BLOOD WARLOCK: SUCCUBUS PARTNER IN THE APOCALYPSE

Slowly, the silhouette of an existence that at least appeared to be human began to materialize before Bai Zemin's eyes no more than three or four meters in front of him.

This female was wearing a long purple dress that practically covered her entire body similar to a nun's habit in terms of skin coverage. The dress was obviously a magical robe as the magical power and mana revolving around it was monstrously high.

Despite the fact that the magical robe almost completely covered the female's skin it could not hide the curvy figure that was hidden with apparent shyness underneath. Her arms were partially uncovered leaving a thin line of white skin as soft as the finest silk, and her face was so beautiful that if it were not for the fact that Bai Zemin was used to Lilith's beauty he would have immediately fallen slave before such beauty.

This woman was without a doubt the most exotic beauty Bai Zemin had ever seen in his life.

Lips painted violet, violet hair, violet eyes...

For some reason, Bai Zemin felt somewhat strange when he focused his eyes on the eyes of the Higher Existence in front of him. However, he did not know how to explain that feeling in words at that moment.

Fire Sorrow also took a few seconds to get a better appreciation of the young man in front of her as she did not have the privilege before with all the things that were going on.

Bai Zemin was unbelievably handsome, so handsome that it would surely be hard to find someone able to compete with him among all the Lower Existences in the universe. However, for someone like Fire Sorrow who often saw such Seventh Order soul evolvers as Crow or Lucifer himself, Bai Zemin's appearance was not enough to stun her.

The reason she stood stunned and not knowing what to do or how to react was that when her eyes met his, Fire Sorrow felt like a little girl revealing her deepest secrets to the boy she had been in love with all her life.

However, Fire Sorrow soon noticed something.

Although this young man's gaze and eyes were very similar to Sirius', there was something different that Sirius did not have.

Wariness and distrust.

The Heavenly Wolf Sirius was an incredibly proud and arrogant being, he was never cautious and distrusted no one because nobody was capable of hurting or stopping him.

But, the young man in front of her was different.

Although Fire Sorrow could feel arrogance and pride rising to heights no lower than the Heavenly Wolf's in the past coming from him, she also noticed wariness and distrust as he stared at her.

Even though he was only a Lower Existence of Second Order, there was no appreciation for the beauty Fire Sorrow exhibited, nor was he stunned trying to burn her dress with his eyes as many Higher Existences did without realizing it.

The excitement of possibly seeing again the one she had longed to see for over five million years calmed a little, and Fire Sorrow couldn't help but feel a little sad to realize how wary he was of her.

"...Of course." She whispered with a bitter smile.

Reincarnation wasn't impossible, it wouldn't be the first time it had happened in all of history either. However, the few times someone was reincarnated always resulted in the complete and utter loss of memories. There were records of two powerful beings who after reincarnating out of boredom ended up dying of old age because instead of putting effort into evolving they focused on other fields during their new lives.

In short, even if the young man in front of her had the soul of the Heavenly Wolf Sirius he was no longer the Heavenly Wolf Sirius.

Bai Zemin felt confused as he saw the slightly sad and bitter look on this unknown woman's face, but he didn't have time to think too much about it as Fire Sorrow suddenly smiled friendly and broke the silence.

"Would you mind sharing with me what method did you use to discover me? That's pretty amazing you know... Although stealth isn't my specialty I have a skill or two that could easily hide me from a Higher Existence of Fifth Order and even those of Sixth Order would have to be suspicious to notice my presence." Fire Sorrow's voice was very gentle like that of a good friend greeting an old friend.

Bai Zemin did not let his guard down at all, and though he knew in his heart that the woman in front of him was unlikely to attack him as she would die as a consequence, the feeling of knowing that his life was in another's hand was not a particularly pleasant one.

"I have my ways." He said with a slight smile that indicated distance rather than closeness.

Revealing Kali's existence and her ability to see the colors of souls and analyze them was absolutely impossible. Bai Zemin would not allow such a thing, and if someone he didn't completely trust discovered it he would take it upon himself to kill that someone at any cost.

"I see. I understand." Fire Sorrow simply nodded and asked no more questions about it despite her curiosity.

She knew that wanting him to open up to her would take time. Especially since revealing trump cards in front of someone unknown was no different than signing half a death certificate.

Instead, she introduced herself with ease, " I am called Fire Sorrow, and as you rightly said I am a Higher Existence. You seem to know about us Higher Existences?"

Fire Sorrow? Bai Zemin had no idea if that was this woman's name or not. She could lie to him and he would probably never know anyway. Even then, her name wasn't particularly of importance to him.

"I know a thing or two about you guys." Bai Zemin couldn't help but make a sneer as he remembered all the things Lilith told him about most Higher Existences.

"... It seems you don't have a particularly good impression of Higher Existences." Fire Sorrow smiled in amusement and pointed out, "Even though I know your name, would you mind telling me it yourself? I know it may seem foolish for me to say this but you don't need to be so cautious towards me... Because I have no intention of hurting or harming you at all."

Higher Existences were proud by nature, lying was not in their dictionary when it came to Lower Existences or beings weaker than themselves. Despite knowing this, however, Bai Zemin trusted probably less than 10 living beings so it was impossible for him not to distrust someone he had just met.

"My name is Bai Zemin." He said calmly.

"Bai Zemin." Fire Sorrow nodded. "I'll remember it."

Bai Zemin scratched his head and after a moment of silence said somewhat puzzled, "So... Fire Sorrow? May I ask what a Higher Existence needs from a little Second Order mortal?"

Bai Zemin did not know how strong Fire Sorrow was. Even though she was standing in front of him, the feeling she conveyed to him was completely different from Lilith's.

Lilith's presence was absolute. Her Charm was so overwhelming that even if she suppressed it as much as possible she would still be the main focus and it would be impossible not to notice her presence.

Fire Sorrow, on the other hand, gave Bai Zemin a feeling similar to something ethereal that would disappear if he did not pay attention to her. She was beautiful beyond description but just like her attire her presence was quite modest.

Perhaps as a consequence of this Bai Zemin assumed on a subconscious level that Fire Sorrow was weaker than Lilith even though she had said that even a Higher Existence of Sixth Order would not be able to notice her presence unless there was prior suspicion.

"I don't think a normal little Second Order mortal other than you could do what you did before." Fire Sorrow's eyes curved into a crescent shape as she gave him a smile that looked quite happy and proud, something that confused Bai Zemin greatly.

He sighed and said this time a little less cautiously, "Fire Sorrow, I think I know why you're here, a Lower World that shouldn't have anything appealing to someone like you."

"Oh?" Fire Sorrow raised both eyebrows and asked with an amused smile, "What could that be?"

"You probably stumbled upon this little planet while flying bored through the vast universe since you guys apparently have a lot of time on your hands... and then you decided to take a look around." Bai Zemin casually analyzed, "You just happened to come across an anomaly like me so you probably want to forge close bonds to in the future recruit me to whatever faction you're a part of."

He looked at her and shrugged, "Am I wrong?"

Fire Sorrow's smile widened and she said cheerfully, "You're completely wrong. 100% wrong. Absolutely wrong."

"Em?" Bai Zemin frowned in puzzlement. With a somewhat dark face, he pointed out in a serious voice, "Building good bonds is not possible on the basis of lies."

Fire Sorrow shook her head and slowly stopped smiling. She looked at him with an honest expression and said in a gentle voice, "The reason I am here is no coincidence, I have been looking for Earth over many years to keep a faint hope probably non-existent."

Bai Zemin was confused but did not interrupt her.

"It's true that I would like to forge links with you, but it has nothing to do with recruiting you or not." Fire Sorrow shook her head gently before adding, "Of course, if in the future you join the Demonic Army we will all be more than happy to welcome you. But regardless of your future choice, the reason I want to form a closer bond with you is entirely personal."

"Personal?" Bai Zemin frowned with increasing intensity.

"Therefore, your analysis from before is completely wrong." Fire Sorrow sighed.

Bai Zemin didn't know that the Earth was hidden and no one except Lilith could see it. He also did not know Fire Sorrow's past and therefore there were many things that were impossible for him to comprehend.

However, there were two things that caught his attention.

First of all, there was the fact that Fire Sorrow mentioned the Demonic Army. This meant that she and Lilith belonged to the same faction, but instead of feeling more at ease after learning this information Bai Zemin only felt more cautious.

Second point and strangely more important than the first...

When Bai Zemin's black eyes looked into Fire Sorrow's violet eyes, he felt as if she was looking at him but at the same time trying to look for someone or something different.

It was a slightly similar feeling to talking to someone who despite looking at you was actually thinking about something else, except that Bai Zemin didn't feel that Fire Sorrow was disrespecting him.

Nostalgia? Sadness? Longing? Hope? Hard to comprehend let alone describe.

"Bai Zemin, do you know Lilith?"

Bai Zemin was so lost in her violet eyes trying to understand what her thoughts were and decipher whether she was lying or not that when Fire Sorrow asked this question it caught him completely off guard.

"...It seems that it is really the case." Fire Sorrow nodded after a few seconds of silence and her expression was unreadable.

Although Bai Zemin had tried to act confused, his expression had changed for a brief split second. Someone with such a high level and as much life experience as Fire Sorrow certainly could not be easily fooled and would definitely not miss these important little details.

Fire Sorrow naturally noticed that Bai Zemin's wariness towards her grew tremendously, and although she certainly felt sad about it her expression didn't show it.

"First of all I think I need to point out two things." She said calmly. "First, Lilith is a key member of our faction so whatever your concerns are probably aren't necessary. Second, several months ago, I was the one who taught Lilith about space magic and how to enhance the power behind her attacks, so even if I don't count as a mentor at least I think we're good."

Remembering that Lilith had told him something about her learning some magic from a powerful and talented mage of the Demonic Army, Bai Zemin's expression relaxed a bit and now looked at Fire Sorrow with slightly less alert eyes.

"I see..." He nodded, and after hesitating for a moment bowed his head slightly, "Thank you for tutoring Lilith."

"That's new." Fire Sorrow pointed out. Seeing his confusion, she added, "Your lowering your head."

Fire Sorrow wasn't happy with the fact that he was putting his head down for Lilith, and inadvertently ended up talking a bit too much.

"Excuse me?" Bai Zemin frowned.

Fire Sorrow blinked as she realized her mistake and soon shook her head, "It's nothing."

She looked at Bai Zemin with a serious expression, the first time she had been so serious since they met minutes ago, and said slowly, "Bai Zemin, I need to ask you a question... If you answer me honestly I will answer whatever you want, anything no matter what it is. Lilith certainly knows a lot of things, but I've lived a lot longer than I can count so I definitely know more than her when it comes to most things."

Any questions? Bai Zemin narrowed his eyes and his wariness suddenly raised again.

Bai Zemin doubted that he had information of value to Fire Sorrow so the fact that she was willing to answer anything he asked certainly made him suspicious.

Fire Sorrow didn't press him and simply stared at him silently waiting for his response.

In the end, it turned out that Bai Zemin didn't disappoint her.

"Ask. But let me warn you that depending on your question I may or may not answer." He said in a serious voice.

"Don't worry, it's not as difficult a question as you may be thinking." Fire Sorrow smiled slightly.

Fire Sorrow's eyes flashed for a split second in a way that Bai Zemin did not understand, and with great difficulty, she managed to suppress her murderous intent as she asked the question that was bothering her greatly.

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