Probability

"Come out."

Lilith had no interest whatsoever in the finished product Esdeath mentioned.

Lilith called to her own shadow. The elongated shadow began to expand, and a massive beastly silhouette leaped out from within it.

Lilith walked to the table, poured out all the water from the teapot, then set it in front of Big Wolf.

"Saliva."

Lilith's words were concise, but Big Wolf understood.

He spat into the teapot repeatedly.

Then Lilith brought the teapot full of Big Wolf's saliva before Esdeath.

"The potion you wanted." Lilith paused. "This time, it hasn't been diluted."

Esdeath: "..."

Esdeath silently stared at the teapot Lilith held out to her. She could clearly see steam rising from inside it.

Esdeath raised her head and looked at Big Wolf, who remained enormous even while crouched.

She had never dreamed that the potion was made this way.

She had considered that Lilith might have concocted it from precious herbs, or created it through some secret art. For example, the Subordinate Arms Kiri Ichimonji could prevent wounds from healing.

But she had never dreamed that the potion's true nature was the saliva of the wolf before her!

And somehow, perhaps it was just her imagination, but the more she looked at this wolf, the more he resembled a dog.

"Hahaha~"

Seeing Esdeath look his way, Big Wolf stuck out his tongue and began panting.

Esdeath: "..."

He looked even more like a dog now.

Still, she had achieved her goal, even if it differed somewhat from what she had expected.

Esdeath was not the fussy sort, so she decisively accepted the "teapot" Lilith handed her.

Seeing Esdeath accept Big Wolf's saliva, Lilith did not forget to emphasize one last thing.

"Uh, I really am not interested in your finished product."

Before seeing Big Wolf, Esdeath would have definitely said a few more words about her creation.

But now...

After learning what the potion was made from, Esdeath believed that Lilith truly had no interest in anything she made.

"Fine."

Though she had obtained what she wanted, Esdeath showed no intention of leaving.

She turned her gaze toward Big Wolf, her eyes full of curiosity.

Honestly, in all her life, she had never seen a creature capable of hiding in someone's shadow.

"Is this a Dangerous Species you raised?"

Lilith nodded.

"Where did you catch him? I want to raise one too."

"...There aren't any others left."

Esdeath's face filled with regret.

Lilith decided that Esdeath was probably lamenting the loss of a creature that could provide "potion" anytime, anywhere.

She did not value Big Wolf's combat power or his ability to hide within shadows all that much.

Esdeath left carrying what she wanted, though regret still covered her face.

If she had that wolf, she would not need to come all the way to Lilith's place every time to ask for it.

After Esdeath prepared her mixed "Potion: Revised," she planned to head to the prison and test its effects on criminals.

But when she arrived at the prison, she became furious.

She was furious at the prison interrogators' utterly inadequate interrogation methods.

They simply could not make criminals experience extreme, lasting pain.

Not a single criminal in their hands survived longer than a week.

A week?

With so little time, how many forms of torture could they possibly use?

So Esdeath gave them some on-the-spot instruction.

The interrogators were utterly awestruck and immediately dropped to their knees!

While the interrogators studied the torture methods Esdeath had left behind, Esdeath selected several criminals to test her "Potion: Revised."

Over the following days, the criminals' screams in the prison became even more intense than before.

Outside the prison, even occasional passersby were nearly terrified out of their wits by the screams echoing from within.

Dr. Stylish, who often replenished his "stock" through the prison, also heard of Esdeath's actions there.

Not only was he not frightened, he became excited.

Like someone making a pilgrimage to meet his idol, he hurried eagerly to the prison.

All the experiments had been carried out.

The results left him extremely satisfied.

His inspiration continued to burst forth without end.

Lilith knew nothing of this. She remained at home, developing the powers of her Teigu.

As she used Water Dragon Possession: Black Marlin for longer and longer, Lilith could clearly feel Black Marlin—or rather, the water-controlling organ of that Dangerous Species—eroding her.

For an ordinary person, this might have been a good thing, because it would increase their compatibility with Black Marlin and make them stronger.

As for being eroded by Black Marlin until they became something inhuman—

Lilith believed that was practically impossible in the short term.

Unless someone wielded Black Marlin for more than a dozen or even several decades, or Black Marlin itself underwent some change.

Otherwise, until that person died, they would remain a normal human with only a slightly unusual constitution.

Black Marlin's erosion of Lilith was even more laughable.

By now, Lilith could control water without using Black Marlin at all.

This was not because a water-controlling organ had formed inside Lilith's body, but because her blood seemed to have undergone some changes.

It was the same as when she gained the ability to control ice. Lilith's own blood had analyzed Essence of the Demon and Black Marlin's ice- and water-controlling abilities, then acquired those abilities for itself.

Although Lilith did not understand exactly what mechanism was at work.

There was no doubt that this was a good thing.

It also meant that as long as Lilith could obtain Teigu with other elemental control abilities and wield them for long enough, her blood could naturally acquire the corresponding abilities through the Teigu's erosion.

The prerequisite was that they also possessed the ability to erode their wielders.

Considering that the Super Dangerous Species materials in Teigu still retained vitality even after a thousand years, and that the secret arts applied to the Teigu had also existed for a thousand years, who could guarantee that nothing had gone wrong during that time?

Lilith guessed that she would most likely be able to achieve her goal.

Well, provided she could obtain those Teigu.

As always, Lilith could afford to wait. An opportunity would come eventually.

Then, on this day, Esdeath came to find Lilith.

"Someone died."

Though someone had died, Esdeath's face was full of excitement.

"The dead man was a high-ranking official under Ozneth. His body was found in his home."

"Lilith, this time, Night Raid has finally exposed a flaw!"