Author: We Ain’t Fish | Original Source: SFACG | Word Count: 3017 characters |
Translator: Myuu | English Source: Re:Library | Word Count: 1706 words |
Editor(s): Deximus_Maximus |
“What do you mean by that, our queen?”
Titan 12138 stopped burning the tree bark and looked at Lesiah in shock, seemingly taken aback by the startling question.
“Done anything? To whom?”
“Are you still playing dumb?” Lesiah frowned, then looked around.
The deep valley was shrouded by fog all year round. From a higher spot, the people gathered in the valley below appeared to be pea-sized. Even if someone was passing by, no one would know what was going on down there. Hence, no one would be bothered about what was going to happen in this creepy graveyard.
“Isn’t this the perfect place to do it? You’re really going to miss your chance if you wait any longer.” Lesiah stared straight at the old titan. Her gaze was cold and sharp, like that of a lioness cornering its prey.
“I really don’t know what you are talking about, queen.” Titan 12138’s face was pale and she could not stop trembling. She quickly prostrated herself before Lesiah and repeatedly touched her forehead to the ground, like a defendant eager to clear her name in the courtroom.
“I am loyal to the king and queen! How could I possibly bring myself to do anything disrespectful to both of you?! Even if someone gave me ten guts, I won’t have the guts to do it!”
“No? But I think otherwise!” A wave of anger washed over Lesiah. She was about to expose Titan 12138 when Lilith lightly tugged on her sleeve. There was confusion on her lovely face.
“What are you talking about, Lesiah? What do you mean by that?” As a dragon, Lilith always thought she would be extremely sensitive to a person’s emotions. In fact, after hanging around a person for a long time, she would more or less sense the emotions that that person was feeling currently.
That was why she knew if Lesiah really hated it or just half-heartedly resisted her that night before they… hehehe… ahem. Back to the topic.
Lilith definitely did not sense any hostility in Titan 12138. In fact, she sensed the respect that the old titan had toward them far exceeded the others in the clan.
When she first met Titan 12138, Lilith had promised her to help the titans. Apart from the sympathy she had for this small and weak clan, it was the Titan 12138’s fervent admiration that made Lilith lower her guard.
It was fair to say that the others only had built this level of “faith” toward Lilith after being rescued twice, whereas Titan 12138 always maintained that level of “faith” toward her since the beginning.
Perhaps this was because Titan 12138 had met the previous king from a thousand years ago and had already built a huge amount of “faith”. Now, she was merely transferring all those “faith” to Lilith.
This was why Lilith found it hard to believe that Titan 12138 would “do something” to hurt her.
“Your… senses are usually so keen, but why are you so defenseless when it comes to your subjects?” Lesiah pinched and pulled Lilith’s cheeks hard in both directions.
“Did you forget how the battle started with black devils?”
“How…?” Lilith shook her head adorably while having her cheeks pulled, as she tried her best to recall.
She recalled back then…She was having a rather civilized conversation with Cornelia before their battle, one that was shared between old friends who were separated for a long time… Until…
Until the conversation reached the titans, then Titan 12138 interrupted them by launching an attack with her spear. With that, the war commenced earlier than it should have.
Lilith felt a chill down her spine. She failed to realize all these details because she was so focused on Cornelia. Now that she thought about it carefully again… It was undeniable that… Titan 12138 was deliberately preventing her from getting information from Cornelia.
The old titan was also hiding something from her, something that she absolutely must not know about!
Seeing Lilith deep in her thoughts, Lesiah released her cheeks and continued, “If that was the only thing that happened, I’d only think that she was trying to hide something. But what happened after that convinced me even more that she is out there to get you!”
Toward the end of her sentence, Lesiah glared at Titan 12138 with murderous intent and threat in her eyes.
“Why would that brat run to Cornelia without anyone noticing? Didn’t you orchestrate that because you wanted to make Lilith fight?” Lesiah furrowed her eyebrows and narrowed her beautiful eyes, exuding an aura akin to that of a dignified queen when she questioned the old titan.
“Launching an attack at the most inappropriate time, then forcing Lilith to act during the most dangerous moment… What is your intention, if it is not an ill one?” Lesiah continued pressing.
“I haven’t the foggiest idea what you’re talking about, my queen! I only struck because I could no longer bear the anger in my heart. As for that brat, I have no idea how he ended up there!” Titan 12138 defended.
The more she said, the more she felt aggrieved. In the end, she could not stop the tears in her eyes from falling. “Besides, how could a weak and old lady like myself possibly be capable of such things?”
“Oh? Says the person who could nail the commander of their enemy with a spear over a distance of several hundred meters. Now that’s not something a weak and old lady could possibly be capable of.” Lesiah snorted coldly.
Titan 12138 flew into a rage. “That must be the enemy’s ploy! I was only trying my luck and I didn’t expect to succeed! It must be part of the enemy’s scheme to start the war earlier!”
“What a great scheme that was,” Lesiah clapped and praised.
“You could have attacked at any time, but you had to put on such a good show and interrupt at the most critical moment. You even used a child to force the person, whom the enemy least wished to fight with, to fight. While doing all that, you made sacrifices on your end too. What a good plan. Cornelia is indeed a very cunning strategist that puts even myself, who is adept in the arts of politics, to shame.”
Uncertainty crept onto Titan 12138’s face, but Lesiah wasted no time. “I have a more direct and simpler method for you to clear your name.”
A silver longsword appeared in Lesiah’s hand as soon as she finished speaking. The blade glinted before flying directly at Titan 12138’s vital organ. At the moment of life and death, Titan 12138 took three steps back to dodge the silver blade. But the silver blade followed her shadow.
“YOU FORCED ME TO DO THIS!!”
With no place to hide, Titan 12138’s rheumy eyes suddenly lit up. Her wrinkly face contorted with anger and fierceness. She lifted her arms and a gray smoke instantly shrouded her body.
The silver blade tried cutting through the gray smoke, but was met with resistance. Sparks flew everywhere, as though metal was clashing against metal. The force of the impact was powerful enough to split a rock. Lesiah lost her grip and the silver sword in her hands was deflected.
She clutched her right arm that was almost completely numb, but smirked at Titan 12138.
Realizing that she had been deceived, Lilith flew into a rage and pointed Titan 12138 at her nose. “OLD HAG, YOU DARE DENY YOU AREN’T TRAINED IN MARTIAL ARTS?!!” she yelled.
Despite the situation, Titan 12138 was surprisingly calm. She took a few more steps back to pull away, then casually dusted her silk cloth. For the first time, she straightened her hunched over body in front of Lilith.
“As expected of the queen. I guess I can’t hide it from you,” she said emotionlessly.
“Rather than praising me, you should recognize that you have horrible acting skills. The outstanding qualities of a good actor are not limited to her looks, movements and behavior. No matter how innocent you look or how humble your actions are, you will still blow your cover if you do something out of character.”
Lesiah slowly clenched her right fist. Titan 12138’s counterattack earlier did not seem to have any special power in it. Lesiah’s arm merely went numb for a moment, but she was not afflicted by any weird status.
This puzzled her a little. If Titan 12138 was exposed, shouldn’t she incapacitate one of them first to avoid getting attacked from both sides? Yet she did not do that. Could it be…. She had something that made her fearless?
While these thoughts flashed through Lesiah’s mind, Lilith had rolled up her sleeves and was ready to fight.
“Why are you wasting your breath on her? I hate it the most when people fool me. I can’t tolerate it and I won’t tolerate it! If I don’t personally bury this old hag here, I’ll have my name written backwards and upside down!”
“It is not my intention to fool you, your majesty.”
“You have the audacity to call me that? Are you not disgusted by yourself?” Lilith spat on the ground next to Titan 12138’s foot, then put a foot behind and got into a fighting stance.
“I truly have no intention of hurting you, my king.” Titan 12138 sighed.
“Hmph, carry on acting and convince yourself…” Halfway through her sentence, Lilith’s face suddenly contorted.
Every ounce of strength in her body was suddenly drained. She could barely stand, let alone fight. Lilith’s legs eventually gave way and she nearly fell to her knees.
“What is this…?” Lilith’s eyes widened in panic.
This feeling was… almost familiar. Titan 12138 did not answer. She merely turned her head to look at Lesiah who was already down on her knees with an similarly unpleasant look on her face.
“How about it, queen? Now, the table has turned.”
The old titan took a white pill out of her sleeve, and waved it in front of Lesiah’s face. “You’re still too naive if you think you could be immune to all poisons just by taking an antidote beforehand.”