Chapter 36: Willow Park vs Lilith Clawthorne(1)

Narrator's point of view

"So that's how Master Leylin ended up in this situation," Willow concluded after finishing her explanation of their journey on Earth.

In the Blight family, no one knew about Leylin's dimensional travel to the human world or another laboratory.

Willow hadn't mentioned the second laboratory, but she had explained that Leylin could come and go between the demon world and the human world.

She had revealed the reason for Leylin's condition but had chosen to omit Bill Cipher's true power.

Leylin's parents only knew that he had faced a powerful demon on Earth and had to perform a ritual that plunged him into a deep sleep.

Willow had thus been honest without lying, but she just hadn't told everything.

She didn't want Odalia, a witch who practices Oracle magic, to detect a lie.

"Willow," Odalia Blight said slowly, looking at her coldly. This woman, from Willow's point of view, had always been mean.

Today, in front of Willow, Odalia showed various types of emotions in her eyes, extremely different from her usual behavior.

"Yes, ma'am," Willow replied, holding her gaze.

"You know, I didn't want you to become friends with Amity for several reasons, but the most important one is simple..." As she spoke, her magic slowly became unstable due to her strong emotions.

No one in the Blight family had ever seen Odalia show so much emotion outside of a topic related to her business.

"Because you're dragging her down," she finished, her eyes glowing with a purple light.

"Mom..." Amity said softly, clearly hesitating to express herself further.

"Be quiet, Amity. You don't understand the gravity of the situation," Odalia said in a stern voice.

Her son, who was supposed to become a coven leader, was currently in a situation between life and death.

She was upset as a mother, but also as the true head of the Blight family.

"This young girl clearly wants to destroy my family. I was able to prevent her from harming you, but your brother apparently didn't have that chance because of his kindness," she said, clearly upset.

"Odalia..." Alador said calmly, placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Alador, we... Alador?" Odalia wanted to reprimand her husband who seemed to be trying to calm her down, but she was witnessing a scene different from her expectations.

Alador, her husband who had always been absent-minded and submissive to her, had a determined expression but at the same time filled with sorrow.

"Let her finish speaking. I'm sure Leylin gave her instructions. Isn't that right, Willow?" he said, looking at one of the few people close to his son.

"Indeed, Master Leylin asked me to find Miss Lilith and send him to the past," she said calmly. But Alador could see that she was, like him and Odalia, worried about Leylin.

"I'll immediately use our connections to contact Lilith. As for you, get out of my house," Odalia said in a final tone.

"I'm sorry, but... I refuse. I'll stay until Master Leylin is sent to the past," Willow explained slowly, but her voice contained a surprising determination for her age.

"You!!" Willow's words seemed to anger Odalia, but Alador's hand on her shoulder appeared to bring her back to reason.

"Okay, you can stay," she said, leaving with Alador.

"I'll contact Rain and Darius. You should contact our usual sponsors to help us get a meeting with Lilith today," Alador said, hurrying.

After the couple left, there was an awkward silence before Edric opened his mouth.

"Did you go on a diet?" he said, looking at Willow without hiding his curiosity.

*bonk* The sound of a hit on the head.

"Why are you hitting me, Emira?" he said in a confused tone.

"This isn't the time. Don't you see Leylin's condition?" she said, approaching Leylin's container.

Amity followed Emira.

"I still resent you a bit, but I don't want you to die," she said mentally, caressing the surface of the metal coffin.

...

Willow's point of view

A few hours had passed.

I had finished explaining to Edric and Emira the situation regarding my physiological change. During the discussion, Amity hadn't spoken to me.

Since I had become Leylin's servant, my relationship with her hadn't improved much over the years.

I thought it was better this way and, given her reaction today when Mrs. Odalia was furious, I thought that following Leylin had been the best decision of my life.

"We were able to get an appointment with Lilith today," Alador declared, gesturing for me to follow him.

The atmosphere during the journey was awkward, but I didn't regret refusing to leave the Blight residence as Mrs. Odalia had wished.

I wouldn't do the same thing as Amity; I wouldn't abandon my loved ones because of pressure exerted by another person.

"Welcome, Mr. and Mrs. Blight," declared a woman with blue eyes and extremely pale skin.

It seems she ignored me.

"I am Lilith Clawthorne," she said in a formal tone.

(Image)

"Hello, Miss Lilith. I am..."

Leylin's parents introduced themselves and explained the situation, but they didn't mention the human world or how Leylin had ended up in this situation.

"I've already heard about your family business, and the Emperor would like it to be affiliated with him," she said, walking towards a window in the reception room.

"If we accept, will you help Leylin?" Alador asked, slightly frowning. The Blight family business was his whole life. I understood that he wanted to be sure Lilith could save Leylin.

"I'll give you all the necessary information as well as a machine I invented to help you," she said, smiling calmly.

"We accept in that case," Odalia replied before receiving a contract.

"You should no longer sell your abominations to individuals, but only to the Emperor's coven," Lilith explained.

"It seems the price isn't correct," Odalia declared, reading the contract.

"Your son's life is priceless," Lilith replied in a neutral tone.

There was a silence. It seemed that Mrs. Odalia was hesitating to sign the contract.

"May I read the contract?" I asked Alador, who was reading the content with furrowed brows.

It seemed that if Mrs. Odalia signed this, she would give up selling her products to individuals, but also that she would have to be a member of the Emperor's coven in all except in name.

It was clearly a scam.

"I have a proposal for you," I said before Mrs. Odalia could sign the agreement.

"What do you want?" Lilith said in an annoyed tone.

"I propose a duel between witches. If you win, this contract will be signed, and I'll join your coven," I said in a serious tone.

"Haha, this kid really wants to face me in a duel?" she said, looking towards Alador and Odalia. It seemed she despised me too much to take my words seriously.

I released all my magic and the energy I produce passively since I became a magus. My whole body was covered in an intertwined greenish and blue aura.

By reflex or intentionally, the woman named Lilith also deployed a slightly lower amount of magical energy.

Leylin had told me one day, before our departure for Gravity Falls, that the only people who could be a problem for me were the coven leaders.

It seemed he was right. If I hadn't evolved to become a rank 1 magus, I would have been at a disadvantage in a magical duel against Lilith.

[Interesting. Lilith, you should accept her duel, but ask her what would happen if she wins], Belos declared telepathically.

"If you win, what do you want?" Lilith asked in a serious tone.

"I want your sincere help to send Leylin to the past," I said honestly.

At my words, Lilith seemed to have a "sorry" expression before nodding.

It seemed that it wasn't simple to travel through time and that she herself had given up on it, but Leylin had sent me to her.

I could trust her.