novelraw Chapter 77: Anna
Chapter 77: Anna
While Lilian was preparing for the divinization, Orion was deep in thought, replaying everything that had happened today in his mind.
’Let’s see. Someone other than me is the person from the prophecy. Lilian has to perform some dangerous divinization, and most of all... I met an angel.’
’Jesus fucking Christ. I actually met an angel.’ Only now did Orion fully realize how absurd that was.
’Anyway... what am I supposed to do now?’ He tried to think, but struggled to come up with any decent plan.
Orion pulled at his hair.
"Aghhhhh... It’s so frustrating." He flopped onto the bed, covering his face with both hands.
"Hey, System. Can this other person from Earth have a system just like you?" Orion asked.
[Yes, that is a possibility. But rest assured, you possess the strongest system.]
Orion moved his hands away from his face.
"Are you sure, or are you just too arrogant to admit there could be a system stronger than you?" Orion narrowed his eyes.
[Host will find out in due time.]
"Aghh... why can’t you just give me a straight answer?" Orion closed his eyes.
’There’s no point overthinking this. Either I’ll ally with that person since we likely share the same mission... or we’ll become enemies.’
Orion decided not to stress over it.
"Sir Orion, are you there?" someone called from the other side of the door.
"Yes. Come in," he said.
Soon, a maid entered the room.
"Lady Lilian asked for your presence."
"Oh. Okay. Do you know where she is?"
"Yes. I’ll lead the way."
With that, Orion followed the maid.
They soon arrived at a hall similar to the one Orion had first seen, except this one had a large statue of a woman in the center, which Orion guessed was the goddess. The room was just as vast as the previous hall.
Lilian and another woman in a priestess uniform were sitting in front of a large table, with a golden goddess statue placed in the middle.
"Oh... Orion, you came." Lilian noticed him and quickly walked over.
"Yes," Orion said. "So... are you feeling nervous?"
"Well, I can’t help it. After all, divinization is a dangerous method."
"You can still back out. If you’re unsure, why not refuse?" Orion asked, concern visible on his face.
"I think I have to do this if I want to grow. So I’ll do it," she replied with determination.
"Okay, everyone. The portal is ready, and the prayers are complete. We are ready to proceed," one of the priestesses announced.
"Oh... I guess we have to go now. You’re coming with me, right?" she asked.
Orion nodded.
They stepped through the portal once again.
They arrived in a vast chamber colored entirely in blue. It was the same shade as Lilian’s aura, which made sense since this was the Dungeon of Justice.
"I feel like I’m right at home," Lilian said. "You see the big door over there? That’s the entrance to the dungeon."
"Okay, Lilian. We are prepared. Any time you’re ready," Ariel said, and both Lilian and Orion wondered when she had appeared behind them.
Lilian took a deep breath.
"Okay. I’m ready."
Ariel nodded. "Let’s begin."
They walked up to the massive entrance door.
Lilian sat before it.
The priestesses began chanting, and Lilian was soon coated in golden energy.
Everything was going fine.
But then—
Lilian’s body began to shake violently. More golden aura surrounded her until her figure was completely swallowed by light.
"What is happening?" one of the priestesses spoke, sweat forming on her forehead.
Ariel narrowed her eyes.
"That was not supposed to happen.""Aghhh... stop it... please..." Lilian screamed.
Hearing that, Orion rushed toward her. Even approaching the energy caused him pain.
"Lilian, are you okay?" He knelt beside her.
"Please....stop....Pain... aghhh..." Lilian whispered as she collapsed onto Orion’s lap.
"Cancel the spell or whatever this is. Now!" Orion shouted at Ariel, anger flashing in his eyes.
Ariel looked away.
"I’m sorry... it can’t be stopped now."
"What?" Orion’s vision blurred with anger, but he forced himself to stay composed.
"Everything will be okay. Just hold on..." But Lilian had already lost consciousness.
"Lilian... Lilian!" Orion called frantically.
Lilian slowly opened her eyes.
All she could see was white clouds surrounding her.
’Where am I?’ she thought, still feeling a massive pain in her head.
"Welcome, Lilian, to my humble abode."
A girl with a petite body and an extremely attractive face stood before her. She held a teddy bear in one hand and a chocolate bar in the other, though Lilian didn’t even know what chocolate was.
She didn’t look older than eighteen.
"Are you the goddess?" Lilian’s eyes widened.
"Goddess? Well, you can call me a goddess... but not the one you’re thinking of."
Lilian frowned. "Then who are you?"
The girl waved her hand dismissively.
"You can call me Anna. And as for who I am, that’s not really important. Just know that I’m very close—very close—to your boyfriend, Orion." She smiled teasingly.
’Very close...’ Lilian understood the implication, and a wave of anger washed over her, but she quickly composed herself.
’Wait. That doesn’t make sense. How could Orion have met her? Is she just trying to make me angry?’
"I know it doesn’t make sense, but it’s the truth," Anna said as she read Lilian’s mind.
"Wait. You can read my mind?" Lilian shouted.
"Well, of course. But that’s not important. Just know I’m here to help you," Anna said casually.
"Then why did you bring me here?" Lilian asked.
"I just wanted to meet you. That’s all. And maybe help you in some way."
"How is this helping me? I’m supposed to divinize the dungeon to help the goddess gather information."
Anna shrugged.
"I can just tell you what you want to know. The people you’re looking for are on the 60th floor. The boy is with three others, and one of them is beyond S-rank. Anything else you’d like to know?"
’What... beyond S-rank?’ Lilian was stunned by how casually Anna revealed such information.
Anna’s lips curved into a mischievous smirk.
"Now... would you like to see how your boyfriend was in his original world?"
Lilian froze. Seeing Orion on Earth? Wasn’t that offer too good to be true?
’What does this woman really want from me?’
"Nothing really," Anna replied as if reading her thoughts again. "No offense, but you can’t possibly have something I don’t." She paused. "Well... aside from your boyfriend."
Lilian heard that clearly and felt irritation rising, but she stopped herself from overreacting, sensing that Anna was simply trying to get under her skin.
"So," Lilian gulped, "how will you manage to show me, Orion, in his real world?"
Anna laughed. "You’re eager, aren’t you? Fine, let’s not keep you waiting."
She snapped her fingers.
In an instant, Lilian vanished—
—and reappeared on the rooftop of Orion’s school back on Earth.
"Who are you?"
Lilian turned toward the voice.
And then she froze.