Chapter 64: Kurei

“Has this place really become complete ruins?”

Via walked through the core area, gazing at the Demon King’s Castle that was now nothing but broken walls and rubble, and couldn’t help letting out a sigh of regret.

The once glorious and dazzling capital had actually turned into this ghostly state.

Because of the eternal-night trait in this region, the Demon King’s Castle remained in perpetual night throughout all four seasons.

Without any lights to illuminate it, the royal capital was pitch-black all around, giving off an especially sinister feeling.

She somewhat regretted placing such a trait here in her previous life.

“If this weren’t a place I personally designed, I probably would have gotten lost long ago.”

Even though she could barely see anything, Via had no intention of using illumination magic.

That kind of action would be far too conspicuous inside the Demon King’s Castle and would easily make her a target for attack.

According to her judgment, although nearly all the demons here had already evacuated after her death, there were still quite a few magical beasts left behind, along with numerous defense mechanisms.

One careless mistake, and she could lose her life here.

Her current physical body was only at the Silver rank; it couldn’t withstand much abuse.

Pa-ta!

Suddenly, a red light flashed across the floor. Runes inscribed in the abyssal tongue lit up.

Via must have stepped on something just now, triggering a dangerous trap.

From the corner of her eye, she caught a statue in the corner trembling; the demon carved upon it seemed about to come alive.

It was a gargoyle.

“Stop.”

Via immediately aimed at the cavity above the gargoyle and released a precisely measured pulse of mana.

Upon receiving the correct amount of mana, the cavity halted its magic circulation, and the red light on the floor rapidly faded.

The gargoyle’s revival sequence stopped as well.

“This gargoyle still carries the self-destruct command I gave it. As a guardian, it appears weak on the surface, causing invaders to lower their guard and believe they can deal with it easily. The moment an intruder becomes careless, the gargoyle seizes the chance to close in and detonate itself… Hmm, what a genius design!”

The pink-haired girl hugged her teddy bear, nodding in satisfaction in front of the gargoyle.

After all, this was a defense mechanism she had personally designed back then.

There were many such devices throughout the Demon King’s Castle.

“But speaking of which, when Selina stormed the Demon King’s Castle back then, why didn’t these defense mechanisms have much effect? She looked completely unharmed in that state.”

Thinking back on it now, Via couldn’t shake the feeling that her life-and-death battle with Selina had been filled with all sorts of strange details.

Da.

Suddenly, the sound of leather shoes stepping on the floor echoed through the silent ruins of the Demon King’s Castle, cutting off her thoughts.

Someone was here.

Da-da-da.

Via held her breath. She realized the footsteps were getting closer and closer to her.

Someone was still active in the deepest core area of the Demon King’s Castle ruins.

Who could it be?

She had no idea.

All the demons inside the castle should have withdrawn completely after her death in her previous life.

It definitely wasn’t someone from the human side; humans would never move alone inside the Demon King’s Castle ruins.

It had to be someone else.

Da-da-da.

Via felt the footsteps were now right in front of her face.

She scanned her surroundings, trying to find the source of the sound, yet she couldn’t see another soul.

“Found you, little mouse.”

“Above!!”

Via jerked her head upward. She saw an enormous force smash through the ceiling, shattering it. Someone swung a gigantic hammer down at her from directly overhead in a surprise attack.

Fortunately, her reaction was fast enough. She threw herself forward in evasion.

BOOM!!

The hammer slammed into the ground. A massive shockwave erupted from the point of impact, blowing away the rubble on the floor. Even the gargoyle was caught in the blast and destroyed.

“Cough cough…”

Via climbed up from the ground and shook the dust out of her pink hair.

She had been lucky. Although she was sent flying by that barbaric force, she hadn’t been struck by any of the flying debris.

From within the cloud of smoke and dust, a girl of similar height and build to her own emerged, carrying an absurdly oversized hammer that completely mismatched her frame.

What came into view was a demon maid with green curly twin-tails, wearing a blood-stained black-and-white maid outfit.

“Didn’t manage to smash you flat, huh?”

The demon maid spoke in a relaxed tone, spinning the gigantic hammer in her hands while fixing her gaze on Via.

“I was planning to give you a painless death, you know. How ungrateful.”

“…Kurei?”

Via unconsciously uttered the other’s name.

Kurei.

One of the former Demon King Ville’s subordinates, a member of the royal court. Her main duty was cleaning the Demon King’s Castle; her official position was maid.

In Via’s memory, this maid didn’t possess any particularly remarkable abilities. She had simply been recruited because she was extraordinarily strong and good at menial labor.

Of course, “not particularly remarkable” was only in comparison to the other members of the royal court.

If she recalled correctly, Kurei had been extremely devoted to her former self; whatever Ville said, Kurei believed without question.

“Eh? How does a human know my name?”

Kurei slammed her hammer into the ground, causing the floor to quake. She stared intently at this pink-haired girl who looked like she would topple with a single push.

“You’re strange.”

This is bad.

Via instantly realized her current situation was extremely dangerous.

Everyone who had once served inside the Demon King’s Castle was a vicious and ruthless demon.

Even though Kurei was “just” the maid in charge of cleaning, she still possessed Transcendent-tier strength.

Unlike those mindless magical beasts, she was a real demon with genuine combat experience.

“Why are you here?” Via asked probingly.

She noticed the blood on Kurei’s maid outfit hadn’t fully dried yet, which meant this maid had recently been eliminating human intruders.

“Lord Demon King once said that all humans are liars, and not a single word from them can be trusted.”

The look Kurei directed at Via changed dramatically, now brimming with naked killing intent.

An ordinary person would have already been overwhelmed by that murderous aura.

Yet Via kept her composure, rapidly analyzing the situation.

Tell her who I really am?

No, absolutely not.

Until her strength returned to its peak from her previous life, she could not reveal her true identity to anyone.

Moreover, Kurei had already fully committed to killing her.

Demons like her would never calmly sit down, set aside their prejudices, and listen to explanations from a human.

I have to say… I really taught them too well back then!

The boomerang is coming back to hit me now.

“Even though Lord Demon King is no longer here to pay my wages—”

Kurei’s cute face gradually became dyed with icy killing intent. She raised her gigantic hammer, preparing to unleash merciless slaughter.

“—cleaning out the rats that sneak into the Demon King’s Castle is still a maid’s duty.”