The Strongest Curse Master

From the Victorian sash windows, Delores watched everything unfold between Ace and Matthews. When she heard Ace's ultimatum to Janice, she turned to the latter, finding her casually sipping coffee with the other girls, completely ignoring him, Delores sighed, shaking her head in dismay before advising her, "Janice, you need to talk to him while he's still willing to listen. The more you avoid him, the angrier he'll get."

"Relax, Delores. Those Apaches can't even scratch the house's defenses as long as it's anchored to the ground," Janice waved her off dismissively, choosing to focus on her coffee instead.

"No, you wake up," Delores snapped. "I've used his rail rifle. That enabled me to punch a hole through a void-tier curseling. And that wasn't even its full power. I don't think your curse tool can withstand its wrath."

Janice frowned, remembering Ace's peculiar martial-tier rifle-shaped curse tool. For the first time, she hesitated. But before she could respond, Lilith suddenly spoke up, her small voice cutting through the conversation, "Moon race warriors don't hurt good kids. The Moon Race people might look different, but they're our friends. We don't have to be afraid of them… unless we hurt them or their family."

Lilith's innocent eyes blinked up at Janice before she asked, "Big sis Janice, did you hurt any Moon Race people?"

Janice raised a brow in confusion and asked cousin in doubt, "Hey, Elinor—what the hell is she talking about?"

Elinor, who was braiding Lilith's hair, didn't even look up as she replied, "She's talking about a fictional race from some superhero comic book series. It's definitely not age-appropriate, but she loves them."

Pausing for a beat, Elinor finally glanced at Janice and smirked advising her, "Just say no. Otherwise, she might try to kill you to appease Ace."

"Wait, what? Why would she do that?!" Janice blurted out, staring at Lilith in disbelief. She didn't waste a second before scooting to the far end of the couch, putting as much distance as possible between herself and the little girl. Honestly, she was a little scared of her.

Elinor chuckled before explaining, "She thinks Ace is a Moon Race warrior named Apex—you know, the guy I told you about? Apparently, he's hiding from people who hunt Moon Race folks, or something like that. It was hard enough convincing her not to kill EAD Matthews to 'save' him. So, if I were you, I'd answer her before she makes up her mind to kill you instead."

Janice blinked. "What the hell?" The thought of being killed over a fictional race was too ridiculous to process. Then, deciding to tackle the problem head-on, she turned to Lilith with her best big sister smile, "Lilith, remember all that candy I bought you? You liked it, right? If you hurt Big Sis, who's gonna bring you more candy?"

Lilith, however, wasn't swayed. Her small face hardened, and she locked eyes with Janice, her expression unnervingly grim. There was something dark lurking in those innocent eyes, something that made Janice shudder involuntarily. Instinct kicked in, and without thinking, she blurted out aloud, "No, I didn't hurt any Moon Race people!"

Just like that, Lilith's serious expression melted into a bright, satisfied smile. "Good! Then I won't hurt you." As if nothing had happened, she beamed and demanded, "I want more candy."

But before Janice could respond, Elinor shot the idea down just like a mother would, "No more candy. You don't want to lose all your teeth and end up looking like that old grandma from the ads, do you?"

Lilith's eyes widened in horror. Shaking her head frantically, she slumped in defeat, allowing Elinor to continue braiding her hair—hair that, judging by its state, hadn't seen proper care in months.

"Cus, don't take it personally," Elinor said, hoping to smooth things over. "After everything she's been through, she really relates to the Moon Race. And after last night—with those cosplayers—she's convinced the comic is real. She's just grown attached to it."

She shot Janice a meaningful look, silently pleading with her cousin not to overreact. The last thing they needed was to get kicked out—or worse, handed over to the C.I.B.

Janice sighed and waved it off. "Don't worry, I'm not that petty." Then, noticing Elinor struggling with Lilith's tangled hair, she offered, "Are you sure you don't want help? I can just lend her my magic mirror."

Elinor scoffed, shaking her head. "Nope, I got this." There was no way she was accepting help—it was a matter of pride. She had taken a few Cosmetology courses specifically to enhance her curse tool's abilities. If she couldn't even handle a kid's hair, what was the point?

Before Janice could ask her to stop being stubborn, Delores cut in, her voice sharp. "Janice, focus. This isn't a joke—unless you're planning on fighting Ace too?"

"Damn it," Janice muttered, realization hitting her. Without wasting another second, she touched her earring. In an instant, a massive exoskeleton-type armor deployed around her, encasing her from head to toe. The sleek yet monstrous mech-like suit gleamed under the light—a painstakingly crafted curse tool set that Janice finally found the motivation to complete after her fight with her uncle.

Elinor's jaw dropped. "What the hell is that? And can I get one of those?"

Before Janice could smirk and introduce her new creation, Lilith suddenly jumped to her feet, pointing an accusatory finger, "You lied! You're a Crusader! I'll kill you!"

Her small frame trembled with fury, her hands clenching into tiny fists, and Janice could swear she saw something dangerous flicker in the kid's eyes.

"What the hell is a Crusader?" Janice asked, baffled. But as she thought about it, she had to admit—the name kind of fit her armor.

Before she could dwell on it, however, she was yanked out of her thoughts and thrown straight into Lilith's madness. A wave of suffocating pressure crashed over her, her vision darkening as her skin turned unnaturally pale. Her body felt frozen, trapped in some invisible force—just as she teetered on the edge of vanishing into Lilith's inner darkness, a sharp voice cut through the haze.

"Janice, snap out of it!"

It was Delores.

The moment Janice registered her voice, the crushing weight lifted. Delores had stepped between her and Lilith, shielding her from the little girl's killing intent it was too much for a mortal tier like Janice.

Meanwhile, Elinor grabbed Lilith by the collar of her sweater and hoisted her up like a misbehaving cat. Her voice was ice-cold as she ordered, "Lilith, cut it out before I get angry!"

"Crusaders kill Moon Race people! We have to save Apex!" Lilith thrashed in Elinor's grip, kicking her legs, but it was useless. Against Elinor's Knight-tier strength, she had no chance—especially since she had willingly handed over all her prized curse cores for safekeeping.

Without them to fuse with, she was just a regular Mortal-tier kid. A very dangerous, very delusional Mortal-tier kid.