Claire remained by the door for several seconds, as if expecting Lilith to start laughing and admit that the whole thing was a joke. When that did not happen, she slowly walked back toward the center of the room and crossed her arms. "Are you serious?" she asked.
Lilith answered with a simple nod. The knight's expression was almost enough to make her reconsider her decision, not because she was afraid to leave, but because she was beginning to wonder exactly what kind of person the old Lilith had been for something so simple to be this surprising.
"The expedition leaves first thing tomorrow morning. We're not going for a walk in the forest, Lilith. We have to inspect a fairly large area before the Eternal Bastion can continue." Claire pointed at the sword resting on the desk. "And even though we're still outside the Demon Continent, that doesn't mean the surrounding area is safe."
"I understand."
"Do you really?"
"Claire, I want to leave the fortress, not throw myself off a wall."
The knight let out a small laugh. "You're definitely different." After watching her for a few more seconds, she eventually shrugged. "All right. I'll wait for you tomorrow at Gate Four. If you change your mind, tell me before I have to send someone to look for you."
Lilith promised she would be there and watched her leave. As soon as the door closed, she immediately turned her attention toward the sword. There was one small problem she had preferred not to mention during the conversation: she had no idea how strong she actually was.
She knew she belonged to a race physically superior to humans, and her memories told her she had trained for years, but possessing fragmented memories was one thing and facing a real monster was something completely different.
Even so, when she grabbed the hilt again, her fingers naturally settled around it. Ethan had never used a sword in his life, but Lilith's body clearly had.
The next morning, she woke up before anyone had to come looking for her. Getting dressed was still more complicated than she would have liked to admit, although this time it took considerably less time. She found a black outfit that was far more practical than the clothes from the day before: fitted pants, tall boots, a dark shirt, and a short jacket reinforced with leather in several places.
She fastened the sword around her waist and studied her reflection for a few seconds. The elegant princess from the previous day now looked like a real adventurer. "Not bad," she murmured before leaving.
Finding Gate Four would have been impossible without help, so this time Lilith abandoned any attempt to protect her pride and simply asked for directions. She descended several levels using a series of enormous platforms powered by mechanisms she did not understand and passed through sections of the fortress she had not yet seen.
The farther down she went, the less residential the surroundings became. Markets and gardens were replaced by warehouses, workshops, stables, and large areas where soldiers carried crates of supplies.
Claire was waiting beside an enormous metal gate accompanied by six people. Some wore light armor while others carried large backpacks filled with tools. Lilith did not recognize any of them, although all of them seemed to recognize her.
She received several respectful greetings and responded in the same way, internally grateful that no one tried to start a conversation about events she could not remember.
"I thought you weren't coming," Claire commented.
"I arrived before they opened the gate."
"By thirty seconds."
"That still counts as arriving early."
Claire shook her head with a smile. Before she could respond, a metallic sound echoed throughout the chamber. Several chains began to move, and the gigantic gate slowly opened, allowing a stream of cold air to enter. Lilith took a few steps forward with the rest of the group and, for the first time, saw the Eternal Bastion from the outside.
She had to tilt her head back.
And keep tilting it.
From the upper walls, the fortress had looked enormous, but seeing it from the ground was completely different. The walls rose hundreds of meters above her, covered with towers, windows, and platforms.
Farther away, she could make out one of the gigantic metal legs resting against the ground. That structure alone looked large enough to contain several buildings inside it.
Thick steel plates covered its surface, and enormous joints connected one section to another. Lilith struggled to understand how something that size could possibly walk.
"Have you never seen it from down here before?"
Claire's question forced her to look away.
"It's been a while."
It was not exactly a lie. For Ethan, specifically, it had been an entire lifetime.
The group began moving forward, and Lilith noticed something strange after the first few steps. She looked down. The ground was not vibrating. Since waking up, she had grown accustomed so quickly to the Eternal Bastion's constant movement that the complete stillness of the earth now felt almost unnatural.
Claire noticed her staring at her boots. "Already regretting it?"
"I'm checking the terrain."
"Sure. Just like you checked that storage room."
Lilith turned her head toward her. "How do you know about that?"
Claire's smile answered before her words did. "Maids talk."
Lilith decided she would have to start paying more attention to her reputation.
The forest began to surround them shortly after they left the fortress. The trees were much larger than they had appeared from the walls, and some roots rose from the ground as high as her waist.
Small blue lights floated between the branches like fireflies, although they remained visible even beneath the sunlight. Lilith tried to observe everything without looking too impressed. Every unfamiliar plant was another reminder that she was truly walking through a completely different world.
They had been traveling for less than an hour when one of the scouts raised his fist.
Everyone stopped.
Lilith heard something among the bushes before understanding why. A deep growl came from her right. Her senses seemed to focus automatically in that direction, and for a moment, she could even hear the crunch of leaves beneath a pair of paws.
The creature leaped.
It looked like a wolf, although it was almost as large as a horse. Its dark gray fur was covered with small bone plates, and two black horns protruded from its head. It lunged directly at Lilith with its jaws wide open.
She had no time to think.
Her body simply reacted.
One moment she was standing in front of the monster, and the next she had stepped aside with such speed that the world seemed to slow down. Her hand found the sword's hilt. The blade left its sheath and traced a clean arc before Ethan could even decide where to strike.
The monster crashed heavily to the ground.
Lilith remained still with the sword extended. A red line slowly appeared across the creature's neck.
No one spoke for several seconds.
Lilith looked at the monster. Then she looked at the sword.
It had been easy.
Too easy.
An emotion that was difficult to hide began growing inside her. She did not merely possess the memories of someone who knew how to fight. Her new body could actually use them.
Claire approached while sheathing the sword she had barely had time to draw. "And you were supposedly sick two days ago?"
Lilith carefully cleaned the blade before putting it away.
"I'm a little surprised too."
Claire laughed and ordered everyone to continue.
Lilith followed the group with a smile that took several minutes to disappear. At least one of her concerns had been resolved: she definitely was not weak.
However, they had barely traveled a few hundred more meters when the scouts stopped again.
This time, there was no monster.
In front of them, several enormous trees had been knocked down. Some were split apart while others had been completely crushed against the ground, forming an irregular path that disappeared into the vegetation.
Claire crouched beside a deep mark pressed into the earth. She ran her fingers across it, and her amused expression vanished.
"This is recent."
Lilith looked at the destroyed trail continuing deeper into the forest.
"Do you know what did this?"
Claire took a few seconds to answer.
"No."
That was enough to erase part of Lilith's smile.
The real expedition had just begun.