Sathya wanted to know who this “demon” actually was.
She had already begun her investigation a few days ago.
Unlike before the time reset, the Inquisitors who were supposed to kill her were all dead, and now the high-ranking officials of the Church Academy were also dying one after another.
The magical beast that was supposed to destroy half of the Holy Academy had appeared ahead of schedule, regained its sanity, and allied with her.
During this time, Velrose had helped her a lot.
Subsequently, she used her authority as an apprentice Saintess to investigate these “murders,” and the clues gradually pointed toward Ulrich's “Sacred Mutiny.” Furthermore, she understood that the Sacred Mutiny would begin within the next few days.
All of this might have been orchestrated behind the scenes by the Demon King.
No one had ever seen the Demon King, but everyone knew of her existence.
The Demon King was an extremely dangerous existence.
She had killed half of the high-ranking officials within the Church in a short period of time, guiding the scattered magical beasts to gather together.
Perhaps for some reason, the current Demon King was unwilling to show herself and contact them.
Sathya wanted to meet the Demon King; she wanted to ask her a few things.
A magical beast without a magic core was like a human without a heart, barely sustaining its existence through sheer instinct. However, the Demon King's existence gave her a glimmer of hope.
The Demon King should know how to restore a magical beast's magic core, and she would also know what exactly was happening to Sister Tina's body.
That way, she could be with Sister Tina forever.
More importantly...
Sathya had a premonition—an groundless yet deeply felt illusion.
What if the so-called Demon King was actually Sister Tina?
Sister Tina has been hiding something from me...
To protect Tina and also to search for traces of the Demon King, she had contacted Velrose in advance, asking her to meet her in Tina's hospital room at the scheduled time.
They were going to head to the fortress under the cover of night.
But when she woke up, she found Sister Tina gone. She had originally planned to ask Velrose to temporarily look after her.
But Velrose said that when she arrived, she had somehow accidentally woken Tina up and had already helped her check out of the hospital.
Since Tina was introverted, Velrose hadn't been able to follow her either.
Thus, the two of them headed to the fortress together, leading to the scene that had just unfolded.
“Are you... Saintesses...?” Babarol reached out, only for his hand to be ruthlessly stepped on by Velrose, making him shriek in pain once more.
“That's right, I'm the Saintess Velrose. Please treat me well, Lord Babarol~”
“Wait, you're...?!”
“Hehehe, it's me. Long time no see, Babarol!”
Velrose's sickly laughter sounded like a specter's.
Sathya pushed past Velrose. She wanted to see for herself where this “demon” was.
She stepped into the central area, only for the gate to slam shut with a loud bang!
Obviously, it couldn't stop her and Velrose.
She was unfamiliar with this place. Although she had experienced the Sacred Mutiny and ultimately killed Babarol, she had never been inside this fortress back then. She hadn't expected it to be so massive.
Sathya looked up and saw a figure standing in the center of the vast space, right in front of what should have been a glass container housing some unknown entity.
A maid uniform?
It seemed... very familiar...
But she couldn't quite place it. How strange.
She had no idea that the mysterious maid was Tina herself.
Tina had originally thought the newcomers were helpers from outside or someone like Ulrich, and was preparing to slip out of the fortress through the ceiling pipes to go back and find Sathya.
But the moment she turned around, she spotted Sathya right at the entrance!
Wait, why is she here?!
No, no, no...
Wasn't my blood supposed to have taken effect? Could she have been woken up by someone else?
Tina fully expanded her sensory perception and suddenly realized that Velrose was standing right next to the nearly dead Babarol.
Suddenly, she understood everything.
Not long after she left, Velrose must have walked into the hospital room, woken Sathya up, and come to the fortress together.
This was bad.
Am I exposed?
Tina remained calm, merely observing Sathya through her mask.
Before coming here, she had asked the Astral Sage to modify the Chaos Mask. Sathya probably wouldn't be able to recognize her now.
“Excuse me, are you the Demon King?” Sathya asked.
Tina let out a sigh of relief.
It seemed to be a false alarm.
But for Little Ya to actually suspect that I'm the Demon King... it seems there are a lot of misunderstandings at play here.
Well, this works too. I'll make good use of this identity~
“Yes.”
Tina nodded and leapt lightly, landing right in front of Sathya.
Embarrassingly, she had forgotten to control her strength and landed a bit too close to Sathya...
There was barely half a meter between them, and Tina could once again smell the scent on her.
She had hidden her own presence long ago, so not even Sathya would be able to detect it.
“I am the Demon King, Sathya~ This is your reward.”
She reached out and opened her palm, revealing the bizarre Chaos Core before Sathya.
Sathya knew it was meant for her, but she didn't reach out to take it.
“Demon King, what is your purpose?”
“Mmh~?”
Her face was filled with solemnity. “Is your goal to destroy humanity, or is it simply out of obsession?”
“What kind of existence are you, and what is your goal?”
Tina tilted her head and thought about it.
She reached out and patted Sathya's head.
She planned to give a mysterious answer. After all, how was she supposed to know what the actual Demon King was thinking?
“Let's keep such matters in our hearts.”
Tina's hand didn't stop. This feeling was truly addictive.
She liked Sathya so much...
So much.
She liked her enough to want to claim her as her own, yet she had never had the chance.
Out of reach, completely out of reach...
Just wait a little longer, just a little longer...
【Host, you really are useless.】
Damn it...
Suddenly, Sathya pushed her hand away.
Although it didn't hurt, Sathya had pushed with quite a bit of force.
Tina's feelings were complicated; she didn't know whether to feel happy or sad right now.
“Lord Demon King, I have a request.”
“Hmm?”
“I can do without this Chaos Core, but I want to know... who exactly is the face behind that mask?”
“Your core is damaged, and you will die if this continues. This is my responsibility, not a matter for you to be willful about.”
Before Sathya could say anything more, the Chaos Core was already thrust into her hand.
And the maid had already turned to leave. In an instant, she was already ten meters away.
Sathya bit her lip.
She didn't think there was anything wrong with this, but she just had a feeling that if she let the Demon King leave, she would definitely regret it, and she would definitely lose something.
She always felt as if she was chasing after something, yet could never catch up.
That night, she clearly knew Sister Tina had kissed her, yet she still couldn't find any other traces or evidence.
She hadn't managed to do anything...
Demon King, who on earth are you?
...
“What if I refuse?”
Before Tina could leave, a golden light descended from the heavens, blocking her path.
Within Sathya's eyes, crimson crosses emerged. A river of miasma manifested around her, and several tentacles erupted from the ground.
“Forgive my rudeness, Lord Demon King.”
【Magic Core Integrity: 22.5%】
【Magic Core Integrity: 27.5%】
【Magic Core Integrity: 32.5%】
【Look, Host, you are about to fail again.】
Rate on N.U.
