It was a situation where a battle could break out at any mont. Serthia's fierce red eyes were fixed on .
In response, I drew my red sword and pointed it at her.
I didn’t actually intend to swing it, but I needed to be ready to counter if she attacked.
I spoke to her with my sword aid at her.
"Calm down."
I locked eyes with Serthia.
As I expected, I couldn’t read her mories. Her resistance was too strong.
"I’m not who you think I am."
"..."
"Or is this the kind of conversation you wanted? I don’t mind either way."
If she didn’t want to talk, I could simply kill her and extract her mories, as I had done countless tis before.
I had already fought to the death more tis than I could count.
"Albert, I’m disappointed. Was this really the purpose of bringing here?"
"No, that’s not it..."
Albert looked flustered, and Serthia’s icy gaze remained fixed on .
She seed to be examining from head to toe.
"You... Are you not the Demon Lord?"
"Didn’t you say she was dead? Over twenty years ago."
She had claid to have killed her herself—so why was she confused?
I had no idea why she was mixing up with the Demon Lord. I would have tried to read her mories, but her ntal defenses were far stronger than Albert’s.
If I attempted to unleash more of my demonic energy, she’d likely detect it before I could read anything.
There was a mont of tense silence as we exchanged glances.
Then Serthia spoke.
"Why are you... smaller?"
"...?"
What was she talking about?
As the tense standoff dragged on, Albert finally intervened, suggesting that we sit and talk instead of standing there glaring at each other.
This was my first ti eting Serthia, so I clarified multiple tis that I wasn’t the person she mistook for.
It baffled how she could confuse with a long-dead ruler of the Demon Realm.
Yet, since facing Serthia, I couldn’t deny that I felt sothing as well.
The fragnt of the Demon Lord I’d absorbed seed to be wary of her. Was this the Demon Lord’s mory? It might explain why she was mistaking for the Demon Lord.
Serthia crossed her arms with a distinctly unpleasant expression.
"I don’t believe you."
"..."
"I didn’t expect that conniving woman would have a hidden child, but here we are."
"I’m neither the Demon Lord nor her hidden child... probably. I don’t know why you think otherwise."
"You an you don’t know anything?"
"I don’t have any mories."
I replied briefly to her question, and her red eyes shifted to a blue hue.
She was using mana. It seed she was trying to determine if I was lying.
I asked her a question in turn.
"I don’t know who I am. Do you?"
"..."
I didn’t know myself.
I didn’t understand what role ‘Iria’ played in this world, what species she was, or what kind of background she had.
I didn’t know what kind of monster Iria had been before I possessed her, nor, if I had taken over her body, where the original ‘Iria’s consciousness had gone.
But maybe Serthia knew?
She seed to. She had reacted strongly upon seeing , after all.
I listened closely for her response. After a long sigh, Serthia slowly began to speak.
"You resemble the Demon Lord. Honestly, you’re so similar it wouldn’t be strange if you were the sa person."
"By resemble, do you an in appearance?"
"In appearance, yes, but also in aura. And, above all..."
Serthia pointed to my eyes.
"Those eyes of yours. If I told you they can show illusions to humans, would that make sense? It’s a power of the Demon Lord. She was a ruthless woman who could shatter a human’s mind just by making eye contact."
"How did you know about my eyes?"
"I did my research on you. Besides, I once had my mind shattered by soone with eyes like yours."
"..."
Had she realized when I tried to read her mories earlier?
No wonder she’d avoided making eye contact. Truly a terrifying woman.
But more shocking was learning that this power originated from the Demon Lord. This was news to .
The more I uncovered, the more it felt like falling into a maze. Does that an I am the Demon Lord?
No, I don’t think so.
The na is different. According to Serthia, the previous Demon Lord’s na was Echidna, and the na imprinted on this body is Iria.
The eyes that see through every creature had told that the na of the body I possessed was Iria.
So the chances of being the Demon Lord were slim.
Besides, the power I wielded was far weaker. Destroying a human’s mind irreparably was beyond .
Though, if I really tried, I might be able to—but it wouldn’t be as simple as Serthia suggested.
So I could say with so confidence:
"I’m not the Demon Lord."
The Demon Lord is supposed to be dead anyway.
A dead being divided into fragnts couldn’t co back to life.
Serthia seed to believe , albeit a little reluctantly. She must have had a way to distinguish truth from lies.
After a long silence, she finally spoke.
"Alright, you don’t seem exactly like the one I knew. But I still don’t trust you. Even if you’re not the Demon Lord, you’re certainly connected to her in so way."
"..."
"You’re neither human nor demon. If anything, you’re closer to a doll soone created. Creating another life form defies the laws of this world, but who knows? She might have been capable of it."
"A doll?"
Serthia nodded slightly.
"And you carry the Demon Lord’s curse. I’m not sure of its nature, but I sense sothing similar to my own aura in you."
A curse, is it?
Simply existing in this world feels like a curse to .
Serthia’s eyes, now glowing with blue mana, assessed slowly. Then, she reached out her hand. I didn’t resist; there was no hostility in the gesture.
She placed her hand over the left side of my chest.
"..."
"I see traces of a curse on your heart. The Demon Lord marked you directly."
"But you don’t know what kind of curse it is."
"Unfortunately, no. If the previous Saintess, Karen, were still alive, she might have been able to tell you. Curses aren’t my specialty."
I doubted she was lying.
Her words implied that the original owner of this body had t the Demon Lord. So what was the relationship between the Demon Lord and Iria?
"You wouldn’t have cursed your own body, so I’ll believe you’re not the Demon Lord. But you’ll need to prove you haven’t allied with the Demon Lord’s forces."
"Why should I?"
The reason I sought out Serthia was because I believed eting her would benefit .
I had no intention of becoming her friend. I’d co here prepared for a potential life-or-death struggle, and I’d always been an enemy of the Empire.
No matter what I said here, I would remain their enemy.
No amount of apologies or remorse would bring back the dead or earn their forgiveness.
I had no reason or obligation to et the Empire’s demands. I had no way to prove what I hadn’t done.
After my curt response, Serthia’s gaze changed.
The air around us shifted as well.
Serthia had never dropped her hostility towards , but it had now intensified.
"You’re connected to the Demon Lord. It’s only natural to suspect you might have ties to the remnants of her forces. Shortly after you arrived at the Empire, the Academy was attacked."
"..."
"You were there when the Demon Lord’s forces raided the Academy. I assu the red mana felt within the building was yours."
I stared back at Serthia, and she looked straight at in return.
It felt like standing before a ferocious beast. My body instinctively sensed danger. This woman was a genuine threat.
Serthia was the real leader of the Empire, incomparable to Albert or Preah, almost a weapon unto herself.
Could this be more dangerous than I thought?
"Rember, you’re the pri suspect. Do you think you’ll survive after turning and the Empire into your enemies?"
"We’ve always been enemies. You called here knowing that."
Serthia seed to be struggling to contain her rising anger. Her fury wasn’t directed at but at the Demon Lord.
She seed to see and the Demon Lord as one and the sa. Her tragedy stemd from the Demon Lord.
I understood her hatred, but I hadn’t caused it.
Being treated like this felt unfair.
Then again, perhaps this was another form of sin. Regardless of the reasons, the people I’d killed wouldn’t return, nor would they forgive .
To the Empire, I was a significant threat, whether or not I was connected to the Demon Lord’s forces.
"So I’ll ask you one last thing."
Serthia spoke to .
"Although the Empire declared an official end to the war after the Demon Lord’s death, the war isn’t truly over. The remnants of the Demon Lord’s forces are gathering, preparing for another conflict."
After taking a deep breath, she asked:
"If war breaks out again, whose side will you be on?"
It was her final test.
Her response would change based on my answer. But I couldn’t lie. I wasn’t confident in deceiving soone without using my powers.
And this was Serthia. Trying to placate her with lies would likely backfire.
"..."
I thought for a mont.
It didn’t take long.
"I doubt I’d be on humanity’s side."
It was an honest answer.
Living alongside humans was impossible for . I might end up attacking them out of instinct.
I had no desire to harm humans for no reason, but it wasn’t sothing I could control.
For now, I survived by consuming the Demon Lord’s fragnts, but eventually, I would need to drink human blood to survive.
I couldn’t promise I wouldn’t harm humans.
If war were to co, I probably wouldn’t be on humanity’s side.
That was my answer.
"I see."
Serthia nodded.
She closed her eyes and stood, her vast mana swirling around us.
The surrounding ground trembled.
"In that case, I can’t just let you leave."
When Serthia opened her eyes again, both were glowing blue.
That was likely her natural eye color.
"Don’t misunderstand. I didn’t summon you here with this intention. My goal was truly to talk..."
As she spoke, she slowly wove the mana around her into a spell. The space around her distorted with each step she took, her presence enormous.
"But you resemble the Demon Lord too much. I judge that if left unchecked, another disaster will occur. Therefore, I will eliminate the seed of that disaster here and now."
"..."
I drew my red sword as well.
It wasn’t entirely unexpected.
"Don’t bla Albert for this. Bla my own rigidity if you must."
Still, I didn’t want to make an enemy of this woman.
I gripped my sword and began to gather my demonic energy.
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