The Demon King who was defeated back then turned all their power into a curse and injected it entirely into Xue Ji.
But in the end, this indirectly led to Lilith’s birth.
Was it possession or bewitchment? Xue Ji was initially suspicious, maintaining strong vigilance toward Lilith.
Actually, it was neither. The seed of the Questioning Dao Tree from a thousand years ago was the key to Demon King Lilith’s birth.
Xue Ji’s soul became entangled with the severed Questioning Dao Tree, gaining the trait of separating soul impurities and repairing damaged souls.
And after becoming a Sage, her powerful soul force greatly enhanced the effect of this trait.
This was also the reason why Ling Xiaoxiao, whose soul was on the verge of collapse and whose personality had become twisted, gradually returned to normal.
Ling Xiaoxiao left her incomplete soul and power to Xue Ji, which indirectly allowed her own soul to be repaired.
This ability that even Xue Ji herself hadn’t realized she possessed—that was the reason for Lilith’s birth.
The Demon King defeated by the Hero’s party had indeed perished, but her essence as the world’s Regression Force could not be erased.
The previous Demon King’s curse that gender-swapped Xue Ji was actually a spell that injected her own essence completely into Xue Ji’s body in an attempt to possess her.
Of course, the spell failed. Xue Ji’s soul was too immense—the Demon King could only change her body, while her own consciousness had completely dissipated.
After Xue Ji absorbed all these essences, they regrew and, under the influence of Xue Ji’s soul, gave birth to a quirky and adorable girl—Demon King Lilith.
Lilith had revealed her origins from the very beginning; she had never once lied to Xue Ji.
Before she left, she told Xue Ji everything about the process of her birth and the duties she bore.
Eliminating world branches and returning the fragmented worlds to oneness—this was the true purpose of the Demon Kings of all worlds, the duty entrusted to her by the World Will.
Xue Ji disclosed these secrets to everyone, and their reactions varied.
Elia stood there blankly, thinking to herself: “Who am I? Where am I? Should I really be standing here?”
Sofia, upon hearing this, pulled Xue Ji over and examined her carefully, afraid that traces of the Demon King’s consciousness might remain within her.
Meanwhile, Ling Xiaoxiao gazed at Xue Ji with tender, loving eyes the entire time—she believed in Xue Ji more than anyone.
Shen Moling couldn’t help but sigh: “A coincidence? I’d say it’s practically a stage play woven by fate itself.”
“Fate, huh? Well said.”
With that, Xue Ji looked up at the pitch-black sun that had appeared in the sky.
“The final chapter of the story begins.”
Everyone followed Xue Ji’s gaze and looked over—a terrifying figure descended slowly, like the final villain of the story.
“Lilith! I’m here—” Chaya was in a good mood, finally reunited with her dear rival.
“What are you going to make her do?” Ling Xiaoxiao sensed the reluctance Xue Ji was suppressing in her heart and couldn’t help but ask.
“Have her take the place of the Great Shadow and descend as the villain recognized by the World Will.”
“But if you do that, this Lilith will…” Sofia couldn’t help but speak up.
Everyone present fell silent. Except for Sofia, they were all quite familiar with Lilith.
Was it really okay to let a girl like her make such a sacrifice?
A heavy stone pressed on their hearts. Even if they wanted to say something, everyone hesitated and fell silent.
“Honestly, making such ugly faces—who are you showing them to?”
Lilith, with her cascading black hair, gripped a giant scythe. Clad in a dark robe, she looked like death itself descending.
Her face was pale—having been away from Xue Ji for too long, she had become quite frail.
Chaya couldn’t help but run forward and throw her arms around her.
“You idiot, I’m not interested in you…”
She pushed Chaya’s face away with one hand, trying to make her let go.
“I’m not interested in you either!”
“So, this is a hug between friends.” With tears glistening in her eyes, Chaya held Lilith tightly.
Lilith was caught off guard by Chaya’s sudden move, and the harsh words she’d had ready wouldn’t come out.
“Y-you, don’t do that… I prepared for so long to… to… waaah.”
Before Chaya could cry, Lilith was the first to lose her composure.
As someone who shared the same heart as Xue Ji, she fully understood Xue Ji’s helplessness, and so she was willing to make sacrifices for Xue Ji’s sake.
But still—all the little moments of her life as the girl Lilith made her heart ache with longing. How she wished she could wake up and it would just be another day of playing and fooling around together.
How could she possibly not feel fear about what she was about to face?
“Lilith, we should go.” Xue Ji’s voice was calm, without a ripple of emotion.
“Xiao Ji! How can you be like this!” Ling Xiaoxiao couldn’t stand it and rushed forward to stand in front of Lilith.
Without realizing it, she had come to think of these little ones who had barged into her life as her own family—a complete reversal from how she used to be.
She looked at Xue Ji with complicated eyes and said seriously: “Is there really no other way?”
Xue Ji shook her head, her eyes not wavering in the slightest.
“Um, Miss Xue Ji, do you mean that you and Lilith are going together?” Sofia remained calm and understood Xue Ji’s meaning.
“Yes. Honestly, I don’t know what consequences will come from replacing the Great Shadow. But at this point, I have to stay calm. I may have caused you to misunderstand—I’ll apologize when we return.”
Lilith gently pushed Chaya away, wiped her tears, and walked toward Xue Ji.
The two figures intertwined and merged into one once more.
The long-absent darkened state appeared once again.
“What comes next—I leave to you.”
Xue Ji held the giant scythe and turned to leave without saying goodbye.
“You’ll keep your promise, right? You said you’d make it up to me.”
“And my feelings—I’ll wait until you come back to tell you.”
“Um… and my skewers!” Chaya thought for a moment and managed to find a promise Xue Ji hadn’t kept.
Hearing this, Xue Ji’s body jolted and she nearly tripped.
She couldn’t help but laugh, turning back to say: “Okay, okay, okay—if I can come back, I’ll make it up to all of you.”
“Idiot, not ‘if’—I want you to definitely come back!” Ling Xiaoxiao demanded with a smile.
“Yeah, we’ll definitely come back.” Xue Ji and Lilith’s voices intertwined as they responded to everyone.
Then, she swung the giant scythe, and the sea surface was split in two.
Without any hesitation, she resolutely jumped down, disappearing into a void of nothingness, indescribable.
As their actions began, the entire world was plunged into eternal night.
The Great Shadow’s influence weakened, and those true outer gods began to stir.
The evil god worshipped by the Hand of Secret Gods seized the opportunity and descended right in front of Ling Xiaoxiao and the others.
[Heh heh heh, finally waited for this moment—that one is finally gone.]
[I am the evil god…]
Just as it was about to say something, this evil god suddenly sensed several powerful auras emanating from below.
[What’s wrong with you all? Why so serious?]
Everyone’s faces were dark—their moods were already bad, and now some fool had walked right into the line of fire.
Ling Xiaoxiao and Chaya simultaneously drew their swords and slashed at this thing.
[Holy crap! Don’t!]
