Zzzzt, zzzzt.
The harsh screech of metal scraping across marble floor tiles.
The girl on the Throne slowly opened her eyes, and in the stained glass window was reflected a pair of deep red, blood-like eyes.
There were no pupils in those eyes—only a sheet of flat crimson.
So much for peaceful dreams.
She leapt down from the Throne, her toes as delicate as budding shoots barely touching the ground, yet the marble tiles fractured inch by inch beneath her.
Cracks spread from her toes with every step, as if each footfall carried a weight the earth itself could not bear.
Her silver hair fell like a waterfall, trailing behind her on the ground, as if she wore a gown with a train made entirely of pure silver.
A pair of black wings unfurled from her shoulder blades, and she stopped at the foot of the steps.
“Who are you?”
Her cherry lips parted slightly; her voice was as ethereal and clear as a valley’s echo.
“The one who has come to take your life.”
Standing before the girl was another girl with the same eyes and hair, who spoke coldly.
“…”
The girl said nothing, merely reaching behind her.
A sword like a spine appeared in her hand.
“Again. Who are you?”
The girl lashed her sword like a whip; the Bone Sword howled as it crashed into another blade, as swift as lightning.
Sparks flew, thunder splitting stone.
“Tch.”
Anna’s sword pierced the floor tiles; she used it as support to steady herself, her hair and clothes swirling wildly in the tempest raised by the girl.
That girl was the Demon King. With nothing but a casual swing, the storm she conjured nearly swallowed Anna whole.
Even though it wasn’t her first time facing her, Anna still felt the crushing oppression, as if a mountain pressed down upon her.
For a moment, she thought herself an ant challenging a mountain.
No, not even that. Before the Demon King, she was scarcely worthy of being called an ant.
But… she had to hold out for half an hour—no, a whole hour.
Outside the Kingdom’s Reception Room, all was silent. Lydia had likely slipped in unnoticed.
Almost all the Demon King’s troops in the town hall had been drawn away by Ophelia. Thus, Anna managed to slip into the Reception Room as well.
As expected, the Demon King was here.
Her heart pounded, blood boiled, and Anna’s fighting spirit surged like the tide.
The memory of that broken sword three years ago replayed again and again in her mind, and the Fire of Vengeance blazed in her heart—what started as a tiny spark instantly became a raging inferno.
“I must say, you have a poor memory, Your Majesty the Demon King.”
Flames ignited atop the holy sword. Anna steadied herself, then suddenly dashed at the Demon King with astonishing speed. Her sword struck like a falling star, carrying a searing heat that could turn bone to ash in an instant, aiming straight for the Demon King’s neck.
“We just met… three years ago!”
A swirl of Dark Mist appeared out of nowhere before the Demon King, coiling around Anna’s sword like maggots clinging to bone.
Suddenly, Anna felt as if her blade had plunged into the deep sea. She tried to pull her sword back, but the mist crept up the hilt, threatening to swallow her as well.
There’s no time to lose. With grim resolve, Anna decided to let go of her sword.
But the sword seemed glued to her hand, impossible to break free.
Tch.
The Sapphire atop the sword shone brightly, dazzling Anna as if she were staring straight into the sun. Her vision was nearly lost to the light.
That Sapphire Light swirled around the sword, slowly taking shape, and in turn began to devour the black mist, forming a shell of ice-like protection around Anna.
Anna seized the chance and lunged forward. She tore through the Dark Mist, the shell around her clashing against it with a rasping roar.
She was like a meteor crashing toward the Demon King’s face.
Not a ripple disturbed the Demon King’s face; her eyes were like bottomless pools, staring ahead, unmoved.
She tilted her head slightly. Anna’s blade swept past her flowing silver hair, stabbing only at empty air.
That severed lock of hair, as it drifted down, turned into flecks of black fire, like a crow’s fallen feather, vanishing in an instant.
Anna felt a chill in her heart. Her sword swept sideways, blade slashing for the Demon King’s cheek. But the Demon King calmly raised the Bone Sword, and Anna’s blade scraped along the spine-like edge, only to be forced down in a heartbeat.
A tidal force surged up Anna’s wrist. She choked back the blood rising in her throat, gritted her teeth, and her feet sank into the shattered marble beneath her.
She forced herself not to fall to her knees.
“Your strength is not equal.”
Not a hint of emotion on the Demon King’s face; her voice was cold as ice, as though her opponent was not an enemy, but someone irrelevant.
“Equal or not… Don’t speak as if you alone get to decide.”
Anna, teeth gritted, forced herself upright against the Demon King’s overwhelming power. In a furious roar, Anna was like a birch bent in a blizzard.
She twisted her waist and spun, pivoting on her left leg, while her right lashed out like lightning at the Demon King’s slender calf.
The Demon King simply glanced down, unmoved, letting Anna’s leg strike her shin.
Bang. Anna felt as if she’d kicked solid iron. Her shin felt ready to shatter, but the Demon King stood there, utterly unfazed.
There was even a trace of pity in the Demon King’s expression.
“Futile effort.”
She lifted her delicate foot and gave the lightest stomp. A massive shockwave rippled outward. The stained glass windows of the Reception Room shattered into a rain of colored shards, sunlight streaming through the empty frames and chasing away the lingering darkness in an instant.
Anna drove her holy sword into the ground, took a deep breath, and forced the meager magic power in her body to flow into the blade. The Violet Gem resonated in response.
A Rainbow Sword Light shot from the blade, instantly slicing through the Demon King’s shockwave, charging at her with unstoppable momentum.
At last, the Demon King moved. In a flash, she dodged the sword light’s slash. The Throne behind her was cleaved in two in an instant, and the sword light, relentless as a wild stallion, cut through the outer wall, leaving a narrow, jagged gash.
The holy sword hummed in Anna’s hand.
As if she’d opened a secret compartment in a music box, Anna poured more magic into the holy sword. The dark purple gem flared, shining in tandem with the Sapphire, so bright Anna could barely keep her eyes open.
Blue and violet light twined around the sword’s edge, two streams of magic curling up Anna’s arm and forming wings of light at her shoulders.
Anna opened her eyes; flames blazed in her crimson pupils.
Her figure vanished into the play of light and shadow, reappearing instantly before the Demon King. She struck with a downward slash. The Demon King blocked with her sword; with a ringing clang, the Demon King was forced back two steps.
Anna was sent flying by the shock, but twisted in midair, landed lightly on her toes, and sprang to attack again.
She glimpsed ripples stirring in the Demon King’s eyes.