The Demon King's Waning Interest

She instinctively leaned against the spine of the sword floating beside her, as if that would bring her peace of mind. Then, a few more details.

"Geniuses gather around me because of their ideals, worship me as their king, and serve me. Then I will bear the reward that this service deserves—when the dust settles, if betraying me can help these followers fulfill their dreams and desires, then as long as they can do it and can afford the price after my death, I don't mind dying once, as a reward for them."

She smiled, a smile more radiant and dazzling than the artificial sunlight.

"Ah... really. These are things I shouldn't say under normal circumstances. It feels a bit like boasting, a bit like complaining. But as part of the ritual, it should also be considered a kind of unique relaxation."

She shrugged. At the edge of her vision, an amusement park stood.

"Hmm, there's still some time before midnight, I'm planning to go to the amusement park. If you're interested, you can come along."

She took a step forward.

Behind them came Athena's whisper, filled with complex emotions.

"You... are more like a god than I am."

"I'll just take that as a compliment," Miss Surtr said casually. She continued walking without looking back.

The remaining people stood still, without moving.

A few seconds later...

"Miss Surtr looks really tired. She must be under a lot of pressure... that's why she's like this." Liliana, the youngest of the three, spoke uncertainly. "... Shouldn't we go with her?"

"It is you who should go along, not me and this loser." Athena simply shook her head. "She only invited you. And I am going to awaken the one sleeping in this briefcase—although I think she already knows everything that has happened in this world. But I still want to verify it with my own hands."

The nameless maid gave a soft hum, neither objecting nor refuting.

"Is... is that so? But why me?" Liliana hesitated for a moment.

"Perhaps it's because the possibility of your betrayal is smaller than that of mine. After all, although the truth is unclear, I have roughly guessed what she plans to do next, and I do indeed intend to murder her... Go, 'Icarus'. Your sun is about to set, and if you don't catch up, you may regret it."

Athena answered, raising her hand and waving a cloud of darkness. The flowing night then carried the somewhat bewildered girl to the edge of the amusement park.

Chapter 131 The Lord of Fiends's Loss of Interest

The amusement park is huge and fully automated. Its only drawback is that no one is currently operating or using it. Everyone is currently in large gathering areas throughout Second New Tokyo City, devoutly and fervently chanting hymns.

But that's not really a drawback. After all, when it comes to traveling... there are advantages to having a lot of people, and there's fun in having few. When Liliana spotted the cheerful red-haired lady, she saw her gesturing with an air gun against a bouncy wall covered in balloons.

The cognitive filter was still in effect. The knight girl didn't find anything particularly jarring about it.

"Let's have a contest. I'll give you a prize if you win." Miss Surtr tossed over an air rifle—which the silver-haired knight caught immediately. The moment Liliana touched the gun, she knew it was a good one.

A good gun is one that doesn't require special calibration or adjustment; its trajectory will naturally align with the direction of the crosshair.

"I'm not very good at this..." Liliana said modestly. As Great Knight, she was actually an expert in all modern weapons and equipment.

"It's alright, I'm even worse." Miss Surtr simply replied with a smile and waved her hand urgingly.

Liliana's lips twitched; she felt that she couldn't refuse that smile.

So she walked silently to the firing line, thinking that she should at least let some water, or even more, to save Miss Surtr some face.

She raised the air rifle.

'Bang, bang, bang—' She pulled the trigger ten times in a row. Eight shots hit, two of which she deliberately missed—then she turned her head to look at Miss Surtr, whose gun-holding posture seemed quite amateurish.

She hadn't expected Miss Surtr to be such a terrible shot... so terrible that it even felt a little awkward. She fired ten shots, hitting only one balloon. The other nine shots flew erratically everywhere, instead of arranging themselves into any interesting pattern in a pretentious fashion.

But Miss Surtr seemed to be very happy.

"Ah... this is my true level. This is good, this is what it means to be relaxed."

"But..." The silver-haired Knight Princess's gaze swept over the air rifle in Surtr's hand. She felt that the gun seemed to be missing a few parts, and the barrel didn't seem to be in a straight line.

She was about to speak when she saw the Flame-haired Girl raise her hand and shake it.

"It's okay, come with me to play the next one."

She couldn't voice her objection, and as soon as she finished speaking, the exceptionally lively and cheerful young lady ran off to the next place to visit.

So she had no choice but to follow.

Next, she followed Miss Surtr to many parts of the amusement park—they played arcade games, best-of-three fighting games. She let Miss Surtr win a round by letting her win. They rode the roller coaster, the tracks filled with Miss Surtr's lighthearted laughter. While exploring the haunted house, it seemed every corner could frighten Miss Surtr so much that she instinctively clung to the red and black sword floating in the air. And the bumper cars and carousel made this very cheerful young lady scream and shout repeatedly.

Miss Surtr seemed to be having a lot of fun... or at least she looked like it. In contrast, Liliana seemed quite bored throughout.

Boring, much more boring than usual.

The game console's lighting and shadows simply couldn't keep up with her hand speed. When she was concentrating, the color blocks on the screen even gave her the illusion of frame drops.

The roller coaster's speed barely kept up with her average running pace during training. Her senses, honed through training, were remarkably stable. Even three or four consecutive large loops wouldn't shake her balance in the slightest.

Haunted houses are utterly boring compared to a real, perilous battlefield. Those shoddy scare toys aren't even as good as a triggered infantry mine—at least the latter would let her change her shoes, while the former wouldn't even touch her most vulnerable nerve.

It's boring because this is entertainment for ordinary people, not for Great Knight.

But when she saw Miss Surtr's smiling face, all the boredom caused by her being Great Knight vanished in an instant.

That's fine too—after all, isn't protecting a Princess's smile the very essence of a knight's romance?

She thought about it, and then her mood calmed down. As midnight approached, Miss Surtr led her to the last attraction in the amusement park.

It was a Ferris wheel, very large and very tall. A complete rotation took about thirty minutes, and perhaps before it finished, the night of the seventh day would end.

Liliana always remembered her mission, her duty—she had come to Japan to find the Seventh King, a lady Surtr, to deliver her orders, and to pledge her allegiance to her. Yet, even after spending half the night with Miss Surtr, she felt no urgency whatsoever.

She knew this was strange, because she knew she was a disciplined and trustworthy person. Yet, for some reason, she couldn't feel even a trace of anxiety or doubt within herself.

Everything was normal and logical. The man with the same name and the young lady in front of him were not the same person.

The cognitive filter is still in effect. The glass slipper is still on Cinderella's feet. Apart from the occasional awkwardness, everything seems as natural and reasonable as an apple falling to the ground.

So Liliana opened the Ferris wheel cabin door for the young lady before her. They boarded one after the other and sat on opposite sides of the cabin. Liliana herself sat on one side, while on the other side sat Miss Surtr and the sword floating beside her.

Further on, the enclosed yet transparent cabins move upwards as the Ferris wheel operates.

The time was drawing ever closer to midnight.

"Thank you so much, Lily. I had a lot of fun." Miss Surtr rested her chin on her hand and spoke to her in an affectionate tone. "Your previous promise is still valid. You can tell me what reward you want now."

"I..." the knight hesitated, unable to finish his sentence.

"Don't be so quick to refuse, there's plenty I can do." Miss Surtr tilted her head slightly.