The next morning in the Abyssal Citadel began with silence.
Ethan woke on the cold stone floor, joints aching and back stiff. Lilith was already gone. Her side of the room smelled faintly of roses—and ash.
He rose and followed the dim path through the corridors, passing towering windows that revealed a sky of swirling red clouds and distant screaming stars. Demons bowed as he passed, not out of respect, but mockery.
He was the human husband.
An oddity.
A joke.
He entered the royal garden—a courtyard filled with blood-colored blossoms and statues that wept black tar. It was there that he met her.
Sariah.
A demon maid with silver hair and violet eyes that glinted with mischief. Her smile was too warm for this cold world.
"My lord," she said sweetly, bowing low. "You must be tired… alone. Would you like some company?"
Ethan tensed. "I'm fine."
She stepped closer. "Your queen is powerful… but cold, isn't she? Wouldn't it be easier if you had someone who actually touched you?"
She pressed a hand gently against his chest.
He stepped back. "I said I'm fine."
Suddenly, the air turned sharp.
Sariah's smile twisted into something monstrous. Her claws extended. Her voice dropped into a growl.
"You should have taken the offer, human."
She lunged.
Ethan dodged just in time, falling to the ground as her claws ripped through the stone where he stood. She moved with inhuman speed, shrieking, feral.
She's fast. Strong. No weapon… think.
Ethan grabbed a shard of broken obsidian from the floor and rolled under a column. When she pounced again, he stabbed her arm, then drove his knee into her gut.
She howled in fury—but not pain.
"You can't kill me," she hissed.
"I don't have to," Ethan said, panting. "I just have to survive long enough."
Before she could strike again—
A shadow fell over them.
Lilith.
Her eyes were pure crimson. Her presence dropped the air to freezing.
With a flick of her hand, Sariah was hurled against a wall, spine-first. Another flick—and chains of fire wrapped around her.
"I gave you a task," Lilith said coldly. "You failed."
Sariah screamed as she was dragged away by unseen hands.
Ethan wiped the blood from his face.
Lilith turned to him.
"You knew she was sent to test you."
Ethan looked her in the eyes. "I suspected. But even if she wasn't—I wouldn't betray you."
Silence.
Then—
For the first time, Lilith smiled.
Not a smirk. Not a cruel grin.
A real, soft smile.
Only for a second.
Then it was gone.
She turned and began walking away. "You passed."
Ethan stood in stunned silence.
Something had changed.
Not just in the game…
But between them.