Serashael was knocked back a few metres back to the woods, as she managed to cast her Barrier spell in time. However, at this rate, she would not be able to guard anymore until she recovered in the castle; the strength of the Holy Magic caused her magical armour to break temporarily… 

As the dust settled, the demoness noticed that the attack came from the adventurer that raided the demon castle back then. Such a difference in strength; someone could not improve that much in a matter of days regardless of how talented they are. That was when she noticed that he was accompanied by a different fairy. The blonde hair and royal complexion clearly reminded Sera of Ceselea… The fact that he was way more experienced certainly indicated that he was none other than the fairy king himself. ‘His magical power level is surely on another level…’

"What are you doing, Father?" Ceselea still could not believe her eyes. Her own father, teaming up with the man who had forsaken her, against the Demoness who had saved her life. After all, there was no way she could survive if she was going back on her own. 

 

" Saving you from the evil demoness.of course. We heard the fight happening outside the castle gate and found out that you are there. She must have kept you as a prisoner to hold advantage on our Kingdom." 

 

“I am neither a hostage nor kidnapped. Sera- I mean the Demoness, was escorting me back to the kingdom when we were attacked by a Shade!”
Technically I was taken away by Sera but it’s simply because the adventurer left me behind.

 

The adventurer went between them as he said, slyly, “She must have been mind-controlled, Fairy King. You know, demons and their dark magic. We should stay alert and not believe any word she said!”

 

Even the Fairy King did not know the extent of the Dark Magic, and so the Brainwash magic might actually be possible… It might actually affect Ceselea even with her high Magic Resistance. 

The King was in a dilemma, but the adventurer’s words made more sense. 

“My daughter will never side with demons!” The King eventually made up his mind as he pointed his sword at Ceselea, swearing to return her back to normal.

Before Ceselea could assure the King further, a ball of darkness was shot in the direction of the adventurer. 

‘Holy Barrier!’ the King cast his spell, as the adventurer blocked it with his shield. 

 

“Tch, not strong enough.” The pink-haired demoness reappeared in front of them once more, letting out an annoyed expression.

“Sera! What are you doing?!” Even Ceselea was surprised at the attack. She had never seen Serashael that angry, not even when they raided the Demon’s castle.

 

“I can’t let you go with that wicked adventurer! I’d rather have you  back in my castle, rather than have you treated badly once more.” Serashael was surprised to see the cowardice of the man back then, leaving his party member behind. She had even sworn to never forgive him the next time they meet.

 

“I’ll be fine! I’ll tell my Father what he had done, and he will report it to the Human King so I can have another partner… Attacking them is not going to help.” The blonde princess did not want to see her Father get hurt, and Sera’s attacks are not helping her reasoning… 

“What do you expect me to do, then? I’m not letting you go until I am sure that you will be fine. Can you promise me that?” The demoness looked pretty serious about her words; to think that she cared that much for the fairy when they had just met for a couple of days. ‘Plus they are the ones who attacked me first.’ Sera thought to herself as she huffed. There’s no way this could be talked about peacefully.

As the two were arguing, the adventurer approached them with his sword out, roaring flames burning on it. A stronger Immolation spell than the one in the castle back then. 

 

“No, you can’t use fire magic!” Ceselea protested, but she was interrupted by the swing of the sword towards their direction. Even as they dodge the attack, the fire scorched the forest around them. The fairy princess immediately cast Water magic to stop the fire from spreading. 

 

“You’re burning the forest! Stop it!” Ceselea’s words fell on deaf ears as the adventurer had no intention of stopping. “Who cares? It’s her weakness, and the old man said that his Holy magic is still on cooldown.” 

The adventurer was truly vile, way more than the demons; Sera did not even use the evil flame of darkness against him, even when hers was way stronger. Just like how back then, against the Shade…

 

“All I need is to defeat her, and perhaps even the Demon Lord next.” The human kept swinging the sword as Sera dodged, waiting for her chance to strike back. Without her shield, she could not afford to get hit by such high-levelled fire magic. Even without getting hit, the demoness could feel the heat radiating from the sword. 

 

“Father, you have to stop this!” Ceselea kept begging the Fairy King to stop supporting him, yet the King ignored his ‘brainwashed’ daughter’s pleas. This was necessary for her sake, after all, the mind control spell would certainly stop if the demoness was defeated!

 

The fight would have been much easier if Serashael was able to target the Fairy from the start given that she knew the adventurer’s ability from the previous encounter, but the King was Ceselea’s father so she could not attack him. In a way, the two of them were similarly fighting for Ceselea’s sake.

 

Sera considered capturing him with Shadow Bind just like what she did back then to Ceselea, but the spell would not be effective without the element of surprise. Not to mention,  he was way stronger than the princess so he would be able to break free. 

Hence, the only way to stop the pointless fight was to defeat the adventurer. 

 

However, Sera’s attacks on him were just not as effective due to the presence of the holy barrier. She could not break it from afar as it blocked the Dark Shot that she launched on him every time she found the openings in his attack, but getting closer would be risky given how she could not use her shield anymore. 

 

Torrent Blade.

Serashael cast her water magic to counter the flame sword, she did not use the spell often so her Mastery might not be that high but as it was an elemental counter, it should still be effective. Sera even approached the adventurer, to his surprise, as he immediately panicked when the two crossed swords. The flame was put off by the elemental reaction, although at the same time, the water turned into steam from the lower magic level. It was enough for Serashael however as she was confident of her own sword fighting skill, even without any elemental buff she managed to get an edge over the struggling human.

 

“Use the lightning blade or something, quick!” The adventurer lost his calm as he ordered the king like he was his servant. The purpose of the Adventurer’s Pact was for equal standings between humans and fairies, as the two were supposed to be partners under the oath. And yet, he was treating the King fairy poorly…

 

However, the King had no choice but to rely on him to ‘save’ his daughter, as he obediently cast the Lightning Blade for him. At that moment, Serashael smiled as if the pink-haired girl already expected it to happen.

Sword of Darkness. 

 

As a demoness, her dark magic was naturally the strongest as the lightning blade hold no match against hers. As they repeatedly clash, the adventurer’s sword was being chipped, and it eventually cracked. Another strong blow shattered it to pieces, and the adventurer had no choice but to use his Holy Shield to block and mitigate the damage. Meanwhile, Sera, who was very eager to defeat him, provide no mercy as she repeatedly strike the shield with her sword. 

 

Perhaps she was too focused, however as she did not notice that the Fairy King was casting a Holy Beam spell on his own. “This is for Ceselea.” He said as he aimed his hand at the demoness.

 

Before the beam hit Serashael, however, Ceselea noticed it and deployed her own magic shield. “Open your eyes, Father! Can’t you see that I am not under her control?” 

 

“I miss the kind and gentle father who always believe in me!” Ceselea was clearly disappointed in her father. Not only he supported the adventurer who had forsaken her, but even attacked her saviour! 

 

Ceselea’s words (and her angry stare) seemed to snap the king back to his usual calm and collected self as he could totally feel the sincerity in those words. He then recalled moments ago that Ceselea was busy saving the forest with her magic; something that no one being brainwashed would have done. The actions and words of the fairy princess from the start were her daughter’s own accord. 

The realisation caused him to stop buffing the adventurer, and without the Holy Magic’s buff, the shield was immediately shattered by Serashael. 

 

The adventurer started to beg for his life now that he knew he was at the demoness’ mercy. Serashael has every right to get mad at the adventurer, however claiming his life would result in a war between the kingdoms. If it happened, not only she might not be able to see Ceselea again, they might actually meet on the battlefield instead as enemies.

 

“You may go. But remember that it was the mercy of Ceselea, the fairy princess, that spared you.” Sera glared at the adventurer that was already on his knees, bowing down to her even. As soon as he was spared, he ran back to the Human Kingdom, but not before the Fairy King cast an Honest spell for him so that he did not bluff further to his King. 

 

“Apologies for my naivety… I was too blinded by my overprotectiveness towards my own daughter…” Ceselea’s father apologised for his actions, as Serashael was honoured that the Fairy King would actually lower his head towards her.

 

“It is understandable, really. Ceselea must be so precious to you. If something happened to me, my Father would definitely do the same.” Sera let out a smile, at least she knew that the King’s words were sincere. 

 

So this is goodbye. Sera thought as Ceselea walked towards her father. They had said their farewell before the battle, so the two of them just smiled at each other this time. Excusing herself, the demoness was about to return back to the Demon Lord’s castle when the King offered, Sera’s  (and even  Ceselea’s) surprise.

“Why don’t you come with us to the Fairy Kingdom?”