“I never thought I’d actually return one day.”
Via stood outside the ruins of the Demon King’s Castle, gazing at the crumbling royal city. A flood of emotions surged in her heart.
She remembered the past.
A young demon had defeated every rival, earned the recognition of countless demonic powerhouses, and, with their support, ascended the throne as the new Demon King, granted the right to rule this castle.
That day, countless demons and magical beasts had knelt on the ground, heads bowed in reverence, welcoming their new sovereign.
But now…
“Why did I have to reincarnate as a girl, of all things?”
Via’s cheek twitched.
And a soft, fluffy-looking pink-haired girl at that.
Even now, she was extremely dissatisfied with her gender.
This appearance had zero majesty; it couldn’t intimidate anyone.
If her former subordinates saw her like this… the humiliation would be unbearable.
“Whatever. No use thinking about it now. The most important thing is to get inside the castle.”
As Via passed the outer perimeter, she spotted squads of Holy Knights patrolling the area.
As expected, after her death, humanity had taken full control.
Most of her old subordinates had probably vanished without a trace.
Back then, Ville had been too young. Though immensely powerful, there had still been plenty of dissent within demon society. Not every demon was truly loyal; many simply followed the strong because it was convenient.
Once the strong fell, there was no reason to throw their lives away.
“I hope those guys at least left me something. Don’t tell me they emptied the entire castle…”
Via arrived at a very remote section of the outer wall.
Outsiders like the Holy Knights could only enter through the main gate, an area riddled with deadly traps and mechanisms. Even Transcendent-tier experts would likely die if they forced their way in.
Going through the front now would be suicide for her.
Fortunately, in her past life she had prepared an extremely secret passage.
She never got the chance to use it before dying, yet now it was finally coming in handy.
“Once I go in… coming out won’t be so easy.”
Via placed her small hand on the moss-covered wall. As long as she infused mana in the exact pattern she had set long ago, the hidden door would open, bypassing the front entirely and leading straight to the castle’s core.
She had already left the range of the teleportation crystals. There would be no turning back.
The girl closed her eyes, thought for a moment, then opened them again, pink irises filled with resolve.
“Open!”
…
…
“Gale Slash!!”
Avalon’s Dean of Instruction, Nikita, swung his massive blade at the armored figure before him.
The corrupted guardian of the castle’s inner zone raised its long tail and whipped it toward him. Abyssal aura condensed at the tip, exploding violently detonating the moment it met the greatsword.
“Wind, rise!!”
Powerful battle aura exploded from Nikita’s body, transforming into a raging tempest that swept away the abyssal aura.
He was peak Diamond-rank, only half a step from Transcendent.
At full strength, he could contend with true Transcendents.
In the end, his wind blade sliced through the corrupted creature’s magic core. The peak Diamond-rank monster fell beneath his sword.
“Director Nikita is too strong!”
The other instructors exclaimed in awe.
Huff… huff…
Nikita stabbed his greatsword into the ground and knelt on one knee.
He glanced back at the team.
Since entering the castle ruins, many had been wounded in combat. Worst of all, a peak Gold-rank instructor had died to a corrupted guardian, plunging morale.
“Go in and search first. I need to rest… the consumption was too great…” Nikita said.
“Understood!”
The instructors nodded, stepped over the corpse, and entered the room ahead.
“This Demon King’s Castle is far more dangerous than I imagined. No wonder the Empire and Holy Land have never reached the deepest core after all these years.”
Nikita steadied his breathing, quickly downed a stamina potion, and recovered.
“Director Nikita, look! Sunwheel Stone!”
One instructor held up his prize—a rare magical stone used to forge Transcendent-tier equipment, highly prized by clerics.
It almost never appeared in human markets; only the Holy Land awarded it to saintesses and clerics for extraordinary merit. Money alone couldn’t buy it.
They had barely entered the core area and already found such treasure?
Not just that teacher—everyone began shouting in excitement. They had all found something valuable.
Nikita grew feverish. The principal had been right to fight for this chance. If they pressed deeper, the rewards would only grow greater.
If he quietly pocketed a few pieces for himself…
“Director Nikita… maybe we should retreat for now?” a cautious instructor suggested. “We’ve already gained precious materials, and some of us are injured. What if we encounter something worse?”
“No. We press on!”
Nikita made the call.
How could he retreat now?
He had discovered areas even the Empire and Holy Land had never searched.
There might not be another chance like this.
Opportunities like this came only once.
“But—”
“No buts! The principal placed me in full command! I can fight Transcendents!”
Nikita cut the man off and made the decision unilaterally.
The rest of the instructors quickly agreed—most had never seen spoils this rich.
And so, Nikita led the Avalon team deeper.
But as he descended a staircase, he spotted a petite figure ahead, a massive weapon resting on her shoulder, slowly walking toward them.
“Director Nikita, enemy ahead! Looks like a demon!”
“I see her.”
Nikita narrowed his eyes, raised his greatsword, and Diamond-peak battle aura surged.
“I’ll clear this obstacle.”
…
…
“Big talk, but in the end you still haven’t even reached Transcendent tier?”
A twin-tailed demon girl in a maid outfit yawned, resting a blood-drenched giant hammer on her shoulder as she looked down at the human she had just pulped into meat paste.
Every intruder who had reached this far had already been taken care of by her.
“Good thing the castle doesn’t need cleaning anymore. Otherwise all this sticky blood would take forever to wipe up…”
Just as the maid was about to leave and clean her weapon, she paused.
She sniffed the air.
A new, unfamiliar human scent.
“Well, well… looks like one more little mouse who doesn’t know what’s good for it has slipped in.”