“Who… what are you?! What kind of thing are you?!”
Elma instinctively looked away.
Her instincts as a Transcendent Mage of twenty years were warning her.
Don’t look! That’s not human!
If you see it, you’ll die!
She gritted her teeth and forced her consciousness to withdraw from the spirit world.
Only when the figure before her disappeared, the darkness faded, and her vision returned to the empty banquet hall did she finally exhale in relief.
…Empty?
“Snap!”
With the sound of snapping fingers, Elma’s vision was once again swallowed by boundless darkness, her body grew heavy, and she suddenly found chains clamped around her wrists and ankles.
“Three hundred years have passed, and humans have already forgotten my existence?”
The silver-haired girl on the throne crossed her legs, slightly turning her body, propping her chin on her hand, a faint, elusive smile curling on her lips.
Three hundred years…
Elma’s expression shifted repeatedly, her voice trembling uncontrollably, “D-… Demon… You, you are the Demon Lord!”
“Correct~” Cissilia squinted and smiled.
Elma felt all the blood in her body freeze.
Impossible. The Demon Lord has already awakened!
But why appear in the mindscape of a human girl…
Could it be the same person?!
The Demon Lord disguised herself as a human and infiltrated Steinburg!
No wonder that person could easily defeat a High Mage…
After piecing this together, the fear born from the unknown inside Elma’s heart receded somewhat.
Her magical energy gathered again, wrapping layers of her consciousness in protection.
No matter how terrifying the Demon Lord was, she was still a tangible enemy.
Besides, in this spirit world, Elma possessed a trump card she had never once revealed over the years.
The Blessing of the Goddess of the Night!
As a direct descendant of the Stein family, she was born with the family’s inherited goddess’s blessing.
Elma clenched her teeth, a faint blood-colored crescent moon appeared behind her.
When its light shone upon her, the oppressive feeling and fear began to dissipate bit by bit.
But that light was dimming.
No, it wasn’t darkening.
It was being overwhelmingly eclipsed by another blood-red light!
“Ho… how is this possible…”
Elma stared at the blood moon behind the Demon Lord.
The blood light poured out like a faint figure, remarkably resembling the images of the Goddess of the Night in many famous paintings, embracing the Demon Lord.
“Goddess of the Night… damn you, Demon Lord, what have you done?!” At this moment, Elma almost lost her reason, the last thread holding her consciousness snapped.
“Hmm~ I’m trying to figure that out myself.”
Cissilia snapped her fingers.
A curse spell.
But a Forbidden Spell level one.
“Sweet dreams.”
Boundless darkness engulfed Elma’s vision, as if countless demons were clawing at her consciousness, tearing her soul into fragments.
“Bang!”
In the banquet hall, Lord Elma’s body collapsed to the ground.
This scene took everyone completely by surprise.
From the moment Elma cast the curse spell to her collapse, less than three seconds had passed… but why was it her who fell, and not Shali who was hit?
“Heh, serves you right.”
Shali smirked.
Facing Elma, a Transcendent Mage, her chance of winning was almost zero.
Yet among the ten thousand ways she could have eliminated her, Elma had chosen the most extreme, the most reckless, and the only way that could fail.
She had intended to have her Demon Lord self release a Forbidden Spell from thousands of miles away, risking exposure to control Elma.
That saved Shali quite some effort.
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Shali walked up the spiral staircase to the second floor.
Only then did the guards snap back to their senses, but thinking of how their Lord Elma had suddenly fallen the moment before, they all hesitated cautiously.
“…What did you do?” Filia looked at Shali, then at the fallen Elma.
“I don’t know, maybe she was just tired and fell asleep right away,” Shali shrugged and smiled.
“So now you’re going to…” Filia lowered her head.
No need to answer; she already knew.
After all, Shali had just said it.
She was going to abduct her bride.
Biting her lip, Filia was at a loss for what emotions to show.
Excitement? Sadness? Guilt?
The fulfillment when what you hope for finally happens.
She had firmly decided to arrange a marriage to send her sister to a better life, but now that everything was truly ruined, her heart was inexplicably stirred.
Her heartbeat quickened.
She treated Shali so harshly, yet Shali…
Filia unconsciously reached out her hand toward Shali.
But as they drew near, her reason overcame the strange fluttering in her heart.
Thinking of her and her sister’s future, she hesitated and withdrew her hand, averting her gaze, “No, I can’t…”
Shali brushed past her.
“I’m here.” Shali reached out her hand to Luya, who sat in a wheelchair.
“Sister Shali…” Luya stood up on her weak legs, held Shali’s hand, and leaned on her, “I’m sorry, I’m a bad child who couldn’t keep her promise.”
“Coincidentally, I’m a bad person who ruins other people’s marriages.” Shali leaned close to Luya’s cheek and whispered, “A bad person matched with a bad child, isn’t that just perfect.”
With those words, her lips pressed against Luya’s cheek.
Magic flowed through their close connection, and Luya felt the dryness inside her body being nourished by the wellspring of magic.
Her legs regained sensation, and her body was gradually filled with strength.
“All right, it’s time to leave.”
Shali released Luya, stepped on Lord Elma’s cane, and gripped it in her hand.
She glanced at the group of guards downstairs in the banquet hall and handed the cane to Luya.
“The magic part is yours now.”
“Okay!”
Although Luya hadn’t been able to use magic for years, she had never given up on pursuing it.
She muttered the spell she had repeated countless times in her mind, and the cane hovered in midair.
Flight magic.
“Sister Shali, let’s go!”
Luya held Shali’s hand as they both sat on the cane.
She raised her hand and cast a Fireball, smashing it against the banquet hall window.
With the sharp shattering of glass, a hole appeared.
She urged the cane forward, and with a “whoosh,” they flew out the window.
“The young lady is being kidnapped!”
One of the guards shouted, finally snapping the others back to their senses.
They hurriedly drew their magic rods and prepared to pursue with flight magic.
At that moment, golden light appeared beneath their feet.
“Swish swish swish!”
Countless chains bound the guards’ calves, and before they could react, luminous spears hovered before their necks.
The spear tips pierced their flesh, drawing drops of blood.
“Let’s see who dares to chase after them!”
Filia held her spellbook and looked down at the guards and guests in the banquet hall.
The suppression in her eyes had vanished, replaced by reckless release.
Marriage, family matters—none of that matters anymore!