The Demon King's First General
Chapter 125: Exactly Like Me

Chapter 125: Exactly Like Me

Uoiea let out a smile and made a step forward. She didn’t know who the man was or if he was an enemy or not, but there was something inside of her saying that he had no intention of causing trouble for her.

"Are you here to help the kingdom?" She paused for a second before continuing her words.

"The intruders have already left," she added.

Then she saw the red dice hanging from the man’s left ear. This ignited her curiosity, and she strode into the entrace.

Just a half-meter away from the man, she stared at the red dice.

"Those are skulls..." she uttered before raising her hand equipped with the bracelet.

A smile flashed from her lips, and she spoke again.

"Look, I have a dice as well, but it has stars and a sun as its pattern," she said, like a child bragging in front of her friends.

However, despite all the words that escaped from her mouth, the man kept his silence.

"H-hello? Are you okay? Does something hurt?" Uoiea asked once more, then searched for any wounds in the man’s body but found nothing.

Aside from the knight’s little talks with each other from the corridor, no sound could be heard at the entrance.

Seconds passed, and Uoiea felt strange after receiving no reply from the man, so she decided to return inside the castle.

She took a step backward, but as soon as she turned around, arms hugged her from behind. The man’s heavy breathing caressed the princess’ neck as he rested his head on her shoulder. His hands held each other, preventing Uoiea from escaping his embrace.

These actions of his made the princess’ heart beat faster; her eyes widened due to shock; she wanted to turn around and push the man away, but her body was not responding to her thoughts.

"Uoiea," the man whispered, and as the princess heard his voice uttering her name, a teardrop escaped from her eyes without her even knowing.

Then the man’s embrace loosened, and he fell to the ground. As soon as Uoiea noticed him lying on the concrete pavement, she crouched down and checked his pulse.

"Hey! What happened?" She exclaimed, trying to wake the man up.

She tried to lift him up even though she knew that her frail hands couldn’t exert enough strength to raise the man’s body.

After several attempts, she gave up and was about to call someone for help when she saw something fall out of the man’s coat pocket.

’A locket?’ She thought while looking at the small object’s intricate curving.

"At first glance, it looks like the empire’s insignia," she said.

It had a phoenix with its wing spreading sideways as a design. Its frame was silvery in color with black linings, while its string was a simple black lace with two jade stones as its lock.

Curiosity got her good, so she tried to open it, but it didn’t even budge.

"It’s tightly sealed," she stated, then attempted to give it another try.

"I’m not invading someone’s privacy; I’m just satisfying my own curiosity," she said.

Then, using her energy, she pulled the locket’s side once more, and to her surprise, the phoenix on it glowed, and something clicked from its inside.

The next second, the locket opened and the princess’ eyebrows knitted. There was some sort of painting hiding underneath the cover—a portrayal of a woman, to be exact. The materials used showed how old it really was, but the quality of the painting didn’t diminish at all.

Uoiea moved the locket closer to her eyes, as she wasn’t convinced by what she saw. However, no matter how many times she looked at the woman depicted in the painting, she discerned no difference.

"Weird... She looks exactly like me," Uoiea uttered.

Then her gaze glanced at the silver-haired man still lying on the ground. His breathing was now stable, and the look on his face was at rest.

For the very first time since the day he woke up from slumber, the Demon General found his peace and slept without worrying about a single damn thing around him.

. . . . .

It was a silent day back then in Exgreia, and demons were on their path to subdue the whole continent. With the Conjurer of Blue Flames leading them, they saw no existence that could hinder their plans.

The king of beastmen, representing the Mountain Range of Phantasms, had already pledged their submission to Cinhard Beelze. The elves, who stood as the representatives of the Garden of Dreams, fought back, but as soon as Piero fell down, they chose to obey the demons.

While the Realm of Illusions remained silent as the Spirit King, Calix, secluded himself from the rest of the world.

During this time, the humans sought the sirens and dragon’s help to defend the Plain of Fantasies, although the Demon King showed no intention to command his army to march into the humans’ territory.

Days passed and nothing happened, but the people, especially the human emperor, couldn’t sleep at peace. The demon’s silence was more than enough to give him anxiety.

"Your Majesty, there are no traces of demons crossing the borders," a knight said after reading a scroll.

Upon hearing this, the emperor, who was staring at the far-away distance, sighed. He turned around and looked into the knight’s eyes before speaking.

"Where is my daughter right now?" He asked.

"According to the reports, the princess is on her way to visit the frontlines; two palace guards are with her while they disguise themselves as civilians," the knight answered without wasting a second.

The emperor’s veins at his temple budged as soon as he heard the knight.

"Hmnnph, that child, really! Did she not realize that even though how ordinary the clothes she wore, she couldn’t hide the fact that she was a royalty?" He exclaimed, shaking his head in dissatisfaction.

"Aside from that, a princess has no place on the battlefield," he added, and strode outside the room.

"Prepare my equipment!" His shout reverberated in the corridor, which made the knights on standby gulp in silence.

. . . . .

In the nearest town in the Mountain Range of Phantasms, but the farthest from the heart of the empire, three people were casually sitting at a tavern’s round table: a fine young woman and two middle-aged men.

Based on their looks and clothing, they were trying their best to conceal their true personalities.

The woman’s pale white skin was simply out of place; the life near the mountain was not that great to maintain such a delicate appearance, and even though she was wearing a veil on her face, the brilliance of her maple-colored eyes was enough to showcase the beauty hiding beneath the woven cloth.

Aside from them and the bartender preparing for their drinks, no other people could be seen inside their tavern. Most of the town folks moved out of their homes because they believed that hordes of demon creatures would soon invade their land.

"Princess, how long do we need to stay here? Let’s head back to the palace," a man with a black beard said while staring at the woman beside them.

Then he diverted his gaze to their other companion with his eyes, asking for help to convince the lady.

"Ssssshh, don’t address me like that. Just call me by my name. Didn’t I tell you that already? The woman replied, her eyes widening as she glared at the man.

"Forgive me, Prin- No, Ea," he said.

The next second, the bartender came to their table and placed the liquor in front of them.

"This is the last bottle that I can offer," the old man stated all of a sudden, which captured the attention of the three.

Upon seeing this, the man let out a smile to cover up the pain he was feeling.

"I think of closing the place for now; I’m getting out of stocks," he sighed.

"No mercenaries are willing to go to the mountain to gather ingredients," he added with a frustrated tone before smiling once more.

He examined the three people, and he couldn’t help but be curious about who they were, especially the woman. After all, he knew almost all the people of their town, and recently, many knights and mercenaries were setting up camps, but the woman in front of him exuded a presence reeking elegance.

"You guys are here, waiting for the demon’s invasion, I presume," the bartender said once more.

The two men shook their heads in response, but the woman in the middle nodded hers. Seeing this scene, the old man couldn’t help but chuckle in confusion.

"We’re just here to observe the situation," the man answered to the bartender’s query.

"I see, but don’t spend too much time here or you’ll get caught in the situation when those demons attack," the bartender replied, and upon seeing the three people smile, he turned around to return to the counter.

However, his steps were soon interrupted by sudden screams outside the tavern.

"They are here! Move out! The demons are here!" The voice yelled, informing the remaining people in the town.

As soon as the woman heard this, she stood up and ran outside.

"Ea!" Her companions called and followed her lead; even the bartender went with them.

The moment they opened the door, they saw gargoyles swarming up the atmosphere. It took them a second to look for Ea, and when they did, they saw her staring at the distance with wide-open eyes.

’He really is here,’ the three of them had the same thought upon seeing the curtain of blue flames splitting the sky.

. . . . .