"Rei Ao?"
Her voice was soft and sticky with sleep.
The figure turned, revealing a handsome young face.
Black hair, blue eyes, a deep yet gentle gazeit was Rei Ao.
In one hand he balanced a plate of perfectly fried sunnysideup eggs and bacon; with the other he was pouring warmed milk into a cup.
"Awake? Greatbreakfast is almost ready."
His tone was mild, tinged with the crisp freshness of early morning.
Emilia walked up behind him, wrapped her arms around his lean waist, and pressed her cheek to his broad back.
She drew in a deep breath.
Rei Ao's clean, refreshing scent filled her nose,
familiar and reassuring, soaking her heart in quiet happiness.
"Mmm it smells amazing"
She mumbled, lazy as a kitten.
Rei Ao set the plates down,
turned around,
and pulled Emilia smoothly into his arms.
Lowering his head,
he buried his face in her silver hair, faintly scented with flowers, inhaling just as deeply, almost intoxicated.
"Mm, it really does smell good."
His voice dropped, carrying a playful heat.
Warm breath brushed Emilia's sensitive ear.
Color blossomed across her pale cheeks.
She gave his chest a gentle push, halfscolding, halfshy:
"Mm stop it. Wasn't last night enough? Fooling around first thing in the morning is so improper."
Her words grew smaller, tinged with embarrassment.
"Heh."
Rei Ao chuckled low in his throat, tightened his arms so she fit even closer, then planted a tender kiss on her smooth forehead.
"How could it ever be enough?"
"As long as it's youEmiliaand the others I'll never be satisfied."
The words were blunt yet sincere, his gaze blazing at the bashful hero in his arms.
"Because all of you are far too beautiful."
The small kitchen warmed with rising intimacy.
They lingered a while longeruntil Emilia, realizing she truly would be late, pushed him away with a crimson face and sat down to the loving breakfast he'd prepared.
After eating,
Emilia changed into her uniform to leave.
Rei Ao walked her to the entryway.
"Be careful on the road," he reminded.
"Mm."
She nodded, rose on tiptoe, and offered her cherryred lips.
Rei Ao naturally did not refuse.
One arm around her slender waist, the other cupping the back of her head, he deepened their morning farewell kissgentle, lingering, as if branding each other's breath into their very souls.
At length they parted, slightly breathless.
Emilia's cheeks were scarlet, her eyes shimmering.
After one last, lingering glance, she opened the door and left.
Walking along the cool morning street,
Emilia's heart was still overflowing with happiness.
Who could have imagined that the hero who once bore the burden of defeating the Demon King and saving the world on the continent of EnteIslawould now be immersed in such ordinary yet priceless bliss in a different world?
Yet the thought stirred a faint longing.
EnteIsla
That land for which she fought
its people, Emerada, Albert all those former comrades
Were they doing well?
I should ask Rei Ao sometime, she decided silently.
He's so capableperhaps he could take me back for a visit?
The idea made her already bright eyes sparkle still more.
By stark contrast to the cozy home of Emilia and Rei Ao, the room at the far end of the second floor in a rundown Sasazuka apartment could only be called bleak.
This was the socalled "Demon King's Castle" of the oncefearsome Demon King Satan of EnteIslanow SadaoMaouand his faithful general Alciel, now ShirouAshiya.
SadaoMaou, messy black hair askew, sat crosslegged on the tatami in a washedout, bargainbin Tshirt and shorts.
"Sigh"
He heaved long, heavy sighs at the low table before him.
In front of him sat a bowl of plain white rice,
topped with a few lonely, halfblack pickles.
"Ashiya, have we hit a new record for this month's deficit again?"
His voice was limp.
Opposite him, ShirouAshiya maintained the severe, butlerlike posture he always did.
Even in the same cheap shirt he sat ramrod straight.
He pushed up the blackrimmed glasses he wore as a disguise; behind the lenses, his 4.1diopter eyes were sharp and deeply worried.
"Yes, my lord."
His tone was low and grave.
"After deducting rent and utilitiesand the strategic item you insisted on buying last week, that secondhand airconditionerwe have only enough this month"
"to purchase the most basic food supplies."
He pointed at the pickles on the table.
"That will be our main side dish for the next week."
SadaoMaou stared at the pitiful pickles, his face scrunched like a bitter melon.
Exactlybecause he'd bought that airconditioner, the household was in the red again!
~~~
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Chapter 814: Olba Meyer and Lucifer
"But Ashiya, it's this hotif we don't get an airconditioner we're going to die!"
"Just picture it: the mighty Demon Lord Satan, out conquering worlds, not defeated by some fearsome foe but laid low by heatstroke in a tiny rental apartment"
"If word of that reached EnteIsla, where would it leave the Demon Army's reputation?!"
He tried to hide his embarrassment behind an exaggerated tone.
Ashiya Shir pushed his glasses up with an expressionless face.
"Your Majesty, in my opinion, instead of fretting over abstract notions of 'saving face,' our top priority should be figuring out how to survive here and accumulate the capital we need to conquer this worldspecifically, to land fulltime jobs, earn promotions, and get raises."
"Heat is an objective hardship, yes, but it's not insurmountable."
"Frequent showers, plenty of water, keep calm and the heat will feel"
"Aaah! Stop, stop, stop!"
Sadao Maou clutched his ears in despair.
"You're the only one who could say 'keep calm and you'll feel cool'! I'm insanely sensitive to heat!"
He wailed and collapsed facefirst onto the tatami.
"Why why does the Hero get to live in comfort while I, the Demon Lord, have to gnaw pickled vegetables, breathe secondhand airconditioning, and still make rent payments? It's not fair!"
Ashiya's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly as he watched his lord roll around without a shred of dignity.
He, too, missed the days back in the Demon Realm when they commanded the winds and lived in luxury. But reality was cruel.
Drawing a deep breath, he straightened his back and adopted a lecturing tone. "Your Majesty! Please pull yourself together!"
"A temporary setback is not a permanent defeat!"
"Remember how we first arrived in this world? Penniless, not a word of the languageand yet we survived, didn't we?"
"Now we have steady jobsyour parttime shift at MgRonald and my conveniencestore gigand a roof over our heads, shabby though it is. That's huge progress!"
"As long as we work hard, boost our performance, promotions and raises are within reach!"
"Then, never mind an airconditionerworld domination itself"
"All right, all right, I get it!"
Sadao shot upright, cutting off Ashiya's rousing "reconquer the world" speech. (That was something they really couldn't say out loud; that lady from MgRonald was terrifying.)
He raked a hand through his messy hair, rekindling his fighting spiritif somewhat reluctantly.
"You're right, Ashiya! Complaining won't solve anything. Today we work hardfor the airconditioner! For uh for being able to eat meatbuns every day!"
He clenched a fist as though psyching himself up.
"Yes, my lord!"
"For meatbunsno, for the glory of the Demon Army!"
Ashiya straightened, nodding gravely. The lofty vow lost some gravity, given that the immediate goal was meatbuns.
They looked at one another.
At their cramped, dilapidated, nearly empty "Demon King's Castle."
At the meager breakfast on the table.
"Sigh"
A single, heroic sigh escaped them both.
The wretched parttime life of the Demon King had to go on a little longer.
Meanwhile,
Deep in the shadows of an abandoned factory,
A plot was unfolding that had nothing of warmthor wretched comedyabout it.
Two figures faced each other.
The light was dim; their faces were obscured.
One wore a voluminous white robe.
The hood hung so low it hid his entire face, radiating an air of mystery and menace.
The other was far more flamboyant:
Short of stature, clad in a tailored purple trench coat whose open front showed a darkerpurple shirt beneath, and crowned with striking, nonmainstream lavender hair that spilled loosely past his shouldersan almost devilmaycare wickedness.
His features were a shade delicate, his eyes extraordinarily cold.
Tap, tap
The robed man took two steps forward.
The footsteps echoed sharply in the empty factory.
He stopped, slowly raised a hand, and pushed back the hood.
A perfectly bald head gleamed beneath it.
The face was that of a man around fifty, steady, even kindly, yet the deep eyes held vast experience. The refined aura of power coiling around him belied any notion that he was an ordinary elder.
He was Olba Meyer,
One of the Six Archbishops of EnteIsla,
Former comrade of the Hero Emilia, head of Diplomacy and Evangelism, direct superior of the Doctrine Review Councila high priest of the Church.
Though past his prime in stamina and holy force, his strength remained unfathomable.
"Lucifer"
Olba's voice was low and even, like still water in a deep well.
"The appointed hour has come. Are your preparations complete?"
The handsome youth addressed as Lucifer let his playful smile spread. His slit pupils narrowed, appraising Olba.
"Archbishop Olbahehmy preparations are flawless, as always."
"The question is, old man, can you guarantee your side won't slip up? Are those nuisances Emerada and Albert still sitting obediently in the Sanctum?"
Olba's gaze stayed flat, his reply calm.
"They're quiet enough. Not your concern."
"What concerns me is whether you can fulfill our pacteliminate the threats to our world: the Demon Lord Satan, and the wayward Hero."
"Threats?"
Lucifer gave a contemptuous laugh that echoed through the empty factory.
"Olba, spare me the sanctimonious lines."
"What you fear isn't some 'threat.' What you fear is Emiliaafraid she'll return to EnteIsla wrapped in a savior's halo, afraid she'll shake the power you and those decrepit Church fossils cling to."
"That's why you let her stray into this world, even went so far as to imprison her companions, just to stop her from going back!"
"Am I right, 'esteemed' Archbishop?"
~~~
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Chapter 815: Paused
A barely perceptible twitch flickered across Olba's face.
A trace of gloom flashed deep in his eyes,
Yet it was quickly masked by deeper calculation.
He did not deny Lucifer's accusation; he only said coldly, "Our objectives are the same, Lucifer."
"I must eliminate every potential factor that threatens the Church's stabilityor my own standing."
"And you want to return to Heaven, wipe away your disgrace, and sit once more upon an angel's throne."
"The Demon King Satan is one of the greatest obstacles to your return, because his very existence is a mockery and provocation to Heaven's order."
"And Emilia her Holy Sword is the only thing that can truly endanger you."
In this world without holy mana,
She may not be much to fear,
But her mere presence is a variable in our plan.
"So eradicating them benefits us both."
The smile on Lucifer's face slowly faded.
Within his golden slit pupils remained only an icy chilland a faint, almosthidden longing.
Return to Heaven
That place he once grew weary of and cast aside, yet now obsesses over
Olba had struck his weakest spot with precision.
"Hmph. Old fox, you're right this time."
Lucifer let out a cold snort.
"That fool of a Demon King is scraping by like a beggar in a world without magichardly worth notice."
"And as for the Hero, without holy mana to support her, her Holy Sword is no more than a sharper piece of iron."
Finding them and crushing them would be child's play.
"Except"
He frowned slightly and flexed his fingers.
"The rules of this world are truly troublesome."
"Magic is so thin it's revolting. I need powerenough power to grind them to dust."
A gleam flashed in Olba's eyes.
"Soyou've found a way to obtain that power?"
The devilish curve returned to Lucifer's lips.
He raised his head, gazing at the sky through cracks in the factory's dilapidated roof.
"Fear!"
"Human fear is one of the purest, most primal, and easiesttocollect emotional energies in this world."
"It may not be as refined as magic, but once converted, it is fuel enough to drive my strength."
"Fear"
Olba nodded thoughtfully.
"Well suited to a fallen angel like you."
"Sowhere do you intend to kindle the first flame of fear?"
Lucifer's gaze seemed to pierce every barrier, settling on the city center,
Where numerous schools stood.
"A place brimming with life, yet fragile enough."
He spoke softly, cruel anticipation burning in his golden eyes.
"A perfect stage where countless hopes can be turned to despair in an instant."
The weather was fine, the sun bright.
During recess on the vast field of the integrated academy, youthful clamor and vigor filled the air.
Students chased one another, chatted in groups, or sweated it out on the track.
No one noticed the lone figure floating high in the sky, almost merging with the blue.
Lucifer unfurled the enormous black wings on his back, wings seemingly woven from shadow.
His clothes snapped in the wind; his unconventional redgold hair whipped freely.
He looked down at the studentstiny as ants, yet teeming with life.
On his handsome, wicked face appeared a satisfied smile, like a scientist admiring specimens.
"What perfect fuel."
He murmured, moltengold pupils gleaming with cold excitement.
Slowly, he raised his right hand; long fingers traced an elegant arc through the air.
Where the fingertips passed,
Space seemed torn by an unseen force.
Complex crimson patterns glowing ominously appeared from nothing,
Rapidly spreading, interweaving
In a blink, they formed an eerie magic circle tens of meters across.
At its core, like the eye of an abyss, pulsed a terrifying energy that made hearts pound!
Down on the field, someone finally noticed the abnormal sky.
