Chapter 53: The Hero’s Misunderstanding

Joey’s expression turned serious as he looked at the woman in front of him, her killing intent practically radiating outward…

He stepped closer to Aiki and asked in a low voice:

“Who is this person…?”

“…”

Aiki glanced coldly at Joey before replying:

“Young Master, it’s Seia…”

“Wha—?! Seia?! No way!!! She’s changed way too much!!!”

The little protagonist stared in shock at the beauty before him…

Freckles, jet-black hair now cut into a short style…

Looking at her face… yeah, it really was Seia…

But…

Didn’t Seia used to look a lot less… healthy?

Joey’s eyes drifted down to the six-pack abs visible under her cropped shirt…

And those newly powerful, perfectly rounded thighs…

Not to mention the sharp, predatory glint in her eyes—like she was staring at prey…

Terrifying…

It had only been… what, two months since Seia left the party?

How could she change this much in just two months…?

Or was this just how fast Heroes grew thanks to their special mechanism…?

As expected of the protagonist halo…

Still, since she showed up, he might as well play his original scripted role for a bit…

The classic “pathetic guy who got the Hero kicked out of the party and is about to get humiliated” routine…

“Seia… y-you… why are you here…?”

Joey stammered nervously, looking at her. “You…”

“Weren’t you… supposed to be killed by that necromancer?!!”

Ahh…

Since the original plot was already completely derailed by Zixuan anyway, might as well go all-in and make the performance even more dramatic…

“So… all of this… really was your doing after all…”

Seia’s cold gaze shifted between Joey and Aiki.

Whoosh!

Seia vanished from her spot…

And the next instant—

She reappeared right behind Aiki and Joey.

Without hesitation, she raised the bone greatsword and swung it horizontally toward both of them!!!

“!!!!”

Aiki’s eyes widened. In one swift motion, she grabbed Joey by the shoulder and hurled him aside.

Splatter!!!!

Unfortunately, the white-haired beauty wasn’t quite fast enough to dodge completely—her arm was cleanly severed by the blade.

Yet Aiki acted as though she felt no pain at all. With her remaining hand, she summoned a rain umbrella and thrust it straight toward Seia’s abdomen.

Seia reacted instantly, catching the tip of the umbrella in her grip.

But she hadn’t expected Aiki to channel water magic into the umbrella itself…

BOOM!!!

A massive hole instantly blasted open in Seia’s abdomen, and the force sent her crashing hard into the maze wall.

Aiki’s assault didn’t stop there. She hurled something blood-soaked straight at Seia’s head.

Seia twisted aside to avoid it—only to realize it was her own freshly severed right arm.

The moment the dripping blood touched Seia’s body, it transformed into countless blood blades that stabbed deep into her flesh.

Then Aiki charged forward, driving the umbrella straight through Seia’s throat.

“Sorry. I overestimated the strength of a Hero.”

Aiki calmly pulled the umbrella back out as she spoke.

And yet…

Despite suffering such a horrifying, supposedly fatal wound, Seia hadn’t made a single sound the entire time…

Even more terrifying—her neck wound was slowly regenerating. Expression ice-cold, she finally spoke:

“Is that all you’ve got?”

“It’s nowhere near as bad as being sliced apart a thousand times…”

Seia lifted her previously lifeless eyes; the pupils reignited with fierce brightness.

She gripped the bone greatsword once more and swung it toward Aiki.

Aiki quickly leaped back, retreating to a safe distance.

“I see how it is…”

Seia jumped down from the wall as well.

She rolled her neck and revealed a wild, manic grin.

“Back when we were in the same party, you always carried an umbrella even in broad daylight…”

“I thought it was just some rich girl affectation. Turns out you were actually a vampire…”

Seia’s arrogant, mocking smile widened.

“You really are slow on the uptake…”

Aiki replied coldly.

“I came here originally to find an answer…”

“But now everything makes perfect sense.”

Seia turned her gaze toward Joey, who was standing off to the side watching the show.

“So it really was the Blood Clan’s hypnosis… that corrupted Joey, right…?”

Huh?

Cor… corrupted???

Joey tilted his head at Seia in genuine confusion.

Wait… seriously?

The little protagonist’s mind started racing at full speed…

From Seia’s perspective, since I’m human and I’ve been by her side for so long…

She probably thinks…

I got hypnotized by Aiki???

And then became her subordinate, ordering the necromancer to torture her to pieces.

No way!!

To any normal person, obviously I would have to be the Demon King in order to command a necromancer…

Uh…

Now that he thought about it, having your childhood friend—who you’ve known since forever—turn out to be the Demon King really was hard to accept…

If their positions were reversed, he definitely wouldn’t have imagined his long-time playmate as the Demon King either…

Yeah… “corrupted” was definitely the easier pill to swallow.

The little protagonist nodded in silent agreement.

As expected of the Pure Love Warrior trained by the Kingdom of Chunai…

Tears in his eyes…

Ah…

So the next part of the script should go like this to make it really fun…

“What are you even talking about… Seia…”

Joey’s expression smoothly twisted into the wicked, seductive look of a demon.

“I… have no idea what you mean…”

“I’ve always been nothing more than Lady Aiki’s tool…”

As he spoke, Joey placed a hand over his own chest and gazed at Aiki with eyes full of reverence.

Hearing those words, Seia’s expression grew several degrees colder.

She glared at Aiki like she was staring at a mortal enemy…

Meanwhile, Aiki helplessly rolled her eyes at her overly dramatic Demon King master.

Seriously, what was she supposed to do with this Young Master…

“Heh…”

Aiki gave Seia a cold smirk, then made a small gesture. Joey obediently slipped into her embrace.

“I heard everything from this little servant of mine. You’re his childhood friend, and yet… you’ve never even kissed him, have you?”

Hey hey…

This girl…

Calling me “little servant”…

A faint “#” mark of irritation appeared on Joey’s face.

But he still had to play along…

“Yeah… she couldn’t even manage a kiss…”

Joey stuck out his cute little tongue and teased toward Seia:

“I clearly gave you so many chances back then…”

At those words, Seia’s brain seemed to completely short-circuit for a moment…

She suddenly remembered that time Joey had stared into her eyes, only to say in a quietly resentful tone:

“You really are a blockhead…”

And now…

Aiki’s fingers pinched the little protagonist’s chin…

Hm?

Only then did Joey realize something was off with the script…

Weren’t they just fighting a second ago? How did it suddenly turn into kissing talk???

Wait… wait wait…

You’re not seriously planning to—

Joey stared desperately at Aiki, hoping she would stop.

Instead, Aiki firmly held the back of his head and ruthlessly claimed his lips…

NO! STOP!!!!!

DON’T PUT YOUR TONGUE IN THERE!!!! YOU JERK!!!!!

On the surface Joey looked like he was enjoying it, but his hands clenched painfully tight in resistance…

And that exact scene was perfectly visible to Seia…

But what Seia saw wasn’t a flaw in the act…

What she saw was—

Joey… resisting…

Joey… still had his own mind…

Just as Aiki was savoring the moment, the bone greatsword suddenly came hurtling straight toward her head.

Aiki leaped high into the air while still holding Joey, looking down at the now visibly angry Seia.

“Haa… Seia…”

“You have no idea just how delicious your childhood friend tastes…”

With those words, Aiki playfully bit down on Joey’s collar with her fangs…