"Lillim! After all these years!"

"Hello, Jack, or do you prefer that tactless moker they gave you?"

"Err, Lillim, real happy to see you but who is this guy?"

"Jack, one of my daughter's fathers. The idiot forgot he was just a donor and fell in love with me. When I left, he went mad and became humanity's most famous serial killer, only to eventually be killed by our daughter when I brought her her at the age of six because of time difference the following year here."

"Lillim, I'm sorry, but never answer my questions about family matters again."

"Whimp. You'll need to grit your teeth if you're going to beat him, he may be a psychopath and a ghost, but he is incredibly dangerous."

"What the hell!? Why do I have to fight him? He's your ex and Carl's aunt was the one who killed him."

"True, but you are clearly rusty. The daughter in question, she's one of the ones you trained against."

"Really? Helagara? Lilienne? Clarisse?..."

"Did you actually remember all their names?" As she asked, Jack tried to make a move, but Lillim simply clicked her tongue and threw up an aura barrier.

"Yes, obviously, they were nice enough to train us."

"Shame you're engaged, I think you could have had your pick of them. Anyway, he is Clarisse's father. When she found out her father was butchering prostitutes in the hopes I was among them, she tore him apart. Unfortunately, he was able to endure as a phantom, he must have been a variant."

"You know what, don't worry about it, listening to your exploits and family drama is not my job. Still, I owe Clarisse, so if this can make us even... Scorch, come on out boy."

Gillian was engulfed in platinum fire, the deep gash healing almost immediately.

"What the 'ell's dis? Never seen one catch fire before."

"My grandson is very gifted, he made a child his friend could raise from nothing but a few animals and Bahamut's fire."

Before Lillim had finished, Gillian began to transform into his wolfen form and the moment he had finished Lillim dropped the barrier, looking around to figure out why he was out alone.

As she did, she could see that there were two sensory blocking barriers in effect. One was almost certainly the work of Carl, but the other one was not a presence she had expected and made her nervous.

"Gillian, does the name Illerion mean anything to you?..." As she asked the question Gillian yelped as he got distracted and cut into several times. "...Stay focused and answer the damn question."

Jack had transformed into a weird entity made entirely of blades, interlocked and grouped together with rivets like you'd find holding a pair of scissors together.

He was able to retain a mostly human shape, with his facial features being formed by serrated edges and shaping to the countless blade edges.

"Sorry. Yes, it does, we met her in the Timeless Reprieve or whatever it was called, she's pretty taken with Carl and tried to insert herself in their relationship."

"I see, do you know what might have brought her here?"

"No idea, I really don't care right now. She's an absolute enigma, I don't know if she wants us as friends or ornaments in some kind of collection and I'd rather avoid her.

"Insightful, what about Lycaon?"

"Carl, stole his wolf-form, he's not contracted or anything but he is subservient."

"Understood, now why is Jack giving you so much trouble?"

"Because It's me that owes Clarisse, not Scorch."

Lillim refocused herself on Gillian and Jack and saw what Gillian meant. He was keeping Scorch purely on healing duty and not using him to make his attacks more effective on the spirit he was fighting.

"Gillian, you aren't a good ma-"

"I know I'm not, but I want to be, so let me figure it out."

As annoyed as she was about him cutting her off, she did admire the unrelenting determination he showed in trying to do what was out of his reach.

"Fine, but just so you know, my faith in your ability to win was stringent on Scorch. You showed no aptitude for damaging spiritual or psychic entities during our training, you only passed because of your ability to direct the others and analyse them."

Gillian gritted his teeth, Lillim didn't know it, but he had been aware of that particular shortcoming for almost a decade. Repeated matches against Squidge had shown him time and time again that he isn't cut out for head-on matches against opponents resistant or immune to physical attacks.

'Eight years of losing to Squidge, the training against poltergeists Lillim put me through, all the advice Klaire gave me about soul-forms, why can't I get my damn head around this stuff.'

Jack had started toying with him, the moment he realised the only danger was the flames and after hearing Gillian tell Lillim he was keeping them out of it, he decided to delay until he could figure out how to deal with Lillim once Gillian was dead.

The fact that Gillian was growing more savage made evasion and defence an easy delay tactic and he was confident he could keep the wolf at bay for as long as needed.

Then everything changed in an instant...

"Argh! I'm being left behind dammit! How can I help Carl like this? Why did I have to get a summoner system, it doesn't suit me at all!"

[ EMERGENCY SUB-ROUTINE HAS BEEN ACTIVATED ]

[ IS HELPING THE HERO IMPORTANT TO YOU? ]

"What the fuck!? Of course it is, but I'm doing this alone!"

[ WOULD YOU SACRIFICE YOUR SUMMONS FOR HIM? ]

"Hell no! I won't betray them! I don't even use them because I don't want them getting hurt!"

Lillim narrowed her eyes, seeing something was happening with his system she produced her own sensory blocking barrier. "Gillian, stay focused, breathe and gather your wits."

[ YOU'RE VERY GREEDY FOR REMUS' CHAMPION ]

[ FINE, WHAT IF YOU COULD ASSIMILATE WITH THEM INSTEAD? ]

[ WOULD THAT BE ACCEPTABLE? ]

"Who the hell are you? You aren't my system, you never acted like this before. Are you Ishtar? You should be more concerned with apologising to Carl, you should be ashamed."

[ I ASSURE YOU I AM. ]

[ WOULD IT BE ACCEPTABLE? ]

"If they aren't in danger, if their strength is my strength, if they remain themselves. Yes, it's acceptable."

[ INITIATING EMERGENCY SUB-ROUTINE LAW OF INFINITY ACTIVATING ISOLATION ]

Time froze inside the aura field that Lillim had erected.

[ SYSTEM REMODELLING IN PROCESS... ]

[ APEX SUMMONER BUILD UNINSTALLATION COMPLETE...]

[ NEO-ASSIMILATOR BUILD INSTALLING... ]

[ NEO-ASSIMILATOR BUILD INSTALLATION COMPLETE... ]

[ LAW OF TIME BACK-UP DATA INSTALLING... ]

[ LAW OF TIME BACK-UP DATA INSTALLED ]

[ SKILL INSTALLATION COMPLETE ]

[ LEVEL DATA CONVERTED ]

[ SUMMON CONTRACTS RENEWED ]

[ I HAVE DONE ALL I CAN ]

[ DO NOT WASTE THIS ]

[ THE HERO'S LIFE IS IN YOUR HANDS ]

Time unfroze and Lillim looked around furiously as the chill of being in the presence of an entity on an entirely different level, ran up her spine and brought her to her knees.

Jack too was nervous, feeling like something he couldn't begin to fathom just walked over his grave. "Sorry little wolf, dunno know what jus' 'appened, but I know it's time to kill and scarper."

As he spoke, Gillian roared and his blades began to crack and chip. "You're not going anywhere. That really hurt, I can't believe that deadbeat elder-goddess had the front to show herself to me when her maybe baby is just a mile or two away."

"Gillian, what are you babbling about, what just happened?"

"I think it was Ishtar, she just changed my system, called me "Remus' Champion" or something. Guess she doesn't know he's long dead."

"Don't be an idiot, something we don't understand is going on, we need to finish this now." Lillim transformed and stepped towards Jack, but then Gillian gestured for her to stay back.

"I got this. Unlike Carl, she actually done me a favour." Gillian's body began to grow and change as he pieced together the aspects of various summons best suited for spiritual opponents.

His body seemed to shift out of phase with reality, his claws began oozing a foul liquid and his fangs began growing thick and ethereal.

"The Gemini-Panther's form swapping, the Soul-Tainter's venom and the Soul-Eater's fangs. Creatures I got to level the field against Squidge, but decided they were too dangerous. They weren't happy about being side-lined, but I'm glad they're happy with this new arrangement."

"Did Carl make you a chimera? What is this, Gillian?"

"Like I said, Ishtar just changed my system, now I integrate my summons abilities into myself." As he finished he charged in and slashed through Jack's arm, the blades began to rust immediately as the soul began to decay.

"What de 'ell? You bin 'olding back son?" Jack finished by showing Gillian he wasn't the only one if that was the case, bursting into a shifting mass of razor sharp blades with no sign of humanity left.

The battle devolved into chaos immediately, Jack swiped with cleaver-like blades in an attempt to shred him to ribbons in one swipe, but their linear formation made it possible for Gillian to slash them apart in on swipe of both arms.

Each blade beginning to rust where they had been severed, Gillian didn't stop there though and charged in slashing and tearing at every blade that Jack sent for him.

As she watched, Lillim returned to human form when the outcome seemed decided and a smile found her lips. "How much you changed Ishtar. It seems you made a hobby of making children into monsters..." Lillim looked in the direction of what felt like Carl. "...I never thought I'd say this, but the legacy you left behind makes me feel innocent by comparison."

Her attention was regained by the sound of countless blades shattering and resonating as they hit the ground and dissipated.

"See Lillim, I did it."

"Yes and all it cost was the last shred of your normality." She chuckled, before narrowing her eyes as Gillian returned to normal and wobbled.

[ FIFTH STAR ACHIEVED, ASCENSION WILL BEGIN ]

"Finally, earned a star myself Lillim..." Gillian then collapsed, but Lillim moved to catch him before he hit the ground.

"Yes, you did very well Gillian. It seems it cost you your mortality as well though. Rest, I'll keep you contained and call your bride-to-be."

[ PRIVATE MESSAGE SENT FROM LILLIM : SCYLLA, I'M ASKING TIAMUTAEL TO BRING YOU TO MY LOCATION, YOUR FIANCÉ IS ASCENDING. ]

[ PRIVATE MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM SCYLLA : HIM TOO? BLANC JUST STARTED HIS AS WELL. ILLERION AND LYCAON ARE KEEPING IT CONTAINED TO STOP GILGAMESH NOTICING. ]

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