Chapter 15: Not a Single Normal Person
"Crap..."
"So it's a yandere!"
Looking at that off-the-charts "Love Value," Lilith understood everything in an instant.
She quickly shook her mobile phone, and the red needle on the screen let out a violent beep as it swept over the stone platform engraved with inscriptions in the center of the room, the value hitting 100%!
"Demon Lord! I found it!"
Lilith raised her small finger and pointed at the stone platform, shouting loudly:
"Over there! Its true body is under the stone platform!"
"Hmm?"
Hearing this, Asmodeus was stunned for a moment, then a flash of realization crossed his crimson eyes—so that was it?
On the other side, hearing Lilith's shout, the Abyssal Watcher in mid-air trembled violently, its arrogant aura instantly withering, replaced by extreme terror:
"No! Don't!"
"There... not there! Don't let the Demon Lord see it! Don't let the Demon Lord find it!"
The Abyssal Watcher went completely berserk.
It stopped attacking and instead mobilized all its dark tentacles, pouncing on the stone platform like crazy, trying to cover it with its body.
"Get lost."
How could Asmodeus give it that chance?
With just a casual glare, a surge of overwhelming demonic power condensed into several pitch-black thunder spears in the void.
Pff-pff-pff-pff—!
The spears fell like a rainstorm, instantly shattering the pouncing Abyssal Watcher into fragments that scattered all over the ground.
"No! Please don't! I beg of you!"
Amidst the monster's desperate roars, Asmodeus held Lilith and landed lightly beside the stone platform.
He set Lilith down, then gripped the edge of the stone platform with one hand, his arm muscles bulging.
Rumble—
Accompanied by a dull grinding sound, the Black Crystal platform, weighing hundreds of pounds, was actually forcibly ripped up by him!
Dust flew everywhere.
Beneath the stone platform, there was indeed a hidden space.
It was a secret compartment hidden under the floor, and inside lay a small coffin, also made of Black Crystal.
"Nooooo—!!!"
The Abyssal Watcher let out one last shrill scream and charged forward with all its might!
However, as Asmodeus raised his hand and used demonic power to flip the lid of the crystal coffin out of thin air... the Watcher's massive shadowy body, like a sandcastle losing its support, instantly collapsed and dissipated, turning into specks of black starlight and vanishing into the air.
The room fell silent.
The Abyssal Watcher had completely disappeared.
Then, Asmodeus and Lilith leaned over together to look inside the coffin.
What met their eyes was not some disgusting heart or a terrifying monster.
Lying inside was actually an extremely cute little girl who looked only in her teens?!
She had short, light purple hair, demon horns on her head, and skin so pale it was almost transparent. She wore a set of clean, though aged, black Sacrificial Robes, looking like an exquisite and fragile porcelain doll.
"A loli?"
Lilith was completely dazed, her brain struggling to process the situation.
"This is that chuunibyou gas monster from just now who was shouting about tearing us apart? Its true body seems to be a Demon child?"
Asmodeus also frowned slightly, seemingly recalling something.
Just then.
The little thing in the crystal coffin's eyelashes fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes.
They were a pair of beautiful purple pupils, filled with the confusion of just waking up.
However, when her vision focused and she saw Asmodeus looking down at her, that confusion instantly turned into extreme terror.
"De... Demon Lord!"
The next second.
"Waaaaahhh!!"
The child suddenly clutched her head, her gaze terrified and her body convulsing, letting out a shrill cry:
"I! What have I done! I actually attacked the Demon Lord! I actually said such disrespectful things to the Demon Lord!"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Demon Lord! I am guilty! I deserve to die!"
He stumbled out of the coffin and scrambled to kneel at Asmodeus's feet, his forehead hitting the ground with a heavy thud, leaving Lilith dumbfounded.
"I can only atone with my death! Having committed such a rebellious act, I must atone with my death!"
Saying this, the child actually pulled a sharp dagger from his sleeve and prepared to slash his own throat without hesitation!
However... Clang!
"Before that, make yourself clear!"
Asmodeus was quick, kicking the dagger away.
He frowned, his gaze falling on the top of the shivering little thing's head—there was a pair of very tender, not yet fully grown black horns.
"Judging by your horns and mana circuit, you're... from the Valen Family, right?"
Asmodeus's voice carried a hint of complex emotion, both anger and a touch of sorrow.
"I remember that the Valen Family were loyal subjects responsible for rituals and protection. I treated you well before I was sealed, and yet... even you have betrayed me?"
To be betrayed by his most trusted subordinates was a blow even for the Demon Lord.
"No! It's not like that! Absolutely not!"
Hearing the word "betrayal," the child reacted as if he had been greatly insulted, snapping his head up and shouting with a face full of tears:
"Demon Lord! The Valen Family fought for you until the very last person!"
"I... I am Hill, the child of the former patriarch Siegel! I grew up listening to your legends and have always admired you!"
Hill was crying so hard he could barely breathe, explaining intermittently:
"But on the day you were sealed, my family was also purged! Those despicable traitors... the Zagen Family, in order to control my father, took me hostage, and finally even used me as a part of 'Ragnarok,' forcibly sealing me here!"
Saying this, Hill remembered something and hurriedly pulled a gemstone emitting an eerie red light from his bosom with trembling hands.
"They used this ancient magical artifact to erode my spirit and twist my respect for you, turning it into a mad obsession and resentment, which condensed into that monster..."
"I... I couldn't control it! My soul was screaming, but my body was attacking you... Waaa... I'm sorry, Lord! I'm sorry!"
"So that's how it is?"
Asmodeus looked at the Mana Stone that was still faintly pulsing; inside was a mass of ominous black gas, its shape very similar to the Abyssal Watcher.
He nodded thoughtfully, and the chill in his eyes dissipated quite a bit.
Lilith, watching this from the side, curled her lip, feeling inexplicably annoyed.
"Tsk... For real?"
"He wouldn't be feeling sympathetic just because the other party is a pitiful little girl, would he?"
"What if this brat is acting? This is the dungeon where he was sealed!"
Looking at Hill's cute, tear-stained face, Lilith's expression became increasingly displeased, even feeling a bit jealous for some reason.
"Men really are all the same, they can't move their legs when they see a loli..."
"Huh?"
"Wait, is there something wrong with that statement too?"
Thinking this, Lilith tilted her head in confusion.
Yet her body, as if by instinct, unconsciously moved closer to Asmodeus and hooked her arm through his, as if asserting her dominance as the 'main wife.'
"Hey, hey, Demon Lord~"
Lilith muttered sarcastically:
"This little sister's origins are unknown, and her words might not be true. You can't be fooled just because she's cute~ You can know a person's face but not their heart!"
"Ugh..."
Hearing Lilith's words, Hill became even more terrified.
He lay on the ground again, his body shaking like a leaf:
"I'm sorry! This big sister is right! I did do something wrong to the Demon Lord, and... even if you kill me, I will have no complaints!"
Halfway through, Hill looked up again, his exquisite porcelain-doll-like face carrying a hint of confusion and shyness, as he weakly added:
"But... um... actually, I'm a boy..."
"..."
The air seemed to freeze.
"Huh?"
Lilith's mouth hung open, her jaw nearly hitting the floor.
She widened her eyes and carefully scrutinized the "little loli" before her.
The light purple short hair was soft and cute, the features delicate like an anime character, the eyelashes long, and the skin smooth enough to squeeze water out of. He was wearing Sacrificial Robes that looked a bit like a dress... "This is a freaking boy?!"
"So cute yet he's actually a boy?!"
Asmodeus, on the other hand, was very calm. He tilted his chin, pointing at the small horns on Hill's head, and seriously explained to Lilith:
"The Valen Family is a hybrid branch of Demons and Elves. The females of this clan are born without horns. Since he has horns, it means he's male."
"Y-yes."
Hill lowered his head with a blush, tugging at his hem somewhat sheepishly:
"Because the traditional style of the Sacrificial Robes is quite gender-neutral, I'm occasionally misunderstood by outsiders..."
"Is it just occasionally... Anyone would misunderstand after seeing you?!"
"And your voice doesn't sound like a boy's at all!"
Lilith felt her worldview being shattered.
She looked at this "shota" named Hill, then looked down at her own current body, and two words slowly surfaced in her mind:
"Abstract."
"I, who used to be a man, turned into a loli, and this person who looks like a loli is actually a man..."
"Is there even a single normal person left in this Demon Realm! Heavens! Please just take me away!"
"Enough, no more words."
Asmodeus interrupted the awkward atmosphere.
He looked at Hill kneeling on the ground and took a deep breath. Though his tone remained cold, it held a touch of royal magnanimity:
"Since you were controlled by a magical artifact and it wasn't your intention, and since your father was a loyal subordinate who died for me—this time, I forgive you."
"De... Demon Lord!"
Hill was moved to tears and was about to kowtow again, but Asmodeus impatiently waved his hand to stop him:
"Enough, stop kneeling."
He pointed toward the distant crystal gate and asked in a deep voice:
"Since you were brought in later, you should know how to leave this floor, right?"