The Tale of Hero Alice’s Social Death

"That's enough, Haydn. You are still far from matching this girl. You will only make a fool of yourself if you insist on fighting her."

While Haydn was struggling to come up with more ideas to get out of his predicament, a somewhat deep male voice came through the hole in the ceiling. The other party got straight to the point and stopped Haydn from taking any further action, seemingly worried Haydn might lose his sense of judgment from anxiety and try to fight Alice to the death. Then, this voice added:

"Let me handle her."

Subsequently, under Alice's gaze, the semi-translucent figure of a person gradually descended through the hole in the ceiling. The other party's semi-translucent state reminded Alice of when she met Grant's soul in Demon King Castle. Evidently, this should be the soul of the Demon King backing Haydn.

However, when Alice got a good look at the person who had descended from the second floor, a strange expression appeared on her face. This was because the soul's appearance was…a little different from what she imagined.

Generally speaking, a person's soul would look like they did when they were at their peak spiritual state. Hence, the souls Alice had seen thus far were between their adolescence and prime years. For example, Kristine's soul was that of an adolescent girl, while Grant's soul bore the appearance he had during his prime.

Although most people would usually reach the peak of their strength and intelligence during their middle age, the spiritual state they had at that time definitely wouldn't be comparable to what they had during their adolescence and prime years. So, all of the souls Alice had seen thus far had excellent appearances.

As for the soul currently before her… The other party might look like a man in his twenties, which still put him in his prime years, but wasn't he a little too fat?

The other party had a bulging belly, a round head, and eyes narrowed so much they looked like horizontal slits. While Alice wasn't trying to discriminate against fat people, she found it truly hard to imagine there'd be a Demon King who would be this fat.

After all, Demon Kings were existences created by the Demon King's Power. So long as Demon Kings trained, they could simultaneously develop their mana, physique, and flexibility. In other words, by the time a Demon King reached their peak strength, their appearance should have also reached its peak.

So, Alice found it truly incomprehensible how a Demon King could get so fat despite having trained to become a full-fledged Demon King. Looking at the other party's fat-filled belly, Alice couldn't help but wonder if the other party had truly done any training.

Gut training, maybe? Alice would believe it if that were the case.

Honestly, when Alice first heard the Demon King speaking, she never thought the other party would have such a rotund appearance. The Demon King had a husky voice, and the way he spoke to Haydn was relatively polite and free of disgusting pride and contempt. So, her mind automatically assumed the other party would look like a nobleman. However, what she ended up seeing contrasted her imagination significantly.

Meanwhile, noticing Alice's strange gaze, Haydn couldn't help but feel a little awkward. Truth be told, he had quite a good impression of the Demon King backing him. The other party didn't put on any airs or try to order him around like a slave. This attitude also convinced him that working for this Demon King might not be a bad thing. But if he had to point out a problem about this Demon King, it'd have to be his appearance…

Why?! Why do you look like that?! You're a Demon King, for god's sake! Can't you take more care of your body?! Just look at the Hero over there! Even though she's young, she already has the makings of a beauty! Even as an enemy, just looking at her is enough to cleanse my eyes and heart! Do you not feel ashamed of how you look, Lord Demon King?! Haydn mentally complained.

Unfortunately, not only did Haydn's "Lord Demon King" feel no shame, but he had even completely ignored the strange gaze Alice was giving him. Although his soul was twice as wide as Haydn's skinny body, he didn't see any need to manage his figure.

Of course, there was some logic behind such a decision. For the average person, obesity would usually come with many bad symptoms and possibly even death. However, Demon Kings had powerful bodies, so they wouldn't face any health issues even if they became obese. At most, it would affect how others perceived them.

"So, you're the Demon King helping Haydn?" Although her first impression of the Demon King was somewhat affected by the other party's appearance, Alice could feel the unique mana fluctuations coming from the other party's body. So, she was certain that the other party was the soul of a former Demon King. "You're Fugallo Fold, the Tenth Demon King, right?"

"Indeed, it is I," Fugallo calmly said with a smile. He didn't react in fear to Alice even though he was only a soul. "Are you the latest Hero? Interesting. You look no more than thirteen or fourteen years of age. The Hero of my generation was only chosen at the age of sixteen."

"Although I don't know what kind of trouble you are trying to stir up, the mana you are currently draining belongs to my friend." Alice did not intend to waste time talking to Fugallo. She didn't know what measures the other party had prepared, so she decided it was best to take action as soon as possible. Immediately, she took out the weapon box in her waist pouch and opened it, causing the Hero's Sword to appear in her right hand. "Dead people should just go and reincarnate. Stop trying to make a mess of this world."

…

[Weapon: Hero's Sword - Okay]

[Quality: Law]

[Effect: Strength +8000, Constitution +8000, Speed +8000, Spirit +8000, Control +8000, Mana +8000]

[Additional Effect:

Word of God (Passive Skill. When praying sincerely, you can communicate with God and receive God's blessing);

Blessing of Light (Passive Skill. Your affinity with the light attribute is increased to MAX. When you are wielding a weapon blessed by God, exude a holy light that deals additional damage to dark-attributed enemies);

Holy Cross Slash (Active Skill. Releases a cross slash composed of light to shatter the target's soul);

Fearless Will (Passive Skill. You will not be affected by spirit magic. Individuals or objects that try to apply spiritual magic on you will suffer a backlash);

Hero's Call (Passive Skill. The Hero's Sword can hear the Hero's call and answer it.)]

…

As soon as the Hero's Sword appeared in Alice's right hand, holy light wrapped around her body. At the same time, tremendous power filled her body. Throughout the past few months, her body's various attributes had grown beyond normal humans. Combined with the boost she received from the Hero's Sword, even if her strength still wasn't comparable to that of a full-fledged Hero, she shouldn't be too far behind.

"The Hero's Sword…"

When Fugallo saw Alice wielding the Hero's Sword without a problem, he was finally certain Alice was the Hero. Only, there was one thing that puzzled him. The instant Alice wielded the Hero's Sword, he could clearly feel her strength rising substantially…

What's going on? I don't recall the Hero of my generation having such an ability. Did the Hero's Sword receive an upgrade?