Chapter 440: Can we be allies?
"How can I prove to you that it\'s really me?" Helena asks as she looks at her granddaughter with a loving expression.
"I... I\'m sorry for not believing... and attacking you..." Alexa is still very confused, but the black spot on Helena\'s cheek is proof that the tear she saw was real.
Helena, still in Lucien\'s arms, smiles. "It\'s alright, my dear."
The loving tone that Helena speaks activates all the memories that Alexa has of her, making her no longer have any doubts about that woman being really her grandmother.
But then Alexa gets worried about other things. First, she notices that Helena\'s appearance looks really bad. Fallen angels generally do not live more than a hundred years before rotting to death, and it has been much longer since Helena has suffered such a punishment, so it is evident that she is already very close to her limit.
But besides Helena\'s health, Alexa is very worried about her relationship with those demons, especially the mysterious and handsome man who is embracing her now.
The legends about the young Lady Caudinus are about a woman so strong that she overcame the destruction of her family and rebuilt her House together with the most famous General Crassus.
Helena has always been known for her incredible strength, both physical and mental, as well as her character. Despite her young and fragile appearance, she was definitely a tough woman.
But now, what Alexa sees is is a fragile and embarrassed girl, someone who seems about to fall apart.
[She spent a lot of time alone... suffering...] Alexa is very sad for everything that happened to Helena and thinks that because she was so fragile, Lucien seduced her.
She again points her sword, now only at Lucien. "Let go of my grandmother, demon!! I will not let you take advantage of her!"
Lucien smiles provocatively at Alexa while stroking Helena\'s waist. "Oh, really? But she looks so comfortable in my arms..."
[YOU DEVIL!!] Helena and Alexa think the same. But while granddaughter is getting red with anger, grandma is red with embarrassment.
Alexa\'s sword starts to shine with white light, and strong winds also start to emerge around her. "I don\'t know you, demon, but if you don\'t let go of my grandmother, I\'m really going to kill you!!"
Lust quickly warns Lucien about Alexa having minor light affinity and strong wind affinity, which she inherited from her mother and Helena. She also continues to warn him that facing her is suicide.
He understands that and does not underestimate Alexa\'s strength, despite being excited to fight her. However, he cannot demonstrate weakness as Alexa would not accept to ally with them if she believes that they couldn\'t give her any help.
And for that reason, Lucien cannot back down. So he keeps a confident expression and his hands caressing Helena\'s body while he talks to Alexa. "I can\'t take your words seriously while you keep calling me demon... In fact, you are acting a lot like that stupid angel in shining armor."
"What?! Agapius ??" Alexa gets disgusted when Lucien compares her to Agapius. But that makes her realize that she is really looking at Lucien only as a demon and not as a person.
And despite regret, she keeps an arrogant and confident expression like his. "Okay... we can talk, but first, you have to release my grandma."
Lucien starts to see hope in the alliance with Alexa, but he cannot miss such an opportunity... Not only is Helena too embarrassed to resist his teasings, but Alexa is also having cute reactions.
Then he moves one of his hands to Helena\'s chin and begins to turn her face towards his slowly, approaching their mouths. "I wonder... would this... make me your step-grandfather?"
"?!?!?!?!" Helena and Alexa have similar reactions; both do not know how to react to those words.
Alexa doesn\'t know what to think of Lucien. He looks so mysterious and confident, but he is still a demon, and maybe something else. He makes her angry and makes her want to cut his body into thousands of pieces, but she also wants to find out why her grandmother seems to trust him so much, as well as how he blocked her attack while being in the Earth Realm.
Helena does not understand how Lucien expected to make an alliance with Alexa teasing them. And she also doesn\'t understand why she is so shy.
She forces her way out of Lucien\'s arms, even though her body doesn\'t approve of that, and looks at him with a fake upset expression. "Don\'t talk nonsense!!"
Alexa smiles when she sees Helena acting more as she remembered. Then she quickly flies towards the little fallen angel and hugs her from behind. "Grandma!!"
The scene of a tall woman like Alexa hugging a little girl like Helena and calling her grandma makes everyone there, angels or not, smile.
The angels of both Crassus House and Corvus House know their family history well, and everyone is happy that Helena and Alexa are reunited, while Lucien\'s group is also happy for Helena.
Helena\'s delicate lips curve into a lovely smile as she strokes Alexa\'s arms around her chest. "Little Alexa..."
At the same time that Alexa is thrilled with that reunion, she is also focused, mainly on Lucien and his group. She gazes at him over Helena\'s shoulders.
"Grandma... why do you and this d..." It\'s hard for Alexa not to think that the demons don\'t want to hurt them because their races have hated each other for thousands of years.
Just as she thinks the Gods are selfish creatures and manipulators, she also thinks that all demons think only for their own good.
Yet, she tries not to judge Lucien by what he looks like and changes her words. "This guy... what are you doing with him?"
Lucien continues to smile at Alexa. He understands that she suspects him, and he is also not willing to trust her completely yet.
But Helena watched him for a long time and has no doubts about the character of her granddaughter either. So she quickly explains. "I was protecting Lucien and..."
"Protecting?? But he as a..." Alexa quickly asks while she doesn\'t stop hugging Helena. She wants to make it clear to Lucien that she is the only one who can embrace her grandma to the content of her heart.
"He\'s not a usual demon," Helena explains. "A mysterious and very powerful woman said that she would help me if I protected him.
"Help? Do you mean to heal you??" Alexa can\'t help but have hope. "So... did you protect someone like him so you could come back to m... to our family?"
Helena makes a thoughtful expression. "I\'m not sure what I was thinking about at that time... I didn\'t want to die and leave you alone with the cruel Gods..."
"But the demons are also cruel... they kill angels for fun... they manipulate weaker people just like the Gods..." Alexa speaks while gazing at Lucien with a penetrating look.
"Lucien is not like that..." Helena shakes her head. "Well, he\'s cruel, but he\'s not a manipulator person. You just saw him save my life. He only kills those who are his enemies or get in his way."
Alexa\'s eyes sparkle as she looks at the Ghost Lady in Lucien\'s scabbard. "Anyway, we don\'t need him or his help anymore. We just need that sword."
"No, Alexa." Helena shakes her head. "Don\'t you remember everything that happened to our family? Even though your great-grandfather was so powerful and our families together with the Corvus House... we cannot get our freedom alone."
"What are you suggesting, grandma? Do you think they will help us? Their people hate us!" Alexa responds.
Helena looks at Lucien with an expectant expression. "Maybe a lot of them, in fact, most of them really hate us. But Lucien and his family are not like that... I thought about it a lot and suggested that he make an alliance with you."
"An alliance?" Alexa is shocked by that, or rather, she is impressed how that idea, although crazy, could actually work. [Help the demons to kill the Gods...]
"Exactly." Lucien approaches them. "Your people don\'t seem to want to be slaves forever, and my people... well, my people would enjoy killing some Gods."
Alexa takes out a yellow stone from her storage bracelet and smashes it, creating a translucent barrier around them and Angela\'s floating platform. That barrier is just to prevent sounds because although she trusts a lot on the angels of her House, that subject is very serious and should not be heard by everyone.
She looks at Lucien again. "Even though you could speak for many of your people, do you really think we can kill Gods that easily? They are immortal ancients beings. Your whole race has been trying to kill them, but the Gods are the strongest creatures in the universe."
"They are not the strongest creatures in the universe!" Wrath comments while she is still on Angela\'s floating platform about ten meters from them.
Envy laugh. "You talk like you don\'t know about the Primordials..."
"Also, we\'ve already killed a lot of Gods. We just need to force them to give up their Phoenix core." Sloth explains.
Alexa is very confused by those words and also realizes that those three demons are very peculiar. "What are you talking about? What is Phoenix core? And do you really believe in the Primordials?? They are just old legends."
The Sins laugh as they remember about the Nature Spirit appearing casually at Lucien\'s wedding ceremony. They also doubted the Primordials are real before, but now they are sure of their existence.
Sloth looks at Alexa with a sorry expression. "You angels really don\'t know anything..."
"But we can open your eyes and help you." Lucien extends his hand to her. "Just make an alliance with me, not with my race, but with my family."
Alexa is very curious about the Phoenix Cores and any other knowledge that Lucien\'s group has about the Gods, but she still doubts everything.
"Your offer looks too good... and things like that don\'t fall from the sky." She speaks in a doubtful tone. "What do you want from my family and me?"
Lucien quickly responds. "As I said, I just want to kill some Gods. And having a powerful ally like you can\'t be bad, right?"
Alexa nods. "It makes sense, but... you don\'t seem like a powerful ally to me. In fact, the only thing you can offer me is this cursed sword, but I could take it from your corpse either."
"Little Alexa..." Helena tries to explain to her granddaughter about Lucien.
But Lucien quickly takes a Ghost Lady and offers it to Alexa. "This? Do you think this is the best I can offer you?"
She makes a thoughtful expression. "What else could you have to offer me? Your Mortal Realm Troops? Or those few Earth Realm girls? I don\'t know what trick you used to block that attack of me, but I think you can\'t do it again."
For the first time since they\'ve met, Lucien stops smiling while his expression gets serious. "Don\'t underestimate my women... They may not have a body so strong yet, but they have excess strength in their hearts."
Then he looks at Alexa\'s troops with an expression of disdain. "Your troops are strong because they are old. They are already close to their limits after having access to many magical resources for hundreds of years..."
"But my girls..." He smiles again. "They are young, excited to get stronger. Even now, they are already much more powerful than you think, but it is only the beginning of their journey. Give me time, just a few years, and I will make them stronger than your current troops. And they still won\'t be close to their limits because their potential is limitless."
Alexa realizes that Lucien is sincere, or at least he really believes in the potential of his troops. She also notes how he talks about them with a prideful tone and how those women behind him look at him with the same expression, an expression of mutual confidence.
[He is a true leader...] She thinks while feeling that they are alike in that respect.
But she also knows that not everything will work out with just hope and confidence. Then she lets go of Helena and takes her sword while gazing at Lucien.
"Lucien, right?" She asks. "You look like a good leader... but do you have the strength to prove your words? Do you dare to fight me and show me how you can really be a strong ally?"
He smiles confidently at her. "Sure."