That meaningless syllable echoed through the ornate yet gloomy prison chamber, lingering for days.
Well, not for three days, but it did cause several seconds of silence.
Sovinia felt her blood freeze instantly, her head under the helmet ringing as if struck by a heavy hammer.
Her toes disobeyed the great commander of the demon race, curling and digging into her soles.
‘What did she just say?’
‘Hajimi yo nanbei lv dou?’
‘What kind of spell is that? Can it summon a meteor from the sky to smash every living thing in this room except me into paste?’
Given her physical reaction, it seemed to be a very bad “spell.”
Her already hazy past life memories, at the most inappropriate time, like a hand reaching out of a toilet, slapped her hard across the face and also slapped the reason for the slap onto her face.
‘Hajimi is an internet meme.’
She, Kimi the Coldhearted, the First Heavenly King under the Demon King, a villain who had clawed her way from the mines to the pinnacle of power through conspiracy and violence, had actually blurted out a meaningless internet meme from a homeland so distant she had almost forgotten it, at a life-or-death moment.
This was even more shameful than being forced to bare her ass in front of the Queen of Demons.
Linalia asked, “What are you saying?”
Then the confusion on her face gradually faded.
“My dear ‘false kinsman’,” her voice was as soft as honey, “this… is not Elvish. In fact, it’s nothing at all.”
She turned to Wohard, her beautiful face full of worry and innocence:
“Lord Hero, you see, she has lost her mind. She is the false elf.”
Sovinia’s brain-freeze state lasted less than two seconds.
The instinct to survive and the dignity of being a strong person, like a bucket of ice water, pulled Sovinia out of the abyss of self-shame.
She was not good at lying, but she was an expert at fighting.
And at this moment, words were the battlefield.
Lying was not her forte.
But fighting was.
In that case, she would treat words as swords, seize the other’s logic, and stab it back into her chest.
Sovinia looked coldly at Linalia, imitating her arrogant tone, the tone like gazing at a defective product, and slowly began to speak:
“Then is what you spoke Elvish?”
She shook off Wohard’s hand, stepped forward, and pressed:
“You are the false elf!”
Linalia’s smile froze on her face for the first time:
“Y-You… what did you say?”
“I said, you are the fake,” Sovinia said succinctly, every word as if pulled from an icebox.
“What you spoke is not Elvish. Mine is the real thing.”
“Utter lies,” Linalia’s voice involuntarily rose a bit, but soon returned to her elegant and composed princess demeanor.
“I am Linalia of the Silver Moon Forest, of noble blood and orderly lineage! While you, of unknown origin, with disordered speech, dare to bite back!”
“Utter lies,” Sovinia repeated.
“I am Sovinia of the Silver Moon Forest, of noble blood and orderly lineage! While you, wearing fishnet stockings with holes, of unknown origin, with disordered speech, dare to bite back!”
“Stop copying me.”
“Stop copying me!”
“Sisters, stop fighting!”
Wohard finally found a chance to interject.
He spread his arms like an old hen trying to stop two fighting cocks.
“There must be some misunderstanding! We are all victims; we should unite!”
Sovinia didn’t even look at him.
‘The vicious dog’s brain circuitry is always so simple, thinking a few slogans can solve everything.’
‘No joke, the Elf Princess may be beautiful, but as long as she lives, I cannot sleep peacefully.’
Linalia tugged at Wohard’s arm and said, “Lord Hero, you see. It’s not that I’m being aggressive, but she… she simply cannot prove her identity, and now she can only change the subject by being unreasonable.”
“Prove?”
Sovinia seized on that word.
“Fine, then let’s prove it.”
Her cold gaze swept over Linalia, then over Wohard, and she said, “You should be able to produce Holy Water, right?”
Wohard nodded.
“Use Holy Water,” Sovinia said.
“We’ll know at once whether you’re demon race or elf.”
This proposal was reasonable, and Wohard immediately agreed.
Linalia, however, frowned slightly.
She gathered the slipping fabric of her skirt on her shoulder and said, “Ordinary Holy Water, I’m afraid, can only detect low-level monsters. I’ve heard that some powerful demons, especially those skilled in disguise, can easily fool Holy Water’s detection with their magic.”
“Then use the uncommon kind,” she said flatly, as if stating common sense.
“Add salt to the Holy Water and chant the Four Gods Chant. It is said that no matter how sophisticated the disguise, it will fail under such power.”
This was little known among the demon race, and Sovinia was one of the few.
It was said that the power of the Four Gods and the energy of the Holy Water conflicted, producing an extremely unstable destructive reaction that could tear through most magic-based disguises.
After all, she had fallen into an elf female body; she didn’t believe Holy Water could detect that her soul was the famous Kimi the Coldhearted.
“The Four Gods Chant?”
Wohard’s face changed.
“That is a prayer to the Evil God; reciting it will bring bad things.”
“Lord Hero, what’s bad is the enemy hidden among us,” Linalia’s tone became serious.
She stared straight at Sovinia, her gaze sharp as a knife.
“If this is the only way to expose the lie, I am willing to try.”
“So am I,” Sovinia echoed coldly.
The problem, like a scorching iron ball, was kicked back into Wohard’s lap by the two seemingly delicate elf girls.
Caught between two equally sharp gazes, he felt cold sweat on his back.
Wohard gritted his teeth.
“Fine! Let’s do as you say!”
As instructed, Wohard made Holy Water with salt.
Then Sovinia began to chant the Four Gods Chant.
As the blasphemous words came out, the air itself seemed to twist uneasily.
After finishing, she was the first to extend the back of her hand.
Linalia did not want to be outdone.
Wohard dipped his finger in the liquid that seemed unchanged and applied it to the backs of both elves’ hands.
The abrasive feeling of salt particles came.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
Nothing happened.
No burning, no black smoke, no screams.
Sovinia’s hand remained clean as before, and Linalia’s hand was also fair and flawless.
“Great!”
Wohard let out a long sigh of relief, a relieved smile on his face.
“It was just a misunderstanding. No demon in disguise.”
Linalia was silent for a moment.
Then, a smile brighter and more sincere than any before bloomed on her face.
Her golden eyes, which had been brimming with tears, now sparkled with joy.
“I’m sorry…”
She bowed slightly to Sovinia.
“Please forgive my rudeness earlier. I was so scared that I doubted my own kin.”
She stepped forward, opening her arms.
The torn skirt and tight stockings gave her gesture a contradictory beauty of holiness and seduction.
“Can we… make peace? My… sister?”
Sovinia looked at her, not moving.
‘Reason, or rather, Kimi’s deep-seated persecution paranoia, was screaming warnings at her. Do not hug unless necessary.’
‘But… she is too beautiful.’
‘So beautiful that dying in her arms would be the ultimate pleasure.’
‘Moreover, in front of the vicious dog, refusing such a sincere apology and hug would make me look petty and suspicious.’
In the end, appreciation of beauty outweighed vigilance against danger.
Sovinia stepped forward, met Linalia’s sweet smile, and hugged her tightly without reservation.
The other’s body was very soft, carrying a maiden’s warmth.
A faint orchid fragrance hit her face, very pleasant.
However, in that brief contact, Sovinia’s nose caught a very faint, easily overlooked strange odor hidden beneath the orchid fragrance.
It was an orchid scent mixed with musk.
‘Very familiar.’
‘Where has she smelled this before…?’
Before she could come up with the answer, Linalia had already let go, her face wearing a pure, flawless smile.
Sovinia took a step back without showing anything, suppressing that shred of doubt.
Since the identity crisis was temporarily resolved, it was time to get back to business.
She turned and walked in the opposite direction from which they came, also the direction deeper into the Demon Castle.
“We should go. I’ll lead the way.”
She said, her gaze falling on Linalia’s face.
This was her bottom line.
No matter what, she had to continue moving toward where her head was.
She glanced back at Linalia to see if she would object.
Unexpectedly, Linalia raised no objection.
“I only know a small part of the Demon Castle’s structure; most places I don’t recognize.”
She walked to the wall, picked up a gem-encrusted but slightly crooked staff from a pile of junk, and held it in her hand.
“I’ll have to rely on you for guidance, Sovinia. My Royal Guard Spell should be able to provide some support for us.”
She smiled, her posture very low, completely like a well-behaved girl ready to obey orders.
Wohard sighed in relief and said, “Let’s go. We will get out of the Demon Castle, I promise.”
Sovinia thought to herself, ‘Does he make such promises to every “princess”? Whatever, he has a day and a half left to live anyway, no need to dwell on it.’
Sovinia started walking with her long legs, thinking that the composition of this three-person party was particularly strange.
‘One is a fake full of schemes, eager to find her head.’
‘One is a stupid dog virgin hero with a head full of Knightly Spirit, who can’t move when he sees a beauty.’
‘And one is a pitiful real princess.’
They went up the stairs and returned to the corridor.
Recalling the strange scent she caught on the “real princess” earlier, Sovinia finally remembered that she had smelled this odor decades ago.
At that time, she had kissed the Succubus Celestial King, and they were very close, so she could smell the Succubus Celestial King’s scent and remembered it vividly.
‘But is it her?’
Sovinia turned her head and glanced behind her.
Linalia was holding the vicious dog’s arm with one hand, chatting away.
The latter immediately noticed her gaze and smiled at her, flaunting victory.
‘It must be her, the Succubus Celestial King.’
Sovinia remained expressionless and turned her head back.
Yet an inexplicable anger rose in her heart.
‘A vicious dog is a vicious dog, his soul seduced by just a few words from a mere Succubus Celestial King, losing even basic vigilance.’
While burning with this nameless anger, Sovinia pondered how to kill her old colleague.
With her brain back in its familiar field of killing, Sovinia felt her mind work much better.
Thinking so, the next time Sovinia looked at Linalia, she saw the phantom of a golden question mark card and a treasure chest above her head.
‘A Gold Card enemy and a Relic enemy. Killing her gives the same reward as backstabbing the vicious dog.’
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