C182
The reason I was sure that the person that Caius had known was Roland Cassius was simple.
"Because I can't imagine Duke Edman Cassius making a scene and fainting just because a demon appeared."
Although the demon has a fierce appearance, is twice the size of a human, and has huge horns on its head.
On the other hand, Roland's absurd behavior was depicted as clearly as if she had seen it with her own eyes.
"Yes, he fainted..."
Suddenly worried, I asked Caius.
"Did he faint after he responded?"
Of course, the concern was not for Roland's health but whether he had responded to Caius correctly.
Actually, it was good news for me that the person Caius had met was Roland.
As much as he disliked both Liena and me, there was a high probability that Roland would give me a beneficial response.
However, if Roland fainted and couldn't respond, wouldn't that be a problem?
Caius shook his head.
"No, it wasn't like that. I slapped his cheek a couple of times and he came to his senses.
… It was good for me, but it would be a bit scary to slap someone in the face to wake them up from fainting.
"Then I asked him. I told him your names and appearances and asked if either of you is a member of the Cassius family."
"Is that so?"
I felt my heart pounding strongly and fervently prayed in my heart.
Please, old man. I hope you didn't tell the truth that neither of us was Cassius.
He's not particularly reliable in his personality!
"He was half asleep, but he responded clearly. He said."
Caius looked at me.
"He said that Ethel Cassius was his daughter-in-law. Thanks to that, now I understand why I couldn't feel the demonic energy even though you were a Cassius."
I silently shouted for joy.
Damn it, he believed it! Old Roland!
Normally, I would have been disgusted that Roland didn't give up his ambition to connect us to Isaac and me, but this time was different.
I felt that with so much effort, I could put him on my important people list for a week.
"Hold on a moment!"
At that moment, Liena shouted urgently.
"So what about me? What did grandpa say about me?"
"Regarding you, he said you're like a leech who's obsessed with Cassius and doesn't even want to hear your name."
"Roland, that…! Ask others too! If it were my dad or my brothers, they would respond differently!"
"Is it really necessary? She's the one who brought the family relic and declared she was Cassius. As for me, I gave you many chances."
Liena clenched her teeth without even responding.
At that moment. Boom! With a loud noise, the rooftop door that Liena had locked was crushed like paper.
"Ethel! Are you okay?"
"Master! We're here!"
Terence, carrying Lucy over his shoulder, burst through the iron door and appeared.
"I'm sorry. I had to take a moment to fight the monsters Lucy was dealing with, they were all attacking at once and…"
Terence's face stiffened with tension as he apologized and explained the reason for his delay.
Perhaps sensing Caius's energy, he pointed his sword and issued a stern warning.
"Who are you? Step away from Ethel right now."
It seemed that a great rift would erupt if we continued like this, so I stepped between them.
"Terence! Wait! This person is on our side!"
Terence's eyes widened at those words, and when he was about to ease his hostility, this time Lucy shouted.
"Don't be fooled, master! I can feel it! His magical power is almost at the same level as Shadow's when his power was at its peak! He's definitely a servant of the evil god!"
"No! It's true, here Caius is the demon king..."
"What? Demon king! Then of course, he's an enemy! Don't worry, we'll save you!"
"No, it's not like that!"
In Lucy's situation, not knowing the details of the situation, it was hard to believe that Caius, the demon king, was on my side.
But as I desperately tried to explain that it wasn't because it was so shocking to me, Caius, who had been silent until now, asked.
"So, who are you? What is your relationship with Ethel Cassius?"
"… Ethel Cassius?"
Terence frowned as if the name offended him.
This is driving me crazy! There are unavoidable circumstances here!
"Why Ethel…?"
Terence, who was about to ask why I was a Cassius, suddenly stopped speaking.
This was because I, standing behind Caius, was begging him with all possible gestures to keep his mouth shut.
The story surrounding the Cassius surname had to be told without Caius knowing, so there was no other choice.
"At this moment, I am a Cassius! Because this man is the distant ancestor of Cassius! For him to be on our side, please!"
However, I felt a sense of despair as it seemed like a signal that couldn't be understood.
"Master, where does it hurt?"
Indeed, Lucy looked at me as if I were a patient and then aimed her arrow at Caius.
"This guy! Did you put a curse on my master? And why mention the Cassius family..… Hmph!?"
But suddenly Terence covered Lucy's mouth.
"I was rude, Mr. Caius."
He courteously greeted Caius with a sociable smile.
"My name is Terence, servant of Ethel Cassius. I'm not good enough, but I'm in charge of her escort.
At that moment, my eyes saw the illusion of a halo shining behind Terence's head.
"I apologize for being rude to you without knowing you. Additionally, I would like to apologize on behalf of this child for the rudeness he committed."
He gently stroked Lucy's fur, whose limbs were trembling while she was caught in his arms.
"This child is Ethel's talking pet, but she's fierce by nature, so don't take offense to him too much.
I can only trust you, Terence!
How is it possible for him to understand things so well that he can immediately grasp the situation and respond accordingly?
He was truly the man I loved.
Caius, who heard Terence's words, let out a laugh.
"You're treating Miella's divine beast like a kitten. I have quite an interesting offspring.
The demon king looked at me and opened his arms.
"Now, descendant, tell me. What do you want from me? It's been a long time, but I'm willing to be your strength."
I swallowed and opened my mouth.
"There are two main things. One is to take us to a safe place where there are no monsters."
Caius nodded as if he understood.
"The other is to help me defeat that evil apostle here and now."
The moment I said my second wish, almost simultaneously as I said it, Liena looked up and shouted.
"Oh my God! I'll give you all the rest of my life except for one year! Lend me your strength!"
Soon, a huge amount of demonic energy enveloped Liena's body like a storm.
Oh my God. Did she just make a deal with the evil God in exchange for her life?
It was startling, but at the same time acceptable.
It was probably the first time today that Liena had contacted the evil God.
"For some reason, there wasn't much backlash compared to the power she was using."
Miella's blessings will return to you as misfortune if you overuse them.
The power of evil spirits was no different. The only difference between this and a blessing is that it takes life, not happiness.
What takes life is not visible to the naked eye, so the backlash was not felt.
"Rise up and defend me!"
While Liena shouted loudly, Camellia, who had been knocked down by me, staggered to her feet.
"Keeeeeeek!"
Additionally, the wyvern that had been watching this direction from the sky rushed toward me with its dazzling eyes.
It happened in the blink of an eye, but Caius reacted quickly.
In an instant, he drew the sword from his waist and slashed at Camellia, then he raised the staff in his other hand and aimed it at the wyvern.
When the wyvern breathed fire, a black mist flowed from the black beads of the staff and enveloped the wyvern's body along with the fire.
As if defeating the two monsters wasn't enough, he took one step further and aimed his staff at Liena as well.
However, the black mist was caught in the vortex of demonic energy surrounding Liena and dispersed.
As if taking turns, Terence attempted to attack Liena with his sword, but he too was blocked by the whirlwind.
"I'll try!"
I used my divine power to neutralize the demonic energy.
Then, the vortex was definitely smaller than before, but it still wasn't enough.
I drew all the divine power I could from my body and shouted at Liena.
"You, fool! Do it in moderation!"
"No! I won't stop until you listen to me and stay away from that man!"
Neither backed down, so we continued to face off with our strengths.
"Ethel! Why don't you understand my feelings?"
"You say you like me, but you actually don't care about my feelings at all!"
Then, at some point, a sphere of mixed light and darkness appeared at the point where our powers met.
"Oh?"
The sphere grew larger in an instant and swallowed both Liena and me.
"Ethel!"
When Terence's cry calling me was heard in the distance, my consciousness was filled with something else.
It was Liena's memory. The happy days Liena spent as Princess Cassius quickly passed by.
I knew it because I had experienced something like this before.
Soul resonance. The day I first revealed that Liena returned and she defined me as her enemy, I caught a glimpse of Liena's memories.
"Both you and her are humans blessed by the goddess. Furthermore, since both past and present lives are closely related to each other, the soul can momentarily resonate."
Lucy explained it this way and said that something like this could happen again at any time.
"Why does it have to be today?!"
Well, the fact that they were both chosen by God hasn't changed since then, and they even clashed directly with each other's powers some time ago.
Thinking calmly that it was not unusual for resonance to occur, I quickly waited for this phenomenon to end. Because I had to regain my senses before Liena.
But suddenly I realized that something was wrong.
"Is this Liena's second life?"
Looking at Liena, who had become Princess Cassius, it was clear that it was this life, but I felt a strange sense of unease.
Finally, when I saw Leandro appear in front of Liena with a woman on his back, I realized the true nature of that sense of unease.
"Let me introduce you, Liena. This is the Lady of the Wallace family, whom I'm currently dating."
The woman standing next to Leandro was not the Ethel I knew, but someone I had never seen before.
What is this?"
---
KO-FI:
https://tinyurl.com/100IWDSFLSB
(Up to '20' more ch4pt3rs)
Publication of up to 1 to 3 chapters per week, thank you.