"What is your purpose? Who sent you?"
Claire took a few steps back, shouting angrily at the shapeshifter disguised as the king.
The guards, finally realizing sothing was wrong with the king, quickly moved to protect her, their weapons pointed at the monarch.
Eiji glanced in her direction, narrowing his eyes thoughtfully.
"Tch, I didn't expect to be exposed before even completing the first step of the plan!"
The king scowled but soon smirked coldly.
"But right now, I'm using your king's body. Do you dare act recklessly against ?"
His expression was one of smug confidence.
"Tie up Father!"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
"Huh?!"
At Iris's command, the response was imdiate. Ropes were swiftly produced as the crowd surged toward the king.
"Wait, don't co any closer!"
The king was dumbfounded. He raised his fists threateningly, but he was quickly overwheld by the crowd and bound tightly with ropes.
He truly couldn't understand—how could a princess wield such authority that she could order the king to be tied up without hesitation?
Wasn't this all wrong?
But he quickly regained his composure, curling his lips into a smirk.
"You might think you've already won, but the real battle—"
Just then, a hazy white light suddenly reappeared, enveloping the king's body.
"—hasn't even begun yet!"
Claire, who had been hiding in a corner, froze for a mont before roaring in fury.
Contrary to her usual deanor, she leaped out before any of the guards could react—
And lunged straight at a certain figure!
"Oh no, the swap duration is up!"
The little princess quickly grasped the situation, her face paling.
"Eiji, watch out!"
Claire's target was none other than Eiji!
Her right hand still wore the sapphire-embedded necklace, her face twisted into a vicious grin.
Everyone's attention had been focused on the king.
But without the necklace's true recognition, the body-swapping effect had a ti limit—lasting only a few minutes at most.
Once the ti was up, the swap would end, and the souls would return to their original bodies.
But at that mont, a second swap could be perford!
"Though we've skipped many steps, if I can directly target the objective of the plan, it saves a lot of trouble!"
The shapeshifter's face contorted with malice.
This boy was the true objective of the operation!
Originally, he was supposed to swap with the king first, discreetly taking control of the Belzerg Kingdom's political power before gradually setting his sights on the adventurer nad Nangou through a series of steps.
The reason he had assud the Demon King's form and openly declared his interest in the princess was twofold: to stir human hostility toward the new Demon King and to divert attention. While everyone assud his target was the princess, he would suddenly strike at the king—who would never see it coming!
But who could have predicted that the very first step of the plan would go awry?
However, if the target himself was right here, there was no need to cling to the original plan!
He could just aim for the target directly!
Thud!
Suddenly—
Just as he made the decision in his mind to quickly commit suicide after the exchange, the world suddenly spun before his eyes.
"Ugh—!"
An intense pain shot through his body, forcing a scream from his lips.
What was happening?
He raised his head in utter confusion.
At so point, the Claire he had mimicked was now lying on the ground.
His body had been severed at the waist, the cross-section pitch black without a single drop of blood flowing.
The boy he had targeted was now looking down at him from above, holding the very sword he had been wielding earlier.
That sword was a magic blade, worthy of being a national treasure—capable of inflicting massive damage even to Magical Creatures like Shapeshifting Demons, which were nearly immune to physical attacks!
"...What just happened?"
It was completely incomprehensible.
He had been bisected?
When? How?
Wasn't this guy supposed to be a mage?
Why was he so skilled with a sword?
He hadn't even seen it coming—and he was a high-ranking demon!
"So that's why the plan was so convoluted. Because if we targeted him directly, this would be the outco!"
Suddenly, it all made sense.
He had been annoyed by how needlessly complicated the plan was.
But now, it all seed perfectly justified!
If the enemy could be defeated so easily, who the hell would bother with such an elaborate sche?
"So amazing! To defeat him in one strike—as expected of Eiji-nii!"
Princess Iris imdiately cast an admiring gaze his way.
"But why use a sword...?"
"Hey, I'm back to normal now! Untie already!"
The king shouted from the side.
"Schlick!"
Eiji swung his sword down, cleanly severing the Shapeshifting Demon's right hand.
The necklace wrapped around its wrist flew out, which Eiji deftly caught and pocketed without hesitation.
"Take him into custody. We'll interrogate him thoroughly later about his motives. Make sure to use special shackles."
Eiji instructed the nearby guards.
"Ah, yes! Soone, fetch the mithril shackles! No, to be safe, bring a full set!"
"Is it over now?"
"As expected of the black-haired adventurer!"
"Quick, find the real Miss Claire!"
The tense atmosphere instantly dissipated as the guards looked on in admiration, and the king was finally freed.
"Heh... heheh..."
But then, the Shapeshifting Demon lying on the ground began to chuckle darkly.
"What's so funny?"
Eiji looked down, his gaze sharp and unwavering.
"I admit defeat this ti. But don't get too cocky, new Demon King!"
The others, busy with cleanup, didn't notice.
But Eiji's expression turned icy as he thrust his sword forward, piercing the demon's heart in an instant!
Though Shapeshifting Demons were shadowy beings without physical form, they possessed a core—destroying it ant death.
While its body structure perfectly replicated a human's, Eiji's eyes had long since discerned the location of its core.
"Guh...!"
The Shapeshifting Demon groaned.
"Hah... We'll et again... If you live long enough, that is!"
It sneered at Eiji before abruptly going limp.
Its body then dissolved into a pool of lifeless black liquid, resembling freshly extracted crude oil.
And from within that dark sludge, a multicolored Crystal Ball tumbled out.
"The core?"
Eiji's gaze sharpened, and a sudden sense of foreboding rose in his heart.
With a crack, a fissure appeared on the crystal, quickly spreading across its entire surface.
In an instant, a surge of pitch-black mist erupted from the crystal ball, like thick smoke after an explosion, rapidly spreading in all directions. It enveloped the horrified king, Iris, the guards, Yamada, and the others in the blink of an eye.
Within re seconds, the black fog had already engulfed the entire palace!
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