Chapter 126: Safe Room

"Enough, demon!" I raised my voice. "I will do this to save my friend. All of them are my friends. And I will do everything I can to protect them. So kill me and not them!"

After hearing my words, Lilith raised her eyebrow and flashed me a smirk. It was as if she hid something from everyone that kept her delighted look carved on her face.

"Why are you smiling? Is there something funny?" I asked in annoyance. 

The demonic girl shook her head and replied, "No. Quite the contrary, Arthur. I'm amazed about your will to protect your friends."

"You placed yourself in front of others, even courting death just to save your friends. Arthur, you know that you would die. And yet you chose to confront me without backing down on your words. If those knights inside the citadels came face to face against me, they would either save their own lives or bribe me for something I already have. But you, you showed the value of your relationship with your friends," Lilith continued.

"Yes, Lilith. I want to be someone that people could rely on….Someone that would help everyone who needs me the most!" I confessed, and gripped my sword tightly in my hands. "But how can I be a hero if I can't save even one person! I want to become a hero...And save my friend, Meliodas….from you."

Lilith clicked her tongue several times before replying to my words, "That's the beauty of it, Arthur. No matter how good your heart is, some people will face cruel fate. You are just one man alone."

"Regardless of these pessimistic thoughts, you are a hero, Arthur. That's why that sword chose you," Lilith announced, and offered me her hand. "It's because you're the hero that this world deserves, but not the one it wants. The people worship the king that merged dozens of kingdoms and formed Albion. I know you've heard about it."

"And don't worry about it, Arthur. I won't kill your precious friend of yours. I vowed an oath that will stick until my time. So don't worry about anything."

(Author's note: That quote came from the movie "the dark knight")

"Thank you for your kind words, Demon."

"Please, Arthur. Call me by my name. I am a demon, but I have a name."

I cleared my throat and accepted her hand. "Thank you, Lilith, for sparing our lives. We thought that we would die fighting you. All of us came prepared to die, since we don't stand a chance against fighting demons. I'm pretty darn lucky to meet you, Lilith. You're one of a kind."

"Likewise, Arthur. Likewise," Lilith said, and glanced at my side. "What are you going to do about that guy….Meliodas, right? He seems to hate me. But that's not his problem, since all creatures hate me just by being a demon."

A chuckle escaped from my mouth as I gave her my answer, "I will think something about it. And besides, after witnessing your powers, there's no way he would fight you, Lilith."

"I can always strike from behind," the already exhausted Meliodas announced with his croaked voice. 

"I will wait for that day to come."

For a second I thought that we would all lose our lives fighting against Lilith. Thankfully, this demon was not the ones I heard about from other villagers. It was like the game had described. Some of the demons did not want to fight players and other people, while others had a frenzied mind. 

And as luck would have it, we met the former side of that kind demon. 

"By the way, who is that person you're talking about, Lilith? That person is someone I know?" I asked, while sending a dozen question marks towards Lilith. 

Lilith nodded and replied, "Don't you know the king of Camelot?"

"I heard about it but I never remembered his name."

"It's King Arthur….That man has the same name as you," Lilith uttered, while maintaining eye contact with me. "And that's our enemy that we need to fight. Anyway, we will discuss this topic soon. But for now, placing your friends in a better place would greatly help them," Lilith suggested, and lifted all my friends at once. "Don't worry about the transportation. I have the ability called telekinesis. Although it's still new, I could carry unconscious bodies, inanimate objects, and myself. If I'm going to be honest, I could also stop elements using this magic and return them towards the sender."

Demons had no weakness except for dark, but they could still feel something from those elements. But Lilith had a full counter against those spells and negated any damage she would receive from the magical abilities. And it was the skill that she introduced to me. 

I also had a thousand questions I wanted to ask about this demon, including the system. I was the only one who could use and share systems inside this world. It had only been a few days since I last left the Kingdom of Caerleon. 

There was no logic behind this if someone from the mercenaries shared the system to others and eventually reached Lilith.

I wanted to ask Lilith, but it would be better if those queries could wait a little longer. The welfare of my friends must come first before anything I could think of right now. 

I rushed towards Merleen and inspected her body. After the mock fight against Lilith, my ears heard some words echoing inside of me. And if my hunch proved me right, that voice belonged to Merleen.

Lilith lowered her body from mid-air, knowing that I would check her body. She already knew that I had feelings for this girl, and would do anything for her too.

"Are you awake?" I asked, which was the thing I wanted to know about Merleen.

But as I knelt on the ground, Merleen's face groaned in pain. She must have been aware of our situation, especially when I tried to sacrifice myself for Merliodas' sake. When Merleen heard I planned on dying for the bard, she used the last ounce of her strength and contacted me.

It took me an entire minute to check Merleen's body for any wounds or trauma. Thankfully, she didn't receive anything but minor bruises and cuts that would heal on their own. 

After examining her body, I embraced Merleen in my arms and held her tight. Even though Merleen was still unconscious in front of me, her hands weakly rose and wrapped around my back.

"Thank god you're okay. I don't know what I would do if something bad had happened to you," I whispered, and shed a sprinkle of tears coming from my eyes.

Even after hearing those words, I still remained truthful with my philosophy. I wanted to save everyone, especially my friend, Meliodas, out from danger. 

"I'm sorry that I was ready to die for Meliodas….I just want to save him. Well, it's a good thing that Lilith didn't take our lives. She's a good demon and a considerate demon….individual." 

Upon correcting myself, Merleen rose from the ground and went behind me. As I glanced at my back, Lilith gave me a wink and gestured her hand for me to follow. 

"We need to go now before the sun sets. I don't want to kill you, but other demons hunting me down would. Those familiars might think that you're my subordinates. It would be a drag to protect your team and you, Arthur."

After our exchange, Lilith invited us towards her closeby camp. Lilith also mentioned that she stayed here for a few days, waiting for me. She even asked other villages if they heard my name.

Within a few feet of walking onwards, we finally arrived at the place Lilith introduced. She mentioned earlier that she made a camp out in the open. But upon realising it, the place did not look safe at all.

But I remembered a feature included inside this game after witnessing such a dull place in front of me. My system also notified me about it, which immediately regenerated all my mana and health points.

"Are we in a safe room?" I asked, and turned towards Lilith. "Is that what your system is telling you?"

The game developers included safe rooms around this world. Those safe rooms were just a site that allowed players to camp for the rest of the night until they returned for their missions. These places were rare to find, considering their value towards S. class missions. It was also the reason the people competed against each other and bought dozens of bids to know these locations.

I knew a few, but never knew all of them. This place was definitely an extra safe room among those places I remembered. It only showed that I knew little about this game.

"Yes, Arthur. The system…..which is inside my head alerted me about this place. That mysterious voice guided me about everything and led me to here," Lilith answered, and finally snapped her fingers.