CHAPTER 409: THE FATE OF THE FALSE KING

Flexom pushed forward, his muscles tensing, and his eyes burning with fury. "You should’ve bowed when you had the chance," he snarled.

Horisia twisted her blade and shoved him back, her movements a blur. "I don’t bow to thieves." She spun, bringing her sword down in a vertical strike. Flexom barely blocked, stumbling a step. Her blows came as fast and precise as lightning. Every swing forced him to guard or retreat.

She pressed her advantage, summoning a burst of light that cracked the ground beneath him. He countered with a wave of shadow, black mist surging from his free hand, but she tore through it, her blade glowing brighter. For every heavy strike he threw, she answered with two, weaving between his defenses, cutting through the air with her amplified strength.

Flexom gritted his teeth, deflecting another blow that sent a shudder through his arm. "You may have gotten your power from a goddess," he spat, "but you bleed like everyone else!"

Horisia didn’t answer. She advanced again, sword gleaming with condensed Chi, and their weapons clashed in a storm of sparks. Her momentum was unstoppable — until her light began to dim.

The next clash faltered. Her breath grew heavy. The divine energy that had surged through her veins thinned like fading embers. Flexom could feel it, and when he did, he smiled.

Now his Khopesh hit harder, dark energy coiling around its edge. He parried her strike and slammed his elbow into her chest, sending her skidding backward. "Running out of juice already?" he taunted.

Horisia steadied herself, blood sliding down her lip. She raised her sword, forcing her trembling arms to move. "I have more than enough power to deal with the likes of you, false king!"

Flexom roared and charged, their blades ringing again. She blocked one strike, then another, but the third shattered her guard and sent her crashing to her knees. Flexom raised his hand, unleashing a blast of witchcraft that tore through the air. She rolled aside just in time, the shockwave scattering debris across the throne steps.

Still, she fought hard, parrying, slashing, even landing a cut across his shoulder. The wound hissed with holy energy, but he only laughed, unfazed. "You’re finished, hero."

Her sword flew from her hand as his Khopesh struck her side. She gasped, pain flooding her body, and dropped to one knee.

Flexom approached slowly, dragging his weapon behind him. "Look at you," he said, voice dripping with triumph. "Kneeling at last."

Horisia’s gaze hardened. She couldn’t believe that she still couldn’t beat Flexom even with the buff from the chalice. However, she wasn’t out of the game yet. Behind the false king was her blade, lying on the ground, and she had the power to call it back to her.

Flexom lifted his Khopesh. "Any last words?"

"Just one." She smirked.

Her sword shot forward, a streak of light piercing straight through his back and bursting from his chest. Flexom froze, shock twisting his face.

Horisia rose, conjuring a blade of pure Chi in her hand. "Die." She swung her arm across Flexom’s throat, and his head hit the floor before his body collapsed.

Once it did, silence was welcomed into the throne room.

"Holy shit! That was epic!" Kai jumped off one of the pillars and clapped his hands.

"K-Kai?"

"That’s me."

"What are—nngh—you doing here?" Horisia struggled to get up, but she still did so anyway.

With a smile on his face, Kai tapped her shoulder, healing her entire body.

"Thank you." She smiled at him.

"No problem. But that fight was cool. You were like BOOOM! And he was like Wapooosh! Then you counted with a Bawang! And then he was like Skadooosh! And finally, you were like, SNEAK ATTACK! Ugh! HEAD SLICE! Epic."

"Hehe, hahahaha! Thanks. That was probably the hardest battle I’ve fought in my life." Though she killed Flexom, Horisia still felt like shit. He wasn’t even the demon king, and he put up that much of a fight. It was embarrassing to her as the hero.

"Don’t sweat it. He was amplified by an energy my father created to kill my siblings. Don’t think too much about it." Kai walked over to Flexom’s body and absorbed the primordial decay from it.

"Wait, seriously? That makes me feel a lot better, actually! Fuck! That guy was cheating! No wonder he was so hard to fight. Ha, I bet that I could actually beat the Demon Queen!"

Kai placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a look. He didn’t say anything, but she understood what his expression meant.

"Yeah, maybe I am getting ahead of myself." She sighed.

"Don’t sweat it. Go ahead and meet back up with Sekmala. I’m sure she can use your help. In the meantime, I’m going to go meet with Apohpia." Kai slapped Horisia’s ass and then walked off.

"H-Hey!"

"Sup."

---

It didn’t take long for Kai to find Apophia’s room. He had been there before and remembered the way. So, without knocking, he entered the room.

"Don’t you know that it’s rude to enter a lady’s room without knocking first?" The demoness asked as she was naked, changing her clothes, completely unbothered by Kai’s stares.

"Sure, but I didn’t think you would mind me walking in here." He took a seat, pouring himself some wine, and relaxed.

When she finished getting dressed, Apophia sat down next to him, kissing his neck while placing her hand on his crotch. The two of them made out for a bit, relishing in the lust they felt for one another before breathing once more.

"Have you come to kill me?" She asked, thinking that he was here for that.

"That depends on you," Kai replied, wrapping his arm around her shoulder to start playing with her boob.

"How so?"

"If you stop what you’re doing, leave the continent, and relinquish your position as the demon queen, then I’ll spare your life."

"You want me to do what?!" Apophia could understand him wanting her to leave, but to give up being the demon queen was not something she would ever do.

"I’m sure this is something you didn’t expect me to propose. But just hear me out while we play some games of tic-tac-toe."