A month.
A month passed by slowly yet swiftly.
In the Demon King’s bedroom, two women were intertwined, clinging closely to each other.
Mawang Arbes had eyes that gleamed ominously, as if stained with blood. In her arms lay a beautiful woman, completely motionless like a doll with its strings cut.
The woman merely stared blankly into the void with her empty eyes. If her eyes had been closed, one could easily mistake her for a corpse, as there was no vitality radiating from her.
Yet at the same time, an indescribable aura of detachment emanated from her that made it impossible to look away.
“Hesilaya. Is there nothing you desire?”
The Mawang gently brushed her hair while asking tenderly.
“…….”
But the woman only gazed into the void, offering no reply.
Had it been the usual Mawang, she would have swiftly dealt with her. However, the strangely lenient Mawang simply chuckled lightly and took hold of the woman’s ankle.
“Is it alright if I do this?”
After the woman weakly nodded, the Mawang tightened her grip on her ankle.
Crack-
“Ah… Huh….”
A faint groan escaped the woman’s lips, and simultaneously tears began to flow from her eyes.
The Mawang admired the tear cascading down the woman’s cheek and left a kiss on her tear-streaked face.
For an ordinary person, the pain would have incited screams, yet the woman simply gazed blankly at the ground, weeping.
The woman’s ankle, however, returned to its original state as if nothing had happened.
“Is there truly nothing you want? I will grant you anything.”
“……”
The Mawang asked her affectionately once more, but again there was no answer.
As the Mawang’s expression gradually darkened, the woman turned her head to look at her with hollow eyes.
“…I want something.”
Upon the woman’s words, the Mawang’s eyes widened, and she stroked the woman’s hair again.
“Oh! What is it? Speak freely.”
The woman turned to face the Mawang, placing her hand against her own neck.
“…Please just kill me.”
As if she truly longed for death, unlike her earlier emptiness, the woman spoke with palpable anticipation.
The Mawang stared at the woman in disbelief, and then suddenly grimaced as she began to choke the woman’s neck.
Crack…! Cough..!
With a face turning a stark shade of blue, the woman’s body instinctively started to struggle for air.
But that was the end. No further action took place.
Despite the ferocity of the Mawang’s gaze, ironically, she seemed to be careful not to crush the woman’s neck.
As if she didn’t want to kill her.
“How dare… how dare you, a mere doll, give me orders.”
Cough… Hurgh…!
“Want me to kill you? No way. That can’t happen. You will live by my side for all eternity.”
Crack… “Ah… T..Tena…”
With her eyes squeezed shut, the woman called out for Athena once more.
An inexplicable pang surged within the Mawang, and she involuntarily tightened her grip.
She felt the sensation of the woman’s neck slightly cracking.
As the woman’s body began to go limp, the Mawang startled and quickly released her grip to check on her condition.
Thank goodness. She had merely lost consciousness. The woman panted weakly, exhausted. The only evidence of change was the large, dark bruise on her neck.
After letting out a short sigh, the Mawang laid her down on the bed and left the room.
Her face contorted, as if something was disturbing her.
*
It’s so boring.
“They say the hero is tirelessly searching day and night for traces of the Majok.”
It’s utterly dull.
“The empire, thinking the demon realm’s gates have closed and the war is over, is ringing victory bells.”
Normally, she would have taken it upon herself to start a war, to hear the desperate cries as flesh and bones are ripped apart.
Instead, it’s all unbearably tedious.
“Soon, our eyes outside will lose contact as well. If this continues, we really will never be able to leave the demon realm again.”
In the past month, many changes have occurred.
The righteous hero with the Sacred Sword was torturing anything that resembled the Majok, day and night.
Rumors spread that the heroine of the empire had become a tyrant.
The suddenly appeared dragon, a natural disaster from the sky, rained calamity upon the continent daily.
The ever-loving saintess had transformed into a madwoman, drenched in blood.
And the Mawang herself had changed just as much.
‘What is this unpleasant feeling?’
Chosen by the goddess, granted the Mawang’s power and a never-ending craving for slaughter, Arbes.
Yet intriguingly, the murderous desire that had provoked her throughout her life slowly dissipated while in Hesilaya’s presence.
As the month passed, Arbes, no longer interested in slaughter, naturally withdrew from the wars.
In the Mawang’s heart, where the vast desire for carnage had faded.
Ironically, that emptiness was filled with emotions Arbes had never felt before.
Emotions directed solely towards Hesilaya.
At first, it was so enjoyable to ruin her.
The sight of her writhing in agony was the most beautiful scene imaginable, and her screams of suffering were the most soothing sounds.
The tears she shed from sorrow were sweeter than any blood.
But now, things had changed quite a bit.
Every time she screamed in pain, a wave of guilt washed over her.
Each time she wore a sorrowful expression, an unexplainable unease settled in.
When the woman had asked to be killed earlier, rage filled her from head to toe.
Arbes, who had never felt such emotions, began to ponder what this feeling meant.
As she contemplated for a while, the Mawang recalled something Hesilaya once mentioned.
– Athena…
Just hearing that name annoyed her greatly.
“…So that’s what it was.”
The Mawang realized.
This disturbing emotion that twisted her insides was the discomfort of knowing her doll did not acknowledge her as a master.
The irritation of her thinking about another woman instead of herself.
“Indeed… so that’s it.”
With the cause identified, there was no more hesitation on the Mawang’s face.
With a smile gracing her features, her eyes glowed red.
She thought of the dear doll that still dared not submit to her.
*
Bang-!!
Boom-!!
“Ugh…”
With a loud noise that felt like my eardrums would burst, I woke up.
Sitting up on the plush bed, I noticed that the castle was noisier than before for some reason.
“….Huh?”
As I got up, I realized that the collar that usually restrained me was gone.
For the first time since entering the Mawang’s residence, I felt an overwhelming sensation of freedom.
But as time passed, I had no choice but to resign myself to reality.
‘…What’s the use? I can’t do anything anyway.’
The thought of escaping the Mawang’s grasp felt futile, and as a Majok, there was nowhere for me to go.
BANG-!
Just then, another loud explosion echoed.
The deafening noise forced me to step outside.
What greeted my eyes was…
“Wh-What is this..?”
Majok were set ablaze, turning to ash.
The Mawang Castle was engulfed in fierce flames from all around.
I could only blink in shock at the shocking scene.
GRAAAAAAAH-!
A horrifying scream echoed from nearby.
As if mesmerized, I followed the sound.
After a short walk, I discovered the source of the horrific noise.
“Help… Help me…!”
A Majok, gruesomely torn in half, flailed and screamed, but his entire body was soon consumed by flames, turning to ash.
The intense blaze engulfed him.
The color of the flames was all too familiar, causing my eyes to tremble.
So strong, capable of swallowing everything, yet warm enough to embrace me.
Just like hers.
“Hera.”
Her voice, that I longed to hear, stabbed into my ears.
I was too scared to lift my head.
No, I couldn’t lift it.
Afraid of what I might see if I looked up, worried that despair would grip me once more.
I had no idea how I would endure that.
“Hera. Look at me.”
Once again, her voice reached me.
Desperately praying it wasn’t a dream, I finally lifted my head.
“A… Athena….”
As I gazed into her golden eyes, my once-sunken heart began to race wildly once more.
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