Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume16 Chapter8 (section)

===Part 4===

"&mdash;Alright, stop moving. Settle down."

"...Shut up. Don't touch me."

Saladia was just about to chant healing magic when Jio Inzagi violently brushed her hand away.

"This will naturally heal on its own. After all, I am the Demon King's successor."

Showing off the cursed armament seal carved on his arm, Jio grinned fearlessly.

"...As you wish. When pus forms in the wound, I shan't be held responsible."

Saladia sighed in exasperation and closed the book-type elemental waffe.

"This place will soon be discovered, right? We must not linger for long."

They were currently hiding in a heretical Demon King cult chapel that Sjora Kahn had destroyed, turning it into a set of ruins.

There were still many knights of the royal guard in the surrounding areas, currently searching for her whereabouts.

Although Saladia had deployed an isolation barrier around the structure to prevent people from approaching, any well-trained elementalist would notice a barrier of this level.

Outside the chapel, a sandstorm was howling.

Sandstorms would blow in Zohar a couple nights every month. Although they could not hide here forever, it was true that they had no way of leaving until the sandstorm ended.

"Tsk, annoying sand."

"This is the Demon King's breath."

"Huh?"

"A legend. These sandstorms are the breaths of Demon King Solomon&mdash;"

"Stupid superstitions."

"Perhaps..."

While concurring, Saladia murmured in her thoughts.

(...On the other hand, I find talk about the Demon King's reincarnation even more superstitious.)

Naturally, she would never voice such opinions&mdash;

Putting aside whether this man was the Demon King's reincarnation, as a bodyguard, he was undoubtedly quite excellent.

Indeed, amazing was the only word to describe Jio Inzagi's combat style just now.

Successively releasing the spirits that Saladia had sealed into his cursed armament seals, he discarded them immediately after using them. This horrifying combat style was unthinkable to any normal elementalist.

Under the weak illumination of a glowing orb, Saladia gazed at the young man's profile. Finally, she mustered her courage and asked:

"...Who on earth are you?"

"I am the Demon King's successor."

"No, not in that sense... Any ordinary person would have died from having so many cursed armament seals implanted. Where on earth did these things&mdash;"

Jio Inzagi bared his teeth and grinned fearlessly.

"From a certain facility that raised and trained me&mdash;"

"Facility?"

"A facility that a princess like you won't know about. I was taken there as a baby where they all kinds of things with my body as they pleased... Oh well, in short, it was hell on earth. Those without aptitude died one after another. Once old enough to speak, kids were forced to kill one another, then tossed into the bottom of a valley like trash&mdash;"

"No way..."

Saladia covered her mouth with her hands, unable to speak.

...This man was probably speaking the truth. Based on a princess maiden's instinct, she could see through lies.

However, having grown up in the royal palace, she was unable to imagine that kind of hell.

"Hey, what's with that look in your eyes? Are you pitying me?"

Jio Inzagi narrowed his eyes sharply and glared at Saladia.

"Don't use your own fucking standards to measure others. I'm very grateful that my body turned out like this. Thanks to that, I am one step closer to the Demon King&mdash;"

Looking at the cursed armament seal carved on his arm, he made terrifying smile.

"Why are you so... about the Demon King&mdash;"

Just as Saladia was about to ask him...

The chapel's floor shook while dust and debris on the ceiling came clattering down.

"...What, an earthquake?"

"...No, Zohar has never had any earthquakes before&mdash;"

Saying that, she stopped, her body trembling in terror.

"&mdash;Could it be that my sister has released ''that seal''?"