Victoria

The fairy did not lie.

She really helped her get out of this.

With a single touch, she made the orc prince fall asleep. Right before he could violate her chastity.

As the creature snored loudly on the carpet, the fairy gave a mischievous grin to the distressed girl. "There we go! The piggy is now taking his nap!"

"Y-you can't do that!" Victoria protested. "I'm his wife! It's my duty to—"

"Oh, be gone with your duties! You're a half-fey! Act like it! Be irresponsible! Have fun!"

"I… I don't think I'm a half fey." She averted her gaze. "I don't have my wings. I don't have any powers either. He was mistaken."

"He?" The fairy raised her eyebrows. "Oh no, you're definitely a fey! A fairy, just like me! Okay, maybe not exactly like me, but you definitely are part fairy! In fact, you're the daughter of Lady Titania herself!" She grinned as she put her hands on her hips.

"Titania?"

"What? You don't know? She's the queen of all feys! And you are her daughter!"

Victoria froze. She blinked profusely, not really knowing how to react.

Her mother… her real mother… was a fey?

"Look, it's a long story. Let's get you out of— ahhhh!"

The fairy's body became translucent, as if she was fading away.

"No good!" She covered her mouth. "This castle—it has an anti-fey ward covering it! I can't materialize here for long! Hey, I'll come back later, alright?"

"Wait! I still have—"

Too late. The fairy had disappeared.

Gingerly, she looked back towards her bed. Sure enough, her fiance was still there, snoring.

It wasn't a dream. That fairy really was here.

And she—she just told her something she desperately wanted to believe.

Victoria, the fairy princess, and not the useless daughter she was now.

---------

Felicia

"You let her go! Let me go too, you imbecile fairy!"

"I didn't let her go." The fairy smirked. "She really broke out from her pocket dimension on her own. I am impressed, really. With that sword of hers, she actually cut through my dimension."

"Cut through your dimension?! Don't give me that lie! There's no way a simple swordswoman like her can just dispel your spell!"

Felicia was aware of how talented Sherry was on the sword. All thanks to Hugo, of course.

"T-that's right! I want to help Sir Hugo too!" Theo butted in with a determined look.

"No, we shouldn't." Tira shook her head as she placed her hand on her son's shoulder.

"Why not?" He turned to face her.

"Because this is Sir Hugo's fight. He's proving himself to the scary woman that he's worthy of marrying that girl." She smiled. "And besides," Her smile disappeared as she averted her gaze. "We're not strong enough to be useful to him."

"She's right." Tama joined, a stern look on her face as she folded her hands under her chest. "Back home, we beastfolk have such a custom as well. Though only a few still keep it up these days."

"T-then how about Miss Felicia?" Theo asked, glancing at the red-headed woman who was still arguing with the Archfey.

"She can go." Tira answered, a serious look on her face. "This too involves her."

The trio returned their attention back to the alchemist.

"Why don't you try breaking my magic if you want to go that badly?" The fairy said with a smug smile.

"Grr! I can't! I'm not good at dispel magic unlike him!" She yelled back, stabbing the blunt end of her staff to the ground in exasperation.

"Haha, pathetic! That girl is stronger than you then!"

"Why you—!"

Felicia summoned her shadow tendrils, commanding them all to attack the fairy.

Only for them to be blocked by an invisible bubble surrounding her.

It was only natural for the alchemist to be so angry. After all, she just saw her love being punched and nearly choked to death.

However, jealousy was also a factor. If his oh-so-dear Sherry can help him and fight by his side against that villainess, she has to be there as well. She loved him more than her! She would die for his sake! She shouldn’t be here, just watching from a safe distance! What would he think?! He would no doubt grow more fond of that annoying Sherry girl over her!

Felicia gnashed her teeth, glaring murderously towards the fey. Lord Hugo! Don’t worry! I’ll be by your side soon! You don’t have to rely on that girl!

------------

Hugo

She’s distracted! I can do it now!

To be honest, I didn’t really have a plan to surrender. I was just waiting until she dropped her guard completely before executing my plan.

She didn't bother knocking my staff away. Big mistake.

"Thanatos." I mumbled under my breath.

This spell… It basically pumped the entire body with air. Every organ would rupture and fail and air would fill up the bloodstream, causing hemorrhaging at every orifice. Even your skin would start sweating blood.

I tried it before. On our travels here, we met with an arrogant lizardman who wanted to fight me after hearing that I fought off the orc army on my own.

I would've let him live, if not for the fact that he tried to kidnap Felicia in the process.

He knelt on the ground, puking blood, clutching his heart as he begged me to save him.

He didn't even get to swing his halberd a single time.

But, I doubted it would be as effective if I used it against this woman. Her durability was just insane. She must have the capability to regenerate her organs.

Her reaction was instant. She coughed up blood as her grip on my throat weakened.

I quickly freed myself, running to where Sherry was standing.

Our gaze met — the first time for so many years. I gulped, my heart skipping a beat.

She really is beautiful now.

"Stop staring, you idiot!" She yelled, blush creeping on her cheeks. "Just be glad that this baboon has come to your rescue!"

Baboon? Oh, right, that fake memory the fairy showed.

I think I said "gorilla" though…

"I never said that!" I fired back, though still keeping my attention on the ex-Demon Lord, who was now on her knees. "That fairy is lying to you!"

"So all those perverted things you did with her—that was all a lie too?!"

"N-no. That one did happen."

"You traitor! I should've just let Grandma murder you!"

And yet, she was still in her fighting stance. Her sword was drawn and her hair was floating in mid-air—her gaze firmly locked to the older woman, who was now slowly standing back up.

Shit! I can't let this chance slide!

"Sorry, Sherry, but I might end up killing your grandmother now!"

I cast my Super Boom Cannon and then accelerated it into its maximum power instantly.

And then, I fired. The massive house-sized ball of death flew with a near instantaneous speed, catching her before she could fully be on her feet.

Only for her to block it once again with her sword.

Holy shit, she can still do that? Even after I gave her Thanatos?

Still, unlike before, it managed to do some damage. Her clothes were now tattered in some places, revealing some of her skin.

She was now standing fully upright, her eyes staring right at me, still with that wide-eyed crazed look.

“That’s it. That’s what I want to see from someone who desires to marry my granddaughter. An intent to kill and the power that backs it. I didn’t know how you did it but you had damaged my organs considerably.”

“Unfortunately for you, I possess considerable endurance and regenerative ability. You are wise to attempt to finish me off like that.  Alas, this sword of mine — my Blade of Regret — can cut any magic it touches. Your magic is certainly impressive, and would have dealt significant damage to me if it managed to hit, but such a frontal attack would never work against me.”

This woman… not only those bug eyes of hers creep me out, but her intonation is all weird as well. It's like she's a robot. Barely any emotion in her voice.

Well, except when she spoke about me cheating on Sherry. Now that is when her voice is full of malice.

"You're underestimating her." Sherry spoke, giving a small glance at me. "She's a monster, through and through. I've never defeated her in a fight. Even after all my training. That's why I could never leave the village. If I could, I would've come after you and punched you in the face for cheating on me."

Well, that's a scary thought.

"And you, my granddaughter. Why are you willing to forgive this man?"

"Don't get me wrong." Sherry frowned, putting one hand on her hip. "This cheater has a lot of apologizing and explaining before he'll even be allowed to give me one of his lurid gazes. But I disagree with you wanting to kill him. I thought this was just a test for his worthiness, not his execution."

"You're a fool, my granddaughter. How long did you cry and weep when that dream came to you? He is a complete and utter traitor. Killing traitors is the way of us Izurdians."

"...Maybe you're right. But I want to hear his excuses first."

Goddamn. Sherry has matured a lot these past years. Not just in her looks but in her personality as well.

Ooh, I might be falling even more for her!

Noticing my proud smile, she sent me a glare. "Wipe that stupid grin off your face. You have a lot to answer for, Hugo Greenwood."

"Yeah, you're right." I gave her a wry smile. "We have a lot to catch up to."

"...Very well. Then, I shall test your resolve as well. Fairy! Bring her here!"

Wait, her?

Quania's voice snapped me out of my reverie.

I realized whom she was talking about in an instant.

Felicia.

My heart sank.

Before I could do anything, the alchemist dropped out of the sky, landing right into the embrace of Quania's living hair.

"Felicia!" I yelled.

She threw her staff away and wrapped her hair around her waist, neck, feet, and hands. She lifted her arms upwards, showing off her armpits to the world as if her hands were tied to an invisible ceiling.

"L-Lord… H-Hugo…"

"Fight me, human, if you wish to see her live. And you, granddaughter, aid him, if you really are as much of a fool as I thought you are."

You… I should've known it would come to this!

I glanced at Sherry. No. No way she's going to help me. I'm on my way for this one.

"Wait here." I told her. "You don't want to help your enemy, right? Then I won't ask you to do it."

She did not respond.

I dashed forward, charging a Boom Cannon and an Explosion at the same time. Merging the two spells together, I created the hybrid spell—

“Azure Lance!”

I fired a massive jet of fire to where the ex-demon lord was standing. Unlike normal fire, however, this fire was blue. I used the highly compressed oxygen inside the Boom Cannon and used it to fuel the fire, resulting in a temperature vastly higher than normal flames could ever reach. Not to mention that thanks to the directional nature of Boom Cannon, I could cleanly turn an opponent into ash without hurting anyone standing right beside them.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. “That name isn’t really that creative, is it?” But that’s really the best I got. And besides, too fancy of a name will make you enter chuuni territory. And I certainly don’t want that!

The woman quickly formed a thick wall formed out of her air to block the attack. And, if I had to guess, she would use her sword to stop the attack as well.

Thankfully, I wasn’t finished.

The moment I finished firing, I jumped using Wind Step, charging up another spell in mid-air.

And this one—I gave all the credit to Myrilla.

“Wind Tendrils!”

I formed innumerable tendrils made out of hardened air around me before sending them towards Felicia. Mine would most likely lose judging by how tough those hair were but it should be enough to buy me some time to free her.

I then dashed forward, drew my sword, augmented it using my wind spell, and—

—have it cut in half by a swipe of her sword.

I could only watch with an agape mouth as half of the length of the blade went flying, swirling in the air with a soft whirring sound.

Before I realized it, the woman had jumped as well. She was now blocking the path I was about to take to rescue Felicia.

I hadn’t activated Haste since I needed my Dual Casting to be available to do this maneuver, making my movement significantly slower than hers.

In a microsecond, no, maybe even a nanosecond, a bundle of hair shaped like a fist slammed into my abdomen.

“Argh!”

As pain exploded inside my stomach, blood came out from my throat. I could feel my body zooming backwards, so fast that I had no time to cast Wind Step to counteract it.

I could only brace for the inevitable impact.

"You idiot!"

Instead of crashing into the hard ground, I landed on something soft and warm.

It was Sherry. She had caught me just in time.

"Didn't you hear what I said?! That woman is a monster! You can't win against her!"

Her arms were now wrapped around my stomach. She was hugging me from behind. I could feel two small bumps pressing into my back. Her breasts, I presumed.

She quickly released me, however, forcing me to stand on my two feet.

I turned around, facing her with a wry smile. "I can't just let her kill Felicia. I like her after all."

"You… like her?" Her voice shook. "Then what about me?! You don't like me anymore?!"

"I like you too. I want to marry you both." I grinned.

"Marry us both?! Are you stupid?! You think I'll ever get along with another woman to share you! I'm an Izurd! Demons that kill their husbands whenever they cheated on them! Didn't Myrilla tell you that?!"

“I know. Still, I want to try. I really think if I try hard enough, I can make you two get along. Felicia, she’s a good person once you know her.”

"Hmph! Of course you'd say that!" She huffed and folded her arms. "You made her lick your… your thing! And you play around with her breasts like the pervert that you are!"

I chuckled. Of course there was no way I could change her mind with just a few words.

"Urgh!"

A searing pain on my abdomen reminded me of the punch I just took from the grandmother. I should patch that up first.

I summoned my Water Fairy, ordering her to heal the wound I just took.

"Right away, Master!"

She fired off her healing water from her palms, aiming at my stomach.

"That's… that's your fairy? She… she has grown, isn't she?" Sherry spoke. Her expression seemed to be a mixture between awe and annoyance.

"Grown? Yeah, she has evolved alright." I flashed a smile at her. Wait, her gaze—she's looking at her breasts! Ha, so she's talking about that growth instead!

"Master," the fairy spoke with a concerned expression. "This place… there's an Archfey nearby… I… I think you should leave right away…"

"I know." I gave her a relaxed smile. "This is her domain alright."

"This presence… she's the ruler of Summer, isn't she?!"

"Yep!" I nodded.

"How long are you going to keep me waiting? And her?"

I returned my attention back to the ex-Demon Lord, who now had a slightly annoyed look on her face. She still had Felicia hanging in mid-air though she wasn't choking her anymore.

My smile disappeared. That’s right. I still need to save her.

Unless, she's an illusion as well, like Sherry from before.

I expanded the range of my raw mana, all the way towards her. Xaela had taught me how to detect illusions before. And how to dispel them. It was all in the subtle difference between the mana field inside an actual human and a construct made out of mana.

...No. This isn't an illusion. She's the real Felicia, in the flesh. Damn it.

And I can feel fey magic surrounding this place. In fact, the whole place is an artificial place she has created. I can't dispel that without risking dimensional collapse.

Sherry did tear a hole from her space to this one though. I should be able to do that.

No need to now though. The others — it's better if they're not involved with this.

"I shall offer you a deal, human. Abandon this woman. Then I will let you have my granddaughter.”

"Then what?" I fired back. "You're going to kill her?"

"I'll let her go free."

Well, that's a surprising answer.

I turned to Sherry. "I suppose you want me to say yes?"

She threw her head away. "What do you think?!"

I sighed, moving my gaze back to the ex-Demon Lord. "No."

"No?"

"Like I've said, I love her as well. I'm a greedy man. I won't give up her or Sherry."

My gaze then traveled to Felicia. Tears had formed in her eyes. Oh Felicia. There’s no way I’ll ever abandon you, is there?

A flash of anger resurfaced on the demon lord’s face. “Your greed will be your downfall. The next time you try to save her, I will cut off your arm.”

I smiled wryly. Meaning, she will up the ante now. She won’t just be landing non-lethal blows like she has done so far.

This is no longer a test. This is just her lashing out on my betrayal.

Geez, it’s like it was her who got cheated on. Not her granddaughter.

As I stepped forward to take on her challenge, however...

“Wait!” I felt Sherry’s arm around me once more. “Don’t go! She’ll seriously cut off your arm! That look in her eyes — she isn’t lying in the slightest!”

“Help me then. Help me save her.”

“What?! You want me to help her?! I… I can’t! I would rather let her die than have her filthy hands on you ever again!”

I could feel her head buried on my back, as her height only reached up to my chest. She was now sobbing, her tears dampening the clothes I wore.

“You don’t understand. She… she has no one else. No one but me in this world. I can’t just abandon her.”

“How about me?! I don’t have anyone either! Renee and Alan — they’re dead now!”

“At least you have a place you can call home. She has nothing like that.”

Gently, I placed my hands on hers. Slowly, I pulled her hands one by one.

“It’s fine. Like I’ve said, you can stay here if you want. I don’t want you to risk your life for a woman you despise.”

Before she could say anything, I dashed upwards.

“Water Fairy! Earth Sprite! Come to my aid! Help me defeat this woman!”

Water Fairy, being already there, simply flew upwards to chase after me. Earth Sprite, on the other hand, appeared mid-air, right above me.

“Earth Sprite! Armor Mode!”

She nodded, before transforming into multiple pieces of rock, all shaped like a certain piece of armor. Each piece then threw itself at me, attaching to the suitable part of my body according to their shapes. Pretty much like Ironman.

To be honest, I hadn’t been using this much, if at all. But I thought it was a neat idea. It added to my durability quite significantly without harming my mobility. So I asked her if she could do it and she answered with a yes.

"Water Fairy! Robe Mode!"

"Yes, Master!"

She, on the other hand, was to transform herself into a robe made out of water. She would aid both me and Earth Sprite at receiving attacks, healing any wounds that they both received.

And now, it was time for me to attack.

"Boom Orbit!"

I surrounded myself with a revolving Boom Cannon.

My plan was not to attack Quania herself. I only aimed to free Felicia.

Then, I would free the others and we would just run out from this place.

I said I wanted to prove myself to the grandmother. That still hadn't changed. But Felicia's safety came first. And as I was now, I didn't think I could beat her.

No, this isn't running away. I'm saving everyone here. I'm not abandoning anyone, like I did with Marina and Leila. Call it a tactical retreat instead.

I charged forward, maximum speed with Wind Step. Once close enough, I dived down and quickly activated Haste. My mid-air dodge was nowhere near as fast as my ground dodge, so I intended to keep the battle on the ground. I would cut through all the hair holding her up and then catch her once she fell down.

“Foolish child!”

As expected, a swarm of her hair flew towards me at incredible speed. My Boom Orbit, orbiting around me at Mach 5 speed, managed to deflect most of them, shredding them into nothing the moment it came close to me. Other hair tendrils who could sneak it were repelled by my armor before being shredded themselves. I also contributed by dodging on the spot and parrying some of them with the half of a sword I still had.

And then, the big one came out.

She sent a horizontal slice with her cursed sword, aiming to bisect me into two. Hey, what happened with only taking one of my arms’ off?

I responded by taking off Haste. Evading meant backing up, something I couldn't do when Felicia was now right in front of me. I then used both Wind Wall and Boom Orbit to block her swing. As I feared, even those two weren’t enough, as they were made out of magic, something the sword could handle very well.

The last line of defense was the stone armor protecting my right arm. That, and my own Fortissimo.

And to my surprise, it actually halted her blade.

Now!

I used the opportunity to cast Thanatos, destroying her insides once more, hopefully slowing her down considerably. And, at the same time, with Dual Casting, I cast Boom Cannon. Risky at this close of a range, but it had to be done.

And, for a flash microsecond, I saw a hint of surprise on her face.

She moved her left hand to where the spell was forming, intending to squish it before it could get big—

Too bad that I could cast Boom Cannon pretty much instantly now.

The spell fired, crashing right onto her left hand and arm at point blank range.

Yes! There's no way she can survive—

Pain.

A sharp, unimaginable pain had exploded from my right arm. The arm her blade had landed on.

The ex-Demon Lord was flown backwards from the force of my spell.

I ignored it, gritted my teeth, and did what I came here to do. I looked up and saw Felicia falling from the sky. As I predicted, that blow had loosened her grip on her.

I threw my staff to the side and readied my hands to catch her.

Hands?

I only have my left hand. Where did my right hand go?

…

…

“Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!”

M-my right hand! I-it’s gone!

A-and not just the hand! The whole arm, it’s—it’s not there! It’snotthereit’snotthereit’snotthere—

She had cut my arm. Just like she said she would.

Felicia fell on top of me. I collapsed to the ground together with her.

And then, darkness.