Exiled Prince: I'm the Unexpected Extra in the Novel-Chapter 148: Date with Lilith [7] “Balance, Fear and Pride

Chapter 148: Date with Lilith [7] “Balance, Fear and Pride

The spoon in Cassian’s hand fell onto the plate with a metallic clatter. The taste of the food he was eating turned to ash in an instant.

His red eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"Are you..." said Cassian, his voice like a cautious growl. "Trying to set a trap for me or something?"

Lilith put her hand over her heart, an exaggerated, theatrical expression of sadness appearing on her face.

"You’re breaking my heart, honey," she said, pursing her lips.

"Why would I do such a thing? I am the one who wants your well-being, your survival the most. You are my one and only lover, have you forgotten?"

"Then what nonsense are you spouting!" roared Cassian, slightly straightening up from the table. "How do you know this?"

Lilith smiled. It was the smile of a being who knew everything, who looked beyond time.

"Have you forgotten, Honey?"

"I was once Yavres’s avatar. I was the shadow of the first god on earth."

She picked up the water glass on the table, gently swirling the water.

"Back when I still served Yavres, when I was his favorite... I brought the souls of the reincarnators to this world. Or rather, I acted as an intermediary at the interdimensional gate between Yavres and the world. I opened the door, I let them in."

She fixed her eyes on Cassian.

"You know, the gods’ control over Earth is limited. They cannot attempt anything directly on their own."

Cassian’s face contorted with anger. He clenched his teeth so hard that his jaw muscles became prominent.

"So..." he said, spitting every word like poison. "You are the one who inflicted those son of a bitch parasites, those leeches gnawing at the world, upon this world. Aris, that silver-haired bastard... You brought them all upon us."

Lilith shrugged, taking a sip of her water with a guilt-free attitude.

"Well... You could think of it that way," she said comfortably. "But back then, I couldn’t have known it would be like this, that things would get out of hand. I was just doing my duty. You can’t blame me, can you? I was a victim too."

Then she put the glass on the table, placing her hand on her chest again with pride.

"But look at the bright side, my prince. I brought them. So..." Her eyes narrowed with a dangerous glint. "If you want to destroy them, I know all their weaknesses, fears, and strongest points!"

Cassian closed his eyes. He tried to digest this information.

He tapped his finger on the table rhythmically, thoughtfully.

"Tap... Tap... Tap..."

Only two princes being in the north right now... This was a priceless, incredible chance.

If all 6 Princes attacked at once, defeat was inevitable for Cassian.

But two people... This meant the balances could change.

But there was a problem.

Right now, Cassian was alone. He couldn’t leave the Cryomara capital.

If he did, the city would remain vulnerable. Fredrinn and all his allies were far from him.

Currently, if he tried to fight two princes... Defeating even one of them was quite difficult.

He remembered his battle with Luin.

Back then he was weak, yes. Now he had improved himself considerably, defeated Nerath. But Nerath was a weakened, divided god.

These Princes were at the peak of their power.

If two princes decided to attack at the same time, Cassian would find himself in an inextricable circle of death.

And the biggest problem... If he died now, he couldn’t resurrect again.

Rebirth Flame ability was on cooldown.

There was a long, very long time for it to reset. This meant he had a single life. He didn’t have the luxury of making a mistake.

Cassian called out to the depths of his mind.

"System," he said internally.

"To reset the cooldown of the Rebirth Flame ability... What is the price?"

A blue, digital screen appeared in his mind.

[User request detected!] [Calculating price...] [Calculation Complete.] [Price: 1 year 4 months Lifespan + 6 months Memory Loss]

Cassian’s eyes widened with anger.

Again? His memories again? A part of his memories had already been erased.

Now did it want his recent past, maybe his memories with Iris, with Fredrinn?

"Offer another deal!"

"Stop exploiting my lifespan and memories, you exploitative son of a bitch! Find another way!"

The system paused for a moment.

Then the text changed, its color turning blood red.

[Request detected!] [Preparing Alternative Offer...] [Alternative Price: Kill Lilith.] [Description: Completely destroy Lilith’s spiritual existence.]

Cassian froze. He looked at the girl eating and smiling at him across the table.

"What the fuck is this request?" he said with surprise.

A new notification came from the system. This time the text was in a more personal, colder tone.

[∆ System Notification: The Goddess offering the ability is not willing to bargain.] [Note: "Get rid of that bitch,"]

"Zevst..." thought Cassian, getting angry inside.

He could hear the Goddess’s tone of voice in that text. Jealousy. Possessiveness.

"Bitch..." he said internally. "No matter what, she wants to make me dependent on her, destroy everyone around me and leave me in need of only her."

Cassian made a fist with his hand under the table.

He decided not to sacrifice anything. Sacrificing his lifespan, maybe, he could agree if he was in a very difficult situation, but if he got used to doing this, if he sold a piece of himself at every difficulty... In the end, he would be no different from a hollow, memory-less, emotionless shell.

He took a deep breath, erased the blue screen from his mind.

He opened his eyes and focused on Lilith, who was looking at him curiously. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"Who are the princes in the north?"

Lilith put down her fork, brought her finger to her lip and thought.

"Hmm, let’s see... Who came to the party?"

Her eyes shone.

"Aethrax Emberion... And Seralya."

Cassian looked blankly.

"Don’t tell me their names, you know I don’t know their names, describe them by appearance."

"Okay okay, impatient thing," said Lilith giggling. "First one... fire maniac. Short, broad-shouldered, bearded, constantly angry dwarf. His fire, although not as much as your chaos flames, is strong enough to burn the world."

"The second one is... The mysterious woman whose face is never seen, always veiled, whose voice is like the wind. Princess of Balance."

Then she waved her hand.

"Actually Umbrelion, the lord of curses is also in the north. But he... He won’t lift a finger. So be at ease about him."

Cassian sighed deeply, leaned back.

"Are you kidding me?" he said in disbelief. "You just said they were only two people!"

"Ahaha! No no!" Lilith waved her hands to both sides.

"As I told you, I know not only their powers but all their weaknesses, strengths, personalities, fears, and beliefs, honey."

She leaned over the table, winked.

"Trust your lover a little."

Cassian, trying not to get stuck on the word "lover", said, "Tell me."

Lilith extended her fingers towards Cassian and started counting.

"Look, first Umbrelion... That man doesn’t care about winning or losing this war."

"He values his own life, his own existence more than anything."

"And you... You are an unknown to him. An anomaly. He will never risk himself without understanding how strong you are, what kind of secrets you harbor, who is behind you."

She smiled.

"He weakens against those he fears, his power is drained. This is his weakness, Fear."

"Instill such fear in him, show him such horror that... He remains as powerless as an ant against you, looks for a hole to escape."

"What about the woman?" asked Cassian. "Seralya?"

"As for Seralya..." A mocking expression appeared on Lilith’s face. "Even if she wants to, she cannot join the war with her full power. Her hands are tied."

"Why?" asked Cassian, raising a single eyebrow.

"Because she cannot disrupt the balance," said Lilith. "This is her ability and power. She is the Princess of Balance."

"If the enemy facing her is weak, she has to weaken too. If the enemy is a single person, she has to fight alone too. You are a single person, have you forgotten? There is no army behind you. Therefore, while fighting you, Seralya will have to equalize her power to yours. She cannot crush you."

A light turned on in Cassian’s mind.

"So... I should never use my best form, Sovereign Form against her."

"Exactly!" said Lilith, snapping her finger.

"Fight against her in your weakest state. Even injure yourself, tear yourself apart, look helpless. You will heal anyway, you have regeneration."

Cassian nodded. This made sense. Dangerous but logical.

"Remaining..." he said, grimacing. "Is that dwarf. Aethrax."

Lilith’s face fell.

"Coming to the dwarf... Now that is a real problem."

He will not stay on the sidelines of the war. He is not cowardly like Umbrelion or rule-bound like Seralya.

He is pure destruction. And fighting against him will be quite difficult, after all, you cannot use the ice element."

"What is his weakness?"

Lilith paused.

"Actually... It wouldn’t be right to say he has a weakness," she said honestly.

"Because he has no opening you can use during battle, that would take him down instantly. Physically and magically, he is like a tank."

She fixed her eyes on Cassian.

"You can only be sure of this... At the end of this war, either you will come out alive or he will..."

"Because his weakness is his arrogance. His desire to always cause destruction, his obsession with proving he is stronger than everyone..." "He doesn’t run. He doesn’t retreat. He attacks until he dies."

Cassian fell silent. Processed the information. Scare Umbrelion, play weak against Seralya, fight to the death with Aethrax.

The plan was simple but the execution... Would be like hell.

"I understand," he said.

Lilith picked up the last crumb of cake on her plate with her finger and threw it into her mouth.

She had finished her meal. She put her spoon on the table and smiled with satisfaction.

"How is it, my prince?" she asked eagerly, expecting approval like a child. "Isn’t the information I gave great? Useful, right?"

Cassian looked at her. This woman had just revealed the secrets of the powers ruling the world.

"Yes, it is," he said honestly. "It’s useful."

Upon receiving this approval, Lilith creaked her chair, approached Cassian thoroughly over the table and extended her head to him. Her hair was touching the table.

Cassian pulled back. "What?"

Lilith closed her eyes, waited.

"Pat my head."

Cassian’s mouth fell open. "Why?"

"You heard me! Pat my head! I gave so much information, didn’t I deserve a reward?"

"I don’t want to!" said Cassian, frowning. "Are you a child?"

"Ehh!" Lilith opened her eyes. "But I told you so much strategy! Consider your life saved! Is it so hard to say ’well done’?"

When Cassian said nothing and crossed his arms on his chest, Lilith’s cute state changed in an instant.

Her eyes widened, her red irises shone. A psychopathic, thousand-year-old witch expression settled on her face.

Her voice deepened instantly, the air in the room froze.

"PAT MY HEAD!"

This voice was not a request, it was a divine command.

Cassian flinched at the sudden change.

He got goosebumps. This woman was truly unstable. And right now, in this artificial world, being stubborn with her was risky.

"Okay, okay! Damn it..."

Hesitantly, with a bit of fear, he extended his hand.

He touched Lilith’s soft, white hair. He stroked her hair cautiously as if petting a wild animal.

The terrible witch turned back into the cute girl the moment Cassian’s hand touched her head.

Happily, purring like a cat, she giggled.

She got up from her seat, came to Cassian’s side, and without hesitation put her head on his lap and lay down.

She sprawled so her head was on Cassian’s knees.

From below, she looked at Cassian with her red eyes. There was a mocking, satisfied smile on her face.

"Good boy," she said.

In response, Cassian’s eye twitched. His patience had run out.

He quickly threw both his hands to Lilith’s cheeks and pulled those soft cheeks to both sides, hard enough to hurt.

"You..."

"Im sowwy! " moaned Lilith as her cheeks stretched. But her eyes were still laughing.