Avira was determined to go along.
For one thing, Ophitia’s strength wasn’t sufficient for her to face the dangers of the Holy Church alone. Secondly, Avira feared that this Demon King might not take good care of herself and could run into some unexpected trouble.
Once Lena hatched from the shell and discovered that the Demon King was gone, she would surely feel very disappointed.
The children were innocent; there was no reason for them to suffer along with her.
—These were Avira’s deep and careful considerations.
“It’s actually not that troublesome. Just give me one day.”
“I’m coming with you in one day.” Avira saw Ophitia trying to argue back, completely disregarding the potential punishment from the Dominator’s Seal.
“What about the Dragon Egg? Aren’t you supposed to incubate it, Avira?”
“You’re more important than incubating the egg!” Avira huffed angrily.
“…” Ophitia’s eyes widened. Suddenly, she felt like canceling the whole idea. Going to the human world would just trouble her wife and hurt her feelings.
A few seconds later, Avira realized what she had said.
“Eh… that’s not what I meant, you idiot! Damn it, it’s definitely not like what you’re thinking!”
“Wife, I won’t go. I’ll just stay home~”
“No way!”
Avira angrily stood up. She originally wanted to pinch Ophitia’s tail, but after thinking it over, she decided the arm would be easier to grab. So, she hooked her arm around the Demon King’s and gave a gentle tug, only to nearly slip and fall straight into Ophitia’s body. She lifted her head, looking just like a petulant wife throwing a tantrum, but Avira couldn’t afford to care about that right now.
“You have to go. We’ll go together! As for the Dragon Egg, I can just carry it with me, right?”
“But if something happens to the Dragon Egg…”
“Then I’ll make a tool to carry the Dragon Egg with me—something like spatial storage. We’re not in a rush anyway, right?”
“Yeah, at least wait until Avira agrees.”
Hearing this, Avira finally breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Ophitia didn’t act on her own, everything was under control.
On the contrary, she felt like she had been a bit too hasty, having thrown herself into Ophitia’s arms again. Embarrassed, she changed the subject: “Just have the maids make the food. You still have things to take care of yourself.”
“My wife is the one who cares about me.”
Ophitia stroked Avira’s wings. At first, she hadn’t been able to accept these organs as part of her body, but now she was completely used to them. The wings gently fluttered, pressing closer to her hand to make it easier for their owner to massage them.
Once Avira calmed down and her heartbeat gradually steadied, she said:
“Yeah, do you remember White Blade? We have a meeting with her this afternoon. She insisted on seeing you. I was going to refuse, but if you’re interested, Avira, you can step in too.”
“Her?”
Avira had a slight impression of the girl.
Savassen’s daughter, the only true powerhouse in Pomistan. The others either relied on anti-Demon Race equipment or team coordination, but White Blade alone qualified as a traditional swordswoman.
She nodded. “That’s rare. Let’s see what she can bring us.”
Right after, Ophitia climbed into bed for a nap and casually touched the Dragon Egg, even inviting Avira to join in incubating it.
Avira’s whole body shuddered, and she rejected the invitation. After sneaking a peek to make sure Ophitia wasn’t doing anything strange to the Dragon Egg, she left.
On her way, she ran into Maryvian and Catherine, greeted them, went downstairs, and headed to the underground storeroom. She retrieved the Holy Sword that had been sealed away for a long time.
During her pregnancy, she had kept the Holy Sword safely stored in the Royal Palace’s most hidden underground warehouse. And now, taking it out wasn’t for battle.
“Holy Sword, are you there?”
“Yes, Saintess. You look much recovered.” It was still that voice so similar to Ophitia’s.
Avira didn’t waste time chatting with a machine and got straight to the point: “What’s my Pollution Value now?”
A few months ago, to measure her familiarization progress, Avira had given the Holy Sword several metrics, which it weighted differently to calculate a percentage called the “Pollution Value.”
Before, Avira’s Pollution Value had been 37%.
In Avira’s imagination, even after several months, it shouldn’t be too high. First of all, during the pregnancy—especially once her belly grew larger—Ophitia had been much more restrained than expected. This had directly led to the Demon King’s increasingly intimate behavior in recent days; she worried about Avira’s body every day. But seeing how weak she looked, she gave up on the idea of mating. Still, this shouldn’t have affected much.
Therefore, Avira firmly believed her body’s “Pollution Value” wouldn’t exceed 40%.
Moreover, there was the Phoenix Power inside her body. Historically, many Saintesses had appeared, and none could be defeated by so-called curses or toxins. So, Avira even harbored a lucky thought that the curse might have “reversed,” dropping below 30.
“Calculating…”
The patterns on the Holy Sword began to emit a deep blue glow. A full minute later, it finally gave its answer.
Avira took a deep breath, hoping her deductions were completely correct.
But the next second, she froze like a stone statue.
“【Pollution Value: 79%】”
“What? You’re joking! I feel perfectly fine right now!”
“You firmly believe yourself to be the Demon King’s wife. Since I can’t see your interactions, I didn’t factor that in—though it is one of the metrics you gave me. Should I recalculate?”
“I never thought that!”
“The highest-weighted value is the proportion of demonic power in your body. Now, almost all of it has been assimilated by the Demon King.”
The Holy Sword’s voice was cold and ruthless, every word hitting like a gem. Avira even subconsciously thought she was dreaming.
“You are no longer in the human category. If we name it, it should be 【Dark Phoenix】—quite fitting for your current identity.”
“…”
“So, does that mean I can never go back to how things were?” Avira’s voice floated lightly.
“Yes, Miss Saintess. You are still a Saintess now, but you’re also a bona fide member of the Demon Race. You revere and respect the Demon King, so you think bearing her children is a happy thing.”
—
Winter in Demisorens was not as warm as usual.
The cold brought endless snow and ice, turning the western shrubs and forests into a white hellscape.
This was the first winter in Blood Clan Territory.
On the vast snowy ground, two figures struggled forward through the snow. From afar, they looked like two black dots.
One was a woman of the Blood Clan, and the other was a demonkin from the Demon Race.
“Pick up the pace, Lilina. We have to move faster than the Blood Armor Knights.” The Blood Clan member urged.
“We can rest in five more hours. You don’t want to get killed by the Pomistan people either, do you?”
“My feet… I can’t feel them… Belis, why are we doing this?”
To prevent the Blood Clan from rebelling, the Pomistan people had pierced Belis’s wings. Now, she had lost the ability to fly.
“For revenge.” Belis’s gaze was resolute.
