Dragon System: Red Dragon Legacy

Chapter 78: Lilian meets Lilian

"Who are you?"

When Lilian turned around, she froze in shock. She couldn’t believe her eyes.

It wasn’t Orion.

It was a girl—one who looked almost identical to her. So identical it felt like staring into a mirror.

"What? How is this possible?" Lilian stepped back.

The woman drew a sword and took a stance against her. Green energy radiated from the blade.

Lilian’s eyes widened.

’Where am I? Orion’s world doesn’t have magic. So how—?’

Seeing Lilian’s shocked expression, the woman relaxed slightly.

"Who are you? What are you doing here? And most importantly... why do you look like me?" She demanded.

Lilian forced herself to calm down.

"Hello, my name is Lilian and—"

The woman didn’t let her finish.

She charged.

But Lilian blocked effortlessly.

"Hey... calm down. Why are you attacking me all of a sudden?" Lilian asked.

"You appear out of nowhere, looking like me, and you have the same name." The woman’s aura turned oppressive. "I don’t think that’s a coincidence."

She tried to push her blade forward, but Lilian was far out of her league.

Lilian sighed. "That’s not how you follow up a blocked strike. You retreat first, then attack again." She paused, taking a slow breath. "And my name truly is Lilian... and I’m from another world."

The other Lilian’s eyes widened.

"Are you telling the truth?"

"Yes. And why are you able to use magic? As far as I know, this world isn’t supposed to have mana."

"What do you mean? Don’t you know about the Great Monster Outbreak?"

"Well, of course not. Didn’t you hear me? I’m from another world." Lilian retracted her sword and placed it into her storage pouch.

The other Lilian stared in disbelief.

"Where did your sword go?"

With a sigh, Lilian explained what a storage pouch was.

Hearing Lilian’s explanation, the other Lilian’s eyes widened. She studied her carefully.

"I can’t believe it... I’ve read novels about people from Earth reincarnating into other worlds. But seeing a reincarnated person right in front of me..." She shook her head slightly. "It’s a bit overwhelming. But why do you look exactly like me? You even talk like me."

"I don’t know why we look the same," Lilian said. "But I’m not reincarnated. I was sent here by... an eccentric person."

She then went on to explain how she had arrived in this world.

The other Lilian froze when she heard Orion’s name.

"Orion... there’s no way," she muttered.

She pulled out a picture from her pocket.

"Is it him?"

Lilian’s eyes widened again.

"Yes!" she shouted, then narrowed her eyes. "Wait. Why do you have a picture of him?" She hesitated. "Wait... did you two ever—"

The other Lilian didn’t let her finish.

"No. There was nothing like that. We were just childhood friends." She sighed deeply. "And that’s my biggest regret."

Her expression darkened.

"You see... he once confessed to me when we were thirteen." Her voice trembled slightly. "But I turned him down. I said we needed to focus on our studies." She gave a bitter smile. "When I was finally ready... Orion was already dead. I never got the chance to tell him how I truly felt."

She slowly sank to the floor.

Lilian understood. If she were in her place, she would be devastated too.

But one thought kept nagging at her.

Why didn’t Orion tell me about her? She looks exactly like me...

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

Wait... does he love me because I look like his childhood crush?

She decided she would corner Orion about it later.

"So... he never mentioned me to you?" the other Lilian asked as she slowly stood up.

"No. I’m sorry."

The other Lilian exhaled quietly. "It’s okay. We didn’t really talk much after I rejected him anyway."

She forced a small smile.

But Lilian could clearly see the pain hidden behind it.

They sat down on a bench on the rooftop.

"Everything’s too confusing. I don’t even know if I’m in the right world," Lilian muttered. "This world is supposed to be peaceful... without monsters."

"Well, it was like that before," the other Lilian said quietly. "But everything changed after the Great Monster Outbreak." She hesitated. "It happened right after Orion died. Exactly after."

She looked at Lilian seriously.

"Do you think... it has something to do with Orion?"

"I don’t know, maybe," Lilian said.

Suddenly, the world around them began to shift.

The sky distorted, the ground blurred, and within seconds, they found themselves in the same strange place where the girl with the doll had first brought Lilian.

The other Lilian stared at her surroundings in shock.

"Am I... in the clouds or something? Holy— I’ve seen a lot of things, but this..." She turned in a slow circle. "Where even is this place?"

Before Lilian could answer, Anna appeared out of nowhere.

"Hello... Lilian." She then looked at the other girl. "And hello to you... Lilian. Okay, since you’re both named Lilian, to avoid confusion, I’ll call the Earth Lilian ’Lily.’ Is that alright?" she said with a sweet smile.

The other Lilian shrugged. "That’s fine. It’s my nickname anyway." She kept staring at Anna in amazement.

"Good. Now, Lilian, I’m sorry. I made a mistake. Instead of showing you footage of Orion, I accidentally sent you to Earth."

"Well... can you send me home now?" Lilian asked.

Anna’s expression shifted slightly. "I’m sorry. I’m already in trouble for sending you there." She sighed. "But if you can find the rift between your world and this one, I’ll be able to send you back."

"Wait, wait, wait," Lily interrupted. "A rift between worlds? What are you talking about?"

"Well..." Anna clasped her hands behind her back. "When Orion was reincarnated, the reincarnation cycle hit a bit of turbulence. It accidentally created a rift between your world and Lilian’s world."

She paused.

"That’s why your world now has mana. The monsters you’re fighting? They’re just animals mutated by mana exposure."

"What?!" Lily shouted.

"Oops. Time’s up. Gotta go. See you later."

Anna vanished before either of them could respond.

The world shifted again.

In the next moment, Lilian and Lily were back on the school rooftop.

The instant they reappeared, Lily suddenly drew her sword and slashed toward Lilian—

Lilian prepared to retaliate—then saw a massive bat-like creature fall before her, sliced clean in half.

"Oh God... they’re here. The monsters—they’re here," Lily muttered, her voice tightening. She turned to Lilian. "You can fight, right?"

Lilian nodded and summoned her sword.

They jumped down from the roof and landed on the playground.

Hundreds of monsters stood before them—tiger-like, lion-like, bull-like. The difference was their size, their terrifying teeth, and the ominous aura they emitted.

The tigers charged first.

Lilian swung her sword. The aura blades surged forward, slicing them clean in half.

The remaining monsters scattered in fear.

The other Lilian stared at her in shock.

"What was that?"

"I’ll explain later. Now, what do we do? Chase them, or leave this place and go somewhere else?"

"We chase them. There are students here, and not all of them have awakened their magic yet."

"Alright, Lily. What’s the plan?"

"We focus on the monsters inside the building. Forget the ones on the road."

She ran toward the school. Lilian followed.

Lilian summoned blue flames in her palm and hurled them at the monsters that were chasing them. They were reduced to ash instantly.

"Damn..." Lily muttered before continuing forward.

They entered the building.

Bang! Bang!

Gunshots echoed through the halls.

"What was that?" Lilian asked, raising her guard.

"It’s a gun. Like a bow and arrow... but not really." Lily shook her head. "You’ll understand when you see it."

They entered a classroom. Children were hiding under desks, terrified.

When they saw Lily, they rushed toward her.

"Big Sis Lily!" A little girl hugged her legs. "I’m scared... please take me home."

Lilian’s heart tightened.

’A world that never knew monsters or magic... now forced to face this.’

Monsters still terrified Lilian, even after growing up around them. She could only imagine how frightened these children must feel.

The little girl looked from Lilian to Lily, her wide eyes filled with curiosity.

"Is she your twin?"

Lily glanced at her. "Yes... let’s say that."

She handed Lilian a black mask that covered everything but her eyes.

"Put this on. Otherwise, we’ll have to explain ourselves to everyone."

Lilian nodded and put it on.

"Listen carefully," Lily told the children. "Stay here. Don’t make noise. Once I clear the school, I’ll take you home."

They nodded and returned to hiding.

The school had become a warzone.

Gunshots. Explosions. Magic echoed everywhere.

Lilian and Lily ran down the hallway toward the nearest fight.

They heard more gunfire from the auditorium.

They exchanged a glance and rushed inside.

Two boys and two girls were fighting a massive gorilla-like monster, nearly twelve feet tall. The bullets they fired bounced off its thick hide without leaving a scratch.

"Luke, stop firing! We need to use magic!" a girl shouted. "Casy, do your thing! Roy, use those muscles of yours and tank its attacks!"

The blonde girl, Casy, immediately summoned flames into her palm.

The large, bulky guy grabbed a massive sword and stepped forward.

"Ready?" the woman who seemed to be their leader asked.

Without hesitation, they charged.