“Get out of the way.”
The air around was shaking.
Lily’s eyes were losing focus, like she could go berserk at any moment.
“I knew this would happen.”
Athena let out a short sigh and blocked Lily’s path.
“Get out of the way. I’m really going to take him down.”
The cute version of her from before was nowhere to be seen. Now, her face twisted in a menacing way as she scattered malice around.
“Hey, little one. Why don’t you calm down a bit?”
“Calm down? Do I look calm right now?”
Lily couldn’t understand Athena.
Why was she blocking her? Just the fact that her sister was next to the Demon King was enough to drive her insane, so why?
Lily thought to herself.
Is she trying to seduce the Demon King?
If it were her sister, that thought would be so typical.
If it were her, she might really succeed.
But absolutely not.
She could support everything her sister did, but this was one thing she could never allow.
The Demon King wasn’t someone you could just easily seduce. Plus, knowing her ruthless nature, it was highly likely that it would backfire and put her sister in danger.
And more than anything…
The mere thought of her sister looking at another woman made her want to go mad.
Why?
Why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why.
No one loves my sister more than I do.
No one knows my sister better than I do.
Why does she keep going to someone else instead of me?
Clank-
“I can’t do this. I have to go right now.”
Right now, I need to take down the Demon King and ensure my sister never has thoughts like this again—thoroughly—
“Get a grip.”
At Athena’s words, focus returned to Lily’s eyes.
“Why are you stopping me?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
Athena looked at Lily with determination.
“I trust Hera.”
“This isn’t just about trust!”
The Demon King. The Demon King, for crying out loud.
It was too unrealistic to just rely on.
“Hera raised her voice at me for the first time. She asked me to believe in her.”
“…..”
“So if you really care about Hera, just trust her once.”
“What if something goes wrong with sister? How will you take responsibility for that?”
At Lily’s words, Athena placed her hand on her chest and spoke.
“It’s fine. I’ve got insurance for this.”
*
“Teacher.”
“Huh? What’s up, my disciple?”
Reflecting on past events, I asked my teacher.
“Now that I think about it, the Demon King said something similar before. She was next to me and said she didn’t feel any killing intent.”
That was the moment when the academy was attacked; the Demon King had said those words while looking at my face.
Back then, I had brushed it aside, but now that I thought about it, it was a rather concerning remark.
Killing intent. The desire to kill.
Whether she wanted it or not, it was said that for the Demon King, who had inherited the will of the Demon God, it was a primal instinct that must exist inside her.
It was hard to believe that such an instinct had simply vanished because of me.
“Maybe your power did something.”
“My power?”
When I asked in confusion, my teacher nodded and continued.
“Right. Didn’t I tell you about your power before?”
“Umm…”
I searched my memories.
Oh right. I think she mentioned it when I first met her…
What did she say again?
As I pondered, my teacher let out a short sigh and flicked my forehead.
“Yow?!”
“Looks like you forgot already. I’ll explain it to you once more, so pay attention.”
My teacher held up two fingers and continued.
“First, when someone with malice is in front of you, you can gain great power. Second, on the contrary, to those you have even a little interest in, you can give them special ‘support’.”
“Oh right.”
Upon hearing it, I recalled my teacher’s previous words.
It was said to give a heavy blow to enemies and encourage allies.
“Emotional comfort, solace, or motivation; perhaps even restoring a broken spirit. You can provide different ‘support’ depending on individual characteristics.”
“…So what you’re saying is, the Demon King was influenced by my ability?”
“Exactly. If she told you that, she would have experienced the effects of your support.”
That made sense.
And at the same time, a huge hypothesis popped into my mind.
What if…
What if, just maybe…
I could erase the Demon King’s instinct to kill with my power?
Then what would happen?
It might actually bring this war to an end!
I couldn’t undo the damage the Demon King had caused, but wouldn’t I be able to prevent the terrible tragedies that would happen afterward?
Thud-
“Yikes?!”
A sharp shock to my head pulled me back from my thoughts.
Rubbing my throbbing head and looking up, I saw my teacher looking down at me with a stern expression, arms crossed.
“Your smile has faded, disciple. If you want to charm the Demon King, you should keep the smile I showed you on your face.”
“….. Yes.”
Right. Whether it was encouragement or whatever, what I needed to do first was to train to gain the Demon King’s favor.
*
“Speak. What’s your game?”
The black mana wrapping around me tightened its grip even more.
Ignoring the throbbing pain in my body, I tried to look as desperate as possible while maintaining eye contact with her.
“I’ve missed you since that day.”
“……”
Although it was only a very brief moment, I did not miss the way her eyes wavered once more.
The Demon King frowned and coolly replied.
“Foolish words. Do you think this mistress will fall for such obvious lies?”
Given her usual relaxed demeanor, she was displaying quite an emotional state. Perhaps she was shaken that much.
‘…Just as expected from my teacher.’
Honestly, even when learning the techniques, I had trouble shaking off my suspicions.
But seeing how well it was working, I couldn’t help but think she truly wasn’t just a nine-tailed fox.
“Answer me immediately.”
Perhaps annoyed that I had disregarded her words, the black tendrils tightening around me increased their intensity.
The throbbing pain brought tears to my eyes.
As my eyes brimmed with tears, my teacher’s words popped into my mind.
– Disciple, do you know what a woman’s most powerful weapon is?
– …Her chest?
– …That’s not entirely wrong. It’s tears.
– Tears?
– Right. If you can look at the tears of a woman you’re interested in without feeling anything, then that clearly means you lack emotions.
– Hmm… tears…
– So if you find yourself in such a situation, don’t hesitate to use them.
I decided to employ one of the pieces of advice my teacher had given me.
With a tear about to fall, I looked at the Demon King with the saddest expression I could muster.
“It… it hurts, Demon King…”
“…!”
As soon as I finished speaking, the black tendrils that had been constricting me mercilessly loosened.
I felt a rush of relief as my body suddenly became free.
‘…Is this the power of tears?’
Carefully looking up at the Demon King, I saw that she was staring blankly at her own hands, as if to comprehend what she had done.
A moment of silence followed, and then the Demon King looked at me with fiery eyes.
“You…”
Before the Demon King could say anything further, I seized her hands.
“Demon King! I… actually, there’s something I want to do with you… could you spare me some time?”
It seemed she no longer had the intention to hide it; her eyes were wide with surprise.
Seizing the moment of her bewilderment, I shyly covered my face with my hair, slightly blushing as I spoke.
“Ah… I’m sorry… you probably don’t want to spend time with someone like me, do you?”
“….Hah.”
With her short sigh, the air around us began to quake as if it were about to explode.
“Yikes?”
The ground cracked, and a thick darkness enveloped the sky, obscuring everything around us.
Suddenly, the Demon King’s red glare pierced through the enveloping darkness.
Her expression clearly showed her irritation.
I couldn’t help but sweat at her demeanor.
‘Uh-oh…’
It seemed my plan had backfired.
Instead of charming her, I had only incited her anger.
Where had I gone wrong?
Certainly, my teacher had said this would work…
Is it possible that I was too upfront?
Or was my skill still too lacking?
Or perhaps—
“Speak.”
The Demon King’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts.
Looking up, I saw her glaring at me with a rather uncomfortable expression.
“…..What?”
As I asked in confusion, she raised an eyebrow and said.
“Didn’t you say you had something you wanted to do? I’m curious what it is that you would dare to try to stop me.”
“Uh….”
No, it’s not that grand…
“You’d better not disappoint me. I don’t want to see the world covered in blood.”
…Did I just succeed?
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