At the very instant the black light blade was about to touch her forehead, Aphrodite didn’t have time to think. She could only blurt out everything she had seen in a panic.
“Wait! When you said you saw… did you mean that black sphere?”
Lia’s movements faltered for a moment, the energy of the light blade at her fingertip flickering unsteadily. But her icy gaze remained locked on Aphrodite.
There’s a chance!
Aphrodite seized the opportunity immediately, speaking at a breakneck speed. “I rescued you from inside a black sphere. I’m sorry for hiding this from you.”
“Black… sphere?” Lia subconsciously repeated the word, a fleeting hint of confusion flashing through her cold purple eyes.
The final fragments of memory before she lost consciousness surged through her mind—a boundless darkness devouring her awareness, the holy Light Cocoon stained and consumed by the filthy darkness surging from within her, turning black and wrapping around her completely…
Yes… She remembered now.
She finally realized what had happened to her.
After that damned bastard had chosen to self-destruct in a mutually destructive way, the demonic bloodline within her that had always been suppressed suddenly erupted out of control in the face of death.
While protecting her, it had greedily devoured most of the corrupted energy released by the explosion…
Afterwards, the girl had become the very form she now so despised.
At first, she had stubbornly fought the darkness inside her, but little by little, she started to lose.
In order to avoid hurting the innocent, and not wanting the Church to see her like this, she dragged her nearly broken body away, fleeing into the depths of the forest.
She had tried again and again to purify the rampaging foreign energy inside her with the power of elven holy radiance, only to fail every single time…
At last, as her consciousness was about to be swallowed by madness, she made her final, desperate choice.
She exhausted every ounce of remaining strength to seal herself within a Light Cocoon woven of holy radiance, trying to cut herself off from the outside world and buy herself a final sliver of hope and time…
However, she had underestimated the stubbornness and strength of the darkness within her.
That out-of-control power kept seeping out from within, like ink dripping into clear water, eventually staining the entire Light Cocoon pitch black from inside out… and her consciousness was completely consumed, plunging into endless darkness.
In other words, she was already in this state before entering the sphere; the Aphrodite before her had never witnessed the process of her transformation.
This clear deduction poured over Lia’s burning murderous intent like a bucket of cold water, instantly dousing it.
Her tense body relaxed a fraction, and the dangerous black light blade at her fingertips quietly dispersed as she withdrew her power, dissolving into flecks of darkness in the air.
She looked down at Aphrodite, pinned beneath her, a complex emotion flickering in her icy eyes.
So… I really overreacted.
The room’s atmosphere, so taut just moments before, instantly shifted into a strange stasis—and an indescribable awkwardness.
Especially given their current posture—the girl still straddling Aphrodite’s waist and abdomen. Now that the killing intent had faded, the position felt incredibly awkward and out of place.
“…Sorry,” the girl said softly, “I… misunderstood.”
Hearing this, the heavy stone in Aphrodite’s heart finally dropped with a thud, and she quietly let out a long sigh of relief.
She had really thought she was about to have her memory erased!
Aphrodite managed to force a somewhat composed expression, rubbing her still aching neck. “It-it’s fine… as long as the misunderstanding is cleared up.”
For a moment, a heavy and awkward silence hung in the air—especially given the two’s current posture, which really wasn’t suitable for any kind of “heart-to-heart” conversation.
“Um…” Aphrodite probed tentatively, breaking the silence. “Could you… maybe get off me first?”
Reminded by these words, the girl suddenly realized just how inappropriate their position was, a faint but nearly imperceptible blush and embarrassment flashing across her pale cheeks.
She gave a brief reply, then braced her hands on the floor on either side of Aphrodite, preparing to get up.
But just as she began to move, arms barely straightened, her body abruptly stiffened, as if something inside had locked her in place, freezing her mid-motion.
Huh? What’s going on?
Aphrodite stared at Lia, who had suddenly stopped moving, her body trembling slightly, and found it strange.
What’s with getting halfway up? Did she change her mind?
The next moment, disaster struck!
The girl’s upper body, which had just started to rise, suddenly slammed down again!
Her hands clamped down like iron shackles, gripping Aphrodite’s wrists with shocking force!
At the same time, a suppressed, guttural growl rumbled in the girl’s throat, her breathing becoming frantic and erratic.
The sudden change gave Aphrodite a fright. She instinctively tried to struggle, but her wrists were locked so tightly it hurt—she couldn’t move at all.
Startled, she looked up at the girl on top of her.
Lia’s once clear, cold eyes were now rapidly being overtaken by an ominous, deep, ghostly purple!
Her gaze turned vacant and unfocused, as though staring into some distant, terrifying vision only she could see.
This is… Corrosion Sickness.
Aphrodite instantly understood.
A Demonic Hybrid, because of their impure bloodline, always found themselves in an awkward position among both humans and demons. But if it were just the bloodline, neither side would shun them so completely.
The true reason everyone feared them was actually their unique, uncontrollable “Corrosion Sickness.”
Its root lay in the fact that Demonic Hybrids were born with corrupted energy inside them.
Yet, because of their mixed blood, they couldn’t control this innate power as freely as pure-blooded demons could.
Whenever their emotions fluctuated wildly, their strength was overdrawn, or they were subjected to a severe shock, the internal balance would collapse, the darkness would rampage out of control and turn upon them, triggering this state known as “Corrosion Sickness.”
Those who fell into Corrosion Sickness manifested in various ways. Some would become utterly deranged, attacking any living thing in sight; others would become obsessed by a primal craving for the source.
But no matter what, this state was a tremendous torment and harm to the victim, rapidly draining their life force. If not calmed in time, the consequences were unthinkable.
Aphrodite could recognize it at a glance because she was just too “experienced” with it.
When Bella was little, she’d had mild episodes of Corrosion Sickness for all sorts of reasons. And every time, wasn’t it her “old man” who had to guide and soothe her?
The girl before her now—the only difference from young Bella was the stronger power fluctuations and more obvious symptoms. That same confusion and loss of control in her eyes was exactly like Bella during a flare-up as a child!
Anyone else suddenly faced with this would likely have panicked completely.
But who was Aphrodite?
She was a “seasoned veteran” at handling problems like this!
Her first reaction wasn’t fear, but rather an almost instinctive professionalism: “Oh, Corrosion Sickness is acting up. Better deal with it quick, or she’ll get hurt.”
With her, Aphrodite, here, this was simply not a problem at all.
The most urgent thing now was to guide and calm Lia’s rampaging darkness, to bring her back to herself.
So, Aphrodite instinctively tried to summon her power, intending to treat Lia the same way she had soothed Bella in the past, guiding and suppressing the rampaging energy.
But just as her mind moved and she prepared to fix the trouble, she suddenly realized an extremely awkward fact.
This body… wasn’t the old “Bahros” body anymore!
Although during the last core absorption Aphrodite had replenished herself with a fair amount of corrupted energy, she still couldn’t control it as freely as she once did.
The only power she could freely use now was holy radiance.
And what was holy radiance? It was the very opposite of darkness—completely and utterly incompatible!
Use holy radiance to guide darkness?
That was like pouring oil onto a fire! Was she trying to get herself killed faster?!
I’m—I’m doomed!
Looking at the girl lying atop her, dazed-eyed, breathing hotly, gripping her wrists so tightly, Aphrodite felt for the first time what it truly meant to “cook a meal without any rice.”