However, Lieselotte shook her head, disappointed.
"Sigh, I see you're forcing me to use my trump card."
Her expression turned cold, a grimoire appearing before her.
"Link Archive: Sloth. Theme: Stagna. Secret ArtStop Time!"
Her purple eyes gleamed. Any place touched by that violet glow froze in time, including Lilith and the others, who were stuck in a mid-combat stance. That was her ultimate art: time stoppage.
"Phew"
Lieselotte exhaled, looking noticeably drained.
"Glad Selina's mana was enough to let me pull off my ultimate spell."
This was her most powerful move. With everyone else successfully immobilized, Lieselotte's burning gaze fell upon Kasuga Hijiri.
"Demon King candidatehere I come~"
~~~
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Chapter 430: You need mana right? Here's the Mana you need... (Bonus Chapter)
Lieselotte stood before Kasuga Hijiri, who was frozen in time, eyeing her with both admiration and excitement.
"My, my What an adorable girl. Just imagining sinking my teeth into that pale neck to suck out her mana really gets my blood pumping."
In this paused world, she had plenty of time to stare. After only a few moments, though, she couldn't wait any longer. Licking her lips and revealing her fangs, she leaned in toward Kasuga Hijiri's neck.
However
Out of the corner of her eye, Lieselotte noticed something strange. Kasuga Hijiri's eyes seemed to move.
"Huh?"
She stopped in her tracks and looked closely. Kasuga Hijiri suddenly blinked.
"!!!"
She was sure of it. Kasuga Hijiri's eyes had blinked. But how was that possible? She had clearly stopped time.
"Sigh"
Kasuga Hijiri let out a small breath, dropping the act. Lieselotte, now certain Kasuga Hijiri could move, was stunned.
"H-how can you move?"
She stared, eyes wide with shock. Kasuga Hijiri blinked calmly and apologized.
"Sorry, my future husband asked me to play along and mess with you."
"Huh?"
"Hahaha, Hijiri, nice performance."
Several figures materialized behind Kasuga Hijiri under Lieselotte's bewildered gaze. At the forefront was Rei Ao, followed by Erica, Fubuki, Michiru, and Kanna. All four people Rei Ao had invited had arrived. In fact, they'd been here for a while, hidden behind a barrier he set up to watch the show. Rei Ao had even asked Kasuga Hijiri to pretend she was frozen just to see Lieselotte's reaction.
"Who are you?!"
Realizing things weren't going her way, Lieselotte tried to back off as she questioned them. But Rei Ao simply snapped his fingers
"!!!"
She found her body suddenly refusing to move from that spot. At the same time, Lilith Asami and the others regained their mobility. Although they had been frozen, they'd still been able to hear every word.
Mira Yamana narrowed her eyes at Rei Ao, feeling highly wary.
"Kasuga Hijiri called you her future husband so, you're the Demon King?"
Demon Kingthe moment that phrase left her lips, everyone's faces grew serious. Rei Ao saw no need to hide anything. Sliding an arm around Kasuga Hijiri's slim waist, he smiled.
"Nice to meet you. The name's Rei Ao. You can call me by that or just 'Demon King.'"
"So you're the Demon King?" Akio Fud asked, puzzled. "Then how come I don't sense any mana from you?"
"Mana, you say? How much do you want?"
"Huh?"
With a faintly mischievous grin, Rei Ao opened his Demon King powers.
"For example try this."
Boom!!!
"Urgh!"
In that instant, Akio and her companions all looked alarmed. Some collapsed to the ground; others doubled over, gagging. Michiru jumped in surprise.
"Wh-what's wrong with them?"
She couldn't sense anything unusual.
"It's a form of energy. Very powerful. Thick and dense."
Kanna's small face went from cute to serious. She was talking about this world's mana.
""
Erica and Fubuki exchanged looks, puzzledthey didn't feel a thing. Was this little girl just making stuff up?
Rei Ao ignored the group that had gone pale. He walked right over to Lieselotte, who was stiff and visibly panicked.
"Wh-what are you gonna do?!"
She could still speak, but her body wouldn't respond. She'd felt that monstrous amount of manathis guy really was a Demon King!
"Heh"
Rei Ao let out a small laugh, running the back of a finger lightly along Lieselotte's soft cheek.
"You're quite the beauty."
"You!"
Lieselotte's fury flared at his brazen move, and she practically ground her teeth. Rei Ao smiled casually.
"Don't look at me like that. I'm only trying to grant your wishnamely, giving you the mana you want."
"Ha? Are you mocking me?"
No matter what he said, Lieselotte wasn't buying it. She'd basically tried to assault the Demon King candidate a few minutes earlier, so obviously they were enemies. Who'd ever give their enemy what they wanted? It was laughable.
"I'm a man of my word."
Ignoring her suspicious glare, he let his eyes drift to her red lips.
"If I remember right, aside from drinking mana like a vampire through someone's neck, you can also kiss to siphon it, right?"
"?"
That comment left Lieselotte momentarily stunnedhe wasn't wrong. Suddenly, she realized exactly where his gaze had landed.
Understanding what he intended to do, she looked both startled and furious.
"Don't you dammph!"
But before she could get the words out, he pressed his lips to hers.
"Mmph! Mmm!!!"
At first, Lieselotte's eyes burned with rage, and she struggled helplessly. But within seconds, her eyes went wide. A massive, pure, and powerful flow of mana surged into her body. She sank into that overwhelming sensation. The restraints on her body vanished. Rather than running away, she threw herself into Rei Ao's arms, responding eagerly. It was a drastic change from her earlier resistance.
"Thirsty I need more"
"Huh???"
Everyone else was left baffled by what they were seeingespecially Michiru.
"What the heck is going on?"
She couldn't figure out why Rei Ao was suddenly making out with a complete stranger. Kanna, unruffled, explained:
"Michiru, Rei Ao-nii's energy is flowing into that human's body through where they're touching."
"Right. If Rei Ao-kun was correct, that woman can absorb mana from someone either by biting their neck or through a kiss," Kasuga Hijiri said, confirming Kanna's explanation. "Everything she did before was meant to steal the mana Rei Ao-kun intended to give to me."
With Rei Ao on the scene, the crisis was already under control. Kasuga Hijiri let out a breath of relief and moved to help Lilith Asami to her feet.
"You okay, Lilith? Don't worryRei Ao-kun wouldn't hurt you."
""
Lilith Asami gave a somewhat awkward smile. Hijiri, you've already made up your mind to trust this man more than anyone elsedon't you realize it?
She felt just a bit jealous that her friend trusted someone she barely knew so completely. Still, she understood.
He was undoubtedly the Demon King, and Hijiri had mentioned before that she was the Demon King's belovedhis "queen," not just a candidate.
The way he was acting now was, in its own way, perfectly straightforwardalbeit extreme.
At least none of them had suffered serious harm aside from that crushing wave of mana earlier. What Lilith found more distracting, though, was the intense lip-lock happening in front of them.
Even something as simple as a kiss left Lilith, the holder of the "Lust Archive" (though she hated anything lewd), blushing bright red, her heart pounding so hard she felt dizzy.
~~~
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Chapter 431: Demon Queen...
Lieselotte was in absolute bliss from the kiss, feeling herself absorbing a massive amount of mana.
It was enough for her to connect to the Eternal Library and do anything she wanted! But before long, that initial rush started to feel off. There was simply too much mana, surging in an unending stream. She was already reaching her limit; if she tried to absorb any more, she'd probably explode.
Yet Rei Ao showed no signs of strain at all, continuing to pour mana into her as if it were nothing. That terrified her. If this went on, she was going to die!
"Mmphmmm!"
Her eyes flew open, and she shoved Rei Ao away.
"Wow, you don't want any more mana?"
Rei Ao, who had been holding her tight, let her go at just the right momentkeeping her from literally bursting.
"Uh"
Lieselotte looked troubled.
"You your manais it limitless or something?"
"Because I'm the Demon King."
""
She had no answer to that. She'd never met a Demon King and had no idea how powerful he could be. Now, she felt like the butt of a terrible joke: the mana she couldn't handle at all, he carried so easily he could give it away at will.
That meant he was far stronger than she could have imagined. Even if she now had power strong enough to beat the academy's headmaster, it might not make any difference against him.
"You're looking pretty pale. Is that because you still don't have enough mana?"
Rei Ao leaned in with a suggestive smile. Lieselotte broke into a cold sweat.
"N-no more, please!"
But Rei Ao was already kissing her again.
"!!!"
For a second, Lieselotte thought she was about to be blown up by that insane surge of mana. But this time, there was no mana at all. It was simply a kiss.
"Mmph!"
Her body stiffened momentarily, but she couldn't help wrapping her arms around him all over again.
"They'rethey're doing it again?"
Lilith Asami nearly passed out on the spot.
"How could they do something so shameless?!"
Her protest changed nothing. Minutes later, Rei Ao and Lieselotte finally broke apart. Lieselotte ran her tongue over her lips with a complicated look on her face.
"I never imagined anyone like you existed."
"Oh?" Rei Ao smiled. "What kind of person would that be?"
"Someone strong, mysteriousand way too good at making people want you."
"So I've gotten under your skin?"
""
Lieselotte's expression wavered. She wanted to say she liked the feeling, but she only raised her hands in a gesture of surrender.
"All right, fine. I admit it: I enjoyed it. But unfortunately, we're enemies. Go ahead. Do your worst, Demon King. I guess I'm your prisoner now. Kill me if you want, or whatever."
She knew she was no match for Rei Ao, so she gave in, deactivating her own mana without hesitation.
"Even if you don't kill me, I'll soon be trapped in a time rift as the price for using my forbidden art."
Her "Secret Art" for halting time was essentially an extreme form of accelerationspeeding herself up so far beyond others that it seemed like time had stopped. But the price meant she'd eventually be caught in a rift in time.
Lieselotte had never expected her perfect plan to come up against such a one-of-a-kind Demon Kingespecially one who'd go straight for her first kiss and practically tame her body. And, in the heat of that intense kiss, she really had succumbed. It wasunbelievable.
Of course, Rei Ao wasn't going to just stand by and let her get sucked into a time rift. He raised a hand and gently touched her beautiful face.
"Instead of calling you a prisoner, I'd prefer to call a member of the Trinity Seven my Demon Queen."
"Huh?"
Lieselotte sensed something far more stable and potent than regular mana flowing into her. Her body began to change: a pair of black wings burst forth from her back, and her clothes turned into a filmy, chaotic-looking gown. Black markings spread across her skin.
"A Demon King's essence?"
Mira Yamana muttered in shock, having seen a lot in her time.
"Did we just get another Demon King candidate?" Akio Fud asked, stunned.
"No," Levi Kazama said sharply, staring straight at Rei Ao. "That's the Demon King's chosen queen."
"Demon King and Demon Queen, huh"
Erica murmured softly, watching Rei Ao's back like she was deep in thought.
Meanwhile, Lieselotte herself just stood there, dazed, looking at the man before her. She didn't understand why Rei Ao was doing this.
The power bestowed by a Demon King's essence was far more stable and powerful than mere mana, and now the side-effects of her forbidden art weren't an issue anymore.
"I was planning to attack someone important to youso why are you treating me like this?"
She was baffled.
"Because with me around, you couldn't hurt Hijiri anyway."
Rei Ao wasn't being dismissive or arrogant; it was simply a statement of fact. The difference in their power was absolute.
"Besides, my punishment for you is that you belong to me, the Demon King. Becoming my Demon Queen is a decent penalty, don't you think?"
""
Lieselotte was left speechless. The Demon King's essence inside her body was proof that she now held the position of Demon Queen. She'd been forcibly given it, and resisting was no longer an option.
"All right, then," she said, smiling with a hint of resignation. "If you call it punishment, by all means, punish me all you want."
She slid right into Rei Ao's arms, showing a complete about-face in attitude.
But they'd have to wait on that a bit.
Rei Ao pointed to the one girl still lying on the ground.
"What about your sister? Are you not worried about whether she lives or dies?"
"I'd never seriously hurt Selina. I only borrowed a bit of her mana."
She made it sound so casual, though in truth she'd sucked Selina almost dry, leaving her unconscious. Still, with some rest, Selina would recover.
Rei Ao sent a small ball of mana floating into Selina's body.
"Mmn"
Not long after, Selina let out a soft groan, opening her eyes and slowly sitting up.
~~~
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Chapter 432: Fubuki wants to get Stronger!
Hugely yawning, Selina rubbed her eyes and looked around.
"Wheream I?"
She still seemed a bit out of it. But the moment she spotted her sister, Lieselotte, right there, she shot straight to her feet.
"Sis!!!"
She called out, but Lieselotte paid no attention. Instead, she was busy gazing at Rei Ao with a hungry lookand couldn't resist leaning in for another kiss.
"Huh?!"
Selina froze in shock.
"H-hey! Stop, that'sthat's not okay!!!"
Lilith Asami finally reached the limit of her embarrassment and let out a scream, her giant magical rifle erupting into rapid fire.
