Chapter 87: Not Sparing Even the Demon King

Lucia Cecilia had a very unfortunate childhood.

Despite her human appearance, Lucia Cecilia had demon blood coursing through her veins and a pair of incredibly short horns hidden underneath her long silver hair. It was also thanks to her hair that others couldn't see through her identity easily.

However, when Luna was young, and her hair had yet to grow out, she had failed to hide her little horns. As a result, she was the subject of bullying during her childhood.

Luna had never seen her parents before. She was abandoned on the streets of Holl City as an infant, and an old noblewoman had picked her up and raised her. Despite the obvious horns on Luna's infant head, the old woman still treated her like her own child.

Although Luna had experienced an unhappy childhood, she grew up to be a kind child thanks to her "Grandma" treating her with love and care. She also used her experience of getting bullied as motivation to focus on her studies.

Apart from studying magic, Luna's only other interest was to read Hero novels. During those years, Hero novels followed the standard trope of the Hero defeating the Demon King with his companions and bringing peace back to the land. At the time, the Hero was probably the existence that Luna looked up to the most.

Of course, Luna did not think that she could become the Hero. She was a demon, after all. Instead, she hoped that she could one day accompany the Hero on his journey to defeat the Demon King, whether it be in the form of a comrade-in-arms, a lover, or a maid.

Meanwhile, because of this little hope, Luna had learned many household skills since she was young. She continuously developed her skills in cooking, cleaning, etc. In addition, as she grew up, the other noble children also stopped bullying her as much as before. People would grow up, after all. Once those noble children received proper education, they gradually realized that bullying a mixed-blooded child wouldn't benefit them. Hence, they quickly lost interest in doing so.

As a result, Luna's life gradually shifted back onto the right path. That was until she was 10 years old and her grandma had passed away. The noblewoman didn't have any direct descendants, so she left most of her inheritance to Luna. However, the noblewoman's relatives naturally weren't willing to see such a huge fortune fall into the hands of an adopted child.

Meanwhile, dealing with a child with no connections or backing couldn't be easier for these relatives. After pulling some strings, these relatives quickly snatched all of the noblewoman's inheritance. As for Luna, the adopted child, she was naturally kicked out of the house.

Despite being 10 years old, Luna had already developed a relatively mature mind. Even so, there was a limit to her maturity. Thus, the immature part of her mind hated those greedy relatives, while the mature part of her mind started thinking about how she could get revenge on the inferiority of humans.

Meanwhile, her hatred for being bullied and subjected to human greed, as well as her hatred for her weakness, eventually caught the attention of the Demon King's Power. Hence, at the young age of 10, Luna had already become the host for the Demon King's Power, acquiring the potential and abilities of a Demon King.

However, Luna did not immediately expose herself after acquiring this newfound strength. She knew full well what kind of infamy the Demon King's existence possessed in the human realm. Thus, she laid low and picked up some simple jobs while frantically accumulating knowledge in various fields.

The Demon King had limitless potential. In merely a few years, Luna had already developed her strength to an exaggerated extent. Even though she had yet to officially start training on utilizing the Demon King's Power's dark mana, she already possessed strength that far exceeded what any mortal possessed.

After developing her strength to a satisfactory level, Luna applied for a job in the palace and successfully joined the Gryffin Kingdom's intelligence department that directly answered the Gryffin King. Moreover, due to her exceptional maid skills, she would often be tasked with surveillance and protection of important individuals. As a result, she quickly rose through the ranks and climbed her way to an influential position.

Relying on this position, Luna effortlessly pushed the greedy relatives who snatched her inheritance into a bottomless abyss. After all, these people were capable of stealing even from a child. There was no way they'd be capable of any good deeds. Luna merely needed to expose some of the many crimes they had committed to receiving either life sentences or the death penalty. Nobody could say that she was misusing her power, either.

However, after dealing with the greedy relatives, Luna fell into confusion. Her initial goal in honing herself was to make her grandma proud by succeeding her grandma's businesses and increasing the family wealth. However, now that her grandma had passed away and those wastrels had squandered the family wealth, she suddenly found herself without a goal.

Thus, Luna started searching through her memories and realized that she still had one life goal—to stand by the Hero's side.

…

After dreaming about her bad memories during her short coma, Luna woke up to an aching body. Then, when she opened her eyes, she gradually remembered her present situation—she had seemingly been defeated by someone she suspected to be the Hero's companion.

Despite being the Demon King, Luna had suffered defeat at the hands of someone other than the Hero. Initially, she had found it hard to accept such a reality. However, that all changed when she finally saw the true appearance of the sword stabbed in her chest.

"This is…the Hero's Sword?"

Luna instantly recognized the human realm's fabled sword. The magic patterns engraved on the sword were a gift from God, and humans could not imitate it even if they tried. Because of this, the Hero's Sword was easily recognizable, and it was almost impossible to create a realistic replica of it.

After seeing the Hero's Sword, Luna also realized how Alice had managed to leave a cut on the black sword she had conjured using the Demon King's Power before. As the Hero's weapon, the Hero's Sword carried the Hero's Power. Meanwhile, just like how the Demon King's Power had a restrictive effect on the Hero's Power, the Hero's Power naturally had a restrictive effect on the Demon King's Power as well.

"I see. You've been lying to me all this time, haven't you?" Luna softly sighed, her reaction not particularly excited. Though, if one paid close attention, one would notice an inexplicable sense of joy in her voice. "You're Lord Hero, aren't you?"

"?"

Alice, who was about to activate Holy Blade, was immediately stunned when she heard Luna's faint voice. She wasn't surprised that Luna had figured out her identity. The Hero's Sword had already been exposed, after all. However, what was up with the way Luna referred to her?

Lord Hero? What kind of Demon King would refer to the Hero as "Lord Hero?"

While Alice pondered over Luna's words, a bone-chilling feeling suddenly spread across her entire body. Immediately afterward, she saw a thick black substance emerging from Luna's body. Then, under Alice's horrified gaze, the mud-like substance gathered into a fist-sized black ball that hovered in front of her.

"This is…?"

Alice was momentarily at a loss on what to do as she stared at the black sphere before her. She wondered whether she should release the Holy Blade that had already materialized in her hand.

However, very quickly, a familiar voice suddenly exploded in Alice's mind—it was the Loli Goddess's voice, and she sounded both anxious and excited as she hurriedly shouted:

"Alice! That ball is the Demon King's Power's true form! Destroy it!!!"