Chapter 52: The Demon Lord’s Vigil

Peace?

No, the time for such happiness had not yet truly arrived.

He had wondered how Lamia could sleep so deeply in the afternoon and still manage to fall asleep again at night, but he himself had also dozed off for a while.

Yet, it was only for a brief moment.

Opening his eyes in the darkness, he caught a familiar scent.

A demon.

Wade’s magical senses were always acute at night. In the quiet stillness, wandering demons were the most obvious presences.

Wade instinctively turned, finding Lamia still lying peacefully beside him.

He listened to Lamia’s inner thoughts, yet all he perceived was the steady rhythm of her breathing.

‘She’s asleep… probably.’

Having witnessed Lamia suddenly appear before him in her Demon Lord form, he found it difficult to confirm if the current Lamia was truly “soundly asleep.”

After all, if he could awaken simply by sensing the presence of magic, Lamia, as the Demon Lord, should be even more sensitive to such power.

Whether she was feigning sleep or simply hadn’t reacted, it was time for him to depart.

Lamia already knew his identity as the White Knight and had approached him precisely for that reason. Therefore, any pretense was now unnecessary.

He simply needed to act foolish on the surface, while his clandestine actions required no concealment whatsoever.

Wade quietly rose, moving away from Lamia’s side.

He used to think the furniture in his home was quite sturdy, but when he heard the distinct creak of the floorboards, he realized these items had been in use for years.

He had never noticed it before, but now, as he tiptoed away from Lamia, the sound seemed remarkably loud.

He turned, glancing at Lamia.

Lamia remained unresponsive, maintaining her previous posture. Her inner thoughts, too, were as steady as ever, utterly silent.

The door posed a risk of waking her. Although she knew his identity, explaining himself would be too troublesome.

Thus, Wade opted for the window once more; the height was inconsequential to him.

The White Knight’s armor offered basic warmth, and the night wasn’t particularly cold, so he didn’t need to change. He leaped out, still in his shirt-pajamas and house slippers.

The moment he dropped from the third floor, pure white armor enveloped his entire body, and a surge of powerful magic provided a stable cushion for his landing.

Wade cast a glance in the direction of the detected magical scent, his brow furrowing beneath his helmet.

‘Lamia speaks of peace, yet demons continue to appear in human towns… Does the Demon Lord’s Castle have two factions?’

‘No, I’ll set those thoughts aside for now. My priority is to deal with that demon before things escalate.’

Battle and eradication demanded efficiency. There was no time for hesitation fueled by emotion; once a threat was discovered, it had to be resolved immediately.

****

As Wade turned and departed, Lamia, still lying on the bed, opened her eyes.

Unlike Wade’s luminous blue gaze, which brought comfort even in darkness, Lamia’s eyes were crimson.

That scarlet hue bloomed in the gloom, like the gaze of a fiend.

She sat up, looking towards the window. This time, Wade had closed it properly.

She then turned back to the empty space beside her, gently touching it. The lingering warmth was already gone.

Without Wade, the mind-reader, no one could hear Lamia’s inner thoughts.

She silently gazed at the spot where Wade had just been, then at the place from which he had departed.

The scent of demons was, of course, familiar to her. As the Demon Lord, how could she not recognize her own kind?

‘But… why would one appear here?’

‘Is it a stray demon?’

The ongoing conflict between her and the White Knight had indeed weakened the Tower of Earth’s power. Her presence here was also due to the Tower’s strength being too depleted, requiring time to recover.

Ten years might sound long, but to demons whose ages spanned hundreds or thousands of years, a decade was no different from a year or even a few months.

‘Perhaps its weakening power had diminished its directional function, causing stray demons to lose their way home?’

She had long known that demons ultimately required demonic energy. Although the earth’s magic in human lands still possessed power, it was like a “mismatch.”

The magical circuits of humans and demons differed, preventing the earth’s magic from directly replenishing demons.

Moreover, the demonic vein energy nurtured within the magic ore veins where demons resided was also somewhat different from pure demonic energy. Therefore, in theory, a rampage could occur due to a magical format mismatch.

The insane demon she encountered earlier might have suffered from this very reason. Tragically, by the time that demon returned to the Demon Lord’s Castle, it died before any treatment could be administered.

Most demons, after death, left no corpse behind, instead dissipating into magical particles in the air. This meant no “autopsies” could be performed as with humans.

Ultimately, the cause of death could only be concluded as a rampage brought on by magical disorder.

“Haaah.”

Thinking of this, Lamia let out a troubled sigh.

Until these matters were understood, the relationship between humans and demons could not be eased.

In the current climate, diplomacy was impossible. She had to uncover the truth herself, gather ample information, and devise a solution.

With that thought, Lamia patted the spot where Wade had just been. Her expression showed a hint of displeasure.

One or two pats weren’t enough, so she gave several more.

“It’s all your fault…! Always stirring up trouble in the Demon Lord’s Castle, draining my Tower’s magic! Now my people can’t find their way home!”

As she spoke, Lamia angrily extended her foot and stomped twice, though only against the bedsheets.

Wade’s recent answer had indeed been a plus point. However, Lamia had no way of knowing if those words were sincerely spoken to her by Wade.

She was unaware that her identity had already been exposed to him. Thus, while she felt a certain resonance, her thoughts were less about her own position and more about the possibility of a brighter future for the demon race.

Lamia naturally cared about her own affairs; otherwise, she wouldn’t have felt such aversion to them. Yet, she understood that Wade’s overture was an attempt to ascertain whether she was a villain or a heroine.

But, compared to herself, she should care more about the entire demon race.

A Demon Lord was the ruler of all demons, and as such, should prioritize their people above all else.

This was a tenet taught by the Great General, one Lamia had always kept in her heart.

Regardless, the interests of the collective always surpassed individual gain.

Therefore, making a sacrifice now, such as becoming someone else’s wife—she genuinely believed it was a good solution. It would spare resources, trouble no one, and only require her.

“Haaah—” She exhaled.

After her outburst, Lamia stood up and opened the window Wade had just jumped from. She gazed at the moon in the sky, realizing it had been a long time since she had seen a full moon, though perhaps that was because she rarely looked at it.

‘Hmph...’

Lamia let out a displeased hum, then swung one leg over the sill, leaning half her body out.

“Just you wait, detestable White Knight.”

Lamia, like Wade, leaped from the height. However, unlike Wade, who needed to transform and adjust his magical energy for a smooth landing, Lamia’s descent was far more ferocious.

So savage, in fact, that she didn’t even need to summon her demon form. She simply jumped directly from the third floor in her maiden guise.

Only after landing did she look towards where Wade had vanished.

She, too, was barefoot, her feet pressing against the earth.

Her white dress, illuminated by the moonlight, seemed to drape her in light itself.

But—she needed no light.

She swept back her wind-tousled long hair and stepped into the shadows beneath the trees. When she emerged into the light once more, the maiden’s form had vanished.

In its place, the Demon Lord, clad in black armor, appeared beneath the moonlight.

“Hmph, White Knight, just you wait.”

A muffled sound emanated from within her black armor, an echoing resonance that carried a hint of triumph.

“The power that the Tower and I have expended… I will surely extract it all back from you!”