Chapter 164: BE: Devour

"Victor... what happened to you...?"

Hearing her voice and sensing her unique scent—rendered overwhelmingly distinct by her proximity—the young man clenched his fists so tightly that the veins bulged on his arms.

Reason screamed in his mind, urging him to get away immediately, to push her away right this second. Yet, a surging desire rampaged through his chest, like millions of ants gnawing at his heart.

Under Lilia’s gaze, the young man slowly raised his head.

His soft hair at the temples was soaked with sweat, making his usually cold, aloof, and handsome face look exceptionally fragile. His pale gray eyes were almost unfocused, yet the moment they captured Lilia’s figure, they refocused, turning scarlet at an unbelievable speed.

"Lili..."

He rose sluggishly from the floor. The movement caused his blood to flow even more fiercely, meandering down his well-defined muscles and staining the pure white fabric of his clothes.

He slowly reached out, as if wanting to grab Lilia’s shoulder, but forcibly stopped himself the moment he got close to her, trembling as he tried to back away.

Reason and desire warred in his mind, constantly tearing at his sanity. His pale lips parted with great difficulty, and a broken whisper escaped his throat. "...Stay away from me..."

Lilia frowned deeply.

Ignoring Victor’s warning, her gaze fell upon his bare chest. Those long nails, driven completely into his flesh... reminded her of a discussion she had with Jennifer.

It was about how to destroy Demons.

Aside from outright killing them through sheer force, the only effective method was to use special weapons blessed by a God to seal the Key Points within a Demon’s body, thus blocking the flow of Magic Power.

Could it be that Victor had been using this method all these days to prevent the Demon’s awakening? Was it precisely because he forcibly sealed the Demon’s consciousness that he no longer had to distance himself from her, allowing them to stroll through the town together just like before?

Then, that stench of blood she smelled yesterday morning...

Lilia gritted her teeth. Instead of leaving, she took a half-step forward.

This insignificant half-step completely shattered Victor’s remaining sanity.

He lunged forward with movements so fast the naked eye could barely track them, like a wild beast pouncing on its prey. Lilia didn’t even have time to react before she was locked in his embrace.

He held her tightly, with such brute force that Lilia felt her bones groaning in pain.

But she didn’t struggle.

The more dire the situation, the clearer Lilia’s mind became. She lucidly felt Victor’s tightening arms, listening to his heavy, ragged breathing by her ear, and... against their pressed chests, the young man’s heart beat in a manic, erratic rhythm.

He had completely lost his mind.

One of Victor’s hands tightly gripped Lilia’s waist, while the other traced upward along her back, heavily brushing over her spine inch by inch. His knuckle-prominent hand pressed against the back of her head, forcing her forehead into his shoulder.

As a result, the girl’s fair, delicate neck was exposed, arching in a fragile and enticing curve.

Victor stared intently at the distinct lines of her neck.

The emotions swirling in his scarlet eyes were incredibly complex. It was a mixture of uncontrollable lust and an intensely ravenous appetite.

The girl in his arms did not struggle, nor did she tremble. She wrapped her arms around his back, her slender fingers grasping his shoulders.

The young man’s movements suddenly paused.

In the dead silence.

Clear droplets of liquid fell from above—one drop, then two—sliding down the girl’s skin like rolling pearls.

He violently lowered his head and clamped his teeth into the crook of her neck.

Amid the sounds of tearing flesh, the whimpering of a wild beast echoed throughout the room.

It lingered for a long time.

...

...

[Congratulations to the player for reaching a Bad End!]

Lilia opened her eyes in the stark white space.

The system’s impassioned announcement left her a bit speechless. She could understand it being thrilled over a Happy End, but why was it so ecstatic when she triggered a Bad End?

It felt as if the system had just met some kind of quota.

Lilia stood in the System Space for a moment and reached up to touch her neck. Her avatar had died in the Game World, and her consciousness in the System Space suffered a certain degree of backlash. The most direct manifestation of this was phantom pain.

The sensation of having her flesh torn apart and her blood drained out... Even thinking about it now sent a bone-chilling thrill of terror down her spine. Out of all the death endings, this one left an exceptionally profound impression on her.

Lilia had no intention of reloading her save file.

For one, she had already unlocked a special ending. Secondly, the dozens of previous experiments proved that no matter what she did, she could not change the outcome of Victor being "possessed."

He would inevitably go to Navia, and he would inevitably find that Demon in the Valgipps Mountain Range who looked exactly like Lilia.

Under this premise, the plot would split into two paths depending on Lilia’s choices.

The first path involved Lilia strictly obeying Victor’s warnings and staying as far away from him as possible. If she did that, she would get dragged into the war between Lien and the Light Kingdom. From there, she would either have to follow Lucian’s route or go back to pursuing Caius.

The second path was throwing caution to the wind and continuing to approach Victor.

The result of that was obvious.

Lilia had no means of destroying the Demon, leaving her no choice but to watch helplessly as Victor was devoured by it.

In the final moments of her consciousness, she had clearly felt it. She had felt the sorrow and agony in Victor’s heart.

It was entirely foreseeable that after she died, he would never choose to live on alone.

It was a dead end.

Lilia let out a soft sigh.

She had considered seeking cooperation with Caius. He could subjugate Demons for his own use and seemed quite knowledgeable about them. But on second thought, subjugating Demons relied heavily on Selas Beaumont, who had fused with a High-level Demon. Caius himself didn’t necessarily possess much knowledge about Demons.

Not to mention, Lien and Light were enemies.

As a Princess of the Light Kingdom, her taking the initiative to contact Caius would be tantamount to treason.

With such insurmountable obstacles in the way, Lilia deemed the likelihood of success far too small to even consider.

Since things had come to this... she might as well start a new game altogether. The chances of achieving a Happy End were slightly higher if she started over from the very beginning.

On a side note.

Achieving the Happy End for Lucian’s route earlier had successfully unlocked the Title System. Titles were extremely rare and were likely only rewarded for reaching a Happy End.

The title Lucian’s route gave her was [Chess Player], which provided a 20% boost to her Intelligence when equipped.

Considering how difficult it was to earn stat points in this game, granting such a generous percentage was quite magnanimous.

Lilia equipped the title and officially started her third playthrough.

[Game start!]

[Please select your initial identity.]

She paused in surprise. There was actually an identity selection phase this time as well.

Lilia glanced at the screen.

[1. Commoner.]

[2. Noble.]

[3. Demon.]

Her gaze abruptly froze.

...Demon.