Chapter 200

PHA – Chapter 200 – Please Stay Dead

Alice hadn’t revealed her identity as the Hero to Elodie, so the other party only treated her as a princess with an extraordinary talent for magic. Hence, even though she had sensed that the aura coming from Elodie’s mother’s room belonged to the Demon King, she kept quiet about it since it wasn’t convenient for her to reveal it.

Sure enough, after entering the inconspicuous room, Alice promptly saw a woman lying on top of a large bed. Even from the door, Alice could tell that Elodie and the woman shared very similar appearances, with the latter’s face giving off a more mature and charming feeling.

However, their similarities were only limited to the face. This was because, with the exception of her face, the rest of the woman’s body had already taken on an inhuman form. Specifically, the woman’s limbs and torso were covered entirely in a glossy black carapace. Although the woman’s body still retained the basic human structure, it was obvious that her condition was extremely severe. The woman would definitely turn into a giant bug if she wasn’t given the necessary treatment soon.

Honestly, Alice found it hard to accept the sight before her. Not everyone liked bugs. In her case, she had an innate aversion toward black and glossy insects. So, the combination of human face+insect carapace very nearly deterred her from entering the room.

“As you can see… My mother is already in such a state.”

Elodie was aware that her mother’s current appearance was horrific, so when she saw Alice briefly hesitating to enter the room, she didn’t find anything wrong with the princess’s reaction. Instead, she pointed at a bottle on the bedside table and said:

“The Sunset Grass’s effects are growing weaker and weaker. During the first few days, the Sunset Grass was able to slow the conversion rate dramatically. However, as time passed, the conversion rate gradually increased.”

Elodie sighed after saying so. Then, she picked up the book beside the bottle of Sunset Grass, handed it to Alice, and continued in a sorrowful tone:

“What you see now happened only within the last two days. Before that, aside from her skin taking on a darker tone, there weren’t any significant changes… According to the last group of magic researchers who had diagnosed her, she can only persist until the day after tomorrow.”

“The day after tomorrow, huh…”

Alice accepted the book Elodie offered her and gave it a look. The book’s cover only had the words “Sunset Bug Erosion” printed on it. Judging by how simple the cover looked, this book should only be a copy of the original. However, this wasn’t a surprising situation. Most developers of taboos would typically choose to keep the original print for themselves. It was already amazing that Elodie had managed to get her hands on an authentic copy.

“Before getting cursed, did your mother come into contact with anybody or visited anywhere?”

When Alice opened the book and saw the book’s preface, she quickly determined that the principles used for this taboo weren’t significantly more complicated than the other taboos she had studied thus far. Meanwhile, this discovery filled her with assurance.

Even so, Alice was still a little concerned about the person who had cursed Elodie’s mother. After focusing her senses on Elodie’s mother, she had verified that the woman indeed carried obvious traces of the Demon King’s mana in her body.

Yet, Alice couldn’t feel the Demon King’s Power in Elodie. This meant that Elodie wasn’t the Demon King’s Power’s new host. In that case, the person who had cast the Sunset Bug Erosion taboo on Elodie’s mother might very well be the new Demon King.

However, Alice was also certain that the Demon King’s Power hadn’t found a new host yet. Otherwise, Fithalia of the Elven Forest and the Loli Goddess would have noticed it and promptly contacted her to inform her of this important piece of information. Since neither of these two people had contacted her, it meant that the Demon King’s Power had yet to attach itself to a new host.

Of course, there was also the possibility that the Loli Goddess and Fithalia had failed to detect the new Demon King’s birth. However, even if that were the case, it still shouldn’t be possible for the new Demon King to grow strong enough to learn and cast a taboo in such a short period.

Unlike Alice, orthodox Heroes and Demon Kings couldn’t gain strength from panties. After being chosen by God and the Demon King’s Power, the Hero and the Demon King would need to convert the Hero’s Power and the Demon King’s Power into their own strength, and this process required a lot of time. This was why even after the new Hero and the new Demon King were chosen, a full-scale war between the human and demon realms would only occur several years later.

If Luna had taken several years to grow to a point where she could freely cast taboos, there was no way the new Demon King could grow to a point where they could cast taboos in only a few weeks or months.

“Others have also asked this question. My mother hadn’t been anywhere before she was cursed. She was binge-watching a TV drama at the time, so she hadn’t stepped out of the house for three days straight,” Elodie said, shaking her head. She had repeated this answer many times before. “She hasn’t had any contact with outsiders, either. Aside from my family members, the only ones who entered the house were the servants. However, we’ve already checked all of our servants, and none of them has the ability to cast a taboo.”

Alice frowned when she heard Elodie’s answer. By the looks of it, the person who had cursed Elodie’s mother wasn’t someone close to her. Then, a thought suddenly came to her mind as she asked, “Have you brought any foreign items into the house recently? For example, strange artworks and the like.”

Since no outsiders had come into close contact with Elodie’s mother when she was cursed, and the caster wasn’t a family member or a servant, could it be possible that the caster wasn’t a person?

Maybe the culprit was…a Demon King’s soul hiding in a certain object?

To date, Alice had already encountered the souls of one Demon King and two Heroes. So, there was no reason to discount the possibility of another Demon King storing their soul in a certain object. It was especially true considering she could sense the Demon King’s mana attached to Elodie’s mother. If a Demon King’s soul was responsible for the curse on Elodie’s mother, everything made perfect sense.

“I’m not too sure about this… I wasn’t home at the time, and I only rushed back after hearing that my mother was cursed,” Elodie said, shaking her head. “So, this is a question only my mother has an answer to… Moreover, logically, the only thing capable of storing something as complicated as a taboo is a taboo bomb.”

“Is that so… Nevermind, then. Forget I ever mentioned that.”

Alice could sense the Demon King’s mana attached to Elodie’s mother, so she was naturally certain that someone had brought an object hiding a Demon King’s soul into the house. However, Elodie wasn’t aware of this matter, so her natural reaction was to assume that Alice was asking if someone had brought in an object that contained a taboo.

However, since Alice couldn’t clarify this misunderstanding with Elodie, she decided to change the topic and see if she could lift the curse on Elodie’s mother. Not to mention, Elodie’s mother didn’t have much time left, so saving her took priority over locating the Demon King’s soul.

“Anyway, let’s see if I can unravel this taboo.”

After saying so, Alice took a seat on a chair and started reading the Sunset Bug Erosion in her hands.

…

TL Notes:

Fyi, taboo names that are italicized usually mean that it is referring to the book.

e.g.,

Sunset Bug Erosion (taboo)

Sunset Bug Erosion (taboo’s magic book)

The italicized version might sometimes be used for emphasis.