"Let's settle the score once and for all."
Lilith stiffened her body when Theodore's sharp blade-like feather poked her neck while his other wing was pointing the sharp feathers all over her back. A little pressure from him or one wrong move from her and she was sure that his feather would slice her throat clean.
Lilith curled her upper lip in contempt and mocked Theodore, "It's funny how you corner me first and then ask me to fight a match that I would lose. Is this how you got that poor woman to marry you? By cornering her first and then threatening her into submission?"
Theodore's blood boiled in fury upon hearing that accusation from Lilith. He leaned a little closer to Lilith and snarled at her, "Don't you dare poke your nose where it doesn't belong! And keep my wife out of this."
He didn't realize it but when he leaned his body a little, his feather left a small cut on Lilith's neck. And her blood slowly dripped down her neck.
The smoke storm in her eyes swirled angrily and she questioned Theodore out of genuine concern for Adeline, "Don't tell me this is how you treat your wife as well. If you are then I am going to do everything in my power to rescue that poor woman from your clutch."
However, Theodore took that as a threat that she was going to abduct Adeline. He instantly clutched Lilith's throat and screamed, "Don't threaten me with my wife, Lilith. I won't tolerate it if anyone tries to hurt her in any way."
Lilith held Theodore's wrist and dug her claws on him. She loosened his grip on her neck and shouted back, "That was not a threat, dammit!"
"Then what was it?" He glared at her with an intention to rip her throat apart at that instant but he controlled his rage only because he had wronged her in the past.
"That was a warning to–" Theodore tightened his fingers around her neck again and choked her before she could even complete her sentence.
"I don't need your warning." He clenched his jaw and minced out his words, "And what the hell are you trying to achieve by siding with my enemy on Earth? Are you still trying to exact your revenge on me?"
He had thought that the two of them were already past that after she almost beat the life out of him. "Didn't you say that we were even after that fight we had? Why are you trying to interfere in my life again? Are you still not satisfied after beating me until I was half dead?"
Lilith dug her claws deeper into Theodore's wrist and pulled his hand away from her throat. She kept on holding his wrist and shouted in anger, "We were even. Yes."
"But then I got an amazing deal from that Vampire King." Lilith's eyes softened a little as if she was recalling the reward that Reginald had offered her in return for fighting against Theodore.
She looked back at Theodore again with equal fury as before and growled at him, "And I was no way going to miss that deal just because we had already made amends."
Theodore sighed and tried to make her back out of that deal with Reginald, "Lilith, look… First of all, you already know that getting involved in earthly affairs is a taboo for us."
Lilith rolled her eyes and threw Theodore's hand away from her hold. "Says the man who is married to an Earthling and killed another one!"
"And I already got punished for my deeds." Theodore softened his gaze as well as his voice and proposed to the woman who considered him an arch-enemy, "What kind of deal did that vampire offer you? I am sure I can also arrange the same things or maybe even something better. Just don't respond to the summoning from him anymore."
But unlike what Theodore had expected, Lilith gave a disgusted look to him. And in the next second, she displayed her true demon form.
She spread out her wings adorned with brown feathers. Her legs now looked like that of some kind of bird. And two sets of horns protruded from her head. One set was long and thick while the other set looked more like secondary ears than horns.
Lilith wielded smoke storm in both of her palms and furiously shouted, "I would need to be insane to make that deal with you."
Theodore wasn't sure what triggered her. But he also produced his dark mist in both of his hands and still tried to reason with her, "Then let's not take our personal grudge to Earth. If you still want to vent out your anger on me then I am ready to let you fight me, fair and square."
Lilith sneered and shouted, "You don't have to 'let' me fight you. I will fight anyway."
And without any warning, she released arrows made out of the smoke and shot them right on Theodore's face.
The smoke hit Theodore's eyes before he could think of anything. And the smoke made his eyes burn as though flames had been poured into his eyes.
And when he was distracted by that, Lilith came flying at him and punched his nose.
Theodore clenched his jaw in irritation and shouted, "I thought you wanted to fight fair and square. How is smoking my eyes fair?"
"That's called thinking smart, you whining baby." Lilith came flying at him again while pointing her heel on his chest.
However, Theodore was able to grab her leg even with his eyes closed. And he slammed her down on the ground as hard as he could so that she wouldn't be able to get up on her feet until he could open his eyes again.
While waiting for his eyes to burn less, he felt his horns itching and his body was asking him to release something that was pent up inside of him. He went with his feeling and let out whatever he was holding in.
He felt something hot spurt out of his horns and in the very next second, a pungent smell of something burning entered his nose. It was accompanied by Lilith's scream of agony.
Theodore immediately forced his eyes open even if it was still burning.
He was horrified at the scene in front of him. Lilith's wings and her clothes had caught fire.
"What did you do to me, you arsehole?" Lilith was screaming and patting on her clothes to try and put out the fire that was slowly engulfing her.
"Oh hell!" Theodore looked around in a panic in search of something he could use to put out the fire. He hastily picked up some dirt from the ground and threw it on Lilith.
Lilith glared at Theodore and screamed in agony, "Teleport me to a water source, you fool! And hurry up unless killing me was your intention all along…"
"I wasn't going to kill you!" Theodore picked her up while shouting at her.
He teleported her to the bathhouse that was in his gambling house. Thankfully, the large common bathtub that the staff of the gambling house used was full of water. He swiftly threw Lilith in the tub without any mercy.
The fire finally died. Half of Lilith's feathers were burned already and she had some minor burns on her wings.
Lilith kept on floating on the water feeling defeated by that single move from Theodore.
Theodore tapped his feet nervously and apologized, "I had no idea that my horns could do that. I evolved recently but I didn't get the chance to check what my body can do yet. I didn't mean to burn you like this."
Lilith got up on her feet and pushed her wet hair away from her face. She gave a sly smile and said, "Thanks for letting me know that you evolved. And I am glad that we fought today. Else I would have been caught by surprise in that war. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go back to my home."
"Lilith!" Theodore knitted his brows in tune and asked, "Do you really have to fight in that war? That also from that bastard's side? You can't stand men, right? Reginald is the worst kind of man that you will ever cross your path with."
Lilith gave a side-eyed glance to Theodore and replied in a monotone, "I've already figured out that much on my own. That's why I was contemplating whether or not to kill him before you abducted me and brought me back here."
Theodore restlessly brushed his hair with his fingers and asked in a frustrated voice, "Then why are you insisting on supporting him?"
"Because he can give me what I want," Lilith replied with conviction.
And before Theodore could further interrogate her, a swirling smoke engulfed her and she vanished from his reach.
Theodore's scream resounded throughout the bathhouse after Lilith disappeared, "What is it that you want, Lilith? Arghhh! You could have at least tried asking me!"