Friend
────!
The axe slammed into the floor.
Shattered fragments burst outward in every direction. The battle-axe didn't stop—its trajectory twisted immediately toward Vivian.
Vivian clenched her teeth. It was too close to dodge. She wrapped her hand in demonic energy and grabbed the axe head.
A murderous aura sliced into her skin like needles, but she pushed through it regardless.
Crackle—
Louise's body was forced backward.
This is a princess…?
Vivian was stunned by the strength—by the vivid, bulging muscles beneath the princess's skin.
Impossible.
The princesses she knew were always easy to deal with. Some were refined maidens, others had bad tempers. Some learned magic, and some even swung swords dreaming of becoming knights.
But they all remained within the boundaries of what a princess was.
Because they were royalty.
Because they were princesses.
Being a princess mattered more than being a knight or a mage.
But Louise Verft was different.
Her face was beautiful, but beneath that lay enough muscle to shame even a berserker of Ugar.
Inside her burned a ferocious beast.
Vivian couldn't help doubting.
"You're calling yourself a princess?"
"Then am I supposed to be a prince?"
Vivian lowered her head and tightened her grip on the axe blade.
That was when she felt it—an icy prickle down her back.
Damn.
She had been so shocked by Louise Verft—the dwarf princess—that she'd forgotten the real threat:
The Hero she had no confidence of defeating in her current state.
Bzzzzt—!
Lightning smashed into her back. Vivian, who had been pushing Louise backward, was thrown forward instead.
She and the princess rolled together across the room, crashing into the far wall.
By then, loud alarm bells shook the entire palace.
I have to run.
The princess was no longer the problem.
Her surrender was quick—her decision even quicker.
As the Hero lunged, Vivian hurled herself out of the way. It was disgraceful, but dignity meant nothing to a Demon King when her life was at stake.
She sprinted toward the window—
when a powerful force yanked her back. A sharp pain wrung a strangled cry from her throat.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Louise Verft, having dropped her axe, had grabbed something else.
A long, black shape.
The tail of a succubus—Vivian Blunt's tail.
"…You bitch."
"You come in whenever you want, but you don't get to leave whenever you want. If you want out, at least leave your neck behind, isn't that proper etiquette, you whore?"
Thud—!
Vivian's kick, packed with concentrated demonic energy, rocked the princess's body.
But Louise did not release the tail.
"Let go."
"And who would that benefit?"
"You won't let go?"
The struggle was short—but the distance between her and the Hero was even shorter.
Lightning burst again. Vivian's breath hitched.
Slice—
A chilling wind brushed past her face.
Something was cut.
A black piece fell to the floor.
Her tail.
It was severed.
"Ah."
A dizzying pain surged up her spine.
Tears stung her eyes.
Do you know how much care—how much love—she had poured into grooming that symbol of beauty?
But neither the princess nor the Hero gave the Demon King even a heartbeat to grieve.
The tail was only the beginning.
A sword path bent at a right angle flashed toward her neck.
I remember your faces, both of you. I won't forget—ever!
She unleashed all the demonic energy she'd been barely holding back, breaking through the dimension's interference.
A massive repulsive force blasted everything away.
Louise screamed as she was flung aside.
The Hero staggered for a moment.
His brilliant aura cut through the demonic energy and pressed forward—but Vivian was no longer there.
Shattered glass.
An empty window.
Nothing but vacancy.
"…Tears?"
Hillen Cargill tilted his head at the single drop of water falling across his face.
***
A demonfolk had infiltrated.
At the first report, the king rushed out of his chambers in his nightclothes.
"My daughter!"
But there was considerable distance between Louise's annex and the king's room—and more reports arrived along the way.
The king frowned.
"So you're saying a demon tried to kidnap Louise, and Hillen Cargill prevented it?"
"It was not a demon—it was the Demon King."
"He defeated the Demon King?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"How?"
The question escaped him naturally.
It had been nearly a thousand years since a Demon King first descended. All living beings on Arein—humans, elves, dwarves—had learned to live with demonfolk and demonic beasts.
In their lives, in politics, in diplomacy, in economy—demonfolk could no longer be separated from them.
Humans and the other races had changed over the centuries, but one truth had not:
No one can stop the Demon King's kidnapping.
No matter the defenses,
no matter the measures,
no matter the vigilance—
No one could prevent it.
The reason was simple:
The kidnapper always had the advantage over the kidnapped.
No one knew when nor where the kidnapping would occur.
No nation could create perfect, unbreakable protection around every single member of its royalty.
And the Demon King's supreme stealth and escape abilities were rivaled only by the Great Star among countless Heroes and powers.
Even then, not perfectly—only Daphner Philia could truly match it.
But Daphner Philia could not stand guard over every royal in every country.
Therefore humanity had chosen strategy over resistance:
Not preventing the kidnapping—
but punishing the Demon King afterward.
That had been the precedent for centuries, becoming an unspoken rule.
The Demon King would take care of the kidnapped royal until the right time and never target the heir apparent.
The nations, in return, tolerated it so long as the Demon King did not cross the line.
This unstated agreement existed because Demon Kings wished to survive, and humans wished to minimize the endless, exhausting conflict with Demon Kings who always returned no matter how many were slain.
But stopping the kidnapping altogether?
Unheard of.
The king's doubts were enormous, but that wasn't the priority at the moment.
"So Louise is unharmed? She isn't injured, is she?"
When the king arrived, the soldiers controlling the area stepped aside.
He entered the princess's chambers and surveyed the scene.
Broken ceiling, shattered walls, lingering traces of demonic energy—it was unmistakable.
A demonfolk really had come here.
The king's gaze moved to his daughter.
"Louise! Are you hurt anywhere?"
"I'm fine."
She was not fine.
Louise's body was covered in small wounds.
"Go to the court magician and get treated immediately. That damned demon—what part of this child did they think they could hit…?"
"We were able to stop it thanks to Hero Hillen."
"Hillen Cargill?"
Only then did the king realize there was not only the princess in the room, but also the Hero.
"The Hero informed us of the demon's intrusion. Thanks to that, we had time to prepare and were able to repel it. Unfortunately, we couldn't kill it, but…"
Louise presented the still wriggling succubus tail.
"A succubus's tail?"
"Yes."
"The Demon King of Lust?"
A Demon King typically preferred to keep followers of their own race. Not always, but it was the most common assumption.
"The Demon King of Lust… that lunatic, as if causing trouble in Dormunt wasn't enough, now wants to try her hand here."
Murderous intent flashed in the king's eyes.
To think someone would dare target Louise—
Intolerable rage swelled inside him.
But he soon suppressed it and approached Hillen Cargill.
He didn't particularly like the man, but regardless, he was the reason Louise wasn't kidnapped. Gratitude was still owed.
"On behalf of Verft, I offer you my thanks."
"Not at all. I only did what I should have done."
"No princess has ever been saved before a kidnapping took place. You've accomplished something remarkable. However…"
He had one question.
"How did you know?"
"It was coincidence."
"Coincidence?"
"Yes. I couldn't sleep, so I was training in the annex's practice hall, and I sensed demonic energy."
It was possible.
The Demon King's presence was subtle, but Hillen Cargill had slain two Demon Kings already. His senses toward demonic energy would be sharper than anyone's.
It felt almost too perfectly aligned to be coincidence…
but a Hero and a Demon King colluding in such a matter was impossible.
Or perhaps he was wandering near Louise's annex because he harbored impure intentions…
The king shook his head.
It was just a baseless suspicion.
He couldn't scold a Hero who had just saved his daughter.
"You are the kingdom's, my daughter's, and my own benefactor. Whatever you expect, I will give you more. You may look forward to it."
"Thank you."
"For formality's sake, most would refuse once or twice."
"I heard accepting what is given is also etiquette."
"That is true."
The king laughed heartily.
The rumor that the Demon King of Lust attempted—and failed—to kidnap Verft's Second Princess spread across the entire continent with incredible speed.
***
『It was a success.』
Just one sentence—yet enough to delight Berze.
Not only had they stopped Vivian, they had even cut off her tail.
The thought of her fleeing with her tail literally between her legs made him laugh.
"Keep the tail."
For a succubus, the tail was an aesthetic symbol and also a secondary vessel for demonic energy.
Compared to the heart, it felt secondary, but the magic contained within was still significant.
『Yes.』
"Good work."
『I only did what I should have done.』
"Indeed. Thanks to this, you'll gain even more fame again."
『All because of you, Demon King.』
"How was Vivian?"
『Weak. Honestly, I think I could have killed her.』
Only because she had recently descended and was heavily affected by dimensional interference.
Vivian herself was not weak.
She was a Demon King.
It was simply that Hillen had grown stronger—
stronger than when he climbed Ergest Mountain,
stronger than when he killed Draxon.
The power of two Demon Kings was evolving him even further at this very moment.
"Vivian is more useful alive. The moment she arrived, she caused trouble in Dormunt, and now she's stirred chaos in Verft."
She was a natural lightning rod.
No matter what Berze did, attention would fall on her instead of him.
And he hoped it would stay that way.
Of course, that wasn't the only reason.
Even if Arein has slain countless Demon Kings, almost none die immediately after descent.
Furthermore, Vivian had been sent by Archduke Alkaine to investigate the truth behind Draxon's death.
If she died, Alkaine would surely take action—something unpredictable.
It was far safer to have the simple, easily read Vivian alive than to risk whatever moves Alkaine might make.
『Then I will contact you again next time.』
"When you return to Guild Headquarters, send Granada separately to the Golden Moon Merchant Guild."
『Because of the elves?』
"Correct."
『Granada is publicly known as my right hand. If I suddenly send him elsewhere, others may become suspicious.』
"That's for you to handle."
『As expected of you, Demon King. Understood.』
The communication ended.
Berze pushed aside the crystal orb and stretched.
[1412492pt]
He checked his demonic energy points and imagined the day he would station a Balrog on the second floor—when another orb lit up.
『Demon King.』
It was Krutu.
『The unusual monsters you mentioned have appeared.』
『We tried to avoid them, but three tribesmen were taken.』
***
Krutu.
Once the chieftain of the Red Frost Tribe, he had now become the great chieftain of seven unified tribes.
He commanded hundreds of warriors, and counting all members, the number exceeded a thousand.
This growth was overwhelming—unimaginable in the past.
All thanks to the great Demon King.
It was something he could never have dreamed of before.
Thus his loyalty was unmatched.
"If you see unusual monsters, don't fight. Run immediately. Then report to me."
"Understood."
"Follow the chieftain!"
He obeyed the Demon King's orders faithfully.
Orcs were instinct-driven; he had drilled the command into them by alternating threats and coaxing.
"Ogre. No."
"Strange."
"Chieftain, monster."
Thanks to the repeated drilling of orders, the orcs didn't charge even when they saw the ogre whose one arm was abnormally massive.
What is that?
A black, hulking form with enormous claws.
The ogre's arm looked almost demonic.
A sense of foreboding scraped across Krutu's mind.
"Retreat quietly."
"We obey."
Fortunately, the creature did not notice them.
After putting a little distance between them and it, Krutu pulled out a communication orb and infused it with demonic energy.
At that moment—Krutu's entire body stiffened.
Slowly, he turned his head.
It was a dog.
No—more a demonic beast shaped like a dog, a grotesque creature.
They sniffed the air, staring directly at Krutu.
When did they appear?
These things aren't mountain monsters either.
They must be connected to that bizarre creature.
Instinctively, he swung his blade.
The dogs were quick—but Krutu and the orcs were quicker.
Gyaaang—
The beasts fell dead.
But they had wasted too much time.
A heavy gaze pressed against Krutu's back.
We've been spotted.
In the instant he realized it—
the monster hurled itself into the air.
A thick killing intent rolled from it, forcing the orcs to bare their fighting spirit.
"Fight!"
"Kill!"
"No!"
Krutu's shout dissolved into the wind.
An orc's severed head rolled across the cold snowy ground.
Enraged by their kin's death, another orc swung his blade.
Slash—
The demonlike arm was severed.
At the same moment, another fist crushed the orc's skull.
Two dead in an instant.
The remaining orcs—and Krutu—charged with fury.
Demonic energy surged wildly as they hacked into the creature's body.
In the process, one more orc died.
The report could only be made after the battle ended.
"…Forgive me, Demon King. I failed to obey your command."
『It doesn't matter. "Avoid if possible" doesn't mean "let them kill you."』
『Collect the bodies of your kin—and bring the chimera's body as well.』
"Yes."
Thankfully, the Demon King was not angry.
Krutu let out a breath of relief.
"…Demonfolk?"
"—!"
But a soft voice pierced his ear—and relief vanished instantly.
He turned slowly.
A woman he hadn't noticed before was standing there blankly, staring at him.
"…Human?"
"You, Demon King's subordinate?"
Eyes far too bright for the situation sparkled at him.
If Krutu was judging correctly—that was curiosity.
A human showing curiosity in front of him.
He should have scoffed, called her an arrogant brat, and killed her immediately.
She looked frail enough that a simple swing of the sword would be impossible for her to block.
But Krutu didn't move.
Something felt stuck in his throat—uncomfortable, restraining.
"Below."
He spoke.
"What are you hiding?"
"…Orc. Speak well?"
Her words were choppy—yet without malice.
"This."
"My friend."
Rumble—rumble—rumble—
The ground shook.
A rise of earth.
And then—
A massive shadow swallowed Krutu whole.
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