The World Is Mine For The Taking

Shredica's POV

Now I finally understood why Veronica told me that I was a lot more connected to them than I thought.

It wasn't because of some vague sense of belonging, nor was it because of anything Elise or the others had said. It was because of one thing and that was my connection to Leon.

I had called him earlier, asking about the dungeon of Lilith, hoping he might know something. But, as expected, he didn't seem to know a single thing about it either. His voice carried that familiar tone, but… nothing more.

"I see… so you're one of Leon's old academy mates, huh?" Elise's voice broke my thoughts. She tilted her head slightly, her sharp eyes narrowing just a little. "Is Leon okay? I haven't been able to play with him lately."

Her words carried a teasing weight, but beneath that, I could hear something else and that was curiosity or maybe even a little impatience.

I only shrugged in response. Truth was, I had no idea what Leon was doing right now. It had been more than a year since the last time I saw him. And in that year, so much had changed.

Since I was recommended straight into becoming a magic knight instead of going the long, conventional way of graduating into the gold class, I never got to stay at the academy for as long as the others. My path was different and more detached.

"It's been a year since I last saw him," I said finally, my tone steady but carrying a faint nostalgia. "But when I heard his voice earlier, he sounded fine enough. So, I suppose he's doing well."

"I wish I had my phone with me right now," Elise muttered with a frustrated sigh. "I want to let him know that I already found one of his sisters, Veronica."

"I don't plan on 'playing' with Leon the way you do, Elise," Veronica suddenly cut in, her voice sharp with disapproval.

Elise let out a sly chuckle. "Come on now. We're basically siblings, aren't we? We all came from the same origin."

Veronica's eyes hardened, her tone dropping low. "And doing something like that could very well allow the resurrection of Lilith. I won't let this world fall into destruction like it did during her time."

The instant she said those words, the air shifted. Elise's expression changed with her playful smirk fading into something colder and darker.

"So that's how you want to treat our creator, Veronica?" Elise's words carried venom, her stare drilling into her sister.

"I wouldn't call someone my mother—much less my creator—if I've never even seen her myself," Veronica shot back without hesitation. "And only recently did I even learn about my connection to Lilith. Up until now, I've just been living with my family, loving them as well as cherishing them. So no, I can't consider anyone else as such outside of them."

"You're not even going to consider me your sister?" Elise's tone was sharp, though there was an edge of hurt hidden deep within it.

"I could just treat you as someone who happens to share the same name as me. That's all," Veronica replied coldly.

The tension between them thickened instantly. The air was suffocating, almost heavy enough to choke on. If tension had a shape, it would have been sharp enough to cut flesh—it felt like the kind of silence that could be sliced through by a blade.

It was the first time I had ever seen Veronica like this.

"My, my~… You're not as sweet as your twin brother, huh?" Elise purred, though her eyes were like daggers. "Your twin brother is always so sweet to me. So I assumed you'd be the same."

In the blink of an eye, the binds that had been restraining her to the chair snapped apart, scattering like threads of broken glass.

"Well," Veronica said, her eyes narrowing as she reached for her blade, "I wouldn't be sweet. We grew up in completely different circumstances. And unlike Leon, I'm not a man who's going to drool over you."

Elise smirked, almost mockingly. "Leon is just a man driven by his lust. Drooling over me is only natural for him."

Veronica's hand moved with certainty as she unsheathed her sword, the metallic sound cutting through the suffocating silence. She shifted into her stance, the edge of her weapon glinting under the light.

"I didn't want it to come to this, and I don't want to hurt you," Elise said, her voice calm but cold as ice. "But you hurt your big sister's feelings. And for that, I'll discipline you."

Veronica leaned forward slightly, her eyes glowing with amusement. "I see… Then come at me."

And then—

I felt it instantly. A massive surge of aura erupted from both of them, flooding the room with oppressive energy. It pressed down on me like a storm, making the very air feel heavier and harder to breathe.

But the fight itself?

I couldn't even process it.

It was too fast.

My eyes couldn't keep up. The clash was over before my brain even realized it had begun.

By the time my senses caught up, Veronica's blade was pressed firmly against Elise's neck, while one of Elise's shimmering threads was looped tightly around Veronica's throat.

A perfect deadlock.

"It seems your string work is so fast, my ability couldn't keep up," Veronica admitted, her eyes sharp and unblinking.

"And I didn't expect you to get your blade so close to my neck either," Elise said with a sly grin. "As expected of my sibling—you're impressive."

Slowly and deliberately, both of them retracted their weapons.

I couldn't even begin to understand why they had started fighting so suddenly—only to stop just as suddenly.

"I'll help you find the dungeon," Elise said at last, her tone steady once more. "I think the entire Arachnid Sisters would be a valuable addition to this hunt, don't you agree?"

She wasn't wrong. For an underground organization like the Arachnid Sisters, who practically lived and breathed the ins and outs of the underworld, this kind of task would be far easier.

Veronica, however, wasn't swayed so easily.

"I don't think the Magic Knights would like hearing about a vice commander who doesn't trust her own people and instead seeks help from vigilantes," she said, her voice sharp. "But… with your help, we might find it faster. So fine—I'll agree to your help. But it stays a secret."

"That's fine with me," Elise said with a shrug. "As long as I'm helping, nothing else matters. Besides, I was looking into Lilith myself. So this lines up for me." She glanced at me then. "I'm assuming she'll keep her mouth shut about it."

Both pairs of eyes locked on me.

"As long as I get what I want, then everything is fine with me," I said flatly.

"What do you want, Shredica?" Veronica asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"To return to my world," I answered without hesitation. "As long as I can do that, nothing else matters."

The two of them exchanged glances. A silent understanding seemed to pass between them before they both nodded in agreement, accepting my words without question.

But nine days after this conversation, Elise announced she was heading back to the Milham Kingdom.