Chapter 11: Practice

Practice

The Demon King’s hand, diligently reviewing documents, paused for a moment.

“…”

She couldn’t concentrate.

Countless distracting thoughts kept swirling in her mind.

Especially, this morning.

The words Kyle had spoken when he came to see her.

He had abruptly asked her to hand Sein over to him.

“There must be a reason.”

His voice was firm.

“Don’t kill her; entrust her to me.”

Lashian briefly reflected on her reaction at the time.

‘Sein… to Kyle?’

It wasn’t a picture she was particularly fond of.

“…How can I trust you?”

As if he had already anticipated such a question, a calm answer immediately flowed from Kyle’s lips.

“She will exert great power in the upcoming war with the Empire.”

“…”

He always used words like those.

Empire, war, and demons.

Every single one was a word she herself was sensitive to.

A way of making his proposal sound quite appealing by mentioning them.

Strangely, he had a knack for creating situations that she couldn’t refuse.

At his words, images of Sein’s past flashed through her mind.

Certainly, Sein’s abilities themselves were a waste to lose.

Her strength, and…

“…”

Lashian herself was not particularly keen on killing her as she was.

However, the position of Demon King was one where personal feelings could not be shown.

So, she had practically given up on Sein.

It had been a difficult decision to make.

But this man was shaking that decision once again.

In her mind, the word ‘perhaps’ flashed by once more.

‘If it’s Kyle, he might be able to control Sein.’

Sein’s greatest weapon was her immense speed.

But his power had an overwhelming counter-affinity to that speed.

Her deliberation wasn’t long.

Lashian ultimately accepted his proposal.

Something still felt unsettling.

A feeling that, for some reason, she had accepted his proposal more easily than she should have.

Kyle bowed his head briefly.

Then, he left the room, saying he would give her good information, and that was this morning.

And that good information was precisely this.

The truly unbelievable information that the Empire’s forces exceeded ten million.

How did he even get such information?

She was aware that the Empire vastly outnumbered the demons.

But that the difference was this significant was something even she, as the Demon King, had not anticipated.

‘Can this information be trusted?’

A momentary doubt flashed through her, but she soon shook her head.

“Too late now.”

She didn’t know his true intentions.

But the information he brought had never once been wrong.

She tried to conclude her thoughts.

But then.

Lashian quietly closed her eyes.

The questions she had been suppressing since earlier continued to surface.

What was his real reason for keeping Sein alive?

He had clearly said that Sein’s abilities would exert great power.

But that made no sense.

Because he had never once seen Sein in a proper battle.

Sein, who had prepared a rebellion.

‘Let’s keep her for the sake of the demons.’

It was a truly contradictory statement.

There was only one link between him and Sein.

Lashian, she herself, was everything.

‘Surely not, because of me?’

“…”

‘That can’t be,’ she thought, yet her gaze involuntarily drifted to a corner of her desk.

A crumpled wad of paper, impulsively crushed, was still lying in the corner of her desk.

Lashian carefully reached out and picked it up.

Then she smoothed it out again.

It was a document Kyle had submitted in the past.

Neat yet tidy.

It was a handwriting that made her feel good just by looking at it.

“…Since it’s important information.”

Lashian put it back into a corner of her desk drawer.

Somewhere no one could see.

****

[Cielstones: 25]

I’ve already collected half.

The target of 50 is still a long way off.

But seeing them accumulate steadily makes me quite proud.

The Cielstones should have originally been 24.

But an unexpected message just appeared before my eyes.

It was the achievement that Sein had sworn loyalty to me.

As a reward, 1 Cielstone was added.

Perhaps her feelings toward the demons were truly genuine.

If I hadn’t known the name Sein, I might have stood by and watched her be executed.

Because a traitor was a very dangerous element even from my perspective.

But it was fortunate that her name remained in my mind.

She’s strong enough now, but her awakened abilities later on…

…are a power so incredibly troublesome from the Empire’s perspective.

For me, it was something to be grateful for.

In a way, Sein is now my personal bodyguard.

This meant I could finally go outside the Demon King’s Castle freely.

There would be no insane demon daring enough to challenge Sein.

Well, if it’s a monster without intelligence, that’s different.

Anyway.

“…Stop following me.”

At my words, Sein, who had been quietly following, startled and stopped.

Her grey eyes widened.

“…Huh?”

“No, I’m asking why you keep trailing after me.”

“Well… you said you’d take me in…”

Sein’s voice trailed off.

I couldn’t get used to her appearance, which was so different from earlier.

“I’ll call you if I need you.”

However, she just kept trailing silently behind me, glancing around.

And then.

“…Following me all the way into my room seems a bit much.”

Sein hung her head low.

I checked the achievement window once more.

It was a relief.

That message proved her loyalty.

Without it, this current situation would have been very frightening.

One of the strongest in the Demon Realm, who had followed me into my room.

And who had even had a leg cut off by me once.

It was a situation where it wouldn’t be strange if she attacked at any moment.

“Well…”

At my words, Sein’s tail drooped weakly.

No, is she really a cat?

But at some point, I noticed her body had already fully regenerated.

Just a moment ago, she was quite grotesque without an arm.

She had finished regenerating her arm in that short amount of time.

What incredible regenerative power.

‘…That’s a Seventh Demon.’

Although she had been stripped of her title, that must be their average ability.

If I steadily accumulate demonic energy, I’ll probably be able to become a monster like that someday.

Anyway, no matter what I said, Sein seemed to have no intention of leaving.

So, I said, half-giving up.

“…Alright, just stand still by the door.”

“Yes.”

Sein’s expression was blank.

However, I could see her tail subtly wagging.

So transparent, really transparent.

Her stats are like a monster’s…

“…!”

At that moment, a thought flashed through my mind.

Instead of just leaving her standing there like a doorman, wouldn’t it be good to use her as my training partner?

The effect of ‘Aura’ is truly fraudulent.

But the problem was that its duration was too short.

There was definitely a mana pool issue, but within the game, there was also a ‘proficiency’ system.

If I raised that proficiency, wouldn’t something change?

Moreover, ‘Aura’ is a special skill.

It’s unknown how it might change if its proficiency is raised.

Sein might be able to help with this.

“Sein.”

“Yes?”

Sein, who had her back turned, quickly turned her head.

“Do you remember that thing from earlier?”

At my question, Sein tilted her head.

Seeing that expression, it was clear she hadn’t understood at all.

“Let’s go to the training ground.”

At those words, Sein’s face instantly turned sour.

****

The practice was tougher than expected.

No, to be precise, it must have been even tougher for Sein.

I used ‘Aura’ several times to restrain her.

So, it wasn’t long before she collapsed onto the floor, utterly exhausted, panting heavily.

“…Are you tired?”

She didn’t answer my question.

Instead, she just looked at me with a face full of things she wanted to say.

Watching her panting, I did feel a bit sorry.

Anyway, thanks to her, I learned several new facts about ‘Aura’.

When I commanded Sein to resist with all her might, the mana consumption increased.

It seemed that ‘Aura”s mana consumption wasn’t an absolute value proportional to time, but rather varied depending on the opponent’s resistance.

Even if she couldn’t move, her stamina consumption seemed enormous.

And I also learned that I could adjust the range of ‘Aura’ to some extent.

The narrower the range, the longer the duration; conversely, the wider the range, the faster mana drained.

Fully binding only Sein in this moderately sized training ground seems possible for quite a long time, so this is significant progress.

It was a moment where the power of the blue essence was clearly felt.

However, the most important problem remained.

I gazed intently at Sein, who was sprawled exhausted on the floor.

Even with a skill like ‘Aura’, there was no way I could win a battle against a Seventh Demon.

But it was only possible because my opponent was Sein.

She was the type who completely evaded attacks with overwhelming speed.

Because her defense was extremely low, I could defeat her even with my weak body.

But would this method work against other strong individuals?

Take Sephiron, for example.

Even if I bound him for 1 minute, no, 10 minutes, I wouldn’t be able to kill him in my current state.

Ultimately, I needed other attack methods besides ‘Aura’.

Assuming I could bind all enemies within range.

Area-of-effect magic would undoubtedly be efficient.

But magic consumes mana.

Just maintaining ‘Aura’ would always make mana tight.

Then only weapons remained.

Among them, the easiest was the sword.

It was familiar too.

The problem was that it’s difficult to significantly improve weapon proficiency in a short period.

Then there’s only one option left.

Gear-power.

Proficiency or whatever, everything is equal before overwhelming attack power.

I let out a short sigh and swept my hair back.

“I guess I’ll have to go find it.”

“…Where… are you going?”

Sein, who was sprawled on the floor, barely managed to lift her head and asked with difficulty.

I nodded.

“To the border.”

“Ah… yes…”

Sein replied briefly and then dropped her head back to the floor.

“What are you doing?”

“Huh?”

“Get ready.”

“…”

Sein’s eyes dulled slightly.

But it couldn’t be helped.

“I’ll give you 30 minutes.”

‘If you’re not there, I’m too scared to go out.’