SWNOVELXO Chapter 355: The troubled duchess
The next day, closer to the elven empire, Asura once again spent hours practising with Alice. After a long time of training and dealing with the duchess, who suffered from pent-up frustration, the pair lay side by side on a rock in silence under the moonlight.
After travelling further east, they found a vast river named the River of Judgement or Nuvu by the locals. There was a clearing with several trees and fruits that resembled bananas, which were sweet and delicious. Serena and Velvet confirmed the fruit to be a special delicacy, as they grew it in rare places around the world.
"It must be difficult for you to always hide your true self..." Asura's voice echoed through the empty clearing, along with distant croaks and sounds from the forest's wildlife as the day ended.
"Well, it's not like a noble can act like this, right?" Alice turned on her side, covered in dirt and wounds from their training as usual.
"Sounds annoying, noble or not..."
He noticed that when around Vinea, Velvet or Asmodeus, Alice would act differently, but he could see the resemblance of her true self in both Velvet and Vinea. Yet, unlike Alice, those two refused to hide this side of themselves. In fact, Velvet seemed to embrace it more than her noble heritage.
"Why do you do that? Are you ashamed to let out your true personality?"
Asura observed Alice's face twist, attempting to make an expression at first but failing before she fell back onto the ground next to him, gazing up at the moon, beads of sweat dripping down her flushed cheeks. The night was cool on this side of the continent, contrasting with the warm weather in the empire.
"I suppose that is the case, isn't it?" Alice pondered in a whisper. "Maybe I don't want anyone to see my true self..." Her voice wavered as if trying to force out each syllable against some invisible resistance.
"Then... what about me?" Asmodeus curled his lips before tapping the soft, plump cheeks that resembled marshmallows. "Don't you feel shame with how casual we are?"
Alice slapped his hand away. "I'm just enjoying the moment for now," she chuckled while sliding closer to him. "I just feel a little different around you. Comfortable... at ease?" Her lips twisted in a strange smile as if mocking herself. "Maybe I should have realised you were bad news the moment I met eyes with you."
She placed her head on his arm. "Still, you've done so much for me and my family, that we can never repay you..." She snuggled into the crook of his neck. "...so isn't seeing my true self in a sense your reward?" Her hot breath tickled the bare skin of his throat.
A smile forced itself onto the demon king's face. "Interesting logic..."
Perhaps it was her adorable logic, but for a long time, he wondered why he felt drawn to Alice from the moment he saw her eyes. A feeling gripped him, and a desire to know her appeared, but they avoided forcing this relationship or pushing it too far. He respected her, and she treated him the same, even though Asmodeus had no issues with her sudden changes after fighting. "Are you comfortable?"
Alice gave a satisfied sound like an affirmation. "More than you think." The pair locked eyes, blue and red flickers reflecting off each other like shimmering stars. "Are you going to avoid me again?" Her eyes softened, a question he could only nod to.
"It will be over soon, and your adrenaline and mood will return to normal." His lips curled into a half-smile, unable to make a complete smirk due to her state, something about not wanting to see Alice look so frustrated.
"What if I remained like this... what would change?"
Her words latched onto the deepest recesses of his mind like a tempting poison.
In response, the Demon King of Lust found his match—they flirted and argued like this constantly over the past few months. Alice's strength grew faster than any other woman, maybe because of her love for slaughter and battle being so similar to his.
"If I am honest," the duchess began softly. "At first, I couldn't trust you and wanted to use the deal to kill you... since you poisoned my cute nieces and brother." A distant howl echoed through the night, amplifying the tension in the atmosphere from their discussion. "Then you looked at me with those googly eyes and trained me in a way that changed my entire life," she hissed, blowing hot air against his chest while reaching out and touching his exposed chest.
"Because you reminded me of someone, and I couldn't help but seek you out... blame Velvet for telling me about you." His words became softer as he explained. At the same time, his gaze drifted elsewhere. He hadn't noticed when it happened, but there was no point hiding anything now.
At first, Alice resembled his mother... her stances, the way she fought and her crass attitude when fighting, but after that, he saw himself when they started training together, and he became enchanted.
'It was thanks to you and Serena I realised that although I am scum for liking several women... but at least I realised each of you were different to me, I liked each of you for a different reason special to them.' But instead of speaking, he kept quiet, knowing well it wasn't right yet for such an explanation. Instead, he pulled the duchess closer.
The night chill wrapped around their slightly wet bodies. Tonight, their job was to watch for monsters and enemies.
Obviously, they used this as an excuse for an intense training match—the more she fought, the better for her curse, and he felt the sensation of evolution growing with each day.
A couple of moments passed, and Alice once again gazed up at him, meeting his azure blue irises. "What are you thinking about?"
"You," there was no need to sugarcoat it... memories of the meeting he first saw her, elegant and wrapped in a special aura, her crimson eyes and sleek black hair like a princess, with porcelain skin that shone in the light. Her attire and beauty exuded grace, especially among other nobles at that meeting.
Seeing her fight and speak in such a vulgar and ugly way was exhilarating. Of course, he found the girl adorable even then, but his feelings became deeper once he learned her motives.
'Why is everyone I like...' The thought froze inside him as he observed Alice's blushing cheeks, flushed face, and heaving chest. "Alice... let go."
Unfortunately, the moment the duchess realised what he meant, it was already too late.
BANG—!
A massive palm, larger than their entire bodies, smashed into the ground. As the silver ape hammered his chest, an aura of arrogance and pride spread through the forest. "Dare you humans enter this king's sacred land!"
The impact cracked the enormous stone, shattering it into dust, while Asmodeus grasped Alice's arm, yanking her body into his chest and pushing his feet off the stone to avoid the attack. "Dammit..." The creature landed on the ground, its silver fur reflecting brightly underneath the moonlight.
'This is the monster Baku mentioned... another Spirit Guardian moon god...' Asmodeus turned away from the being and brought down one of his hands beside Alice, clutching her hip. "Be carful, this monster isn't normal."
Asmodeus narrowed his eyes, and a flash of blue appeared as he analysed the monster's strength.
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[Scan]
[Name: Ullak]
Race: Spirit Beast (Moon Guardian)
Level: 500 (SSS)
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'This should be quite interesting..."
A sense of delight spread through his chest, his blood beating faster while Asmodeus curled his lips, revealing his fangs. Beside him, Alice watched the change and felt a tight sensation in her chest.
"You've never shown that face... " Her words grew quieter with each syllable.
But she knew this all along, from their countless battles and nights of endless carnage...
Alice, no matter how much she brought out her power... never made him serious—she couldn't make Asmodeus break that level of restraint. The scene created such a longing within the duchess that she wished to cut open her own heart and tear apart those emotions; it would have been better not to experience them every night only to be shot down.
She wanted more power. Power beyond anything, even her own life, so she could have the satisfaction of seeing the man before her struggle under her might.
As if feeling the dangerous intent within the noble, the spirit beast frowned.
"A strange demon, and a greedy human being... how strange, you dare enter the forest of dark elves... my beloved children."
"Shut up, monkey. Let's fight!" Asmodeus spoke with a tone even worse than Alice's. His face became monstrous. His body transformed into a demon, unable to hide his enjoyment of battle. Black scales covered his arms, shoulders, neck, and part of his torso.
On his back, wings formed in the shape of knives, the inner portion skeletal. "Alice, stand back," the monster whispered. He knew well that Alice may have increased in level, but against such an opponent, she had no chance.
"Demon, do you really wish to fight, even knowing our great—"
BOOM!
A rush of air, pure force from Asmodeus's punch, caused the spirit beast's eyes to dilate, and his body shuddered before slamming into numerous trees, snapping them in half, while leaves flew everywhere.
Even the birds nearby awoke, frightened by such violence in the middle of the night.
"Y-you... How did you gain such power?!" The spirit beast looked truly shocked. The guardian of the moon and all the spirit beasts understood the rules of the world and the limits of each existence. "How can a Demon King surpass the limits of his role?!"
Asmodeus wiped his upper lip while trying to hide his smirk. 'ah... probably the benefits of knocking up a goddess?'
There was no answer, but the facial expression on the demon's face made Ullak seethe with anger due to his confusion and a sense of fear like never before.
There was one difference between Gods, mortals and the like, which was that all entities carried a limit, the hero being one of the rare things able to surpass that limit, and the reason he could defeat the demon king in legends. "You shouldn't have such power!"
Meanwhile, overlooking the battle were two figures. "Ah... this poor monkey is going to bleed..." Baku, in his tiger form, lay on a branch in the distance while Asmodeus sat beside him and gazed at her aunt and husband with a complicated expression.