Chapter 112:The Truth Beneath The Lake
"Librarian!"
The old man's eyes shifted toward her.
"Lucifer is with me!"
She pointed at him.
"He saved me from that ghost!"
The librarian's expression immediately changed.
His brows lowered.
"You did something reckless again, didn't you?"
Anna's face stiffened.
"I had no choice!"
The librarian sighed deeply.
"That girl..."
He looked toward Lucifer.
"Thank you for saving her."
Lucifer smiled.
"No need. She still hasn't apologized for biting me."
Anna immediately shouted,
"That was different!"
The librarian shook his head before gesturing toward the endless shelves.
"Look around. If you're searching for information, you may find something useful here."
With that, the old man returned to his favorite spot.
He pulled several books over himself.
And within seconds—
Snore...
Lucifer stared.
"He went back to sleep?"
Anna sighed.
"That's normal."
The two began searching.
Shelf after shelf.
Book after book.
The library seemed endless.
Some books contained histories of forgotten kingdoms.
Others described ancient battles.
Some were written in languages Anna couldn't even recognize.
Hours passed.
Nothing.
Lucifer pulled another book from a shelf.
"Nothing."
Anna opened another.
"Nothing."
She threw it aside.
"Why does this place have so many useless books?"
"Perhaps knowledge isn't useless."
"Then why can't we find what we need?"
Lucifer was about to answer when Chirin suddenly appeared from between two shelves.
"Found something."
She was holding an old, dusty book.
Lucifer stared.
"Where did you find that?"
"Behind those books."
She pointed toward a dark corner.
Lucifer frowned.
"Behind?"
"Yes."
"That's strange."
"Why?"
"Books are meant to be read."
He looked toward the shelf.
"So why hide one behind everything else?"
Anna grabbed his sleeve.
"Forget that. Come look."
Lucifer shrugged.
"Fine."
He followed her.
The old book's cover was almost completely destroyed.
There was no title.
Only a faded symbol resembling a lake.
Anna carefully opened it.
The pages were yellow and fragile.
Then they found it.
A history of the village.
But it wasn't the history the villagers told.
It was something far older.
Something they had tried to bury.
Long ago, there lived a young woman whose beauty was said to stop men in their tracks.
Suitors came from distant villages.
Merchants.
Warriors.
Even nobles.
But she rejected every one.
She believed men would eventually betray the women who trusted them.
Then, one rainy afternoon, everything changed.
She had taken shelter beneath a small roof beside the road.
And there he stood.
Another stranger escaping the rain.
He was handsome.
Kind.
And unlike the others, he didn't immediately try to win her heart.
They simply talked.
One meeting became two.
Two became countless.
Eventually, the woman fell in love.
They married.
And for a time, they lived happily.
Their happiness grew even greater when she became pregnant.
She eventually gave birth to two children.
A daughter.
And a son.
They became a perfect little family.
But happiness doesn't always stay.
Her husband began coming home late.
He stopped speaking to her.
Arguments became common.
She couldn't understand what had changed.
Until one day...
She followed him.
And saw him beneath the same kind of rain where they had first met.
But he wasn't alone.
Another woman stood beside him.
They were smiling.
Laughing.
Talking as though nothing in the world mattered.
The woman's heart shattered.
She returned home without confronting him.
And that night...
Something inside her broke.
She drowned her own children.
The moment the rage disappeared, so did the madness.
Regret consumed her.
But it was already too late.
Her children were gone.
Overwhelmed by grief, she put on her wedding dress...
And walked into the lake.
She drowned herself.
But death didn't end her sorrow.
She returned as a ghost.
The first thing she did was find her husband.
And kill him.
But even that didn't satisfy her.
Her grief had twisted her perception.
Every child she saw became another possibility.
Perhaps one of them was her child.
Perhaps one of them looked like her daughter.
Perhaps another had her son's eyes.
So she began searching.
And whenever a child failed to resemble the children she had lost...
She drowned them.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Anna slowly closed the book.
She released a long sigh.
"Poor woman."
Lucifer glanced at her.
"What?"
"What happened to her was terrible."
Anna looked down.
"She lost everything."
Lucifer watched her carefully.
"Then are you going to take revenge on her?"
Anna immediately straightened.
"What?"
"The woman who killed your family."
Anna's expression hardened.
"Her suffering may have been unjust."
She clenched her fist.
"But those children were innocent too."
"I won't forgive her for that."
"We have to stop her."
Lucifer smiled.
"Nice way of thinking."
They were about to leave when the librarian's voice stopped them.
"Anna."
She turned.
"You stay here."
"What?"
"Lucifer will deal with the ghost."
Anna immediately protested.
"No!"
The librarian's expression became serious.
"You're a child."
"I can fight!"
"Being able to fight doesn't mean you're ready."
Anna clenched her fists.
"Then prove it."
Lucifer raised an eyebrow.
"This should be interesting."
The librarian sighed.
"Fine."
He looked around the library.
His eyes landed on a large wooden practice pen.
He picked it up.
Lucifer stared at it.
"Is that supposed to kill someone?"
The librarian laughed.
"How could a librarian kill someone?"
They moved outside.
A large open field stretched behind the library.
Lucifer stood between them.
"Rules?"
The librarian pointed toward Anna.
"She wins if she makes me drop this."
Anna pulled out her dagger.
"That's it?"
"That's it."
Lucifer raised his hand.
"Begin."
Anna immediately rushed forward.
The librarian easily avoided her first strike.
Then the second.
And the third.
Anna changed direction.
He dodged again.
"You're too predictable."
Anna gritted her teeth.
She attacked faster.
The librarian continued blocking with the wooden pen.
Lucifer watched silently.
The gap between them was enormous.
Anna knew it.
The librarian knew it.
But Anna refused to stop.
She suddenly threw her dagger.
The librarian tilted his head.
The dagger flew past him.
"Missed."
Anna smiled.
"No."
The dagger struck a tree behind him.
The librarian glanced backward.
That brief distraction was enough.
Anna kicked the ground, grabbed a fallen branch, and swung it toward his legs.
The librarian jumped.
But the branch struck his ankle.
He stumbled.
Anna lunged.
Her hand grabbed the wooden pen.
The librarian pulled back.
For one second, neither moved.
Then—
Crack!
The pen snapped.
Anna fell backward.
The librarian stared at the broken weapon.
Lucifer raised his hand.
"Winner: Anna."
Anna blinked.
"I won?"
Lucifer nodded.
"By luck."
"Hey!"
The librarian laughed.
"Luck is sometimes all you need."
Anna proudly walked toward the village.
"I told you I could fight!"
As she disappeared into the distance, the librarian quietly stepped beside Lucifer.
His expression had changed.
He whispered,
"Protect her."
Lucifer glanced at him.
"No promises."
The librarian stared after Anna.
When Lucifer finally walked away, the old man remained alone in the field.
He looked toward the sky.
His eyes carried a grief far deeper than his smile had suggested.
Another child.
Another battle.
Another chance to fail.
Anna quickly entered the village.
Lucifer followed.
She suddenly turned toward a building.
A church.
Lucifer looked up at it.
"Really?"
Anna pushed open the door.
She glanced backward.
"How can a Devil enter a church?"
Lucifer walked inside without hesitation.
"There's nowhere I can't go."
"Doesn't holiness hurt you?"
Lucifer looked around.
"No."
He paused.
"There's not even an inkling of holiness here."
Anna stared at him.
Before she could respond, a priest approached.
"Anna."
He smiled.
"Have you come for holy water and holy daggers?"
Anna nodded.
The priest brought out several bottles and blades.
"Three gold."
Anna reached for her purse.
Lucifer stopped her hand.
"Don't."
She looked at him.
"What?"
Lucifer picked up one of the daggers.
"This isn't holy."
The priest's smile disappeared.
Lucifer opened the bottle.
"And this is ordinary water."
The room fell silent.
"This dagger couldn't kill a boar."
He placed it down.
"And this water couldn't disinfect a wound."
The priest's face turned red.
"You dare insult the sacred church?"
Lucifer smiled.
"Then prove me wrong."
"Show us how you make them."
The priest immediately refused.
"We cannot reveal sacred methods to outsiders."
Lucifer laughed.
"Of course."
The priest shouted for the guards.
"Remove them!"
Several men rushed forward.
Lucifer sighed.
"That was a poor decision."
Moments later, the guards were lying defeated on the floor.
Lucifer grabbed one of the supposed holy bottles and poured it into a basin.
Nothing happened.
No glow.
No reaction.
Nothing.
He held the dagger beside it.
Again—
Nothing.
The truth became obvious.
The so-called holy weapons were ordinary blades.
The holy water was simply water.
The villagers began whispering.
Then shouting.
The priest tried to escape.
The crowd stopped him.
Anger erupted throughout the church as the villagers realized how long they had been deceived.
The priest and his accomplices were dragged outside and beaten by the furious crowd.
Lucifer simply walked away.
Outside, Anna was silent.
After several minutes, she finally spoke.
"I can't believe I was stupid enough to almost pay them."
Lucifer glanced at her.
"You weren't stupid."
"I don't even have anything left to fight the ghost with."
She lowered her head.
"I'll only become a burden."
Lucifer stopped walking.
"The weapon doesn't make the warrior."
Anna looked up.
"The warrior makes the weapon."
Her eyes slowly regained their determination.
Lucifer continued walking.
"Besides, you already have something far more important."
"What?"
"A reason to fight."
Anna clenched her fist.
Then she smiled.
"Let's go."
"Where?"
"To the ghost's den."
Lucifer's grin returned.
"Now you're talking."
Together, the Devil and the young ghost hunter walked toward the mountain.
Neither of them knew what waited beyond the darkness.
But somewhere beneath the lake...