“How beautiful would your form with horns and wings be? And how sweet would your tears flowing at that moment be?”
” N- No!!”
I quickly pulled out the sword that had been pierced right through the center of my chest.
But the magic that had formed the blade had already vanished without a trace. Only the hilt was left of the sword.
As I let go of it with a dazed expression, the sword fell helplessly to the ground.
“N- No…”
I kept alternating between touching my head, body, and face with both hands.
Desperately praying that I wouldn’t change from this form.
“I will allow you specially.”
The Demon King tightly embraced me, gently patting my back.
“The pain will be quite something. For the time being, you can vent your frustrations in my body.”
“Let… go of me!!”
I tried to push her away with all my might, but her body, like a mountain, didn’t budge. I was just flailing in her arms.
It was then.
Thud-
My heart thumped heavily once, and I distinctly felt something spreading through my body from the center of my chest.
“N- No… No!! No!!!!”
A desperate scream escaped my lips.
I have to dig it out.
I had to somehow extract the Demon King’s magic that had entered my chest.
I braced myself to tear open my chest to take out the magic, but since the Demon King was hugging me tight from the front, there was no space for my arms to sneak in between us.
Thud-
Another heavy thump of my heart.
But along with it came…
“Ugh…?!!!”
It was a horrifying pain, like all the cells in my body were on fire.
“AAAAAAAH!!!!!”
The sensation that enveloped my body surpassed any pain I had felt before and was impossible to articulate.
“Endure it. If you do, you too can become a splendid Demon.”
“AAAH! No!!! No!! Athena!!”
I instinctively called out her name.
But surely she wouldn’t be here.
The fact that the one who was gently holding me now was none other than the Demon King only sank me further into despair.
“Haha… This is a bit stinging. Are you starting to gain your strength?”
In unbearable torment where I couldn’t just sit still, I clutched and grabbed everything that touched my body furiously.
I gripped the back of the Demon King’s robe, scratching at it, and bit her neck, desperately trying to lessen the pain.
But despite my rough actions, the Demon King only smiled calmly and patted my head.
“It feels like taming a wild beast. Not bad.”
“Ugh!! It hurts!!! It HURTS!!! AAAAAH!!!”
“Alright… We need to settle on a name.”
For a moment, I nearly lost my sanity amidst the overwhelming agony that felt like being stabbed and set on fire.
“Your original name was Hera, wasn’t it?”
The Demon King held onto my head tightly, and kissed my forehead as if bestowing a blessing, and continued to speak.
“What should it be… Ah, got it.”
Isn’t it said that when the pain becomes too much, the brain instinctively shuts down to protect itself?
That was a lie.
I wished it would at least make me faint.
The torment that continued torturing me with the intent to kill showed no signs of letting up.
“Hesilaya. Let’s name you that.”
That way, I endlessly struggled with pain, and after a long time had passed, the agony gradually subsided.
Only then did I faintly lose consciousness as I collapsed.
*
“Really? Is it true, Athena?”
As I jumped up, holding her hand, Athena looked down at me with flushed cheeks.
“Of course. If I’m not on your side, then whose side would I possibly be on?”
I did it.
The mastermind from the novel.
That she took an oath to help humanity felt like an enormous victory.
It might seem like a trivial promise, but the overwhelming joy of taking another step toward a happy ending satisfied me.
“Thank you, Athena…!”
As I jumped up, Athena gently lifted me up in her arms.
“I swear, Hera. I’ll make sure you never fall into danger again.”
Athena left a soft kiss on my cheek and continued speaking with a generous smile.
“I’ll kill every last one of the demons without fail.”
…
“…..Ugh.”
I opened my eyes, flowing tears staining my cheeks.
For some reason, I felt much lighter than before.
Unlike the underground prison, a splendid bedroom, reminiscent of the Demon King’s Room, came into view.
And standing right before me as if to beckon me was a large mirror.
As I slowly approached the mirror, a horrific face caught my eye.
My red eyes gleamed much more fiercely than before.
My skin, already pale, looked almost ghastly devoid of life.
And prominently sprouting from my head were the two ominous horns.
“H… haha…”
Tears began to flow down my cheeks without any resistance.
This is a nightmare.
This is a nightmare.
This can’t be reality.
I’m just certainly having a bad dream.
“He… Ha… Huh…”
I drooped my head and wiped away the overflow of tears.
The cold reality that I couldn’t escape from brutally stabbed at my heart.
Eventually, the sorrow that had built up inside me exploded, compellingly.
I raised both hands to grasp the horn growing on my right side and pulled with all my might.
Could it really be the Demon King’s magic?
With a strength that was far greater than before, the horn broke quite easily.
And at that moment…
A pain surged within me as if someone had smashed my head with a hammer.
“Ugh!!! Ugh! AAAAAH!”
I writhed in the terrible pain I had summoned upon myself and instantly regretted what I had done.
As I struggled through the agony, screaming for a while…
Slowly, my body began to weaken, and the pain began to subside.
Holding the broken horn in one hand, I collapsed onto the bed, utterly exhausted.
“…………Should I die?”
I mumbled in a zen-like state, but somehow, I thought that maybe dying would be better.
Once a demon, there was no way to return regardless of any method used.
The horns would eventually grow back anyway.
The end for a human who became a demon was clear. Eventually, as time passed, I would surely turn into a bloodthirsty monster.
Even if by some chance, Athena came to rescue me, I had no confidence in living on with this appearance.
“Have you torn off your own horns?”
While I was lost in such despair, a familiar voice rang out.
Weakly turning my head, I saw a knight clad in black armor.
Tyrus stood silently at the door, gazing at me.
“…Are you going to grab me by the hair again?”
I glared at him with the little strength I had left.
Maybe after enduring a pain worse than death, I wasn’t afraid of him anymore.
No, I even thought to myself that it would be better if he just killed me.
Given his strength, second only to the Demon King, it would certainly be possible.
With that expectation, I looked at Tyrus as he suddenly approached me.
He placed a hand on top of my head.
Could it be he really intended to grab my hair again?
That didn’t even bother me anymore.
Scoffing, I looked at him as if to challenge him, but he began to do the unexpected.
Dark mana glowed around his hand and seeped into the area near my horns, relieving me of a pain that felt as if my head would break apart.
“You… What is this…”
“…It’ll grow back soon anyway, so don’t do anything foolish.”
He looked down at me before continuing.
“Now that you’ve accepted the Demon King’s magic, you won’t be able to die no matter what you do, so give up.”
Incredulity washed over me as I grabbed his collar.
“Shut up!! What’s going on?! Why are you suddenly healing me!”
When he used to hit me, kick me, and push me around, now I couldn’t comprehend why he was acting this way.
Could it be that he felt pity for my current state?
I prayed that wasn’t the case.
That would only make me feel more miserable.
“……”
I felt like I would gag at his revolting demeanor.
“Just kill me! You hate me too, right!! Just kill me!!”
“Don’t be mistaken. This is not for you.”
His cold voice seeped out from under his helmet.
“That’s just an order from the Demon King to keep an eye on you. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“Keeping an eye on me?”
“Yes. So don’t even think about doing anything foolish.”
Should I be relieved? His actions seemed to bear no other meaning.
But the harsh reality of being monitored by him only deepened my despair.
‘…Now I can’t even die.’
As long as he was keeping an eye on me, I couldn’t even think about suicide.
With the regeneration abilities granted by the Demon King’s magic and even if I sustained injuries surpassing that, Melrum would surely bring me back to life.
With no glimmer of hope in this situation, tears streamed down my face.
“Why do I have to go through this….”
I buried my head in my knees and began to cry.
“…….”
Tyrus silently watched me as I poured out my sorrow.
For a while, within the room, all that could be heard was the sound of my tears flowing.
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