Chapter 185

She flicked her long skirt and pointed directly at Ailellek, accusing her.

“Incomprehensible! Completely beyond understanding! I just woke up and was looking for something to eat, but as soon as I stepped out of the room, I ran into her. She smiled at me, so I thought she was going to tell me where to find food. But right after the smile—bam!—a punch came flying at me! Seriously, did I provoke you or something? Are all of you Demons a bunch of freaks?!”

“Hey, hey, hey... If you’re going to insult her, insult her. Don’t lump me in by accident, alright?” Sheffy, who considered herself not a freak, corrected her like that.

It was obvious Timani was truly infuriated—this Fire Lizard’s head rarely spat flames while speaking.

Ailellek, being the one accused, scratched at the back of her head with her blood-red hair and casually waved it off.

“Can’t really blame me, right? I took a nap, walked out, and suddenly saw someone from the Fire Dragon Clan. This is the Demon King’s Castle, you know—I thought it was an enemy invasion. This isn’t called picking a fight. This is called defending the homeland. Yep, defending the homeland!”

Look at her—unsatisfied after saying it once, she even emphasized it the second time like some shameless excuse-maker!

For a moment, Timani was actually taken aback.

But she quickly caught on to the inconsistency.

“Wait a second, haven’t we met before? I’ve been sticking around with this Sheffy girl lately. You still thought I was some invading enemy?”

“I don’t have that great a memory.”

“We literally met just two days ago! How much memory do you need for that?!”

Sheffy tiptoed and patted Timani’s shoulder gently, signaling her not to get worked up.

No need.

Ailellek was the kind of aunt who naturally loved fighting. She’d throw a punch at a big ant if it crossed her path, let alone a not-so-weak Fire Lizard.

Whatever excuses she gave were just to justify getting into a brawl. If you seriously argued back with her, then you’d already lost.

Earlier, that ruckus didn’t even wake Xiarette or Belith.

Not because they were deep sleepers, but because their minds had been honed into resilience after countless ordeals.

When Sheffy was in the Demon King’s Castle, she blew up the lake in the castle. When she stayed at the royal villa, she blew up the lake in front of the mansion. A mere explosion noise? Nothing to worry about.

That little habit Sheffy had of scratching the back of her head in irritation—she probably picked it up from Ailellek.

“Sigh... Aunt, when are you leaving?”

“Is that how you talk to your elders...? Well, probably this afternoon. I need to check in on the Third Corps first.”

“The Third Corps stationed at Riedekidu? Yeah, you should. I just came from there. If you don’t show up soon, I swear they’ll go rogue and crown themselves kings.”

“Ahahaha! If they do that, then they’ve finally grown some backbone! Uh... So, who’s this little girl? Hey, girl, what are you staring at?”

“......”

Livra’s presence was faint—maybe she even had a knack for stealth.

She stood quietly at the side, blinking her large eyes, seemingly trying to speak but kept getting interrupted.

“The Third Princess of the Kingdom of Aurus,” Sheffy said bluntly.

She casually explained with her left eye raised, “She’s just here to do some sightseeing in the Demon King’s Castle. Aren’t the Demon Clan and Aurus about to start a cooperation project? So I brought her along.”

“......”

Ailellek’s expression froze.

The moment she heard words like “cooperation” and “princess”…

She immediately had a bad feeling.

“No way… Just turned my head for a second and this kind of bad luck hits me?! A human princess...? What kind of nightmare is this—wait, does that mean everything I said earlier could count as sabotaging the cooperation?! Listen here, girl—I didn’t call you ‘girl’ on purpose, okay?! Don’t go tattling on me! Oh no... if Big Brother and Sister-in-law find out... Sheffy, your aunt is departing immediately. The rest of this mess—cough, I mean, the remaining matters, I’ll leave them to you!”

“Trying to run away, are you?!”

“Um... could everyone listen to me for a second?”

Livra timidly raised her hand.

Her tone sounded strangely anxious.

As everyone turned to look her way, they saw Livra nervously lift a finger and point in the direction where the Wind Demon Fish had been placed earlier.

“Um... I tried casting Word Spirit on the Wind Demon Fish, like Miss Shaya suggested. But... the Wind Demon Fish’s condition... seems kind of strange?”

“Oh, oh, you’re already putting it into practice? That’s really—wait, where’s my fish?”

In the direction Livra pointed—

Where had that huge fish gone?

And wait, where was Timani? Hadn’t she just been here a moment ago too?

Livra shrank her neck and slowly turned her finger skyward.

At the same time, a shadow like a thick layer of storm clouds cast over the land.

Sheffy and Ailellek looked up. Despite it being noon, there was no blinding sunlight above them.

Before their vision could adjust, they heard Timani shouting down from the sky.

“Hey! Sheffy! Is it normal for Demon Clan fish to fly?! This thing’s heading toward the town—should I stop it or what?!”

“Huh? Fly? What do you mean... uh...”

As everyone knew, just because there was “wind” in Wind Demon Fish didn’t mean it could fly.

It was just a slightly larger-than-average lake-dwelling magical fish. The name sounded cool—it had been coined by Sheffy herself. Somehow, that name ended up spreading as if it were some kind of legendary magical beast.

But now, that fish—originally just over three meters long…

Had actually transformed into a colossal magical beast casting a massive shadow across the sky. A rough estimate would put its size at several dozen meters in both length and width.

Its dorsal fins flapped and stirred up howling winds as it roared and swam through the sky, clearly heading toward the town.

Ailellek no longer felt like leaving.

She folded her hands behind her head and chuckled in amazement.

“Haha, just a few years away, and our Demon Domain really has developed, huh? Sheffy, would you look at that—even the fish know how to fly now!”

“Yeah, and that size... looks kind of tasty.”

No.

That was clearly not normal, right?!

Timani, quick—start roasting it with fire—cough, I mean, stop it somehow!

Right now, what I need to know is—Livra, what exactly did you say to that giant fish using Word Spirit to turn it into that thing?!

15. What Did She Say?

The matter of having to go head-to-head with Livra would have to wait. Priorities had to be sorted—first, they needed to deal with the bizarre flying fish in the sky.

Timani, ever the model of public conscience, showed her innate kindness—even though she was from the Fire Dragon Clan, she still asked whether she should intercept the giant Wind Demon Fish to prevent it from rampaging into town and causing casualties. Her good-hearted nature was evident.

That said...

“Fire Lizard! Come back down already, stop flying around in the sky!”

“Ah...? But the fish... You don’t want it?”

“?”

Are you worried about the townspeople, or are you asking if I still want that fish?!

Timani wasn’t sure what to do, but at Sheffy’s repeated calls—

She ultimately chose to trust her.

If Sheffy said it like that, it must mean she had a way to stop the Wind Demon Fish, right?

Timani flapped her wings and swooped down from the sky with the sound of air tearing. She retracted her dragon wings and landed beside Sheffy, only to find that neither she nor Ailellek had made any further move.

Princess Livra stood there like a child who had done something wrong, neck tucked in, looking as if she was bracing to be scolded.

“Hey... Sheffy, are you sure we don’t need to do anything?”

“It’s not that we don’t need to do anything—we just don’t need to do it. Just watch.”

The Wind Demon Fish resembled a colossal airship—its body, dozens of meters long, loomed like a low-hanging storm cloud, darkening the entire area beneath it.

Timani squinted up at it. She noticed that it wasn’t just the fish’s body size that had been amplified—the magical energy of the beast had undergone a qualitative leap as well.

Its massive fins clashed with the air, releasing wave after wave of shock-like ripples. The creature’s roar rumbled low and deep, echoing like the call of a whale.

This type of fish-like magical beast was originally considered low-tier—about equal to a fourth-rank human. Not very powerful.

But now, this Wind Demon Fish had clearly risen to the level of a high-tier magical beast, with strength comparable to a ninth-rank human warrior.

Timani could handle it, but it would take serious effort.

She didn’t know how the fish had gained such immense power in such a short span, but she did know that if it charged into the town unchecked, the resulting destruction and casualties would be substantial.

It was already starting to drift farther away.

“Sheffy! It’s about to—!”

——Rumble rumble rumble!!

“Eh?”

Before Timani could even finish speaking—

Her entire field of vision seemed to turn a monotonous pale white.

But in the span of a single breath, that whiteness faded, and the world returned to its natural colors.

“Was that... thunder just now? Uh...”

It was thunder, apparently.

But that "thunder" wasn’t brought on by a sudden change in weather—it had been a magically induced attack.

And now she understood why Sheffy had told her not to stay airborne.

The massive beast that had just been hovering so menacingly above was struck by an unknown spell. It turned into a blazing, charred fireball and began trailing thick black smoke as it plummeted toward the wasteland outside the Demon King’s Castle.

With a loud crash, the creature—now resembling a meteor rather than a fish—hit the ground and disintegrated into ash in an instant.

Even Timani, a member of the Fire Dragon Clan, was left wide-eyed at the sight.

“No way... That was a high-tier magical beast—defeated in one hit? Sheffy, was that your spell?”

“I didn’t do anything. If it were me, I wouldn’t have turned the fish into a pile of charcoal—it’s completely scorched now. How are we supposed to eat it like this?”

“Oh, oh... Right, no way you’d be capable of something like that.”

“Hey!”

Don't you go looking down on me all the time, alright?!

When I get serious, I can actually fight pretty well. Back when I was a kid, everyone called me the leader of the pack!

Ailellek crossed her arms over her shapely chest and laughed heartily a few times, then turned halfway to glance in the direction of the Demon King’s Castle.

“Hahaha, Big Brother and Sister-in-law are still as ridiculously over-the-top as ever~ That unlucky fish really had no idea where it was flying, huh? With those two monsters in the Demon King’s Castle, even if they’re separated by mountains and rivers, they can still level mountains from afar! Now that’s exciting.”

“I’m guessing you’ve been on the receiving end of their spells before, Aunt...”

She stopped laughing.

Welp, that must’ve hit a sore spot.

She spent all day wandering outside and occasionally causing trouble, dragging the Demon Royal Family’s reputation through the mud. The Demon King had honestly wanted to blast her into oblivion more than once.

Too bad—Ailellek was officially Monster No. 3. Not blastable.

The shockwave from that earlier incident had been far from ordinary. Both Belith and Xiarette must’ve been awakened by it. Even from this distance, Sheffy could already sense those two familiar magical presences rapidly approaching.

But before they arrived...

Including Sheffy herself—

All three present turned their gazes in perfect unison toward the one responsible for this massive disturbance.

That would be Livra.

“Livra, seriously, what exactly did you say to—Livra?!”

Oh no.

It looked like Livra had buckled under the pressure of doing something wrong—and then had the living daylights scared out of her by that absurd magical attack. She was now lying flat on her back, completely unconscious!