Dante was still on his knees.

Blood trickled from his mouth as he coughed repeatedly, trying to regain control of his breathing after the absurd violence with which Lilith had shoved the golden fruit into his throat. Fragments of broken teeth were still scattered across the stone floor, mixed with the dark blood that dripped slowly from his torn lips.

But that wasn't the worst of it.

Inside his body… something had awakened.

The energy of the Fruit of Good and Evil began to react immediately upon contact with his demonic essence. It was as if two completely incompatible forces had been placed in the same vessel and were now trying to occupy the same space by force.

The divine energy pulsed like a white star.

The demonic energy reacted like an abyss trying to devour that light.

The result… was pain… a deep pain.

Dante clutched his chest as his breath faltered for a few seconds, his body trying to understand exactly what had been placed inside him.

Lilith watched… Without haste… Without any haste at all.

She walked slowly a few steps around him, the heels of her shoes clicking against the broken stone with small, dry crunches that echoed in the heavy silence of the battlefield.

Then she stopped beside him.

And spoke. "You exude a curious arrogance." Her voice was calm.

But it carried an ancient weight.

Something that seemed to come from thousands of years of experience watching ambitious creatures make the exact same mistakes.

Dante slowly raised his face.

His eyes were irritated.

But Lilith continued before he could say anything.

"It's a specific kind of arrogance." She crossed her arms. "It's not just pride. It's not just ambition."

Her eyes slowly lowered to him. "It's ignorance."

She tilted her head slightly. "You remind me of someone."

Dante frowned.

Lilith smiled slightly.

"Lucifer." The name echoed in the air… Sapphire and Sepphirothy exchanged a quick glance in the distance. Lilith continued, "He also had that same energy."

She walked slowly again, circling Dante as if observing a curious experiment.

"That desperate need to prove something." She raised a hand and made a slight gesture in the air. "That childish obsession with surpassing everything." Her smile grew a little colder. "And that absurd belief that he understood the universe better than everyone else."

She looked at Dante's face again. "It's curious."

Dante clenched his fists.

Lilith continued, "Because in the end… Lucifer also believed he was evolving." She let out a small sigh. "He thought he was surpassing cosmic limits."

Her gaze drifted for a moment. "But, in the end…" She looked back at him, "…he was just an extremely powerful idiot."

Silence hung in the air for a few seconds. Then Lilith slowly pointed to Dante's stomach. "What you just did…" 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Her voice returned to its almost didactic tone. "…is a perfect example of this."

She gave a small smile. "Artificially creating the so-called Fruit of Good and Evil."

She shook her head slowly. "Killing lesser gods."

Her gaze became even more critical.

"Condensing stolen divine energy." She clicked her tongue slightly. "And then mixing it with your own demonic essence."

She looked at him as one looks at an absurd mathematical error. "You actually believed this was a clever idea."

Dante was breathing heavily now.

The energy within him was beginning to react more intensely.

Lilith continued.

"It's truly fascinating."

She placed a hand on her hip.

"For someone to have such an… incredibly idiotic idea."

Her smile returned.

"I must admit." She tilted her head slightly. "I haven't seen this level of creative stupidity in a long time."

Dante tried to stand.

His body trembled.

But Lilith raised a finger.

"No, no." She interrupted him calmly. "Don't stand yet." Her gaze became more penetrating. "Because here's the really interesting part."

She pointed to his body again. "You're a demon."

Her voice grew lower.

Heavier.

"Swallowing pure divine energy…" She gave a small smile, "…is colossal idiocy."

She walked a few steps until she was directly in front of him again.

Her eyes scanned his aura intently now.

As if searching for something.

Something specific.

Then she spoke again.

"There's only one situation where something like that wouldn't instantly destroy a demonic body."

Silence fell again.

Lilith tilted her head.

Observing his every reaction.

Every fluctuation of energy within his essence.

Then she finished the sentence.

"…unless you are a Nephilim."

The air seemed to grow heavier in that instant.

Sapphire froze.

Sephirothy also remained motionless.

Lilith merely observed Dante.

Waiting.

Curious to see what would happen next.

Dante fell completely to his knees.

The first thing that came was pain.

It wasn't just ordinary physical pain, nor something comparable to battle wounds or bodily destruction. It was a structural pain, something that seemed to spring directly from the collision of two impossible forces within his own existence.

His chest contracted violently.

He brought both hands to his stomach, his fingers digging into the flesh as his muscles contracted in involuntary spasms. The divine energy of the Fruit of Good and Evil was reacting like an absolute poison within a demonic organism.

It was as if every cell in his body was being judged.

The sacred energy burned.

The demonic energy reacted.

And the result was a grotesque collapse of the demonic biology itself.

Dante opened his mouth.

At first, only blood came out.

A thick, dark gush fell onto the broken floor before him as his entire body trembled uncontrollably. His lungs failed for an instant, and his breath came out in a hoarse, irregular sound.

Then came the second spasm.

Stronger.

His body arched forward.

He vomited again.

But this time… it wasn't just blood.

Something else came with it.

A piece of organic tissue fell to the floor with a wet, heavy sound.

Sapphire blinked.

Seris put her hand to her mouth.

Dante continued to tremble.

Another brutal spasm coursed through his entire body.

He vomited again.

And this time there was no doubt.

A long segment of intestine slowly slid from his mouth, covered in blood and bodily fluids, as it fell to the floor in a grotesque mass of exposed flesh.

His own body was rejecting itself.

His internal organs were being pushed out as if his existence were trying to expel that impossible energy that now circulated within him.

Dante let out a choked sound.

Something between a scream and a gasp.

His body arched even further as another violent spasm coursed through him.

Another piece of organic tissue slipped from his throat.

The floor was now stained with blood and fragments of partially digested organs as his body struggled to survive the internal collapse caused by the fruit.

Lilith watched.

Silently.

Completely still.

Then she smiled.

A small smile.

Almost artistic.

"It's beautiful."

Her voice came out calm, like someone observing a particularly interesting painting.

"There's something poetically beautiful about seeing someone die like this."

She crossed her arms slowly as Dante continued vomiting parts of himself onto the floor.

"Not quickly."

She tilted her head slightly.

"Not gloriously."

Her smile widened a little.

"But slowly… grotesquely… inevitably."

Another spasm shot through Dante.

More blood.

More organic tissue.

His entire body was beginning to fail as the two opposing energies within him continued to clash violently.

Lilith then turned her face.

Her eyes moved slowly to Vergil.

His body still stood in the distance, pierced by the six sacred swords that held his form trapped in that state of suspended death.

She observed him for a few seconds.

Thoughtful.

Then she spoke.

"If that boy had swallowed this fruit…"

Her voice was calm. Almost reflective.

"…a new God would probably be born."

Sapphire glanced quickly at Vergil.

Sephirothy did too.

Lilith continued observing his body with a curious look, as if imagining an alternate scenario where that absurd energy had been ingested by someone completely different.

"He has the structure for it."

She murmured.

"Enough balance between darkness and discipline."

Then she sighed.

Her gaze shifted away from Vergil.

And she slowly raised one hand.

Small currents of demonic energy began to circulate around her fingers as she assessed her own presence in the world.

She closed her hand.

The energy dissipated.

"It seems…"

She murmured.

"…that I don't have much time."

Her body was still recovering.

Six thousand years of sealing didn't simply disappear in a few minutes.

She was active.

But still unstable.

Lilith turned her face.

Her eyes met Sepphirothy's.

"My daughter."

Her voice lost some of its cold tone for a moment.

"I need to go."

Sepphirothy was silent for a moment.

Then she smiled.

A small smile.

Calm.

"Go rest."

She replied.

"You've done enough."

Lilith nodded slowly.

She began to turn.

But then…

The world trembled.

It wasn't an ordinary tremor.

The entire space vibrated as if something were tearing the very fabric of reality.

Stones rose slightly from the ground.

The air distorted.

The energy in the environment began to spin violently.

Lilith stopped mid-movement.

Her gaze slowly returned.

And she found Dante.

He was still kneeling.

Covered in blood.

His organs scattered across the floor.

His body should have been dead.

It should have completely collapsed seconds ago.

But something was happening.

The energy within him was shifting.

The clash between divine and demonic energy was no longer destroying his body in the same way.

The two forces began to… reorganize.

As if his organism were trying to create a new structure capable of supporting both.

The sacred energy that had previously burned his demonic essence began to circulate differently.

Slower.

Deeper.

More integrated.

Lilith observed this.

Her eyes narrowed.

Then she spoke.

"Damn." Her voice came out low.

Surprised. "…it's adapting."