“You’re murdering your own citizens, Bernard? You even cut her from behind when she wasn’t looking! What kind of Prince are you?”

Bernard cocked his head to the side. “I’m not? I’m the demon-slaying Hero, so why would I care about any demon life?”

“You… so, you remember who you are? I thought you would have convinced yourself you were the Demon Prince.”

“It’s true… the miasmic infection did take some time to get control of. The prince was… excitable.”

“Then, if you’re in control of yourself, shouldn’t we work together to escape.”

“You misunderstand.” Bernard casually wiped the sword off on the body of the dead woman. “I am no longer being influenced by the prince’s personality, but that doesn’t mean that anything I said back then was incorrect. Carmine is my woman. A slaver like you doesn’t deserve her.”

“And you do?” I snorted, the rage inside me starting to grow once again.

“We will be getting married in a month. At that point, I will have the ability to break the slave mark on her, and she will finally be free of your control.

“You think I’m controlling her? Did you ever think that maybe she’s with me by choice?”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“Hmph… I know you slaver types. You manipulate and control people. She might not even be aware of the brainwashing you’ve done, that’s why I must save her!”

“And I’m sure the saving you’re doing in no way resembles brainwashing yourself.” I snapped back.

“Enough of this. There is no point in quibbling with you. The person who is the strongest writes the history books, so nothing you say even matters!”

With that, he moved to attack. He was insanely fast. I was shocked once again as he moved toward me. I had completely forgotten how frenetic and dangerous his fighting style was. He was swinging his blade in a cut aiming to take my head. It looked like he was trying to win this in one hit.

However, I wasn’t the same person that I was back then. I was no longer restricted by the Demon Lord’s binding and I had spent a great deal of time fighting monsters in the forest to increase my abilities. As Bernard raced toward me, I leaped forward to meet him. I activated my Haste as I made sure I had the best applicable jobs selected, and as my speed ramped up, I realized I could handle his own. The pair of us faced each other, a single clang of metal as we passed and ended up on either side facing away.

As we turned to face each other again, a streak of red appeared on Bernard’s cheek, leaking down to his chin. His hand rose to his face in surprise as he wiped the blood with his hand and then looked at it. His eyes shot back to me, and the expression on his face warped from a relaxed state to something much more disciplined. He lowered his body, taking on a true fighting stance.

His first attack had just been a casual thing. Perhaps, when I had bested him in the demon fort before, that had also been him looking down on me. It seemed like my best had only managed to get his acknowledgment. Now, things were going to get serious.