Chapter 42
With Auriel back, the matter passed naturally into her hands. Michael laid out his findings for the two of them.
"My Lord, there are two separate bloodline forces inside this man, and they have become completely entangled. I do not believe we can purify one without affecting the other."
Lilith frowned but held her tongue, looking to Auriel instead.
Auriel's expression stayed calm, and rather than answer at once, she went to Giles and examined him herself — Michael's conclusion was unlikely to be wrong, but she wanted her own senses on it before she gave Lilith anything. After a moment, she nodded.
"He's right."
What that meant for Giles, Lilith couldn't tell. "What happens if you purify all the werewolf blood out of his body?" If the process would kill him regardless, a quick death might be the kinder option.
Michael started to answer; Auriel stopped him and took the explanation herself.
"A Lord's Talent gradually changes the Lord's body at a fundamental level.
" She paused, feeling for the right words.
"I am an Angelkin Lord, and you are an Undead Lord.
We still look human, but our racial essence has already begun shifting toward our Unit races.
The change may not be obvious. But we are no longer entirely human. "
Lilith understood. Lords didn't merely command another race — their Talents were quietly remaking them into that race. Which was likely part of why native creatures treated Lords as outsiders: they weren't simply beings from another world. Their bodies carried the essence of more races than one.
She worked the implications through. "So if you forcibly purify a bloodline tied to someone's Lord Talent, the damage could kill them?"
"More or less."
And with that, Lilith relaxed. "What about a bloodline acquired later?" Giles had never been a Werewolf Lord — Simon had forced the transformation on him after arriving. Which meant he might still have a chance.
Auriel considered it. "I can't be certain, but from what I know, he would probably revert to an ordinary human."
Relief washed through Lilith. "That's fine. Weaker is still better than dead."
Simon had lost consciousness during Michael's examination — or perhaps not entirely, because his eyes snapped open.
"No!" He strained against the chains. "This is an error even the System can't fix! What makes you think a mere Lord can solve it?" He twisted toward Lilith. "Don't believe her! If she tries this, Giles dies with me. You'll regret it!"
Lilith looked down at him. "Is that supposed to be your final warning?" A humorless laugh. "Why am I still talking to you?"
She stepped in and struck the side of his neck. Simon's eyes rolled back and his body went slack — and soon he'd be a great deal more than unconscious.
"I'm counting on you," Lilith told Auriel.
Auriel nodded, though a small furrow stayed in her brow. "Is he... your boyfriend?"
Lilith stared at her. "What?"
"Nothing. I was curious."
Whatever she saw in Lilith's genuine bafflement seemed to satisfy her; the furrow eased, and she began the purification before Lilith could press the matter.
Lilith hadn't waited for Giles's permission. She believed he'd choose life over death — even a life stripped of the werewolf bloodline and everything it granted.
The purification moved faster than expected.
Holy light flooded Giles's body, thick black smoke pouring off his skin as the corrupted werewolf bloodline burned away.
He stayed unconscious, but his body convulsed and his face twisted with the pain.
The smoke gradually thinned; the process was nearly done.
Lilith finally let her shoulders drop. "It looks like it's working."
The last wisp of smoke dissolved into the air. The power that had corrupted and strengthened Giles's body vanished completely, and Simon's consciousness went with it. Giles's own soul began reclaiming the body.
Auriel withdrew her hand and rose. "The outcome is better than expected. His Lord Talent doesn't appear to be bloodline-based — aside from the werewolf blood, there was no other foreign racial power in him."
"His Talent seems tied to crafting or creation." Lilith didn't know its exact nature; Giles's Units had always looked like ordinary humans, with nothing supernatural about them. She glanced down at him. "Why isn't he waking up?"
"His soul was suppressed for too long. It's extremely weak." Auriel looked off toward the battlefield beyond the Wonder. "He is most likely only unconscious." She spread her wings. "There should be no further danger. I need to keep earning Kill Points — if anything changes, Michael can help you."
"Thank you."
Lilith knew perfectly well she owed Auriel a considerable favor now. A few hundred Mana Crystals no longer carried enough value to count as real payment, and an Essence Core was far too rare to hand over on a whim. She'd have to repay this some other way, in time.
Auriel departed, and Lilith settled in beside Giles to wait. She leaned against a tree and closed her eyes, and the wait stretched long enough that she nearly drifted off.
Then Giles groaned.
"Ugh..."
His eyes opened slowly. Pain filled every inch of him — but the first clear thing he registered was that the body answered to him again. He looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings. "Where... am I?"
"You're awake." Lilith opened her eyes. "Come with me. I'll explain on the way."
Giles froze at the sound of her voice and turned. "L-Lilith? Why are you here?"
"Simon is dead." She helped him to his feet. "But removing him destroyed the werewolf bloodline too. You're human again. I made that call without asking you, so I hope you won't hold it against me."
On the way back she gave him a brief account of everything that had happened, and Giles listened in silence.
"I tried to kill myself," he said eventually. "It didn't work. Simon took control again." His voice was worn thin, but relief sat underneath the exhaustion. "Losing the werewolf blood is fine. It brought me nothing but misery."
But what came next? Could he go back to his Territory and keep living as a Lord?
In a world where strength decided who lived and who died, a powerless Lord was little more than prey.
Giles was grateful she'd saved him — and he also understood that she might only have traded his immediate death for a slower one.
He could easily end up worse off than before.
Lilith caught the despair settling over him. "Feeling lost?"
He nodded. "This world is too dangerous. Maybe someone as weak as me was always meant to be culled." After everything these past days had put him through, he no longer seemed afraid of dying. He was only angry at his own helplessness.
Lilith stopped walking. She turned and looked at him, serious now.
"You ended up in this mess partly because of me." A pause. "So — unless you object — why don't you come live in my Territory?"
She'd gone to considerable trouble to save him; she was not about to watch him wander off alone and die inside a week. Her Territory could take in residents. One more made little difference.
Giles didn't answer. He just stood there staring at her.
Lilith raised an eyebrow. "Hey. You're the first Lord I've ever personally invited. Don't leave me hanging."
He lifted his head. His eyes had gone red, tears already sliding down his face — and then he smiled.
"Thank you, Lilith." His voice shook with relief. "I'd be honored."
Only Giles knew how long he had waited to hear those words.