Chapter 178 - Phoenix's Daughter (5)

"B...be with you….."

Etna's cheeks became bright red. Her body had been feeling the adverse effect of the ice continent, so she looked pale. Finally, some color and vitality returned to her.

"D...does that mean you left that young lady to come to me?"

"Nope. Even if I leave her, she'll probably chase me down until the end of my life."

"You are the worst! You are openly talking about seeing both of us!?"

It was the truth, so he had no rebuttal. Her cheeks were puffed up to the max. He couldn't say, 'I didn't ask you to marry me. I just wanted you to enter into the party. Aren't you thinking too highly of yourself?'

Of course, this wasn't entirely true. He didn't want her to become a 'good party member.' He had thought he had no personal feeling towards her in his past life. When Artpe escaped being the Four Heavenly King to become the hero, he slowly started to become more honest with his own feelings.

"Ahh-oooooh. It is a really disrespectful proposal. I should tell you to fuck off, but I can't. I can't turn you down. You are so cheeky that it is killing me."

"Since I've already offended you, do you mind if I ask you to do one more thing for me?"

"What can I do? I've never met a man like you."

Artpe used his Read All Creation ability to scan Etna. He got a perfect assessment on her current status. She had been talking to him in a nonchalant manner, but her vitality had degraded significantly.

Normally, she was able to find a right balance between her Demonic energy and fire energy. However, she had stayed almost a year within the ice continent, and her innate fire energy had weakened. The Demonic energy used this opportunity to rampage within her body. As a result, parts of her body were wasting away.

She was a Demon, but she was closer to the fire energy than the Demonic energy. When the tenuous balance between the two was broken, the only thing that remained was her eventual death.

In truth, it was a miracle that she was able to stand here like this. It seemed Petra was correct. She was acting as if she was fine, because she was worried about the previous Demon King's forces chasing after her.

"Even if you really like me, you shouldn't stare at me like that. It is a bit embarrassing."

"You really are similar to Maetel…. Anyways..."

"I don't mind you saying I resemble someone, but why did you have to compare me to that little girl!"

"Etna, I would like you to become a human."

Artpe was direct with his words. Until now, Etna had been embarrassed and flustered. She hadn't known what to do with herself. However, a fierce light appeared in Etna's eyes when she heard his words.

"I don't like such jokes. If it wasn't Artpe, I would have burned the person that spoke such words to me."

"What if I'm not joking?"

"Then that makes it much worse."

"I researched for a spell that would free you from the shackles placed on you by the Demon King. It might be hard to believe, but I was successful. In your current state, I'm sure it will work."

"······."

Somehow, Artpe knew about the shackles that had bound her to the Demon King. She set aside the question as to how he found out about it. Artpe had researched a spell for her. It would be a lie if she said that her heart hadn't fluttered when she heard his words. However, she immediately shook her head from side to side.

"I am no longer shackled by the Demon King. If I was still shackled, I wouldn't have been able to stay behind here."

"I know that."

"Then why are you bringing up such a proposal? Is it, because you want me to be the same race as you? If that is your intention, I'm not particularly moved by it. It isn't amusing either…."

It seemed she was still flustered by all of this. Artpe wanted to peel back the confusion she was feeling. He made a firm declaration.

"If you remain as you are, you won't last long. You probably know this already, right? If you want to survive, you have to choose to either remove the fire energy or the Demonic energy. Since the removal of the fire energy is impossible, we have to removed the Demonic energy."

"······how come you always know everything?"

Etna looked like she was about to cry. Artpe continued to smile brightly as if he was teasing her.

"It isn't just that. I know that the previous Demon King's forces are chasing after you. This was revealed to me by Petra. Anyways, it seems you are being vigilant against them. You don't have to be. You can be at ease, since Maetel and Regina went to dispose of them."

"Just the two of them!? No. Are you nuts!? They'll be killed!"

The current Etna was where his party was about half a year ago. She was at the cusp of entering level 400, and it seemed she had remained at that level for past half year. It was to be expected, She had been busy hiding from her enemies, so she probably didn't even know how much time had passed. Basically, she had been in mental duress for the past year.

"Artpe-niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiim!"

"Oppa!"

The rest of his party approached Artpe and Etna with impeccable timing.

Petra had been prepared to die as he created a great magic. Artpe had blocked Petra's last ditch effort as if it was nothing. His party was taken aback by it, so they were rooted in place. However, a good atmosphere was starting to form around Artpe and Etna. Vadinet could no longer tolerate it. She took control of the Steel Horse, and she had charged toward the two of them!

"Artpe-nim! A...are you ok!?"

"Of course, I'm ok. In fact, I think you are about to manufacture a problem for me. Calm down. Don't chant your holy spell."

"Huh? I saw you guys last time······ Holy priestess!?"

"You recognize what she is now."

"W...wait a moment······?"

Etna already knew Artpe was strong. She realized that he had grown his repertoire of abilities. She realized this when she saw him easily put down Petra.

However, she never expected Vadinet, Sienna and Elrick to be around level 380. She never expected them to be so strong!? When she saw Artpe's party, she recognized their strength. She was dumbfounded by it.

"How······? I travelled with Sienna. At the time, she grew fast, but not at this rate….."

"Etna unni is amazing, but Artpe oppa is more amazing!"

Sienna let out a bright smiled as she answered her. She immediately went towards Etna. Sienna was also sensitive to Demonic energy. Her sensitivity was second to none, so she immediately realized the serious nature of Etna's situation.

"Unni, they won't chase after you any more. You can take your time as you listen to oppa's words. Ok? The Demon race and the Demon realm shouldn't have been born in the first place. Moreover, oppa is trying to correct that! Oppa has the ability to bring about this change!"

In the process of perfecting this process, he had killed a significant number of Demons. However, she omitted that part.

"Even Sienna knows about it!? Of course, I already knew that Artpe possessed a magic with a very unique property. Yes, I had somewhat guessed that you were a hero. However, I never expected you to work on changing the Demons into humans!? It is ridiculous!?"

"It isn't ridiculous, because I'm really awesome."

Artpe spoke in a solemn manner as he extended a hand towards her.

"Just trust in me, and let me take care of it. At the very least, it is better than dying."

"Aahhhhhhhhhhh! Really! I have no idea what is going on!"

She had been attacked by the previous Demon King's forces, and at some point, the shackles placed on her by the Demon King disappeared. She went on the run, then Artpe and Petra appeared together in front of her. Petra did something idiotic, and he was killed. Only his Soul Marble was left behind. It led to Artpe confession that made her heart throb. Now he suddenly wanted her to become a human!

"Ooooooh. What the hell is this? Why is everything coming out of the blue like this? It would have been great if events didn't occur so fast and in bunches!"

She wildly gripped her hair as she yelled out loud. In the end, she sat down on the ground, and her head was lowered.

"You are right. At this rate, I'll die. That is why Artpe can do whatever you want. I don't care if you make me into a human or a phoenix! Do whatever you like! However, you should do it after you save your girlfriend's life. Those Demons are really strong. You have to hurry up, and go help her! Why are you acting like an idiot by trying to take care of me when your girlfriend is in danger? Are you really a hero?"

"You really are too kind······? Are you sure you are a Four Heavenly King?"

"In the old hero tales, there always is a pretty and kind Four Heavenly King that falls for the hero."

"Wow. Etna unni, you are so full of yourself."

Artpe lightly flicked Sienna's forehead. He couldn't hold back his laughter.

'In truth, I didn't really have a way to persuade her to do this. Maybe, I should be thankful that Enta is in a weakened state..'

Etna had tried to change the subject, but in the end, she gave her consent. Her pride was strong, and she was firm in her beliefs. He had thought it would be hard to persuade her, but thankfully, it wasn't.

"Alright. Let's join up with Maetel first….."

"You don't have to do that!"

Artpe had been letting out a sigh of assent, but a sharp and powerful voice was heard from afar. When he turned to look, he saw two girl running towards him. This was obvious, but it was Maetel and Regina.

"We already took care of them!"

"What······?"

In a flash, Maetel ran forward, and she blocked Etna's path. Her eyes were slightly red. Her eyes were mixed with worry and anger.

"That is why skinship is forbidden now!"

"Maetel, is this what you meant earlier? You didn't mean to say you would give me some time to have some skinship with Etna. You meant you were going to kill the Demons so fast that I won't have time for skinship?"

"Maetel is scary. She is more like the Demon King than the real Demon King."

Regina looked terrified, and he could guess at what she had witnessed. In a short amount of time, both their levels had risen significantly. Artpe decided not to talk about it.

"You really killed them all? You guys?"

On the other hand, Etna became surprised when she sensed the magical energy emanating from Maetel and Regina. The two girls were basically fighting for the spot of being strongest in Artpe's party. Above all else, Etna was dumbfounded by the fact that these two girls had killed all the Demons that had been tormenting her for the past year.

"Everything is moving at a frenetic pace. For your information, a Four Heavenly King and the previous Demon King's forces died here. It isn't a safe place to be. We have to quickly finish the work that still remains to be done. Then we have to leave this place."

"W...work that still remains….."

Etna gulped. Maetel sharply raised her eyes, but she didn't say anything. No instructions were given, yet Sienna activated her Mana. She was preparing for the scenario where Etna's Demonic energy went on a rampage. Elrick didn't know what was going on, but he just knew the number of women in the party would be increased by one. He silently had this thought as he raised his hammer. He stood guard.

"Your party is so strong. You have no reason to pick me up!?"

"What do you mean? Even if we make many preparations, it is never enough. Our enemies are powerful."

"In such a scenario, you should have said you aren't picking me up for your party. You should have said you picked me up for love!?"

It seemed this maiden's brain was filled with knowledge from romance novels. His party members had experience much with Artpe, and they knew what they should and should not expect from Artpe. His party members looked at her with pity in their eyes. Meanwhile, Artpe had slowly opened his magic tome, and he floated his staff into the air.

Several hundred clear Mana Strings exited his body through the staff. The magic tome started letting out brilliant purple light. It was the same color as his eyes. Etna's eyes became fixed on the magic tome.

"That magic tome….."

"Enta, this will hurt a little bit."

Artpe gave a low warning, then he activated the reclamation magic.

The cause and effect relationship started to find its rightful place.

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