Chapter 106 106: Last Resort
Zhang carried Lilith's clone's body with him, straight to the Royal Castle of the Wolves. Since he was already allowed entry, he wasn't questioned by the Guards. He was just too close to the King, after all.
The real Lilith also walked right beside Zhang, using her invisibility spell. As far as her scent was concerned, even though it was sensed, the Werewolves didn't focus much on it since they believed it was coming from the unconscious girl.
There were two scents, but since they both were identical, no one knew about the second person who managed to infiltrate.
As soon as the real Lilith entered the castle, she separated from Zhang, leaving the responsibility of keeping Zhang distracted on her clone as she went searching for Atlan to find out where he was.
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Current time~
"I had some help."
Lilith vaguely told Lancaster in response to his question about how she gained an entry here.
"Anyway, as you said, Atlas is outside the city, facing the wolves, but from what I can see, things aren't that bad. The Wolves don't seem to be against him."
"And how do you know that?"
"That's not worth worrying yourself over. Just know that Atlas is safe for now. Razil seemed to be on his side now. Still, we can't waste too much time. As soon as my clone disappears, the equation might change."
"The castle is at its Weakest for now. If there was ever a time to find Atlan, it is now. You go out there and tell Atlas the truth. Make him keep the two sides distracted while I take care of things here. As soon as I'm done, I'll leave. Don't let him surrender or get caught at any cost, and I'll handle the rest!"
"Ah, are you sure you'll be fine alone?" Lancaster hesitated a bit. After finding Lilith, he needed to leave her here alone. He couldn't come to terms with that."
"I would've been better if you two weren't here, but yeah, I'll be fine. Just let me do my work and focus on Atlas! Go!"
Lancaster nodded, finally agreeing. "Alright, but do come back safely. If you don't, I won't know how I'll answer Atlas."
Lancaster started running to the exit, leaving Lilith behind.
Lilith let out a tired sigh. "These two idiots. Do they really need to worry about me so much? They put their lives at risk for me... I'm not a kid."
Her voice went down as she continued, "But still... I don't dislike their concern."
She turned around. The vines disappeared, leaving two dead bodies on the floor as Lilith walked deeper into the castle.
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Back inside the cell in the depths of the castle where no one could reach, a young man was sitting with his back resting against the wall.
The person was over six feet tall. Even though he was sitting, his height could be guessed. His straight long hair came to his shoulders, seemingly blood-red in color.
Even though it was hard for any person to reach here, it wasn't impossible as long as certain conditions were met.
Atlas sat in his stall, appearing as if he was sleeping, yet his fingers kept tapping the floor, showing that he was away.
"Castiel is here... He woke up, it seems. If that's the case, things are going to get much worse from now on for this world..."
Atlan's voice was barely audible as he spoke. It was as if he was talking to himself only.
"That idiot..."
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"Your time is running out, Castiel! Speak! Will you choose the life of Lilith, or will you choose freedom? Will you choose her life, or will you choose my death?"
"Surrender and become my prisoner. I promise I will treat you fairly! My Clan is very fair when it comes to serving justice!"
Atlas wanted to rip Zhang to shreds for what he did, yet he couldn't. Lilith's life was in his hands. He couldn't take the risk. If she died, there was no way he could answer Castiel. Let alone answering Castiel, he couldn't even answer himself! He couldn't lose Lilith. However, he also couldn't surrender since there was no way this guy was going to let Lilith go.
He had already heard the story of enmity with them. They hated Lilith, and they hated Castiel. There was no way they would let one live for the other.
From what he could guess, Zhang was just using Lilith to capture him since he couldn't be killed. Once he was captured, Zhang was probably going to kill Lilith.
That's why he couldn't surrender either. Atlas knew he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Both the choices were wrong.
'One opportunity... All I need is one opportunity. As soon as Lilith is free, I can solve this. It doesn't look like the Werewolves will attack me. I'll just have to face this Wizard. But then again, if I do that, the Werewolves will see the battle. They will know that I'm not as strong as Castiel.'
'Not only do I need to take Zhang out, but I need to do it in such a way that the Werewolves don't know I'm weaker than Castiel. But for all that, I need to free Lilith first.'
'But what isn't Lilith using any spell to free herself? Come on, Lilith! Move! Use a spell! Give me one opening! Just one!"
Unfortunately, no matter how much Lancaster wanted, Lilith didn't use any spell. She just gazed at Atlas, not even being able to speak anything.
Her eyes appeared to be trying to tell him something, yet Atlas couldn't understand. It was really hard to read eyes.
'What should I do?' Atlas thought, grimacing. 'If Lilith won't help me, where can I find an opening from? Think! Think Castiel, think!'
'Wait, how could I forget it?! I have that! It might not work on Werewolves, but Witches aren't immune to it! I'm sure of that! I do have compulsion! I will only have one chance. I need to make him look straight in my eyes, and I can't fail!'
Grimacing, Atlas stood tall before Zhang. "You do know who I am, right?"
"Of course. Who doesn't know Progenitor Castiel."
"Then you should also know how easy it is for me to kill you? If you kill Lilith, your death is inevitable. Not only that, as you know, I don't forgive easily. Not just you, I'll kill every single person in your clan, wiping it from the face of this earth!"
Not only did Atlas try to distract Zhang, but he also tried to make him angry, so he looked straight in his eyes.
"Of course, you can kill. But it won't be that easy. My clan has only gotten stronger since the last time you faced us! Moreover, killing us won't bring Lilith back to life. Your threats are empty!"