The Tale of Hero Alice’s Social Death

Alice almost screamed when she felt the intense pain coming from her right hand. Fortunately, after her experience in Demon King City, she no longer reacted like a fool in such sudden situations. Immediately, she realized that she had been attacked, so she quickly reached under her skirt for her panties.

There was no helping this. Alice had only swiped three black panties from Rosa, and she had already used up all three of them. So, two days ago, she had started preparing a new batch of black panties by means of buying some unworn black panties and wearing them.

While this action sounded shameful, it was the only way Alice could acquire more black panties to use as weapons. According to Alice's research, an unworn pair of panties needed to be worn for around four to five hours for her right hand to consider it an Artifact. Meanwhile, the black panties Alice currently wore were one that she had put on since this morning. Now that it was already in the afternoon, it should've gained qualifications to become an Artifact already.

However, when Alice tried stretching her right hand under her skirt, she found that the translucent chain that had penetrated her right hand was exuding some kind of power that froze her right hand in place. No matter how much she tried, her right hand refused to move and awkwardly remained raised in the air.

"Don't try to use your right hand, Lord Demon King. It cannot move by even an inch right now."

While Alice struggled to move her right hand, the door fully opened, revealing the person standing outside. Sure enough, the person outside the room was Aird Mishal, the Heavenly King of Earth.

After opening the door, the girl with long brown hair and an indifferent look on her face walked into the room. There was also a small golden magic circle hovering beside the girl, and the magic chain that had penetrated Alice's hand originated from none other than this magic circle.

"Aird? What is the meaning of this?" Alice panicked a little when faced with this situation. However, she also knew that there was no point in shouting for help right now. Since Aird dared to attack her in the manor that housed all four Heavenly Kings, it must mean that she had come prepared. "Why are you attacking me now? If I recall correctly, you had also been complaining about the demon realm's situation in the conference room just now. Even if my presence threatens your position, shouldn't you attack me after we have conquered the human realm?"

Whether in the real world or fictional worlds, there were countless examples of infighting occurring in a group before the group defeated their common enemy. Alice suspected that Aird was going down such a route as well, so she tried to see if she could persuade the other party to step back.

"It seems you are quite clear-headed. I thought you would've shouted for help," Aird calmly commented. "I've even gone through the trouble of placing a barrier that sealed the sound of this area specifically for such a situation… But it seems you already understood that I would make such preparations in advance."

After praising Alice for her wisdom, Aird continued, "However, there is no use trying to persuade me. I am not disposing of you because I am worried that you would threaten my authority. Although I feel guilty about having to kill a little girl like you, this situation cannot be helped."

"At least let me die knowing why. I deserve at least this much, right?" Alice hurriedly said, trying to acquire some information in the hopes of finding a chance to recover from this situation.

However, Aird simply sneered and shook her head, saying, "I do not have the habit of explaining my actions to dead people. For the sake of reducing my sense of guilt, I ask that you die sooner."

How can the time of my death influence your sense of guilt?! Alice inwardly complained when she saw Aird lifting her hand.

However, before she could say anything, a large golden magic circle had appeared in front of Aird's right hand. Then, mana continuously flowed out of the magic circle and seeped into Alice's body, causing Alice to feel her body growing heavier and heavier. Moreover, Aird's magic was different from Grant's gravity magic. Instead of directly influencing Alice's weight, Aird's magic sucked the strength out of Alice's body, thereby making Alice feel that her body was growing heavier.

"Although I cannot tell you my reason for doing this, I can tell you about the magic I'm using," Aird said when she saw Alice's pleading look. "You should know that apart from their respective elemental magic, the Four Heavenly Kings will also practice non-elemental magic, right? Well, the non-elemental magic I practice is sealing magic."

"Seal...ing?"

Alice could feel her strength rapidly leaving her body. At this point, even speaking became a difficult task. However, seeing how long Aird's sealing magic took to seal a harmless girl like herself, Alice guessed that the magic probably sealed its target's strength in proportions. Possibly, this magic would take as much time to seal an ordinary girl as it would take to seal a Heavenly King.

"That's right. Whether it is the sound-sealing barrier, the Engraving of the Moon that is sapping away your strength, or the simplified War God's Lock that is sealing your right hand, all of them are products of my research into sealing magic."

Although Aird's voice was already growing vague in her ears, Alice could still barely make out what Aird was saying.

"The complete War God's Lock will produce tens of thousands of sealing chains to bind its targets, but since I am only trying to seal your right hand, just one chain is enough. After all, only your right hand should be capable of using the Demon King's Power, right?"

You noticed even this?

The corners of Alice's eyes twitched. Although she very much wanted to speak with her mouth, her body had grown so weak that she had already lost her ability to speak. Originally, she thought that nobody would notice her right hand's peculiarity. However, it would seem that she had been too optimistic in her judgment.

"Surprised?" Aird asked when she saw Alice's reaction. Although her face remained expressionless, one could still hear a faint sense of delight in her voice. "It's very obvious, honestly. When you use the Demon King's Power, the black mist that results from it only circles around your right hand. The other kings have no intentions of harming you, so they won't care where your Demon King's Power originates from or whether you have a weakness."

In other words, you have been thinking of harming me since we first met?

Originally, Alice had been wondering whether her identity as the Hero had gotten exposed, thus resulting in Aird launching a preemptive strike against her. However, after listening to Aird's explanation, it would seem that even until now, Aird still believed that the power she used was the Demon King's Power. In other words, Aird acknowledged that she was the Demon King. Yet, she still decided to act against the Demon King. This situation made Alice very depressed.

"Although I feel very sorry, I cannot allow the existence of a Demon King," Aird said as she crouched down to look at Alice. At this time, Alice had already crumbled to the ground and couldn't even open her eyes. Then, Aird continued, "As to why I am sealing you instead of outright killing you, it is because I worry that the Demon King's Power would find a new host immediately after your death… If I seal you, though, I should be able to guarantee that a new Demon King won't appear for the next several hundred years."

By now, Alice could hardly hear what Aird was saying. However, when she thought about getting sealed in this place, she couldn't help but feel unreconciled. So, she decided to put up one final struggle.

Before today, all of the weapons Alice had held with her right hand possessed a physical form without a doubt. However, in the current situation, she had no choice but to try if she could use a mana construct as a weapon.

Fortunately, although the War God's Lock had frozen Alice's right hand in place, causing it to hover awkwardly in mid-air, the simplified taboo did not restrict the movements of the hand itself. In other words, Alice could still move her right hand's fingers.

Immediately, Alice used the last of her strength to close her right hand and grab the translucent chain that had perforated it.