The legend of the Crimson Demon clan started from Suqing.

Chapter 625 VS The Demon King's Daughter
Leaving without looking back must have been quite dashing, right? It has the feel of a shonen manga, doesn't it?
"Hey, stop him! Isn't this your job?"

"Huihui, shut up! It's all your fault for being too slow in preparing your explosion magic, that's why you were targeted!"

"What do you mean? Does Yuyu mean my magic can only kill on the first encounter!?"

"Then hurry up and release it! Where did your usual instantaneous activation go?!"

……

If it weren't for the faint sounds of arguing coming from behind, it would be even better—no, considering the relationship between Huihui and Youyou, it's actually more likable for friends who are enemies to each other, isn't it?

"I'm saying, don't you guys think it's great that Huihui and Youyou are both rivals and friends? Especially now, handing over a strong enemy to your comrade, isn't that just like a shonen manga?"

“…Aqua, shut up.”

"Hey, why?"

Ignoring the silly, foolish goddess.

Some things seem cool when left unsaid and kept in tacit understanding, but once spoken, they become inferior, and Aqua perfectly ruined this atmosphere.

"But I didn't expect Hibiki to agree."

"……what?"

"So you left Huihui and Youyou behind to fight that old angel. I thought you were the type to say, 'I would never abandon any of my comrades!'"

Although Mikami Hibiki is somewhat narcissistic, he is very righteous and has the typical personality of a hot-blooded male protagonist.

If he had insisted on staying to fight the old angel, it would have been quite troublesome.

"No, I didn't have that thought."

Mikage Hibiki shook his head and said, "Those two weren't ordered to stay; they requested to do so on their own. I can only respect their decision. Besides, I think that Explosion Mage is right—we need to conserve our strength before defeating the Demon King."

I never expected him to be so reasonable.
Yes.

Even Mikami Hibiki can grow stronger. He's changed drastically since we first met, both in terms of strength and personality.

"But he's really handsome, isn't he?"

"Yes, Lady Aqua!"

There are also parts that remain unchanged, even after the correction.

Zun Zun seemed to see the tail wagging incessantly behind Yu Jian Xiang Ye. He wondered why this person insisted on being a simp for the stupid goddess. Didn't he see his two female companions biting their fingers in jealousy?

Speaking of which, did he have a blood-related adopted sister, a beautiful childhood sweetheart, and gentle senior and junior sisters in that world who would wake him up in different ways every day?

Could it be that they're tired of the usual flavors and want to seek something more exciting?
"Um... Lady Aqua!... After we defeat the Demon King, I... I promise... I promise... I promise—"

"OK, shut up."

Zun Zun immediately covered Yu Jian Xiang Ye's mouth, causing him to thrash around and groan.

"Don't make promises now. Let's wait until we defeat the Demon King, okay?"

"……Um."

Seeing Zun Zun's serious red eyes, Yu Jian Xiang Ye nodded.

Once again at the crossroads of fate—the staircase leading up and down—the group ascended without hesitation. This was partly due to the fact that they hadn't encountered the Demon King below last time, but also because of the old angel.

Having always pursued the path of chivalry and passion, he surely believed that the Demon King should be waiting for the brave warriors who would come to challenge him at the top of the Demon King's Castle, so there was nothing for him to hesitate about.

Go up about three floors.

"How strange, why are there no monsters at all? Where did the guardian knights go?"

The empty floors did not reassure them; instead, they frightened them.

It's really strange that there isn't a single guard patrolling or protecting this enemy base.

"It can't be because the Demon King's army has been wiped out, can it?"

"...Do you think that's possible?"

"That's exactly what I was saying, hahaha..."

Aqua scratched her head awkwardly.

Darkness looked utterly dejected, seemingly quite disappointed that he couldn't perform his self-sacrificing act without encountering the monsters of the Demon King's castle.

Mikami Hibiki frowned slightly and said, "Anyway, everyone be careful."

"Oh."

"understood."

"If there's any danger, just stay behind me."

Although I don't know why he suddenly became the one giving orders, I listened to him because what he said made sense.

After going up a few more floors, we came to a large door.

—It looks like the enemy is right behind the door.

The group exchanged glances, nodded, and then pushed the door open together.

"Hahaha—! They've finally arrived, heroes! I've been waiting impatiently! But my father said that facing powerful enemies is the Demon King's duty, and as I'm about to take over the Demon King's job, I should do the same!"

This is a huge space.

It was completely invisible from the outside, and according to the structure of the Demon King's castle, it shouldn't be like this unless some kind of magic or artifact was used to forcibly expand this space. Two rows of guards stood in the room; they were of different races but all wore the same style of pure black armor, and all exuded a powerful aura.

Whether it has been enhanced or not, its strength is no weaker than any of the Demon King's army (excluding officers) that I have seen so far.

And in front of the guards was the Demon King's daughter.

She was dressed rather lightly, but what was most striking were her black cloak and the silver shield in her hand—

"As expected, it is Aegis the Shield."

After taking a quick look, Saint Armor Aegis made this decision.

"Tsk, just as I thought..."

Yujian Xiangye couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement.

He had also inquired whether it was possible to forcibly recall it using the associated connections, and the answer was naturally no; otherwise, how could its shield have been lost? Most importantly, it was unknown whether that shield possessed self-awareness.

"but……"

"very strange."

Darkness and Aqua suddenly said that.

Not only the Demon King's daughter, but even Zun Zun and the others were puzzled, wondering why the two of them were saying such things. And soon—

"This is the Demon King's castle, right? There should be a lot of monsters, right? The Demon King's daughter should be second only to the Demon King, so why is she the second boss guarding the gate? Shouldn't she be the second to last boss?"

"—Isn't it because you all defeated the Demon King's army officers!"

Upon hearing this, the Demon King's daughter stomped her feet in anger, seemingly condemning their lack of self-awareness.

"If those Demon King's army officers hadn't been defeated by you, how would I be here? But don't underestimate me, I am—"

"Right, right, right. Since the Demon King's daughter has already appeared, doesn't that mean this is the second level? If we defeat her, we can meet the Demon King?"

For the first time, Aqua's mind started working.

Darkness pouted somewhat dejectedly, muttering under her breath, "What? The scene where the female knight is toyed with by the Demon King is made at the very end? Although the main course is always the most delicious when served last, isn't it a bit too much to keep me hanging like this..."

"You're the ones who're going too far! My father... cough cough, the Demon King would never do something as despicable as toying with a female knight. Don't think so badly of other people's fathers!"

"Varied……!?"

The Demon King's daughter clearly heard it.

However, her answer shattered Darkness's long-held wish. A demon lord who doesn't toy with female knights... Is there really such an upright demon lord? In the end, why does he harm humans?
But now I don't have time to think about those things.

A faint black aura emanated from the Demon King's daughter, continuously flowing into the bodies of the two rows of knights guarding her, while their strength slowly increased.

"Alright, hero! If you want to pass, defeat me—"

"Wait a minute! I have a question before that."

Zun Zun raised his hand to interrupt her.

The Demon King's daughter was slightly displeased, but seemed to understand what she wanted to ask, and said, "You're worried about that human named Sato Kazuma, right? Don't worry, I didn't kill him—"

No, that's not it.

"……what?"

"I don't care about his safety."

A rather indifferent response.

First of all, Kazuma Sato was lucky to be alive, and since he hadn't gone to the Heavenly Realm yet, meaning he wasn't killed, there was no need to worry.

But for some reason, the Demon King's daughter was angered by this.

"Hey! Hey! That person is your comrade, right?! Although he looks incredibly weak, and I don't think he's the prophesied hero who can defeat the Demon King, he's definitely your comrade, isn't he? You came to the Demon King's castle because you wanted to rescue him, right? Does that mean you're only here to defeat the Demon King and don't care about your comrade's safety at all? That can't be right, you're not human!"

...Why was it she who got angry?
Aqua whispered to Darkness, "I wonder if Kazuma Sato did something to her."

"It's quite possible, for example... kneading and pinching, then pouncing on her and having some ambiguous scenes or something?" Darkness's mind was always filled with these unnecessary fantasies.

"—That's not true at all! After I captured him, I threw him into the dungeon at the very bottom of the Demon King's castle!"

The Demon King's daughter retorted loudly.

As if he had just realized something, Mikami Hibiki quickly said that what he saw when he went to the bottom of the Demon King's Castle last time was the dungeon—of course, at that time, Sato Kazuma had not yet been captured, so he was not imprisoned there.

As for why Sato Kazuma wasn't killed, Zun Zun doesn't think the Demon King's daughter is kind; there must be another reason.

For example, acting as a hostage.

However, Zun Zun and the others seemed too indifferent to use this as leverage. If that's the case, then the Demon King's daughter's agitation earlier becomes understandable.

Of course, there may be other reasons.

However, that's not what Zun Zun wants to ask right now; what he wants to ask is—

"Why are you able to use divine artifacts?"

In fact, he was prepared for the Demon King's daughter to either not answer, or to reveal that she had found a way to break the 'authorization,' or to give the artifact self-awareness... and so on, all sorts of answers.

However, the Demon King's daughter proudly puffed out her chest and said with great pride, "Because I have 1/13 human blood!"

Unexpected answer.

(End of this chapter)