Reactions.
“[TING]!”
A clash of metal resounded in the room. Everyone seemed to be stiff and did not know a thing that happened.
“What the…”
A single person spoke out of them. It was Souma who had originally gone ahead to inspect the guy. He’s looking at where the King was sitting, then looks at my seat, which was empty.
Well… I wasn’t in my seat anymore. All of that was happening in mere moments but that seemed to be like an eternity or so for me. I just stood up from my chair and then slowly transform my fingers into my claws and then yawned. Yeah… I know that’s disrespectful.
I turned around to look at everyone’s faces, and that is when I saw that Vegetar was surprisingly wide-eyed. What? Did he not catch me move? No, it can’t be.
The sword that had just landed on my claws just got sliced by its own force due to its sharpness.
I reached out to his neck and grabbed it. Then I lung him mid-air and threw him into a wall. Gently. Not really since my ‘gentle’ could turn a man’s bones into mush. The wall gets slightly cracked and the man gives a grueling ‘Guh!’, but he doesn’t react.
I walked toward the man and looked down. This is unmistakable, it really does have that sinister essence. They are definitely connected.
I planted a foot on the man’s shoulder and began to crush it. The man writhed in pain but did not speak. I grabbed his chin and made him look up, but his eyes were red and his face inhumanly twisted.
“Who sent you?”
Just as I asked that question, Youlias gets out of his seat and walked over.
“This man was not suspicious at all. In fact… he has a family. What happened…?” said Youlias as he tried to hide his worried expression.
“Say it. Who sent you?”
I asked it once again but the man gave back a sinister smile. Then he opened his mouth to say something.
“So what if nothing happened? In your face, Bitch. It’s a little payback.”
The man said those words with a creepy smile on his face then began to laugh and scream at the same time.
“What the hell?! Youlias get back!”
I urged him to get back and grabbed the man by his collar. I rushed to the window and opened it. There was some kind of energy welling up inside him and it looked like it was going to explode.
“Piss off, Freak.”
I delivered those words before him and his face became immediately disgusted. Then I transformed my mouth partially into a vessel suitable to do what o was about to do.
I charged my dragon breath up to the point where it dimmed the light of day. I pointed my mouth at him into the sky.
“[Shweeeeen]!”
“Curse you!”
He said something but it wasn’t anything important.
“What are you doing, Mother!”
Anikia got out of her seat and began to run toward me.
I gave her a gesture to stop where she was and she stopped, understanding it was dangerous.
The man lets out a cry and the power began to swell up faster. But before it could reach the exploding point I released my breath. The breath made a resounding boom and shined with a crimson-red color, melting away the window and the wall. I think it’s pretty safe to say that the man turned to ashes as well.
I transformed myself back to normal and dusted off the rubble that had gotten on me.
“Wretched man. To think he had found out who I was and where I had been staying.”
I say and walked to my chair and sat down.
“What the hell just happened?”
Once again, Souma was the one to break the silence that enveloped the room. Looking at everyone’s faces one could easily say that they were actually dumbfounded.
“That guy. He was dangerous. I think he was being controlled.”
I straight up said what was the truth because there was no point in hiding it.
“Controlled…?”
Youlias asks in a solemn voice, clearly showing sorrow for what had just happened to that man.
“Yes. Sit down, I’ll explain everything.”
I told everyone to sit down and calm down. At my words, the eyes were focused on me but the atmosphere was heavy.
“So..”
I went on about telling them about how I came to this kingdom and then I saved the people from the demon attack. Then I also told them that I had gone to the demon realm to deal with the problem once and for all but that was when the hero blocked my way. I explained his character and everyone was in disbelief. I also told them that this man was being controlled by him.
Then I got to the point where I entered the demon realm and found it in a terrible state. The world was collapsing and demons did not have anywhere to go.
“So, the mana excess destroyed the world itself and now the demons are in danger.”
I concluded one part of my talk with those words.
“May I speak, your highness?”
One of the nobles raised his hand in the air and leaned forward.
“What is it?”
“Why should we care about the demons? Are they not our enemy?”
This man just said he doesn’t care about demons dying. It’s pretty obvious since humans have been given the idea that demons are bad.
“How does she look to you? Does she look evil? Or sinister in any way?”
I asked him pointing towards Anikia. The man was perplexed and struggled to produce a response. He finally spoke and what came out was natural.
“No. I must say that she is rather… forgive for my wording, Cute?”
Ahhh! He understands!
[Can we talk about the matter at hand?]
Ah yes.
“I’m gonna tell you everything so sit down. But you people better not have heart attacks.”
Youlias looked at me with confusion then turned to face Anikia. After a few seconds, I saw him breaking a sweat. Seems like he got it after all.
“So, what I was saying is that the hero and his Kingdom are behind something very sinister. It involves projecting demons as enemies of humanity as well.”
Just as I said this, a stir ran through the head and everyone began to mumble to each other. Youlias was looking at me with his fists tied to his chin and his face a bit red.
“When I entered the Demon Lord’s castle, what I saw was unexplainable and absolutely impossible. The demons were being affected by the Mana Excess.”
“What…?”
The nobles were in disbelief over the sudden revelations and they couldn’t handle it well. Their faces were growing paler by the moment and Youlias looked like he could puke anytime. This was how much they were made to believe that The Demon Race was their enemy.
“I found the castle in a terrible state and the throne room utterly destroyed, devoid of any hope. And as I approached the throne, I heard someone’s voice. Voice of a little girl.”
“But a little girl on the throne? That is impossible!”
One of the nobles finally spoke up loudly. But Youlias just got even more furious at him due to the circumstances.
“Sit down!”
He ordered the noble to sit back down and the noble fell on his seat with his head cradled in his hands.
“That little girl was the demon lord. She spoke with pain and when I saw her, she was suffering from extreme poisoning due to the mana excess. I saved her from dying.”
Telling them all of this is truly a headache. But I got to do this right now as I would need their support in the future.
“This, was Demmon Lord Anikia.”
I look at Anikia with warm eyes but everyone just got crazy and started mumbling like bees. They were clearly losing it.
“Impossible…”
“How can this be…?”
“But why…?”
All sorts of questions came up. And it was time to explain now. So I just did that.
I told them about the invasion and the people that invaded left their world in ruin. That was why they wanted to seek aid from our world but instead, they met the Brinis who labeled them the enemy of humanity that wanted to invade. But they didn’t even have the resources to survive. And also, that the Brinis and the Hero are connected to the people that invaded their world.
“So you are basically saying that we were made to think that demons are our enemy? For over decades?”
Youlias finally opened his mouth after drinking some water Souma had brought.
“Yes. That is what I mean to say. I am telling you that the demons never meant to invade, they were the ones who were invaded and were in need of help. The Demon King and Queen perished in the battle and Anikia was left alone.”
“I see. This is truly… upsetting.”
“And when I saved her I decided to make her my daughter.”
“What?!”
Youlias practically spat the water he was drinking on the table. He choked and coughed several times and went back to normal.
“Yes. So I am the Demon Queen now.”
“I… see.”
The nobles have actually gone dead inside. They weren’t reacting to anything I said but they did hear it.
“And right now, I want to discuss what I should do to help them.”
This was the main thing I had wanted to discuss all along. I needed to fulfill my duty and give them a place to live.
“You mean that… you want to bring them into our world?”
Youlias asked.
“Yes. Their world is no longer safe to live in and they need somewhere to live.”
“But…”
“Velkra.”
I heard a voice from behind and I turned around. It was Vejetar who had just spoken.
“Why not make a kingdom then?”
Huh?