Lucifer: Godless Reawakening-Chapter 260: A mistake and parting

They were on their way back to the academy.

Inside the cabin, Emma sat close to him, her hands glowing faintly as she healed the wounds he had sustained during the operation.

His left arm was burned just above the elbow. A foaming projectile had eaten through his protective gear and left a dark, angry mark beside his navel.

Yet none of those injuries made him react as sharply as the cold gleam in her eyes did.

She had barely spoken since the battle. Now she focused in silence, guiding her sorcery carefully over torn flesh and scorched skin.

There was no one else in the cabin.

The quiet felt heavy.

After a long stretch of contemplation, he finally asked, "Are you upset?"

Emma hummed softly. "No. I am pleased, actually."

William gave a wry smile. "Do not say it like that. If you are displeased, just tell me."

She shook her head. "Truly, I am not. Yes, I was worried when you had to face that creature. But you did not seek danger. You withdrew the moment you could."

She was not lying.

Her heart had nearly stopped when the Devil turned its maw toward him while battling the other two warriors. But she also knew he had done nothing reckless.

His very presence had drawn the calamity.

From the way the monster moved, it had been hunting him specifically, determined to pursue him until the end.

If not for Lancelot and the Commander fighting in perfect sync, William would have had no choice but to confront the danger head on.

Thankfully, it never came to that. Together, they suppressed the Devil and brought the battlefield under control without forcing him into a direct clash.

"It is still dangerous," Emma said quietly. "You are exposing yourself to the other side. If they begin to see you as their sole target..." She paused before adding, "This Devil was not humanoid, but I have heard them speak before."

William remained silent, though he agreed.

If he continued like this, it was only a matter of time before someone from the other side uncovered his secret. The truth that he attracted those beings through both aether and nyx would not stay buried forever.

He looked down at his healed arm, flexing his fingers slightly.

"I need to be more careful from now on," he said at last. "I cannot keep helping people if it means sacrificing my secret."

The reason was simple.

He knew exactly how the world would react once they discovered what made William different from everyone else.

Emma sighed. "You were warned about this, were you not? I think you made a mistake by letting others know you can draw them out of hiding."

William did not argue.

She was right. He should have been more careful instead of revealing something so critical so openly.

Emma lifted her hand and cupped his cheek, then shifted and settled onto his lap.

Holding his gaze, she spoke softly but firmly. "Do not drown in regret now. We focus on what comes next. You will have to be a little rude from now on. Reject whatever offers or pressure they throw at you. Keep your attention on me, Nana and the academy."

William nodded. "Understood. Lamb said something similar. This chaos was inevitable anyway. It is not as if I created it. I only forced it to surface earlier than it would have."

In truth, guilt had driven him to join the operation. A part of him believed his existence had accelerated the disaster descending upon humanity.

But after his brief conversation with Lamb, that perspective had shifted.

Emma smiled faintly and brushed a kiss against the corner of his lips. "That is better. Now sleep. You have done enough for today."

She shifted to the seat beside him and pulled him close.

William wrapped an arm around her waist and rested his head on her shoulder.

Outside the window, the world moved in silence.

Emma kept her gaze fixed on the passing darkness, her heart anything but calm.

What she had felt during that confrontation lingered in her bones.

It had been overwhelming. Ferocious. Vast.

She knew, with painful clarity, that she would not have survived more than a few minutes against it.

’Is it time?’ she wondered, biting her lower lip.

For years, she had kept certain discoveries hidden. Preserved. Waiting for the right moment.

The Star Ore was one of them.

A fragment of a shattered star that had fallen to this planet centuries ago. If she consumed it, her aether reserve would no longer matter. She would no longer be bound by limits of internal capacity.

She would be able to draw in natural aether from the world itself.

An endless reservoir.

And she knew she had to do it since eerything had changed.

When she saw the Devil turn toward William and all she could do was remain on her knees, frozen by the pressure, she felt something she had not allowed herself to feel in a long time.

Hatred.

Not for the creature.

For herself.

What was the value of knowledge if she could not protect the one person who mattered most? What was the point of knowing every danger in this world if she could not even stand beside him when it appeared?

She had not protected him.

She had not even fought.

In that moment, she had felt like a burden again.

And that realization hollowed her from within.

’No,’ she decided.

Normal training would not be enough. Slow improvement would not close the gap. If she continued like this, she would only fall further behind.

She tightened her hold on his hand and closed her eyes.

For his sake, she would take the risk.

For his sake, she would break every limit that bound her.

....

Back at the academy, a startled voice broke the quiet.

"What in the..."

The mutter drew the attention of the other teachers in the room.

"What is it, Professor Cyrus?"

The bespectacled man slowly lifted his head from the paper he had been grading. "This transfer student... he answered every single question correctly."

A wave of disbelief spread across the room.

The exam they had prepared was intentionally excessive. Several questions covered material not taught within the academy at all. They were meant to humble students, to remind them how much more there was to learn.

Yet this first year transfer student had solved them all.

"Even Emma did not achieve that," one professor muttered. "And we call her a generational genius."

Emma had consistently ranked first in every evaluation, including the entrance examination. Even she had missed a few of those questions back then.

But this student had not missed a single one.

Several professors stepped forward and took the answer sheet from Cyrus, checking it themselves to see if he had overlooked something.

He had not.

Every answer was precise. Clean. Flawless.

"Tomorrow is his physical assessment, correct?" one of them said.

"Yes. We do not usually accept students midway through the year. If he wishes to enroll, he must perform just as well tomorrow."

The room fell into thoughtful silence.

...

They reached the academy close to midnight.

William glanced at Emma. "You are heading back to your room?"

She chuckled softly. "Of course."

He groaned. "I do not want you to." His eyes flicked around the quiet corridor before he leaned closer. "What if I sneak you into my room?"

Emma raised a brow. "And your roommate?"

William clicked his tongue. "Right."

She squeezed his hand gently. "As much as I would like to stay with you, we should be patient. Just half a year more. After that, we will be free of these little restraints."

He nodded. "True. And do not forget the holidays after mid terms. I have quite a few plans."

Emma’s smile faltered for a brief second.

She had already promised Sherry she would craft the artifact during the break.

But she did not want to dim his excitement. When the time came, she would manage it somehow.

So she simply smiled again and walked with him a little further before deciding to part ways for the night.

They shared a brief kiss before reluctantly parting.

William exhaled as they began walking in opposite directions.

After a few steps, he glanced back.

Her silver hair shimmered under the moonlight, almost unreal against the quiet courtyard. Watching her walk away stirred something heavy in his chest. If he ever admitted it aloud, people would likely call him dramatic.

But ever since they had become a couple, and especially after that first night in the church, separation had begun to feel unbearable.

He simply did not like being away from her.

As if sensing his gaze, Emma turned as well.

Their eyes met across the distance.

She gave him a helpless smile and lifted her hand in a small wave.

[Let’s meet early tomorrow and study together.]

William nodded faintly.

[Alright. Take care.]

He forced himself to turn around and continue walking. If he lingered any longer, he would only make it harder for both of them.

She had not rested at all today. While he had managed an hour of sleep inside the cabin, she had remained awake the entire time.

That’s why, patience.

William soon reached his room.

The door was locked so he knocked twice.

A little later, the door was pulled open from the other side...and William was face to face with a ghost.

"What the fuck?!" He cursed seeing the pale faced Loid standing there, his eyes red.

Draping both of his arms on William’s shoulders, the pink-haired boy said, "Brother...I was rejected."

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A/N:- Thanks for reading..