some information from the power that descended, which was why he went to Navia and stayed there for several years.

Without Lilia’s interference, the plot began to advance steadily.

This time, however, Lilia didn’t give Victor the chance to exclude her.

After the last page of the manuscript had also dissipated into crystals, Lilia proposed that perhaps the secret was hidden within the Array itself.

The two of them gathered at Victor’s residence and drew the pentagram together.

Upon seeing the distinctive pattern, Victor realized the gravity of the situation and tried to make Lilia leave. He couldn’t guarantee what would happen next, and by staying behind alone, he could minimize the potential losses.

Of course, Lilia couldn’t possibly agree.

After a few rounds of arguing in circles, Victor finally relented.

He set up several Defense Arrays around Lilia before returning to his desk to complete the final stroke.

The instant the lines connected, Lilia saw Victor’s body go rigid, as if he’d been dealt a heavy blow.

At the same time, the familiar call echoed in Lilia’s ears.

The deep voice repeated the name "Lili," each time clearer and brighter, filled with the joy of finding something that was lost.

Lilia furrowed her brow, pondering what that name could possibly mean, when her keen intuition suddenly sounded an alarm.

She snapped her head up.

She saw Victor stagger to his feet, turning to face her like a marionette.

Then, he charged at her with incredible speed.

BANG!

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The Defense Arrays Victor had placed around Lilia were torn apart by his own hands, one by one.

As the last halo of light shattered, a faint, scarlet gleam flashed in the depths of Victor’s eyes.

He curled his fingers into a claw and reached for Lilia’s neck!

The air tore with a piercing shriek.

Mingled with it was a deep, joyous sigh.

"—I’ve got you."