“Miss Sophie, are you feeling unwell?” The holy knight captain walked over to Sophie’s side and asked with concern.
“Ah… no, it’s nothing.”
Sophie’s thoughts returned to reality. She looked at the holy knight captain and forced a very strained smile.
She didn’t quite believe that Via would appear in this place. Perhaps it was just her imagination.
Don’t overthink it.
“Do you need to rest for a bit?”
“No need. Let’s continue forward,” Sophie replied. “The ruins of the Demon King’s Castle here are full of dangers. If we linger too long, we might attract the attention of monsters lurking in the darkness.”
“You’re right.”
The holy knight captain nodded in agreement. He called his subordinates over and confirmed once more that the Avalon Academy team sending the distress signal was just ahead—not far now, and they would arrive soon.
Everyone in the team quickened their pace.
“Captain, we should go this way.”
At a certain fork, Sophie pointed to one of the branching paths.
The holy knight captain had originally intended to lead the team down the other route, but upon hearing Sophie’s voice, he stopped.
“This way?”
“Yes.”
“But I feel like the abyssal aura is thicker on this side?”
“This is… my intuition,” Sophie paused. “I feel that the danger might be less on this path.”
“Is that so?” The holy knight captain pondered.
In truth, Sophie had visited the Demon King’s Castle ruins once before. In her memory, this route was indeed relatively safer.
But she really couldn’t voice these thoughts in her heart.
“Very well, Miss Sophie. We’ll trust your intuition.”
The holy knight captain accepted Sophie’s suggestion.
“After all, you are Lady Sylvia’s daughter. In some mysterious way, perhaps you are receiving divine guidance.”
“I’ll cast a sacred art on you all that can resist the abyssal aura.”
Sophie continuously applied blessing sacred arts, granting every holy knight present the enhancement. It suppressed the fear growing in their hearts due to the environment, keeping everyone’s spirits positive.
The holy knight at the front held a lantern high, using a consecrated holy artifact to emit sacred light. It dispersed the darkness while also repelling some evil creatures lurking within.
On both sides of the team, holy knights were responsible for continually throwing magic stones inscribed with sacred runes around them.
The moment the stones landed, they would release waves over a certain range. If dangerous monsters appeared, they would react, preventing the team from being ambushed while advancing.
All of this was knowledge the Holy Land had accumulated over the years exploring the Demon King’s Castle ruins, earned through countless casualties.
It was precisely this experience—priceless and bought with blood—that allowed the Holy Land to continue long-term exploration of the ruins.
Yet even the experienced Holy Land still suffered casualties in the Demon King’s Castle ruins.
This was enough to show just how dangerous this area was.
“Why would Avalon Academy come to a place like this? Even we wouldn’t dare venture so deep so casually. After all, the entire Demon King’s Castle ruins have not been fully mapped,” the holy knight captain truly couldn’t understand it.
“Captain, Avalon Academy’s maglev airship is still at the outskirts of the Demon King’s Castle. Most of the teachers and students are there too—it shouldn’t be many students taking risks.”
The holy knight walking beside the captain quietly reminded him.
“We’ve contacted them. It seems only a small portion of the instructors have gone missing.”
“Yes, that’s right. It looks like the academy side secretly took independent action without making it public.”
“It seems to be a team of instructors led by Director Nikita, with the rest being elite teachers from Avalon Academy.”
“Director Nikita? It’s him?”
The holy knight captain was somewhat surprised.
When he was studying at Avalon Academy, he had received no small amount of care from Director Nikita.
Though that director was indeed a bit utilitarian, it was mostly for the sake of the academy—an excellent teacher who always thought of the school.
If that was the case, he could roughly guess what happened. The Demon King’s Castle ruins were normally only allowed to be explored by high-level members of the Holy Land and the Empire. Perhaps Avalon Academy had obtained this opportunity and chose to act covertly—leaving most teachers and students at the outskirts while Nikita led a portion of elite instructors deep inside, aiming to acquire some of the legacy left by the Demon King in the ruins to strengthen the academy’s overall power.
“Director Nikita is really muddle-headed. He shouldn’t have taken such a risk!”
He remembered the guidance Director Nikita had given him in the past. Even if he couldn’t approve of the actions, he still couldn’t bear to watch the man die in the Demon King’s Castle ruins.
Ding——!!!!
Suddenly, one of the magic stones on the ground emitted an extremely sharp alarm.
“Enemy attack! Everyone, prepare for combat!!”
The holy knight captain shouted loudly, raising his shield. With his other hand, he gripped his one-handed sword tightly, releasing holy power as he stood ready.
Everyone looked toward the direction the magic stone warned of. Under the lantern’s illumination, they saw in the darkness a petite figure carrying an exaggeratedly large weapon, walking toward them step by step.
Everyone immediately sensed the chilling abyssal aura emanating from that figure.
It was a demon!
“How come there are more rats? Looks like cleaning up will take a bit more time.”
“Evil demon, accept purification from the holy light!!”
The holy knight captain charged first, placing his shield in front. Infused with holy power, it formed a shield wall, while his one-handed sword glowed with golden light, enchanted with sacred power.
The Diamond-rank holy knight captain unleashed a sacred art. His entire body merged with the shield wall, like a charging bull.
“Holy Charge!!”
Boom!!!!
Before anyone could clearly see what happened, a deafening explosion rang out. Immediately after, the holy knight captain flew backward.
His shield wall had actually been shattered by the giant hammer. His one-handed sword broke, tracing an arc in mid-air before landing in front of the other holy knights.
“Rats always love to chatter so much, completely unaware of their own situation.” A faint mocking voice reached everyone’s ears.
“Damn demon!!”
The other holy knights could no longer endure it. They formed up and charged at the demon.
“Healing Art!!”
Sophie hurriedly cast a group healing art on all the injured holy knights, especially providing support to the captain.
She raised her head and saw that even the holy knights fighting in formation were being crushed by the demon in the tattered maid outfit.
The demon maid, alone, charged into the encirclement. Swinging her giant hammer, she continuously shattered the holy knights.
There was no doubt—this was Transcendent-tier strength, completely overwhelming everyone present.
“Lord Demon King, there are quite a few rats here. Please wait a moment!”
Kurei yanked off the spear stuck in her body, smashed a holy knight’s armor with her giant hammer, and shouted toward the rear.
“There’s no need for you to act. Just watch from the side.”
“…Demon King?”
Hearing Kurei’s words, almost everyone froze.
In their understanding, hadn’t the evil King of Demons been killed by Lady Silver Sword Princess Selina seventeen years ago?
“This feeling… is it him…?”
Sophie’s heart pounded violently against her chest. She looked toward the darkness ahead and heard footsteps that were especially grating—each step seeming to explode in everyone’s hearts.
Tap, tap, tap—
She saw the long robe woven of red and black, the pitch-black cloak, and that iconic mask.
There was no mistake.
This was Ville.
The existence that all humanity could never possibly forget—the King of Demons who once launched the war against humans, nearly dragging the entire human world into the abyss.
“Didn’t the supremely evil Demon King Ville already get killed by Lady Silver Sword Princess Selina? Why is he appearing here!”
The holy knight captain, having climbed back up, saw this scene and could hardly believe his eyes.
“Hmph, what a bunch of foolish humans.”
Kurei revealed a deeply disdainful smile. She enjoyed the expressions on the human side, feeling very pleased inside.
How could the great Lord Demon King possibly be killed by humans?
All of this was part of Lord Demon King’s scheme!
She really wanted to say that, but considering that Ville hadn’t yet planned to reveal this publicly, she could only remain silent for now, secretly reveling in her heart.
“We’re not seeing things, right?”
“It really looks like Demon King Ville…”
“Have the demons mastered some method of resurrection?!”
The holy knights all fell into massive shock.
At the same time, they discovered that the blessing sacred arts on their bodies had vanished.
Clang.
The golden cross slipped from Sophie’s hand and fell to the ground.
She stared at Demon King Ville, her pupils suddenly contracting—just like her heart, trembling uncontrollably.
“Impossible… this is impossible…”
The air around Sophie seemed to have been sucked dry.
Every breath she took felt like needles piercing her lungs.
The former arch-enemy, who should have long gone to hell, was standing right in front of her.
The red-haired girl’s mind buzzed. Her legs lost strength, and she nearly knelt on the ground.
When she had met Via earlier, she had given away the cross necklace she always carried.
There was one thing she hadn’t mentioned: the cross necklace issued by the Holy Land had a special function.
If she was nearby, she could sense the location of the wearer.
She had given it to her younger sister precisely to ensure that in times of danger, she could find and protect her immediately.
No matter what, she had never expected the cross necklace to function in this way.
“Why… is the necklace on you?”