The Demon King

Ti Mo rubbed her eyes. She didn’t expect to find a little girl wearing tattered clothes in this desolate hayfield that basically no one visited. The other lay motionless on the ground, looking extremely weak.

“Are you okay?”

Ti Mo hurried over, reaching out to check the other’s physical condition. Fortunately, her breathing was still steady. Ti Mo didn’t dare to move the little girl directly. Before figuring out her condition, she worried that moving her rashly might cause unnecessary harm.

“Hmm? Sister, who are you?”

The little girl slowly woke up under Ti Mo’s repeated calls. Her delicate little face was covered in dust, but her pair of lively eyes were still clear. Seeing Ti Mo nearby, she asked weakly and with confusion.

“Big sister is Ti Mo. Little sister, are you okay?”

“Ti Mo? Sister, are you the human who helped the Heroine before?”

The little girl’s originally weak voice suddenly became full of energy, with no trace of her previous frailty.

But at this moment, because the little girl reminded her of her own past self and pulled her into her emotions, Ti Mo didn’t notice anything strange about the little girl. She continued nervously checking the little girl’s body for injuries while answering her question.

“Yes. Though you might not believe it now, I was helped by the Heroine Sister when I was little,” Ti Mo sighed. After her examination, the little girl showed no signs of injury aside from being thin. Ti Mo planned to take her to see a doctor just in case. “She really was a very good person. But everyone was deceived by the royal family and the church… Huh? What’s wrong?”

Ti Mo stood up, wanting to pull the little girl to see a doctor, but found that she couldn’t move the little girl at all, even though she was already sitting upright.

After a few seconds of stalemate, a thought suddenly struck Ti Mo. She realized something and tried to reassure the little girl.

“It’s okay, big sister isn’t a bad person. Did you just come to the village? Are you here with your mom and dad?”

“Nope. Hastur came with the Demon King.”

The little girl, Hastur, lifted her head again. The pure smile on her face had lost all warmth. Ti Mo suspected she had misheard, still trying to pull her hand free from Hastur’s grip.

“The Demon King was already defeated by the Heroine Sister. There is no Demon King, Hastur you—”

Before Ti Mo could finish, Hastur’s originally shabby clothes began to emit a purple-black glow. Along with the surge of demonic power, the severely damaged clothing transformed into a pure black slip dress. The filth on her body was swept away, revealing pale, clean skin.

Ti Mo finally realized something was wrong. But the hand holding Hastur was already wrapped in tentacles. The icy sensation mixed with dizziness drained all her strength. She collapsed helplessly to the ground. The last thing echoing in her ears was Hastur’s childish voice.

“Truly effortless. Just as the Demon King said, you humans always come back to the places where you once met when you miss someone important.”

Hastur snapped her left fingers. Tentacles surged out of empty space, bundling Ti Mo up and carrying her away. Her right hand grasped at the air, and a passage was constructed under the effect of spatial magic. “You really have no sense of caution at all.”

Hastur entered the spatial passage with the tentacle-wrapped Ti Mo. Clearly, in this deserted hayfield, no one would discover what had happened…

“Demon King.”

Hastur leapt out of the spatial passage. The other end of the passage was deep within the mountain range, where only wild beasts and a scant number of surviving demonic creatures lived.

However, starting ten years ago, this forest gained another resident—the Heroine named Furenna.

And today, it welcomed three new visitors. One of the new Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King—Hastur, daughter of the previous Heavenly King Azathoth. The kidnapped human, Ti Mo. And the existence to whom Hastur had sworn loyalty.

The current Demon King—Iris.

“Good. Very efficient, Hastur.”

The Demon King turned around, revealing her true appearance. Crimson eyes, a red dress, a red cloak, and black long hair.

Oh, right. And that massive evil presence on her chest that was impossible to ignore.

“The human named Ti Mo has been captured, Demon King.”

Hastur controlled the tentacles to loosen. Ti Mo then rolled onto the ground with a “gurgle.” At this moment, her mind was still in a dazed state.

The confused Ti Mo turned her head and looked around. She stared blankly at the loli Hastur and the mature Demon King. After carefully comparing the two, she blurted out something shocking:

“A flat board and a water balloon…”

“How bold! How dare you show disrespect to the Demon King!”

Hastur’s expression changed. The black tentacles beside her whipped into the air, about to give this human who disrespected the Demon King an unforgettable lesson—like replacing her body parts with tentacles and turning her into a soft-bodied creature for life.

“It’s fine, Hastur. Step back first. I’ll talk with this human.”

The Demon King didn’t seem to mind Ti Mo’s words. Her slender hand extended toward Ti Mo and gently snapped her fingers. Ti Mo, who had been confused by the tentacle fluid, instantly regained clarity.

Having regained her senses, Ti Mo also understood her current dangerous situation. Right now, standing before her were one of the legendary Four Heavenly Kings of the demon race and the Demon King herself.

But…

Ti Mo was confused. She believed the Heroine Sister wouldn’t lie. The Demon King should have already…

“…The Demon King should have already been eliminated by the Heroine, right?”

The Demon King spoke Ti Mo’s thoughts aloud. Realizing the Demon King could read minds, Ti Mo was too frightened to think further.

“The previous Demon King, Lucifer, was indeed eliminated. I am the new Demon King, Iris.”

Demon King Iris crossed her arms over her chest. After sizing up Ti Mo with an amused gaze, she nodded in satisfaction.

“Indeed, just an ordinary human,” Iris shifted her gaze toward an inconspicuous wooden cabin deep in the distant mountains. “Hastur, keep an eye on this little girl. Without my command, you are not allowed to follow.”

Hastur urgently warned Iris: “Demon King, our original plan was to use this human as a hostage. You must not go alone to meet the Heroine.”

“Oh? Are you saying that the dignified Demon King can’t even meet the Heroine face-to-face?”

Iris’s crimson gaze swept over Hastur. Hastur didn’t care whether the Demon King would be angered. The image of her mother being personally slain by Furenna was still vivid in her mind. That overwhelming power made Hastur understand that the current Demon King was absolutely no match.

“Demon King…”

“No more. I’ve made my decision. I will act with restraint. You just stay here with Ti Mo and wait for my news.”

Iris waved her hand, stopping Hastur’s nagging. Magic gathered to form a spatial passage, and Iris vanished in an instant, arriving at the door of the forest cabin.

“Heroine Furenna, come out.”