Chapter 13: Solution

“This should be fine now.”

Via endured the pain, bandaged the wound on her hand, and then took a bottle of healing potion. The pain finally subsided a little.

The pink-haired girl leaned against the tree trunk, sheltering from the heavy rain.

She had already moved far away from the Great Horn Lizard’s territory and temporarily found a safe area to rest.

As for Mary…

She had probably become a meal for the magical beast by now.

Via felt not the slightest bit of guilt about this. After all, Mary had come to assassinate her from the very beginning, and this outcome was nothing more than reaping what she sowed.

What she should think about next was her own situation.

“So the Demon King Ville was my former self.”

Via sighed.

In theory, she and Selina had perished together, their souls supposed to go to hell, yet she had somehow reincarnated as a human.

This fully explained why, for a time earlier, she had behaved so strangely.

The demon descendant she saw in the mirror was her former appearance.

Her hostility toward the Silver Sword Princess was because that was her fated arch-enemy.

“Selina, you never imagined it would end like this, did you? I’ve been given a chance to live again, while you must go to hell alone. Truly, fate plays tricks on us.”

Via slowly stood up.

In her previous life, she had died at the hands of her arch-enemy, unable to fulfill her ambitions.

In this life, she would become stronger—strong enough to control her own destiny, to stand at the pinnacle of the world, never to repeat the same mistakes, and to dominate everything.

“I will become a god!”

Via covered half her face and uttered a statement of considerable weight.

If the Demon King Ville from her previous life had said such words, it would surely have carried great momentum.

But on this pink-haired girl…

It sounded a bit like a chuunibyou episode.

“Damn it, why does my voice sound so soft, and this body…!”

Via lowered her head, looking at her rather prominent chest, feeling quite unhappy.

Though from the outside, it did look very cute.

But could cuteness be eaten as food?

“This is completely unacceptable! Where is there even a trace of the Demon King in this?!”

The pink-haired girl was complaining grievances.

Her current situation was actually not optimistic.

The physique of a demon descendant was vastly different from that of humans.

Just in terms of magic power, the gap was significant.

“Ugh… it still hurts a bit.”

Via clutched her arm.

She could feel that the meridians throughout her body were faintly aching.

The reason was that to fire the magic bullet, she had circulated more magic power than her body could bear, resulting in side effects.

“Even in a disadvantaged situation, I still have confidence in turning things around.”

Via did not lose heart.

So what if there was a gap in talent?

She did not believe her chance of becoming stronger was zero.

As long as there was even the slightest probability, she would not accept being that zero.

Once she became strong, she would complete the unfinished cause from her previous life and bring all the humans in this world—

At this thought, her gaze fell on the saintess pendant hanging at her waist.

“This is… something Mom left me.”

Via recalled how, in her moment of crisis, she had felt warmth from her mother, and she was stunned for a moment.

It was her departed mother who had protected her.

Immediately after, she remembered playing with Sophie and their mother in a sea of flowers.

“Sister…”

Via’s mood became complicated, as if two emotions were entwined in her heart.

One was the Demon King’s hostility and indifference toward humans.

The other was the human attachment to her mother and sister.

If she were to continue being the Demon King, would she have to sever all human identities and relationships, leave this place, leave Sophie?

Just thinking about leaving her sister made her heart inexplicably ache.

This was a weakness the Demon King should not have—pitiful humans were utterly insignificant in the eyes of the Demon King!

“I am the Demon King, I am… the proud Demon King!!”

…

…

“Hmph.”

The rain had stopped.

Via walked on the wet ground, using magic detection to gather information about her surroundings, confirm her position, and head back toward the Evergreen Mountains, returning to the designated assessment area.

After some rest, she did not choose to leave but returned to the assessment zone, intending to continue the exam.

“How could the Demon King be swayed by unnecessary emotions?”

Via smiled lightly.

After much thought, she believed that Avalon Academy was currently a place she could make use of. It had connections with various forces, and she could use her identity as an Avalon student to access good resources.

If she fled to some undisturbed mountain area and started over with this frail body, it would be quite difficult.

There were hidden dangers at Avalon Academy, but they would not come openly. Once she left, losing all protection, it would be even worse.

Borrowing momentum to make a comeback was also a strategy.

Therefore, she had to pass this exam and achieve an excellent score!

“But how am I supposed to achieve excellence? I’ve already used up all the monster cores.”

Via analyzed her current situation.

She could not use holy arts at the moment, and her supplies were nearly depleted.

She did not have much magic power left; firing the magic bullet earlier had almost drained it. Using another monster core to replenish would not be allowed by her body’s condition and carried huge risks.

Without teammate support, without equipment, without resource replenishment, defeating many magical beasts to obtain cores…

Objectively, achieving an excellent score through normal means was completely impossible.

“So with my current situation, I can’t even pass?”

Via carefully recalled every detail of the assessment from the start until now.

Avalon Academy’s assessment tested students’ abilities in all aspects. Obtaining monster cores in the Evergreen Mountains and reaching the designated safe zone counted as completing the assessment. Final grades were based on the number of cores submitted…

Wait.

Suddenly, Via thought of something very important. She quickly pulled out the assessment handbook.

She read it carefully, confirming the rules over and over, and discovered a crucial point—

“Students participating in the assessment are prohibited from taking the lives of other students during the assessment period. If discovered, it will be considered a failure of the candidate’s score, and they will be sent to the academy’s academic affairs office for serious handling.”

“That’s right, it is indeed like this.”

Via thought of a solution perfectly suited to her.

“The assessment handbook only says it’s not allowed to take the lives of other students, but it doesn’t say students are prohibited from attacking each other.”