I Obtained the Final Boss' Power

Chapter 67 : Her Highness the Princess (3)

Her Highness the Princess (3)

"Something felt off, so I decided to tail you."

From the first moment Rio met Estelle, she sensed something suspicious.

It was only natural, given that she and her squad members had been secretly spied on from behind.

Moreover, the moment they made eye contact, Estelle got scared and ran away, which made Rio's suspicions grow stronger.

Having lived among the 7th Legion, Rio was meticulous about vigilance toward her surroundings.

If someone was tailing or spying on her, she couldn't just overlook it.

It was precisely because she tailed the fleeing Estelle in return that Rio had managed to end up here.

"D— De...."

Rio's sudden appearance left Estelle extremely flustered.

At first glance, it looked as though she was being saved, but this was not a situation where she could relax.

'The Demon King...!'

Estelle had used her Mind's Eye to try and gauge Rio's true nature.

She saw that Rio possessed none other than the qualifications of the Demon King.

Knowing this, Estelle couldn't dare to get close to Rio.

"Um... Are you alright?"

"Hiiik!"

As Rio reached out her hand, Estelle squealed and staggered backward in fear.

Did she do something wrong?

Seeing that reaction, Rio was momentarily perplexed.

"What the hell are you?"

Some odd-looking people who had been gathering in a group started yelling.

Their pointy ears and brown skin made it clear they were demonkin, only spoken of in rumors.

But why were demonkin here?

Rio couldn't figure that out, but she did know one thing—demonkin were evil.

Thanks to that, even if it was the first time she saw a scene like this, Rio could roughly understand what was happening.

"Hurry up and run away."

"What?"

"I'll try to deal with the demonkin somehow."

Estelle's face filled with shock at those words.

She had heard that the Demon King was supposed to be a grave enemy who threatened humanity.

He was even called the king of demonkin, so siding with them would not have been strange.

So why was such a being now trying to protect her?

"But you..."

"I may not look it, but I'm still a soldier. Young master and the squad leader told me it's my duty to subjugate those guys and protect the citizens."

A Demon King as a soldier? What was she talking about?

Estelle's mind only grew more confused.

Even now, she could still perceive Rio's essence through her Mind's Eye.

She certainly was the Demon King.

"That wench, this is getting out of hand!"

"Stand back!"

As one of the demonkin charged at Rio, Rio put herself between Estelle and the threat.

The demonkin thrust a spear at her with long reach, but Rio twisted her head and let the spear tip graze by.

Closing the distance in a flash, Rio swung her sword—drawing a line of red across the demonkin's neck.

The demonkin's head hit the ground, and Rio immediately targeted another.

Two demonkin, each wielding a spear, menaced Rio.

It wasn't easy to avoid simultaneous stabs from two directions, but Rio leapt a bit higher than the spears.

"Huh?"

"Where did she go?"

Suddenly, Rio vanished, startling the demonkin.

But just for a moment—their necks then collapsed to the ground, severed out of nowhere.

Rio had landed atop the pole of one demonkin's spear and, even from such a precarious spot, swung her sword perfectly.

Next, Rio locked onto her next prey, cutting them all down.

No matter how fiercely the demonkin lunged with their spears or swung their blades, they never touched her.

If she couldn't dodge their attacks, Rio simply parried them all—severing limbs and heads in the process.

Mid-battle, Rio realized something was different.

'My body feels light.'

Compared to before, her body had become much more agile.

Jumping took little effort, and even spinning her body multiple times left her unexhausted.

Movements that before would have left her gasping for breath now posed no problem.

The speed of her sword swings and how sharply she focused on the battlefield had also improved drastically.

She could now easily read where the demonkin's attacks would come from.

Rio ducked a blade swung at her in surprise from behind.

The misdirected sword chopped down a fellow demonkin instead.

Enraged, the other demonkin rushed her all at once, but Rio only increased her speed.

She blocked the many blades swung at her from all directions by throwing the corpse of a demonkin she'd just killed as a shield.

Darting through the gap as the corpse was split, Rio slashed at demonkin throats, becoming soaked in blood.

In the blink of an eye, the demonkin fell to Rio's sword, one after another.

Estelle recoiled in horror at the sight.

Despite being of similar age to herself, Rio showed no hesitation or remorse in bringing down her foes.

Each time, the girl became drenched in blood as screams played among the demonkin.

Standing on a field of blood and corpses, sword in hand, Rio looked every bit a vicious spirit.

Thanks to it, Estelle was now certain.

What she saw with her Mind's Eye was no lie.

'But...'

There was no doubt Rio was a fiend.

Her destiny was certainly to become the Demon King.

But for some reason, her heart was not corrupted.

Unlike the pitch-black souls of these demonkin, Rio's heart held no such darkness.

If Estelle had not seen the Demon King's qualifications, she truly would have asked Rio for help.

"You wench. What are you?"

Lapleon asked Rio, who had just mowed down his subordinates.

Rio simply glared at him with a face full of hostility.

"What does it matter to you? I'd tell you to get lost and stop interfering... but I guess you've already made quite a mess."

There were already too many fallen underlings to leave Rio alone.

Not that he would have let her go anyway, even if she had been just a passing civilian.

"Wait, you're a soldier from the 7th Legion, aren't you?"

When Lapleon saw Rio's face, he realized who she was.

She matched one of the soldiers from the reports, identified through the image magitech device.

Now, he could understand why this girl had suddenly appeared to protect the princess.

Lapleon had one more question.

"So, are you... the Hero foretold in the prophecy?"

"...."

At that, Rio's expression darkened.

He didn't know what that face meant, but the demonkin she'd just cut down were quite well-trained.

For someone so young to easily wipe out trained soldiers—it was more than remarkable.

With conviction that she must be the Hero, Lapleon said,

"I am not."

Rio replied, her face drying of emotion as she raised her sword.

Not?

What did she mean by that?

Did she simply not want her identity revealed? If so, this was a poor lie.

"Hahaha! Sorry for the misunderstanding, Your Highness. I never imagined you'd personally bring the Hero."

"What?"

When Lapleon spoke, Estelle's eyebrows shook in panic.

"We originally planned to assassinate the Hero and the 7th Legion inside the Imperial Palace, but our ultimate goal is to eliminate the Hero. So, this is not a bad turn of events."

"No, that's not..."

"You did well, in the end. Now there's no need for a troublesome assassination; we can simply eliminate her here."

As Lapleon continued, Estelle's face turned sour.

They were dead certain Rio was the Hero, when she absolutely was not.

No, in fact, she was the complete opposite: the Demon King.

At the moment, the demonkin were trying to kill the very being who was their king.

It was a farcical situation. Suddenly, something occurred to Estelle.

"Then... what about the curse?"

"The curse? Ah! That thing?"

The demonkin had promised to lift the curse, if she cooperated as they wished.

Estelle, momentarily, dared to hope that the curse would finally be broken.

"Normally, we'd lift it for you... but Your Highness, because you rashly brought in the Hero, many of my subordinates died."

"What...?"

"It's time for you to take responsibility for that!"

The eye on Lapleon's tattoo gleamed with a red glare.

Suddenly, the curse spread through Estelle's body again, and she coughed up blood.

"Keugh!! Why...?"

"If the Hero disappears, we no longer need the Mind's Eye. I think even your young brain can grasp what that means."

"Ahh...!!"

Lapleon had no intention of stopping the curse.

With the Hero found, Estelle was no longer of any use.

"Oh, right! There is one way for Your Highness to survive."

At that, Lapleon paused the curse and spoke again.

"We've already found the Hero. Would you be willing to find the opposite of the Hero for us instead?"

The opposite of the Hero.

Estelle instantly understood what he meant.

If the curse flared up again, she would certainly die.

But what would happen if they found the Demon King?

Of course, the Demon King was right before their eyes.

And at that moment, the Demon King was openly being hostile to them.

Moreover, Estelle had checked the Demon King's disposition with her Mind's Eye.

She wielded inhuman powers, but her heart was still that of a human.

Thinking quickly, Estelle realized this was her chance.

"It's her."

"...?"

As Estelle pointed at Rio, Lapleon tilted his head.

"No way..."

"Yes. She is the Demon King."

Now that they knew, they couldn't treat her carelessly.

But would someone whose heart was not yet corrupted ever lead the demonkin?

Would she ever join in their crimes against the innocent?

At the very least, Estelle's Mind's Eye never lied.

There was no way that girl would ever side with the demonkin's ideals.

"Hahaha. Are you joking right now!!"

"Kuark!"

Lapleon burst out laughing and reactivated the curse.

Wracked with pain, Estelle's face twisted in disbelief.

"It's true..."

"You should be careful with your lies. Are you trying to call the Hero the Demon King?"

"I'm... just telling the truth!"

That's right, it was true. The Mind's Eye was accurate.

But to those who couldn't see what she saw, her words seemed unbelievable.

"This won't do."

Believing her a liar, Lapleon's eyes glowed a deep, dark red.

"I suppose some brainwashing is in order."

He spoke in a cold voice, about to cast some sinister sorcery.

KAAANG!!–

Suddenly, Rio's sword flew straight at Lapleon's eye.

Thanks to that, Estelle got a brief respite from the curse.

But Lapleon didn't fall—he blocked Rio's attack with his own sword.

"Are you trying to interfere?"

"All this talk about Princesses, heroes, curses, demon kings— I have no idea what you're going on about."

Having overheard all of it, Rio was seriously annoyed.

"I'm not some kind of Hero."

The Hero was already dead.

Rio had seen his death with her own eyes and could never forget that day's helplessness.

Calling herself a Hero only stung.

"And those eyes of yours. I really don't like them."

Whenever those eyes glowed, that princess would cough up blood in agony.

Rio had experienced similar pain herself and knew how unbearable it could be.

"I'll ruin them so you can never use them again."

"Go ahead and try!"

Rio, who'd been glaring like she might kill Lapleon, suddenly jerked her head back.

A black flaming arrow had come flying from the side.

From other directions, a greatsword and a trident were swung at her at the same time.

Though Rio barely blocked the blows, the recoil knocked her flying.

She tried to get back up, but sensed someone behind her.

A masked demonkin stabbed at Rio's back with a dagger.

On high alert, Rio managed to block barely in time and retreated backward.

She quickly realized that now there were four foes present who were on an entirely different level to those she'd cut down earlier.

"These guys won't be easy. Each of them is Expert-level."

Four figures, likely officers, rushed at Rio.

While she tried to handle all of them, Lapleon's eyes turned dark red again.

"Then I'll finish what I started."

"Kugh!"

Blocking both greatsword and trident left Rio pressed against a wall.

Overwhelmed, something pierced both her sides at once.

"Kraah!"

A flaming black arrow and a dagger stabbed into each of her flanks.

Despite the pain, Rio gritted her teeth.

Even as the flames and blades tore at her flesh, Rio could see the princess suffering under the curse.

The very sight made a red aura surge violently from Rio's body.

The young master had cautioned her not to use it lest she lose control, but now was not the time to worry.

"...!!"

The explosion of red energy from Rio knocked all four demonkin officers away.

As they raised their heads to glare at her again, they were collectively stunned.

"T-that power... What is it?"

Even Lapleon was dumbfounded.

That power was closer to the mana the demonkin used than the magic power humans wielded.

"Huh?"

While the demonkin hesitated, Rio noticed something odd.

As she used the Blood Sword Technique, she started to see something.

From Lapleon, a black thread extended to Estelle.

Around her, black energy floated, all connected by this thread.

'Could it be...?'

Rio didn't fully understand what it was.

But trusting her instincts, Rio moved over to Estelle and touched the black energy surrounding her.

The moment Rio's hand made contact, the black energy around Estelle was sucked into Rio.

"...!!"

She briefly felt the unpleasant sensation of something being forcibly drawn into her.

But once it was over, there were no aftereffects.

"What...?"

At the same time, Lapleon was at a loss for words.

His red curse-controlling eye had vanished.

The suffering vanished from Estelle's face as well.

The demonkin's curse had cleanly disappeared.

Estelle was left in indescribable shock by this fact.