Beelzebub landed beside Elira and pressed his small, trembling paw gently against her cheek. Her breathing was steady now, slow and even, but she would not be waking up anytime soon.

"Don't worry," I said quietly. "She'll be alright. She just needs rest."

I squatted next to him and brushed a finger over his head. He looked up at me, worry clear in his eyes. Of course he would. Elira was like a family member to both of us, in every way that mattered.

Snap!

The sound was sharp and unmistakable. A twig breaking to my left.

I turned my head instantly, body already shifting as my senses flared. The forest was thick with darkness, shadows layered upon shadows, but my eyes caught movement between the trees. A silhouette stood there, partially obscured by branches and leaves.

The figure was slender, its outline unmistakably feminine.

Enemy? No way they found me that quickly...

The halo of green ice pulsed behind my back, responding to the threat before I fully acknowledged it. The flower in my left hand bloomed to life, frost spreading across its petals with quiet menace. My stance lowered, weight centered, every muscle ready to spring.

For Elira, I did not care who stood in my way. Holy Knight or not. If I had to kill them all to keep her safe, then so be it.

"Hello, Beatrice."

The voice reached me before the face did, familiar enough to make my heart sink.

From the embrace of the darkness, a figure of unmistakable beauty stepped forward. Golden hair caught what little light filtered through the canopy, bouncing softly with each measured step. Her posture was calm, composed, as if she were walking into a quiet conversation rather than the aftermath of a battlefield.

"Hera..." The name left my lips heavier than I expected, dragging itself out of me with a weight that settled deep in my chest.

Why was she following me?

My mind raced immediately, cold and precise. I cannot fight here. Not again. Not with Elira like this. If her wounds reopen… I cut the thought short before it could fully form. I did not want to imagine how long such a fight would last, or how much damage it would cause to the fragile balance I had just restored.

Even if I could win against a Holy Knight, even if I could kill them, Hera was different. She was the main character of this story, the axis everything was meant to turn around. I had learned that the hard way in our last encounter. Strength alone would not decide this.

But maybe… Maybe {Blood Manipulation} could buy me time. Just enough. Enough for Beelzebub to take Elira and disappear into the forest, far from Hera's sight.

The thought crept up from the depths of my heart, quiet and desperate, coiling itself around my resolve as I faced her in silence.

"I'm not here to fight. You can cancel your abilities."

That single sentence unsettled me far more than the idea of clashing blades ever could.

"What are you playing at?" I asked, my voice low and sharp. I did not believe her. I could not. This was not the Hera I knew. Not the heroine carved into the pages of the book, the one who never reasoned with demons, who never hesitated, who slaughtered them all to the very end, innocent or not.

She did not answer right away.

Instead, she offered a faint smile. It barely qualified as one. There was no warmth in it, no triumph, no cruelty either. Just something restrained and distant. Slowly, deliberately, she raised both hands in a gesture of surrender.

"See?" she said calmly. "I'm not holding my weapon. I couldn't even dodge right now if you decided to kill me. I'm completely defenseless."

Her expression never shifted as she spoke. No tension in her shoulders. No tightening around the eyes. I tried to read her, but there was nothing familiar to latch onto. This approach was new. Too new.

What the hell is going on?

"Bullshit," I snapped. "Are your lackeys hiding nearby? Waiting to strike the moment I drop my guard?"

My eyes searched her face, scanning for the smallest fracture. A flicker. A twitch. Anything. There was something there, but it was not what I expected. Not vigilance. Not malice.

It looked more like sadness. Or loneliness? No... That makes no sense at all.

"I understand how you feel. You and I are not on the best of terms," she said evenly. "But today, I'm not here as your enemy. I came as a friend. Or at least… a potential ally."

My heart nearly jumped out of my chest.

Did I die somewhere and wake up in a different reality where Hera is not trying to put a blade through my throat?

"I don't think I follow," I replied, narrowing my eyes. My fingers shifted subtly, already prepared to send my acupuncture needles flying the instant she made a wrong move. Still, I did not attack. Something inside me urged restraint, a quiet insistence that cutting her down now would be a mistake.

If she truly wants me dead, she does not need theatrics, I thought. She does not need words.

She could have struck already.

That alone made me listen.

"I have a proposal," she said quietly, her voice dropping just enough to scrape against my nerves. "You and I attack the Holy Knights together and wipe them out. In exchange, I will allow you to keep the Qillin bones. You are here for them as well, aren't you?"

Her gaze sharpened, cutting straight through me.

"Otherwise, you would not have risked infiltrating the caravan just to make a few human friends," she continued calmly. "Or is it that you truly believe yourself to be human now?"

There it was.

I felt it settle between us, heavy and unmistakable. She had recognized me back in the town. Of course, she had. The words of the Holy Knight I killed had already confirmed as much. Hera never overlooked anomalies, and she never forgot faces that mattered.

And this… this disdain in her eyes, the way she looked down on me without even trying to hide it, was proof enough. This was Hera, through and through. The blessed 'princess' who loathed demons to her core, who never wavered, never softened, never questioned her righteousness.

To her, my blood alone was a sin.

No matter what mask I wore, no matter how convincingly I walked among humans, she would always see me as something that needed to be erased.

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