“Seeing it in person is overwhelming…?”
Exina quietly thought to herself.
From a distance, Irene seemed innocent, her eyes closed.
But if she got closer, Irene would surely notice.
The instinct telling her that Irene was fine and the reasoning arguing otherwise were waging war in Exina’s mind, driving her crazy.
She made one last check of her magic.
The barrier magic was properly in place.
She had also temporarily disabled the broadcast from the Hero Guild’s terminal.
Yet, the anxious thought that her identity might be exposed kept swirling in her head.
‘I really am getting old. Before taking action, I just sit here overthinking everything.’
Even after accumulating experience and knowledge through countless rejuvenations,
At times like this, she missed the purity of her younger days.
Taking a step forward to reclaim that feeling,
Exina walked confidently.
And yet, somewhere inside her, there was still fear.
She had closed her eyes, but—
“It’s Irene. Ah, do you already know that?”
At Irene’s words, Exina’s consciousness was dragged back to reality, and she was forced to open her eyes.
After exchanging a few words and brief introductions,
Exina got straight to the point.
“You’ve probably guessed, but I came because the transmission didn’t work.”
Irene nodded calmly.
A sign that she was well aware of her own abilities.
Even so, if she had blocked the transmission magic…
It was most likely stopped purely by her natural magic resistance.
Exina thought to herself.
‘This is a spell I poured my heart into… but if she blocked it unconsciously… just how…?’
She felt uneasy.
The sirens in her head started blaring again.
‘Is this really okay…?’
If not for Tania, she might have labeled Irene as an immediate Level 11 threat and tried to eliminate her.
No, knowing her personality, she definitely would have.
No matter how you looked at it, Irene was a potentially catastrophic danger.
Exina’s rational mind was screaming at her.
But she ignored it as much as she could.
After all, it wasn’t just anyone—she was personally vouched for by the Emperor.
Not to mention, she had shown clear hostility toward the Mirror Demon King.
And on top of that, she was already involved in the Hero Guild’s civil war.
Doubting her now would be absurd.
“What’s strange is that someone like you, who’s been hiding their identity all this time, would show up for something so trivial.”
It was actually Irene who looked at Exina with suspicion first.
Of course, she hadn’t come just for the reason she stated.
Exina was momentarily shaken but showed no change in expression.
She had plenty of experience keeping a poker face.
Not that it meant she could fool this cunning woman.
This was completely out of character for her, but—
Exina decided to just be honest.
“Honestly, I came because I wanted to confirm something about you. And… it’s also true that I came because of the transmission failure.”
“Alright. I’ll take questions. But keep them short.”
“Do you have a reason?”
“I have a broadcast to do.”
Exina was slightly dumbfounded.
She already couldn’t understand why Elian liked broadcasting.
But Irene?
She was far stronger than Elian, held power that could shake the world, and yet…
She was just sitting in some lousy demon castle, doing broadcasts?
She could become a Hero if she wanted.
If she wanted to join the Empire, she could easily be a part of the ‘Emperor’s Blades.’
And yet, she was doing this?
She didn’t even have a terrible personality, so if possible, it’d be better to pull her into the Hero Guild rather than the Emperor’s Blades.
That would make work much easier.
She could probably dump more than half of her responsibilities on Irene…
She even got lost in a daydream of pushing all the work onto Irene and enjoying a carefree vacation.
Then—
Irene’s voice startled her back to reality.
She really was getting old.
Lately, she kept slipping into these weird delusions.
Exina reflected on herself.
“Hurry up and ask your question. Believe it or not, I’m actually busy. I might have to leave the moment I press this button.”
“A button? Never mind, I won’t ask. I just… simply wanted to know your opinion.”
Irene glanced at Exina.
Though she wasn’t emitting any magic,
When Exina spread her own mana to check—
She saw a layered image of herself wearing a black uniform, a dark brown cloak, and holding a golden sword.
I might not know exactly what’s going on,
But at the very least, I can tell—it’s battle gear.
“Once this is settled, I’ll send you straight to the next battle arena. I won’t interfere anymore after that.”
What kind of question is she trying to build up to with all this?
Irene was curious, but more than that, she just wanted to move on to the next match.
Luminil was waiting for her at home, after all.
“And if it’s not settled?”
“Then you will become a tremendous threat to humanity.”
“Why the sudden formal speech?”
“Oh, my bad. Just a habit.”
Even as she joked, Exina took another step closer.
The Guild Master.
I don’t know her true identity or abilities.
There’s a leaked document with some information, but…
I never bothered to read it since I’m not that interested in that kind of thing.
Even her stats were only left as placeholder data, so nothing was certain.
That means she could potentially be on my level.
‘There’s no harm in being cautious.’
Irene took a step back.
Exina didn’t care and simply asked—
A question that was both simple and incredibly difficult.
“Are you on the side of humans? Or the side of demons?”
“Somehow, that just gave me chills…”
[Chat Messages]
Why did the broadcast go down?
Finally, time in the world has started flowing again…
I seriously can’t live without Irene anymore.
1. But we must worship Demon King Luminil.
[fldk has gifted 5000G to Irene!]
[So what actually happened?]
“It was nothing. Just a glitch.”
I felt an odd tingling in my ears.
I wasn’t sure what kind of effect it was,
But I was certain—someone was talking about me.
And not in a good way.
I wanted to teach them a lesson, but…
I was too busy right now.
‘Is this the second round…?’
Guild Master Exina.
Looking back, it might have been a life-or-death moment.
I could have handled Exina with sheer strength.
But the moment I killed her, I would have become humanity’s absolute enemy.
If that happened, everything I had built up.
My plan to create a positive image of Luminil—
It would all go up in smoke.
And on top of that, killing the Guild Master?
The Emperor himself would have led a crusade against the Demon Castle.
Even so, Exina left after hearing my answer.
She didn’t say anything grand.
She simply said,
“I’ll just assume it’s whatever side you think it is.”
At first, she looked at me with an expression of confusion.
It wasn’t surprising.
Even I had blurted it out without thinking.
But somehow, it seemed to get through to her.
Exina quickly withdrew her weapon… or mana… or whatever it was.
“Good luck in the second round.”
With that, the situation was over.
Before leaving, Exina left me with one last cryptic remark.
“You said it’s the side I think, right? Welcome aboard as my assistant.”
I had no idea what she meant.
But for some reason, the word “assistant” reminded me of a graduate student.
Was it just my imagination?
I couldn’t even begin to guess what the second battle would be.
At first, it seemed like just a small room.
But outside, something was happening.
The entire room was shaking violently.
It seemed like the duel had already started without me.
How unfair.
I calmly opened the door and stepped out.
This wasn’t just a small room.
No, it wasn’t even land.
A massive wave crashed against the ship I was on, rocking it violently.
“What… is this…?”
While I was frozen in rare bewilderment,
Guild Master Exina’s loud voice echoed in my head.
“A battle in the middle of the ocean! I welcome everyone to this brand-new battlefield!”
‘Since when was this kind of map updated?’
I was too dumbfounded to even react properly.
For a while, I just stared blankly at the dark ocean, where waves crashed and thunder roared.
Then,
I unintentionally spotted ships approaching from a distance.
Not just one or two—
There were over a dozen ships heading straight for me.
…Who the hell are all of you?
Confused, I glanced at the chat window.
It was already filled with viewers bursting into laughter.
“LOLOLOLOL”
You call this the Hero Guild arena? More like a gang fight against Irene LOL
“One-on-one match” (not really)
Hehe, if I die, the only way to overturn the civil war is Irene! – Elian
Was this the plan all along? LOLOLOLOLOL
Welcome to the Hero Guild’s second match!
“I guess I really am a Demon King…”
Luminil stared blankly at the sky, half-depressed.
The sky of the Demon Realm had no stars, nor was it blue.
With nothing interesting to look at,
Luminil soon shut the window.
It had only been six hours since Irene left.
And yet, Luminil felt unbearably lonely.
Before Irene came into her life, she had spent over a decade alone—
And now, she couldn’t even remember how she endured those years.
“Irene… when are you coming back?”
“If you keep looking for me like this, I’ll tease you a lot when I return, you know.”
Irene’s voice rang out.
But it wasn’t a hallucination.
It was the doll she had left behind.
Irene truly was an incredible person.
Otherwise, there was no way she could craft such a detailed, lifelike doll.
Thanks to that, Luminil felt a little more at ease.
But no matter what, Something still felt suffocating.
No matter how identical it looked—
It was still fake!
“Irene, you idiot… This isn’t enough to fill the void.”
Luminil gave the doll a light poke.
To her surprise, the lifeless doll suddenly grasped her weakly thrown fist.
Startled, she looked up—
But the doll didn’t make any further movements.
It simply spoke.
“You don’t have to think of me as Irene. After all, I’m not really her.”
“…?”
“But how about considering me as someone completely different?”
“What do you mean…?”
Seeing Luminil’s confusion, the doll explained,
“Even if I’m not the real Irene, my feelings of love for you are real. So rather than feeling disappointed that I’m just a fake, why not think of me as Irene’s younger sister?”
“Younger… sister?”
“Then can I be the older sister?”
Luminil’s eyes sparkled.
Of course, she was comforted by the doll’s words,
But the real reason she reacted so strongly was—
The word “younger sister.”
Luminil had always wanted to treat Irene like a younger sister.
With her slightly petite frame, her irresistibly adorable face when she wasn’t talking,
And even her innocent, youthful voice—
Irene was the ultimate little sister figure.
But—
“Haa… Thanks to the Demon King’s terrible work ethic, I’ve been sacrificed again.”
“You know I love you, right? So even my evil deeds are just a form of love.”
“I’m bored, so today, Luminil will be a princess for the day. Got it, princess?”
Her personality was nothing like a younger sister!
Of course, she was reliable.
She could instantly handle things that Luminil had no clue about.
She was unimaginably strong, quick-witted, and great at assessing situations.
The only reason Luminil had survived so far—
And the reason she had even started broadcasting and interacting with humans—
Was all thanks to Irene.
Even so!
Luminil had always dreamed of Irene as her adorable little sister.
And now, she could finally have that dream come true!
Luminil grinned from ear to ear.
“Alright! Then from now on, I’ll be the big sister!”
The doll—no, Irene’s little sister—smiled.
Not her usual mischievous smirk,
But a truly innocent, little-sister-like smile.
“Yes, big sis!”
‘This is too much…!’
The moment Luminil heard “big sis” in Irene’s voice,
She nearly stumbled backward.
To hear Irene’s usual strong, dependable voice calling her “big sis”—
She could die happily now.
“Big sis, I’m bored! Can we go play?”
Luminil was so overjoyed she could barely contain herself.
Without hesitation, she picked up little sister Irene and carried her out of the room.
“Alright! This big sis will give you a full tour of the Demon Castle today!”
“Wow! Big sis, you’re the best!”
If Irene ever saw this,
It would become an unforgettable black mark on her history.