Chapter 0 - Prologue: That Moonless Night on which the Strongest Demon King Passed Away (2/2)
What made the Lolita at a loss was that this mysterious black-robed person completely ignored her. He was talking to himself, but she couldn’t understand what this person was saying. Nevertheless, estimating that the heroes pursuing her were soon going to arrive, this bloodkin Lolita didn’t think much about it. She quickly ran behind the Demon King Throne and hid behind that mysterious person, keeping her head down. The Demon King Throne was very big, large enough to hide her, at least. However, the mysterious person never raised his head, and his hood completely covered his face. As a result, the bloodkin Lolita was unable to clearly see the other party’s true appearance. Waiting behind this strange man, she gripped her hands into fists as she tried to still her nerves.
Not long after the bloodkin Lolita had hidden herself, that team of elite adventurers arrived in front of the castle. Even before they had stepped through the castle’s gate, they shot in a volley of six “Golden Holy Arrows” that transformed into golden light beams and zoomed toward the mysterious black-robed person sitting on the Demon King Throne. Even before clearly seeing the situation within the black castle Morpheus, these heroes had directly launched an attack from the castle gate, intending to gain the initiative by striking the first blow. While it was unlikely to kill him, every little bit mattered in their quest to end the reign of Demon King Garfield. After all, the fighting power of Demon King Garfield was very terrifying.
“Watch out! Eh, this…”
The bloodkin Lolita thought to warn the dazed personage sitting on the Demon King Throne, but her worries were superfluous. As if he hadn’t heard her words, that black robe person sat still, ignoring the “Golden Holy Arrows.” When those six “Golden Holy Arrows” reached the halfway point, black tentacles sprang from the ground and blocked them. Then, those arrows were broken into pieces lacking even the slightest spark of light.
“I… My just sitting here provoked you all!?”
That mysterious black robed person stood up and faced toward the castle gate. Raising his right hand, he spread open his palm. Suddenly, from the ground of the entrance gate, dozens of writhing black tentacles rose, instantly annihilating the hero squad. After a series of blood-curdling screams, only dark-red bloodstains and several severed bloody tentacles remained on the ground before the castle gate, the only sign of the terrifying scene that had just happened.
“Little sister, you can leave. I am going to leave here anyway.”
“Wait, can you let me see your appearance? Just a glance.”
“That can’t be done, you will… Eh, you!”
That bloodkin Lolita ignored his warning and ran over to examine his face. Reaching out, he tried to prevent this but acted too late. Freezing up, the bloodkin Lolita seemed to have seen something terrifying as she let out a whimper. She was so scared that she fell to the ground, completely frozen from fear. In addition, all her equipment, including her inner underwear, disintegrated into powder. Out of a girl’s instinct, the bloodkin Lolita subconsciously used her hands to cover her bosom and clamped her legs, trying to cover her sensitive areas.
That bloodkin Lolita had long silvery hair, a pair of blood-red pupils, abnormally white skin, and on the sides of her bright cherry-red mouth, matching pairs of cute protruding canine teeth. After her entire body had been exposed, the wounds caused by the “Golden Holy Arrows” on her back were obvious. These gaping wounds would’ve been startling on anyone, not to mention when they scarred an otherwise beautiful, young girl. Seeing her grievous injuries, the mysterious black robed person felt an uncharacteristic hint of compassion, so he hesitantly lowered his hand that had originally been prepared to attack her.
Gasping in shock, she tried to recover her bearings. Once she recovered enough to speak, she complained, “Compensate for my clothes! You bully who won’t take me along! If you compensate me for my clothes, I won’t follow you.”
“Cough. Cough. You actually didn’t die. Wait, don’t cry! I didn’t mean that! Okay, okay! I’ll take you along. What’s your name?”
“Lucifer. I’m one of Blood Race’s… ordinary bloodkin.”
“Ordinary. You are indeed ordinary. Sure. You can look straight at…”
“I am really an ordinary bloodkin. What about you? Can you tell me your name?”
“Name? I don’t have one. Let’s go. This place doesn’t have any valuable things.”
“So hateful! How can you live without a name? I’ll help you come up with one.”
Lucifer acted like a spoiled child and made the mysterious black robed person carry her out of the castle. Although the other party’s terrifying ability far exceeded her expectations, she could at least be assured that staying beside him would be the safest. Since her strength was too weak, she had no choice but to accompany him. Now that Lucifer was being actively hunted, she urgently needed powerful companions.
The mysterious black robed person considered the bloodkin Lolita who was practically stuck to his bosom. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she happily snuggled into his robe. After hesitating for a while, he finally sighed and decided to take her along. She was the first person who could gaze at his true appearance without going mad or dying. It wasn’t like bringing her along would be a hassle: with his strength, regardless of her origin, there would at least be no problems in having her stay by his side. Nevertheless, the most important reason for his abrupt decision was that Lucifer was beautiful. Since she had taken the initiative to deliver herself to his doorstep, not taking her away would make him lose blood.
The next morning, the infamous black castle Morpheus was reduced to ashes and disappeared together with Demon King Garfield in a raging fire. The Light Church mistakenly believed that that hero squad had perished together with Demon King Garfield and soon issued a commendation notice, declaring that this was the first great victory for the Human Race in their war of several thousands of years against the Demon Kings.
Needing a victory to boost the morale of their soldiers, the higher-ups of the suppressed Human Race overlooked investigating the event in the black castle ruins and just went along with the Light Church’s official story. Thus, the great powers of Ximengsi Continent never even realized that Demon King Garfield had died in the hands of an even higher-leveled “creature.” Demon King Garfield had died, but an even more terrifying existence had already quietly left Death Valley and set foot on Ximengsi Continent.