“Who made you come so late, Sophie?”
Belon stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his face already clouded with displeasure as he watched the late-arriving Sophie.
“I’m sorry, Your Excellency. I was held up by something.” Sophie curtsied.
“Held up? Don’t think I don’t know. Without permission, you went to Avalon Academy to see that useless sister of yours, didn’t you?”
Belon was extremely unhappy.
He felt that wasting time on a failure like Via was completely unnecessary.
That girl’s very birth had been a mistake.
“Your Excellency, some time ago Via passed Avalon Academy’s assessment and received an Excellent grade.”
“This…”
“You already knew about it, didn’t you?”
Sophie was deliberately provoking him.
If even she knew, how could Belon possibly be unaware?
“I know. So what? She just got lucky, that’s all!”
The more Belon thought about it, the angrier he became.
He really couldn’t understand where Via’s luck came from.
In the original bet with Via, he had been absolutely certain he could force that defective product—who tarnished the Holy Land’s reputation—to back off on her own.
Who would have thought she would actually pass the exam?
Now he no longer had any justification to make her disappear.
“Is it not possible that Via didn’t rely on luck, but actually has real strength and talent—” Sophie continued to needle him.
“Enough!!”
Belon roared. Talking about this topic only made him more irritated.
“Hurry up and go purify those infected people. I didn’t call you here to chat about trivial nonsense!”
“Understood, Your Excellency.”
Sophie replied calmly and prepared to enter the quarantine zone with the other priests.
She had only taken a few steps when she was called back.
“Wait, Sophie.”
“Yes, Your Excellency?”
“Where is your crucifix necklace?” Belon asked sternly.
“…I lost it during the last battle.”
“Lost it?”
“Yes.”
“…”
“Your Excellency, is there anything else? The infected are still waiting for me.”
“Be more careful next time. Don’t be so reckless,” Belon warned. “Although that crucifix necklace isn’t some transcendent holy relic, it was still a symbol of the Holy Land’s recognition of you. By right and reason you should have treasured it. I’ll apply for a new one for you later.”
“Thank you, Your Excellency. I will be careful from now on.” Sophie nodded and left.
“You’re becoming more and more disobedient.”
Belon’s expression grew even darker.
He knew Sophie was definitely lying. How could a crucifix be lost so easily? It must have gone somewhere else.
The key was that Sophie knew this excuse held no water, yet she used it anyway—as if to say: How I deal with it is none of your business.
That attitude really resembled Sylvia’s.
Unlike others, Belon knew the truth very clearly: Sylvia had never been an obedient saintess. She was difficult to control and had even openly defied the Pope, committing an unforgivable sin.
If the Holy Land hadn’t sealed all information regarding Sylvia, the world would never have known a Perfect Saintess—only a heretic who deserved the ultimate punishment.
“Sophie, the more you resemble Sylvia, the less it may be a good thing for the Holy Land.”
…
…
“Meow meow~!”
“Why are you here again?”
“Meow~”
The little yellow freeloader cat from before was lying in front of Via, wagging its tail and staring at her with big watery eyes full of expectation.
“You little rascal, why do you keep sneaking into my dorm these days?”
“Meow meow!”
“You already stole my food before, and now you’re even lazing on me?”
Via hugged her teddy bear tightly with both arms.
“This is not how a good cat behaves!”
“Meow meow~ meow meow~ meow meow~”
“Alright, alright, stop mewling!”
Via really couldn’t take it anymore.
Lately this little yellow furball came to her dorm every few days to beg for food.
She was already short on money and worrying about materials, and now there was a freeloader too.
She was genuinely annoyed.
“Here, take this and stop bothering me.”
Via peeled open a sausage and held it out to the little yellow cat.
“Meow meow!”
The cat’s eyes lit up. It immediately grabbed the sausage in its mouth and excitedly ran circles around Via.
“Alright, off you go.”
“Meow~?”
“No way! I already told you—I’m not taking a magical pet, and I’m absolutely not keeping a stray cat like you.” Via waved her hand, rejecting it firmly.
“**Meow~!”
The little yellow cat picked up the sausage in its mouth and happily trotted away.
The dormitory finally became quiet again.
It was already deep into the night.
Via deliberately used up her meager remaining mana to cast a spell that repelled surrounding creatures, ensuring no one would disturb her again.
“The moment that will decide my future has arrived.”
The pink-haired girl returned to the unused room. Inside the simple magic circle she had set up, she took out a magic core and suspended it in mid-air.
This was the Silver-rank magic core infected with abyssal aura that she had gone through great trouble to bring out from the underground black market.
“This body cannot use holy power, and its natural mana is pitifully small. It has almost no future…”
Via murmured to herself.
Just as she said, even though she had regained the memories of her past life as the Demon King, it didn’t change the fact that she was currently weak.
Even if she studied magic the normal way, she might be able to surpass ordinary mortals, but the upper limit of this body was fixed. Against a true powerhouse, she would still be kicked to death with one foot.
It was an unsolvable problem.
But she was the Demon King.
She would never accept such a fate.
Therefore, Via chose the most extreme method.
She would absorb a magic core infected with abyssal aura and use that abyssal power to break through her physical limits.
Mana amplified by abyssal aura was on a completely different level from ordinary mana. Whether beast or human, once they fell into demonized, their strength would skyrocket.
That was the terrifying power of the abyss.
However, the greatest danger was that abyssal aura would drive the infected out of control, stripping away their reason and shattering their mind.
In this world, only demonkin possessed extremely high resistance to abyssal aura and could mitigate the negative effects. Humans, on the other hand…
Via closed her eyes. The image of Emma—neither human nor ghost—immediately surfaced in her mind.
She was no longer demonkin; she was merely human now. She had no natural resistance to abyssal aura. If she actively accepted it, she would very likely turn into a demonized being just like Emma.
After finally being reborn once, everything could end here.
This was a crossroads.
One path led to mediocrity—accepting her own weakness, perhaps living out her days under Sophie’s protection.
The other was a path of the Demon King that very likely led to destruction. Once stepped upon, there would be no turning back.
“Rather than live this life as a weak piece of trash—”
Via slowly opened her eyes. She reached out and grasped the magic core tainted with abyssal aura.
The proud King of Demonkin would never bow to fate.
“I would rather die in this moment.”
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