[Lilae]

Mori was slowly walking through the alleyways.

He encountered nobody besides the occasional nameless corpses of demonfolks. 

The rotten smell was strong. It felt as if it soaked his clothes as he walked past them. 

In the real world, homelessness was the highest it had ever been in history. 

He had previously encountered corpses under bridges or in alleyways. However, it was the first time that he could do nothing about it.

Guards would obviously never help demonfolks, let alone clean up their remains, and if they were left there it was easy to assume their family or close ones couldn't do much more.

He was now walking past the third one. 

The old Mori, Jack Law, would've had a hard time even walking past them. 

The new Jack, on the other hand, was unbothered. 

He looked at each corpse, making sure they would be on his mind the day he would deal with DiveCore.

"Took you long enough."

He had finally arrived at the designated place.

"You are terrible at giving directions," said Mori.

Lilae was sitting on a pile of boxes, a bit further down the alleyway he had turned into.

Besides backdoors, trash and puddles, there was nothing particularly concerning.

He couldn't feel anyone around, but since he wasn't an expert in recon, he kept in mind this could be a trap.

He turned the letter he had received with a pink heart into a tight ball, letting it fall to the ground as he approached the succubus.

"What do you want?" asked Mori.

"Well, for starters, apologies."

"I have nothing to apologize for. You deserved what you got."

"You left me there, after playing with my body, not even taking responsibility."

Mori's eyebrows shot up.

"You're... deranged. You're actually crazy..."

Lilae's hands trembled as she squeezed her breasts and bit her lips while staring at Mori.

"Oh yeah? What else am I?"

"...You degrading kink bitch."

"Oh yeah?"

Mori turned around, going back the way he came before her voice reached him again. 

"Okay, wait."

He turned around again.

"What the fuck do you want, then?"

She suggestively walked closer, and once she reached him, she gently grabbed his chin.

"Well, all I want to know is if you're with, or against us."

He quickly slapped her hand away.

"You-" started Mori.

No more insults.

"Maybe tell me who you're talking about," he said.

"I know you saw him in the sky when you arrived at Dustriver, he told me."

"I don't know who that was."

"Well, he saw you. We can tell you're strong, but not strong enough. Whatever it is you're planning, it won't work. However, if you join us-"

"Not interested."

"You don't even know what it is we want."

She was so close, he could feel her breath on his face. 

It was intoxicating, as much as her body odor. Would his mind be weaker, he'd fall for her cheap tricks, but the only thing it brought was irritation.

He grabbed her neck, slowly reaching for it while she let him.

As he grabbed it, he turned toward the nearest wall, shoving her against it while tightening his hold.

"Is that what you want?"

He grabbed her breast with his other hand, he could hear her squeak as he played with it.

"Your tricks might work on others, not on me," said Mori.

He grabbed her neck tighter, her blush redder by the second as her eyes stared at him. She was still smiling.

"I see you as a pile of flesh that happens to be self-aware. I couldn't care less what you and your secret club want, but since it's come to this, we'll do things my way."

Mori closed his eyes, a hex rolled and swirled around the arm that held Lilae's throat. 

Her eyes displayed a hint of fear as she looked at it wrapping around her neck. 

It was inscribed on her skin, branding her the same way Aura had been days ago.

"Stop looking at me," commanded Mori.

She kept staring into his eyes, her face bright red.

The brand around her neck started sizzling, and the inscribed hex moved around, tightening. 

Black smoke was coming out of it, while blood dripped down from the marks it was causing. 

She kept staring at him; her face displaying degenerate pleasure. She ultimately broke eye contact as her eyes started drifting upward, her mouth wide open.

She dropped to her knees, her head knocking against the wall.

"h-ah," she barely said, "You- You'd better threaten me with death, instead of pain..."

Mori closed his eyes, while deeply exhaling. He grabbed his forehead while shaking his head, trying to control his annoyance.

Of course, it's the rotten-brained Succubus whose degenerate brain enjoys pain. 

"Can- Can you do that again??" she asked between quick breaths.

Mori tightened his fist, ready to strike, but quickly stopped his motion.

"No, no, do it. Hit me, I deserve it."

He closed his eyes a moment, and inhaled.

"Hey! Stop! Come back," she pleaded on the ground, as he was walking away again.

He heard her stand up and take a few quick steps.

"Okay! Stop! I'll tell you, just promise me to activate this thing again..."

Mori turned around.

"I'm listening."

"The person in the sky was Asmodael, we're what's left of his royal guards."

Asmodael? So he is still around?

"Why was he up there? Why doesn't he take back this city, if he's still alive? I have yet to see any strong humans around."

"The humans who rampaged through our ranks are gone, sure, but the real problem is who they left behind, he's named Jeff."

Mori arched his eyebrows in disbelief. 

"That guy? He's the one giving you trouble? Really?"

Lilae scoffed, "You should rethink that thought. For some reason, the human kingdom in the past 3 years has been uncovering an insane amount of artifacts everyone thought lost forever. We have no idea how they're doing it, but they just keep coming with new tools and weapons."

So that's what they've been doing. No need to keep your strongest warriors from the frontline if you can give artifacts to the average captain. 

"What artifact does he have?" asked Mori.

"It's more a question of what doesn't he have. He's not high level, and he's not the smartest, but he would win against Asmodael."

That's... Problematic.