The Tale of Hero Alice’s Social Death

While Aird wasn't paying attention, Alice quickly removed the pair of white panties inside her glove and stuffed it back into the pouch. Then, she walked up to the door and looked at Aird's dumbfounded expression, asking, "Well? I wasn't lying to you, right?"

At this moment, Aird looked at Alice as if she had just seen a ghost. She also couldn't help but feel that her brain was lacking.

Logically, if Alice could release such an exaggerated holy light, she should be the Hero. After all, both the darkness attribute and the light attribute were incredibly rare magical attributes. Even if one searched through the human and demon realms, one wouldn't find more than a thousand people with an affinity for either one of these rare attributes. And although people with these magical affinities typically carried great responsibility, their responsibilities laid in research rather than combat. This was because the use of these rare attributes held more significance in places other than combat.

Take the light bulb that was commonly used in the current era, for example. The light bulb was an object capable of harnessing the light-attributed mana in the environment and using it to produce light. It was also something that a human researcher with the light attribute had invented around a thousand years ago. The invention of the light bulb had allowed the human and demon realms to overcome the darkness at night, and this invention could be regarded as an achievement of boundless merit. Meanwhile, because wielders of the light and dark attributes were focused on research, they generally had very little combat power.

Moreover, the exaggerated radiance Alice produced just now definitely wasn't something the average light magician could produce. Even if she was one of the rarer light magicians with great talent, it shouldn't be possible for her to produce that kind of light by herself. Unless, of course, she was the Hero.

However, Aird also found it hard to believe that Alice was the Hero. After all, she, together with Wintas and Ellu, had personally experienced Alice's dark-attributed mind magic. The magic had overcome their defenses and knocked them unconscious. It had also proven that Alice indeed possessed the strength and magical affinity of a Demon King. Thus, Aird had chosen to assassinate Alice without hesitation.

"I-If you're the Hero, how did you manage to use dark magic just now?" Aird asked in a slightly trembling voice. The shock she currently felt was much greater than when she saw Alice waving her precious Gaia's Spear like a stone club. "There is no way normal people can use such powerful dark magic. The magic you used is already on the level of taboos! Only the Demon King can accomplish such a feat!"

"That… It might sound weird for me to say it, but there is, in fact, a reason for that." Alice quickly thought up an excuse after hearing Aird's question. Then, she looked at Aird and earnestly said, "Have you forgotten? Apart from their main affinities, Heroes and Demon Kings also possess a second magical affinity. As the Hero, apart from the light attribute, the other attribute I have an affinity for just so happens to be the dark attribute."

What nonsense?!

Aird honestly wished to shout these words at Alice. However, the words got stuck in her throat before they could reach her mouth. After all, even though reason told her that Alice's words were nonsense, it was also a fact that Alice was capable of using both dark and light magic.

Although Aird wanted to believe that the sacred light from before was merely Alice holding a bright light bulb in her right hand, the boundless mana that appeared alongside the sacred light prevented her from doing so. Not to mention, that kind of untainted mana wasn't something that one could find in the polluted demon realm. Instead, it was mana that belonged only to the human realm. In other words, the light that radiated from Alice's right hand was indeed the product of mana used by an actual human.

"I… Let me think for a moment…" Aird held her head in pain. Right now, the headache she suffered was much worse than when Alice had hit her with the Gaia's Spear. She felt as if her head could explode at any moment. "You did use a dark-attributed taboo in front of me previously… But the intensity of that sacred light you released just now also far exceeds what the average light magician is capable of releasing…"

After struggling for a while, Aird seemingly thought of something as she suddenly lifted her head and looked at Alice. Then, she asked, "Wait!! How do I know that you're not a Demon King who just so happened to have the light attribute as their second affinity?!"

Indeed. If what Alice said about her being a "Hero whose second affinity was dark magic" was true, it should also be possible that Alice might be a "Demon King whose second affinity was light magic."

"Uh, that is true," Alice muttered while caressing her chin. However, just when she was trying to think of an excuse, she suddenly remembered something.

Immediately, under Aird's gaze, Alice ran back into the room, dug through the pouch she left on the ground, and pulled out a small box.

The box was roughly the size of a chopstick box. The moment Alice opened it, a faint glow emerged from within. Then, Alice flipped over the box and shook it, causing an item much larger than the box itself to fall out. Meanwhile, Aird instantly recognized this item the moment she laid eyes on it.

The Hero's Sword Enheria!!!

"That's…the Hero's Sword?!"

Even the tone Aird spoke in had changed when she looked at the Hero's Sword that Alice had haphazardly thrown to the ground like garbage. Meanwhile, when looking at the Hero's Sword, Aird suddenly remembered the information that had spread in the demon realm some time ago. The information stated that the human realm's Hero had already drawn the Hero's Sword Enheria from the Gryffin Church and was currently training with it in the Gryffin Forest.

Initially, Aird had wondered why the current Hero would reveal "his" whereabouts to the public. After all, "he" would be risking his life by doing so. However, if Alice was the Hero, it made sense why the new Hero would publicly reveal "his" whereabouts—it was for the sake of misleading others and secretly infiltrating the demon world.

"See? I can use this sword normally," Alice said as she picked up the Hero's Sword from the ground with her right hand. Unfortunately, her right hand still designated the weapon as "Garbage" that only provided a bonus of Strength +1.

Then, Alice continued, "My original goal in visiting the demon realm was to look for information on the Demon King. While doing so, I inadvertently discovered that my second affinity just so happens to be dark magic. So, I came up with the idea of impersonating the new Demon King to infiltrate the demon realm's upper ranks.

"Even if the real Demon King appears later on, I can confront him using my fake identity and create internal strife in the demon realm. That way, the demon realm wouldn't have any spare energy to invade the human realm. While there is a risk of someone seeing through my disguise, the chances of that happening should be small. I am the Hero, after all. With the mana I have, I can effortlessly cast dark-attributed taboos just like the Demon King. Nobody will ever think that I am the Hero, either."

"A-Amazing…"

After hearing Alice's reasoning, Aird revealed an expression of reverence as she looked at the blonde girl before her. If one listened to Alice's words from an outsider's perspective, one would find a lot of problems with Alice's excuse. However, Aird lacked information on Alice. The only thing she knew about Alice was that the latter was capable of casting dark-attributed taboos while also having an affinity for light magic. Moreover, Alice had also proved that she was capable of wielding the Hero's Sword. Thus, Aird couldn't help but treat Alice's nonsense as the truth.

However, as a final confirmation, Aird still chose to ask Alice, "That… Can you let me try wielding the Hero's Sword? I heard that only the Hero could wield the Hero's Sword, and anyone else who tries to wield it will be knocked unconscious. If I can verify that this Hero's Sword is real, I will believe your previous words."

Aird still had a lot of mana stored within her body. Although her injuries prevented her from using it, it could still serve as a passive defense against hostile magic. If Alice's Hero's Sword was a fake and only carried a normal sleeping spell, Aird was confident she could remain conscious. However, if this sword could knock her unconscious, then it must be the real Hero's Sword. After all, only the power of a Hero or Demon King could overwhelm a Heavenly King's magical defenses.

"Of course."

Alice knew that the Hero's Sword in her hand was the real deal, so she didn't reject Aird's request. Immediately, she passed the sword to Aird.

Meanwhile, the instant Aird grabbed onto the sword's hilt, her expression instantly changed as she sensed the sword draining her mana like a hungry beast.

"What…"

Before Aird could say anything, the Hero's Sword had sucked the last of her mana out of her body. Then, her vision darkened as she lost consciousness.

However, compared to Aird, Alice was the one who was truly shocked right now. The instant Aird had her mana depleted and lost consciousness, the sword named Enheria suddenly released a burst of blinding light!

"...Are you kidding me?"

Alice subconsciously gulped as she looked at the Hero's Sword hovering in front of her and felt the warm sacred light that radiated from it. Then, cold sweat appeared on her forehead as she turned to look at the unconscious Aird.

This scene… Alice realized that she had seemingly stumbled across something unbelievable.