“It’s called thinking, not spacing out.”
The night breeze was chilly, and the firelight illuminated every face.
Vieya sat upright, taking a large sip of the wild vegetable soup in her hands. She thought of the last ti Flaviel had disappeared without saying goodbye.
“Demon King, from my observation of you, there’s still quite a difference between you and soone truly resurrected from death... you’re more like one of those spirits summoned back through necromantic gas.”
“Yes.”
Flaviel’s voice was soft. “We Demon Kings are beings with imnse vitality—but we also have weaknesses. For example, the power of a Hero and the wounds from a Holy Sword.” Her gaze never left Vieya.
“To kill a Demon King with ordinary ans is like burning weeds with fire—the roots remain, and as long as the roots remain, the Demon King can always return. But the Hero’s power combined with the Holy Sword... that’s uprooting the roots entirely.”
“...” Vieya held her bowl, head lowered, silent—half like guilt, half like unease.
“Thank you for the explanation.” Luna interlaced her fingers, frowning. “But from the sound of it, what you experienced back then must’ve been the latter case, right?”
“Yes. But I’m different from the other Demon Kings.”
Flaviel paused, then continued. “No matter what, traces of will ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ always remain in the gaps of ti. The Holy Sword can erase a Demon King’s existence, but it cannot erase the mory people have of .”
“As long as even one person rembers , I will never experience what you humans call the true death of the threefold deaths.”
Flaviel spoke slowly.
A human dies three tis.
The first, when the heart stops beating and breathing ceases—biological death.
The second, when you are buried, and people in black attend your funeral, declaring you no longer exist in this society—you quietly depart.
The third death is when the last person in the world who rembers you forgets you.
Her voice was tender. “You can think of as ti itself. I exist everywhere, yet you cannot see , cannot touch ...”
“Likewise, I’ve lost all ans of interfering with reality. Therefore... you have nothing to fear from .”
“So you’re saying that right now, you can’t harm us?” nesis asked.
“I can,” Flaviel lowered her eyes. “My body... I buried it on Mount Aisa—”
“What?” Everyone gasped in shock.
But she added lightly, “—not in your tiline. So don’t worry.”
“Phew...” The group exhaled in relief.
“But still...”
Flaviel’s next words made their hearts tighten again.
“There have always been humans trying to call out of ti itself—trying to make pacts that are... not exactly wholeso. Just like this ti, I was summoned as a hired blade.”
“......”
Everyone exchanged uneasy glances. The emotional whiplash left them dizzy, but real concern was spreading through the group.
What if, one day, soone summoned a Demon King inside a human city?
What if those masked people began spreading rumors about Demon King resurrection, distributing summoning thods like pamphlets across towns?
Even if the requirents were harsh, out of countless humans there would always be fanatics willing to throw their lives into so insane ritual to resurrect a Demon King.
As long as humanity exists, cults will never die.
The group grew anxious, wanting to whisper among themselves—but with the Demon King present, they only dared to exchange glances.
Vieya’s eyelid twitched. She suspected Flaviel was deliberately tornting them.
Those masked figures were able to summon her for one reason: they chose Mount Aisa.
Anywhere else, no amount of calling would have worked.
Vieya gave Flaviel a sidelong glance and silently shook her head. This one really is an old torntor.
Utterly wicked.
“Ahem.”
Vieya coughed to get everyone’s attention, then spoke solemnly. “No need to worry, everyone. Since this Demon King is so evil... as the wielder of the Holy Sword, I’ll take responsibility. Even if I have to sacrifice myself, I’ll seal her away forever so she’ll never again harm the innocent.”
“Sister Vieya...” Liufir’s lips trembled, eyes glossy with unshed tears—completely moved by Vieya’s righteous declaration.
Even Kare and Arc gave her enthusiastic thumbs-up.
nesis was considering whether to write the line down and send it to the press.
As for Luna, though she stayed silent, she had to admit—Vieya wasn’t wrong. Without her here, they’d probably already be drafting their wills.
And writing wills was a fundantal skill every veteran adventurer learned—just like eating or drinking water.
Now, only one person was unhappy.
Flaviel looked at Vieya without expression. “And how exactly do you plan to seal ? Enlighten .”
“That’s a secret. Say it out loud and it won’t work,” Vieya refused, shaking her head. How will I seal you? I’ll co up with sothing brilliant when the ti cos.
With Vieya’s assurance, the mood at least loosened a little—except for one sulking purple-haired girl.
“Rania, if you have any questions, you can ask too.” Vieya tapped the table with her knuckles—doot, doot.
She felt guilty toward that student.
After all, Rania had dedicated herself to avenging her teacher. Now that she was face to face with Flaviel—the very killer—her eyes practically glowed red with rage.
And with her recent level-up, Rania’s confidence had inflated enormously; even standing before a half-phantom Demon King didn’t seem to faze her.
“I don’t want to ask her. I only want to ask you,” Rania said.
Vieya sighed. “You can ask now.”
“I’ll co find you privately when we return,” Rania replied, lowering her head, refusing to say more.
“Ahem, let’s not argue,” Yuancherin interjected to smooth things over, quickly changing the subject. “Actually, I have sothing I’ve been wanting to ask too... though I’m not sure if I should.”
She looked at Vieya, blinking, her eyes silently asking: If the Demon King gets angry, you’ll cover for , right?
Vieya spread her hands helplessly.
“Ahem...”
Yuancherin took her ti composing herself, then finally turned to the Demon King.
“Your Excellency, is this diary really sothing you wrote?” She took out the yellowed little notebook. Without waiting for an answer, she continued,
“My question is—did you already expect that we would co to Mount Aisa?”
She paused, then added,
“Even if it wasn’t us, surely you anticipated that the ti-space prison you built would soday attract outsiders?”
“I wrote it, yes. A long, long ti ago—out of boredom.”
Flaviel didn’t bother hiding such a trivial matter. “Besides, I never intended for this Mount Aisa to keep existing.”
“Why?”
Yuancherin pressed. “You’re existing now by relying on the residual energy here, aren’t you?”
“If Mount Aisa disappears, wouldn’t you beco what you described earlier—a wandering ghost adrift in endless ti, unable to touch anything?” she asked.
“So why? You could’ve stayed hidden, even tripped us up from the shadows—let us and those masked people destroy each other, and finally you could’ve erged to reap the rewards.”
“You’re worried I might be using you to fulfill so sche?” Flaviel smiled faintly. “You’re cautious—but sorry. You’re not qualified enough for to use.”
“Phew... no value to exploit, that’s good,” Yuancherin said with a small bow. “Forgive my rudeness. I hope you don’t take offense.”
But after hearing that, Flaviel went quiet for a mont. Then, curious, she asked,
“So... you’d rather die yourselves than see return to the world?”
Snap!
Vieya suddenly reached out and grabbed Flaviel’s wrist.
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