Demon continent Alsace in the year 237 in the 9-month Lilithum on the 31 day after the smashing of the empire.

They both sat facing each other and now both looked at each other properly for the first time something that had been denied them by their instincts up to that point. But now that they were no longer controlled by their respective instincts, they could do this, without any problems.

Something that immediately struck her about Diva was that although she looked like a rat, she still had a human or demon-like face. One that could be masculine or feminine, which fit with what she knew about Titans. They were considered the mother or fathers of monsters and were both like the gods, which could also be either gender. In addition, in certain places, her body was not covered by the black golden shiny fur, but by green scales. Which, however, shone just like the black fur. Diva's paws were not unlike those of normal rats, which made them look like the paws of the rats she had met as monsters in the sewers of the demon cities. Similar to these, they had a kind of upright posture about them, not quite like humans or demons, but still quite similar. Still, they would never pass for humans or demons, because there was something rat-like about them. Not that humans wouldn't see her differently, especially humans who knew her, because now she was a demon and a female demon at that. She wondered what her family would say to her if they could see her now, or her soldiers. But those were questions she hoped she would only ask herself in private and it would never come to such an encounter.

"So what can you tell me about your captivity, and were you captured by the demons and the other divine races here, as the depictions tell it? And how exactly did they do that?" She looked closely at Diva to see how she would react, which meant looking closely at her facial expressions and posture, but also at her surface thoughts.

What had just happened had confirmed her assumption that she had taken her Basilisk blood from her previous lives into this one and had activated it. Which could mean that she was a Titan and could be captured with the same means with which Diva was captured. Something she wanted to prevent because she had no desire to rot in some hole for all eternity. Besides, it might be better for her if the gods didn't look for her, but for another Titan, because she didn't think she could go up against one god or more. She didn't even know why her instincts had picked a fight with Diva when she was only a level three user. Even though she didn't use just one of the three arts like others, but all three. Still, she saw no way she could have won against a real titan. She still saw herself losing if she started a fight with Diva and she couldn't be sure that Diva wouldn't betray her if she freed her if that was even possible.

However, I think it would be better for me and improve my chances of survival if there were other Titans for the gods to focus on. Perhaps there is not only one, but several Titans on Alsace and it should cause some confusion if all of them were free and fighting against the gods. She had an uneasy feeling that she would have to free them if she wanted to survive.

"How much do you know about the old days when we Titans ruled over everything before the gods dethroned us?" She thought about what all she knew about it for a moment before answering. "I've read some things about the Titan wars, but I've also learned some new things from the demons. It started with a war within the Titans in which the Dragons fought the Hydras where the Gods and their fledgling children saw the chance and attacked the Titans. So at least the stories, but I have also found records in which it was not all Titans and that it was not only one but several wars in which also some Gods were killed by Gods or Titans or both. Probably some were also captured like you. At least that's what I have to assume now."

Diva nodded the whole time at each point she listed but remained silent for a few minutes before she began to speak. "That's basically all true, or at least there's a shred of truth to it. There wasn't one big conflict, although that's not entirely true. There were two great wars on Arcane and between the two there were various conflicts between the gods the titans and the three greats. It was a period of constant fighting and every race and race leader fought each other. So in that sense, your knowledge is correct, even if you see it only through the eyes of the victors." Diva, as she had spoken, had become a little quieter and quieter so that in the end she could hardly be understood, despite her superhumanly good hearing she had had difficulty understanding her.

Diva took a single deep breath before continuing. Suddenly Diva spat blood, at the same moment her eyes started to cry blood as well as her nose. In just a few moments, a pool of blood had formed under Diva and she had tipped over in front.

"Ah, my prison forbids me to tell the truth, quickly tell me what I told you." Broke out Diva with a gasp. "Are you dying?" She couldn't help asking this question because she was worried about Diva to her own surprise. She didn't know why she was, but she was and she had to contain her worry somehow. A croak of laughter came to Diva's obviously tormented body. "No, unfortunately, prison only punishes me for telling the truth. For speaking it and thinking it, two things the big three have forbidden. Still, tell me quickly what I told you." Urged Diva in a rushed voice.

"Yes, yes, it's all right, I'll tell you." And so she repeated one by one what Diva had told her until then. She was still lying in her cell in a puddle of her own blood.

It took a few long minutes before Diva was able to sit up and talk to her again, not taking a heavy breath after each word. "Interesting none of it is wrong if you know what I mean, and it's been so long that I'm beginning to believe myself what the depictions on the walls tell me. Most curious." The look with which Diva regarded her was a penetrating look, one with which she wanted to explore whether she had understood what she had said or not. That much was clear and she believed that she had understood, at least it was not a difficult riddle. And she would surely find some more answers when she had examined the runes on the metal rings and understood them better.

What she knew to be the truth and what Diva was led to believe was not the truth, or at least not the whole truth. She couldn't think about it any longer because Lerna came shooting out of the hallway behind her and headed straight for her. All she could get out of her was that it was dangerous and that she seemed to be incredibly angry at the rats, and that was all she could get out of her for a long time. In which she had wrapped herself protectively around her, almost smothering her.

When she was finally able to free herself from Lerna, which had taken her hours of her convincing her. This was always undone by Diva when she started to talk to her again, which Lerna didn't seem to like at all and ended each time with her protectively embraced by her again. Finally, after several hours of both of them assuring each other that they would not go at each other and that there was no danger when they talked to each other, Lerna let herself be convinced to lie next to her in a quiet way. Nevertheless, she did not let them out of her sight, not for a moment and she watched especially critically what Diva was doing.

As she noticed, Lerna had grown quite a bit since she had last seen her - she had grown several feet and gained a few inches in thickness. She also seemed to be bursting with arcane energy. Forgetting these thoughts for the moment, she looked directly at Diva again. "So the truth isn't true, at least not as I know it and you can't tell it anymore without risking your life, and even if you do you're telling something different than what you wanted. No no, I get it you probably can't answer that either." Nothing told her she was right since Diva couldn't deny or affirm anything.

"This is going to be harder than I thought, I should probably deal with your prison first."

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She didn't trust this overgrown rat one bit and then the scales she had stolen. What did her charge want with this rat? Did she perhaps want to consume it, as was the case in the old days? It would hardly be cooperation, no king needed someone like the rat for such a thing. So what was it that her charge wanted from this rat? She just couldn't figure it out. And why did they talk such nonsense to each other, everything they said was wrong. She really began to doubt her charge, by the big mother she hoped that everything was all right with her charge.