"Huh?" Noah turned towards her, half in a daze. Thinking his ears were trying to paint him as a fool. "Human?" he asked the snake, who simply nodded, confirming what he'd just heard. Noah was struck in disbelief, something welling up inside.
"Yeah, I don't know how long it'll take but—"
"Human?" Noah interrupted her, asking again, the snake staring at him.
"Are you retarded?" she asked, her face telling how she felt about it.
Noah blinked a handful of times, finally breaking out from his loop. "Tell me again, you can maybe become a human?"
"I've already said YES! Come on!" the snake yelled at him, barely holding herself from biting him out of anger. "For the love of fucking God, can you please stop?" she turned her back towards him, heading for the door of the room they were in, but turning her head towards the two behind as she was about to leave, "And I said I don't know how long it'll take...
It could be a long time for all I know," she spat out before leaving the door half-open behind her, Noah and Alice looking at each other while frowning, trying to understand her peculiar mood.
"Fucking perverted demons, who do they take me for?!" she mumbled her contempt as she slithered her way through the house, and towards the table. "That fucking asshole, it's not just men that need to deal with their pent-up stress. I have a life too!" she muttered to herself, taking an empty seat without looking around or seeing the people at the table.
"Perverted demon my fucking ass, that idiot, asshole, motherf—"
"Lilith, is everything okay?" a soft voice interrupted her, making the snake look up and around, to see Maggie's worried expression across from her, and Carlos at the head of the table right next to her, as well as Khish, by her side, holding their laughter after hearing the snake's mumbling.
Lilith immediately froze, and started eating in silence, avoiding any and every interaction with the people around her.
After a little while, the two came out of Noah's room. There was still some time, so Noah was in a bit of a hurry, after all, he had promised two people to do things today, though visiting the real-estate brokers and the houses would have to be delayed by yet another day.
"So, Noah..." Alice's voice rang behind him, making Noah unhasten his steps. Although it took them a bit of time to come out of his room, it's not like they were talking to each other. Noah was just deep in thought, and she did not want to interrupt him.
"Yeah?" he asked, turning around to see the maid's troubled expression.
"Am I a Blessed now?" she asked. Something most would have thought as obvious, having attained a blessing and knowing how to use it, to her still felt distant, and Noah understood it.
"While yes, I think it's best if you were trained before taking the aptitude test. Taking on a fortress is still very dangerous," he said, the girl calming her nervousness down, almost as if this was the answer she yearned for. Noah turned back forward, and walked through the dining-room towards the living-room, where Carlos, Maggie and Bel watched tv.
"Anyone down for lunch?" Noah asked, Bel and Maggie immediately turning around, with broad smiles on their faces.
"But I never—" Carlos tried to interject, but was quickly shut up by Lilith's overwhelming pressure as she yelled.
"Shut up! It's between me and him," she yelled at him, before turning back towards Noah, who had a deadpan face he never held with her.
His blood was boiling. She had yelled at him for no reason whatsoever. In his home, at that. Although he cared a lot about the snake and was happy she had now a way to turn human, she was already scratching his patience way too much. "I said, Tone. It.
Down!" Noah did not raise his voice, speaking word for word, and staring intently at the snake, who swallowed dry. For a second, everyone in the house held their breath, an otherworldly pressure like the air itself was squeezing on their lungs and forcing the air out of them could be felt, but just for a second.
Lilith was no exception, but compared to the others, who were just collateral, the entire pressure Noah emitted was directed towards her, and it felt like her very soul was being crushed.
"Noah, I think you're going too far," Bel said, holding his chest, Noah immediately breaking out of his anger and looking over at him, who was now breathing harshly, and looking at him. Noah saw with the corner of his eyes that Alice and Carlos were looking at him in astonishment.
"Just what did I do?" Noah asked him, Lilith falling on his lap, gasping for air.
"You used your authority. Any longer would have been dangerous for her, who doesn't have almost any of her powers," he said, making Noah feel guilty after seeing her current state, but this also warned Lilith that Bel was in the room.
The snake gathered all her air and strength to tell him what she had come here to, though her rage had clouded her priorities, leading to the current situation. "Cough~ Noah! I need to... warm you..." she said, before falling asleep on his lap, her already exhausted self passing out due to the burden.
"Warn me?" Noah asked, looking down towards the snake, but she was already fast asleep. His feeling of guilt only increased, seeing her passed out once again, after having just woken up. But what was done was done, and there was nothing he could do to change it, so he turned back towards Bel. "What is that?"
"It's a strange power Lucifer had, it's more like a way to pressure people from his intent alone... And believe me, I never want to be subjected to it again," Bel said, almost making Noah shiver.
"Why did he use it on you, though?" Noah asked, making Bel bite his lips.
"Either way, Lilith was subject to it again and again because she would never shut up... but back then she was so powerful she barely felt a thing. When you—Lucifer and her used it against one another, most people felt like they would die. Only the other knights could somewhat handle it. Also, don`t worry too much, it only works well on demons.
For most humans, it'll only feel like a strong monster has appeared in front of them," he said, calming Noah down a lot. Based on the expressions he'd seen on Carlos' and Alice's face, he was expecting them to have felt a lot more than just that.
And before he could say a thing, half a dozen employees stormed into the living-room, including Alice's father.
"Is everyone alright?! It seems someone invaded the mansion!" one of them, whom Noah recognized for being a part of security, said. Carlos raising his hand.
"It's all fine. If it's about the feeling you had just now that a powerful monster has appeared, that was something that happened in this room by accident," he said, not disclosing the culprit to them, and making Noah scratch his head warily.