The Hero Who Became a Monster Girl Will Never Fall to Evil

“You are not a Hero? Why did you yield so quickly, even seeking only to die?”

Vieya tugged the chain in her hand, producing a crisp, melodious clatter.

At once, she tilted her head back slightly and glanced at Anna, who was humming behind her, and let out a sigh:

“What kind of Hero are you? Your stress tolerance is so weak, no wonder you ended up as a defector. Running away cannot solve problems.”

“You reclusive old— cough, stop preaching at me! Instead of staying holed up in your nest waiting to rot away, why did you come out here to interfere with our actions!”

“First of all, I am not an old hag. If you keep calling me that, I will really get angry.”

Vieya put one hand on her hip, the other shaking the chain, claiming the moral high ground first, “And besides, you were the one who provoked me first. As a Hero, of course I will not stand by while a traitor Hero who only knows how to run away does as she pleases before my eyes～”

So you finally admit you are a Hero? You malicious brat pretending to be young, fishing for me!

Anna’s face flushed red, her neck chained and forced to bend down—whether from anger or from difficulty breathing, it was hard to say:

“I am not running away, I am seeking a new solution to difficulties. A new world must be born from the ashes of the old world, and we are the spark that sets the old aflame!

Heroes like you, clinging ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) to tradition, are already obsolete! You deserve to be cast aside!”

Of course, Anna did not voice those last words aloud. She only glared with her deep blue eyes, full of malice, at the short white-haired girl who was tugging the chain about recklessly.

Strange—was she shorter than when they first met?

Anna froze for a moment, about to probe with words, when suddenly Vieya spoke:

“Little Golden-Hair, am I your first target? Or have you captured other Heroes before?”

“Do not call me that!”

Anna pouted, not answering directly, but her attitude toward Vieya suddenly softened:

“Little White-Hair, you are also a Hero. I know that every Hero bears some absolute obsession that cannot be abandoned. Without such an obsession, one cannot fully draw upon the power of the Hero’s Seal. Since you are so strong, you must have it as well... But humanity cannot fulfill your obsession. Are you interested in learning about our great ‘Lord of Resurrection’?”

“Lord of Resurrection?”

Vieya unconsciously tightened her grip on the chain, ignoring the strange title Anna used for her.

When she was a Hero before, she had handled incidents involving cults. Most of those cults stood behind the shadow of some Demon King.

Those Demon Kings nearly all hid themselves in regions that were death zones for humanity. According to research by the scholars of the Tower of Knowledge, those Demon Kings were keen to organize cults, seemingly connected to rituals for ascending higher and gaining more power.

The scholars of the Tower of Knowledge named that unknown rank “Final Demon God.”

And Flaviel had been, in thousands of years, the Demon King who had come closest to becoming the Final Demon God.

Unbidden, Flaviel’s voice and smiling face resurfaced in Vieya’s mind.

She shook her head, scattering the vision.

“How strange. After all this time, even dead so long, she can still wound me...”

Vieya murmured softly, her eyelids lowered.

“Li... Little White-Hair, cough, do you want to learn about our ‘Lord of Resurrection’?”

Anna seemed to sense the heavy air pressing around Vieya, but still dutifully tried to proselytize, only her tone had grown more cautious,

“I assure you, the ‘Lord of Resurrection’ is definitely not a monster or a Demon King, nor any being possessing some special authority, but a true god dwelling in the starry heavens. Would you like to learn...”

“Forget it, I am not in the mood.”

Vieya dragged Anna along, ignoring her wounded frustration at her failed attempt at preaching.

She kept feeling as though, beneath this city, something unseen was faintly drawing her downward.

Like a moth chasing fire, unafraid of the flames that could burn its body, only wanting to draw nearer to the light, to feel the warmth... even if the price was... life.

Suddenly!

A hurried splashing of footsteps through muddy water came from deep in the sewers.

Who?

Vieya lifted her gaze, peering intently.

A man, clothes in tatters, body in disarray, tumbled and scrambled out from the pitch-dark sewer depths.

“He is a night watchman,” Xiao Lü reminded beside her. “Look at the insignia—he is the captain of that missing squad.”

The missing man had appeared, emerging from beneath the city.

Vieya nodded lightly, not looking at Xiao Lü, but turning her gaze to Anna behind her, asking: “What do you intend to do in this city? If it is only to capture Heroes, I could go back with you to meet your heretical god.”

“Of course it is for the coming of the new world that we make these preparations.” Anna looked toward the depths of the sewer, her blue eyes full of almost devout longing. “A world renewed, a world without deceit or concealment... hehe...”

“Behave. Do not try anything foolish.”

Vieya warned Anna, who was preparing some small trick, and then called out to the night watchman who had suddenly appeared in the sewer.

“You, stop!”

Perhaps Vieya’s voice was too soft and delicate, for the night watchman only glanced at her, ignored the warning, and bolted past at full speed.

Tian Qi was not stupid—why would he stop just because two girls appeared in the sewer during his desperate flight?

Who knew if this was not some illusion created by the monsters?

No, it must be an illusion.

They were in league with those monsters!

Run!

“......”

Vieya froze for a moment, then her eyes turned sharp. Watching Tian Qi’s back, she commanded:

“Down!”

Thud!

The fleeing night watchman tripped as if on flat ground, slamming face-first into the filthy sewer.

“Ah—!”

A cry of terror burst from Tian Qi’s mouth. The foul underground water still carried a faint trace of healing power. He did not want to die, he wanted to run on, but his body grew heavier and heavier until he lay prone on the ground, unable even to lift a finger.

“Yeye-sis...” Xiao Lü looked anxiously at Vieya. The power of the Hero’s Seal always restrained all monsters; even a monster girl, half-tied to monsters, was still subject to that restraint.

It was a contradiction—now Vieya was both protected and bound by the Hero’s Seal she bore.

“Hmph!”

Vieya gave a light snort, dragging along Anna—her proselytizing failed, face full of sourness—and walked up to the immobilized Tian Qi lying on the ground.

“Tell me, why were you running? Do I look that frightening?”

“No... cough, cough, cough.”

Tian Qi coughed violently, crushed by the all-encompassing gravity, lungs unable to draw breath. He struggled to lift his head, eyes bloodshot, face twisted, his hoarse voice still tinged with pleading:

“No, do not kill me... I do not want to die. Spare me, I can give you money, a lot of money...”

“Who wants your filthy money.”

Vieya glanced at Anna behind her, suddenly babbling about divine forgiveness, then looked again at the night watchman before her,

“I am a pilgrimage Hero directly commissioned by the Royal Capital, come to patrol the southern border these days. What I have found here displeases me. I expect you to cooperate with my work.”

Saying so, Vieya drew out a green token from her chest, flashed it before Tian Qi’s eyes, then withdrew it again before either he or Anna could see clearly.

“Night Watchman Captain, Deerhorn City, Squad A-107—Tian Qi. Please answer me truthfully.”

“I, I...” Tian Qi suddenly felt the crushing weight lift from his body. He scrambled upright, staring at Vieya in shock, uncertain, “M-my lord...?”

“Tell me what you have seen...” Vieya said, her tone dignified and calm, “...everything.”