Smash! The window on the second floor of a nearby inn exploded out, and the naked Alysia landed on the ground stumbling slightly. I was in her arms. She had reacted suddenly before anyone else could react. Scooping me up, she leaped through the window. Numerous cuts of glass caused blood to run down her skin. I went instinctively to heal her, and then I remembered I couldn’t. Another spasm of pain struck me, but in her arms, I went where she carried me.

It was very late at night, and the festival had already wrapped up. Most were already passed out or drunk, leaving no particular witnesses to this event. She started to run. Each footprint was bloody as she had stepped on glass from the shattered window. This wouldn’t do. They would follow us immediately.

“Find them!” A voice bellowed from the room above.

This wasn’t the same Demon Lord Aberis I had encountered before. He was likely extremely weak. He didn’t chase after us because he didn’t have the power yet. He only had a small fragmented soul which he had used to control the king if there even was a king in there at all. No wonder the conflict between the Ost Republic and Aberis had lasted for twenty years. The Demon Lord had been whispering in the ear of the Osterian royalty since the countries creation. In many ways, this weaker Aberis was more successful than his Alerith counterpart ever was.

“Duck in this alley,” I instructed Alysia.

I was slightly surprised to see that she did what I asked. I quickly had her bring out some clothing from her storage ring. I couldn’t access my Inventory, and I wasn’t carrying any storage rings anymore. Alysia was close enough to my size that I could wear some of her armor. Most of her clothing wasn’t girly anyway. Or rather, wasn’t my figure a bit too slim and feminine? I decided I didn’t want to think about that any longer.

“Deek, m-my mother… she told me I had a brother who d-died in a dungeon. Do you think…?” Alysia asked as we were in the middle of changing, a conflicted expression on her face.

“That she was talking about the Demon Lord?” I finished her question. “I can’t say for certain, but it’s possible. Even after trying to destroy it, she still couldn’t reject it completely. Your mother… it would have been a slow process. She wasn’t always like that.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“I understand.” Alysia responded, her voice tight.

We continued to hastily dress. After getting dressed and wrapping her feet, she helped me get dressed as well. The clothing was extremely civilian-like. The next thing I did was access my dungeon store. I was relieved when the familiar tattoos brightened.

“I can still use the power of my blessings,” I said in relief.

I used Transformation on the pair of us, changing our appearance to something else.

“This won’t work.” Alysia sighed. “I know this ability is strong, but Broth… that man would have already thought of it. He probably attached a magic marker to us.”

“I see…” So, we weren’t going to be able to hide.

I couldn’t access magic, so removing a magic marker was impossible. There had to be some dungeon skill I could use instead.

“I’m sorry, Deek.” Alysia looked over at me, her expression still filled with shock. “I thought… if I gave my virginity to you, then my tainted body would no longer be able to take the general’s soul. It should have only been a god soul I was designed to absorb, and I thought you would have a normal soul.”

“I don’t blame you.”

She hadn’t known everything. She certainly didn’t know her brother was the Demon Lord. However, she did know that if she slept with someone with a god soul, she would absorb their soul. That was why she was so depressed during her wedding. She didn’t want to murder an innocent man. Between her mother and her brother though, she had felt pressured to do such a thing. Ultimately, she had decided to shed her virginity before her wedding night with the man she wanted to, spoiling their plans to obtain the god soul. In a way, she had used me, but it wasn’t maliciously. In her mind, by stopping the king’s obtainment of the soul, she was only doing the country of Aberis a favor.

“I never realized that they wanted the god soul for such a reason. I had never realized my mother… was only a puppet of the Demon Lord.” She shook her head bitterly. “I’ve spent my life-fighting dungeons and curses. My family disapproved. No, it was because they disapproved that I was so passionate about fighting evil. Yet, the majority of the evil was right there in my own home.”

“They fooled everyone,” I said. “It’s not just you.”

“Even so… I was the closest to them, I should have done something.” She tightened her fist, causing it to shake slightly.

“The question is… Ahhhhh….” I started to keel over and she caught me, keeping me from collapsing to my knees.

“We’re running out of time.”