# Chapter 76
"I will too!!
Bunny, when I grow up really big, I'll make Daddy rich!!"
The child beamed, eyes reddened with excitement, her voice brimming with innocence.
Kiriel’s lips curled into a faint smile at her words.
"That sounds promising.
But let’s make one more deal with Daddy."
"Yes!!"
"From now on, no secrets between us."
Bunny's eyes widened at Kiriel’s words.
"Hup."
She clamped her mouth shut, wiggling her fingers anxiously.
Then, in the smallest voice, she whispered:
"Even the fact that Bunny isn’t actually dreaming of becoming a Grand Mage… but a Demon King instead?"
As if sharing the world’s greatest secret, she leaned in close and murmured right into Kiriel’s ear.
Kiriel froze.
"A Demon King?"
"Yes…"
Kiriel blinked slowly, furrowing his brows.
‘Is this like when human kids say they want to be heroes when they grow up?’
Even for Kiriel, it was rare to see a young demon.
Demonic beings weren’t a species known for love, nor for raising their young with care.
He had heard before that demons indulged in pleasure rather than nurture, and thus, children were often abandoned or left to fend for themselves.
“…As your father, I do wonder what kind of Demon King you’d be.
But listen, Bunny.
You must never tell anyone else about this.”
"Okay!"
With a sigh, Kiriel pulled Bunny into his arms.
"Clean it up."
At his command, figures in black robes and white masks silently emerged from the void.
"Wow…."
Bunny’s eyes sparkled with admiration.
Daddy was always so cool.
Kicking her legs excitedly, she started tattling on all the bad things the villains had done.
"Alright, Daddy will punish them."
He nodded along, listening patiently.
Before long, she had fallen fast asleep in his arms.
[A Familiar Presence…]
Just as Bunny's head drooped into slumber, a voice echoed in Kiriel’s mind.
He lifted his gaze.
A massive form loomed above him, lazily circling through the air.
A divine beast— Azure Dragon.
A being adorned in shimmering blue scales, master of water, and one of the highest-ranked divine creatures.
"You say… a familiar presence?"
[Yes.
A presence I have not felt in ages.
I never expected to witness such a being once more…]
"You mean demons?"
The dragon gazed at Kiriel with an unreadable expression.
Silence stretched between them, and Kiriel narrowed his eyes.
[It seems… your kind has long forgotten.
Time has passed indeed.]
The dragon’s voice resonated in his mind.
[Demons are rare, yes, but this is something beyond that.
If you trace the origins of your noble house, you may find the answers.]
Kiriel frowned at the cryptic words.
Then, suddenly, the Azure Dragon lowered its massive snout toward Bunny’s head, nudging the child gently with its nose.
It wasn’t clear if it was sniffing, feeling her warmth, or simply showing affection.
For a creature as noble as the Azure Dragon, such behavior was utterly strange.
"What… are you doing?"
[The Phoenix has been born once more.
The era of gold and green shall return.]
The dragon muttered something cryptic before vanishing into the sky.
Kiriel looked down at Bunny, still fast asleep in his arms, her small chest rising and falling with each breath.
After a long moment of silence, he stepped out of the dark underground.
The next morning, the newspapers were ablaze with reports of a massive fire in the area.
***
A man with fiery red hair watched as Kiriel carried Bunny away, licking his lower lip.
"This is becoming a nuisance."
He didn’t know what Luriel had seen in that child, nor what she was scheming…
Too soft.
Far too soft.
If that child was left in the hands of the humans of House Yudia, she would never become a proper Demon King.
The seed had potential, yes.
But if left alone, it would absorb useless, sentimental influences.
"This won’t do."
The Demon King is the core of the Demon Realm.
The very source of their strength.
Only by fully awakening as the Demon King could their kind reclaim their former power and bring chaos and destruction upon the human world once more.
The Demon Realm was the night sky.
The Demon King was the moon.
And they… were the countless beings that filled that vast, endless darkness.
‘She needs to be pushed to the very edge.’
A situation so dire she would have no choice but to lose control.
A Demon King needed darkness.
Resentment.
Hatred.
Pain.
Rage.
Only those emotions could forge the perfect ruler.
A true Demon King.
Licking his lips leisurely, Belial grinned, his expression dripping with pleasure.
"Luriel, you were wrong.
A Demon King raised among humans will never be happy."
If left like this, she would only develop pointless emotions that would torment her once she ascended the throne.
A Demon King had no need for such trivial things.
But he…
He would shape her into a worthy ruler.
A monarch of unparalleled power.
"A true Demon King… she has the potential."
He had realized it the moment she had warned him—this was someone fit to be king.
The previous Demon King had fought desperately to protect her.
Luriel had guarded her with all her might.
Because she was special.
If she fully bloomed, bringing the human realm to its knees would be an inevitability.
A world where only the strong survived.
A world of dominance and bloodshed.
A world where pleasure and carnage reigned supreme.
"Ahh… just imagining it makes me shiver."
A tremor of ecstasy coursed down his spine.
A perfect Demon King… who would never fall like the last one.
Not like that fool, who had fallen for a human hero and, in doing so, had lost the will to wield the sword against them.
Not like the pathetic, lovesick king who had doomed the Demon Realm.
"No, I suppose… letting her be happy for now isn’t a bad idea."
Because the deeper one’s happiness…
The more profound their despair when it is ripped away.
She was still too young.
Though her potential was great, she was unripe.
But in time…
A slow, twisted grin stretched across Belial’s face.
When the fruit ripens perfectly, he would be there to pluck it.
***
"Oi, Belian!
What are you doing up there?
The captain's calling for you."
"Aah~!
My apologies~!!
I was just so, so, so very worried about the young lady’s safety!"
As if nothing had happened, Belian turned with a bright, cheerful grin, waving his hand like an airheaded fool.
Then, he leapt down, rejoining the knights below.
For now…
He would wait.