Free Web NovelHua Shiyu was flustered.
Her plan had been to let the line out long, then reel in the big fish.
First, put this highly suspicious staff member under watch. Heh—able to infiltrate the Tribunal, even blend in as an official high-ranking operative.
To say she had nothing to do with this incident? Impossible.
All it would take was one target, plus a little patience, and Hua Shiyu could follow this little vine named Vieya and uncover the massive fruit hidden behind it.
But plans never keep pace with change.
The bright, gleaming corridor, sunlight warm as water—and in that sunlit hall, a girl dressed in pale white work clothes whose transcendent beauty could not be concealed.
Her gentle smile made the well-read Hua Shiyu suddenly recall the “painting-immortal” written of in the ancient scrolls of the Vast Sea.
In a time so remote that their civilization had not yet been born, there was once a man who could not find a wife. So he drew his ideal bride upon white paper, and the next day the woman from the paper became real!
Hua Shiyu herself had once considered whether such a thing could be done—drawing her own wife. She studied over a hundred obscure secret scrolls, consulted many great scholars specializing in magical constructs, lifelines, the making of sentient beings.
Alas, to create intelligent life from nothing was a god’s authority. To create a fully sentient being who perfectly matched one’s ideal wife was even harder.
Wait.
No!
Even if I’m a woman-loving woman, now is clearly not the time to be thinking about this!
In that instant, cold sweat streamed down Hua Shiyu’s brow.
This was an enemy so great she could interfere with her own calm thinking.
“Big sister, can you really break free of those handcuffs?” Hua Shiyu asked cautiously.
This giant fish before her was clearly not an extreme antisocial lunatic. Despite being a “spy,” she radiated a terrifying affinity.
Vieya did not answer. She only smiled and raised her hand slightly. At once the surrounding Tribunal knights lifted their swords as if facing death itself, all pointing them toward her.
“Oh dear, seems I scared you all.”
Vieya covered her mouth with an almost careless chuckle, sending ripples of unease through the knights. But in truth, her thoughts had already flown far away.
In this city, besides her little disciple, there should be another Hero. freewebnovёl.ƈom
Who would it be?
Someone she once knew?
In fairy tales, proper villains always had a few friends of the righteous path, friends with whom they could once raise a glass.
Vieya truly wanted to find them again as a friend, to talk about how, in the days she was gone, the people and things she had once guarded with all her heart—what had they become?
Had they turned into strangers?
Perhaps...
But if she really were given such a chance, Vieya would only ask them one question: Are you happy?
And the friend would nod.
Yes, happy.
That would be enough for her to let go of that time as a Hero.
At least those days had not been wasted, right?
Clang!
A crisp sound rang through the corridor, like jade shattering upon stone.
The Tribunal knights stood frozen like statues in the sunlit hall. Sunlight flashed upon their cold armor; sweat beaded in their palms clutching weapons. Armor that once resisted the fangs and claws of monsters now felt like a mountain of iron pressing down upon them.
“B...broken?”
Hua Shiyu wanted to rub her eyes, but found her arm pinned as if by ten thousand pounds of force.
The handcuffs said to bind ninth-tier monsters had snapped just like that—shattered as though some unseen divine power had torn them off and flung them away!
“Little sister.”
Vieya slowly stepped before Hua Shiyu, bent slightly, gazing into her cherry-blossom pink eyes. With mischief, she pinched her cheek and teased:
“See? They broke all on their own.”
An invisible gravity weighed down perfectly on everyone present, yet the fragile tiles beneath their feet did not so much as crack.
This was...
Authority.
Her cheek kneaded round and flat at will, her body locked and unmoving, Hua Shiyu sank into despair.
Authority... Among humans, only one kind could possess it—Heroes.
But the one before her was absolutely impossible to be a Hero!
Then it could only be a monster.
And # Nоvеlight # among monsters, only a handful of Demon Kings possessed Authority.
The Demon Kings, always cloaked in mystery, unseen and unfelt—yet one of them had appeared here?
Why... Which of the six remaining Demon Kings was she?
Did this city hold something important to her? What had drawn her here?
Or was she here for revenge.
This city—just the beginning of a Demon King’s vengeance upon mankind.
“Little sister, you seem to be trembling.”
Vieya poked at the face of the pink-haired shorty who had been sassy and fiery just half an hour ago. Suddenly she felt the absurd comedy of the world’s crookedness:
“Are you worried I’ll hurt you? Or worried I’ll vent my anger on innocents?”
“Oh?”
Vieya took from her pocket a pen, something she had casually picked up in the storeroom. Under Hua Shiyu’s terrified gaze, she slowly brought it close to her cheek.
“Relax. As the old saying goes, the law of the ancestors cannot be changed. I’ve always followed the principle of debts having their heads, grudges their owners. This time I’ll just draw a little turtle on your face, hehe.”
