435 Transforming Is Not A Free Action



The King, Katsuki, Odeta and myself rushed past the dungeons and into the single corridor that led deeper into the demon's base.

On the way, we found even more people that were locked up in cages, though not all of them were nobles and they looked more dishevelled than the ones in the previous cells. That meant this operation has been going on for far longer than we thought.

The surprising thing was that all of them seemed to be unconscious but also unharmed, making me wonder just why the demons even took these people here?

Up ahead, an iron door barred our way to the next room, no doubt locked.

King Justinia did not even slow down as she slashed her sword down in an arc, completely bisecting the door into two halves before kicking it down with a foot.

We rushed past the door, finding ourselves in a sort of chamber big enough to fit a wyvern.

In the very centre of the chamber was Tiara, the princess suspended a foot in the air via ethereal chains that were connected to the seven pillars that surrounded her.

Unlike the other prisoners, she looked to be fully conscious and her eyes widened when she saw us.

"Da… Daddy?!" She gasped, straining against her bindings to no avail.

"Tiara! You're alright! Daddy will come get you down right now!!" The King cried out.

"No! Look out, Daddy!"

The King was about to step forward before she stopped to raise her blade up in a defensive posture, blocking the crossbow bolt that was shot at her.

All of us turned to the direction that the bolt came from, finding a nobleman sneering at us from behind one of the pillars.

"Duke Iseo…" The King muttered, her brows furrowing at him.

"Hahaha! How nice of you to join us, my King! I'd thought I still needed to drag you out of that little palace of yours on my own! I have to thank you for making this easier for me!"

"Where is the Demonic Core?! That thing is controlling you! You need to snap out of it!"

"Ahahaha! Don't think I don't know what you're trying to do, your Majesty! You just want the power for yourself, don't you?! Well it's too late because I've had it implanted inside me! The power is mine! And once your little princess fulfils her role, the gate to more power will open up for me!!"

"You're mad! All you'll be doing is letting the demons cross here! You're nothing but a pawn to them!"

"Hahaha! Nice try, my King! But if they really aren't on my side, would I be able to do this?!"

There was a loud 'crunch' sound as the Duke's body started to contort and shift. His limbs started to elongate while a pair of horns and wings pushed themselves out of his body.

Oh damn, is he transforming into a demon? Is this how more demons are made? Then what about harvesting souls? Maybe this is just one out of multiple ways?

His skin was in the midst of changing to a pale white colour when King Justinia rushed forward with her blade held by her side.

"[Sacred Slash]!"

The sword sliced through the transforming Duke's body, cutting him in half at the waist.

Wow, she attacked him before he finished his transformation…

The King didn't even check if the Duke was really dead and rushed towards the suspended Tiara instead.

"Tiara! Daddy's coming! Hang on!"

"Daddy!"

The King raised her sword to strike at the chain, only for the blade to be deflected away with a metallic 'clang'. The blow did not even leave a mark on the chain either.

She growled out in frustration and lifted her blade in preparation to try again.

At that moment, I saw the remains of the Duke join back together and complete his transformation, turning into some kind of white skinned demon with a pair of wings and horns. In between those horns was a pale white flame that was almost translucent, giving it an eerie look.

The clothes that the demon had been wearing before had also been burned away, leaving it completely naked. But a quick glance revealed that it did not possess any sexual characteristics and neither did it have any facial features. It's almost like it had transformed into a mannequin.

[Name: Pale Fiend

Race: Demon

Stats:

800 Strength

400 Dexterity

1000 Endurance

500 Magic]

Oh damn… This is going to be annoying I think…

Without so much as a warning, the demon lunged towards the King with its claws outstretched, reaching for her head.

Katsuki was just a second faster than I was to react, my Inugami maid placing herself in between the King and the demon to parry away the blow with her daggers.

"Leave the demon to us, your Majesty. Please focus on freeing the princess," My maid assured the King.

The demon seemed pretty pissed at her which was quite a feat considering it didn't even have a face.

It raised its claws and swiped at Katsuki, forcing her to leap away from the attack.

Odeta rushed up and gave the demon a bear hug from behind, lifting it up in spite of the demon flailing its arms around wildly.

She let out a roar before slamming the demon down in a suplex.

I was not far behind as I shot the [Laser] I had been charging at the demon's head, intending to finish it off with that attack.

When the light was about to reach the demon, the pale flame in between its horns flared up, creating some kind of shield that deflected my [Laser] back at me.

It was only thanks to my instincts that I managed to throw myself on the ground in time, avoiding the deadly ray of light that flew right over me.

Damn, does the flame reflect light based magic?

The demon then flexed its arms, shaking itself free from Odeta's grasp before trying to punch at the Amrap.

Odeta managed to block the punch with her arm but the blow still caused her to slide a few metres back.

As the demon was climbing back up to its feet, I tried to throw a [Spark Strike] at it but the same shield appeared and deflected the spell back to me.

Damn it… Does it have complete magical reflection?! That means we'll need to fight it only using physical attacks!

I pulled out my Light Sword and poured my mana into the blade, hoping that a physical attack like this would not be reflected.

I rushed behind the demon and slashed my blade at the demon's back, aiming to cut through its body with my sword.

It seemed to have noticed my presence and turned itself around to face me, its arm lifted up in an attempt to block my blow.

My blade went straight through the demon's arm, cutting off the limb like it was made of paper.

Good, this is still effective.

The demon let out a scream of pain, only for the scream to be cut short as Odeta punched it across the face.

Katsuki took the opportunity to attack the demon with her daggers while it was airborne, slashing her blades at its throat.

The demon managed to avoid it at the last moment though the knives did leave a mark on its skin, drawing blood.

I rushed up to the demon and slashed my blade at its other arm, intending to lop that one off as well.

Unfortunately, the demon used its wings to alter its flight path and I ended up receiving a kick in my chest, the blow sending me flying back.

I bumped into something soft and I looked up to see Odeta there to catch me, "Are you alright, Sister Aster?!"

"I'm fine, don't worry about me," I assured her while secretly using [Close Wounds] on myself and healing the bruise I got from the blow.

The King was still striking against the chains with all her might, though I wasn't sure if it was futile or not since the chain did not look like it was damaged even after all this time.

The demon tried to lunge towards the King again but Katsuki once more barred its way, keeping the demon away from the monarch with her daggers.

Odeta and I soon joined her as well in the melee, the three of us converging on the demon from all sides.

The Pale Fiend let out a snarl at us as we got closer, as though daring us to try and fight it which made me wonder how it was making the noise without a mouth.

I hefted my Light Sword and its eyes quickly shifted to my blade, obviously wary of it since that was a weapon that could actually hurt it.

Too bad that was just a feint.

That shift in attention was what Katsuki needed to dive in and slash her blades across the demon's side, drawing a hiss of annoyance from it.

Odeta then rushed in and delivered two punches to the demon in quick succession, dazing it.

Of course, I did not waste that opportunity and leapt in with my blade raised up above my head, aiming to go for the demon's head.

It looked up and raised its arm, as though intending to block my blow, only for the pale flame in between its horns to shoot a beam of fire at me.

I had to adjust my grip on my sword and use it as a shield, blocking the beam which sent me flying away to crash into one of the pillars.

The demon then took that chance to rush towards the princess again, kicking away the King who had been completely focused on trying to break the chain.

Katsuki tried to hinder the demon again but the demon fired the same beam of fire that struck my Inugami maid in the chest, blasting her back.

It then let out a screeching sound before grabbing the princess by the throat, enveloping the both of them in the pale flame before the two of them suddenly disappeared, leaving behind a small portal at where the princess had been.

Fuck…