Bright sunlight, a gentle breeze—before you knew it, a month had passed.

So now, what earth-shattering deeds was our Great Demon King, who aspired to be the ultimate villain, up to?

Was he massacring in some bustling capital? Or challenging the world’s strongest atop a treacherous peak? Or… had he already begun abducting the most beautiful women across the land?

No, no. How could you shallow-minded ones grasp the Demon King’s higher pursuit—a faith in life, humanity’s greatest ode—

“Lily, I’m hungry~!”

Ink Ash mumbled wearily, persistently tugging at his disciple’s skirt hem, too weak to walk properly.

Pulling out the last piece of bread from her backpack, Lily asked despite knowing the answer, “This is all that’s left of our rations. Master, can you make do with this?”

“No! No no no! I won’t eat this dry, hard, tasteless bread—I want meat!!” Ink Ash sneered at the black bread, rejecting it without hesitation.

“Even if I, Ink Ash, starve to death, I’ll never take another bite of this awful food!” — Recorded from Ink Ash’s thirty-third bread-biting incident.

Watching her master act like a child, Lily sighed helplessly. “But in this remote wilderness… there are no wild beasts at all!”

“I don’t care! If I don’t get protein soon, your master will die…” Ink Ash whined pitifully, almost rolling on the ground.

Seeing her master unnaturally energetic—like a final flare before fading—Lily murmured worriedly, “Is it that serious?”

Reaching up to choke his own neck, Ink Ash resorted to any means to gain trust. “Of course! I have a condition: go three days without meat, and I get restless, foam at the mouth, my meridians snap, and I die madly!”

Innocently blinking her big eyes, her ahoge bouncing, Lily whispered, “But… we haven’t had meat for a whole week already?”

“Uh, cough! You must have misheard. I said thirteen days.” Facing his disciple’s skeptical gaze, even Ink Ash’s thick skin burned.

“Even if you say that, Master, I can’t do anything! You didn’t save any; we could have lasted another month…” Lily shot a resentful glare at her gluttonous master. From the start, she’d been meticulous, yet she couldn’t resist him.

Being stared at by his disciple made Ink Ash shudder; even soloing an Archangel hadn’t felt this terrifying. His expression froze, then he retorted righteously, “As a disciple, shouldn’t you correct your master’s mistakes?”

“But you said back then: ‘Save? No need! When life is good, enjoy it, Lily. Trust your master’s decisions—well, something like that.’” Clearing her throat, Lily mimicked his past words perfectly, then nodded seriously.

Her innocent eyes and adorably clueless actions left the shameless master speechless.

With a deep sigh, he flicked his sleeves nonchalantly. “What’s meant to be will be; what’s not, don’t force it. Disciple, sometimes we must learn patience and flexibility. Do you understand?”