The Demon King's Embrace
The sensation that greeted me upon regaining consciousness was one of profound warmth and softness—more comforting than even my mother's arms had ever been. It felt exactly like being held against her chest when I was still a baby. There was a pleasant scent, too… Wait. No, this was far too soft and plush to be my mother's embrace. Her arms weren't this yielding, this pillowy. So then, whose…?
I kept my eyes closed and tried to make sense of the situation. In truth, I already knew exactly who was holding me so tenderly. The gentle mana that softly caressed every inch of my body gave it away. But the reality of it was simply too difficult to believe.
Ilena had offered me her lap as a pillow and was cradling my face between two incredibly soft, beautiful mounds. My mind had returned, but my body still felt heavy. Even lifting my eyelids seemed like an impossible task. Only then did the memory surface—I had collapsed after being struck by Silvia's paralyzing poison.
And moreover…
“Hic… Huuu…”
Ilena was clearly sobbing. Thanks to that, the plush sensation pressing against me became even more… vivid. For a moment, a powerful temptation washed over me. Since moving was so difficult anyway, maybe I should just stay like this forever. But I couldn't bear to let her keep crying.
“…Ilena?”
“You!”
The moment I forced out her name, Ilena startled and pulled me even tighter against her. The consciousness I had barely recovered grew hazy and euphoric once more. My breath was slightly constricted, but I almost didn't mind dying like this.
“You're awake? Don't try to move yet. And don't speak.”
Since she told me not to speak, I answered with a slight nod of my head instead. She said not to move, so I wouldn't. Heh…
I closed my eyes again and focused on the mana Ilena was sending through my body. But something felt off. Her power was unstable, trembling nonstop. I couldn't help but realize it—Ilena was far from okay right now.
Using every ounce of strength I had, I lifted my eyelids. But two large, incredibly soft obstacles completely blocked my view, so I couldn't see her face. It was a shame, but I had to move those things out of the way.
“Ilena? I… can't… breathe…”
“Hic! Sorry!”
Startled once again, Ilena lifted her upper body, finally freeing my airways. Only then could I see her face clearly. It was horribly swollen, streaked with dried tear tracks. But those tracks had a strange color—a troubling shade of red. Following the trails upward, I saw that her already crimson eyes had grown even redder. It wasn't mere bloodshot; even the whites of her eyes were tinged with scarlet. What's more, she had completely dropped the transformation magic that usually hid her horns, wings, and tail.
At this point, I had no choice but to ask.
“…What happened?”
“I'll explain that.”
The voice didn't belong to Ilena. I laboriously turned my head and saw Silvia kneeling in the corner of the room, head bowed low. Her body was covered in large and small bruises, and her clothes were torn to shreds.
“Here's what happened…”
“It's me! I'm the one he belongs to!!”
The moment Silvia faced Ilena, she quickly raised her dagger again and took a stance. But something invisible flew at her, striking her hard and slamming her into the wall.
“Ugh…!”
Even as she crashed, Silvia didn't let go of her dagger. She quickly recovered and lunged toward Ilena. But in the brief moment she charged forward, she was struck again mid-air and slammed face-first into the floor.
“Ugh!”
Silvia tried once more to prepare her paralyzing needles. She always carried two of them, one on each knee. If she could just land one on Ilena, she might turn the situation around. But before she could even stand, a powerful force crushed down on her body.
“Aaaagh…!”
The force that had pinned Silvia down now gripped her tightly and slowly lifted her into the air. It was Ilena's telekinetic magic. She drew the floating Silvia slowly toward herself and stared at her with a chilling gaze.
“Let go! Let go of me!”
“I won't. I absolutely will not.”
The moment their eyes met, Silvia recalled a sensation she had long forgotten—true terror and the aura of death, something she had rarely felt in her life.
“Ilenater…!”
What stood before her was the Demon King. The very embodiment of fear who had once tried to devour the entire Hero party and the world itself. At some point, Ilena had fully revealed the horns, wings, and tail she usually kept hidden.
“How dare you—how dare you do this to Roen!”
“What about you?! How are you even alive?! You should have died by Roen's hand…!”
In the past, Silvia had been one of the few members of the Hero party who had faced Ilenater alongside Roen. But she had lost consciousness during the battle after their surprise attack backfired. When she later woke up, Roen had told her himself that he had defeated the Demon King Ilenater. So then who was this in front of her now?
“I told you! I'm the 'owner' Roen was talking about!”
“You? Ah… so that's how it is…?”
Silvia finally pieced together what had happened and reached her conclusion. First, the Demon King Ilenater had not been defeated by Roen. Second, the Demon King was currently seducing Roen with wicked intentions!
“Release me right now! I'll defeat you and save Roen!”
“Save him? Roen?”
“Yes. I always thought he'd grown strangely weaker after that day. Now I see it was all because of you!”
“Because of me…?”
Ilena's eyes wavered at Silvia's brazen attitude. In that instant, the force constricting Silvia's body loosened slightly. It still hurt, but Silvia refused to back down and pressed her advantage, exploiting Ilena's moment of doubt.
“Don't play innocent! Everything that's happened to Roen is your fault!”
“My fault…”
Now!
The moment the pressure weakened, Silvia aimed her knee at Ilena and fired a paralyzing needle. But the dart stopped in mid-air before it could reach her, then fell harmlessly to the floor.
Ilena stared silently at the fallen needle before glaring at Silvia with even sharper eyes.
“You've crossed the line. I was going to go easy on you because you're Roen's former comrade!”
“Tch…! Aaaah!”
Ilena slammed Silvia against the wall and floor multiple times. Only after Silvia went limp did she pull her back in front of her.
“I was going to show mercy, but you wouldn't listen. I'll check for myself.”
Ilena placed her hand on Silvia's head. A light glowed from her palm as she began peering into Silvia's mind.
“What are you doing?! Stop it!”
“I need to know. Why you claim Roen became weak because of me. What exactly you were planning to do to him!”
“No! No!”
Silvia shook her head with all her might, but having lost even her final resort, she could no longer resist the Demon King.
“So that's what happened. Look at this.”
When Silvia slightly lifted her head, a blue ring around her neck became visible.
“It said it'll kill me if I try anything funny.”
“Lower your head again.”
“Ugh…”
At Ilena's command, Silvia bowed her head once more. Even just listening to it sent chills down my spine—her voice was that icy. Fortunately, Ilena turned back to me with a warm tone.
“Do you have any idea what this woman was planning to do after kidnapping you?”
“What was she going to do?”
“She was going to take you somewhere, tie you up, and force you to—”
“Kyaaaaaah!”
Silvia, who had been keeping her head down, suddenly shot upright. Ilena stopped mid-sentence to glare at her, then used her telekinetic magic to force Silvia back down onto her knees.
“I'll stay quiet! I'll stay quiet, so please don't tell Roen about that!”
The way Silvia begged Ilena sounded less like a request and more like desperate pleading. Just what had she been planning to do to me? Even from what I'd already heard, it sounded suspicious. Taking me somewhere, tying me up, and forcing me to…?
“Anyway, she's a woman with a pitch-black heart. I couldn't possibly hand you over to someone like her.”
“Thank you for not handing me over. Truly.”
If I'd been kidnapped by Silvia, who knows what might have happened to me.
“By the way…”
I struggled to lift my arm and gently stroked Ilena's cheek. The skin that had once been impossibly soft was now rough and coarse to the touch.
“Are you okay?”
“You're worried about me in a situation like this?”
“How could I not be worried?”
I could feel how unstable her mana was as it traveled through every corner of my body. The trembling power, the traces of bloody tears—anyone could see that something was very wrong with Ilena right now. My mind still wasn't fully clear, but I did my best to hold on and try to stabilize her chaotic mana.
“Khh…”
“Don't!”
Ilena pressed my face firmly against her again—using that terrifyingly effective weapon of hers.
“Not right now. Just rest quietly.”
I couldn't resist. Giving up on resistance, I closed my eyes again, and my consciousness slowly began to fade.
Damn it. So soft. It's too soft… I'm going to die like this…