…What should I do?
What should I do, what should I do?
What on earth am I supposed to do now?!
Diving into a princess’s bedroom that had luckily escaped destruction, a drained Histori leaned against the door, her body slowly sliding down to the floor.
She gripped her bangs, staring at the orange sky outside the window and letting out a desperate wail.
Just moments ago, she had been desperately waving her hands at Amir, trying to decline her help.
However, Amir only raised an eyebrow and asked a simple, “You don’t want to?”
Which caused Histori’s hand to freeze midair.
“No, it’s not that I don’t want to. I just feel…”
“Nervous?”
“Yes, yes, yes… Wait, no, no, no! Lord Hero, I’m just too excited. I never expected that such a noble person as yourself would actually be willing to help a lowly person like me…”
Histori wiped away a drop of blood from the corner of her eye.
She then forced the corners of her mouth upward to give Amir a bitter smile.
“It’s just that I suddenly remembered I left a few personal items behind during my time with the demons. Please allow me to return to my room and pack them up!”
Using a clumsy excuse, Histori didn’t even wait for Amir’s response before lifting her skirt and rushing back to her bedroom.
‘It’s over. The current situation is like a wolf in front, a tiger behind, a cliff on the left, and a fire pit on the right.’
‘If I admit I’m a demon in front of Amir, she’ll definitely cleave me in half with her sword.’
‘If I stubbornly refuse her kindness and she suspects I’m a demon, she’ll also cleave me in half.’
‘If I don’t refuse, it means I’ll have to stay by the Hero’s side until the curse is lifted. That means she’ll eventually notice something is wrong and cleave me in half anyway.’
‘Dammit! My body isn’t as big as the Demon King’s. If that sword swings my way, I’ll be split in two no matter what. I wouldn’t even leave behind a whole corpse!’
Histori anxiously covered her lips, her gaze slowly shifting toward the sky outside the window.
‘Based on all of that, the only correct answer right now is to run away immediately, right?!’
While the Hero wasn’t paying attention to her, she would quietly gather all her mana and fly toward the deepest parts of the demon territory!
Histori cautiously poked her head out of the window and looked around.
She didn’t see any sign of the Hero.
‘Good. Take this chance, open the mana circuits to the maximum, and concentrate everything into my wings!’
‘Three, two, one!’
However, just as Histori unfolded her wings and prepared to soar into the sky, a cold voice suddenly whispered in her ear.
“Histori, my beloved daughter…”
” — Waaaah!?”
Histori’s hair stood on end.
Instinctively, she channeled mana into her palm, unfolded her Blood Blade between her fingers, and quickly threw a punch toward the sound.
…Nothing.
There was nothing there.
‘What was that? A hallucination? Or is the Demon King’s ghost coming back for my life?’
‘What the hell! That kick earlier was only because of the situation! I did it for self-defense! And over such a small thing, he chooses to haunt me instead of Amir? That dead Demon King is still a bully who fears the strong even as a ghost. He’s wasting my time to escape…’
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.
While Histori hunched over and climbed out the window, she pointed her middle finger back into the room and cursed viciously.
“Besides, it’s not my fault you died so pathetically! I haven’t even complained about how useless you were! You kept whispering in my ear about being immortal and unrivaled, yet you couldn’t even take a single strike from the Hero’s sword. You were like a stray dog on the side of the road… No, even a stray dog…”
“…So, I am telling you, has the soul of this King not yet vanished?”
The blood-red gems on Histori’s chest emitted a faint red light and slowly began to float.
“Tsk, I thought you knew this, which is why you took the opportunity to kick me earlier to ferry this King’s remnant soul over. After all that, it turns out you didn’t notice at all.”
“…”
The corners of Histori’s mouth twitched silently.
She then grabbed the ruby back into her palm.
“I… I obviously knew. I was just joking with you to lighten the mood.”
“You had better be.”
There was no time to keep bickering with the Demon King.
Histori cautiously glanced toward the door and whispered to the ruby.
“So, Lord Demon King, what should we do now? The Hero is still standing out on the balcony. Since you aren’t completely dead, you must have some backup plan, right? Like a self-destruct switch for the Demon King’s Castle or a super teleportation array…”
“Regarding that, Histori, didn’t you just come up with a perfect plan?”
The voice from the gem carried a hint of praise.
“To think you could find a way to break the deadlock in such a desperate situation, giving yourself the chance to lurk by the Hero’s side. You truly have a genius mind.”
“…Huh? I didn’t mean it like that. I was just — “
“Listen well, Histori. The Hero is a great calamity for our Demon Race. This King’s physical body has been destroyed, and my soul is extremely weak. I can only temporarily reside within our demon holy artifact.”
“But do not worry. As long as we use the power of the other six holy artifacts scattered across the world, this King can reshape his body and be fully resurrected.”
As she listened to the Demon King’s words, Histori’s heart began to sink.
“…So? What are you trying to say?”
“Therefore, Histori, you will temporarily lurk by the Hero’s side as a human and use her strength to seize those six holy artifacts.”
As he spoke, the voice within the ruby grew more impassioned.
“When this King is truly resurrected in this manner, my strength will grow to a level close to that of a god! At that time, forget the Hero — our Demon Race will surely unite the entire world and stand above all things!”
“Stop right there. I never said I was going with the Hero. I still want to stay in the Demon King’s Castle for a few…”
“Do your best, my beloved daughter. Everything regarding the Demon Race is entrusted to you. When you find the six holy artifacts, that will be the time of this King’s return and the day of the Demon Race’s revitalization!”
After reciting this speech with great vigor, the ruby in Histori’s hand quickly dimmed.
Everything that had just happened felt like a hollow dream.
“…”
At this moment, looking at the ordinary-looking necklace in her hand, the Blood Magic Princess felt her blood pressure rising rapidly.
“No… who agreed to this?! I just ate a few of your meals and accepted a few gifts from the Four Heavenly Kings! And what ‘revitalization of the Demon Race’? Give this huge mess to whoever you want, I’m not doing it!”
Histori resentfully grabbed the necklace on her chest and threw it forward with all her might. She then prepared to jump out the window…
*Clang!*
Amir, the black-haired Hero, happened to push open Histori’s door at that exact moment.
She lightly rubbed her forehead and then leaned down to pick up the necklace from the floor.
She looked at the ruby in her hand, then at Histori’s chest, and finally tilted her head in confusion.
“…Payment for me?”
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