It had only been a few minutes since the alarm first sounded. It had not even been fifteen minutes.
One of Kurosaki’s prized villas – and the facility Keigo used as his home – was on the verge of falling in less than fifteen minutes.
This man had known only success for more than 90% of his life, so he had no way of coping with his life’s greatest failure. He felt faint. Plus…
“I should be the one asking what is going on. It is far too noisy.”
“I-I am so very sorry.”
It had to be obvious at a glance that things were not looking good. The blonde woman watched the monitors with an icy look in her eyes.
That was the greatest failure of all for Keigo.
He was past 60 yet he had never loved anyone more passionately, so falling out of her favor was more humiliating than anything else.
“Bring me a white.”
“Of course.”
Keigo was trembling in frustration, but Lilith seemed entirely calm. She would frown in displeasure whenever the boom of an explosion reached this room, but she shook her glass and viewed the monitor like the thorough destruction of the facility was no more than a show.
Upon receiving the order for a white wine, Schwarze pulled out a new glass and wine bottle.
“Move!”
There was nothing Keigo could do, so he shoved Schwarze out of the way, stole the two items, and opened the bottle. He filled the glass with shaking hands and offered it to Lilith.
“This is the finest Chablis. This racket will be dealt with shortly, so please enjoy yourself, Lady Lilith.”
Despite his best efforts, a message was clearly written on his face: Please do not throw me out.
Lilith still did not respond. She only seemed interested in the white wine and accepted it with a satisfied look. She took a sip while overlooking the man’s gaffes such as filling the glass too full.
Only one person in the room reacted to Keigo’s actions.
“Ow…”
He had shoved Schwarze to the ground.
“Do not treat her so roughly, boy. I thought you claimed to be her father?”
“Wha-!?”
…But it was not her.
It was the person who entered the room while brushing aside what remained of the shattered Enju who had been standing watch outside.
FeTUS Witches Miss A wore her favorite red hat pulled low. Alice Arc reached out toward shoved Schwarze.
Schwarze expressionlessly ignored the hand, stood up on her own, and moved next to Keigo.
Miss A shrugged and bowed toward the maiden floating in the center of the room.
“It is a pleasure to meet you. Lady Lilith, I assume?”
“…Indeed.”
With her blonde hair floating gently around her, Princess Lilith, mother of demons, showed interest in something other than wine for the first time that day.
Lilith.
Alice Arc was familiar with all forms of knowledge in the human world, but even she had only “heard of” that name.
The queen of hell. The one bearing the title of Satan. The darkness lurking in the absurdity of humanity. The Nagaraja. She had many names, but she had left behind almost no presence in human history.
However, Alice Arc did know who she was.
The Wicked Serpent that Ate the Fruit of Life. But as it was unclear on what basis wickedness was being judged here, let us eliminate that part: The Serpent that Ate the Fruit of Life.
That meant the seeds of all life budded within her and she had become a nursery that could produce any form of life. She was the point in common between all demons the human world was presently aware of and the one unique trait that gave them purpose.
She was the ancestor of all demons.
Or that was Alice Arc’s understanding based on the textbooks of the human world.
There was little agreement when it came to her objective or what kind of being she was, but one thing was known for certain.
Her presence was always felt when humanity fought over the Serpent’s Eye.
So they could speculate that she was targeting Adam.
“I sense the ripening of the Fruit of Knowledge. The blood of Avalon is strong in you, girl.”
“By pure coincidence.”
Her words seemed to confirm that speculation.
Miss A stood as tall as she could with a small body of only 130cm.
“My name is Alice Arc. I am a Witch born 600 years ago who inherited the elements of the Fruit of Knowledge even more strongly than Avalon, the previous Adam.”
“600 years? Is that all?”
“It has been 300 years since I met someone older than me.”
She bowed respectfully.
It could be seen as respect for her elder, but at the same time, golden threads broke through the floor from the soles of her shoes and spread throughout the room.
“Not so fast! The likes of you has no right to speak to Lady Lilith!”
Not only was Alice preparing for battle, but Keigo had to feel some jealousy too. He shouted in anger and moved between Miss A and Lilith.
“How did you get in here? Where’s the hole!?”
His yelling continued.
He must not have noticed how Lilith grimaced at the noise. Meanwhile, Miss A shrugged her shoulders in exasperation.
“You never change, boy. You were quite skilled for someone from the last hundred years, but your temper made it impossible to leave FeTUS in your care.”
She looked to the monitor…and at the naked girls Miss D was rescuing.
“I merely drove you out because I sensed promise in your talents…but it appears I was mistaken.”
“Hmph. You didn’t drive me out; I left. But as part of the family that has run this country from the shadows for a millennium, I decided to spare you out of respect for your position in the group that has ruled Europe from the shadows for a millennium.”
Keigo grabbed one of the golden threads woven through the gaps in the carpet to cover the entire room.
One of the monitors responded. With a warning sound other than the ceaseless alarms, it displayed a simple map of the facility instead of camera footage.
A red circle was flashing around one of the rooms.
It was Shuntarou’s room.
“The hole is in…Shuntarou’s room? It can’t be!”
He grabbed the phone receiver he had slammed down earlier, a call was made automatically, and a man’s face eventually appeared on one of the monitors.
“Hello? Papa? Do you need something?”
It was Shuntarou. He was in a car with Riselle seated next to him.
He had apparently already left the facility. He had probably left 15 minutes ago.
He had fled the instant the alarms sounded and the alarms had been triggered by something in his room. There was only one possible conclusion to draw from that.
“Shuntarou!? What is the meaning of this!? Have you sided with the Witches!?”
“Oh, dear. You already found out?”
Then Shuntarou noticed the odd state of the room and the small girl of an old woman standing next to his father.
“Make my excuse for me, Miss Arc. Tell him I’m a Kurosaki man through and through, so I would never invite your people there.”
“Yes, I do not recall being invited in.”
Shuntarou grinned and Alice finally responded with a hint of exasperation.
One was enjoying the farce and the other could not stand it.
But the two of them must have met in advance to prepare this farce.
“You sold out your own father!?”
“I know it was wrong, papa, but when a father invites in a woman other than the mother and eats the family out of house and home, of course the kid is going to run away.”
The father’s temples were bulging, but the son’s cruel smile remained.
“Do whatever you want there. I’m happy as long as I have Riselle-chan with me. Bye bye, papa and Miss Arc.”
He gave a silly wave and then reached for the camera.
Just before the image cut out, Alice looked to Riselle on the monitor.
“Farewell, Riselle. We will never meet again…as promised.”
“Bye bye, teacher. Take care of my sister.”
They hung up.
“Kh…kh…!”
Keigo had been betrayed and sold out by his biological son. His anger and humiliation were so great he forgot all about Lilith’s presence, his face twisted, and his shoulders shook.