Poisoned Demon Lords (6)

Here.. they must be in here..

Why can't I open it.. hey?

Please.. I just need to take one life.

One life.. my freedom. I need my freedom.

Haha.. I need to kill.

One person needs to die for me.

For me.

It hurts.. my head..

Press, pull, knock.. why won't this door open? Do I need to..

"Huh?"

"Drop the needle."

The door opened. He came out-- finally came out!

I lunged at him with the opportunity presented.. I just need one stab, one small wound..

My wrist was twisted, I dropped the needle and.. he..

Pressed me down on the ground.

"Are you going to continue?"

Black hair, black eyes.. eyes..

Who is this?

Why..

My heart is beating..

W-why do I feel like this.. h-he's going to kill me?

Will I die?

I'm I dead?

What will happen to me?

"What should I do.." he muttered.

My head.. hurts..

Kill.. don't kill.. I can't. I can't kill him. Can't..

"Can we talk our way out of this?"

"Wh-- You.. aren't.."

"I have no idea why you're doing this, I need to get the full context of things before I can make a plan to deal with this," his eyes.. sparkling.. an infinite void within.

"I don't want to.. kill.. you.." feeling a warm liquid come from my eyes as it traced my cheeks.

"Okay," he released my wrist and got off, "Damn it."

I slowly sat up.

The needle.. it's gone. I can't see it.

"Hey? Are you alright? You seriously look out of it."

"H-Hah.. I.. I'm," What is this.. I can't voice my words.. it's stuck. It's uncomfortable.. why is he looking at me like that? Why can't I meet his gaze..

"Were you given poison too?"

"M-Maybe," it could have happened. I did drink from the glass after all..

I held my head.

Ahh.. NO. Not here.. no. no.. nnooo…

"Uh.. follow me. I think you should rest for a bit to get your head together. I have no idea why you tried to do what you did, but.." He opened the door. Past that was another room.

"Ahh.." I groaned, the pain seething throughout my body.

No.. not here.. I can't let him see.. I can't let him find out.. not my horns..

"Look," he called out.

I raised my face.

Horns..

Ah..

I see.. we are of the same kind after all.. I finally found you..

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This sucks. Absolutely sucks.

After [Disintegrating] the needle. I dragged the demon lord into the living room and tossed her on the couch. The horns probably won't tear into the cushions. It should be alright.

What I'm worried about was how her health gauge was steadily depleting. I checked Prune's gauge just to be sure, her's was around 84%. It dropped from the previous 86%. I guess internal conditions also have an effect on [Vitality].

As for this demon lord, her's dropped a percent every minute or so. It's currently at 73%.

If prune's hair was silver-blue, then this demon lord's would be silver-grey.

Short bob-cut. Her eyes were also of the same colour. Four beautiful black-red horns..

'Noel, were you able to figure out why they attacked us?'

'No luck for now. The demon lord just passed out.'

'That assassin is acting weird after I changed his status window.'

Yeah. Of course he would. Is there any chance he would kill himself? You know, like in the movies.

But.. I think I have a guess as to why we were targeted? The 'Bougainvillea' name. I didn't expect there to be a noble house like that. Then again.. I couldn't really put a finger on why we needed to be killed.

Or maybe they didn't intend to kill us but just.. harass us? No, the demon lord clearly said 'KILL' just now. Can't take light of that.

72%

I left the demon lord's side to check on Liliath's condition.

Also, the demon lord's marker had changed just from orange to not yellow, but green..

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"We need to deal with that assassin. Any ideas? Or do we just charge into the maid's dormitory and ask him?" Nine said.

"We could do that but.. that doesn't sound safe, even if we drop his status even more."

"Noel, her health is still dropping," Prune said.

"How much?"

"It's 48 now."

"48.."

That's low. It's reaching quite a critical state. I gave her a general antidote, no effect. What exactly did the assassin force her to drink anyways? It's definitely some sort of poison. But.. a poison that can even affect the likes of a demon lord?

Actually, do the other Bougainvillea members know about this demon lord's condition? Her status is hidden so I guess they don't know about her identity? Maybe they do..?

"I think we should really go meet the assassin. Tell him that this is a just bloody misunderstanding."

"I'm surprised this entire assassination plot sounds like a joke," Nine said.

I too, laughed a little.

Well, I'm a little mad, but not irrational. It's my bad for not noticing this detail sooner. Learning from this, everyone hid away their surnames. Next time when any person with [Appraisal] checks my status, it'll just be Noel.

"Liliath is recovering.. right? She's not in any danger?" Prune asked.

"Liliath is fine.. for now. How about you? Feel anything weird about your body?"

"I'm still feeling okay… um.."

"Nine, is Prune having a fever?" I placed my hand on her forehead, and then on mine to compare. There's definitely a difference.

"Hm.. it feels like it," Nine hopped over to give his honest judgement.

"What should we do anyways.. maybe I'll go ask the assassin about the issues then.."

"No, I'll go Noel. You take care of them."

"You sure?"

"It was my suggestion after all. Besides, I'm supposed to be the 'world's best assassin', or whatever my future self told me."

"Hah? Since when?"

"You probably just forgot. Anyways, I'm going."

"Be careful. You know what to ask about right?"

"Confirm why we're being targeted and that you and LIliath aren't from the Bougainvillea household."

"And about what poison he gave the demon lord. And don't die."

"Got it. You can text me if there's anything else I forgot. Then I'll be going," Nine opened the door.

"Hey! Why can't we enter this time?" I heard Gabriel's jeer.

"Is there something wrong with Liliath? Is her condition really bad?" Jennifer-chan asked.

"She's fine.. for now. Just don't go in until the situation is settled."

Nine shut the door behind him.

We didn't allow anyone besides the four of us into the apartment because of this demon lord here. I don't know what they would think if they saw her with her horns. We still hadn't told them about Liliath and me being a cataclysmic existence… well. Even if we weren't a demon lord, our Unique Skill already makes us a disaster-class monster.

"Prune."

"Yes?"

"Sorry about the bed.."

"No, it's alright. I'll wash it tomorrow.. you're not hungry right?"

"Hungry? No, not really."

"You missed out on the tiramisu. It was amazing."

"Really?"

"Noel. You're okay.. right?" Prune looked at me with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I don't get it? There should be nothing wrong with me.. "For tonight.. are you going to sleep with Liliath or.."

"I'll just sleep here then. The bedroom, I'll give it to her for now. I'll go take a bath."

"Yeah, okay then."

Prune got her clothes, towel and went to the bathroom.

Speaking of which.. about Liliath's clothes..

Ah. Whatever. I'll look after them the whole night anyways. Laundry can be done in the morning.