“Holding the Silver Scepter, leading her people back to the place blessed by the gods”
“Beyond the shore of night and fire, she will eventually become king”
—
An ancient song of the Demon Race records a prophecy:
A demon who can touch silver, commanded by the gods, leaves the far northern Eternal Night Forest and arrives on this silver land.
Establish a nation, achieve eternal prosperity.
That Chosen One is called the “Demon King.”
Tina, who had endured the heart-piercing pain of silver burning, no longer feared silver or sunlight.
When she revealed her Demonization and Curse Mark Transformation as a half-demon, her future was fated to be anything but simple.
And the fork in her fate now arrived.
Either as the Demon King, reaching the end of the Destined King.
Or as Tina, embarking on another journey full of uncertainty.
Of course, she did not know she was facing such a critical choice, and her answer was beyond doubt.
Facing Alpha charging at her, Tina did not flinch.
This was her second attempt at fighting, and her first time choosing to fight of her own free will.
The black curse marks grew deeper with each breath, even faintly emitting a ghostly blue glow.
“Hoo~”
She let out a mouthful of stale air.
It collided with the fierce wind rushing toward her.
By instinct.
She gripped the Silver Dagger tightly before her.
A born warrior, an innate talent for combat.
Such was the nature of the Demon Race.
And that nature was now fully inherited by the young girl.
Dagger met flesh.
When Alpha realized the ominous aura on that dagger was real, it was too late.
Her proud rough skin was cut open like paper.
The blade slid along the muscles of her forelimb, slicing off large chunks of flesh, until the blade lodged against her hard bone.
Bang—!
The tensed blood vessels pumped out a torrent of blood. Alpha felt her right hand go empty.
When she came to, fear and rage twisted her face, covered in grime and bulging muscle.
“Ugh… ugh ah!”
The severed flesh was still attached by a thin strip of skin; the rest dangled in the air, burned by the silver, emitting a burnt stench.
Fur, fat, and muscle quickly turned black. The smell was unbearable even for Alpha herself.
“You… that, that!”
‘Why, she holds silver but doesn’t…’
‘Why? Why? Why?’
‘Why the hell?!’
Alpha roared and charged again.
Under the effect of Beastification, the pain became negligible, but the shattered arrogance pushed madness into her wild bloodline.
Orcs were always like that—thinking brute force could solve everything.
Violence, chaos, bullying the weak, arrogance…
Even after merging with human blood, that nature never changed.
Alpha believed she was the dominator—that those prisoners, those weak hybrids, were her servants.
She couldn’t stand being with these lowly beasts; she hated their baseness, their filth, their squalor.
In the long years of oppressing and controlling her kin, she gradually saw herself as the ruler and turned to even crueler methods against them.
Yet she couldn’t leave the servants she despised—otherwise she would have nothing to boast about.
And as for herself—
“You’re nothing but a weakling ruled by brute force.”
Tina did not swing the blade.
She stretched out her hands.
Face-to-face, she met Alpha’s final charge!
Without a doubt, Tina’s frail body was no match for a mindless monster.
Impact. Shatter.
A deep, loud collision drowned out the surrounding screams. For a brief moment, the hybrids who were slaughtering each other all turned their gazes toward the rising dust.
“That is…”
Safitiya bit her pale lips, staring fixedly at the brief lull in the fight.
An inexplicable pang struck her heart, as if some force was pulling her forward to help that frail girl.
That girl, once so bullied, now stood tall and chose to fight fair and square.
‘She will die.’
Safitiya was certain.
What use was Demonization?
Going head-on against absolute strength? If she wins, I’ll eat a pound!
‘In that case…’ Safitiya ignored the pain from her broken horn and immediately rushed forward.
This decision was not born from pity or strange intuition.
Safitiya knew well that Alpha had to be defeated.
In terms of combat ability alone, she was definitely among the top of all prisoners.
If she didn’t seize the chance to kill her, Alpha would cause immeasurable harm to all the other hybrids—her kin!
And she also felt a newfound respect for Tina.
“A true warrior,” Safitiya praised. “You are worthy of the demon bloodline flowing in your veins.”
But when the dust settled, an unexpected scene unfolded:
The small, frail girl had actually caught Alpha—that heavy half-orc weighing at least two or three hundred pounds—with one hand!
A dozen seconds earlier.
Tina had been badly hit by Alpha’s charge, but her Curse Mark Transformation body allowed her to withstand the blow.
Then, mid-air, she adjusted her position.
Relying on her innate agility and combat talent.
She hooked her legs.
Using the momentum, she kicked off and flipped!
Alpha’s massive body crashed to the ground like a cushion, landing heavily.
“Alpha,” Tina said coldly, “your arrogance and delusions have plunged your kin into an abyss a hundred times worse than death.”
“When you treated your own kind as filth and trash, did you ever imagine today’s outcome?”
“When you tortured and humiliated me without any limits, did you ever think you’d be trampled under my feet?”
“How does it feel, Alpha?”
Tina sneered twice. A sense of dominance and fear from a superior being descended on Alpha’s heart.
“How does it feel to be crushed under my foot?”
Alpha tried to break free, but found she couldn’t muster any strength.
That pressure and terror grew like a muddy swamp in a storm, pressing silently on her chest, stifling her breath.
And in that moment, she regained her senses.
Hearing Tina’s words clearly, she stared with round, bulging eyes like copper bells.
Her face, lacking muscle support, hung dryly on her rapidly aging features.
A furious roar was trapped in her throat, turning her face an ashen blue.
Every malignant sensation told her in the most humiliating, terrifying way: she had lost.
Lost to this waste whom she had been abusing and driving like livestock half a day ago.
Tina’s words stabbed into her heart, one by one, more unbearable than taking her life.
The Quasi-Demon King stood at the fork that would decide the world’s direction.
Follow the desire in her heart and kill Alpha outright?
Or obey that lord’s instructions and reclaim everything that had been taken from her?
Undoubtedly.
Tina once again imitated Lafeier’s tone and said coldly:
“Tsk tsk tsk~”
“So this is the proud strength of a half-orc?”
“It’s nothing special after all.”
(Pinky finger picking ear, blowing)