"Save the Dark Lord!"

"Overthrow the Church!"

"Down with the nobility!"

Shouts and the sounds of fighting and screaming reached me faintly.

Several Dark Cult followers, transformed into demons, wielded massive polearms. They swept through the crowd, charging toward the square’s center.

A hand stretched before me—it was Lott’s. I grasped it; warm and strong.

He pulled me up firmly. I brushed the dust off my skirt, looked up, and met his cold expression.

"Is this what you wanted?" His icy words pierced my heart like a spear. A sharp, inexplicable pain twisted in my chest.

Following his gaze, chaos filled the square. Blood pooled around the demons at its heart. The crowd stampeded wildly, trampling each other to escape. Even the mages and warriors among the commoners showed no will to fight—they fled blindly, using others’ lives as stepping stones.

Caiwen, do you see this? This is the world you wished to save—a world drowning in selfishness.

Blood flowed across the cobblestone streets. The air hung thick with a faint crimson haze and the metallic tang of blood, oddly exhilarating.

Only the Dark Lord would thrill at such carnage.

The knights reacted swiftly. Scepter Knights and Sword Knights, mounted on fierce steeds bred with beastblood, plowed through the crowd. They trampled dying civilians to intercept the demons at full speed.

Where the two forces clashed, blood sprayed everywhere—but mostly from demons and civilians. Shielded by heavy plate armor, the knights emerged nearly unscathed.

Scepters impaled demons like pincushions. Sword slashes tore through demon flesh, then ripped into the fleeing crowd.

"You’re truly a demon at heart," Lott said. His hand slipped from mine, growing distant.

I bit my lower lip, stepping back helplessly. This wasn’t the outcome I’d foreseen. The world’s conflicts ran deeper than I’d imagined—and I’d overlooked the Dark Cult’s presence.

Suddenly, another section of the crowd screamed. Gears sprang from cracks in the bricks. The ground collapsed, revealing a hidden basement. A row of silvery siege-crossbow-like devices swiveled, aiming at the Church’s side.

With faint mechanical clicks, spears launched in a series of sonic booms. They skewered falling civilians, trailing bloody streaks toward the Archbishops.

The spears had an unusual shape—fluid-dynamic from certain angles. Their tips gleamed with blue alloy: Haimoge metal, an alchemical material of extreme density. It shattered magic effortlessly and often edged high-grade blades, though its weight made it impractical.

How could such heavy weapons be fired by mechanisms? And at supersonic speed? This was a premeditated assassination.

Before the sonic booms reached us, Lott moved. He flung six or seven swords, deflecting every spear mid-air. Where had he pulled those from? A Hero’s arsenal?

"Has the Demon General acted?" Wu Fangzheng nearly leapt from his seat. Archbishops hastily raised magical shields, but the Pope remained calm.

"Yue Duling," the Pope murmured to a nearby knight. "A master of mechanical traps. He’s been hiding in the capital all along. Execute all suspicious persons on sight."

I opened my mouth to protest but found no words. My identity as the Dark Lord felt laughable—utterly useless.

Knights swung weapons into the rioting crowd. This was pure slaughter.

I had to act. I strode toward the platform, but two knights crossed blades to block me.

"Let her pass," Lott ordered coldly.

The Scepter Knights lowered their weapons. I nodded to them and climbed the platform. This massacre stemmed from my speech—I had to clean up the mess.

"You demon! Dark Lord!" A heart-wrenching cry rose from the crowd. I didn’t know who it targeted, but as the Dark Lord, I accepted it.

My body trembled uncontrollably. I couldn’t stop imagining the consequences of failure. My voice shook as I pleaded: "Please, stop fighting!"

"Everyone, stop! Don’t fight anymore!"

"We all have parents! Families! Stop! I beg you!" Tears spilled over. I dropped to my knees on the platform. "I’m begging you."

No one listened.

The scene spiraled beyond control.

"Take the Dark Lord to the dungeon."

"Stirring unrest, shattering peace—execute her at dawn’s first crow as sacrifice to heaven."

———

Perhaps I was wrong.

To have hoped at all.

Lott returned to his room, shutting the door heavily. As if he could lock out regrets and that strange, unplaceable sorrow, turning justice into something simple.

The room wasn’t filthy—just cluttered. Towering stacks of books covered the floor, swallowing space. He exhaled slowly, starting to tidy up.

He’d call servants later to haul the mess away.

He could’ve summoned them immediately, but he disliked troubling others. And he needed solitude.

This vast room felt so empty.

As if something vital was missing—a lively companion?

A dangerous instinct flared. He dodged sideways—but no Oxford dictionary came flying.

*What am I thinking?* Lott chided himself. *She’s just a demon in a cute disguise.*

He Yu—a tiny loli, the Dark Lord in an unexpected form—had burst into his vibrant new world, then vanished. She’d stirred old memories and pity, then abandoned him without a word. How cruel.

He should’ve forgotten that other world long ago.

*Clang!* A black phone clattered to the floor, toppling a book pile. Pages scattered. The phone’s screen reflected a lifelike painting on the wall: the Savior gazing down with boundless compassion.

Following the Savior’s gaze, Lott spotted a yellowed grimoire on demon arrays. A stark white sheet of paper jutted from its pages.

He pulled it out. One side was scribbled with array-like diagrams. The other held dense, tiny text:

*The Sacred Ritual Codex, p.173 para.3, p.286 para.5…*

*The Forbidden Arts Index, p.134 Fig.2-1…*

…

The last line caught his eye: "If you’re reading this, no matter what happened—finish these passages."

Lott grabbed the first book, flipping pages. The text made little sense. He compared it to the paper’s diagrams again and again.

He stood abruptly, striding to the window overlooking the bloodstained square. He checked the book once more.

His hands began to tremble.

"I’m sorry… I didn’t see it." He burst out the door, slamming it like thunder.