Morning

The rising sun shone through the clouds, illuminating Trier. Aucuses sat on the balcony, twirling a glass of wine in his hand.

His gaze lingered on the sleeping figure in the room. His heart was full of emotions just looking at the peaceful face of the figure in the bed.

That sleeping figure is none other than Lilith.

Aucuses sighed and chose to drink her wine and distract himself from her.

Yesterday, he was so careless with Lilith…They both walked on thin ice, nearly breaking through concealment several times, but at the last moment managed to pull themselves together and avoid the terrible disaster.

Yes, a disaster. Lilith's concealment is far from what would be considered "normal". It was quite convoluted; a mixture of many authorities that complement and balance each other.

'It really is a work of art...' He thought as he sipped the wine. He wasn't bantering or sulking by saying that.

It really was a work of art. He really didn't know how else to describe Lilith's 'Concealment'.

To elaborate on this, her "concealment" has fooled the "world" itself, which includes all concepts of reality, angels, and even gods.

Lilith had fallen, which is recognized and accepted by the "World" in every manner; destiny, history and divination….It was a fact and a matter of certainty.

Much like in the case of Lilith, Earth Mother is recognized as Ombella by many, even Badhiel himself. There wasn't even a silver of doubt and suspicion on anyone's part, despite Earth Mother's strange situation. Nope, there was no doubt at all.

Aucuses' thoughts were interpreted through a strange image that popped up in his mind, abruptly.

The image showed a man with a majestic golden beard, dressed in a priestly robe and carrying a silver cross. He seemed to be praying to a figure nailed to a giant white cross while clutching the silver cross. The atmosphere was sacred and divine.

Suddenly, the priest turned, his pious eyes gradually becoming pure and innocent. He said softly, "Everything is reasonable."

Aucuses' hand trembled, the wine almost spurted out of his mouth at the sight of this strange and frightening image.

He immediately put down his glass, rising from the rocky chair.

He placed his finger on the side of his head. He began to purge that image from his mind, literally; he materialized that image and transformed it into pure information, then proceeded to burn it with the golden fire of the sun. All of this was happening in his mind.

After ensuring its destruction, Aucuses opened his all-seeing eyes and connected with his "Golden Order". He started browsing and checking everything.

About ten minutes later, he sat down with a sigh as he picked up an entire glass bottle of wine and gulped it down. There were no issues or influences with him or around him.

And, as he previously stated, Lilith's 'concealment' is too high on the level. This can be proven again by the fact that he was just thinking about it, then it led to whatever that was with Adam in it.

Putting his thoughts on Adam aside, he didn't even want to think about him, as it only made his mood worse and more terrible than it already was.

Now, after purging the thoughts of Adam to ashes, Aucuses refocused on the situation.

Lilith's "Concealment", if broken hastily, will literally lead to catastrophe.

War and blood will wash the earth. The darkness and the light will shatter each other. They will tear everything down with them. Everything ends in chaos. In chaos, the Creator will rise again, beginning a new era.

That was one possibility of what could happen. To summarise, their situation is quite complex and dangerous.

Did he, however, regret his careless actions? No, not at all. Last night was one of the most memorable nights of his life. While spending time with Lilith, he was filled with passion and joy, unconcerned about his problems and difficulties. He didn't regret it all.

~ Love makes a fool of us all ~

Aucuses deeply resonated with the saying while finishing a bottle of wine and ruminating on the previous night.

He exhaled a long sigh, as if expelling all his surging emotions and finally calming down. The light of dawn shone through the crowds and illuminated his figure.

He got up from his chair and walked through the sliding wooden doors into the room.

He could already feel Lilith waking up as the light of dawn shone on her face. She should be half asleep by now.

Auceses went to the bed, looked at her lying down. Her facial expression was stunned as she continued to roll over in bed, trying to find a comfortable position to go back to sleep.

Auceses approached the bed and looked at her as she lay there. Her expression was groggy as she turned around in bed, trying to find a comfortable position to fall back asleep.

With hesitant eyes, he leaned forward to kiss her forehead, causing her to groan and gradually awaken.

Aucuses smiled seeing this. Then, he walked into the kitchen to prepare coffee for Lilith.

Yes, they were staying in the hotel room after the restless night. He knows it sounds so wrong. But nothing happened between them other than a long kiss. They didn't even say and discuss anything about it after that and continued to dance and drink until 3 a.m.

Lilith was literally wasted, despite being a god. It was too much for her. The difficulties and problems between them were to take their toll on her.

Aucuses carried her to the hotel and booked a room for the night. Then he laid him carefully on the bed, making sure she felt warm and comfortable.

At that time, she finally let go of her guard and fell asleep in her bed. As for him, he also slept in the same bed for an hour before getting up when the sudden realization of all that had happened struck heavily on his head.

He then went to get a bottle of wine and started sulking about his own thoughts and memories.....

Within a minute, he finished brewing the divine coffee the way Lilith liked it, poured it into the two cups and took them into the bedroom.

Lilith had already awoken; she was in a trance, staring out the window while still wrapped in sheets and refusing to leave her bed.

Aucuses approached her with a smile.

"Here." He gave her the coffee and brought her back to reality.

"Than-nks, Aucuses." Lilith stammered, trying her best to get a hold of reality.

She took the coffee from his hand without trying to look at him. She then blew the coffee before taking a sip, calming down.

Aucuses sat beside her in the bed, with one leg in the bed and another hanging, drinking coffee.

The air around her tightened in tension and pressure as sunlight filtered through the fiberglass windows, illuminating their figures.

Lilith caught her breath after taking another sip of coffee. She seemed to have finally mustered enough strength to turn around and face him.

"Your coffee is excellent as always..." She stopped abruptly, her wide eyes fixed on Aucuses' body.

Her brain seemed to shut down for a moment. Her tips of her ears turned crimson.

"Put on a shirt, bastard." Lilith snarled, snapping out of her stupefaction when she saw his grin.

Aucuses was only dressed in pyjamas, revealing his chiselled body to her. Her heart was nearly overflowing with strange emotions as she was struck by the sight.

"Why?" Aucuses leaned in, their faces inches apart. "Don't you like what you see?" He whispered subtly.

Lilith returned his stare, stealing a glance at his body and gulping. Her heart pounded in her chest.

But she didn't; she shouldn't let herself fall again. She immediately used her divinity and authority to suppress her emotions.

Despite his previous words, Aucuses felt the atmosphere was not improving.

"Put on a shirt, Aucuses." She spoke in a cold and indifferent tone. "You should know that we can't..." She stood up, placed her hand on his chest, and pushed him away.

"Fine…" Aucuses groaned, grabbing his shirt from the hanger and putting it on.

Lilith sighed when she saw him in this state. Her heart hurt as her feelings returned. "I'll get ready. We can then go to a restaurant." She compromised.

Aucuses nodded duly as he watched her head for the bathroom.

'What will become of 'us'?...' He thought with a sigh. He continued to drink his coffee under the light of dawn.

____________________

In a restaurant in the upper part of Trier, Aucuses and Lilith sat facing each other, eating spaghetti in silence.

Both of them avoided discussing the events of the night and the morning, but this did not dispel the heavy atmosphere that existed between them.

Finally, Lilith spoke and broke the silence. "So, why are you invading the southern continent?"

She really wants to release the tension between them by addressing at least some serious topics. About their relationship, she can only sigh thinking about that.

Aucuses put down his fork. His stoic expression eventually loosened at her question. He took the glass of grape wine and answered between his drinks. "I am going to kill Tolzana and take away the uniqueness and characteristics of the chained pathway."

Tolzana is the future chained god who was polluted by Mother Tree of Desire in the original timeline.

His response made her stop eating, Lilith put down her fork and said with serious eyes. "Is it for your angel again?"

"Yes." Aucuses nodded, without hiding it from her. "It's for him, but I'm also doing it to make sure the divine slut didn't have anchors to spread "Her" corruption or send "Her" power into our world."

Lilith was used to his disrespect for the outer gods, so hearing him say "Divine Slut" didn't surprise her, but she still had to say that nickname is quite fitting for Mother Tree of Desire.

She didn't question his intentions because she already knew Aucuses cared about his angels, and even she paled in comparison to him in this regard. Aucuses, after all, is allowing his angel to become a god.

"It's risky..." Lilith folded her hand, implying something. "Salinger's situation is still unknown. I believe there is a major problem with him."

"What kind of problem?" Aucuses inquired, raising his brows and sipping his wine.

Lilith gave him a hesitant look. Out of concern for him, she finally said it in a roundabout way. "The kind that can endanger the entire world."

"Don't worry, everything will be fine. I will not invade Bayam directly." Aucuses stated matter-of-factly. "You will be there for me even if there is a problem." He laughed.

Lilith's eyes twitched as she responded. "I will undoubtedly be present. I will also notify Badhiel. He'd be delighted to take part, as he's concerned about the Salinger's situation."

"Would you like to accompany me on the invasion?" Aucuses nodded and inquired candidly.

"No, Aucuses." Lilith rose from her seat. "Two gods invading a continent will almost certainly spark a war of gods. At that time, Salinger will not tolerate our actions. It's best if you go alone, but I'll keep an eye on you from the astral world..." Her eyes filled with emotion as she suddenly paused. Her eyes also shimmered with a flash of deep darkness.

She continued, observing his every reaction. "I have to leave, Aucuses. I can't stay here any longer..."

"Go." Aucuses stated flatly, as if he was unaffected by her sudden words.

"I'm sorry..." Her words lingered in the air as she vanished before him, leaving him alone once again.

Aucuses sighed, sipping his wine before returning to his spaghetti….