"You're joking, right?"
Honestly, Geno thought, Cili had serious nerve saying that with a straight face.
She'd said it herself — she and the Singularity were roughly in the same league. And Cili's true form, the Night Demon, was so far above Geno's Rank 4 paygrade that it wasn't even funny — a legendary Ethereal, Rank Eight at minimum.
Telling him to go fight the Singularity was the same as telling him to go die. And on top of that, the Singularity was still sealed away somewhere — he couldn't even find it, let alone beat it.
"Then there's nothing to be done. Those are the only two options I've got," Cili said, spreading her hands. She'd done what she could — if Geno wasn't going to take either option, that was on him.
"Hold on! Can't you just suppress it again, like you did before?"
Geno thrust a hand out toward her, basically begging: couldn't she just step in and save the kid one more time?
But Cili shook her head. Nothing she could do.
"I'm nothing but an Ether avatar. All my energy comes from that Ether crystal — the one that already shattered and merged into your body. My true self is sleeping deep within the Hollow, not so different from the Singularity's situation."
Once this energy dissipated, so would Cili's consciousness — absorbed back into her true body.
That was also why this avatar of hers had taken on Lucia's appearance. After all, she had formed from the two Ether crystals that the Hati Cili had given to Geno and Lucia. It had to be one or the other — Lucia or Geno — and that wasn't a hard choice.
"So even if I can help you for now, once this energy runs out, it won't matter. We'd be right back where we started."
But that line gave Geno — ever the Watson — a flash of insight.
"Wait. You said your energy will gradually fade — does that mean there's a way to replenish it?"
Just like how he had to return to the Hollow every so often to top up his own Ether energy after leaving — if Cili's energy was slowly draining away, wasn't there a chance it could be refilled the same way?
"Hmm... actually, yes."
Cili blinked, a mischievous glint in her eye.
"Really?"
Geno let out a breath of relief. He waited for her to lay it out.
"Go recharge with Little Lamb!"
"...Huh?"
Recharge. Was that the kind of recharge he was thinking of?
Geno's brain crashed for a full second. Was Cili seriously suggesting he do that with Lucia?
"Exactly what you're imagining — the kind that shows up all the time in shonen manga."
"Because Little Lamb has another Ether crystal inside her — and unlike mine, it didn't shatter. It merged whole into her body. That means the Ether inside her carries a portion of my power."
Cili said it all with a perfectly straight face. But the expression she was wearing told a completely different story.
Geno knew that expression well. It was the same one Yuzuha got — that look absolutely dripping with amusement.
"And as everyone knows, all living beings carry Ether energy within them. The most efficient way to absorb another person's Ether? The simplest method is an exchange of bodily fluids!"
"Is — is that actually how it works?!"
Geno was spiraling. He was a man with a household, with a fiancée — well, two, technically, though not the same person — and now apparently he was supposed to start a completely improper relationship with his friend?
"Twiggy's going to cut me into potato chips..."
"The choice is yours. I'm just making a suggestion — whether you do it or not is entirely up to you."
Cili folded her arms across her chest, the picture of someone washing her hands of the whole affair.
"The two Ether crystals my little avatar brought along — one merged into your body and became me, and the other stayed inside Little Lamb as a gift."
There was, incidentally, a reason Geno was involved in that.
Little Cili had heard Geno mention he wanted to get a gift for Lucia, so she had borrowed two Ether crystals from her true body to bring along.
The crystal would gradually reshape Lucia's body — letting her store more Ether energy, raising what you might call her Ether Aptitude. At the same time, this Ether energy belonging to the Night Demon would grant Lucia greater power, making the Ethereals she summoned stronger and more substantial — real presences, not mere phantom forms.
"Though it won't do you any good, since you're not a Night Watcher."
The Night Demon's power was reserved for those who had made a pact with her.
"So — Little Lamb also carries my Ether energy inside her. By channeling it to you through her, we can temporarily suppress the Filth in your body and keep it from acting up again."
That said, as Cili put it, this was ultimately just treating the symptom, not the disease.
Getting targeted by the Singularity was no small thing.
And then, Cili's form began to fade.
"Oh dear, looks like I'm running out of time. But I've said everything I needed to say — the rest is up to you."
Cili clasped her hands behind her back and smiled warmly at Geno.
"...Will we see each other again?"
Watching Cili grow dimmer and dimmer, slowly dissolving into nothing — even knowing she was just an avatar — Geno felt something uncomfortable settle in his chest.
She was dangerous and mysterious by nature, sure. But she'd helped him more than he could count. And on top of everything else, she was wearing Lucia's face — so watching her fade felt horribly, achingly like saying goodbye to Lucia herself.
"Oh? You'll miss me? No need for that — there's still my little avatar, isn't there? We're essentially the same thing."
All of the Night Demon's avatars were equal and independent entities — but their memories were shared, which was how she had known about what happened between Geno and the original Cili the night before.
"...Maybe just a little. It feels like saying farewell to a friend. I'll keep everything you told me in mind."
In this moment of parting, Geno's words came from somewhere genuine — and they left a deep mark on Cili.
In that instant, she finally understood why this guy had so many girls around him.
And yet the most infuriating part is that he's still a complete dense block of wood.
The thought sparked something. Cili's eyes slid sideways, and a slow, wicked curl crept onto the corner of her lips.
She'd thought of something fun.
And so — Cili, still wearing Lucia's face, stepped toward Geno, wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled him close.
Geno was baffled at first, not sure what she was doing. And then — shock.
Why shock?
Because Cili, that absolute menace, had pressed her lips to his — and kissed him. Deeply.
What really finished Geno off was that she was doing it with Lucia's face.
How was he supposed to look Lucia in the eye after this?
"Heheh. Think of it as... advance practice."
With that, Cili's form vanished completely.
Geno was left alone — still not quite recovered from that clumsy, tender kiss — staring at the spot where Cili had disappeared, unable to look away for a long, long time.
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