Chapter 12: The Dark Lord’s Unexpected Appearance

Was it someone else’s disguise?

No, impossible.

He was all too familiar with the Dark Lord’s aura. He could pinpoint her exact location amidst countless clones and illusions; there was no way he could mistake her in a one-on-one encounter.

But shouldn’t she be asleep in her bed right now…?

Had she awoken? When had this happened?

Had she followed him all this way, trailing right behind him?

Or had she, like him, been drawn here by this monstrous creature…?

Encountering the Dark Lord, who should have been sound asleep in her bed, was utterly unexpected. A flurry of questions erupted in Wade’s mind. Everything felt deeply perplexing and tense.

Unlike facing a low-tier demon, the moment he saw the Dark Lord, he felt his blood surge, quickening its pace through his veins.

It was not fear, but fighting spirit.

To encounter a figure clad in black armor and immediately feel a surge of alertness and battle-readiness had become an instinct for him. After all, they had clashed in countless rounds, and he was always prepared to fight the moment he saw the Dark Lord.

…Wait, what was that beneath its feet?

As Wade took a few breaths to steady himself, his gaze suddenly fell upon a small magic circle forming beneath the low-tier demon, which Lamia was protecting. He instantly recognized it in less than half a second.

It was nothing other than a small teleportation array.

While rapid teleportation often came at the cost of a bumpy ride, with violent tremors that could make one nauseous, it mattered little for transporting a low-tier demon devoid of intellect.

This fiend dared to snatch someone right under his nose?!

This was not the Demon Lord’s castle. She couldn’t act so recklessly on human territory!

Seeing this, Wade didn’t hesitate. With a powerful thrust of his leg, he launched himself from the rooftop. In battle, decisive action was paramount, requiring quick reactions to formulate a countermeasure.

Hesitation was not an option when fighting the Dark Lord. Wade’s speed was akin to a fleeting glimpse of moonlight, reflecting for a single second from the sky.

CLANG!!

Lamia, however, did not dodge. She directly raised her arm, her black gauntlet meeting the cleave head-on. The shockwave of the impact created a circular gust of wind, scattering the surrounding fallen leaves several meters backward.

Though the blade in Wade’s hand was forged from magic, its downward strike carried immense physical force. The jarring feedback left his hand tingling violently.

[‘Hiss—! Such a heavy blow…!’]

In the instant they closed in during their clash, Wade heard her thoughts once more. Now, the evidence was undeniable. Yet, listening to her words… had he truly struck too hard?

During their previous battles, the Dark Lord’s thoughts had always resonated with a deep, echoing blend of sounds, utterly oppressive. This time, however, it was Lamia’s feminine voice… Though still possessing a faint hollow quality and a tone deeper than Lamia’s usual speaking voice, how should he put it… Ugh—was it perhaps a bit much?

Ah—no, no, no, this wouldn’t do. This was no time for such thoughts. If he allowed himself to be distracted by her, wouldn’t he be falling right into her cunning trap!

When he had just delivered that cleave, he’d fully expected Lamia to slightly shift aside and evade it. Their previous battles had always been give-and-take, both of them being agile fighters.

They often fought for an entire morning without either landing a significant blow, forcing Wade to resort to dismantling city walls out of frustration.

—But this time, she had actually taken the blow head-on?

Wade snapped back to reality and focused his gaze, only then realizing that the small teleportation array was still in its preparatory phase. For such teleportation magic, unless one was teleporting oneself and making constant adjustments, it invariably required time to calibrate the coordinates.

Otherwise, being dropped from a hundred meters in the sky to shatter on the ground would render the entire act of teleportation meaningless.

So… she was protecting the low-tier demon behind her? That creature looked like nothing more than an unintelligent grunt, yet the Dark Lord herself had emerged to shield it.

Could it be that some crucial secret lay hidden within it?

It seemed he would have to find a way to capture it alive and deliver it to the Church. Perhaps something useful could be uncovered through studying it.

Consequently, Wade abruptly shifted his strategy, moving from killing the demon to capturing it alive. However, with Lamia present, the difficulty level had clearly escalated, compelling him to take the situation seriously.

Watching the teleportation array beneath the low-tier demon gradually materialize, Wade frantically intensified his speed, his grip tightening with even more force than before. His objective was simple: swiftly disrupt the teleportation array, ideally knock Lamia away, and then find a way to seize the demon.

Even if a true live capture proved impossible, he needed to at least retrieve some experimental samples.

[‘Is this White Knight insane? His target doesn’t seem to be me, but the demon I’m protecting. Why is he striking such a heavy blow against a low-tier mad demon?’]

[‘How did this demon even get into human territory with such an abnormal mental state…? I must hurry and send it back to the Demon Lord’s castle for treatment.’]

“…?”

Huh?

As Lamia stood her ground, not retreating a single step in her defense of the low-tier demon, her thoughts echoed directly into Wade’s mind.

The doubt in her mind was entirely different from what Wade had imagined. It wasn’t that the demon was special, warranting particular attention, but rather that it was ill, and she intended to take it back to the Demon Lord’s castle for treatment?

This line of reasoning utterly stunned Wade. His next round of attacks, which he had been preparing after creating some distance, halted abruptly.

Why?

Wasn’t she the Dark Lord?

Shouldn’t such a clearly weak, low-tier demon be a disposable pawn? Why would she risk appearing before him for its sake?

Wade had initially used his mind-reading ability on the Dark Lord to decipher her attacks during battle and gain an advantage. Yet now, this ability not only failed to provide him with any breakthrough in this fight but even caused him to hesitate for a crucial moment because of her thoughts.

It was in that very instant that the teleportation array beneath the low-tier demon fully materialized. As a flash of purple light erupted, only the White Knight and the Dark Lord remained on the field.

With no subjects left to protect behind her, the Dark Lord shifted from a defensive stance to an offensive one. She raised her right hand, sweeping and clenching it, and a great black sword materialized in her grasp. Wade was intimately familiar with its formidable weight.

The memory of being sent flying during a past mistake still made his back ache with a fiery pain.

[‘It hurts like hell… I only held back from a high-intensity counterattack to protect the demon behind me. Now that it’s gone, White Knight… Wade! Prepare to die—!!’]

Her calling him “White Knight” was acceptable, but when the name “Wade” was uttered within her thoughts, he unconsciously swallowed, a knot of tension forming in his throat. “White Knight” signified a clash between the Dark Lord and a knight.

But to call him “Wade” directly… how did that suddenly feel like a domestic dispute—?

But… fight—he had to fight—should he fight?

Normally, their battles took place at the gates of the Demon Lord’s castle, a location where Wade had no concerns. But this time, they were in the residential district of the Royal City.

If a true battle erupted, hundreds of ordinary citizens within a hundred-meter radius would be endangered…!

No, he couldn’t fight! Absolutely not!

This wasn’t cowardice. As the White Knight, his duty was to protect civilians by any means necessary, not to allow them to be caught in the crossfire of battle…!

He had an idea… retreat.

Go home! Go home right now!

If Lamia were truly standing here, seeing him go home, she would undoubtedly rush back herself to maintain her disguise. As long as he turned and left, she wouldn’t waste time here!

And so, facing the Dark Lord, the White Knight, for the first time, chose not to engage in direct combat. He could fight, but not within a residential area.

Even if he managed to inflict severe damage upon the Dark Lord by fighting with all his might, it would harm too many innocents. Wade could never countenance sacrificing civilians in such a manner.

There would be other opportunities. He absolutely couldn’t stake everything on this one chance!

Wade took a deep breath. In the instant Lamia merely grazed him, he endured the searing pain from the previous cleave and executed a backward flip, landing back on the rooftop.

Running directly home would undoubtedly arouse Lamia’s suspicion. So, Wade first sprinted in a different direction, feigning a search for a more suitable open space, but ultimately used his intimate knowledge of the entire Royal City’s map to shake Lamia off his trail.

He believed Lamia would likely deduce that he was temporarily retreating to avoid a direct confrontation. If she couldn’t find him, she would probably assume he’d gone home to hide, and thus, she would surely return home first.

To give Lamia ample time, Wade even found a street corner to rest for a while. Once he felt enough time had passed and Lamia had surely returned, he made his way back to his own residence.

He scaled the back wall and, just as before, climbed through the window back into his room.

Upon re-entering his room, he found Lamia indeed lying in bed. It seemed his plan had been flawless; she had assessed the situation and returned home ahead of him.

But…

[‘Hah… the White Knight returned. I didn’t expect him to just turn tail and run. Does he not dare to face this King directly?’]

[‘Even if this King has left the Demon Lord’s castle, and the Tower’s power is somewhat diminished, I can still contend with the White Knight.’]

[‘However, I suppose he also didn’t intend to clash head-on with me. During our recent skirmish, he was clearly holding back, likely fearing the impact on nearby human residents… But to just flee like that! It infuriates me…!!’]

Wade was slightly surprised. Lamia had actually perceived his considerations during their fight. Yet, upon reflection, if she was capable of protecting a low-tier demon, perhaps their shared inclination to “protect” others truly resonated between them.

But… demons? Protection? Could those two words truly be spoken in the same breath?

Yet, since she truly acted that way, even as the Dark Lord, even as an enemy, there was a commendable aspect to her.

[‘😡 Hmph… You can run, but you can’t hide. You came back, didn’t you? So you’re still caught by me! Just you wait… just you wait!’]

“...😨”

But upon hearing her next thought, a wave of dread washed over Wade.

Wait… wait for what? What was she going to do, strangle him in bed?

However, Wade now had no choice but to face the situation. If he didn’t quickly lie back down and pretend nothing had happened, he risked exposing his knowledge of her true identity as the Dark Lord.

As a delaying tactic, Wade ultimately mustered his courage and, in his human form, lay down beside the Dark Lord!

“—Ugh, what?!”

The very next second, before he could even settle properly, Lamia abruptly rolled over and kicked Wade right off the bed. The force was tremendous.

With a resounding thud, Wade was sent flying, his back slamming hard against the floor.

Ugh… my back…! 😫

“Oh, hubby?”

Hearing Wade’s cry of pain, Lamia quickly sat up and switched on the bedside lamp. Her eyes fell upon Wade, who was lying on the floor, wincing and rubbing his aching back.

“Oh dear, someone suddenly appeared beside me. I thought a thief had broken in. I never imagined it would be you, my *dear* husband~”

When Lamia uttered the word ‘you,’ a distinct gritting of teeth was evident, a sound that sent shivers down Wade’s spine.

In that moment, the Lamia before him truly seemed like a maiden disguised by the Dark Lord herself.