Part 2
But Ashby keenly sensed something was off in what Misa said.
“You’re personally bringing the human Hero here?” Ashby frowned slightly. “But you and that lowly human… aren’t you supposed to be mortal enemies?”
Misa: “…It’s a long story.”
He didn’t want to explain this matter that brought him so much pain just thinking about it. But Devont seemed to have become interested in an instant. He sat up straight and urged Misa, “Tell us the details.”
Misa: “…”
Devont: “We have time.”
Misa: “…”
Misa could only speak with extreme reluctance. “I’m his God’s Envoy now.”
Ashby: “…You’re his… what?”
Misa: “It was an accident.”
Devont’s eyes had widened in astonishment. He repeated what Misa had just said, “You’re his God’s Envoy?”
Misa: “…Yeah.”
Ashby: “…”
Ashby fell into deep thought.
He remembered the task Misa had given him earlier. The things Misa wanted to investigate seemed to go beyond just wanting to help the Hero get to the Demon King’s Castle faster. He wanted Ashby to investigate the Hero’s background and experiences, even down to what the Hero did on specific days. This was not something a Demon King should be doing.
He was clearly overly concerned about the Hero.
Ashby looked at Misa again. The Demon King had an embarrassed expression, as if he wanted to hide it but had no choice but to speak. He was clearly extremely uncomfortable with his identity as the Hero’s God’s Envoy.
This expression was very familiar to Ashby.
He had a sudden realization and understood the reason for the task the Demon King had given him.
Right, this isn’t something a Demon King should do.
But it is something a jealous and worried little lover would do.
Tsk.
Light and darkness.
Evil and justice.
Demon King and Hero.
It doesn’t sound too bad.
Ashby smiled at Misa.
“I understand,” Ashby said with the confident smile of someone who had solved a riddle. “Is this some kind of role-playing kink?”
Misa: “Huh???”
Misa found it very difficult to explain this matter to Ashby.
He did his best, starting from the very beginning and explaining all the way to the current, overly complicated situation. But Ashby maintained that ambiguous smile throughout, treating it all as a private kink that was hard to explain to outsiders.
Misa was in despair.
He knew very well that this group of succubi only ever had one thing on their minds. In this situation, it was difficult to explain things clearly to a succubus whose mind was full of erotic thoughts. No matter what he said, Ashby would only give him that extremely ambiguous smile and say that he understood.
He doesn’t understand at all!
Misa was mentally exhausted. If he didn’t hurry back to Skylight City, the sun would be up soon.
He didn’t want the Hero or Samuel to find out he had been out all night. He didn’t want to explain his whereabouts again. He could only leave Ashby’s domain helplessly and return to Skylight City with a sigh.
This is terrible.
Ever since leaving the Demon King’s Castle and meeting the Hero, Misa felt that every single day had been awful.
As dawn was about to break, Misa finally returned to the outskirts of Skylight City.
He was extremely cautious. When he was still some distance from the city, he tucked away his wings, then walked the rest of the way. He found the small alley he had specifically chosen to avoid attention when he left, wrapped his black cloak tightly around himself, and slipped in quietly.
Good, he had moved quickly. No one had spotted him. He should be able to get back to his room before the sky fully brightened—
A voice suddenly sounded beside him.
“Couldn’t sleep this time either?”
Misa jumped in fright and whipped his head around, only to find Lance leaning against the side wall at the alley’s entrance, frowning slightly and looking at him with a rather strange gaze.
Instinct told Misa that Lance was suspicious.
He was very nervous and forced a dry laugh at Lance. “Haha, yeah, I couldn’t sleep.”
Lance: “…”
Misa: “The air is nice outside the city, so I went for a walk.”
Lance: “…”
Misa: “…”
Misa felt he couldn’t make up any more lies.
He looked at the Hero’s eyes. The Hero clearly didn’t believe his made-up nonsense. He was nervous and could only rack his brain—what other method did he have to cover up his mysterious all-night absence?
Misa let out a heavy sigh.
“I’m sorry,” Misa said seriously. “Actually, I couldn’t remember the way to Ashby’s domain.”
Lance: “…”
Misa tugged at the corner of his clothes and said in a small voice with his head down, “To make sure everything goes smoothly tomorrow, I slipped out to find the way first.”
Lance: “…”
Misa looked up at the brightening sky and said in an even smaller voice, “I didn’t expect it to take this long.”
Lance: “…”
He didn’t know if the Hero believed his fabricated nonsense. He was very nervous and didn’t dare to look up into the Hero’s eyes, afraid his expression would betray his inner thoughts. He could only keep his head down, staring at the tips of Lance’s shoes, trying his best to look helpless.
After a moment, he heard Lance let out a soft sigh.
“I understand,” Lance said. “How many days has it been since you’ve had a good night’s sleep?”
Misa: “Huh?”
Lance had already raised his hand and was patting his head.
“I saw the book on your table,” Lance said. “You’ve been researching a lot about ice crystal stones.”
Misa: “…”
Ah, right. He felt that asking the dragons for ice crystal stones wasn’t a sure thing; they might not have the quantity they needed. So he wanted to research the stones, hoping to find a mineral vein somewhere in the world.
Unfortunately, his research had yielded no results. Every book talked about how rare the stones were, but not a single one mentioned how to obtain them.
“And those two giants,” Lance added. “You probably went to investigate them beforehand too, right?”
Misa: “…”
Oh, that night. He had snuck out to find the giants and ran into a sleepless Lance on his way back.
Don’t tell me Lance thinks… he snuck out of Skylight City to find the way that night too?
Lance let out a soft sigh.
Lance: “You don’t have to do all this.”
Misa: “…”
Wait, why does the Hero look… a little moved?
This isn’t how it is! I haven’t made all these great contributions and sacrifices!
I’m the Demon King!
The Demon King doesn’t need sleep!
For him, sleep was just a way to recover energy and magic. He could replenish his magic through other means. Sleeping or not didn’t matter at all. He had no intention of endlessly sacrificing for the Hero!
But Misa couldn’t speak, couldn’t explain.
He couldn’t let the Hero know the real reason he left the city, and the Hero’s own explanation… happened to help him cover up the lie.
Misa could only force a smile at the Hero.
“It’s nothing,” Misa said in a small voice. “I just look into it in my spare time.”
Lance: “…”
Lance took Misa’s hand and led him back to the church.
“You don’t need to look for the way to the domain anymore,” Lance said seriously. “Ashby, I can find him.”
Misa: “…”
Misa had a bad premonition.
“Archdemons crave the sacrifice of human blood, crave to make deals with humans to achieve those useless contracts,” Lance said calmly. “Which means, as long as I draw a summoning circle and offer a suitable sacrifice, Ashby will come.”
Misa: “…”
That’s not wrong, but…
No! This is very wrong!
Summoning an archdemon? Is that something a Hero should be doing?!
Misa gasped and shook his head repeatedly, trying to stop Lance’s almost insane actions.
“You can’t do that,” Misa shook his head. “The demon summoning ritual requires a human blood sacrifice. You’re a Hero, how can you do something so evil!”
Lance: “It’s not evil.”
“How can it not be evil!” Misa strongly objected. “You’d have to capture someone as a living sacrifice—”
Lance: “I’ll be the sacrifice.”
Misa: “To serve as—huh?”
What? Who?
What sacrifice?!
Misa’s eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at Lance.
Either the Hero had gone mad, or he had.
That was a living sacrifice, a living sacrifice whose soul would be devoured by the archdemon during the summoning ritual. Was the Hero that desperate?
Misa tried hard to dissuade Lance.
“Even if the summoning ritual is successful, it will only be the archdemon’s clone that comes,” Misa earnestly educated Lance on the finer points of archdemon summoning. “Archdemons are very busy. He won’t respond to a summoning with his true body.”
Lance rubbed his chin and asked curiously, “A clone? Is it an illusion or a physical body?”
Misa: “…Somewhere between illusion and physical.”
Lance: “Oh, so that means, it can be hit.”
Misa: “…”
No, what on earth is this Hero planning to do?
“As long as it can be hit, that’s fine,” Lance analyzed calmly. “If I beat up his clone, he’ll get very angry too.”
Misa: “…”
Misa was inexplicably reminded of his own tail being grabbed by Lance.
Lance asked again, “The archdemon’s true body should be stronger than his clone, right?”
Misa reluctantly nodded.
He had completely lost track of what the Hero was trying to do.
They needed to find where Ashby was, not beat up Ashby’s illusory clone to vent their anger.
Lance rubbed his chin again.
“Has anyone ever tried to challenge an archdemon’s summoned clone before?” Lance thought for a moment, then added, “Has the Church ever tried?”
Misa: “…Probably not.”
No, who would try something like that!
Humans who tried to kill archdemons would usually choose to find the archdemon’s domain directly or locate the archdemon’s whereabouts when he was out. Why would they bother with something as strenuous and fruitless as challenging a summoned clone?
Besides, archdemons were too powerful. Few in the Church could stand against them. It was far too dangerous. Since archdemons didn’t usually cause any trouble, they certainly wouldn’t pick a fight with one for no reason.
“So that means, if I offer myself as a sacrifice and summon the archdemon…” A slow smile spread across Lance’s face. “…but don’t let him take the sacrifice, and he even gets beaten up by the sacrifice, he’ll be very angry, right?”
Misa: “…”
Given Ashby’s personality, “very angry” might not be enough to describe his fury.
“The true body is stronger,” Lance looked at Misa, once again showing that expression Misa was all too familiar with. “If you were the archdemon, wouldn’t you think that as long as your true body came instead of a clone, you would definitely win?”
Misa: “…”
Lance smiled and came to his final conclusion: “See, he’ll come looking for us himself.”
Misa: “…”
Help! What on earth is this Hero trying to do?!
Run, Ashby! Run!
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