Why Shouldn’t a Detestable Demon Lord Fall in Love?! 2

“It’s okay; I won’t lose. I’m not foolish enough to let such a beautiful woman become a widow.”

“Anima…”

Her husband’s strong yet gentle arms around her waist and the warmth radiating from his body calmed her mind. As his hug slowly released from around her waist she was met with his merry smile. She knew what was coming next. The butterflies erupted in her stomach as she patiently awaited her husband’s kiss that could come at any moment. But, Anima turned around and reached for the doorknob, leaving Luina completely dumbfounded.

“I have to go.”

“Umm… No kiss?”

“I’ll wait for that until I get home,” Anima chuckled as he watched Luina fidget. “It’ll help motivate me in the upcoming battle.”

“Then I’ll patiently wait here until I can get that kiss,” Luina said with a mellow smile.

After flashing one last smile at his wife, Anima left the room. He met up with Shaer, and the two left the inn before the sun had risen. They trod the quiet, empty streets heading to the gate opposite the one they entered from, and left Barjyo.

By the time they made it out of the city, the light had slowly begun to illuminate the green plains, banishing the shadows of the night. As he imagined the wonder in his family’s eyes if they could have seen the spectacle, a warm smile appeared on his face.

“Lord Anima, we should make our way to the bridge posthaste,” Shaer urged from above.

“I know.”

Anima readied himself and blasted off toward the bridge, cutting through the morning fog. He wanted to deal with the monster and get back to his family as soon as possible so they could enjoy the rest of their trip together. Driven by that desire, he put his decades of rigorous training to use and navigated the road at breakneck speed. It didn’t take long before the beautiful plains came to an end and he and Shaer entered a bleak wasteland. Seeing her land a bit ahead of him, he stopped as well.

“Your running speed is quite impressive. I’m aware the minotaur stone enhances your physical abilities, but I worry if you’ll be able to fight after expending so much mana.”

“Don’t worry. My reserves are bottomless.”

“I believe in your abilities.” Visibly wary of something, she gazed into the distance. Anima followed her gaze and spotted a strange line. Taking a closer look revealed that it was a crack—a precipice splitting the land as far as the eye could see. “Can you see the bridge there?”

Squinting his eyes, he found the bridge Shaer was referring to, a small figure resting on it. He couldn’t make out the figure’s appearance from such a distance, but it certainly looked like some sort of monster. Shaer had reported that it was a human girl behind the monstrous appearance, but it made no difference if it were human or demon; Anima’s focus was on one thing alone.

“You’ll help me contact the king if I defeat that monster, correct?”

“A knight never goes back on her word.”

“I certainly hope not,” Anima stated almost threateningly, and began walking toward the monster.

“Are you heading into battle already? Don’t get me wrong, I’m quite happy you’re so eager to fight that monster, but as she doesn’t seem to have noticed us yet, wouldn’t you like to take a bit more time to, umm… to get yourself into the mood to fight first?”

“There’s no need. I have more than enough reason to end this quickly. I’ve been in the mood to fight since long before we got here.” He wanted to go back to his beloved family. That was the only thing on his mind. “You’d best watch this battle from above.”

“I shall. It’s quite disheartening to admit, but I would likely only hinder your ability to fight if I were to stay beside you on the battlefield.”

Shaer flew up into the air, and Anima blasted off in the direction of the monster, closing the distance in no time. On his approach, the monster had either heard his footsteps or seen him coming, as it started walking toward him. Once they’d gotten close enough to make out each other’s appearances, Anima stopped for a moment. What was making its way toward him was a creature the likes of which he recalled vividly.

A large, dragon-like creature. Its body was covered in scales, and its wings and tail were long and menacing. Save for its color—jade green rather than crimson—it looked the same as Malshan had when he’d transformed and attacked Anima and his family. There was only one reason that a human girl would look that way.

She’s using the magic stone from one of the Harbinger’s familiars?

If that was the case, it meant that she was the descendant of one of the few select families that had fought alongside the Scarletts in their heroic battle against the Harbinger. Why would someone of that status go down the path of misdeed? Malshan may have wanted Luina dead, but his motivation was clear: he wanted the Harbinger stone for himself. In contrast, the girl he was about to fight was simply acting as a roadblock. Could there have been some grand scheme she planned to fulfill by blocking access to the bridge?

Anima racked his brain, but he couldn’t figure out the answer without any information. The monster didn’t seem eager to nonchalantly share her plans, either, so his only option was to get her to talk by force. Or so he thought.

“You’d better be Merkalt, m’kay?” The monster spoke to Anima. Her voice was rather high-pitched, as though she were still rather young. It caught him off-guard. “Don’t you dare ignore me, m’kay?”

The monster was furious. Like a child throwing a fit, she repeatedly stamped the ground with her tail, filling the bleak wasteland with claps like thunder and making it shake. She was far stronger than any adult; her strength was incomparable to that of humans as a whole. No average person could even begin to imagine what a monster like her would be capable of during a real battle if such a display of power was being used as a mere form of intimidation. They would lose whatever will they had to fight, if not their entire consciousness, out of fear.

Anima, however, didn’t even flinch. Not only had he fought creatures that were several magnitudes scarier, but he also had to protect the peaceful life of his family. He couldn’t afford to run even if he was scared. He prepared his calmest tone to answer the monster.

“Malshan won’t come. I beat him.”

“Really? You’re stronger than Merkalt? M’kay…”

“I am. The difference is like night and day.”

“I sure hope so, m’kay?”

The monster curled its wide mouth into a smile and slowly started making her way toward Anima. Her wings spread, she pulled her imposing tail behind herself as the sun glistened off her sharp claws.

“Wait.”

To his surprise, she actually stopped.

“What’s the matter, you scared? Terrified, even? Good! Then run! I’m not interested in weaklings or women, m’kay?”

“Why do you not have interest in weaklings and women?”

“’Cause I’m the strongest woman there is, m’kay?”

Her cryptic reasoning confirmed two things to Anima. First, as Shaer had reported, the monster was indeed a girl. Second, and even more important, she hadn’t gone too far off the deep end. Their small exchange revealed that she wasn’t looking to fight; if she were, she wouldn’t have offered to let him escape. She had to have some sort of goal in mind in blocking the bridge. If Anima was able to grant her wish, it was possible that he could settle things without hurting the girl.

“I won’t fight you.”

He raised his hands and started slowly walking toward the monster. Clearly suspicious, she bared her fangs.

“If you’re not gonna fight, why’re you coming over here, hmm? You’d better have something up your sleeve if you wanna beat me up close, m’kay?”

“I could beat you from miles away if I wanted to.”

He could burn her to ash, or even crush her to death with his earth magic. He could, but he had no plans to use any magic—or his fists, for that matter. He was firmly against hitting girls.

“You say that like you’re stronger than me. You sure are funny, m’kay?”

“I say that because I am.”

“Then take this, m’kay?”

She turned around and sliced through the air with her sharp tail, aiming at Anima’s abdomen. Without so much as flinching, he caught it with a single hand, sending pieces of something across the ground. The impact of the strike had torn off some of her scales, scattering them around him.

“I took it,” he informed her in a calm, collected voice.

In doing so, he made the beast shudder, a reaction he had experienced before. It meant that she was either deathly afraid of his overwhelming strength or immeasurably angry at his perceived arrogance. Much to his surprise, however, the reason was something entirely different.

“Incredible! That power is amazing, m’kay? You sure can take a hit, m’kay?” Her voice was filled with awe at Anima’s unbelievable strength. She had shuddered from the overwhelming happiness it filled her with.

“Yes, I’m strong. Much stronger than you can ever hope to be. So please, surrender. I promise I won’t hurt you.”

“Answer me first, m’kay?”

“I’m listening.”

“Do you have any chronic diseases? And tell me about the last time you caught a cold, too, m’kay?”

A strange question that put a lot on the line. She would surrender, but only if Anima gave a favorable answer. He didn’t know what she was looking for, but he was not one to lie to children.

“I don’t have any chronic diseases, and I’ve never suffered from a cold. Send me to the highest peaks wearing only a loincloth, have me cross a scorching desert, I’ll come back like nothing ever happened. I have traversed the Desert of Perish and eaten the most toxic of demons, yet I’ve never had as much as an upset stomach.”

“You pass, m’kay?!”

“I… ‘pass’?”

“With flying colors, m’kay?! You’re sturdy! Sturdier than I ever imagined! No matter what happens, you’re bound to survive, m’kay?!”

Her euphoric cheers made Anima wonder if she was the type who reveled in defeating strong foes. If she was, it was nothing but bad news. He knew from experience that people like that wouldn’t give up until they won.

“Do you still want to fight me?”

“Nope! I lost, m’kay?”

She admitted defeat, to which Anima let out a sigh of relief. He didn’t want to hurt a child.

“Then why don’t you stop using that magic stone for me.”

“Gladly, m’kay?” Her immediate response was followed by a blinding light. It enveloped her dark-green scales, and the monster’s body shrunk down and transformed into the form of a human. “I hope we’re all good now, m’kay?”

The light faded to reveal a small girl. No more than ten or eleven years old, her small stature and tan skin contrasted with her long silver hair and the big ribbon tied into it to give her a very unique appearance. She wore a beautiful, colorful dress, complete with a dark-green earring.

“Tell me, m’kay?”

“Tell you what?”

“Tell me I’m cute, m’kay?”

“Hm? Ah, yes, you’re very cute.”

Anima admitted to her cuteness. Despite having feared them for the longest time, he had come to find children adorable. Back in his own world, his heart shattered every time a child broke out in tears the moment they spotted him. But ever since his summoning by Luina, he’d had no reason to fear making a child cry. Not a single time a child had looked at him had they done so with fear in their eyes, and the tan girl in front of him was no exception.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“I’m Bram, m’kay?” she answered with a beaming smile. Being told she was cute must have thrilled her.

“Incredible! Truly spectacular! You extinguished the great danger in a matter of minutes!” Disrupting their conversation, Shaer joyously complimented Anima on his work. Descending toward them, she kept her eyes fixed on Bram, a hand on the hilt of her sword all the while. “Now, hand over that dragon stone. And don’t try anything funny.”

“I’m not giving you anything, m’kay?” Bram contested. She put a small hand over her earring and glared at Shaer, who took a step back feeling the pressure on herself.

“Lord Anima, please allow me to confirm: did she surrender to you?”

“Yes, she admitted defeat.”

“Thank goodness!” she said with a relieved smile. “So, may I have that stone now?”

“Argh, quit it already, m’kay?! What aren’t you getting here?! I’m not giving you anything! Ask me again and I’ll punch you, m’kay?!”

“Lord Anima, I’ll need you to take that stone from her by force.”

“I will not.”

“Wh-Why not?” Shaer asked, utterly shocked by his response. “She might create this same problem again somewhere else!”

“I’m not doing this again, m’kay?!”

“And why would I believe your words?”

“I believe her,” Anima interrupted, causing Shaer’s eyes to nearly pop out of her skull.

“B-But why?!”

“Adults are responsible for believing children.” He turned to Bram and looked deep into her eyes. “Are you going to use that stone to hurt others, Bram?”

“I swear I won’t, m’kay?”

“See?” Anima flashed a gentle smile. “There’s no reason to take the stone away from her.”

“E-Excuse my ignorance, but what are you going to do if she betrays her promise?”

“I’ll scold her. Adults are responsible for scolding children when they do something mischievous.”

Shaer fell silent for a second before letting out a drawn sigh.

“Understood. I’ll trust your judgment, Lord Anima.”

“Thank you.”

“I should be the one expressing gratitude. Thanks to your efforts in liberating this bridge, life here can return to normal. Now, shall we head back?”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

As he turned around, he felt a tug on his robe.

“What’s the rush? Tell me where you’re going, m’kay?”

“To Barjyo.”

“Is that where you live? M’kay…”

“No, I’m actually on a trip. Once we get back to the city, we’re going to head to the port.”

“Ooh, the port! Sounds good, m’kay?”

Wearing a big smile, Bram let go of Anima’s robe, setting him free. As soon as she did so, he rushed back to his beloved family at top speed.