Chapter 42: Vicious Dog Bites Master?

Sovinia was still basking in the joy of obtaining the “Veil of Desire,” not yet having had time to savor that unfamiliar sense of satisfaction, when suddenly a chill ran down her head.

A liquid slid along her hair strands, flowing over her forehead and cheeks, carrying a faint salty taste.

It was so cold she shrank her neck.

She startled, looked up, and saw Wohard holding a water pouch, pouring its contents—salted holy water—all over her head.

He muttered like a priest, reciting the Four Gods Chant she had taught him earlier.

Salt, holy water, and the Four Gods Chant—that was a simple and effective way to break through the disguises of the Demon Race.

Sovinia raised her face and asked, “What are you doing?”

Wohard looked at her.

Water droplets dripped from the tips of her hair, ran down her porcelain-white cheeks, fell from her chin, and soaked the fabric covering her chest.

The wet undergarment clung tightly to her skin, outlining a small, delicate contour.

Though far from the captivating allure of the Succubus Heavenly King, it still revealed a youthful curve that could be held in one hand.

Wohard’s gaze lingered for a moment on her damp chest, then jerked away as if burned, returning to her face.

His expression grew serious.

In the dim light, his face looked sharply defined, and even the hideous burn scar on half of it could not overshadow the righteousness in his eyes.

For an instant, he resembled an old pope in a cathedral.

“I’m just checking, Princess Sovinia,” he said in a low, earnest voice.

“Just like I checked the fake Elven Princess, making sure you’re not a demon in disguise. My apologies.”

He spoke with perfect seriousness and righteous conviction.

“That’s good.”

Sovinia nodded.

Then she felt a warm, almost viscous sensation surge from the veil, flowing down her cheeks, over her neck, spreading to her collarbone, and then downward, wrapping around her chest, waist, and thighs.

The feeling was both strange and comfortable, as if countless invisible hands were gently caressing her skin.

Every inch of her was enveloped by this power—including the deepest, most hidden parts—forming a thin film.

Supernatural Charisma.

The veil was absorbing desire.

Desire from Wohard.

Sovinia paused.

She looked down at her wet chest, and a wave of indescribable emotion suddenly surged in her mind.

She knew Wohard had just looked at her chest.

She knew that look had stirred desire in him, and that desire was now being absorbed by the veil, transforming into power to protect her.

This feeling of being stared at by a man, being desired by a man, being fed by a man’s desire…

Her heart thumped hard once.

Heat rushed from her chest to her cheeks.

Her ears felt hot, her cheeks hot, even her neck hot.

She remembered that she had once been Kimi the Coldhearted, the First Heavenly King of the Demon Castle, the Elf Nightmare, the Human Butcher, the Blade of Demons—how could she blush because of a man’s desire?

‘Damn it… It’s all this weak Elven Female Body’s fault!’

‘But I guess this is the only advantage, or else I wouldn’t be able to control this vicious dog.’

Wohard seemed to notice his own rudeness.

Embarrassed, he turned his face away and then turned his whole body, putting his back to her.

“Princess, you’re not a demon in disguise. That’s wonderful.”

His back was broad.

She looked at his tattered full plate armor, at the huge sword he had picked up from a demon corpse and now carried on his shoulder.

This vicious dog would die by her hand tomorrow.

At most by tomorrow morning, she would find the male body head.

Then she would backstab him without hesitation, just as she had backstabbed the Demon Queen.

But her heart suddenly softened.

“Actually, I’m not a princess.”

She heard herself say.

Wohard didn’t turn around.

He was adjusting his helmet.

“Really?”

“Yes,” Sovinia said, tidying her wet hair, not knowing why she was saying this.

“I’m just an ordinary Elven female. What princess would there be in the Demon Castle? Think about it—how could the Demon Race keep an Elven Princess alive? They would only use her in Sacrificial Rituals.”

The words left her mouth, and she herself was stunned.

Why had she suddenly confessed?

Maybe the title “princess” was too soft, touching on her dignity as a male Heavenly King.

Or perhaps… it was a small mercy toward this vicious dog?

Mercy?

Ridiculous.

Who was she?

She was the great First Heavenly King, Kimi the Coldhearted, Human Butcher, Elf Nightmare, Blade of Demons!

How could she ever show mercy to the one who had beheaded her?

Impossible.

This had to be an illusion.

“I understand,” Wohard said.

He put on his helmet, lowered the visor to cover his scar, turned around, and looked at her through the gap in the helmet.

“But I will still keep my oath. To my oath, whether Lady Sovinia is a princess or not makes no difference.”

Sovinia’s heart thumped hard again.

This time, even harder.

She felt her chest tighten, her throat tighten, even her breathing grew difficult.

A strange emotion surged up, as if something was stuck in her chest, making her want to cry.

She blinked and found her vision blurry.

Her tear ducts moistened.

Sovinia found it quite strange.

She didn’t understand why she was having this reaction, why a few words from this vicious dog could trigger such bizarre physical responses.

Why were her tear ducts wet?

What was stuck in her chest?

In her century-long life as a demon, she had never encountered a similar emotion.

It had to be something wrong with this weak Elven Female Body.

It had to be.

She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.

Just one more day—no, less than a day—and she would be free of this weird Elven Female Body.

They rested briefly in the side hall.

Wohard took out some dry rations, while Sovinia pulled out the jerky she had cooked earlier.

They shared the food.

During that time, they talked about the Succubus Heavenly King who had just been killed.

Sovinia could sense that the male body head was nearby, very close.

At most, after one more night, she would find it.

As they chatted, the topic naturally turned to the Succubus Heavenly King.

“The Succubus Heavenly King called for mom before she died,” Sovinia said.

“She was calling the Demon Queen. The Succubus Heavenly King is one of the Demon Queen’s hundreds of daughters.”

Wohard looked up.

“The Demon Queen?”

“Yes.”

“How much longer until we get out of the Demon Castle?”

“Soon,” Sovinia said.

“Don’t listen to that Succubus’s provocations. We’re already in the central area of the Demon Castle, not far from the Throne Room. But I know a secret passage that can bypass all the guards and lead straight outside.”

Wohard asked, “How much longer approximately?”

“At most a day,” Sovinia gave a reassuring answer.

“Ready to set out?”

“Ready!”

Wohard put down his food.

“Great! In at most a day, you’ll be free, Lady Sovinia, and so will I.”

‘Ridiculous.’

Sovinia sneered inwardly.

‘Poor vicious dog.

He doesn’t know his life has less than a day left.’

By then, she would be free—free from this damned weak female body.

She estimated she would find the head by tomorrow morning.

‘Poor hero, you are indeed strong, but you’re too stupid. The mere appearance of an Elven female body can charm you, make your little head control the big one, make you dance to my tune. Tomorrow, you’ll taste the chain backstab I’ve prepared for you.’

As she thought this, she habitually reached for the side pocket of her backpack to confirm the poison vial.

Her hand touched empty air.

She remembered she had already used the Manticore Venom on the Succubus Heavenly King.

‘…Well, no matter.’

‘No poison?

Then I’ll just show you my powerful backstab technique.

First, feign weakness, then strike by surprise, using Double Strike combined with Blazing Strike +3.

Of course, it’s best to wear down his condition beforehand.’

Before setting out, Wohard voluntarily reported his status: “I still have five Holy Slashes left, and two chances to use Divided Self.”

Sovinia stood up.

“Then we’d better escape the Demon Castle before the Demon Queen discovers her daughter is dead and comes for revenge.”

The two of them left the side hall, one behind the other.

Sovinia led the way.

On the following stretch, she fully demonstrated the “Cold-hearted One” Kimi’s familiarity with the Demon Castle’s layout.

She constantly weaved through all sorts of inconspicuous paths, ventilation shafts, even abandoned servant corridors, perfectly avoiding any areas where powerful demons might be present.

Occasionally, they encountered a few lone low-level monsters.

Now that Sovinia had grown much stronger, she could handle them quickly without requiring Wohard to use his precious Holy Slashes.

Time passed.

Sovinia estimated it was now around evening.

There were no windows in the Demon Castle, so she could only judge time by instinct.

Just then, from deep in the corridor far behind them, a wail that shook the heavens rang out.

The sound was filled with endless grief and fury, and the terrifying Mana within it made the very stones of the Demon Castle groan under the strain.

Sovinia’s body trembled involuntarily.

It was the Demon Queen.

She recognized that voice.

She must have found the place where her daughter died.

A fear that originated from the depths of her soul instantly seized her.

Her body shivered, completely beyond her control.

She rarely feared anyone.

Unfortunately, the Demon Queen was one of the names on her list of fears—and ranked first.

She clenched her teeth, her nails digging deep into her palms.

The sharp pain helped her regain some composure.

‘No! I have to move fast! I have to get rid of this weak shell as soon as possible. Only by reclaiming my own power can I feel truly safe.’

Wohard gripped his sword hilt.

“What was that sound?”

“The Demon Queen!”

Sovinia said, her voice colder than usual.

“She’s approaching. We have to hurry.”

“Hurry with what?”

‘Hurry to find my head, of course!’

Sovinia said, “Find the secret passage and escape the Demon Castle. We can’t rest tonight.”

She continued leading, quickening her pace.

The male body head was ahead.

She could feel the connection growing stronger.

She had already made up her mind: no rest would constantly drain Wohard’s stamina, and when she found the male body head, she would backstab him on the spot.

Perfect.

But when she turned a corner, she stopped.

The secret passage was ahead.

Or rather, where the secret passage used to be.

Now, only a huge, charred, glass-like hole remained.

Burn.

The Burn that the Cold-hearted One Kimi had released in the Throne Room had burned through room after room, and it had also burned through this secret passage.

No matter.

Sovinia had other routes.

She was about to call Wohard when she saw him standing still.

Sovinia called out, “Wohard?”

Wohard stood in front of the huge hole burned through, and through the opening, he could vaguely see the ruins of the Throne Room in the distance.

Sovinia had a bad feeling.

Had he figured it out?

Theoretically, their party’s assassination route had passed through here, so he might be familiar with the path.

But that was only in theory.

Wasn’t he just a fool who could be charmed by her Elven female body?

Wohard said, his voice a little low, “Here… I know this road. I know a path that leads directly outside the Demon Castle.”

Sovinia’s heart sank.

Maybe she had underestimated her beheading nemesis.

“You’re mistaken,” Sovinia said.

“I know the Demon Castle well.”

“The path our party used to infiltrate the Demon Castle.”

Wohard slowly pulled a yellowed parchment map from his chest.

“Let’s take that route.”

Sovinia immediately said, “No. That’s a trap set by Kimi the Coldhearted. He gave you that map. I told you before, you can’t trust it.”

‘Why hasn’t this thing been burned yet!’

Wohard didn’t answer.

He stared at the map, then looked up and looked around.

His gaze swept over the pillars in the corridor, the reliefs on the walls, the scorch marks on the floor.

Sovinia’s heart was in her throat.

Instinctively, she thrust out her chest, trying to display the only advantage of this weak Elven female body, but the Veil of Desire told her that the vicious dog was not feeling any desire at all.

The vicious dog’s gaze wasn’t even looking at her!

Wohard said, “Based on the direction of the Throne Room, this is… the third floor of the East Wing. Following the map… I can roughly trace our route. This map is correct. Even though the Demon Castle is damaged now, it still has reference value—a lot of value.”

Sovinia said, “That’s a dead map. My brain is alive.”

Wohard’s voice turned serious.

“Lady Sovinia. You’ve been leading us deeper into the Demon Castle, haven’t you? Starting from where I met you, if we had been heading for the exit, we would already be outside.”

Sovinia repeated her excuse, “You don’t understand. That map is a trap—”

Wohard took a step forward.

“Lady Sovinia, where exactly do you want to go?”

Sovinia tightened her fingers on her sword hilt.

Her mind raced, searching for any excuse that could justify herself.

She stared into Wohard’s eyes.

Those golden eyes burned with something she didn’t want to see—suspicion, and hurt.

Like a golden retriever that had been kicked.

‘What do I do?

What do I do?

My mind can’t think of anything.

Is it too late to lift my skirt now?

Why isn’t this vicious dog falling for female charms anymore?

Wasn’t he full of lewd thoughts before?

Right, I can still hear his thoughts!’

So Sovinia abruptly grabbed Wohard’s hand, trying to listen to his thoughts to find material for a perfect lie.

Trust, suspicion, anger… various jumbled thoughts echoed in her mind.

She had never heard the vicious dog’s thoughts so chaotic before.

Finally, she caught one that caught her attention.

She looked up sharply.

“Birdclaw?”

“You… how do you know?”

Sovinia said, “I can smell the scent of Birdclaw on you. It came to you again, didn’t it?”

As a righteous hero, he had already severed Birdclaw, but Birdclaw had come back to him, and this time he didn’t cut it off.

Wohard averted his gaze.

“Yes. I intended to sever it. But the intensity of the battle exceeded my expectations—”

“Good. Make a wish to it. Wish for me to find what I hold dear, and then wish for me to be able to turn invisible five times at will,” Sovinia said.

“After that, we go our separate ways.”

“We can walk out of the Demon Castle. I swore an oath to get you out safely.”

Sovinia said, “I’m not a princess. There’s no ‘hero saves princess’ scenario in the Demon Castle. I have my own goal. If you don’t want to, forget it.”

With that, Sovinia let go of his hand, turned, and walked away.

Her face remained cold and expressionless.

She tried to squeeze out a few tears, but her acting wasn’t good enough.

She walked forward with determined strides.

“Wait! Lady Sovinia!”

After a few steps, the vicious dog’s voice came from behind.

It worked.

‘As expected, this vicious dog is still the same vicious dog. My appearance works on him.’

Sovinia had just turned her head when she saw Wohard suddenly tackle her, wrapping his arms around her thighs, slamming her onto the stone floor, and pinning her down.

Sovinia struggled fiercely.

“What are you doing?”

A bundle of rope fell beside her face, stirring her veil.

Wohard said, “Forgive me, Lady Sovinia. I swore an oath to get you out of the Demon Castle.”

How could this be?

He had been feeling desire for her just now.

How could he suddenly…?