Alica’s eyelashes fluttered, a natural reaction from a young woman meeting someone’s gaze.
Roy continued to stare at Alica for a long time before extending his hand. To her surprise, a ripple appeared around her, and he had actually drawn her beloved sword, ‘Lionheart.’
This act left Alica quite astonished. Her ‘Lionheart’ had always been hidden by magic, yet Roy hadn’t drawn it with divine power, but with magic alone.
She hadn’t expected Roy’s magic skills to be so high.
“Surprised that I know magic?”
Roy examined ‘Lionheart,’ this slender sword, which from any perspective was a remarkably powerful magical armament. “….A good sword, although not a divine weapon, it’s still one of the pinnacle works among magical armaments.”
“I truly didn’t expect that ‘The King’ possessed such strong magical skills. I had assumed that someone like ‘The King’, who wields divine power, wouldn’t pay attention to magic.”
Alica remarked flatteringly.
“Power is essentially a type of magic, it’s just that whether it’s a Demigod or a Slayer, they can complete and unleash this great magic in an instant. While a magician can achieve the same effect, it would require dozens, even hundreds of people, and it would take days, even months, to complete.”
After becoming a Slayer, Roy had gained abilities, and naturally, he wouldn’t neglect magic. He wouldn’t be arrogant enough to believe that power was truly stronger than magic. In fact, power was merely a more advanced form of magic, a way of compressing a great magic that requires a long time to complete into a single, short incantation.
The reason why the powers unleashed by Slayers and Demigods are so terrifying is simply because they far surpass ordinary magicians in the quality and quantity of their magical power.
While power is convenient and powerful, you’d be hard-pressed to find a single Slayer who could explain its principle. Slayers are simply users, and this power has never truly belonged to them.
If one were simply to live in this world, then possessing power as a Slayer would be enough. But Roy had greater goals, merely being able to use power would not satisfy him, so he would learn as much knowledge as possible, seeking ‘True Wisdom.’
There was no need to explain these things to Alica. After admiring this masterpiece of a magical armament, Roy placed ‘Lionheart’ across her snow-white neck.
In that moment, Alica felt a cold shiver run down her neck, even the almost nonexistent hairs on her skin stood on end. Although ‘Lionheart’ was a magical armament, its sharpness was something Alica, as its owner, knew very well. If Roy only exerted a slight force, her beautiful head would roll to the ground.
Yet, despite this, even with her life in Roy’s hands, Alica didn’t tense or show fear. Instead, she relaxed her body as much as possible, avoiding any shifty gaze and forcing herself to meet Roy’s eyes.
A beautiful, delicate, yet noble face like a blooming flower.
Slowly, Roy moved the sword to Alica’s fragrant shoulder. At this time, Alica was kneeling on one knee, in the posture of a knight receiving knighthood.
Roy lowered his head, thinking for a moment, then chuckled, “….Forget it, I have no idea how the process of knighting works, but it’s just a formality. So from now on, Alica, you are my exclusive knight. I hope you will act according to the principles of a knight, because you now represent ‘me’.”
Roy spun the sword in a flourish, grasped the hilt with his backhand, and handed ‘Lionheart’ to Alica.
Alica took a deep breath and accepted the long sword, her brow and eyes unconsciously revealing joy.
As she had expected, this new King, Roy, lacked any trusted individuals to handle his daily affairs. Over these past few days, Alica had used her abilities to prove her decisiveness and competence, successfully catching the attention of ‘The King’.
As one of the only seven Kings in the world, Roy had many regular tasks, and for him, the most important thing was to acquire knowledge. He didn’t have much spare time to handle mundane matters, nor could he simply abandon everything like Salvatore.
The Italian magical society was loyal to him, so as ‘The King’, he had a duty to grant them greater honor.
Therefore, Roy needed someone with enough ability to help him with daily affairs. Alica had performed well in these past few days, especially since she was also beautiful and pleasing to the eye. Compared to a male secretary, Roy preferred a female one.
After all, when there’s work, the secretary does it. When there’s nothing to do, there’s still the secretary.
Roy put his right hand in his pocket and walked to the observation deck, gazing at the small island in the distance. This was the Italian island of Ponza.
Underneath the sheer cliffs on one side of Ponza Island was a small town reminiscent of Venice. With a permanent population of only four or five thousand, it was a tourist attraction, but usually, not many people visited.
“Finally arrived. I can already smell the Demigod.”
He muttered under his breath.
…
In a small local restaurant on Ponza Island, Roy was savoring a cup of cheap coffee that wasn’t particularly good.
Across from him sat Alica, dressed in a red gown, sitting upright. She also had a cup of coffee on the table in front of her, but she hadn’t touched it. She simply waited for Roy’s orders.
“There seem to be very few people on this island, even tourists.”
Roy gazed at the seascape outside the restaurant and spoke.
“After learning that Metatron was on this island, the Seven Sisters Alliance has already had the Italian government ban tourism here. We have also done our best to evacuate the four thousand plus residents, those few hundred remaining are unwilling to leave. Since that’s the case, we won’t bother them anymore.”
Led by the ‘Crimson Black Cross’, magical societies were extremely concerned about the stability of this country. In fact, it could be said that all magical societies in the world would be extremely cautious when facing a natural disaster like a Demigod.
“So, it seems that the Ponza Islands have always been a place of exile. From the time when Emperor Nero of Rome exiled his wife, Octavia, here, many emperors used this as an island of exile. Even Mussolini was exiled here in the early 20th century…..Metatron chose such a place to hide and recover his injuries. Perhaps He is also seeking self-exile?”
Hearing Roy’s booming laughter, Alica didn’t respond.
She only felt a heavy stone in her heart finally lifted, causing her to relax considerably.
For the past few days, she had been working for Roy with a tense mind, afraid that a single moment of slackness or error would provoke this ‘King’. However, after interacting with ‘The King’ for two days, she discovered that he wasn’t as cruel and tyrannical as she had imagined.
No, ‘The King’ was still a Slayer who acted as he pleased and was prone to fits of anger, but the ‘King’ in front of her was a person who separated public and private matters. In private, ‘The King’ was quite gentle. As long as you didn’t touch his bottom line, he rarely got angry or upset. You could say he was truly worthy of being called a King.
But when it came to public matters, he was extremely cold and ruthless. He always acted without hesitation, even to the point of being described as cruel, fully embodying the ‘Demon King’ aspect of his name, a true absolute ruler.
After gaining a preliminary understanding of Roy’s personality, Alica believed she could now handle him perfectly. She would show him reverence while working, and in private, as long as she didn’t overstep her position and maintained basic etiquette, she wouldn’t make ‘The King’ angry.
He might be fickle, but he definitely wouldn’t falsely accuse an innocent person.
“‘King’, Metatron is currently…”
“No need to speak, Alica! My blood is already boiling, my mind is already urging me forward. Like a beast smelling blood, for a Slayer, the smell of a Demigod is simply too strong.”
Roy’s eyes sharpened, and he looked towards the high platform of this island.
Metatron was there!
“Wait for me, you heretical angel, I will slay you here!”