“Wait… the demons are being expelled. The barrier is being restored. How are you doing this? This shouldn’t be possible!” Jenai seemed to be genuinely panicked as she glared over at Charlie.
Lilith was standing there like some kind of puppet, her eyes blank as one child glared at the other from either side of her shoulders. It was a really strange thing to see.
“It’s because it’s over, Jenai… but you already know that.” Charlie seemed to be at peace.
“My strength… what have you done!” Jenai demanded in anger.
“It’s going the same place mine went.” Charlie declared happily.
Jenai’s eyes shot to me, and her body shook. “You… you slept with this body?”
Seeing Jenai glaring daggers at me, even I felt a bit embarrassed. “It was our last night, so…”
Jenai shook her head. “No, she still had your power. Did you protect the power somehow? Hmm… no, something is sucking in your power. It’s like it’s feeding off it. I don’t understand. When Clyburn absorbed your power, it became lost, but we’re not in Clyburn. Where is the power going? It’s going into her abdomen. How can… oh… oh no…”
Charlie’s eyes fluttered in satisfaction. “Do you understand now?”
“You… you… we’ll die.” Jenai seemed horrified.
“We… were never meant to be.” Charlie sighed. “As much as you fancy us gods, we’re just a stop measure placed by some higher being long ago. However, this is our chance. Our chance to become something greater. Isn’t this what you always wanted? The demon king once influenced your mind, shaping you to his will. That’s why you tried so hard to conquer this world. I gave you what you wanted.”
“W-why?” Jenai’s body seemed to be filled with emotion.
“Because you’re my sister… no, you’re me. We’re two sides of a single coin. It’s time for us to become one. I did this… all for you. Will you join me?”
Jenai lowered her head, and to my shock, a tear fell down her cheek. She took in a shuddered breath and then gave a huff. When she turned to me, she had a serious expression.
“You! Don’t screw this up. You’ll take full responsibility for what happened today! Promise me!” She looked like she genuinely wanted a response, but I was completely confused.
I glanced at Charlie, who gave a slight nod. Although I had no clue what was going on, I had already put my trust in her. It almost sounded like she was helping Jenai, but I couldn’t bring myself to defy her.
“I will.” I declared with a nod, looking Jenai in the eyes.
After a moment, Jenai broke eye contact. “Hmph, see that you do.”
She disappeared a moment later, as did Charlie. The pressure that was holding all of us down disappeared, and Lilith went slack like a cord holding her up had been cut. After a few moments, I worked my way to my feet with a groan. The other girls worked their way to their feet too. However, there was no celebrating. After all, we hadn’t done anything.
“I-is it over?” Brianna asked the expected question.
“Shh! Idiot!” Brooke punched her shoulder. “Don’t you know that’s the thing you don’t say in this situation?”
As if to punctuate her point, Lilith’s eyes opened and she rose with a gasp like she had been holding her breath. Everyone tensed at that moment. She glanced between each of us, her eyes flipped with a slight bit of confusion.
“Clyburn?” Her eyes finally fell on me.
“L-lilith?” I asked nervously.
She nodded her head. “It’s me.”
I took out a breath of relief, running up the rest of the way to her and wrapping my arms around her. She grew flustered as I picked her up in my arms.
“Ah! W-wh-what are you doing?”
“I’m carrying you. I’m sorry I ever put you in that situation.”
“Th-that’s fine… just…” Her face grew red. “I guess, you can hold me for just a bit.”
Mia’s eyes flashed, but then she smirked. “You two are together now.”
“Ah, i-it’s not like that!”
“How many drunken nights did you tell me that no matter what, the man you chose to have your baby wouldn’t be Clyburn,” Mia asked, a mischievous look on her face.
“I thought would die. H-he was the only man around…” She pushed her fingers together.
“Even if he was the last person on Earth, you said…”
“That’s… wait… by baby!” She reached out and touched her stomach.
“It’s there.” The group of us froze when a voice came back from the throne.
We turned back to see Charlie sitting there. However, there was something wrong with her. She was leaning against the chair arm almost like she didn’t have the energy to sit straight. More than that, her entire body was slightly see-through.
“There was a Charlie…” Brooke gasped.
Charlie gave a light nod. “I didn’t want you to remember. Strictly speaking, I’m not supposed to interact with anyone from this world. So, I took your memory from back then.”
“That’s right, you were on that airship! You were always bugging Clyburn. It was cute.” Brooke declared and then closed her mouth with a click when she realized she was talking too much.
Charlie giggled softly. “I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to meet him. He was the one I had brought to this world, and I had already waited several years. I was growing impatient. However, my appearance allowed Jenai to start interfering too. This was why I very nearly lost him.
Brooke had seen Charlie long ago, but she had forgotten her existence. Until now, despite her trust in me, she still had doubts wondering if I had invented the girl. Yet, it seemed like, at that moment, her memories had all returned. The other girls were also staring at her in wonder. I had mentioned her many times over their twenty years, and they all had their theories about her. None of them expected the girl to be real.
“The power… the legacy that I absorbed, that was you?” I asked.
She nodded. “To seal the demon king, I had to use all of my power. I split it into four pieces and then I hid those pieces in the demon king’s castles. For a while, this was fine, but when the godseed lost its potency and women became unable to have children, I had to release some of my power. I directed Lilith, your great ancestor, to the first of the demon king’s castles. Of course, I didn’t expect Jenai to bring over that man, a human with just a drop of demon blood, to come and corrupt my plans. The best I could do was spread a curse over the land, lowering the male birth rate.”
“Lilith’s curse… you’re the one who did it?” Mia gasped.
Lilith shot her a warning look, but Charlie only laughed softly. “It was the only way I could delay the demons. At this point, I knew my sister was working against me. She had been corrupted by the demon king and carried his will to conquer our world. Even though he perished between worlds, she was still at his mercy. She even believed she was the demon king to an extent. Meanwhile, I carried the will of our creator, to protect this world.
“Time passed by, but with a quarter of my power in Lilith, I was weaker than my sister. Every year, her followers grew, and I only knew it would be a matter of time before demons began their excursion into this world. Thus… I had to come up with a solution.”
“Me.” I declared.
She nodded. “I looked far for the perfect candidate for my needs. When I found you, I brought your soul to my world, and granted you the ability to absorb the demon’s power.”
I shook my head. “I’m still confused. I absorbed your legacy, every time I took one, I was taking more of you. Why did you let me do this? I thought I was a hero, but I was only making things worse.”
“You were never the hero.” She smiled, causing me to drop my head before she continued. “I wanted you to take my power. That was always my plan. You and Lilith… it was no accident that you met.”
I glanced up. “I don’t understand. What was my purpose then?”
“Do you not understand?” she asked, her eyes filled with mischievousness. “I am dying… I always was dying… being slowly burned away. How does someone mortal continue to live after they die?”
Lilith gasped, her hand landing on her stomach. “Children! My baby…”
“Every time a Lilith has a child, all of her power enters that child. Every generation, one Lilith continues on the bloodline. All of this time, you continued, protecting my power… waiting for the right moment… or should I say… the right man.”
Lilith’s body shook. “You… knew I would sleep with Clyburn?”
“Perhaps, it’s better to say you were made to sleep with Clyburn. From the day the Lilith line began, you were always his fate.”
“What? What are you saying?” I demanded, feeling like they were having a conversation about me that I couldn’t grasp.
“I’m pregnant.” Lilith declared. “My baby, it has my power… but it’s not the same as before with my mother. This baby doesn’t just have my legacy, it has yours too!”
“Although it would have been nice if most of the energy was with Lilith, it doesn’t matter. As long as both of you contained my entire Legacy, it’d succeed. The moment Jenai entered your body, the last piece of the puzzle finished.
“What succeeded? What are you talking about?” I felt more and more confused.
“I’m the baby.” Charlie declared. “Well, both Jenai and me… we… together, will be reborn in Lilith’s womb. We will be born a living goddess. The border between the demon world and our own is already restored with our conception, and upon our birth, this world will have a goddess, and it will never be threatened by demons again.”
“This…” I took a step back, not sure exactly how to answer. “You had planned this all along?”
With a nod, I suddenly felt the urge to sit down. I put Lilith down, no longer confident in being able to hold her. My mind was in utter turmoil. This whole thing was a lot to take in. I had fancied myself a hero. I had thought that she had gifted me these powers and I had some deep responsibility, that I needed to spread my seed across the world and only through that would I save it from demons. Even when I absorbed the last legacy and led to the demon’s coming to this world, I had been convinced I had some higher purpose. Yet, in the end, what did I do? This goddess had planned everything from day one, and in the end, all we had done was walk the steps that she paved for us.
Seeing my depressed look, she sighed, standing up. Her body shifted unsteadily, and Lilith reached out almost like she wanted to catch her. Charlie still walked up to me. She gently lifted her hand and put it on my head, even though she had to stand on her tiptoes to do it.
“I told you, I was never looking for a hero. I was looking for a father.” Her words caused my body to shudder slightly. “I searched the universe far and wide. I was looking for two things. First of all, I wanted someone who wanted to be a parent… who wanted me. That’s why I found you, a man depressed that he couldn’t have children. You wanted a child so bad, and so I brought you here to become mine. Your purpose… it isn’t over. Your purpose had only just begun.”
As I looked up at her, this beautiful little girl, I couldn’t help but feel powerful emotions shooting through my body. I had been foolish. I was so caught up in this idea of reliving my youth. I had felt like the best periods of my life were already gone. I wanted one last adventure before I’d fall into obscurity, but was any of that even true? Countless people depended on me. I had women who loved me and children who looked up to me.
Before I left, the girls had pulled me into an intermission. They were worried about me, and I realized they had every right to be. I was living like I was already dead. I believed that the world didn’t need me, and things would continue whether I was there or not. Yet, that wasn’t what was important. I didn’t need to go to find meaning in my life, the meaning was right in front of me all along.
“Charlie…” As realization flashed across my face, I looked down at her. “My daughter…”
“Mm!” she nodded, and even her eyes grew slightly wet. “Hello, Daddy! I look forward to meeting you soon.”
“Soon…” I blinked a few times, realizing that even since our conversation began, her body was growing fainter and fainter. “W-wait…”
“It’s okay…” She put a finger on my lips. “On the airship, I just wanted to see you once before I was born. Now… it’s okay… I won’t be far away, and I won’t be leaving ever again.”
I couldn’t help but glance at Lilith’s abdomen. She blushed slightly, Her hand instinctively went to her stomach, and it seemed so natural that one would think she had been born to be Mother. That was exactly why she had been born.
“I’m sorry I won’t be able to be with you,” Lilith said sadly.
“Hmm?” Charlie tilted her head, “Why not?”
“Th-the curse?” Lilith looked a bit confused.
“Did you know why every Lilith’s mother died within ten years of birthing her child despite whatever you did? It’s because you were trying to birth a goddess, but lacked enough power. Eventually, it took the remainder of their mother’s life force. In the end, only another Lilith could be born, passing on the line. However, your child, between Jenai’s power and my own, will have enough energy. In other words, your life source won’t be taken in as compensation.”
“R-really?” Her eyes brightened.
“Mm…but if you’re worried, there is a way to replenish your lifeforce.” Charlie’s expression grew mischievous once again.
“What? How?”
Charlie gave me a side look. “Daddy absorbed 3/4th of my power. Although I reclaimed some of it, there is still a great deal of my energy still hidden inside him. He thought my energy disappeared, but it ended up somewhere else… somewhere external.”
“Th-that…” I blinked, not sure what to say.
“Y-you’re not saying…”
“Mm! The only solution is for mommy and daddy to have lots of sex before I’m born!”
Lilith’s face turned red. “Th-this…”
“Ah… sorry, it’s almost done…” Her body was barely there now.
“Wait!” I cried out. “I just have one last question.”
She nodded. “What is it?”
“You said when you picked me, you were looking for two things. You wanted someone who wanted to be a father… what was the other option.”
Her grin grew. “To conceive me, Daddy only needed to have one of my legacies. I envisioned you each having 50%, although it might have been better if you had 25% and she had 75%. However, Daddy took the majority of the legacy, so when you think about it, it’s really Daddy’s fault.”
“What do you mean?”
“Mom only has 25%, and while when you guys coupled, some of my power entered her, a lot of it is still in you. Even if you two did it daily until my birth, I still won’t have 100% of my power. I need all of that power to be able to ascend to become a goddess. One could say I couldn’t do it without Jenai, but I also can’t do it without the rest of my legacy.”
I suddenly had a bad feeling. “H-how am I supposed to give you the rest of your legacy?”
She blushed shyly. “There is only one way I can get the rest of my legacy. You asked what the second thing was… I needed a man who didn’t have any issues… enjoying family time.”
I jerked up, causing her to giggle. “Um… that…”
“Thankfully, I have lots of big sisters for you to practice with until you’re ready for me.” She winked. “I look forward to that almost as much as I look forward to being born. I want every drop back…”
“H-how much is every drop!”
“Hmm… by my calculation… you’d need to…” She tapped her finger to her lips. “Inside… about… 9,999 times.”
“10,000 Times! Wait, you said Lilith counts, right?”
“You’d have to do it 35 times a day to have enough before I’m born.”
Lilith gasped and then covered herself while glaring at me. “No! I won’t.”
“Then, I’ll be waiting for Daddy.” Charlie licked her lips. “I look forward to it. I’ll see you soon.”
She waved. I wanted to say more, but her voice sounded extremely distant. A few moments later, the last bit of her disappeared. Like that, Charlie was gone, as was Jenai. The room was just the original five of us who had entered.
“That’s it… we’re done?” Brianna asked, eyeing Brooke to make sure she didn’t get smacked again. seaʀᴄh thё NovelZone.fun website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
“I guess… it is…”
The whole thing felt surreal. One moment, we were on the edge of complete world destruction. The next moment, the world was protected by a goddess and the demons had all been expelled. It all happened so suddenly that I wondered if my neck would develop whiplash.
Yet, there was nothing left to do. The group of us gathered and then headed back out. We didn’t leave the demon king’s castle as conquering heroes but as trepidatious parents.
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