In the end, Li Wei ended up sitting in Tsukika’s lap in a full-on princess carry, silently watching the scenery sweep past around them.

The soft warmth holding him and that faint, lingering fragrance were both undeniably pleasant. But for Li Wei, the experience was barely any different from torture.

At last, after a stretch of travel, he couldn’t hold back anymore. He turned to the silver-haired Demon Lord, whose face was full of teasing amusement.

“Has it ever occurred to you that even if you put me down, I’m not going to fall?”

As he spoke, Li Wei glanced downward.

Tsukika wasn’t carrying him while flying. The two of them were both seated on the back of a massive bone dragon.

Its bones were deathly pale, almost transparent, as if they had fused with the air itself. Only by sitting on its back could one vaguely sense its outline. From the outside, there was almost no trace of it at all.

This bone dragon had even mastered a void-stealth spell completely unrelated to any draconic inheritance.

That was something a bone dragon, a dead spirit creature, should never have been able to learn.

Li Wei had no idea where Tsukika had gotten such a useful monster. But if she had managed to slip past the human defenses and reach the rear lines so quickly, this special bone dragon had probably played a major role.

“Really?”

Tsukika blinked. “I was worried you might be afraid of heights. A Chosen Hero who’s lost his panel is so weak now, it makes people want to take care of him.”

Afraid my ass.

Li Wei was this close to blurting out some sweet old-life profanity. In the end, he just sighed.

“Can’t you at least let me sit properly?”

Tsukika’s power was restraining him. Unless he directly used the power of will for multiple Limit Breaks, it would be hard to break free. But that power wasn’t meant to be wasted on something like this.

Otherwise, after being ridden by Tsukika these past few days, how could he possibly have not struggled after the first day, once the guilt had faded?

Tsukika clearly understood the limits of his power. She smiled with open confidence, completely unbothered.

“Aren’t you sitting properly right now?”

“Is this really that fun for you?”

“It’d be even more fun if the Hero acted a little shy.”

Tsukika really was looking forward to seeing the once eternally confident Hero show a thoroughly messed-up expression.

Of course, if he was going to be broken, it could only be by her.

“And besides, my little pet doesn’t have the best temper.”

“Just like how the Hero can’t stand having a demon riding on top of him, it’s the same for this one.”

She added that calmly.

Li Wei glanced at the bright crimson shimmer in her eyes and said nothing more.

When it came to GHS, he was willing to call Tsukika the strongest.

Maybe she was worried that moving too fast would leave traces. Or maybe she just wanted to torment him a little longer. Either way, the bone dragon took over ten minutes to reach their destination.

As it prepared to land, it spread its vast skeletal wings from the void and dove toward the edge of a lush forest near Li Wei. It came down with the force of a crash, not slowing in the slightest even as it seemed about to slam into the earth.

But both Li Wei and Tsukika knew the impact would do nothing.

Under the effect of its void-stealth spell, the bone dragon merged into the underground void and vanished.

Tsukika, on its back, naturally touched down the instant they reached the ground. Her small feet in white stockings stepped lightly onto the earth, sending out several blood-red ripples that spread across the ground and effortlessly dispersed the force of the dive.

“Now do you understand why I had to keep holding you, Hero?”

“A bone dragon’s charge isn’t nearly as gentle as I am at night.”

With a pure, innocent face, the silver-haired loli said something outrageous as casually as if she were talking about the weather.

Li Wei pretended not to hear that last part. Once he felt the restraint on him lift, he stood up neatly and said flatly, “...Couldn’t you have just done that right before it landed?”

“Oh? So that was an option too.”

Tsukika tapped her little hand in sudden realization. Li Wei shot the pretending-to-be-dumb Demon Lord a glance. If she were his daughter, he might actually have believed it. But this Demon Lord was obviously doing it on purpose.

Then he looked ahead, and his brows slowly drew together.

“Why did you bring me here?”

A vague gray-black aura hovered faintly above the distant woods. In Li Wei’s vision, that aura was already so dense it had practically solidified, blanketing the forest like something tangible.

It looked like the gaping maw of a demon.

Or the gates of hell thrown wide open.

That was the entrance leading to the Demon King Citadel.

The Demon King Citadel existed in another overlapping layer of space-time, and it used entrances like this to connect to the human world and launch invasions.

But now, those entrances were all under the control of human heroes. Numerous camps had been set up around them, turning them into staging grounds for expeditions against the Citadel instead.

Ever since the Demon Lord of Annihilation had been slain and the power of the Demon King Citadel had weakened further, demon invasions into humanity’s rear territories had become far less frequent.

The most common incidents now were just small spatial rifts opening in unstable regions from time to time, letting a few scattered demons slip through and cause minor unrest.

Although he had lost his panel long ago and could no longer take part in campaigns against the Demon King Citadel, Li Wei was absolutely no stranger to this entrance.

After all, there had been a time when he trained Vivian and the others in the lower levels of the Citadel.

“You’ll know soon enough.”

“No need to rush, Hero.”

Tsukika tilted her head at him, then suddenly held out her soft little hand.

“For now, give me your hand.”

Li Wei looked at her in silence.

Tsukika smiled and said each word slowly, “Be good~ Listen to me. This is a necessary setup step. You wouldn’t want to give up a hard-won chance just because you’re being awkward, right? Especially after all the things we’ve already done together.”

Li Wei’s mouth twitched.

All of a sudden, he felt like the boomerang from teasing his daughter had flown in a full circle and smacked him right in the head.

But just as Tsukika said, he’d already paid the sunk cost of being princess-carried. On top of that, he’d even spent nights battling the Demon Lord till dawn. At this point, he really wasn’t in the mood to nitpick.

So he simply grabbed her slender, pale hand.

That straightforward response made even Tsukika pause for a moment. Feeling the warmth of his hand wrapped around hers, she took a while before finally pouting her pink lips.

“Even if your heart toward demonkind is cold as iron, Hero, your body, and the things aimed at my weak points, are still warm in the end.”

“...”

“So? My hand feels about as nice as your daughter’s, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. I mean, your figures are about the same too,” Li Wei said after thinking it over.

Tsukika: “?”

She raised her pretty brows, but didn’t get angry. Instead, she put on a soft, wounded expression.

“I’m so sorry for making the Hero play with such a barren body every day. I thought your body liked me so much it couldn’t pull away, but was that all just my wishful thinking?”

“...”

Li Wei’s mind was once again blasted into a daze by the Demon Lord’s absurd words. But after standing there stunned for a while, he still couldn’t force out a single rebuttal.

And he couldn’t deny it either.

Just like how a math problem you can’t solve is simply one you can’t solve, some things are just destined to stand up when it’s time for them to stand up.

That was beyond human control.

Tsukika’s flushed cheeks carried a teasing smile. Thankfully, this agonizing situation didn’t last long. Li Wei noticed that several hundred meters away, a convoy was slowly approaching.

It was then that he realized Tsukika had turned her head.

The teasing flush vanished from her face in an instant. Her crimson eyes were fixed on the convoy as well. On that breathtakingly beautiful face in her young girl form, a faintly cold smile suddenly appeared.

“They’re here.”

Li Wei seemed to realize something. His emotions stirred at once.

“What are you trying to do?”

Tsukika looked at him with a half-smile. “Why ask me that, Hero? Haven’t you already guessed what I’m going to do?”

Li Wei stared at her blankly, then asked in a low voice, “Do they have a grudge against you?”

“Nope. No grievance, no grudge. We’ve never even met before.”

Then Tsukika paused, unable to hold back her smile.

“Hero, are you trying to make excuses for me?”

“Looks like I’ve done pretty well these past few days. Your impression of me has improved, hasn’t it? Have you forgotten that I’m a Demon Lord?”

“In the past, I didn’t even have to do anything before humans started dumping blame on my head. And now I’m about to kill people right in front of you, yet you, the Hero, are trying to find excuses for me?”

“Is this the charm that comes from giving the Hero a daughter?”

One arm folded under her chest, the other hand supporting her chin, Tsukika gazed at Li Wei with a hint of mockery in her eyes.

Li Wei paused, then said, “I’m not making excuses. Didn’t you say your goal in taking revenge was to make me fall in love with you?”

His thoughts had become a little chaotic too.

These past few days, the “warmth” Tsukika had built around him, combined with his own laid-back state of mind, really had dulled him a little.

But if this Demon Lord was going to kill someone right in front of him... could he really pretend it had nothing to do with him and do nothing?

He had only set down the mission of saving the world, along with all those crushing responsibilities. That didn’t mean he should become completely numb to his own heart.

And if he was being honest with himself, Li Wei knew he had never stopped observing Tsukika, never stopped being wary of her.

He did feel guilty toward her. He knew she had once saved his life.

But she was still a Demon Lord.

The reason their relationship had managed to maintain this kind of “peace” was, in truth, a fragile balance created by many conditions.

And one of the key points was this:

Tsukika had never carried out open slaughter in front of him.

Clearly, she knew where his bottom line was.

But now, it seemed like she suddenly wanted to break it.

And using the chance to restore his power as an excuse, she had brought him here to kill people in front of him.

What exactly was she thinking?

“The fact that you remembered those words so clearly, Hero, actually makes me pretty happy.”

Tsukika smiled. She hid the trace of complexity that flashed through her eyes. This was the first time Li Wei had responded so directly to her goal.

How laughable, though...

Li Wei had once again, instinctively, answered from the side of her enemies.

And this time, it was to protect other people.

A chill returned to her crimson eyes. Tsukika stepped closer and spoke softly.

“But, my Hero, that kind of threat won’t work on a Demon Lord. Things like contracts and promises may look solid, but they’re fragile. They’re nowhere near as reliable as the eternal truth brought by power. Even love sworn by heaven and sea can change. So how could my goal of making you fall in love with me be something unshakable?”

She rose slightly onto her toes and reached out to stroke the young Hero’s cheek.

Her eyes were smiling. In this lush forest, the scene was almost too beautiful. The young boy and girl leaned close, lingering in each other’s presence, as if a gentle light warm enough to melt winter itself were gathering between them.

And yet no one could see the bloody scent staining the back of that beautiful picture.

Li Wei’s lips moved, but he found that he couldn’t seem to say anything at all.

“But.”

“Compared to the benefits of making you fall in love with me, the gains from killing people for no reason aren’t nearly enough to make me change my mind.”

Li Wei’s gaze froze. He looked again at the Demon Lord, whose killing intent had faded, whose smile had turned soft and bright.

“You...”

He was lost. He understood Tsukika even less now. What was this supposed to be, some kind of PUA stress test?

“Since random killing is taboo for you, then I won’t do it for now.”

“But if one day I see no hope of making you fall in love with me, then that rule is void.”

Tsukika’s tender fingertip lightly tapped his lips. The coldness on her face disappeared, replaced once more by the innocent look of a little girl. Then she straightened her face, putting on a deliberately stern yet playful expression.

“That’s what a threat is, understand, my Hero?”

Li Wei found it hard to describe how he felt right now. He didn't even know what kind of expression he should be wearing.

He looked at the Demon Lord before him with a complicated gaze. He even had reason to suspect that all of this was just a show Tsukika had deliberately staged in front of him, all to get a tighter hold on him.

But before that thought could fully take shape, Li Wei saw Tsukika suddenly snap her fingers and smile.

"Alright. Small talk's over. Time for the real business."

A deep crimson glow abruptly seeped into the soil beneath Tsukika's feet.

In an instant, the spreading Domain silently swallowed the entire caravan.

"???"

Li Wei nearly blacked out. The emotions he hadn't even sorted out yet collapsed all over again, and he stared at Tsukika in disbelief.

"Didn't you just say you wouldn't kill people so casually??"

Even Li Wei could feel his blood pressure shooting up at a time like this.

He'd always thought he was already pretty infuriating in other people's eyes, but compared to this Demon Lord...

He was practically terrifyingly kind and honest.

"Yeah."

Tsukika answered carelessly, "I did promise you I wouldn't kill people casually. But I never said I wouldn't kill people."

At that, she turned to Li Wei with another smile.

"Chosen Hero, hatred isn't the only 'valid' reason to kill."

"What if I told you that if I don't kill them, I'll die? Would you still stop me?"

"What do you mean?"

Li Wei's pupils trembled slightly.

"Humans need to eat the livestock they raise to sustain life and grow stronger. Magical beasts kill each other too, hunting the weak, feeding, evolving. That's instinct. It's also one of the world's inherent laws," Tsukika said flatly. "So is it possible that the demon race follows a similar law? That we can only stay alive by killing humans?"

"How could something that absurd even exist?" Before Li Wei could speak, Tsukika continued, "I know you don't believe it. Standing on the human side, it's hard to accept a setting that ridiculous."

"Then, Chosen Hero, why not try thinking from the demon race's side? How could monsters like humans possibly exist, getting stronger just by killing demons?"

Li Wei fell silent.

He sank into a long stretch of thought.

After tangling with the demon race for so many years, this was the first time he had ever come into contact with such a naked truth.

What Tsukika had said hit him hard, and...

He was actually starting to feel that she made a lot of sense.

If humans could grow stronger by hunting demons, then why couldn't the demon race have some rule where they could only survive by killing humans?

Yet his contemplation had only just begun when Tsukika stared at him and added, "Ah, right. One more thing."

"I made all of that up."

Li Wei: "...?"

"Don't rush. Hear me out," Tsukika said slowly.

"At first, I really was planning to lie to you like that. But after thinking about it, I suddenly felt it wasn't worth the trouble."

"I know your heart holds to justice. I also know your justice isn't rigid."

"So whether you accept that setting or not, this time, you definitely wouldn't stop me from killing them."

"You'd only silently remember this blood debt and plant a seed of thought in your heart."

"—So this is what the demon race really is."

"No matter how well they disguise themselves, that vile bloodthirst will still show through."

"Even if she's the mother of my daughter, maybe one day it'd still be better to make her leave..."

"Something like that, probably. Maybe I'm being biased, but the general direction should be more or less right."

"So I thought it over, and I decided some things can't be allowed to hurt and torment only me. I'm here to torment you, not myself."

"So then—"

"No more pretending. I'll lay it all out!"

When Tsukika reached this point, she looked at Li Wei and suddenly revealed a cold, cutting smile.

"If I told you that if I don't kill them, our daughter might die, what would you do?"

This time, Li Wei couldn't even keep his expression calm. He looked into Tsukika's eyes. The girl's scarlet pupils gradually filled with a blood-red glow. That bloody light turned slowly like a kaleidoscope, gorgeous in a gruesome way, bewitching and sinister, as if it were guiding him toward **.