“You... are you alright?”
Following the sound, Vieya turned her head.
Through the settling smoke and dust erged Rania, followed by nesis, Luna, and the rest of the group.
Everyone glanced around first, then all eyes settled on Vieya—her cheeks faintly flushed, her expression looking rather... satisfied, as if she’d just finished tallying up a victory.
nesis blinked in surprise. She hadn’t expected that in such a short span of ti, the mysterious, powerful “Saintly Cleric” had already cleared the entire area.
But then her gaze shifted—to the white fox standing beside the cleric, and... to that other figure, the golden-haired beauty who looked vaguely familiar.
A sharp jolt ran through nesis. Her whole body tensed.
No way... It couldn’t be her. Maybe it was just a resemblance...
Still, she looked back at the cleric, clutching a faint hope. “Vieya? This person beside you, she’s...”
“She?”
Vieya placed a hand on Flaviel’s °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° shoulder, giving it a little squeeze as she smiled.
“You guessed right. She’s the Demon King. The one who died here three years ago.”
Clang!
The air froze solid.
Everyone instinctively drew their weapons and fell into formation—tense, far more than they’d been even when facing the Masked Army earlier.
A person’s na carries a shadow, and that goes for demons, too.
Especially when the one standing before them was that Demon King, the one who’d taken down humanity’s strongest Hero three years ago.
The first emotion that rose in their hearts was fear.
But when they saw Vieya casually reach out and pinch the Demon King’s cheek—and the Demon King only frowned slightly in annoyance—so of that fear turned into doubt.
Maybe... maybe the cleric was just joking.
After all, the impression Vieya had left on them was entirely good—strong, righteous, a savior who’d even earned recognition from the Holy Sword.
If this really was the Demon King, would they be standing together like this so peacefully? It had to be a joke, or a misunderstanding.
“Vieya, that was quite the joke—you really scared us,” nesis said stiffly, forcing a smile. “Why don’t you introduce your two new friends here properly?”
“It’s not a joke.”
Vieya coughed lightly, her expression turning grave.
“To my left is the evil Great Demon King, and to my right is one of the leaders of that evil organization that led the Masked n to attack you all earlier... As for why only one of the leaders—well, the other one wasn’t very friendly, so I, uh, took care of her.”
She made a slicing motion across her neck. “But don’t worry, everyone, I’ve already removed the danger from these two. They’re harmless now. You can see for yourselves—”
She reached boldly toward Flaviel’s face again.
Snap!
Flaviel instantly caught Vieya’s fingers, smiling sweetly as she began bending them backward.
Everyone’s heart leapt into their throats. They braced themselves, expecting the horrifying crack of bones.
“C’mon... give so face here...” Vieya whispered, blinking pleadingly.
After a long mont, Flaviel finally let go. The group collectively exhaled in relief.
None of them had even been the ones doing the reckless thing, but they all felt as though they’d just taken a walk through the gates of hell—cold sweat soaking their backs.
Vieya rubbed her sore fingers. “See? The Demon King’s perfectly safe.”
“So it really is the Demon King...” nesis murmured.
Luna and the others exchanged wary looks, realizing at last that Vieya wasn’t joking.
But of all of them, Rania’s reaction was the most violent. Her purple eyes blazed with murderous intent.
If Vieya hadn’t been standing right there, she might not have been able to hold herself back from attacking.
“Rania, co here for a mont.” Vieya sighed inwardly and beckoned to the purple-haired girl standing across from her.
“...” Rania turned her head away, pretending she hadn’t heard.
At that mont, Luna stepped in to defuse the tension.
“Miss Cleric, could you tell us what exactly happened here?”
“That... let’s find sowhere to sit first.” Vieya said. “It’s a long story, but for now, everything’s finally over. We’ll rest here tonight, and at dawn, we’ll head back to the city and report the mission.”
“That’s fine.”
Luna nodded softly, but her eyes lingered on the two enemies standing behind Vieya.
After a pause, she turned back to the cleric, right hand pressed over her heart, bowing slightly.
“Then, on behalf of everyone, we thank you, Miss Cleric, for all the help you’ve given us on this journey. Once we return to the city, I’ll hold a proper celebration banquet in your honor.”
“...Alright.” Vieya nodded lightly.
—That night—
The stars were faint, the moon pale. After the brief chaos, the little town had fallen quiet again.
On the narrow path back, their group moved slowly.
nesis kept contact with Yuancherin and the others stationed outside, explaining what had happened.
“Everything’s settled here. No casualties. How’s it on your side?”
“Pfft, what danger could we possibly have? Anyway, how long till you’re back? We’ll cook up sothing with wild herbs for you guys when you return.”
“At our current pace, we’ll be there in about half an hour. Don’t rush.”
“Alright then... oh, and Liufir wanted to ask how Sister Vieya’s doing.”
“She’s fine... we’ll talk more when we get back.”
Normally, after such a victory, everyone would be lively, cheerful even.
But this ti, the whole group was quiet. Even Kare, usually the loudest of them all, hadn’t uttered a word.
“Guest...”
Hu Xiaoqi trailed close behind the sli girl, whispering, “Your friends don’t seem to like . Perhaps... I should take my leave first...”
Vieya shook her head. She knew full well the silence wasn’t because of the fox—the little sub-boss.
It was because of the other one. The real final boss.
Though it felt wrong to describe her wife that way, it was true: the Demon King was not a welco presence among humans.
Vieya stole a glance at Flaviel, worried.
But unlike the gloomy group around them, Flaviel seed perfectly content. In fact, her lips were curved upward in a faint smile, her mood surprisingly bright.
“What’s wrong, little Ye... hmm↑hmm↓—that look on your face, are you worried about ?”
“Worried, my ass... You’re seriously this happy about being hated?”
“Well... how should I put it?”
Flaviel pressed a finger to her lips, gazing up at the moon while thinking aloud.
“Most of the ti, I only care about what the person I love thinks of . There are plenty of humans and monsters who hate —if they lined up, the queue would stretch from my Demon Castle all the way to the northern snowfields. If I cared about every one of them, I’d have offed myself from depression ages ago.”
“Still cracking jokes, huh? Then I guess I don’t have to worry.”
“Don’t worry, little Ye... I only care about how you see .”
“You’re so mushy...”
Vieya rubbed her arm with an awkward grimace.
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