Chapter 199

The building our guest rooms were in had a large central meeting space on the first floor with stairs that led to a balcony overlooking it. Everyone was seated around a large rectangular table by the time I had returned with Cecilia, though most of our gear had already been put into our rooms. Everyone was notably still wearing their armor and combat outfits though. Before we sat down Cecilia pointed up at my room in case I wanted to put down my things but I decided against it for now. Everyone looked far too ready to begin the conversation.

The only ones not present at the table were the two new pantharians and the agent who freed her, Kerling, I think her name was. Bella and Mimi were seated with an empty chair to their right and the twins were seated with an empty chair to their left, leaving an obvious spot for me to sit between them. Across from my chair was Silva then Lorriene and Talis on her right, Raya and Sibyl had an empty chair for Cecilia on the left. As tired as everyone was, it seemed like everyone was itching for this discussion at long last.

I sat down and patted Morrigan's leg. The twins were still wearing their maid uniforms. I wasn't sure if it would be a good idea to suggest replacing them with something else or not, they had taken pride in being my 'servants' but they were free now. I sighed, my mind was wandering because I didn't want to face what was in front of me... Silva.

"So..." Silva said. "I suppose this conversation has been a long time coming."

I nodded. "There's a lot to talk about but the first thing we should start with is probably the Order of Lilith, who they are and what they do. I'm concerned about them being a demon worshipping cult but I'm also not keen to take the Tamin church's word for anything. Especially after what I'd learned today at the Library."

I got a few interested glances from some of the people nearby, including Talis, but I decided that it could wait for now. What was most important to me was hearing about the Order and whether or not I could trust Lorriene and Silva right now.

Silva leaned back on her chair and tapped her fingers on the table in front of her. "Before we start, I suggest we use a [Zone of Silence], if there was ever a time for it, that would be now."

I nodded and threw the spell up around us, contouring it to the rug that surrounded the table in the middle of the room. The sudden lack of sound from outside the spell was still slightly unnerving but a good confirmation that it was working as intended.

Silva nodded. "I suppose I should start then. As I told Lilith after I killed the king earlier today, I am an assassin for the Order of Lilith and I have been one since shortly after I originally left my hometown. The story I told all of you about my past is true but I glossed over the fact that the one who gave me the tools to actually do my job properly was the Order of Lilith."

"If you properly did your job, why did you get caught?" Sibyl asked.

Silva laughed. "Mmm, well, there was one other detail I did lie about. The noble I had killed and was arrested for was not the one that had gotten my family killed. I killed that one more than ten years ago shortly after my training concluded. Getting caught for the most recent one was actually intentional, Baron Morrister was also a member of the Order, and coming in as a crime slave was cover to protect his family. Some nobles wouldn't allow me to accompany him on things like trips in their presence without being a collared slave. It's unfortunately the exact ones he would have been forced to deal with had he continued to live. For reasons that will probably seem evident in retrospect, he no longer could trust hiring other bodyguards he didn't know and my cover as a crime slave along with some planted history gave me a solid cover he could show people. It was too little too late however. Shortly after I came into his service the castle was attacked and he had forgone my protection for his daughter."

"Who is now in the custody of the Northern Greens," Cecilia said.

"Yes," Silva replied.

Bella shook her head. "But I still don't understand. Why was it Amphores that had attacked Goldenhearth in the first place?"

Silva shrugged. "I'm still not sure actually. It was the reason why I was so interested in returning there and looking for leads. Their goals don't make sense to me."

I cleared my throat. "All of that aside, who are the Order of Lilith and what do they actually want?"

Silva turned to Lorriene who returned the look with a raised eyebrow.

"Please, Aunt Lorriene. Tell us," Torien asked quietly.

Lorriene looked at Torien and sighed. She glanced at Silva again before looking back at me. "The Order of Lilith, or the Cult of Lilith, however you want to define us, are a group that 'worships' a coming goddess of liberation and lust. Lilith. Our prophecy, in contrast to the Tamin church, views her as a benevolent figure that comes to raise up the weak and the vulnerable, she gives them strength and frees them from the shackles of the lower caste of society. She's supposed to have a tall and imposing figure with large black wings and a long black tail. She shares her power through sex and lust and changes her follower's bodies to fit their true form." She took this moment to look at Silva before turning back to me. "Not everyone actually believes that Lilith is a real coming goddess, those like me and Silva joined for more practical reasons. Silva lost her family to a noble who used slavery as a weapon to get what he wanted." She glanced at Torien and Morrigan. "I joined for a chance to free my family and my blood relatives from generational slavery. The goddess Lilith is said to detest slavery and coercion and so her followers have been spreading across the world trying to undermine anywhere slavery is legal and attempting to subvert any aristocracy that supports it. It's during the second war of the gods that she will rise to godhood herself and lift her followers from the dregs of society into her harmony." She turned back to me with a glare. "But while our icon is aspirational, Lilith isn't real. I had thought that Silva wouldn't be so foolish to fall for a trickster like yourself. You have impressive magic, I'll grant you that, but the idea that you're actually her is a farce."

Morrigan gripped my leg. "Lilith. Show her your true form," she told me.

I sighed. Another prophecy. Another piece of the puzzle, this one says that now I'll be a goddess. I didn't like it but somehow the idea hardly surprised me at this point. I just wanted to live with my new friends and family and explore this new world but at every turn, things have conspired to bring me deeper into the gods' political game.

I stood up. "Mimi, will you take my armor and clothes?"

"Sure." She stood up and with a quick wave, my armor disappeared into her pocket dimension leaving me naked before the room.

Lorriene's face looked puzzled and Talis averted his eyes respectfully. I let my true form reassert itself and allowed myself to grow to my new full height. My black wings and long tail grew out to their full size. The slight stiffness in them was alleviated once my mana began to flow through my new limbs again. A shiver ran down my spine and my body tingled in pleasure from the cool air on my nethers, nipples, and sensitive wings and tail.

"This is my true form. I've been hiding it for... obvious reasons," I said with a shrug. "I don't like all of these prophecies that keep talking about me, but I no longer have any doubts that it is me that they're talking about. And I can believe Silva would be skeptical of something like this knowing her, so if I convinced her then you should at least take it somewhat seriously."

Lorriene's eyes had gone wide as she stared up at me from her seated position. After a moment her trance was broken and she looked around the room at everyone seated there. The only one who looked anywhere near as surprised by my transformation was Talis but even he wasn't gawking the way she was.

I felt more confident in this form. More sure of myself. I wasn't even embarrassed that I was standing nude in front of everyone but I suppose that was in part because I had slept with most of the people in this room already. This form is dangerous, it feels really good to be in this form and I didn't know if I could trust my thoughts clearly to stay like this for an extended amount of time. I would have to experiment with this form more when we were in a safer place. For now, I began to shift back, though I left my wings and long tail revealed. I didn't like hiding them anymore and as long as we were here I could get away with it, at least as long as the elves weren't around.

Mimi handed me my relaxed clothes that had been modified for my wings and tail, I slipped them on once I had fully returned to my normal size again. Once I had finished I sat back on the chair facing Lorriene who was still gawking at me.

"I... I... But you were supposed to be a demon..." Lorriene whispered.

"I have an origin title. The Origin of Succubi. The first time I had come across a demon, I rejected them as kin and Sorsette took advantage of the situation to force the Origin title to alter my race as it appears in the system. If the prophecy you have is anything like the one the Tamin church has, it says 'Lilith was born a demon' not that she stays as one."

Lorriene gasps. "You were born a demon but you're not one anymore! That's why no one suspects you of being that Lilith! You rejected them and became a demon slayer!"

Silva cut in. "And in Goldenhearth, she did the same transformation she gave me to nearly everyone in the brothel that Raya and Sibyl are from. Empowering and lifting them from the lowest caste of society to potentially one of the most powerful organizations in Goldenhearth overnight. She did all of this without any knowledge of our version of the prophecy. That is what convinced me, it was more than the changes she gained for herself in the middle of one of the orgies there."

"So that means..." Lorriene whispered while looking at Morrigan and Torien. "My nieces are among Goddess Lilith's slave wives..."

I reached over and grabbed Morrigan's hand. "No. I found them as slaves but they aren't my slaves any longer. I protect them because they're my family now, not because they're my slaves. And I probably don't need to point this out but I'm not a Goddess yet either."

Silva cleared her throat. "And Torien isn't Lilith's lover..."

My brow furrowed when Torien gave her an irritated look, I'm not sure what to make of that. I'll need to ask her about it soon.

Lorriene was now mumbling to herself and her eyes were darting back and forth as she looked down at the table. Suddenly she jumped up. "Silva! We need to talk to Sophin! This changes things!"

Silva chuckled. "I know Lori, relax. We have time."

Torien's fists clenched. "How do you know my aunt anyway?"

Lorriene looked over awkwardly and Silva nearly looked like she had been slapped, caught completely off guard by the amount of hostility in Torien's voice.

After a moment of quiet, it was Lorriene that answered. "Silva and I trained together and took on targets together..." She hesitated.

"And we were once lovers before we had a falling out," Silva finished for her.

This time it was Torien who looked like she had been slapped. She stood up from her chair and quickly walked up the stairs and into the room that had been set aside for me.

I was about to get up to follow her but Morrigan grabbed my arm and pulled me back down. "Let her go for now. This is one of those times where she needs a little bit of space," Morrigan said sadly.

Silva had a frown on her face and was looking at the empty chair where Torien had sat. I sighed heavily and scratched the base of my horn. Things were deteriorating a bit.