Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha!

"Priestess Lilith, what do you mean by a Cataclysm Tier Daemon? Is it code or a title given to a daemon that is above Mythical Tier?" a reporter asked as she raised her hand.

Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha!

"How did you get a hold of this information, Priestess Lilith. Where are your sources coming from?" another question followed.

Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha!

"Where is the Cataclysm-Tier daemon? Can you please give us an explanation of how strong it is and what kind of skills it possesses?"

Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha!

"What is going to happen?"

"Can we do something?"

"Who should we send?"

"Is the Goddess going to stop its appearance?"

"Is it true that your bodyguard Sylva is still a child? Are you pursuing interracial marriage? Please give us an answer!"

Lilith faced a bombardment of questions in a tsunami of flashing lights. She expected a massive response, but she calculated wrong and did not expect to garner this much attention from the media and the press.

'But I did not expect this much press to arrive.' She regretted her decision to turn the tide, 'I should've just left this whole thing to Mirsha.'

Lilith was having second thoughts.

Earlier this afternoon, Lilith called Mirsha for a favor and informed her of the situation. Of course, Mirsha froze, asking questions for the next twenty minutes, but in the end, she did what Lilith told her and had Ma-Po organize a press conference.

Of course, Lilith needed to generate enough buzz to make it spread like wildfire in just under a few hours, so she had Mirsha tell Ma-Po that Lilith had something to inform them about a daemon tier higher than Mythical. The moment anyone posted anything, Lilith ordered Alpha to spread the news as fast as possible.

However, not everything was so smooth sailing as their point of access in the HNP was quickly retracted after the Hunter Association tried tracking who it was that spread the information.

Alpha have assimilated an HNP, but their access to the Hunter Database remained that of the previous owner.

Meaning they couldn't push further unless they wanted to let the Hunter Association know that someone was using a phone of their deceased people. If that happens, then the first target of criticism would be Lilith, and then, her work would crumble to nothingness.

Luckily, no such thing happened, and the message was sent loud and clear to the people, and after two short hours, it was all around the news of Sector 24 and surrounding Cities.

However, therein lies the problem. The information had stopped spreading.

It was as though there were people actively cutting off the flow of information. So, Lilith feared that someone was trying to ensure that whoever these people were, they didn't want the information to spread.

But as it had already blown out of proportion because of her desire to take precautionary measures before this so-called God awakens, Lilith failed to have enough foresight that someone in the world was dealing with such dangerous problems.

'Dhampy was my warning. But I totally forgot about that!' However, everything had already laid in place.

The Hunter Association wanted to know what she knows. And to call off her first press-conference and claim that it was a false alarm would damage her reputation.

'Fuck it! I don't even know if this mysterious organization is real! I need to watch out for my ass. I can't just hope someone will save me!' so, Lilith decided to continue with her plan and went to the press-conference.

20:33 PM — Hunter Association — Conference Hall

The time arrived, and possessing acting ability worthy of every award, Lilith expected everything to be easy… but another unforeseen matter appeared.

Lilith… realized her abhorrent dislike of flashing cameras.

Being an underground boss, Lilith was always hidden in the background. She never took center stage. She was rarely seen in photographs to ensure her safety.

But standing in front of cameras had never been a problem to Lilith ever since she became a daemon. In fact, her fame stemmed from the fact she had been captured by many cameras and had been seen all around the world.

However, somewhere deep within her was the person who she really was. Not the daemon Priestess. Not the Avatar of the Goddess. But the little girl whose life was constantly threatened from all sides.

Realizing that some powerful group was intercepting her work and actively going against Lilith in addition to being showered under the leering lenses of cameras. Resulted in Lilith —who was seated on Sylva's lap — to sweat bullets.

With every passing second, she was becoming more and more uncomfortable.

Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha!

"Priestess, are you okay?" Sylva, Mirsha, and Ma-Po were all getting worried about Lilith. But she could not even respond to their question.

The sound of cameras echoed in her ears. The eyes of the reports and media slowly peeled her body, undressing her of everything she had. It felt similar to a past when she sat on a bed, surrounded by men and women alike, their slimy eyes and smiles sticking to her like slime, reaching every crevice of her body as she sported a cold and calculated appealing smile to please them all.

She reverted to her past self, to a ten-year-old lass, incapable of doing anything. She tried summoning her cultivated patience and bravery—

Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha!

All the masks she built crumbled in the face of the camera flashes. In the end, she was just a weakling who did not have the power to protect herself.

"Priestess!" "Priestess!" "Priestess!" "Priestess!" "Priestess!" "Priestess!" "Priestess!" "Priestess!" "Priestess!" "Priestess!" "Priestess!" "Priestess!" "Priestess!" "Priestess!" "Priestess!" "Priestess!"

All of it was for naught. Lilith felt like a porcelain doll, kept as pristine as possible to be shown to friends and family. She could feel her heart beating faster, her sweat gathering, and her smile returning, "Mo—"

"Silence!"

A voice boomed from behind the panel. Lilith looked behind her and found a woman, garbed in an all-black cloak, covering her body and a mask tightly wrapped on her face. Only her eyes could be seen. She appeared out of nowhere and shouted at the humans clamoring before the tiny daemon whose eyes threatened to shed tears.

"Dhampy~" Lilith saw her appearance and immediately felt a sense of peace.

Dhampy, her first protector, had stepped out of the shadows. Her most trusted bodyguard who always appeared in her time of need.

Lilith was overjoyed at Dhampy's sudden appearance.

The others? Not so much.

"Who are you!?" The guards surrounding the table were all befuddled at the woman's appearance. She came out of the shadows… quite literally and shouted aloud.

"Huh?" Lilith snapped from her trance and realized the meaning of Dhampy's appearance. And how it would be perceived. She shot up from her seat and just as she was about to say anything, Ma-Po who had stepped forward to guard Lilith and the others.

"An intruder! Everyone, take your position!" Ma-Po reacted and stretched his hands forward. He quickly moved and coated his hand with enhancement skills and readied himself to kill the intruder—or so he would hope.

[??? LVL 250]

But her level was far too high for them to face, 'We'll be lucky if half of us survives this encounter.'

Dhampy was poised to retaliate in the face of such provocation, but a tiny daemon moved fast enough to shield Dhampy with her body.

"Wa-wait!" Lilith shouted aloud, stunning everyone in the conference hall. Surrounded by gentle breeze, Lilith between the two forces. In the middle of the danger.

But, Lilith was not worried about Dhampy. But Sylva whose hand shifted from in and out of reality.

Thankfully, Sylva had her back against the cameras and managed to hide the rage-filled twisted face she had seeing Lilith's life being threatened.

Sylva's eyes dilated from anger seeing Ma-Po threaten her Big Sis.

~Sylva, please, don't. You'll incite their anger and endanger us.~ Lilith warned as Sylva threatened to pull out her daggers.

"Sir Ma-Po, wait… she's one of my followers, please don't hurt her. She's also one of the people who secured this information for us."

Lilith pleaded for Dhampy's sake, and immediately, Ma-Po retracted his hand to avoid hurting the Priestess.

"I see, then, I apologize for acting so ras—":

"AHEM!?"

And just as Ma-Po was about to apologize, someone cleared their throat so loud that it seemed like their whole throat left their body. Of course, it stole everyone's attention.

Lilith and the others saw a blonde woman in the middle of the sea of reporters with a scowl as deep as the Mariana Trench's Third Level.

"Um, wait a minute, Chief Ma-Po, why are you apologizing? It was the dastardly daemon who appeared out of nowhere and threatened everyone in this room! Why is the Chief of the Hunter Association keeling over instead of apprehending an intruder!? Tsk, this is what happens when we allow these filthy and dangerous daemons in our midst."

She asked, her voice deep and grating to the ears.

'Tsk, just as I was about to clear things up… she was in the right during the first half. But, the latter half… not really that good. Is she one of the old man's cronies?' Lilith cursed inside.

But, even if she was disgusted at the blatant hate towards daemons, the rest of the reporters immediately started agreeing with her.

Ma-Po failed to give an answer. Clearly, he was trying his best to concoct the best answer, but he was taking way too long, and the momentum was being lost from Lilith's favor. The bitch who made the question was getting her way.

'She was either sent by Julian, or she really doesn't want peace between daemons and humans.' Either way, they were valid reasons.

Lilith floated and landed on the table.

The people watched and waited for a response. It was clear to Lilith they were fishing for an answer that would indict them of being savages. This would result in the trust Lilith tried so hard to build to crumble.

If Lilith lowered her head or apologized, others would think daemons were lower and pushovers.

Either way, it would be newsworthy.

[Daemons, shows their true colors.[

'That would make good headlines.'

Anyone would capitalize such a slip up. Lilith knew she would. Once again, she was faced with a conundrum. But instead of breaking her down, this time, Lilith found reason.

'That's right, I'm doing this because not everyone still believes in us. And whether she is one of his pawns, she is proof and she is not alone.'

The situation before her reminded her that everything around her was an opportunity. That the woman before her, and the cataclysm was by another step that would allow her to get to the goal she wanted.

To rule the entire Stronghold. And whatever she was about to do would dictate that future.

So, Lilith chose not to apologize or lower her head; neither did she throw a tantrum. Instead, Lilith chose a different path.

Lilith chose to isolate the effects of their reaction. To maximize the emotional response she would get.

So, Lilith chose her best move.

Cry.

"Sh—she's not a bad daemon… Dhampy… she's a good daemon." With tears threatening to fall from her eyes, Lilith bit her lips and stood up against the bully that was screaming at her friend. In front of dozens of cameras for everyone to see, "Dha-Dhampy is not dangerous!"

The little daemon desperately yelped.

"She's one of my direct followers and acts as my direct bodyguard. She protects our Village and me from danger and… and was one of the daemons who helped the city fight Gargankong. Please don't be afraid of her." Lilith pleaded like the brave little girl she was.

Brushing the tears from her eyes as she did so.

"Before anyone questions the Priestess, yes, Big Sis Dhampy was indeed there to fight the Gargankong. In fact, she took one of its punches to protect me. She almost died trying to save me. She was also there to protect the people of the airport when the Sector Leader decided to abandon everyone." Mirsha backed Lilith's claims. Mirsha wanted to add what happened to the airport, but Lilith told her to not say anything about Dhampy.

Hearing Mirsha, everyone was taken aback. Such information was never made public.

This was something not everyone was aware of. The people only knew of the Lightning and Fire daemons who disappeared after the fight.

However, the female reporter scoffed, "That doesn't excuse her behavior. I apologize, Priestess Lilith, but, in human society, we have rules to follow. It doesn't change the fact she appeared and "acted violently" for no reason."

The female reporter smiled, thinking she pinned Lilith.

But all it did was for Lilith to allow the waterworks to be free. Desperately trying to brush her tears away, Lilith answered, "She may look scary… bu—but only she appears when I'm in danger and… when I'm… scared."

"Scared!?" Ma-Po immediately raised a question. He was confused and so was everyone else.

The little Priestess showed her mettle and bravery when she chose to appear in a human society. Even fighting against the Tyrant Apes. She had always shown her bravery, just what could she be afraid of?

Ma-Po was not afraid of Lilith because of the risk she took to help them when their own leader abandoned so many of them to die, so, to hear her be afraid, "What were you scared of, Priestess?"

He inquired, wanting to write the wrongs of the humans.

Though Hesitant, Lilith decided to speak.

"Um… they were shouting and their "weapons" blinded me… do they… want to hunt me?" Lilith looked at everyone sniffled as her eyes filled to the brim with tears, "I…I… I only wanted to warn them of the Cataclysm… why are they angry at Lilith? Were they going to Hunt us as well?"

No one could say anything. They were too stunned to speak.

Their "weapons" blinding her, how they pushed her for answers. Everyone present knew that what they were doing was not a sign of aggression.

Maybe they were a little agitated, because of what lies ahead.

Even Ma-Po, a man who did not like the media, would agree they were not being violent, "Priestess th—"

"Li…Lilith doesn't want to inconvenience the humans." Lilith did not listen and simply continued, "We don't want to scare anyone. So… we will leave… if humans do not welcome us we will leave." Lilith shed tears as she made her announcement.

Lilith gathered her courage and wiped her tears away, and showed them a face filled with conviction, "I-If she does not like Lilith, and we frighten the people, then we would choose to retreat to avoid violence and conflict. We wholeheartedly wish you good luck in facing the Cataclysm-Tier daemon. I heard they are creatures who are far stronger than a Mythical-Tier daemon."

Without letting anyone utter a word, Lilith floated up and had Dhampy carry her away. With one last look of sadness, Lilith showed them a forced smile and had Dhampy and Sylva walk out of the conference hall.

Dhampy held onto her boss and she and Sylva looked at the humans. Their disappointment could be seen. As if they were telling them, "How could you make her cry?" as they turned away from them.

"Let's go, Sylva, Dhampy." Carried away she looked at the humans one last time and waved, "Bye-bye… please survive."