Demon King – Chapter 426 – Divine Stone? More Like a Puppy Stone

“Goooot～cha～you～”

Somewhere in the mountains, a silver-haired girl wore a kind smile as she grabbed a strange blue stone with both hands and spoke each word slowly.

‘No matter what, it was still a divine stone that the village had worshipped for who knows how many centuries. Give it a little respect, okay.’

Watching the ridiculous scene of the girl grabbing the stone and swinging it around with force, Yuki covered his face and complained internally.

After listening to the old man talk about the divine stone and the village, Yuki had still been filled with reverence toward this stone of unknown origin. But after seeing his own little girlfriend grabbing it and flailing it around, that so-called reverence had completely vanished.

It was like some existence that earned everyone’s awe through immense power, normally lofty and dignified, looking untouchable.

But then that very existence suddenly got picked up by your family’s bratty kid and beaten up, beaten to the point of having absolutely no ability to fight back. Who could still feel reverence toward it after that?

Even though he knew Eiru was a Demon Lord in the truest sense, not some bratty kid. Still, with how grounded and natural their daily interactions were, Yuki could not help but get that exact sense of déjà vu.

But thanks to Her Majesty the Demon Lord, the tension born from that reverence also completely dissipated. Yuki felt a lot more relaxed overall.

“Alright, Lu Brat, let’s handle the serious stuff. Check if it’s the thing we’re looking for, or see if it can help you in any way.”

As an outsider to this mystical stuff, Yuki could not really help, so naturally he left the judgment and handling to the girl.

Reаԁ оn КatRеaⅾingCаfе

‘But speaking of which, this shrine… hmmmmm. It was really kind of small. Looking at the little thing that was about the same size as a mailbox by his front door.’

Yuki could not imagine how something worshipped for several centuries could have so little presence.

Then again, considering that it was meant to hide its location and not many people came up to maintain it, being small was understandable. After all, one person could not exactly build some huge shrine by themselves. Still, could this thing really be called a shrine?

“Oh, right…”

Hearing Yuki’s reminder, the little Demon Lord snapped back to her senses and remembered why they had come here in the first place.

Although that broken stone had messed with her the entire way up and she was still harboring quite a bit of resentment, business came first. She pressed her forehead against the stone and began probing it with magic.

And at this stage, she could not destroy it. On top of that, it was just a stone and could not express any emotions. Aside from swinging it around a few times to vent, Her Majesty the Demon Lord really could not do much to it.

After all, no matter how you looked at it, what could you really do to a stone? Even if you got so angry that you kicked it hard, the one hurting would still be yourself.

“It feels a bit like Amber Crystal? But I don’t actually know what Amber Crystal looks like. It just feels kind of similar.”

While probing and analyzing it with magic, Eiru described the results she was getting to Yuki.

Reаԁ οո КаtReаⅾіոɡСafe

“Rather than a stone, it feels more like a living being with self-awareness? But since its appearance is still a stone, it can’t express anything, and it can’t interact with the outside world directly…”

Through her magical probing, Eiru discovered that this so-called divine stone was actually a living stone. But it could only receive external information through very limited means, and could only respond by interfering with surrounding things. From this perspective, it was indeed very close to what she had previously guessed.

“A living stone? Then does it have emotions, or can it sense our presence?”

After learning that this thing was actually alive, to be honest, Yuki felt a little intimidated. After all, you were a Demon Lord with high magic resistance and powerful methods. This stone could not stir up much trouble in front of you.

‘But I’m just a normal person. Something this mystical, if it set its sights on me, that would really be a problem.’

“No. It’s just a stone. It might have its own emotions, I guess? But normally it doesn’t feel anything at all. Right now, it doesn’t even know that I’ve picked it up.”

Her Majesty the Demon Lord gave a relatively reassuring answer to Yuki’s question.

“Only when emotions or thoughts become intense enough can it sense them in its own way, and then respond.”

So this so-called divine stone was simply longing for interaction with the outside world. But lacking senses, its perception was limited, and it had been stuck here for so long without feeling anything.

So when some information finally came from the outside world, and it sensed external thoughts, it was like a child who had just made a new friend, eagerly helping them fulfill their wishes.

Rеаd οո KatReаⅾiոɡCаfe

If it had a tail, it would probably already be wagging it nonstop like a puppy, waiting for praise and thanks from the other party.

“Wow, the way you put it… it really sounds like a dog.”

After hearing Eiru’s explanation, the last bit of reverence Yuki had for the stone shattered completely. He had thought it was some cold, aloof big shot, but it turned out to be an unlucky kid desperate for friends.

“It is a dog. Even though it has decent intelligence and thinking ability, its behavioral logic is closer to that of a young child or small animal.”

“Like you?”

Since the girl herself was also very much small-animal type, Yuki suddenly threw out that line.

“Damn it, you’re the one like it. You asking to get smacked?”

The little Demon Lord instantly bristled, got angry, and directly hurled the stone at Yuki with force.

“Holy shit, are you murdering your husband?!”

Seeing the stone flying toward him, Yuki instinctively raised his arm to block it, then suddenly realized something. This cursed stone was completely different from how it looked. This thing was actually soft?

Reαⅾ οո ΚαtRеаԁіոɡСafе

Holding the blue stone in his hands, Yuki examined it closely. The surface of the stone was covered in beautiful icy blue patterns, now flashing with light in a regular rhythm, as if responding to the girl’s magic.

Then, combining that with what Eiru had just explained, Yuki suddenly realized something.

Sufficiently strong emotions and thoughts, or rather, wishes in one’s heart, were enough for this stone to sense and respond to.

And this thing was obviously terrified of loneliness. Since it craved external interaction so much, there was no reason for it to have interfered through the ley lines and repelled the girl’s approach all the way here.

After all, if there truly was an existence capable of communicating with this stone, that would naturally be Eiru. No matter how you looked at it, there was no reason for the stone to reject a Demon Lord like her.

Combined with its behavioral logic, that left only one possible explanation.

Someone had transmitted a wish or thought like that to the stone, so it responded and interfered, repelling Eiru.

But within several kilometers, there was no sign of human presence. Who could possibly have such intense emotions and thoughts toward his little girlfriend, strong enough for the stone to sense them?