Over the next few days, Fafna had completely settled in at Qiaolin’s place.
The Dragon Princess’s thunderous snoring kept him awake all night, and during the day, he had to accompany her on shopping trips.
Even for a Hero, it was becoming a bit much to handle.
“Mr. Qiaolin, you don’t look very well,” Loki noted, eyeing the two dark circles under the man’s eyes.
“It’s nothing. I’ve just been having some trouble sleeping lately.”
Qiaolin shot a meaningful glance at Fafna.
The dragon girl turned her head away in embarrassment, pretending to be nonchalant.
“If the insomnia is caused by internal factors, I imagine that as a Healing Mage, it shouldn’t be much of a problem for you,” Loki said.
“But if it’s due to external factors, you might need the help of other magic. For example… a spell that can block out noise.”
“Cough, cough…”
As soon as those words were spoken, the Dragon Princess coughed loudly, and Loki tactfully shut her mouth.
Hearing Loki mention a noise-canceling spell, Qiaolin shook his head.
There were many such spells, but their effectiveness would be severely limited against Fafna’s snoring.
Still, holding onto a glimmer of hope, Qiaolin asked, “Where could I find a spell like that, Loki?”
“In the library of the Demon King Palace. That place holds many spells created by the ancestors of the Demon Race. Although most are directly tied to specific bloodlines, there should be some general-purpose ones as well.”
“That’s fine, I can try them all,” Qiaolin said with a nod.
Although he couldn’t directly learn or use bloodline-inherited demon magic as a Celestial Hero, he could use Analysis Magic to construct a new version of the spell.
He had learned that trick from Tor.
“Is that so? Then I can lead the way.”
“I appreciate it.”
Even if there was only a sliver of hope, Qiaolin wanted to grasp it.
It was all for the sake of a peaceful night’s rest!
After a few turns, Qiaolin arrived in front of the library.
He hadn’t had the chance to explore the Demon King Palace thoroughly yet.
Judging by the sheer scale of the entrance, which rivaled the Demon King’s Palace itself, he could only imagine how vast the interior was.
Even the Royal Library of the Kingdom of Nolan couldn’t compare to this.
Loki seemed to notice the surprise on Qiaolin’s face and explained, “This library managed to survive the Holy War, so all 130,000 volumes of magical grimoires and historical records are perfectly preserved. Over the last 300 years, several thousand new spells have been added.”
“That many?”
Qiaolin had heard that demon magic developed rapidly during times of war, but the centuries since the Holy War had been an era of peace.
An average of seven or eight new spells a year was an incredible output for the Demon Race.
“Hehe, most of that was the work of a single person. You may have heard of him, one of the former Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Race, the ‘Infinite Great Sage’ Crowley.”
“What? It was him?”
“Pfft…”
Just as Qiaolin voiced his surprise, the Dragon Princess beside him burst into laughter.
“And here I thought it was someone impressive. That’s just the guy Big Sister Tor nearly drowned with Magic Power. The moment they met, he bragged that his mana could fill the entire East Sea… it’s enough to make a dragon die of laughter.”
“I wouldn’t know about that,” Loki said with a shrug.
She hadn’t witnessed the battles between the Four Heavenly Kings and the Hero Party.
The Demon Race had always valued strength above all else, and to this day, the former Four Heavenly Kings still held terrifying status and power within the Demon King’s Castle.
“He was indeed a formidable opponent, just a bit too conceited,” Qiaolin murmured.
Crowley’s strength had certainly lived up to his title as the Infinite Great Sage.
As a King Rank entity, his Magic Power capacity had once exceeded even Archimondia’s.
Even Qiaolin, as the Celestial Hero, couldn’t compare.
He didn’t even need to cast spells; that ocean-like mana was enough to create a horrifying pressure that could crush a person.
Unfortunately for him, his opponent had been Tor.
If Crowley’s Magic Power capacity was the East Sea, then the Celestial Saintess’s capacity was the very sky that covered the entire continent!
Their duel had been simple: they pumped their mana into each other’s bodies until one of them burst.
Tor had ultimately spared Crowley’s life, and Qiaolin hadn’t seen him since.
“Let’s head inside, Mr. Qiaolin.”
As Loki stepped through the doors, Qiaolin cautioned Fafna.
“Be on your best behavior once we’re inside. Crowley isn’t our enemy anymore.”
“Hmph, I can’t even be bothered to look at him. He’s just a dog by the side of the road.”
Fafna’s arrogant tone was a perfect imitation of the former Hero, making Qiaolin want to curl his toes in embarrassment.
When the two followed Loki into the library, the scene inside opened up.
The air was thick with a dense magical aura, making it feel as if they had stepped into a sea made of Magic Power.
Qiaolin looked at the books neatly arranged in the air.
Every single one of them floated silently under the influence of magic.
The entire space was permeated by a single type of Magic Power.
‘Is this… a Domain?’
Feeling the magical energy flowing past his fingertips, it was obvious this wasn’t natural.
Someone was deliberately guiding and releasing it.
“Lord Crowley, I’ve arrived!”
Loki called out toward the upper levels.
A straight, upright figure appeared in front of a bookshelf.
Like the books, he hovered in the void.
Hearing the call, his silent gaze shifted toward Qiaolin’s position.
“Loki, why have you brought outsiders here? And humans at that. Do you have any idea — “
“Oh, I know, I know. I’ve been reading my demon history.”
Hum —
Crowley flickered and appeared before the group.
A refined demon youth wearing round-framed glasses entered Qiaolin’s sight.
Qiaolin blinked in surprise.
This young-looking demon was entirely different from the Crowley in his memory.
He remembered the man being a white-haired elder.
Aside from the silent intensity in the youth’s brow that matched the Infinite Great Sage, Qiaolin couldn’t find a single similarity between the two.
“Um… hello.”
Qiaolin extended his hand toward Crowley in a friendly greeting, but the other man merely gave him a cold glance without responding.
Seeing this, Fafna grew displeased.
“Hey, old man, don’t be ungrateful when someone’s being nice to you.”
“Oh?”
Crowley snapped out of his trance at the sound of her voice.
He looked around before looking down to find the small, black-clad dragon girl.
“The Black Evil Dragon Princess, Fafna…”
Crowley spoke her name immediately.
“So you do remember me. I thought Big Sister Tor had turned your brain to mush during that fight.”
“There is truth to that. And where is she currently ’employed’?”
A trace of a smile appeared on Crowley’s previously solemn face.
Fafna ground her teeth as her pupils constricted.
Her Dragon Might erupted instantly!
Boom —
The power of a Saint shook the entire library to its foundations.
“I think you’re tired of living!”
“Fafna!”
Qiaolin’s voice hit Fafna like a hammer to the back of the head, causing her to flinch.
The terrifying pressure vanished instantly.
Qiaolin was clearly stopping her.
Despite her many questions, Fafna reigned in her power.
“My apologies, sir. It was wrong of us to intrude so abruptly. Goodbye.”
“Eh?”
Seeing Qiaolin turn and leave so decisively, Loki scratched her head awkwardly and rushed to stop him.
“Mr. Qiaolin, don’t go!”
However, Qiaolin’s pace only quickened.
“Wait!”
Crowley’s figure appeared, blocking Qiaolin’s path.
He bowed deeply to the man.
“I hope you can forgive my offensive words just now. I forgot how high of a status that Saintess holds in the hearts of you humans. After all, she and I are old rivals.”
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