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Staring at the plates before them, neither Lilith nor Lesiah had any intention of touching it.

“Are you trying to poison us since you can’t defeat us?” Lilith lifted an eyebrow at him.

“No, of course not. I swear on my life that there is no poison in your food.”

Shiloah snapped his fingers loudly. A light mist that carried a refreshing scent instantly came out from the nostrils of eagle-headed human status.

“What’s this?”

Lesiah quickly covered her nose and mouth. They must be wary of every unusual move the strange man made. After all, he was trying to kill them earlier.

Albeit a slight delay, Lilith also quickly followed Lesiah’s example. Her past experience with the titans had indeed taught her to stay vigilant against smoke and the alike in this little world.

Her powerful physique was no longer something she could always rely on.

“Ohoho, what’s with the tension. This is merely a fragrance that could stimulate your appetite.”

Shiloah leaned toward the light mist and fanned it into his nose while taking a whiff of it, trying to reassure and prove to the pair that it was harmless.

“Stimulate appetite?”

Lilith subconsciously rubbed her tummy, only remembering now that she hadn’t had a decent meal until now. Her breakfast was only a piece of fruit. And for someone with her appetite, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the fruit was barely enough to even fill the gaps between her teeth.

Her stomach was definitely growling a little.

Shiloah tactfully took off the silver lids that were used to keep the meals warm. And almost instantly, the aroma of their meals overpowered the fragrance coming from the eagle-headed human statue.

On their plates was a piece of unidentified meat, about the size of a fist. The boiling sauce which was poured over the meat glistened and they could even hear a faint sizzling sound.

“You think this is enough to please us? Seriously?”

Such a small piece of meat? That can only fill another gap between my teeth at most. Lilith eyed the piece of meat with disdain in her eyes.

“Ohoho, this is no ordinary meat. It is the specialty of this little world. Only five kilograms are produced in a year. This delectable small piece of meat melts in your mouth, and you will find dozens of flavors exploding on the tip of your tongue. A luxurious treat like this is usually only enjoyed during holidays and festivals. And the two pieces offered to you are the last pieces left in our inventory for this year.”

“Hmph. Even if it’s a valuable ingredient, do you think we’ll be tempted so easily? Between food and life, we still know which one is more important. Right, Lilith?”

“Hm? Yes, of course. There’s no way we’ll be tempted so easily.”

Despite saying that, Lilith wiped the drool dripping from the corner of her mouth. “Say… is this really that delicious?”

“……”

“……”

“Ohoho, as expected of Lady Lilith… You have a good eye.”

“It is definitely delicious, I can vouch for the taste. There’s definitely no additives, deadly powder, bone-melting pill, dead-with-no-complete-corpse powder, or self-exploding liquid in it.”

Lilith subconsciously gulped audibly, her eyes were fixated on the aromatic piece of meat on the plate.

“Don’t be fooled, Lilith! They tried to kill us earlier. Do you think they’d just be nice out of the blue to get on our good side?” Lesiah warned Lilith anxiously upon observing the latter’s great interest in the food.

Lilith’s hands, which were already holding the fork and knife, paused in the air. “Yeah, that doesn’t make any sense.”

Their conversation instantly drew heartbroken sobs from Shiloah, who then took out a small handkerchief to futilely wipe away his endless stream of sorrowful tears.

“Boohoo, I should have expected this. Both of you still don’t believe me…”
“Of course, do you take us for a fool?”

Without any hesitation, Lesiah swept her plate off the table along with the piece of meat.

Shiloah’s figure turned into a blur and caught the plate along with its content gracefully with lightning speed.

“Ohoho, I understand. Given what happened before, such treatment from both of you is only natural. After all, there’s no denying that I’ve indeed attempted to murder you two, But I didn’t lie either. The incident earlier was merely a misunderstanding.”

Lesiah crossed her arms and snorted coldly. “Why don’t you explain to us how that was a misunderstanding?”

Shiloah let out a sigh and shook his head. “First of all, Gaz and I did intend to kill both of you solely because that is our duty as the guardians of this world. Both of you are outsiders, so of course we have to be vigilant. On top of that, there was a great commotion in this world not long ago. So it was only natural that I’d link that incident with the outsiders and give such rude treatment to both of you. However, through my investigation, it is clear that both of you have nothing to do with that commotion. All of this was just a misunderstanding caused by my assumptions. This is why I have invited both of you here and offered you the most valuable thing in my possession as an apology.”

“Commotion? What commotion?”

The expression on Lilith’s face turned serious as she pressed on the matter.

The so-called commotion that he spoke of was very likely related to the black devils, so she must get it figured out.

At the same time, she couldn’t help but wonder just which side was this strange man with terrifying strength on.

“Ohoho, it has nothing to do with the black devils that you two speak of.”

Shiloah seemed to have read Lilith’s thought, and immediately denied her conjecture.

“The behavior of those so-called black devils is not wrong in this world.”
“How is devouring all living beings not wrong?”

The look of despair on the titans’ faces flashed across Lilith’s mind, igniting the ball of rage in the pit of her stomach.

“Why don’t you tell me what is right?”

The strange man shook his head. “The black devils’ behavior is in accordance with the natural law of this world, hence they are not doing anything wrong. Just like a food chain where the strong prey on the weak, and all of you are the weak little lambs. But did you ever think from the perspective of the grassland? Compared to the wolves, those lambs cause more harm to nature than the wolves.”

The explanation stunned Lilith.

If the titans were the weak little lambs, then who was the grassland that those lambs damaged in Shiloah’s analogy?

The beasts in the forest that were hunted by the titans?

“If the black devils committed no crime, then why were they sealed away personally by the gods?”
“Sealed away personally? Ohoho, that’s just a one-sided tale by those little fellows who call themselves the titans. Just like the lambs who wish for the extinction of the wolves, it was no surprise for them to make up a tale of gods finally sealing away the black devils after they have committed too many crimes.”
“One-sided tale?”

So he’s saying that the story about the black devils is made up? However, Titan 12138 didn’t seem like she was lying at the time.

“Ohoho, if lies are so easy to expose, deception wouldn’t exist in this world.” Shiloah pointed out as though he could read all the thoughts going through Lilith’s mind.

His statement led Lilith to clutch her aching head as her mind started spiraling into chaos.

If the black devils’ attempt to exterminate the titans is as normal as wolves preying on lambs… Then what is the purpose of her saving them? Is it out of guilt? Is it out of kindness? Or is it… Out of the strange familiarity she just felt?

“But…”

Just when Lilith tried to further pursue the question, Shiloah shook his head, indicating that he wasn’t willing to answer more questions.

“What exactly is that commotion that you speak of? You ought to show us,” the princess decided to raise a different question.

“Ohoho, of course.”

Shiloah nodded as he lifted a finger, which a sharp claw of more than a meter long instantly grew on the tip of it.

The sharp claw then made a light contact with the wall. As if some sort of mechanism was activated, the walls of the room slowly became transparent until the scenery outside was clearly visible.

It remained unchanged.

Still the same crimson sky, the black sun and that slowly approaching burning flame.

”Do not be concerned about the sky or the sun. Those have always existed in this world. There is only one thing worthy of your attention.”

Shiloah pointed to the flame on the horizon.

“The flame that is getting closer and closer… That thing was never here in the first place.”
“The flame…?”

The golden glow in Lilith’s eyes spun as she zoomed into it.

“Isn’t that just normal fire?”
“Indeed it is normal fire. Light is produced by burning flame. But look at what it is burning.”

What it is burning?

Lilith narrowed her eyes. The golden color in her eyes turned so rich that it looked like it was about to spill out of her eyes at any moment before she finally got a clear view of the wall of flame.

“Trees… Mountain… Ground… Wait…”

“The fire… it’s burning the world!!” Lilith was left in complete shock.

“Burning the world?”

Lesiah’s eyes widened at the information she’d just heard. Even with her battle qi-enhanced vision, she could only barely make out the vague details.

But the expression on Lilith’s face allowed her to confirm that it was definitely not a joke.

“Indeed. The fire is burning this world.” Shiloah smiled helplessly, but it ended up looking comical due to his makeup. “If this continues, the world is doomed.”

“Doomed?” Lesiah echoed nervously. “Then why are you still here? Hurry up and put it out !”

All of her subordinates, including the elites from the academy and various nations, were still in the Ancient Ruins.

If the Ancient Ruins were doomed, wouldn’t everyone in here share the same fate too?

At the same time, the princess also understood that the flame that could burn the world wouldn’t be so easy to put out either.

Shiloah shook his head. “Ohoho, if it is really as simple as putting it out, I wouldn’t be this anxious. Unfortunately, the fire is the least of our concern. It merely signifies the collapse of this world. Nothing is solved unless the root cause is addressed.”

“W-What… is the root cause then?”

“Well…”

Shiloah trailed off, then tapped the plate he was holding with a strange smile.

“Ohoho, you’ll have to partake in this meal first if you wish to know.”

……