In the Eternal Night Territory, above the ruins of the Demon King’s Castle.
Just half a day ago, this place was the power center for the entire Demon Race.
Now, that pitch-black castle, a symbol of supreme majesty, had a massive crater smashed into it, and next to that crater lay the giant corpse of a Demon Dragon.
The gargantuan hole piercing through its chest silently testified to how cleanly and decisively the immortal Demon King had been put to death.
Meanwhile, a teeth-gritting sound of scales rubbing against one another echoed through the night sky.
Under the gaze of a group of Nightmares, a tall Nightmare wearing proper attire that still could not hide her proud figure was stepping on the Demon King’s back, flipping his wings around.
She had long, deep-purple hair, a pair of bent ram-like horns on her head, and a pink magic staff at her waist.
—Bicuisi, the current lord of the Nightmares, head of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Race, and openly the second strongest combatant in the Demon Race besides the Demon King himself, known for large-scale illusions capable of easily distorting reality.
For some unspeakable reasons, despite being the head of the Four Heavenly Kings, she had always lived in the Nightmare territory thousands of miles away.
Therefore, when she received the alert and rushed over in a panic with a few trusted subordinates, this Demon King’s Castle had already been speed-run by some unknown Hero in half a day.
“…Damn it! Not here, not here either…”
Watching her boss continuously flip the Demon King’s remains over and over, and even trying to reach her hand into that hole to fish out something, a Nightmare nearby swallowed hard and cautiously reminded her—
“…Um, Lady Bicuisi, I think Demon King-sama is mostly beyond saving.”
“Who cares if he’s beyond saving!? I’m looking for someone!!”
Bicuisi turned around and shouted frantically at the other Nightmare—
“Where is my Histori? Where is that fragrant, small, silver-haired Histori who only ever lies on the balcony sunbathing all day long?!”
She yelled while irritably grabbing and rubbing her own purple hair.
“Damn it, the entire Demon King’s Castle didn’t even leave behind a single silver hair! Where on earth did she go?!”
“Since Demon King-sama couldn’t escape, I think Lady Histori probably…”
“Shut up! Close your crow’s mouth! You are not allowed to say that!”
The moment Bicuisi heard this, she immediately retorted, teeth bared—
“Did you see Histori’s corpse in the Demon King’s Castle? No, you didn’t! Life or death unknown, that means she’s still alive!”
“…Is, is that so?”
“Of course! Besides, Histori has always worn our Demon Race’s Sacred Artifact around her neck! Even if that Hero really took a lethal strike at her, as long as the Sacred Artifact is still there, she still has a chance to be resurrected!”
As she spoke, a conjecture gradually took shape in Bicuisi’s mind, which made her expression grow increasingly sullen.
“I understand… that detestable, despicable, shameless Hero! He must have coveted Histori’s peerless beauty, which is why he bundled up my Histori and took her away after killing the Demon King!!”
Growing angrier the more she thought about it, Bicuisi clenched her hands into fists and viciously ripped off a dragon scale from the Demon King—
“Unforgivable, unforgivable!! I spent so much time carefully raising her! Every week, I searched all over the world for all kinds of interesting little trinkets, hoping to raise her into a little loser who couldn’t live without me, yet before I even got to enjoy her, someone else got there first!!”
“…Um, Lady Bicuisi, although Lady Histori’s beauty is peerless, I don’t think the Hero would have such a deep obsession with her like you do…”
Bicuisi’s light purple eyes turned icy in an instant, and she stared at the Nightmare who had spoken as if looking at a dead person.
“…Huh?”
“Ah, I didn’t mean it like that! I meant… even if she is facing the unbeatable Hero, Lady Histori will certainly have the courage to resist! She will absolutely not easily surrender to the Hero’s lewd power!”
The Nightmare wiped cold sweat from his forehead and pointed a finger toward the sky—
“Perhaps… perhaps Lady Histori is currently managing to maneuver around the Hero while hoping in her heart that you will come to save her?”
“Hmph, that sentence actually makes some sense.”
Realizing that no matter how much she searched, she wouldn’t find Histori, Bicuisi spread her wings and flew into mid-air, looking down at all the Nightmares—
“Pass on my orders! All dark agents are to help me keep an eye on the movements of Histori and the Hero! Put all resources to work!”
“I swear by the honor of the Nightmares, even if I have to chase them to the lair of the United Kingdom, I will surely snatch Histori back!!”
*
“Achoo!”
As she was walking, Histori suddenly let out a loud sneeze.
The black-haired girl walking in front of her stopped her pace, then turned her head and glanced at her calmly.
“What’s wrong, Histori? Did you catch a cold?”
“It’s nothing, nothing at all.”
Histori quickly waved her hands at Amir and then sniffled—
“It should just be the aftereffect of changing faces; Naqiqi used quite a few strange bottles and jars on my hair, and it’s making my nose itch constantly.”
For some reason, after the brief coldness in Shadowdeep Town, Amir’s attitude toward Histori had miraculously returned to being peaceful, as if nothing had happened.
…However, could such a good thing really be true?
Could it be that Amir actually believed the excuse she had fabricated earlier?
Was the previous coldness just her unable to drop her pride for a moment?
Or was she just suppressing her rage now, preparing to unleash something big on her later?
Regardless, after trekking alongside Amir for nearly several hours until the sky turned dark, they finally arrived near the borderline of the Eternal Night Territory.
“Once we leave this forest, that is the main road leading to the United Kingdom.”
Amir jumped onto the branch of a large tree with Histori and pointed to the silhouette of a city in the distance—
“Although we can see the silhouette of the border city now, it will take at least another few hours of walking to actually get there.”
“…Eh, is that so?”
“Yes. Besides, it is already past curfew. According to the laws of the United Kingdom, in a wartime state, no one is allowed to enter the city after dark, and even if the Knights Order returns, they do not make exceptions.”
She turned her head and looked at Histori, who was shivering a bit from the cold wind—
“If we forcefully try to pass through the gates, it will not only cause trouble for us, but it might also expose your identity. So, let’s just make do in this forest for tonight.”
“I understand, Hero-sama.”
Seeing Amir preparing to clear out an open space under the tree, Histori hurriedly and ingratiatingly moved forward—
“Um, are you hungry now? Actually, I didn’t just bring fruit cakes from the Demon King’s Castle, I also have some specialty nut cakes! I’m not sure which one you prefer…”
“Cream will do, thank you.”
Unexpectedly, Amir did not continue to reject Histori’s offer.
She naturally took the cream cake handed to her by Histori and sat cross-legged beside her—
“Also, Histori…”
“…Wh, what is it? Hero-sama?”
Gazing into Amir’s bottomless black eyes, Histori subconsciously shrank her head and smiled reluctantly.
Staring at Histori like this for a long time, until she was almost crushed by some invisible pressure, Amir finally picked up the cake at her side and took a smiling bite—
“Nothing, just hoping that you… can sleep well tonight.”