July in Demon King City, the sky was still drifting with fine snow.
Inside the Lilith Convent at the city’s center.
Several demon children sat around the fireplace, gazing up at the black-haired succubus elder sister seated in a chair, listening as she recounted historical tales.
“In the Old Era, year 1225, our ancestors were driven by the human coalition army to this barren land.
“At that time, the demon race faced harsh environments and relentless human persecution, brought to the brink of extinction.
“In this crisis, the savior of the demons, the great Demon King, rose up.
“She led the demon race to defeat the human coalition army, winning countless battles deemed miraculous, and established this realm belonging to the demon race on the northern continent.
“Until the Old Era, year 1247, the regicide from the Engelia Empire—a woman humans called the Hero—declared war against the Demon King.
“They fought a bloody battle in the Eral Mountains for three days and nights, and to this day, that place remains a Forbidden Zone of Life.”
“Sisliya sister, what happened after? Did the Demon King win?” a child asked, lifting their small face in curiosity.
“At the end of that great battle, only the Demon King emerged from the Eral Mountains,” succubus Lucifer sighed softly. “But she was gravely wounded and fell into a deep slumber, from which she has not awakened even after three hundred years.”
Since the Demon King’s slumber, besides humans who have been enemies of the demons for generations, the surrounding elves, dwarves, orcs, and the like… all began coveting demon territory.
And then there were those adventurers, coming in groups one after another, treating this place like a gold mine!
If the Demon King were still awake, how could those fools dare be so reckless!
As Lucifer thought this, a formidable aura suddenly spread from afar, quickening her heartbeat as she looked up toward the palace where the great being slept.
This was… the aura of the Demon King.
The Demon King had awakened!
This invisible aura spread across every inch of demon territory.
In the depths of the Scarlet Forest where countless bats dwelled, inside the castle shrouded by the blood moon; in the cave atop the snow mountain piled high with countless gold and silver treasures; beneath the great chasm infested with undead; under the glacier-covered, pitch-black deep sea…
Blood Princess, Demon Dragon, Undead, Sea Tribe…
Each lord and commander within demon territory turned their gaze toward the far north, toward Demon King City.
Sitting on the throne, Xia Li opened her eyes.
Before her lay pitch blackness. Several crystals hanging from the ceiling emitted a faint, ghostly blue glow, and the vast darkness was utterly silent.
A large question mark popped up above Xia Li’s head.
Wasn’t she just being baptized in a church?
How did she end up in this pitch-black, creepy place the moment she closed and reopened her eyes?
Hey, can’t someone just turn on a light?
Just as the thought crossed her mind, the crystals on the ceiling suddenly all glowed brightly, illuminating the entire palace as if it were broad daylight.
Were these crystal lights controlled by thought?
Xia Li looked around. The palace was far emptier than the church. Statues stood along both sides of the hall, each featuring distinctive traits like bat wings or heart-shaped tails.
This was the land of demons!
“Why am I in demon territory? Surely I wasn’t drowned by holy water during baptism and transmigrated…”
Her voice sounded unusually childish.
She furrowed her brow and was about to check her current state when a mirror suddenly materialized before her, reflecting her appearance.
Silver-white hair flowed down to her waist, eyes deep crimson, petite figure dressed in a loose, court-style black gown. Her shoulders were bare to the air, and the hem nearly covered her ankles, revealing only a pair of small feet clad in black stockings.
Xia Li’s pupils shrank sharply.
She knew this face all too well.
The Demon King, Sisliya!
The Hero’s nemesis, the final boss in the game!
What the hell? She just transmigrated into the Hero, and in the blink of an eye, turned into the Demon King?
She must have eaten too much poisoned rice and hallucinated!
She pinched her tender arm.
Pain!
“Did I really become the Demon King? Then what about the original Hero?”
Xia Li pondered for several minutes and came up with a wildly absurd but best explanation she could find.
One soul, two bodies.
She had become both the Hero and the Demon King at the same time.
Absurd!
But considering she had transmigrated and this world had magic and divine beings, having two bodies simultaneously didn’t seem so strange.
What choice did she have but to accept reality?
At least, as the Demon King, her power and status were far better than the penniless Hero.
“Now, I should have inherited the Demon King’s power.”
Xia Li casually gestured, and the palace pillars split into two like tofu, then with a wave of her hand, the broken pillars restored themselves.
Snapping her fingers, the howling wind and snow outside abruptly ceased.
A blazing sun rose in the sky, its warm light dispelling the darkness, shining upon this land shrouded in eternal night and ice.
This was magic!
No incantations were needed; with a mere thought, her body instinctively used the magic she desired.
This was the Demon King! The legendary mage who mastered all magic from ancient times to the present, walking magic books revered as the strongest existence beneath the divine!
Almost omnipotent.
“Being the Demon King is way more fun than being the Hero.”
Xia Li was quite pleased with this.
She wondered how her Hero self was doing.
With a thought, she tried to use magic to look far away at the other herself in the Engelia Empire.
But as soon as she raised her hand, it fell weakly.
What was going on?
Her body suddenly felt heavy, completely drained of strength…
Could it be… her magic was exhausted?!
Only then did Xia Li realize that using the miracle magic of summoning the sun in the land of eternal night had drained all the magic inside her.
The Demon King’s magic shouldn’t be so scarce!
“The Demon King was gravely wounded in the war three hundred years ago and fell into a long slumber. After awakening, her strength is only a tenth of her prime.”
She recalled the game’s setting.
Yes, that was the reason!
“Magic capacity is only a tenth now. Even if I can casually cast forbidden spells, I don’t have enough magic to use them.” Xia Li rubbed her head.
Such a troublesome limitation.
Well, she could recover gradually.
Just needed to avoid using large-scale forbidden magic.
She was more concerned about another issue.
In the game, the Demon King at her prime was a queenly figure. Looking at that magnificent face and magnanimous heart made one want to bury their face in her bosom.
But because of her weakened power, she transformed into her teenage form.
But now, what was she? Not a teenager at all… under 1.5 meters tall, childish voice, flat chest—not even a hint of development. She was basically an underage little girl!
Could this body even develop again?