My Dragon King System-Chapter 274: The Grail That Was Not

Thera entered the chamber and paused just inside the doorway, her eyes looked through the space.

The room was massive, with high ceilings and a large bed dominated one side of the chamber.

Thera spoke to herself in a low murmur:

"Now where would I keep the most powerful item in a city filled with powerful gods?"

She closed her eyes and activated her seismic sensing ability, extending her awareness through the ground beneath her feet and into the structure of the chamber itself.

Through this perception, she could feel the layout of everything that touched the earth; the furniture, walls, hidden compartments, even the faint vibrations of objects resting on surfaces connected to the floor.

After a moment, her eyes open up, and she moved with toward a large drawer cabinet positioned against the far wall.

She pulled open one of the middle drawers.

And there it was.

The Holy Grail.

It rested inside, as though it were nothing more than a piece of decorative silverware.

Thera’s eyes went wide with happiness as she reached out and grabbed it.

But then she stopped.

Her brow furrowed as suspicion crept into her mind.

"Hm," she muttered. "That felt too easy."

In that same moment, her seismic senses tingled a bit.

Lilith had left where she’d been standing.

And it wasn’t that she was walking either. She was either flying or shifting positions using levitation.

This was why Thera’s method wasn’t one hundred percent reliable. It depended on targets maintaining contact with the earth.

The moment someone took flight or hovered above the ground, they vanished from her perception.

Thera’s heart raced as panic set in.

She moved at once, pulling a small sack from beneath her robes and stuffing the Grail inside before wrapping and securing it at her side.

Then she turned and rushed toward the chamber’s exit. But just as she was about to cross through the doorway...

A red portal sizzled into existence within the other corner of the wide chamber.

It tore open with a sound like ripping fabric, and from within it stepped Lilith and Samael together.

Lilith’s red eyes locked onto Thera at once.

"Hold it right there," Lilith said. "What are you doing?"

Thera stopped dead in her tracks. Her entire body went rigid with fear, and her amber eyes grew wide as she stared back at her mother standing just meters away from her now.

Orion, who had been standing outside keeping watch, heard Lilith’s voice echo from within the chamber and immediately tensed in shock.

Thera could feel the sweat beginning to bead on her forehead as her mind raced for an explanation, any explanation, that might get her out of this situation intact.

She had an awkward look on her face, which was somehow an expression caught somewhere between guilt and terror.

"So I uh—" Thera began, but couldn’t finish.

"What are you doing here?" Lilith demanded again. "What’s that thing in the bag? And why is Orion standing out there?"

Lilith could obviously sense Orion’s presence just beyond the doorway without even needing to look in his direction.

Her gaze flicked toward the drawer cabinet across the room then, the one Thera had just pulled open a moment ago, and she noticed it was still open a bit.

Lilith’s expression darkened further as realization dawned on her. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"Wait, You just tried to steal from me?"

Before Thera could respond, red blobs of energy erupted from Lilith’s outstretched hand.

They wrapped around Thera at once, binding her arms to her sides and lifting her off the ground until she hovered helplessly in midair.

Orion burst into the chamber at that exact moment, but another blob of red energy lashed out instantly and seized him as well before he could take more than two steps inside.

Both Thera and Orion struggled against their restraints, thrashing and straining as they tried desperately to break free, but Lilith’s magic held them firm without effort.

Lilith raised one hand toward Thera’s sack, and with a flick of her fingers, the Holy Grail floated out of it on its own accord.

It drifted through the air until it came to rest gently in Lilith’s open palm.

She held it up for a moment, examining it with an expression of amusement on her face before speaking again:

"Did you think," Lilith began mockingly, "that I would keep an item this powerful in a simple drawer for anyone to see and take?"

"How much of a fool do you think I am?"

And then, the chalice dissolved into red dust right there in her hand.

Thera’s eyes went wide with shock once more, in disbelief at what she’d just witnessed

Lilith burst into laughter.

"I knew one of you would try something this stupid, so I kept a fake."​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Samael watched the scene unfold with amusement on his face as well.

Lilith’s laughter died down after a moment, and she turned her attention toward Thera and Orion, still suspended helplessly in midair by her red energy restraints.

"With this, I’ve just about it had it up to here with you thera, and now you must face the consequences. You both."

"From this moment forward, you are both exiled from Eden and never to return to this place."

"If I ever see you set foot in this city again, it will be your execution. This will also serve as a lesson to everyone else."

Samael’s smile faded into a frown at those words.

This exile just denied him two beings with a high amount of the fragment transcendence.

But he said nothing in particular and only just watched.

Lilith made a dismissive gesture with her hand, and the red energy restraints around Thera and Orion dissolved instantly.

Both of them fell to the ground and Lilith commanded, "Leave here at once."

Thera pushed herself up slowly onto her feet, and Orion rose beside her moments later.

He still had an angry look but restrained himself from doing something he might regret. Lilith was after all, still on the same level as the All-father.

"We were already on our way." Thera said, then turned toward Orion and placed one hand on his shoulder.

"Let’s go, brother, this not a home I want to live in."

As they passed through the doorway, Lilith raised one hand and gestured mockingly with her fingers. A playful little wave bidding them farewell.