Chapter 26 : Fox

William and Sirius stared in stunned silence.

They had seen Thania in battle, watched her command legions of undead, witnessed her bring entire kingdoms to their knees. She was the Queen of Death—cold, ruthless, and untouchable.

Yet now, as she held the unconscious five-year-old Lucas in her lap, gently stroking his hair with an expression bordering on tenderness and obsession, the scene before them was simply… unbelievable.

Neither of them wanted to think too deeply about it.

Because thinking meant understanding, and understanding meant accepting—and frankly, they weren't sure they wanted to accept whatever the hell was going on here.

Of course, knowing William, he couldn't just keep his mouth shut in a moment like this.

"…Am I witnessing my favorite trope?" he mused aloud, rubbing his chin. "Older woman and younger man? Are you a Mi—"

He abruptly cut himself off.

His instincts screamed at him.

He felt it—the cold, suffocating weight of Thania's intent pressing down on him like the hand of death itself.

Slowly, he raised his head.

Thania was staring at him.

Her usually impassive gaze now carried a silent threat. A warning that needed no words:

Continue that sentence, and you will die.

William felt a chill crawl up his spine.

"Fuck… I think I just read your thoughts perfectly. That's scary. How expressive can you even be when you want to?"

He shook his head and quickly decided that silence was the better part of survival.

Lucas might be her obsession, but that didn't mean he wanted to be the person she used as a sacrifice for her necromantic experiments.

Sirius, the self-proclaimed only sane person in this group, had been watching this exchange with mild amusement. And, like the responsible, level-headed individual he was…

He immediately decided to make things worse.

"So," he drawled, his golden serpentine eyes glinting mischievously. "What exactly is this about? Am I about to witness a centuries-old woman fall for a five-year-old child? Thania, that's illegal as hell. Are you sure you can—"

He didn't finish his sentence.

A skeletal hand, wrapped in a violet necrotic aura, suddenly materialized in front of his throat.

Sirius barely managed to retreat in time, his body slithering back into the shadows as his forked tongue flickered in agitation. His usually calm face now carried an expression of genuine surprise.

"The hell? I was just worried about you, okay?" he hissed. "How do you think the world will see the mighty Queen of Death and Decay—"

He didn't get to finish.

More skeletal hands emerged from the darkness.

Dozens.

They clawed at the ground, reaching for him, each one radiating the unmistakable intent to kill.

Thania's voice, when she finally spoke, was eerily calm.

"I'm not even trying hard to catch you," she said. "But if you continue speaking, you will not like the outcome."

Sirius wisely shut his mouth.

A heavy silence filled the forest.

Then, for the first time since the encounter, Thania looked up at them—her gaze filled with something dangerous.

Something possessive.

"I don't care what the world thinks," she said softly.

The obsession in her tone sent chills down William and Sirius' spines.

"What matters is that I will be with him. Forever. I will make sure of it. No one will take him away from me. And whoever dares to harm him… will live the rest of their life in unending torment."

Her fingers tightened slightly in Lucas' hair, her thumb gently tracing his cheek.

Sirius looked at William.

William looked at Sirius.

"…Not gonna lie, Thania," William said after a moment. "That speech just made me understand why people like yandere girlfriends."

Thania blinked.

"Yandere?" she repeated, tilting her head.

William immediately shut the fuck up.

Now that he had confirmed she was a textbook yandere, it was critical to know how to act around her.

But before anyone could say anything else—

Thania's eyes flickered.

She turned her head toward the trees deep in the forest. 

"Why are you hiding, Lilie?"

"No…why are you even here?"

The air shifted.

William and Sirius immediately tensed.

For a moment, there was silence.

Then—

A voice emerged from the shadows.

Smooth. Sweet. Dangerous.

A voice filled with temptation.

"How intriguing."

A figure stepped out.

Lilie, the Saint of Temptation and Dreams.

A fox demon.

A monster.

The Queen of this forest of death that border with the Kingdom Of Evernight. 

She had long, flowing white hair and crimson eyes that glowed softly in the darkness. Her fox ears twitched slightly as she walked, her nine white tails swaying behind her.

She was tall and slender, her beauty almost unnatural, her every movement graceful and seductive.

She wore a pale pink robe adorned with delicate petal patterns, making her look both ethereal and deadly at the same time.

Her gaze, however, was fixed on only one thing.

Lucas.

She approached slowly, her lips curving into a teasing smile.

"What a cutie," she murmured.

The moment she said those words—

The temperature plummeted.

The air turned heavy.

All the beasts in the forest fled instantly, their instincts screaming at them to run.

Even William and Sirius felt it.

A cold, suffocating pressure.

A murderous intent so overwhelming that it made their skin crawl.

Only Lucas remained untouched by it.

Because Thania's wrath was not directed at him.

But at Lilie.

She didn't move. She didn't speak.

But her void-like eyes held an abyss of pure malice.

Lilie only chuckled. "My, my. Are you really going to use your Will on me?"

She tilted her head, eyes gleaming.

"You do know that I can use mine too, don't you?"

The air crackled with unseen power.

"If I use it here," Lilie continued, her voice a purr, "I wonder if that little cutie of yours will be able to resist it."

The moment she finished speaking, more skeletal hands emerged from the ground.

A purple aura starting to manifest around Thania. The sky started to darken. The shadows moved unnaturally as if afraid trying to flee. 

Thania finally spoke.

"I don't care."

Her words were absolute.

Nothing—nothing—would happen to Lucas.

Because she would never let it happen.

Lilie sighed. "You're really no fun, Thania."

She pouted, but her eyes held a sharp gleam.

She knows Thania. She can say confidently that she is her only friend.

And it's just because of that she dares to act like this around her. 

But,

She wasn't mocking her anymore.

She was seriously curious now.

She tapped her chin. "A five-year-old boy, already at the Intermediate Realm…"

Her gaze flickered.

"But even that isn't the strangest part."

Her crimson eyes locked onto Lucas, studying him.

"Awakening at his age is already unheard of."

She took a step closer, her voice dropping into something almost reverent.

"But using Will?"

Her smile faded.

Her expression turned serious.

"That…"

She exhaled slowly.

"That should be impossible."

For the first time, she wasn't teasing.

She wasn't playing games.

She truly, genuinely could not believe what she had seen.

She was just on her palace deep inside the forest when she sensed a will being manifested. 

A will she had never felt before. 

Imagine her surprise and shock when she saw a young boy barely six being the source of that will. 

And that was precisely why she had come.

Not out of mischief.

Not out of playfulness.

But out of pure, burning curiosity.

"How?"

She looked at Thania.

"I need to know."

Because what she had just witnessed…

Was something that should have never happened.

End of chapter 26.