Cucking The Demon King
Chapter 112: The attacks

Chapter 112: The attacks

Cynthia, however, barely registered the conversation.

Her gaze remained fixed on the blue-haired girl before her, her thoughts swirling.

’So that’s Elsa... the belle of the academy.’

She had heard countless rumors about Elsa—about her beauty, her noble lineage, and the admiration she received from both men and women alike.

But standing before her now, Cynthia realized none of those rumors did the girl justice.

Elsa wasn’t just beautiful.

She was stunning.

Her elegance, the way she carried herself—it was effortless, natural, almost as if she had been born to stand above others.

Cynthia bit her lip.

She had always been confident in her own beauty, but before Elsa, even she felt... lesser.

A sharp voice suddenly cut through her thoughts.

"What the hell were you thinking?"

Emerald’s voice was laced with irritation, her blue eyes glaring at Elsa.

"You should have stayed in hiding! We weren’t supposed to reveal our full strength yet! We still don’t know what our opponent is capable of!"

But Elsa merely shrugged, an amused smirk playing on her lips.

"Got bored of waiting," she said simply, as if that was a perfectly valid excuse.

Emerald’s eye twitched.

Before she could argue further, Elsa turned her attention away, her golden gaze shifting toward the strange dark silhouette watching from the distance.

She raised a slender hand, pointing directly at him.

A playful glint flashed in her eyes.

"All we have to do is take him down, right?"

Her lips curled into a smirk.

’Then I’ll finally be able to meet up with Liam,’ she thought to herself.

Emerald exhaled sharply, pinching the bridge of her nose.

This girl...

She was reckless, impulsive, and didn’t follow orders.

But she wasn’t entirely wrong.

Taking down that figure would solve a lot of their problems.

If they captured him, they could extract information—find out what exactly they were dealing with.

Still, Emerald doubted it would be that easy.

Nothing ever was.

A deep, eerie chuckle echoed through the air.

It was quiet at first, almost like the distant rumbling of a storm, but then it grew, wrapping around them like a suffocating blanket of malice.

Lela’s body tensed, her heart pounding in her chest.

That voice—

It was coming from him.

The dark silhouette that had been watching them from a distance.

He stood unmoving, his presence thick with something unnatural. It felt wrong, like he didn’t belong in this world.

Then, without warning, he stepped backward.

His body melted into the darkness as if the very shadows themselves had swallowed him whole.

Emerald’s eyes widened in alarm.

"Oh no, you don’t!" she shouted, her boots digging into the dirt as she lunged forward.

The ground cracked beneath her force.

She closed the distance in an instant, her sword gleaming under the faint light.

She was fast.

Faster than any human should be.

But just as she reached out to strike—

He vanished.

One second, he was there.

The next, gone.

No sound. No trace.

Nothing.

Emerald skidded to a halt, her blade slicing through empty air.

Her jaw clenched.

"What...?" she muttered, her sharp blue eyes scanning the area where he had been.

Lela and Cynthia stood frozen in place, their gazes fixed on the dark figure that had just vanished into the shadows.

A heavy silence settled over them, broken only by the distant crackling of embers from destroyed stalls and the occasional low growls of dying beasts.

Cynthia clenched her fists, her breathing uneven. "What... was that?" she muttered, still shaken.

Lela didn’t answer immediately. Her mind was still racing, trying to process what had just happened.

The way the figure had spoken, the way he knew about them—it all sent chills down her spine. And now, he was gone.

However, rather than feeling relief at the fact that he was gone, they only felt more on edge.

If the strange person was so powerful, why didn’t he just kill them?

Why did he leave them and simply vanished?

No matter how they tried to look at it, they were completely in the dark about whatever was going on in the village.

Emerald stood at the front, staring at the exact spot where the figure had disappeared. Her brows were furrowed in frustration, her grip on her sword tightening.

"Tch." She clicked her tongue, clearly displeased. "Coward."

She turned back toward the two girls, her sharp blue eyes scanning them from head to toe.

They were covered in dirt, their clothes torn in some places, and their expressions filled with unease. She let out a sigh, shaking her head.

"You two," she said, her voice firm. "How exactly did you get here?"

The question caught both girls off guard.

"Huh?" Lela blinked.

Cynthia glanced at Lela before turning back to Emerald. "I know... we were supposed to be investigating another part of the village with Liam and Emma," she said, trying to recall everything. "But then—"

Her voice trailed off as her mind drifted back to the last thing she remembered.

Lela swallowed hard. The memories were foggy, like a dream that had quickly faded upon waking.

But she could still remember stepping into that cave, the feeling of the cold, damp air wrapping around her, the darkness swallowing them whole.

And then... nothing.

"When we walked into the cave... everything turned black," Lela muttered. "It felt like we were falling into a void, and when we opened our eyes again... we were here."

Cynthia’s lips parted slightly as she processed Lela’s words. "That’s right... I remember feeling like something was pulling us in," she added. "But... how?"

Emerald’s expression darkened at their explanation. If they had been transported to this part of the village after entering that cave, then something—no, someone—was behind it.

"It must have been a trap," Emerald said. "And you walked right into it."

Lela’s face twisted in frustration, but she didn’t argue. She knew Emerald was right.

Cynthia looked around, her frown deepening. "But why this part of the village? And why separate us from Liam and Emma?"

Emerald didn’t answer right away. Instead, she turned her gaze toward the ruined marketplace around them. The destruction, the lifeless bodies of the beasts, the flickering embers from collapsed stalls—it all painted a grim picture.

"This area has been experiencing beast attacks for the past few days," she finally said, her voice quieter. "More than usual."

Lela and Cynthia stiffened at that.

"More than usual?" Lela echoed.

Emerald nodded. "Yes. That’s why we were investigating in the first place. But it wasn’t just regular beasts. These creatures..." She turned her gaze to one of the dead beasts nearby, its body still sparking with faint traces of red lightning. "They were different. Stronger. More aggressive."

Cynthia shuddered. "We noticed."

Emerald shot her a glance before continuing. "The attacks were getting worse, and now... you two somehow ended up in the middle of it."

Lela rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on. "This doesn’t make sense," she muttered. "Why send us here? Why not just attack us outright?"

Emerald crossed her arms, deep in thought.

Cynthia exhaled, lowering her gaze to the ground. "And who was that guy?" she whispered. "The one watching us?"

Silence fell over them again. None of them had the answer.

One thing was clear, though—this was no coincidence.

Something was happening in this village. Something far more dangerous than they had anticipated.

And they were right in the middle of it.

"Hah..." Emerald exhaled, placing her sword back in its sheath.

She turned back to them, narrowing her eyes. "I don’t know," she admitted.

The two girls stiffened, their terror intensifying at her words. If even Emerald, a holy knight, didn’t know who he was, then that meant he was even more dangerous than they thought.

Lela and Cynthia exchanged uneasy glances before whispering among themselves. "Could he be a high-ranking heretic?" Cynthia asked.

"Or maybe one of those demon worshippers?" Lela added, her voice barely above a whisper.

Before they could let their fear run wild, Elsa scoffed, interrupting them. "It doesn’t matter," she said with a confident smirk. "All we have to do is find him and beat him until he confesses everything."

Emerald sighed again, she couldn’t remember how many times she had done that since they came on this mission.

It didn’t seem like Elsa had fully grasped what kind of terrible situation they were in, but then, it wasn’t surprising, given the kind of life the girl had lived until now.

As someone born with a silver spoon, she grew up having things always go her way, but on this mission, there was no such thing as that.

They were practically in the enemies’ den, with barely any clues on how to get out.

"You’re being too reckless, you need to change." She suddenly said, turning her gaze towards the girl.

Elsa’s eyes widened slightly, a little taken aback by the words used her the knight.

"Reckless?" Elsa muttered, her brows raising in confusion. ’What is reckless about what I did?’