Anastasia Evernight

A month later, after the terrible assault of the Corrupted invasion.

The physical damage caused by the attack was no small. Almost the entirety of the southeast section was wiped out from the city's map.

A rough estimation was made by the higher authorities and the result was nothing but terrible.

Around 10 or 20 million lives were lost and a few other millions were injured.

The shocking incident left behind a terrifying mental scar on the citizens' minds as they wondered about their safety.

***

While the city was still shaken by the event that unfolded, inside a small hotel room, sounds of humming were coming from the inside of a bathroom.

Some time later, a figure walked out with only his boxer on him.

He dried his hair a little before putting on his clothes and then lay on the bed.

"Haaa...can't believe it has already been a month." Achilles touched his nose a little as he muttered in surprise.

After Sia slayed the horrifying Armored Leechworm, it had dropped out an impressive Tier C soul artifact that would make anyone drool.

Initially, the little elf offered to give him the soul artifact, but Achilles refused since it wouldn't be fair for him to take away her reward.

The beauty seemed confused when he rejected her gift but she soon realized something and followed his wish.

The two didn't meet again for the last month because Sia said she was busy with some important matters.

Her face looked quite grim when said those words.

Although none of that had anything to do with him...right?

In any case, today was the day they would meet again.

Of course, it was not for the purpose of dating. They were going to meet up since he had important questions to ask her that regard his safety.

'Huh...kind of feels like a date though...'

'No, no! Stop being a delusional dumbass! We are going to meet up and that's all we're going to do!' Achilles tried to slap some sense into his perverted mind since he still remembered about "that".

"...I should get ready."

Sia had told him the time they would meet was 11 A.M — exactly an hour from now.

He quickly went to his closet and chose a pair of clothing he had just bought not long ago.

He wore a simple pair of black pants, and a white shirt followed by a simple coat.

Originally, he wanted to buy a black shirt inside as well, but he figured that he would look like a guy who was about to visit a funeral, rather than going on a date.

'...Whatever, it's a date I guess.' He surrendered to the constant weird thought inside his head.

Once Achilles was sure that he had everything on him, he left the room while putting on a weird-looking mask.

He didn't want to risk getting discovered, not after that whole strange encounter.

Achilles got out of the hotel and arrived at the street in front of it. He waited for a moment before waving for a nearby cab.

He moved inside the car and said curtly:

"Linda's Café."

The driver looked at his mask puzzled for a moment, then quickly drove off.

While Achilles was starting absentmindedly out into the sky, the driver suddenly spoke:

"Lad, are you going on a date? I wouldn't recommend wearing that mask when you're about to meet your girlfriend."

The former's mouth twitched slightly at the old man's remark, he soon recomposed himself and said:

"I want to give her a surprise, sort of. And also, why do you think I'm on a date?"

The old driver laughed.

"Haha! I've been a driver for a long time, lad. When you meet people almost every day, it becomes easy to distinguish the small details about them."

"Neat skill." Achilles said, feeling slightly impressed.

'Maybe I should try to learn something like that too.'

"You're still young, if you want to then you still have a lot of time to learn." The driver spoke as if reading Achilles' mind.

"...I'll think about it."

The conversation died off and around ten minutes later, the old man stopped in front of a particular café.

"Here we are. Have a nice date, lad. Don't make her sad alright?"

"I won't. Thanks for the ride."

Achilles bid the old man and went to sit on a certain table outside.

A waiter walked next to him and gave him a menu respectfully. Achilles looked at the list for a second and thought:

'Sia said the parfaits are delicious...Maybe I should try some.'

With his mind made up, he ordered a parfait and the waiter bowed once more and left.

Achilles waited in silence as he touched his neck from time to time, feeling a bit hot.

'The price to look cool, I guess.'

It was in the middle of July, so the weather was a little inconvenient for anyone who wants to wear something similar to a formal suit.

Achilles' order arrived and he began eating the parfait, feeling awe by how good it was while thinking about his future plans along with other miscellaneous stuff.

While he was lost in thought, the beauty whom he was waiting for appeared over the distance.

'There she is...what the?'

The silvery-white-haired elf had already attracted dozen gazes the moment she arrived.

The surrounding people all looked at her with dumb looks as they unconsciously moved to a side to leave her a path.

It was like her presence was that of an elegant, pristine empress that made all have to bow their heads before her.

Achilles was slowly getting accustomed to her beauty, but something else caught his attention today.

'Is that...' He felt his throat become dried and his face heated up.

"My...it seems that I chose your favorite type now, didn't I?" Sia asked with an amused glint in her eyes.

She was wearing a shoulderless sweater dress that revealed a little of her black bra.

Her silvery-white hair, pale blue eyes, her voluptuous figure, the black choker that hid her white neck away — everything screamed of flawless beauty.

Achilles stared at the woman who could be called the definition of perfection in front of him with a lusty gaze that he tried to suppress.

When he could no longer endure her looks, he turned his head away out of fear of losing control of himself.

Sia giggled a little at his cute reaction as she sat next to him.

She ordered herself a parfait — similar to his choice before commenting:

"I see you have tried my recommendation. I'm glad you like it."

Achilles used every ounce of his willpower and controlled his turmoil mind. He talked in a small voice:

"May I remind you to explain something? We've talked about this before."

"Don't be so rushed. Let's deal with this first." Sia said before hugging Achilles tightly and touching his hand.

The latter felt his mind stop by the sensation of her touch. Her cool, soft hand made him feel at ease and comfortable.

He didn't know anything that was going on inside his subconscious, and he dismissed the feeling as something not worth paying attention to.

Sia touched his spatial ring with her and transferred him a large number of items.

Achilles' brows furrowed as he asked:

"What did you just do?"

"That's your share of Corrupted's corpses and some artifact that maybe useful to you from the invasion. I've gathered them for you."

Achilles stared at the ring for a moment, then turned to Sia.

"Thank you."

"Hehe...you don't need to be so formal. You've killed them, so it's only natural that you receive your share."

The parfait arrived soon after. Sia scooped up a spoonful and ate them happily again. She seemed to be quite fond of sweet things.

The little elf put down her spoon and said.

"So, what is it you want to talk about?"

Achilles asked puzzledly.

"...Since when?"

Sia answered after a short silence.

"...Since the beginning."

She paused, then continued.

"Let me introduce myself again. I am Anastasia Evernight — heiress of the Evernight family — CEO of the Evernight Corp — owner of multiple enterprises across Avarose — including the Evernight casino where you — darling, cheated my money."

Achilles' pupils opened wide as he looked at her in surprise.

The particular veil that covered a part of his mind, stopping him from recalling what he had missed had finally been lifted.

The hidden piece of the puzzle that was connected to the whole picture was revealed.

Everything had made sense to him now. The feeling of being stalked, why did no one appear to ask him questions, and Sia's sudden appearance in his life.

While he was still surprised by the truth, Sia spoke once more:

"...I've been following ever since our first meeting in that store. And I was also the one who saved you when you were about to die. There was no cohort, only me."

He asked.

"...Why did you hide?"

"I didn't want you to put up to much guard against me. I wanted us to have a good relationship first before revealing it to you."

She shrugged.

"But I guess the cat's out of the bag now."

Achilles kept his mouth shut for a while, thinking about something, and then said:

"Did you...also, know what happened...to me?"

Sia seemed a little hesitant and worried.

"...Would you be mad if I said yes?"

Achilles patted her head before saying:

"Honestly...no."

"...Why?" Dumbfounded, the little succubus asked.

"I didn't realize who you were, but I figured that you must have a prestigious background since it was kind of obvious."

"Which means you probably have some ways to dig out information about me in one way or the other."

"Of course, I was expecting you not to find out what happened to me so I kept the act as "Stephen"." He chuckled.

"...Thank you." Sia mumbled.

"For what?"

"For forgiving me."

Achilles laughed.

"Haha. Although it was quite scary that my privacy got invaded, I should thank you instead of being mad at you."

"Since you were the one who protected me, right? From being wanted by the government."

"...Yes. They kept news about the event as a secret from the general public and tried to hunt you down. But I stopped them." The little elf said with a hint of pride.

Achilles smiled, feeling impressed. He remembered their conversation in the middle of the night before he went out and hunt.

Back then, Sia had tricked him into spilling out information he knew when in reality, no ordinary citizen could have ever found out about it.

Achilles' gaze turned a little ferocious.

'She is a formidable woman. Can't say I don't love that.'

Then the two sat in a comfortable silence for a long time, Achilles no longer felt wary and needed to raise his guard against her.

After all they had been through, how could he anymore?

While eating his parfait, he suddenly remembered something and was planning to ask Sia. But the latter spoke first:

"I have an offer for you."

Achilles raised his eyebrow.

"What offer?"

"Work for me."

He didn't reply and merely stared at her. The silvery-white-haired added when seeing him silent.

"I'm not sure when the government would decide to abandon their promise and attack you. It's best if you stay by my side."

"Not to mention that your abilities will prove to be invaluable to me in times of need."

She stopped talking for 3 seconds, then murmured in a bashful voice:

"Plus...I want to stay with you."

Achilles with his enhanced senses could easily hear what Sia said. A joyful expression slowly crept up onto his face. But he didn't say anything.

The ensuing quietness started making Sia acting strange. He couldn't put his fingers on to what was wrong with her.

'...?'

And then, something strange occurred — Sia's irises shifted into multiple colors — one instance they were grey — another second were azure — the last were pure golden.

The aura and air around her also changed which caused Achilles to look at her in wonder.

Before he understood what was going on, Sia placed the camouflage device that he had seen before on the table, activating it, and then...

The beauty jumped at him with her arms wrapped tightly around his neck and pulled him in until their eyes were only mere inches away.

She said threateningly with three different voices overlapping each other, a smile that was a mixture of love and obsession appeared on her face.

[We'll make this easy for you.]

[Either you agree or we'll put you on a leash and force you to follow us.]

[...So, what's it going to be?]

][End of Volume One: Remains of Humanity][