Apocalypse: becoming the hidden Ruler[English]

Annabelle felt it too.

Some unseen spiritual resonance pulled at her heart, her hostility melting away on its own.

“Royal Blood?” Axel demanded. “What is Royal Blood?!”

Lilith ignored him.

Her Force receded. The blue markings faded.

She walked toward Annabelle slowly.

Without realizing it, Annabelle walked toward her as well.

Lilith gently cupped Annabelle’s soft face—then pulled her into a tight embrace.

Tears streamed silently down Lilith’s cheeks as she held her, stroking her back again and again.

“So there really are survivors,” she whispered, voice breaking. “People from the Everstone family… I still have family.”

Annabelle’s eyes stung.

She hugged Lilith back.

“Really… family?” Axel murmured.

His heart skipped a beat as he stood there, utterly speechless.

After a long pause, Lilith wiped the tears from her eyes and gently released Annabelle.

Annabelle walked back to Axel’s side and quietly took his hand.

Lilith hesitated. For reasons she didn’t quite understand, a faint ache bloomed in her chest.

Axel finally broke the silence.

“What exactly is this Royal Blood you keep talking about?”

Lilith didn’t answer right away. She looked off toward the distance, toward where Sergio and the others had been left behind.

“Come with me.”

She led Axel to a narrow canyon carved deep into the rock face. Sitting down at the edge, she let her legs swing idly as she stared at the pale crimson sky stretching endlessly beyond the cliffs.

“Before I answer,” she said softly, “I want you to answer something for me first.”

She didn’t look at him.

“Why are you hunting the Saints so obsessively? Is it really just revenge?”

Axel fell silent.

The wind whistled through the canyon, carrying fine sand with it. For a moment, the place felt hollow and still.

Lilith smiled faintly.

“My situation has already been exposed. And you’re someone Annabelle trusts.” She glanced sideways at him. “I can’t bring myself to kill you anymore. Since I can’t return to Krythos now, there’s no reason for me to keep everything hidden.”

She chuckled.

“Besides, your biggest secret has already been laid bare. Don’t bother trying to trick me.”

My biggest secret? Axel’s expression turned strange.

Fine. An exchange of intelligence, then.

“Killing the Saints,” Axel said calmly, “is part of developing a cure for the Infected.”

Lilith blinked. Then she turned around, eyes widening slightly as she looked between Axel and Annabelle.

“You want to cure her?”

Axel and Annabelle both nodded without hesitation.

Lilith covered her face and laughed softly, shaking her head.

“You really think she’s just an ordinary Infected?”

She looked back at Axel, eyes sharp.

“Even if you kill the Saints, how exactly do you plan to create a cure?”

Axel sat down beside her. Before them lay a barren wasteland, broken only by the endlessly shifting blood-red clouds overhead.

“Your turn,” he said. “What is Royal Blood?”

Lilith was quiet for a moment.

“Let’s play a little game,” she said suddenly, a mischievous glint flashing in her eyes. “I tell you something. You tell me something. We’ll see if your secrets are worth me telling you everything.”

She leaned closer, as if about to rest her head on his shoulder.

Axel’s heart skipped—

—and Lilith immediately stretched and scoffed.

“Don’t flatter yourself.”

She yawned lazily.

“There was once a family known as the Born Infected.”

Axel stiffened.

“They were Infected from birth. But unlike normal Infected, they didn’t lose their minds or turn into mindless flesh-eaters. After awakening, they could freely switch between infected states—and their combat power was terrifying.”

She glanced at Annabelle.

“I’m sure you’ve guessed by now. Your sister and I belong to that family.”

“The Born Infected…” Axel frowned. “Why have I never heard of them?”

Lilith lit a cigarette and exhaled slowly.

“Your turn again,” she said. “How exactly do you plan to make this cure? And what happens after you succeed?”

Axel took a breath.

“I belong to the Holy Light Organization. It’s divided into two factions. One believes humanity should all be infected. The other believes—”

“—in curing everyone?” Lilith cut in, unimpressed. “That’s laughable.”

Seeing Axel’s displeasure, she waved her hand.

“Fine, fine. Continue. I admit, this is interesting.”

“There was once someone who actually developed a cure,” Axel said quietly. “But he’s probably dead.”

“That doesn’t surprise me at all.” Lilith’s fingers trembled slightly around her cigarette. After a moment, she nodded. “You’ve been honest. I’ll be honest too.”

She crushed the cigarette under her heel.

“The reason you’ve never heard of that family is simple.”

“The Everstone family was wiped out fourteen years ago.”

Axel turned to look at Annabelle.

He’d always believed there might someday be a chance to find her real parents.

Annabelle stood frozen behind him, trembling slightly. Her voice was barely above a whisper.

“Why…?”

Lilith shook her head.

“I don’t know yet. I will—when I’m strong enough.”

She continued flatly, as if reciting something she’d repeated countless times to herself.

“Every Everstone was a genius. Once infected, we were far stronger than ordinary Awakened of the same rank—and we never lost our sanity.”

She paused.

“But our bodies couldn’t endure it forever. Around forty years old, the power destroys us from the inside.”

“Because of that, the strongest Everstone ever recorded only reached the Level Seven Divine Might Realm.”

Axel’s breath caught.

“Very few people even knew the Everstone family existed,” Lilith went on. “The Council needed our strength—but they couldn’t let the public know we were infected.”

“So we served as Everton City’s Dark Guard.”

Her voice grew colder.

“Until thirteen years ago. When the entire family was slaughtered in a single night.”

She lit another cigarette.

“I was twelve back then. An illegitimate daughter of the Everstone patriarch.” She exhaled. “I used to hate that identity. Never imagined it would be the reason I survived.”

Her face remained eerily calm.

“And now,” she said quietly, “we get to Royal Blood.”

“The Everstone bloodline itself was already special. But within the family, there were two bloodlines even rarer.”

“Royal Blood… and Overlord Blood.”

“They aren’t inherited,” Lilith explained. “When the previous bearer dies, the bloodline randomly transfers to another member of the family.”

“Those who possess them are superior in three core attributes—and awaken talents far stronger than anyone else.”

“The possessor of Overlord Blood can restore Infected to normal by passing a fragment of it to them,” Lilith explained, her voice calm but tinged with intensity. “They also gain the ability to devour the awakened talents of others. Naturally, this devouring is limited—it depends entirely on their own strength.”

Axel felt the pieces fall into place. Seeing the understanding cross his face, Lilith nodded. “And that’s how Saints are born.”

“But…” Axel frowned. “You said your family was wiped out. Then who holds the Overlord Blood now?”

A flash of bitter hatred crossed Lilith’s eyes.

“Perhaps that’s exactly why our clan was destroyed. Neither Overlord Blood nor Royal Blood can break the curse of dying at forty.”

“But… what if someone with an eighth or ninth-level Awakening inherited it? Could their body survive?”

Lilith’s lips curved in a grim, sardonic smile.

“Could the Everstone family have been erased without the involvement of the Five Great Families? I don’t believe it. And even if they could… could they have escaped the Upper House’s investigation?”

Her eyes glinted with mockery.

“After the Everstone family was wiped out, the official report said the entire clan had transformed into true Infected overnight. The authorities had no choice but to mobilize and eradicate them.”

“This is a game only a select few can play. Considering the Saints that came after… I now know for certain the Overlord Blood was stolen. I used to wonder why the Saints captured so many geniuses.”

She looked at Annabelle, her expression unreadable.

“Later, I understood. The one who stole the Overlord Blood believed they could get both the Overlord Blood and the Royal Blood—but they miscalculated.”

Her gaze fell to Annabelle. “How old is your sister this year?”