The Demon... King's Princess Kidnapping Cliche (2)
The Demon... King's Princess Kidnapping Cliche (2)
The citadel I built atop the rocky mountain isn't very spacious inside. Not so cramped that it hinders a fight, but tight for a large-scale clash indoors.
There are hardly any openings like windows—and the few that exist can be opened and closed remotely. With no electric light, the place is pretty gloomy.
Maybe that's why? The interior feels utterly suffocating. I want to believe that's the reason.
- Tap, tap, tap...
I paced around the central chamber of the citadel. Sitting still in the rocking chair made even breathing feel strange, so I got up and walked for a bit.
Walking straight in any direction only brought me to a wall in a few steps, so I ended up just circling the room.
I cautiously opened my eyes.
Instead of the gloomy space, a murky fog filled my vision.
I truly hated that. Suffocating. It felt like my body was frozen solid, trapped motionless deep inside a glacier.
- Hoo...
My breath hitched. It felt like I was completely alone. Information was flooding in through Observation, yet I couldn't truly feel any of it myself.
Carefully exhaling, I wiggled my nose.
"Sniff, sniff..."
Normally, I shouldn't be able to smell anything, but I could detect the body scents of others that had rubbed off on me.
Only then did breathing become a little easier. I steadied my breath and gripped Purification tightly in my right hand.
- Wuuung...
Purification shuddered in my hand. The Proof of Protection fused to my left hand vibrated in resonance. Feeling even a faint hint of worry in that vibration, I let out a soft chuckle.
'I'm fine.'
[I'm not fine]
[It's stifling]
'Ah, damn.'
I scowled and tapped the Confession Necklace. The moment I let my guard down because no one's around, this is what happens.
It's gotten to the point where I'm scared it'll leak truly dangerous information someday.
I'd stowed the drone aside for now. Having it constantly fixed on me was a little burdensome, and what's the point of it filming me just sitting and swaying in a rocking chair?
'Is the curse's influence too strong... No, am I just mentally a sunfish?'
The Curse of Solitude.
I never got a detailed explanation from Lady Ariel, but I heard a rough summary of its effects. Apparently, it was the reason Siyoram had so many policies and facilities for stress relief.
But since I never actually used any of them, it reportedly frustrated her deeply...
'That... wasn't really something I could help, was it...'
I instinctively pouted, just like I had back then. Stress relief? It sounds good in theory.
But how could I possibly enjoy anything like that during the early days here?
Even if all my senses had been intact, in a state of constant anxiety over all kinds of disaster events and an unknown lifespan issue, how could I wander around looking for things to enjoy...
'Ah!'
As I walked restlessly around the room, my expression suddenly brightened. It was thanks to the glad tidings sent by the spirits—sensed via Observation, of course.
I stroked the spirits that had been nuzzling close and comforting me, then hurried over to a wall.
The wall slid sideways, opening into a window large enough for a person to pass through easily.
Zzt! A lightning spirit crackling with energy slipped inside through the opening. Its two pairs of wings fluttered, and one pair smoothly unfurled, flying onto me.
It was the Sky Wing Feather, its mission completed.
"Ellia...!"
[Ellia!]
Ellia, captured by the wing feather, had been transported along with it.
She appeared in my formerly pitch-black vision, and her faint, flickering body scent grew stronger. A spark in my eyes, I nestled into Ellia's arms the moment she arrived.
"Eek."
"Mmmph..."
I buried my face deep into her ample chest. An impossibly soft sensation enveloped me from all sides, and a rich body scent wafted up between the mounds of flesh.
The earlier melancholy and suffocation vanished completely. I wrapped my arms around her slender waist and rubbed my head against Ellia's embrace.
"Ellia..."
[Warm...]
[I like your scent]
"Ah, I've been sweating a bit... Oh, never mind."
"Yes?"
Ellia, who had been stroking my hair, suddenly let out a small exclamation. Then, with a playful smile, she gently twisted her body.
"Kya, kyaa... I've been kidnapped by the Demon King~"
"???"
[?]
Question marks popped up above my head at her theatrically acted tone and behavior.
.
.
.
"What in the..."
"Hehe, it's just a funny sort of nickname."
At my dumbfounded expression, Ellia laughed.
Ellia's explanation went like this.
This citadel and barrier wall I use as a Spell Workshop is the Demon King? Castle. The undead, golems, and spirits I command as troops are the Demon King? Army. And me, they're calling the De?mon King.
"What is that..."
My expression grew even more sour. Naturally, the title 'Demon King' exists in this world too.
Creative works featuring a Demon King and a Hero are common.
The Demon King is typically the incarnation of evil. The Hero is the hope that beheads that king, and so on...
'Was my title in the 1st Iteration Hero?'
I tilted my head at the sudden thought.
The 1st Iteration.
The cycle I began with vanilla mentality, taking no perks at all—effectively setting my own hard mode.
And with zero information, it was an iteration where I literally slammed my head against the bare ground in pitch darkness, over and over.
Because of that, it was a messy cycle in many ways. Even acquiring my first unique ability took an incredibly long time.
'Its performance was excellent, though...'
Maybe that's why? The unique ability's performance itself was genuinely great. It was a strong ability, even by the standards of all my iterations.
However, it was also an ability I couldn't wield properly because the player's specs were so low. Yet it was precisely because of that unique ability that I barely scraped by and survived with such shoddy stats.
I survived so well, in fact, that it was my longest survival period out of all my iterations. Thanks to that, I even achieved the record of having three Tower Masters descend in a single cycle.
"Why? Isn't it cute?"
"What's so cute about a Demon King..."
As I murmured my dissatisfaction, Ellia giggled and pinched my puffed-out cheek.
"The castle's all gloomy, but the Demon King is pale and lovely. How should I put it... an unexpected charm?"
"Don't tease me..."
"Hehe. Oh, right—why did you bring me here?"
Sitting on the rocking chair with me held in her arms, Ellia tilted her head.
Feeling her gaze tapping my crown, I rolled my eyes around and mumbled evasively.
"Uh... I just suddenly missed you."
[I missed you]
I was too embarrassed to confess that, like a pet with separation anxiety, my chest had felt tight and I'd been short of breath—so I'd urgently fetched her as if kidnapping her.
"Hmm, that's a sweet thing to hear. Are you trying to seduce me on purpose?"
"Mmnnn..."
Ellia blinked for a moment, then smiled warmly and stroked my cheek.
"But there are other people besides me, you know. Yeon-hwa, A-rin... and Senior Ji-yeon."
"They're all major assets for their groups. If I brought them here, it would cause trouble."
"I was a considerable asset too, wasn't I? I performed quite well."
"That... this Tower entry has respawns as long as there's time... So..."
"Eih, I was valuable personnel who saved them respawn time and time away from deployment to the frontline. My support magic was incredibly helpful, too."
With a slight pout, Ellia looked down at me in her arms. I gauged her mood and hid my face in her embrace.
"A-and, besides... Ellia, you're easy to subdue, right?"
"Hm?"
"It's a test that counts towards evaluation, so if I just held your hand and brought you here, it'd be problematic for you... So, for the record, I brought you here under the pretense of subduing you."
Ellia, who had been slightly pouting, opened her eyes wide.
"Can't you use your magic properly right now?"
At my words, Ellia gently raised one hand. Mana gathered at her slightly wiggling fingers.
"Huh? Something feels seriously off...?"
As the mana trying to form a spell formula stuttered, Ellia's eyes widened in surprise.
"It's something like a magic jammer. This is the deep core of my Spell Workshop, so it's easier to do than you'd think. It's not a complete seal, but it still creates a considerable opening."
A mage's Spell Workshop is an assertion of self over space... that's what Lady Ariel taught me.
It's the act of dyeing a space with your own color, your own mana, your own formulas—to occupy it and remodel it to benefit you.
In that sense, Ellia, having entered the deep core of my Workshop, is in a state of magical suppression by several degrees.
"Hmm..."
Ellia subtly inspected her own body. The Sky Wing Feather that had returned to me was gently wrapped around her entire form.
Her bright yellow eyes blinked.
"Oh my, so I really was kidnapped and imprisoned...?"
"That's right. It was a form of subduing you to prevent a respawn, in my own way. It's not like we were cooperating against the rules."
Since Siyoram assigned us separate factions, sticking together as if we were officially allied felt a bit off, when we weren't.
"...I see."
Caressing the Sky Wing Feather with a strange expression, Ellia murmured.
"So, that means I'm in a state where I can't resist no matter what kind of harassment you do to me, Ha-yul...?"
"?"
[?]
A playful look glinted in her strange expression. With a smiling eye, Ellia met my gaze.
"Hoo, to have been captured by the Demon King Ha-yul... What sort of things are you planning to do to me?"
"I haven't done anything to you..."
"Are you saying that even as you bury your face in my chest and sniff my milky scent like you just did?"
"......"
When she put it that way, I truly had no comeback.
As I pouted, Ellia giggled and thrust her chest out further toward me.
The mound of flesh, which approached close enough to graze the tip of my nose, swayed softly.
It was quite a coquettish motion. Such a heavy mass of flesh swayed, and the thick body scent that wafted from it spread into the surroundings.
- Squeeze...
"Ahng..."
My hand moved on its own and gripped the plump mound. A soft, smooth sensation spread wildly through my hand. The ample flesh I couldn't fully grasp spilled out heavily.
"Mm..."
Letting out a subtle, breathy sound, Ellia pushed her chest out even more. At that silent permission, I kneaded her chest.
"Ahaha, yeah... See, you touch it right away..."
Breathing roughly, Ellia beamed and patted my back. Her breath tickled my crown. When I slowly raised my head, Ellia smiled brightly and pressed her lips to my forehead with a soft smack.
- Rumble!
It was right then.
Having been completely distracted by her breasts, I flinched at the information caught by Observation.
"Hm?"
I sensed a massive army approaching the rocky mountain in the distance. That in itself wasn't strange. There had been plenty of times they targeted this place, throwing considerable forces at me.
But this was far more than before. And the quality of the troops was much higher.
There were an enormous number of cadets. Not in the tens or hundreds, but in the thousands...
"?"
And at the very front of that army—mounted on a horse-type monster with three pairs of legs, captured from who knows where—Hong Yeon-hwa raised her sword.
The blade was coated in Calamity Flame, sticky like mucus. The tip of the sword that had been pointed at the sky came down, aiming at the rocky mountain... at me.
Hong Yeon-hwa murmured.
- Begin assault on Occupation Point 1, provisional designation 'Demon King Castle'.
- Jeez. Occupation duty, escort duty, now a rescue drill on top of it... They're really packing in the drills.
- Wait, we can kill the hostage too?
- Excuse me?
"Ehk."
The large-scale invasion had begun.
* * *
