“I understand. Since the heroes says so, we’ll cancel the engagement as soon as we return to the kingdom.”
I conceded, unsure if they could succeed without Grace, but the Prince had already said so much.
Hearing that I had relented, the Saintess Elizabeth smiled smugly. For her, who wanted to be the next betrothed, she must have wanted to secure that promise no matter what while we were here.
“Well then, Prince, now that we’ve talked, let’s prepare to escape from here.”
I clapped my hands and changed the subject.
We were currently standing in the heart of the Demon Continent, which was occupied by demons. Even though we had narrowly killed the demon lord, it would be useless if we couldn’t successfully escape. This wasn’t the time for tragic tales of broken engagements.
“Prince, you must take the Demon Lord’s head, it’s needed as proof of the Demon Lord’s defeat.”
“Huh? Oh, I see. Got it.”
Prince Henry nodded, but Elizabeth showed disgust at the idea of “taking the head back”. But bringing the head was only natural.
The Demon Lord’s head, covered in scales with huge fangs lining its mouth, was severed by the prince.
Even if it was just the head, it displayed the majesty befitting the dragon descendant the Demon Lord claimed to be. However, why he called himself Demon Lord instead of Dragon King, even though he was a dragon descendant, was also a mystery.
Next, I turned the Demon Lord’s room upside down and put the documents and belongings on his desk into my backpack one by one.
“Why are you looting at a time like this?”
Elizabeth complained, but now was exactly the time.
“It’s necessary. Oh, Ekaterina . Take back the staff the demon lord used.”
Zelgius had possessed a bizarre staff made of large bones that he often used to cast magic in the name of the Demon Lord. Those familiar with the Demon Lord would recognize it as his staff at a glance. Aside from that, his backpack was filled with rocks, strange objects, notes, and other not-too-heavy items.
“Why would you go to such lengths to bring back such things?”
“Of course, it’s to leave the impression that the demon lord has been defeated.”
Princess Lu asked, and I replied while searching the Demon Lord’s body. Let’s take the crown that fell during the battle, the ring on the rough fingers, and the necklace.
“What proof of defeat? Shouldn’t the head be enough?”
Prince Henry raised the Demon Lord’s head and I shook my head.
“No, of course it’s not enough. The people in our land don’t know what Demon Lord Zelgius looks like. How can we prove that this is the Demon Lord’s head?”
“No need for proof, how could I lie?”
Prince Henry doesn’t know how to doubt others. And he doesn’t know that he might be doubted.
“Most likely, the people of our country will believe the Prince’s words.”
Considering Prince Henry’s dignity, I said that for now, but it probably won’t be that smooth. The King will believe, but there may be some important ministers who won’t.
“However, it’s necessary to show the Demon Lord’s death both domestically and internationally.
Our battle was a battle to win the war. Just defeating the Demon Lord is not enough. It’s not just for the people in our country, but also for the powerful foreign nations and the enemy Demon Lord’s army. It’s useless if we don’t tell them about the Demon Lord’s death.
“In addition to the head, we need convincing evidence.”
Presenting the head will certainly work, but not all demons have seen the Demon Lord. If it’s a high-ranking general, they might know what he looks like, but most soldiers only saw the Demon Lord from a distance. We can’t judge whether the head is real or fake.
Documents and letters signed by the Demon Lord are solid evidence. It would be even more convincing if we had items he treasured.
While looting the body, I noticed a small pouch around his neck. Inside the bag was a small seal.
What luck. Although it wasn’t an official seal, since he kept it close to him, it should be used for urgent orders and letters. It can also be used for processing a large number of documents. Although the quality of this seal is lower than the official one, it is used a lot, so many people must have seen it.
I took the seal as well. The looting is complete. I stood up and addressed everyone.
“All right, let’s escape. Oh, I’ll take the head.”
I took the bag containing the Demon Lord’s head from the lord’s hand. The bottom of the bag was soaked with blood.
“Finally? There’s no time to waste, right?”
Although Princess Lu was complaining, I wanted to say that it’s you who are dragging out the irrelevant emotional drama.
“Yes, let’s hurry.”
Hearing my words, the Prince and Princess Lu ran ahead, with Elizabeth and Ekaterina following closely behind. I walked at the back. Although the luggage is a bit heavy, it’s not difficult to keep up with Elizabeth and Ekaterina since they’re not very fast.
We enter the strange building with our luggage. This place is really strange.
The place where we are now is not the castle where the demon lord lived. This is the temple built by Zelgius, the Demon Lord.
It seems that the Demon Lord sometimes goes into seclusion in this temple. During that time, no one dares to go near it. Even the guarding soldiers stay away, leaving only the Demon Lord.
It’s a perfect opportunity to assassinate the Demon Lord.
Of course, the Demon Lord understands the danger of assassination. The interior of the temple has been turned into a labyrinth, with several traps set. If you don’t know the inside, you’ll get lost and fall into traps, leading to instant death. But we’re different.
“Prince, take the right path at the three-way intersection and move along the left wall because there are traps.
I instructed the prince from behind.
The interior of the temple was a bizarre, confusing maze, but I had captured all the intelligence of the interior. Not only the route to the entrance and exit, but even the locations of traps and methods to avoid them were clearly etched in my memory.
“Really, Romelia?”
The prince asked. I took a map from my breast pocket to confirm. I hadn’t misremembered.
This map contained all the details of the temple’s interior.
“It was made by the enslaved, there’s no mistake.”
Those who brought this top secret information were humans captured by the demons and brought to this continent.
After destroying human nations, the Demon Lord Army had kidnapped the survivors as slaves and sent them to their home continent.
They were forced to do hard labor, and I heard that even this temple was built by piling stones that they carried.
But even in the midst of the grueling work, they did not lose heart, vowing that one day they would defeat the Demon Lord.
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Then they gathered information on the Demon Lord, mapped the temple’s interior, and completed this map. Thanks to them, we knew Zelgius’ movements and could safely navigate the temple. Without the help of the slaves, killing the Demon Lord would have been a fantasy.
“But there really aren’t any demon soldiers, are there?”
Running through the temple maze, Princess Lu muttered from behind in second place. Thanks to the fact that no one had dared to approach the temple with the Demon Lord inside, not only had the assassination succeeded, but the demons hadn’t even noticed the Demon Lord’s death. And Zelgius had only begun to retreat to this temple yesterday. I heard that once the Demon Lord went into seclusion, he wouldn’t come out for several days. If we were lucky, it might be almost ten days before they noticed that the Demon Lord was dead.
That way, we could escape the Demon Continent before the Demon Lord’s death was discovered.
All of this was due to Zelgius’ bizarre actions. I had thought that he must be performing strange rituals in the depths of the temple, praying to evil gods and such, but this place didn’t look like a religious facility. If anything, it was more like…
While we were pondering this, we came close to the temple entrance, while we were still running.
The temple built by the Demon Lord was shaped like a mountain of piled stones. Its exterior looked more like a stone tomb in the southern deserts than a temple.
It was a massive, perfect square pyramid with the only entrance and exit at the top.
The figures of the demon army had already disappeared here, but guardian soldiers protected the demon lord outside the temple. We had to get past them without being noticed, so that the news of the assassination would not leak out.
Of course, I remembered not only the temple’s interior, but also the terrain and the soldiers’ positions outside. Dangerous, but there should be no problems if we were careful.
To confirm our escape order, I recalled the situation around us.
If we turned the corner ahead of us, we’d see the temple entrance immediately. There should be two guards standing on either side of the entrance. Further ahead was a long staircase that led to the base of the temple. At the bottom of the stairs was a checkpoint. About fifteen guard soldiers stood guard there.
There were less than twenty soldiers inside the temple, but a thousand guardian troops patrolled constantly outside, and ten thousand more garrisoned the city built around the temple.
It was an impregnable, waterproof copper wall, but we had Ekaterina’s magic to make us invisible. This “colorless magic”, as long as it was used, could sneak past any security. We had infiltrated this deep thanks to the magic, and the escape was easy as well.
The escape plan should have been decided by now, but at the corner leading to the outside, Prince Henry and Princess Lu stopped and signaled everyone with hand signs to be alert.
I looked ahead. Sunlight shone straight in from the doorway of the temple, which had no doors. But two shadows stretched from the doorway toward us.
When I listened closely, I heard the metallic sounds of weapons and footsteps.
Enemies!
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