Their romance storyline only begins on the second playthrough?

Chapter 5: Lilith falls into a coma after being rejected.

"help?"

"Hmm." Lilith's eyes remained indifferent, but she still nodded.

"However, it's a bit complicated to explain. I'll explain it in more detail after we leave."

Would you like to hear about this? It involves a lot of things.

Upon hearing this, a hint of doubt appeared on Rhodes's face, and his brows furrowed involuntarily.

Lilith, casually finding a stranger and asking them for a quest?

Rhodes' eyes were fixed on Lilith, trying to find the source of this strangeness, but in the end he still couldn't find out.

However, although this mysterious situation was very troubling, he ultimately shook his head.

To reiterate, everything about Lilith has lost its meaning for him.

Ultimately, compared to Lilith's changes, Rhodes preferred to do something more meaningful.

Whether it's resolving the current issue of the infiltration of the [Witch] force [Anchitanlano's Dream] into Phillips City, or taking action to escape or save the Linlank Empire in the future, it's all better than getting bogged down in a tug-of-war with her here.

This time, he absolutely had to save several important characters from those witches; he couldn't let them continue to wreak havoc on his living area.

Killing all the witches, absorbing the demon seeds to become stronger, and creating a stable living environment for himself is of course his primary goal now, so why would he have time to pay attention to her?

Moreover, in his first playthrough, he let down many people and things in his pursuit of Lilith...

When Rhodes began to think about "them," he immediately thought of someone who was connected to both "witches" and "those who have been wronged"—

Cecilia Elman.

The witch who liked to hold his face in her hands and say "I love him" all the time, but who was always going against him.

Cecilia is far more than just an early-game mini-boss.

Although her current power is at the fourth level of ascension, her future holds the potential to become half of the [Fallen Chaos God].

She is undoubtedly a monster burdened by the abyss, possessing a terrifying will, abilities, and exceptional talent. In the long run, Rhodes will have to fight against her and cooperate with her.

However, Cecilia's ending was not good.

After she and Lilith killed the Dragon God, she exposed her weakness and was ultimately killed by Rhodes through the heart.

Rhodes found it difficult to say that [her] thoughts and existence were wrong;

Of course, these are still too far off.

As things stand now, she is one of the leaders of this plan to target Phillips's infiltration of the demonic seed and to create the "Dream of Anchitanlano" in the Linlank Empire's base.

In other words, once he starts killing demons, he will inevitably have to face her again.

Facing her... still makes one feel uneasy.

Nothing more...

In short, he had no reason to complete the task Lilith had given him.

Rhodes snapped out of his daze and spoke:

"No." The words slipped out.

"Miss, I don't really want to take on any strange requests. Sorry, see you again sometime." He replied politely, turning and walking away.

Rhodes turned and left.

Without giving Lilith a chance to create an interaction, they directly rejected her request in the most indifferent way.

Before Lilith could even react, with a hint of shyness still lingering on her face, reality kicked her into hell.

After a while, her fair face stiffened and her eyes became dull.

As she watched Rod's figure shrink, her limbs went cold, and her mind went blank again.

What, what...?

Rhodes rejected... her?

How could this be? No, no, this can't be!

Normally, Rhodes would definitely help someone in need, because it's in his nature to meddle in things. But now he's refused...?!

"Huh? Wait, wait a minute..."

Her lips still made a few murmured sounds, but they were so soft that Rhodes couldn't hear them at all.

The softness in her voice wasn't because she had become timid again, but because she realized that something was wrong.

Because she understood that there was only one reason why Rod, who loved helping others, was unwilling to help her—

[Rhodes dislikes her.]

Because of her clumsy and awkward behavior, and because of her arrogant attitude, Rod got annoyed with her.

If she were to try to persuade them to stay, it would only worsen the situation. But if she didn't speak up, they would simply miss each other.

In other words, whatever she chooses, she has already failed.

Yes, because of her incompetence... because she could never talk to him properly, never express her feelings to him properly, everything was ruined!

How could this happen? How could this happen... Lilith's pupils trembled wildly.

Rhodes's figure was shrinking; he was about to disappear again...

No, no, no...!

Lilith's pupils dilated violently, her heart screaming frantically for Rhodes not to leave, but she found that her throat could no longer utter a single sound—

All her emotions were stuck in her throat, because she knew that if she shouted them out, the result would only be worse.

Rod would probably look at her with disdain and frown, saying, "Are you crazy, woman?"

Fear suffocated her, and countless stinging sensations erupted from every pore.

The tens of thousands of miles they had traveled together over the past two years, the fights, quarrels, and the scorn in the tavern they had shared, all now acted like weights on the cleaver, forcing it to fall from her head and sever her neck.

Rhodes' death was like the fleeting silence after a grand fireworks display; all the beautiful things became stepping stones for Lilith to fall from the high building into hell.

Lilith is sick.

Forever trapped in nightmares, unable to sleep peacefully any longer.

In the past, she could only curl up in bed, her pupils dilated, her lips trembling as she went mad, unleashing her divinity and turning everything to rubble, and it is still the same now.

Despite her extremely precise control over all battles and events, she acted like a fool when facing the boy—no… she was already a fool.

Death... Death... Death...

Loss is death.

In her consciousness, in her past, all warmth was stripped away the moment Rhodes left.

The body is a corpse, the soul is fragments...

yes……

[I'd rather be dead than be like this.]

click-

The emotions that were just now were reconnected, but now they are broken again.

Moreover, it is a rupture between the physical body and the soul.

The brain stopped thinking, and the body went into shock.

Yes, she collapsed in a state of mental instability, and—

His vision went black, and he lost consciousness.